DROWNING IN PRECONCEPTION is a new German DIY hardcore band, who have just released their debut EP called “What’s Wrong?”. Here’s my recent chat with the band, summing up their story and telling you more about their local punk scene.
Welcome, guys! First of all, could you tell us a bit about the band.
Hey Karol, thank you for doing this interview with us!
Yo, we’re D.I.P., four guys from Germany, who got together in 2011. Thorsten, Marcel and Matze live in Wetzlar, and I’m from a small village in the German Westwood-area. So let’s just say we’re from Wetzlar, I accept a subordinate role! [smiles]
What hardcore style do you represent? [smiles]
Hmm… Seriously we never meant to represent a certain ‘hardcore style’. Of course every one of us for himself is into various ‘styles’ of underground music and of course we’re influenced by other bands, but the important thing is that we as a band love HC as a global thing, and not one certain style!
Good answer [smiles].
Alright, so what inspired you to focus on hardcore punk? What is your musical background?
As all of us were into Hardcore/ Punk before we started as a band, it was clear from the outset that it would be a suchlike project!
What us inspired and still inspires is our rage for this kind of music and this whole underground movement!
To my way of thinking (or better my way of ‘feeling’) there is no other kind of music/ scene which releases such an unbelievable energy. You go to a show or play a show and forget all the everyday-bullshit and become part of this great energy! HC for me is a kind of valve to get off steam. It’s that half an hour when I’m on stage that makes me feel free!
I think or musical backgrounds are bands like MADBALL and TERROR, which are rooted in oldschool-hc, but integrated some new heavier styles… but as I said before, It’s not our intention to represent a special style, we just got together and began writing songs and that’s what’s the outcome of it so far.
How did you guys meet?
Thorsten, Marcel and Matze – those three guys knew each other for quite some time and they’d already passed some jam-sessions together as I met them casually at a Punk-Rock-Show in Wetzlar in summer 2011. Back in the day I was searching for some people to start a new hc-project and so I got into conversation with them! …and now here we are!
…and I have to drive these fuckin’ 120 kilometers at least once a week! It sucks, but it works! [smiles]
Was it hard to put your debut EP together?
On the one hand it was in a way hard:
We had to pour a lot of time into working on the songs, rehearsing, recording, designing and printing the booklet, etc. and afterwards the hardest thing was that we poured a lot of money in it, much more than calculated! [smiles]
But I guess that’s the same with every band that tries to release a record by itself. You have to arrange everything by yourself and put up the capital by yourself, that’s kind of hard but it’s DIY, isn’t it?
On the other hand: Our aim was to release these five songs as our debut EP no later than end of 2012… and it was done on 2nd of November! So we’re pleased to get everything managed as good as possible and within a narrow time frame!
To sum up, it was an educational time! …and of course we had a lot of fun. But hitting the stage is much more fun than hitting the studio, that’s for sure.
Did someone help you out with the recording and mastering?
Yes, of course. Frank Buchen from Turnip-Music-Studio recorded the EP and mixed it. He did a good job and is a great guy, we felt very comfortable with him. He poured a lot of time and patience in us and our record, so we’re very thankful!
On the recommendation of Frank, the mastering was done at ‘H-PEH Mastering Hamburg’.
Are you guys looking for a label?
Yes, we do, but it should be an underground / DIY label! I think it would be better to release the next record with a label! We expect from that, that the organizational matters and especially the distribution works much better then.
If anybody out there is interested in working with us, get in contact ([email protected])!!!
Any particular name you’d like to be associated with?
!!! WETZLAR HARDCORE !!! [smiles]
Wetzlar Hardcore? [smiles] What’s that?
Alright…
The idea with ‘Wetzlar Hardcore'(WZHC) came up the first time in spring 2012 together with our good friend Christian from BUSINESS AS USUAL. BUSINESS AS USUAL is a great Band from Wetzlar, oldschool HC with a touch of melody, check them out!
For the most part, the term ‘WZHC’ is more fun than something serious! [smiles] But our idea with it is to bring hc/punk (bands and people) together in Wetzlar and its environs, maybe even built a little underground scene… but all this (and us as a band as well) is entirely new, so we will see how it’s developed in the near future.
