{"id":2518175,"date":"2026-07-26T19:10:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T19:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2518175"},"modified":"2026-07-26T19:10:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T19:10:50","slug":"remembering-sick-of-it-alls-lou-koller-new-york-hardcores-best-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/remembering-sick-of-it-alls-lou-koller-new-york-hardcores-best-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Sick of It All&#8217;s Lou Koller, New York Hardcore&#8217;s Best Ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cWe have our mics, but this is <em>your<\/em> mic.\u201d When I saw <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"auto-tag_sick-of-it-all\" href=\"http:\/\/au.rollingstone.com\/t\/sick-of-it-all\/\" data-tag=\"sick-of-it-all\" target=\"_blank\">Sick of It All<\/a> play a gig in Denver in 2001, a couple of years before I moved to New York, it seemed like a revelation that a professional band would place a microphone on the Ogden Theatre\u2019s stage for <em>anyone<\/em> to climb up and sing along with them before diving back into the pit. He also asked for everyone to look out for each other in the mosh pit. I was a metalhead, a few years into college, and still relatively fresh to New York hardcore. Metal bands didn\u2019t do things like that. Little did I know that sense of community had been a staple of hardcore shows in New York for decades at that point.<\/p>\n<p>One guy at that show kept requesting \u201cRat Pack,\u201d a 47-second frenzy about sticking with your friends off the band\u2019s classic debut, <em>Blood, Sweat, and No Tears<\/em>, and when frontman Lou Koller gave him the crowd\u2019s mic, the guy completely forgot the lyrics. Koller laughed and said something like, \u201cEh, eh, not so fast. You have to know the lyrics if you\u2019re going to do that.\u201d Then he smiled that impish grin he made famous to show all was forgiven. Even if you publicly embarrassed yourself, he still wanted you here.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"op-interactive\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sick Of It All - Rat Pack\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c6uL6EE-K-Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Sick of It All were NYHC\u2019s most welcoming emissaries, and their mouthpiece was Lou Koller, whose <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/au.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/sick-of-it-all-lou-koller-dead-obituary-1235598730\/\" target=\"_blank\">death was announced Friday<\/a>. Gifted with a golden growl, Koller could both belt the ear-piercing chorus of \u201cScratch the Surface\u201d and make its message, about striving to live a meaningful life, coherent. Onstage, he wasn\u2019t like other heavy-music frontmen. He was kind of dorky. No matter where he was, he treated every show like a CBGB matinee, where everybody was welcome, and that was the point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to show the world what we loved,\u201d Koller told <em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kerrang.com\/sick-of-it-all-lou-koller-interview\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Kerrang!<\/a> <\/em>in 2018. \u201cThat\u2019s why we didn\u2019t just play with hardcore bands. On our first run down the East Coast in 1988, Exodus asked us to open up for them for five shows. It was a shock to the audience when we walked out: Kids with short hair! As we got more popular some people referred to us as \u2018The Kings of New York hardcore,\u2019 and we were always, \u2018No, no. We\u2019re the <em>ambassadors.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Since forming Sick of It All in Queens, New York with his brother, guitarist Pete Koller, in 1986, the band\u2019s best songs were always about togetherness. When I wrote about <em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-lists\/best-punk-albums-1235538842\/sick-of-it-all-blood-sweat-and-no-tears-1235538889\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blood, Sweat, and No Tears <\/a><\/em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-lists\/best-punk-albums-1235538842\/sick-of-it-all-blood-sweat-and-no-tears-1235538889\/\" target=\"_blank\">for <\/a><em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-lists\/best-punk-albums-1235538842\/sick-of-it-all-blood-sweat-and-no-tears-1235538889\/\" target=\"_blank\">Rolling Stone\u2019s list<\/a> <\/em>of the Greatest Punk Albums of All Time earlier this year, it occurred to me that Koller\u2019s central message was always, \u201cWe\u2019re in this together.\u201d \u201cPushed Too Far\u201d was about fighting back against bullies. So was \u201cFriends Like You.\u201d They kept that message going on their next album with \u201cJust Look Around,\u201d a song warning against racism dividing society while rich politicians prosper, a message that still resounds nearly 40 years later. They were a band for hard-working people just trying to get through the day.<\/p>\n<p>The image of New York hardcore, at least in the mold Agnostic Front and the Cro-Mags cast in the early Eighties, has always been something like puffed-chest tough guys screaming about their rage. Sick of It All defied that. In 1999, when I first saw group, which included bassist Craig \u201cAhead\u201d Setari on bass and drummer Armand Majidi, it was their pure energy and inclusivity that blew me away. They were on a bill between Slayer and Meshuggah, and while <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/farewell-slayer-metals-most-unflinching-band-628666\/\" target=\"_blank\">I\u2019m a well-documented huge Slayer fan<\/a>, it was the way Sick of It All that left the biggest impression on me. They seemed to come tumbling onstage with Pete flipping his guitar over his shoulder and, unlike the frontmen of the other bands on the bill, Lou was <em>smiling<\/em>. This was an everyman\u2019s band. \u201cWe\u2019re all black sheep and we know it,\u201d he\u2019d sing on \u201cHello Pricks\u201d in 2000, and that\u2019s what made them special.