Enough Said interview with Joeri vocalist for the band interview By Sean WWTO

http://www.myspace.com/enoughsaidrules

First off i would like to thank Joeri and Enough Said for taking the time out to do this interview with Worldwidetakeoverzine

How did the band come to be named Enough Said?

The band Since The Flood has an awesome song called Enough Said, we thought it sounded cool and it’s a very good statement!

what are your views on fighting at shows?

We like it when people mosh hard but when you punch someone in the face because he hit you, that’s just lame! Keep hardcore fun!


what is the best Belgian beer that you would recommend to the readers?

Stella Artois and Duvel!


who are some of the bands main musical influences?

Madball, Terror, No Turning Back, Shattered Realm, Since The Flood, Full Court Press, Death Before Dishonor, old Sworn Enemy etc… These bands are the main influences but we try to do our own thing as much as possible.


are any members in side projects other than Enough Said?

Our guitarplayer Jos used to play in a band called Homicide, also from the Antwerp-area, but he gave that up to focus more on Enough Said. The funny part being that Enough Said used to be a side-project for him, I guess that changed for the better.

Our new bassplayer still plays in Homicide, but they’re on a break since Jos left, adapting to his departure, so he’s got lots of time for us now.

Our new guitarplayer Ben also plays in another band called Promises Kept.

how long has the band been together?

One year and two months!

how many cds eps 7 inches split cds and demos has the band currently released?

We recently recorded a demo (of which ‘your demise is on our myspace), but we’re not sure if that’s gonna come out any time soon. Our former bassplayer arranged the recording studio via his family so we could go there for free, but he sent us an SMS saying he quit the band (go figure ;) ).

The songs we got from the recording guy were a raw mix and 2 or 3 songs still need to be edited heavily by him cause he’s got the separate tracks and we don’t, so that kinda sucks.

But we may make a promo-CD out of it, with the songs that are alright to release in the way we have them. Either we do that or we record the songs again but for good this time!

what do you base your lyrics on when writing new material?

When I’m writing lyrics, I always try to express my feelings. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they’re bad. I don't discuss war or political-issues, because I feel those lyrics are too far from my own situation and I wouldn't be able to support such lyrics for 100%.

With the old songs, Scott Vogel (Terror) was a big influence on my lyrics.

But for now, Full Court Press is the biggest influence I have. When I hear songs of them, I always get goose bumps!

is there a large and thriving scene in the Wuustwezel area as well as throughout Belgium?

In Wuustwezel we’re the only hardcore band together with Homicide. Throughout Belgium there’s a large scene! With bands like Trail Of Hope, Johnny Unstoppable, Angelskin, Saviour, Tear It Down, Point Of View, Surge Of Fury, The Boss, Pushed Too Far, The Setup and Nasty we have a pretty strong scene!

how can the readers from around the world contact you about ordering merchandise and music?

We don't have any merch yet, but we're planning on making t-shirts in the near future. When they’re ready people can order them via myspace or just by asking one on a show. http://www.myspace.com/enoughsaidrules

is this the original lineup and if not what is the current lineup?

We started out with 4 guys, then our original bass player left, but we had already kinda replaced him with Michael from Homicide. Around the same time we decided to take a second guitarist as well and Ben joined the band. We’re really satisfied with this line up cause it’s all friends together, no one standing on the outside and we’re really looking forward to working on new songs all together when Ben and Michael are totally up to date with all the songs.

if you could have anyone do guest vocals on your next recording who would it be and why?

Anthony Martini from E.Town Concrete because he’s one of the best singers EVER! He can rap, sing and yell like the best! Nothing but respect.

Mad Joe from Wisdom In Chains cause the sound of his voice alone invites you to sing along, one of the coolest singers in hardcore today.

Eazy E for being cool as fuck! Haha

in only one sentence describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before ?

Fast, danceable, no-bulshit hardcore for everyone with a good taste in music ;)


how were you first exposed to the scene and what made you say i want to be in an band

Someone sent me a live video from Personal Vendetta, I thought it was amazing! The crowd going wild, the energy, the anger,… That was fucking awesome!

Then I started to check out more hardcore bands like Hatebreed, E-Town Concrete, Born From Pain, Backfire!,… A new chapter in life!

when on tour and driving from city to city what is some of the weirdest shit you have seen happen or pass by?

We were on the road to a show in Ypres once and a friend of us was coming too and while driving in his car next to us, the guy pulls out his fire extinguisher in the middle of the highway and starts spraying it out his window to us, crazy motherfuckers!

where do you see the band in 3 years from now?

That’s a good question Sean, and a hard one to answer. For the moment we try not to think that far ahead and try to just take it day by day and see what comes around. As long as we’re having fun doing what we do, we’re gonna keep going and keep writing new stuff.

Of course we hope that by then our sound and our songs have grown a lot and that people will still enjoy our music.

Our hearts and our visions won’t change and our music will always represent those two things.


who are some of the up and coming bands from the Wuustwezel area as well as throughout Belgium that we should be on the lookout for?

www.myspace.com/johnnyunstoppablehc
www.myspace.com/trailofhope
www.myspace.com/pointofviewhc
www.myspace.com/homicidehc
www.myspace.com/tearitdownhardcore
www.myspace.com/angelskin
www.myspace.com/pushedtoofar
www.myspace.com/getnasty
www.myspace.com/thesetup
www.myspace.com/theboss8000
www.myspace.com/surgeoffury

the term hardcore has become so overused that any band putting a breakdown into a song is considered hardcore but explain to the readers what hardcore means to you?

It’s not just about the music but also about the people you meet. I met some dudes that now are my best friends.
There are a lot of new kids in the scene that think they have invented the whole thing and walking like God on a show. But as time passes by, these people are passing by and only a few remain.
You can’t put a scale on how ‘hardcore’ someone is just by looking at him/her. It’s not about the clothes you wear, the lyrics you know or the coolness of your mosh.
It’s about staying true to what you believe in, enjoying the music and supporting the bands.
Anyone can dress cool and practice moshing at home, that doesn’t make them hardcore.

What is your most memorable show and why?

I think it would be our very first show. We asked Homicide if we could play 2 songs during their set. We did and the crowd exploded! They started moshing, stagediving, 2-stepping! There were even people singing with me, during the chorus of "Friends Like You" there was like a whole pile on my micro! I couldn’t believe it, crazy ass shit!

where else besides myspace can the readers go to to findout about upcoming shows and other band related information?

www.antwerp-hardcore.tk


where do you think you would be right now had you not been exposed to the hxc metal scene

Probably in the hip hop scene.

What advice can you give to some of the newer bands starting out that maybe having a tough time and thinking about giving up?

Well, we haven’t been playing that long ourselves, but from our own experience we’ve learned to always keep believing in the things you do, even when there’s a setback, just keep doing your own thing and don’t let hypes be the only influence in your music.

why do you think that people always associate violence with hardcore shows and it always gives hxc scenes and shows a bad reputation?

I absolutely have no idea why people think like that! They should learn to open their eyes and see that it’s just a bunch of kids having a good time!

I don’t think they understand the hard in hardcore.

Do you have any upcoming shows that you would like to tell the readers about?

