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!…

96-07-07 Anomie – Substandard – Marker – [Grover] – Tuomiopäivän Lapset – Bakunin’s Children – Totuus

‘Bakunin’s Children’ were Steve Differding (guitar; also in various other bands from Luxemburg), Thierry Thill (drums; ex ‘Because’ & ‘D’Rotzbouwen’), Frank Villanueva (bass; later ‘Petrograd’), Marek (vocals) and Ronnie ‘Riot’ (vocals; also ‘D’Rotzbouwen’; Skunk recs). The music was raw, fast HC. They did the Amerikkka Loves Us split-7” (with ‘No More’) ‎on Ronnie’s label Skunk recs and also had a track on the benefit compilation Amore & Anarchia (on the same label).

‘Tuomiopäivän Lapset’ (‘doomsday children’) from Tornio were (at that time) Sanna Ylimäinen (vocals; but not on this tour), Mikko Hietanen (guitar), Kake (bass) and Altse (drums; Ari ‘Altse’ Alatalo, graphic artist: arialatalo.net). They did a whole bunch of 7”s, one of which was a split with ‘Disrupt’ on Ecocentric recs. Right after this tour they recorded the EP Saatanan Murhaajat (on the Austrian label Fallen recs) with Weke as vocalist. Their music was fast and pissed scandi-thrash: “dis-core with angry shouting vocals singing in Finish, D-beat feeling and bashing drums”. Two of them (Sanna & Mikko) have a new band called ‘Bad Jesus Experience’.

‘Tuomiopaïvän Lapset’ (photographed by by Wim De Leersnijder)

‘Substandard’ (a band from Nottingham playing fast and furious HC) were Andrew ‘Andy’ Hennessey (guitar/vocals), Jason Wilson (drums; later replaced by Keith), Jules Lowery (vocals), Pat O’Keefe (guitar) and Sean Oxborough (bass later replaced by ‘Goz’). Eddie Greenaway & ‘Pug’ (‘Slum Gang’ drummer) also stood in for ‘Substandard’ but not on this one… They did 4 7”s: a split with Leicester band ‘Nerves’ ‎(in ’94 on Inflammable Material – the label created by ‘Substandard’s singer Jules and Mike Clarke from ‘Decadent Few’), and another 2 with ‘Pink Flamingos’ entitled Germania Meets Britannica (recorded Dec ’96) and one with ‘Detestation’ – USA Meets UK – (both on Wicked Witch recs, ’97). Then Consuming Need… …Consuming Greed (Inflammable Material, ’99). Jules distributed their stuff through his distro (Missing The Point distro). Here in Belgium Gert ‘Gonzo’ Hermans (‘Honey Honey’) helped them out… Jules had been visiting the V.V. before (see: 92-02-09)

‘Marker’ (from Nottingham) were Marcus Jones (guitar), Pete (guitar), Noël (bass), Doug (drums) and Matt (vocals). They had a 7”, We Love Pop Punk, out on Easel recs (‘96). I distributed it back then and reviewed it in Tilt! #9: >>Fast, raging HC cut up with ‘emo’ breaks. Enraged singing. Calling them “another emo band” would be underrating them…<<

‘Marker’ : Noel – Matt – Doug – Marcus (photographed in Lille, by Pete)

‘Grover’, from Manchester, were Steveland Minta (guitar/vocals, also ‘Kitchener’ [94-03-05]), Ryland Minta (drums) and Stephen ‘Ducky’ (also ‘Whiplash’) Duckworth (bass). Their 7” Trials And Tribulations was due on Clandestine Surprise (recorded a little while before this). They had to cancel this show here…

‘Anomie’, from the Orléans area, played 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) ran the label Ape recs and a studio (where a lot of bands from that era – e.g. ‘Undone’, ‘Fingerprint’, ‘Unhinged’, ‘Öpstand’, ‘Alcatraz’ etc. – recorded, if I remember well). They played here already on 95-07-23… They did a demo in ’94. The next year they did a split-LP with the German band ‘Peace Of Mind’ (see: 94-11-05) and a 7” together with ‘Peu Être’ (emo band from Niort, France). Their last release was a self-titled LP in ’97; they also had some tracks on the Food Not Bombs benefit-compilation… Yann Boislève released their discography in 2001.

‘Anomie’ (pic by ?)

‘Anomie’ with Matt ‘Marker’ supporting on vocals (pic kindly donated by Marcus Jones)

‘Totuus’ (meaning ‘truth’), were a band from Oulu/Tampere that played crusty HC/punk. I think they were Miikka Timonen (drums), Vesku (guitar; later replaced by Mika Piipponen), Raffe (bass, R.I.P.; later replaced by Tommy Kangosjärvi) & Tomppa (vocals). They recorded for a split-7” with ‘Hiastus’ in February and in November of that same year they would register the tracks for the split-7” with ‘Aparat’ (from Sweden).

Brob

I played in ‘Totuus’ from 2000 on, in the nineties they had the original bassist.

Tommy Olavi Kangosjärvi

I didn’t play in ‘Totuus’ in 90’s. I played bass just for their (one-off) re-union gig in May 2013. Miikka Timonen plays drums for ‘Vivisektio’ nowdays.

Pentti ‘Pena’ Kaulanen

We (singer Tomppa & myself, drummer Miikka) tried to remember something about that gig, but no results. We are still living in Oulu. Our bass-player Raffe is dead. I think our guitar-player Vesku is living in Helsinki… Some history about the band: The first name was ‘Hässäkkä’ [hassle]. We did a 7” Totaalinen Vitun (in 1995) with myself on drums, Tomi doing vocals, Raffe on bass and Vesku playing guitar. In ‘96 we played the first gig under the name ‘Totuus’ (same members). In 1997 Mika Piipponen took over guitar and I think in 2000 Tommy took up the bass.

