I'm continuing my look at bands from the Noord-Brabant scene on the Netherlands and in thus post I'm focusing on a band called Defy The Crown. Defy The Crown is made up of:-
Bas Sprangers(vocals)
Rowdy Hamers(1st guitar)
Marck van Heeswijk(2nd guitar)
Patrick Verschure(bass)
Thomas v. Hofland(drums)
Defy the Crown used to be known as Against all Laws, but recently changed their name as they took their band more seriously. They formed in 2008 and have already played shows alongside underground bands like Awaken Demons, The Darkest Red, who are featured in this very blog and Britain's own, Burning Skies.
Defy the Crown are currently signed to underground Dutch label - CrossFireCult records. You can check them out here - http://www.crossfirecult.com/index.php. The band are currently working on an EP, which should be due out soon via their label, so watch this space and in the meantime check them out on their Facebook page at - http://www.facebook.com/Defy-The-Crown and on their Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/defythecrown.
A few day ago, I asked guitarist Rowdy Hamers some questions and here's what the band had to say:-
For those people who are unfamiliar with Defy the Crown, can you tell people a bit about the band and how you formed?
When DEFY THE CROWN started off, they didn't have anything to prove to the world..
They did a lot of shows, made no-nonsense hardcore and had a real good time.
Last year DEFY THE CROWN decided to take a short break because the band went through some difficult situations, as a band, as well as some personal things.
During that break the band realized that their history made their reputation instead of the music they made, and decided to change that. They got to see that there are lots of people that really have a lack of respect and really don't care about you. From that time on they got sick of always hearing that bands change their music style just to get
popular. There are hundreds of bands that do the same thing... Of course everyone has a dream to make a living out of music and live a rockstar life, but do your own thing and keep it real. Please take a minute to KEEP THE FAITH with terror and check backtrack...They're bringing back the glory days!
What are your plans for 2011?
The first thing to do right now, is finishing our upcoming EP (HATRED FROM INSIDE), that we will release soon. Of course after the release, we need to promote HATRED FROM INSIDE…. We are quite busy planning shows/tour's through as many countries as possible. Basically we want to play as many shows we can, hangout with everyone we meet, have a great time, bring our message out to the world, help out people that need it and deserve it and of course having a great time doing just that. We’re also planning some small things for ourselves and for the next album, after we've done HATRED FROM INSIDE.
You used to be called Against All Laws. Why did you decide to change your name?
We started off just as a fun project, we never thought that we were going to play shows and bring out a record.... So you can already guess that our songs and our attitude at that moment weren’t all ways that serious. A lot of people got a twisted image of us being aggressive guys, fighting a lot, only drinking and having a party all day.
But let’s set some things straight; Of course we like to party and we will always have each other's back, but everyone in the band is working his ass off everyday for his money, as well as for the band and we simply like to have a good time with everyone we meet.
In the little break we had, we got a new drummer and our songs were getting much more serious than when we kicked off. For example the learning process of writing good lyrics; At this moment they’re still straight to your face and if someone hears a song, they can definitely tell that we are pissed of about a lot of things and people, but they're not that aggressive at first sight, more like serious lyrics with a message. From that time on, we decided to change the name to DEFY THE CROWN because that's a name that,
in the way we look at it, really represents us.
How is the hardcore scene on the Netherlands at the moment?
Quite well actually, at this moment there are a lot of young kids that are really into metal and they just need a thing where they can really hold on to. Not to complain about metal because we are big metal fans, but hardcore is something more, the energy, the dedication, the truth. You all know it! But what we think is really awesome, is that those kids are doing the same stuff that we were doing back in the day when we were young. It's a good reminder, so that's cool! In our scene almost everyone tries something to promote it; There are a lot of bookers, record labels, interviews for e-zine's and so on. But we think that people still need to buy more cd’s or merch, just for the support, bands need it!
Of course not everyone has the money to get every colour of a specific 7" but at least support the band you like, so you can see them again, or hear a new record.
Besides that it's all cool here! On the other hand, there is always something to complain about but in our opinion, the hardcore scene is doing quite well in this little country!
What or who are your influences as a band?
Our biggest influence is everyday life. Things we see on the streets, on TV and all the bad things on the news. We have a song that’s about; hate for corrupt cops, a song about; no one doing their own thing anymore, people that do something wrong in our opinion and so on. At the same time we can write a song about party's, cool hardcore shows and things like that. So that's really different every time, but we always write songs that come from the heart and about things that we all believe in.
How has it been for you playing live and has it been easy for you to get shows in mainland Europe?
Playing live is such a great experience, for us it's the best thing in the world.
We always try to give everything, no matter what, it doesn’t matter if there are 10 or 500 people at the venue, we’ll make sure its a party!!! Over here, shows are most of the time quite easy to get, but you still need to work for it. They’re not asking every local band to play, but with a little effort and if you know the right people it's basically pretty easy.
Have you had the opportunity to play in the UK yet?
No not yet, but we will definitely play some shows in the UK when HATRED FROM INSIDE comes out. We’ve heard from a lot of people that the UK is awesome when it comes to hardcore, and the experience of course. We will take on every show that’s worth playing, so you will definitely see us some time in the UK!
What has the reaction been from people at your live shows?
Most people tell us; ,,Yo guys! good show, it's good to see that there still kids that know how hardcore should be made. You can really see that you having a great time on stage as musicians and friends, and not only for the money or just to get famous. keep it up!’’
We think that’s pretty cool!
What do you think of the metal/hardcore scene in general at the moment?
It's really good in some ways; it's bigger than ever, more kids every year.
But at the same time, bigger means more bands, more bands means more influences
and more influences means less hardcore. on the other hand, it's cool to see that it’s getting so big and thankfully there are still some "good old" hardcore bands.
How much attention have you had from other media?
Not that much actually, when you play a show, you’ll see posters in the local city, a piece in the local paper and on our label site, but people don’t really pay that much attention to Dutch hardcore from outside their own scene.
Can you give any tips about bands to check out in your local scene?
You should check out THE DARKEST RED www.myspace.com/thedarkestredofficial
They're insanely good musicians, if you like the faceless or the black dahlia murder, you would want to get married with these guys!
And then there’s SUPERIOR www.myspace.com/superior
Metalcore as it should be with ‘’new york vibes’’ and a little beatdown.
Please take a minute to check out www.crossfirecult.com , it's our label and you can find some great bands over there!
We really want to thank James @ STAY AHEAD for this interview and we hope to see you all when we’re in the UK!
So there you have it, keep an eye for these guys as I'm sure they'll be heading our way soon and bringing there hardcore message with them.
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