FAM #22 - Erik Ratensperger

For All Masters

Like so many others who were there, I was fascinated by Jeromes Dream: the 3-piece from Connecticut that sparked endless debates on messageboards and bidding wars on eBay. The raw emotional fury manifested in their elusive records and blink-of-an-eye live sets was unlike anything I had ever seen or heard before. It had been over a decade (and several musical lifetimes) since I last spoke with Erik Ratensperger the former drummer for JD, and later The Virgins. Yet despite the lapse of time or difference in paths taken, the commonality of growing up within the hardcore scene of the late 90s framed our conversation in a mutual understanding. Reflecting on the vinyl, the VFWs, the basements and the friendships, Erik obligingly answers all of the questions I've harbored since high school.