Interview with Manny Cortez (Driven By Hatred/Only Hell Remains)

Oral history with Manny Cortez, founding member of Driven By Hatred who also played in Rights Reserved, 4 In The Chamber, Goatamentise, Only Hell Remains (formerly Over Hand Right), and Divine Infamy, recorded on March 6, 2024, as part of the "Uptown Rumble: Heavy Music in The Bronx" project at The Bronx County Historical Society. The interviewer is Steven Payne, director of The Bronx County Historical Society.

In his oral history, Manny speaks about his family's Puerto Rican background and how they ended up in The Bronx, growing up in the neighborhood around the Tremont Metro-North Station where much of his extended family also lived, his dad's musical background playing in various bands and being exposed to live music at a very early age, the elementary schools he attended and getting into performing arts at the time, traveling to Riverdale for junior high school, his early forays in heavy music via Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and other albums in his father's record collection; food he remembers eating growing up, finding a Metallica "Jump in the Fire" import tape by chance on his way to junior high school one day and his transformation, going to Christopher Columbus High School and meeting other metal heads who introduced him to new bands, picking up bass guitar and forming Degression in high school, how this band eventually grew into Driven By Hatred when Tito joined up with them, attending the battle of the bands at Lehman High School and other early shows he attended, practicing with Driven By Hatred in East Coast Studios (where they met Bronx band Hellbent) and playing their first show at the Lowdown in Mt. Vernon, other early shows including one at the Blue Frog (where they met fellow Bronx bands Goatamentise as well as Close Call/District 9 and Without A Cause/Fahrenheit 451) and multiple at the Train Depot on Williamsbridge Road, apartment and backyard shows and meeting other Bronx bands (like Blackout, The Wasted, Rights Reserved, Irate, Hellbound, and others), starting the Boogie Down Crew (BDC) to support the Bronx scene, playing BDC shows at the Blackthorn on Bainbridge Avenue and popular Queens venues like Castle Heights, various studio recordings by Driven By Hatred, and the eventual dissolution of the band.

Manny also speaks about his time performing and recording with Rights Reserved, 4 In The Chamber, Goatamentise, and other Bronx bands before eventually joining Over Hand Right, which became Only Hell Remains after Manny and Adam, the drummer, joined. Manny shares his memories with Only Hell Remains: playing at the House of Blues in Chicago with Anthrax, touring around the U.K. (where they also played two shows with Anthrax), playing a show with Slayer, recording with the band, various difficulties OHR had at this point, and why the band eventually broke up. He talks about joining the black metal band Divine Infamy (started by his longtime friend Vinny from high school), why that band eventually fell apart, current projects he is working on, and what "Bronx metal" means to him.

Видео Interview with Manny Cortez (Driven By Hatred/Only Hell Remains) канала Uptown Rumble