Sunday, February 26, 2012

some recent, old and older interviews

here some rencent, old and even older interviews published on GOT-A-NERVE!, TRUSIDEMUSIC and NCC-zine. A jump back to a bit of our history where you'll have the chance to read about the likes of COMEBACK KID, ANCHOR, DARKEST HOUR, TO KILL, TERROR, HIMSA, ALL FOR NOTHING, WHALES ISLAND,FINAL PRAYER, LA CRISI (to name but a few). Some of these bands are still around, some other called it a day but all of them contributed with their music, lyrics, shows to hardcore-punk scene of the last ten years.

writers: marcs77, stephan, marco and 
christoph

-English and German language-


SSS - The good measure in crossover

12/31/2011 | To be honest I arranged this interview much in a hurry. I just didn’t want to miss the chance to catch the guys in Italy, check’em out up on stage and let you guys read about this crossover Liverpool-based four-piece. So when I learned they were on the road to Italy for the only Italian gig of their “Questions To The Answers Euro Tour 2011” I got in touch with their press-person but due to my short-time notice I got confirmed for the interview only on the afternoon before the gig. I went home from work, scribbled down a bunch of questions and drove straight to the venue on a cold and very foggy night. Regretfully, not that much people came out tonight but SSS (Short, Sharp, Shock) are no-longer kids and are still in this and working their asses off for the good reasons; and I’m pretty sure they’d be coming back to play even before one person.

Three full-lengths out, a contract with Earache records and many gigs and miles under their belt but for the Scousers it’s still really much of DIY thing and definitely not about business, fame…it’s just about real people, true passion, playing badass music and thrashing out.
I sat down with founder members Foxy (vocals) and Mark (“Magill” on bass) –the band’s line-up is completed by Stu on guitar and Dave on drums- to talk about their latest album (released last June), this thrash-crossover revival thing that’s been going on over the past few years, skateboarding and much more. Read on…

GAN!: now it’s working…

Foxy: Can I hold it?

GAN!: Yes, sure…

GAN!: Let’start this out with an introduction for those who doesn’t know you, or just perhaps heard of your band name. You know the basic info and anything you wanna add…

SSS: Hi, this is Foxy, the vocals for SSS…I’m Mark and I play bass and we’ve got two other guys...two new guys…Stu on guitar and Dave…he’s the drummer.

Foxy: We’ve been going since 2005 when we released our first records, then we got signed with Earache records in 2006 and they re-issued those records. And we have another two LPs on Earache…so in total it’s been three LPs on Earache. We play kinda crossover hardcore, punk, metal…kinda combination of music.

GAN!: You guys have a new record out, which is titled “Problems To The Answers”. How would you compare it with earlier material or the other stuff you have out?

Foxy: I think it’s developed and progressed from the first to the second and now with the third LP it’s definitely a progression of musical influences that are coming into the band. The first record is very Suicidal Tendencies, SOD, Anthrax, Slayer, then on the second there’s a bit of grind, rock n’ roll and now on the third one there’s a lot of grind, a lot of D-beat, a lot of punk…more punk than ever before, and there’s a bit of prog thrown in it as well, prog-rock, new-wave, British heavy metal…it’s quite a combination of materials that sort of goes around…influences from the very each member of the band. It’s not like there is only a hard fast blueprint to SSS…because there isn’t…anything goes…musically and lyrically. So we’re quite open to influences.

GAN!: What about your writing process? How it all goes?

Mark: it’s quite varied…sometimes one of us may write a song at home or the music…brings it to rehearsal…teaches all the parts, and it stays the same…maybe…then at some point Foxy…he’ll work out the lyrics and put the lyrics on top. Then other times is more natural and somehow play a riff at rehearsal and we all start to put our own influences to it straight away and we write the song together. Or maybe two members might write the song. So every combinations really…it’s good way of working because it’s not just one person’s vision so that the LP would be boring and the sound would too predictable. This way it’s more satisfying for every member because every member gets to put their little bit and their own stamp on the sound.

Foxy: Sometimes I may just bring lyrics and explain them to the people because I can’t play any instrument. I may explain my ideas which may spark off musical ideas or sort of write complete songs with complete lyrics and I go in “this is the song” every of each ways.

Mark: Because Foxy doesn’t play an instrument he thinks about it in a different way…like on our first record there’s a song called “The Beast”…and...in the middle section…it kind goes faster and Foxy’s brain he was thinking about a city roller-coaster ride and he was trying to explain how to do certain things how the music should emulate this roller-coaster. Nothing a musician would do. But it’s good. So it’s not a traditional way to write music but it’s quite fun.

GAN!: The next question I wanna ask you is about…let me call it thrash-core, thrash metal revival where there are a lot of bands who seem they’re doing well and getting more and more kids…some bands are on your same record label (Municipal Waste, Gama Bomb, Evile…). How do you live this thing?

Foxy: After the first record we thought “well!” the first record we just made because we didn’t think anyone else would making, apart from Municipal…and another band called Mastery…then we realized everyone else is writing this music and suddenly it’s like “shit in the field” and everyone is doing it so with the first record it was like “everyone is doing it…cool…” but then on the second record we tried of breakaway even more and on the third record breakaway even more again so…to kind keep getting…like a crossover band…that’s what SSS is, because we crossover many different kinds of music. A thrash band is kind of painting yourself into a corner…it’s very self-limited…it’s like AC/DC…it’s the same record within certain pop boundaries. So for us it’s like “well, the kids too understand the music…that’s what it is” because it is basic but as a band…there’s a lot more influences, a bit more stripped down, more gritty than just thrash…you know. We’ve been always thrown in it with all these other bands but there’re not really many crossover bands…you know there have not been many crossover bands since SOD…since DRI…things like that so I think from the record label point of view, Earache’s point of view it was the best way to sort of get the band known. It was give us this label…but we hate it and try stay clear of it as much as possible.

GAN!: Coming back to the title of your latest record. Is there any meaning behind it?

Foxy: There’s like a big picture…there’s like a faraway sort of vision of the answers…how to get to it…we’ve to cross many bridges, we’ve to overcome many problems to get to the utopia, and this is our way of sort of identifying certain problems…it’s very open to interpretation because a lot of the songs…some of them are very specific in terms of will problems…some of them are right down to a personal level and are just axis the grind and again everyone who’s reading in this magazine will probably have their own problems in the their life they have to deal with…to overcome…to better themselves…to a better person. I think in “Problems To The Answers” from SSS there are certain elements…lyrically…that are trying to better yourself as a person and see a better vision of the future. You we’ve got short term long term problems…that’s what it is.

GAN!: On this record you had Mark “Barney” Greenway making a guest appearance. How this thing came about? Did you know the guy already?

Foxy: Yeh…Barney has been a longtime friend of the band…like personally friend to the band so to get him involved with the record…especially on the songs he chose for…like “The Kill Floor”…it’s kind of like humanist…like pro-human, human rights, pro-animals rights and Barney has been like vegetarian since very young. It was something we knew he would be interested in doing and when we asked him he was like more the eager and said “yes, no problems!”. So me and Mark went down to Birmingham with all our recording gear…Napalm Death was practicing down the corridor…we set up…he came out…bang, bang, bang…half-an-hour it was done…lyrics were done. So to get that one on the record…is…it’s like very…like personal. From a personal view point it’s great because we’ve been fans of Napalm Death since their inception. And to have, you know, Barney coming out on record it’s great…I’m really happy.
GAN!: And what about the musical scene in Liverpool?…I mean…if there’s something we can call “musical scene”...Which bands, what/where they play?

Foxy: If had asked us about five years ago there was a lot more going on…five years ago…since then a lot bands sort of died or the members sort of formed other bands but I mean there’s still like a healthy punk hardcore scene…not so much metal…maybe one or two metal bands.

Mark: in sense of metal I don’t know what’s really going on…maybe we haven’t played in Liverpool for about four teen/fifth teen months so maybe there are some local bands…but I don’t know where we fit. I mean when we play shows in Liverpool it’s usually a mixed bill…different bands…which I think is more fun than just play with punk bands or metal bands like a lot of time we play with them…it’s more interesting so I can’t think to one band at the moment really…

Foxy: We can name Liverpool bands that we played with in the past…that are still going…like Who, Blood Value, Down and Outs… I promote gigs but my vision of what I wanna do as a promoter is very small so I don’t really sort of look through the bands…I just promote what I like. I don’t really take chance on other bands anymore while in the past I used to put on a lot of different bands but now because I only do a few gigs in the year I just wanna go right…bang, bang, bang…so a non-answer to a good question hehehe…

GAN!: I’m sure, not counting gigs promotion or other activities you might be up to, you guys hold a job. Does SSS pay the bills?...hehehe…

Mark: hahaha…

Foxy: No, no…SSS is the UK hardest working semi-professional band…that’s what SSS is…and…it’s a hobby, it’s a passion and everyone else has got jobs.

Mark: Just normal…normal people. You know, I go to work, jobs, family, mortgages and then at night we go to the rehearsal room for a few hours, play music. We got jobs like anybody else. Every year for a few weeks we come to Europe and we play around. It’s just a passion. We treat it professionally but it’s not our income.

GAN!: On this tour you played Germany but at the moment I can’t remember where…

SSS: We played Leipzig, Hamburg…there’re two more…(it’s only last week I should remember hehehe…)…check the website…hehehe...

GAN!: How did it go? And what was the reaction of German kids?

Foxy: To the band?

GAN!: Yah!...

Foxy: Gigs were always good…I mean there were always up and downs…great…good…okay. But on this tour they have been all positive…a lot of people…they bought cds, records, we talked and we chat. We played a show in Leipzig and it was like a thousand punks, crusty, goths, ravers all dancing until like ten in the morning after we played and the place was packed and it was cool…you know…these people were watching it and we couldn’t ask for more. It was busy.

Mark: Germany…was really good fun. People were nice. No complains…it was all good. Usually…I mean…we are not like hugely popular bands like maybe some of the other bands we are on the label with…you know…like we can’t sell out every night wherever. When people come a long even if it’s not lot of people they’re usually very excited…a few people very very enthusiastic and into it and who love the music.

Foxy: It’s like the hardcore…the hardcore…it’s…the nucleus is…the people who come down are genuinely into it.

GAN!: And what about Italy? What are your expectations for tonight?

GAN!: Italy…yeah it’s good…I’ve got high hopes. We’ve been to Italy before and those gigs have been cool. The two other bands (You Suck and Spleen Flipper)…it’s good to see old friends like You Suck…it’s good to see them and hopefully it will be cool. We’ll have a good laugh…we’ll play and have fun.

Mark: Nice people…good food…beautiful mountains…good drives…we like Italy.

GAN!: Talking about the pre-internet era. When bands used different means to promote themselves. If you had to compare…the new Vs. the old?

Mark: I think the past is more romantic and obviously I can remember the pre-internet ages…I can remember when I first started playing in a band…everyone was phoning people, get people addresses, write letters and organize the tours that way…our first tour was organized with the telephone and letters and it was really difficult to do. And now it’s easier…social networks can be really good…I mean…maybe at times it’s only advertising…other times it can be…get close to the audience…you know…connect with the people that like the music. Direct connection…direct conversation with these people so it can be really good. And it’s also really really easy now for bands to form, write the songs and put the music out…there are a lot of different sites like Bandcamp and things like that with a demo zone on there…you can write a song and make it and release in one day. You couldn’t do that fifth-teen years ago. But the downside is that there are some bands…everyone can do it and there’s not quality control but I think it’s more of a positive thing. I think if still difficult to find good bands just as when you may have listened to fifty demo tapes and 49 demo tapes was shit…you’ve got one demo tape. Now it’s the same…you go on websites and you can go through 100 bands on a website and when 99 are rubbish and you find one good band. So I think it’s better…it’s not as romantic as obviously put the tape in…read the lyrics…or get a fanzine…but you know I think a few bands are still releasing tapes…fanzines will always be there…in general I do think it’s better but maybe not as nice as in the past.

Foxy: I think it’s probably got people involved in music…you’ve got pro-tools, home recording equipment, internet it’s like more access…it’s very quick, accessible and you can reach a lot of people very quickly so I think that’s positive a way of sort of get the kids involved in music but sometimes I think it’s like stale over substance and you have to do a lot of searching…and even like with the internet which is fast you can probably find out that a band has done a demo, a record and done a tour and it broken up before you even find them on the fastest way to get this information. So I think it’s still after look on the rocks to find the good stuff. The internet…webzine…is the zine of today because people like yourself who write and do review and it’s all up there because it’s not made of paper…it’s not photocopied…it’s still the same DIY sort of format…I think…again…everyone wants to be writer, everyone wants to be in a band, everyone wants to be a journalist…again it’s all about searching through and eventually find the diamonds after searching through the chuff.

GAN!: Earlier this afternoon I was checking the web and I found a blog…I can remember the name…where there was your latest record up for free download. Among the comments there was one signed SSS…stating “even though we appreciate the interest in SSS it’s still annoying when the record is given away for free. A sign of the time we’re well aware of. Here’s the link to buy direct from ourselves”… I suppose it was someone of you, right?

Foxy: It was probably me who wrote it.

GAN!: As stated by you earlier on with internet everything is more accessible but what’s your personal view on illegal downloading?

Foxy: It’s good in part…probably when I wrote on that website the problem was that was up in the first week the record was released…

Mark: it was actually on the internet before the album came out which I think it’s difficult, you know…when you spend so long making an album…spend a lot of money making an album…and it’s everywhere before being available…it’s difficult…personally I don’t really care about illegal downloading because we don’t really make any money off the band anyway…morally I think it’s wrong but I’ve done it myself so I can’t really complain when someone does it. But in ten second you can download any albums…CD quality albums…it’s not quite right…especially if you’re a professional and you know you really need that money…you just need that money coming in to survive as a band then they probably feel more passionate about it. It’s not quite right about how easy you get this music.

Foxy: I think it sort of need to be regulated to a certain degree…itune is doing it beautifully but the illegal…I download…not just music…but TV, movies and I’m just as guilty as everyone else…but I think this is sort of things are the very new, the very now…I think over time the screw will be tightened and the whole industry will sort of regulate…internet providers checking what you’re downloading…then it throws up all kind of questions like big brother sort of thing…people watching and all regulations…you know…freedom of choice…freedom of speech…which this doesn’t really exist…let’s face it…freedom of speech this doesn’t exist. I think in a contest over time things will get tighten and these websites will be knocked off. But again I can’t really say anything because I’m just as guilty as everyone else. And if you are in a professional band maybe you want people come to your gigs more…maybe you want see people buying your t-shirts more…because you can’t download a t-shirt…download a piece of fabric…you can’t download the true record…the true lyrics so for the purest…I think people will always buy records…for the people who just wanna listen to something very quickly…bang, bang, bang…I think well you can do that but I don’t think you get the true feeling of the music…it’s like opening your Christmas presents in October…what’s the point of that? You wanna wait when the record comes out and you wanna go down at the record shop and you wanna buy the record on the day…you wanna stand in the line and just buy the record…you know…I think the people who will do that get the most out of a record.

GAN!: Talking about skateboarding some of the songs of your previous records were connected professional skateboarders…what’s the connection between SSS and skateboarding world?

Foxy: there was a couple “Sk8+Destroy” with Geoff Rowley, “Hammerhead” with Christian Hosoi and “Ride the best…fuck the rest” is about a piece of skateboard equipment…so…there’s a lot of connection between SSS and skateboarding…this purely through myself. I started as a kid and I’m still doing it now…and they’re people I’ve met so those songs “Sk8+Destroy” with Geoff and “Hammerhead” with Christian and “Ride the best…” which is part of my youth…part of me…part of now. I think skateboarding and music has always taken me just a little bit further away from the house…it’s always been a connection with people…skating at everyone parks…people are making a lot of DIY parks…you know…forming the concrete themselves…make it themselves…the same with music it’s both through going hand in hand…skateboarding and music…I mean…I’m here in Italy tonight because of music…you know…I’ve been to the other side of the world because of skate boarding…it’s not a specific park…it’s always travelling…experiencing…broadening your mind…new people…new foods…new skate-parks…new music…new languages…that’s for me what that connection is.

GAN!: This tour is gonna end pretty soon and you guys will be back to your daily life but in terms of band’s plans what’s up next for SSS?

Mark: Well, we got two new guys in the band so I think at some point we can start make some music and see how music sounds with two new people playing it. I’ve got my own new ideas already so…yeh I think in the new year…January we’ll probably start to write new songs and then at some point next year we’re gonna try and tour the US so hopefully we get to have an American visit and…we’re going to do an EP…a free EP…just to introduce the two new guys and write the new record.

GAN!: Will the record be out again through Earache records?

Foxy: Er…

GAN!: Considering our web zine is read both by a good base Germans and Italians (of course, we have Europeans and other parts of the world readers too). Do you wanna add something for our readers?

Foxy: the “Problems To The Answers tour” has been really good we’ve come to eleven different countries…all of the gigs have been really good…you know…everyone has got a laugh…we’ve been enjoying playing…seeing new people…we’re in Italy tonight hopefully it’s gonna be good. See you next time in 2012.

GAN!: Okay thank you very much.

Check: facebook.com/pages/SSS/25566333929 earache.com

Posted by: marcs77

FINAL PRAYER - On the new EP and...

12/17/2011 | Berlin’s finest hardcorers FINAL PRAYER followed-up to their last full-length “Filling The Void” with 3 tracks EP (which includes 2 brand new tracks and a cover) available on digital form through Acuity music / Let It Burn records, and as 7” vinyl on Demons Run Damok. “Berlin” is the title of this EP and kinda embodies the strong and deep bonds the guys have with this fast growing/changing city and all good/bad shit that come along with process.
Awaiting a new lengthy effort, we caught up with them to talk about what they’ve been up to since our last interview, which dates 2008, the new EP, being active and other things I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading about.

GAN!: Hi, how you guys are doing?

FP: Hey, it's been a while, but we're still doing good. I think the last interview we did for Got A Nerve was some years ago. A lot of things happened since then. We played a lot of shows, many of them at places we've never been before, and we have been working hard to write some new songs.
Beside that the perhaps most important shift was that our bass player Felix has left the band due to personal reasons. It was the first lineup-change for Final Prayer in seven years and thus not easy for everyone involved. He's now living with his family in Birmingham. If you're a geezer and want to do a Oi-punk-band, hit him up!
In exchange for Felix, Dennis Sommer of former Black Friday '29 has joined the band. He's a longtime friend of the band and a great musician. We're looking forward to play our first shows together with him.

GAN!: After three years since the release of “Filling The Void” FINAL PRAYER is now out with a new EP. Can you please give a bit of a low-down on how things moved for your band from the release of your sophomore effort to today?

FP: Things went very well. The “Filling The Void” got great attention and we were able to promote the record with a lot of shows and tours. We made a big step forward and could play many places we haven't been before. We played south-west Europe with Walls Of Jericho, eastern Europe twice and dozens of shows in between. It was a great time for us and we made a lot of good experiences.
On the other hand we were a bit lazy when it came down to writing new songs. We already wrote some stuff earlier, but weren't satisfied with the result and therefore started again from scratch. All in all I would say it took us some time to define and try out where we wanted to go with our next album. The result of this process was the “Berlin” EP, with which we're really happy.

GAN!: The new record is titled “Berlin”, the city you guys hail from. How has living in this city influenced you as human being and musicians?

FP: I think this city has a deep influence on us personally and music wise. It's one of the fastest changing cities in Europe with a very eventful history, lots of cultural and sub-cultural events and tons of shows. It offers us so many things and has got a very special atmosphere, that you can hardly find anywhere else in Germany. That's great on the one hand, but on the other hand you can at the same time see many contrasts. Gentrification is for example one point. Felix already talked about it in our last interview we did with you some years ago. It seems like an old issue, but it's now more up to date than ever. The whole city is turning into a hipster party town and the people responsible for this process of course like it, because they make money out of it. But on the other hand it drives many people of out the city because the cost of living is steadily increasing. That has resulted in lot of protests against gentrification processes. This and all the other historic struggles, revolts and protests in this city always produced people with great ideas, which inspired us to the idea of the concept of our EP.

GAN!: From what I’ve learned off your press-kit the third track “Berlin” is a cover from a German band called Ideal's Neue Deutsche Welle. For those not in the known (like me…) can you please introduce this band and tell us how did you come up with the idea to record this tune?

FP: Ideal is a Berlin based band from the early 80s and was part of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement. NDW is a genre of German music originally derived from punk rock and New Wave music. In the beginning NDW was a small thing, but it quickly developed into an original and distinct style and became mainstream.
One of the most famous songs of Ideal was “Berlin”, a song with which most of us grew up with. We really liked it and also liked the idea to reinterpret it in our style. Our drummer came up with the idea when we were on the “Berlin Angst Tour” with our friends “War From A Harlots Mouth”. That was also the reason why Nico, the singer of WFAHM was involved from the start. We had the song already recorded, when Bernd of the famous “Beatsteaks” got on board and helped us with his characteristic voice. We're really happy with the result and the fact that we managed to get people from different musical backgrounds involved into this project.

GAN!: What’s the concept behind your cover artwork and who’s the artist that made it?

FP: The artwork was done by Vuki. He's a really nice and talented guy and a good friend of us. He already worked for several German bands like Deliver, Teamkiller, Crisis Never Ends etc… When we talked to him the first time, we told him that we'd like to have a very simple, rough and striking look. The idea was, to show what we really like about our hometown beside all the nice spots, bars and shows - the diversity of thoughts, a free spirit or whatever you want to call it what is all around in this city.
After a long discussion how the artwork could look like, someone came up with the idea to put fragments of faces from people of different eras of Berlin together to a new face. Our Idea was to point out to the ideas and the actions of these people, which were products of a certain time and context. We used the faces of key figures of the early workers movement, the anti-fascist resistance under Hitler, the student uprisings in the 1970s, and from current attempts to reclaim the city from becoming another boring hipster town. We didn't want to evaluate or glorify what they did. And some of them were in their time more or less unknown, some of them became unknown over time. But every name has a story to it, which had an impact on how Berlin as a city is today and on what we are today. This is what the “new” face, which consists of different fragments, on the artwork stands for and that's what we wanted to express with this EP. We're very happy with the result and think that Vuki did a great job.

GAN!: The last record was out through GSR music but now you moved to Let It Burn records. What led to this change?

FP: Hmm, that's not quite true. When we first had the idea to release an EP, we only wanted to release it on vinyl as a seven-inch. For that we contacted Demons Run Amok, who already did the LP-version of the “Filling The Void” album. Later, Chris came up with the idea to release the EP digitally on his new label “Acuity Music”, too. For us it was worth to give it a shot and we learned a lot about distributing music online. We're very happy with the result and especially all the effort Chris put into this release, but this was only an EP and we're so far not sure where we will release the next album. This question will hopefully be clarified within the next weeks.

GAN!: During my last interview you had the chance to get your view on the problem of racism straight. How do you think kids react to the efforts of those trying to offer more than music and entertainment?

FP: I'm not quite sure about this. Mostly I think that the kids just get bored when you talk about stuff on stage. Anti-fascist announcements are always well received, but everything more than “fuck the fascist scum” seems too much for most of the people. Many like the image of bands with a message, or maybe the corresponding shirt prints, but on shows they just want to be entertained and don't want to listen to political rants about everyday problems.
The other thing is that many bands seem to have adapted to this attitude of the audience. There only a very few bands with a real message, or maybe better with their own message. In the current hardcore-scene it seems to be more important to rub nobody up the wrong way and earn your claps for your standard anti-fascist announcement. That doesn't mean it's wrong to say something against fascism, especially in times when right wing parties are gaining ground all over Europe. But it's no help to anyone if words become buzzwords.

GAN!: I understand (and hope) this new EP to be kind of an appetizer for more stuff to come in the future. Did you guys write other tracks and plan to release them anytime soon?

FP: It's been quite a while since we released the “Filling The Void” album and due to some personal changes in the band and the circumstance that Felix had to leave the band, things took more time than we expected.
With some great songs already written and the good experiences we made with the Alcatraz Split, which was a kind of album-teaser, too, we wanted to release at least some songs previous to our new LP in the format of the “Berlin” EP.
Now things have evolved and we're almost done with the songwriting for the upcoming album. We will hit the studio in January and record about 10-12 new songs which will hopefully be released this spring.

GAN!: In closure of the last interview you stated “get active!” Do you wanna suggest some practical ways to get active for the younger kids who perhaps have just got involved with hardcore and are now more attracted to loud music and sheer adrenaline you feel at shows?

FP: I was always impressed by all the different activities within the hardcore-scene. It might sound cliched, but it always felt more like family than a professional show or even business. Everyone was involved, cooked, helped at the entrance, housed the bands or whatever. All these are things, which enrich the scene and everyone can do. But I think Felix meant it more generally and of course outside the scene, too. If being into Hardcore means shutting yourself off from the “real” world, then that's not a development I'd consider to be a positive one. While I totally agree with the HC catchphrase “can't change the world, but you can change yourself”, changing yourself usually happens in the context of interacting with other people, exchanging ideas etc... And there's so many more ideas to be explored outside the scene, that I think it is important not to stay in your little HC comfort zone or bubble.

GAN!: A bunch of bands from Berlin you would like to suggest us checking out?

FP: Of course, there are some great ones! First of all our buddies “War From A Harlots Mouth”, which you most likely already know. Other ones are Punishable Act, At Daggers Drawn, The Ocean, Nothing etc... You can check most of them yearly at the “Berlin Hardcore Fest” in Berlin.

GAN!: That’s really it. Thanks a lot for taking the time. Wanna add something?

FP: Within the tradition of our last interview: Stay active!

Check: facebook.com/finalprayer facebook.com/acuitymusic

Posted by: marcs77

DARKEST HOUR - Takes The Human Romance on tour

12/03/2011 | DARKEST HOUR are in Italy tonight on this tour which sees on the bill Devil Driver, Bring Me The Horizon and metal powerhouse Machine Head as headliner. The band hailing from Washington D.C. has really come a long way since their inception in 1995 making themselves well known among both the hardcore punk and metal scene, this also as a natural consequence of their musical evolution from the more Earth Crisis darker and heavy hardcore metal of the 1996’s “The Misanthrope” EP through the faster more distinct melting mix of thrash and Swedish melodic death sounds of their Victory rec. 2000’s full-length debut “The Mark Of The Judas” to the more recent records (the latest “The Human Romance released earlier this year) where ample doses of musical complexity and melody marked the sound of the quintet.
But let’s cut this short (you can find tons of additional info on the net) so that you can read on what a very relaxed and chatty Mike Schleibaum (guitar and founder member) had to say during this half-an-hour long conversation we had before he had to go ahead gearing himself up for the sound-check and other stuff the musician had to deal with before getting up on stage.

GAN!: Hey Mike what’s up?

MS: Great…just woke up…

MS: Nice…nice phone recorder…

GAN!: hehehe yeah…it works well…

GAN!: Okay the first question I wanna ask you is about this tour…how’s this going? And what’s band who’s getting the crowd crazier every night?

MS: Well, I mean this’s a Machine Head tour, or Machine fucking Head, which is how they want people to call them and it’s definitely there tour…you know…we’re really excited to be on it and what I’d like to highlight first is that’s a totally different world…like, it seems like we were in the underground all this year because when you play a tour like this…this is rock n roll!…you know…the way it’s set up, the way it’s organized. But at the same time I like it because you’re putting a up show on kind of different level so…I mean…I really wished we weren’t this first so we could do a little bit more…but it’s been great…a good mix of people. Mainly Machine Head fans you know…but they are very open minded…will see tonight like you know people don’t always know who the band is but they’re always having a good time when the show is happening and all we can hope is that they’ll go home and think…let me check the Darkest Hour records, because I think you kike metal and you check it out open minded you’ll probably get something on one the records because they’re very different albums.

GAN!: Yeah I agree with that…

GAN!: Do you find it awkward to open a bill featuring the likes of Machine Head and Devil Driver?

MS: Difficult but also easier…because we have all the alcohol we could need, we are done at 7 o-clock at night, we have a huge concert and party hard every night, really good catering so we can’t really complaints.

GAN!: With the passing of years I’m sure your set-list grows bigger and bigger. And I’m sure there will be always the kid expecting a particular song. How do you decide which songs to include or not?

MS: Well…we used to, for a long time, write the set-list and that was it because we knew only those songs but now on this tour we knew way more songs than ever and I think the band can play like 15 or 16…you know…which is a pretty long set but we…you know, we’ve been changing it up. Tonight in Italy you’re gonna see like a really interesting set because on this tour we’re kind of just throwing in together the songs so that if you never heard the Darkest Hour and maybe you’re down on Machine Head you’ll like. So it’s like a lot of newer stuff…which is interesting to know…we play the older ones (like The Sadist Nation, With A Thousand Words…) and those goes over good but some of the newer stuff people don’t even know they’re kind of going over better…so it’s a pretty sweet set and we’ve been changing it every night…which is different. I mean we keep things like the opener and the closer…but, this is the first tour where we’d be like what’s the set tonight?…what’s the set tonight?...you know…and I think that because have done that now it would be more or like that in the future.

GAN! “The Human Romance” is your latest record. How this embodies DARKEST HOUR year 2011?

MS: Well, I’m really proud of it in the sense that’s real close. Means me artistically there’s like a couple of things that I’d go and I’d wanna do not differently but maybe in the edition two and I think with the next record would be our chance to do that and you always feel like that…I mean…I feel that way after every record but it’s always hard when you work with a producer you have kind of let yourself go to let that person take control and make our record so you know Peter had his own stamp as a producer as how the record would sound like too so I think that in the end it’s still like it’s one of my favourite Darkest Hour records, you know, and musically it’s a good spark because we kind of open up to where it’s still thrash metal but now we can do a lot of different stuff and I think that’s where we are heading…like it means to be melodic and metal. I can’t say it’s the same because we’re getting enough flunk for thrash stuff from people who don’t like thrash sounds or similar. So, we’re taking it to the next direction which is always the hardest thing to figure out but I like where we went, you know…

GAN!: This time around you recorded with Soilwork’s Peter. How has the time in studio with this guy been? Do you think he managed to bring something to your sound?

MS: Oh yah…it was cool…I can say that…it was definitely interesting in the sense that we’re an old band now and we have a lot of records so, we have a lot of set opinions about what and whatever…and I think he was really good. I mean “if he had come in like…I’m in control and I’m going to take this over” then it would been real bad…you know…but it was good…we needed that…we needed like a referee and he did that really good. And he also got the guitars sound so fucking badass…me and Mike were like he’s got his shit!!!

GAN!: Do you guys prefer more the studio time or the life on the road?

MS: Everybody would say something different where ever they are mentally. I mean… I think that when I was younger I enjoyed go to different cities every night and fucking just get crazy, you know…and now that I’m older and I’ve done that for a very really long time I’ve kind of intellectual need that goes into making records so it’s different things…but, you know, there’s still a part in me that takes the savage and, you know…can’t wait…you know…to fucking party the night…we’re in Italy…like last night we got fucking hammered. It’s sort of “love – have” relationship but I can’t say which one I like better. A lot of my friends who record records are like “why the fuck do you like touring” or the ones who record records say “I fucking hate recording records”…you know…I like both for different reasons.

GAN!: And how do you think kids are reacting to the new stuff live?

MS: Well, it’s hard to tell because on this tour it’s like the people don’t really know who the band is but it’s cool because it’s obvious the newer songs stick out…they have a different sound…that I think maybe translate more the people now. Because some of the song are old. Some of the songs…I don’t know all of these kids ages are so, if you like Bring Me The Horizon and you’re 15 then you weren’t born when our first record came out…but it’s kind of natural…but people seem to like it…you know, we’ll tonight in Italy but I mean, judging from the way the everybody is partying in the line out there the show is gonna be good too.

GAN!: Perhaps you’ll get the chance to check better when you come on your own headline tour…

MS: Maybe, you never really know, you can’t always gauge the impact…because, you know…here in Europe it’s like we don’t know the next time we’re gonna be in Milan.

GAN!: Let’s go back to 1994/95, the years where the band started out. You were in the band then.

MS: Yeah, me…we were a band that it was like kind of heavy hardcore metal band and the singer kind of was an asshole so we kicked him out and we didn’t have a singer. I was trying to get like one of my friends in the band…John…we’re were always hanging out and everything and I remember we were like “Do you can kind of fucking scream like a maniac?”...and he was like “yeaaahhhh!!!” so I turned up the fucking stereo in the car and put a pillow over his face and he was…(n.o.w: some strange noises) and that was how he was tried out…

GAN!: How was the Washington DC scene back then?

MS: It was awesome. The was this place called “The Chamber Of Sound” and all these metal and hardcore bands. There were Earth Crisis, Strife, Snapcase…pretty much the 90’s metal hardcore movement started on the East Coast and Darkest Hour was around in the middle to the end of it. And the Victory era rolled through. And, I mean, it was just a really cool and weird time but at the same time we had discords as well. Guys playing for free in D.C. and you could go see them. There was an all scene and it was a really cool place. Nowadays, there’s the internet that has made everything a bit more leveled and there isn’t so much of a scene. But back then there wasn’t internet.

GAN!: Talking again about your beginnings. I heard your early stuff like “The Misanthrope” EP…

MS: You got?

GAN!: yes…and your sound was really influenced by Earth Crisis and it was really more metal…gloomy…

MS: yes, yes…

GAN!: When did you get in your sound Swedish metal influences?

GAN!: I would say it was like around 1997. Because what happened was that we liked American metal bands…I mean I always loved metal bands even foreigners…Pantera, Van Halen, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, so Iron Maiden, you know…Judas Priest…all that shit. And then I heard…this record called “The Jester Race” by In Flames and I was like “man this’s fucking awesome…crazy!” and then somebody introduced me to At The Gates…their “Slaughter Of The Soul” came out and I was like “what a fuck!” it was dark, it was pissed and everything and then at the same time someone shown me Entombed…what are these different Swedens doing?...and there was Dismember, Hypocrisy…then The Haunted became a band because At The Gates broke up and you know Dark Tranquility…I was just kind of discovering them. So it was around 1997 when our sound…we kind of, you know…put together “The Mark Of The Judas” and was kind of a statement…it was kind like that’s the sound of the band.
GAN!: I got the chance to check you guys out the first time on the first edition of a festival…a summer festival…here in Milan called “Rock In Idro”…

MS: Oh yah…
GAN!: and you guys were playing on the second stage, the “Rock Sound stage” and what impressed really much me was your approach which was very hardcore…I mean you were playing Swedish influenced metal…but…

MS: But we are not from Sweden hehe…and I think if you see us now I think we got a little bit more metal…

GAN!: But I think you managed to keep the same attitude…

MS: Yeah definitely…everything is the definitely the same…you see, I mean there has been always our approach and I think that’s coming from the world I described earlier and that’s the way the band his.

GAN!: I’m sure you happen to read review or heard kids using your band as comparison to describe the sound of some young band. How do you feel in these cases?

MS: I mean for me it’s like…that’s pretty awesome because to like do something in way where you influence someone to sound that way it’s kind like a honour in the sense to know that you made kind of an impact on music…like people are listening…you know, because when people listen in music, they do the next thing, which is imitate. Almost exactly right away, you know you watch the soon as people start listening to this shit then they start copying. And when this happens…well…that’s awesome because you know you got people hot and you did something that people like. You know, so we enjoy it…I love when we go on tour and meet like super old crusty guys…you know…they’re like “I got into metal for you. You guys got your shit” and then at the same time you are on tour with new young bands and that everybody loves and their like “hey a like your band” and that’s cool because it’s cool that young kids like it. You know, it’s supposed to be timeless but if it’s only a bunch of old pissed off people that like it then it’s not reaching anybody new.

GAN!: I watched a clip of the track “Savor The Kill” off the last record. What’s the concept behind this and who directed it?

MS: Ah…have you seen the other ones “Love As Weapon” and “Your Everyday Disaster”?

GAN!: Yah, yah..

MS: I think this one is more like the brainchild of John the singer. Okay? And there wasn’t exactly a concept that was happening in the video. It was John’s idea and it was kind of retranslated by the director. I think every time we do a music video it’s kind of that. Like you can have an idea but your idea is gonna be retranslated by the guy that’s making the video. And it was done in Hollywood…with a bunch kind of slick, kind of Hollywood dudes so I think that their interpretation of rock…I don’t know…distorted the idea…I mean, and made it kind of loose…you know, but I think if John were doing the interview he would say that like basically the concept of the video is…the two girls represent two sides of human nature, you know…and the wolf represents…you know, I guess his interpretation of human instinct, which is aggressive. I guess which he was trying to say. And I would leave it like that. That’s kind of the idea. Other, there’s the chicks fighting in the end hehehe…

GAN!: How do you guys normally spend your time in between shows?

MS: As soon as I’m done with this interview I’m gonna go change the strings of my guitar and try to play as long as I can before we have to set up. So if I can chose I would spend my day walking around the city, seeing sights, playing some guitar, you know…and hopefully getting everything done in time we have to start the show. If I can do all those things in one day well that’s pretty awesome.

GAN!: Ahah…but it doesn’t happen so often…

MS: Nooo…like today we woke up late and the show is pretty early…

GAN!: Have you recently read a book or watched a movie worth mentioning?

MS: We’ve been watching the Star Trek movies from one to the end and I think we’re gonna watch Indiana Jones movies next, Jurassic Park I think we watched. It’s really bad movies. We watch bad movies.

GAN!: Classic Blockbuster shit…

MS: Basically classic…hehe…

GAN!: You guys ended your deal with Victory and are now on E1 -a label well known among the hip-hop afecionados but with the likes of Hatebreed, Chimaria, Trowdown in its roster now, and Century Media here in Europe. What do you think of the work they are doing to support your band?
MS: Well, I mean things have changed a lot…just because the way the music industry was when we started this band. But I would say that…the thing is that most labels do the same things. So I think in the end we have been lucky to have had our experience on Victory, you know, when we were younger…and be able at least to have a second life somewhere else you know, but it’s not like they were the worst record label in the world. I mean we have to be realistic like most record labels don’t always do so much for bands but you do at the same time see bands like Machine Head surviving and going on tour with a lots of production so somebody is still figuring it out how to do it, you know…

GAN!: You guys are well in your thirties now.

MS: Almost middle thirties yah…

GAN!: How has your view of the world and approach to daily life changed since you were teenagers?

MS: Well, when we were kids we would do on tour we would do all different shit. Now we’re older and we have kids, the internet…you’re skyping your emails with everybody all of the time. Just the whole world changed so much since…we have been doing the band all time. I mean I definitely still feel lucky to be able to do this and try to survive. So in the end it’s changed but I’m thankful it’s not changed so much…

GAN!: I didn’t prepare this in advance. But you’re a guitar player and I wanted to ask you something that may be of some interest to the guitar geeks. What gears you normally use while recording and while on tour? Is it the same gears?

MS: I mean on the records we change up a lot. But whatever we are using on tour is basically a pretty good generalization of the stuff we use on the records. We use 5150 HVH III heads by Fender (an Eddy Van Halen company in America which makes heads and cabins). Recently I switched to an AXE FX effects processor…it’s what Machine Head is using also. The future is here. That’s awesome. I use the AXE FX and I mean we play first and we have almost no time to set up our shit and it sounds the same…sounds badass…and Jackson guitars with EMG pick-ups and that’s a big factor in how the shit sounds.

GAN!: What’s up next for DARKEST HOUR?

MS: We’re going to the US with Machine Head, we’re going to Philippine, we’re going to come back to Europe and do some of the metal festivals this summer. So I really hope we can just keep coming back on this side of the world where people…where everybody can see us and you know, we love Europe…we’d be around.

GAN! Ok that’s it for me.

MS: Ah…all?

GAN!: Yes, thank you for taking the time. It’s been a pleasure…

Check: darkesthour.info centurymedia.com

Posted by: marcs77

UNEARTH - Back to the more heavier skull-smashing shit

10/23/2011 | If you had the chance to travel back in time to the end of 90’s / early 2000 you would witness the bird of new musical movement that taking its clues off the Gothenburg’s sound and more muscular hardcore was ready to set the modern metal scene (and part of hardcore either) on fire in the years to come. One of the many bands who were struggling to get their music out to the kids was Massachusetts based UNEARTH, who started out in 1998.
2011’s Unearth is one of the most talked about and respected acts around spurted out of that scene and this last summer released their fifth full-length studio record entitled “Darkness In The Light” through Metal Blade records. The new album is getting high praise from press and kids alike. We caught up with Buz (guitar) to talk about this and much more.

GAN!: How’s all in life?

Buz: all is well. No complaints.

GAN!: You guys have been very recently in Europe for the European leg of Hell On Earth tour (the tour bill was completed by Evergreen Terrace, Bane and Casey Jones). How did this go?

Buz: this was a fun tour !!! fans came out and raged the shows and we got to have some good hangs with everyone on the tour.

GAN!: If I’m not wrong this was not your first time on this famed tour. If you had to compare your own headliner tours with this tour / package festivals, what would you prefer the most?

Buz: I actually prefer festivals. Bigger crowds with a festival mentality is easier to do than a headline show. Not as much pressure.

GAN!: Let’s talk a bit about the new album “Darkness in the light”. Your fifth. How this embodies Unearth year 2011?

Buz: it’s just the next step in our musical progression. It’s tight and muscular but still fun.

GAN!: Can you shed some light on the lyrical content, any hidden meaning…?

Buz: nah, just stories about life, pain, politics, weird dreams and drinking beer.

GAN!: On the internet I read more than a few raving reviews about your new record. How do you feel when you read these?

Buz: It’s always nice to read praise for something we worked hard on. For me I like to read bad reviews as long as they are well thought out and not just some troll trying to bash us for no reason.

GAN!: And I also noticed the record rocked up in the ranks of Billboard top charts. In 2011 do you think these charts still resemble actual popularity of a band?

Buz: yes, but not as much as a few years ago. It is one indicator of many to gauge popularity. Go to the bands show and see if the kids are going bananas for them. That’s how I see it. How many people can you get in the building.

GAN!: For the music geeks. What are the gears you normally use while on tour or during recordings?

Buz: for DIL I used peavey 5150 with a mesa 4x12 and a ESP NT7 guitar. I use pretty much the same thing on tour.

GAN!: If you don’t mind I’d like to talk about Derek Kerswill departure. I know you faced other changes behind the drumkit. Did this last change affect band chemistry in any way?

Buz: somewhat. We did all the preproduction for the record with a drum program. This actually made the process much more efficient and we could do more things with arrangements with the push of a button.

GAN!: You guys released your album on different packages and one of them includes the “Unearth Beer Bong”. Who come up with this idea?

Buz: I think someone at MB came up with that. It was a great idea since our live show has become synonymous with ripping beerbongs on stage.

GAN!: You guys have been with Metalblade for more than a few years now. How’s your relationship with the label?

Buz: great. MB is one of the most legit labels out there. Brian Slagel has been in it for his love of metal for a very long time.

GAN!: While on subject of Metalblade, what advice would you give bands that want to get Brian’s attention?

Buz: do something original and have good songs. If it’s good you will be found.

GAN!: You guys have been announced to be the headliners of the “Extreme The Dojo” (Every Time I Die and The Acacia Strain will open) tour in Japan this October. How do you feel to head over Japan in a moment where the country is still battling with effects earthquake had on their economy and life? How important can be music for these kids?

Buz: music for most is a great way to escape your problems if only for a little while. This tour is gonna be rad !! it’s a hell of a package !!!

GAN!: Who are the guys in Unearth when they’re not playing on a stage or holed up in recording studio?

Buz: I just hang at home with my wife and daughter. get together with friends and family on the weekends and party. Pretty simple.

GAN!: After thirteen years around, what are the new goals which keep Unearth going?

Buz: just trying to stay alive. It’s amazing to me that we are still here and I’m extremely thankful for that.

GAN!: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Any shout outs?

Buz: thanks for the coverage. Shout out to our new record DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT out now on Metalblade records.

Check: unearth.tv metalblade.com

Posted by: marcs77

ANCHOR - A call to contemplation, critical thought and action

09/17/2011 | ANCHOR is a hardcore-punk band hailing from Goteborg Sweden and since its inception somewhere before 2007 the vegan-straight edge five-some didn’t lost a second to make the world all aware of what they stand up for channeling their views through an angry blend of hardcore music and sweat soaked shows played in the more varied venues (be them the famous Fluff fest or a vegan squat in Milan).
Early this year the Scandinavian joined the ranks of LET IT BURN records with the plan to release their sophomore full-length title “Recovery”.
The new record is out since a few months now and we caught up with Matte (guitar).


GAN!: Hallo! This is GAN! webzine. What’s up? And who’s gonna reply this interview?

MATTE: Yo, I'm Mattias, I play guitar in Anchor.

GAN!: If my memory doesn’t play tricks you guys are around since before 2007, right? For those not in the know, can you introduce all band members and give us a low-down on band history thus far?

MATTE: That's correct. We're Mattias, Ulf, Calle, Fredrik and Claes. We've released two LP's, a bunch of EP's and some other stuff. We've toured Europe and North America a few times with bands we admire.

GAN!: Let’s jump straight to 2011. Last month you guys released your sophomore full-length “Recovery”. How do you guys feel about this new release?

MATTE: Stoked of course. Even though I have to admit I haven't listened to the record since we got the final mix in March. It's definitely our best record yet though, no doubt.

GAN!: How do you come up with an Anchor song? What do you laid down first –lyrics/riffs?

MATTE: Most of "Recovery" first came to life in my couch. A riff or two, a basic idea came to me, I then brought it to band practice where I showed the idea to the others and we took it from there collectively. Most of the time what happened was the Ulf had some interesting input on the songs. Lastly me, Claes and Calle sorted out the vocal arrangements.

GAN!: In your view, how does your new record fits among the other releases? And do you think it manages to best embody what ANCHOR year 2011 are all about?

MATTE: Yes, I think it gives the listener a pretty good idea of where we are right now. My ambition with "Recovery" was to make it differ quite a bit from our previous releases, at the same time I also wanted to hold on to the "Anchor-characteristics". I'd like to think we succeeded in doing so.

GAN!: Does the title “Recovery” have any deeper meaning?

MATTE: I'm sure it means different things depending on which one of us you ask. A lot of things in this world need to be fixed. Look around and look inside. To me the title is a call to contemplation, critical thought and action.

GAN!: Lyrically, what themes you wanna address?

MATTE: It's the same old really.

GAN!: The new album is out on Let It Burn records, how did you get hooked up with them and how do you think they are supporting your band?

MATTE: Chris got what at the time was our latest recording, the “Relations of violence” 7", he liked it and got in touch. We're of course very happy to work with such a hardworking, caliber label. It's inspiring to see the amount of time and effort he puts into promoting our band.

GAN!: Sweden seems like to be a very hotbed for metal and hardcore bands. Years ago I heard something about funds dealt out by your government to support young bands moving their first steps in the music scene. Was this all true?

MATTE: Yes, there's funds you can apply for to have parts of your monthly practicespace-rent covered but it's really not a lot of money.

GAN!: Do you think hardcore bands can support themselves only through constant touring and merch sold at shows?

MATTE: Yes, but it's very rare. We're very far from it.

GAN!: What’s the Gothenburg scene like these days? Any bands worth checking out?

MATTE: I'm actually the only one in the band living in Gothenburg. I like it here though. It's a beautiful place to live and a lot of cool things happen. One of my favourite bands lately is Gamla pengar. They're awesome!

GAN!: You guys are well outspoken about your vegan sXe ethics. What being a sXe veg-etari-an individual means to you?

MATTE: Yes. Our individual stories probably differ a bit from each other as we come from different geographical places and social backgrounds. I personally come from a broken home. A lot of people in my family and near environment were alcoholics or chemically addicted. I guess I felt subconsciously that I needed to be a counter reaction to all of that. As I've grown older the idea of sober living have grown with me and have come to be about way more than just self-preservation. Same thing with veganism really. I turned vegan 13 years ago and at that time it was all about the animal rights-aspect for me. It has since then come to be about so much more; environmental- and health-reasons for example.

GAN!: I’m pretty sure you’re road testing your new stuff. How do kids react to it on live dimension?

MATTE: It's been working out fine and especially towards the end of the tour when the record had been out for a while. I'm looking forward to playing more songs from the new record and see people connect to them.

GAN!: Any cool stories related to your last ride on the road that you wanna share?

MATTE: The van must have broken down a thousand times or so. We were stranded in Bilbao for a week without anywhere to stay. A drunk dude on a moped hit our parked rental car in Vigo and a million other things but I'm still too traumatized to wanna talk about it. We had quite a few awesome shows though. Some of the best we've ever done so I guess it evens out.

GAN!: What’s up next for Anchor?

MATTE: We're touring Europe with Trial and Run With The Hunted in September/October. Stoked about that of course. We've got a bunch of Sweden-shows lined-up and our plan is to do what we call a "far-away-tour" in early 2012. Tons of things coming up.

GAN!: Yep, time to close this up. Anything to add?

MATTE: Be nice.

Check: facebook.com/anchorofficial letitburnrecords.com

Posted by: marcs77

COMEBACK KID Truly passionate about what we do…

09/03/2011 | Canada, Winnipeg based, hardcore heavyweight COMEBACK KID have recently blazed their way across Europe on a two week headlining tour.
GAN! caught up with the guys at Milan gig last 23 Aug. The venue of the gig was the Magnolia circolo located nearby Milan’s airport. On a hot late afternoon, with the background rumor of planes landing, I seated down with a relaxed and very talkative Jeremy (guitar) and recorded what he had to say about their tour, latest record “Symptoms+Cures”, writing new stuff, some insight into the band, hardcore and much more. Take a look…
My personal thanks go out to Dagmar @ gordeonmusic and Tanner (tour manager) for helping out and to Emanuela Giurano @ Karmaphoto for the pictures.

GAN!: Hey how’s all in life and this tour going?

Jeremy: aahh….we’re having lotta fun. We are touring with a band from Norway called Blood Command a band from Portugal called Devil In Me and then our friends from Canada Living With Lions. It’s just a really good mix of people. We really get along. We have fun during the show…we have fun after the show…that’s cool.

GAN!: Did you get the chance to bond with them, if you didn’t know them already?

Jeremy: we did a tour last year with Devil In Me and Living with Lions and a bunch of other bands too. So…ya..we toured with Devil In Me several times… and Living With Lions, you know…is our second time on tour with them. You know…we became friends but it’s first time with the band from Norway so…

GAN!: And ya…I know you guys play a lot of gigs during the year, tour a lot…then…give our readers one or more reason to show up the next time you hit their area.

Jeremy: check’s out?

GAN!: Yeah…

Jeremy: Ya…I just think we are a live band that…you know…we just feed off the energy of crowds so it’s like…it’s where we feel best when we’re up on stage. We like writing music, recording new records but…you know…live…the live gig…we have a lot of fun when we’re playing…you know…

GAN!: In your view what material is best received by crowds. The most recent one or the stuff from your early releases?

