96-09-21 P.A.I.N. – Witchknot – Quarantine – Bad Influence – State Of Filth – Kirous – Carcer Molochi – Clutch Assembly

Intro: 96-09-20&21&22 8^th Leed festival

‘Carcer Molochi’ played on Saturday early in the afternoon with Gork (who had been playing here with ‘Coche Bomba’ the year before: 95-09-16) and myself doing vocals, Michael [Maes] drumming, Yannick [from France] on bass and Erwin [Degryse; still] on guitar.

Inge Cappoen, ‘Carcer Molochi’ vocalist

The band of V.V. ‘shitworker Michael Maes, ‘Carcer Molochi’, had played here quite a few times before. Their line-up had changed here: bassist Danny Suffys, drummer David Stubbe & vocalist Johan Sys had left, Michael switched instrument and some new people joined as Inge pointed out… A few months later (early 97) partners Mike & Inge would start ‘Link’ with Greg on bass and Juju on drums…

‘Witchknot’ (from Bradford) had played here already (93-09-18). Jane Graham (bass & vocals) was replaced by bassist Kess. ‘Foundsters’ Sarah MacHenry (drums; was in ‘Curse of Eve’ in the 80s), Lianne Hall (guitar & vocals) had turned the band into a 6-piece with the addition of Sally Stone (vocals), Marion (violin), Gaynor Haggerty (cello). They were described as “Punky ladies knitting songs with a load of instruments”. They put on punk and riot grrrl gigs and Witchfests at the 1 in 12. Sned put out their EP (Suck; Tilt! #8: >>The music these women produce is not based on the traditional rock’n’roll structures. The untypical use of instruments and the upbeat colliding rhythms make it sound really bright and refreshing. Songs about empowerment and protest. A true kick in the nuts of capitalism and patriarchy.<<) and LP (Squawk; Tilt! #9: >>Complex, rhythmic, yet danceable earthbeat-punk reminiscent of ‘Recusant’, ‘Dawson’… The dashing beats keep putting you on the wrong foot but these women are still able to drag me along in their whirligig. The violin and cello also give it a folky feel. […]<<) on his label Flat Earth recs during the years. Some people labeled their music (experimental jazzy) post-punk and mentioned influences such as ‘The Slits’, ‘X-Ray Spex’, ‘The Ex’, ‘Dog Faced Hermans’, etc. etc. Later Kes and Sarah formed ‘Baba Yaga’… Well into the new century Sarah’s in Wales, playing in ‘Mwstard’ with her partner Alec Mac…

‘Witchknot’ (from Sascha May’s zine Evilspeak #3)

‘Witchknot’ (photographed by Sascha May)

‘Quarantine’ (from Glasgow) were Brian Curran (guitar & vocals; ex ‘Disaffect’; later ‘Debris’), Tracey Fallon (bass & vocals) and Jamie Usher (drums; ex ‘Disturbed’, ‘Headstart’ & ‘Sedition’). If I’m well informed they did a tape – entitled Doin’ It Wrong – in ’95. Their LP Automatic Negative Thoughts was recorded in April ‘96 and released by Nabate. My reviwe in Tilt! #9 goes: >>Brutally refreshing music that provides people with the adequate energy to meet the demands and resist the pressure of life. Great melodic crusty HC with brilliant hooks and catchy riffs. ‘Strawman’ and ‘Jawbreaker’ jump to my mind. […] Wonderful!<< (The 7” Junction was registered July 1997.)

‘P.A.I.N.’ (Propaganda And Information Network) – with some people who were also in ‘AOS3’ and ‘Radical Dance Faction’- brought ska-punk with reggae/dub influences supporting anarcho-style rantings. They were compared to ‘Inner Terrestrials. The band was from London: John Horabin (vocals & keyboard; was here before with ‘AOS3’), Phil ‘Pain’ Beckett (guitar & vocals), Ozzy ‘Captain Ozbert’ Wilkins (bass & vocals) and ‘Dan the Man Bdlang’, Danny Sylvester (drums & vocals). In 1996 they put out the album Oh My God! We’re Doing It! on the Bristol label Inna State recs.

