NEWSLETTER 021
SCHEME REPORT:
Scheme is just about at a turning point, we’ve hit critical mass with getting hats and shirts made and it is now time to shift back into the hard stuff…getting records made. I hope I don’t speak for myself but here at Scheme we believe in tangible things and community efforts, it’s harmless fun for us to make Scheme shirts / Hats / Stickers but at the end of the day what is the impact left by that. Where we find a reason to do what we do is in collaboration with friends to make a record happen, hardcore records aren’t really something you need in a physical format, and all in all, it’s a selfish pursuit. But by you buying a record from us, you are acknowledging hard work and dedication from every person involved with the creation of the music / the art and design / the work it takes to carry 10 boxes of LPs up 3 flights of stairs just to repackage and carry them down to get picked up by the post office.
With that said though……please buy the hats/shirts/records we already have made cuz we need $ to make more records. We have the small amount of leftover ALMIGHTY WATCHING & SEARCH FOR PURPOSE records as a quasi-bundle for those who have not already copped + a final batch of hats, including a handful of coke white hats for the graffiti writer/line cook in your life.
SCENE REPORT:
Now is the time
to invest in WRECKAGE. They'll be representing Scheme by having a track on the third installment of the legendary ONE SCENE UNITY comp presented by From Within and appearing at FYA numba nine alongside many other bands we cosign. But maybe more importantly.....this is the kinda announcement that we are going to be doing a 12" of some new material for them soon, hopefully dropping by the end of the year. Keep your eyes and ears on all things SCHEME for future information drops.Speaking of FYA……the lineup is dope:
We will have some sort of presence at the festival alongside WRECKAGE…come find us at someone’s table and put $ into the over/under bet for how long it takes an uninformed BULLDOZE blue hair fan in a SLIPKNOT tee to be extremely offended by something said during their set.
KYLE’s PLAYLIST:
STRAW MAN ARMY - SOS
MORRISSEY - Kill Uncle
VOMIT FORTH - Seething Malevolence
ENVISION - And Still
RIVAL SCHOOL
OFF THE TRACKS - Demo 2
IGNITION - Machination
CONGRESS - Blackened Persistence
ALBIN’s PLAYLIST:
ONE LAST WISH - 1986
VOMIT FORTH - Seething Malevolence
ECHO CHAMBER - Demo
SKINHEAD - Skinhead
FUCKED UP - Hidden World
STARKWEATHER - Crossbearer
Definitely Not The Majors Comp (SONS OF ABRAHAM track)
PUSHA T - It's Almost Dry
ECHO CHAMBER INTERVIEW
I met Fabian on the dance floor of KULTTEMPEL in Oberhausen, Germany (see SCHEME Euro vacation review part 1). I was informed of his presence at the gig by another brotha in arms, Andy who couldn't make the gig but put me onto Fabian as someone I should meet as an emissary of the core. I had been aware of SPARK/DBNO Fanzine and the elusive ECHO CHAMBER but meeting someone involved in these entities really brought it to a new front. Being the first show of the tour and my first time in Europe meeting someone who I had a lot of common ground with right from the jump really gave me a sense of belonging to something I've put a lot of time and energy into (Hardcore, etc.) so in the spirit of that feeling.
- Kyle
SCHEME presents PART 1 of the FABIAN DBNO ECHO CHAMBER:
Yo! Thanks for taking time out of your day for SCHEME and our tens of readers. Aside from singing in ECHO CHAMBER, what else do you find yourself up to in and out of the core?
Hey, how's it going? As an avid supporter of everything Scheme I appreciate this a lot! Hardcore is taking up a lot of my free time these days, which is pretty sick. When I'm not playing in ECHO CHAMBER - we've only played three shows so far anyway, haha - I probably have gigs lined up with SPARK, the Straight Edge band I play bass in. I also started putting out a lil zine around two years ago - Down But Not Out - which eventually turned into a label under the moniker DBNO Records.