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur music was written [for] total crowd participation\u201d Koller says in an interview from the <em>Live in NYC \u201991 <\/em>VHS that featured footage of Sick of It All playing the Ritz with Agnostic Front and Gorilla Biscuits. \u201c\u2018Cause that\u2019s how we grew up. Early hardcore was total crowd participation. You know, pile on, sing along, all that stuff. That\u2019s your outlet. It kind of dulls the energy when you have a six-foot barricade from the stage to the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"observer-sub-form justify-content-center my-3 p-0 d-flex align-items-stretch bg-dark text-white\">\n<div class=\"observer-sub-form-info p-3\" style=\"justify-content: start;\">\n<h2 class=\"h5 mb-0 observer-title\">Love Music?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"observer-desc mb-2\"> Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian\/New Zealand music and globally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"spinner d-none\"> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"op-interactive\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Agnostic Front \/ Gorilla Biscuits \/ Sick Of It All \u2013 Live In N.Y.C. &amp;apos;91 VHS\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VE1yQAVJjew?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>My newfound love of Sick of It All led me to dig deeper into New York hardcore and find likeminded bands, but my understanding of the scene was still limited for a few years to the bands that toured through Colorado, and there weren\u2019t many in the early 2000s. Fortuitously, two groups that came through frequently were Indecision and Most Precious Blood, which shared the same guitarist, Justin Brannan.<\/p>\n<p>He later <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-lists\/10-musicians-became-politicians-1235458562\/justin-brannan-1235458592\/\" target=\"_blank\">brought NYHC ideals to NYC politics<\/a> as a council member, and he captured Koller\u2019s legacy well in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JustinBrannan\/status\/2080865739804655754\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">a social media post<\/a> addressed to Koller on Saturday. \u201cYou brought hope and positivity to places other bands would never dare go,\u201d he wrote. \u201cYou made outcast kids all over the world feel seen, accepted, and a little less alone. Thank you for the music, the friendship, and the example you set \u2014 especially these last few years. Your impact will be felt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I moved to New York in 2003 and saw Sick of It All several times on their home turf, including a rare set at CBGB in \u201904. It was there, seeing how everybody packed into this famously dank East Village shithole to have a good time together, that I understood the sense of community that drove the band. There wasn\u2019t much room for anybody to fall in the pit, but if they did, someone would\u2019ve picked them up. The fact that Sick of It All could bring this same ethos to stages in Colorado and around the world is a miracle. They played for any audience, including one time before Wu-Tang Clan at a festival, and were still playing more than 100 gigs a year around the world as recent as 2019.<\/p>\n<p>When a friend texted me yesterday that Koller had died, the first song that popped into my head was \u201cGood Lookin\u2019 Out,\u201d a song from their fourth album, 1997\u2019s <em>Built to Last<\/em>. \u201cYou\u2019re not in this all alone\/Just look around, and you\u2019ll see,\u201d he sang. \u201cThe answer\u2019s right before your eyes: I\u2019m here for you, and you for me.\u201d The chorus culminates with Koller singing, \u201cTrue friends will always be there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Koller <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/sick-of-it-all-lou-koller-tumor-european-tour-canceled-1235049976\/\" target=\"_blank\">revealed he was battling cancer<\/a> in 2024 and launched a GoFundMe campaign, his many friends showed up. The Dropkick Murphys, Rancid, AFI, and Hot Water Music were among the first to donate. That\u2019s because Lou Koller was New York hardcore\u2019s big brother. He didn\u2019t invent telling audiences to look out for one another in the mosh pit, but the way he preached the unity of New York hardcore all around the world will live on when the many bands Sick of It All inspired carry his spirit forward at their own gigs around the world, and that\u2019s a special legacy. Just look around, and you\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n<p><em>From <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/sick-of-it-all-lou-koller-tribute-1235598810\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rolling Stone US<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','243859349395737');fbq('track','PageView');fbq.disablePushState=true;<\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source au.rollingstone.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWe have our mics, but this is your mic.\u201d When I saw Sick of It All play a gig in Denver in 2001, a couple of years before I moved to New York, it seemed like a revelation that a professional band would place a microphone on the Ogden Theatre\u2019s stage for anyone to climb [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2518176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[497005],"class_list":["post-2518175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-sick-of-it-all"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Remembering-Sick-of-It-Alls-Lou-Koller-New-York-Hardcores.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2518177,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518175\/revisions\/2518177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2518176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2518175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2518175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}