‘Bad Influence’ had also been playing at the V.V. many times… This was the period after the Afterbirth 10” was released (marketed as “the Belgian answer to ‘Amebix’ and ‘Zygote’), so this might’ve been with ‘Eggy’ Egbert Verheyen playing guitar…? And Tim ‘Cow’ Shapland on bass?

‘Kirous’ from Joutseno (Finland) were Jonne Kauko (drums; ex ‘Selfish’), Ossi Vepsäläinen (guitar), Toni Eiskonen (bass; editor of Downsided zine), Antti Valius (vocals; here replaced by ‘Sharpeville’s vocalist, later by Teemu Bergman). In 94 they’d put our a 7” the Parisian label Minstrel recs.

‘State Of Filth’ from Preston (Lancashire) played “fast, heavy crust-core with dual vocals”. A DIY/political band; in a later stage fronted by Wayne Southworth (vocals, ex ‘Sore Throat’, ex ‘Doom; also in ‘Blood Sucking Freaks’ with Bri & Stick of ‘Doom’; R.I.P. 2005). They did a demo (Forced Into Silence ; 20 tracks; “mostly sludgy punk/crust at 1000mph”) in 1996. Nick Loaring (‘Ebola’ vocalist) put out a split-7” with ‘Slain’ on his label Enslaved in 1998. 28 of their songs appeared on a split-CD in the noughties… On the 7”: Kev (guitar), James (bass), Adrian ‘Ade’ & Rob(bie) (vocals), and Stu(art) Knowles (drums; later ‘The Day Man Lost’). They also appeared on the The Boredom And The Bullshit 7” compilation (‘96, Refusenik) and on the 7” More Noise By Nice Boys (‘97, Czech compilation).

‘State Of Filth’ (pics courtesy of Kevin Whitlock)

‘Clutch Assembly’ was a duo into techno and techno-house: Hendrik Willemyns & Thomas Laureyssens. In ’97 they released some material on Nova Zembla, a Belgian label (based in Zwijndrecht) with a respected name in the techno-scene…

Brob

‘Clutch Assembly’ is the band ‘Arsenal’ nowadays… Hendrik was a friend of mine from uni…

Peter Vanthuyne (V.V. shitworker)

We always enjoyed playing the Vort’n Vis. Somewhere I have photos from one of our last (maybe the last…?) European gigs when we played there with ‘Quarantine’. Me and Alec [‘Health Hazard’, ‘Suffer’, …] live in the middle of nowhere now, but we do a band with a friend of ours [‘Mwstard’], maybe an oldies band on the way…

Sarah MacHenry, ‘Witchknot’ drummer

‘Quarantine’ played at the Vort’n Vis Leed fest in ‘96 along with ‘Witchknot’ (who were our touring-mates on that trip). First time I’d played in the big barn and not the bar. Really good gig I remember, apart from Tracey got her sleeping-bag stolen, that good times were had by all… We only stayed one day as we we were in Germany the day before and after. Think that was the only time ‘Quarantine’ played the V.V. We did quite a bit in a short period of time (95-98). LP, EP, demo, 4 Euro-tours with some pretty cool bands (‘Kort Prosess’, ‘Counterblast’, ‘Scatha’, ‘Witchknot’, ‘Battle of Disarm’, ‘Active Minds’ and plenty more). ‘I.B.’ and Adam [see guestbook] did come along with us as travelling companions on this trip.

Brian Curran, ‘Quarantine’

We went on our first short euro-tour with ‘Kirous’ in 1996. First we took a ferry from Helsinki to Travemünde (Germany), and since we were young and didn’t have a car we rented one from Germany, the cheapest one available off cource. Something ended up going wrong with the rental company and they replaced our cheap car with a high-end Mercedes which was kind of silly and confusing. Our vocalist Antti was not able to tour, so we decided to double or nothing and ‘borrowed’ the two vocalist of ‘Sharpeville’. With this line-up we played around 5-6 gigs in Germany, some of them with ‘State Of Filth’ and I believe one with ‘Witchknot’ in Düsseldorf, and then the one at Leed festival. I vaguely remember that gig. There was a city festival at the same time and I remember going there to see some Japanese taiko drumming. I had a blast in Belgium and remember the taste of Jupiler quite easily to this day.

