Ελληνικά
Dutch veterans of oldschool hardcore Backfire!, are going to give two shows in Athens (15 April at Texas Rock Club) and in Thessaloniki (16 April Eightball Live Stage), organized by Hardtimes and Straight From The Heart Records. Yannis Dois had a conversation with them. Cartilage and Soundkrash are going to play with them in Athens, while Streetwise and Reduced To Nothing in Salonica.
Hello guys and welcome to Metal Invader. We can’t wait to see you in Greece!
And we can’t wait to be back!
If it’s ok with you let’s go back to 1994. That’s when you began as a group of friends who loved hardcore. How would you describe your first attempts to write music?
I wasn’t there from the start, but of course I heard the stories about the beginning countless times: Four friends who loved music, only half of them played in bands before, one of them barely knew how to hold his instrument. It was their drive that drew people’s attention as soon as they took off.
I’m quite curious to know the story behind the band’s name…
It’s not a complicated story I’m afraid. The guys needed a name for their band and like many others back then they adopted a song of one of their favorite bands, in this case “Backfire” by Side By Side.
You’ve been on the road countless times, sharing the stage with very important bands (Madball, Warzone, etc.) and Warzone have chosen you to follow them on the European tour. How does it feel when one of your legends acknowledges your music and your band as equals?
While growing up there’s certain bands that are your inspiration and set a goal of the things you want to reach making music of your own. Being on the road with them and becoming friends is something you couldn’t have imagined back then. Of course, you get used to being friends with them, but the fact that they’ve acknowledged you (when only a handful of people did so yet) will always remain.
Having played in CBGB, home of the hardcore punk culture for many years, do you feel that hardcore goes beyond the narrow limits of music? Is it a form of politicization? A way of life?
It definitely is. Although I feel in many parts of western civilization the image has become more important than the message or the music. If there’s something to fight for, the music gets more energy, and that’s not always the case when life’s just good. But then again there’s also personal struggles that people deal with and those sometimes go beyond problems in the bigger picture. A lot of people feel related to each other in the scene and find strength through the music and message, at shows, in the car, in the shower.
What is your opinion on the modern hardcore scene?
My answer to the previous question pretty much says what I’m thinking of the ‘movement’ here. But please note that we still love playing shows and seeing the variety in age of the crowd growing. In the same crowd there’s people who’ve been going to shows for over 30 years dancing along with young kids who are visiting their very first gig. That says a lot about the strength of underground music.
In 1999 your drummer, Richard took his own life. How can a band digest, face and get over from such a tragedy?
Playing the first show after he passed away was our way to say goodbye to him and honor him as a friend, fellow musician and driving force of the band. (I played with them before, to fill in for Richard on drums as well as for Wyb on guitar). That show made clear it wasn’t time to stop, but to continue what the band had built up until that point. They rest of the guys in Backfire! and people around the band felt is was the right thing to do.
What should the Greek audience expect from Backfire!?
When it comes to our shows right now we play a blend of old and new stuff. We might be getting older, but the energy still flows during our shows. We get a lot of satisfaction from playing an intense set and interaction with the crowd plays an important part here.
Thanks a lot for answering to our questions! The last words are yours!
Greece, hope to see lots of you at our shows in Athens and Thessaloniki. It’s been a few years since we were there, so we’re looking forward to seeing you again and hope to welcome a bunch of new faces too!
