Paris Roberts started seeing punk and hardcore bands at the now-closed DIY venue Charm City Art Space in Station North as a sophomore at Catonsville High School.

“There was something just pure and awesome about being there in this space of, like, all this organized chaos,” Roberts said. “It just made me keep going again and made me want to be a part of it.”

Baltimore has always been a hotbed for punk and hardcore, which features frenetic, aggressive guitars and drums and raw, guttural vocals. The scene is now bigger than ever, and bands including Turnstile have rocketed into the mainstream.

Instead of continuing to only attend shows, Roberts decided he wanted to make his own music and went on to front bands including Truth Cult.

He’s now the singer of No Idols, which on Nov. 14 released its self-titled EP. It features five unrelenting songs that clock in at less than 12 minutes.

No Idols is a supergroup of sorts that features Robin Zeijlon (Glitterer) on drums, Zechariah Ghosttribe (Angel Du$t) on bass and Brock Stephens (BIB) and Will Jarrott (Public Acid, Invertebrates) on guitar.

Roberts, 28, of Mount Vernon, also hosts a DJ set at Ottobar called Spirit World and recently spoke with The Banner about No Idols and the punk and hardcore scene in Baltimore.

What inspired you to start playing music?

There was a few moments where I was like, “Oh, you know, I could go up there and do this, too.” Because I would start seeing frontmen who were young and Black that looked like me, to a degree, go up there and play sets.

But I think the one time where I was like, “Yeah, this is the music that is straight up for me, and I want to be in a band that produces this style of music,” there was this band called Pure Disgust.

They played in the art space, dude, I think this was like 2014. It was them, Coke Bust and I’m blanking on the rest of the lineup. But that Pure Disgust set was mind-blowing.

(Zeijlon played drums in Pure Disgust and Truth Cult.)

How did No Idols begin?

Robin, in a very, very, very robotic way, as he is, said, “Paris, I have five songs. Five hardcore songs. Very fast. You fronting them.” And I said, “Perfect. Thank you. I would love to.”

He played all the instruments, and all I did was just track the vocals and write the lyrics and stuff.

So it was originally just he and I. And then afterwards, when the demo came out, is when we decided to pick the rest of the band.

Where does the name originate?

It’s the hardest f---ing thing in the world to decide a band name. Especially when you’re making a specific kind of music, like 80s U.S. hardcore worship.

This is the name of a song from a band called The Fix from the ’80s.

What’s happening right now in Baltimore that’s made it such an epicenter of punk and hardcore?

I think it’s just the authenticity of all the bands that come out of here.

For example, End It, you know, who I think is probably up next right now, they just put out that LP, people love that style. People love them, because of how they’re just themselves, unapologetically.

It’s refreshing for people to see bands go up there and just bring themselves to the table, without policing themselves, without all that other stuff.

I think that’s what Baltimore is about: It’s all true integrity, you know what I’m saying?

What other bands in Baltimore should people check out?

When people see Baltimore, they think End It and Jivebomb and all that, and I think that’s awesome. Those bands are f---ing great.

But there’s so much more down here.

There are these kids called Fightback. I think none of them are over the age of 18 or 19. And seeing them is refreshing to me. Because so many of us in Baltimore and have played in bands in hardcore are like in our mid- to late-20s and then in our 30s and stuff. Hardcore is for the youth, and it’s supposed to be by the youth. And it’s awesome to see a band like that emerge and already just be good, you know?

When you play in your first band, it’s supposed to f---ing suck. And those guys do not suck. It’s crazy. It’s bizarre. I’m low-key kind of jealous.

Vicious Order is a crazy band, too. Infiltrators is an awesome band.

There’s Cataclysmic, another D-beat hardcore band. Skällar.

Can you tell me about Spirit World? It’s a DJ set and what you used to call your old house on East 33rd Street?

It was off of East 33rd, but it was on University Place in Oakenshawe. And we would have hardcore shows all the time over there.

It was chill, until they kicked us out for having a Maryland Deathfest battle set matinee, which you could imagine would piss a lot of people off in the daytime.

I’ve been booking shows for like 10, 11 years at this point. And I just never had a name to it at all.

At first, it was just like a thing that I did at Ottobar, just to have a name for my DJ nights. But my fiancée, Abbey, pointed out that I should probably have all my bookings in one place so that it doesn’t get lost in the realm of my ADHD, because that’s what happens, usually.

It’s, for lack of a better word, a booking agency. But it’s not an agency. It’s just me doing this shit off of my iPhone.

Is there anything else I haven’t brought up that you felt was important to mention?

Baltimore is still in a great place for punk and hardcore and all of the arts. And it’s important that, if you can, you should participate in your scene.

Get out there and be involved if you want to see the true colors of Baltimore.

This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.