Interview

SL-27

Jeudi 27 octobre 2005

1.Who is in SL-27 ? I know you all kinda participate in http://www.mashnote.net webzine? Is this true? What are you doing in it? Do you get a lot of good feedback from it in Belgium?

JEROEN, bass, rehearsalroom/equipment provider (except for bass-gear,
hehe). Mashnote is Jim's and Stig's thing, i help out when i can, for example as sound-guy on mashnote-gigs and stuff.

TIM , drums. I also run a modest mailorder: crapforthekids, called into life to serve my costumers high quality, affordable products, guaranteed to satisfy all their needs. I also try to convert people into zinereaders, and convince them that they really should read "Unbridled". Furthermore I love to sneak advertisement into interviews, regardless of what the question is.
Except for some pictures of Wolf Eyes and Sunn and cynical remarks on the messageboard, I haven't contributed anything worth mentioning to Mashnote.

JIM: Well, SL-27 is jay (bass), tim (drums), stig (vocals) and me - jim - on the guitar.Half of the band participates in mashnote.net (me and stig) and tim actually
has his own paper zine called Unbridled. Which is worth checking out too! I get the impression people are getting to kow sl-27 just now, although we already exist
for some years. maybe it has something to do with our own dedication to the band and practise a bit more.and the fact that we play more at hardcore shows in stead
of grind/... shows.

2.SL-27 is kind of leading image with Am I Dead Yet of what we could call the emo violence scene of Belgium. Do you live it well? Also the Mashnote Forum seems to be "the" screamo forum of Belgium? What's your opinion.

JEROEN : Stuff happens, i for one don't work towards that goal, nor do i embody
the image. I just like playing these songs and this band gives me the opportunity to go to places that i would normally never get to see and meet people who i would normally never have met, and this with the other members of the band, who are awesome guys. That's the main reasons why i am in this band.
The Mashnote forum is the only forum that i frequently read and post on, so i don't really know what's going on elsewhere.

TIM : The level of "posiness" on the messageboard sometimes scares the hell out of me, ass for living the screamo way of life: I'm the owner of a Combat Wounded Veteran double LP.

JIM : First of all i don't really think there's a emo violence or even sceamo scene in belgium. You can count the bands playing this style on one hand.
but there's more interest coming from people that's true. more and more folks buy screamo stuff and there's a lot of new kids setting up cool
shows.
bleeeh.. i don't think we're the screamo forum of belgium. it's just a place for everyone, and it happens to be visited by people who like that music.

3.You appeared on the first "emo armageddon" 7inch compilation out on React With Protest Records. That's great. Wasn't it too hard for you to create a 30 seconds song? Wasn't it too long for you? Did this help SL-27 to be known outside of Belgium? Are well known in Belgium?

JEROEN : Hehe, we actually had to compromise a bit to make the song smaller than 30 seconds, and then we had to play it a little bit faster, but it worked out nicely i think. It's great that Lars asked us to contribute, he's such a great guy. I would like to believe that this record is heard in far away places like Japan, and that some kids will want to set up a tour for us over there, that'd be ace.

TIM : The compilation has certainly contributed to getting "Dude, your so black metal" played on the turntables of some crucial OOP-screamorecords collecting people, so thank you Lars. I don't know if we're well known in Belgium.

JIM : haha, 30 seconds is quite short, even for us i guess. we are really glad that lars gave us the opportunity to be featured on this compilation.
but as far as getting our name out there, i think it doesn't goes further than ringing a bell by certain people.

4.Have you in plan to release some records soon? I heard about maybe a split 7inch with the great AM I DEAD YET! ? Will you continue you it with React With Protest? Or by yourseld on Mashnote Records?

JEROEN : We have plans, but nothing solid yet, we have to find some time in our
combined, busy schedules to get something recorded first. Then we'll see what's possible.

TIM : I would love SL-27 to be on a split seven inch with Army Of Flying Robots.
I don't know anything about sharing a seven inch with Am I Dead Yet. Butt if this release happens: may it be pOOP'ed soon.

JIM : well, we have some plans to release a (split) 7" by the end of this year. react with protest was interested in doing it as a split label release
with mashnote records. if he's still interested by the time we're going to record i guess that's going to happen. we'll see.

5.How's going the relation with your friends AM I DEAD YET ? They're from the same town or area as you? Is Mol the new screamo bastion from Belgium?
I use to read younger a newsletter from that area...was it from one of you?

JEROEN : I think you're referring to the newsletter Stig and Rik did, great read.