Jeremy: It really depends…I guess…on what kind of show or what kind of festival…you know…we’re playing or who we’re on tour with. Emm…let’s say we’re on tour with big bands and they are pretty young usually the new stuff goes over better but on more…you know…hardcore type tour with older bands than the older material usually is what gets the best reaction…but it’s very city to city tour to tour…I mean...“Wake The Dead” it’s always been our most popular record and so on…but the other records…it kinda depends on where we are...so…

GAN!: And what’s your favourite track to play?

Jeremy: For me personally?

GAN!: Yes…

Jeremy: Ya…uhhh…let’s see…I think one of my favourite track to play is probably “False Idols Fall”. From…it’s the first song on “Wake The Dead” and…you know…it’s just got good energy, has got some fun little melodies and it kind of flows really good…you know…it just the right song…and I guess, probably, one of my favourite I also like is “Because of all” from our last record. I think, you know…it’s a little different than the usual staff we do but it probably works…you know…how we play it together and it’s a lot of fun to play live too.

GAN!: Let’s talk about your latest full-length effort. After months have gone since its release, what you think about it? Do you think something could have been done differently…something changed…

Jeremy: it’s always like that…for me I think it’s like…you put out a record and the more times you have to listen to it and it’s like…ahhh…probably I could have done that differently but that’s just like how it goes…it doesn’t matter what you do and so…when you have more time to think about it…

GAN!: Do you have any songs you were not so cool with at the beginning and then, maybe, playing it live you’ve changed your mind about it?

Jeremy: Yah…I think a song like “Do yourself a favour”. It’s the first song on our last record…you know while writing and recording it like doesn’t have…you know…the melody underneath it like the other songs but live it’s such a hard driving song and…it just has a different personality live than does on record I mean I think it sound great on record too but it’s a live song…you know…

GAN!: Did you write new stuff? Can we expect any release in the near future?

Jeremy: Emm…the process just starts kind of individually. And it’s Andrew (the singer) and myself…we do all the writing…but when it comes time we start talk about a new record we start getting together and sharing our ideas. Right now it’s just like recording some ideas on garage band or over the phone. I mean when I find something really good I don’t want to forget it. So it’s starting kind of…but not the serious start yet…
GAN!: Does it happen that you record something during your sound check or so?
Jeremy: Emm…usually we don’t do too much stuff during sound check…you know…it’s like we’re too scared to try new ideas when there’s people watching so kind hide in the basement…hehehe…

GAN!: Does your sound check takes much time?

Jeremy: Nooo…we don’t need to sound check…sometimes we have a sound guy with us and do sound check pretty accurate but normally we just roll up and bang it out…

GAN!: Okay…is Comeback Kid paying your bills or do you guys still hold jobs?

Jeremy: Emm…no…we’ve been very fortunate…we’re definitely not getting rich but we’re lucky that we tour enough to support ourselves…you know…we can go home and pay the rent. But you know there are times…where we’re off for longer chunk of time…like we’re gonna take a few months off after this…you know…record cycle, clear our heads and whatever…if it’s maybe too long I’ll have to take a job.

GAN!: How’s the musical scene in Canada? New bands you’d suggest us checking out?

Jeremy: It’s all very depending on the city. Cause Canada it’s so huge and all the cities are so far apart so, you know…it’s not like here in Europe where to get to cities it doesn’t take very long. In Canada takes a long time…you know…get in between. All the cities I think they have their own style like in Vancouver it’s very different from Winnipeg which is very different from Toronto, Montreal. But for our style the scene is really good cause we did a CD release tour last year and you know…it was awesome like we had a great tour across the country. We played smaller towns we had never played before…yah…it’s good…not just so fun to tour in winter hehehe…all the snow…
I’m trying to think…there’s a band called Withdraw and they are like a little heavier, darker maybe a little bit like Integrity and then there’s one of the band we are tour with…Living With Lions from Vancouver and they’re gonna do fairly well themselves then of course there are our friends…you know…I mean they’re not a new band…Cancer Bats.

GAN!: Over the years you guys have been growing a loyal fanbase. What would do you attribute this to?

Jeremy: I think the thing with our band is we don’t really follow any trends…like when everybody started wear make-up…so, you know, we don’t jump up on any kinda trend like that. So I’d like to think that people just see us as real people that we’re doing what we love and…you know…we’ve been doing it for long…we still love it… I think people can appreciate that because I think this scene is starting to get more and more like a dopey kind of trend. There’s kind of bands that blow up out of nowhere just because they have some…you know…I don’t know… kind of gimmick but they’re around for one year or two and then they’re gone and next one comes along.

GAN!: It’s kinda becoming like more an industry kind of thing…

Jeremy: yah…yah…I’m sure they turn heads but they don’t last. People are not into those bands for ten years…they’re into them for one year or two. So probably what works best for us it’s just not what they are in…actually we’re never gonna be big like some of these bands but that’s not kind of really important…what is important for us is…you know…just to build a long term connection with the people…and if we can have that then we’re happy.

GAN!: What got you into hardcore music in the first place?

Jeremy: I just kind of got into because…you know…as a kid I grown up into stuff that was like of aggressive and with a heavy sound and I guess when I moved outside Winnipeg when I was a kid and finished school I moved back to Winnipeg and started going to shows and really getting into hardcore. It seemed like it was more about community than some other things and you could be yourself so it didn’t matter if were straight edge, vegan, Christian, Muslim or whatever it just a place you could be yourself and be respected for who you were…and maybe learn a thing or two. It’s good place for who don’t think they can fit anywhere else…I’m 35 years old now and still kind of feel like this is where I feel like connected and I feel comfortable…you know…and hardcore it’s kinda became like a language…I guess for…you know…we have as much travelling as we do it’s just a cool thing to see how it can be the same in different parts of the world…you know…we played like Jakarta in Indonesia and it’s just crazy to see the scene down there and it’s like…you know…when you’re there you feel like at home…it’s like there’s a show, sweating kids singing along…that’s awesome…you know…I just think it’s just like that…a worldwide connection…

GAN!: And what about when did you understand you wanted to be in a band?

Jeremy: Like when did I realize?…this band or any bands?…

GAN!: Any bands…

Jeremy: Oh…I think I’ve always felt kind of…just music was kind of my house…you know…so, I don’t know…I think I was 16 or 17 and I tried to start a band with one of my friends but it really didn’t work. But it wasn’t until I was 18 or 19 when I moved back to Winnipeg and I’ve found more people around who were on the same page as me and we would start making bands then I guess we started this band (Comeback Kid) about 10 or 11 years ago and just kind of grew out…

GAN!: I’ve been kind of always much interested in your artworks (though I don’t like the cover of “Broadcasting” –it fits with the concept and so on…but visually I doesn’t catch me much like your earlier stuff or last record), who of you guys came up with the idea behind this works, and do you think artists always managed to create what you were looking for?

Jeremy: Like for most of our stuff…I think for the first album (Turn It Around) we gave the guy just the lyrics to give him of an idea and that’s how that one came about...“Wake The Dead”…was Scott (our old singer) who came up with the concept. He was usually the one in charge to deal with this things. And now is Andrew who has been kid of behind of the ideas for the last one. So, I mean to be honest I’m not really a big fan of the cover of “Broadcasting”…hahaha…you know I’m more like into art…I love the pictures from the other guy. Like…the guy who did “Turn It Around”. I did the last one too. It was the same artist.

GAN!: And what’s the concept behind this guy jumping off a cliff?

Jeremy: I don’t know how it is here in Europe but in the US like Canada, but specially in the US…there’s somebody…when you’re watching TV for example…there’s somebody’s advertisement for like diseases…you have this problem, you have that problem…you know…here are some pills, here are some pills. So, this started just the idea behind people that kind of jump blindly into something like they think they have this disease. They really sense…and they’re not thinking by themselves. Buy into something just because they feel like…like…I don’t know…like people almost invent diseases…

GAN!: Another way to control people…

Jeremy: Ya…it’s just the concept behind all that…corporations…

GAN!: This one is about social networks. Facebook, twitter, myspace. If you had to compare this media to the paper Xerox zine and tape what are the pros and cons of each of them?

Jeremy: Personally I liked the zines sold for one dollar at the shows…you know it was kind of cool, right? Now it’s not quite as personal but at the same time maybe it has obvious advantages. It’s in real time. It’s like I’m in Milan…come hang out at the show…it’s easier obviously connect and why not.

GAN!: What’up next for Comeback Kid? You’re on tour right now…

Jeremy: We’re on this tour…so finish this one up and I think we can have two weeks off and then we’re gonna do…I think it’s…about a five week tour with Underoath, The Chariot and This Is Hell through Canada and US so…now takes us to the end of October and then we’re gonna take the rest of the year off and we have yet to talk about the plans for the new year you know…for now it’s about that…a big tour coming up and then it’s downtime and we might start do some writing…

GAN!:Any final words for the readers of GOT A NERVE!?

Jeremy: Like I said earlier in the interview and like you’ve mentioned. We have loyal fans who have been with us for a long time…you know…new fans too…I hope people stay with us. You know…what we do…we’re not the biggest political band…we don’t have the most intelligent things to say or whatever…you know…we’re like real people who like to have fun and we really appreciate the support and we have been fortunate over the years so thank you kindly.

Check: facebook.com/Comeback.Kid

Posted by: marcs77



THE HAVERBROOK DISASTER - The new blood moves forward

07/24/2011 | THE HAVERBROOK DISASTER is our “got a band of the moment!” (and, truth be known, that’s actually more than a single month now haha...).
The young up and coming fivesome hailing from Waghaeusel City/Karlsruhe area moved its first steps on a really impressively tight pace and after the band inception, at some point of 2007, things grow up and developed to the signing with Let It Burn records and the release of their debut full-length “Hopeward Bound” last May.
GOT A NERVE! caught up with Andy (vocals), Andreas (guitar) and Philip (guitar) to check out how they feel about the new record and ask them all on their history, everyday life, Facebook vs. Myspace and much more… Read on what these down-to-hearth and really passionate dudes had to say.

GAN!: Yo! guys, what’s up?

Andy: Hey! Looking forward to doing this!

GAN!: Please state your name and what you do in the band.

Andy: My name is Andy and I sing!
Andreas: My name is Andreas, most of the time I feel like being manager of the band, but officially I play the guitar.
Philipp: Hey, I'm Philipp, and I play guitar for THD.

GAN!: You guys are pretty young but after two demos you got the chance to release a full-length record through Let It Burn records. Can you please go backward from May 2011 to your humble beginnings?

Andy: Oh, I guess you can underline the word “humble”, cause we started out pretty humbly haha... Yannick, Andreas, Lukas and me had a band before. We played the usual local metal band stuff, until we realized that we actually don’t like what we’re playing anymore plus we didn’t really progress anymore. That was back in the middle of 2007 I think. So we were like: “Hey let’s leave this shit behind and start a new project!”. Then we teamed up with Philipp and started The Haverbrook Disaster. In the end of 2007 we recorded our first Demo and released it in the beginning of 2008. With the release of this demo, we started playing as many shows as possible, released a second demo in the end of 2008 and played even more shows.

GAN!: How did you come up with your band name? –I thought it was related to something happened for real but didn’t find anything on this…

Andreas: Well, I am not a big fan of band names that try to be very important and dramatic. For me good names should be catchy and sound good like: "Evergreen Terrace", "Parkway Drive" for example. So looking around for great words that could be part of our bands name, I was sitting on my sofa, watching the monorail episode of "The Simpsons". The city that had the biggest trouble with their monorail was the city of North Haverbrook. I loved that name and so I brought the "Haverbrook" to the rest of the band and together we all agreed on "The Haverbrook Disaster". That's it.

GAN!: Let’s talk about your debut full-length. How was the writing and recording process? Do you feel satisfied with everything?

Andy: The writing and recording process was for sure a lot of fun, but still very exhausting. We really pushed ourselves to the limits to write the best record we could, but in the end we all agree that the hard work was really worth it. “Hopeward Bound” turned out exactly the way we wanted it to be and we’re just so proud of it.
Andreas: I always asked myself how it's going to be to write and record, the first REAL record with sleepless nights, days and weeks and months of sitting in a small room with 5 guys, trying to make NO mistakes with the music. Fuck up your songwriting and nothing after that will make your record good. A really important point in my opinion, cause it is all the steps after WRITING the music that make releasing the record really hard work. Anyway, writing it was a lot of fun but a long and intense progress. Recording and releasing it with everything that needs to be done was just so much work. Don't get me wrong, it was still fun and great to see how your ideas turn to songs, an artwork, a certain sound and a real album. But hours and hours of sitting in the studio, either playing or engineering the sound or the effects were really tough. Of course it's still great hanging around with your dudes for weeks, playing videogames, laughing cause of the same Family Guy joke over and over again, eating and drinking shit. We had some good times.

GAN!: Where does the title “Hopeward Bound” originate from?

Andy: “Hopeward Bound” is a mixture between “homeward bound” and “hope”. We were searching for a record title that sums up like everything we stand for as a band and then Chris of Let it Burn Records had this idea and we were just like “This is it!”. The main message of our music is hope in your everyday life, so this title summed it up perfectly.

GAN!: I read you guys got Zeuss (Hatebreed, The Acacia Strain or Stick To Your Guns) handling mixing and mastering duties. Did you get the chance to meet the man? If so, how did it go?
Andreas: Unfortunately, we couldn't afford to fly over to meet him personally, but we had very close email contact all the time. He's a really cool, down to earth guy that seriously knows what he's doing. And it's great for us that in the end we and Chris "Zeuss" Harris were really happy with the sound of our record. It turned out just the way we wanted it to be. No compromises.

GAN!: What was everyone listening to during the writing for “HOPEWARD BOUND”?

Andy: I’ve been listening to the new Comeback Kid record, the new The Acacia Strain record, a lot of Crime In Stereo, Polar Bear Club and some other stuff.
Andreas: That's a good question. I was really much into Comeback Kid, The Ghost Inside and The Acacia Strain at that time.
Flip: I, in particular, listened to a lot of hip-hop and soul as well as some pretty good hardcore tunes I was celebrating excessively around that time.
GAN!: As you may be aware The Haverbrook Disaster is our “Got a band of the moment!”. How do you feel about this?
Flip: It's absolutely mind-blowing. That's what we always were and still are striving for. To get attention not only from our friends, family and local fans but also from people and mags like you, that hail from all over the world. This shows us that working hard eventually pays off. Thank you!

GAN!: Who are the guys in The Haverbrook Disaster when they are not up on stage?

Andy: I spend most of my time with my girlfriend, my bros or working as a DHL delivery boy and in September I’m going to start my study. But all in all there’s not really a day I’m not living and breathing this band. I really work for this thing most of the time.
Andreas: I am studying architecture at HS Karlsruhe, hanging around with my girlfriend, my brother or my guys, playing videogames, watching a lot of movies, but there's no real cut between THD and private life. The other guys are some of my best friends, we hang out together, practice. I listen to hardcore music and think about new songs in my "freetime" as well, play the guitar, so it's simply a part of my life.
Flip: I work as a cashier in an established storehouse in Mannheim. I finished school 2 months ago, so in order to get some money and not sitting at home all day I decided to go to work at first. I hope to study in the beginning of September, but I’m still waiting for my firm promise. Otherwise, my leisure either consists of time I spend with the band or meeting friends.

GAN!: What is it like living in Waghaeusel City/Karlsruhe and how, if at all, has the experience shaped your musical style?

Andy: I love living here. I live in Wiesental, which is a part of Waghäusel and it’s a pretty calm place, but still lovely. The good thing about living in such a place is that you can progress totally free as an individual musician, because there is not really a big local music scene which has a huge influence on you and well, if we’d be influenced by local bands, we’d probably be in a shitty cover band haha…
Andreas: It's quite peaceful here haha... I live in Kirrlach, a part of Waghäusel, quite a small, calm place. I am happy of how I grew up and it has definitely shaped my musical style, but i can't tell in which way. It just is a part of you as a person as well as your music is.
Flip: Well, I'm the only one in the band, who is not living in Waghäusel, but close to Mannheim and Heidelberg. It's quite nice living there. Karslruhe is nice, too, but it doesn't feel that familiar to me like the cities I've mentioned before. Karlsruhe, otherwise, has much more of a music/hardcore-scene with a lot of shows and tours taking place all over the year. That's cool. But I don't think that my musical style was much influenced by living close to one of those cities, or even my hometown. I've never been part of a resident music scene. In fact I have to owe my insatiable curiosity for new things much more. It has opened me a lot of doors to many different kinds of music.

GAN!: What’s up in terms of road life? Do you have plans for a full tour, or you’ll be solely playing one night shows?

Andreas: We WILL definitely play full tours in the future. We started working with "Avocado Booking" some months ago, what still makes us happy and proud, and will be part of a tour, sooner or later.

GAN!: Where do you see The Haverbrook Disaster in 3 year time?

Andy: Hopefully on the Vans Warped Tour or with a Grammy in my hands! No seriously, if we keep working hard for this band, and we surely will, we’ll still play as many shows and tours as possible and release music the kids like. We really want to tour the whole world someday, so touring Australia, the USA, Asia and so on would be just amazing.
Andreas: That's a really hard one. I wish that we can manage to be a fulltime band someday, but that's a long way with hard work, but we are on our way, we do our best to improve, to move forward, I can't tell if it will work out or if it will be in 2,3,4 or 5 years, but we are on our way.
Flip: A band that has developed a lot during this period. It is more some kind of wishful thinking than prediction, but I guess that we will have the attention and success we're working for so hard now. It's pretty difficult to say what will happen to us in future. Our debut might be the beginning of something huge. I'm very excited about what is going to happen within the next years.

GAN!: So where can everyone go to get up-to-the-date information on The Haverbrook Disaster?

Andy: The best way to stay up to date with everything is to like us on facebook.com/thehaverbrookdisaster or follow us @whatsupthd on Twitter! Also visit our website/tumblog at thehaverbrookdisaster.com!

GAN!: As of late I noticed many people involved in the music scene moving from myspace to facebook (we too just created our profile there). What do you think led to this change? I personally used to find facebook to “privacy-concerned” (it was hard to find people who you didn’t already know) and therefore difficult to use as a promotional tool.

Andy: Well I think Myspace kinda buried itself. I always thought, Myspace will be the coolest social network ever, but then they started changing the designs, the use and everything else. Myspace wasn’t Myspace anymore, kids got fed up with it and started hating it, so all the bands were looking for the place where the cool web kids went to and that’s why every band started a Facebook page. But the problem with Facebook is, that you can’t really promote yourself. Back then, when Myspace was cool, you could add people to promote your band, but you can’t “like” people as a band on Facebook.

GAN!: Okay, that’s about it. Any final words?

Andy: Have a listen to our new record “Hopeward Bound”, come out to our shows and hang around with us! We always love to meet new people!
Andreas: Come to our shows, sing along, have a good time, talk to us, that's what it's all about.
Flip: Thank you for offering up time to make this interview with us. I'm looking forward for the next time! And don’t forget to come to one of our shows, if we’re around!

Check: facebook.com/thehaverbrookdisaster letitburnrecords.com

Posted by: marcs77

NO SECOND CHANCE London hardcore

06/11/2011 | Surfing the wide net I found out this five-some hailing from London by chance and thought “what the hell interview’em now or never again cause the guys aren’t gonna give me a second chance!”…just kidding hehehe…
NO SECOND CHANCE, a band that I’m pretty sure many of you haven’t heard of much yet, since their inception dates to 2010, are about to release their debut full-length through Good Life recordings.
I caught up with Dave (guitar) and asked some questions about their short yet jam packed of events history, their yet untitled debut full-length, London hardcore scene and much more. Well, I’m pretty sure that’s gonna be a good read for everyone who wanna know more about this up and coming and really dedicated combo.
So read on what Dave had to say and make sure to catch’em live the first time they will visit your area and check out their record when it hits record-shops and mailorders.

GAN!: Hey Dave how’s all in life?

DAVE: Hey, really great - Just got back off almost a month of touring recently!

GAN!: Let’s start this off with you guys giving our readers some basic info about your band. You know the usual stuff (who makes up NO SECOND CHANCE, where you from…)

DAVE: We formed back in January 2010 in London and started playing shows really quickly, I think the 1st show was a month after forming and since then we've played something around the 150 mark in lots of different countries with more tours and other shows on the way. There's 5 of us, myself and Chaney on Guitars, Owen is the vocalist, Ian the drummer and Kirill (our newest member) on bass - I think we've had about 5 different bassists play for us!

GAN!: I read you guys will be releasing your debut full-length early this summer via Good Life recordings. What do we have to expect from your first lengthy effort?

DAVE: Yes, that's true! We really tried to diversify our sound for this new record and we're all pretty proud of it - Anyone who's familiar with our earlier stuff and indeed anyone who isn't is going to get quite a shock - We've been playing a lot of it live recently and been getting some great feedback, people likening it to the likes of Terror, First Blood and Black My Heart which is really cool. I guess we're looking just to build on what we started with our first record with this one.

GAN!: How did you hook up with Good Life recordings and how’s your relationship with them going?

DAVE: Well, firstly I'd spoken to Edward (Good Life Founder) a couple of times across facebook because they distro our old record. We recorded some demo versions of the tracks we were going to put on the new record and sent it to Good Life and then a few days later I got a phone call from Ed and the rest they say is history! Ed and the rest of the Good Life crew are great - Ed's been helping us a lot with some shows amongst other thing and we feel we can take a lot from his advice because he's been in the scene a long time. When we were sending out demos to various labels, Good Life was probably the main one that we actually wanted to work with so we're very happy to be part of the family - Check out some of the other bands on Goodlife such as Six Ft Ditch, Nasty, Vietnom, Onesta and so on!

GAN!: Where did you record and who handled production duties? And are you happy with the way the record came out?

DAVE: We recorded with Sam Thredder at Cros Nest Studios in London, same as our last record. Sam's worked with a lot of the bands on Rucktion records such as Prowler & Ninebar as well as Hang The Bastard, TRC and Dead Swans. We're very happy with the way it came out, we tried hard to capture a raw sound similar to our live sound - It's currently getting mastered by Jeff Mortimer (JM Mastering) as we speak.

GAN!: Entering the studios did you have any particular sound you guys were shooting for?

DAVE: I'd say we had a pretty clear idea but our main aim was just to make sure we were mixing things up and not sounding too predictable - We made sure we added a great mix of 2-steps, old school parts, beatdowns/breakdowns and fast thrashy parts.

GAN!: Let’s talk about lyrics, where do you guys draw inspiration from? And who’s the main contributor to this aspect?

DAVE: Owen is the main man for lyrics, the rest of us might add a small input every now and again but it's 99% Owen. Mostly the lyrics are based around life and experiences - Hopefully its all stuff that nearly everyone can relate to and believe in.

GAN!: I know you guys played lotta gigs since band’s inception and have quite a few Euro tours under your belt as well. Best/worst part of gigging/touring?

DAVE: Best parts are when things go well - We love those shows where the crowd reaction and atmosphere is good. It’s also great to make new friends in bands or just people at the shows, this is one of the main things we really pride ourselves in! We have a very positive attitude towards shows and we'll always try to take something good out of even a bad show so the only bad parts are when we've had van problems which more recently cut our tour by a day and cost us 2000 euros - We broke down in Egelsee, Germany and it took 3 weeks for our van to come back to the UK. We were touring during that time too so we had to hire vans. Borrow nearly every part of equipment from friends, including guitars and even buy new merch that we didn't need because everything was stuck in our van - It was a testing time but we let nothing stand in the way of us touring while some bands probably would have cancelled the tour.

GAN!: What is your favorite place to play and why?

DAVE: Belgium is always great because the kids are passionate about live music. To be honest we always love playing new towns across other countries as well though because you never know what to expect.

GAN!: So you guys hail from London. What about its hardcore punk scene? Anything going over there worth mentioning? Squat/venues, bands, zines you know this shit…

DAVE: London, and to an extent the UK on a whole is not so great for its hardcore scene. We have had some great shows here but it its so up and down. I think there's too much going on and people have too much choice - Most of the time show attendances are way lower than Europe's mainland - Rucktion records put on a monthly show in London at the 12 Bar Club, those guys are pretty much keep London's hardcore scene alive. The Underworld is probably the best hardcore venue in London but that's mainly for the massive shows and I haven't heard of a squat show happening in the UK for years, in any genre - Us and any of our close friends have certainly never been asked to play one if there are any going on over here. The best zine we have is called "A Short Fanzine About Rocking" - It's done by a friend of ours, its always a great read!

GAN!: What did get you guys into hardcore in the first place?

DAVE: Tricky question actually - For me it was a friend about 10 years ago who gave me some mix tapes when i first started driving, although It didn't really catch me straight away. For Ian and Owen it was a bit more recent, probably through hearing bands like Hatebreed and Bury Your Dead and progressed from there. Kirill came from a very Punk background like myself so hardcore is easy to slip into from that and Agnostic Front was a band he grew up listening to - I'm not really sure how Chaney got into hardcore but he comes from an area where bands like Your Demise were playing regular in their early days and there was always a great DIY scene in the area so it was probably through that.

GAN!: HARDCORE=MUSIC+FASHION or in your view is there something more truly to that? Let me be a bit provoking.

DAVE: I think you are probably right, there's always a degree of fashion involved with any kind of music, certainly its not the main thing in hardcore but it's there - I think it's at a healthy level in hardcore. Personally I don't care what you wear or look like or what bands you think are cool, it's your choice and whether its the same choice as someone else or not, who gives a fuck, there's more concerning issues in life to think about.

GAN!: Let me quote a few beans off the interview we recently did with Los Angeles Terror (a band I’m pretty sure you guys dig - Scott V. was speaking)…“I think hardcore is on a really good spot right now. There are a lot of awesome new bands. In your real life, you gotta go through a lot of bullshit to figure out who you really are and what really matters to you. And the hardcore-scene had to go through the same thing. Some bullshit infiltrated and in some way changed and poisoned hardcore a little bit. But a hardcore-scene without problems is not reality” Wanna comment or add your personal view?

DAVE: Scott Vogel is a legend, he's been around hardcore for a lengthy time. I'd say he's correct there, hardcore's always had it's problems and politics and probably always will do.

GAN!: Past band you’d happy to open their reunion gig up?

DAVE: American Nightmare or Black My Heart - I can't realistically see either of them ever taking to the stage anytime soon though sadly.

GAN!: What do you guys do for a living – I guess No Second Chance doesn’t pay your bills?

DAVE: Actually, 3 of us only have No Second Chance going on at the moment because we're between jobs and 2 are only working part time - It doesn’t pay the bills but we always get by someway.

GAN!: 1 year around, hundreds of gigs, a split (with Beater on Loyalty and Devotion) and the forthcoming full-length, what’s up next for NO SECOND CHANCE?

DAVE: We say this to pretty much everyone who asks this question but it's the truth...We're just going to carry on doing what we do and having fun, we're not changing anytime soon. We've played a lot of shows but we can always play more and there's always more people to meet in the world and more new places to see.

GAN!: Time to wrap this up. Thank you for taking the time to answer. Any final words of wisdom?

DAVE: Yeah - do what you love, love what you do.

Check: facebook.com/pages/NO-SECOND-CHANCE/357002232867 goodliferecordings.com


Posted by: marcs77

STAY STRONG - Fight capitalism and stay hate free

04/23/2011 | It took really a very long time to get this done but we can finally feature this interview with Bad Hersfeld based STAY STRONG. The guys have been around for more than two years now and recorded a demo reviewed in our pages last year. They are our “Got a band of the moment?” check out what Raffi (vocals) had to say about band history, their local scene and more. A bit of a way to get more accustomed with what these up and coming band are all about.

GAN!: Hey guys what’s up?

Hey Hey Gan! Nice to meet you...The summer will come, it will be a nice time. Every one of us is hard working in the moment.

GAN!: First off, I wanna start this interview with a common opening question about who forms STAY STRONG, when you started out and what your common goal is.

The Band was formed by Raffi (Vocals) and Samuel (Drums) in 2008. Marry joined as guitarist and in the beginning Johannes was on bass. In these 2 years of Stay Strong we have 3 bass players but it is a long story hahaha…
Our goal is it to come around hahah… like every band. No really we want to give out a message to this scene. We want say it loud and directly on a show. Very much hardcore bands in Germany forget it to say loud and clearly what they think to the kids. We don’t want to be like every other HC band out there.

GAN!: I saw on your myspace a cool banner picturing a pink, stripes clothed and pissed off poodle dog and a motto “Hardcore against capitalism, instead of money believe in yourself”. In your view, how important is to address kids on socio/political themes through an outlet like hardcore music?

For us it is very important because very much kids don’t know how to live in this society. They think the main thing is to get the big money and drive the biggest car. But they don’t know about living good and true friendships. Maybe they can learn over the Hc Scene that there is a positive lifestyle.

GAN!: You guys hail outta Bad Hersfeld. Right? Well, what’s so bad about Bad Hersfeld (hehehe…I stole this question from Marco Guth)? And what about your local scene?

I don’t want to say it’s a bad scene. Until one year ago it was one of the most talked about scenes, in the Hessen area people come from everywhere. We organized big shows with bands like Grave Maker and found good friends in them. But now many kids don’t trust in Hardcore anymore, they listen more to "popular music" like Deathcore and Beatdown :)


GAN!: You guys have songs with titles on a very old-school fashion like “Hate free youth” and “United and strong”. What these titles embody to you?

We like it to go to shows where people have fun and a good time. But very much shows are so aggressive, that people won’t come to shows. Hate free is the motto we want to live with our friends and band members no one is hate free but we can do our best. We want to live in a good true community, it is very important to us.

GAN!: You recorded a demo last year. Are you happy with the stuff included in it? How’s been received by those who got the chance to listen to it?

Some people are not agreeing with the quality, but we have some good reviews from some good hardcore zines. Thanx a lot to Marco Guth;) and Stageload etc... But our Friends are very into it.

GAN!: What are some of the records you have listened to as of late?

Some of us are the new record of No turning Back or the Mongoloids or Throwdown. Every one of us has his special bands.

GAN!: Future plans?

Playing shows in other countries, maybe East Europe. Recording new songs, and have a good time with our friends.

GAN!: Shout outs?

Support your local Hardcore Scene and Stay True:) Respect your Friends and your family. Thank you very much for this Interview. Wishes from Raffi


Posted by: marcs77


COFFEESHOWER interview

04/10/2011 | COFFEESHOWER are not really the new kids on the hardcore-punk block being the Aquila, Italy based guys around since ’99. But a terrible earthquake that hit their hometown in 2009 and other shit kept the Italian guys off the map for a while. Now in 2011 the post-hardcore four-some is out with a brand new record –that I’ll review shortly- entitled “Kicking a medicine ball” and released by Indelirium records.
I caught up with Fausto (vocals guitar) and asked him a few questions about their history, the new album, the Italian hc-punk scene and a 80’s pop classic covered by the band. Read on what he has to say and don’t miss your chance to catch’em live the first time they hit your town/area.

GAN!: Hey guys what’s up?
Fausto: Good! Everything's alright! Glad to talk with you!

GAN!: Okay, let’s start with some overall info about your band. Who, when, where COFFEESHOWER got started.

Fausto: Well actually we started back in 1999, at least our first rehearsal must have been in October 1999, after my brother Pier (the drummer) had met his college mate Edoardo and decided to form a band. Our first show was a 25 min set in a battle of the bands in January 2000, such a long time ago ;-)

GAN!: How has L’Aquila influenced Coffeeshower as a band and individually?

Fausto: As for the band, actually there’s always been a steady bunch of people in love with metal and punk rock in our hometown and it was not difficult at that time to find people to start a band with. Of course things become harder when it comes to putting all your efforts keeping up the band and trying to be a "real band", you know I mean rehearsing, buying equipment, being willing to tour and all the rest, and this means that all the band mates must have the same common goal, there’s no option.
Generally speaking about living in a small town, there are many pros and cons actually. You don’t have to face the crazy daily routine of the big cities, e.g. if on the same day you have to go to work and then to the post office and then to a supermarket, well you’re most likely to succeed, whereas it’s impossible to combine all thing if living in Rome. Furthermore L’Aquila has always been a cool place to live for many University students coming from every part of the country and the city center was full of historical interest and full of people living and working there. I always loved to walk along the narrow streets of the downtown area and take pictures of the amazing buildings or churches from the fourteenth century. But on the other hand living in a small town can be more or less like watching a landscape under a veil. We never got the most interesting movies or concerts and all the rest in town, it’s always been really hard to organize gigs and to deal with the few bar owners willing to set up shows, we always had really bad facilities for practicing sports, arts and leisure and young people never had many options to do something different at night except for drinking at pubs and maybe have a fight with crazy mobsters. Of course the 2009 earthquake made the situation worse. Just think that the whole downtown area is still off-limits, all the small businesses like bars, restaurants, shops had to move to the surrounding areas and the University students are all living now in expensive rental apartments in the suburbs. Fortunately we have a squat now (CaseMatte) run by the cool group of “3e32” which is a new point of reference for people wanting to start over in the post-earthquake scenario.

GAN!: What’s your local scene like?

Fausto: Italian scene sucks! There's no more scene! Of course we met totally cool people from bands along the years and we're proud to have friends like them. But in all honesty it’s getting harder and harder to see people helping each other, whereas it's more a matter of stupid rivalries between the bands and the different elites and different music genres fans.

GAN!: Your stuff reminds me lotta of modern melodic post-hardcore punk and the likes of Hot Water Music, A Wilhelm Scream. How would you describe Coffeeshower to someone who had never heard you, and who are your main influences?

Fausto: It is a honor to be compared to such bands! Well I guess we're basically a punk rock band dealing sometimes with hard rocking tunes and sometimes with post-punk/new wave/alternative stuff. In a few words we don’t get offended if you define us as a post-punk band ;-). Just to outline our influences, we love Rise Against, Strike Anywhere, Against Me!, Boysetsfire, Comeback Kid, Thrice, Hot Water Music as well as Editors, Dredg, Sparta, Biffy Clyro, Radiohead or Antony And The Johnsons, just to name a few artists not to be filed under “punk rock”.

GAN!: You guys recorded a cover of 80’s pop classic hit “Maniac”. How did you come up with the idea? Did you know Californian punk legend Agent Orange did their own version as well?

Fausto: Well to be honest it all started as a joke. My brother Pier the drummer was totally into the main riff of the song and one day we simply played it in our practice space and it was cool. I knew already there were many covers of "Maniac" and that one of them was performed by Evergreen Terrace, but no, didn't know Agent Orange did a cover of "Maniac", pretty cool indeed!

GAN!: Are you guys fan of the Flashdance movie or do you just like the soundtrack?

Fausto: Nope ;-) But I must admit stuff from the eighties is in our common background and sometimes it's cool to watch movies or series from the 70's and the 80's and listen to pop music from that period as well. However despite being totally pop song I guess that "Maniac" is a song that probably every songwriter in the world would have loved to be the author of.

GAN!: Now let’s talk about your latest effort “Kicking a medicine ball”. How do you feel about this record?

Fausto: Totally happy for being able to release new music after such a long time, but believe me the process behind this album was more than a hassle! I am happy with the songs because they display more accurately our style than our previous recordings. However by nature I am a restless soul and every time I listen to the songs on the album I start thinking “Oh, I would have loved to come up with different arrangements or different vocal tracks here and there and there”, so I’d better not listen to that anymore ahahah…

GAN!: I’m sure for some of your fans this record was highly anticipated. Why it took like 7 years to give a follow up to your last effort –the split with Dutch Dependent?
Fausto: Actually after Nh-N Records called it quits we worked our ass off to find a new label or any kind of partner to work with. We recorded a few demos and sent them around, but we got no feedback. That time was the start of the general crisis for many labels and people working in the underground rock scene. In the meantime we were keeping on touring and also had the chance to play with big bands sometimes, but as I said unfortunately no one seemed to be interested in working with us and releasing our music. The years passed by and nothing got done, so we decided to get into a studio independently of any deal and to record our new songs.

GAN!: Where did you record and how long it took to get the album finished?

Fausto: As I said the making of was pretty much complicated. Firstly we experienced many problems during the recording process so we quit the studio and the people we were working with. So we got into the Kutso studio in Rome (www.kutso.com) where we had previously recorded a single in 2006 and we started all over again. But then the earthquake and all related issues changed our schedule again. Just think that on April 6, 2009 (the earthquake day) we were supposed to go to Rome and record the bass tracks. We’ve been on the verge of giving up the ghost many times, but then we managed to pull off the recordings and the mixing part. In total it took more than two years to do all things!

GAN!: What do you speak about with your lyrics?

Fausto: In my lyrics I love to deal with human relations and daily life happenings, things occurring either to me or to people I know or simply inspired by books or newspapers. Of course when writing down the lyrics for a song you have to combine the message with the length of verses, choruses and the rhymes, so we came up with the idea of putting a brief explanation of each song inside the cd booklet so that people can more easily get to the song meaning.

GAN!: Do you have any touring plans to promote the new disc? Any plans to play any gig in Germany anytime soon?

Fausto: Of course! We love to tour Germany! We always felt like being home there and we would love to come back soon! Right now we are sending out proposals to many bookers and agencies in Germany and rest of Europe and hopefully we’ll manage to sort out some Euro shows. Since currently having no booking partner in Germany at the moment, if anyone is interested in helping us feel free to contact us and we’ll work something out! ;-)

GAN!: What do the band members do outside of Coffeshower?

Fausto: I work in a physics institute, I am no scientist, I just work in the administration;-). Our new bass player Mike works in a bar, my brother Pier is currently working as an educationist and Fabio the guitarist is training as a psychologist. Unfortunately it’s not possible to make a living off punk rock music;-)

GAN!: So you guys shot a video for your song “Medicine Ball”. What’s the idea behind this video? And who directed it?

Fausto: The video was shot by the cool guys of Philozei (www.philozeiprod.com). We met them when living out of town for almost 6 months after the earthquake. They were really supportive and wanted to help us shooting a video clip. The song lyrics are about domestic violence and the memories of two brothers. The idea behind the video that the Philozei dudes came up with was to try to capture shots from a lifetime of a boy being beaten by his dad by putting two kung-fu fighters in action among the band members.

GAN! Any new Italian band you would suggest us checking out?

Fausto: To all fans of metalcore and new school hc stuff I suggest to check out the awesome Cast Thy Eyes. For people more into hc stuff in the veins of Verse and Comeback Kid I suggest our label mates My Distance and The Memory. Our dear buddies from Svolta could be a brilliant discover for alternative / indie rock fans. Eventually all classic punk rock lovers should definitely get to know our label mates One Trax Minds.

GAN!: We are really in closing now, thank you for taking the time for doing this interview. Any last words?

Fausto: When we come to your town please don't cook pasta for us! Ahahahah...seriously, we totally appreciate people wanting to let us feel at home, but we're open to all different tastes and to your local food when being abroad, so feel free to cook your mommy's best plate and let's enjoy food together! We’ll cook pasta for you when you come and stay at our place ;-)

Check: myspace.com/coffeeshower myspace.com/indelirium

Posted by: marcs77

TERROR (Los Angeles Hardcore on Reaper and Century Media)

12/04/2010 | Los Angeles finest hardcore outfit TERROR is back on the map, they just released their new record “Keepers Of The Faith” on Century Media Records and Reaper Records and kick some ass with those brand new songs. They toured Europe right away on the Hell On Earth tour this fall. I met vocalist Scott Vogel and guitar-player Martin Steward at the end of September in Frankfurt, Germany right before their show in the Batschkapp. Check out what these two have to say.

Well, first of all, this question is not on my list, but what’s up with this stamp? (I show Scott my wrist with the stamp on, which the bouncers gave everybody downstairs at the door – the stamp says VOGEL).
Scott Vogel: Are you fucking kidding me?
Martin Stewart: Oh my god, ha ha ha, I didn’t see that.

Alright, your reaction shows me that you were not planing on that.
--- Everyone in the room just breaks down laughing, Scott is getting himself a new drink ---

Ok, I will give you a little break after this.
Scott: That’s the first, I tell you that.

Let’s get this interview started. You guys have a new record out, “Keppers Of The Faith” on Reaper Records. Tell us all about it!
Scott: Yes, the new record is out, it is thirteen brand new songs. It is always a little weird when you talk about yourself, because we are really excited about the new record, so it’s gonna come off a little giggly just to be like ‘It’s so good and stuff’. The best thing is: check it out, read the lyrics, get the whole package. I would say we are really proud of it, it came out really good, it is a strong record. I can tell you what I think a bout it, but it is more important that the people check it out and say how they feel about it. Read the lyrics!

Alright, this is no offense. But your last records, well, I wouldn’t call them average, but in my eyes, they didn’t reach “Lowst Of The Low” or “One With The Underdogs”. But the new record came out in a different way, I listened to the first songs and just was like ‘WOW’. You earned and received a lot of commendation in magazines and on messageboards, even in the german ‘Rock Hard’ your new record was highly ranked. I guess only the new Accept was better that month in their eyes.
Scott: It’s funny, because when I walked to the merchtable to meet you, I saw a guy, a man, I don’t know how old he was, maybe 40 or 45. And I was like ‘man, I love Europe’.
Martin: You know, that’s not common in the US.
Scott: Yeah, you would never see that in the US. I mean, even our name printed in a magazine next to Accept is crazy. I can’t remember, like in 1985 I was watching Headbanger’s Ball and they were playing Accept. I saw the singer with all his camo-stuff and I was like ‘Damn, this band is crazy’. Well, do you want me to comment what you just said?

Well, that’s my opinion of the record, I think you went way more back to the days of “Lowest of the low” or “One with the underdogs”. When I listen to it – I haven’t seen the new songs live yet – I kind of feel way more energy than on the last records.
Scott: I like all our records.
Martin: I do, too. Some people told me the same thing, just like what you said. I don’t know, if you play those two records back to back, in my opinion, they don’t sound anything alike. I don’t know, maybe it is, because with the new record, we took all in our hands, took control of everything, like every single aspect of the record – the layout, the marketing, all that. Maybe that’s where it comes off in the record...
Scott: ...there is more of a personal touch, so people can relate to it more. It is really hard to compare all of the records. “Lowest of the low”,we were at a point, where we didn’t even think about anything. Now, while recording we think of all those things, gotta get the recording perfect. Back then, it was just a different time, we were young and had no expectations. I look at “One with the underdogs” and see that the recording is not good, and that the artwork is not good – well, some of our best songs are on that record, but there are still a lot of songs which are just filler-songs. And to be in a band at that point was a really hectic time, our guitar-player Todd kind of quit the band - was in the band, but wasn’t really in the band, it was more of a headace than it was good. The last two records, “Always the hard way” and “The damned, the shamed”: If you take someone who doesn’t know anything about Terror and play them “One with the underdogs” and “The damned, the shamed”, most of the people would say that “The damned, the shamed” crushes that record. It is so much more powerful. Probably people in a certain age got “One with the underdogs” and remember that time in Hardcore, what it meant to them and how it felt. And maybe in the last couple of years, hardcore hasn’t been that energetic to them, and maybe our new record has more of a catchy personal feeling which takes them back.
Martin: Yeah, that’s what I thought, that’s my opinion.
Scott: The thing that seperates this record is like Martin was saying, every Terror-record I can think of – “Lowest of the low”, look at the cover-art, it looks like someone threw a pice of paint on a black paper. We were so overwhelmed, Terror was growing so much and doing so much, we didn’t even care. “One with the underdogs”, we signed to Trustkill and got submitted this artwork, it doesn’t really represent the band but we were like ‘Ok’. “Always the hard way”, I love it. I went to the library and it took hours to find shit I like, layout-wise that’s great. But there are some filler-songs on it, we were still on Trustkill and kind of everything was changing in the music industry. The last record, well, I don’t have any complains about the last record. “The damned, the shamed”, I love the artwork, I love every song. If you put “Keepers of the faith” away, I would say that “The damned, the shamed” is the best Terror record.

Don’t misunderstand me, there are great songs on every single record.
Scott: “The damned, the shamed” definitly didn’t get a lot of love, I don’t think it got the push. Century Media didn’t really care, Terror didn’t really go our way to care. For the new record, Reaper Records put out the Vinyl and really kept us in the underground right in everybodys face. Which is important, we didn’t do that with the last record.

Yeah, when I first heard that you guys are signing to Reaper Records, I was like ‘Yes’! Good thing!
Scott: Yeah, he is our good friend, and he really goes the extra mile. It’s a good thing, because we have one foot with Reaper and one foot with Century Media, that’s a powerful situation.

What’s your favorite song on the new record and why?
Martin: For me, it is “You’re caught”. If you hear that song, it is complety different to anything Terror has ever done in the past. It’s crazy to me that it was possible to do something that is so far off, but still has the Terror vibe to it. I love it, it sounds like a Suicidal Tendencies song. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, the song kind of reminds me of Venice Beach.

So you are the trash metal guy in the band?
Martin: Our drummer Nick wrote these riffs, he goes in the trash metal direction a lot more than all of us, that’s what he listens to a lot. You can definitly hear that in that song. I think that’s awesome, I love that shit. You know, Suicidal Tendencies is like one of our favorite bands amongst the band, you know. To be able to pull something off like that is awesome, it was fun to record.
Scott: It’s so different, but it’s so cool. When people think about Terror, they think about a certain thing, and that song is so off the mark. But the lyricle content and my voice make it still a Terror song. It is so refreshing for us.
Martin: And it matches well with all the rest of the songs. It is fucking perfect in my opinion.

What about you, Scott?
Scott: I would say “Shattered” or “Stick tight”. “Stick tight”, I dont’t wanna say it is a perfect hardcore-song, but is a very traditional hard hardcore-song. That song is really fucking good, and the end makes me wanna smash my head through a wall. And “Shattered”, I don’t know, just the lyrics and the whole vipe of the song is really cool, it is one of my favorite Terror songs right now ever. It was the last song we wrote, and our producer already told us not to worry about writing more songs, we already had enough songs for the record. But Nick really wanted it, so we decided to do it. So I was staying at our producers house, and he sat me down and told me to write lyrics that really matter to that song. It all came together. It is weird, because that song and the first one on the record were the last two written. I kind of think, how would the record be without those two songs.
Martin: It’s crazy to think about that, yeah.

Lyricly, you talk a lot about the scene, and you give many Thank Yous to the scene and the Terror fanbase. I know that you guys have been around for a very long time – looking back today on like the past 6-7 years, what happened? Not necessaryly in a negative way.
Scott: You know, I would honestly say that it got better than 6-7 years ago. What was big in 2003/2004?

I would say Metalcore, bands like Unearth, As I Lay Dying, Shadwos Falls and all that kind of stuff.
Martin: But those bands stuck it out, they are still playing today.
Scott: Those bands are our friends, they have taken us on tour. I don’t know, I think hardcore is on a really good spot right now. There are a lot of awesome new bands. In your real life, you goota go through a lot of bullshit to figure out who you really are and what really matters to you. And the hardcore-scene had to go through the same thing. Some bullshit infiltraded and in some way changed and poisoned hardcore a little bit. But a hardcore-scene without problems is not reality. There was like a little shakeup to let people figure out what’s important to them, other people ran away and the ones who stuck around kind of insured that there will always be straight up hardcore-bands. Sometimes, a little shakeup like that is good for everybody. It’s there more than ever. The word hardcore, you don’t even know what it means anymore when certain people say it to you. I could meet somebody and they tell me that they are in a hardcore-band – at one point, you know exactly what that means, but today you are like ‘In a hardcore band? Or in a hardcore band?’. It is not really anybodys fault, I can’t blame a younger kid for wearing a shirt of a terrible band, that’s what’s going on today. Hopefully, someday he will see a band like Terror, because bands take us on tour and we like to play to any type of persons. Just like today, we are gonna play to all different types of people. Hopefully some of these people who have never experienced a traditional in your face hardcore-show will see that some will hate it but hopefully some will like it and be like ‘Oh, somebody on stage was wearing a Donnybrook shirt. Oh, I saw there CD in that distro, I am gonna go buy it’ (Martin’s other band). It just keeps you on from there.
Martin: Thinking about that kind of stuff is funny, because we get shit for playing with certain bands. We start touring with a band and people get to us on the internet and ask us ‘Why are you touring with them’. But why not? Why not playing for someone who has never experienced a Terror show before?
Scott: All those bands which those shittalkers worship, like Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All, all those bands toured crazy metalbands.
Martin: Technically, we are about to tour with Iron Maiden next year, in Australia. It is a big festival in five different cities, the headliner is Iron Maiden.

That’s awesome.
Martin: That’s crazy, we can say that we shared the stage with Iron Maiden one time.

Alright, which songs will always be on a Terror setlist? Which songs will never get kicked off?
Scott: Overcome.
Martin: Yeah, I would say “Overcome”.
Scott: Keep your mouth shut, One with the underdogs, Out of my face.
Martin: In the five years that I have been playing those songs, they have always been on the setlist for sure. Wait, I am not quiet sure about “Out of my face”, I think there were a couple of times where it didn’t get played.
Scott: We always play “Push it away” which is like my misfavorite, so some day that one will die. That’s it actually. Oh no, I would say “Betrayer”, I really feel that one. I love that song. There is a point where I would say “Keep your mouth shut” and “Overcome” get the best crowd response. “Always the hard way” is way up there now. There are bands which you really wanna see, and they only play their new stuff. I guess that’s cool, but you gotta remember why people are there to see you – they wanna hear the songs they like. I think you gotta give respect to a band who say ‘Fuck it, we are only gonna play what we want to play’, but I don’t know if that is in your best interest.

Ok, I hope that this will not happen within the next years, but if there will ever be a last Terror show, which bands would you want to play?
Martin: Wow.
Scott: I guess like all our good friends, all the other bands from LA. Also Madball, Death Before Dishonor, shit like that. Martin would try to get Behemoth in there.
Martin: Ha ha ha ha, yeah!
Scott: So we would try to get Behemoth in there. Unearth is a band that really has always helped Terror. We haven’t toured with Hatebreed in a while, but there was a time when they were always helping us. Of course Madball. I think that’s the best way to answer it, those are the bands who have always been there for us and stuff.
Martin: We get like love and help fom weird places, places that people wouldn’t even assume. Anyways, we just got an email from the singer of Unearth out of the blue, he got our new record and just wanted to let us know how much he likes it and how pumped he is. That’s really cool, to show us love. A band like that.
Scott: And they are good. They like to drink. Well, we will be back in January. And for the Persistance Tour, too.

The Persistance Tour 2011?
Scott: Yeah. My goal is to set up a tour with Hatebreed, Madball, Terror and Trapped Under Ice at Persistance 2011.
Martin: If that happens, then we can talk about the last show. I would be so happy after that.

I would be at every show, you could hire me as the merchguy. Alright, this is it. Any last words?
Scott: Something, that I always like to say: new bands like Alpha & Omega from LA have a really, really good new record out.

