1.introduce your band? who is neshamah, where do you come from ...
jen: I play da bass..and we are from south Africa the dark continent
hahaha::
matt: im mat I sing and do all the hard work hehhehe we are neshamah from
Africa (south Africa) the others are justim he plays the drums ad juan who
plays guitar
2. how did you come together? when did you start doing neshamah?
Matt: well I formed the band in 1999. We played our first show in march 1999,
we were all hxc kids who wanted to play hardcore and we just got to together
and did it as simple as that.
Jen: Neshamahs been going for 2 years, but ive only been in for 1 and a half
years now, well im kinda matts[vocalist] girlfriend and ive always had a
desire to play bass in hxc, so they asked me woohoo::
3. What releases did you do up to now? What are your plans for the future?
Matt: yeah we have our debut cd out avialble through facedown distribution in
cal and good life recording here in Europe and interpunk.com and in south
African through croakroom records. Our plans for the future are to release
our next cd hopefully through a us label; just to get our music more out
there and into hands of kids so they can hear us and enjoy it we hope and
as well to tour Europe and the states is in our minds we just need some
contacts anyone out there?
Jen: we have one 'grass withers and its flower falls' but hopefully
releasing one soon [before the end of the year] we have soo much new stuff
we could record a new album..future..definitly to sign to a u.s hxc
label, we do as much as we can, but we definitly need more help, being in
south Africa is quite hard, luckily we have the internet , we're playing
cornerstone festival this year..4:10pm indoor stage 4th july, so come check
us out!
4.what is neshamah about? what about your lyrics?
Matt: we sing about our beliefs and daily life and our experiences
Jen: neshamah means breath of God in Hebrew, we sing about whats on our
heart/social issues etc.
Justin: Neshamah is all about having fun and doing what we love best,
playing music about what we believe in and stand for.
5. what did you guys bring into hardcore? what do you like/dislike about hardcore?
nowadays and in the past?
Matt: well I love the whole unity and brotherhood vibe; its good to be
untied to build a socially aware youth and change the mindsets of the older
people... what I don't like is people who rip of the bands when they are
trying to just make ends meat ... understand I don't like some of the vibes
like rock star mentality and elitist people we all are equal we all bleed
red blood and breathe the same air ... and after all we are all into hardcore
for the same reason nobody is better then anyone else. keep it real and
united.
Jen: I love hardcore, I love the music the lifestyle and the beliefs, theyre
all super rad, that why I love hardcore, I fit right in, the only thing that
bugs me, which youll get in every scene is the XtrendyX kids who aren't
true but hey afterall "trends come and go, but the true will say behind
till the end"
Justin: I love Hardcore, I hate Rockstars "even though I was one myself"
6. what do you think about things like veganism or straight edge? is anyone
in your band straight and/or vegan?
Matt: I think its everyones personal choice once again; its down to respecting
each other, respect each others beliefs and lead by an example that's what I
say. As for me being vegan - no im not straight edge - well my actions are but I
was like that before I even knew what it was..so I dont really classify
myself as one. But im all for good morals if abstaining helps a person have
a better life of self control im all for that
Jen: im sxe and vegetarian, I think its cool if you don't force your
opinion onto anyone!! its personal to me, and thats why I do it, I don't do it
because the x says do this don't do that, its my own personal choice with my
own personal rules.
Justin: DO NOT CONDONE THE KILLING OF VEGETABLES!!!!
7. what bands do you like? favourite 5 hc-records and 5 favourite non hc records?
Matt: fave hxc bands: no innocent victim-flesh and blood - livingsacrifce - reborn - figure four-no weapon formed against us - dodgin bullets-world wide war - strongarm-atonement
fave 5 non hxc cds: suicide machines - less than jake - Fuzigish - skankers union - mxpx-life in general -stryper hahhaha
Jen: fav hxc: niv - flesh and blood, xdisciplexad - heaven and hell, shockwave - autohate, and sick of it all - scratch the surface and all of h20.
fav un-hxc: the deal-yesterday today and forever - glasseater - dropkick murphys - rancid-out come the wolves - anchor-shipwretched life and Fuzigish-skankers union[local ska]
8. tell us what you think about the scene where you come from ... and about
the european scene as for as you heard about it ...
matt: our scene is growing, we get about 100 to sometimes about 400 kids
there depending on the advertising and promotions etc but yeah its
growing ... as for Europe ive heard a lot about it and wanna come play sometime
so anyone out there once again let us know ... umm yeah dig to check out
arkangel and defdump and knuckledust...
jen: our scene is still growing, I mean there are only 3 hxc bands in the
whole country ;) but we have a real rad scene cos we're all good friends, we
practically know everyone, so its awesome I like it how it is, but always
space for new kids yeah I hear the scene over there is pretty sick!!its
awesome, I cant wait to come tour over there and check out some of the
raddest hxc ever!!
9.What do you do for your living?
Matt: I manage a skate shop/surf shop.
Jen: I study web design and do a zine called silent screams - check out my
page http://www.punk.co.za/silentscreams, I also do the flier designing and
other friends bands sites
Justin: I work in a music retail shop selling instuments.
10. Where do you see your influences? are there any bands that influenced you/the
band in writing music and in the way you write your lyrics?
Matt: musically we try to write what comes out and what we feel - we don't sit and say
ok this song should sound like this or that we just write ad if we like it
we use it..obviously we have our influences ..but we just write what comes
out ... as for lyrically no band influences my writing I write what I feel and
on topics that I think must be raised and addressed
11.What about shows/tours in the near future? do you plan to do a european
tour in the near future?
Matt: yeah we wanna come over we just need to get hooked up
Jen: yeah definitly hopefully the end of the year..anyone who can help us out pls contact us at neshamah@truthmail.com thanx
12. Do you remember your best and worst shows? and why were it good or bad
shows?
Jen: nah I think what makes a good show is if youre enjoy it and the kids enjoy it, fun fun fun, all ages shows are the best!!worst shows, nah I wouldn't say we've had any, like sometimes the sound is kak or something goes wrong, but I always have fun playing
13. Where do you see the future of our scene? in which way will it go?
Matt: I think hxc in general is getting bigger which is good as for which way
its goes only the future can reveal that one. i cant really say I have no clue.
Jen: Your scene??or the whole hardcore scene??I think it can just get
better, not really sure, but im keen on playing all over the world and can t
wait too
14.what are the aims you try to achieve? with the band? personally? what are
important aspects of your life?
Matt: I do it cause I wanna change peoples mindsets on certain issues in
life and use this awesome tool hardcore to put it through..basically I wanna just help people with problems and hopefully my lyrics will make an inpact on them and make them think twice about there life and where they are at..and I love the hardcore scene
Jen: im doing this because I love it, and desire to do it, well we wanna get
our message out there and hopefully help kids in the scene who are lost and
lonely, we wanna be friends with everyone and love them no matter what their
beliefs are
Justin: WORLD DOMINATION
15.last words?
Matt: thanks so much for the interview..come and check us out at
www.neshamah.com or contact us at neshamah@truthmail.com and out aim nick is
xjen24 yeah ..stay true and strong I would die tonight for beliefs my favourate saying from no innocent victim
Jen: bye bye and thanx so much, any girls out there in the hxc scene, stand
strong, at first I did get a few guys trying to break me down and say that
im a girl trying to play mens music, screw that, we are equal and can do
just as a good job as guys can, keep it real, follow what your heart
says ... do what u love most!! Hey anyone wanna ad me to your aol buddy list
feel free my user name is xjen24..thanx 4 the inty..later
Justin: LATER
