Interview with Samuel Cortorreal

Oral history with Samuel Cortorreal, promoter and founder of On The Attack Records, recorded on October 25, 2024, as part of the "Uptown Rumble: Heavy Music in The Bronx" project at The Bronx County Historical Society. The interviewer is Steven Payne, director of The Bronx County Historical Society. In his oral history, Samuel speaks about his family's history and background in the Dominican Republic and his birth and early childhood in the west Bronx around Townsend Avenue, music he was exposed to in his family and the neighborhood (hip hop and various genres of Latin music, primarily), food he remembers eating growing up and stores around The Bronx, his experiences with elementary and junior high and going to DeWitt Clinton for high school, his first forays into rock music through Green Day and then into heavier stuff through Marilyn Manson, getting more into metal and eventually learning about hardcore, some of the first shows he attended and his regular venues (like Castle Heights), learning more about Bronx bands and seeing some live for the first time at the Blackthorn on Bainbridge Avenue; eventually getting to know Bronx bands like District 9, Fahrenheit 451, Goatamentise, Irate, Billy Club Sandwich, and others at shows and as a promoter; being mentored by Jeo of Demized (and many other Bronx bands) as a promoter; starting On The Attack Records with a friend from Brooklyn; his recent stint as the merch manager for legendary Queens hardcore band Everybody Gets Hurt, and more.