Oh yeah, I saw them on tour in the states in August with Bane, Trapped Under Ice and Cruel Hand.
Scott: Oh, cool, where?

Chicago, Arlington Hights at the Knights Of Columbus.
Martin: That show must have been awesome.

The show was off the hook.
Scott: That’s a good place to go for a hardcore-show, Chicago is awesome. Backtrack, Deadend Path, Titlefight, the new Donnybrook record is coming out. If you don’t have the new Death Before Dishonor, that one is out for a while, it is a really fucking good record. Madball’s new record.

The EP is out on Reaper Records, right? What is it called? The true american...
Martin: ....”The real american hardcore”, which I think is awesome, because that’s kind of a response to the movie. Have you seen the documentary “American Hardcore”? The way they talk and the direction they are going in that is that all that cool stuff happened, but now everything sucks and hardcore is dead. How the fuck can you say that when there are bands like Madball who are still playing. Get one of those people and take them to the show you saw in Chicago.

I mean, just take a look downstairs. You are like 5000 miles away from your homes and there are 500 people on a weekday to see you.
Martin: Exactly, and this was like their response to it.
Scott: The movie really negelects New York. The Cro Mags are in it for a minute, and I think Agnostic Front is not in it at all. How have you titled a movie “American Hardcore” not having New York in it?

But Pantera is in it. American Hardcore, ha ha ha. I mean, I like their records, heavy music, good stuff.
Scott: I don’t. He is in it, but Roger and Stigma aren’t.
Martin: That’s bizarre.
Scott: I don’t know exactly why they wrote that song, but all that...

Thank you very much guys!


Posted by: Stephan



SMALL TOWN RIOT interview

11/20/2010 | Right outta the streets of Hamburg and its heavily busy harbor a bunch of gritty punk rockers celebrate their 10th anniversary with the release of a “best of” compilation titled “Fuck Those Who Go Untried” that chronicles their career, when the guys moves their humble first steps in Buxtehude (a suburban town South-west of Hamburg), and the release of a brand new full-length record “Suicidal Lifestyle”. I reviewed the compilation, out through Warbird Entertainment in USA and licensed to True Rebel records for Europe, a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was about to time catch up with Timo (vocals/drums) and ask him some questions (and his buddy Eiko Billy -bass- helped him out answering too), on the compilation, their history, Hamburg’ punk scene and much more. Read on what the guys had to say…

GAN!: How long have you guys been a band, how did SMALL TOWN RIOT first get started, and who you all are?…you know the usual shit.

Timo: Hi Marco!... After playing in some nameless band projects Norman and me (plus a friend) started out STR in spring 2000, in a shitty town southwest of Hamburg (GER). We had a few lineup-changes throughout the years. Andy and Heiko used to play in some other bands, but we’re all coming from the same area and we knew each other for years before we all ended up together.

GAN!: How was it back in the early days? And how the scene around you changed over the years?

Timo: Actually it was a lot of fun! We were pretty much playing our first gigs for our friends only. I remember a few concerts that we played in a forest outside our town. Under a pavilion, plugged into a generator in front of 30 or 40 people going nuts.
I don‘t think the “scene” has really changed that much. Ok, we’re a lot “older” now. I mean we don‘t drink our beer on a parking lot like we did back then and we don’t get in trouble with local assholes that much anymore...haha!... I‘m sure there‘s alot of kids out there who are going through the same shit right now. All the hatred, lack of power, anger and bloody noses ;-).
Somehow the scene still has the same characters. Some might be more into Oi-Punk or whatever and others are more into politics, seriously trying to change the world. I guess Small Town Riot has always been somewhere in between all of that... This new generation may listen to different bands than we did, but it’s still attended by the same attitude and a very similar massage...

GAN!: You guys play a pretty raw street punk and it’s pretty obvious where you are taking your influence from. Who’s into what, and name some of your all time favourite bands?

Timo: Each of us is influenced by very different music. For example, Norman grew up listening to the music of his father (50s, 60s, 70s), that‘s why he’s so much more into rock’n’roll than the rest of us. Other than that we’re all kids of the 90s, and that’s when we all started playing our instruments, so I guess the basic influence is coming from bands that came along with that time.... What bands do you think we sound like?...if it’s so obvious;-) (GAN! note: read the review to know that)

GAN!: Did you ever get criticized of ripping off any more famed act? And how do you react in case somebody does that?

Timo: hmmm.. not really... there’s always people who want to hear another band in one of your songs, who cares.
We never tried to copy any certain sound or band. We play what ever we like. If a song sounds like from another band, then that’s totally fine...

GAN!: I got to know you guys thanks to ”Fuck Those Who Go Untried”, a record that will be released in the U.S.A. through Warbird Entertainment. Are you happy to have your music finally available for American kids?

Of course, we’re very happy about that!.... and this best of is also right in time for our 10years anniversary. It doesn’t get any better...
Thanks to Mr.Patience, I mean, Mr.Bird(!), who definitely made it happen. Hopefully some of the “American kids“ are actually buying our shit over there:-/
GAN!: How did your relationship start with Bird?

Timo: Hmmm, I guess because of Subwaste and Down and Away, both bands from Sweden that are friends of ours. He released some of their records in the USA.
So we contacted him and forced him to listen to some of our music...haha... he liked it alot, so we all came up with the idea to put out a best of record for people who don’t know us at all, to give’em a good impression of what STR is all about. Bird is probably (hopefully) going to release our new album “SUICIDAL LIFESTYLE” next year on Warbird Entertainment. Bird is a good guy, we’d love to come overseas to finally meet him in person.

GAN!: Any plans to tour USA anytime soon?

Timo: Yeah, hopefully next year! We are planning on a tour, but we all have jobs to do (except for Andy…haha!) and it‘s always hard for us to get the whole band together for a tour. America is also very expensive for a European band to travel around...we’ll see...

GAN!: What’s Hamburg scene like these days and what’s the best thing about your hometown? Any bands worth mentioning?

Timo: Probably the best thing about our hometown IS the scene! There’s a very solid network that keeps the scene together.
People help each other out, no matter what. There are a lo of good venues and bars around St.Pauli and other districs...a lot of good and international shows.
On the other hand the federal state government is very conservative. Hamburg got rich from the shipping, the harbour and Airbus.
This is a very fucking profit motivated city, that’s why they push people around if necessary to expand the business without regard for anything...The richest city in Germany with increased cost of living and very high rents.
The most famous band from HH: “The Beatles”;-) who played their very first gigs at the “Star-Club” on the Reeperbahn.
I could name tons of old legendary bands now, but the one I think is the best right now: the “EIGHT BALLS” who we share our rehearsal room with & they’re also part of the True-Rebel-Family:-)

GAN!: Being you guys around for some long years now I wanna hear some Small Town Riot stories. Gimme something pretty raw.

Timo: Sorry, man!...what happens on the road, stays on the road...haha!...I could tell you tons of stories now, but it's really hard to pick one out...hmm, Norman is peeing in bottles every time we’re on the road. Cause we wouldn't get anywhere in time if we’d stop every time Norman needs to take a piss. I remember some funny accidents with these bottles in the van.

GAN!: Best Small Town Riot show, or the one that you remember before the rest?
Timo: The best Small Town Riot show was probably the release show two moths ago. The Hafenklang was packed and the crowd was totally going crazy, even though we were playing a lot of new songs. And this time Small Town Riot was even almost sober...man, we should quit drinking on stage...haha...

GAN!: What’s the best thing about Small Town Riot?

Timo: to travel around! hanging out with friends...talking shit?!...I don't know the best thing but I can tell you the worst thing: There are certain people in our band who are not able to...ok, that’s not fair, lol;-)

GAN!: Are you guys working on new stuff?

Timo: now that we released our new album we already started working on new songs. This time we wanna be back in a studio as soon as possible.

GAN!: The Internet seems like the perfect tool for the underground punk scene. How do you view the Internet as a tool for the punk community? What sorts of advantages do you think it has presented to the “old” way of doing things? Overall, do you think it has a positive or negative impact on the DIY punk community?

Heiko Billy: Internet made the whole package of infrastructure& communication lots faster and way easier than ever. Look at Myspace for example, it never has been that easy to get knowledge of other bands of all kinds of music. Even getting in contact with people running clubs or whatsoever is pretty easy now. Apart from the fact that we all get filled up with adds/info, it’s also stereotyping a lot and you have to be aware that you’re using the platforms, which also used by the industry, politics, porn, racists, etc…But as long as you see it as an instrument it’s very use-& powerful.

GAN!: We are in closing. Thank you so much for taking some time out to answer my questions. Are there any last words?

Timo: we hope to come over to you guys maybe next year to have a hell of a party. Sorry for our bad English...cheers&goodbye…(GAN! note: the interview will be up on Warbird Entertainment site for American kids)

Check: myspace.com/smalltownriothamburg myspace.com/warbirdentertainment

Posted by: marcs77

WHALES’ ISLAND interview

10/03/2010 | WHALES’ ISLAND outta Sicily, Italy is a new band featuring ex-members of The Break! and Valuesxintact. They have their debut record “Not A Dream, but never the end” out through Indelirium records now and are gearing up for their upcoming and first European jaunt.
Well, I got Turixxx (vocals) reply a bunch of questions about the album and its recording process and other things that will get you to know this five-piece. So check out what he has to say and don’t miss the chance the catch’em live on this tour.

GAN!: Hey Turixxx what’s up bro?

turixxx: Hey GAN!, so glad to talk to you right now, I’m fine tnx...always playing with bands but I've to study hard eheh and I'm looking for a new job for this year!

GAN!: Can you introduce WHALES’ ISLAND and tell us how they got started and who complete band’s line-up?

turixxx: of course, Whales' Island is an idea of me and Nico "The Break", a melodic project to change something 'bout the same sound we played during these years with ValuesxIntact and The Break too! From summer 2009 till now we're playing and just we've changed our bass player, but during the first time of the band…we've a strong line up now and I'm so glad about it, cause u know to have good friends inside a band is better at all, we're a family and then we're a band! so Whales'Island is:
me like singer
Nico- first guitar
Giorgio (palomo) - second guitar
Marco - bass
Fabio - drums
everyone of us had a band in the past, Giorgio played with another melodic band called "Wise Guys", me and Nico well you know we played with The Break! and I played with ValuesxIntact and The Limit!, Marco and Fabio played with a lot of bands together in their town, they're not from here but from Castelvetrano near Palermo but they stay here like student…

GAN!: What are some of your main influences and where do you draw inspiration for your lyrics?

turixxx: we still working up our songs to be more melodic every time, and we take our influences by bands like Polar Bear Club at first, and Death Is Not Glamorous…Foo Fighters and Set Your Goals, but we've normally a lot of music's influences inside our songs cause we listen a lot of different music, maybe I listen to hardcore music more than Fabio or Marco that listen a lot of melodic band hardcore and punkrock and pop punk, Giorgio listen to old melodic hardcore at first like No Use For A Name or H2O,and Nico listen to metal hardcore more than us eheheh...
About our lyrics well: we talk about real love experience, we talk about suffering inside love experience and we talk about mind and heart feeling…we talk about friendship and true words…we talk about life…especially inside "whales" song…beautiful animals who lives their life with a typical and mystic silence just with their passion and their tradition up and down the sea…when I broke my old love history 8 months ago I was really really sick and depressed...but when I met my new girl I saw in her this typical behaviour, a mystic silence and an intense feeling, truth and simplicity…so I think that whales are the best animals, an example to live the life at its best…especially in this period that you know for all most part of the guys and teenagers is better to talk about life and lifetime on i-net , on forum, on network to be the best guy in the world with pics, and a lot of strange stuff....horrible!
And we talk about money and music of course…cause there're a lot of bands that wanna do money before to do good music, but don’t wanna say, yeah that’s right this is my way, I wanna do money...noooo, they just say, I've a band, I've attitude, I believe in Jesus, I'm evangelist, I'm a rapper, I'm vegan or I'm not vegan and I eat meat a lot ahahah...and this is not our way, no, just I wanna live and have fun with my real friends, with myself, I wanna talk with simple words…and aw of course if one day i open my mail and read hey we're a grate label and we wanna do for u a big work, you will be so famous then yeah ok!...this is cool, but I don’t wanna live to search something just to be famous no!, I hate this!

GAN!: You guys have your debut full-length “Not A Dream, but never the end” out through Indelirium records? Are you guys satisfied with how it did come out?

turixxx: yeah finally our first full length is out with Indelirium Records, and we're selling a lot of copies here in our city...we're so glad bout it, we wanna tnx all the people that support us during this moment and we wanna tnx of course Emiliano bout this work! he has a lot of contacts around and our cd will be distributed here in Europe, and in Usa with interpunk and in Japan too...aw we're really so glad!!!

GAN!: Did you get any reviews? And what people who got the chance to hear it think about the record?

turixxx: not yet, and yeah a lot of people here and out Italy fortunately say cool and good words about our record!
GAN!: What’s been the tough part in the writing/recording process? And how long did it take you guys to complete the whole thing?

turixxx: writing and recording process, well…was a long period from December 2009 till April 2010 maybe…and was so stressful really…every day we were together to listen to something new and every day I was writing new words new lyrics, sometimes cool sometimes not so good for these new songs...but was sometimes strange ahah, I remember an afternoon with the band at our box for practice, maybe in 5 minutes a new song done ahah…nico was out of room for his cigarette and when he comes back inside we had a new song ready to play! ahah...that song is titled “From the start till the end” ahah…crazy!
Well, in April we were at Acme Studio Records in Abruzzo…really really a great experience, so hard, so professional, so dunno what but really a great experience with cool times and bad times...we had our room near the studio's room and every day for two weeks we played and played and played...Emiliano was with us every afternoon and a lot of friends of that area too, we wanna tnx at first Emiliano, Davide "acme Studio", Fabio and at all the Sulmona Rockerz crew and One Trax minds!...inside our full length is possible to listen the best punx Italian voice we think during "Sorry, I’m not so famous like you" where there's a great feat. by Alex "One trax minds", and is possible to listen to another grate voice during "We're alone" feat. by Fabio "Rise from the agony/While you wait"…

GAN!: When The Break! called it a day I remember you telling me that you were fucking tired to play with guys who didn’t really commit and that the whole thing made you feel a bit sad. Whale’s Island is whole new start and you moved from behind the drum-kit to the microphone. How do you feel on this role and what are some of your personal expectations with this band?

turixxx: yeah that's right, The Break was at first a good experience but not till the end...I still believe that during the period we played with that band I played like I was inside Valuesxintact and...was wrong!...I think like I wrote before this point that before to have a band the most important thing is to have good friends and good mind around you, than you can have a band to play to leave experience to go on tour to stay inside or outside music's places and stuff like this…you know, if you play with other guys who have so different ideas and have so different attitude well maybe you can’t go on...with Whales'island we're a family and then we're a band, now I'm living a band and I'm living a family like during my Valuesxintact's period I think, and that's the best for me, in fact I wanna here tnx my band name by name, fabio, nico, marco and giorgio cause with them I wanna go on and with them I’ve the best! …I think when I say all this an old Valuesxintact's song, "The best of us"…yeah...the best of us…the perfect words to explicate!
..ahah yeah, moved from behind the drum-kit to the microphone, dunno…was always a dream to have a band and to be a singer of this so right now I’ve this role and that's awesome…I’m so crazy at the front and its so cool to be with all the people around me at the front, talk with them, jump with them, feel with them our ideas and our music! really cool...

GAN!: The record is out through Indelirium records which in the past released the albums of your old band Values Intact. The family bonds never break, right?

turixxx: right, never break…of course we can’t be everyday together like in the past cause everyone of us have other projects…university, work, bands and more…but every time when we're together around is cool, and always we talk by sms or mail or telephone...values intact…inside me (like I say at then end of our song "values")

GAN!: I know you guys will be driving all the way from Palermo up to Germany and Poland this October. What are your expectations on this tour and why kids should show up at any of your gigs?

turixxx: Germany, Poland, Swiss and maybe France...still waiting answer...we've our personal booking agency "pazzo show" thaaaaaat's great, we love Sandro at all; and have shows in Italy too, Trento...Milano…
well, what do we to expect? just to enjoy us ,to know new guys and new scenes and new bands around…we've some big shows in Germany too with Italian bands, our friend Go back home and One trax minds and that’s great, can’t wait to be there eheh…and hope to meet u during these days !
is possible to check our dates on our myspace and facebook, so follow us people!!!!!!!
GAN!: I can’t remember if I asked you this before, but what got you into hardcore in the first place and what’s the fuel that keeps you going after all the years?

turixxx: I'm yeah inside this world from a lot of time maybe 10 or 12 years dunno for sure…but I'm not so veteran I think! of course I've a lot of experiences on my back and just I wanna bring inside my band all this…with music ideals…attitude, words, feelings…and stuff like this…I think I've learned during the years a lot of things...about my music, and for my bands of course...on stage and off the stage…about my instruments practice…just to see for every time drummers and hardcore punk bands, maybe you know…but I think it’s so important to learn always something new to play at it best and the years where so important for me about it…with Valuesxintact especially we were on tour often out of Sicily and that was a great chance for me to learn a lot of things about the music about the people in around, the culture of our Nation and of the other Nation in around, to increase my knowledge about vegan and vegetarian food and the straightedge too, well my life eheh, to know always new sounds and new bands, to meet new friends and old friends, to buy always a lot of shirts and lp or 7"…and I'm into this a lot…cause you know, in the last years all the guys and teenagers especially don’t buy these anymore…just they love donwload on pc the music…shit!, I hate this mood…really a lot…I think and always will be the same for me , that it’s the most important thing for our subculture to buy always lp or 7" or cd or fanzine or stuff like this to support all this world, to support all the guys like you in this moment that are working so hard in about, and the years where so important for me to know this!...aw to stay in around on tour, to sleep in every fucking place or to stay just inside the van...so important to live my life with simplicity without any problems…by the way, I love to see all the hardcore and punk shows cause are so simple and it’s possible to stay so near the band and to see their technique on the stage…and is possible to enjoy yourself without problems…to share the stage with friends…
In the end, during the years I've learned maybe to take something from every place where I was: tradition, food, mentality and stuff like this...and these years were so important for me to meet a lot of people, good people...good bands…good friends.
..would be awesome for me to stay always on tour, would be awesome for me to stay always in around alone or with my band…but in around…to meet friends, to see new cities, to see shows always...that’s right, this is what I wanna bring to my band…and I don’t wanna be a veteran for them, or myself, I just wanna live every day like the first of my big experience inside this great world as name "hardcore" and that a lot of people today say "dead world", you know!...and of course I've to learn more...I wanna learn a lot from by my bands too...I wanna learn and do new experiences everyday...and that’s all.

GAN!: There’s a black & white picture in the tray card of cd which shows you guys staring at the sea. Who did come up with the idea and is there any hidden meaning behind this shot?

turixxx: just a few words to explicate this shot and our idea 'bout…we 're Sicilian, we leave in an island, we love this island so watching the sea we explicate all these things…we know that this town maybe isn't the best in the world, but shit we've a lot of cool places, sea...bands…a lot of history and monuments around…we've our best friends here, our family, cool pepole in around, cool food maybe the best in the world ahahah, really…we love this place!...maybe one time in the future we will be not here ever but its impossible to forget our island, impossible...

GAN!: The debut record, the upcoming tour. What’s up next?

turixxx: play play and play, go on tour and make another cd or 7" or lp hopefully...would be awesome for us…

GAN!: Time to wrap this up. Thank you for taking the time to reply my questions and hope you enjoyed them. Any words of wisdom?

turixxx: well, Marco me and Whales'island tnx you for this chance, hope to talk with you as soon as possible and meet you in around during our tour in October! other words…well...not a dream but never the end...yeah, that's our life, no questions…no answer…leave...just this!:)

Check: myspace.com/thewhalesisland

Posted by: marcs77



COMMON ENEMY - Time to live the dream!

07/31/2010 | What can a bunch of working-class American dudes who dig D.R.I., horror movies and everything 80’s do? Well, start out a fuckin thrash-core combo and try their best to living the dream (which for the guys means party hard, break some bones on a skateboard and definitely having tonna fun). Add to the mix a radical and blatant D.I.Y. attitude, some social conscious and personal lyrics and you can make your mind up on what, Reading, PA based five-piece (a second guitar player joined the ranks lately), COMMON ENEMY are all about.
The guys, who formed somewhere around 1998, have a new record, entitled “Living The Dream?”, out on Horror Business records and just hit Europe. And we got Justin Enemy (guitars), Tank (drums) and Greg Disorder (bass) replying a bunch of questions about their new album, their Euro tour, artworks and more…

GAN!: Yo COMMON ENEMY are you guys still having fun?

TANK: Always! Doing what you love is “priceless”. Just “Living the Dream” (Hahahaha!) Shameless promotion…
JUSTIN: I’m always having fun! Hahaha…

GAN!: You are just got back from a Euro jaunt. How’s that?

JUSTIN: It was a good fun time!
TANK: Europe is an amazing time! We have a lot of awesome friends in Europe and we meet new friends every time we go. If you don’t believe us about having fun, checkout our pictures that will be posted very shortly.

GAN!: Any tour, in-van, after-show parties stories you wanna share with us?

TANK: No one fell out of a bunk bed this time, which is a plus, right Greg?
GREG: Yeah, when you get real drunk and have to pee, a three story bunk bed can be your worst enemy. Hahaha… I ended up falling right on my face at 6:30 in the morning and had to go to the hospital on the first day of our Party Harder 2008 Euro Tour. Because everyone was drinking heavily and couldn’t drive, they had to call an ambulance, it wasn’t to cheap or fun, but it’s definitely was an experience I will never forget!
JUSTIN: (laughing … ) Yeah, he won’t forget that he can’t sleep on the top bunk anymore!
TANK: Our drivers on our last Euro tour, Christian Slaughter and Manny Bones, took us to see the bone church in Czech Republic. Talk about the best place ever to make a zombie film. It needs to be done! Something like forty thousand human remains decorate the inside of this church, I think that’s all I have to say!

GAN!: Your latest record “LIVING THE DREAM?” has been out for a good bunch of months now. How has the overall reception been? Is there any new tune kids dig more than others, any new classic?

TANK: It’s still early, but I see some of the songs, catching on. (“Beer Bong”, “Hey Kid, Wake Up”, “Warped in World 8”)

GAN!: Lyrically you guys deal with everyday life struggles, all the shit going in today world and party till last keg of beer is drained away. Is there any particular “among the lines” message you wanna address through your lyrics?

TANK: You need to live life the way you want to. Do what you love and don’t settle for a so called “normal life”.

GAN!: Most of the themes you deal with were really popular in the 1980’s and still up to date today. I’m wrong saying that it seems like nothing changed at all since then?

JUSTIN: A lot has changed! They don’t make video games 8-bit anymore. Cell phones are smaller. There is internet now. Girls don’t wear the leg warmers like they did in the 80’s. And my personal favourite was MTV in the 80’s, “Headbangers Ball”, when it actually played music videos and was cool to check out new bands!

GAN!: You guys abuse 80’s thrash-punk graphics which, in my view, are really cool. Who’s the guy that takes care of this. It’s just a bit of revival, a ran of the mill thing among bands playing your genre or you guys are really into 80’s stuff?

TANK: Eighty’s were an awesome time, we’re just keeping it alive!
JUSTIN: Bobby Evil does all of our artwork! Me and Bobby have been working together for 5 years and I feel like he’s the 6th member of the Common Enemy. He brings our music alive into a drawing, which by the way is starting to be a lost art with all of this downloading of albums! Have you ever bought an album because the artwork was amazing and grabbed your eye, and then you started getting more into the band because the record ruled and without the artwork you would have never even heard the record? We’re trying to keep art and music together like it should be! Plus we really love the 80’s!

GAN!: Talking about 80’s cover artworks. Is there one cover that sticks to your mind in particular way?

JUSTIN: D.R.I. “Dealing With It”

GAN!: What brought you guys to start a band in the first place? And how did you get involved with hardcore punk?

TANK: I wanted to play music. I wasn’t very good, but I did what I wanted to do. My older brother got me into hardcore punk and I thank him to this day!
JUSTIN: Going to punk rock shows when I was younger and seeing the unity, the fun, and the fact that you can express yourself thru music.

GAN!: Are you guys writing new stuff? How’s the process that you go through to write a new tune?

JUSTIN: It’s going great, but does anyone know of any good monkeys who can play the drums and will work for bananas?
TANK: HA… HA… HA… Very funny! These guys have been joking about trying to replace me with a monkey for years, but what they haven’t figured out yet is, I bring the party beat! We’re writing new stuff all the time! All of us have input, we push each other and suggest things to each other with out getting pissed. As a drummer, I sometimes help write some lyrics.

GAN!: How’s life in Reading, PA? And what about your local scene?
TANK: Reading, PA, hmmmm…
GREG: It’s ok round these parts, lack of small venues and shows are holding the scene back.
TANK: It’s ok, nothing to write home about though. It’s actually getting worse with the economy the way it is. NO JOBS! As for the scene it has its ups and downs, but around here there is always some awesome kids that do there part and make punk fun!

GAN!: Best hardcore-punk record you got the chance to hear this year?
TANK: Self titled album by Positive Strike
JUSTIN: Hellmouth “Destroy Everything, Worship Nothing’’

GAN!: Introduce each band member, describing his strong/weak points, and his contribution to band’s delivery.

JUSTIN: I’m Justin. I play the guitar and bring the thrash. Tank is the drummer, the drinker, and partier, he holds it down! Greg brings the bass beats. Gary screams real loud into a microphone and smokes the good stuff. And the newest member to the band is Sir James, he plays 2nd guitar, brings the harmonics, and the human beat box.

GAN!: Any final words of wisdom?
TANK: If you’re not having fun, you’re not “Living the Dream”

Check: myspace.com/commonenemy myspace.com/horrorbizrecords

Posted by: marcs77

BURY MY SINS

05/26/2010 | Our own much loved metalcorers BURY MY SINS, who are certainly not a new name among our readers, were very eager to give the kids some solid new shit and are back with a brand new EP entitled “Rats” (out through Sharkmen and Damage Done records), which follows up to 2007’s “King Of All Fears”. Well, I thought that is the right time to get back with the guys to check out what’s up and know more about this new release, a concealed ghost track (meanwhile I grabbed the name but I wanna leave you guys the guess...) and all things Bury My Sins-ian. Marco Guth (voice) kindly took some time out to answers my questions. Read on…

GAN!: Hey guys what’s up?
hey Marco, how are you? Hope everything’s fine at the Italian GAN-HQ? We are ok, we’re just struggling with the same problems every band has …myspace!!! Haha...

GAN!: Though you guys have been around for some years now I’d start at the beginning for those not in the know.

some years, that is right, how many exactly? 5? 6? Please wait, I need to check wikipedia!!! HaHa… we are around since 2004, put some songs out, had some shows, had some more drinks and much more flat jokes… nothing special I think!!! We are Ben & Harald on the Guitars, Normen on Bass, Christian on drums and I am screaming around as much as I can.

GAN!: Where did the band name come from, and what would you say are your collective influences?

The band name was a result of a casting. No joke! We had a hand full of names, but in the end BURY MY SINS was our winner! …some of the other bandnames became songs later, like GREY BLEEDING HEART. TODAY’S BLACK DEATH, the name of our first record, was also on the list… we recycle everything man!!!

GAN!: You just released a new EP entitled “Rats”. How would you compare the new stuff to your older one?

in the last years we went through many changes, but that was no problem to keep our main line in writing songs, maybe we became a bit more melodic, but on the other side we became a bit more fast and harder. RATS is what we are in 2009/2010, that’s what we felt! You will find us in every song, like on our last records and so we’ll continue

GAN!: What’s your favourite track and which one is the best received when you play the new tunes to the crowd?

we play around 3-4 songs from every record on our shows, at the moment we play “RATS”, “THE KILLER IN ME” & “OBLIVION THE END”. The we have some fast parts to kick ass with RATS, some lines to sing along with THE KILLER…, and some break-down stuff for the death-core kids with OBLIVION THE END ;-) …but they all need some more time to hang around with the DYING ANTS!!! Haha…

GAN!: And what about press reaction? What kind of reviews are you getting for “Rats”?

nearly what we expected from RATS, we don’t serve something really new, and the music-train right now doesn’t look roomy for us. In times of highlighted super-productions we went into the studio and recorded nearly live 7 songs in 3 days, and for honestly doing what we always did we’ve got the feedback we deserve I think.

GAN!: What do you guys think of modern hardcore and more specifically about metalcore (I read many labelling you this way)?

we play metal-core, this is our label, if we like it or not, haha! we can do nothing against it, but why? I personally I never labelled myself as a metal-head (Normen did that, haha…), and we’ll never be accepted as a real metal-band, but why? we came from the punk hardcore scene (but not Normen! ), I still love it, and metal-core is just a name like so many other names we need to get our asses in place… I think we all make better jokes about death-core when the time has come!!!

GAN!: Where do you pull your inspiration for lyrics from - personal experience or elsewhere?

RATS is both, personal and “elsewhere”. DIE AWAY FROM YOU, OBLIVION THE END & THE KILLER… are all about some hard nights I had last year, the all reflect, and maybe some of my friends will see themselves in the songs, I don’t know… the title-song RATS is more like a story about nearly all humans around me, haha… TRAPPED MEANINGLESS goes out to the scene, and NOWY SACZ is the unreal story about a nightmare we had as a band early 2009 in the cold and dark hills of Poland.

GAN!: I read that also this time it took you only three days to record. You guys are very quick when it comes to recording. How do you manage to do this? Wanna reveal the trick?

I don’t know, we meet every two weeks to write some songs, first we drink beer for 30minutes, than we talk shit (+ beer) for more 30minutes, than we play some riffs for an hour, and after all that we all escape, haha!!! Really, I don’t know, we always did it that way, we enter the studio well prepared, and we know what we want, and we have some good guys behind the desk …and we never had money to record for days and weeks!!!

GAN!: Rape of harmonies studios are kind of your home whenever you decide to record new stuff. Do these studios just fit your needs or...are you guys just too lazy to try something new?

HaHa, maybe both, but for us there was no need to change till now, we are happy to see Alex and Engel every two years, we are having a good time there, maybe it depends more on the people than on the studio-name, but as long as the results are blasting us away it’s fine for us.

GAN!: Who took care of artwork and who came up with the subject?

the artwork comes out of the pen from Daniel (aka dude of death), he worked for EVENWORSE, GOLDUST and some more hc-bands, and made some crazy designs for a skateboards company I think. He made a shirt for us before and we all liked his work, so we had the idea for a new shirt, something like a Bad Religion’s Against The Grain rip-off …after I had the idea and lyrics for the song RATS all came together.

GAN!: At the end of EP I hear a ghost track which sounds like a cover. I’m sure I heard the tune but I can grab who the band is…

are you joking? I won’t tell you…

GAN!: How’s your local scene going?

fine, there come a lot of new young kids and bands, they make shows continuously, nice to look at!!! Please check out STAY STRONG, a new hc band from Bad Hersfeld

GAN!: Do you guys have any side project going?

our drummer Christian plays in a punkrock cover band, they only cover top10 hits in their own special way, funny guys!!! I am working on my punk project for nearly 3 years, but till now nothing really happened, we’ll record a demo this summer (I hope so) …we’ll let you know!!!

GAN!: What do you see in the band's future?

hard question!!! I don’t know really, hopefully the same guys around me, good music and good times, nice trips and some cool shows!!! We don’t need more I guess.

GAN!: Well, that’s really about it. Do you wanna add something?

thanks to you and the work you did for us, thanks to the GAN-team, thanks to our friends outthere …we all hope to see some of you outthere …beware of the rats!!!

Check: myspace.com/burymysins

Posted by: marcs77

WAGES OF FEAR - Nardcore aggressive skate-punk

04/05/2010 | Have you guys ever heard of Nardcore sound? No? Actually, I haven’t too! (but maybe the older readers may know what I’m talking about). Nahh…it’s nothing to do with a new fashion in hardcore music. Nardcore is a powerful music movement erupted in late 1970’s early 1980’s in Oxnard California. Nardcore’s aggressive sound and socially conscious lyrics quickly grew into the voice of displaced young people in Oxnard and its surrounding communities. A lively scene that featured bands like Aggression, Dr.Know, Ill Repute, Stalag 13, RKL (to name but a few) who helped melding hardcore punk ethics with skate attitude paving the way for many skate-punk acts to come -if you wanna have a taste of the bands of that era you can try and find the "Nardcore" compilation released by Mystic records in 1984 or get a copy of "Nardcore 30 years later" compilation through www.myspace.com/vanardcore30yearslater to know what's going on today.
A long time has passed since then but in the Oxnard area sounds like there’s still a scene going strong and GOT A NERVE! got the chance to interview one of most promising acts working their asses off to keep their local scene alive. Ventura based quartet WAGES OF FEAR are featured in the Break Out III compilation out through Niestroy/Cut Out records and about to release their debut full-length. Read on this Q&A about their upcoming full-length, Ventura’s scene, thrash punk revival and more.

GAN!: Hello guys how’s all in life?

Good
Fine
Plenty
Swell

GAN!: First off, please introduce your band to the readers of GOT A NERVE!

Keeping the beats is our drummer Brosif. Shreddin’ Eddie is our guitarist. The funkster Aaron is on bass. M2 spits out the vocals.

GAN!: What do you guys have out thus far?

We are on the Break Out III compilation that Niestroy/Cut Out Records put out. You can gobble up a copy at: www.myspace.com/niestroybremen or http://cutoutrecords.bigcartel.com/.
We are also gonna be on a comp supporting the Haiti recovery effort that Gazz from Ungovernable Resistance DIY Radio is spearheading with help from Screaming from the Gutter.

GAN!: You told me that you’ll be out with a full-length soon. How is it titled, who will release it and how the new material compares to the old shit?

We got our first full-length, a full 25 minutes ha ha, comin’ out in April 2010. The title is “Broken System” and we are stoked about it and the artwork. We will leave that as a surprise! It’ll be out on Bite Me Records with support from Give Praise Records. We wanna thank both of those labels!

GAN!: What does the name Wages of Fear means to you? Any hidden meaning behind it or just a cool band name?

We got the name from an obscure 1953 French movie that most people have never heard of, including us before we picked it. We viewed it and found it to be an intense movie for it’s time. Kinda like a modern day Rambo:-) Also we believe in taking risks like the dudes in the movie so the name fit right in. You only live once, make the best of it!

GAN!: I learned off your myspace that you guys hail from Ventura (California, right?). How’s your local scene like and what other bands work they asses off to keep it alive? Any funny rumour or stories related to your area?

Yeah, our practice digs are in Ventura, California. We gotta couple of members from Ventura and a couple from Oxnard, California (the Nard). The scene in this area is Nardcore dubbed from Ox(Nard) since the late 70’s/early 80’s. It’s also referred to “The Land of No Toilets.” The scene is surviving due to the Nardcore loyalists and bands like Ill Repute, Dr. Know, Global Warning, Dogends, etc…, and of course us, ha ha...

GAN!: Do you have any plans as to come to Europe in the near future? And what European kids should expect from a Wages Of Fear show?

We are hoping to land in Europe in the summer of love, 2011. The European punks can expect complete and utter insanity at our shows. Lotsa fun and pit action!

GAN!: When you’re not dicking around with the band what do you guys do? Both for a living and during your free time.

Well, we go to a lot of local gigs and slam our brains out! Most of us are unemployed or unemployable, ha ha… We pick up odd jobs here and there to survive.

GAN!: Let me test a bit you punk hardcore knowledge. If I mention the following song titles can you come up with the band who play the tune?

-Feel The Darkness - Poison Idea

-Possessed to Skate - Suicidal Tendencies

-Six Pack - Black Flag

-Street Justice - Cro Mags

GAN!: What are some of the bands that inspired you forming a band in the first place?

Marvin Gaye (digging the “Let’s Get It On” song ), ha ha… Let’s be serious now kids, Wages of Fear, Kiss, Agression, The Kinks, D.R.I. and some others.

GAN!: In the last few year it seems like there’s been kinda revival of 80’s thrash punk sounds? What do you think about bands like Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, SSS. Do you think is just another fashion among hardcore punk scene or is there something more about it?

We do like the 80’s thrash punk sound and it is always good to see new bands revive it and do it well!

GAN!: What do you guys talk about in your lyrics? I saw there are some with titles like “Egg” and “Fritos and Bean Dip”. Where do you pull inspiration for lyrics from?

Our lyrics talk about daily life, past experiences and food.

GAN!: Give us the Wages Of Fear Top 5 must-have bands on the van stereo...

M.D.C., Excel, Cro Mags, S.N.F.U., Chuck Berry

GAN!: And finally the obligatory end of interview question; do you wanna add something? Shout outs? Plugs?

We wanna thank all the DIY radio shows that play our tunes including Ungovernable Resistance, Jack and the Punk Rock Demonstration, Guardian Demon, The Grind and Kamikaze Radio. We also wanna thank Punk Rock, Hardcore and Ska Music Resource n Review, Schizofrehn Fanzine, The Nightmare Continues Fanzine and of course Got a Nerve! We also wanna shout out to all of our supporters and the Nardcore punx! THANK YOU!

Check: myspace.com/wagesoffearband

Posted by: marcs77

SPLEEN FLIPPER brutal in the Italian way

02/21/2010 | Being around for some long 10 years and staying true to one own ethics and believes, after having gone through your fair share of line-up changes and difficulties, I think, is a living proof that a project, or a band, is not just a passing phase but something on a very different level where passion and will to work your ass off really means way more than being the coolest punk around cause of what you wear and listen to.
Crema, Italy, based five-some SPLEEN FLIPPER celebrate this year their 10th birthday and are still here to deliver some old-school, sang in Italian, hardcore in their own brutal way.
After the review of their latest output “Alchimia Del Dolore” (the alchemy of pain) I arranged this email interview with Topper (vocals) and asked them all about their history, musical influences, “Alchimia Del Dolore”, singing in Italian, covers, and their goals for the future and much more.
Well, I’ll read on what Topper had to say. And make sure to go see any of the shows the guys are gonna play this March in Germany (for dates and updates you can check out band’s myspace).

GAN!: First off, I’ll let you introduce yourselves?

Hi! We are SPLEEN FLIPPER, hardcore band from Crema, a very small city near Milan.
We play old school hardcore with grindcore and death metal influences.
We are 5 guys, Nicola (drums), Little (bass), Katta and Mario (guitars) and Topper (voice).

GAN!: In 2008 you recorded your latest output entitled “Alchimia del dolore” (The Alchemy Of Pain). Do you think those songs still represent what SPLEEN FLIPPER are really all about today?

I think that a part of those songs represent Spleen Flipper actually, because those songs was written with 3 drummers.
Due to various changes of line-up and the time that has passed, now we are more technical and powerful.

GAN!: Are you guys working on new stuff?

Sure! We have 3 new songs ready and we’re working on other 2.
We hope to record a new album the next year.
I think that it will be our heavier release ‘till now.

GAN!: Your hardcore mixes Italian oldschool, metal and grindcore. What are some of your influences (music-wise and personal-wise)?

Yes, our sound is influenced by Italian hardcore (Negazione, Indigesti, Raw Power, Sottopressione, Wretched) but we like to mix it with extreme music.
We are great music-consumers, we listen all kind of music, from Jimi Hendrix to Regurgitate, hip-hop, reggae, tekno, a lot of different sounds…

GAN!: What about the decision of singing in Italian? In my opinion the songs sang in one’s own language get a very different feel to them and are more straight forward than when they are sang in English.

Yes, I agree with you.
I wanted to write in Italian because I was afraid of not being able to express the same metaphors and honestly, I didn’t care to use another language.
But then we played several times abroad, I realized that it’s better if I try to write some lyrics in English and so I’m doing, in fact the new songs are all in English and I like it!
I don’t exclude however that I will still sing something in Italian on the new album.

GAN!: I saw that you guys play a cover of Negazione (“Qualcosa Scompare” off “Lo Spirito Continua”) at your shows. Do you find these guys influential as far as your view of hardcore-punk goes?

Negazione is the greatest hardcore band! Their music, their lyrics was amazing!

GAN!: This April it’s ten years that you guys are around. Quite a long time for a hardcore band. What are some of the best moments with this band you’ll bring with you forever? Any bad period you wanna really forget?

Yes, we are fuckin’ old… mmm… best and bad moments… dunno…I think that the best moments we’ve spent on tour around Europe, a lot of funny things.
The bad period for me, was when our second drummer left the band; he played with us for 8 months only and we found a real good feeling with him. We searched a new drummer but it was very difficult, ‘cause in our city there aren’t hardcore drummers and we tried with some drummers without find what we needed. We haven’t played shows for a year, it was terrible…

GAN!: The track “Solo Merda” (Just Shit) has got some really in your face lyrics. Where do you get your lyrical inspiration from?

I wrote those words thinking about our city. It’s a very shitty place, there isn’t a live-music club, no place for a squat ‘cause local institutions are very hard with antagonist movements; only fashion bars and fashion people.
But if you want, this lyric is adaptable to our society, where the most important thing is to appear, to become someone…just a sea full of shit!

GAN!: I know this might be a tough one. In your view what hardcore punk is all about?

I think that hardcore it’s to play what you feel and don’t care about the trend that is in vogue. Play faster, play louder and scream something with a sense.

GAN!: You guys will be hitting the road to go play some gigs in Germany this March. How are you gearing up and what are some of your expectations on this mini tour?

Oh we’re very excited! This is the 6th or 7th time that we go to play in Germany and is always a wonderful experience. We don’t expect nothing, we go there to play our music and to have a lot of fun!

GAN!: What do you guys do besides the band? Hobbies, work…

Everyone have a work, factory workers, car mechanic…
Mario and me organize shows in some venues in Cremona and in other small villages.
Katta loves to draw a compose music with pc, Nicola it’s a sportsman and he composes a little music with his pc too.

GAN!: In your opinion what hardcore-punk can communicate to kids of today who many times are more into the fashion side of the thing than being opened to listen to any kind of messages?

To be yourself, only you must decide what you want to be, without stupid and useless trends.

GAN!: What all bands are you digging these days? Any other Italian bands worth checking out?

In these days I’m listening a lot the new Darkest Hour’s album it’s a very good work!
Italian bands, De Crew, La Crisi, Nettezza Umana, Cripple Bastards, Strange Corner, The Infarto Scheisse!, Raw Power…

GAN!: It’s really time to wrap this up and thank you for taking the time to reply my questions. Do you wanna add something more? Shout outs?

Thanx a lot for this interview.
See you guys on March, check out the dates on our myspace! See ya in the pit!

Check: myspace.com/spleenflipper

Posted by: marcs77

TO KILL Roma’s hardcore household

12/19/2009 | Started out with a sonic bang (maybe unexpected by the band) TO KILL are now one of those names the Italian hardcore scene must be most proud of.
The Romans are really a bunch of hard-working and passionate dudes who really believe in hardcore as a means for raising some consciousness among the kids on issues like animal and human rights. TO KILL is to honesty as Xs are to straightedge; you just can’t imagine one without the other. And they put 110% in what they do showing that the line-up problems they faced recently are not gonna keep the band in hold.
Waiting for the new album (the guys are now recording new stuff which will be included in the follow-up to 2008’s “When Blood Turns To Stone”) we talked about a host of topics like the new EP Maelström, their appearance at this year Fluff Fest and much more with singer Josh. Ok, read on and make sure to check the guys out on their upcoming Euro tour with Shai Hulud and Endwell.

GAN!: Your new EP “Maelström” is finally out. Mind talking about it?

Josh: Yeah it's finally out and it's awesome. The old full length was out since a year and before releasing a new one we wanted to release some new tunes to keep everything active, so we were thinking of what we could do and we had in mind the idea of releasing an EP. We decided to make a benefit release since the fight for animal rights is an issue that is vital for us from the beginning and Sea Shepherd seemed the right organization to devolve the benefit to. In the ep there are 2 new tunes and an old song re-recorded plus a final spoken word by Greg Bennick from Trial.

GAN!: Trial’s Greg Bennick make a guest appearance on this EP with a spoken word piece. How this collaboration come about?

Josh: Trial is definitely one of the bands that influenced us the most since day one. Even before putting To Kill together we were all huge Trial fans. Plus Greg is one of the most awesome and solid person we know and we felt like: alright, he has an awesome voice, his way of talking and expressing concept just catch you and touches your heart plus he is really hot, so we asked him to make a guest in one of the song and to record the spoken word and then came out what you can hear in Maelström.

GAN!: Beginning of your career you guys got the chance to play famous Hellfest. Any plans to do a full U.S. jaunt or overseas dates in the near future?

Josh: Yeah our first show outside of Rome was in US. It actually wasn’t in Hellfest but in the same town. It was a new years party and we were sharing the stage with band such as Path Of Resistance, Champion, Most Precious Blood, Bane and many more. 2 days before we played with Verse and Have Heart when they were at the very beginning. Those 2 shows were really good of course especially if you consider that we were just starting the band. We don’t have any plans to go in the US so far, we know we would love to but I guess it would make no sense to go by ourselves. It would be just way too expensive... we'll see what the future holds...

GAN!: In your view what are the main differences (if any) between Euro hardcore and USA HC?

Josh: I always felt like in the European HC scene the politics and ethic had a bigger influence than in the American scene. Beside that nowadays it's hard to say cause it's hard to define the HC scene. You could play 3 different shows in the same city with 3 different type of bands and the people will be always different so it's hard to say. American bands often say European shows are better, but I don’t really know. Every time I was in US I saw pretty good shows and I also met really amazing people while travelling. Same thing happened in Europe. so well...no clue!

GAN!: You guys just played at annual Fluff fest. How did that go? I know it’s not your first time, how does it feel like for you to play this festival?

Josh: It went awesome. Yeah it was actually the third time and it was great. We headlined the Friday and I have to say I was really nervous about that. We played so many shows in so many places and I’m ok most of the time. I just usually can’t wait to play and I’m excited. But this time I was nervous the whole day. It was like playing our first show again. It was a really hard day but while we were playing I felt so good and the show was great it was just awesome. I guess you need to feel like this every now and then.

GAN!: From what I learned checking your myspace out you guys are still without bass-player. Who have been filling in thus far and how do you manage to keep the band going anyway? How this affects your band?

Josh: First we had some friends filling playing bass. But in the last months there is a guy that is becoming one of us. His name is Fausto and he plays also in a band called Hardway. He is not from Rome but from Trento and he is just awesome! We are being extra careful before making anything official cause we are seriously like a family and we want whoever will end up playing with us to be part of this and also to have similar point of views of us towards a bunch of things. We are really happy about the way how things are developing with Fausto and who knows...see you in the next episode ;)

GAN!: Since the very beginning it’s not a secret that To Kill fight for the rights of animals and support worldwide pro-animals organizations like PETA and other groups pro-earth and humans rights. This new EP is a benefit to rise money and support Seashepherd (an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization -www.seashepherd.org). How this project come about and what are your expectation on this?

Josh: We have always been supporter of this group at a personal level but the support that you could give as a single broke HC kid is not much but the visibility you could give them with a band and the support you can give trough a benefit is totally on another level.
The ep is going pretty good. After the first 6 weeks we were able to donate 900 dollars which is a pretty good result I think.
We will keep pushing it and promoting this organization cause we think they really need support.

GAN!: I remember To Kill got a lot of hype from the start. What was your initial reaction?

Josh: To be honest we didn’t expect To Kill to go so good since the beginning. We started cause we wanted to have a band together just cause we were really close friends and played in other bands before...we didn’t know what would have happened, we just knew we wanted to make experiences together and it turned out that those experiences in the end were a looooot!

GAN!: Many hardcore bands don’t stay around for a long time.
What keeps To Kill rocking after all these years?

Josh: I guess this friendship behind just being musicians and the fact that we really love to do this is what kept us around for so long. Sometime it's exhausting sometime it seems like everything goes in the other direction but then you think about playing, you think about meeting awesome people on the road playing awesome shows and having fun and everything else just doesn’t count and you just can’t find a reason to quit.

GAN!: I guess you guys ticked most of the items in your “things to do” list, right? What else you wanna achieve with this band?

Josh: I have to say that every time we said "how cool would it be to ...."in the end pretty much always happened...we still have some dreams, you always need to have dreams or things get boring;) some are secret but I think the desire of keep travelling and seeing the world, having fun together and simple old stuff like this is something that never gets old.

Check: myspace.com/tokill

Posted by: marcs77

XGRACEX - Final Interview!

12/09/2009 | In den vergangenen vier Jahren haben sich XGraceX aus dem nordhessischen Kassel zu einer wirklich guten Band gemausert, die in Deutschland in Sachen „Old-School-Straight-Edge-Hardcore“ sicherlich zur Oberschicht gehört. Nach dem Full-Length-Debüt „The Calling“ hatte der sympathische Fünfer für dieses Jahr eigentlich noch eine neue 7-Inch mit sechs Songs geplant, doch der Rillenteller wird das Licht dieser Welt nicht mehr erblicken. Warum? Nun, Grace lösen sich Ende des Jahres auf, vor allem der zeitliche Engpass hat es den Jungs nicht mehr möglich gemacht, mit der Band ins Jahr 2010 zu gehen. Vor ihrer Show in Darmstadt Mitte November hat sich Got A Nerve mit Tim, Henning, Marco, Kai und Andy an einen Tisch gesetzt und über die Gründe der Trennung, die Bandgeschichte und die musikalische Zukunft der Bandmitglieder gequatscht.

Got A Nerve: O.k. Jungs, es gibt schlechte Nachrichten. Ihr habt beschlossen, die Band – bildlich gesprochen – an den Nagel zu hängen. Wieso?
Tim: Die anderen sind schuld (lacht). Nein, es hat sich irgendwie totgelaufen.
Marco: Nicht nur totgelaufen, wir haben einfach mal geschaut, wie viel Zeit wir im kommenden Jahr überhaupt in Grace investieren können, und dabei ist uns eben aufgefallen, dass unser Privatleben nicht so viel Zeit zulässt, wie wir es uns vorgestellt haben. Es wäre einfach genug Zeit, um richtig Gas zu geben. Und es nur als Hobbyband, inklusive einmal monatlich Proben und hin und wieder eine Show spielen, wollen wir es nicht fortsetzen.

Got A Nerve: Waren es also ausschließlich zeitliche Gründe?
Marco: Größtenteils, ja, aber auch die Motivation hat am Ende etwas gefehlt.

Got A Nerve: Wird es DIE letzte Show geben oder ist der Grace-Zug mit dem Gig am 30.12. in Osnabrück abgefahren?
Tim: Am 29. Dezember spielen wir in Kassel, das wird dann die letzte Kassel-Show sein. Und die Abschiedsshow ist dann einen Tag später in Osnabrück. Wobei für mich die Show in Kassel der eigentliche Abschied ist.
Marco: Ja, da hängt das Herz dran.
Tim: Wir haben einfach geschaut, welche Termine noch ausstehen, und haben dann gesagt ‚Komm her, 30.12. ist Jahresabschluss, lass uns da den Schlussstrich ziehen’. Das passt eben auch gemeinsam mit dem Gig in Kassel.