The guitar-player Ossi passed away in 1999 and that’s when ‘Kirous’ ended. Jonne and me formed a new band ‘Yhdeksäs Surmanluoti’ but we never did a record with that band.

Toni Eiskonen, ‘Kirous’ bassist

Angus McPhee, of ‘Glue’, drove ‘Quarantine’ around that tour!!!

Angus Quinn, ‘Sedition’

Your archival skills continue to impress me. It’s really nice to see the entries in the guestbook. ‘I.B.’ and Adam did travel with us and also a third friend Carolyn (not in bands). ‘I.B.’ and I were in a relationship at that time. Adam was Brian’s flatmate. We took Andy [Irvine] (‘Scatha’s) distro with us and Adam & Carolyn helped with that as well amongst other things. ‘I.B.’ played in Scatha – band that ‘Quarantine’ toured and played a great deal with due to mutual friendships and past musical connections – as well.

Tracey Fallon, ‘Quarantine’

I played guitar in ‘S.O.F.’ and bass in ‘The Day Man Lost’ (amongst others). Great to read up the reviews and remember so great times with great people. Even recognise my crappy handwriting in the guestbook ha! I We played the Vort’n Vis as a part of small tour (Chris of Aversion zine did a tour-guide that mentions we did a gig or two with ‘Quarantine’ on that tour. – see below). Loved the gig and people at the venue looked after us so well; real cool crowd. I played guitar. Prior to this I was in ‘Virus Insurrection’ (bass), ‘Hecatomb’ (guitar) and after ‘S.O.F.’ in ‘Belligerent’ and ‘Mass Of Bastards’ (both guitar and both with Stu Knowles) and ‘The Day Man Lost’ (bass). The others were Ade Goddard and Rob (God) Butcher to the best of my knowledge. Jimmy Rodgers played bass in ‘S.O.F.’ and was also in ‘Belligerent’ with me and Stu.

Kevin Whitlock

from Aversion #5

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

‘I.B.’ (‘Disaffect’), Angus (‘Glue’), Adam Johnston (‘Headstart’) were there as well…

additions wellcome!…

91-03-16 Nations On Fire – Scraps – Private Jesus Detector (photos)

More on this concert: 91-03-16 N.O.F. – Scraps – P.J.D. – C.F.C.

Here’s a some extra photos, contrbitued by Justin ‘Nunca Mas’ Neumaier:

‘Nations On Fire’  (with a young Hans Verbele in the crowd)

‘Private Jesus Detector’

‘Scraps’

Bruno, the spider in the web ;-)

Sociocultural Life in Ypres

… as published in the Vort’n Vis zine, Fifi (#6, August 1995)

(column by Vort’n Vis co-founder Jan Claus)

[translation below]

THE SOCIO-CULTURAL LIFE IN YPRES & ATC [autonomous meeting-centre] THE VORT’N VIS

Summary: This is a message for local people about the local socio-cultural life, the too big influence of the local ccommunity-council and the abuse of power, the repeated waste of money on expensive prestige-projects, the censorship against alternative projects and the prejudices against the Vort’n Vis.

First I want to make clear that this here is my personal opinion. Still, I’m far from the only one who thinks this way. I also want to clarify that I don’t see culture as something separate from the rest of society. It’s also influenced by the establishment and politicians who like to get their picture in the newspaper.

In Ypres there’s too much cheering about the socio-cultural life. Wrongly, because in Ypres there’s only space for the Flemish sausage-culture, prestige-projects and projects of the friends of the city-council. And as we know: these types of activities are usually unimaginative. Don’t get me wrong: there are definitely interesting things in Ypres but they are small and are suppressed by costly prestige-projects of which one can seriously question the common utility, but that cost the inhabitants of Ypres a lot of money.

