Rockezine.com interview with Waterdown on Apr 05, 2003

with Marcel Bischoff & Ingo Rieser on Apr 05, 2003


		Can you tell us something about the way you found your band name? There are six different individuals in the band, so we weren`t able to find a suitable name by ourselves. Then a friend of us came up with Waterdown and we all agreed. There isn`t any message behind the name it just sounded OK.
		It has been a long road between Never Kill The Boy On The First Date and your new album The Files You Have On Me. Could you tell us something more about this musical evolution? Our goal was to make more pop music, but also include more metal elements. We wanted to be a more extreme band in the sense of combining more different elements. Again, because of the diverse musical taste of the different band members.
		The album cover seems to be influenced a lot by the Hydrahead releases. Who was responsible for the beautiful design? Limbert Fabian was responsible for the design. He also designed artwork for bands like Snapcase.
Punk rock is not showering for 10 days.		A couple of magazines mentioned your music being influenced by nu metal, but I really can’t seem to hear what they hear. What do you think of this and does it bother you? Well, we don`t like that type of music much. Journalists made up the genre so it doesn`t bother us much. Rocksound kind of named us nu metal, but in the same issue they praise us and wrote a two or three pages special about us. So the person who wrote the review and the person who did the interview were probably two different persons with different musical tastes.
		The relationship between the U.S. and Germany isn`t optimal right now. Do you notice this tension between both countries, being a German band on an American label? No. Our last tour in the U.S. was in 2001, so we haven`t been there for like two years. Our booking agency over there is trying hard, but it`s difficult for a European band to tour in the U.S. They have tons of bands of their own, so why would they book a European band?
		How does it feel to be signed to Victory Records as a non-U.S. band? Besides a license deal we are the first European band signed to Victory records. So we are really honoured to be on the label.
		I can remember you opening shows for like two years ago. How does it feel to headline shows instead of opening them? Well, we are able to play more songs (laughs). No, most things are still the same. We just visit places we`ve never seen and fans visit the shows for you instead of another band. Besides, it`s now time to get people to gigs instead of blaming the headliner. It has its positive and its negative sides, so we don`t see headlining or supporting as different things.
		What do you think of hardcore bands like BoySetsFire signing to major labels? I don`t blame them. Why should I? They worked for many years to accomplish this without getting any money for it in return. So I won`t blame them for earning money at this stage of their career. I`d probably do the same thing if I get in this position.
		What do you think of the German hardcore scene with bands like Caliban and Heaven Shall Burn? The scene is great, but the fans are the problem. We as a German band aren`t appreciated as much as a lot of our foreign colleagues. The fans don`t seem to understand that Germany is also able to provide quality bands. They think that only countries like the U.S or the U.K. can provide good bands, but the opposite is true. Bands like Caliban, Veil and us have proven that.
		What are the worst albums you have in your record collection? I sold all the bad ones (laughs). I write for a magazine, so I receive a lot of bad albums. Most of them will just disappear or be sold.
		Please complete this sentence: Punk rock is…. Not showering for 10 days.
(Dennis van den Berg)