Got A Nerve: Ursprünglich hattet ihr noch geplant, eine neue 7-Inch auf den Markt zu bringen. Haltet ihr an den Plänen trotz des Split-ups fest, oder wird die Scheibe das Licht dieser Welt nicht mehr erblicken?
Tim: Wir haben zwar Material für eine 7-Inch, doch so wie wir angefangen haben, werden wir auch aufhören: Wir werden die Songs auf den letzten beiden Shows als Tape verkaufen. Irgendwann wird es die Songs sicherlich auch noch mal als Download geben, aber zunächst einmal in limitierter Stückzahl auf den Gigs in Kassel und Osnabrück.
Marco: Wenn man eine neue Scheibe veröffentlicht, sei es auch nur eine 7-Inch, dann hat man ja dennoch irgendwie die Verpflichtung, das gute Stück auch richtig zu promoten und zumindest noch für ein halbes, dreiviertel Jahr richtig Gas zu geben. Perspektivisch war das einfach nicht zu bewerkstelligen.

Got A Nerve: Eure Scheibe „The Calling“ habt ihr bei Fields Of Hope Records veröffentlicht, ich denke mal die 7-Inch hätte auch dort erscheinen sollen. Ist denn alles im Guten auseinander gegangen?
Tim: Wir haben jetzt schon länger nichts mehr vom Volker gehört, aber ich gehe mal davon aus, dass alles im Guten auseinander gehen wird.
Henning: Es ist tatsächlich so, dass ich das letzte Mal vor vier Wochen was vom Volker gehört habe, was aber auch daran liegt, dass er in seinem Job sehr viel um die Ohren hat. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt war noch der Stand der Dinge, dass wir eine neue 7-Inch machen wollen, inzwischen haben sich die Dinge ja geändert. Dummerweise habe ich ihm jetzt nur auf den Anrufbeantworter sprechen können und ihm so mitgeteilt, dass wir uns auflösen.

Got A Nerve: Ähnlich also, wie per SMS Schluss zu machen!
Tim: Nein. Wir hatten eine super Zeit bei ihm, aber ich glaube, dass Thema „Label“ hat sich bei ihm auch etwas verschoben. Also ich habe wirklich schon lange nichts mehr von ihm gehört, bin ihm deshalb aber auch nicht sauer.
Henning: Grace ist jetzt sicherlich nicht die Band, an der Fields Of Hope Records hängt. Wir sind Volker auf jeden Fall sehr dankbar für alles, was er für uns getan hat. In Wolfsburg hat er die ein oder andere sehr coole Show für uns gemacht.
Andy: Mit der CD ist alles super gelaufen.
Marco: Das Vinyl ist übrigens komplett ausverkauft.
Henning: Alles in allem ist das schon sehr gut gelaufen.

Got A Nerve: Ihr habt euch vom ersten Tag an als reine Straight-Edge-Band ausgegeben und das Ding auch bis zum Ende durchgezogen. Habt ihr euch jemals in eine Schublade gesteckt gefühlt?
Henning: Ich glaube, wir haben uns nie in eine Schublade stecken lassen.
Tim: Schau dir doch mal die Band-Mitglieder an, wir sind inzwischen alle Anfang 30 und seit zehn, 15 Jahren, teilweise sogar schon immer Edge. Es ist ja alltäglich für uns. Klar, vor allem ich habe es immer wieder gepushed, dass Grace eine reine SxE-Band ist, aber wir haben uns ja keine harte, militante Agenda auf die Fahnen geschrieben. Ich habe das immer so gesehen: Jeder sollte wissen, dass wir aus ganzem Herzen und nicht etwa nur als Modeerscheinung Edge sind. Ich kann mich nicht daran erinnern, dass wir irgendwann mal ein Problem damit gehabt haben oder irgendwo damit mal angeeckt sind. Ich fand es als Aussage für eine Band wichtig, zu sagen ‚Ja, Grace ist eine Edge-Band’. Wichtig war vor allem, das Ganze positiv rüberzubringen, ganz ohne Tough-Guy-Gehabe.
Henning: Wir sind nette Typen.

Got A Nerve: Zwischenzeitlich habt ihr mal nach einem zusätzlichen bzw. neuen Gitaristen gesucht. Habt ihr die Suche letztlich dann wieder schnell eingestellt?
Tim: Es ist schwierig, als gesamte Band zu agieren und dann nur mit einer Gitarre zu arbeiten. Die beiden Gitaristen schreiben eben die Songs, und für Andy war es schwierig, immer zur Probe anzureisen. Die Suche nach einem zweiten Gitaristen bzw. einen neuen Gitaristen als Ersatz für Andy haben wir eigentlich nie ernsthaft betrieben. Der Daniel von Evenworse hat uns immer mal ausgeholfen.
Marco: Es war auch prima, erst einmal eine Aushilfe zu haben für den Fall, dass jemand mal nicht kann. Daniel ist ein super netter Mensch, wohnt leider aber auch zu weit weg.

Got A Nerve: Umso schöner ist es doch, das Ganze genau in diesem Line-Up zu beenden!
Marco: Auf jeden Fall.
Andy: Genau, für mich ist das auch super.

Got A Nerve: Jetzt, wo es zu Ende geht, darf man so Fragen ja stellen. Gab es denn die herausragende Show für Grace, die euch immer in Erinnerung bleiben wird?
Henning: Erst auf der Fahrt hier nach Darmstadt haben wir uns darüber unterhalten, dass wir ein paar richtig gute Sachen gemacht haben. Sicherlich ist es so, dass man eigentlich jede Show gerne spielt bzw. spielen sollte. Ein paar stechen aber natürlich heraus. Wie gesagt, Volker hat für uns in Wolfsburg ein paar coole Shows organisiert, die Shows mit Soul Control oder auch 108 und Finale Fight waren sehr gut. Die letzte Show in der Barracuda Bar in Kassel war fett.
Tim: Die Wetzlar-Show war auch nicht schlecht.
Kai: Der Gig in Treysa in der Bar war auch super.
Tim: Die letzte Show in Osnabrück wird übrigens unsere 77. Show sein. Im Oktober 2005 haben wir uns gegründet und im Januar 2006 den ersten Gig gespielt. Sehr geil.
Henning: Für knapp vier Jahre Bandgeschichte ist das vielleicht nicht sonderlich viel, aber ich denke mal für Leute, die wie wir dick im Berufsleben stehen, ist das schon ganz cool. Wir sind damit sehr zufrieden.

Got A Nerve: Hätte es denn irgendwas gegeben, was ihr als Band noch mal gerne macht hättet?
Alle: Touren!
Henning: Klar, wir hätten gerne mal ne Tour gespielt, das hat sich aber leider nie ergeben. Leider ist es immer an dem Faktor Zeit gescheitert. Im Endeffekt ist das ja auch der Hauptgrund, weshalb wir es nun letztlich sein lassen. Das ist schon schade, dass keine Tour zustande gekommen ist.

Got A Nerve: Tim und Marco, ihr seid ja bei Today Forever voll eingespannt, gibt es denn…
Andy: Request!

Got A Nerve: Oh, sorry, das hatte ich ganz vergessen. Nun, gibt es denn bei euch anderen denn Gedankenspiele für zukünftige Projekte?
Kai: Nein, bei mir noch nicht.
Tim: Marco und ich denken über eine Britpop-Band nach.
Marco: Also ich mache Deutsch-Punk!
Andy: Ich mache Death Metal, das ist wichtig!
Henning: Für Deutsch-Punk wäre ich auch zu haben. Mal gucken, Zukunftspläne gibt es im Moment nicht.
Marco: Wir können ja eine Grace-Coverband gründen.
Tim: Ich bin eh mal gespannt, wann die ersten Nachwuchs-Bands Grace-Songs covern. Das würde mich mal interessieren.

Got A Nerve: O.k., damit wären wir dann auch schon am Ende! Die letzten Worte von Grace, bitteschön!
Henning: Danke auf jeden Fall noch mal an den Volker von Fields Of Hope Records, dass er unsere CD und unser Vinyl rausgebracht hat. Danke an alle Leute, die uns in irgendeiner Weise unterstützt haben, Shows gebucht haben, Merch und CDs gekauft haben…
Andy: …Essen gekocht haben!
Tim: Dank vieler Leute mussten wir als Grace nur wenig machen. Ich erinnere mich da an unsere erste Show: Dank NCC und Typen sind wir quasi von 0 auf 100 steil gegangen. In den vier Jahren mussten wir nie groß was machen, hatten trotzdem aber immer ein gutes Standing, ohne jetzt großartig Werbung für uns zu machen. Von daher: Jede Menge Dank an die Leute da draußen, die uns auf diese Art und Weise empfangen haben und das alles möglich gemacht haben. Das hat glaube ich nicht jede Band. Wir hören ja nicht auf, weil wir keine Möglichkeiten und Optionen mehr gehabt haben, sondern wir hören eigentlich mitten in der Blütezeit ab, was ja auch nicht schlecht ist.
Henning: In der Blüte würde ich jetzt nicht sagen, eher im Winterschlaf. Es ist halt schon so, dass wir noch mehr Songs im Petto hätten, als jetzt tatsächlich auf das Abschieds-Tape drauf kommen. Aber wie gesagt, wenn man diese Songs in irgendeiner Art und Weise veröffentlicht, dann muss man sie auch supporten.
Kai: Und manche von uns haben die Zeit definitiv nicht. 

Posted by: Stephan

ALL FOR NOTHING

10/03/2009 | ALL FOR NOTHING, up and coming old-school female fronted five-piece based out of Rotterdam, has their sophomore full-length “Miles & Memories” coming out on GSR music later this month.
In the past months (has it happened since day one) the guys have been busy building a name for themselves having worked on their second album in addition to sharing the stage with bands like Slapshot, Sick Of It All, Bane, Born From Pain and many others.
This is a recent e-mail interview GOT A NERVE! did with the Dutch dudes. We sent them a bunch of questions about their new album, life on the road, why HC kids should catch them live, Rotterdam's scene and more…if you don’t know ALL FOR NOTHING I think this interview is a good starting point to learn more about the band. Read on what the guys had to say…

GAN!: So how’s all in life of ALL FOR NOTHING?

Very good thank you. We have just recorded our 2nd full length, which is called “Miles and Memories” and will be released at the 23rd of October on GSR Music. We’re psyched about playing the new songs live.

GAN!: First off, give a background on the band and introduce the band members.

We have Cindy on vocals, Kees on Bass, Richard on drums and Ernst & Bas on guitars.
We’ve been in this line up since September 2007. Cindy joined us in 2005, before that I did the vocals and played guitar. We recorded two MCD’s and just finished recording the second full-length album which will be released on GSR Music. We toured Europe a couple of times and try to play shows as much as we can.

GAN!: As far as the band name - what exactly does it mean to you and where did it come from?

It was something we made up while brainstorming about band names. It doesn’t mean anything. Sometimes we joke around that we do it all for nothing. But that's not true of course hahaha... After we picked AFN as our band name I found out both Run Devil Run & DRI have songs with the same name.

GAN!: I know you guys are working on new stuff to be included in your debut full-length. What do you think about the new material, how does it compare to old stuff and what your fans may expect from you?

Actually it will be our second full length. It’s a hard question. I mean, I guess any band that records new songs thinks it’s their best so far. What to expect: 12 Hardcore songs AFN style. Lot's of melodies, breakdowns, sing-a-longs, all the stuff we love about hardcore!

GAN!: Has anything inspired you during the writing process?

Yes definitely! The inspiration is based on basically two things. The first thing is the accident that me and Cindy had on vacation. We we’re on holiday in Greece and hired a quad bike to do some sightseeing. For somewhat reason we got into an accident and fell four meters down. We we’re lucky to still be alive, cause it could have ended way worse. We both had fractures and had to take time off to recover en rehabilitate. We had to cancel the tour, which we both hated. Sitting at home not being able to do anything is awful, but the experience changes you as a person.
The second thing that inspired us for the new album, is the fact we wrote this record in a period when we did a lot of shows during the weekends and tours. We saw a lot of the road last year, we met a lot of amazing people and did crazy shows. Basically we wrote a record that represents the feeling we get by playing and travelling a lot with this band. It’s not a theme based CD though, but for us these new songs represent what we experience with AFN since the release of our MCD “Solitary”

GAN!: Perhaps it’s too early but can you tell me a bit about the CD packaging: what it will look like, who’s responsible for the art, and so on…?

Our buddy Arek (who also did the Solitary release art) did the artwork. I looks awesome. Maybe not “typical” hardcore but that is fine with us. Keep an eye out on the myspace page!

GAN!: How did you guys get hooked up with GSR music?

We got in touch a couple of months ago and we are honoured that they will release our new album. It’s one of the coolest and well established labels in Europe.

GAN!: Cindy what’s it like being the only female in the band? Does that translate into any difficulties on the road? How fans who see you live for the very first time react when they realize is you up there screaming your lungs off?

No not really. We’re a pretty tight club of friends, so no problems on that point. I grew up with just a younger sister and now I have a sister and four brothers!
When I started singing in All For Nothing people where kind of surprised when they saw us for the first time. But now that we’ve been around for a while people know us a little better and know what to expect.

GAN!: Cindy I don’t wanna sound like a dork so pardon me just for asking this. The hardcore scene is so male-dominated; who or what got you into playing hardcore punk in the first place?

Getting the things that bother me out of my system!

GAN!: Although I’ve yet to see your band live, the 7’’ gives me the impression that you guys fuck shit up on stage. How would you describe an All For Nothing set?

Lots of energy, lots of fun. We are there to have good time together with the people who attend the show. For us, going to- and playing shows ourselves is an outlet. Just a 30 minute escape from the “normal” world. To us, there are no rules as longs as you respect and be aware of your surroundings.

GAN!: So you guys hail from Rotterdam, how has this city influenced you guys while growing up? How’s Rotterdam scene (if any) going today?

Only Richard, Ernst & Cindy are from Rotterdam. It’s a hard city. Not hard in terms of “ though guy” hard but hard in its own unique way. It’s also beautiful and honest. We always felt that there is a certain work ethic that really influenced us .
The scene isn’t that big. There are not a lot of places you can play as a band. But we hope and try to make a change to that. There is a group of people coming together to make an effort in building a scene.

GAN!: As a band who have been around quite a long time, what is your impression of the current hardcore-punk scene? How has it changed since your beginning?

Sometimes it seems that band come together release a 7 inch and split up again nowadays. Also hardcore found it’s way into internet (or the other way around) and although it’s not necessarily a bad thing, we would like that people would drop their keyboards and visit shows more.

GAN!: Who’s your favourite new hardcore punk band out there right now?

In Holland: The Hardship and outside of Holland: Risk it & Go For It from Germany

GAN!: Now bit of play. Umm…I’ll mention a record, a band or whatever and I expect you guys to tell me something that come to mind when you think about it.

Manlifting Banner

Great! Maybe a whole different league of hardcore that we play but certainly one of the Classic bands from Holland. Members are still active in other bands. Cool! Never too old for hardcore!

Squat
We always had mixed feelings with Squats (or better: squatters). I met a lot of them over the years and most of them are truly unique people with a big artistic talent and a positive mindset. If you have a positive community and you truly contribute something to your neighbourhood, respect the building, fixing it, treating the (old) building with the grace that it deserves etc…: Cool.
However we also ran into people that are so incredible narrow-minded and stupid. It was sad and embarrassing. Sadly these people don’t see the chance they have to create something positive.

Ray Cappo

Made some great records with good bands. I once heard he lip synced during a live show. Hope that ain’t true. That would be a bummer! What's with the wine?

Back On The Map

Good song, good album and a good band! Also nice guys to tour with.

Straight Edge

Positive and great. We’re not an edge band but we really respect people’s personal choice. I’ve seen it turn into a fashion though and that's sad. It should be a personal choice and not a fashion or a peer pressure matter (which it often is, in my eyes). I’ve seen people turn edge, preach about it, having a “holier than thou” attitude about it and break edge a couple of years later. Simply because everybody around them did.
I’m fine with any person being edge. But I hate that ''Im better than you" mindset. It makes people look extremely stupid if they start drinking again.
Because of this the term or slogan “straight edge” is meaningless to me. To me the thoughts behind it are great. But when people start using it as a trademark: You missed the point and the thought of it.

GAN!: What do you guys do for a living?

Cindy is a social worker, Bas is a driving instructor, Richard is a ICT consultant, Kees is studying and working as a Optometric and Ernst works as a graphic designer.

GAN!: Ok we are in closing. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. Wanna add something?

Thank you for the interview! Good luck with anything you do in the future and let’s meet up in real live someday. That would be cool!

Check: myspace.com/allfornothingnl www.myspace.com/gsrmusic

Posted by: marcs77

BLACK FRIDAY '29

07/23/2009 | Ohne Black Friday '29 lässt sich nur ein unvollständiges Bild von der deutschen Hardcore-Szene zeichnen, die sympathischen Jungs aus dem Ruhrpott gehören einfach fest zum Inventar. Mit "Black Friday 2009" hat die Band nun ihren aktuellen Longplayer in die Regale der Plattenläden gestellt, erschienen ist der neue Silberling auf Let It Burn Records. Aus aktuellem Anlass daher ein munteres Frage-Antwort-Spiel mit Black Friday '29!

Got A Nerve: Ok, mit wem habe ich denn gerade die Ehre?
Beantworten tue ich das, Björn, ich singe bzw. benutze das Mikro irgendwie.

Got A Nerve: Ganz kurz ein paar Sätze zur Bandgeschichte!
Black Friday ´29 hat 2002 die erste Show gespielt, seitdem haben wir ein Demo, eine 7“, zwei Split 7es, zwei LPs und eine MLP veröffentlicht, ca. 450 Shows gespielt und seit einem halben Jahr das beste Lineup ever!

Got A Nerve: Mit eurem Bandnamen spielt ihr ja zweifelsohne auf den Börsencrash 1929 an, einem der wohl schwärzesten Tage in der Finanzwelt. Vor ein paar Monaten hat es ja wieder gewaltig gekracht. Eine Art Déjà-Vu – wo steht Black Friday 29 im Jahr 2009?
Black Friday ’29 ist eine Anspielung auf die 1. weltweite Wirtschaftskrise von 1929, da lag es nahe den Titel dieses Albums so zu wählen. Zumal uns alle die Probleme dieser Zeit betreffen. Es liegt an uns, im Jahre 2009 etwas daraus zu machen, etwas zu verändern, positiv und sich nicht alles von oben aufsetzen zu lassen. Wir Arbeitnehmer können uns leichter vernetzen heutzutage und uns solidarisieren. Wir haben eine Patenschaft bei der Organisation Plan, um unseren Wunsch einer positiven Veränderung in dieser Welt zu manifestieren.

Got A Nerve: Lasst uns über eure aktuelle Scheibe reden. Was erwartet einen beim Kauf von „Black Friday 2009“?
Für alle Nichtkenner: Klassischer, aber abwechslungsreicher Hardcore, teils hart, teils melodiös. Für Kenner: Eine neue Black Friday’29 Scheibe, eventuell unsere beste.

Got A Nerve: Ihr seid eurem Stil treu geblieben keine Frage, ihr geht weiter einen schmalen Grad zwischen Tough-Guy-Mosh und sympathischer Posi-Band. Wie dürfen wir uns die Stunden im Proberaum von Black Friday 29 beim Schreiben der neuen Songs vorstellen? Wo lagen die Einflüsse, wo die Idealvorstellungen der neuen Songs?
Ehrlich gesagt gehen wir nicht vorher mit einem musikalischen Konzept ran. Wir haben halt unsere Ideen verarbeitet und daraus formen sich die Songs. Manchmal überlegen wir, welchen Song wir auf das Album packen möchten und welchen nicht, aber die Songs nehmen wir immer so, wie sie halt fallen.

Got A Nerve: Im Artwork der CD arbeitet ihr mit ausdruckstarken Bildern, vieles deutet auf Dürre hin – was verdorrt, wo liegt die Anspielung?
Es verdorrt auf dieser Welt immer mehr. Als Resultat des Klimawandels breiten sich biologische Wüsten stärker aus als jemals zuvor. Wir in Nordeuropa sind zwar die letzten, die davon heftig betroffen werden, aber die Entwicklung schreitet voran und wir sollten uns dessen bewusst sein. Dieses Bild, welches du meinst, könnte aber auch interpretiert werden, wie ein Landstrich nach einem Bombenangriff. Es ist ja ein Bild und Bilder sind halt individuell verschieden interpretierbar. Ich denke, im Einklang mit den Texten wirft dieses Bild für jeden andere Fragen auf und gibt vielleicht sogar Antworten.

Got A Nerve: Mit „Totalausfall“ habt ihr einen deutschsprachigen Song auf der neuen Scheibe. Wie kam es dazu, erzähl uns mehr über den Track – welche Geschichte steckt hinter den Lyrics?
Der Song ist eine beinahe 1:1-Übersetzung, des Titelsongs unserer ersten 7“/MCD „Blackout“. Hinter dem Text steht eine persönliche Geschichte, ich hatte den Impuls gegeben und Fink (jetzt Sänger bei ZM) den Text geschrieben. Da unser Gitarrist Chris zu vielen Songs immer auf Deutsch mitsingt, wollte er das bei Blackout mal probieren und so kam der Song aufs neue Album.

Got A Nerve: Ihr habt für die neue Platte den Sprung zu Let It Burn Records vollzogen. Weshalb habt ihr euch für die LIB-Burschen entschieden und wie läuft die Zusammenarbeit?
Die Zusammenarbeit läuft gut, ähnlich wie vorher mit Niko Blacktop Records. Chris LIB hat schon immer Interesse an der Band gezeigt und wir hatten immer schon Respekt für seine Band- und Labelprojekte und nun haben wir es dann endlich mal geschafft, zusammen zu arbeiten.

Got A Nerve: Auf dem Vorgänger „The pursuit of happiness“ hatte ich das Gefühl, dass ihr textlich zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen und Enttäuschungen verarbeitet – wohin führt uns die Reise auf „Black Friday 2009“?
„2009“ führt uns ins Jahr 2009. In eine Zeit einer wirtschaftlichen Krise, ökologischer und sozialer Probleme, die nur in den Griff zu kriegen sind, wenn sie weltweit klug angegangen werden. 2009 ist ein Versuch, diese Probleme ins Gedächtnis zu rufen und eventuell sogar zu kleinen Lösungsansätzen anzuregen, die für uns in unserem Mikrokosmos machbar sind.

Got A Nerve: Vor gut einem Jahr begann eine Phase in der deutschen Hardcore-Szene, in der insbesondere deutsche Bands – häufig zu Recht – unbändig gehyped wurden und einen großen Aufschwung erfuhren. Mittlerweile geht der Trend wieder mehr hin zu US-Bands. Wo seht ihr die deutsche HC-Szene anno Juli 2009?
Ich finde die Szene zurzeit echt richtig gut. Die verschiedenen Genres akzeptieren sich wieder mehr, bzw. sind die Leute wieder offener geworden. Vor ca. 7 Jahren hat jeder nur die Musik seines Subgenres gehört und nicht viel drumherum akzeptiert. Ich erinnere mich, dass Leute anhand ihres Tanzstils oder der Klamotten beurteilt worden sind und auch das sehe ich glücklicherweise zunehmend weniger. Wir haben gute Bands mit AYS, Cornered, Storm & Stress, Zero Mentality, Final Prayer, Make it Count, Goldust, Cheap Thrills, Ritual, Sink or Swim, and the list goes on. Vor allem gefällt mir, dass auch politische Aussagen wieder öfters getätigt werden und Vegetarismus wieder mehr im Kommen ist, das war zumindest hier in der Ruhrregion auch mal anders.

Got A Nerve: Ok, wo führt euch das Jahr 2009 noch hin, welche Pläne habt ihr?
Hoffentlich noch auf Tour im Oktober. Entweder nach England oder nach Portugal/Spanien. Wir nehmen vielleicht noch einmal 2 Songs auf für ne Split 7“/MCD mit einer sehr guten Band. Wir spielen noch das Sucks’n’Summers Fest in Leisnig, das Allschools Fest in Köln, eventuell das Running Riot Fest in London. Darauf freuen wir uns noch!

Got A Nerve: Ein paar letzte Worte!
Yo. Checkt unsere Shows auf www.myspace.com, macht mal den TV aus und versucht etwas Positives in diese Welt zu bringen, sei es auch nur einmal mehr nett zu sein, als man es sonst ist.

Got A Nerve: Danke für das Interview!
Danke ebenso dafür!
Posted by: Stephan

TODAY FOREVER

06/30/2009 | Nach der Veröffentlichung von „The New Pathetic“ auf Guideline Records hat es einen Moment gedauert, bis sich Today Forever wieder ins Studio gewagt haben, um neue Songs für das aktuelle Release „Profound Measures“ einzuspielen. Doch inzwischen hat der sympathische Fünfer aus Kassel einen Labelwechsel hinter sich und seit einigen Wochen steht der neue Silberling in den Regalen der Plattenläden. Mitte Juni hat sich Got A Nerve mit Sänger Christian und Gitarist Dave zusammengesetzt, um unter anderem über die neuen Platte, das neue Label, die enge Verbindung zu Silverstein und das ein oder andere Problemchen zu plaudern.

Got A Nerve: Ok, Today Forever, schon mal vorab Danke für das Interview. Zu Beginn: Ganz kurz ein paar Sätze zur Bandgeschichte!
Christian: Ok, die Bandgeschichte. Also gegründet haben wir uns 2001 oder 2002…
Dave: Also auf jeden Fall schon lange her…
Christian: Also wir wissen es nicht mehr so genau, weil es innerhalb der Band so viele Änderungen gab. Aber ich glaube 2002 ist ein guter Starttermin. Also damals Dave, Tim und ich, zwischendurch haben wir dann noch mal den Gitaristen gewechselt und später ist der Marco noch am Bass hinzugekommen. Heute sind es Manni, Dave, Tim, Marco und ich nur noch am Gesang – und in dieser Formation spielen wir glaube ich nun seit 2004 zusammen.
Dave: War das nicht erst seit 2005 oder 2006? Ich glaube seit 3 Jahren spielen wir jetzt in dieser Konstellation zusammen.
Christian: Ok, sagen wir in der aktuellen Besetzung also so 2005/2006, früher habe ich ja noch Bass gespielt und gesungen.
Dave: 2005 haben wir dann die Scheibe „New Pathetic“ zunächst auf Guideline Records, ein Jahr später dann auch Strikefirst Records rausgebracht. Und 2009 jetzt die neue Platte „Profound Measures“ auf Bastarized Records, seit April in den Läden.

Got A Nerve: Ihr habt euch mit euren Platten ja immer etwas Zeit gelassen, zwischen der aktuellen Scheibe und deren Vorgänger lagen immerhin fast 4 Jahre. War das ein gewollter Prozess, um intensiver an den neuen Songs arbeiten zu können, oder hat sich das einfach so ergeben?
Christian: Also, bei der „New Pathetic“ war es ja so, dass wir sie zweimal released haben. Zunächst 2005 in Europa, dann 2006 in den USA und daraufhin haben wir dort noch ne Tour angeschlossen. Und dann haben wir angefangen neue Songs zu schreiben. Was sich hier in die Länge gezogen hat, war der Prozess des Aufnehmens. Das hat schon eine Weile gedauert, es kamen dann ja auch immer wieder Live-Verpflichtungen dazwischen.
Dave: Ich glaube den ersten Song haben wir Weihnachten 2007 aufgenommen.
Christian: Genau, und dann hat es über ein Jahr gedauert, bis das gute Stück fertig aufgenommen war und veröffentlicht werden konnte. Ein neues Label mussten wir uns auch noch suchen – die etwas lange Wartezeit auf das neue Album war also auch ein wenig den Umständen geschuldet.
Dave: Man muss aber auch sagen, dass es relativ lange dauert, bis wir einen neuen Song geschrieben haben. Es ist jetzt nicht so, dass wir uns hinsetzen und innerhalb von einer Stunde Probe drei neue Songs am Start haben. Das ist schon ein längerer Prozess, und von 2005 bis 2007 sind es ja auch zwei Jahre, die es einfach gebraucht hat, neue Songs zu schreiben.
Christian: Genau. Es ist ja auch nicht so, dass einer ankommt und den neuen Song bringt, sondern wir setzen uns zusammen, schreiben das gemeinsam und werfen immer wieder Dinge ein, die uns daran nicht gefallen oder passen. Dann werden Dinge auch noch mal neu aufgerollt bzw. fallen gelassen, wenn was nicht wirklich passt. Songwriting ist schon eine aufwendige Geschichte bei Today Forever.

Got A Nerve: Ihr habt es ja gerade schon angesprochen, ihr habt euch ein neues Label gesucht und man hatte den Eindruck, dass diese Suche etwas holprig verlief. Man ist lange im Dunkeln getappt, wenn man euch auf die Label-Geschichte angesprochen hat. Nun klärt uns doch mal auf, wo lagen die Probleme?
Christian: Sagen wir mal so, wir hatten das Gefühl, dass Guideline den Anspruch, den wir als Band an das Label hatten, nicht mehr in dieser Form erfüllen konnte. Wir hatten einfach eine andere Idee und Vorstellung, wie uns ein Label unterstützen könnte. Das haben wir mit dem Chef von Guideline Records auch besprochen, und während des Gesprächs wurde relativ schnell klar, dass wir so nicht mehr zusammen arbeiten können. Anschließend hat es dann eine Zeit lang gedauert, bis wir einen Weg gefunden hatten, um den Vertrag vorzeitig aufzulösen. Wir hätten noch eine Platte auf Guideline machen können, die Verhandlungen darüber und die Label-Suche hat dann auch noch einige Zeit in Anspruch genommen. Und Bastarized Records haben uns dann wirklich einen tollen Deal angeboten und sehr unterstützt. Und deshalb sind wir auch sehr glücklich und wirklich froh, jetzt dort gelandet zu sein.

Got A Nerve: Wie schaut dieser Deal denn aus?
Christian: Also fest steht, dass uns Bastarized mehr mit Promotion und Werbung unterstützt, als es noch die alte Plattenfirma getan hat.
Dave: Und das ist uns auch relativ wichtig, weil wir merken, dass wir das alleine als Band nicht wirklich leisten können, weil es zu Zeit- und Geld-aufwendig ist. Sprich, in so vielen Magazinen aufzutauchen oder die CDs derart weit zu streuen – da machen die Leute von Bastarized schon eine sehr gute Arbeit.
Christian: Der Vertrieb ist einfach viel größer aufgestellt. Einfach ein Level höher als noch bei Guideline, heute bekommt man unsere Platte beinahe überall. Und das ist für uns der große Vorteil bei dem Deal. Ansonsten sind wir auf Plattenmengen nicht festgelegt, aber wir hoffen, dass Bastarized die Option zieht und noch eine weitere Scheibe mit uns machen will.

Got A Nerve: Läuft der Deal mit Strikefirst Records in den USA eigentlich auch weiter?
Dave: Nein, das läuft nicht weiter, weil es sich für die Jungs dort einfach nicht lohnt, europäische Bands unter Vertrag zu nehmen. Er hatte damals unsere alte CD gehört, war sehr begeistert und daraufhin gesagt „Ja, das will ich machen!“, aber letztlich lohnt es sich für das Label finanziell nicht, weil in den USA sehr wenig Sachen von europäischen Bands gekauft werden. Also europäische Band müssten wir eigentlich auch regelmäßig dort touren und somit präsent sein, aber das können wir nicht stemmen und von daher hat sich da nichts Neues mehr ergeben.

Got A Nerve: Nimmt man die MCD dazu, so habt ihr inzwischen drei Releases auf dem Markt. Das ist ja schon mal eine Hausnummer. Wo steht Today Forever heute?
Christian: Für diese Frage bin ich dankbar, aus vielen Gründen. Weil durch so Manches, was über uns geredet und in Promo-Texte geschrieben wird, Verwirrung herrscht, was wir mit unserer Musik überhaupt wollen. Ich denke schon, dass wir unseren eigenen Stil haben, einen sehr eigenen Today-Forever-Songwriting-Stil, auch wie wir die unterschiedlichen Teile eines Songs miteinander mischen. Und das haben wir denke ich auf keiner Platte so gut und so klar hinbekommen, wie auf „Profound Measures“. Da haben wir wirklich unseren Stil klar gemacht und ausgefeilt. Das ist genau das, was wir immer machen wollten. Es ist so produziert, wie wir es gerne wollten, die Songs sind ausgereift – das ist das, wo wir hinwollten. Ich denke, das war auf der „New Pathetic“ schon in Ansätzen zu erkennen, jetzt ist es aber noch mal deutlicher geworden.

Got A Nerve: In jedem Fall eine deutliche Weiterentwicklung!
Christian: Für uns auf jeden fall, eine klare Weiterentwicklung, ein klareres und stärkeres Profil.
Dave: Das würde ich auch so unterschreiben.
Christian: Bei uns ist es so, dass sich nicht viele Musikteile aneinanderreihen, aber das ist unsere Art, Musik zu verstehen und zu empfinden. Wir stehen nicht auf viele Wiederholungen und das ist auch genau das, was wir wollen und zum Programm gemacht haben. Wir finden das passend und als eine Art Ausdruck unserer musikalischen Identität.

Got A Nerve: Schon beim ersten Hören des neuen Albums ist mir aufgefallen, dass du, Christian, als Sänger einen gesteigerten Wert auf Clean-Vocals legst. Gehört dies auch zu dem Prozess der Band internen Weiterentwicklung, oder habt ihr euch einfach zusammengesetzt und gesagt „Ja, lass uns mal mehr cleanen Gesang machen, das passt gut zu uns“?
Christian: Uns ist bei den Songs der „New Pathetic“ aufgefallen, dass die clean gesungenen Stellen beim Publikum immer besonders wahrgenommen wurden, weil sie ja herausstechen. Bei manchen Songs ist es dann auf Konzerten schon richtig zum Singalong geworden, und das haben wir uns natürlich zu Nutzen gemacht, weil diese Parts immer besonders hervorstehen. Ein besonderes Element. Das olles auch bitte sein. Wir sind keine Band, die Popmusik einfließen lassen will, und wenn man sich die Platte genau anhört, merkt man das auch – die Stellen sind kurz und als wirklich spezielle Elemente eingestreut. Das haben wir eingesetzt als Stilmittel.
Dave: Wir haben schon versucht, in diese Richtung zu gehen, weil wir bei der alten Platte gemerkt haben, dass es gut ankam. Uns ist aber schon bewusst, dass man damit eine gewisse Gradwanderung macht zwischen Hardcore und Pop macht.
Christian: Aber wenn sich anhört, was ich singe und wie ich singe, dann ist das ja weit entfernt von einem Pop-Refrain. So wollen wir das auch verstanden wissen. Es sticht heraus und mit Blick auf die Textstellen hat es auch einen Grund, weshalb ich diese Stellen in dem Moment clean singe. Und das war’s, es soll kein Sing-Refrain einer Pop-Emo-Band sein.

Got A Nerve: Im vergangenen Jahr wart ihr in Europa mit Silverstein unterwegs, nun konntet ihr Sänger Shane für den Song „Mask off“ als Gastsänger gewinnen. Wie kam es dazu?
Dave: Silverstein ist für uns eine ganz besondere Geschichte. Das erste Mal mit ihnen zusammen haben wir in Karlsruhe damals gespielt, und als wir zum Ende des Sets hin Snapcase gecovered haben, standen die Jungs von Silverstein plötzlich alle hinten auf der Bühne und haben uns gefeiert, weil sie ja eigentlich auch Hardcore-Kids sind und die Songs von früher alle kennen. Daraus ist dann irgendwie eine Freundschaft, na ja, Freundschaft ist vielleicht ein bisschen zu weit. Zumindest haben sie uns danach angeboten, noch zwei, drei Shows mit ihnen zu spielen und seitdem stehen wir in Kontakt. Natürlich treten wir ihnen auch immer auf die Füße, weil wir gerne mit ihnen spielen wollen. Wir haben Shane dann gefragt, ob er Bock hat, für uns Guestvocals zu machen – so kam das alles zustande. Und im Nachhinein ist es ja auch ein sehr heraus stechender Part auf der CD, von daher sind wir ihm auch sehr dankbar, dass er es gemacht hat.
Christian: Genau. Gastsänger zu haben, ist eine besondere Ehre für eine Band. Und dann gerade den Sänger von Silverstein dabei zu haben, ist natürlich ein besonderes Bonbon.

Got A Nerve: „Mask off“ ist mein Lieblingssong auf der neuen Scheibe! Wie sieht es bei euch aus?
Christian: Wenn du uns Fünf fragst, wirst du fünf verschiedene Antworten bekommen. Das ist eine gute Frage. Lass mich überlegen. Weißt du es gleich?
Dave: Ja.
Christian: Gut, dann frag’ erstmal den Dave.
Dave: Mein Lieblingssong ist „Debriefing“. Weil der Anfang so schön knallt und metalmäßig ist und den Breakdown mag ich sehr gerne. Hat übrigens der Marco geschrieben. Zudem transportiert der Song Live einfach unheimlich viel Energie.
Christian: Also es gab ein Song, an dem ich in Sachen Schreiben sehr beteiligt war – „On a trip“. Den Song mag ich sehr gerne, weil ich sehr viel Musik zu beigetragen habe. Zudem habe ich ihn mit einem besonderen Lebensgefühl eingesungen. Ich mag viele der neuen Songs, „Debriefing“ mag ich auch sehr gerne, weil wir es gerade da noch mal sehr gut geschafft haben, unser Ding zu machen. Aber die Wahl fällt auf „On a trip“, da steckt viel Herzblut von mir drin.

Got A Nerve: Silverstein sind in der aktuellen Underground-Musiklandschaft ja schon eine ordentliche Hausnummer. Wo geht es mit Today Forever denn noch hin?
Christian: Ja, das ist eine gute Frage. Ich habe es ja schon gesagt, wir haben uns ein neues Label gesucht, weil wir den nächsten Schritt nach vorne machen wollten. Es gibt aber auch gewisse Begrenzungen, wir können eben nicht sagen „Wir geben alle unseren Job auf und gehen nur noch auf Tour“. Aber was wir uns schon wünschen ist, dass wir von einem breiteren Publikum gekannt und erkannt werden, und dass wir auch für das, was wir sind und wer wie sind und wie unser Songwriting ist gekannt und gemocht werden. Das würde sich dann natürlich darin niederschlagen, dass sich unsere Platten gut verkaufen und unsere Konzerte gut besucht werden. Wir wollen weiterhin regelmäßig Konzerte spielen, auch kleinere Touren spielen und sicherlich auch eine weitere Platte machen. Ich denke, das ist das, was wir wollen. Wir würden uns schon gerne als respektabler Act in der deutschen Hardcore-Szene etablieren.
Dave: Dennoch werden wir es nicht schaffen, eine Full-Time-Touring-Band zu werden, da müsste schon etwas ganz Besonderes passieren. Unsere persönlichen und sozialen Kontakte sind sage ich mal einfach anderes, als deren. Das ist natürlich eine Sache, von der jeder von uns träumt. Wahrscheinlich macht dies jeder, der Musik macht und in einer Band spielt. Aber dafür müsste man schon einen besonderen Deal bekommen. Aber na klar, wir wollen weiter viele Konzerte und Touren spielen, um unsere CD zu verbreiten und eine feste Größe in der deutschen Hardcore-Metal-Emocore-Szene zu werden.
Christian: Einfach weil wir glauben, dass unsere Musik ehrlich, authentisch und auch wirklich gut ist. Wir sind eben nicht die Xte Retorte von irgendeiner anderen Band. Wir meine das ernst, wir haben was zu transportieren, Musik und Lebensgefühl. Und wir wünschen uns, dass das ankommt. Je mehr Shows desto besser, klar, aber wir können eben nicht alle unsere Jobs aufgeben und unsere Familien verlassen.

Got A Nerve: Ok! Wie sehen denn eure Pläne für die nahe Zukunft aus?
Christian: Da unterhalten wir uns gerade drüber. Bis zum Ende des Jahres werden so viele Shows spielen wie möglich, um unsere aktuelle Platte an den Mann zu bringen und werden auch versuchen, noch zwei Touren auf die Beine zu stellen. Im Frühjahr 2010 werden wir dann die neue Platte in Angriff nehmen.

Got A Nerve: Gut, damit wären wir auch schon am Ende. Ein paar letzte Worte an unsere Leser!
Christian: Ganz vielen Dank an Got A Nerve, herzlichen Glückwunsch für das neue E-Zine. Super, dass es euch gibt, gerade hier in der Gegend ist es ja dünn gesät mit lokalen Magazinen. Wir sind da dankbar für, gerade für die viele Unterstützung auch in den vergangenen Jahren, die wir durch die lokale Szene bekommen haben.
Dave: Gerade hier. (Das Interview wurde in Neukirchen/Knüll aufgenommen)
Christian: Alle, die das hier lesen: Unterstützt Bands, die real sind und die das wirklich meinen, was sie mit der Musik transportieren. Bands, denen man anmerkt, dass es ehrliche und gut gemachte Musik ist. Hört nicht immer nur das, was im TV oder Radio läuft, sondern unterstützt auch die Sachen, die rund herum um euch und in eurer Stadt auf den Konzerten abgehen.
Dave: Da kann ich jetzt schlecht was hinzufügen. Ich kann auch nur daran appellieren, auf die Konzerte zu gehen, bei denen man merkt, dass dort Herzblut drin steckt. Und wir sind froh über jeden, der auf unsere Shows kommt und über diejenigen, mit denen man auch ins Gespräch kommt.

Posted by: Stephan



STICK TO YOUR GUNS

05/28/2009 | It took them quiet a while to finish their new record, but since a couple of months, STICK TO YOUR GUNS from California are back stronger than ever. After their debut-record “For what it’s worth”, the five-peace toured a lot all over the United States, did their first footsteps in Europe, finally signed a deal with Century Media Records and threw their latest full-length “Comes from the heart” on the music-market. In May and Juned, STYG hit the road in Europe together with Terror, Trapped Under Ice, and Born From Pain. I met singer Jesse in Kassel, Germany, and talked with him about their new record, the work with Century Media Records, the tour, Myspace, and their future-plans with the band.

Got A Nerve: Ok, here we are. Thanks for your time. How has the tour been so far?
Jesse: Oh man, the tour has been awesome. We have been here last year on the Hell On Earth Tour with Evergreen Terrace, Walls Of Jericho, The Red Chord and so on, and now we are back with Terror, Born From Pain, and Trapped Under Ice and it’s just been fucking phenomenal. All these bands are great. You know, it is very rare, that Stick To Your Guns or me go on a tour, where I am a huge fan of every single band we are on tour with. And this is one of these tours, and it is awesome. Besides that the shows are good, it is great to see these bands, which are one of my favorite bands in hardcore right now, every night. This is a treat.

Got A Nerve: I agree with you on that. Ok, any special moments, any special experiences on this tour so far that you want to share with us?
Jesse: You know, there are always up-shows and down-shows, but over all every single one has been super fun. You know, all the bands hang out, we are all having a lot of fun. Yeah, the whole tour has been great. We are out for 12 days now and we will fly back home on June 26th.

Got A Nerve: That’s a long time.
Jesse: Ha ha ha, yeah. You know, we were on tour for 2 months before this, then we came over here for another 2 months. So by the time we get home it is 4 months of straight touring, we are all physically, mentaly, and emotionaly exhausted.But still, this is one of the tours we were waiting for to do.

Got A Nerve: As you already have mentioned, this is your second time in Europe. What would you say are the major differences between the tour now and your time back then on Hell On Earth?
Jesse: Well, the shows are good again, the only difference I would say is that we opened up Hell On Earth, we were the first band on stage out of seven bands. So by the time we were playing, there wasn’t many kids there and all that, but we still had an awesome time with all these bands we were on tour with – we love all those dudes. But this tour is better for us, becasue we are not opening up, Trapped Under Ice is and sometimes some loca bands. Trapped Under Ice is doing awesome on this tour, kids are actuelly coming early to see that band, which is great. I fucking love this band so much. But also, by the time we play there is a good amount of kids and that is awesome.

Got A Nerve: Ok, tell us something about the band history.
Jesse: Band history? Well, I am the original remaining member, I started the band with our old drummer Casey. It was kind of ment to be, well not necessaryly a joke, it was kind of ment to be to have some fun, hang out. We started in 2003, played some backyard shows, basement shows, house-shows, and yadda yadda yadda, now we are in Germany. We are definitely so grateful for that what has happened. We want to thank all the bands we have ever toured with, all the people that has been involved. Not only the five band members, but also the people behind the curtain. They know who they are.

Got A Nerve: Well, I follow the band like 2-3 years now and it seems like everything went really fast for you guys. How does it feel to be a member of a major-touring fulltime-band now?
Jesse: Well, it seems like it went really fast. It took a while for us to get any tours, we are touring for probably three or four years now. Once we started touring, it picked up, but the four years before it went really slow, you know. I was 15 when I started the band. I was in school, I couldn’t even drive, ha ha ha. My older friends drove us to shows and all that stuff. But yeah, once we started touring, once we got our name out there, it seemed to kind of pick up really quick. We got over here as fast as we could, we are going to Australia at the end of the year – with Terror as well. Yeah, like I said, we are gratefull, but it was a lot of hard work when you tour. You know, we toured a lot – A LOT. There is a certain price we pay, sacrifices we have to make to be able to do something as awesome as this. This is insane, I am in Europe right now, and wether the show sucked or was awesome, it doesn’t matter to us, you know. We are able to hang out and meet fucking awesome people. We love it, not matter what. We are to glad to do this.

Got A Nerve: What I recognized is, that Myspace helped you a lot. You were one of the bands who posted like ten bulletins a day, but that’s Ok, because it helped to to get your name out there.
Jesse: Yeah, exactly. Obviously, there are ups and downs to Myspace, obvioulsy people call “Oh, that’s a myspace-band, that’s a myspace-band!”. Every band is a myspace-fan, myspace is fucking awesome, especially for bands. It helps bands to get their music to places that it would never before ever would get to. Before we had Myspace, I wrote letters to my favorite bands or I would mail in shit to Indecision Records or any record labels. Indecision Records was one of my favorite record labels when I was 13, they had a lot of cool Orange County and Southern California bands. That’s the way I did, you know, not only going to shows. Myspace helps, but if kids don’t come out to the shows, it doesn’t matter, you know. We are fortunate to not only be strong on Myspace, but kids are actually coming out to see what we are about. We are toally happy about that, and I hope this keeps going. After this tour, we are going home and start writing a new record. You know, start this whole thing over again, go on tour for this record, tour all of next year like crazy, do a lot of cool shit.

Got A Nerve: Will you release the new record on Century Media Records as well?
Jesse: We don’t know. We are in the middle of talking with them. We may or may not, no comment basicly, ha ha ha! I can’t say anything about that yet.

Got A Nerve: Well, how is it to be on Century Media, how is iot to work with these guys?
Jesse: You know, every band is gonna have problems with their labels when not seeing at a eye. And other things. You know, it is very hard for record labels right now, so many kids downloading their music. Which I think is cool, you know, I download music, so I would go and say “Fuck that”! I am not old, I am only 21, but at the same time like every single person on this tour, I like to own my music. I like ot have a CD. I don’t only have a CD, I have the 7” of the CD, the LP, the 12” of the CD. I like to own my music, and that’s important. And I think that’s what a lot of kids of the younger generation don’t really realize, and that’s what makes bands come and go so much more quickly now. They don’t own their music, they don’t feel like they are in touch with these bands. And like I said, it’s Terror and pretty much all of the Vogel-bands, Despair and Bruied Alive, all those bands, those are my bands. Trapped Under Ice, that’s my band, I love that. That’s part of my generation. There are always kids coming out with their Black Flag shirts, their Bold shirts, their Judge shirts, their Cro-Mags shirts. I mean, that’s cool and I am fan of all these bands, but those are not my bands. I can’t relate to those bands at the same level that I can relate to Trapped Under Ice. Because I got to go to the shows, I got to fucking get punched in the mouth, punch people in the mouth, jump off the stage, stagedive. I got to do that to these bands and that’s what makes it personal for me. Buying a shirt and everything, that’s cool and everything to support a band that way, but you never really support a band unless you really come out and support a show. All these bands, I talk to them every day, everyone is so gratefull and honered to be, you know – I use the word blessed – I am not a religious person. All these bands are stoked and it is nothing but a good time.

Got A Nerve: Well, there are probably still a bunch of kids out there, who have never heard of Stick To Your Guns before. What would you tell them to expect, when they buy one of your records?
Jesse: Expect a lot of different things, a serious case of identity-crisis. We wrote our first record when we were 15 years old, and we went through a lof of member changes. How old are you?

Got A Nerve: I am 28.
Jesse: Yeah, you are 28, I am only 21. But from 15 years old to 21 years old, my views are completely – well, maybe not completely different, I was straight edge back then and I am straight edge now – but my musical taste and my grasp on things is much different. And from 21 to 28 like you are, they are gonna change again. And that’s ony expected. You know, you pick up our first CD “For what it’s worth” and you listen to it, and then you pick up our second CD “Comes from the heart”, it’s gonna sound like a complete different band. We have done the whole melodic thing, which we are gonna continue to go with and still try to be a heavy band – not like a Deathcore-heave-band, you know what I mean. Kind of more straight forward, melodic, faster, harder, more intense in your face. That’s what we are hopefully looking forward to.

Got A Nerve: It took you guys a while to record your new record...
Jesse: Yeah, we were touring with this record for quiet a while.

Got A Nerve: Yeah, which influences came along your way between the first and the second record? Influences, which you put in the new record and the songwriting.
Jesse: I mean, there has always been bands, you know, bands to which I listened to when I was 15 and still listen to. Bands like Boy Sets Fire, who had a big influence on us. Maybe not so much musically, but we still get inspiration from bands like that. Like I said, Buried Alive and Terror and for the new record defintily Trapped Under Ice. First album, you can definitly tell: When we started, we wanted to be a band that sounds like Throwdown. Like old Throwdown, that’s a lot of shit we listen to.

Got A Nerve: “Haymaker” is a great record.
Jessen: Even the records before that. That’s what we were going for when we started the band. That’s why it took us so long to write a new record. When we went on our first tour, we were like “Ha ha, yeah, we are going on tour” and not like “Yeah, shit, we are a touring-band now and take it seriously”. But when we were on our first tour, the reactions were just fucking amazing and we decided to kind of give everything up and do this fulltime. Yeah, the first inspiration was like Throwdown and shit like that. But now that we do this more seriously and it is basicly – I don’t want to say it is our job, because noone likes their fucking job, you know what I mean – no matter what it is. We are scraping by, but I rather scrape by doing this than making a lot of money sitting behind a desk somewhere. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I admire people who do that. It’s just, as long as people are doing what they love, even it’s not a job, maybe only a hobby, I am stoked to that.