The rest of the time I just try to hang out and chill, especially spending time with my girlfriend, reading, watching movies, etc., the classic stuff. Oh, and I have a 9 to 5 office job that I could easily do without, but it pays the bills.
Just for formality's sake can you give the readers a quick once over of all things ECHO CHAMBER? The members / The History / The Future
Ok, ECHO CHAMBER, that's Yannick on guitar, Jonas on drums, Justus on bass and me on vocals. Yannick and I have always been big fans of SHRAPNEL from the UK and we've always talked about starting a project like that ourselves (I'm not sure if it worked out in the end though). All four of us moved to Cologne sometime before 2020, found a rehearsal space when the first Covid lockdown hit Germany, and just started jamming in February 2020. Luckily Yannick already had a whole folder of riffs and song ideas lying around, so we were able to knock out the demo songs pretty quickly. Thanks to Covid, it took another 1 1/2 years until we played our first show. You might think that we could have written a lot more songs in that time, but you'd be wrong because we're lazy as hell haha. That's it for the history. As for the future, I don't know, I just want to play as many shows as possible with this band, no other big expectations attached to it. It's nice that every band member lives close by, so the logistics aren't as big a nightmare as some other bands I've played with in the past. Our demo was pretty well received, so I think we'll be able to play Germany, Belgium and some other European countries soon.
From what I gleaned from my brief stint in your fair country, You've got no shortage of dedicated core people but at the same time, it seems like it’s tough for bands to make an impact on the world at large. I could be totally off but if I'm not what do you think the roadblocks are for hardcore bands from your neck of the woods (locally and on an international scale)
I think the biggest "roadblock" for German bands are the bands themselves, haha. If you asked me to give you the best German hardcore bands of the last 20 years, I could probably count them on two hands. Most bands here lack their own musical and cultural identity. When I listen to a band, I want to feel that it's from here, I want to sense that it's a German hardcore band I'm listening to, not an American one, not a British one. And of course, why would anyone in the US want to listen to a band from Germany that is just trying to imitate something they are already more than familiar with? Of course, most of the styles are derived from USHC and what's hot over there, but still, I want to taste some kind of local flavor, if you know what I mean.
Getting back to the question of what's holding bands back: I think you can overcome any obstacles these days if you try hard enough and put enough energy into your band. I think if your band is good, you can easily make the internet work for you and even get some internationals to hype your stuff. But if you don't go the extra mile, if you just try to copy some dull ass hardcore formula from years ago, and if your music sounds boring as hell, then you'll be stuck in the same German bubble forever. I think the few good bands Germany has produced in recent years have rightfully gained some attention outside of the country.
However, and this is where we have to take it upon ourselves, I think we are rather hesitant to tour abroad, simply because we are not used to having our bands play there. Maybe it's the language barrier or the cultural differences, but we also have a lot less contacts in the U.S. and so the risk of booking a tour there is much higher.
As a man of style and taste historically what hardcore scenes resonate most with you and your squad?
I feel like each of us has had a different hardcore socialization, so to speak. I think we're all into 80s NYHC, especially the more obscure New Breed stuff. But I also know that for example Jonas, our drummer, is totally into 90s NYHC and loves stuff like EGH, BULLDOZE, and IRATE, so we're pretty diverse I think. The scene that influenced me the most, that I was able to witness myself, was the NWOBHC scene (even before they came up with that label). In my early twenties I just loved that UK82/Skinhead/80s HC aesthetic. Later I got into what I guess you'd call the "democore" era. I thought there was something unique about the energy, creativity, and down-to-earth approach of it all, and I was very drawn to the artwork, production, and especially the mosh styles. I think I liked the dance aesthetic the best haha, the moves I saw on videos were so sick, I've never seen anything like it except for footage from the late 80s.
We spoke pretty briefly about the ongoing SKOURGE/DIZTORT tour and the upcoming COMBUST/MASTERMIND tour when we met, two totally DIY tours with bands who don't have records out on the hardcorporate infrastructure. Do you have anything to say about how these kind of tours coming through Europe / any predictions for the tours?