For the moment we don’t have any shows due to the line-up change. But we’ll be ready soon so check our myspace from time to time for updates!

Is there anything else that you would like to add that I may have forgotten to ask that the readers should know about?

No…

Nah, you pretty much covered everything with your questions, just keep cool and be safe.

Peace out!

One On One interview with Nobbi vocalist Interview by Sean WWTO

http://www.myspace.com/oneononehc
http://www.oneononehc.de

First off i would like to personally thank Nobbi and One On One for taking the time out to do this interview with Worldwidetakeoverzine

How did the band come to be named One On One

Well this story is pretty simple! As the day came, when we had all the members together we realised pretty fast that we need a name! So we were sitting around talking bullshit until a friend of us smashed the name ONE ON ONE into the round! We thought it was pretty cool and so the pact was signed! Furthermore, besides “breaking the law” there is another smash-hit from Judas priest called “ONE ON ONE”

who are some of the bands main musical influences

Well, musically i would say Cro-Mags, old AF and Madball! Maybe Terror too!
According to our attitude, just think about murphys law or something like that!

what are views on fighting at shows

That really pisses us off!!! To many good shows have already been destroyed by all those wannabe-toughguys! They come to the shows for three reasons: showing the audience the latest shirts they bought, the latest dancemoves they’ve learned from the Internet and last but not least to fight for not a goddamned reason! I mean, not one us can say, that he never enraged while dancing on a hardcore/punkrock-show, BUT, we for us always knew where the line was drawn, and these motherfuckers nowadays just stepped over it! All that “violent-dancing-trend-bullshit” pisses us off! What makes me so sick, it not the they way they are dancing, I don’t give a fuck, but my blood starts boiling if see those wannabe-tough-guys kicking there feet into the stomach or the face of a person standing aside! Sure I remember times where I was studded with black spots all over my body! We danced wild too, but we did it together! Nowadays everyone has it’s own little circle where he can show the audience his latest moves, by kicking their teeth in! Well done fool! If this is hardcore I guess I believe in a lie!

how long has the band been together

The band is existing since early 2006!

are any members in side projects other than One On One

Not one of us!

how many cds eps 7 inches split cds and demos has the band currently released

Well to be true! We released exactly ONE demo! That’s the reason why we are more and more looking forward to finally get the upcoming 7” in our hands!

how did the band come to be signed to Demons Run Amok Records and how have they treated you so far

He wrote us and we said yes! Pretty simple!
They definitely do a great job! They got there ass full of work, but there never was one single moment where they said, that they wouldn’t have time for us, because of the current releases of the other bands or something like that! They’re always there for us, and do a great job! Big shout outs and a big THANK YOU to Marcel, Karsten and Rene at that point!


what do you base your lyrics on when writing new material

Well when I’m writing the lyrics it depends on the feeling of the song and on my own situation! Sometimes I write about problems getting me personally down, thoughts that never let me go, mistakes, anger, frustration, deep wishes on the one hand. Wasted City-Nights or days I won’t forget, cause we always had a laugh on the other hand! Just personal things, you know. On the other day I write about the daily news, which are overstocked with a lot of stuff for hardcore-songs! So much shit - political or socio-political - is happening everyday and if a topic touches me, I snatch it up and write a song about it! Like I said, it depends on the song, and on me!

How can the readers from around the world contact you about ordering merchandise

They can easily contact us or demons run amok through myspace or our homepages.
http://www.myspace.com/oneononehc http://www.myspace.com/demonsrunamok

is this the original line-up and if not what is the current line-up

This is the current line up! Andi on the drums, Jörg playing the guitar, Daniel on the bass and Nobby on the mic!

is there a large and thriving scene in Ulm area as well as throughout Germany

Ulm is getting bigger and bigger! More and more people are coming to shows, and we hope that there are a lot more to follow! You know, when we where starting out ulm basically was more metal-influenced! Germany definitely has a strong scene! I mean we have a lot of cool bands in almost every bigger city and there is a lot going on everywhere!

if you could have anyone do guest vocals on your next recording who would it be and why
Puh, pretty difficult! There are so many!
Jon Joseph and Harley Flanagan doing a duet would be great, hahahaha!

in only one sentence describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before

Fast and raw hardcore-songs with heavy breakdowns, mixed with the punkrock that runs through our veins.

how were you first exposed to the scene and what made you say I want to be in an band

The first time I went to a hxc-show I was kinda speechless! My Friend Ronny who played bass when we started out with ONE ON ONE called me. He was a few years older and had a car already, and he asked me if I wanted to go to a show with him! I said yes, why not! AF was playing and I have never been on a hardcore-show before! I was standing aside and couldn’t believe what my eyes saw, and the headliner havent´t played yet! Then AF hit that stage, ronny grabbed me on the neck and threw me into the pit! Maybe 20 minutes later I found myself standing on the stage with the hole crowd singing along to crucified! From that day on I was sure I was right! More and more shows followed, and I saw all the bands having so much fun playing there songs and being on the road so I said to myself, I need a band! Ronny was with me, but together all we could to was to purse up our lips and whistle the songs we knew, cause we had no instruments and even if we had some, we had no clue how to play them! So we called they guys we knew in our area, who had played in bands before and asked them if they we’re interested in having a band again! They said yes and we had our band!!!

when on tour and driving from city to city what is some of the weirdest shit you have seen happen or pass by

We were on the road again and there was a really heavy storm going on! And it was a really heavy storm! You weren’t able to sit still in the car. We all tried to fall asleep because we had a hangover, but our heads were bouncing from the left to the right because of the wind. Daniel who was sitting right next to me was scared shitless. He called the whole phonebook to get the latest news about the weatherbroadcast of the region we were about to enter next. And than it happened. Right in front of us there was a car with a caravan blown to the side by the wind. So as you can imagine it was pretty quiet in our car for the rest of the trip! Yes, I guess that was the weirdest thing that happened us on the road. Tightly followed by that two-headed sheep with just one leg and one trunk, taking a shit on the women’s-toilette at a gas-station, singing along “I did it my way”

where do you see the band in 3 years from now

still being on the road and having as much fun as we can, on and off stage!

the term hardcore has become so overused that any band putting a breakdown into a song is considered hardcore but explain to the readers what hardcore means to you

to us hardcore means friendship! It means to be wild!
It means to take a firm stand against fascism. It means to keep eyes and ears open about what is going on in our country and in our world! It means to be open minded!

What is your most memorable show and why

There are two shows I never will forget! The first one was our very first show at all! To be true, it wasn’t a show at all, we just played four songs! It was Daniel’s birthday and he played a show with the band he had before he joined us! If I remember right, we didn’t have a name at time! We had maybe three songs or one more, I don’t know! We wanted to surprise him at his show. Sadly our drummer was busy so we almost had to cancel the surprise-gig. We asked his singer, if he could play the drums for us, for four songs and he said yes! He was not a very good drummer, but he did a great job! We met three times, he gave our songs the punkrock-beat and we were ready! Everyone of our friends knew what was gonna happen at that night except Daniel and it was really hard to keep the secret the whole evening! Then the moment came, when Daniel and his band left the stage. Well everyone except his singer who was taken a seat behind the drums! We played two of our own songs, followed by “pride” from madball and “love song” from blood for blood! They audience was totally freaking out, only Daniel was standing aside wondering what was going on! It was great!

