Sab Grey
Encyclopedia
Sab Grey is the founder of Iron Cross
, one of the United States' first skinhead
hardcore
/Oi!
bands.
As a teenager, he began to attend hardcore punk concerts in Washington DC, where he met Ian Mackaye
, Henry Rollins
, and others in the burgeoning Washington, DC hardcore subculture
.
In 1980, he founded Iron Cross, an Oi!-influenced hardcore band. The band's name, as well as the skinhead look favored by its members, led to accusations of fascism
, which Grey has always denied. Iron Cross released a handful of EPs, later released together as the album Live For Now.on GMM records (GMM174) Their song "Crucified" became a hardcore classic after being covered by Agnostic Front
.Other bands who have covered their songs include the Dropkick Murphys (You're A Rebel) and English Oi! band The Business (Crucified) Weary of the controversy surrounding the band, Grey dismantled it in 1985 and moved to England in 1986. He later returned to the U.S. to start the rockabilly/ska/punk-influenced Royal Americans. As of 2006, Grey was continuing to play with the Royal Americans, and occasionally touring with a new lineup of Iron Cross.
Sab Grey now lives in Baltimore, MD and is the author of two novels; Skinhead Army (2007) and Hated and Proud (2009), both published by Skinflint Press.
Iron Cross (band)
Iron Cross is a hardcore/Oi! band from Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C..They play a rough form of streetpunk, and is the first band in the United States to adopt the skinhead look and the Oi! musical style...
, one of the United States' first skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
/Oi!
Oi!
Oi! is a working class subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads and other working-class youths ....
bands.
As a teenager, he began to attend hardcore punk concerts in Washington DC, where he met Ian Mackaye
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well...
, Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
, and others in the burgeoning Washington, DC hardcore subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
.
In 1980, he founded Iron Cross, an Oi!-influenced hardcore band. The band's name, as well as the skinhead look favored by its members, led to accusations of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, which Grey has always denied. Iron Cross released a handful of EPs, later released together as the album Live For Now.on GMM records (GMM174) Their song "Crucified" became a hardcore classic after being covered by Agnostic Front
Agnostic Front
Agnostic Front is an American hardcore band. The band began playing hardcore similar to their contemporaries, and were thrust to the forefront of the burgeoning New York hardcore scene in the mid-1980s with their widely regarded 1984 classic Victim in Pain before evolving to incorporate thrash...
.Other bands who have covered their songs include the Dropkick Murphys (You're A Rebel) and English Oi! band The Business (Crucified) Weary of the controversy surrounding the band, Grey dismantled it in 1985 and moved to England in 1986. He later returned to the U.S. to start the rockabilly/ska/punk-influenced Royal Americans. As of 2006, Grey was continuing to play with the Royal Americans, and occasionally touring with a new lineup of Iron Cross.
Sab Grey now lives in Baltimore, MD and is the author of two novels; Skinhead Army (2007) and Hated and Proud (2009), both published by Skinflint Press.