Just take the new Grand Market e.g. That has costed a 100 million, of which 9 to 12 million francs went to an ugly, tacky fountain that no-one asked for. Some people probably got very rich on that but whether it attracts more tourists is very doubtful. On the contrary: many foreigners (especially from other EU countries) say that this market looks sterile “because there are thousands of markets like that all over Europe”; Ypres, Diksmuide, Bruges,… it all looks very really similar. There’s nothing original to it. It’s the dictatorship of mediocrity. And in the meantime there’s cuts on social welfare and people on benefits are suddenly (after 7 years) getting a reminder for refunds!

The nightlife is getting poorer every year. Ten years ago it wasn’t already that great; now it certainly hasn’t improved. The pubs are also more and more looking alike; increasingly posh, elitist. They are so clean that they don’t have a soul anymore. You don’t get judged on your behaviour but on appearance. (“No sir, you can’t come in here, youre wearing sneakers.”) And then they’re surprised that the Ypres’ nightlife is bleeding to death because more inhabitants go elsewhere, to mega-discos or to the folk-pubs in Dranouter [small village with a yearly folk-festival]. Because these at least haven’t lost their souls and people won’t be staring at you. Students would rather spend their money in the university-towns. And they are right!

Six years ago some people started the Autonomous Meeting Centre, the non-profit association that, among other things, runs the pub the Vort’n Vis. Some wanted rehearsal-rooms, others wanted an alternative pub for alternative youngsters. Still others started it because they no longer approved the official youth-centre, which depends on the city of Ypres. They were constantly being patronised. Alternative concerts were not allowed because that wasn’t goody-goody enough. This was also debarred because politicians constantly interfered with the youth-policy and the will of the subsidising authority (the city of Ypres) is law.

In short: they wanted to get rid of mediocrity and the patronising by the establishment. They wanted more imagination and creativity. They wanted more ‘life in the brewery’ [proverb meaning ‘more activity’]. They didn’t want to have to keep asking the bureaucratic authorities if they could please be allowed to organise something fun. Nowadays the ATC organises 20 to 25 concerts a year at the Vort’n Vis – giving starting and unknown bands who want to play a fair chance. In doing so we’re the most active concert-organiser in the wider area. These concerts are known in alternative circles worldwide. At larger concerts people come from everywhere: Poland, Croatia, Turkey, Czech Republic, Portugal, Canada, USA,… The US, British, Polish,… alternative fanzines write about the concerts at the Vort’n Vis. Sometimes a band that performed at the Vort’n Vis gets famous. Virtually no-one knows e.g. that ‘Green Day’ played at the Vort’n Vis for expenses, in 1991 – when they weren’t known yet. Nowadays you can see them on MTV a lot and they sell millions of CDs. And all this happens without receiving any subsidies during those 6 years. This is indeed a conscious choice for the ATC so that politicians wouldn’t be able to interfere with our policy. Sometimes one wonders where all those subsidies for the socio-cultural sector actually go to. The cultural activities of the ATC do not cost the taxpayers one penny. On the contrary: the ATC pays VAT on the entrance-fees. Also french-fries-shops and grocery-stores in the area make a lot of money during our larger concerts.

But all this is systematically ignored and the citizens of Ypres are hardly aware of all this. Even if ATC staff regularly add press-releases and activity-calendars to the press-kits for the local press, one can hardly ever read anything about it in the regional newspapers. News about card-game-contests is apparently more interesting cultural news in Ypres. Take for instance Ieperaktief, the info-section of the city of Ypres in De Streekkrant [free and widely desitributed paper]: if one asks why there’s nothing about the activities taking place at the Vort’n Vis in Ieperaktief, they pretend they haven’t found anything about it in their press-kit. If one shoves the concert-agenda under their noses so they can’t pretend they haven’t received anything, they come up with all sorts of transparent excuses (long deadlines, no publicity for private organisations,…).

