HardLore

The time has sadly come for our final episode with our beloved late Bo Lueders... But very poetically, it is one where perhaps his passions and interests were all on display like never before, and that he describes as the day he's been waiting for his entire life: We visited the historic site in Dallas, TX where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963.

A few weeks ago, Bo & I had the special privilege of taking you all behind the scenes for the making of Drain's "...Is Your Friend" U.S. tour with No Pressure, Haywire and Secret World. This was our first OFFICIAL "assignment" on behalf of Monster Energy since we started working with them officially in January. A bittersweet example of what was to come with HardLore & Monster, and we're so grateful for the memories that this has created since losing our beloved Bohan Lueders, for what is now his penultimate HardLore episode ever. We hope you enjoy this special inside look with some special people.

On April 2nd, 2026, the world lost Bo, and I lost my best friend. I will have much more to say over time... But this episode was something that, upon time of recording (January, 2026), we decided it was too intimate to post. We reviewed the initial cut, and feared that once something so personal was out there, we couldn't ever take it back. We decided to store it and save it for off chance that we might some day feel comfortable posting it. That day sadly came much sooner than either of us ever expected... This conversation, that I am now so thankful for, is a thorough look into our lives before & during the show. We came up with something like 100-150 questions before narrowing it down to this intimate conversation wherein we interviewed each other for the first, and last time. The goal was not only to get to know each other in ways we didn't, but share something new and unique with you all. Now, all things considered, it is an absolute miracle. I expected going back through this to be painful and impossible, and it turned out to be some of the only comfort I've found since his passing. Suddenly he was here, back in the room with me, as he now is with all of you. I am writing this in haste basically on the way to his memorial, so I will let him speak for himself here now. For Bo, Forever.

We're back with the second half of our conversation with one of hardcore's all time greatest frontmen: Freddy Cricien AKA Freddy MADBALL. We discuss their hectic, but iconic performance at the legendary Dynamo Open Air 1995, the evolution of the karate mosh, the classic NYHC Documentary, Demonstrate my Style, Look My Way, Hold It Down, Madball initially breaking up in the early 2000s, New York Hardcore after 9/11, and so much more...

We’re joined by one of the marquee vocalists and frontmen in all of hardcore music: Madball vocalist Freddy Cricien, known to most simply as Freddy Madball. In part 1 of this two-part 5 HOUR conversation, we discuss Freddy and Madball’s history from 1983 to 1994 - Discovering hardcore via his brother Roger Miret of Agnostic Front, starting Madball when he was just 11 years old, the “mad science” behind Ball of Destruction, following up with Droppin Many Suckers years later, and the massive endeavor of signing to Roadrunner Records at the height of the 90s hardcore boom for their debut album Set It Off…