COLERE - Noise, Filth & Fury ! (Belgium - D-Beat HardCore Punk - Interview with Sharon, Gert & Tom).

Hello ! Can you introduce yourself and tell us how it all began for you - your encounter with this musical universe, what appealed to you, what fascinated you and what made you want to get into music? 
Sharon : Hi i'm Sharon, singer of the band. I came across this music scene when I was a teenager, about 14 years old, via shows organised at youth houses. There was quite a scene in Belgium and a lot of small DIY gigs. What appealed to me was the energy of the music, the freedom of expression, the fact that bands used their voice and stage to stand up against oppression, racism, fascism, animal cruelty,.. plus the excitement and adrenaline those insane moshpits gave you as a young kid. It was amazing and I felt at home in this community and music. I guess I was hooked from the start and kept going ever since.
It took a long while before I started/joined a band myself though.
Tom : My name’s Tom, crazy ‘bout music all my life.  I grew up with Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Shadows, Chubby Checker, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, … . Than came Bryan Adams (yup) and shortly after that I got introduced to AC/DC. Age 14 (I think), that’s when I got into the more heavier stuff like Pestilence, Slayer, Death, Entombed, Belgian Asociality…, but I got the punk virus listening to early Beastie Boys, Rancid AND Hüsker Dü. Just like Sharon I grew up in youth clubs and went to gigs minimum once or twice a week for all the same reasons.  And ofcourse I liked the sheer energy, the rough and honest lyrics of punk music, the rebellious factor but for me it hadn’t be too serious all the time.  I mean, we did rallies against racism, sponsored the good cause, stood up for animal rights and spoke our minds and such but getting wasted on funpunk and beers didn’t bother me eather hahaha.   I began playing punk music because that was one of the few musical genres I could play.  You didn’t need lessons to make noise.  I mean, a friend of mine showed me what a powerchord was, where to put my fingers and off I went.  Easy peasy and like every non-skilled guitar player I played the Ramones and The Queers in a heartbeat. Besides this I’m also running a little underground label; Pang Pang Records (all things loud, strange or just good, all genres), together with another good friend of mine (Wim Nonkel Pop).  

Tell me about the band... How you met - the current line-up - past experiences - and above all - WHY the need to form THIS band?
Sharon : I was looking for a drummer to start a new band and Jim (previous bass player of Colère, who I didn't know back then) responded on my 'drummer-wanted-poster'.
We rehearsed a couple of times when he told me about this other band he had and that they were still searching for a singer. He send me some rehearsal room recordings and I liked it so I joined them for a rehearsal/audition kinda thing. They liked what I did and they all seemed like a bunch of nice guys so I joined the band (which became Colère). Totally ditched my other new band btw haha.
The guys had quite some songs (musically) ready when I joined. They wanted to start playing shows and record as soon as possible so very quickly I wrote the lyrics. We finished all the songs, played our first shows and recorded a full length album all within 4 months after me joining.  It was quite an adventure since I didn't have a lot of experience playing bands. And it still is an adventure. In the meanwhile Jim has left the band, we've got a new bass player and a new drummer and our sound has changed quite a bit but we're still enjoying it a lot and have been able to experience such cool things together.
Gert : Currently Colère is Sharon on vocals, Tom and Kristof on guitar, Luis on drums and myself on bass. All of us have been very busy with music before being in Colère. Kristof used to play in Systemphobia and Drawback. Luis was in ao Desecration from Brasil. Tom played in The Fat Ass Fuckers and I was in Honey Honey, Smäris, Playmobil Assassins.  Some of these bands go back to the nineties.
Tom : Indeed, everything’s going really fast with this band.  And that’s a good thing. I’m loving every second of it.  I started it with my good friend Nils who was the drummer in grindcore legends Agathocles. We were friends for ages but our musical preferences were not matching hahaha.  I remember I had to choose the next gig we were going to and I picked Victims Family.  He absolutely hated it.  So he took me to the weirdest, sickest underground bands you can imagine.  Fuck, good times. But regardless all the differences we kept saying that one day we were going to play together, just for fun.  And we did. That was the start of Colère.  He promised to go soft on the grindcore thingie and I promised to leave out the r&r riffs.  It was good clean fun but like Sharon just mentioned he’s not in the band anymore.
I REALLY love this band.  It gave me so much already and I consider the people in it very close friends.  We get to play rather often, meet tons of cool/beautiful people, going places. What’s not to like?  Feels like I’m still dreaming.  The first “show” we did was in a friend’s neighbor’s basement!  I think we sucked but the opportunities we got with this band, the help from friends, other bands, clubs, promotors,…, really, it’s been amazing. 

Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ? Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences ? How important are the lyrics for you ? Are there any specific messages or thoughts you try to develop and share through your lyrics ? 
Sharon : Lyrics are very important to me. I think they're crucial in this genre. Punk isn't just music for the fun of it. It's a filosophy, a way of life, an expression. It's protest and education.
We use our lyrics to show our view and try to make this world a better place. There's no specific theme or boundaries but we talk a lot about all the 'ísms'. We're against facism, racism, sexism, transfobia, homofobia, animal cruelty, capitalism, discrimination,.. and we try to stand up for and give support and hope to minorities and people who are oppressed in our society. Inspired by all the bands that paved our way. But I try to stay close to myself and write whatever's bothering me at that moment and needs an outlet. When I've written a songtext I send it to the guys and they've (luckily) always agreed to what I have to say.
Gert : Originally Colère was a d-beat influenced punk band.  Later with Luis joining on drums it did go a bit more into the direction of 80’s hardcore punk bands.  The tunes became faster and more aggressive.  Sharon’s vocals add to the aggression.
Kristof and I met at DIY gigs in the nineties.  Basically have going to underground/DIY shows since then and never really stopped.  For me tons of inspiration for Colère comes from many of the bands I’ve been listening to in those days (and still do a lot).
Tom : Hahaha, you don’t have to listen to anything we say or play but if you’re against all cruelty towards all living creatures, support mother earth, stand up for minorities and just give a shit (I sound like an old hippie) than Colère’s something for you. And if you like listening to oldskool hcpunk with some dashes of powerviolence, d-beat, crust and, dare I say it, some R&R vibes than yeah, Colère can mean something for you. 
Concerning the lyrics and politics I’m sure we’re all on the same page but If it was me alone, I’d add a bit more craziness/humor in our music.  For me it doesn’t have to be so bloody serious all the time.  For example: I LOVE to massacre someone else’s songs so playing covers from totally different genres is something I’d love to do but I’m alone on this one.  I once made a hcpunk cover version of MC Hammer’s You Can’t Touch This but the rest of the band looked at me if I was some sort of deranged nutcase, they nearly killed me, hahaha.  Last week I proposed to cover “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” by Elton John but again, nobody’s home.  I also like ska infused punk but hahaha, that’s not an option eather.  And I do get it, really, we are Colère, not a fun punkband but sometimes I don’t won’t to sing about raping kids, homophobia, racism or wathever cruelty.  
I learned A LOT about great music from friends, school (trading) tapes, the library, magazines and ofcourse our local youthclub. Those things definitely defined my taste in punk music. 
I draw my inspirations from life itself and bands like Hüsker Dü, Jerry’s Kids, 60’s garage, Dropdead, CRASS, Rancid, Kill Your Idols, Reproach, Sunpower, Guitar Wolf, Cows, Helmet, Jesus Lizard, Dead Moon, The Hot Rod Honeys, RKL, old psychobilly bands, The Cramps,  … 


  
Future plans ? 
Sharon : German/Czech/Poland tour, including Grind The Nazi Scum festival. Ieper Hardcore fest! And we’ll recording our 2nd full length, which will be released on vinyl.  And who knows… maybe a tour in Brazil or Japan.
Gert : Colère has changed a lot since the Unleashed album, our main plan is making a new album. Also a small tour is planned.  If we survive that (at our age) we’ll want to do more of that. 
Tom : Keep playing shows everywhere. From squats and pubs to venues and somenone’s garage.  More albums ofcourse and I would like to do a split album with a legendary punkband.  Ooh and I want to do a whole album of coversongs hahaha (but that’s never gonna happen).

Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
Sharon : I've never really thought of this. Personally for now I take it as it comes and hope it stays fun for a long time.
Gert : Just really keep enjoying playing in this band as I do now.  I have no wishes of making it big or anything like that.  I just hope we can play more crazy gigs and meet a lot of great people on the way (just keep on enjoying the ride).
Tom : Goh, we already did some things I never thought were possible.  Touring Japan would be an absolute out of this world idea but yeah, talking ‘bout insane dreams, that’s one. Brazil would be awesome too. But just like Gert I don’t have any crazy wishes.  This is it! This is the dream.  Playing and see how people are dancing, shouting and enjoying our music. Never ever thought this was going to happen. 

