10 years, 2 full-lengths, 3 EPs, 3 US tours, over a dozen European tours. It’s fair to say Antillectual have been about a bit. Hailing from Nijmegen in Holland, Antillectual quite simply play fast as fuck political punk rock. Their sound is immense, they draw references to Propaghandi and Chris Hannah even provides some guest vocals on their latest album “Start From Scratch”. With the album ready drop in November on 9 labels worldwide, we caught up with the band and had a quick chat…
Hey guys, first up how are things going right now?
Hey, things are great! We are preparing the release of our new album, this is actually the first interview for this. Apart from that we are booking tours for after the release, and arranging the release in december and general band stuff.
The new album “Start From Scratch” is about to drop here in the UK, are you excited for people to hear it?
Very excited. It has been 3 years since we last released a full length album and we already recorded the songs in February and March of this year, so we can’t wait to show and play it to the world. On top of that this is the first time our album is released by a label based in the UK, which we are really happy with.
We’ve had a listen and we’re really impressed with it, we’re guessing you take a whole lot of inspiration from Propaghandi, how did you get Chris Hannah involved and what was it like working with him?
I’ve been listening to and inspired by Propagandhi since How to Clean Everything and they kept amazing me with every new release, both musically and lyrically. Live shows are incredible and a dream came true when we got the chance to play with them. That’s when we met the guys in person and appeared to be really nice people. Before recording our album I emailed Chris asking him if he wanted to contribute some guest vocals for this album. I knew he had a home studio so it wouldn’t be a lot of hassle for him. He warned us to be disappointed though. We recorded the song and I sang the part he was supposed to do. He dubbed those vocals, recorded that and sent us the sound file. Easy as that. So we never up met for it but he did it out of his house. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible I’m afraid.
What other bands have inspired the Antillectual sound?
I think that’s too much to mention. I think you could say all music that came out of the skatepunk era, mixed with newer styles like emo and orgcore and throw in a little metal and hardcore. People compare our style to Strike Anywhere, old Rise Against and Hot Water Music, which is an honour to be related to.
The lyrics seem to be very socially aware, what do you guys strongly believe in?
Doubt. I don’t think dogma’s help creating a better world. Changing your mind and being flexible seems very healthy to me. On the other hand; you can’t go wrong believing in rights for humans, animals and the environment. And if you try to protect minorities or groups that suffer from (past) oppression you can’t go wrong either. I’m thinking of people with a different sexual orientation, age, sex, color of skin, religion, etc. This all sounds very simple but not more than logical in my opinion.
“Cut The Ground From Under Our Feet” talks about skateboarding, do you guys all skate?
This band was formed out of people that used to skate together, but nowadays I think I’m the only one left with a skating background. Before I became passionate about music I was just passionate about skating.
Has the band evolved much since your last album, “Testimony”?
Well, “Testimony” was recorded with a different bass player. Both (old and new) sang quite a bit on both albums, which made a change to the sound as well. On top of that we recorded in another studio and we grew as musicians in the years in between. But I think the biggest change is the songs, they got more accessible, without getting too poppy or mainstream. Lastly I think the album is more diverse, the quiet songs got quieter, hard songs harder.
Once again your album is released in conjunction with loads of labels, like Lockjaw here in the UK. How come you guys get have so many labels involved?
This is mainly because of our touring. We have played in all the countries where the album will be released, with the exception of Russia (but we’ll go there!). We either met with the people from the labels or got in touch with their bands, getting us in touch with the labels via.. I think it works best if you have a label in every country where you want to tour to help the record and increase touring options. There are not many labels that can cover all territories in Europe so there’s no other way than get a co-operation going. A couple of labels already released our previous releases as well by the way.
What’s the music scene like over in Holland? Are there any bands we should be checking out?
