Features

Back in 2021, New Jersey punks School Drugs dropped the first of four 7”s that all tied in together. Each year since, another piece of the puzzle showed up, until finally, the whole thing has come together now in the form of Funeral Arrangements, the fully re-mixed and re-mastered album that will be out Oct 24 on Indecision Records (pre-order). We caught up with frontman Josh Jurk to dig into how this whole experiment played out, everything that went into making it happen and hardcore polka medleys.

PRT: Over the past couple of years you have released four 7” which all tie in together. Would you have released them the same way if the pandemic hadn’t happened?

Josh: Hard to say. The writing and recording process would have been very different so I doubt we would have done it the same way. Circumstance dictated a lot of the parts of this record that were out of our control.

PRT: Each of the 7” came with a little something extra like incense with a foldable incense holder or a rosary, which came in little black envelopes that you hand-stamped. It’s a cool idea, but one that sounds like an awful lot of work. Was there ever a moment where you thought, maybe we should’ve just gone for the full-length straight away?

Josh: There were invaluable lessons that I learned in the process of making every piece for those records. That sort of knowledge, especially when learned on your own, is wildly rewarding.

Parts of the assembly process completely sucked, like ironing 300 envelopes to set the white pigment ink, but making all of these things that I’ve never seen done elsewhere kept any feelings of regret away.

PRT: That full-length is coming later this year, which I guess concludes the Funeral Arrangements project. Having spent the better part of four years working on it, are you already planning the next thing?

Josh: Always moving. I have the concept for the next release, now it’s a matter of execution.

PRT: It’s not just those extras for the 7”… you also do all of your own graphic design, your drummer mixes and records all of your releases. Is that because you want to keep as much control as possible over all things School Drugs? Or simply because you like all of those different aspects?

Josh: Yes to both. Chris has mixed and been a member of some of my favorite bands, so naturally I defer to him on things that exist in his expertise. It’s also a matter of ease. We practice at Chris’ studio so it just makes sense to record there.



I love all aspects of design, it’s a selfish endeavor that I keep all of that enjoyment for myself.

PRT: Your songs are rooted firmly in 80’s hardcore, but you don’t shy away from building on that sound and adding a lot of different elements. Was it always the idea to cast aside convention and push the boundaries of what “hardcore” can be?

Josh: It’s never been a conscious exercise, rather the product of influence.

PRT: Do you ever think of how you are going to pull a song off live while writing and recording?

Josh: Certainly. We have a fairly long rolodex of people that can help make anything on record happen live. Our friend Nick from Mercy Union plays keys with us when he’s available. It’s not a necessity but it adds a cherry on top when he can be there. On the last tour we did with The Bouncing Souls, Mark Masefield from Dave Hause and The Mermaid jumped in for a few songs on organ. Mark managed to convince H2O to let him play accordion on a song too on that tour. They were so fucking down for that. Toby was instantly like “Hell yeah.” when Mark asked him. I’m sitting behind merch and Jared Hart comes into the room going “Mark’s playing with accordion with H2O right now.” so I jumped over the merch table to go see it. Honestly, it sounded fucking awesome.

PRT: And have you ever scrapped an idea because it felt like it would take things too far for School Drugs?

Josh: Absolutely not. The songs require what they require. I’m not jamming a trombone in here to do something different, that’s just how the song goes. I didn’t ask Ari from Lifetime to do back-ups on a track because I wanted to appeal to Lifetime fans, I just always heard his voice on that part when I wrote it.

PRT: You’ve been an advocate for mental health. Do you feel there is still a stigma around the idea of seeking help?

Josh: Less so now than there was. Unfortunately it will always be there, be it from yourself or society.

PRT: ‘Funeral Arrangemens’ will be out later this year. What’s up next for School Drugs after that?

Josh: The next record, some festivals, touring, etc.

I read somewhere that you’re a fan of “Weird Al“ Yankovic so you must’ve already thought about this… hardcore polka medley: which songs would definitely be in there?

Josh: This is a fantastic idea that I have never thought about. I think going through the history of hardcore punk music would be better than just a list of songs I particularly like.

Nervous Breakdown-Bloodstains-I Don’t Wanna Hear It-We Gotta Know-Don’t Forget The Struggle, Don’t Forget The Streets-Step Down-D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S.-The Machinist-TLC

You could do this regionally (DC, Boston, California, NYHC), by decade (80s, 90s, 00s), by sub-genre, by band (an entire black flag or minor threat polka would work well), or any number of other factors.

I’m sure we’ll be discussing this in the van ad nauseam.