ALL FOR NOTHING interview

Next stop…South East Asia!

At the time you will read these lines, the Rotterdam-based HC-band All For Nothing will be on stage somewhere in South East Asia, spreading their energetic hardcore to the Southern hemisphere, in a run through Thailand, Malaysia, The Philippines, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur. 

Years have passed since they started playing together in 2002, but after thousands of gigs sharing the stage with the best names of the international hardcore, punk and metal scene, AFN are still down-to-earth guys, wishful to play around as much as they can.

And they always give it all in their high explosive performances, regardless of whether they are playing in front of a dozen or thousands of people. 2012 is the year of AFN‘s last full length “To live and die for”.. title that speaks much about their determination. We emailed Cindy, AFN singer, a bunch of questions...here follows what she wrote us!

interview by: Michela A.

gan: Hi there! How are you all?

We are doing great thanks! We are preparing for our tour in South East Asia. Which we are really stoked about.

gan: Wow! That sounds amazing!! We’ll talk about this later on.. Now, let’s start from a general question..could you please introduce AFN and their current line-up to GAN readers?

AFN is me (Cindy) on vocals, Ernst on guitar, Ab on bass and Jim on drums.

gan: All For Nothing have been around for about 10 years and the line-up underwent many changes during this time, isn’t it? How did you deal with that? Has it been easy to find new members? How did you feel when a member left the band? Sense of loss? Understanding? Anything else?

At this moment we are undergoing lineup changes again. Bas out second guitar player is leaving us. The reason of most lineup changes is the amount of time it takes to be in AFN. And besides that you have to do it because you love it and not for the money because there is none. So that means you have to have a day job for some income. Monday till thursday you work, friday till sunday night you play shows. Holidays is tour. This is a intensive way of living, which is often hard to combine with a social life.

gan: I understand..Some of AFN current and former members played in other bands (Throwing Bricks, Samaritan etc...) Does this influence AFN sound?

I believe that the former bands don't really have an influence on the AFN sound. Because AFN already existed before those members joined AFN. I do believe that everybody brings his or her own personal musical influence to AFN.

gan: And, Cindy, what about you? Did you have any previous experiences as a singer? How did you start singing?

AFN wanted a loose singer. They had some people trying out but eventually it didn’t work out. I was already close to the band and coming along to most of their shows, helping out wherever I could. They asked me to join the band in 2005, and I started singing for the first time in my life, haha. I just tried, if it would hurt I would stop en try something else.

gan: Well done!! Now, let’s go to the hot news!! Your last work “To live and die for” was released last March! Tell us something about this new album! Are you satisfied with it? Are there any changes in style, something new, compared to your previous LP?

I’m still very happy with it. Every record is like a picture; it captures the moment. The cover art shows a female face; one part dead, one part alive. The title is a metaphor for where we are now as a band and us as individuals and what we have experienced over the years. We’ve had our ups and downs, and learned a lot from it.

gan: And what about the title? It requires a subject..So what do you live and die for?

AFN of course!! And besides that my family, friends and loved ones. We have our goals in life where we live and die for.

gan: Any events, bands, experiences which influenced your new record?

All the songs in 'To Live And Die For' are based on personal experiences or about the world seen from our perspective.

gan: Let’s talk about the lyrics.. what are they about? Is there any message you would like to convey? Who is the songwriter of AFN? Is it a shared process or an individual one?

I write the lyrics together with Ernst. Some things that piss me off on personal level and as a human being a part of this world with all its cruelty. As a social worker you are very aware of all the negative stuff that is going on in a lot of people's lives. No matter how fucked up, I always try to look at the positive side of things, cause to me that is where I find my strength.

gan: Which is your favorite song of the album and why?

"Without a doubt " , because I love the fact that it is about true friendship and the fact that Craig Ahead from SOIA sings along.

gan: Yes, actually it’s not the first time you have guest vocals in your records, and they’re all “important” names of the HC scene, isn’t it?