Miikka Timonen, ‘Totuus’

Great gig! I travelled with ‘Tuomiopäivän Lapset’ to their gig in Neerpelt the next day!

Erik Minnen

I guess ‘Totuus’ (Finland) were also on the line-up? [Brob: Had forgotten about that but yes…]

Jim Faes

I’m good friends with ‘Marker’, the founder member [Marcus Jones] now does a band called ‘ASBO Peepshow’.

Eddie Greenaway, ‘Slum Gang’ (Nottingham)

We never played this gig. We were meant to be doing a tour with ‘Marker’ but something happened and it fell through. We did a small tour of Belgium with a band called ‘Honey Honey’ but never played the V.V.

Steveland Minta, ‘Grover’

I didn’t play on this tour. Jason did. I played with ‘Substandard’ for a while on a German tour. Jules Lowery (the singer) sings in our new band ‘Constant State Of Terror’.

Sonny Tyler, ‘Substandard’ stand-in drummer

I was already familiar with the Vort’n Vis venue as I had been too a Punk/Hardcore festival in 1994. I met Gert [Hermans] there and he kept in touch and he helped set us up with the tour with ‘Anomie’ and his band ‘Honey Honey’ who joined us for about 4 dates out of the 7 we actually ended up playing. We played in Lille, Rouen, Dunkerque, Bordeaux & Paris. The gig in Dunkerque was the only licensed premises we played in France the rest of the gigs were all in squats. The night before the tour we played in Nottingham with ‘Police Bastard’ & ‘Combat Shock’ which I absolutely loved playing with; all bands played blinding sets. The main memory of the tour was having a real laugh, drinking a lot (every venue sorted you out with a crate of beer) and being looked after and fed and accommodated.

The main thing I remember about Vort’n Vis was that I just liked the venue, and it seemed well run and organised. It was also great to see ‘Substandard’ (also from Nottingham) on the bill. I rated them highly then and still do. Matt our singer had to help ‘Anomie’ out with vocals as Kathleen’s voice was gone. She had an incredible voice… I also remember laughing when I found out that a local had said that ‘Marker’ looked more like tourists than a band. We weren’t that bothered about image as some other bands might have been! We managed to sell quite a few copies of our single I Love/Hate Pop Punk. That was a piss-take of me as I have always liked punk with melodic leanings! I hated being called an emo band! Doug and Matt liked that scene so we inevitably had a slight influence because of their input.

The other bands on the bill on the day were all quite standard punk of the time. I remembered being intrigued about the band from Luxemburg. I have looked at the Vort’n Vis flyer and unfortunately ‘Grover’ from Manchester couldn’t make it in the end because of work-commitments.

We played our last gig the day after, at Neerpelt I recall that was a bad gig for us; we didn’t play that well. After returning from tour we played 3 more gigs in England, I think, before we broke up. No falling out I just think it had run its course…

Marcus Jones, ‘Marker’

Nowadays I’m in a band with one of the ‘Substandard’ guitarists [‘Constant State Of Terror’]. Yeah I did M.T.P. distro and still do in a small way; also some stuff with the record label Inflammable Material.

Jules Lowery, ‘Substandard’ vocalist

Yeah I played the Vort’n Vis on that tour but not a lot to say really as I only played half the gig. It was a sunday matinee and the last gig of the tour and I had to get back to England desperately so half way through the set I said goodbye to everyone and rushed off to the train-station to get a boat back. The rest of the band had to stay a few days, I think, waiting for our van and driver which had broken down and was stuck in Leipzig. People were friendly but I was disappointed with my 3 little bottles of pissy beer… If I remember we got three little bottles of shit lager each, might as well have said we were straight-edge!!! …I’m saying this in a humorous way don’t take offence…

Andrew Hennessey, ‘Substandard’ guitarist

If I remember correct the tour was organised by the person called Uli, who lived at Zoro squat, which was located in Leipzig, Germany. It was his suggestion to share the gigs with ‘Substandard’ from the UK. Gigs in Belgium were the last ones on the tour and we were mentally pretty tired of everything at that point. The tour lasted for 3 weeks. When we played at Vort’n Vis I had been drinking all night on the bus and therefore I wasn’t in the best possible condition for that gig. I suppose not much people bothered to show up for the gig that night.

We came from Finland with ‘Totuus’ and played all the gigs together. On that tour we were: Kojo (of ‘Hylkiö’ and some other crust bands…can’t remember) doing vocals, Mikko on guitar, Kake on bass and me on drums. I think Sanna was in the band at that time but she wasn’t able to join the tour. Before the tour we lived together in the same house (kind of a squat.): myself, Mikko and Sanna. They became a couple and moved to Helsinki just before the tour. She got a summer job in Helsinki and didn’t want to come on that tour. Weke was never in the band except for the vocals in the studio for the Saatanan Murhaajat 7” studio-sessions. He played in ‘Genocide’ but not in ‘Tuomiopäivän Lapset’. Kojo was only a replacement for Sanna on this tour. We only practised with him a few times for the tour. After the tour Sanna was in the band until the final gig in Finland in 1997.

Altse Alatalo, drummer of ‘Tuomiopäivän Lapset’

‘Bakunin’s Children’ was not active that very long, I guess not even a year. After that ‘Diff’ started a more melodic project, ‘Petrograd’. Both singers of ‘Bakunin’s Children’ disappeared, I think one of them went to Berlin…

Thierry Thill, drummer of ‘Bakunin’s Children’

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

drawing by Frank Villanueva; “a caricature of Marek, me, Thierry, Ronnie & ‘rasta’ Diff”

visiters?

additions wellcome!…