Evolution of a Cro-Magnon: Catching up with a Cro-Mag

John Joseph continues his assault on meatheads, literature and reality TV

“Food is very important to me because I grew up in a broken home and abusive foster home where it wasn't provided for me and my two brothers.  That was the catalyst which affected my entire outlook.  I know hands down I would have continued in a life of crime if I didn't meet the Bad Brains and had been introduced to a vegetarian lifestyle.  This started a spiritual quest that also led to exercise, yoga and Krishna. Once I changed what I put in me, it changed my view about myself, taking care of my body, and my outlook on the environment where I lived.  You can say it made me a more at peace person, not that I wouldn't run up on you if I had to ha ha.” John Joseph is laughing but he isn’t kidding, as front man for the legendary NY hardcore/punk unit, The Cro-Mags, he incited some of the most savage and primal blood letting ever witnessed in a mosh pit.  What was also true is that most of his lyrics dealt with social criticisms and spiritual exploration, from the first notes of their legendary debut album The Age Of Quarrel (1986) on the song “We Gotta Know”

“Said there's gotta be some meaning to the purpose of life

I know there must be more than the struggle and strife

I'm looking for the answers and I need a clue

Cause my mind's so disturbed now what do I do?”

That quest for meaning within and without was detailed in depth in Joseph’s autobiography, "The Evolution Of A Cro-Magnon" (2007 Punkhouse) which followed Joseph’s birth in Queens, NY as the middle of three brothers with an abusive father eventually landing in a foster home with abusive caregivers to living in the streets to correctional facilities to an abandoned stint in the military eventually to the lower east side at the ground zero of the hardcore punk movement.  Through the book Joseph recalls fallen friends and larger than life personalities who succumbed to the lifestyle of the street.  Though Joseph himself fell victim to the addiction of drugs for a short period, he credits his adherence to an active lifestyle and values he took from his devotion to Hare Krishna to getting him back on the path to self-realization.

Joseph is announcing his next book "Meat Is For Pussies", a play on the popular “For Dummies” instruction manuals.  “I have been a vegetarian/vegan almost 30 years now, people today are bombarded by advertising for cheap fast food and ingestion of those foods not only wreak havoc on your system but most of the havoc wreaked on the planet is due to the slaughter of the animals. Companies are tearing down the rainforest for cheap grazing land which in turn ruins the environment, causes global warming and displaces the food chain for most of these animals. And the resources needed to eat meat are astronomical and produce amazing amounts of green house gas.  Not to mention a meat based diet is very unhealthy for you and the studies are there to prove it.” Though those worried about the entertainment value of a self-help manual can rest assured the book will be replete with Joseph’s rough hewn humor and unflinchingly honest portrayals of himself.  “It’s still me, my anecdotes used for examples, how I wrote "Evolution of...." and "Meat Is For Pussies" and any other book will be the same because I write in a conversational style, just like I’m sitting around a table with the reader.”

Though Joseph is not a medical professional, he has spent a good part of the past three decades amassing health information, recipes, nutritional information and examples he learned through trial and error.  “In 1981 I was part of a little commune that The Bad Brains had going out of their producer Jay Dublee’s store/recording studio 171A.  It was there that the Brains introduced me to the practice of a vegetarian diet.  However it was Dublee who had the knowledge of the science behind the practice.  He gave me books to read and from there I gathered my own resources about meat and what it does to you.  I tried to introduce this knowledge to all of my friends and I’ve been an advocate ever since.”

No one who has witnessed Joseph’s muscular stage persona can deny the fruits of his labor.  “I’m training for the Ironman competition in 2012 at which time I’ll be 49.   I will be training with Lance Armstrong’s former training partner Ryp Esselstyn next year, who wrote the best-seller, "The Engine 2 Diet." and the Nike marathon coach.  I always wanted to do one of these as a challenge to my own determination and drive, and I’ve been training every day.  I’ve swam two miles in the ocean, I’ve biked 120 miles in a day, and I've ran a 26.2 mile marathon, but never in the same day.”  For Joseph athletics was always an outlet for expression through his turbulent teen years.  “I don’t want to sound like the old man in the neighborhood but nutrition and diet could help kids so much.  Kids in the inner city neighborhoods who may be hustling and doing poorly in school may have some correlation to the crap they are putting in their mouths.  Kids today are so brainwashed by the media machine into fast food and then turning obese and that leads to health problems and how others view them. The problem is they get most of their information from tv, the internet and text messaging.  I truly believe people are losing the ability to communicate with each other and with nature.  Kids need to be taught respect for themselves and the world around them.”

Though Joseph has been mentor for many a disaffected youth through his music, he will play mentor to actual youths in his upcoming reality show.  “Since the publication of Evolution, I’ve been getting some interesting offers for projects and have been able to develop some ideas. One of those ideas is a reality show where they place troubled kids in a house with me and I try and help them with the lessons I learned when I was in their shoes.  A pretty big producer is involved so we’ll see what happens.”  Joseph revealed.  "Next week I will be speaking at a high school in Bushwick, Brooklyn to at risk kids who've been arrested and are in, or thinking about joining gangs.  It's my way of paying forward the gifts I've received."

Through all this Joseph has also been performing with original Cro-Mags drummer Mackie and members of Sick Of It All, Leeway and Terror as The Cro-Mags.  The group has playing sporadic shows across the U.S. and Europe.  Joseph says “We just do certain select shows, most of money I make from the shows goes back into the donation center I opened up at 93 St Marks Ave in New York City.  We teach yoga, do meditation prayer and have a feast every Sunday night that is open to all.”

To attend the feast, volunteer or partake in any programs at the center hit up John Joseph via Facebook.  He'as under John Joseph NYC or call directly at 212-979-0381.  Meat Is For Pussies is slated for a December release via Punk House (www.punkhouse.org).