The Dutch scene is very active, there is a lot of good bands these days. Not all of them get out of the country and tour a lot, but they are definitely worth checking out. The Real Danger for the pop-punk lovers, Brat Pack for lovers of RKL and old NOFX, This Routine Is Hell for people who like Paint It Black, Sweet Empire for the fans of orgcore, and a ton more bands …
You’re coming over to our shores early next year, will this be your first time in the UK playing?
No, I think we have been over at least 4 more times. One time with High Five Drive from Canada and a couple of times on our own. We have had some really good and some really bad experiences in the UK. There is no in between in the UK it seems.
What can we expect from an Antillectual live show?
A lot of energy, some chatting in between songs and basically 3 friendly dudes trying to play good music and making new friends. If we can convince people to like our music, dance a little and get a message across or get people to think about some topics at a show we have a perfect night.
That was a dream come true, not only playing the fest, but just being there, all org’ed up, watching great bands with like-minded people, meeting up with old and new friends. I can recommend any punk lover to go there. Our own show was amazing, we had the headliner slot at the side stage of the biggest venue, playing in between Dillinger 4 and Municipal Waste I think. It was full, people singing along and dancing, couldn’t have been better honestly. Hope to play there again in 2011.
What countries have been the most fun to play and is there anywhere you’d really like to play that you haven’t yet?
Most fun? Impossible to say, as said we’ve had crappy shows in the UK but also really good ones, and I guess that’s how it goes for every country. The shows I enjoy the most are the shows you least expect to be fun, so playing a tiny town where you expect no-one to come out to a show and the place is packed when you start, that’s awesome. Or places you’ve never been before and people actually know you, that’s really cool. I would really love to go to Russia (plans are in the making since our album will be released over there!), Japan and South America. You got to aim high, you know …
What does 2011 hold for Antillectual?
Touring, touring and touring. Hopefully we can go visit those places we’ve never been before and play venues and festivals we haven’t played before in Holland and Europe and go back to the cool places in Holland and Europe. Hopefully going back to the USA and working on new songs, we actually started that already.
If you could release a split record with any one band, who would it be?
Hard one! I must say there’s not a lot of split releases I listen to a lot. The HWM/Alk 3 is a really good one though. Obviously it would be cool to split with NOFX or Propagandhi, but that’s cheesy to pick. I would say A Death In The Family from Australia, because I think they are so amazing, but hardly no-one in Europe knows them. And it would be cool to get our music out to Australia as well.
What advice can you offer to bands out there?
Work hard. Seriously, we are the very proof that you don’t need (a lot of) talent to get out there. I won’t pretend we’re a big band, but if we wouldn’t have put in a lot of energy and passion we would have accomplished even less. Don’t give up, be creative, work hard and make awesome music of course, I think that’s what I’ll say since you’re asking.
What are your thoughts on downloading music?
Loving it! And that is the reason why everybody can download all our music for free at http://music.antillectual.com (from November 1st). I think our music would have never reached out to so many people if it weren’t for downloading. It might decrease our album sales or whatever a tiny bit, but it has become so much easier to spread our music and message. Of course it is cool if people donate money when they download albums or buy actual albums from us or the DIY labels involved, but if downloading helps our album to get out to people that regular distribution or promotion can’t reach it’s worth it. Those people will in the end also buy a real copy of the album if they like it.
And finally, what is the greatest TV show of all time?
TV sucks in general. But to each their guilty pleasures. I love sitcoms like Friends and Big Bang Theory, but also trash-TV like Jersey Shore and the Dutch spin-off Oh oh Cherso, but also quality documentaries like Taste the Waste that I saw recently and documentaries by Michael Moore. Of all time? Of all time I watched TV I think 95% percent was a waste of time.
Thanks very much for chatting with us and best of luck with “Start From Scratch”, we love it here at Lights Go Out HQ. Cheers.
Thanks for the interview and the opportunity to get our music out! Keep up the good work!
www.antillectual.com / www.myspace.com/antillectual / www.lockjawrecords.co.uk
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