The next show I never will forget was a show we played in Berlin. It takes about seven hours to get there by bus! Aubi who played guitar in ONE ON ONE at that time had to work at that day, and that meant, that we were late. We should have been there at seven and we started at 14:30 or something like that! So we said to ourselves, no beers during the whole travel, just to avoid the countless rest-stops! One hour later we started drinking. We stopped at every gas-station to get more beer! A friend of us was driving! He checked us a bus out! It was from the company where his dad was working and I still remember his words: please guys, do me just one little favour: don’t spill beer in the bus! It came just like it had to come! Half an hour later the first beer-fountain hit the ceiling! An hour later one bottle fell down and we had to clean it up with our merch. Then of course we needed every little parking place to take piss! We talking bullshit all the time and we really had a laugh! It was just like an excursion of some inmates of a mental home. I don’t remember how late we were, but believe me, we were late! We arrived at Berlin and all our friends there were waiting for us with some hard-a surprises! We played the show, praying that everything would work out well, and it did! Than some hard-a was brought us to stage so we had to make a little break! We continued playing the rest of the set, stepped off the stage and there they were again: our Berlin friends waiting with some hard-a for us! We danced all night, singing along to cock sparrer and earth crisis. I don’t know how many times we heard firestorm that night, but I guess I’ve never heard it so many times before! We got home at dawn and were spread all over the city! So when we woke up it took us at least an hour just to figure out where everyone was and than it took us another hour to get everybody together at one place! As we slept separated we had a lot of stories to tell what happened to everyone at that night! But they are gonna be our little secret! So much: I will never forget that trip!

where else besides myspace can the readers go to to findout about upcoming shows and other band related information

They should check out http://www.oneononehc.de, http://www.demonsrunamok.de

who are some of the up and coming bands from the Ulm area as well as throughout Germany that we should be on the lookout for

From the ulm area you should check out bravestar and chance to rise!
In Germany you should check out, Crisis never ends, Final prayer, make it count, zero mentality, black Friday 29, settle the score and last but not least troopers!

where do you think you would be right now had you not been exposed to the hxc metal scene

I was often wondering about that term, but to be true, I’m goddamned glad that I never found an answer! And I really don’t wanna know it! I mean this is exactly where I belong! Here I have all my friends, thinking like me, feeling what I feel! This is something so unique, something so special and I would trade it for nothing in the world! If take a look outside the scene, there are so many things that you have to have to be something. Since I came to school was never hanging around with the cool guys in my class, you know! Always for the same reasons! At all events I believe that. I didn’t have the latest footballshirts or all the stuff little kids need to be accepted. Later on, when I was 16, I didn’t have a motorcycle, so I was out again! I didn’t have a cool car when I was 18, so once again belonging to “cool dudes” failed! I have never been poor and I am thankful for that! So please don’t get me wrong, my parents gave me everything they could, you know, but somehow it seems like it was never enough ! Yes I had a skateboard, but it wasn’t cool enough. Yes I had rollerblades, but not cool enough. Well maybe all my thoughts in this direction are wrong. And maybe it was just me, my person. I have always been a little different. I mean, when I was nine, I was listening to guns ´n´ roses, while the rest of my class was listening to some other bullshit I donut even remember. And I was a die-hard-fan! I tried to look like exactly like axl rose. Hahahaha, maybe it’s no wonder kids used to call me a freak. But looking back now, I’m really glad, that I have never belonged to them. If I meat one of them today I’m laughing my ass off about them. They are still the fools they always have been. Always on the run for more. I laugh about a lot people and on the other hand I kinda feel sorry for them! They don’t see all the small things which make live liveable! You really don’t need much to be cheerful and content! But being content is pretty hard if you lead their lives I guess. If you always have to be on the run just be “in” or to get all the status symbols just like big and cool cars, brands, the latest fashion which a magazines tells you to be “hip” and all that stuff it’s pretty tough and through my eyes it must be frustrating! They’re always under pressure and I do feel sorry for them! I feel sorry for them, not having the self-confidence to say “this is me, take me as I am or leave me”! I guess they will never be really happy! This is maybe one of the most important things hardcore has mediated to me. Even if I know that there are definitely groups in the scene, who care more about some rare shirts or shit like that, and even if I know, that I’m maybe too naïve and blue-eyed, here I found my place called home. My close friends aren’t my friends because of something I have or have not, they are just my friends. They’re my friends even if I’m listening to bands they hate or doing things they never would. They just take me as I am and this means the world to me. And I know, I can count on them, whenever there is need to! Maybe there are that close friendships out off hardcore too, but I for me have never found one, so I can’t and don’t wanna imagine where I would be have I not exposed to the hxc metal scene

why do you think that people always associate violence with hardcore shows and it always gives hxc scenes and shows a bad reputation

There always has been violence at hardcore shows and there always will be! Everyone who has joined the scene knew about it and it was ok! Hardcore is wild and it has to be wild!!!! Please don’t get me wrong. If I’m talking about wild, I’m not talking about those kickbox-mickey mouses which are around! I’m talking about a wild show, when all hell breaks loose, and everyone gives everything! I mean, if I want to sit or stand around, I´d go and watch joe cocker, you know! That’s a good music with lovely melodies where I would love to stand around just listening to the words and songs of a great singer. This was gonna be a beautiful evening, it was kinda perfect. Hardcore never has been perfect! When it all started back in the day, people played three chords shouted their throats out, about their personal problems. They where pissed about live, about the government, about everything and the audience wasn’t less. They just didn’t have a band to speak their mind out. So no wonder they started to let their emotions free in dancing violent! When I look back I remember my first hc-show really well. I was shocked and fascinated all in one! All the shit going on in the pit, all the stagedives! I think, this is what made it a kinda interesting, you know! It’s allowed to move wild, to run in circles, to jump into the audience and all that shit! No securities, no laws, no nothing, just being wild! And if then a nose gets broken: Sometimes you loose, and sometimes you can’t win! I mean, we knew it when we stepped in. If not at the first time, we definitely knew what was gonna happen at the second time and we did in anyway! Like I said it was cool, it was interesting! For someone who is not into hardcore, it must look like “there are 100 people just beating each other to the music”! Now wonder that hardcore always had a violent reputation. So I think that’s the reason why, but it’s ok.

