New, old-school band Kontusion is no stranger to the scene. Guitarist/vocalist Mark Bronzino is an underground, hardcore-punk pioneer from New Jersey who played in a slew of bigger metal bands—Mammoth Grinder and Iron Reagan, just to name a couple. He’s even collaborated with underground hip-hop weirdo Ghostemane.
In the early pandemic days of 2020, he teamed up with his old friend Chris Moore, drummer of Repulsion, Magrudergrind, Coke Bust, and many other bands, to start the old-school death metal band they’d been dreaming of for years … and Kontusion was born. We chatted with Bronzino about his history in the scene, his love of cannabis, and that one time he tripped in the woods.
Photo courtesy of Aaron Brown Tell us more about your background in punk, hardcore, and metal, and your collaboration with Ghostemane. How did you get where you are today? There was a thriving hardcore punk scene where I grew up at the Jersey Shore in the late ’90s. Kids were putting out their own records, booking their own shows and going on tour, and they weren’t much older than me. I had to be a part of it. My first records and tours were a part of this international DIY scene. It was a lot of fun, and I met lifelong friends in the process, including Chris. There was no money in hardcore back then, I would support myself through a series of odd jobs: pizza delivery, screen printing, taste tester, etc., quitting when it was time to go on tour, or if lucky, getting the job back when I returned. Eventually I started getting offered paid gigs, playing lead guitar for metal bands and as a hired gun in the studio for indie rock and pop punk bands. The non-stop touring and …
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Author: Addison Herron-Wheeler / High Times
