Rockezine.com interview with Mindstab on Apr 25, 2003

with Niek on Apr 25, 2003


		At the start of your musical career you played metalcore with a lot of thrash influences like bands such as Liar. Can you tell us something more about the musical evolution during the last couple of years? All of us have a ‘metal’ background, and played a mix between metal and hardcore for a while. But we didn’t fit in the metalcore-corner: not enough metal for metal-freaks and not enough hardcore for the hardcore kids. From the beginning of Mindstab, back in 1995-1996, we tried to be different. Before ’95 we already played together in a band with another name… In ’95 we changed the name and chose a different musical concept. Francis and myself were jerking off with some electronics, such as drum computers, samplers and other digital shit. We (mostly Francis) created new songs and this was basically the start of Mindstab. These songs were something else, something new. That time we had stickers saying: “ a new kind of metal”. This was before Korn and Deftones, used the same variation in both songs and vocals. We felt good with this way of working (Francis composing in his little room, and the band transforming those ideas to something we could bring live.) We figured that this was something not many bands were doing, and we got great reactions on the shit we did. This resulted in our demo which is re-released by Polar Bear in 1996… We still play songs from that period!
		What`s the idea behind the band name Mindstab? At that time, there was a card game called “Magic – the gathering”. Each card has its own strengths and capacities; the ‘Mindstab Thrull’ was one card we liked a lot. And ‘Mindstab’ fitted in the concept we had in mind: Stab peoples minds, make them think, wake them up, let them speak for themselves: Say Anything…but think and say something. Don’t be part of the sheep, the dumb mass.
		If I`m right you already released an album on Goodlife Records. How did you got involved with Seamiew Records and what`s the difference between being signed to them and Goodlife? We are (a bit) part of the H8000–scene, which is the hardcore scene of West-Flanders, Belgium. Goodlife is located in this area as well. They are good friends of us. Because we aren’t really a hardcore band they didn’t sign us, but they helped us out distributing the Borderlined album. There wasn’t much promotion for this album, but they did a great job. We played a lot, mostly Belgium, but also in The Netherlands. When we started recording the new shit, we looked for a label that was into our kind of music, or at least was open-minded enough to listen to the new songs. We ended up with Sjuul Kok from Seamiew Records, who was very enthusiastic and was interested in releasing the new album. We were impressed by the work he did with Dreadlock Pussy and Gazzoleen, so we were very pleased to sign the contract!
		Could you tell something more about the writing process of Say Anything…? We’re not a band that jams to create new songs! Francis does all the composing. When he has new ideas he will try to complete these into a song. The band listens and comments to what they hear. With this information Francis works on the song, until everybody is satisfied! We are kind of a production-team, this ensures all the variation in the songs. When we feel like: we have done this before or another band has done a song like this, the song needs to be reformed or even trashed! We tried to sound like nobody we know or listen to! We don’t jump on the nu-metal train, to make a few quick bucks. This is what we do, and if people don’t know how to label us, so be it! We won’t compromise to sell more albums or play on bigger festivals.
		What were your goals before entering the studio to record this new album? What did you wanted to achieve? We tried to go a step further then the Borderlined album. The variation between the songs and vocals is what makes us different from other bands, and we focused on that idea. In the past the vocals were the last part of the songs we created. On Say anything…we tried to make the vocals sound better. Not one singer who only screams and another singer with a clean voice, but a combination taking the whole song to a higher level. We want to reach more people, and play more shows without selling out! We refused to put a cover song on the album, turning it to the first single and get some airplay. Let our music do the work. In the past we played hardcore shows, with only hardcore bands, or metal shows next to death or heavy metal bands. People are getting more open-minded, and listen to all kinds of music and that is a good thing! Don’t be narrow-minded and believe only your own music is good music, but look around and you will notice there is enough other shit around for you to appreciate. You don’t have to wear the right t-shirt to come to our shows, we don’t care what shoes you have on, or what haircut makes you ugly!
		What are your plans for the near future? Some nice tour offers maybe? The new album is released a month ago and the first reactions are great!! We hope the people who organize shows also react positive. We’re doing all the promo we can, to convince people to book us. We’re a cheap band, no fucking rock stars, money isn’t that important. We want to play as much as possible. We hope to play some summer festivals, and do a small club-tour in September and October. In September the album will be released in France. We hope to play in the Benelux, Germany, France, and Switzerland. If a nice support slot is offered, we will grab the opportunity with both hands!! We also hope that there will be an exchange between European bands! We don’t need those American super heroes to build a nice scene. People still think that a band is only good when they’re from the U.S. Fuck that! There are a lot of very good European bands that are not getting the support they deserve.
		What are your favourite and your less favourite albums in your record collection? Album nr 1 : DOWN, Nola. We all love this album. I’m mostly into Neurosis, Crowbar, Prong, Meshuggah, and Pitchshifter. Great Belgian bands are Congress, Circle, Cloon, Cower (rip), Gazzoleen, Grey, Dedicted, Yellow Teeth, Bed’lem, Mystère and Liar. I like a lot of music, except dance and reggae. I only want to hear guitars! I regret buying the Metallica single after the Black album came out, but I still wonder how their new shit will be.
		Which records should we all own and please explain why we all should have these albums? Queens Of The Stone Age: Songs For The Deaf; just listen to it!!
		Cola, beer or straightedge; please explain why? Whatever, as long we respect each other!!
(Dennis van den Berg)