Ieperaktief representative of the socio-cultural life in Ypres? Don’t be daft! The ATC staff already stopped believing fairytales a long time ago. It has as much news-value as stalinist propaganda leaflets. Apparently everyone has to be made believe that Ypres is a paradise on earth and those in the Ypres town-hall are worried that their city becomes known in alternative circles through the unsubsidised ugly duckling, which they have no control over. On the other hand: everyone seems to have an opinion on the Vort’n Vis: supposedly a drug-shack where the tough guys come to fight every week, where girls are raped at the bar and more stories like these. We can even laugh about it because one can’t fight malicious stupidity anyway. Curiously, all those people that know it all so well have never put one foot inside the Vort’n Vis. They only know it from hearsay. Well, when I form myself an opinion on a pub, I’ve at least been ther once in person.

We’ve now started to keep a quarterly low-energy evening at the Vort’n Vis. The intention behind it is threefold: to make people aware of the value of energy, to make a symbolic contribution against the dumping of nuclear waste in the region by not using electricity – originating from a nuclear power plant, and solidarity with the Third World, which can’t afford to use as much energy as we do.

In this context we invited the Department for Developmental Support of the city of Ypres to come over with an information-stall on energy-consumption in the Third World. This wasn’t allowed by the Ypres’ community-council because it was an initiative of the ATC at the Vort’n Vis. However, this council itself organises demonstrations against nuclear waste. Or is this just to win votes in elections? They certainly don’t come to the logical conclusion that they must speak out against nuclear energy and environmentally sane alternatives. Or is it because of the fact that they all have connections with Electrabel [major energy-company that owns the nuclear plants]?

Also some older altemativos were invited to come down with info-stalls on energy-forms that are environment-friendly, sustainable. However, they didn’t show up. Apparently the May ’68 generation is no longer interested in young people who want the promote the power of the imagination, and they’re just as biased as their petty-bourgeois peers. Sometimes we encounter more understanding amongst people working as a manager in a large company. They apparently don’t look beyond their organically grown kitchen-garden. So one doesn’t have to expect much more from these older altemativos anymore either.

Yes, I know, this is a lot of criticism. But this can’t hurt in a city where one pretends nothing’s wrong. Besides: why should I remain friendly towards all these hypocritical and narrow-minded people anyway? If one keeps always silent, nothing ever changes. I can’t tolerate all that false cheering and petty-bourgeois hypocrisy any longer.

95-11-05 Masskontroll – Enola Gay – Agathocles – Serpico – Core

>>The ‘Enola Gay’/‘Masskontroll’ tour included 15 individuals piled up in 2 vans. The first was French with on bord ‘Enola Gay’ in its new formation: Michel & Cyril (alternating between drums and guitar/vocals) – both from Auch, Anne-Gaelle [Manceau] (bass) & Gavus (2^nd guitar) – from Thionville, Philou the driver and myself. In the second van: Steph ‘Tofupunk’ (driver) & his inseperable dog Gargouille, Rebecca from Canada, ‘Masskontrol’ (bassist Jason, singer Adam, guitarist Kelly and drummer Chris [Pfeffer]), Saira with the thick American accent and Gi (Portugese-Belgian).

The first date was in Belgium at the Vort’n Vis. Cool to start a tour there, it’s a familiar place and an occasion to meet up with Belgian and French friends. Pleasant reunion. ‘Agathocles’ furious grindcore always pleases me a lot. Jan (vocals/bass – with just 2 strings) is totally crazy, it is worth seeing him alone! On the other hand, I don’t like the voice of the guitarist too much: way too death-metal to my liking… An unchained ‘Enola Gay’ is more chaotic than before; one feels very well that things don’t fit that well yet. It was their first gig in this line-up. ‘Masskontroll’ arrives very late from the U.K., where they had a few dates. I’m expecting something more powerful, more angry. I find especially that the singer doesn’t have a lot of his voice left and the sound didn’t sound that great either…<<

From Ludovic Hache’s tour-report (in his zine Ras L’Bol #4)

‘Masskontrol’ & ‘Enola Gay’ (collage by Ludovic Hache)