What do you have already set up as WZHC? A booking crew, a website perhaps?
Christian is doing Hardcore-shows in Wetzlar on a regular basis and we’ve thought about doing something like a website with infos about local bands and what they stand for etc. …
And we thought about doing some Shirts and stuff like that… But as I said before it’s a fresh/ new thing and not yet that official by now! We’ll see…
You’ve been looking for shows in 2013. How’s the booking going?
Yes that’s true, our aim for 2013 is to play more shows beyond our local area. I think the booking runs sluggish, but satisfying so far: We got a few shows in February and we’ll do a weekender in March with our friends SECONDS OF PEACE!
As a newcomer it’s hard work to get some shows and you need a lot of patience. …so we wanna play lots of more shows in 2013! If somebody out there can help us out, please get in contact!
You’ve played only a handful of shows together. Have you been a live band animal before DROWNING IN PRECONCEPTION? [smiles]
[laughs] Yes I’ve been singer in a small HC-Band called FACE AWAY from 2003 to 2008, so I’ve been into a few live-shows before DROWNING IN PRECONCEPTION!
Matze helped out and from time to time still helps out BUSINESS AS USUAL on bass.
Marcel and Thorsten has both also been in a small local hardcore band called DEFENDING THE CROWN, but they split up a few weeks ago!
…and I’ve some up-to-date news about us: As from now we’ve a second guitar-player with us, his name is Gordon! We’re glad about that, he’s a great guy and en enrichment for DIP!
Wow. The more guitars the better for a band, I believe [laughs]. What drove you to this decision?
We thought about a second guitar-player for quite some time, cause we believe that on the one hand it’ll go well with our kind of sound and on the other hand a new person (with new ideas etc.) will do us good!
But it never was a must-do for us, just an option… Thorsten and Marcel knew Gordon well before cause they played together in DEFENDING THE CROWN, and then DTC broke and they had the idea to bring him along… and he was up for it!
Does it bring any stylistic changes in your sound?
Oh no. I don’t think so. Of course, we always try to develop further with our songwriting etc. and maybe you can see some minor changes, but it’s not our intention to change our sound in the main!
Would you bring in some electronics to your music some day? [smiles]
I hope that question wasn’t for real [smiles].
Well, I don’t know.. maybe the question should be: how far would you go producing and editing your record in the studio? [smiles]
Ok… let’s see… I’ve never thought about that in detail before and I’m not an expert on ‘studio producing or editing’… but I think for us it’s important that our music stays handmade, that means to me that all the instruments are recorded by humans, and not completely done by computer.
But that’s a stiff subject and the opinions are divided about that [smiles]!
Oh yeah, I noticed this pause you needed to answer that [laughs].
Ok. Before we finish, shoot us your summary of 2012. What were some of the best new bands, new albums, most listenable artists (including well established ones), best shows and biggest happenings of 2012?
For us 2012 was the first full year that we spend together as a band and it was a good year. We met some cool people and cool bands, we released our debut EP and we played some great shows. We’re very thankful for everybody who helped us out with our EP, all those who did a show with us and people like you doing interviews/ reviews/ or just spreading the word!
Much respect, that all means a lot to us!
I want to give ‘special shout outs’ to some great local bands, we’ve made friends with in 2011/2012: BUSINESS AS USUAL (Wetzlar), HARM/SHELTER (Gießen), DONE (Westwood), MINDPLAGUE (Westwood), SECONDS OF PEACE (Cologne), UNSAID (Montabaur), BEARDOWN (Siegen). Please check them out!
To be honest I think I haven’t really pursued too many well-established Bands in 2013, it was more like small/local shows I went to.
For my liking the album ‘smile now cry later’ from ALCATRAZ is a very good release (but I think it’s end of 2011?), probably the album I mostly listened to in 2012!
But I also like the ‘Rebellion’ EP from MADBALL, the sound is really rough and oldschool.
My favourite German-Hardcore-album 2012 is ‘COLDBURN- the harsh fangs of life’. Awesome stuff!
Great thank you, gentlemen! Hope you’ll have a great year. Best of luck for 2013! Thanks!
