Go Vegan With Versus the Mirror

We didn’t think that Tucson, Arizona, could get any hotter until we heard Versus the Mirror and their frantic style of melodic hardcore. Versus the Mirror have been hand-delivering their message of strength and unity through earth-shattering vocals and percussion since 2003. They have never been the type to shy away from taking a stance on what they believe in and have used their music to break down misconceptions—just the stuff peta2 likes to see. So we were more than happy to get the chance to sit down with VTM guitarists Gabe Borquez and Kevin Ryan to talk about being vegan, touring, and which animal they would most want to be …

How long have you been vegan?

Gabe: Actually, only a month, but I’ve been a vegetarian for five years.
Kevin: About nine years.

What made you decide to go vegan?

Gabe: When I started going to shows, there were a couple bands that would always take their music and spread a message—you know, whether it be veganism, straight edge, or being Christian. The one that made most sense to me was to quit eating meat. I did some research on my own and then just made the move. So it was pretty much based a lot on music, because I just went to shows, learned, and read the pamphlets. I just got to the point where I wanted to take it to the next level.
Kevin: It was a group of friends that I had around eighth grade that actually made me think about being vegetarian. I also read a lot of pamphlets and books. So I looked further into it on my own, and it just made sense to cut out meat from my diet, and then that wasn’t hard at all.

How has it been going?

Gabe: It’s awesome! A lot of people are like, “How can you do it?” Of course, everyone has their own food addiction, and I was addicted to cheese. But at the same time I knew it’s something I could give up and it wouldn’t be a problem. So I just went through with it—I have confidence in myself, and I was just believing in what I was doing. So I just rolled with it, and it’s been really remarkably easy. I thought it was going to be so hard to not have cravings, but everything’s been cool.
Kevin: I was vegetarian for about a year before I went vegan. It was kind of a gradual thing for me. Over that year I just basically was doing research and figuring out how to go about it. But yeah, it’s not that hard. It’s pretty awesome.

Here’s kind of a silly question: If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

Gabe: I’d be a cat. They’re cute; they’re cuddly. Either that or like a man-eating condor.
Kevin: I’d say probably a dog, just because they generally get treated better than most animals by humans, because for some reason they treat ’em differently.

Is there anything you want to tell your fans? Do you have any advice for them?

Gabe: It’s important for kids to know that what you guys are doing—going to shows and the Warped Tour—is important, because kids need to get off their butts and start being open-minded about everything.
Kevin: Find out more about how meat gets to you. Most people don’t think about it. If everyone investigated what was really going on, I think there’d be a change in how much meat and dairy is consumed. There are a lot of good local programs that you can get involved with. In our hometown, there are quite a number of different animal rights organizations. Even when I was in high school, we organized a club called ARC (Animals Require Compassion), and we did a lot of awesome things, like vegan bake sales at school to give money to different shelters for animals. And we’d go to protests too. So you can get people in your own hometown to protest a specific company that’s mistreating animals or even just find out stuff online that you can participate in, like peta2.

So help make some changes for animals today. All you have to do is take the Veg Pledge, and you’re on your way to eating better, feeling better, and helping out all those chickens, pigs, and cows who are raised for food. Also, be sure to check out Versus the Mirror’s new album, Home.