‘Masskontroll’ (from Portland, Oregon) did D-beat crust-punk with japcore/scandinavian mid-80s HC influences and lyrics on political issues. The band was Kelly Halliburton (guitar; ex ‘Resist’, ‘Defiance’), Adam Jordan (vocals), Jason ‘Trousers’ (bass) and Chris was the replacement drummer (for ‘Jolly’ Roger Forbish) on the tour. Their driver was Stef ‘Panikeshi’ [Steph(ane) Guillet] (‘Viktor’s Hofnarren’, a mate of Pablo Resistance). The LP Will You Ever Learn? was recorded Spring of ’95 (produced by Pig Champion) and released by Mind Control. The Polish label Nikt Nic Nie Wie did a CD, Malarie recs from the Czech republic did a tape. The latter had already done a split-7” for them (with ‘Heartline’) in ’94. Kelly released the Recycle Or Die flexi 7” on his label Consensus Reality (’94). Also recorded in Spring ’95 was the 7” (with a cover of ‘Heresy’s Genocide) that Felix did on his label Havoc recs. Their last release was the flexi 8” split with ‘Battle Of Disarm’ (Consensus Reality ’95).

‘Enola Gay’, a grindcore band from Auch (France), used to be Michel Cebrian (guitar/vocals; also Reality Of War zine), Cyril Prieto (bass/vocals) and Fred Jourdan (drums). They had a new line-up here. They had done a split-tape with ‘Ultimate Disorder’, a few 7”s and a split-LP with ‘Vomit Yourself (on Panx prods entitled Exempted Authority / Nihilism…). in ’95 Sylvain Vilette released a split-LP between them and ‘Coche Bomba’ on his label Bad Card recs. Later they formed ‘Disbeer’…

If what is written in the guestbook is correct this was the 6^th time ‘Agathocles’ played at the V.V. Jan Frederickx (bass/vocals), Burt Beyens (drums) & Steve Houtmeyers (guitar/vocals) had recorded a bunch of tracks that would appear on the Razor Sharp Daggers album a few months before this.

‘Serpico’ (formerly named ‘Sleeper’, see: 94-05-22) was announced but I don’t find a trace of their passage. They melodic emo-influenced hardcore and came from Staten Island, New York. In April that year they recorded for They Shoot Babies Don’t They? 7” that came out on the Czech label Day After (with Anthony ‘TJ’ Quatrone on drums, John Lisa doing guitar/backing-vocals, Marc Treboschi on bass, Michael De Lorenzo on guitar and John ‘Apples’ Telenko doing vocals). On this tour Chris Guardino played drums (‘TJ’ only did the tour in ’94) and John T. wrote that he never toured Europe; Jeremy Weiss did vocals on tour. The Feed The Rainbow LP, finished end of ’94, came out on Equal Vision recs (that also released the Rumble LP in ’96). They also did a few split-7”s on various other labels.

‘Core’, from London, had been here already on 93-11-07. Don’t remember much about them or if they actually showed up. My review of their demo in Tilt! #8 goes: >>Strong material with a gloomy feel, based on metally riffs reminding me of ‘Prong’ or ‘Metallica’ by times. Slower to mid-tempo but well-structured. Steve ‘Neuthrone’s kinda stuff, I guess…<<.

André Hoppe of the German (from Hünxe; Two Face distro) visited…

Brob

This was a great show. I remember rolling around on the stage and barking like a dog. Our drummer was Chris (He wasn’t in the band in ’94 so it has to be ’95.), ‘TJ’ (played on the ‘94 tour) was on and off in the band. Chris had a lot of snot coming from his nose and I caught it with my tongue. The audience looked grossed out… Loved that place! The crowd was fantastic. I truly felt at home. I chatted with so many people. I remember a few guys from ‘Nations on Fire’ – Ed and Jeroen. [Brob: Perhaps that was in ’94?] I think the Vort’n Vis was legendary. Our tour was booked by Steffen Rose (Navigator); Haagen was the driver…

John Lisa, ‘Serpico’

I think [Brob: I’m sure!] I was at the V.V. for a show with ‘Masskontroll’ in ‘95… I honestly don’t remember… My zine started in ‘93 in Portland. I lived in Berlin for a year in 98-99 then moved to Minneapolis in 2000 and went to live in NYC in ‘09. I also played in ‘Resolve’ (Minneapolis) and I still play with ‘Question’ since we started in ‘06. ‘Detestation’ was from Portland (95-98)…

Saira M. Huff (Diminutive Rage zine, Portland; later vocals for ‘Detestation’, bass in ‘Faggot’, etc.)

