Vision of Disorder were one of the hottest bands in the New York hardcore scene back during the mid-to-late ‘90s. Perhaps the most musically talented of that scene at the time, they took their music in all kinds of unpredictable directions. In 2006, after a lengthy hiatus, the band reunited for a few shows which were filmed for an eventual DVD release. Now reunited for real, the band are planning a new album, and will be releasing their DVD on November 11, 2008, via Koch Entertainment. Vocalist Tim Williams took some time out to tell us about what we can expect from the band now that they’re back together.

The Gauntlet: When you guys first reunited for a show in 2006 was that sort of a trial to see if you should get back together?

Tim Williams: We did those shows strictly because we wanted to do the DVD. We had a gut feeling that everything would be alright. We weren’t thinking of doing another record. Back then me and Mike (Kennedy, guitarist) were so busy with Bloodsimple and the other guys were busy with their things. It wasn’t even an option to put the band back together.

The Gauntlet: How did you make the decision to have another go at it?

Tim: Well, after those shows we did a couple other shows, and, you know, I’ve been in the business for a long time and been out there with other bands, and a lot of people have been like, “You should do another VOD record.” I was hearing it more and more and more and then it was just like, “Sure, I’ll do it.” Then it was the question of there being time to do it. Then finally just recently we did a couple more shows and the response was pretty damn sweet, and we finally all had the time to do it. We decided that if we were going to do this we’d better do it now because we’re not going to have another shot. There’s a lot of time between now and when the record actually comes out, but we’ve got our eyes forward and we’re hoping that everything comes together.

The Gauntlet: Tell me about your upcoming DVD. Is it just going to have footage from those reunion shows in ’06 or is there going to be a lot of older footage as well?

Tim: Oh, there’s A LOT of old stuff on there. There’s also a lot of backstage stuff from way back. I remember watching it and seeing a lot of cuts of us when we were really young, so I think there’s stuff dating back to ’97 or ’98. There’s a lot of good stuff on it. I think it sounds really good too. We had our friend, the guitar player of Bloodsimple, he did the audio on it and recorded it properly. The DVD should really good for VOD fans. The people who like VOD and who have been into VOD for awhile, and miss VOD. They’re gonna get a lot out of this DVD. It’s for the fans. We’re not looking to change the world or reinvent the wheel or anything crazy like that. It’s recorded for the fans and we had a great time doing it.

The Gauntlet: Is the new album going to take you back to your roots, or are you going to explore some new things musically?

Tim: Well, we’re definitely always exploring, but we’re definitely going back. There’s no way you’re going to recapture the past because everyone is different now. People write differently, you’re growing up, you’re different in general. We’re definitely going to bring it back to more rooty, gritty, heavy balls-to-the-wall fucking music. Maybe with a nice futuristic twist to it. Of course we’ve all grown as musicians. It’s definitely going to be classic VOD, though. We’ve already got 3 or 4 songs together and it’s definitely pretty cool stuff. Really alive. It’s definitely going to be good to play it live. People are going to flip out.

The Gauntlet: You have a big show coming up on November 16 with Indecision and Overcast at The Fillmore, but what about a tour?

Tim: Never say never, but it’s unlikely anytime in the immediate future. If there’s a demand maybe we’ll go to particular regions but I don’t see VOD going out for 2 months on the road or anything like that. Again, I didn’t see us putting another record out either so who the hell knows? Say we want to go do California and maybe shoot up to Seattle for two weeks and then take a couple weeks off before doing the Northeast, that would be more realistic.

The Gauntlet: You gotta make it out to LA for me.

Tim: Hey, well California was always a pretty strong state so if we’re gonna go anywhere I would see something happening in San Francisco, LA, or San Diego. That is a pretty good possibility. If we got an offer to go to Japan for a few days we’d definitely do that. I think we already have a couple offers to do the European festivals. Maybe we’ll go do Download and Hellfest or something like that.

The Gauntlet: Why did it take over two years for the DVD to finally come out? Were there some roadblocks?

Tim: There were a shit load of roadblocks. It got tied up with our management at the time. It got tied up with me and Mike being tied to Warner Brothers with Bloodsimple. It got tied up with everybody being busy. We had some record label issues. We initially had a home for it, but that fell through for reasons unknown, so we had to go around and find a home for it which is not an easy thing to do. With all those things combined it really took forever and sometimes it seemed like it wasn’t going to come out at all. But I’ve got hard copies in my hand so I guess it’s coming out. Anything with a band like us that isn’t really a priority because we’re not full-time it always takes longer.

The Gauntlet: What’s your view on the state of the hardcore scene right now? Any bands you’re really liking right now?

Tim: Hardcore right now is… on the local scene it’s different, I can’t really keep up with it, but on a national level… it’s like hardcore and metal are the same exact thing now. I still like all the old school bands that I came up with like Madball, Hatebreed, Bad Brains, Cro-Mags. Stuff like that. No current bands have really caught my eye as doing anything different. That’s not an insult, you know? It’s just the way it is. You have the whole “Crossover” thing, there’s like a different band every week, I can’t even keep up with any of that. I kinda just keep my head to the ground, do my own thing, and if you’re music’s good and I catch it that’s great. That’s the way I’ve always been. I don’t hold any opinions against anybody. If you’re honest and you’re having fun with it more power to you.

The Gauntlet: What are you listening to these days?

Tim: I’ve been listening to this band called Mew. They’re a band from Denmark. You’re not gonna expect me to listen to them. You might even hate em. I’ve been listening to em like crazy. I really fucking like them. They’re totally different, they’re not heavy at all. You might vomit when you hear em, but I love it. I think it’s really original. The drummer kicks fuckin ass. It might have just been the time period of my life that that band really grabbed me. Heavy wise, I like Sweet Cobra a lot. I like The Haunted a lot, they’re pretty cool. I’m just going through my iPod in my head right now. Off the top of my head that’s all I can give you. I work out to stuff like Madball and Hatebreed. Superjoint Ritual and Mastodon too.

The Gauntlet: Thanks for the interview Tim!

Tim: Thank you man. I think we’re gonna be recording out in LA in the spring so maybe we’ll see you out at the Rainbow one night.