TftH: Can you give us some general background info on the band for those who don't know.Alfons: We're a 5-piece hardcore band from the Netherlands. We've been playing together since late 1999, but it wasn't until mid 2003 that we released our 5-song demo tape called "No Forgiveness". We've been through several line-up changes over the years, but right now the band is: Emiel - vocals, Martin - guitar, Piet - guitar, Sietze - bass and me, Alfons, on drums. Last year we released a 7-song CD called "Goldrush" and appeared on a 7" compilation for the Light The Fuse festival with our song "Undead". Recently we toured through Europe for two weeks.
TftH: Word. Speaking of touring Europe, Iron Age will be in Europe in the coming months, and word was that Icepick will be supporting them on some shows. Can you give us some details on that if it's been confirmed.
Alfons: Yeah, we've been talking to them about that for a while, and it looks like they'll come over here to Europe in October-November. I'm not sure if we can join them for the whole tour since we've were touring not too long ago, and we all need to get free from work for it. We also want to focus on finishing songs for our new full length and go touring when that's out, but we definitely want to play as many shows with them as possible.
TftH: That's cool. When can we expect the new full length and will it be another Goldrush, or have y'all's influences changed a bit since then?
Alfons: I think we'll be releasing it at the end of this year or beginning of 2007. Right now we have about 7 songs ready, so we want to write a few more songs before we go into the studio. Some of the stuff we came up with is in the vein of the Goldrush album, but we're also trying out some new things. I think the songs on the Goldrush album were pretty diverse and the same goes for the new material we have right now, I think. Aside from bands like Cro-Mags and Leeway, we listen to a lot of heavy metal and thrash metal, too, so you might be hearing some of those influences and probably some Bad Brains and the Icemen influences as well.
TftH: Word. I look forward to hearing that. Do you guys have any plans for touring the US?
Alfons: Yeah, we want to go there next year when the full length is out. We were talking to a label about releasing "Goldrush" in the US, but the label had some problems with finding money to do it, so we'll see if they can put out the full length. Otherwise, we're going to look for a different label. We definitely want to tour the US, and I think it's better to do it when the record is released over there, too.
TftH: Yeah, and speaking of the US, have you heard of the American Icepick which features Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Lord Ezec of Skarhead and Crown of Thornz, and how do you feel about them?
Alfons: Yeah, we weren't so glad to hear that they started a band with the same name, but what can you do about it? They claim to have the rights of the name in the US, so that was also one of the reasons that our US release of "Goldrush" got postponed. So it's very possible that our next release will be under a different name, but it sucks that you have to change your bandname after more than 5 years because of something like that. But the most important thing for us is our music, so we'll focus on that and we'll see under whatever name it will reach people.
TftH: If y'all would change your name in order to do an American release, what name would y'all go with? Would it be in correlation with the message going out on the new album?
Alfons: We haven't decided what name we would choose, yet. Most likely, it will be related to stuff we did in the past or what we'll be doing on the new record. It's hard to come up with a good name that hasn't been used before, but when we need a new name, we'll figure it out.
TftH: Aight. Well we recently did a mid-year Top Albums of 06 list. So, out of stuff you've heard that has been released this year so far, what are your favorites?
Alfons: I've heard the new Motörhead record, Kiss Of Death, and that's definitely one of my favorites of this year. Other stuff:
Slayer - Christ Illusion
Iron Age - Constant Struggle
Rise And Fall - Into Oblivion
And I'm looking forward to hearing the new Iron Maiden record and the World Collapse MCD.
TftH: I still need to get my hands on that new Motörhead record. Well, it was good talking to you, thanks for doing the interview, and I hope to see you guys over here in the US soon.
Alfons: Thank you for the interview and thanks to the people who supported us over the years. Peace.
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