Do you have any upcoming shows that you would like to tell the readers about

I just can invite everyone to our upcoming release-party on the 07th of July! It’s gonna be a blast.
SHOW UP TO THE SHOWDOWN

Waterdown Interview with Christian by Sean WWTO

http://www.myspace.com/waterdown
http://www.waterdown.de

First off i would like to thank Christian and Waterdown for taking the time out to do this interview with Worldwidetakeoverzine

How did the band come to be named Waterdown and is there any special meaning behind the band being named this

no special meaning, it's a classical hardcore-band-name with a sociopolitical
background.

what are your views on fighting at shows

i hate it. if people need to fight they should do it outside.

who brews the best beer Germany Belgium England and what types would you recommend to the readers

well, i am straight edge and i never drank beer in my whole life. but my
bandmates love beck's.

who are some of the bands main musical influences

all metal, hardcore and punkrock. we listen to this stuff since we were 12 years
old, and we are all around 30 now. so there's too much to mention only a few.

are any members in side projects other than Waterdown

not really. we don't have the time to have waterdown, our dayjobs AND another
band.

how long has the band been together

we started in winter 1999. so it's almost been 9 years now. fuck. :)

how many cds eps 7 inches split cds and demos has the band currently released

we have a brandnew EP called "powersnake" out on blacktop records, a german
hardcore label. some of the songs are on our myspace. other than that, we have
three full length records out ("never kill the boy on the first date", 2001 /
"the files you have on me" 2003 / "all riot" 2006, all on victory records), a
split EP with the canadian band by a thread (twofriends recordings, 2002) and
our first release, the "drawasmilingface EP" (also on twofriends, 2000). no
demos, our first EP was supposed to be a demo but we immediatly got a record
deal offered so it came out as an EP.

how has victory records treated you and are you still signed with them as well as blacktop records

we are not signed to victory records right now. we had a three record deal with
them. i think they treated us like every other band that they have.

what do you base your lyrics on when writing new material

personal demons and things that matter to us.


is there a large and thriving scene in the Ibbtown/Osna area as well as throughout Germany

oh yeah, there's a huge scene at the moment in germany with a lot of great
punkrock, hardcore and metal bands. you guys should check out heaven shall burn,
final prayer, zero mentality, black friday 29, ritual and narziss. as far as our
area is concerned, i would say there are some really cool bands that sound
totally different but are all great. check out www.myspace.com/donots for
quality punk rock, www.myspace.com/stormandstresshardcore for great modern
melodic hardcore, and www.myspace.com/secretsofthemoon if you like progressive
black metal.

is this the original lineup and if not what is the current lineup

right now we have zacken doing all the vocals, holger and axel playing guitars,
phil playing drums and me playing bass. this is not the original line up though. holger, axel and me are founding members.

if you could have anyone do guest vocals on your next recording who would it be and why

we would try to get someone that we are friends with. lou koller from sick of it
all or civ from gorilla biscuits for example. we toured with both bands in
europe and we had a great time with them.

does the band have any plans to tour the USA in either 2009 or 2010

man, we tried coming to the USA every fucking year since our first and only tour
in 2001, but it never worked out for different reasons. now it will be even
harder without a us-deal. but we will keep trying, we'd love to tour your
country again.

How can the readers from around the world contact you about ordering merchandise

you can try http://www.waterdown.de/html/shop_neu.html or www.trashmark.com for
different shirts, hoodies, zippers and stuff... there's brandnew merch coming
within the next days.

in only one sentence describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before

we play aggressive music.

when the band is on tour in the van what is usually playing in the cd player

we tend to listen to classics. it's more fun to rock out to songs everyone in
the band loves. we'd listen to some slayer, old metallica, pantera, snapcase,
refused, battery, gorilla biscuits, sick of it all or rancid.

how were you first exposed to the scene and what made you say i want to be in an band

i got a tape from a classmate when i was 12. it was a copy of the
scorpions-album "savage amusement". i kind of liked it, but the next thing i
heard was metallicas "ride the lightning" and slayers "raining blood", and since
then i need hard music. i wanted to be in a band since i went to my first show,
which was black sabbath in my hometown. i was 14 and scared and excited at the
same time. it took me one more year though to pick up my first bass and start
practicing.

when on tour and driving from city to city what is some of the weirdest shit you have seen happen or pass by

our guitar player holger is the weirdest piece of shit that i've ever seen.

where do you see the band in 3 years from now

i don't think we will quit. we love what we do. so we should be touring,
recording and having a good time.

who are some of the up and coming bands from the Ibbtown/Osna area as well as throughout Germany that we should be on the lookout for

check out the bands i mentioned before. and you can't go wrong with some classic
german metal. try kreator, sodom, destruction and accept.

the term hardcore has become so overused that any band putting a breakdown into a song is considered hardcore but explain to the readers what hardcore means to you

hardcore in my opinion has nothing to do with breakdowns. hardcore to me means
living my life with passion. i love what i do, i don't care if it feeds me or
not. i cannot stop. i try to be honest and respectful. i don't drink, i don't do
drugs, i have been vegetarian for more than 15 years now. i try to be diy as
much as i can. i support touring bands by going to their shows, i set up shows
in my area for some years and i try to keep the scene in my area vital.

What is your most memorable show and why

that's really hard to tell as we played over 700 shows so far and there have
been many great shows among them. i will never forget that my band got the
opportunity to play cbgb's in new york. that club was legendary and there are
only a very few german bands that had the chance to play there. another great
one was playing in front of 9000 people as a support for blink 182. we didn't
fit to the bill, we're way harder than the other bands, but the kids loved it and
we had 5 huge pits going at the same time. amazing. but i also love playing
really small clubs, where the sweat runs down the walls and people are
everywhere.

where else besides myspace can the readers go to to findout about upcoming shows and other band related information

we have a website www.waterdown.de and i just starting writing a blog with
tour diary stuff. http://downwithwaterdown.blogspot.com. you should also visit
our label www.blacktoprecords.de for other great bands.

what is your favorite city and coutnry to play shows in and also your least favorite and why

i want to play every country in the world. i know it won't happen but i WANT to.
i wanna experience as many different cultures and people as possible. we have
toured in 14 countries so far, and i loved it everywhere. i think this is the
best thing about being in a band. you get to see so many places it's amazing.

Who are some of the bands that you enjoy touring with

we toured with a lot of great bands, such as snapcase, boysetsfire, avail,
grade, as friends rust, anthrax, sick of it all, gorilla biscuits, rise against,
thursday, skycamefalling, stretch arm strong, pennywise and from autumn to
ashes. we enjoyed touring with all of them. there have only been two or three
bands in our time that we didn't get along with.

What advice can you give to some of the newer bands starting out that maybe having a tough time and thinking about giving up

if you do it for the right reasons you won't give up. this is not about being
successful, it's about creating music and having fun. as long as you're having
fun, go on! other than that: don't wait for good things to happen. make them
happen. be as diy as possible, work hard, practice, play every show that you can
and do not care too much about shit talkers. it's your life, your band. if some
other people don't like what you do, fuck them!

what is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to the band when playing a set

our singer ingo (who is not in the band anymore) felt sick when we played our
2006 record release show in our hometown. the club was sold out with 400 kids,
and he ran offstage midset and puked backstage for about 10 minutes straight. we
stopped playing and the whole crowd kept yelling his name "ingo!!! ingo!!!"
while he puked his guts out. not really embarrassing, but VERY funny.

where do you think you would be right now had you not been exposed to the hxc metal scene

i really can't imagine that. my love for music has such a great impact on my
life that i really can't think of anything else i'd rather do. i tour, record,
work as a music and bass teacher in my hometown and i write for the german metal
hammer magazine. it's all about music.

why do you think that people always associate violence with hardcore shows and it always gives hxc scenes and shows a bad reputation

i don't know, i never associated violence with hardcore shows, and i've only
witnessed very few real fights during a show. i think assholes are everywhere.
it does not come down to scenes, they are all around. there might be more fights
at hardcore shows than at a britney spears show, but i really don't know that
because i never went to a britney spears show and i never will, haha.


