A decade of glorious hate-fuelled madness will come to an end this Saturday when Sydney’s A.V.O make their final live appearance.

They’ve put up with one another’s bullshit long enough, now it’s time to pull the pin. They can bow out with heads held high – not only do they leave a long list of outraged politically-correct soft cocks in their wake, but also a string of uncompromising fast hardcore releases, from ‘99’s Fuck Positive Hardcore 7” to last year’s Domestic Violence Kept The Neighbourhood Quiet full-length. Their drug habits and personal accomplishments have been less spectacular.

Thugs and miscreants are invited to the Sando, Newtown this Saturday November 28^th to farewell Thomo (vocals), Sean (bass), Kev (guitar) and Bibs (drums). Chisel’s Last Stand will have nothing on this shit.

This week, UB.com’s Danger Coolidge took a trip down a very shady memory lane with bassist Sean Lipsett and came back with a fat lip, two black eyes and the following farewell interview…

Most obvious question first – why?
Why??? We are all 100% officially fucking over it. Over looking at each other, over practicing, over carrying gear, over playing live and over the hardcore scene. Sick of it, fed up and had enough. We’ve always been active but there have been times when we’ve had to lay low for certain reasons. Cops coming to shows and looking for certain members. Shit like that. Also there were line-up changes; we’ve had three different drummers and two guitarists and that always takes time to get things right before you can go out and play live. Leaving the band open ended is for X and John Farnham and the like. All we ever wanted to do as a band was play out and eventually record an album. Now that that’s done it’s time to end it. Besides, summers coming and I’d much rather be at the beach with my wife than be in a stinky rehearsal room with three ugly cunts or watching a crowd of baldies jumping all over each other and getting all homo-erotic.

Has there always been tension within the ranks? Do you feel this inner conflict impacted on the songs or the live shows?
You try being this talented and having to work with three musically inept retards. It’s not easy you know but we do get on for most of the time. The majority of time spent together as a band is in rehearsal and our rehearsals can get pretty messy. We’re always fucked up from the night before and at least one person will bring a case of beer and then a shifty drug dealing acquaintance will drop by. Add that no one really wants to be there and it can get volatile. If there is any tension on stage it’s normally not at each other but at some shit that has happened on the night – a fight or dickhead venue staff pissing us off or not enough beers on the rider. But being pissed off is only going to make any hardcore band sound better. It should be angry.

A.V.O’s music speaks to the side of me that hates everything and everybody, but I must admit I don’t necessarily feel this way all the time. Generally I am a fairly positive, non-suicidal person who tries to be nice to his old mum. Am I a pussy? And are you really as angry as you seem?
I’m not as pissed-off as I once was, which is another reason to end the band. I used to walk home from the pub with riffs and lyrics in my head and get home and bash out a classic AVO song. It’s not like I’m skipping home from yoga now throwing petals but I’ve got less to be concerned about. I accept that the hardcore scene is dead and full of gays. I’m ok with that because I don’t care about it any more. We’re resigning from this shit anyway. Hey! Did you just mention a parent in a positive light – in a punk interview?!? See what I mean? The only time parents should be mentioned in punk rock is when they’re being bitched about – “My Old Man’s A Fatso” (Angry Samoans), “My Dad Sucks” (Descendents), “My Dad’s A Fucking Alcoholic” (The Frantix) and the unreleased AVO hit “Your Dads A Fucking Fatso Alcoholic Suck” – the list goes on. You’ve just failed Basic Punk Interviewing 101. So yes – you’re a pussy (but a very good son).

What did A.V.O. achieve, or what are some of the things you are most proud of?
We were really hit and miss when we played live for a long time but it’s been a while since we’ve played like shit and I’m pleased with the way we’ve evolved. We’ve always stuck to our guns and never compromised on what we originally started out to do – playing fast, pissed-off hardcore the way it should be. We’ve never followed trends and because of that we were never going to be popular but we knew that from the start and were always cool with it. I also think that everything we recorded is right up there with some of the best hardcore that has ever come out of this country (except for the CD – the mastering on it makes it sound like ass but CDs suck anyway. Hardcore should be a vinyl only format). I’m also stoked that we were on some of the best labels in the hardcore world (Short Fuse, Kangaroo, Even Worse) alongside bands like Out Cold, For The Worst, Career Suicide, etc.

Did you manage to piss-off anybody in particular during your tenure that you were especially pleased about?
We never set out to offend or piss off anyone but there were plenty of soft cocks that got upset by us. The first time we toured Melbourne the local scene put a boycott on us. There was always a local fanzine or two that had a gripe with what we were saying and would slag us off in print but would never have the balls to say anything to our face when they paid to come to our shows. Our record reviews in Maximum Rock’n’Roll were always classic – “yeah, sure this record shreds but…” All my favourite hardcore bands were hated by MRR so that was an honour. F.U’s, Chronic Sick, Vile, AVO. We’re in good company.

When they sit down to write the history of Australian hardcore, how would you like A.V.O.’s entry to read?
The real deal.

You got some damn fine support bands playing with you for your final show – Corps, Deathcage, Eye Gouge and Ruckus. There seems to be a lot of good fast, old school, nofuckaround bands in Australia right now – are things any better or worse now than when A.V.O kicked off?
The best thing about all those bands is that they are our friends. There have always been a handful of decent bands locally but they will always be outnumbered by mediocre phonies. Are things better or worse than 10 years ago? It depends if you like jump metal and fringe core.

Are all you guys done with making music now or are there other irons in the fire?
Kev is the biggest band slut. He’s still going to be playing guitar with The Corps, Had It and Cleaned Out. He’s a fucking gun for hire and still loves playing out. Bibs will most likely keep drumming with Rocks whenever he gets the call. Thomo and Bibs were both over my joint yesterday for a quiet drink and we were talking about maybe doing something in the future. Who knows? Now that it’s all ending we’re actually getting along.

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A.V.O play their own funeral this Saturday night, November 28^th at the Sandringham Hotel, King St. Newtown. Supported by The Corps, Deathcage, Eye Gouge and Ruckus.

A.V.O MySpace: www.myspace.com/apprehendedviolenceorder