After a fucked up interview in Straubing I finally had the chance doing an usefull interview with Damien and Kaleb at the Vort ' n Vis Open Air in Ieper. I've put both interviews together to make it easier for you to read.....


Ploedi:

Talking about your new CD: Goodlife calls it "God Hour" but there's no title on the CD?

Kaleb:

There's a long story behind that. The song "Fire on 8th and 3rd" was written about a fire across the street from my house. I was sitting on my couch, turned around and there was a big fire and all those people running up to my house. And I was running around and said "What the fuck are all those people doing and wake up the god hour?". And kept saying that. And Damien was like "we're gonna call the album God Hour! So he called Edward and said "Yeah we're thinking to call the new album 'God Hour'". So Edward took it wrong and put that on everything and we told him later on that we're not call it "God Hour" now. And he forgot to take it off the posters and so on.

Ploedi:

What about the song "Half Friend Town" and the stuff you worte in the booklet of you new CD: "Thanks to all the Gainesville Bands that weren't afraid losing scene points for playing with us. There is Separation." Is there lot's of shit talking on you or what's up?

Kaleb:

I think it's more just like a general separation of hardcore and punkrock bands. There is a certain set crew of bands in Gainesville that are on "No Ideal" records and they kinda like the old school punkrock bands that people know and then there's us and some other new bands that don't really have anythnig to do with that because those bands never seem to play with like newer bands.

Ploedi:

Do you consider yourself more like a punkrock or a hardcore band?

Kaleb:

Punk Rock 'n Roll.

Damien:

I think the same. We subscribe to that ancient ideology that it's all the same it's Punk-Hardcore.

Ploedi:

You said ther's separation, what's your opinion on tolerance in the Hardcore scene?

Kaleb:

I think we just answered it before. It all falls in the same Category. And it seems like all these bands are talking about the same thing and I don't see the difference at all. If I see a good band thar plays Jazz or that plays Pop Punk or that plays you know Hardcore, that doesn't matter to me that's all the same. If they're good in what they do, if I agree or don't agree with what they say I canrespect that.

Damien:

But most people don't tolerate any of the scenes that they're not a part of because it's become so specified and separated. Everybody is in this little teenie categorian thinking. And that's disgusting because, we talked about this in an interview yesterday, we're all talking about unity and the only people that seems to be concerned with uniting are the people just like us. And there's no point to that, you need to know like unity doesn't mean everybody changing to what you are. Unity means you beeing able to tolerate and accept everybody else for not changing.

Ploedi:

Talking about "teenie categorian thinking". Walking around here (Ieper) you see lot's of very very young kids wearing very hardline sweaters and t-shirts. What do you think of those young kids having such extreme opinions?

Damien:

Oh, you mean the young kids that haven't experienced yet, that have no clue what life is about?

Ploedi:

I didn't that they have no clue!

Damien:

I do! I think it's good that they're starting to become informed on issues that most people in that age group are not informed about. But at the same time that sort of extreme is unhealthy you know. And I think most people outgrow the extreme attitude about it but hopefully stick to the parts that are important like that kind of diet or that kind of concern for environment. I hope they'll maintain that and loose the militance and that machismo.

Kaleb:

It sucks that the Hardcore scene right now is all about these bands that seem to sound the same to me, that are pretty much Metal Hardcore bands and you wear the shirt to go along with it. And then I really think that they don't get the chance to hear stuff like "The Cramps", "The Damned" and the "Circle Jerks" and bands that we grew up on. And that sucks to me because it's a part of Hardcore. It's not just one kind of aspcet on ethics, it's everything.

Ploedi:

Like at your show yesterday, there were so many kids on the stage do you feel confortable having lot's of kids on the stage?

Damien:

Yeah, well we forget sometimes that it interferes with or ability to play the songs correctly and we get all excited when we see all those people on stage and then kinda felt bad because we had to ask them to get off. We like to be surrounded by people like in Gainesville when we used to play on floors in living rooms or in warehouses where are just people all around us. And that's what feels good and natural. And it feels awkward to be up on that stage and everybody's down there so wanted people around us so we felt more at home but then it was too many people and it was fucking up the songs.

Kaleb:

I saw Ensign's set last night and they had the same problem so I didn't feel that bad. They were like "come on stage sing along!" and after a song they were like "ahh, you guys need to move back we can't hear through the monitors and guitar chords get tangled".

Ploedi:
The lyrics on "Fists Of Time" were very personal, was this wanted or didi it just happen?

Kaleb:

There lyrics before were more personal because Damien didn't have any fans at that time. Now he has friends and he knows people so he can write about more general topics.

Damien:

Before they were more about specific people in my specific life like on the "Fists Of Time". But on the new one we all pretty much went through the same shit in the past three months. Just a general feeling of betrayal by a lot of friends, by ex-girlfriends and even by bands. We just really felt outcast and alienated and we only had each other so I was able to write for more in general. I just didn't have to talk about what was happening in my life because it was happening in four of my best friend's lifes as well and also in our neighbourhood and our city.

Kaleb:

We were really excited about this EP coming out because it felt like these songs are our songs you know. Like the lyrics, the music and everything we did the whole thing as a unit and that felt good. We were really excited when it came out because it documents the time and that's what it is supposed to do and it does it really well for us.

Damien:

Yeah, that was definitely our diary of November through April.

Kaleb:

...going through Half Friend Town hell.

Ploedi:

Your song "Coffe Black" seems to cover the topic consumerism, could you please give some further explanation?

Kaleb:

That's a topic we're always battling with. We're always deciding should we support this, should we do this, we have long converstions about it. It's definitely something we talk about a lot.

Ploedi:

You know that we're an Internet Fanzine. Why don't you guys have a homepage?

Kaleb:

We're lazy.

Damien:

I'm still just getting e-mail down.

Ploedi:

What about your future plans? Will there finally be a full length CD?

Kaleb:

We're doing a full length, definitely by February. We hope to have it all written and hopefully recorded. before that we are doing another 7'' that is all cover songs. Three cover songs by a guy named Tom Petty, he's from Gainesville. He's an old Rock 'n Roller and we all like him a lot so we're gonna cover three songs and put them out just for fun.

Ploedi:

Will you take part in Goodlife's Metal Tribute sampler?

Kaleb:

I have no Idea, they didn't really ask us about that!

Damien:

Only if we can cover a Hearts song.

Kaleb:

Someone asked us yesterday if we wanna do an Negative Approach cover for another company. But there are only two songs left so hopefully we get to do that, I don't know.

Ploedi:

Do you have some final words?

Kaleb:

Thanks for the interview, thanks for the show (Anm: 12/08/99 - Straubing), thanks for everything.

Ploedi:

Thank you, too!