It took my lazy ass so long to send you these answers that the guys from DIZTORT/SKOURGE have already returned home and the COMBUST/MASTERMIND tour is also already over, haha. But this way we don't have to rely on my predictions, but can summarize that both tours went pretty well, even though there are so many tours coming through Europe right now and July/August are tough months in general. I think especially the COMBUST tour was a complete success and almost every show popped. This confirms my belief that it's always better to play a carefully selected number of DIY shows and spots and take the risk rather than relying on booking agencies or commercial promoters. I feel that many of them have lost touch with what's happening on the ground, and it shows.
TO BE CONTINUED…
SCHEME EURO VACATION PART 1 / 3-ISH
In writing this, I really call into question my power of recollection so forgive the free flow of ideas, it’s just how it’s coming out. it's not meant to be like Blood Meridian but I’m just built different I guess…This will be the first of a few installments / SCHEME in Europe vid TBA
- Kyle
Day 1 1/2 :
Queens/Reverre Beach/Frankfurt/Oberhausen
I'll cut out the fat of taking the train to LaGuardia, effortlessly walking through the security line, refusing to come back out to help THE FIGHT check bags and paying $9 for Dunkin Donuts while I waited for our antagonists to arrive.
Without much or any interruption we arrive at Logan Airport (Boston) to wait for our over night flight to Frankfurt, the food situation is dire but the fellas are abound. It was WARFARE, RESTRAINING ORDER and THE FIGHT all on one flight but before the juicy bits of what was to come we sat down for a family-style dinner at the local Wahlburgers..and let me say seeing the $26 charge for a beyond burger and some fries really warmed my frozen heart and really primed me up for 2 and half weeks abroad.
Without boring the life out of the readers while still giving an accurate picture, Our flight was delayed and heinously overbooked. At one point they were offering 1500 Euro and a free flight the next day and not taking that offer will probably haunt me until my dying day.
I can't remember if I ate on the flight, My seat sucked and the 19 year old next to me couldn't stop opening the shade. Brother, they're just clouds. We land, things are lost, we meet the emaciated children in MAGNITUDE, German airport police try to arrest Heath and then we try to leave Quinn at the airport.
We drive to Oberhausen, I don't remember how far it is but I stare out the window for a little bit and Germany just looks like Pennsylvania so I think I went to sleep. The shows not till the next night so we post up in the parking lot of the venue with the bus, we eat vegan Burger King and walk to the mall like real hardcore kids. Oddly enough it’s the same brand of mall I grew up going to so Germany obviously feels like home. Lumpy has already corrupted the youth and convinced them to hide my phone and not tell me where it is for hours. We ate more Burger King and awaited the gig..the next day.
Day 2:
Oberhausen, Germany
Here we are, Still in Oberhausen, Germany...an aesthetic mash up of industrial Delaware and Bristol Connecticut. We get to load in pretty early, take showers, eat gratis snacks , Then begin my quest to find a Sim card and some vegan stuff for the overnight drive only to be wrecked by the total closure of all shopping locations on the lords day so I walked around the deserted but still unlock WESTFIELD shopping center. Probably ate more Burger King, than got ready for the first show night. Huge venue in regards to the tour package, Probably somewhere that TERRROR sells out on their euro headliners. Of the 40 people there, about 12 of them looked under the age of 40 and were dressed cool (enough). Watched the promotor give Alex Cejas (Cejas from here on in) an ear full about how the band and him didn't promote the show enough of Facebook, amounting to it being his fault that no one came to the show. All the bands played to their capacity, RESTRAINING ORDER and Mag had some movement that would have been totally adequate at a less massive venue. Despite the barren nature of the show and the surroundings, I don't remember a single moment of regret from anyone, free food 2000 miles from home will do that to you. Chatted with some local core-people outside the gig and then absconded into the night (my bunk on the bus).