I don’t know if ‘Serpico’ played, though… I don’t remember that. And I also have no idea who ‘Pedro the Drunk Punk’ is! [Brob: a mate of Wim & Stef De Leersnijder] Ha, ha…must have been someone I met at the gig and had some drinks with, there seemed to be those guys at every show, ha ha… I do remember showing up late, though… I recall we got a late start in London, and then we were delayed when Saira lost her passport and had to go through everything she was carrying to find it. After that we had to take a train and a bus to get to Dover to cross the channel, and then I think we went to Calais instead of Ostend…I guess I was still learning to tour back then and not doing it as efficiently as I could have been.

Kelly Halliburton, ‘Masskontroll’ guitarist

‘Enola Gay’ didn’t show up on the last show of their tour… [Brob: 95-11-19 @ Berchem’s youthcentre: Masskontroll (USA), Deconsume (Bel), Insane Youth (Bel), Skatta (Bel)]

Erik Minnen, ‘Cornucopia’ vocalist

Their van broke down before the last show and they didn’t have enough money to get it repaired…

Steve, ‘Insane Youth’ vocalist

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

The poem by Jan AgX is impossible to translate…

Steve ‘Neuthrone’ speaking in tongues…

Jaak De Cock (former ‘Nations On Fire’ drummer) expressing his discontent with the Vort’n Vis programmation…

additions wellcome!…

Questions & Answers (about the Vort’n Vis)

… as published in the Vort’n Vis zine, Fifi (#6, August 1995)

The editorial mentioned: “The first aim of Fifi Zine is not to entertain you (…) but to inform you about ATC De Vort’n Vis, the activities and views of the cooperators [collaborators] (…) we give you the most necessary information.”

95-07-23 Lifetime – State Of The Nation – Anomie – Honey Honey – [Clean Slate]

A concert organised by Joeri Hoste (Emotive Impulse zine); with 2 bands related to the Jade Tree label…

‘Lifetime’ (from New Brunswick, New Jersey) were Ari Katz (vocals), Dan Yemin (guitar), Pete Martin (guitar), Dave Palaitis (bass) and Scott Golley (drums). Descriptions of their music went from “melodic but energetic HC” (Tinnitus EP, ‘94/95) to “catchy power-pop-punk” (Jersey’s Best Dancers CD on Jade Tree, ‘97). They compiled their 7”s on the Seven Inches LP and ‘Mira’ Miroslav Pátý released it on his label Day After recs (Czech Republic).

‘State of the Nation’ (Salt Lake City, Utah) were supposed to be “more politically-oriented” and were dubbed “The ‘Consolidated of melodic HC”. In the band: Rob(ert) ‘Cubby’ Haworth (guitar & vocals; ex ‘Farside’), Andy Patterson (drums) and Mark Haworth (bass). They released their Objective Complete LP on Jade Tree in ’94 and did a self-titled album on Revelation recs in ’95.

‘Anomie’, from the Orléans area, played sometimes raw, sometimes melodic emo-inspired HC with screamed (female) vocals. They were Johnny Vellaine (guitar & vocals), Rémi Chaumet (drums; who was still a teenager then), Kathleen Simonneau (vocals) and Gilles Auvinet (bass & vocals). Kathleen & Gilles (very nice and intelligent people) had been in the band ‘Escape’ (Echappe A L’Histoire! 7” in ’93) together before (split in ’94) and ran the label Ape recs and they ran a studio. ‘Anomie’ had done a demo the year before this gig. In ’95, they released a split-LP with the German band ‘Peace Of Mind’ and a 7” together with ‘Peu Être’ (emo band from Niort, France). They were back at the V.V. on 96-07-07. Gilles & Kathleen also did a side-project called ‘Anna O’- “just for the sake of touring” (Remi was so young couldn’t tour much – together with Alexis Dectot, the drummer of ‘Season’ & guitarist Antoine Goubard, who would be in ‘Amanda Woodward’ later)… The band’s lyrics were quite insightful and dealt with political and sociological issues (sexism, racism, war, self-image and consumerism). There’s some live footage shot in Rennes (France) in 1994.

