If you want to hear a crazy rock story, meet Andy Khachaturian. He was original drummer for System Of A Down and frontman for the now defunct Armenian-American quartet The Apex Theory -- ever wonder what happened to those guys?

If you were born after 1990, you may not be too familiar with The Apex Theory. But back in the day (circa 2002) they used to tour with bands like Glassjaw, Alien Ant Farm, do stints on Warped Tour and Ozzfest -- they also had videos in constant rotation on MTV2. Then they just kinda vanished.

I was able to catch up with Khachaturian to get the scoop on what went down with The Apex Theory -- to find out what caused the band to split, and to see what he's doing now. His story begins in 1993.

From 1993 to 1997, Khachaturian was the original drummer for System Of A Down. Just as things with the band were picking up, there was an unexpected turn of events -- a severe hand injury that forced him to quit the band two weeks before they were to showcase for producer Rick Rubin (Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica).

When Nate Newton is not on tour playing bass for Converge, he lends his guitar and vocal skills to Doomriders, a metal band that has released two full length albums and a handful of splits – they’ve even played a few shows with Danzig.

There are no goals or expectations with the band. Newton, Chris Pupecki (Cast Iron Hike), JR Conners (Cave In), Jebb Riley (Disappearer) are just friends in a band playing music. And these friends go many years back.

In fact, the origins of the group can be traced to the mid-90s when Newton and Pupecki met while on tour with their respective bands. When Newton moved from Virginia to Massachusetts in 1999, the two began jamming out of Pupecki’s parents’ garage, conceiving what is now Doomriders.

I sat down with Nate Newton to discuss his Converge offshoot. He begins the interview by explaining how he met Chris Pupecki…

If you are unfamiliar with Roger Miret and Vinnie Stigma of Agnostic Front, you don't know shit about hardcore. The Village Voice recently claimed that the band's 1984 record, "Victim in Pain", is as important and influential to New York music as any classic Velvet Underground or Ramones album. In fact, Agnostic Front is the band that spearheaded the New York hardcore scene of the 80s.

Now this isn't modern commercial hardcore – skinny jeans, shaggy hair, a MySpace page with widgets of every band members' tweets – but New York hardcore: a community, a family.

What started out in the early 80s with 30 kids playing in bands at CBGB's, the New York hardcore scene has undoubtedly made a profound impact on generations of artists. Now, 25 years after the release of "Victim in Pain", I had a chance to sit down with the members of Agnostic Front to discuss the origins of hardcore and the secret to their success and longevity:

"There were never an ego…no jealously, no money," states Stigma. "It was us versus them."