Do you have any upcoming shows that you would like to tell the readers about

sure, we have a couple of german shows coming up, some festivals as well (one
with a very cool line up including have heart, shipwreck ad and the casualties).
and we will be on tour in europe starting october 10th. we will most likely be
in germany, england, greece, czech republic, slowakia, austria, switzerland,
italy, france, spain and portugal then. we will post the shows as soon as we
have everything confirmed. you should check out our myspace for updates.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that i may have forgotten to ask that the readers should know about

no, nothing. thank you for supporting our band, thanks for the interview and
thank you to your readers for paying attention to what i have to say. i
appreciate it a lot.

Slowburn interview with Aaron drummer for the band interview by Sean WWTO

http://www.myspace.com/slowburnhc
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slowburn/7317029466

First off i would like to thank Aaron and Slowburn for taking the time out to do this interview with Worldwidetakeoverzine

How did the band come to be named Slowburn

Pretty basic really, we started out the band and called it Top Gun and we all decided that we were sick of getting asked “Like the movie?!?!?!?!” and we were also taking a more serious approach to song writing so we thought of a few different ones and settled on Slowburn.


what are your views on fighting at shows

Obviously we don’t encourage fighting at shows, and hope that no one gets seriously hurt at shows, but its something that happens these days, with a whole lot of genres of music mixing together, it brings different people together and sometimes they don’t like one-another…as stupid as it is, it happens and all there is to do really is to try and break it up.

how can the readers from around the world contact you about ordering merchandise and music

The easiest way is through our Myspace…www.myspace.com/slowburnhc all our stuff gets sorted thru there.

who are some of the bands main musical influences

Um, these are always changing and I cant really speak for everyone else in the band as we all draw something individually from different styles of music. Converge, Modern Life is War, The Hope Conspiracy, Amanda Woodward, Eyehategod, Life Long Tragedy, Electric Wizard…are some, to name a few.

are any members in side projects other than Slowburn

Yeah, sam our guitar player also plays guitar in another Canberra band Hard Luck, Sean(guitar) and Pete(bass) play in Condorcet and I am trying to get 2 other bands off the ground at present playing guitar for a change in both.

how long has the band been together

Weve been together for about a year and a half now so not very long compared to others.

how many cds eps 7 inches split cds and demos has the band currently released

We currently have a demo released and are waiting for our upcoming EP titled, Sleepwalker to finish being mixed and Mastered so we can release that.

what do you base your lyrics on when writing new material

Well its all different, some about personal experiences, some about our views on certain aspects of life…I don’t write the lyrics so its not mine to say but I guess everyone will take something different from them when reading them.

is there a large and thriving scene in the Canberra area as well as throughout Australia

Throughout Australia definitely and the Canberra scene is building and building with new bands popping up all the time. More overseas bands need to come here and see whats on offer here haha.

how did the band come to be signed to One Blood Records and how have they been treating you so far.

Well, one blood is Alex the bass player from Hard Luck, and he's helped us a lot with shows and getting our name out there, Hes awesome haha.

is this the original lineup and if not what is the current lineup

pretty much the original lineup, sam joined the band a little after, me, dave, sean and a different bass player, named Morgan who is now in a band called Dead Kings started the band, but other than that everyones been here since day one.

if you could have anyone do guest vocals on your next recording who would it be and why

Fuck haha, I don’t know my views on that are probably very different to the rest of the band…Mike Williams from Eyehategod?? haha

does the band have any plans to tour the USA in either 2009 or 2010

We would love to get there someday but money is the key thing to getting there and with 3 band members at university right now, it wont be in the immediate future. But if the opportunity came up we would definitely take it.

in only one sentence describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before

Soft, Heavy, Emotional, Raw and Orgasmic to the ears

what is the best Australian Beer that you would recommend to the readers

Being that I don’t drink to much Australian beer im probably not the best person to be asking, but I like Coopers, Beez Neez, Boags Premium and Bohemian Pilsner

when the band is on tour in the van what is usually playing in the cd player

If by tour van then you mean our cars then, I don’t know, I suppose something that everyone can bear, ive been rockin Neurosis and Baroness a lot lately though haha


how were you first exposed to the scene and what made you say i want to be in an band

Well i've been in bands for years before I was introduced to the hardcore scene (metal and jazz bands). But when we started Slowburn (Top Gun at the time) I just started going to shows with the guys from the band and got into it like that. Plus a lot of the bands I like from the metal scene are fairly into hardcore so I was always aware of it.

What made me want to be in a band, was the fact that the music I liked I never got to play in school so I had to do somewhere else with friends who also wanted to do it. And hearing metallica and pantera and wanting to play their songs on guitar haha

when on tour and driving from city to city what is some of the weirdest shit you have seen happen or pass by

Haha dead animals?? I drove through Byron Bay (close to Brisbane in Queensland) once and saw a dude struggling to go up a hill on a unicycle….that was pretty weird.

where do you see the band in 3 years from now

Hopefully with at least 1 more release behind us and touring a lot.

who are some of the up and coming bands from the Canberra area as well as throughout Australia that we should be on the lookout for

Coldfront, Dead Kings, Condorcet from Canberra, Australia umm…Losing Streak, Homewrecker, Clagg, Worlds Apart, Fattura Della Morte(but their braking up haha…suss their songs though they are awesome)…I don’t know really, go from bands Myspaces to others, theirs heaps of good shit coming out right now.


the term hardcore has become so overused that any band putting a breakdown into a song is considered hardcore but explain to the readers what hardcore means to you

Well hardcore to me and Slowburn really doesn’t mean having breakdowns haha, but in general I guess to me it’s a scene that is really friendly, has a bunch of really good musicians and the music is tight yet raw at the same time…


What is your most memorable show and why

Probably either a show we played ages ago with Mindsnare from Melbourne or when we played with Terror…Mindsnare for how fun the show was and how awesome all the bands were and ridiculous back flips off speakers and Terror for how good the crowd reacts to that dude asking for more stage dives every 5 seconds haha

where else besides myspace can the readers go to to findout about upcoming shows and other band related information

I think we have a facebook account dedicated to us haha, um local papers/zines (if you live in Australia), Australian hardcore forums.

what is your favorite city and coutnry to play shows in and also your least favorite and why

favourite city, I don’t really know…playing your own town is awesome because more people always know you there haha, but interstate is good because you see reactions from people who you haven’t seen before and are getting into the music. We haven’t played internationally yet but my favorite country is Friesland in the Netherlands…place is so relaxed and laid back its awesome and the food is sick haha.