‘Honey Honey’ (Leopoldsburg/Hechtel) was a melodic HC band (“influenced by ‘Submission Hold’, ‘Spitboy’ & ‘Team Dresch’) with: Wendi Geuens (vocals), Gert ‘Gonzo’ Hermans (guitar), Edwin Gielen (drums) and Sven Cuypers (bass). They did a 7” on Dennis’ Tyfus label (release-gig: 99-05-28 @ ‘Sorm’ in Deurne) and Vinyl O.D. (Phil Merckx from Tienen). Bart Elen played bass on that 7” (Sven had left; he was still in the band when I saw them in Brugge July ’97). Pat Broux had also joined as second vocalist. They appeared also on the Ambala Sweet Centre compilation-7” (with ‘Malva’, ‘Curll’, ‘Cradle’ and ‘Useful Idiot’) in the early line-up; and on Filth Ear’s compilation-LP (Screams From Belgium; with ‘Muggles’, ‘Hirudo’ & ‘Les Schtroumpfs Alcooliques’). I really liked that band: did a presentation in Tilt! #8 (’95) and set up a gig in Gent (98-03-15) – They also did a second show at the V.V. (97-03-01). There was an interview intended for Tilt! #10 (started early ‘99) but I never got to publish that…

‘Clean Slate’ (from Prague) were announced early on but didn’t play… They were a melodic (post-)hardcore/emo band that were compared to ‘Quicksand’ or ‘SamIAm’. They had demo out in ’94 and Day After recs released their LP Saltish (‘96). Manager & 3^rd guitarist Robert ‘Veg’ Vlček (also in ‘Kriticka Situace’) came along with the American bands (see guestbook).

Brob

I don’t think we played there with ‘Clean Slate’ in 1995… Perhaps we had the idea that we would drive all the way from the Czech Republic to join this show but then we figured this idea was pretty dumb. I don’t know. Maybe. Who knows… We may have played there with ‘Gameface’ in 1996…no? [Brob: Don’t think so…] Or in some other place in Belgium. My connection with the ‘Lifetime’ / ‘State Of The Nation’ show is that I booked that whole tour. I also did the ‘Four Walls Falling’ & ‘Sensefield’ tour… Besides myself and Jiri [Nedvidek; vocals], ‘Clean Slate’ had a drummer who now goes under the name ‘Martin Suicide’ and there was a bassplayer named David Kaba, plus the founding member, guitarist Jan ‘Johnny Needle’ Jiskra.

Robert ‘Veg’ Vlček

I was at the V.V. a couple of times, maybe with ‘Lifetime’? I can’t recall…

Miroslav ‘Mira’ Pátý (Day After recs)

Pat Broux was the second vocalist and Edwin’s girlfriend. Bart Elen played bass at a later stage (after Sven had quit). After I stopped (in 2000, I believe), Gert, Pat & Edwin went on under another name. Jimmy Even was the second vocalist and Sven did the bass again.

Wendi Geuens

I did 3 tours (in France, Germany and the UK) with ‘Honey Honey’ as replacing bassist… But never played with them in Belgium! Wendi was my girlfriend at that time so I hung out with them quite a bit… [Brob: Wendi also did some backing-vocals for ‘Reiziger’ later on.]

Pascal Hens; ‘Reiziger’ guitarist

It was a super concert at the Vort’n Vis with ‘Lifetime’ and ‘State Of The Nation’! What memories! A mythical scene! I think we played there with ‘Seein’Red’ too! [Brob: I’ve no indications of that…]

Rémi Chaumet, ‘Anomie’

After the HC-festival in August ‘94, I was also lucky enough to see ‘Avail’/’4WF’ and ‘Lifetime’/’SOTN’ in ‘95, plus the festival in August ‘95. I usually came over with Vique [Martin]…

Mark ‘Macca’ Wilkinson, Brighton

excerpt from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…