Got A Nerve: I mean, you are 21. As long as you have the time and the poissibilty to do that – go for it!
Jesse: Right. We are all super young still. My brother is in the band now, he is 26 and he is the oldest. Our new drummer is 19. You know, I never saw this coming. I never saw the fact that we are touring Europe for 7 weeks with some of my favorite fucking bands. I never saw that happening and just take it, you know. On tour also another crazy thing for me is going to peoles houses, people are kind enough to open their homes to us and let us stay with them. Some of them told us that they never left their town or their state. They are in their mid-30s, and that’s crazy. I am 21 and I basicly played every single state in the United States except for Alaska and Hawaii. But I have been to Hawaii. So one state is left and then I have been every state in my country. We have been to Canada and played almost every providence, and now we are here in Europe playing all these fucking countries. That’s crazy, you know. I will be 22 in Novemver and then we will go to Australia – no, wait, in October, so won’t be even 22 and I have been to three different continents. This is insane to me.

Got A Nerve: Ok, we are almost done. How much longer will this whole thing be more than a pulse beneath your wrist?
Jesse: How much longer you think? I don’t know. We are gonna keep doing what we love to do. We know when it’s over for us. We are not gonna beat a dead horse, you know what I mean. A lot of bands do that. Those people who do that, they end up hating everything that the band is and was. And I don’t wanna do that. This is an awesome experience for us and I love. I met a lot of awesome people like I said and I can’t wait to the people I am gonna meet in the future. We will see, we will see. I hate to put a time-boundary on it. It can be tomorrow, it can be in ten years from now. You never know. As longs as you do things being cool – I am a hardcore kid, you know. If I lived here, I would be at the show right now. And when I am at home, I go to as many shows as I can. That’s what it is about.

Got A Nerve: That’s good to hear.
Jesse: Supporting the bands, supporting the local bands.

Got A Nerve: Alright, that’s it. Tanks a lot for your time.
Jesse: Thanks a lot for the interview.

Check: www.myspace.com/styg

Posted by: Stephan

GOLD KIDS the moment, the sound, the fury

05/01/2009 | There’s a picture impressed in my mind of GOLD KIDS singer André that pretty much sums up the overwhelming, desperation-anger driven, intensity that a hardcore band delivers while up on stage before a pit jam-packed of screaming, sweat drenched and moshing kids.
For those of you not in the know, Gold Kids is a fivesome hailing from Sardinia Italy who started out around the end of 2005. After endless touring (the band shared the stage with the likes of The Legacy, Dead Swans, Killing The Dream, Strength Approach, To Kill, More Than Ever to name a few), tons of hard work and a really well received debut full-length “The Sound Of Breaking Up” (the guys got a KKKK’s review on famed British magazine Kerrang! who’s usually known for not being so kind towards Italians combos) the guys have finally and deservedly become a force to be reckoned with among the European hardcore scene.
Wanna know more about these dudes? Well, I got in touch with André to check out what’s going on at Gold Kids camp and asked him a few questions about their debut full-length, hardcore, Anchor Aweigh records (label run by Gold Kids singer) and some other shit worthy to talk about.
Read on this interview and make sure to show up at one of the shows they are gonna play with Roman Strength Approach next June in Germany and Czech Republic.

GAN!: Hello André. How are you doing man?

André: Hey dude… how’s it going? I’m alright man… Quite busy at the moment! Sorry for taking ages to reply to this. I fucking hate myself for being such a lazy prick!

GAN!: Last time I interviewed you guys you had just recorded a five tracks promo (later to be re-released on No panic records in 2006). Can you help me completing your band’s history to this day?

André: Well… the first ep came out again on Day By Day records from Stuttgart and sold out again… Then on the same label we’ve done the seven inch version of it which has all gone as well… We just put out a new full length on Thirty Days of Night records from Leeds and the LP will be out on Anchors Aweigh Records in a week or so…
Since then we toured Europe/Scandinavia and UK about 6 times. Had a good time and made this band some kind of main project in our lives!

GAN!: So you guys have finally put out your debut full-length ‘The Sound Of Breaking Up’ through Thirty Days of Night records. Are you satisfied with it?

André: We’re dead happy about the new album and the whole thing! Recording process was one of the best things I’ve done in my life. The sound is incredible and it’s a massive step forward from the first EP. Ben Phillips, our sound producer, did such an amazing job! To be honest I can’t wait to record something new again!

GAN!: I see that after the shit happened early June, you guys hit the road with The Legacy at the beginning of September. How did this UK tour go? And what crowd reaction did you get?

André: Auk was pretty weird at that time. Some shows were really good and some others were the worst thing we ever done. Fair enough though. It happens in every country. If you never been there you can’t expect to get the best reaction ever! Touring with our best mates in the legacy was still priceless though… who cares about crowd reaction?
We’ve been there again in Jan 09 and the shows were amazing. The Underworld show in London was one of the best shows I’ve played in my life. So many kids singing along .. I didn’t really expect that… and it just means “if you work hard you gonna get what you deserve at the end”!

GAN!: I know you’re still running your label Anchor Aweigh and I’m happy your label is getting some recognition among the scene. What new projects are you up to?

André: We just put out More Than Life from Bristol, UK. Their album “brave enough to fail” is going really well. They’re just really good dudes and love touring… and that’s all we need from our bands. We also just released the new Tortuga (ex November Coming Fire) album on vinyl version and it looks and sounds incredible. They toured the UK with Doomriders and are gonna come over in the summer. A second press of “southern blue”, Dead Swans’ first seven inch, will be out in 2 weeks ! They just signed to Bridge 9 records which is something I’m really proud of!
As I said above the new Gold Kids album will be available through us on vinyl too and limited colour wax… mmm what else? I’m gonna announce some new bands pretty soon ! I’m just really happy and so into it even if its hard!

GAN!: How it feels like to be a musician and run a record label. And in the first place, what pushed you starting your own imprint?

André: Ah man ! It’s like a dream for me. I’ve always been a big fan of Death Wish records and when I started this label I actually wanted to make something as serious as them … The way they work is incredible.. I know music business is usually not the best thing ever but what can you expect in life?
I hate all the fucking dead end jobs u need to do to survive. I’ve been a shop assistance for ages and I couldn’t cope with that kind of shit anymore… I hate having a boss who tells me what to do… so I was like.. “Fuck it.. I’m gonna start my own record label” ! You need to understand what really matters in your life. I do care about aggressive music. I do care about touring. I love records. I’m doing what I love the most and that, even though doesn’t pay you back as any other job, is still much better than say “yeah sir” every fucking day!

GAN!: Marco Guth did a moving video for your song ‘Winter 365 days a year’. What do you think about this clip? How this collaboration come about?

André: I know Marco since ages. I met him in 2002 and loved him since then. He’s just the best dude in the world and always helped me in any kinda way! He knows what hc is about for sure!
I like that clip. We did it to make all that youtube shit look way better and that’s how it is actually! A good clip ! Wish we could do a proper video.

GAN!: It seems like you guys are on the road 365 days a year. How do you manage staying on the road and away from home for weeks on end? What are the main difficulties you face on the road? And what are the best satisfactions you gather off conducting this lifestyle?

André: Well, we toured loads in 2008 and taking a bit easier for the first part of this year ! Normal life sucks especially when you live in the middle of fucking nowhere ! For some of us, its hard to manage. Those who have to work and stuff.. sometimes we had some close friends (usually we still part of The Legacy) to replace Davide who couldn’t come! We all think the band has to go ahead no matter what, so if someone can’t make it for the next tour, its sure as fuck he’ll be part of the one after!
Talking about satisfaction, I don’t think there’s anything in the world which could be compared with travelling miles and miles away from home and finding even just a few kids singing something you wrote !

GAN!: Last time we talked about your local scene in Cagliari-Sardinia, you didn’t sound very satisfied with what was going on. You sadly said there was ‘no scene’ at all. Has perhaps anything changed over the years?

André: Nope. It’s worst than before!

GAN!: Your lyrics sound like coming straight from your heart and while reading and listening them one really feels you live what you write on your sleeves. If you wouldn’t mind share this with us, where did you draw inspiration for lyrics from this time around?

André: As you said if you read them properly as you listen to the album you really get what are they are about and why I did write them!

GAN!: I know American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost’s ‘Background music’ is a huge influence of yours. Any new bands influenced you as of late?

André: The only band I got really into was November Coming Fire, they had a different sound and the songs were no like any other hc band around at that time. Shame they broke up really ! I need to say they influenced us loads. I can’t deny it. When we recorded the album though, we didn’t really think about trying to sound like someone else…

GAN!: I don’t remember if we did talk about this earlier. In your view, what makes hardcore different from any other music?

André: People wearing Nikes and talking shit in all the good msg boards? J

GAN!: At this time of the play, what are you main goals as a band and individuals?

André: Tour as much as we can and write a new album. We already have a bunch of new tunes we like.
Individually talking as I said before I keep working hard on anchors Aweigh Records. Nico runs Black Sails Design and he’s doing really well, done stuff for Bridge 9 rec, Dead Swans, Terror, Carpathian and loads more. Davide is a tattooist and has worked full time for about 17 years now and he has some sick new band going on too. The rest of us goes to uni or work.

GAN!: What the future holds for GOLD KIDS?

André: We’re touring Germany and Czech Rep in June with our long time friends in Strength Approach and I’m pretty sure we gonna get arrested at some point ahah.. We still have a few shows available so please get in touch with ute@mad-tourbooking.de if you wanna book us. Then we’ll be back on the road in August with Lewd Acts ( death wish rec) in August all around Europe /scandi /uk … I can’t wait to be honest because these few months at home are killing me !
We should record some new stuff later this year!

GAN!: André, that’s about it. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. I hope to catch you guys live anytime soon. Do you have any final words for the readers of GOT A NERVE!?

Cheers for the interview man…
Everyone should support labels and bands instead of fucking downloading shit on blogspots!

Check: myspace.com/goldkids

Posted by: marcs77

Mike Bukowski – hardcore punk illustrations

03/29/2009 | I’m one of those kid who used to spend (and still spends) lotta time looking at cover arts of my favourite band’s records and I’ve always considered these eye-catching illustrations and pictures to be part of the package and whole music offering. And sometimes, though it happened a few times only, I admit I based my decision on buying a records cause of its killer cover (one it was DRI’s 4 Of A Kind - probably not the most memorable record from S.Francisco’s thrashcorers).
I think that one of the most effective tools hardcore-punk movement has to spread its positive message of reaction to mainstream culture is through art and graphics (be it an album artwork, a flyer or zine’s illustrations).
It’s been so since the very beginning back in 70’s and it’s one thing still holds true to these days.
Around two years ago I was arranging an interview with Professor Bad Trip one of the most important, respected, but maybe undervalued, graphic artists came out of 80’s Italian hardcore-punk who took care of graphics for zines like “Archaeopteryx” and did cover arts, among the others, for his band (The Holocaust), punk compilations like “Urla Dal Granducato” (issued around 1983 and which featured bands hailing from Toscana), and more recently, for a split between Gargantha and Evolution So Far. Unfortunately, he prematurely died at age 43 (r.i.p.) and the interview never happened.
After two years I decided to try again to give some coverage to art related to hardcore punk and thought to let you guys know more about a young American illustrator, whose works caught my eye, and who’s not new to the hardcore scene, but if you haven’t yet, I think you all should check out and support.
Philly based Mike Bukowski has already worked with the likes of Poison Idea, Comeback Kid, NOFX, Palehorse, Strength Approach, More Than Ever and Bedtime For Charlie to name a few.
I emailed him some questions which he was more than happy to reply about his passion for illustration and art, his current projects, the role of hardcore punk in his life/work and more. Read on and stay tuned cause it’s likely that I will get the chance to interview other artists for our zine.

GAN!: Hello Mike, how’s all in life?

Pretty good! despite impending economic collapse.

GAN!: Can you please introduce yourself and tell our readers how you get started with drawing records, shirts, logos, posters, ads, and flyers for hardcore and punk bands?

My name is Michael Bukowski, I’m 30 years old and I live in Philadelphia pa, USA.

I moved to Philly in 1998 to go to the University of the Arts for illustration. I met a lot of kids into hardcore/punk at UArts and from going to Philly shows. Matt Summers was one of those people and he asked me to draw the cover for his bands first 7". That was the Shark Attack "Blood In the Water" record. Andy Wheeler from R.A.M.B.O. was enrolled at UArts for film, and we also became friends. It wasn’t long after the Shark Attack record that I started doing art for R.A.M.B.O.

GAN!: Do you think you are an artist, and if so, when did you realise to be an artist?

Hmmmm...that’s a weird question. Do you mean an artist like a stereotypical painter, who wears beret, smoke cigarettes and talks about the futility of existence? No. I’m a guy that love/needs to make drawings. If that makes me an artist then I guess I am. and I’ve felt the need to make art since I was a child. Maybe around 5 years old. I used to draw dinosaurs getting attacked by planes and aliens and sharks a lot. Sooooo, not much has changed.

GAN!: You reside in Philly, right? Does living in this city influenced your art?

I think so. Philly is a very dirty and depressing city. Its also very violent. 2 years ago we were the murder capital of the country surpassing NYC, Chicago and LA which all have larger populations. I think my art also has a very bleak and violent tone to it.

GAN!: I see that most of your subjects have a scary, gruesome and fantastic feel to them. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Well, like I said, Philly haha, and horror movies....LOTS of horror movies. I have a collection of over 200 separated by country of origin. They're my version of records. But I also get inspiration from mythology from all over the world and books. I read a lot of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Richard Mattheson, Stephen King, etc…

GAN!: What artists do you find as inspirational?

Dan Seagrave (Dismember "Like An Everflowing Stream", Entombed "Left Hand Path", Pestilence "Testimony Of The Ancients"), Derek Riggs (all Iron Maiden), Pushead, Sugi, Mad Marc Rude, Gee Vaucher, Shawn Kerri....also some comic artists like Mike Mignola, Geoff Darrow, Charles Burns, Guy Davis.

GAN!: I am curious to know all about the creative process behind your works. Do you come up with your own subject or do the band suggest his own?

It depends. Some people have VERY specific things in mind and others are very vague. Some just tell me to draw WHATEVER I want. Those are usually the most fun. But I do enjoy a challenge. Some people ask me to draw things that are really weird or unusual.

GAN!: What’s the illustration/work you are the most proud of?

The 50 Lions record cover, and Power Corrupts record cover. I also have had a lot of solo shows here in Philly and some of the work I’ve done for those has been really enjoyable. I did a show where I drew a bunch of monsters H.P. Lovecraft wrote about and a more recent show where I drew every animal I'd seen in the wild. It coincided with me returning from a trip to Antarctica which was my seventh continent.

GAN!: When you are not working what do you do for fun your free time? Hobbies?

I watch horror movies, travel, ride my bike, hike, camp...

GAN! I guess you are a horror movies fan. What’s your favourite movie ever? Did you have the chance to see the remake of Friday the 13th?

Yes and yes. I thought it was actually pretty good. It’s pretty funny. My girlfriend and I have recently watched all 10 of the Friday the 13th movies in the last 6months. And I’d say that the remake was better than 75% of the series. Which isn’t saying too much. haha. I LOVE that series but some of them are utter garbage. Jason X is the second worst movie I’ve ever seen.

GAN!: What advice (if any) would you give to a kid just starting out a career as illustrator?

Don’t stop making art. Ever. The more you make the better you get. I hate most of the work I did 2 years ago. and I’m sure in two years ill hate most of the work I’m doing now. You have to raise the bar for yourself. And look at other art constantly. You need to see what other people are doing and what’s interesting.

GAN!: Is it ever hard to find motivation and inspiration after some ages making this work?

No I don’t think so because my interests are constantly changing. I said I did that Lovecraft based show 2 years ago. A lot of my work was influenced by his work, and after reading it I was introduced to other writers which started to influence my work. Now I’ve been really into folklore and mythology. I had a show in November that was all mythical creatures. Minotaurs, witches, vampires and some gods and goddesses from old myth cycles. As long as you’re curious about the world there’s no lack of influence

GAN!: What do you like about hardcore-punk? And how’s Philly hardcore punk scene today?

Haha I’ve actually been talking about this a lot. I haven’t been going to too many shows because I haven’t been interested in too many new bands. I also feel that, in the US at least, DIY punk has become a huge clique and is a popularity contest based on who can do more coke or drink more beer. there doesn’t seem to be much place for straight edge kids over 30. Maybe its always been that way and I’m just realizing it now.
I also think that punk isn’t going to change the world. It’s not going to make any significant change in the way people live their lives either. The world is fucked and there’s no saving it no matter how hard we try to make things "green" or buy fair trade. After travelling so much and being involved with the punk scene for so long I’ve developed a very dismal outlook on life.
That being said, I DO think that punk can influence an individual and make positive influence on a person’s life. And there are still a few bands that get me pumped. Paint It Black (Philly), Propagandhi, World Burns To Death are a few.

GAN!: What are you currently working on, and what are your plans for the future?

I’ve been working with an Australian clothing company called Afends almost constantly for the last 2 years. I’ve got a record cover for a UK based band called Durai, as well as about 2 or 3 more t-shirts for various bands and clothing companies. And I’m working on a piece for a group show in April, and pieces for a solo show in June.

GAN!: Mike, that’s about it! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply my questions. Any closing words, shout outs?

I would like to thank anyone that's ever asked me to draw something for them. I really can’t live without this. And thanks to you for this interview! mike bukowski www.lastchanceillustration.com
(there may be infrequent updates cus my site is hard to work on my own but I’m still around! and expect a complete revamp to my site soon!!)

Check: lastchanceillustration.com

Posted by: marcs77

LA CRISI Milano’s finest

02/28/2009 | Do you guys like old school HC sung in Italian and influenced by 80’s Italian scene (Indigesti, Negazione to name a few)? Well, then it’s very likely that you have just found a new band to love.
LA CRISI from Milan is a band who is making a real name for themselves among the Italian hardcore-punk as well as in worldwide HC scene with their blend of intense and pissed off music and ass-kicking and sweat socked gigs.
There's a particular vibe to them. A modern band with a sound and attitude deeply rooted in the glorius past of Italian hardcore-punk as well as in 80’s USA HC.
The four-piece, brainchild of Mayo (ex singer for famed Sottopressione and guitarist for Muroroa and Cleft), formed in 2003 with a bang and after tons of practice hours and shows the guys recorded their self-titled debut full-length for Italian Hurry Up! records in 2005. Over the past years since band inception La Crisi have gone through many hardships and fair share of line-up changes (current line-up is completed by Dario on guitars, Moreno on drums and Lele on bass) but 2008 saw the guys flying to Boston to record, with HC legend Kurt Ballou, their sophomore record “II - Tutti A Pezzi” (out on Hurry Up! records).
GOT A NERVE! caught up with Mayo for a pretty in-depth interview which reveals everything about their new album, shares thoughts on Hardcore, and updates on what’s currently going on at LA CRISI camp, plus much more.

GAN!: Hello Mayo! How are you doing? Hope you had a nice ace start to 2009.

Mayo: Hi Marco! Everything’s all right here and 2009 looks promising, so we keep our finger crossed and kick for the best.

GAN!: If you could start by telling us about La Crisi humble beginnings. It all started while you got back from a three years stay in London, right? What was the initial response to the band and when did it all start getting serious for you guys?

Mayo: Yep! it all started there but it was in my mind since a couple of years before. I just needed the right people to put that thing together. The beginning was good and smooth and still is, we got "our public", I think we took it pretty seriously from the very beginning but of course after we released our first demo, and we had to re-print it 2 times we kinda start to think that we were probably good enough not to be ashamed!

GAN!: Now, let's talk about your sophomore record "II - Tutti A Pezzi". Are you satisfied with how it come out? What's the one track (if any) you like the most?

Mayo: I am really happy with this record and I can speak for the others for sure when I say this.
Personally, I can say that for the first time between all the recordings I've done so far this is the only one I still don't have anything to complain about. I really like it, I think we did a god job. Then someone might not like it, of course, but it's a undeniable honest and sincere record. It represents La Crisi in a very good way.

GAN!: You guys flew out to Boston at God City studios to record with Converge's Curt Ballou. How did you get in touch with him and decide he was the dude you needed behind the desk?

Mayo: I had worked with Converge on their mutual coming to Italy, booking shows and helping them around, so we become friends. Kurt is a real good guy and is an amazing engineer, I did some of my recent favourite records. When we recorded our first album one of the records that we brought to the engineer to listen -to give him an idea of what we wanted to get- was a Panic record that Kurt produced and mixed...so when we started thinking at the 2nd album we thought "we know him, he's good...let's go there!" easy. Also the euro was really strong last year and it came out pretty cheap as well for us.

GAN!: How long did it take you to record and do you have any studio related stories you want to share?

Mayo: We did it pretty fast, we had booked Godcity studios for 10 days + an extra day "just in case", we recorded live -drums, bass and guitar- than I did the vocals and Dario overdubbed the guitar to make it thicker. There is no editing, it's all live as hardcore should be recorded, as it was recorded in the early 80's.
Anyway at the end of the 8th day we already had the final mix!
Fast, isn't it? I did the vocals in just 2 afternoons and we eventually had 2 unexpected days off to have fun with!
No particular "stories" to tell about…maybe someone might be interested knowing that the bass rig we used was 108's bass rig and that the general volume level in the live room was absolutely insane!!! 2 guitar heads (100 w each) on 2 "6x10" cabinets and a 600 w bass head on a "8x10" cabinet all set at 9-10 volume! It was like in the Spinal Tap movie or in Back To The Future! Believe me, that was loud!

GAN!: Your album is out since last June 2008. How has kids and press reaction been thus far?

Mayo: Everybody seems to like it a lot! We're selling it good at the shows and we keep getting really good reviews since it came out from webzines and regular magazines. I'm really happy about this, it's like people actually understand the struggle we put in this recordings, like they can feel it and like it. I don't think we could expect better reactions from old fans and new too.

GAN!: In an interview featuring H2O that I recently read singer Toby was comparing some Black Flag and Minor Threat shows to today's one and saying "People weren't so worried about there dance style or what they looked like. They just went to the show and if you wanted to fall around like a chicken, if that's how the music made you feel… I think people now are worried about if there doing the right thing or if they look hardcore" Do you think his words somehow fit with your view on HC shows and today kids? Do you agree with the dude?

Mayo: I have to agree with Toby. the "fashion-motivation" problem is pretty evident nowadays. It is not the worst problem but you can't deny it, it's there, lot's of kids care more about how they look than the music itself...but I’m not here to tell anyone what to care about. If they're happy with their fancy t-shirts and collectable vintage merch, good for them. Not a big deal.
The kid's background is different from what it was back then, 30 years has been passed, things has changed, you got to cope with that.

GAN!: Mayo, I don't know what age Moreno is but I guess you are the older dude in La Crisi, correct? How do you feel about this? In certain occasions, perhaps while on the road, do you ever feel like that other dudes expect some pearl of wisdoms from you? You know, like you if had to play the part of older brother with your bandmates. Anything like that?

Mayo: Well, you don't need to know how old is Moreno, I'm the "old one" of the band -and often I'm the older of the whole concert, since I'm 35- I don't think they expect any "pearl of wisdom" from me, maybe some anecdotes, "old stories"... for sure they get huge doses of sarcasm, cynicism, bad jokes and complaints about how they suck in musical tastes and habits.
I only act like "the older brother" with Dario, I can't do different with him since I'm his older brother for real.

GAN! You guys got hooked with Hurry Up! records since your early release. How did they get in touch with you and propose to join their family? Do you feel like they're helping you to get the word out about La Crisi? How's you relationship with the label going and developing?

Mayo: I knew Matteo of HUP since he was playing in Mach5, he had released a few records with HUP and it seemed to me a good label, he was doing a good job with his bands and records, so I just called him and asked him if HUP would be interested in doing a La Crisi cd. He liked our demo and he said yes. Easy like that.
HUP believed in us since the beginning, Matteo supported us and helped us out in many ways, when it came the time for a second album we had no reason to look around for any different, there's been a couple of offers from other labels but we thought it was right to stay with HUP and show some gratitude for someone who helped us since the beginning and that never had let us down so far.
It's a straight honest relationship, we got total freedom on our releases , we do what we like, HUP likes what we do and, apparently, everybody else like it too... why change?

GAN!: You guys sing in Italian and take cues from 80's classic hardcore punk bands like Negazione and Indigesti. The title of your new album "Tutti A Pezzi" is to me a kinda words-play that reminds much of Negazione's "Tutti Pazzi". Is my guess correct?

Mayo: It is totally a words-play with Negazione's "tutti pazzi"! even if the two titles has total different meanings (tutti pazzi= all crazy / tutti a pezzi= all broken) they sound really similar and it was a good "recall" to the good old days of the Italian hardcore scene, to evidence our sound's roots already from the cover!
We're probably, at the moment, the only Italian hardcore band that actually sounds like an Italian hardcore band, when for Italian hardcore you mention as you did Negazione or especially Indigesti.

GAN!: Mayo, how was Milano scene like when you were a kid attending HC gigs and when you started out your first musical projects? And what about today?

Mayo: I get this question often, it was like now: there was no scene. There were a few bands, some of them were friends, some were not. Some gigs were good (few) some were really bad (most of them)...exactly like it's now. Only now you get more people at the shows because of the internet and because it's cool to get to an HC show...well...it's not that cool, actually, since there's not that many people at HC shows in Milan...
I don't really know what you mean when you say "scene", there were bands and there was people going to those bands concerts...is that a scene? Anyway, the main difference is the number of people participating and the look. Back then you could see any kind of people at a punk/hc gig, you could get the metalhead, the punk, the rasta... now is more "fashionized" like we said before, there's a certain "global-look" standard.
I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, just it is a difference.

GAN!: Last year, three dudes close to Milano HC scene decided to release a book, titled "9707 10 Anni Hardcore a Milano" (packed with tons of pictures and some insights from people involved in the scene), celebrating 10 years (between '97/'07) of punk-hardcore in Milano. What do you think about this project?

Mayo: I think is a good book. I wrote the introduction for this book and I appear in many pictures with 4 different bands in it...so…what can I say? eheheh!
Jokes apart, it's a good documentation of something that happened in those years, the guys at 9707 did a good job looking around for all those pictures, it's been tough! They tried to put all the bands of the time but for some of them it was impossible to find any photo, they did what they could and I think the result is really good.
It's a book full of memories for someone like me that lived that time from the inside.

GAN!: January the 20th was the Obama day. What are your thoughts on the new president and expectations (if any)? I personally hope the dude is gonna bring some serious changes to USA politics.

Mayo: I hope the same but honestly I don't think it will change that much. it is, anyway, already a good thing that finally the USA elected someone that on the paper is concerned on a wide range of ecological issue and that is not financed by tobacco and petrol multinationals... let's see what happens and hope for the best.

GAN!: This may be a tough one. In your view, what's HARDCORE all about?

Mayo: The disclaimer on our myspace page says: "having fun, express your feelings, your anger, your joy, play fast, play loud...not simple words, not simple chords. Words from the heart, sounds that cut, sharp, like a razor, that beat hard like a hammer, that run fast like a train. real music for real people"
It's pretty much what I'd answer.

GAN!: "Tutti A Pezzi" features a solid rendering of Ingesti's Senso di Abitudine. How has 80's Italian hardcore (and in particular way the band of Rudy) been influential to your band?

Mayo: Indigesti is without any doubt my all time favourite Italian hardcore band. They were amazing I regret that I had no opportunity to see them live. they are a strong influence on my songwriting but not stronger than any other bands I like.
I don't refer to them nor to any other band in particular when I write, they're just there all together in my background.
Anyway I guess that if there is any similarity between La Crisi and any other band, Indigesti is the band we mostly sound like, the one you can relate us the most even if it's not intentional.
I'm actually the only one so much in love with them, like for example Lele hates Indigesti... can you believe it? I should kick him out of the band!

GAN!: I know you guys are gonna cross the pond and hit USA for the second time. What are your expectations on this tour? How are you gearing up for the 13 days jaunt?

Mayo: Yeah! we can't wait to be there again! This time we'll go there with our good friends Strength Approach from Roma, it's going to be fun.
The expectations are the same as usual, meeting nice people, playing crazy basements gigs, eat a lot of donuts and veggie burgers, seeing new places, have fun with friends...that's what a tour it's about, you should not expect any different.
One thing we're really proud is that we'll be touring in an ecological van, a converted veggie oil engine that allows us to travel without polluting, saving money on gas and doing our part for the environment too! How punk is that? This company Green Van Rentals is providing the van and the trailer, Bane will rent us their backline for the tour, Kevin of The Hope Conspiracy will print our merch at Liberated...you see it's all hardcore people helping us, I like it.

GAN!: Future plans? Do they include play some gigs in Germany?

Mayo: We definitely have to come to Germany! We want to tour Europe so bad! We already toured USA and never toured Europe yet, it's ridiculous! We'll try to make it over Europe asap and Germany will see us for sure.

GAN!: Mayo, thank you so much for taking the time. Any closing words?

Mayo: Thank you for the space you gave us, I really hope La Crisi will play Germany soon, anyone that want to get in touch with us and help us out can do it writing at our myspace www.myspace.com/lacrisi or at info (at) lacrisi.com.

Check: myspace.com/lacrisi myspace.com/hurryuprecs

Posted by: marcs77

JET MARKET

02/01/2009 | Since day one the guys in JET MARKET kept working their asses off to make a name from themselves and bring their skate-hardcore-punk as well as their personal views on themes like animalism, society and religion to as many kids out there as possible. After 10 long years on road, a trek, that saw the band facing their fair share of line-up changes ( current line-up is comprised of Alex drums and vocals, Agostino on guitar, Giacomo bass and vocals and Rob guitar and back vocals ), playing countless shows ( both in Italy and outside Italian borders. The Romans toured Japan too ), releasing two full-lengths and an EP I can without any doubts state Jet Market, one of Roma’s longest running band, has definitely made a name for themselves, within a hardcore-punk scene that seems currently to keep drifting away from the believes it was founded on, and their new full-length “Perdition” is a further proof of their continuous grow as musicians and individuals ( and let me quote a motto I just read on Bane’s myspace “Clear eyes, full hearts can’t lose” ). Ok, no more blabbing, just read on what Alex and Giacomo had to say to GOT A NERVE! and if you haven’t taken your chance to check out “Perdition” and start supporting these nice dudes. Do it now! They totally deserve it.

GAN!: Let’s start with talking about line-up changes. Since my previous interview last year, you guys have changed another guitar player ( and the bass player, right? ). Is it so difficult to handle guitar duties in JET MARKET? How did these changes affected or enhanced your songwriting process/band’s chemistry?

Alex: We’re all trying to manage our life combined with our band duties, sometimes these two roads don’t collide. That’s why we had so many lineup changes so far. I think our songwriting lost and gained much at the same time, playing with different people keeps you in contact with many different ideas about music and writing songs. I think it’s a good way to evolve, or at least just focus on different points of view which is always useful.

GAN!: Your new album “Perdition” is finally out. How do you feel about the new album? How do you think your older fans will feel about it? …Or do you think ( hope ) it will attract a whole new crowd of kids?

Alex: We have spent a lot of time and energies on our new record and I think we’re all pretty satisfied with the final product. We like both the sound and the layout and we hope everyone who used to listen to us before will enjoy the album as much as we do. It sounds different to me, it’s more “hardcore” maybe but the melodic charge is always the same. It could actually attract a new audience but let’s see what really happens.

GAN!: What does the title “Perdition” mean to you?

Alex: It has a religious connotation. If you take a look at the cover artwork you’ll see a skeletal pope condemning us all to fiery perdition. There’s this sculpture in a squat in Rome made of iron scraps I always liked, so I thought it could be a good idea to take a picture of it and use it for the cover. Living in Rome we have to face a strong religious reality, that’s the reason why we often think and talk about it. The natural consequence of it is that you can find many references about religion in our lyrics and ideas in general.

GAN!: What was the mindset you guys had when hitting the studio? And What was everyone listening to during the writing for “Perdition”?

Alex: Personally I wanted the new record to sound more aggressive and raw and at last it came out we have more screaming and more blast beats. I think the line of action was pretty focused on making the record sound good and trying to find some original arrangements.

GAN! How did the song “The joy of cooking a fascist major” come about?

Alex: At the moment we have a mayor in Rome who is a member of the right party. When elected he decided to promote a program providing traffic cops with guns, which was something new since they couldn’t bring weapons with them before. That’s where the song came from basically.

GAN!: Your favourite track off “Perdition” to play live?

Alex: I like to play “The one you pet, the one you eat” because it’s 4th or 5th on the set list so I’m already warmed up when we play it hehehe… It’s one of my favourite songs of the album but I also like very much to play it in our shows.

Giacomo: My fave is totally the last song on the album, “Don’t call this democracy”. It’s got some pretty kick ass vocals and there’s lots of backups in the end. That song always gives me the goose-bumps to play.

GAN!: You guys toured Europe last April with Bedtime For Charlie, right? How did the tour go? What’s the best food you have the chance to taste while on the road?

Alex: Touring with our friends Bedtime is always amazing, it feels like partying all day everyday. All the guys who book the shows for us are always so kind and it usually happens that they host us at their homes. About the food, we once played an awesome show in Rivne, Ukraine, and the guy who booked the show has been so kind to host us at his place. His mom prepared the dinner for us, and the food was simply amazing....we ate till feeling dead. I don’t remember exactly what they cooked, I think it was an Ukranian recipe with rice and mushrooms. Just delicious hehehe…

Giacomo: I remember this incredible punk-house we played in while touring Germany a couple of years ago .The guys who held the place set up an incredible variety of delicacies, among which a super hot soup that set Alex’s mouth on fire!!!

GAN!: And what about the best/worst show you played?

Alex: We once played a show in UK in a town called Stoke-on-trent. I’ll just say there were 0 people at the club. We were sooo discouraged hehe...

Giacomo: And no food, no money. no nothing! We ended up eating beans in the hallway of he club. Definitely something I’ll never forget! Ahahah...

GAN!: I just read an interview with Roman Anti You (featured on 1st issue of Here and Now! zine) and talking about your local scene they were saying something like “there are lotta bands around but it’s rather hard talking about a scene”. What are your feelings about Roma and its scene? And what’s the good and suck part ( if any ) of that?

Alex: The melodic hardcore since is totally dead. Just us and a couple more bands. On the other hand it’s an extremely good period for emo/screamo bands or even pop punk. There’s a bunch of bands which play that kind of music and tons of kids going to their shows. This is Rome now, great if you like emo/screamo/pop punk but kinda tragic if you listen to skatepunk.

GAN!: What’s the best Italian hardcore-punk band around?

Alex: To Kill and Strenght Approach are with no doubt two great bands, we’re close friends with both of them. I like Coloss very very much too.

GAN! 2008 is coming to an end. In your view, what are some of the events that typified for the best/worst this year?

Alex: In the last year we toured eastern Europe for the first time. It has been so intense and will always be in our memories. I think that’s the best we had from 2008.

GAN! I saw you guys recorded a cover “Love Your Dog” from Roman Nap Kidnappers ( R.I.P. ). How did you come up with the idea to cover this song over other potentials tunes ( maybe more famous )?

Alex: Napkidnappers have always been my favourite band in Rome, we wanted to record that song because of several reasons: it’s a great song, we wanted to tribute one of the best bands Rome has ever had, we wanted to keep alive a part of that dead scene that was so good some years ago.

GAN!: Considering we just started out this new zine. What are your thoughts on zines like GOT A NERVE!?

Alex: I think zines like yours are vital for the underground survival. I can imagine you have to work your ass to carry on a zine like that with reviews and interviews, I appreciate it so much and every band should. Good job!

GAN!: I don’t remember whether I have asked this earlier. What do you guys do for a living?

Alex: I work in my own recording studio and deliver pizza to round out. Rob is working at a call center, Giacomo is working in a bar and Agostino is studying law at the university.

GAN!: What’s the one thing the epitomize each of you?

Alex: I’m the bald one, Rob is the fat one, Giacomo is the emohaircutted one, Ago is the curly-metal-head one. Easy to remember hehe…

Giacomo: I’m the cool one and the other guys are just my side-kicks ehehehe...

GAN!: You guys started out 10 years ago? Where did you see yourself in 2008 back then? And what you wish 2009 brings you?

Alex: One thing I remember clearly is that in the first few years we used to imagine us in the future as very good musicians...well we’re not, but I think we have hit that target we used to picture as “good”. The only thing we strongly want for the band is to tour and play live a lot so I hope to play many great shows in 2009.

GAN!: Thanks a lot for replying my questions. Any closing comments?

Alex: Thank you so much for the interview! And to all the kids out there....don’t let hate keep dividing us! ;-)

Check:
myspace.com/deathmarket myspace.com/nerdsoundrecords

Posted by: marcs77

HAVE HEART

01/28/2009 | Have Heart from Boston kicked some major ass by releasing their new record “Songs To Scream At The Sun” on Bridge Nine Records, followed by a huge tour around the world. I want to be honest, personally it took me a while to get used to the new songs, but after seeing the band on stage twice this year, I realised how good this record is. Got A Nerve met Pat from Have Heart at the show in Essen, Germany on December 19th 2008.

GAN: Hey! First of all, please tell us your name and what you do in the band!

Hey, my name is Pat and I sing for Have Heart!

GAN: Ok, in a few sentences, let us know more about the band history!

We started in summer 2002 with a demo, recorded our first 7 Inch in 2004 on Think Fast Records, and signed with Bridge Nine Records at the beginning of 2005. We then recorded our first record in 2006, called “The Things We Carry”. We started touring in 2003, usually at the weekends around the US. In 2005 we began to tour more, travelded the world, recorded our new record “Songs To Scream At The Sun”, and here we are!

GAN: That’s right, here you are! So how is your tour going so far?

The tour is going well, we are on the road since May – straight! Let’s see, I think this is the second European tour we are doing this year. But this one is different. You know, we played Grmany a lot, and we didn’t want to overstate our welcome in Germany. We wanted to play less german shows – we don’t want you to get sick of us or anything. So we wanted to see our friends in Spain and France, so packed all these places on the tour. We played a lot of shows in Germany in the summer, did some Summer Fests as well, so this time we played Finland, Russia on this tour and Greece as well. It has been awesome so far!

GAN: You were just talking about Skandinavia: I read that you guys had trouble touring Norway a couple of days ago. Tell us what exactly happened up there in the north!

Well, we played on Stockholm, Sweden. The night before, we played in Hamburg, Germany. From Hamburg to Stockholm, it’s an over-night-drive, like 15 hours. Well, that was a long drive. And from Stockholm to Stavanger, that’s from the westcoast to the eastcoast of Skandinavia. For my slim-minded american friends, who don’t understand that: This is like driving from the top of Vermont to Miami. Ok, the show got moved – actually, it was supposed to be some place else in Norway, then it got moved to Stavanger. Alright, this would have been at least an 17-hour-drive without stopping. So our drivers said: ”Listen, we can’t do this, we would be totally fucked.” Including food-, gas- and sleep-stops, it would have been at least an 23-hour drive. Ok, listen, this is interesting: The show in Stockholm got out at 12.30 am, so we would have arrived in Stavanger at 12 am the next night. That means, we would have left Stavanger at like 3.30 am in the morning, the next drive to Jonköping ( Sweden ) was also 17-hours, so we wouldn’t have got there until 3 am in the morning. So we would have left Jonköping at 6 am in the morning and had another drive to Essen, Germany – also 12 hours. So we would have got here somewhen tomorrow morning at like 10 am.

GAN: Ha ha ha, shit! Well, I am glad you made it here in time. Ok, you guys released a new record called “Songs To Scream At The Sun”. Please discribe it in a few words. Maybe for those, who haven’t heard it yet. Well, everybody should know it by now. Ok, anyways, your turn.

Well, I like it, I like playing the songs every night. I mean, I didn’t intend having everybody who liked our first record to like this record. That’s ok, we don’t write the songs for everybody, we do it for ourselves, and we are not everybody. If you you don’t like it, it’s ok. If you like, it’s even better.

GAN: When you uploaded the first two songs of the new record, my first thought was: Hey, these songs are way slower than the matrial on “The Things We Carry”. I know that the guys from Verse are good friends of yours, and they also have a bunch of these slow, but very aggressive songs on their records. Was it your intention to slow down or did it just come up in the rehersal room?

I went through this in my head a few times. First song ( The same son ) is a mid-pace song, kind of slow, yeah. Second song ( Bostons ), there is a faster song. Track three ( Paved paradise ) is a mid-pace song, but kind of a fast mid-pace song, so that makes 1 ½ fast songs. Track number four ( On that bird in the cage ) is a fast song, that’s 2 ½ fast songs right there. The next one is a slow song (Brotherly love), probably on of the slowest songs we have ever written. “No roses, no skies” is kind of a fast song, so we got already 3 fast songs. Well, the next songs, it goes on just like that. So yeah, there are a bunch of more slower parts on it. Well, on “The Things We Carry”: First song is fast, second song is fast, “Armed with a mind” is a slow song, “About face” is a fast song, “Unbreakable” is a fast song, “Old man II” is a slower song. So, on “The Things We Carry” we only had like two slow songs, on the new record we have like three faster songs. It’s a balance, I think it was very natural to us to go like “Hey, let’s slow it down a little bit, that’s what we need to do”. We wanted to balance it a little bit. We tour so much. We don’t want to write beautiful music, we want to play it live. Hardcore music is a live-experience.

GAN: Sounds like I am not the first person asking you this question!

No, no, no, I just had it in my head a few times.

GAN: Ok!

But yeah, I mean, we tour so much, and we want to have a variaty. It’s never been about making the crowd happy, we write for ourselves. When the crowd connects to it, that’s the best possible way. I mean, yeah, it is one of our interests to make the crowd happy, but it is not the major aspect. At the end of the day, we write for ourselves, and we try to balance it out with fast songs, slower songs – playing the set is a lot of fun.

GAN: What I thought, when I heard your new songs, was, that they will turn out very intense when you play them live. I mean on a show, sometimes slower songs are way more intense than faster songs.

Yeah, yeah.

GAN: You kind of have more stagedives, more singalongs, more jumps in front of the mikrofone. You guys played in Gießen, Germany, in August...

...where is Gießen?

GAN: Close to Frankfurt, like 60 miles north of Frankfurt. Old building, old wooden stage, the shows are on the second floor...

...and really, really dark room, right?

GAN: Yeah, right, it was an awesome show.

Yeah, that was a really good show. Well, how we pick songs also depends on how the venue is. If the venue feels in the mood of certain songs, then we play them.

GAN: So that means, that you guys write a new setlist every night after checking out the venue? But you still have these must-songs, which you play every time?

If there is a song, we don’t want to play, then we don’t play it.

GAN: Yeah, but you know what I mean: Like kids say “Ok, if we go to see Have Heart, they have to play bla bla bla, or song bla bla bla”...

Yeah I know, but if we don’t want to play it, then we don’t play it. Well, of course we usually play them anyway, because we want to. “Watch me rise” is a song for example, which we dont’s play as often as we used to – we used to play it all the time. It is a very personal song, and I kind of want to keep it special.

GAN: I mean, that speaks for the development of a band and kind of proves, that the band is moving on. You know, not doing the same stuff over and over again every night.

Some kids get pissed about that. But I can’t, you know, we just can’t please everybody!

GAN: Do you hava a favorite song on the new record?

Yeah, I think “Brotherly love” is my favorite song (...). You know, I am a huge fan of Rage Against The Machine...

GAN: Oh yeah, I saw you dancing in front of the merch-table when there was R.A.T.M. was playing in the background. A couple of minutes ago, ha ha ha!

Yeah, ha ha. I always wanted to really write a song that’s really slow, like quiet first but then a loud chorus. You know, that’s the formula of most R.A.T.M.-songs. And that was like my chance to write a song like a R.A.T.M.-song. Our drummer likes that song a lot as well, you know, he really likes Abe Cunningham, who is the drummer of the Deftones. And he plays really similar to his style in this song, it is not like ripping off or anything, it is just like mixing his style with someone elses style. Everybody had like a really important part in the writing-process of that song. There are a lot of reasons why I like that song, but yeah, I think that’s my favorite song on the record.

GAN: Looking back the past couple of years, it is amazaing to see, how far you guys got with the band and what you have achieved. I rememeber you guys playing in Eisenach a couple of years ago, the club was called Sound & Culture I guess...

...oh, you mean the show with Nothing Gold Can Stay?

GAN: Yeah!

You were there? Shit! That’s a while ago.

GAN: From that day back then to now, Have Heart became bigger and bigger. What comes to your mind, when look back at these past 3-4 years?

It’s cool! It was very exciting, everything was totally new, we were all very young. Totally crazy time for all in our lifes. Some of us were still in College, so we finished College, got to travel the world. We worked really hard for that, and yeah, it’s cool. You know, we come to a different time with Have Heart now, we situated our spot and feel confortable. We are not new. We kind of proved ourselves, so we are done having to prove ourselves. We are done having to prove ourselves as a new band, now we have to prove ourselves as a regular band. You know what I mean, that’s like harder then having all the hype. It’s been great...oh, I have so many grey hair...

GAN: ...ha ha ha! Touring makes you older!

I think the test comes with the second LP! We could have been save, because already knew a couple of things that work out. Loud backing-vocals work really good with the crowd, certain kind of lyrics work with the crowd – like things everyone can relate to. We knew, like positive songs everyone would sing along, simply played singalongs get people going. But we wanted to prove ourselves as a band, and I think we did a very good job on that. We were not really interested in just being THE new band. I know that this pissed off so many people, fans of ours. We started as a youth-crew-band, but “The Things We Carry” was not a straight up youth-crew-record, so a lot of people were like “What the fuck, this does not sound like Wide Awake or fucking Ten Yard Fight”. Well, we never said we wanted to fucking sound like them, we wanted to sound like a fucking hardcore-band. I mean, I love youth-crew-hardcore, some of my favorite bands play youth-crew. So well, all the youth-crew kids who actually liked us, stopped listen to us. And with the new record, we kind of wanted to balance it out. You know, fast songs, slower songs. So we wrote some slower songs and people were like “Oh, that’s fucking boring, why don’t they write action-pack-stuff”. Well, it is action-pack, you are just not looking at it the way we see it. (...) I mean, it’s not that we don’t play older songs anymore – we still love playing these older songs. I have been incredably happy with how everything went, and the last US-tour was the best US-tour we have ever done – reaction-wise. Every night. Ok, we toured with two amazing bands, Blacklisted and Ceremony, but every band got great reactions. We were very surprised, I mean a lot of kids could have said or wanted to say “Fuck it”. But no, they stuck around, and that’s great . In Europe it has been excellent too, kids got into the new songs, and we are all very happy with that.

GAN: That’s good to hear. What can we expect of Have Heart in 2009?

2009? Touring, from May to September. Everywhere. Alos places like Africa, China, Thailand. We have a lot of peole who want us to come there. We still have a couple of songs left from the new record, so we will put them out as a single – and we might write a new song for the single, which will be like the weirdest song we have ever wrote. That’s 2009 for us pretty much.

GAN: So you guys will stick with Bridge Nine Records in the future?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. We will never leave them. We are a fucking hardcore-band. Whar are we supposed to to? Get on a major, try to connect with hardcore-kids. Bridge Nine is like the top lable, they have like the best distribution. They ship like to so many parts of the world. We are very happy with the way they treated us. Bridge Nine for us is our nirvana.

GAN: I am glad to hear that!

Yeah, we are a hardcore-band, a lot of people should remember that. I mean, we had a lot of success, our shows got bigger. It’s like when the shows get bigger, they think like “Oh, they are selling out”. No fucking way, we don’t care. (...) We are a hardcore-band, we would still be playing in front of 50 kids.

GAN: And that’s the way it should be, playing the small venues...

...yeah, yeah! It’s cool! My two favorite shows on this tour: Jonköping in Sweden – a great venue, there were only 110 kids there. And there was the show in Toulouse in France, it was so great. All small-venue-shows are always one of the best shows ever.

GAN: Ok, thank you very much for the interview!

Posted by: marcs77

WHILE YOU WAIT

11/29/2008 | When it comes to start a new band lotta things roll in process but there’s one thing that cannot be missed at all. Which one? Well, I imagine it’s not that hard to guess, is it? The passion for music (whatever genre you’re gonna play that’s the condicio sine qua non. Period).
The dudes in WHILE YOU WAIT, who hail from centre Italy (Pratola Peligna, Molina Aterno, Sulmona and Roma for those of you who know the area), have plenty of that and their debut MCD “A Life For A Life” (out now on Indelirium records) and their commitment to hardcore music is a dazzling proof of this all.
After reviewing their album I thought it was the best time to catch up with them and ask a few questions about “A Life For A Life”, their local scene, Indelirium records (Emiliano –guitar- happen to be the “boss” at the label as well) and more. Read on the interview and support these guys!

GAN!: So how did you guys get together as a band, and what were some of the goals you set for the band in the first place?

WYW: The interest in hardcore as a concept brought us together, so we decided to set up a band with this kind of sound, a band made by friends with the same passion. Then the goals are just having fun, making music and sharing it.

GAN!: How would you describe your sound to the uninitiated, and who would you list as influences (music-wise and whatever)?

WYW: Screaming voice, hard and fast melodic sound, but with a touch of rock ;-) some bands we should mention are Turning Point, Another Breath, Samiam, Grade, Give Up The Ghost.

GAN!: And what about the one album, which perhaps, nobody would expect you to come up with as influence to your band?

WYW: Husker Du and, we know it could sound strange, Anathema :-)

GAN!: How long have you been working on the songs of “A Life For A Life”?

WYW: After a long arrangement phase and another one of cut and paste, each one of us put his fingerprint in rendering the songs…after almost one year our tracks finally saw the light.

GAN!: Are you pleased with how the record came out, and how fulfilling is it to you to have a record out?

WYW: We really can’t complain for the quality of the sound and we must thank our drummer Alex (who looked after the drums takes, and our good friend Davide Acme who produced the record). Then we entrusted mastering to Dave Locke from JPmasters who worked with great bands like Have Heart, Guns up! and many others…this should answer your question…

GAN!: What feedbacks have you got thus far on the record? Do you guys care about reviews or you just go your way anyway?

WYW: Well, until now we had great reviews (beyond expectation) and we’re proud for that, but we think we will go ahead on our own way whatever the reviews say.

GAN!: What inspired you, lyrically, on this album?

WYW: Just looking the world around us inspires us…lyrics are very explicit and the leitmotif is our imaginary crow telling real stories about drugs, ambient, culture and social troubles.