Least favorite…is anywhere where people are assholes or bands are so stuck up that when playing to 30 people they act like their playing Woodstock or something

Who are some of the bands that you enjoy touring with\

ugh haha…Hardluck I guess

What advice can you give to some of the newer bands starting out that maybe having a tough time and thinking about giving up

Shit can go from nothing to something huge overnight and it can also take forever…keep working at it and don’t give up, the worst thing a band can do for themselves is stop trying to get better so always try to be on you’re A-game.

where do you think you would be right now had you not been exposed to the hxc metal scene

Still playing in death metal bands and playing shows with jazz bands.

what is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to the band when playing a set

Haha I don’t know really, screwing up songs, people falling over, dudes heckling us (them getting heckled back is the best return though haha), singer having a broken leg looking like he was Robocop…although that was funny and a sort of gimmic for a while.


why do you think that people always associate violence with hardcore shows and it always gives hxc scenes and shows a bad reputation

Its heavy/loud/I guess angry music, people will always associate it with violence, plus tattoos seem to drive heaps of people away haha

Do you have any upcoming shows that you would like to tell the readers about

Yep, The Sando w/ BAD BLOOD, MARK MY WORDS, STEPPING STONE (18+) in Sydney, The Venue w/ FOUR YEAR STRONG (USA) + REX BANNER (ALL AGES) here in Canberra, ANU Bar w/ ROSETTA (USA), THE SURROGATE (QLD), 4DEAD (18+) again here in Canberra, and hopefully some big news soon too.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that i may have forgotten to ask that the readers should know about

Our EP will be out soon, when it is out try and get a copy off us at shows or over the myspace, were sorry its taken so long but it will be here very soon!

Thanks heaps for the interview Sean, get onto World Wide Takeover Zine…

Come to some shows, Eyehategod rule, Peace.

The Fitzpatrick Incident interview with the band done by Sean WWTO

http://www.myspace.com/thefitzpatrickincident

First off i would like to thank all The Fitzpatrick Incident for taking the time out to do this interview with WorldwideTakeoverzine

How did the band come to be named The Fitzpatrick Incident and is there any special meaning behind the band being named this?

Finding an original and unique name is hard. We wanted something that sounded original while still retaining a message that could be noticed
if one looked deep enough behind the actual name. Our name stems from a story of Australian foiklore centering around a bush ranger named Ned Kelly.
To quote wikipedia
"
On the 15 April 1878, Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick arrived at Benalla suffering from 'wounds' to his left wrist. He claimed that he was attacked by Ned, Dan, Ellen, their associate Bricky Williamson and Ned's brother-in-law Bill Skillion. Fitzpatrick claimed that all except Ellen were armed with revolvers. Williamson and Skillion were arrested. Ned and Dan were nowhere to be found, but Ellen was taken into custody along with her baby, Alice. She was still in prison at the time of Ned's execution. (Ellen would outlive her most famous sons by decades and die on 27 March 1923).
The Kellys claimed that Fitzpatrick came into their house to question Dan over a cattle duffing incident. While there, he made a pass at Dan's young sister Kate. Her mother hit his hand with a coal shovel and the men knocked Fitzpatrick to the ground. They then bandaged his injured wrist, and he had left saying that no real harm had been done. No guns, they claimed, were used during the incident, and Ned was not involved since he was away in New South Wales. However, the belief that Ned was in New South Wales is still disputed.
"

The name stands for the contradiction of authority and how it rarely actually protects those it should be. Rather than doing some detective work for Ned Kelly, the main constable Fitzpatrick decided to abuse his power and break the law. Not only this, he attempted to blame Ned Kelly for his own mistake.

Though our lyrics are mostly positive, community based and upbeat, we also like to point
out the paradox that is authoritative powers (in this case, corrupt police)

who are some of the bands main musical influences?

Our influences are all over the map. To quickly list some of the main ones: Pantera, Madball, Thrice, Hatebreed,Refused, Beloved, Shai Hulud, Comeback Kid, With Honor, Earth Crisis, Sworn Enemy, Sick of it All

for someone who has never seen The Fitzpatrick Incident live and is planning on attending a show in Ontario or Canada what can they expect to see?

They should expect a lively performance full of energy, smiling, punk jumps and fun times. Not only this, but I also yap my face off in between songs (I don't feel bands do this enough)

are any members in side projects other than The Fitzpatrick Incident?

Our guitarist Jeremy has an acoustic side project that he works on occasionally.

how long has the band been together?

We have been together since December '06, so around 1 1/2 years.

what are your views on Fighting at shows?

Luckily I haven't really witnessed a fight during one of our sets (this can either be attributed to me starting most of the fights, or people wanting to hurt me rather than each other in the pit). I think
fighting inside a venue is stupid and pointless, and I always think any fisticuffs disputes should be handled outside where the grips of security can't get involved.

how many cds eps 7 inches split cds and demos has the band currently released?

We have released one 3 song demo and are currently recording a 6 track EP in a week.

what do you base your lyrics on when writing new material?

I tend to write my lyrics depending on the direction of the music (we write to the music, not the other way around). For our melodic and more upbeat songs, I try to cover things that may piss me off but can resolve in a more positive way. For the more angrier or downbeat stuff, I try to cover things that involve community, government (ugh), rampant capitalism (double ugh)
or the lack of awareness in our society. I like to spin it different ways as well, for example ; One song is about the environment, while another is about attempting to forgive that one person you really hate.
The main connection between all my lyrics is realism and staying grounded. I don't really flow with bands that talk about stupid shit that has nothing pertaining to me or the world, and I try to follow that trend with what I write now.

is there a large and thriving scene in the Toronto Ontario area as well as throughout Canada?

I would say that for medium to large shows, the Toronto hardcore scene does well for itself. I have been to numerous sold out shows with a variety of bands, and I'm always surprised at how many new or different faces I see at these shows. I am not too sure about the rest of Canada, but I have faith in the rest of the kids in the country that there are sold out hardcore shows with lots of energy going on
every night.

is this the original lineup and if not what is the current lineup?

It is currently the same lineup, though come the Fall our drummer will be moving on.

what is the most common fast food stop on tour for example Wendys Mcdonalds Burger King?

Without a doubt, Wendy's. Even with all my hatred for capitalism and the consumer giant that North America is, my band cannot say no to a Big Bacon Classic.

if you could have anyone do guest vocals on your next recording who would it be and why?

If Lou from Sick of it All agreed to do guest vocals on a recording of mine, I would be completely honored.

in only one sentence describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before ?

I have heard different things from different people, but the one thing I always hear is that we have an 'old school sound'. I'd like to think we have an old school flavour
with a new school touch.

when the band is on tour in the van what is usually playing in the cd player?

My band listens to a wide variety of music and this doesn't change in the van. One our last trip we listened to Go It Alone, Furious Styles, One Handed Gun, Across Five Aprils and I Mother Earth

how were you first exposed to the scene and what made you say i want to be in an band?

I was exposed to punk/hardcore a few years ago when I attended a show in a local community center. I only paid 2 bucks and had the time of my life. Though I got mostly into metal after that and went to metal shows (where I was paying 30+ for tickets, fuck that) more frequently, the moment I noticed there was a hardcore scene in Toronto I jumped at the chance to contribute to it.

when on tour and driving from city to city what is some of the weirdest shit you have seen happen or pass by?

Smoking cars, dogs in the middle of the freeways, guys getting road head etc. Fun times.

where do you see the band in 3 years from now?

I'm not too sure. The one more ironic thing about this band is that stuff is very chaotic. One week we might have a drummer leave us, and the next week we might get a sold out show in Toronto. It keeps life interesting.

who are some of the up and coming bands from the Toronto Ontario area as well as throughout Canada that we should be on the lookout for?