Your BEST & WORST concert - as a band - and why ? 
Gert : There are no worst concerts really.  There’s always people putting effort and time into them, getting together, meeting new people and having new experiences.  There was a gig recently where we kinda sucked or at least we thought so.  The stage was big, we weren’t really feeling it, made lots of mistakes and so on but hey, I wouldn’t have want to miss it and we learned a lot from it as well
Sharon : For me the bests were Hardcore Winter Fest in Tübingen Germany and Ancienne Belgique in Brussels Belgium. Hardcore Winter Fest because we had such a fun weekend, the gig went very well, people were dancing and really enjoying it, the athmosphere was great, so were the other bands and the organisation was amazing and super friendly. It was DIY the way it's supposed to be.
And Ancienne Belgique because of the whole experience. We didn't think we would get booked for such a big venue/event. The Kids celebrated their 50 years of existence and Sunpower played a reunion show. There were so many people and we got to close off the night in such a positive energy. We were all having a lot of fun on stage, the sound was amazing (thanks to our friend Erik Minnen), there were a lot of friends and family and we got super good response. We truly enjoyed every minute of it and are happy that we were able to also celebrate the DIY underground in AB that night. Shout out to Hetze and Kotskat who also played, give them a listen.
Tom : All of the above but I went nuts when we were asked to play The Pits in Kortrijk.  It was definitely one of our lesser gigs but music wise it’s one of my favorite spots in the whole wide world.  The bands that played there, fuck, it’s just mind-blowing.  Also made some good friends there.  So when they asked us to play my favorite punk hole, I was nervous as hell.  The Antwerp Music City is also an underground club that hosted amazing bands and stole my heart.  We played the AMC a few times.  It’s a really tiny place (a bit bigger than The Pits), no stage so you’re standing face to face with the crowd.  That’s my heaven, ooh yes. Luv you Pi!!!


 
Next live-appearance(s) ?
Grind The Nazi Scum, Torgau (D) 15 may
Krakau (P) 16 may
Prague (CZ) 17 may
Leipzig (D) 18 may
Antwerp (B) 24 june
Ieper Hardcore Fest, Ieper (B) 5 july 

Some words on your local scene - bands you're friends with and you'd like to name ? 
Sharon : Ekzeem-a, Flux, Hetze, Travolta, Days of Desolation, Kotskat, Mitraille, Foofer, Toxic Shock, Kritiek, Blood Bubble, Röt Stewart, Bad time, Arrogänt, Headshrinker, Vaag, .....
Gert : Too many to name really: Röt Stewart, Hetze, Days Of Desolation, Totaal Irrelevant, Puha, Exzeem-A, etc., … .
Tom : For a long time I thought our scene was dying but for the last two/tree years I’ve got the impression the scene is still very much alive and maybe more than ever.  Thanks to promotors, squats, people who still make zines, venues who are also booking underground stuff,  the volunteers at those DIY gigs, … .  It’s gotten smaller though (I think) but on the bright side, there are way less boundaries than in the old days and that’s a good thing.  Punk is and will always be my first love but my musical boundaries are expanding while I’m getting older, hahaha.  So, much love and respect to: The Wallaroos, Kameel, Dubmatix, Röt Stewart, Hetze, Travolta, Steve Ignorant & Crass, Gullhouse, De Vlaamse Primitieven, Tom “De Pélé” Peeters, Double-X, Fifty Foot Combo, KOTSKAT, Sportweekend, Give Buzze, Gender Reveal Atomic Bomb, The Kids, Tuff Guac, Seein’ Red, We Came As Dirt, Flux, Toxic Shock, … .
 
Last word is yours.. 
Sharon : Support the DIY underground punk scene! Start your own band, design or spread posters, start a label, organize shows, buy merch, cook, provide sleeping places or help out any way you can. This scene only lives because of many helping hands.
And use your voice to stand up against discrimination and oppression. We can all make a positive difference, even though current reality seems hopeless sometimes.
Tom : Thanks for your time and thanks for your interest in Colère.  There are so many people we have to thank: Henske, Laurens den Hollander, Erik, Peter D, The Pits crew, our partners (I’m single, so, hey ladies  ), Pie & AMC, Bowy, Nilske, Jim, Maarten, never thought we’d have some fans but yes, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT!!!!