GAN! Where does the title, “A Life For A Life”, originate from?

WYW: It comes from a wish to replace our life with some other better life made of our efforts.

GAN!: Emiliano, I know you run Indelirium records. What made you decide that running a label was something you wanted to
do?

WYW: The answer can’t be more simple: it’s just passion for music (…and for debts!!! :-P)

GAN!: What was Indelirium’s first release, and what do you remember about the process that first time?

WYW: The first release was an experiment…it was a punk/hardcore compilation called “Brainhard:Heartpunk” and it was really amazing having contacts with all the bands.

GAN!: As far as new releases go, what’s up next at Indelirium camp?

WYW: I can proudly announce the next full length by Stop Talking :-)

GAN!: What would you say are some of the best aspect of running your own label? And what is the hardest part of the business?

WYW: Without any doubt best things are friendship with bands and the satisfaction of being there when a band is born and seeing it grow in the international scene. On the other side, the dark side, of course, is to sell records… :-)

GAN!: I know you also do artworks and layouts for your band and other bands as well. In your view, what’s the best HC-punk artwork ever, and who are the most influential artists around?

WYW: It’s really hard to choose one, but I love Hot Water Music artworks.

GAN!: You guys hail from centre of Italy, what’s the scene there like? What are the bands that give hope to your local scene and more generally to Italian hardcore-punk?

WYW: We’re proud to have a great band like When Mind Reflects, undervalued but the best band ever!! At present there are really valuable bands like Straight Opposition, Rise From The Agony and Startoday and we believe we will hear great things from them soon.

GAN!: What about your hobbies and off stage fun?

WYW: Unfortunately we don’t have so much time to enjoy our free time…someone likes snowboarding, someone likes mucking around, but in the end our best hobby is music!

GAN!: As far as touring/playing shows goes, do you guys have any plans to hit Germany anytime soon?

WYW: We know that hardcore scene in Germany is the best in Europe, so we’d really like to have the chance to play there, we’re thinking about arranging something.

GAN!: Mosh, circle pits, pointing fingers, two-stepping and singalongs, what makes a hardcore show such a unique event?

WYW: No huge stages and feeling the warmth and fervour of people close to each other.

GAN!: The best hardcore-punk album come out in 2008? Why?

WYW: hmm, another hard question…we have a bit different musical tastes, someone would reply Have Heart, someone No Turning Back…

GAN!: What do you see in the band’s future?

WYW: 3 new tracks on 7” (we hope really soon)

GAN!: We are in closing, anything else you want to add?

WYW: First of all, thanks you so much Marcs77 for supporting our band and doing this sweet interview and we would just like to thank all our friends for giving us help playing around Italy: Francesco (Startoday), Francesco (Rise From The Agony), Alessio (Oltrezona), Ivano (ex Straight Opposition).

Check: myspace.com/whileyouwaitmusic myspace.com/indelirium 

Posted by: marcs77

F.U.G.

10/25/2008 | F.U.G. aren’t exactly the kind of dudes you would let your sister hang out with. Why? Well, read on and make up your own mind. These bunch of individuals, hailing outta Palermo-Italy, are working their asses off to keep the flag of 80’s old-school-no-frills hardcore-punk high and just released a new 7” vinyl aptly titled ‘Sumus Animalia’ (over 9 long tumultuous years since band’s inception the chaps also released the 7” ‘I wanna Eat Meat’ in 2000 and a full-length ‘Can I Have Your Skull?’ in 2004) in a 100% D.I.Y. fashion. Obviously, we talked about the new record and some other stuff. In Palermo the hardcore-punk seems to be doing well these days (have a listen to ‘I don’t wanna hear it’ compilation for an exhaustive insight of all is Palermo-core), and how could be any different with bands like F.U.G. that discharge a shitload of energy, constructive anger and an healthy smattering of caustic humour among their local scene?

GAN!: I’ll let you introduce yourselves.

FUG: «We’re F.U.G. / Do you know what it means? / Forty Upon Giacomazzi!».
We’ve been an old school ‘80s hardcore band since 1999. We were born as trio with Giugi on bass and vocals, Ecumenicus on guitar and Giacomazzi on drums. Later we added Bizio as singer, but he left the band after the recording of our last production ‘Sumus Animalia’.

GAN!: Right off, F.U.G. (Forty Upon Giacomazzi) isn’t exactly the most common run of the mill band name. Explain how you come up with it. And why the song F.U.G. is featured in all your records?

FUG: «Forty Upon Giacomazzi» was a joke during school time, it was invented by our friend Salvo Leo. At our first gig time we had not a name yet, so we used that because it was stupid enough in the perspective of what we would become.
GZ: I’m some kind of scapegoat.
GIUGI: And the song F.U.G. is featured in all our records because we are so self-celebrating.

GAN!: Are you a serious band or kinda joke carry out by a bunch of demented dudes?

FUG: The second one, but we have an unintentional tendency to commitment.
GIUGI: However, as an enemy of ours uses to say, «hardcore is commitment».

GAN!: You guys just released a new 7” ‘Sumus Animalia’. How that come about? Are you satisfied with the shit you recorded?

EQ: How that come about? Read the title and give yourself the answer!
GIUGI: Yes, it smells fine!
GZ: We were envious because the other bands in our town were recording a lot of new stuff, so we kidnapped our friend and sound engineer Mr.Spadino (from Tone Deaf) and forced him to record our newest songs.
FUG: We are very happy and we’re proud because we organized everything by ourselves (from recording plan to cover layout) and quickly found a bunch of Italian and foreign labels as our production-mates! We like this record a lot, it sounds good and it’s going well as all the copies are selling out.

GAN!: I know during last spring you guys hit the Italian roads with the “Extreme South Terror” tour. How did that go? Did you make new friends/enemies? How was crowd reaction to F.U.G. shows?

EQ: I remember a few people, and those few all became our enemies.
GZ: We made a lot of enemies and we lost tons of dignity (e.g. in Turin because of some technical problems we played some kind of cabaret show instead of a hardcore show), so everyone laughed at us.
GIUGI: I can’t remember any tour…

GAN!: What’s Palermo Hardcore all about? It seems like your local scene is very lively with plenty of solid bands there. Am I right or is it just appearance?

FUG: Local scene is very lively, more and more people are involving in hardcore punk and d.i.y., and new bands are raising. But there are less and less places to play in, soon they’ll ask money to let us play!

GAN!: Tell me about the one thing you’re most proud of?

EQ/GZ: We’re still playing after ten years!
GIUGI: We saw dying a lot of bands who were born before us… and also after us!

GAN!: Sometime reading your lyrics and song’s titles it sounds like you guys take the piss off kids who leave some hardcore values like dogmas. What’s your take on being edge? Any of you guys is edge/veg(etari)an or ever tried to be?

GIUGI: I’m external supporter for vegetarianism
EQ: I heard about edge and vegetarian but I never understood what these are…
GZ: I’d better try to be an AA before.

GAN!: What being in a band or just being involved in the hardcore punk scene means to you?

GIUGI: I think it could be very interesting to be involved in the hardcore porn scene or play in a gang bang, but I’ve never had a career opportunity in this field.

GAN!: How did “I don’t wanna hear” compilation go? Did you get some positive feed-backs on that project? And do you think it helped to spread the word about your local scene?

Yes yes yes! A lot of people say “WOW, what a great scene you have in Palermo!”.
After that it happened that most of the involved bands split or changed line-up (we lost our singer too), but now there are some new bands and sooner or later another compilation will be made!
GIUGI: and thanks to this compilation the cover boy TotoThrash now has a band of his own (Elopram) and a lot of chicks!

GAN!: I never asked this before. If you had to describe the hardcore ‘made in Italy’ with one word, what word would you use and why?

GIUGI: “old”, because all the new hardcore-punk bands really suck (and we too)!

GAN!: Three bands you grew up with? And a new band everyone should check out?

FUG: 7 Seconds, Queers, Minor Threat. The new band could be the Brutal Knights from Canada.

GAN!: What future holds for F.U.G.? Fame, girls, money…

GIUGI: My porter said I could be famous if I took part in a contest on MTV…
GZ: Decline, poverty, oblivion.

GAN!: Ok that’s really about it, I hope I didn’t bore you with my questions. Any last words, shout outs or whatever?

GIUGI: Let me know with one word the reason to interview an obscure hardcore band called F.U.G.!!!
EQ: Which German network will broadcast this interview?
GZ: Someone should pull the chain.

Check: myspace.com/fughc rottenorangezest.com/idwhi_07.html

Posted by: marcs77

STRENGTH APPROACH / TO KILL

09/13/2008 | The Hardcore side of Roma.

Hey guys we’re so proud to offer you this lengthy split interview featuring two bands who has began to make their own legacy, making themselves a rising cornerstone of Roma Hardcore (SA over a 12 years career and TO KILL in 4 short years). Besides being the flag-bearers of Roma Hardcore all around Europe and the world whole, STRENGTH APPROACH and TO KILL are the living proof that Italian Hardcore has still much to say and breathes of youthful energy and positive anger. With a new intelligent, heart-felt and dynamic album under their belts these Romans are gonna set the scene on fire and cause fury with their passionate and highly energetic live shows. Who knows these bands will be happy to read all about their new records, future plans, personal view about hardcore, being active, Roma Hardcore scene, and much more. And those among you who haven’t got the chance to check them out yet, well this interview is a good way to start getting to know them better. So, read on.

GAN!: Hey guys this is Marcs77 from GOT A NERVE!. How’s life treating each of you?

SA: Hey there! This is Alex from Strength Approach...I’m doing pretty well lately and life seems to be on its summer vacation and definitely treating us well after all. We just need more time to relax but that’s fine!

TK: Hey hey. Life? Well right now it sucks since summer is about to finish and real life is knocking on the door again after some holydays, but well we also have a tour coming up and some juicy news for the upcoming future so bandwise life is pretty cool.

GAN!: Summer and big festivals time is almost over, are plans for this fall and 2009 starting to take shape? What you guys have going on as far as touring, writing, shooting new videos or whatever?

SA: We went through a really busy summer right after the release of our new album on GSR. We toured on our own first and then we toured with H2O in July...it was amazing and beside this we played some festivals here and there and shot our first official video for the song “All the plans we made are going to fail” and it was such a great experience for us. Right now we are planning more tours for the next year in order to promote our new release more and more but we’ll keep you up to date as well!

TK: Yeah we already have some plans for the upcoming future and we are starting to see the shadows of the things we want to do in 2009. So far what we can announce is that in October we will be on tour for a month with RECON (Rise - USA) and LIFERUINER (Uprising - Canada) all around Europe. Then we are also going to put the To Kill flag on a new country, we are playing a show in Greece finally this winter. We are also thinking about making a video for a song of the new album...we will see how it’s going to end. About the more distant future for sure more touring. We would like to leave and see the rest of the world....who knows what will happen.

GAN!: Let’s talk about your new albums, which are definitely solid shit!. How would you say that new record differs from your previous outings? Is it better or just different? What were your intentions in writing the material for the new album?

SA: I think the new album is definitely the best shit we released so far...in my opinion it’s just more complete and gives a good picture of what Strength Approach are all about. We wrote the new songs pretty fast and everything seemed to go smoother than expected so this is the result and its doing really well.

TK: Thanx a lot. We are still so excited about “When Blood Turns Into Stone”. We were talking today at practice how we love it and we still listen to it pretty often. Yeah I guess is different from the stuff before but is still in line 100% with the band style. An evolution is necessary in a band or everything would sound the same. New album...I think everyone has something in his mind but we are still in the W:B:T:I:S: fever.

GAN!: What’s the overall reception been for the album?

SA: As I said we are having really good responses especially after our tour with H2O and that’s amazing because people are digging the new shit hard.

TK: Seems like amazing to us. The review we have found around are all amazing and the people we meet around seems to be really excited about it. Definitely we cant complain about the reaction of the people.

GAN!: How’s all going with GSR music. Do you feel like the guys support your band at it’s best?

SA: It was definitely the next step for us and we are pleased to work with such a label. We’ll start writing some new shit really soon because we have tons of ideas even if it’s early to say that and once again GSR will be our partner in crime for that.

TK: GSR is an amazing label and everyone really give their blood to support us as much as they can. We feel like they really like us and they are always on our back.

GAN!: HARDCORE. What’s your view about this music/scene and why is it worth spending your life playing it or just being involved with it?

SA: We have been doing this for so long that I could not imagine any of us doing any other thing apart from living this way. You know its more than music and sometimes it’s hard to explain what it really means to us...

TK: I was thinking about this lately and how I’m so in love with the HARDCORE scene. Inside there you can find so many amazing people and I guess that’s already a reason to be part of it.

GAN!: Chinese’s Olympic games ended up at the time I’m writing down this interview. Before and over this period there’s been lotta blabbing about human rights. What’s your personal take on this so fundamental issue?

SA: I don’t give a shit about that. I think something’s gone really wrong and things are running out of hands and this is just the surface. When a lot of money are involved no matter how many people die or so...

TK: Human rights is an important issue for To Kill. It’s really important that everyone rights have to be defended and what happens in Tibet is just unbelievable. But the human rights issue goes far behind Tibet and all the other people that are oppressed from governments. The big problem here is the human mentality of always wanting to exploit or taking over everyone else. There are people who’s rights are being taking over also in so called free countries. The real revolution has to happens in the people brains where everyone has to understand that everyone has the same rights to live free and so on.

GAN!: The best show you played lately, please mention the venue and why. Are there any new tour related stories you wanna share with our readers?

SA: We had a great show at the Fluff fest this year as well as a show we played in Bratislava during our tour with H2O...being on tour means a lot of crazy stories and memories not easy to share but I assure you that sometimes it’s crazier than expected.

TK: We played a festival in Germany called Sucksnsummer and it was really a lot of fun. It was in Lisnig.

GAN!: A new band you happen to share the stage with and suggest us checking out.

SA: I’d rather share the stage with a friend band which is not so new to all of you and its GOLD KIDS...really heavy shit worth checking out. I really wish to make a tour work out really soon because they rock!

TK: There is a really cool band from central Italy that is called Locked In. They are really nice and they are starting to play now but live they are already amazing. So check them out.

GAN!: You guys hail from Roma. What’s going on over there. How’s your local scene like these days? One thing that helps distinguishing a Roman band from any bands coming from other Italian’s areas.

SA: I think that the hardcore scene in Rome is simply the best...ahahha...no seriously I think that there are a lot of hard working bands that keep the standards high and spread the name around!

TK: The scene as every year was in a hiatus for the summer, but Rome is always alive. Roman bands toured a lot during summer (you probably cached strength approach on tour with H2O this summer just to mention one). Rome is full of valid bands even if lately there is some wind of change, a lot of old bands are playing less or are breaking out but at the same time a lot of new bands are growing. The alternative music scene is pretty big now in Rome. It’s kinda hard to talk about the HC scene since no so many people mark themselves as HC but the meaning is pretty different from some years ago. I think it’s hard to define a sound of Rome. There are so many bands for every type of music and in any of those thee are some really valid ones.

GAN!: Getting involved and being active. Words I hear many time. I know it’s a thing anyone can approach in a personal and different way. But how can a young kid get more involved and really active to support causes as human/animal rights, environment or whatever may make a change for the good in our today world?

SA: It’s up to any of us and everyone should try his best in order to live it in a better way. Don’t waste your time complaining about this and that or pointing your finger because this doesn’t work at all. Get a real life and don’t stop trying!

TK: Well taking a choice for yourself is already a way of getting involved in things. Is a good first step at least. Then there are so many way someone can get involved. Taking part to a collective or a group or an organization is a good way for example. Of course when I think of the word active half of my brain run straight to more radical way, taking part of demonstrations or doing think no matter what the cost is for example. But sometime people get scared when they heard the word active cause they think the illegal way is the only way to get active but actually seriously everything you do to try to spread your ideas is getting active.

GAN!: Do you guys have any side-project going right now?

SA: Not really. I got plans to start a side project called Far From Glory with members of Gold Kids and so on but I’ll be able to tell you more soon.

TK: not really. we have the wishes to make some sometime but then To Kill are pretty overwhelming so they don’t really take place that much. I guess everyone has at least one though. Tommi has the one that is more concrete, is a band called Courtain together with our merch guy and friend Mauro. Is an emotional and intense HC pretty similar to Verse if you want. Then I'm starting now a new band with a couple of friends and I know that Jai, Camilla and Ugo are also working on something. But as said To Kill leave not so much space to anything else.

GAN!: Thanks a lot guys. Any final thoughts?

SA: Thanx a lot for your time. It’s always a pleasure to introduce the readers to the band and I wish to see you at one of our shows. Take care. XXX

TK: please think about what the consequences of what you do are. Thanx a lot to you guys and see you soon somewhere.

Check: myspace.com/strengthapproach myspace.com/tokill myspace.com/gsrmusic

Posted by: marcs77

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR

07/10/2008 | Stephan/NCC: Hey, welcome back to Germany. Alright, first of all, pleace introduce yourself and tell us what you are doing in the band!

Hey, I am Frankie from Death Before Dishonor, I play guitar.

Stephan/NCC: Ok, just in a few short sentences, tell us something about the band-history!

The band history? Straight up hardcore-band, I am doing this for 7-8 years now with this band. We had a few lineup-changes, but now we are better than ever. Keep going strong, you know!

Stephan/NCC: This is a big tour, big bands are on it. What do you expect of this tour?

I expect a great time, all round. We were out with Ignite on the last year Persistance Tour and this time was just unbelievable. Probably the best time we ever had, and I except that a contiuation of that, you know. We will hit a lot of new spots and new countries we have never been to, and that’s pretty cool for us. Good old Germany, you know, always great. Yeah, it will be great.

Stephan/NCC: I read today on your Myspace-page, that you guys will tour in Europe a lot this year. Why is that?

After we are done with this tour, we are going home for like only three weeks and then already come back for the festivals. We are very psyched about that, we have never done any of the big festivals, just keep hearing how great they are. The biggest show we have ever played was on the Persistance Tour in Germany in front of like 4500 people, and that was the biggest rush of my life. And now we are talking about playing in front of 20000 people, this is crazy, just unreal.

Stephan/NCC: You guys have been over here now for a couple of times, played a lot of places. Are there any cities or clubs, which are stucked in your memory, which were extremely crazy?

Well, Berlin, we have a lot of friends in Berlin, this one kind of stands out. The Kuckucksnest! What town is that in?

Stephan/NCC: Berchtesgarden!

Yeah, Berchtesgarden man. It was this tiny little place, and there were so many people in there. People were just crawling on top of eachother. That defenitly stood out as one of the best shows we have ever played. But all around out here, especially in Germany. It is just pretty awesome, you know, like everywhere.

Stephan/NCC: You guys travelled the world with Death Before Dishonor, played a lot of places, a lot of countries. Does the european scene, especially the german scene differ from other Hardcore-scenes in the world somehow?

I think so, yes, I mean, every scene differs from eachother a little bit. You got all these different cultures. I noticed that there is a lot more appreciation for the music in Germany and Europe. I mean, I love America and the scene and all the kids there. But you have a lot of spoiled kids, you know, they have all these great bands around all the time. It is really cool that people really appreciate it that much, and I really feel that the people here understand how hard we work to get here to do this every night and how much this means to us. It defenitly stands out. Not just the size of the groud – there are bigger crowds here – but the enegry of the crowd and how much fun everybody is having. And we alway notice: Way less fights over here, and that is awesome. I think that goes along just appreciating what’s going on, no one is here to be an asshole, most of the people are here to have fun. And that really stands out.

Stephan/NCC: Yeah, there was a lot of talking about violence on shows, fights and all that shit. There were tons of discussions about the Boston Beatdown DVDs which came out a while ago. What’s your point of view on that?

Ha ha ha. I wasn’t always an angel, and still I am not an angel. I mean, you will always have people from different walks of life, and especially a scene like the hardcore scene, you have angry music and angry people there. And so you always will have angry people from different places in the same room, and there will be problems, you know. I think it sucks when problems happen at shows, you don’t wanna ruin the show, and that shit shouldn’t be brought in to the show. You should release your anger positivly. I mean, I was a pissed off kid, and if I wanted to be an asshole and lose my mind, I would go out on the street and wouldn’t bring it in to a show. And that’s the point where we try to get across. Like I said, we are not angels by any means, but the shows are supposed to be haven for us. And especially the younger kids coming up – I hear that they are scarred to come to the shows where we live because of the bad reputation. The shows should be fun, that’s where you can feel save – that’s how we want it to be now. The Boston Beatdown DVD didn’t do a good job on showing that side of it, but that’s how we look on it. We really wanna welcome people in and make sure that there isn’t any dumb shit at the shows and that people can have fun. Like I said, it is angry music and angry people and some shit is just down to happen. Me, like my problems have always beeen outside the scene, where I had like my violence experiences. Not dumb shit at shows, except throwing somebody out because he was trying to be an asshole. I just wanna make that defenitly clear, we don’t go to shows in Boston to beat people up. We might react a little crazy, but we don’t go there to specificly attack somebody.

Stephan/NCC: So do you have any favorite European Hardcore bands, I see you are wearing a No Turning Back Shirt right now!

Hell yeah, No Turning Back is excellent. Black Friday ’29, we love them. They are great. I hope we get to see these guys on this tour, they will be out there somewhere. Settle The Score, they played some of the Persictence Tour Dates, and I guess we have played with them in the past too. They are great, like Cold As Life style. You know, it is great to hear that, pure hardcore, straight up, not trying to do – you know, it is all hardcore to me. I don’t like pay attention to Tough Guy, Posi or anything like that. I am just a hardcore kid. There shouldn’t be a line between all these different kinds of hardcore.

Stephan/NCC: Alright, let’s talk about your music. Discribe your latest output “Count me in”!

“Count me in” is by far the best thing that we have put out. Before we started writing the songs, we were talking about stepping it up. It was the longest amount of time we had working on an album, it was the longest amount of time we were able working in the studio, and I really feel like the songs show how we developed as a band. It feels like we finally found the sound, we have been circeling around. You know, the sound that we love, especially me and Brian, the two original members. This is the thing we were going for. It was a good satisfaction for us, you know, but next time, we have to do it again. Step up even more on the next record. But I am really happy with the songs.

Stephan/NCC: Are there already any plans for a new record?

We started writing a little, kicking around ideas all the time. We have a new drummer now, he is awesome, and I think that he will bring a new element – you know, not like we would change – but of all, you know. Do what we do even better now. We are not looking to turn any corners or anything, we are a straight up hardcore band and we keep doing it better and better as good as we can.

Stephan/NCC: How do you think differs “Count me in” from the EPs you guys released earlier?

To “Friends, family, forever”: As a musician, I feel like I am more able to play what I hear in my head or what I feel like I wanna hear. So I think it represents that more. Before that, you were trying to hit the note, try this, try that. But know, we have been playing so much for so long and been touring, so it is just there. It is more from the heart. It is more energy, and over all, the songs make more sence to me.

Stephan/NCC: It took you guys a long time to finally release your first full length record. Was it a conscious decision or didnt’t you guys just don’t have the time?

It wasn’t really intentional, we were stretching it forever. We had luck to play the Agnostic Front Tour out here three years ago and since then we never stopped touring, you know. We love touring, we love playing, so it was like a dream come true. And so we kept touring and touring and the next thing we noticed was like “Holy shit, we haven released anything in a long time!”. So we took a couple of months of and did it.

Stephan/NCC: I read that Chris frome Bridge 9 Records signed you guys, eventhough some people told him not to do so. I think, that you guys repayed hime for the faith he put in your band. Will you stick with Bridge 9 for the next record?

I t is up in the air, we haven’t decided what we will do. Chris has been awesome, we really love these guys, Chris and Carl. We haven’t really had the chance to talk about this as a band, so I don’t really wanna say one way or another. We are very happy with Bridge 9, they are awesome, and what they have done for us is just great.

Stephan/NCC: So what happened? Why did people advice them not to sign you guys?

I think, there were a number of things, but most of it, it was the reputation around things – Boston Beatdown and stuff. Us and our friends had a reputation over the years, but like I said, things happen at shows, especially back in the days, when way more different people were at the shows. Bu the bad shit I pull on people is not at shows or on hardcore kids, it is on scumbacks, you know. Like some asshole who trys to bully the younger kids at shows – that’s when you will see me losing my grip on things. But still, when people see violence, the reputation will grow and grow. Plus once things happen, the guy who sees it will tell his friend, and he will tell some other friend, you know. So over the years, we didn’t have a good reputation, like we are not good to work with. I mean, that Chris was giving us this chance, was big of him, but I also think, that we deserved this chance. And we showed him, that he made the right choice.

Stephan/NCC: Let’s talk about Boston! It looks like Boston Hardcore is having a revival. It was quiet for a while, now tons of cool bands from the Boston area are touring worldwide. How did it come?

In Boston and all around Massachusetts, there are a few different little scenes, like Brockton, Boston, Western Mass, and scenes are coming and going in cicles. But this is defintily the time, you know, kids are growing up on great music there, and they really decide to get their shit together and get out there and tour. It is just happening. I think we were lucky enough that the older dudes had great bands and showed us the way. People are learing their lesson, and I hope it keeps going this way. I think it can keep going and going.

Stephan/NCC: Alright, let’s take you guys, Have Heart, Black My Heart, and On Broken Wings for example. Four different sounds. Is there anything where you would say: Ok, this is Boston Hardcore?

I would say it all is!

Stephan/NCC: I mean, you know, some cities have...

...you mean soundwise, the sound of Boston?

Stephan/NCC: Yeah!

I mean, if it is a hardcore band from Boston, and they are real dudes who come to shows, and mean what they sing – doesn’t matter what they sing, as long as they mean it – I concider them as a Boston Hardcore band. I think, Boston always had like a street-punk-influence mixed in, more than a lot of other scenes. That flavour was always there, we listened to Blood For Blood a lot, we cooperated a little. If there is a Boston-sound, then I would say it has that harder sound with that little bit old street-punk in there. But if it is real hardcore and from Boston, I concider it as Boston Hardcore. I am proud of all of these guys who go out there and do there thing.

Stephan/NCC: Are there any new bands from Boston which you would suggest to the german kids?

Oh, that is hard for me to tell, because I am on tour all the time. Colin Of Arabia is doing their thing all the time. If you are into Black Flag, it is real old school, raw, in your face. They have defenitly one of the best frontman around. Have Heart is obviously, they are tearing it up. There is younger kids with some stuff in the works, so I will let people know when they get their stuff out.

Stephan/NCC: Alright, any last words to the german kids?

Yeah, don’t change, stay exactly how you are, because this is awesome out here. We love coming out here, that’s why we are around here all the time, the scene is incredible. Keep the assholes out, keep having a great time, and thanks a lot for supporting us. We couldn’t even understand how much we appreciate it. It is really a dream come true. A big thank you!

Stephan/NCC: Well, thank your for the interview!

check: myspace.com/deathbeforedishonorbhc

Posted by: Stephan NCC/zine

HIMSA

01/29/2008 | Hard work, dedication to the fans, being true to what you are and being able not to change when you get on the mouth of many people. Well, I think you possibly read these words loads of times ( and I know it happened it was all bullshits either ) but Seattle’s finest metal merchants HIMSA built up their career on these solid basis since day one, and facts are that this choice is truly paying off. Spawned from the Seattle sXe hardcore scene of late 90’s ( Himsa’s bassist Derek Harn played in Trial and the original line up featured Trial’s Mike Green bass and Brian Johnson guitar as well ), the fivepiece undergone their fair share of line-up changes, toured the world alot of times, released three records through Revelation records ( S/T EP '99, Ground Breaking Ceremony ’99 and Death Is Infinite EP ’01 ), another couple on Prosthetic records ( Courting Tragedy And Disaster ’03 and Hail Horror ‘06, both albums got raving reviews all over the world and opened new doors to the band ) and the new opus ‘Summon In Thunder’ ( which songs wallop with lightning force and switch directions just as unpredictably melting U.S. thrash metal slabs with Swedishdeath harmonies ) after getting hooked up with Century media. These guys deserve to go far. TRUESIDEMUSIC thought it was a good moment to check back in with them. Let's see what John Pettibone, the band's vocalist, has to say…

TSM: Hi, how's all in life?

JOHN: Real good thank you.

TSM: How do you feel about the new album ‘Summon In Thunder’? Are you satisfied with the end result? How do you think fans will respond to it?

JOHN: We are very proud and stoked on the finished product. Could not be more satisfied. I think the fans will be very responsive and surprised that we have taken the elements from the last two records and structured the song writing the way they know us. The writing and playing is more matured but extremely intense to make one pissed off record.

TSM: What was everyone listening to during the writing for ‘Summon In Thunder’?

JOHN: I was personally listening to alot of Grief, Seige, Death in June, Current 93, Nick Cave, Sunn 0)), Void, Sex Gang Children.

TSM: Where do you pull your inspiration for lyrics from – personal experience or elsewhere?

JOHN: I always write from a personal stance and try to expand and manipulate the meaning. Express human nature but twist its outcome and remove the cycle and the pattern of controlled emotion.

TSM: You guys are hitting Europe with The Agony Scene, Too Pure To Die, Anterior. Moreover, you played a string of dates with As I Lay Dying last September. It seems like Europe can't live without an healthy dose of HIMSA... What are your expectations from this tour?

JOHN: We've always had a warm reception in Europe and love being over there. Every tour we seem to get alot of new fans that have never heard of us even though this is out 7 trip over seas. The expanding of our fan base is a result of the hard work and the loyalty we have for them. We could not exist without their sincerity.

TSM: What's your typical night on tour like?

JOHN: Play the show, meet and hang out with crowd, shower, eat, call home, go to bed either watching a movie or reading and sleep.

TSM: What is it like living in rainy Seattle and how, if at all, has the experience shaped your musical style?

JOHN: Well the Rain City does have an effect and plays a huge part in the dark, gloomy feel to our songs but we use it to our advantage. I love my city and the environment I’m surrounded in. It actually keeps me sane and motivated within the seasonal changes.

TSM: In a musical market that sees metal doing well as well as a proliferation of so labelled metalcore acts, what do you think Himsa has got ( what makes Himsa unique to fans ), that others lack of, to stand out of the bunch?

JOHN: We've never adapted to a specific scene or labelled ourselves to feel accepted or fit in. We have always remained who we are and where we come from and never forgotten how we got here. The relationship we have with the fans I think sets us apart and after all the hardships we still venture on.

TSM: Why did you choose to become part of the Century media roster?

JOHN: They have been long time friends and have followed the progression of the band. They liked our growth and the idea of how we work. Being on CM is great and we could not feel more honored to be in their family.

TSM: We see today Himsa on higher level tours, playing bigger venues, getting press coverage on main magazines all over the world. How's being on the mouth of many people? How's that changed you guys?

JOHN: We haven't changed at all. There is more work to do as far as press and coverage but that comes with all the hard work the band has done, the pay off is better offers and bigger tours but it could all end tomorrow and we know that so we play it safe.

TSM: Future plans?

JOHN: Get older and wiser. Tour some new places. Come home and work. Have a kid, feed the cat, pay the rent, drink good coffee and watch the rain pour over the city.

TSM: That's really all. Thank you so much. Any closing comments?

JOHN: Thank you for the support...see ya soon.

check: himsa.org

Posted by: marcs77

BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE

09/30/2007 | Back in the early 90’s, when Scandinavian hordes of face-painted metallers were taking the metal scene by storm with their nihilistic evilish music, I wouldn’t have thought likely to find Christian bands playing black-death metal. As of late, (as already happened among the hardcore scene ) many acts proved possible to be playing this genre with the right amount of credibility ( this thanks to musical prowess and hard working ethics as well ) without hiding personal beliefs, indeed using brutal music as a medium through which spreading the message of gospel. BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE are definitely one of those bands who’re working their asses off to keep the flag of Christian metal high in the today U.S. metal scene. Formed in 1999, in Atlanta, ( for a certain time under the moniker The Remnant - to be changed lately to BTA ), the Georgian moved their first paths in the local scene delivering their blend of progressive death metal and playing as much gigs as possible. 2004 sees BTA joining the Solidstate records roster to release their first full-length ‘Terminate Damnation’ in 2005. In the fall of 2006, the band went back into the studio with producer Andreas Magnusson ( The Agony Scene, The Black Dahlia Murder ) to record ‘The Physics Of Fire’, released in May 2007.

Thanks to Caleb we got Seth ( guitar and keys ) reply a bunch of questions about their latest album ‘The Physics Of Fire’ ( out on Century media ) and more curious stuff. Read on…

TSM: Hey guys how's all in life with BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE?

Seth: All is well! We are writing our third album right now and gearing up to hit the road right after Christmas. We have had some really good times and are looking forward to some great tours and another good album in '08.

TSM: For those like me who doesn't know much about your band. Can you please introduce your band, members and tell us why did you decide to form BTA?

Seth: here are four of us: Jason Wisdom ( bass,vocals ), Alex Kenis ( guitar, vocals ), Brent Duckett ( drums ) and me, Seth Hecox ( guitar keys ). Alex is the oldest and has been doing his other band too, Aletheian, who just signed to Ironclad Records. I do another band called Anchors and we'll be touring in '08 as well. BTA was formed as a result of our desire to play progressive metal and have a spiritual message. Over in Europe, there are plenty of great metal bands, but here in the states, it got really frustrating always hearing breakdowns and hardcore music. Musicality seems to be lacking in a lot of bands, so our music is a direct result of our love for musicality and brutal music.

TSM: Tell us about your new member Alex who, as I read, played in Aletheian. Was Alex a fan of BTA previously?

Seth: Yes he does play in Aletheian and he is starting his third year with the band. He likes mostly progressive music such as Cynic, Death, Neurosis and he liked us a bit, so when we needed a replacement lead guitarist, he fit right in.

TSM: The new album is called 'The Physics Of Fire'. Tell us a little bit about what that embodies for you?

Seth: Fire is such a diverse and powerful element. We love to have symbols in our music and try to use the music a medium through which captivating stories can be told. The title also has a brutal and progressive sound to it and that embodies what we do musically. Fire is an ancient thing that many people admire and even get caught in strange captivations such as pyromania. For us, fire is a spiritual concept that symbolizes the Holy Spirit within us and the fires of purgatorial cleansing that the children of God go through to make them better human beings.

TSM: What are the songs 'Immolation' and 'Fire made flesh' about?

Seth: All the songs are about fire in one form or another. Those two songs are particular expressions of fire and the lyrics imply a few things depending on where you come from. I wrote Immolation with a very black metal idea in mind and Fire made Flesh was one of Alex's songs that incorporated some layering of guitars that he is very fond of doing. Mainly the songs express the darkness of humanity, the sacrifice of self for something greater than self and the reality of the difficulty of life.

TSM: Your sound is a cool mix of progressive death, black and symphonic metal. Was this the sound you were shooting for when initially started or did it change over the years? What are the albums that influenced you guys while growing up?

Seth: That is the sound we are shooting for now, both with Physics... and our new album. It is a concept that has grown on us for awhile. We grew up listening to bands like Opeth, Extol, Living Sacrifice and Death. Lately there are a lot of great bands out, including Lamb of God and Mastodon that are exciting to watch and listen to. There's a lot of great music now and we're very proud to be part of the group of metal bands that are rising right now.

TSM: You guys recorded with Andreas Magnusson ( Black Dahlia Murder, The Agony Scene… ). What are some of the things you've learned in dealing with him? Any interesting studio related stories you wanna share with us?

Seth: He really got us the sound we were looking for. He had a lot of great ideas for layering keys on the songs that made them darker and more interesting. As far as production, it couldn't have worked out much better for that album. The best part for me was hearing Alex sing like a girl because Andreas wanted him to so he could see if it could sound like a guy and a girl on the album doing a duet. Needless to say, it didn't work out and it's good, because his vocals sounded great as they are.

TSM: I read in your website that you guys are gonna hit the studio soon to recorded the follow-up to 'The Physics Of Fire'. Why did you take the decision to record a new album so early? Did you feel like 'The Physics Of Fire' doesn't represent the band at it's best and that's why you wanna record new stuff instead of hitting the road to support 'The Physics Of Fire'?

Seth: We just had some time off, because Alex got married in October. We did tour in support of Physics and we'll be touring some more for it. But while we had some time off because of the wedding, we figured we'd go ahead and get some songs under our belts. No, Physics represents exactly where we're at musically, and the next album will probably be a building off of that album.

TSM: I'm simply blown away by the technicality of your music. Can you please discuss a bit the writing style technique of the band?

Seth: Mainly we all sit down and have long meditation sessions where one member starts to reach a certain state of mind and hum a melody. When that happens, we usually get up and go to a piano and work out the harmonies and rhythms vocally ( we've all studied music in college ) and only pick up the instruments when we feel we have a coherent song established without the distortion and noise. Music is a very zen thing and once the correct state of mind has been reached, motivation for creation is not hard to find: it comes to you naturally.

TSM: How influential is Christianity on your music? And what's your personal view on faith, spirituality and organized religions as a whole?

Seth: It's incredibly influential on us. Our faith is the main motive behind all our actions. We don't say too much about organized religions as a band, mainly because so many people have prejudices and bad experiences in the past. But the message of the gospel is our life and without it, can anyone give a meaning to what life is?

TSM: Outside the band what pays the bills for BTA? And what you guys do in your free time?

Seth: For most of us, it's other music business related things. I work for a management company ( New Line Management ) and play with Anchors while Alex plays for Aletheian and produces CDs for bands. Jason and Brent do various things while at home to make money such as studio work or running venues. In our free time, we generally read, play pogs, learn about Nikola Tesla and other awesome stuff.

TSM: Thank you so much for taking the time to reply my questions. Anything you wanna add or shout out?

Seth: Thank you for the interview! We are getting pumped about the upcoming tour and are excited about the next album. Also, lots of cool things are going on in the music industry and we'll be there on the forefront of metal ready to bring the progressive death metal that we all love. Thanks for listening to us and reading this interview. God bless!

Check: becomingthearchetype.com

Posted by: marcs77

ALONE

09/30/2007 | There’s a light that never goes out…

Every interview has its own story about how it came about, funny behind the scenes, problems on the work and such stuff. Many times, I miss to let you know this because it can be either boring or useless. But this time around I thought this interview with Italian ALONE needed a wee bit of introduction. I started working on this piece last February but various delays, personal issues and a broken computer stopped us from making this online. That said, some questions will sound a bit outdated but I’m sure what matter most are the heartfelt replies by Bepi. ALONE is more than a HC band, in vein of Champion, Stay Gold and Bane. They’re putting forth their best and trying to make some kind of positive presence felt in this scene; a scene that many feel is being watered down and commercialized. And we are proud to eventually post this interview. The guys will be releasing a new 7’’on Italian Refoudation records and heading out for three dates in Austria and south Germany, so be on the look out for that. Well, now to discover more on these guys read on what Bepi (vocals) has to say. Support ALONE ‘cause they fuckin’ rock!

TSM: Hey Bepi, how are you doin? What do you think about starting this interview with a short story on ALONE? Please also introduce your band mates ( their age and respective positions in the band… )

Bepi: Hey there, first of all thanks a lot for your questions, it's amazing to sit here and do an interview with TSM. ALONE means 5 guys coming from different Italian cities, some of us were friends before and some got the chance to know each other better after the band started up. I had this idea/need to start a band after that I moved from my hometown in Sardinia ( know the island? ) to Rome... that year I took a train by myself from Rome to Milano to see my old mates Values Intact playing a show with No more fear, and after the show I stayed by Simone's place, it was the first time I met him and that was the beginning of a friendship. So we spent almost one year talking about the idea of starting a band together. The year later I moved to Torino and Sandro, Gianluca and Michele joined the band. So the line up was: Michele and Sandro - guitars, me at the vocals, Simone - bass and Gianluca at the drums.

TSM: How did you come up with your band name? Any deeper meaning behind this moniker?

Bepi: Well I believe that solitude is a consequence of the human selfish and we are living an age where every form of technology, work, relationships, modern life in general points to the isolation. I believe that ALONE is a word that reflects not just my mood or lyrics, but the modern world in general.

TSM: I read in your myspace that you guys come from different cities. How do you manage to keep the band going living this far away from each other? What are the main obstacles ( if any ) you have to overcome to keep Alone alive?

Bepi: Yeah you're right, there are obstacles. Me, Michele and Gianluca we all live in Torino so we practice constantly. Simone comes when he can and it takes a night long ferry trip for Sandro to play a weekend with us… it's pretty hard for him and I think that this guy was born to show the world what the word "dedication" means, we love him :-)

TSM: Alone are just back from a short German tour that saw you guys share the stage with Values Intact. How did that go? What are your personal feelings on this tour? Best show you’ve played and crowd reaction?

Bepi: We loved it. And we were pretty psyched about the reaction of Germany ...a lot of people was into us and we didn't expected such a good feedback because we're just a one year old band. People loves us there more than Italian people do. We can't wait to play Germany again. Well the best shows…I think the first show, Nurnberg, with Against Your Society was amazing... it was like people throwing confetti and going nuts. Also Berlin surprised me a lot cause everyone was telling us that Berlin is pretty hard for shows, but we played at Koma F in this small stage and it get completely crowded... that was really intense. Promoters were really nice with us. We love Values Intact, and it was like a dream to share a van with them and share this thing… I will never forget those days.

TSM: Was this tour your first experience ever outta the Italian borders? Everyone keeps telling that the HC scene in Germany is more lively. In your view, what differences have you noticed ( if any ) between the way German kids live HC compared to Italy?

Bepi: Well actually we played our fist show ever close to Lugano, in Swiss, but yes, that tour was our first experience outside. I think that the German scene is the most active one in Europe, I really appreciate it and I love that so many kids show up at shows. Italy used to be a nice scene, it was pretty alive until a couple of years ago. The situation now is hard, there are few kids trying to rebuild it, the guys from Refoundation, but there's few people and there's that big trend of being totally materialistic and talking shit about veganism…"oh, I don't care, I'm so anti!". I had enough of that shit at the high school.

TSM: You guys have a split with Values Intact out. Can you talk about the song featured in it? Are you happy with this project?

Bepi: The songs on that split are the same 4 songs that were on our demo cd, we did like 70-100 copies of that demo I think, and then the split was out. We had some problems with our label cause the split was supposed to be out for that tour in January, but it wasn't, and tracklist and lyrics of Values Intact are wrong… but in the end, we're happy. And we love to have shared this thing with Values Intact, cause there's something special between us. I think there's still some copies left, you can buy them online at www.hurryuprecs.com.

TSM: Full-length vs. split. What‘s your opinion on these two different formats?

Bepi: I think that splitting is cool when there aren't more than two bands, it is on 7'' and it's meaningful for the two bands, I mean when you can feel there's something special that connects them. I usually prefer mini-cds than full lengths cause it's really hard for me to find a modern full that completely satisfies me. Personally, I think only Promises kept and Disconnecting lately did, talking about hardcore music. Example I truly appreciate more Rebuild from Verse than From anger and rage, and I think that there are too many tracks on the last Another Breath record… well, personal tastes!

TSM: Talking about full-length. Do you have any plans to release one anytime soon? Have you already written other stuff?

Bepi: We've got new songs, like 5-6 and we'll record a 7'' for Refoundation records that will be out in winter 07-08. We can't wait… our songs on a vinyl is a dream we always had.

TSM: Is there any message Alone stand for?

Bepi: No actually there's no general message. I think that every song I wrote has a story and a meaning.

TSM: How an Alone song comes about? Is there a main songwriter in the band or is it more of a team job?

Bepi: I think it's really a team job... we don't have a standard way to do it, one of us comes up with an idea and we work on it, we all change it until everyone is into it. I think that's the main reason why pretty much every song we do has different structures and different kind of parts, we like this thing of working on a style where every song has different feelings and sensations… we've been compared to Bane for this, but I don't think that Bane deserve this shame :-)

TSM: Were you or the other dudes in any bands before starting out with Alone?

Bepi: Yes, everyone was into bands, Michele, Gianluca and Sandro played in hardcore bands for almost 10 years. Michele played in Absence in the 90s.

TSM: In your eyes, what makes HC music and playing in band a thing so important in your life? Do you imagine a day when playing or listening to HC ( or music more generally ) is not something that is important for you?

Bepi: I think that playing in a band is the best opportunity that hardcore can give to kids… I mean, you can start a band with your friends, talk about the things you care, and you can play shows and release records and have an audience you can talk to without contracts, tv, money or that shit. You can go and play wherever in the world and you will find people who shares some of your views or feelings or values… of course there are a lot of negative things in hardcore and in hardcore kids, but probably the thing that made me love it the most, and I can talk for the other guys in Alone, is that it's a sound that reflects our feelings and our lives... the knowledge of living in a world full of contradictions, the rage of seeing how people is blind on things like veganism when you talk to them… hardcore music reflects every life of an out of step kid, the one that felt in a wrong place when he was at school... that's more or less our common view, because I felt in love with hardcore reading Minor Threat lyrics. Anyway, the best thing of hardcore is that everyone has his own way to live it, and that's mine. I can imagine my life without Alone in a future, cause every band got its time and it can't last forever, but I can't imagine my life without hardcore cause it's just a part of me.

TSM: Coming you guys from different cities and backgrounds I guess you have a personal yet varied view of what HC can be all about. What means HC to you? And what is the one thing that each member brought to Alone as a whole? What have you learned from each other as musicians/friends in this particular musical setting?

Bepi: Oops I think I answered to this question in the past one :-) That's because I talk too much eh eh…a nyway yes everyone of us comes from different cities and experiences related to HC, and the special thing is that we all found ourselves more or less in similar feelings even if we have different histories.

TSM: The one HC lyric that touched you the most? Why? Can you quote a few lines off it?

Bepi: I think that years ago the whole record Promises Kept really touched me in the same way that the first records I had some years before did. I'm just talking about me and Simone in this case. I think that every record I've got reflects a period of my life so they are all special in different ways. If have to pick one verse from all the records I know, I'll pick this one "Coming from where my love gets it's start. These gray clouds more then tattooed on my arm. From 15 kids screaming out loud that we want more. We won't back down.", it meant so much to me on that time.

TSM: What do you guys do for a living? Hobbies?

Bepi: I work as a part time graphic design at a clothing company but my dream is to work on videomaking, Simone is a fencing instructor and he studies, Sandro works in a office, Michele does some different jobs, he works on translations, with children, and sometimes as a volunteer, Gianluca works on a audio/video service.

TSM: What the agenda of 2007 holds for Alone and where do you see your band in three year time?

Bepi: eheh woa, I don't know where we're gonna be in 3 years, I hope we'll have a full length and we'll be playing around. In 2007 we're planning to record our 7'' and do some weekends in Europe… we love playing outside Italy and that's our main goal I think.

TSM: Bepi, thanks a lot for replying our questions. Do you wanna add anything?

Bepi: Hey… thank you so much for the interview, it's amazing that there still are zines like Trueside that keep on helping bands during the years. You can find us at www.myspace.com/weareinthisalone. Viva hope.

Check: myspace.com/weareinthisalone

Posted by: marcs77

BURY MY SINS

07/31/2007 | ok, sorry, it's only in german, made for LESS TASTE Paper-Zine ...this will be out sometime, no one really knows, thanks to christoph

Hi Marco, ich hoffe dir und den Jungs geht es gut… Erzähl doch zum Anfang des Interviews etwas über euch. Wie fing alles an und wie lange gibt es BURY MY SINS schon?

BMS: Hi Christoph, danke, bei uns ist soweit alles in Ordnung, den Jungs geht's gut, hoffe dir auch …wie alles begann: Im Sommer 2004 hatten wir ( Bonzo, Thomas, Ben und ich ) unsere alte Band hinter uns gelassen und waren quasi auf der Suche nach neuen musikalischen Ufern. Ich bin von der Gitarre zum Gesang gewechselt und mit Nico haben wir einen echt fähigen neuen zweiten Gitaristen gefunden, Nico kannten wir schon länger, mit ihm und einem anderen Drummer hatten wir zuvor ein Metal-Projekt, dort war ich als Basser tätig, Auftritte gab es nie, aber man könnte es als Initialzündung bezeichnen …BURY MY SINS war geboren. Nach gut einem halben Jahr Proberaum haben wir dann ein Demo aufgenommen und im Frühling 2005 unsere ersten Shows gespielt ( …der damalige Fahrer sollte Dir ja bestens bekannt sein, he he ) …und so richtig gibt es uns jetzt also noch keine 3 Jahre.

Wie man auf eurer Homepage lesen konnte, wird euer Bassist Thomas euch verlassen. Inwieweit wird sich BURY MY SINS dadurch musikalisch verändern? Ist es ein großer menschlicher Einschnitt für euch?

BMS: Ja, Thomas hat nach vielem beruflichen und schulischem Hin und Her nun endlich seinen Traumjob gefunden, leider kann man diesen zeitlich nicht mit der Band unter einen Hut bringen, nicht das wir nur am Spielen sind, nein nein, aber die Zeit reicht bei ihm einfach nicht mehr aus. Musikalisch bedeutet das für uns keine grosse Veränderung, er hat die erste Hälfe des neuen Albums mit kreiert, die zweite Hälfte übernimmt nahtlos Normen, unser neuer Basser …persönlich ist es natürlich eine grosse Veränderung, immerhin machen Ben, Thomas und ich seit ca. 9 Jahren zusammen Musik, aber er geht uns ja nicht verloren, ich denke wir werden noch viele abgefahrene Momente zusammen haben!!! Und Normen ist ja auch kein Kind von Traurigkeit, er ist zwar ein ganz anderer Typ, passt aber ebenso gut zu uns, wir freuen uns sehr auf unseren ersten gemeinsamen Gig. Die Lücke ist also gefüllt!!!

Ihr habt gerade ein Label-Wechsel zu GUIDELINE RECORDS hinter euch. Ein weiterer Schritt zur Weltherrschaft!? Wie kam es dazu und warum gerade GUIDELINE?

BMS: Ach, scheiss auf die Weltherrschaft!!! Ha Ha …Label-Wechsel klingt immer so ‚geschäftlich', aber eigentlich war es schon so. Circulation Records hat vorerst die Neuveröffentlichungen auf unbestimmte Zeit eingestellt, daher mussten wir uns ein neues Label für unsere zweite Release suchen. …Benson und Conny von Guideline Records kannten und mochten wir schon länger, ebenfalls gab es aus dem Guideline Lager ein enormes Interesse, nachdem wir mit Benson's Band OPPOSITION OF ONE ein paar Shows zusammen gespielt haben und in Karlsruhe mal mit Benson zusammen Essen waren, haben wir uns dazu entschlossen, dass die nächste Release auf Guideline erscheinen soll …ein mittelständisches aufstrebendes Label war uns sehr wichtig, ebenfalls ist das familiäre Verhältnis untereinander einfach nur lobenswert. Weiter war es uns sehr wichtig auf einem „HC-Label" zu landen, dass Guideline zu allem Überfluss noch musikalisch sehr offen ist halte ich ebenso für einen grossen Bonus!!! Ich denke, dass Guideline Records genau das Label ist, was wir gesucht haben und im Moment brauchen, auch wir können nur sagen, dass wir uns auf die Platte und die Zusammenarbeit sehr freuen.