The Diverse Attraction are good friends of ours and they play the most catchy music ever. To be completely honest here, they are a major reason why I brought
this band together in the first place.

There are alot of bands in Ontario that have a shitload of potential: McCarthy, Rah, A Distance From, Eating Glass, The Veil and the list keeps going on.

How can the readers from around the world contact you about ordering merchandise?

We are actually setting up an online store this week and it will be available on our myspace soon, so please keep checking back! http://www.myspace.com/thefitzpatrickincident

the term hardcore has become so overused that any band putting a breakdown into a song is considered hardcore but explain to the readers what hardcore means to you?

Answering this question could take forever. To put it bluntly, hardcore to me is the awareness of an underground musical force in a city. Hardcore is about the lyrics of awareness, positive
OR negative. Hardcore is about 20 dudes and chicks in a room jumping off walls and monitors to their friends bands. Hardcore is about knowing where this music came from and learning about it. Hardcore to me is about being a part of something that has no place anywhere else - where the intelligentisa crowd mix with the angrier crowd, where new kids stomp the floor beside veterans with everyone singing the same lyrics to their favourite band. It's about community, awareness, respect, loyalty and an unbridled love for the music that not many can understand or relate to.

What is your most memorable show and why?

I would have to say the most recent show in Zanesville Ohio. We played in the back of a coffee house with a capacity of about 15 people. The attendance was around 40 and by the end of it, most of us almost passed out and EVERYONE was just drenched in sweat. It was great.

what is your favorite city and also your least favorite city to play shows in and why?

I don't really have a favourite city.

I do however have a least favourite city, and that is London Ontario. Every single time we came out there, the promoter either paid us nothing or gave us peanuts to our guarantee. Not only that, but it just seems
that only the most dedicated of kids attend shows in that city!

Who are some of the bands that you enjoy touring with?

The Diverse Attraction are our brothers in battle and we always enjoy harassing them and reminding them why we are cooler than they are. A Distance From also parties harder than anyone we've ever met
and that always leads to some fun times.

What advice can you give to some of the newer bands starting out that maybe having a tough time and thinking about giving up?

Anyone that wants to quit in this business that early in its span, really should. This music and this industry is not cut out for people who give up on the first signs of failure and people who lack ambition. If you are a member of a band and are the only one with any talent or motivation, leave that band and either create another one or join an existing one. Too many people think being in a band is easy and join one without even thinking about the consequences of really putting your ass on the line out on the road.

where else besides myspace can the readers go to to findout about upcoming shows and other band related information?

I find www.returntothepit.com and www.lambgoat.com good for signed bands and information on tours, but considering my band I would just stick to myspace.
http://www.myspace.com/thefitzpatrickincident

where do you think you would be right now had you not been exposed to the hxc metal scene?

In jail or dead.

what is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to the band when playing a set?

Mike from Deterrence coming on stage and attempting to stop us from playing to say a few words to the crowd. What happened after that was Jeremy stopped playing, I looked confused and we kept playing without
Mike actually doing his part. It looked really amateurish but luckily, not many people were at that show to know that happened

why do you think that people always associate violence with hardcore shows and it always gives hxc scenes and shows a bad reputation?

I think people will associate what they don't know (hardcore) with what they know (violence) for as long as humans live. Hardcore shows may look like a violent and raw event to an outsider,
but to someone who has seen their share of shows and been on the floor numerous times, they know it's all love and all a good time. Fuck what other people say.

Do you have any upcoming shows that you would like to tell the readers about?

We have a small 5 day tour coming up in June with To The Lions, Carry The Torch and Heavy Hearted that we are really stoked about. I hope the kids that have been attending
the more mainstream metalcore shows come out to these dates and support these hard working, legit hardcore bands.

June 18th - Toronto, The Kathedral
June 19th - Oshawa, The Dungeon
June 20th - Barrie, Masee Pool Hall
June 21st - Brampton, Good Times Cafe


Is there anything else that you would like to add that i may have forgotten to ask that the readers should know about?

Check out our Myspace at the end of May/Early June for our EP drop. Our new stuff has melodic hardcore vibe in the vein of With Honor and old Comeback Kid, with a nice
heaviness touch ala Hatebreed and Earth Crisis. I'm really excited about this record and I hope people get into it and sing my lyrics back to me! Thanks to WWtakeover
for asking me these questions and listening to the stupid shit I say. Keep up the work guys.

I want to thank the members of The Fitzpatrick Incident for taking the time out to do this interview with Worldwidetakeoverzine

Digression Assassins interview with Johan vocals for DA interview by Sean WWTO

http://www.myspace.com/digressionassassins
digressionassassins@hotmail.com
http://www.ampire-records.com
http://www.myspace.com/ampirerecords

First off i would like to thank Johan and Digression Assassins for taking the time out to do this interview with Worldwidetakeoverzine

How did the band come to be named Disgression Assassins and is there any special meaning behind the band being named this

Since I wasn't in the band from the beginning, I am not really sure, but I think that the drummer wanted the word "assassin" in the band name and the first singer wanted the word "digression". So the words were combined into something that more or less symbolize what we do, breaking rules, or killing rules.

who are some of the bands main musical influences

I can't answer for the whole band, but as a singer my personal influences are vocalists like Eugene Robinson of Oxbow, Blixa Bargeld of Einstürzende Neubauten, Mike Williams of EyeHateGod, Nick Cave, not that I sound like any of them but they are an inspiration to keep doing what I do.

I can say that we're all into Gonzo Hardcore, Metal, Punk, Rock and Alternative Music.

what are your views on fighting at shows

As long as everyone fights someone who want to fight them back, go for it. Just don't drag people who are there to watch and enjoy, without getting a punch in the face, into it.

for someone who has never been to Stockholm and is planning a visit for 5 days what would you recommend for them to see and do while there as well are there any other cities that you would recommend to visit as well

That totally depends on what kind of person you are. I don't know if there any of interesting things in Stockholm, you have a couple of museums, but again, what are you after? If you want to get some cultural creds you can visit museums, art galleries and memorable spots in Stockholm, but I wouldn't recommend Stockholm to a tourist, maybe because I live here, but I don't think Stockholm is an interesting city. Sweden has a pretty dull history compared to other european countries.

are any members in side projects other than Digression Assassins

Not for the moment, and haven't been as long as I've been part of the band.

how long has the band been together

DA was formed in 2005, now it's only the drummer and the guitarist (who started the band together) who are left from the original line-up.

how many cds eps 7 inches split cds and demos has the band currently released

Two demos, one selftitled and "Attack and Avoid", one self-released EP "Next Step Can Only Be Supposed" and we are now releasing our debut album "Omega" on Ampire Records in Germany, we hope to have it available in the end of May/beginning of June.

what do you base your lyrics on when writing new material

All sorts of things, I've studied philosophy, I read a lot of poetry like Baudelaire. Lagerkvist, I read newspapers, I love provoking authors like De Sade, Dennis Cooper, Gabrielle Wittkop, so the thing that most lyrics end up in is criticism, against mankind, religion, society in a, hopefully, provoking form. And since I'm a singer/lyric author it's impossible to not get inspired by other artists lyrics if you read them.