True, we like to connect with bigger names in hardcore, and it shows that hardcore is still a small scene where we have no rock stars. Lot's of the bigger names in hardcore are still down to earth people, which is the way it is supposed to be!

gan: I perfectly agree with you! Besides the CD, you also chose the vinyl format both for “Miles and Memories” and for “To live and die for”.. what about this choice?

Simple because we love vinyl! It may sound old fashioned but vinyl is still more special that a downloaded cd for example. Because you have something to look at, you can collect it and when you want to listen to the record you just have to take your time.

gan: Apart from HC.. which other kind of music do you listen to? And how did you approach to HC?

All different styles. We approached hardcore back in the days where older friends would show us music from unknown hardcore bands. We started listening and coming along to shows. And ever since we felt the energy and the message we were hooked.

gan: I know you are from Rotterdam..how’s the scene there? And how’s playing around in the Netherlands? Although things may hopefully change, in Italy we always think that central and northern Europe are better places to play HC: because it’s easier to organize gigs, foreign bands are always welcome..but also in terms of followers, crowds and treatment at the venues..In few words: the scene is stronger and more active than in southern Europe. Is that true? What do you think about that? Is Hc a niche in the Netherlands too or not?

Unfortunately a lot of the cool venues in Rotterdam were mostly all closed down over the years. The hardcore scene in Holland for oldschool hardcore has been mainly the same people. Lots of younger kids listen to metalcore and deathcore. I just like to go to shows in Belgium and Germany because the people there are more enthusiastic and out going.

gan: Is the hardcore scene in the Netherlands connected to any particular social/political movement? (Such as antifascism or squatting etc...for example...)
There are people in the hardcore scene that are connected to antifascism. For us AFN we always try to spread the message: Goodnight white pride.

gan: Any bands from the Netherlands you would like to suggest?

No Turning Back and Backfire!

gan: During the last years you shared the stage with some of the biggest bands of the HC scene.. Any anecdote or gigs you wish to tell? Among your many recent gigs, I saw you also played at Hell Fest last June..what about that? This must have been amazing!

We have met so many great bands. Some more positive than others. I'll never forget the tour we did with SOIA, because it was the best ever. Everybody was so friendly. That is always something you have to wait and see. False idols fall.
Hell fest was sick! Till that point we only played France a couple of times. The tent was filled with people, which was amazing!

gan: Let’s talk about the future now! I see you will be playing in South East Asia, that sounds awesome! Which countries will you cover? Is it the first time for you in Asia? How did you organize the tour?

Yeah, SEA will be the first time. We got a lot of requests from Asia lately. The band Toughtalk from the Philippines also send us some video's in which the cover a few of our songs. That is so amazing. All this together made us decide to go there. We are going to Thailand, Malaysia, The Philippines, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur.

gan: What do you expect from local crowds?
We expect mostly friendly people who are looking forward to have a good time.

gan: And what about the US? Are you thinking about a tour in the US or not?

We hope to go there in the near future as well as China and Australia. We want to tour as much as we can and visit as much countries as possible.

gan: Both your last LPs have been released with GSR Music..what about your relationship with the label? I mean..How did you start working together? Many HC bands usually start as full DIY before joining a label.. Has it been the same for you?

Theo from GSR is a great guy! He approached us when we were recording 'Miles and Memories'. AFN had existed for 10 years, and Ernst had always been in the band. Of course we had our fair share of DIY. I still remember making our own copied cd's en making stickers as a label of the cd. Designing and cutting our own cd booklet. Before we joined MAD as a tour booker we did all shows our self's.

gan: And what about future plans? Any news or project you would like to share with our readers?

Playing, and writing new songs. Hopefully join a great tour and have loads of fun!

gan: Well that’s all for us! Thank you for your time and see you soon on stage!

Thanks, for people who want to get in touch check: facebook.com/allfornothingnl