Ihr spielt regelmäßig Konzerte in ganz Deutschland. Damit seid ihr ja leider schon fast eine Ausnahme. Oftmals spielen Bands nur in ihrer Region Shows und kommen, abgesehen von vielleicht einer Tour, nicht aus dem Osten/Westen raus. An was denkst du liegt das? Und wie kann man dem als Band entgegen treten?

BMS: Warum wir so oft ‚nicht' vor der Haustür spielen liegt daran, weil wir zum einen immer gerne wo anders spielen wollten, wir wollten einfach was sehen und neue Leute kennenlernen …und zum Anderen liegt es daran, dass bei uns in Bad Hersfeld einfach nichts los ist bzw. bis vor kurzem nicht viel los war. Bis vor ein paar Monaten kannten uns hier nur wenige. Das hat sich dann einfach so eingespielt …und wenn die Karre erstmal rollt, dann sollte man nicht abspringen. Bis auf ein paar kleine Mini-Weekendtouren haben wir aber auch noch nicht viel gerissen, mal sehen was da noch kommt, ein paar Tage Tourleben müssten sicher mal drin sein!!! Was, Wo und Warum andere Bands ihre Dinger machen kann ich dir nicht beantworten …da habe ich echt den Faden verloren, wir machen unser Ding, nutzen die Zeit, die wir haben und fahren damit recht stressfrei und amüsant durch die Weltgeschichte!!!

Euer 1. Album TODAY`S BLACK DEATH ist nun mittlerweile schon über 1 Jahr draußen. Wann kann man etwas Neues von euch erwarten? Wie hört sich BURY MY SINS 2007 im Vergleich zum 1. Album an?

BMS: Today's Black Death ist seit Feb'06 erhältlich und bis auf ein paar Kisten auch schon an den Mann gebracht, das freut uns sehr, das teils doch recht positive Feedback hat uns sehr überrascht und gefreut …aber ein Today's Black Death Nr. 2 wird es nicht geben!!! Wir haben uns einfach zu sehr weiterentwickelt, hurra!!! Der ‚Core'-Anteil hat sich sicher zumindest musikalisch etwas verringert bzw. hat sich der Metalanteil vergrössert, das kann man sehen wie man will, aber das ist einfach die logische und von uns anvisierte Entwicklung, eine astreine und aalglatte Metalscheibe wird es aber auch nicht werden, keine Bange …ich denke mal, dass die neuen Songs teils schneller und auch dunkler werden, der Anteil an obligatorischen Moshparts wurde wirkungsvoller verteilt und für andere Ideen wurde mehr Platz eingeräumt …der neue Output wird härter, das ist glaub ich sicher, verkappte Maiden-Riffs und crazy Gequieke wird man hier sicher nicht finden!!! …man wird ganz klar hören, dass wir es sind!!!

Das letzte Mal hat es euch zur Aufnahme in das RAPE OF HARMONIES Studio nach Triptis verschlagen. Bleibt ihr dem treu oder geht es wo anders hin?

BMS: Dem bleiben wir treu, seit ein paar Jahren fahren wir nun schon dort hin, mit Ba'al war ich schon dort daher kenne ich die Jungs und das Studio, und was soll ich sagen, Home sweet Home!!!

Mittlerweile kann man RAPE OF HARMONIES getrost als das Referenz-Studio in Sachen deutschen Metalcore bezeichnen. Heaven Shall Burn, Maroon, Destiny und jede 2. ostdeutsche Metalcore-Combo mit höherem Anspruch nahmen/nehmen die Dienste von Patrick W. Engel und Alexander Dietz in Anspruch. Oftmals wird sogar vom typischen ROH-Sound geredet. Liegt aber vielleicht auch genau da das Risiko sich immer weniger vom Einheitsbrei abzuheben?

BMS: Du hast den lieben Ralf vergessen, ohne den geht da auch nichts ;-) …typischer ROH Sound, den kann es unter Umständen schon geben, sicher gibt es auch Bands die genau diesen wollen, grundsätzlich sind die Jungs aber für alles offen. Auf der anderen Seite ist es doch auch toll, dass man, wenn man ein Geschäft betreibt, sich ein gewisses Markenzeichen erarbeiten kann …eine Referenz ist ROH auch schon des längeren, jedoch hat man mit dem Metal-Core Boom auch an Bekanntheit gewonnen, zumindest in diesem Bereich. Und zum Thema Einheitsbrei frage ich mich schon seit langem warum Hunz und Kunz nach Dänemark fahren???

Ihr wart als BURY MY SINS trotz der vielen Shows noch nie auf einer größeren Tour und nur 2 mal kurz im Ausland. Warum das? Es werden sich doch sicher ein paar Leute schmieren lassen um euch zu hören ;-)

BMS: Ha Ha, schmieren, ich glaube, dass geht auch ohne ‚Druckmittel' …Ausland und Tour …das hat bis dato zeitlich noch nicht so hingehauen, geplant war schon so einiges, und Anfragen sind auch vorhanden, wir müssen uns glaub ich einfach nur selber mal in den Arsch treten ;-) …mal sehen was kommt, wenn wir die Platte im Kasten haben, dann wird sicher mal was in Angriff genommen.

Wenn ich euch so anschaue, dann seht ihr weder wie ne böse, langhaarige Death Metal Band aus, noch wie ne sexy Kajal-Core Band. Was denn nun…Metal oder Hardcore?

BMS: Beides!!! Wobei das bei uns nichts mit Äusserlichkeiten zu tun hat!!! Ich z.B. lasse mir gerade die Haare wachsen, ha ha, das war erst eine Wette und jetzt ein Jux meinerseits, mal sehen wie lange ich das durchhalte, es fängt langsam an zu nerven …für den ganzen Trendscheiss haben wir keinen Nerv, wir empfinden das eher als Belustigung …aber wie ich schon sagte, jeder so wie er das will ;-) …BMS und nicht sexy, hallo!?

Was läuft in euerm CD-Player im Tour-Bus? Und wer darf entscheiden?

BMS: Ich darf nicht entscheiden!!! Es gibt alles, was Christian's CD-Tasche hergibt, und das ist grösstenteils Metal …Children of Bodom …Obituary …Arch Enemy …Opeth bis hin zu TOOL …usw, aber auch …Ignite …Hot Water Music und Konsorten, sogar die Toten Hosen wurden schon von mir wahrgenommen!!! Ab und zu darf Ben mal auswählen, aber das verschlimmert nur die Lage, ha ha ha!!! Ich beziehe mich in Extremsituationen eher auf meinen MP3-Player, und auf dem läuft ebenfalls Alles, wobei hier Punkrock den meisten Speicher einnimmt!!! …der Hit bei uns sind aber eindeutig Hörspiele!!! Billige Hörspiele …unser Tip ‚Der Pfarrer mit den Laseraugen', da bleibt kein Auge trocken!!!

Jetzt wird's persönlich… Was beeinflusst dich als Sänger und Songwriter beim texten?

BMS: Medien, Leute auf der Strasse, mein Umfeld, Unterhaltungen …die zündende Idee kann überall kommen, die neuen Songs handeln größtenteils über den Konflikt zwischen den Generationen sowie Religionen, das Verkommen der Jugend, Krieg bzw. Mord und Hoffnungslosigkeit …der Hang zum Positiven ist bei den neuen Songs nicht so stark ausgeprägt wie z.B. bei ABOUT HOPE oder FOLLOW THE PATRON aber dennoch durch ein paar Songs vertreten …man wird ihn ohne Zweifel finden.

Wie entsteht bei euch ein Song? Ist es eher ein Produkt aller oder hat da einer in der Band das Zepter in der Hand?

BMS: In der Regel beginnen Ben und Nico mit den Songs, die machen das grobe Raster, dann kommt Christian und sorgt für den Drive und jede Menge Kniffe und Tricks, Normen ist ebenfalls am Songschreiben beteiligt, ich nehme das im Prinzip alles hin, ändere hier und da etwas an der Anzahl oder Reihenfolge der Parts und setze dann den Text drauf, fertig…

Was bedeutet für euch und speziell für dich BURY MY SINS? Ist es mehr als nur ein Hobby?

BMS: Ich denke es ist für uns alle mehr als ein Hobby, besonders in den letzten Wochen ging viel Zeit für Songwriting drauf. Christian fährt über 300km pro Woche zur Probe, der spielt neben BMS noch mit Freunden in einer anderen Band. Nico probt in Arbeitskluft und ich habe zwischen Feierabend und Probe oftmals nur Zeit für einen schnellen Kaffee. Ben und Christian arbeiten zudem in Pflegeberufen, welches die ganze Sache nicht gerade erleichtert, daher müssen private Dinge oftmals ein wenig hinten anstehen. Ich kann nur sagen, dass ich diesen Einsatz von allen sehr schätze, und ich hoffe, dass er sich für uns alle auch lohnt, wenn die neue CD raus kommt. Wenn wir uns nicht alle so gut verstehen würden, wäre das sicher nicht möglich, obwohl es immer mal Reibungspunkte gibt, das ist ganz klar, wir sind ja nicht im Streichelzoo daheim …und da ich nebenbei noch das Magazine habe und auch noch bei einer Punkband versuche Gitarre zu spielen, kann ich also nur antworten, dass es wesentlich mehr ist als nur ein Hobby.

Eine Sache die mich brennend interessiert, ist deine Meinung zur Entwicklung der Internetboards a la partyausfall, poisonfree oder auch truesidemusic, welches du selber betreibst. Denkst du, dass durch die Foren und das dadurch bedingte „Gelaber" viel kaputt geredet wird?

BMS: Zur Entwicklung… ich denke, dass es keine spezielle ‚HC'-Sache ist, wenn sich Leute in das WWW zurückziehen und dort Kräfte erlangen und Energie an den Tag legen, welche sie im normalen Leben bzw. Auge in Auge nicht im geringsten verwirklichen würden. Die HC/Punk Zines an sich machen auch nichts kaputt, ganz im Gegenteil, ich denke der Grundgedanke ist Information zu verteilen und weiterzuleiten, Werbung für Shows zu machen und viele andere Sachen, welche den Lesern/Promotern und Bands in erster Linie helfen sollen …leider denke ich, dass viele Besucher die Zines nur auf ihre Boards beschränken, und in denen tummeln sich ja nicht nur friedliche Fische. Ich lege darauf aber nicht viel, ich bin alt genug um mir meine Meinung nicht aus einem Board saugen zu müssen …aber auch ich schaue ab und zu in diverse Boards und lach mir einen ab, keine Frage, he he

Hardcore is Punkrock – stimmt das heute noch? Was sind deine Erfahrungen damit?

BMS: So ist es, Punkrock ist alles!!! Eine konstante Schönheit!!! Aber was manche Leute heutzutage unter Hardcore verstehen, ist schon der Brüller!!!

Als alter Mann des Hardcore`s hast du ja schon einiges an Trends und „Szene" miterlebt. Wie würdest du die jetzige Situation beschreiben? War früher wirklich alles besser?

BMS: Es gab früher die selben Probleme, und besser war es auch nicht, ich kann es nur schwer vergleichen, hätten wir damals die heutigen Möglichkeiten gehabt, wäre auch alles anders gewesen …man muss sich das mal vorstellen, wir hatten nicht mal ein Handy, vieles ging per Brief oder über das Telefon der Eltern ( was im Wohnzimmer öfters mal für schiefe Blicke sorgte, he he ) …ich will die Zeit nicht missen, aber ich freu mich auch über Handy, Mp3, Internet, Myspace, Soulseek, Ebay, … etc.! Aber eines ist mal klar, es gab damals mehr Respekt innerhalb der Scene und gegenüber den Bands, und wesentlich weniger heisse Luft.

Wie sieht die Zukunft von BURY MY SINS aus? Du gehst ja nun auch schon stark auf die 40 zu und die anderen sind dank exzessiven Spirituosengenusses auch nicht mehr die sportlichsten… Wenn ich mir da die gestern gegründete, Fitness –gestählte, total toughe Old School Band von nebenan anschaue habt ihr schlechte Karten!

BMS: 40?! Ich geb dir gleich 40!!! Und soviel wird bei uns auch nicht getrunken ;-) …die Zukunft, keine Ahnung, jetzt zählt erstmal die zweite Platte, dann werden wir sehen wohin uns unsere Entwicklung trägt, ob Nico oder Ben irgendwann Soli's spielen werden, ob ich das ‚Hohe C' zu singen lerne, etc… ha ha!!! Solange es Spass macht geht's weiter, egal wohin!!! …und was die Band von nebenan angeht …für FUCKIN' FACES waren wir damals sicher ebenso ‚fit' und ‚tough' ;-) ha ha

Wo wir gerade bei Zukunft sind, wohin wird sich deiner Meinung nach Metalcore entwickeln?

BMS: Ich denke mal, dass viele Bands den Sprung zum Metal wagen müssen und auch werden, wenn man sich in diesem Bereich weiterentwickelt, wird das auch eher Wohl als Übel so kommen. Ob sie es alle schaffen, weiss ich nicht, ich glaube das man zum echten Metal mehr brauch als lange Haare und Patronengürtel. Wer weiss, wo Bury My Sins landen??? Keine Ahnung??? …aber Fear My Thoughts z.B. haben das ansatzweise schon echt gut hinbekommen, ob das unser Weg ist mag ich aber zu bezweifeln!!! Weiterhin wird es diese HSB und CALIBAN Kopierer geben und evtl. schaffen diese es auch, mehr als nur eine EP herauszubringen und entwickeln sich weiter. Und sicher wird es auch Bands mit neuen Ideen geben, die frischen Wind ins Spiel bringen ( …Callejon ist so eine Band, finde ich ). Obwohl wir mit BMS oft in diesen Metal-Core Topf geworfen werden ( was an sich ja nicht schlimm ist, he he ) ist der Metal-Core an sich nicht wirklich so mein Ding. Und diese Meinung, dass sich manche Bands nur durch Ihre Texte vom Metal unterscheiden und daher eher ‚Core' sind, halte ich auch für daneben …es gibt Metalheads, welche textlich dem HC weit voraus sind, bei denen geht es ja auch nicht nur um Vikinger und Säbelrasseln. Egal was da kommt, jeder Sound wird seine Anhänger finden, man sollte nur endlich mal anfangen, die musikalischen Grenzen etwas zu lockern.

Welches ist deiner Meinung nach die vielversprechenste deutsche HC/Punk/Metal Band momentan?

BMS: hmmm, meine Meinung, da gibt es sicher einige die es wert sind mal besucht zu werden, ich kann dir da keine einzelne herauspicken. In Sachen Punk sollte man Bands wie DÜSENJÄGER, NEIN NEIN NEIN oder RAKETENHUND nicht aus den Augen verlieren, besonders krachig finde ich MAD MINORITY und auch BOMBENALARM sowie KRAUTBOMBER ( sehr nette LP gemacht die Jungs ) …Hoffnung kommt auf, wenn man Paul und seine JULITH KRISHUN sowie THE TANGLED LINES sieht und hört, auch unsere Freunde von A NEW HOPE, welche auf CD wie auch Live auf hohem Level rocken, oder THE BLACKOUT ARGUMENT, welche ebenfalls sehr offen und frisch rüberkommen …in Sachen Metal bin ich eher ratlos, da kennen sich andere wohl besser aus!!! Denke mal, dass die neue POOSTEW rockt, und an den JAPANISCHE(n) KAMPFHÖRSPIELE(n) geht sowieso kein Weg dran vorbei …CHAINWAY aus Heidenheim sollte man sich unbedingt mal näher ansehen!!! …BA'AL gehen auch bald wieder ins Studio und werden mit ihren neuen Songs sicher auch für dunkle Überraschungen sorgen. Und in Sachen HC ( bzw. was so manche denken was HC wäre ) hat in letzter Zeit keine Band so wirklich mit Innovation geglänzt, finde ich, mal von z.B. JUST WENT BLACK abgesehen, zu sehr wird hierzulande billiger Ami-Core abgekupfert und man beschränkt das ‚Core-Sein' auf Backenaufblasen, Kopfgeschüttle, Brustgeklopfe und Einheitstanz, eine Scene irgendwo zwischen Pseudo-Depression und Hip Hop …ich weiss, jede Zeit hat seine Anhänger, aber ich komme da nicht so ganz mit klar zur Zeit, muss ich ja auch nicht, soll jeder so machen wie er Bock drauf hat!!! All in One denke ich, dass wir hier zu Lande eine Menge wirklich sehr guter Bands haben und eine noch grössere Menge Einheitsbrei, liegt alles im Auge des Betrachters …das wolltest du jetzt sicher hören, stimmts?! He He

So, da sind wir auch schon am Ende unseres Interviews …blabla ...Wollt ihr uns noch irgendwas mitteilen?

BMS: Vielen Dank für die netten Fragen, vielen Dank an alle die uns unterstützen und hoffentlich weiter mit uns lachen werden. Wir hoffen, dass Euer Paper-Zine ein Erfolg wird, Respekt dafür!!! Bis bald Freunde...

check: myspace.com/burymysins

Posted by: christoph less talk-zine

RITUAL

07/15/2007 | I must say that RITUAL have come a pretty long way from their basement beginnings in Recklinghausen in 2003...

To bring us up to date on what the band has been up to lately, Vocalist Jiulian and I talked through email about the release of their latest 8 tracks MCD ‘Wolves’ via Still Life records ( the album features their 7”s ‘One foot in the grave’ released in 2005 and ‘Wolves’ dated 2006 plus a Chockehold’s cover ), why they joined forces with SL records, HC, Chokehold and more… These boys have potential, are one of the hardest working, honest and devoted groups of individuals out there, and they are bound to set the European hardcore scene ( and far outside it’s confines ) on fire, wowing fans with their awesome and energetic offering and the astounding ignite they can convey. Ritual are by far one of the best acts I’ve got the chance to check out live as of late. For the Italian kids reading this ( and of course everybody who’s not afraid to drive some miles to see a HC gig ), do not forget to show up at Still Life fest on July 27th ( the bill is huge and Set your goals, No Trigger, Ritual, Abel is dying, The Miracle, The end of 6000 years, and Fumbles in life will be sharing the stage of SGA Arese - Milan starting at 5pm ).

TSM: Hey guys how you doin? First off, please introduce your band to our readers. When did RITUAL begin, how did the band come together and who play what?

Jiulian: Hey there. We began to play music together in late 2003, I guess. Back then we only recorded two demos and played a few shows...and we sucked ;-) Most of us met each other during a hard and dirty skateboard session in a skatepark in our hometown. We started to hang out and started to play music. It was nothing serious. We were kids and wanted to have fun... Our band consists of Danny who plays guitar, Philipp, the drummer, Kevin on the bass and me (Julian), I am the singer.

TSM: Still Life records put out your two 7”s ( ‘One foot in the grave’ 2005 and ‘Wolves’ 2006 ) on a MCD. How did you get in touch with Francesco and Luca? Any interesting stories about how you got to know each other and decide to work together?

Jiulian: I think at first we got an email, in which Fra told us that he’s interested in putting out one of our releases someday. A few weeks later we met him at a show in Austria where we played with TO KILL and GATHER. We talked with him about the plans he had. After that we kept in touch via internet and he asked us, if we want to put out that MCD on Still Life. We agreed. It was cool because the songs were already recorded, so it didn't mean a lot of work to us. We are really satisfied with that record. I think, Fra did a great job.

TSM: The MCD features a solid rendering of a Chokehold track-“Anchor”. Chokehold were very popular among the vegan straightedge scene in early-mid 90’s. I think your lyrical approach is close to theirs. How these Canadian and their messages influenced your band?

Jiulian: I think Chokehold has always been one of the most important bands to us. They influenced us in almost every issue. Especially their lyrics influenced me a lot. So I’m very happy that you compare my lyrics to Chokehold. ;-)

TSM: You hail from Recklinghausen, right. How has your city influenced your band? How is your local scene doing these days?

Julian: It’s not doing that good. There are many people who listen to hardcore, but the most of them are not politically interested. They don’t give a shit about what happens in the world. There are only a few kids who really try to make a difference.

TSM: It is not secret that Ritual is a veg(an)etarian straightedge outfit but how much of a role your veg(etari)anism / animal rights / straightedge believes play in the band as whole?

Julian: Yes, everyone of us is straight edge, three of us are vegan and one is a vegetarian. But we are not a typical straight edge band. We don’t talk about being straight edge, because that is not really important. Of course it is important for me to live drug free, but it is only a decision you make for yourself. Painting Xes on your hands is not going to change the world.

TSM: Julian, your brother wrote some really heartfelt liner notes for the MCD ( cool idea! ) that say pretty much it all about his feelings both on what HC is about and what your band means to him. Do you agree with his words? In your view, what HC is all about? And what music you create means to you?

Julian: I read those liner notes for the first time when we played in a town close to Milano. ( I can’t remember the name. ) We just got the CD from Still Life and I was the first one, who had the chance to look at it, because the other’s were eating backstage. I knew that my brother was going to write something for that CD, but I didn’t know what it was like. It really touched my heart. You know, we were so far away from home and suddenly I was holding a "piece" of my brother in my hands. I didn’t know that we are so important to him. That really made me happy. For me hardcore is about staying young. It’s about being aware of the things that are going wrong. And of course it’s about good music. And the music we play means the world to me. It’s the best thing in the world to sit in the van with your best friends and to experience new cultures.

TSM: Over the years, you guys built a solid road-warriors reputation playing countless shows in Germany and around Europe ( also supporting the likes of Most precious blood, Modern life is war, Have heart, Turmoil ). Describe a Ritual show, what are some of your goals for the kids that come out?

Julian: The show starts with "the dead in disguise" and ends with "where the snakes hide". So there are moshparts, there is a message and there is energy (I hope so). We just want to give the kids a good experience and as much power as we can. ;-)

TSM: Are you guys working on new material?

Julian: Not yet. I think we’ll start writing new songs in autumn or winter.

TSM: How do you write your songs?

Julian: Mostly one of us ( Danny ) has an idea which he shows to the rest of the band and then we work on that idea until it is a song. I think every band writes songs like we do.

TSM: What up and coming bands in the scene have impressed you?

Julian: I think the band that impressed our drummer the most was END OF A YEAR from NY. They played in a cellar room in our friend’s house last week. His parents were on a vacation trip and End of a year still needed a show because they had a day off. There were 30 people in it and the room was packed. It was a really funny experience.

TSM: I know you’ll be playing the Still Life fest at SGA Arese on July the 27th ( the bill features Set your goals, No Trigger, To Kill, Fumbles in life and their label mates The Miracle, Abel is dying and The end of six thousand years ). What are your expectations for this show?

Julian: I really don’t know what to expect. I think there will be a lot of kids and a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to it.

TSM: Future plans?

Julian: There are no certain plans. We have some ideas but nothing else. Certain is that we are going to leave for our European tour with FC5 in two weeks. After that and a few shows we are going to do a break. And in winter we want to start writing songs for a new record. That’s it ;-)

TSM: Thank you so much. Any last words?

Julian: At first thank you and True side music for the interview. Thanks to everyone who is interested in what we do and what we have to say. Take heart/stay punk!
Check out To Kill, Alone and Revolution Summer!

Check: myspace.com/xritualx

Posted by: marcs77

RUINER

07/04/2007 | What could possibly go wrong? It sounds like things for RUINER are rocking on pretty well these days. So, what could possibly go wrong?

The Baltimore based five-some parted ways with 1917 records ( whom re-released their first 7" 'What Could Possibly Go Right...' in 2005 ) and just announced their signing with mighty Bridge9 records. Expect the release of their debut full-length 'Prepare To Be Let Down' this June. We got down to business and asked Rob ( singer ) about band's history, melodic HC, everyday life, a Black Sabbath/Black Flag tribute show, his personal view about the European HC scene, what future holds for the band and much more. Ruiner are known as a band that is not afraid to get off their asses and get out there and tour and I really hope many of you reading this got the chance to catch the guys last fall in tour ( I didn't and I'm still regretting for that ). Anyway, for those who don't, you'll get your chance pretty soon following the release of the new album. Have a taste of Baltimore HC and support RUINER!

TSM: Hey Rob, how are you? To start off, please offer us a brief low-down on your band?

Rob: Well we are 5 dudes from Baltimore MD (USA). We started in October of 2004 and we try to be home as little as possible.

TSM: So, you guys come from Maryland. What's your local scene like these days?

Rob: We have a good handful of bands in the Baltimore area more notably Pulling Teeth, Surroundings, Deep Sleep, Paper Dragons, Counting The Days and a lot more who are doing some good things. The scene is comprised of mainly younger kids so everyday it seems like newer faces are coming out to shows. Things are looking up at the moment I would say.

TSM: Your first output ( after the 3 song demo ) -the split with the great Day of the Dead from Portugal- was released by the small German DIY label Vendetta Records. What was the reason that you cooperated with them? Did they contact you?

Rob: Technically it's our fourth actual release. The demo was first, then the 7"EP then that EP on CD with 2 more tracks after that we release the split. I had known Stefin from Vendetta for a while. We did a split release with the label I help Firestarter Records. The band was called Never Enough, they broke up a few years back. He had asked then if I was interested in doing a record with his label for another band I was in at that time. We didn't have anything to release at that point. Eventually I asked Day of the Dead to come over here and tour with us. Stefin thought it would be a cool idea for us to do a split together. Both bands agreed. So that's how that happened.

TSM: As seen at your homepage you parted ways with 1917 records. Why did you do this?

Rob: It's a long story that I don't really feel like telling right now. We didn't see eye to eye on a few things and felt it was better to part ways. In the end it was for the best.

TSM: New label? Name of the new record?

Rob: Once we announced we had left 1917 we were approached by Bridge 9 Records and we couldn't be happier. Our first LP will come out June 19th 2007. It will be called 'Prepare To Be Let Down'.

TSM: Melodic Hardcore is a big thing at the moment. There are a lot of great and not so great bands which play stuff like this... Do you think it's just a trend that ends in the next few years?

Rob: I doubt it will end but I don't really feel this is a trend either. For hardcore/punk to stay healthy you need all sides to exist. The tough thug side, the fast thrashy side, the positive youth crew side and so on. This is just a part of a giant picture.

TSM: In your view, what do RUINER brings to the table than the other bands out there don't?

Rob: I'm not really sure to be honest. We play the way we want and I speak about the things I feel. Maybe honesty is what we bring to the table over some bands. But I think honesty and sincerity is what hardcore and punk should be made of.

TSM: What are your feelings/thoughts on the European HC scene? What are the main differences ( if any ) you notice when comparing the bands from US to the European ones? Any EU bands you like in a particular way?

Rob: I think the scene works better for a touring band. You get treated far more superior from show to show in Europe. It's actually pretty amazing and I have changed the ways I run shows here in the US because of it. As for bands, it's not that much different. You have all the different styles just the same as you do over here. Honestly it's not really different at all. We played with a lot of bands over there and one of the major downsides was it was nearly impossible to remember a bands name. Mostly because we didn't know who we were playing with until we got to the show. So we played with a lot of amazing bands, in my opinion mostly in Ireland and Germany. But I couldn't tell you a single name without possibly forgetting another incredible one.

TSM: Being a singer yourself, what are the singers that you find influential?

Rob: I find influence in mostly singers who sing about themselves. The more personal the better. Not really sure who I would name. I just try to write as open and free as possible.

TSM: I read you guys have recently played a Black Sabbath/Black Flag tribute show. How did that go? What songs did you cover? Why?

Rob: Well our drummer went out of town so we actually played it acoustic which was a lot of fun. We covered Planet Caravan ( BS ) and Beat My Head Against The Wall ( BF ). No real significant reasons we just like those songs.

TSM: Talking about the HC today, what are the things that make you feel proud about being part of this scene/musical settings? And what about the things you don't like?

Rob: I mean I don't know if the right word is proud. I love the lifestyle I live inside punk and hardcore. So I guess you could use the word proud but it's really more then that. I would never say I don't know where I would be without it. Because honestly I would just get a real fucking job and live a normal life. But at this time I don't want to do that. The friends who will stay with me forever are because of this lifestyle. I'm not a fan of how incredibly judgmental and close minded people are in punk/hardcore. Not everyone obviously but for the most part people dwell on drama and are too quick to judge others. Being the majority of hardcore/punk is younger people everyone thinks they know everything. I also don't enjoy the many people who live their lives through lyrics and others. Live your own fucking life, create your own fucking roads!

TSM: What's your typical day like when not on the road or closed in the studio recording new stuff?

Rob: My average day is I wake up and work 4 hours for my father doing construction. Head to a bar and work about 7 hours doing security/bouncing. In between that I have band practice; ju-jitsu and I go to the gym 3-4 times a week. I try to stay as busy as possible. Not to mention booking tours and handling other band related stuff.

TSM: What about your side-projects? If I'm right Joey ( drums ) is also playin' in Counting The Day …does anyone in RUINER have any other project going?

Rob: Danny is in a grind-core band called Quills. Steve, Joey and Danny occasionally do this stoner rock band called Prehistoric Boner. Mitch, Steve and Joey have a pop band as well. Everyone has other projects pretty much except me.

TSM: Future plans?

Rob: Release our LP on June 19th and tour the world.

TSM: Ok that's really all. Thank you so much for replying our questions. Anything you wanna add in closing?

Rob: Thanks and sorry it took me so long.

Check: myspace.com/ruiner

Posted by: marcs77

REVOLUTION SUMMER

06/10/2007 | As you'll be reading below it took them some six long months to record their debut work but REVOLUTION SUMMER finally did it...

...The six tracks self-titled MCD is out on indie Anchors Aweigh records and the five-some, hailing from Bologna IT and formed in 2005, didn't waste time at all and headed out for a run through Europe to bring their lethal blend of modern fast pissed hardcore to the kids crowding and moshing the pits and dancefloors of Germany, Sweden, Austria and Belgium. Upon their return from their tour we got the chance to email them a bunch of questions about many of the things they've experienced as of late, philosophy, personal troubles with the police, lyrics, fav books, movies and records and much more…

Support them, Revolution Summer is a serious band and a band that should be taken seriously. These dudes rock and are bound to leave an impression in your head or on your face!

And now, check out what Giuseppe ( guitar ) and Edoardo ( voice ) have for you.

TSM: So you guys have finally put out your first and self-titled record. How was the studio time? Did everything go as planned? And are you satisfied with the end result?

G: Well, I can say that we're really satisfied about the songs and the way they sound. We went in the studio three times and we worked with two different sound engineers. But only because we had some line up problems: the other guitar player had to move to Denmark ( and live six moths there ) in February 2005, so we were forced to record all the instruments before, in January 2005 ( we didn't have yet a bass player, so he had to fill all the bass lines ). Then we came back to the studio in June to do all the vocals and finally in July we went to another studio for the final mix and master. Six months to record a six songs/ten minutes records!!!

TSM: How do you think kids will respond to "Revolution Summer"?

G: That's a strange question to me…I don't know but I see that many kids like our record and our songs and that's really good! We played not so much times and places in Italy but I see that kids enjoy our music at gigs and speak in very good terms about us.

TSM: You guys got hooked up by Italian Anchor aweigh records ( new label run by Gold Kids singer André ). How did you get in touch with André and what made you guys choose to work with him?

G: André listened to and liked our songs through the web …then I met him when Agnostic Front was playing in his town and gave him a copy of our recordings, I think it was in the end of July ...few days later he did show us his will to start a new label and proposed to produce our record …we didn't have any offer at the time and we thought that Andrè's one was good for us…so here we are.

TSM: You guys hail from Bologna, right? And I read in your thanks list you mention your scene. What's your local scene like these days? How has Bologna, as a city, affected/influenced Revolution Summer?

G: There are a lot of good bands and nice gigs in our home town …I think we have one of the best places in Italy for punk/hc shows: "Atlantide" …this place means a lot to us, without it we would have never met each other and started this band.

TSM: I read a pretty harsh blog on your myspace page about some troubles you faced with the police at Bologna Beatdown fest. Mind talking about this?

G: Nothing special with the police during the Beatdown fest …we were the last band in the bill and the cops entered and stopped the show when the previous band was playing the last song …it was the first show in that place and it was too late according to them …so we did not play. The "hate the police" thing of our tour flyer didn't refer to that episode but it deal with some personal troubles I had with the police recently ( I tried to defend a black guy while two cops were beaten him up for nothing and got a denounce for it ) and in general to the situation and the state of fear of our city and the way cops/pigs are running it.

TSM: Revolution Summer played a string of shows through Europe ( from April the 29th to May the 13th ). Was this your first tour outside Italy? How was it?

G: Yeah …it has been the first tour for us around Europe. We're really satisfied about the whole thing went! we didn't have really big expectations because nobody knows the band and because all the shows were booked in very little time …but we had great time in Germany, Sweden, Austria and Belgium, sold most of our records and had a good response by the kids, that's important. We had some troubles at the beginning because our drummer injured his arm skating one week before leaving for the tour, so our bass player ( former drummer of Endless Inertia ) filled in on drums for the first four gigs, while our roadie learned the songs in three days and played bass.

TSM: The lyrics of your songs sound pretty personal but there's one that has a socio-political commentary ( I'm talking about the track 'Their right to hide' ). Can you expand on that a bit?

E: At the time I wrote the lyrics for this song with the help of our friend Giovanni ( Dune's drummer, more expert of me in English ), I clearly wanted to express that don't exist rights for homosexual people and rights for heterosexual ones, but rights and duties for everyone, apart from sexuality. It's quite frustrating hear people speaking about how many homosexual friends they have or how funny they are and then change posture in relation to arguments as marriage or adoption, for me it's a kind of racism, that's it.

TSM: I'm sure that playing HC is a good vehicle to get some of your ideas and perspectives out into the public. Does Revolution Summer have a message you ardently promote or any hidden agenda?

E: Revolution Summer isn't a band with a straight politic agenda, the music comes first. But everyone of us as a person has an homogeneous vision of what happens around us and nobody will take part in right wing, racist or homophobic thoughts/ideas. Among us someone is more involved in politics than others but we all have a strong politic conscience.

TSM: Why did you choose your band name and what does it mean to you?

E: Revolution Summer used to be the name of the scene that was born in Washington D.C. around mid 80's with bands like Embrace, Rites of spring, Ignition, Gray matter and then Fugazi etc… For us it's a great source of inspiration, not much because we try to recreate the typical sound but because we want to incarnate that creativity, the social/political engage and the positive incentive. Those bands were the first to have lyrics about politics, vegetarianism, respect towards women and against violence…all this topics seem to be considered less and less nowadays.

TSM: What book/film/record has influenced you the most?

G: BOOKS: Kerouak's "On the road", Salinger's "The catcher in the Rye", Nietzche's "The birth of tragedy" ...MOVIES: there's not a movie in particular I can mention…I can speak more about stylist routes/paths of certain directors… I've to pick J.L.Godard and Luis Bunuel for the past and David Lynch and Shin'ya Tsukamoto for the present ...RECORDS: what the hell! too many to mention…: Sex Pistols "Nevermind…", The Doors s/t, Black Sabbath s/t, Led Zeppelin "I", The Clash "London Calling", Megadeth "Peace sells...", Pink Floyd "The Piper ..", and of course all the hc classics of the 80's and the 90's…
E: BOOKS: "the Buddenbroocks" by Thomas Mann and "Get in the van" by Henry Rollins ...MOVIES: "Citizen kane" by Orson wells "Annie hall" by Woodie allen ...RECORDS: everything by Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Black flag, Led Zeppelin

TSM: You quoted "It's only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to us" off Marxist philosopher Walter Benjamin ( 1892-1940 ) in your CD's booklet. What this quote really means to you? How much his works and thoughts have been inspirational to the band?

E: It's hard to answer to this question in few lines. I can do it simple saying that the real strength of the change in the modern society is based on the crowd of people that lives in complete poverty, only them pay the price of our development and only them could obtain a benefit with a radical change. The hope that has been given to us has a real value with this meaning, only if we use it to break this mortal mechanism that's running out every resource. Benjamin and the exponents of the Frankfurt School are a great inspiration for the modern Marxism and though I can't label myself as a Marxist I agree with most of them theories, critics in particular. But this is my personal point of view, I don't know if the other guys in the band agree with me.

TSM: The 'ex-members of or present-member of' moniker fits you guys pretty well, with members of Last Cares, Summer League, Memories Of Apocalypse BanxThis, Endless Inertia and Dune. How have your past and current experiences within these bands helped to shape Revolution Summer?

G: Apart our bass player we all were in a band called Last Cares, that was the first band for me while some of the other guys where doing records and tours in other bands like Summer League and Memories Of Apocalypse. I think that all these experiences had been important for us and let us grow both personally and technically.

TSM: What bands have influenced the Revolution Summer's sound?

G: There's any band in particular which influenced our sound …obviously when we started we wanted to play fast hardcore with a personal touch but we all listen to different bands and different styles of music ( old/new school hc, metal, 77's punk, electro, post-hc, crust, screamo, 60's-70's classics, stoner rock, rap, power pop etc… ) and each member of RS has a different taste of music …but the only band we can mention all together is ...BLACK SABBATH!!!

TSM: Thanks a lot. Final thoughts?

RS: Thank you Marco and T.S.M for this interview…see ya in the pit!

check: revolutionsummer.org

Posted by: marcs77

BANE

02/26/2006 | …after months and months we finally made it real!!! The BANE interview…thank you Aaron!!! he he

TSM: Hello guys, this is Marco. Hope to find ya well! Let’s get it on!!! Many people think Bane being part of Boston HC scene but I know you guys come from Worcester central Massachusetts. How the mood of your city and local scene has influenced you as a band? In your eyes, what are main differences ( if any ) between Worcester and Boston HC scenes?

Aaron: well i just think in the early days we had to work a little harder because we were not from Boston... so in order to prove ourselves to get the kids from Boston who had so many great bands of their own to pay attention to us... we really had to play our hearts out... now it really doesnt seem to matter much anymore none of us live in Worcester or in Boston these days... we're scattered all over the place!!!

TSM: If I am not wrong some members of Bane played in Converge back in the 90’s. Since at the time the sound of Converge had ( and still has! ) more of experimental and metallic edge, what made you guys move back to the roots of HC?

Aaron: i just think that pure spirited hardcore is what has always been what we've wanted to play most… I definitely think we add our own voice and style to it but we've never been that interested in trying to get as expeirimental as many bands who have been around for a long time... maybe we just know our limitations... Bane was actually started because Aaron Dalbec who was in Converge wanted to start a band that wasn't so metal and screamy

TSM: So you guys have been around since 1995, what are your feeling on HC scene/music today? Do feel like it has changed over the years? It still makes any sense talking about HC scene today?

Aaron: yes i think hardcore has changed a great deal since we started... there are so many more people involved now... bands are able to sell a lot of records, tour more often and more widely... back in the day only a selected few very lucky bands could make it over to Europe for a tour... its not so difficult now... The internet really changed everything as far as information and music and ideas being able to be exchanged much more quickly and widely... i also think there is more fashion and pettiness and shit talking going on in hardcore now compared to when we first started... so like with all things there have been positive and negative changes... its all about what you choose to focus on the most

TSM: What are Bane’s fans like, and how relationship with them developed over the years?

Aaron: we have all sorts of different fans... young kids that are real new to the scene and older dudes who dont really come out much anymore except to support a few select bands they still like and everyone in between... i'd like to think most of our fans understand that we dont really care what they look or dress like, how long they've been around for or how cool they fucking dance... all we've really ever asked of them was to watch out for eachother, care about eachother and have some respect for the scene that we are all a part of... but for every hc kid that likes our band these days there seems to be a hc kid that hates us... so you really get to a point where you don't really worry about your fans so much and just do it for yourself

TSM: Can you name three strength and weakness points ( if any ) of Bane as a band?

Aaron: i think strengths are: 1) we absolutely care about the scene around us and really do want to leave it a better place than when we found it, 2) we don't really have any ego's at all and remain totally excited and blown away but all of the things we've been able to do, places we've been able to go and friends we've been able to make because of this band... you can approach any of us and find that out for yourself 3) we have always been into bands of all different style and sounds and have never tried to make Bane sound like any sort of particular band that came before us... we've always just played what makes sense to us and if people didn't consider it hardcore, or youth crew or whatever stupid lable they need to attach to things we never worried about it... we just wrote songs that came from our hearts!!!
weaknesses: 1) we hardly ever practice 2) i talk waaaaaay too long between songs sometimes 3) we tend to sleep until the last possible minute which sometimes makes us late for shows or miss out on doing fun things on tour

TSM: Your latest full-length ‘The Note’ is out since months now. How has the response been to the new material? Are you getting back everything you put in the making of this record?

Aaron: i'm happy with the note and some of the songs have been greating a really great response live... we havent done a real hardcore tour here in America since a few months after it came out so i have a feeling the next tour we do we will really be able to see how well recieved it has been... i do have to say that i dont think it sounds as good as Give Blood which makes us all a little sad... something seems to have gone wrong with the final mastering and it just doesnt grab you the way Give Blood did and we really really really wanted to make a record that sounded every bit as good if not better than Give Blood and to have to admitt that we just didn't do that makes me a bit sad

TSM: What is your song writing process like? Who is/are the main contributor/s to that aspect of Bane?

Aaron: all of those dudes work together on the songs… writing riffs and throwing parts out and being really hard on themsleves until the song is done... then i take it when it is done and add the lyrics

TSM: Is there one song on this record that you feel really symbolises what this record is about?

Aaron: i guess "end with an ellipsis" maybe... I guess those lyrics and how emotional the music is really captures how i was feeling through the year or so of writing the record

TSM: The lyric of ‘Woulda, coulda, shoulda’ seems like an anthem for the straight-edger where A.Berard criticises what it is become but why he is still in it. Do you consider Bane as a straight-edge band or is it more like you are in a band and some of you guys are close to straight-edge ideals?

Aaron: that song actually has nothing to do with straight edge and bane hasn't been a sXe band or worried about any of that stuff since 1998... Woulda Coulda is about some old friends who misundersttod some things i had said in a interview and then completely turned their backs on me... its about how you don;t really know who you're friends are until the friendship is tested and how i'd rather say things that are honest and thought out than never say anything at all in fear of dissapointing people

TSM: I really dig the artwork of ‘The note’. Who is the author and why did you choose it over other potential pieces?

Aaron: he is a realyl good friend of mine named Dave Maganero who had done some local 7' covers and t-shirts around our local scene but had never had a chance to get his artwork this widely spread... i am really happy that we were able to do that for him… i think he did an amazing job i am still very proud of that layout... we would definitely work with him again

TSM: What is your take on tough kids and fights that seems to happen quite often at HC shows? It seems like todays kids don’t respect who is in the pit just to listen to music and enjoy the show. this kind of behaviour makes me fucking sick!

Aaron: yeah i hate it also... this has been something Bane has been outspoken about since our very first shows... we always wanted bane to be about fun and getting everryone involved... not just the select few who were hard enough or tough enough to intimidate everyone… i remember being very young at shows and getting hit and kicked while trying to watch or have fun to some of my favorite bands and how it always took the fun out of everything for me... so we've always tried really hard to get the idiots to chill out and let everyone have fun… i'm all for dancing and diving and going crazy... we love that... but there is a difference and i just cant stand the people who come to shows just to hurt others or start fights... it doesnt have anything to do with what hardcore is all about and no matter how many kids continue to act like asshole beating on smaller kids and ruining shows they will never convince me otherwise

TSM: Do the guys in Bane read much? What? Why?

Aaron: you're not really asking me why we read are you??? reading is one of the most amazing things you can do in life to feed your mind... it ranks right up there with listening to music and watching movies... EVERYONE should read!!! I like Charles Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut, Hemmingway, George Saunders... Lolita, The Virgin Suicides, One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest, Betty Blue, Hunger by Knut Hamson... i also read a lot of comic books

TSM: Did you guys ever dreamed about become full-time musicians when kids?

Aaron: yeah i would imagine everyone who has ever been in a band and worked really hard to get it off the ground had those dreams when they were a little kid about being a rock star and touring the world and hearing the crowd go wild when you get onstage..but then you find punk and hardcore and you realize that you really can do it... just without all the money, girls and fame

TSM: Any band has a van. What’ Bane’s van nickname? Do you have any van related funny/scary stories for our readers?

Aaron: we don't have a name for the van… we are VERY superstitious about the van... we NEVER talk about it and if we even think about anything scary happening we knock on wood immediately... we even have a small block of wood glued to the front dashboard for just this purpose

TSM: You guys toured Europe last fall with Comeback Kid. I guess it was a blast! How was that tour? How did European kids react to the new songs on The Note?

Aaron: it was an amazing tour... 10 times better than we ever could have imagined... the shows were huge… we were all on a bus together us, CBK and FC5 who have all been our very good friends for a long time so it really was one big party all the time... seeing CBK everynight just destroy the plac and seeing that kids love them over there every bit as much as they do over here was really really fun to see... i don't really remember how the response was to the new songs... i do remember being surprised most nights at how many kids were psyched and knew the words... we hadn't been over there in over 4 years so it was really like starting over for us in some ways and there were many nights where i was so happy wih the reactgion we received

TSM: You guys have just hit the Japan, right? Was it your first time? How is your fan-base like over there? Did you notice any differences between European audiences/venues and Japanese ones?

Aaron: yeah we just got back last week... it was our second time over there and it was really amazing to be back and to be on tour with our best buddies in FC5 again (4th tour with them) the fan base seems to have grown and the reaction to the new songs was really good over there... its different in a lot of ways to Europe... the kids are very shy and communication with them is more difficult... the clubs tend to be much smaller... but there is no bullshit or ego or fights or shittalking or any of that stuff... I’m pretty sure kids in japan don’t go home after a show and talk shot about the bands they just payed to see on some fucking message board... i think they have way too much intelligence and respect than that... they really understand that the band has worked hard to get there and is very far from home and ou get a feeling that they are truely thankful that you are there..it is such a humble, caring and giving culture... I’ve never been anywhere like it

TSM: I read somewhere that you guys do Bane full time now, don’t you? What do you do in your free time? Hobbies?

Aaron: thats not true we've never done Bane full time... we decided a long time ago that if we tried it the band would probably break up pretty quickly... so we do it when we all can and make sure to have other interests and other things going on... 3 of the members are married… the same three are also in side project bands who also tour and work really hard ( silent drive, only crime ) so for me there is always plenty of free time... too much free time... i spend most of it... spinning drum’n’bass records or playing poker

TSM: I know that Pete and Zach help out TEAMNEALE raising funds for children who have lost a parent. Good job guys! Can you tell us something more about TEAMNEALE project?

Aaron: Steve Neale was a very good friend to all of us... he played in bands with Pete and Zach for years he roadied for Bane and was a big part of all our lives... he was killed in a car accident while driving drunk with friends... the person who was driving was one of Steves best friends... this shook up all of our lives... Steve left behind two very young children, Gabrial and Madison so Zach and pete have been doing all that they can to make sure that they will have some money when they are old enough to have to go to school by doing benefits and various fund raisers... there is a link to the teamneal site atwww.banecentral.com

TSM: What is on your cd/mp3 player these days? Wanna suggest any new bands that is worth checking out?

Aaron: my ipod is an absolute BEAST i am obsessed with it and am constantly updating it... i listen to all kinds of different music so its really all over the place my absolute favorite band over the last few years has been Sterolab... i cant get enough of their old records... i also really like a lot of hip-hop, Jay-Z, Biggie, Wu Tang, i've been real into the Red House Painters lately, Fionna Apple's new record gets tons of play, this folk dude Bert Jansch, i love Ida, Smiths&Morrissey, listening to tons of Entombed, i just discovered this band The Marked Men who are fuckin rad, Lucero... i recently found some unreleased Quicksand songs that are fucking amazing... for hardcore/punk stuff i've been real into Tragedy, this Philly band called Rambo have a record called Bring It which is awesome, Sinking Ships, Ruiner, Cold World, The Observers, Dead Stop, have you ever heard of this japanese band from a few years ago Total Fury??? I just discovered them… they have an lp out called 12 songs that sounds like fucking Minor Threat... sooooo good, i'd definitely say get that

TSM: What’s in Bane’s agenda for the next future? Are you guys working on material for a new album?

Aaron: i'm trying to get everyone talking about writing some new songs... even if its just a few for an ep… but this year is very very bisy for everyone... which makes me a little sad but last year we got to do everything i wanted so i guess i should be more understanding... we are going to come back to Europe in late April-may for just a couple weeks of shows... do some fests, Then in June/July we will tour the US with Modern Life is War, Outbreak and This is Hell so that should be amazing... and hopefully in Spetember we will come BACK to Europe for another big tour hopefully with FC5 again… we'd love Comeback Kid to be on it as well but i doubt they weill be able to... but hopefully we'll see some of you at the shows in April-may check the Avacado website for dates

TSM: Ok! I that’s all for me. I thank you so much for taking some time out and wish you all the best for the future. Any final words, shout outs or plugs?

no problem man, it was a good interview sorry it took me so long
hopefully we'll see you over there soon enough my only shout out is to Madlen... that girl kicks ass!!! – peace

check: banecentral.com

Posted by: marcs77 & marco

GREG BENNICK ( TRIAL )

08/05/2005 | hello everybody, we are very proud to present you this brand new interview with GREG BENNICK, vocalist from TRIAL ...read more about him, his movie, the reunion of trial, hardcore and more...

TSM: hi greg, nice to have you for an interview, everything fine today?

GREG: Thanks for the interview, and yes, today is going well so far. I just got back from three weeks in Orange County CA hanging out all the time with some of the best people in the world, so I am feeling pretty good. Everyone needs to go to Wheel of Life, which is this vegan restaurant in Irvine CA owned by a guy named Victor who is so filled with vegan power that he is unstoppable. This is a man who will eventually take over the world.

TSM: It has passed years since your band broke up. What have you been up to since then?

GREG: I have spent the last four years working on the feature film "Flight From Death" which I co-produced and co-wrote with my friend Patrick Shen, who is an amazing filmmaker in Los Angeles CA. That process took up almost all of my time. I also wrote and recorded a first song with a new band called Between Earth and Sky ( www.betweenearthandsky.net ) and we will record an EP later in the year. I also did spoken word on records with the bands Parallax ( www.goldenspikemusic.com ) and Bridge to Solace ( www.bridgetosolace.com ).

TSM: You made a movie!? Great!!! please tell us something about ‘flight from death’, what it is about? And what does the movie mean to you?