Day 3:
Zurich, Switzerland
The thing with being a bunch of big shot bands traveling on a bus is....sometimes the bus is too big to get you to your 150 cap venue. So it involves a lot of unloading your trailer into traffic and going through a series of doors to elevators down to the basement. The show was at place called Dynamo which I was told is a "youth house", something we probably don't have in America. It was described as space for the locals to come do yoga or paint or do pottery or learn to play piano for a small fee. We were greeted by an Australian and a home grow swiss person, they pointed us to shopping centers and vegan curry chikn pretzel sandwiches. We jumped off some bridges, some others jumped off bigger bridges..so it goes. It started to rain on my trip back from buying vegan deli meats and chocolate, just in time to trap me in the venue with unnamed members of the bands doing a deathcore thing on stage to the dismay of everyone forced to hide from the storm in the venue. I wont elaborate any further on the tour band for I fear that we will be cursed by the boon of another Triple B / Daze split release. Good enough performance from all the fellas, some kinks were still being worked out and the crowd wasn't exactly responsive but everyone looked happy enough to be there. Not to go all DOWN TO NOTHING but my big regret is not swimming more.
Day 4:
Prague, Czech Republic
This was the first open world level of the tour, we got in early and after the worst load in situation of the whole 15 days that involved multiple vans / loading docks / freight elevators we were cut loose to explore. Prague was the first time it really hit that I wasn't in America sheerly basing that realization on aesthetics, because at the same time it felt far from home it also felt more welcoming to travelers than most of the cities I experienced, I don't have any lines about seeing ancient artwork or going to a castle because I just walked around by myself and went to an Adidas store. From what we figured the venue was part of some kind of Anarchist complex that involved vinyl pressing, vegan ice cream, bicycles and a vape shop. The dank basement smell of the venue brought me back to my youth, coupled with the warm lunch meat and melting fresh cheeses it made for a noxious brew in the green room. The was the first show that despite lack luster attendance felt like it really had the spirit, kids (more grown men) driving from Eastern Europe to see MAGNITUDE’S furthest eastern date ever, feeling full of straight edge pride while holding giant bottles of unidentified liqueur. At a glance; Cool city, nice bridges, lots of desserts I would have tried.
Day 5
Day Off in Berlin, Germany
After a really TOUGH few days we all REALLY deserved a break from the hustle and bustle of being working musicians and there's no better place for that than Berlin. Me, Jake (FINAL GASP + WARFARE indentured servant), Boone (Techo, GLORY NYC, FIREWALKA) took to the streets in anti Lime scooter demonstration and walked to a Soviet War Memorial to watch some kids get arrested for skateboarding. Ahhhh finally a familiar feeling. Let the kids ollie over Stalin’s grave man. After sharing some time in the sun with some old friends we took back to the streets and met DEAD HEAT for some side walk suds and fritz cola on our way to get some Burgers (that after deeply offending a women by stealing her table, we ended up eating in a park covered in dog shit and heroin needles). Followed up by heavy browsing of the militaria store, and a trip to Berlins answer to Generation Records CORETEX, where I got a great deal on a pretty old INFEST T shirt we finally returned back to the bus lot to regroup. After being briefed on an ongoing medical situation with a comrade we once again mobbed our way to meet up with the one, the only, the mayor of Berlin....TOWER. A man who overshadows his name, and frequent instagram fire reactor. We got the best Vegan thai food ill ever have, sat in the park chugging on mattes and proceeded to walk around the city of Berlin for hours on end until we met some kids who were coming to the show the next night from Poland. Now weve assembled into a multi national force we descended on the river bank near the berlin wall (or A wall in Berlin). We talked about core, mused about city life and the social welfare system until it was time to pack it in and we departed into diverging squads to see either DJ blankie or any actual DJ playing at some club where half of the squad was denied entry for having bad vibes...or it was racial.. either way. Shout out to Seb, Chris, Iggy, and Celly.
For Unity. Why? Cuz it means a lot to me.