A lot can change in 17 years. That's how long Kurt Ballou has been playing guitar for Massachusetts hardcore act, Converge. "I'm 34 years old," says Kurt. "I was only 21 when I wrote [one of Converge's most popular songs] 'The Saddest Day.' I'm just not the same person I was then. It feels like I'm playing a cover song."


Kurt Ballou

Then again, some things have come full-circle. "When we first started touring, I loved it," Ballou explained. "It was so exciting. After awhile I started to hate it. Now that I'm so busy with my studio most of the time when I'm at home, I love it again. It has become an escape from the rigors of the real world."

And some things just haven't changed at all. "Boston is, and has always been, a college town," Ballou asserted. "Every four years there is a new group of people coming in, so I find it hard to believe in the idea of a 'Boston hardcore scene.' "

Kurt is living proof that a do-it-yourself work ethic can help you accomplish your dreams in life. Besides playing in Converge, he also runs his own recording studio, GodCity, whose recording credits include hardcore luminaries like The Hope Conspiracy, Blacklisted, Doomriders and, most recently, [Swedish legends] Disfear. "I just recorded Disfear's new album, Live the Storm," Ballou revealed. "It came out really, really well. It's brutal, but at the same time it has some great hooks. I hope it finds some success."

Recording is about more than paying the bills for Ballou. It's about giving back to a scene that gave him so much growing up. "I was a nerd in high school, which meant that I was always getting beat on by the jocks," he confided. "It left me with a healthy distaste for organized sports. Punk rock was my outlet."

Having been there, Kurt feels that he can offer his wisdom to the young bands that come through his studio. "I know where they're coming from and I know where they're going," he said. "I like to feel that I can help them get there. These bands don't have the means to record themselves, so I provide the next best thing: someone with the same perspective. I sort of take on the fifth member of the band role so to speak."

Success comes with a price, however. Kurt finds himself in such high demand that he hardly has time for much else. "I don't get out of work until 9 or 10, so I don't get out to as many shows as I would like," Ballou said.

Still, there are worse things than getting too much business, and Kurt knows it. "When I first started recording, I just took everything that came my way. Now that I have so many bands coming to me, I can be more selective and choose what I really want to record," he said.

Despite Converge's ascension to stardom within the extreme-music scene, Kurt feels no different than when they were playing shows in front of 20 kids in someone's basement. "I get more stage-fright at a urinal at a truck stop than I do before playing in front of 20,000 people at a festival."

Read on for the rest of the revealing Q&A:

TheReaper: So are you a typical Boston sports fan?

Kurt Ballou: I have no interest in any organized sports. I think it's stupid to root for the Red Sox. No one on the team is from Boston. It's ridiculous to have a direct affinity for a sports team based on geographic similarity. Any issues of pride based on anything other than what you've made for yourself are ridiculous, whether it be racial pride or gender pride or sexual-preference pride. Geography falls into that. I mean what the f--- do I have to do with the Red Sox or Patriots!? Plus, getting beat up by jocks in high school left me with a healthy distaste for organized sports. There have been a lot of things in my life saying, "Punk yes, jocks no."

TheReaper: What releases [besides Disfear] have you just finished that you're most excited about?

Kurt: Meanderthal by this band called Torche, who play really sludgy, doomy music. Also, the new album by a band called Clouds. They are Adam [McGrath] from Cave In's other band. They play, like, stoner progressive glam ... I can't really put my finger on it.

TheReaper: Last but certainly not least, this is Murderfest, who would you most like to murder?

Kurt: No one. I love everyone.