GREG: Thanks for asking about the film. The movie is called "Flight From Death: The Quest For Immortality". It explores why humans behave violently towards one another and looks at the role that our fear of death plays in the way we act. The film is extremely important to me. I fear death, just like all humans, whether we realize it or not. Death is an influence on both our conscious and subconscious mind, and it those subconscious influences that the film explores. Basically, cultural developments are reactions to death anxiety, and conflicts between them are on the front pages of every paper in the world everyday. Watching and thinking about and discussing this film could actually help alleviate human violence by shedding light on the motivations for those behaviors and brainstorming ways to diminish them. The film is feature length and is narrated by Gabriel Byrne ( From "The Usual Suspects" and "Assault on Precinct 13" ). The DVD has a ton of extras like a behind the scenes mini-documentary, photos from the filmmaking process, an audio commentary track, and we are totally excited for it to be finally out.

TSM: is there a chance to see your movies here in europe?

GREG: The DVD will be available in August ( 2005 ) and will be region 0, which means that it will play on all DVD players worldwide. People can buy it through our website at www.flightfromdeath.com. In terms of theatrical screenings, we screened two years ago in Dubrovnik Croatia at the Dubrovnik International Film Festival, but other than that screening we have no theater screenings planned at this time. We are always open to suggestions, so if people have ideas for venues, please be in touch anytime through docs@transcendtv.com.

TSM: Some time ago I read an interview with Champion’s Chris ( guitar ) and he was recalling one of your heartfelt and ass-kicking shows? Have you ever thought to release a live DVD so that kids could have a taste of what Seattle’s HC was like back in 90’s?

GREG: Yes. The October 9th show will be filmed and made into a DVD. We are working out those details now.

TSM: looking at the scene now and than, what do you think, what are the biggest changes and differences?

GREG: Of course, there is more money in hardcore these days in terms of how the bands are promoted, and there are more kids involved across the board, but in terms of what is different that matters most to me? The main thing I see is that there are less bands with interesting lyrics than there were in the mid-90's. Singing about topics that have been rehashed a thousand times over doesn't push hardcore forward like it could if the lyrics and ideas were more imaginitive, eloquent, powerful and insightful. I always liked bands that pushed the envelope, or just tore it open completely...bands like Catharsis, Endeavor, etc. These days, bands like Die Young, Wait in Vain, Parallax, and some others are bringing back that idea of issues and ideas in music, and I hope it catches on, because the world needs a break from the same topics and ways of communicating them that have been used since the 1980's. Integrating issues and ideas is challenging, which is why people avoid it. The challenge gets the best of them, but it shouldn't.

TSM: Aside from the rumours, what’s the real reason you guys to decide to come back together?

GREG: I am not sure what the rumours are, though I can imagine. I am sure I will hear them eventually. The real reason we got back together for these shows is because we wanted to. We never got to play a real last show or series of final shows and we wanted to do it for all the people who supported us years ago and for those who write us every day still today. Timm and I played a Trial song with this band onstage a couple months ago and had a really fun time doing it so we thought we would talk more about the reunion idea. We are doing three shows as of now: Seattle, London, Budapest. I can't wait!!!

TSM: Are there any changes in the line-up? How does the current ‘final’ TRIAL line-up look like?

GREG: The final line-up will be Timm on guitar, me on vocals, Brian on bass, EJ ( who was going to play on our last tours ) on second guitar, and either Nick Platter or Jesus L. Pecador on drums. We are finalizing that this coming week or next.

TSM: How do you respond to the people who are against old bands reunions? And what do you think about reunions in general?

GREG: How do I respond to people who are against old band reunions? I say "There are a million things in this world more important than reunions for you to be vocal and outspoken about." I think that when bands get together strictly for the love of money, that it is a bit sketchy, but even then, who am I to be the police of reunions? Maybe they are completely broke and need the money and kids are willing to pay it? I know why we are getting back together, and that is all that matters to me. Our shows will be about the ideas, the music, the message, and our deep love for and friendship with the people who come to see us. As for people who are against reunions, people will always create rumors, and talk trash without asking questions for themselves. Creating rumors and speaking badly of others is the way that unimportant, uncreative, and insecure people get to feel significant for a few minutes. As for reunions in general, I have never really thought about it. I like them just fine.

TSM: Could you please give a us few details about the early days of Trial: where was your first practice space? Who was in the band? Where did you play your first gig? …the first steps of a musician/band are some of the funniest…

GREG: When we started, we practiced late at night... after midnight usually, in this practice place near Seattle. We got it from midnight until 2 am usually because it was cheaper then. We had Derek ( now in Himsa ) on bass, me, Timm, and this guy Troy on guitar, with a guy named Chad on drums. Our first show ever was in Bremerton Washington and we gave our friends copies of our lyrics before the show so that they would sing along. The photos on our original demo of kids signing along are from that very first show. The very very first two songs we ever played were the worst things ever. I have them on tape somewhere and if you give me a million dollars sometime, I might just let you hear part of them. haha....

TSM: In your eyes, how the HC scene has changed over the years? What about the scene in Seattle?

GREG: I always think back to the original cover of Youth of Today's "Break Down the Walls". There so many different types of kids on the cover of that record and I really wish hardcore and punk still had that diversity that we saw in the mid 80's. Everyone segregating themselves into sub-scenes isn't my favorite aspect of hardcore these days. I love the scene in Seattle. There are less fights than most places, and less attitude, and nicer kids and the shows I go to always feel great with good energy.

TSM: you played in europe before and now you will play one of your final shows in budapest? How is to play in europe? …do you play together with BRIDGE TO SOLACE ( great band! )

GREG: We loved playing in Europe and we love Bridge to Solace. I mentioned earlier that I did spoken word on their "Of Bitterness and Hope" record, and people should check that out and especially their newer record "Kingdom of the Dead". That is a great record too. We actually have three shows now, with one in London just added. The Budapest will be the last of them though. We loved playing there last time, and when Zoli and his friends offered to fly us there, we were very excited to get one last chance to play there. I always loved eastern Europe. Playing in Poland was amazing too, and the Czech Republic as well. I hope we see kids from all over Europe at our shows.

TSM: The lyrics in “Are these our lives”, especially “War by other means” and “In the balance” are still really fresh and totally poignant. It’s like they could have been written today. The lyrics seem to fit together with what’s going on in the world right now. Nothing’s changed since then?

GREG: Quite a bit has changed in the world since those words were written, but the core issues remain the same. In "War By Other Means" we looked at the suppression of dissent. In "In The Balance" we looked at the value of human lives as they relate to society and the social and cultural structures that are in place that tend to diminish quality of life. Thanks for the compliments on the lyrics... I am glad that they stood the test of time. That was really my goal! The album was written before 9/11 of course, so the fact that the words still apply is a good sign! Suppression of dissent is a big issue here in America. People should check out www.wordsasweapons.com and click on the feature story of the SHAC 7 to learn more about this issue.

TSM: You recorded guest vocals or spoken word over an instrumental Parallax ( Utah ) song. How did that collaboration come about?

GREG: The band contacted me last year and asked if I would be interested. I asked them for some thoughts about what the record would be about, what the lyrics would be like and so on and I liked what I heard. They flew me to Salk Lake City this past spring and I recorded the tracks with Andy Patterson who is just great as a studio engineer. Bands really need to keep him in mind. He did a great job on the track. I have yet to hear the rest of the record but I am sure it will be excellent. The song is called "Surgery Without Sutures" and it is about finding meaning and passion in life in the face of our eventual death and the fear that surrounds all of that. It is the title track on their record I believe. I loved doing that track and look forward to more opportunities like that in the future. Parallax can be found online at www.goldenspikemusic.com

TSM: Talking about your upcoming shows, how are you gonna compose your set-list? Are you gonna play any new songs?

GREG: We will play lots of songs at the reunion shows ...almost all the songs we know or ever wrote. No new songs, but the set will be fun regardless I am sure, and filled with emotion ...of that I have no doubt.

TSM: are you a ’real’ juggler?

GREG: Yes, I am a real juggler. Haha... it does sound bizarre I know. Almost as bizarre as it must sound for my juggling friends to find out that I am a punk rocker! I have been juggling since the age of 13 all over the world. I love it, and have met some amazing people through juggling.

TSM: please give us some names of your all time favourit bands.

GREG: Earth Crisis, Alkaline Trio, Rush, By a Thread, Catharsis, Code of Honor, The Proletariat, Dio, Cro-Mags, Into Another, early Marillion ( first four albums ), Youth of Today, Tool. That is a good start…

TSM: ok, that’s all for now, we wish you some great ‘last’ shows with lots of energy and sing-a-longs, and successful movies, any last words to our readers, friends… bye marco & marco

GREG: Thanks for the interview! People can be in touch with me anytime if they have questions about anything I talked about here. greg@wordsasweapons.com is a good address to use. Take care!!!

check: myspace.com/trial

Posted by: marco & marcs77


PITTBULL

02/02/2005 | after 10 years of silence detroit's monster machine PITTBULL is back to kick fucking ass!!! we are proud to present you one of the first interviews after this long time of silence, check out what MIKEY, JUSTIN, JOE and MIKE have for you!!!

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
Hi, here we are now, starting the first Interview with ‘PITTBULL’ after nearly 10 Years of silence, how do you feel today and how is the weather out there? Please introduce yourself to our readers?

Mikey: I feel like a sucker. Chained to a job. I hate, doing shit I was not meant for. The weather is what it is. No use complaining. I'd be just as happy if the fucking tsunami came outta lake Huron. We are PITTBULL ...Mikey Vox, Joe drums, Justin bass and Mike Guitar.

Mike: Mike Rygiewicz, the new guitar player, things are moving ahead as plan, i have known the guys ( PITTBULL ) for some time and have played in several bands in the scene here is Detroit- elephant ear, prop-down …it's an honor to be included in the PITTBULL family.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
Please introduce ‘PITTBULL’ for all the kids out here who are in the scene for a short time without ever hearing from your band. Tell us something about the good old times, he he he

Justin: introduce pittbull ...okay, PITTBULL is a hardcore band from Detroit Michigan, we stared in 1987, released 4 Cd's on cargo records and lost and found records, toured Europe in 1993 with rykers, and 1995 with brightside.

Mikey: A little story about some militant vegans who barged into the backstage room after a show in Munich. Stupid fucking children screaming about how they kill people who eat meat ...not the smartest thing to do to me after spilling my guts out on stage. I should've killed them and ate them, but I'm a compassionate fellow and fought my urge. I dont care very much for people who want to push their beliefs on me. I can accept just about anybody ...just be cool.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
…you have found a new second guitar player, right? Do you have more changes in your topical line-up?

Mikey: A guitar player, Mike Rygewicz, just one in the band, Pete Sarotte is struggling with multiple sclerosis, Rich White is I don’t know where, and Adam Till (who did the last pittbull tour and plays on the live cd) is ...other then that, Mikey, Joe, Justin, same old shit.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
you told me that you’ve played a few shows in the last month, how was it? Do you have some new songs, or did you played old smashers?

Justin: I don’t recall playing any shows marco??? or saying we have!!! Hahaha

Mikey: No, not true, no shows yet. things got put on hold, joe shattered his elbow falling off some scaffolding or something like that. Our first show will be in late June 05, old smashers and we'll see what else.

Justin: June 18th at Alvins in Detroit is our first show.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
ok, my fault… Why did the ‘PITTBULL’ decided to awake after all these years?

Mikey: because i wanted it, not for anybody else. people would encourage me, but fuck them. i ain't no sellout, i dont do things for others. i follow my heart, my desires. anything else, any other reason would prove me phoney on stage.

Justin: After the split up in 95 after returning home from Europe, I was a lost soul, I missed this band! nothing i have done after pittbull has even been close... I ended up playing in a bunch of bands, with people who wanted to be rock stars, or the last cd they bought ...hard times!!!!! I'm glad I'm back home!

Joey: well I came to miss the thrill of the chase, the cheers and all the cool ass people we met on our tours. not to mention the food the fun and most of all ...the FOOD in all the great towns!!!

Mike: we need to save the world - or stay out of jail either or.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
I can imagine that the news of your return caused reactions in the scene?

Mikey: I guess, or so i heard. like i said, i don’t do things for them. selfish? maybe. Honest? yes.

Justin: In 1995 the Internet wasn't as popular as it is now, so far the support we have received has been great! locally the support has also been great, it's good to see we weren't forgot.

Joey: Well, I hope it does! I hope we can jump right back in the drivers seat and ROCK!!!

Mike: it has been very motivating to witness!

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
So you never stopped playing music in all these years, what’s up with the rest of ‘PITTBULL’ how did they spend their time in the last years? Other Bands? Family?

Mikey: I completely stop playing for years. I focused on being a good father to my kids. that meant more to me then anything and i wouldn't change anything, even though things didn't turn out well between and the no good whore. I fooled around with a group called (the buffalo killers) for a little while …went no where.

Joey: I did too, I had a family and wanted to give it all my attention .

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
What kind of HC/PUNK Bands do you like today? And what are your all time favorites?

Mikey: as far as hardcore punk and oi go ...it's the same ole stand bys for me. negative approach, bad brains, cocksparrer, blitz. I dig clutch, and I'm a big ween fan. but really, I could be happy with nothing but johnny cash discs and nothing else.

Justin: sick of it all, cro-mags, blitz, laughing hyenas, the list goes on we could be here all day.

Joey: Helmet ,NIN, Killing Joke, ect...

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
Do you hear or know some Bands from Europe? Can you remember ELISION, he he he?

Justin: yes i remember Elison are they still together? i believe we stayed at one of the guys house, sorry I can't remember his name, it's been along time. If you're into industrial metal, Project Grudge from sweden is worth checking out!!!

Mikey: I'm not going to lie to you...

Joey: I remember them, I think I ate some of their food...

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
yeah ELISION is still around and rocking!!! …right now we have millions of bands in the Hardcore-Scene, do you think that ‘PITTBULL’ will have something like a second breakthrough, or do you restart with the conviction of having fun and rocking the stages like it was in1990?

Mikey: I'm not sure what will happen. like I said, I'm doing this to feed my habit, to easy my mind. where it goes, that we will see about.

Justin: conviction and rocking stages and having a good time with it, anything else less of that, would make me not wanna do it.

Joey: yeah what they said ...with FOOD!!!

Mike: we will have a voice

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
What can we expect from your return, more stuff like we heard on ‘Casualty’ or the sound of ‘New all time low’?

Mikey: that will be decided by the listener, however they want to interpret the music. I can just do what's in my heart. I'm not going to work with any particular frame work.

Justin: I think you can expect Pittbull, because anything less wouldn't be PITTBULL.

Joey: We have that feel we achieve as a unit so I think it will be as it was and is .

Mike: I believe it will take on a new credo that will draw from the history of the past.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
What about a new release? When and where?

Mikey: again, I'm not going to force it. if I have to do that, it will suck and there is no way I'm gonna fuck up PITTBULL by putting out some shitty album.

Mike: it will be our primary focus after the return show.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
Are you looking forward to visit us here in Europe again?

Mikey: for sure, those are some of my fondest memories, like bilefield, berlin, prague, kassel, Italy. I love it over there. great food, lousy porn ...why do you like to defecate on each other???

Justin: I'm looking forward to it, nothing has been brought up about us returning to Europe as of yet, hopefully sometime soon.

Joey: I'm prayin for it that what I miss the most the tours

Mike: of course.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
Defecate!!! ha ha ha!!! The Hardcore-Scene changed so much in the last years, we made an interview with ‘SLAPSHOT’ a few months ago, they said ‘The scene in the US sucks, just assholes trying to make a name for themselves, they all suck. Hardcore is dead. In Europe it is still good, but on its way down. The American influence will eventually ruin it.’ …how do you think about todays scene?

Mikey: that's all the "scene" ever was "a smug ghetto" my friend called it. a bunch of kids playing us vs. them. I.E. HATRED. I dont care about the "scene" I care about playing music and entertaining INDIVIDUALS. That's my trip.

Mike: the scene is what we make it, if it sucks then obviously we need to step up, it's easy to say "it sucks" it's "hardcore" to do something about it!

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
And now a question I’m asking myself since years …why the name ‘PITTBULL’?

Mikey: My good buddy Otto suggested the name, it was me and he at the beginning. it sounded mean... conveyed the feeling in me. if you ever owned a pit, you know that those dogs are more emotional then most people, happy, funny, sad, a full range. truly, great friends ...but cross that dog and you're in trouble, cross that dog, and you're fucked. be good to him, you got a friend for life. the extra "t", no one reason, there was no other PITTBULL at the time, I guess the extra "t" was just to be artsy.

Marco / Truesidemusic.com:
ok, thanks a lot for taking some time, I hope to hear something new from you in the next time, and maybe watching you live here in Europe. Any last words to your friends or our readers?

Mikey: don't be a judge of everyone. let folks be. have you're personal feelings, live your life not mine. if you don’t like me don’t come to my show, save your money. Don’t be a "scenester" be an Individual - that takes balls.

Justin: motorcityhardcore.com

Joey: ah... you gonna eat that? thanks for the interview.

Posted by: marco


THE MIRACLE interview
01/08/05


Brianza (Italy) old school to the core…
Ok, don’t read the heading above and start thinking, oh no! another sXe HC band from Italy …anything new under the sun …Well, believe me if you do so, you’re gonna be fuckin’ wrong. ThexMiracle is an Italian band to get the juices pumping! Forget trends, fashion, kung-fu dance and keep ready for diving into passionate and thought provoking music!!!
...I was lucky to catch these guys live for first time at Milan’s gig of xStill lifex attack tour earlier this year, and I really wanna say that I got psyched about‘em right off the bat. The five piece (Mauro from No more fear plays 2nd guitar now), formed at the beginning of 2004, plays kind of “old school” hardcore with a modern aggressive edge in it, which has such bands like Gorilla Biscuits, Ten Years fight and I would also say a bit of Judge… as reference points. The guys put out their first 7”ep “True spirit” on vinyl through Commitment records (NL) at the beginning of 2005. I asked the guys if I could send’em an interview and they said “hey, sure!” Here is the Q & A about their mission and thoughts about HC scene today, tattoos, what’s in their agenda for near future and much more...
Ok, don’t forget to go and see’em live, the guys are gonna hit Germany this September with Sinking Ships, check out their website
www.thexmiracle.com for updates. Keep on reading and... enjoy, that’s hardcore old school baby!!!


TSM: Ok let's go! Who is all involved with The Miracle, when did you start and what pushed you guys to do a band?

GIO: This is Gio and I’m the bass player.

FABIO: I’m Fabio and I’m the singer.

FABRY: I’m Fabry and I play guitar. The idea of giving The Miracle a life started from me and Gio, at the beginning of 2004, we both left our old bands and decided to create a new band together. Then Fabio and Stizzo (drummer) joined the band. After few months we asked Mauro, who played and still plays in No More Fear, to help us on 2nd guitar for some shows around Europe and back from this tour he became full time a member of the band.

TSM: Where did you get the name The Miracle from? Is there a meaning behind your band name?
G: I’m not sure of that but I remember that Fabio and Fabry wanted to call the band “Miracle Blade”...you know the Chef Tony spot of knives...but then we decided that only The Miracle was better. Sincerely there is no deeper meaning behind the name.

FY: Great question! it’s strange but we were totally into the miracle blade spot, and we were crazy for Tony, the chef, and day while watching TV we decided to call us The Miracle.

TSM: What is the mission of The Miracle?
G: I think that mission is a too big word ...personally I think that we just want to do what we like: playing around our music, visiting new countries, meeting new people, having fun.. that’s all, I don’t think we are the hardest band around, the next big thing or shit like that...fuck bands acting like that.

FY: Everyone in the band has different ideas about what is our “mission”, but in my opinion we all just want to play most concerts as possible and bring our message to different countries. When we formed we didn’t set any goals, we just wanted to play together.

TSM: You guys put out your Ep on vinyl through Commitment records, what made you guys want to work with them and prefer vinyl over the Cd format?
G: When we recorded our promo we had a lot of good responses and when Commitment asked us to do a record we said yes without thinking twice, you know a lot of crucial bands were on this label ( Reaching Forward, Vitamin x, One x More… )and it’s an honour to be on their same label. We released a vinyl version because Commitment it’s an only vinyl label, all the records on Commitment are 7”.

TSM: Your style has definitely more of a classic old-school feel, how do you feel you guys fit in the HC scene today?
G: Yes of course we’re not a classic 88 or a youth crew band, we love all style of old school hardcore, from melodic to heavier stuff and our music it’s a mix of all these different styles. About the scene. We fit more in the old school scene because we have more similarities and we share the same background with old school bands but in my opinion there isn’t so much difference from different scenes, there could be an emo-metal band with more attitude and mentality than an old school one or things like that, it’s more a label shit.

FY: HC Scene? where? here in Milan? sorry but there isn’t a real scene here… In the hc scene in general I feel like an alien, because now in 2005 new kids relate HC to bands like Unearth, Bleeding Trough etc... maybe we are too old because we don’t listen them but we don’t belong to this new “era” of HC music.

TSM: Are there any bands that you look up to, or try to model The Miracle after?
G: There’s not a band we look up to or we try to imitate, but there are a lot of bands that we respect a lot. Talking about big bands we appreciate a lot what Champion are doing, in less than a year they toured everywhere, from Australia to Korea, and even if they became a very big band they didn’t change their music and attitude.

TSM: Your first EP is called "True spirit", tell me a little bit what that embodies for you.
G: "True spirit ep" represents a lot for us because is our first work of ever as TxM and also because it came out on a label that we loved a lot when we first began to listen to HC. The 6 songs of this EP are the first songs we've ever written and recorded as a band, our new songs are quite different , more melodic and less "angry", we changed a bit our style. Anyway as first release we could not ask for more.

TSM: I really dig the lyrics of "True Spirit", what are your thoughts on the HC today?

G: Wow hard question...I take the Italian example because it’s the reality I’m involved in. Yesterday I went to see Walls of Jericho in Milan, it was a cool show, wow were fucking good and the place was packed, but I‘ve never seen the 90% of those people to a show of only Italian bands. They show up to these “gala events” and they think they are true hardcorers only by doing some shitty violent dancing moves or by buying a shirt of the American that is playing. For me and for us HC is totally another thing. Fortunately in Italy we have also some great bands and people working hard for creating something alternative to that shit.

TSM: What is the band's approach to writing lyrics?
G: Fabio writes most of the lyrics, but I also wrote some of the EP. Personally I feel more natural writing about politic or social arguments, about “real” things, I wouldn’t be able to write personal or introspective lyrics.

F: I write the most part of the lyrics, I write about my personal experiences or what happens in my everyday life. I write also some social lyrics, I studied sociology and I’m interested a lot in those aspects of life. I’d like to know better the English language for being able to write better lyrics...

TSM: I read some good reviews of "True spirit" ep. In your view, how has the reaction been since the release of it? Have the kids been digging it when you play it live?
G: The reaction was good, we received lots of good reviews and comments and we sold a good quantity of it without many problems. The reaction live is quite good, in particular when we play TRUE SPIRIT the reaction is always awesome, it feels like we’re playing a GB cover or something like that, it seems that everybody seems to now each word of this song.

TSM: What were some of the highlights of the gigs that you guys did with On point and Strength inside?

G: Those days around with On Point and Strength Inside were awesome, we played some cool shows and had a great time. They are both good bands and awesome people and in particular we became close friends with the kids in OxP, I can’t wait to hit the road again with them. The highlight for me was the second show we played in Hungary, in Sentzes, a small city in the middle of nowhere, where we played a great show with an awesome atmosphere.

F: We played some very good shows and we had a lot of fun. This trip gave us the chance to know better the kids in OxP and in SxI, and to discover a new reality, Hungary, completely different from ours: they live hardcore music in a simpler way than in western countries and it seems they don’t follow too much our trends.

TSM: You guys got the chance to share the stage with famous HC acts like Champion and Come back kid. In your eyes, what are the differences (if any) between U.S. bands and Italian ones?
G: In Italy we have some awesome bands and some are surely better than a lot of overrated US bands. The main difference I notice between Italian and US bands is that when you see shows of American bands they always have awesome sounds and they always have a great stage presence, our bands still have to work on these aspects but I know that you can improve on those things only by touring a lot and being on stage every day.

TSM: Are the guys in The Miracle edge? If so, I would get your point on the following: you know, I met some people that have the idea that the average straightedge person advocates violence. How would you respond to that kind of mentality?
G: Some guys in TxM are edge, somebody is no more. I think that SXE is a very positive lifestyle, it could happen that a few stupid and ignorant people could ruin it, a few violent people can ruin a whole positive and non-violent culture. I’ve got a lot of SXE friends and I always go to straight edge shows but I’ve never seen violence related to it, it could happen that some edge kid try to look tough to some drunk or shit like that but it’s just appearance, nothing more.

F: I’m straight edge and I think that sxe is a positive lifestyle for itself but in particular it’s a positive way of relations with other people ( sxe or not ). Personally I fell ashamed when I hear of violent actions of sxe people towards not sxe, but I think it’s a question of intelligence.

TSM: I know that your drummer Stizzo does tattoos. What tattoos embody to him?
G: I asked him this question and he told me that tattoos, apart from being his every day work and a big part of his life, are his easiest and most natural way of expression.

TSM: Any tours or new records in the works?

G: In September we’ll play some shows in Germany with Sinking Ships, then we have also some shows booked around Italy and we’d like also to hit the road again together with our bros in On Point. The South American CD version of our ep will come out late this summer on No Mercy Records from Brazil. We have also a lot of new songs and we are looking for a label to work with for the new record.

TSM: What records would you say got you psyched about hardcore?
G:
Sottopressione - s/t
In my eyes - Nothing to hide
GB - Start today
Good Riddance - Comprehensive guide to modern rebellion

F:
Mainstrike – No Passing Phase
Ten Yard Fight – Back On Track
Youth Of Today – Break Down The Walls

FY:
Sottopressione – E’ il momento
Atari – Skate tuff
Mainstrike – Time still here 

TSM: Three things you really dig about hardcore and three things you detest (if any)?
G: Really dig: Playing live your music, touring, having fun. Hate: trends, shit talking, shitty people.

FY: I really dig the Atmosphere at some shows, the passion of people who book diy shows and create diy labels. There are more than 3 things I detest but I’ll tell you only 3: the message boards ( as they are used here in Milan ), fashion kids at hc shows, people who talk shit about what they were for a long time in the past ( not only for sxe ).

F: Same as Gio’s, plus the excessive presence of fotocameras and “wanna be photographers” at shows, and so called scenesters with hair fringes an shit like that. Of course this 2 are in the detest things.

TSM: What do you do for work outside the band? Have you ever dreamed about doing The miracle full-time?
G: I study political science in Milan and I do occasional works. Doing TxM full time would be the best, but it’s not possible, in Italy you can’t live playing HC music. You can do that if you are rich and your parents pay everything for you. Also living as musician would be great but I’m not so technically good to do that.

F: I’ve just got graduated in Sociology and I worked for 2 years as receptionist in swimming pool. Doing TxM full time would be the best but it’s not possible, and so it’s important right now to work as much as we can for the band in our spare time.

FY: I study environmental science at university and I also study music. Yeah…sometimes I dream about doing TxM full-time but for us is not possible, our parents don’t pay for our tours and records. Maybe if we would play a more “commercial” music we could live of this but we like to play as The Miracle style and so we’ll never be a full-time band.

TSM: Where do you see The Miracle in three years time?
G: In 3 years I hope to realize all the things I’d like to do related to the band: a CD, some tours and going to south America. That’s all for me.

FY: I don’t know maybe we’ll be gone or maybe on MTV…

TSM: Ok, that's all I got! Thank you guys so much for taking some time out. Any last words?
G: Thanx a lot to you xMarcox and thanx to the TSM crew in particular to our friends Marco and Elvis. Hope to meet all of you again at some of our shows.
www.thexmiracle.com, www.myspace.com/themiracle. Take care!!!
interview by marcs77@truesidemusic.de




NO MORE FEAR
04/12/04

NO MORE FEAR, hailing from Busto Arsizio (Milan-Italy), it’s definitely one of the best Italian’s performer of HC old school in the vein of Youth Of Today, Chain of strength, ...
Interested in knowing something more about these guys???
We interviewed them for you, so check out what follows and enjoy your read dudes.
TSM: First of all, let us know what’s the history behind the band, when did you form and what did push you guys to form a band? which were some of your goals/aspirations/hopes for this band?
MAURO: NO MORE FEAR forms around 1999. Well, I can say around ’99 cause at the time we called ourselves with a different name (i.e. Speed wheels) and the band members, except for myself, were different as well. Marco (our early singer) and I come up with the decision to form the band almost on a theoretical level; it happened a night, after we have been skateboarding in the afternoon around in Busto Arsizio, and we said each other “hey…what about to form a band? So, I decided to start playing the guitar and Marco to start singing. A few days later I started taking guitar classes and in a few months time we decided that we were “ready” (well, ready was really a big word!!!). At the time, in Busto Arsizio like everywhere in Italy, was the boom of melodic punk rock/HC and we found it a easy business to find new members to play with. I’m not gonna mention all the turnovers in the band line up, but I’m gonna say that just after a while, the line up has become the one that will be later recording “Face the reality” (2000) and “Walkin’ on” (2002). After we put out Walkin’ on, we have one more line up change that will lead to current line up: DAN (Voice), I (Guitars), STEFANO (Guitars), LUCA (Bass guitar) and PAOLO (Drums). Well, our hopes and goals were same as those of every 18 year old guy who’s gonna start playing in a band: we had enthusiasm, we wanted to play gigs, make up and record our own songs to be put out on a CD. In short, we were growing up the illusion to become somewhat famous.

TSM: What are the bands/musicians that you guys find influential?
DAN: Definitely, the bands I’ve always been listening to, or rather those bands of late 80s that have somehow influenced the sound of lots of today’s bands labelled as old school. I could mention many of those bands but we all know who they are or rather who are the famous one, at least I hope... and what’s more, I personally like the way Mike Judge and Curt Canales sing and so, I think that any influences coming from their style can be inevitably heard in my singing style, or maybe I deceive myself to thinking so. Well, mean Steve inspire me a lot as well.
PAOLO: Ten yard fight, Gorilla biscuits, Chain of strength, Product and early Strife.
MAURO: more or less as above with a special regard on new stuff out on Bridge9.
LUCA: I’m gonna add Battery and Ignite.

TSM: Would you describe your sound to the kids who haven’t listened to your records yet?
MAURO: I find it difficult to define our musical style, but I’m gonna do it anyway. NMF play a strong and true hardcore old school, fast and pissed off, streaked by a slight amount of melody and spotted by sing-along. The whole thing recorded not like it used to be in the 80s but like it must sound in the 2000…powerful guitars and a sound much more modern and aggressive as a straight consequence. Well, I’m well aware that within this definition you can put tons of bands so, I warmly invite everyone who’s getting curious about our sound to check out our website at www.nomorefear.net and download our songs.

TSM: I know that you’ve been touring last spring through Europe and also playing at Superbowl (Liesnig) festival, how was the tour? What about the festival?
MAURO: this was our second European tour and like last year everything has gone well. Let’s get it quite clear, “well” doesn’t mean 300 people turning up every night. “Well”, means that you get in touch with a lot of people in European musical scene (and not), you see new places and cities with beautiful historical places you’ve had the chance to see in the art book at school only, and you grow up as a human being and a band as well. Obliviously, it happens to play gigs with 200 people turning up at the weekend or through week with 30 people only. Unfortunately, that’s how it goes while you are on tour and play midweek’s gigs. Anyway, 30 people turning up at your gig on Tuesday, at 2000kmn far from Italy, worth as much as 500 people turning up at one of the big festival. Going more into details, we got the best welcome (both in terms of warmness and involvement of kids) when we played gigs in the East European countries like: Poland, Hungary and Czech republic. Whereas at Superbowl we played a “single gig” and it wasn’t scheduled through the tour but we played it about a month later the end of European tour.

TSM: Which have been the best and the worst(if any) moments of this tour?
DAN: you know, each travel is usually full of anecdotes that can be more or less funny and interesting as well. Personally, if I don’t take into account the gigs themselves, I always tend to remember all the difficulties faced on the road. With retrospection, I laugh at them though it happened to face kind of dramatic moments.
MAURO: generally, to be on the road through Europe together with 5/6/7 friends sets the necessary conditions to bring together a full bunch of good moments. Well, right now, I cannot remember any special moments in a particular way cause on the whole we’ve had 10 days really positive. Anyway, I wanna say that the positive one (that with a capital P) has been the possibility itself to set off for a tour! The negative ones, well, just one comes to my mind: yes, it was in Torun (Poland), a Monday night and we had got to the venue where we were gonna playing and the guys told us that show scheduled for next day was called off due to unknown problems. Well, you know, I’m the guy who usually arranges the gigs and so I expect that everything would go always straight! Anyway…we took advantage of the situation to drive slowly toward next scheduled gig that, among other things, was something like 1200km far from Torun.
LUCA: what’s the best part of being on the road??? ...well, when Paolino (nickname of PAOLO) speaks German…it makes laugh till you cry. A bad anecdote? When FABIO (goodwill) wipes himself with my towel…... it bother me a little. Bullshits apart, going on tour it’s awesome both when everything goes fine and when it doesn’t.

TSM: What about the festival?, did you get a good response and did the kids take part in your shows?
MAURO: it was late May in Leisnig, east Germany (at SUPERBOWL): we were just before the BLACK FRIDAY 29 on the bill; lots of people, 10 bands sharing the stage and many familiar faces we met a month earlier through the European tour. According to the well known German tradition, the festival was well-arranged with fast turnovers on the stage and a thing not secondary at all…lot of food for the bands. The mood was a little cold and if we wanna quote the good Bresa (other NMF guitar player), it was the classic showcase: lots of people of the central European scene standing in the pit and you, the band, trying to talk them into the idea that you really kick the ass. The kids were rather cold with all bands (including ours), well, cold is not fully right, I guess I’d better say they were shy. I can assume that, maybe, you don’t know the songs of the band on stage but I don’t understand why you don’t start headbanging and moving during a song like “New direction”. Yes, I cannot give myself other reason but they were shy. We found it difficult to understand whether they did know our songs or not as well. Indeed, we’ve got a good response in terms of pieces of merchandising sold at the festival, lots people bought all together CD, 7” and t-shirt; and this confirm me that I’m not totally right saying that kids were cold.

TSM: In your opinion, which are the major differences (if any) between the European kids and the Italian ones?
MAURO: personally, I think, it’s rather difficult to make any kind of division between Italy and the Europe (means it as a uniform whole). Making also reference to the HC scene itself, we can notice that the Europe is drawn by strength differences. I’d rather do a kind of division between “true” kids and the “spoilt” ones. Without any doubt I’m gonna put the Italian kids in the category of the spoilt ones together with their peers German, Dutch, Swiss and all “rich” European kids more generally. I mean, we’re (I talk about myself as well) used to having both tons of foreign and Italian bands touring almost weekly through Italy and usually, you don’t need to drive long hours cause you have the chance to see them playing rather close to your city. Actually, the straight consequence is that there’s an increase of happening and so, if you’re not a famous American band, it happens that the kids don’t turn up at your show and support you as much as you wish. Indeed, in the east Europe, where up to few years ago you couldn’t see any of foreign bands touring through your country, and also nowadays it’s not a common happening cause for majority of the bands it’s not a good business, the kids wanna really enjoy and take part in a gig. Yes, they’re the “true” ones. It doesn’t really matter who you are, whether you’re trendy and your haircut is cool or you work with famous American label; they just show up at the gig and support you till the end and you feel really happy when all hell broke loose in the pit and they go crazy. On the other hand, it happens that after the gig you make 10€ only from merchandising against the 150€ you can make in Germany. But they aren’t the blame ones. You know, to pay out 10€ to buy a CD means make big effort for them. Actually, it happens that we’re forced to sell our CDs and t-shirts for less than cost price.
Maybe, I generalized too much so I think it worth mentioning the kids, who live in the south of Italy or on the islands, who are forced to travel long hours to see and enjoy a gig.
LUCA: Mauro has already said it all stealing the right phrase, I find much more genuine the kids who live in the east Europe. You can find old values in these guys. Kind of values that in our countries have been overcome by a consumer mentality more focused on what your look is and so on, than paying attention to essentials.

TSM: Let’s talk about “Spare a life” where referring to the choice of being vegetarian you say “it all started as a cool trend but now……it’s more important to spare a life”, do you feel there are kids who live the straightedge philosophy just like a cool thing and nothing more?
MAURO: I’d better let the author of the lyric speak about it ;-)
DAN: yes! I’m not gonna stop saying that there’s lot of hypocrisy inside this scene. Kids who name themselves as straightedger just to be cool, punks who make political chats based on routine ideologies just to sell out their CDs. I’m gonna put at the same level some kind of chat I hear about being vegetarian and so on as well. Well, in this case, there’s a kind of true message that would be taken into account by many and spread by many voices anyway. Well, in the end, I think it’s more important the plan to keep on vegetarianism philosophy itself than way you live it. Well, I’m gonna add that even in the straightedge sphere isn’t that much different; through the years I could see, lots of people persuaded of being the centre of the universe, and just some time later give up each good ideal cause girls fancy tough guys who aren’t afraid to drink. I saw people that just to be welcomed in a kind of autonomous group start smoking pot or those who are forced to change by their parents, cause otherwise they can forget to become manager in the family company or those people who give up just cause they’ve got bored with it. Anyone is free to change, and this even based on changes happening in his reality of life, but I would always expect a small amount of coherence anyway. I feel it stupid the fact that up to yesterday, you professed yourself straightedge and today you smoke those cigarettes you always used to think like venom for your body. Yet, the thing that gets me annoyed the most, is behaviour of people who change for a new trend and start to throw shit on those guys who are still proudly into straightedge. Well, I can't really stand those people!

TSM: Your style has more of a classic old school feel, how do you feel you guys fit in the HC scene today?
MAURO: I put NMF among those bands that play kind of HC old school. We don’t care that much about any kind of label people can put on our music and we don’t care to look what’s going on around us before to put down new stuff as well. We don’t start thinking up, hey, doing this way we are gonna sell out more and become mainstream…let’s go for it. No, that’s not really our way. Being a bit proud for this I’m gonna say that there are a few old school bands left and NMF are one of those.

TSM: What do you think about the self-styled “Fashion core” scene where it seems that your look and wearing expensive cloths is more important of the music itself?
DAN: the hardcore is a kind of trend like many others so it has its own folkloristic features. You’re free to do what you feel better, given that you don’t piss anybody off. In my opinion, it’s not thanks to these small things that you’re gonna to distinguish who’s really coherent with his/her own choices. If you really feel music in yourself, you can spread it to somebody else independently on what your look is. Your look is not laid down by expensive cloths or rare t-shirts of famous old school bands only, but even dirty and ripped trousers can be another uniform for those who follow different trends. I think a person can be true independently on what his/her look is, and at the same way, can be hypocrite independently on what he/her wears. I think that kind of chat to stay away from a cloth’s brand name are a bit childlike if used just like an excuse to show off a false ideology or to go along with somebody’s wishes. Well, we all know that multinational corporations have long tentacles even where don’t expect it to be so. Therefore, it’s almost useless to boycott a brand name and at the same time surf the internet, and use your mobile all day long. On the top of all that, it’s useless you refuse to drink Coca-cola and drink a famous beer brand (for instance the Italian beer brand Moretti). Who accuse each other to be incoherent should be the first to move in a cave without electricity and all the comforts we are used to. What I wanna say is that we don’t have to be taken in those chats about finding any kind incoherence in other people over such trifles if we have same defects. We don’t have to be dominated by commonplace that have already ruined the HC scene from the inside.
MAURO: I don’t find anything wrong if in the HC sphere as well there’s a time when it’s more trendy to wear a tight black t-shirt rather than baggy trousers (up to 5 sizes bigger). In my opinion, these aspects can be considered as folkloristic and at times can be funny too! Someone can spend 500 euro to get dressed as “the agenda of perfect hardcorer” requires and show up at every gigs, buy records and support the scene anyway. What I wanna say is that it’s not always true that who wears in a trendy way is a poser only or someone who pretend to be somebody else just cause it’s cool in that particular moment. Actually, I get annoyed with those people you bump into in the street and seem to be just got out from the Maximum rock’n roll cover but at the end, they’ve never gone to a HC gig. In cases like that, I feel like as I’m being stolen of something mine.
PAOLO: I think that like whatever thing done without any passions and based on hypocrisy and imagine only is gonna have a short life. The music is the true way to show out who you really are ...your look is important up to a certain point.
LUCA: personally, I envy them; due to my size I must be content with whatever thing that fits me. Seriously, I’m gonna use an idiomatic phrase: you can’t tell a book from its cover! I think it matters more what you have inside.

TSM: How strong do you feel the Italian HC scene is?
DAN: personally, my latest experiences in Milan scene are not all a bad of roses: there’s too much hypocrisy hidden behind big words said by people who talk rubbish.
MAURO: at a musical level I don’t believe we are influenced by the Italian scene. Apart from, uncommon cases all the old school bands (either Italian or not) were and are still clearly influenced by American HC scene. We are not an exception to that.
LUCA: very little

TSM: What you guys have been listening to lately?
DAN: I’ve been ranging over old HC bands like Straight ahead and Powerhouse, rock’n roll bands like Marcels and Beach boys, cartoon jingle and so on.
MAURO: it’s period that I’m in a hell with my university commitments and I can listen to music when I’m driving only. So, I can list all CDs that for moths have been on my car CD player: Champion, Come back kid, Strong arm, Miles apart and Get up kids.
PAOLO: Dashboard confessional, Champion, Bad astronaut, Values intact, Strong out, Piebald and Come closer.
LUCA: Sepultura, Machine head, Pantera, One king down, Rollins band, Mouthpiece, Integrity and One life crew.

TSM: The cover of your 7” EP “One thing we’ll share”, yet awesome!, shows the classical shot of people in mosh at one of your concert. Have you ever thought of using a different and somewhat more original artwork for your works?

DAN: In my opinion, the shots about the gigs are always the best way to show what kind of music you play. If we put an illegible and full of stains logo on a dark background, would you understand that we play HC old school? And if we put simple covers with dull colours on it, would you understand it?
MAURO: Yes, personally, I think of it time and again, but the decisions in the band are taken by 5 members. For the 7”, we’ve chosen for a classical cover, but for next one who knows!.
LUCA: I’d like to change but Dan is a tyrant ;-))

TSM: Any thoughts/considerations you’d like to share on the state of world today…with war, terrorism treats, poverty and environmental problems?

DAN: unfortunately, I can give you a rhetoric reply only: none of those things would exist, and it will never change till human breed goes on to found its society on power given by money and possessions. Anyway, I don’t want to bound these problems in the world of today only: fights are part of this planet since life forms (more or less thinking) have appeared on it. In contrast with the stupid pride typical of the human being, Animals have a surviving instinct that, in cases of recognized inferiority, let them to give up fighting. Instead, human being is cocksure and he doesn’t stop in front of anything, thus he chooses to be on power and send at war poor people who cannot do anything but obey, whereas in the animal specie the leaders fight each other. Today, there’s a lot of buzz around the war that involves the USA and other middle-east countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, every day, there are cruel wars in the world where millions of innocent people die. But this war we watch on TV seems to us so scandalous just cause a so called respectability permeates our lives and asks us to take a political stand on matter. We all are against the excessive power of the USA just cause it’s a trend doing so: many people, above all in the HC scene where a pretty significant part of people involved is quite young, don’t have any own opinions on matter, but they just borrow those opinions coming from the older one. Against this war, there’s been a big mobilization in terms of demonstrator marches and rainbow flags shown out everywhere without notice that there was, as usual, a pre-electoral movements behind all that. That’s disgusting! All this happens, while, just to name one, the bloody war between Watussi and Pigmy goes completely unobserved. I agree considering the warmonger behaviour of the USA as wrong and open to censure cause there are, as usual, economics and territorial reasons behind that, most of all the famous oil, but take advantages of this situation to push on your party and get more votes, well, it’s dreadful: people die, politicians play with their lives and we are manipulated by them. In our own small way, we wouldn’t allow them to do all that. As well, the environmental issues are part of this world since the beginning: problems related to pollution can be noticed back in the ancient Rome where open-sewers used to run right by the houses. Obviously, nowadays, everything is increased to nth degree, in light of the so-called store of technological knowledge we carry round with us. And it’s impossible to improve this situation, cause nobody wants to put in money in favour of land reclamation works that wouldn’t worth as much as to justify such investments.

TSM: What are your plans for the next future?
MAURO: In December, we’re scheduled in studio to pre-record a bunch of songs for next CD, so that we can send them to those record labels that have shown kind of interest in working with us.
In January, we are scheduled for the recording sessions of the CD.

TSM: Any plans for touring?
MAURO: we’ll be touring the Europe after recording sessions have been ended up. There aren’t any gigs scheduled yet, but we’re thinking of touring (about 10 gigs) through Balkans countries.

TSM: To end, thanks for your time, do you have any last words for the readers of our webzine?
DAN: no matter if I’m gonna sound paranoid but I wanna just suggest young kids, who are now joining the HC scene, to learn making up their own mind since the beginning. Probably, doing this so you're gonna do lots of evaluation mistakes, but at least you can try to tell apart contrasting points on the same matter, and above all, you’re not gonna be manipulated by anyone’s presumptuousness.
MAURO: go to HC gigs! The scene is gonna be set up right there.
Interview by marcs77@truesidemusic.de




AS I LAY DYING
04/12/04


Our new team-member MARCO from MILANO/ITALY made this interview with AS I LAY DYING...
TSM: What’s the history behind the band, when did you form and what were some of your goals/hopes for this band?AILD: The band started in early 2001 with the goal to play music full time. We wanted to get started right away and tour. After a couple chances in the studio we decided to really put 100% into our most recent album "Frail Words Collapse." With its release we were able to quit our jobs back home and do what we love for a living.
TSM: Where did you get the name AS I LAY DYING from?
AILD: We got the idea for the name from the novel by William Faulkner. There isn't a correlation in meaning, but we really liked the name. TSM: What are your musical influences? Can you name a few bands that pushed you to start playing and form a band?
AILD: I used to listen to more punk/hardcore driven music but I always liked some metal bands. I was more challenged by metal music when I started to play guitar, go my main influences came from band like Metallica & At The Gates.

TSM: What are your feeling on the new tracks on the upcoming CD? How much the new album will sound different from Frail words collapse? 
AILD: The album will be a progression off of "Frail Words Collapse." It takes each idea on our last CD and takes it to the next level with better arrangement and songwriting. We've also grown as musicians, so there are some more intricate parts.
TSM: If I’m not wrong you guys produced Frail words collapse on your own, are you gonna do this way also for the upcoming CD or you feel better try to work with a famous producer?
AILD: We'll do this next one on our own as well. We haven't found an available producer that we really connect with. Since I have some more studio experience, I feel confident that I will be able to do a much better job producing
TSM: Do you feel like you’ve matured and strengthened as a band since your early works?
AILD: Absolutely. Our early work was very rushed because we just wanted to start touring. The newer material is much more thought out and we have become much better at our instruments since then. We also know how to write and arrange better songs now.
TSM: Talking about lyrics, who’s the main contributor to that aspect of AS I LAY DYING? Where do you guys get inspiration for them?
AILD: I write all the lyrics and I draw my inspiration from every day life. It is easiest for me to write about the issues I am facing when we are writing a song. I also want people to be able to relate to what I write about. There are some songs that deal with relationships, friendships, depression, and spiritual themes, but the meaning is usually somewhat hidden in a poetic sense. I think this enables the reader to interpret a song the way he or she best relates to it.
TSM: You guys signed with Metalblade, what made you decide to go with them?AILD: They seemed the most excited about what we were doing and they were the most supportive of building a career for the band long term. We've ended up very happy with them and have a great relationship with everyone there.
TSM: How do you feel you guys fit in the San Diego musical scene? Do you ever feel pressure to “compete” with the other bands for your recognition or do you find the San Diego scene to have more of family vibe?AILD: There aren't that many San Diego bands that play music similar to ours, so we don't feel a competition. There are some famous San Diego bands that I hope continue to do well, but I'm not really into there music. On the underground level, San Diego has been very supportive of us and there is a pretty good family vibe at shows. There are some great musicians in the underground San Diego scene but they haven't really created great bands yet. One band that I look forward to hearing more from is Please Mr. Gravedigger.
TSM: AS I LAY DYING is claimed as part of both the HC and Metal scenes, do you guys feel comfortable in one above the other?
AILD: I don't think that we have very much of a hardcore sound, but that is the scene we grew up in. Our music is increasingly metal with every recording Good music is so much more important to me that genres, so I don't really care what scene each person puts us in. The music is metal, but if being down to earth makes you are hardcore band, then we are both.
TSM: You guys have been touring with In flames and Killswitch Engage last May, and playing some of summer festivals –Hellfest, Aggressive music fest- as well. What's Favorite show you played and why?
AILD: It felt good to play this years Hellfest because we received such a great reaction. The year before we were the second band to play the whole festival and very few people knew who we were. This year we could see our hard work and touring pay off because there wasn't any room left in front of the stage for anyone else to stand. Our guitar tech couldn't keep people off the stage because they were going nuts.
TSM: You guys have toured with Hatebreed, Poison the well, Bleeding through and Soilwork just to name a few, which band has been the easiest to tour with?
AILD: I enjoyed the tours with Himsa, Sworn Enemy, and Killswitch Engage the most. Those guys all have a great sense of humor and we just enjoyed hanging out with them. I would consider all of those guys friends as well as tour mates.
TSM: Can you describe an AS I LAY DYING show for those who have yet to see you play?
AILD: We love to play so we are an energetic live band. Anytime you see someone doing what they love you can tell. Musicianship is very important to us, so we make sure to balance out moving around with playing precise.
TSM: Speaking of touring, you guys are gonna hit Europe this fall, what are your expectations from this tour? How is your fan base in Europe like?
AILD: We're about to play Holland, Germany and the UK later this month. It will be our first time to Europe so we don't know what to expect. We have had a great response in the US but we've put in a lot of hard work to get to where we are. I imagine it will be a little like starting over again so we would like to come back to Europe a lot after this

.TSM: Outside the band’s commitments, what you guys do during your free time?
AILD: I love to write music, so I spend a lot of free time writing. We all wish we had more time to hang out and enjoy our friendships back home.
TSM: What is currently on your CD or MP3 player? Is there any new band you guys suggest is worth checking out?
AILD: There is a band from Arizona called Life In Pictures that I really enjoy.
TSM: Your video for “94hours” is being voted by your fans as “Best video of new millennium” on Headbanger’s ball web site. How is it going? Will it be the winner?
AILD: It came out in the top 15 I think. I actually think the video for our song "Forever" come out better, but we are very happy to have one of the "Best Videos of the New Millennium."TSM: Any last words to your friends or out readers?
AILD: We'll be over to Europe soon and back again next year. Hopefully we will see you then!!!
thanks to : as i lay dying & mechthild / media@onfirepromotion.de
made by: marco / marcs77@truesidemusic.de





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