how can the readers from around the world contact you about ordering merchandise

Best ways are either www.myspace.com/digressionassassins or directly at digressionassassins@hotmail.com or contact the label www.ampire-records.com / www.myspace.com/ampirerecords

is there a large and thriving scene in the Stockholm area as well as throughout Sweden

We haven't come across a lot of acts playing odd, extreme music, but there are a couple of acts out there who try to push the limits.

when is the best time to visit Sweden in your opinion

Also depends on what you want to do and where you want to go. For some reason, I'm not comfortable with recommending Sweden to anyone.

is this the original lineup and if not what is the current lineup

This is the current line-up, but not the original one.
Vocals: Johan, me in other words
Guitar: Mattias
Drums: Adde

We used a friend to play bass on the album, but live it's been us three since June last year.

if you could have anyone do guest vocals on your next recording who would it be and why

We had the old session singer Mischa from the "Next step can only be supposed" Ep on this album and I think our voices work together really great. My first gig with Digression Assassins, we did together, it was his last one and my first so we shared the stage. Could I pick anyone, I would like Justin Pearson of The Locust or Wes Eisold of Some Girls to come and do guest vocals on our next album.

does the band have any plans to tour the USA in either 2009 or 2010

We want to, if anyone can get us enough gigs so we can afford to come, lend us a minivan and a map, we're there.

in only one sentence describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before

Intense, insane and passionate destruction of musical rules, with a sense of groove, haha. More or less.

when the band is on tour in the van what is usually playing in the cd player

Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Meshuggah, Entombed, Locust, Mars Volta, Rage Against The Machine, stuff we like.

how were you first exposed to the scene and what made you say i want to be in an band

I come from a more metal/alternative oriented background than the others, they been playing punk and hardcore earlier, and they are a couple of years older than me. I started as a singer in a Black Metal act, and did that for two years, after that it was death/grind, drone, noise, ambient and noisecore. First time I heard Locust I was 14 I think, and it blew my mind, took a couple of more years before I heard Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge, but same thing happend. When I left my earlier band I knew I wanted to be in a band that performed insane, aggressive music, so I put up an ad, Mattias answered, and directed me to their myspace-site, and from the first time I heard Bully The Weak, I knew I wanted to be in a band that played that kind of music. Uncompromising, brutal, insane and aggressive. They turned out to be a couple of good guys as well.

when on tour and driving from city to city what is some of the weirdest shit you have seen happen or pass by

DA haven't been on tour, there's been single gigs, about 6-8 a year since the beginning, so no real tour-stories I'm afraid.

where do you see the band in 3 years from now

Hopefully releasing our third or forth album, touring a couple of months a year, getting good reviews and a load of fans who appreciate what we do.

the term hardcore has become so overused that any band putting a breakdown into a song is considered hardcore but explain to the readers what hardcore means to you

I've always thought that musical genres are defined by the originators, then explored and evolved by others. Hardcore to me is resistance and should be about that.

who are some of the up and coming bands from the Stockholm area as well as throughout Sweden that we should be on the lookout for

We played with Axe a couple of days ago, former Bruce Banner members, playing hardcore/punk/rock, Karpis, who got us that gig, a Mike Patton-isch sounding band, Soviet Jazz, experimental music in its purest form.

What is your most memorable show and why

The last one I think, at a pub in Stockholm, it was the tightest, best performance and greatest audience so far.

where else besides myspace can the readers go to to findout about upcoming shows and other band related information

We are trying to get a webpage together, but none of us in the band are good at that stuff, so we need help. But right now we've put all our cash on getting the album recorded, the artwork done and getting shirts printed as soon as possible. So Myspace is the only place so far. http://www.myspace.com/digressionassassins

What advice can you give to some of the newer bands starting out that maybe having a tough time and thinking about giving up

It's hard, I've thought about giving up some times, but I need to do this, it's not something I just do for fun, I need to do it. If bands out there feel the same way, don't give up. If being in a band, performing, writing music, writing lyrics, being creative is something that has to be done, you can't give up or you'll regret it.

where do you think you would be right now had you not been exposed to the hxc metal scene

I've always been into extreme music of all kinds, so if I hadn't ended up in a hardcore band, I'd probably be doing noise, ambient, drone or some other alternative music.

why do you think that people always associate violence with hardcore shows and it always gives hxc scenes and shows a bad reputation

Violence at hardcore shows aren't that common in Sweden. So it's hard for me to answer that question.

Do you have any upcoming shows that you would like to tell the readers about

Not for the moment, If we don't get anything booked, next show will probably be our release party.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that i may have forgotten to ask that the readers should know about

Digression Assassins - Omega, an 11-track debut album. It will be released on Ampire Records in Germany within a month or two we hope. It will be available through them and through us!
Thanks!

4 In The Chamber - Memories Die Review

Reviewed by: Cody Dagger


4 In The Chamber - Memories Die

1. Intro
2. Supremacy
3. No Tomorrow
4. The End of Forever
5. The Walking Hollow
6. 1000 Threats
7. Eyes of a Liar
8. A Few Pills Short
9. Memories Die
10. Blame Yourself
11. Existence

Memories Die, the independently released full-length cd from The Bronx's 4 IN THE CHAMBER is a fury of metalriffs, fast hc-style parts, and breakdowns behind meaningful lyrics and hc-style gang vocals. 4ITC covers topics like suicide, addictions, friendship, and hard times over 11 tracks of heavy fury. This cd is a nice break from the gigantic crop of "nudeathmetalcore" bands that have sprouted up and become popular. This cd is not for the weak.

Favorite Tracks: The End of Forever, 1000 Threats, Eyes of a Liar

For Fans of: Full Blown Chaos, Hatebreed, Born From Pain, All Out War, Sworn Enemy


If you want to check out 4 IN THE CHAMBER, you can find them at:
www.myspace.com/4inthechamber

This is This - Life In Paradise Review

Reviewed by: Cody Dagger



This is This - Life In Paradise
Wrongside Records

1. This is This
2. Brown Nosing
3. My Curse
4. Life in Paradise
5. Shook Ones
6. Fall In Line
7. Spite
8. Busy Livin
9. Fucked in The Head
10. No One Gets Out
11. Lets Go Fuckin Mental


THIS IS THIS come from Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand. Their latest album, Life In Paradise (Wrongside Records), is a true hardcore album in every sense. They bring 11 tracks of straight forward, no frills hardcore. The lyrics are sincere, honest, and pissed. Songs like "Brown Nosing," "Shook Ones," "My Curse," and "Fall In Line" call out the ass kissers, posers, and robots, citing them for messing up hardcore and life in general. "Life In Paradise" talks about their home land of New Zealand, and show that it isn't some fairy tale place, but a reality with all the pitfalls and problems of any other place. "Let's Go Fuckin Mental" is this album's "fun" track. The sound quality of this album is pretty good (recorded, mixed, and mastered by Kane Power at Wintec studios).

For Fans of: Madball, Skarhead, Terror, Hoods, and Sick Of It All.

Stand out Tracks: My Curse, Life In Paradise, and Busy Livin.

If you want to check out THIS IS THIS, you can find them at:
www. myspace. com/thisisthismuthafucka

Wrongside Records
www. myspace. com/wrongsiderecords