Got-A-Nerve?

10/03/2009 | ALL FOR NOTHING, up and coming old-school female fronted five-piece based out of Rotterdam, has their sophomore full-length “Miles & Memories” coming out on GSR music later this month.
In the past months (has it happened since day one) the guys have been busy building a name for themselves having worked on their second album in addition to sharing the stage with bands like Slapshot, Sick Of It All, Bane, Born From Pain and many others.
This is a recent e-mail interview GOT A NERVE! did with the Dutch dudes. We sent them a bunch of questions about their new album, life on the road, why HC kids should catch them live, Rotterdam's scene and more…if you don’t know ALL FOR NOTHING I think this interview is a good starting point to learn more about the band. Read on what the guys had to say…

GAN!: So how’s all in life of ALL FOR NOTHING?

Very good thank you. We have just recorded our 2nd full length, which is called “Miles and Memories” and will be released at the 23rd of October on GSR Music. We’re psyched about playing the new songs live.

GAN!: First off, give a background on the band and introduce the band members.

We have Cindy on vocals, Kees on Bass, Richard on drums and Ernst & Bas on guitars.
We’ve been in this line up since September 2007. Cindy joined us in 2005, before that I did the vocals and played guitar. We recorded two MCD’s and just finished recording the second full-length album which will be released on GSR Music. We toured Europe a couple of times and try to play shows as much as we can.

GAN!: As far as the band name - what exactly does it mean to you and where did it come from?

It was something we made up while brainstorming about band names. It doesn’t mean anything. Sometimes we joke around that we do it all for nothing. But that's not true of course hahaha... After we picked AFN as our band name I found out both Run Devil Run & DRI have songs with the same name.

GAN!: I know you guys are working on new stuff to be included in your debut full-length. What do you think about the new material, how does it compare to old stuff and what your fans may expect from you?

Actually it will be our second full length. It’s a hard question. I mean, I guess any band that records new songs thinks it’s their best so far. What to expect: 12 Hardcore songs AFN style. Lot's of melodies, breakdowns, sing-a-longs, all the stuff we love about hardcore!

GAN!: Has anything inspired you during the writing process?

Yes definitely! The inspiration is based on basically two things. The first thing is the accident that me and Cindy had on vacation. We we’re on holiday in Greece and hired a quad bike to do some sightseeing. For somewhat reason we got into an accident and fell four meters down. We we’re lucky to still be alive, cause it could have ended way worse. We both had fractures and had to take time off to recover en rehabilitate. We had to cancel the tour, which we both hated. Sitting at home not being able to do anything is awful, but the experience changes you as a person.
The second thing that inspired us for the new album, is the fact we wrote this record in a period when we did a lot of shows during the weekends and tours. We saw a lot of the road last year, we met a lot of amazing people and did crazy shows. Basically we wrote a record that represents the feeling we get by playing and travelling a lot with this band. It’s not a theme based CD though, but for us these new songs represent what we experience with AFN since the release of our MCD “Solitary”

GAN!: Perhaps it’s too early but can you tell me a bit about the CD packaging: what it will look like, who’s responsible for the art, and so on…?

Our buddy Arek (who also did the Solitary release art) did the artwork. I looks awesome. Maybe not “typical” hardcore but that is fine with us. Keep an eye out on the myspace page!

GAN!: How did you guys get hooked up with GSR music?

We got in touch a couple of months ago and we are honoured that they will release our new album. It’s one of the coolest and well established labels in Europe.

GAN!: Cindy what’s it like being the only female in the band? Does that translate into any difficulties on the road? How fans who see you live for the very first time react when they realize is you up there screaming your lungs off?

No not really. We’re a pretty tight club of friends, so no problems on that point. I grew up with just a younger sister and now I have a sister and four brothers!
When I started singing in All For Nothing people where kind of surprised when they saw us for the first time. But now that we’ve been around for a while people know us a little better and know what to expect.

GAN!: Cindy I don’t wanna sound like a dork so pardon me just for asking this. The hardcore scene is so male-dominated; who or what got you into playing hardcore punk in the first place?

Getting the things that bother me out of my system!

GAN!: Although I’ve yet to see your band live, the 7’’ gives me the impression that you guys fuck shit up on stage. How would you describe an All For Nothing set?

Lots of energy, lots of fun. We are there to have good time together with the people who attend the show. For us, going to- and playing shows ourselves is an outlet. Just a 30 minute escape from the “normal” world. To us, there are no rules as longs as you respect and be aware of your surroundings.

GAN!: So you guys hail from Rotterdam, how has this city influenced you guys while growing up? How’s Rotterdam scene (if any) going today?

Only Richard, Ernst & Cindy are from Rotterdam. It’s a hard city. Not hard in terms of “ though guy” hard but hard in its own unique way. It’s also beautiful and honest. We always felt that there is a certain work ethic that really influenced us .
The scene isn’t that big. There are not a lot of places you can play as a band. But we hope and try to make a change to that. There is a group of people coming together to make an effort in building a scene.

GAN!: As a band who have been around quite a long time, what is your impression of the current hardcore-punk scene? How has it changed since your beginning?

Sometimes it seems that band come together release a 7 inch and split up again nowadays. Also hardcore found it’s way into internet (or the other way around) and although it’s not necessarily a bad thing, we would like that people would drop their keyboards and visit shows more.

GAN!: Who’s your favourite new hardcore punk band out there right now?

In Holland: The Hardship and outside of Holland: Risk it & Go For It from Germany

GAN!: Now bit of play. Umm…I’ll mention a record, a band or whatever and I expect you guys to tell me something that come to mind when you think about it.

Manlifting Banner

Great! Maybe a whole different league of hardcore that we play but certainly one of the Classic bands from Holland. Members are still active in other bands. Cool! Never too old for hardcore!

Squat
We always had mixed feelings with Squats (or better: squatters). I met a lot of them over the years and most of them are truly unique people with a big artistic talent and a positive mindset. If you have a positive community and you truly contribute something to your neighbourhood, respect the building, fixing it, treating the (old) building with the grace that it deserves etc…: Cool.
However we also ran into people that are so incredible narrow-minded and stupid. It was sad and embarrassing. Sadly these people don’t see the chance they have to create something positive.

Ray Cappo

Made some great records with good bands. I once heard he lip synced during a live show. Hope that ain’t true. That would be a bummer! What's with the wine?

Back On The Map

Good song, good album and a good band! Also nice guys to tour with.

Straight Edge

Positive and great. We’re not an edge band but we really respect people’s personal choice. I’ve seen it turn into a fashion though and that's sad. It should be a personal choice and not a fashion or a peer pressure matter (which it often is, in my eyes). I’ve seen people turn edge, preach about it, having a “holier than thou” attitude about it and break edge a couple of years later. Simply because everybody around them did.
I’m fine with any person being edge. But I hate that ''Im better than you" mindset. It makes people look extremely stupid if they start drinking again.
Because of this the term or slogan “straight edge” is meaningless to me. To me the thoughts behind it are great. But when people start using it as a trademark: You missed the point and the thought of it.

GAN!: What do you guys do for a living?

Cindy is a social worker, Bas is a driving instructor, Richard is a ICT consultant, Kees is studying and working as a Optometric and Ernst works as a graphic designer.

GAN!: Ok we are in closing. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. Wanna add something?

Thank you for the interview! Good luck with anything you do in the future and let’s meet up in real live someday. That would be cool!

Check: myspace.com/allfornothingnl www.myspace.com/gsrmusic

Print | Return

Category: Interviews
Posted by: marcs77