Geoffrey, bass-player of the band Plague
Thirteen. apologies for making me wait, but we
managed to answer (the most of ) your questions.
This was done in november 2021.
Please tell me a bit history of the group ?
We were formed in the spring of 2019, Geoffrey
and Michael had a band called LINK, Bjorn and
Arthur Played in SORE.
Both bands splitted up in the course of 2018.
It's a small scene down here...
Everyone already knew each other and our D-beat
blood soon flowed together.
Please tell me a little about every member in
the group right now. age, family, work,
interests and something bad about everyone,
earlier bands? other bands on the side?
-Arthur is the youngest of the pack , he is half
as young as Michael. Michael was born the same
year as the album "High voltage " of Ac/Dc.
Bjorn was less lucky he is born the same year as
the album "Nevermind" of nirvana, an album that
pleased Geoffrey right before he tended
secondary school.
Bjorn plays in a other band called 'Rhydes' ,
playing bluesy indie rock. He works in a
brewery, his job is to fuel the bars with booze,
and makes sure no one is getting thirsty.
Geoffrey has no other band he is too irritating
to work with and to lazy to start a solo
project.
Michael is as irritating as Geoffrey but manages
it to play in an other band called 'Scraps' they
emerge from the north of France and have been
around for decades. Old school hardcore a real
must see, his solo project 'Exhale7' is also
worth checking!
Arthur has so much inspiration left and plays in
a trashmetal outfit called 'Lethal Injury' and a
couple of other side projects. his main
influence and all time favorite artist is Leo
Rojas.
I can hear much different influences but mostly
hardcore and some death metal. favorites from
the past?
-We all have a wide range of tastes but hardcore
is absolutely the binding component.
Plague Thirteen, are you satisfied with that
name ? How did it came up. you weren't afraid
that some other band would be named the like
this? Which is the best bandname you know.
-We're pretty satisfied with the name, Michael
came up with it and sounded so natural and
applicable that the rest agreed instantly. Do
you know any other band called Plague Thirteen ?
Best Bandname ever would be 'Anal cunt' .
What's the best thing with playing live ? Do you
miss it now?
-We miss playing live a lot of course, One of
the nicest things is the adrenaline and drive we
get with eacht other and people at shows, it's
kicking hard when everyone is going crazy. There
are a lot of venues with sweet people, it's
beautiful to see how the diy scene roll.
And where is the best place to play? and the
worst place ?
-We once played a place where the drywall
ceiling fell on someones head... Geoffrey
predicted it would happen... and the most sweet
place I already went was Kopi in Berlin.
How is it to play this sort of music in Belgium
? wich types of bands do you have concerts
together with ? Belgium had a big hardcore scene
many years ago , how is it now ?
-The hardcore H8000 scene used to be big and
well known, there's not much left of that now, a
decoction here and there... There are still good
bands around like Silence means death, Frusterad,
Hetze, Travolta, Lectamynol.
How would you describe your music in three
words?
-Resentful throwning tables?
What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or
is it a lifestyle?
-Swimming against the stream, not letting the
goverment and others fool you or walk their
pretentious line.
Which song/ album or group was it who took you
into punk/hardcore ?
-For me , that must be Minor Threat.
What shall a young guy do today to shock their
parents as the way we did when we were young ?
They have already seen everything ?
-I dont know... a lot of kids now follow the
trend of mumble rap and being little
matrealistic pricks. Brain dead music and
sedated from Lean and Xananx, showing off their
Gucci and golden teeth. I think this is the way
of "shocking" now, but there's no proper message
behind it.
How is it to live in Belgium right now ?
Politically? Fascists ? The covid situation ?
-A lot of people are turning completely around
because of the stream of immigrants. there is a
lot of racism and right wing enthousiasm, sad
but true.
Is there any good band from Belgium right now ?
is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene big?
how is it in your home town
-We answered that earlier... nothing of a
massive scene around here...
What do you know about Sweden ? Have you been
here sometime ? What is typical Swedish ?
-I've been in Sweden for a few days a few years
ago.
You all live in wooden houses, preferably red
painted. There is a zero tolerance policy for
drinking/driving, but most are friendly drivers.
Some of you do snss, a kind of nicotinetablet
thats propped in the mouth and stays there for
hours, a real recommender in the morning!
Despite the cold it is quite lively on the
streets and in parks.
Typical Swedish ... Nothing is left to chance
...
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
-Martyrdod, Wolfbrigade/ Wolfpack of course.
Bathory, Craft, Lifelover, Crude SS, Anti Cimex,
Kaaos, Totalitar... I don't Know what it is
about Sweden but you guys do sweating good
music!
Your Lyrics, why does them and what influences
you? Never in your own language?
-Everyone in the band writes lyrics, sometimes
it fits, sometimes it doesn´t. Thats for me the
most beautiful thing with the band. Everyone
influences everyone and listens to each other.
As a matter a fact it is stupid to sing and
write in a other language, some bands have
realized that and do all or some songs in their
native language, much respect for that. a real
dooropener for the creative journey, that can
set you apart as a band and can make a great(er)
connection with the audience in your own
country. On the other hand if you are from
Belgium wich is a small country splitted up in
three language communities you rather soon
discover the limitations of that Journey. So we
choosed to write in english and reach more
people, but I don't rule out trying this out in
the future for a song or two.
Is there any subject that you never will write
anything about ? Or isn't anything sacred ?
-As long the music fits the words or vice
versa... anything goes….
Tell me about following songs..
-Haunt them :is about rich people getting away
with crimes, and let the rest of the world pay
for it. Thats the way it is now and how it was
in the past. nothing will change if you don't
"haunt them".
Mourn : speaks for itself.
Sunken : is about seeing everything in the
bigger picture and finding some peace of mind in
that.
Best political band/ artist ? And best
unpolitical one?
-Hard to tell one but following artists/moment
come to mind.... I saw Greg Bennick a few years
ago with a spoken word, that was quite moving.
Dropdead really suprised me last year with their
new album. the new Iron maiden is worth a
listen.
-Oh yeah sure, cause music is the expression of
thoughts and feelings, it is related to memories
whether they're good or bad. It can lift you up
, can bring you down.
Your favorite recordcover alltime? Who did your
recordcover?
-We did the artwork ourselves, Michael take the
most credits for that. all time favorite
albumcover....Twisted Sister : Come and out and
play.
Is it important to get out physical records of
your stuff ? Why or why not ? Vinyl, cd, tape,
what do you prefer if you could choose ? Can you
get the feeling if you do it only digital that
you don't have a record ?
-I hope Vinyl will survive. To me the ultimate
format, especially for the artwork. digital/
streaming is useful for discovering new stuff.
Please tell me a funny thing wich have happened
during your career and under some gig ?
-My life is one big joke, so it is difficult to
pick one particular moment.
Do you care about reviews? Wich is the most
peculiar you ever had. Have you ever changed
anything after a bad review?
-Don't care much. Never change a thing because
of a review . A review sometime tells you
something about the band/record, and sometimes
it tells alot about the reviewer....
Which bands do people compare you to, is it
boring that people compare you to other bands or
is it understandable ?
-People like to compare I guess... We are
comparable. Bands we have been compared to are
Martyrdod, Tragedy, From ashes rise... can you
add some ?
Future plans for the band ?
-We soon will start recording a new album,
should be done by the end of the year. After
this I hope some local shows will keep us away
from a winter sleep. And in the meanwhile of all
that we''ll try to work things out to do a
european tour in the spring of 2022. Perhaps
Sweden will be dotted on the maps, would'nt that
be cool Peter?
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