JIM : we all love am i dead yet, they rehearse in Mol and rik the singer of aidy is one of the mashnote dudes. so we have a pretty good physical relation
with eachother.you know, scene love and all that ;)
i think the newsletter you're talking about was silent child - crying soul done by rik and stig. i think they did 4 issues untill they decided to end it and join
mashnote.

6.I don't know the lyrics of SL-27? Too bad, i can't sing along with you at shows then? ;-) But i've seen title like "critical mass" from the "My Dreams 4 - Compilation 1". What are your texts dealing with? Is it political or just messy sad emo songs?

JEROEN : Lyrics are Stig's department, the others take care of the music. I
don't think we ever consciously agreed on that setup, but everyone seems to be happy with it.

TIM : If Stig ever comes up with a lyric that pays tribute to the eyes of his girlfriend after he's made sweet sweet love to her, there will be a drummer vacancy.
You also like to sneak advertisement for your own products into interviews, don't you Julien? For shame...

JIM : well, our demo and tour cdr both have the lyrics included, so it seems you're not our biggest fan.
most of our lyrics are political (courtesy of stig). we still think politics are a big part of the diy culture and these days there are way
too little bands taking a stand.

7.Actually you present your music like "emo thrash"? Why? Are you fan of emocore and thrashcore? We can also feel a grind style behind that all! Is it coming from your background? Were you all crusty youngers like Jim before?

JEROEN : Well, i am certainly no expert in scene-names and/or descriptions, i never know what to say when people ask what kind of music SL is... but to me it's kind of thrashy in a nonchalant kinda way, and emo, because it has interesting melodic parts which remind of emo-songs. I don't know, i just like what jim writes and i like contributing to the songs and sound.
The fast parts are grind i guess. I think our music is indeed a mix of what we all listen to, and that's what makes it interesting to me.
And no, i was never a crust, no offence, hehe.

TIM : I believe Jim was born a crust. Ass for myself, for some reason I'm more drawn to the fast and aggressive spectrum of underground independant music than I am to screamo or emo or whatever. I'm not a fan of hysterical people who allow themselves to get stuck into emotional suffering for the sake of being emoow. As long as a band is sincere in what they're doing, I'll appreciate them. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'll like their music.
The second part of this answer hasn't got poop to do with your question, actually.

JIM : me ? crust ? haha. well yeah, i like all sorts of music, and thrash, grindcore, emo, powerviolence, etc are a part of that. so it's inevitable that
those influences can be detected in our songs. i used to be a metal/grind freak when i was younger. then i heard bands like bob tilton etc..

8.I know you just went back from the tour with the almighty Belgian old school hero SUNPOWER. How was the tour? I guess you met that friendly guy Xavier from Still Holding On Records. Wasn't it hard for you to play in the UK mainly in front of old school crowd? Stig said me you diddn't sold that much "tour cd-r"...

JEROEN : The tour was so awesome, we had so much fun with Sunpower and Abandon
Ship. The crowd was indeed tough for us, but we had fun playing. Xavier is indeed a friendly quiet guy, which kept the balance somehow with all the crazy people which made up our bunch.
We sold about twice as much cd's on the first gig back in belgium than on the whole UK-tour. That gig in belgium was a disaster by the way, but hey, i'm not complaining.

TIM : Most gigposters announced SL-27 as "Fast powerviolence. Think Charles Bronson". I guess a lot of people expected something different than what they eventually got to hear and see on stage. The five of us talked about this a few times, but at a certain point I stopped giving a fuck about us being the band that didn't seem to fit in with the other bands we shared the bill with. As for Xavier, he was quite the silent guy. I'm sure he's a nice guy, besides a remark about him being the only French speaking person in a car filled with Sunpowerettes and how frustrating this had to be, I didn't talk to him that much.

JIM : the tour was crazy. i think we almost died two times in that 'van', no shit. the sunpower kids were fun as hell and their crew was nothing to mess with.
uk old school kids seem to be a bit narrowminded though (not unlike belgium!), when there's even the slightest bit of melodics involved they hate it. when it's
only fast they love it. of course i'm generalizing here, but that's the feeling i got most of the times.xavier is a cool guy, very quiet and friendly.
and thanx again to the sunpower and abandon ship kids for the great times.

9.You are also setting up shows in Mol actually. You made great bands playing out there. Do you have good feedback? Isn't it too hard to get people...from a scene with a good metalcore background? Here in Liège it's not that easy to get people into that screamo-emoviolence stuff!

JEROEN : It's always hard to get a crowd together in Mol, but i think it's getting better.

JIM : well, i notice a change in the belgian scene. and especially the younger kids are again willing to travel by train, etc.. to see a screamo show. and even some local kids are getting into the stuff we put on. but in the beginning it was very hard yeah. Putting a lot of time and effort into setting up a show with amazing foreign and local bands and only 10 people show up. you would get discouraged for less.

10.Oh Jim, you gonna be soon a father like me...what will you make listen to your child? I guess you have to offer him a good punk background...you have to teach him what's good. What's your playlist for him?

JIM : haha, yeah. i can't wait to hold that little kid in my arms. we already started with some lighter stuff: steve roden, mr. projectile, bola, etc.. but we're moving on
and it's time for the heavier stuff: officer jones, occam's razor, vuur, .. i think i'm going to make a daytime and nighttime playlist for after his birth!

11.If SL-27 would have to say... "we love those bands...". Which one will you mention actually?

JEROEN : I like a lot of stuff, but in the category of louder music, i like TDOAK, Phoenix Bodies, Takaru, ... whatever grabs me.

TIM : Speaking for myself, bands that have inspired me on a musical level and attitude-wise, I�m mentioning and recommending Outrage, Ebola, Discordance Axis, Boycot, Agathocles, Hard To Swallow, Betercore, Vuur, Seein� Red, Army Of Flying Robots, Shikari, Coche Bomba amongst others.

JIM : bands i like and may have influenced me are: palatka, eurich, merel, in/humanity, unhinged, sleepytime trio,assfactor 4 etc... you get the idea.
i'm still stuck in the nineties really. but of course there are new bands i like a lot like occam's razor, tunes for bears, stop it!!, louise cyphre, tigers!..

12.I once did a trip with you in Summerslam Festival 2004...wasn't it too hard for you to bring with you a stupid French speaking people. I guess everyone knows Dutch speaking and French speaking people don't like each other? Is it true? What do you think fo the schism?

JEROEN : I like french speaking people, ... i like you julien, posi hug? No
seriously, like in almost all conflict, there is a minority that's making a lot of noise, who are ruining it for everybody and who give a larger group a bad name. I distance myself from that crap.

JIM : i don't think french and dutch speaking people don't like eachother, i just think that the language is the factor why we don't interact that much. which is a damn shame. A lot of dutch speaking people only know french from in school and then forget about it until they go on a holiday in france or something. and i think it was great you went a long. unity! hehe, and i got the chance to polish up my french again.

13.For you what's the worst thing in Belgium? Politically or whatever...you can many thing hey!

JEROEN : It's easy to complain. I think we have it okay here compared to some other parts in the world.

TIM : Without any doubt: the weather in Belgium. The definition of the word
politics: Poly = many and Ticks = bloodsucking parasites.

JIM : the bureaucracy. it's unbelievable how many places and how many papers you need to get to achieve a thing here. just crazy.

14.Have you already been on ShootMeAgain webzine? Did you see you like like rock stars on our pictures...What do you think of it?

JEROEN : Yeah, thanks for putting up the pictures, Julien, and thanks for the gig in Liège, we had a lot of fun.

TIM : There should be more printed zines. You know what to do, Julien. You've done it before.

JIM : yeah of course. it's one of the best belgian online zines out there! and yeah, the pictures...the rockstar pictures... ;)

15.Before the final one, i would ask you what you think of the Belgian hardcore scene actually. What are you favourite bands from today's scene?

JEROEN : I'm not really into it... I can only think of OJAHPCP at the moment,
probably forgetting a lot.

TIM : Time to lick some ass. In alphabetical order: Amen Ra, Officer Jones and His Patrol Car Problems, Sunpower and Vuur.

JIM : today's belgian hardcore scene is pretty active again. the ones i like most are am i dead yet. vuur, the sedan vault, officer jones, sunpower, hitch,etc..
but people shouldn't stick to one scene. there are so many other exciting thinks going on in belgium.

16.OK last one to you...Do you think hardcore should be political...do you the personal is political?

JEROEN : I think it's a great way to express your opinion, but it can also be
abstract or personal. For me, the music is always more important.

TIM : If you prefer Oxfam's worldshake to Coke, you're already a winner in my book. If you interview a bunch of retards: you're da man.

JIM : I don't think hardcore should be explicitely political, but i'd like that every band has some sort of idea or conviction behind them. if it's not obvious in the lyrics it should be in their attitude. we shouldn't be scared to speak our mind to lose potential 'fans'. and i wish everyone would communicate on the same level. but don't be too serious all the time, just use your common sense i guess.

TU AS AIME ? PARTAGE !