Bratpack, one of the better bands which have come out from the Netherlands, perhaps the best one was interview by me and it was Bas who answered the questions in the end of February 2009.

History about the group?
-We started out approximately 2,5 years ago. We then played in bands like Antillectual, Beans, Citizens Patrol and considered Brat Pack as a future ‘side project’. We recorded a demo, which was put out on 7” by three dutch labels. After that we started playing on a regular base. We recorded our first full-length a year ago, which was released by Dirty Faces, Crucial Attack and Ha-Ko Bastards in 2008. In the meanwhile we played over 100 shows all over Europe and the UK.

Please tell me a little about every member in the group, age, family, work, interests and something bad about every one?
-My name is Bas, I play guitar. I’m pretty much into NWA, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Motley Crue. I think it's funny to mosh really hard on bands like Madball and Crown of Thornz. I’m obsessed with pizzas and cigarettes. I’m studying psychology. I got family, like parents and a brother.

How is it to play this sort of music in Netherlands right now?
-It’s all right, we got some cool bands like Gewapend Beton, Citizens Patrol and Sick Mormons. We got quite good attention, but it’s a small country so you encounter always kinda like the same inbred hardcore crowd haha. Cause of that we’re kindy picky when it comes to Dutch shows. We don’t wanna create an overkill.

When I tried to find you I saw that there was many Brat Pack out in the world?
-Could be. I was thinking about bringing up ‘Rat Pack’ as a name, but then I thought Brat would be cooler than Rat. Besides that, we found out there was this hardcore band from way back called Rat Pack, so it would be kinda stupid, since we’re playing in the same kind of subgenre. Last year we played on a festival with a band from Sweden. The girl from this band gave me a button from another band called Brat Pack. It’s still on my zipper. Pretty interesting story… ; )

The record was recorded between may and November 2007 but it came out now? What happened?
-After the demo we got 6 new songs, and we were talking with our friend Menno Bakker (Dutch producer) about doing a full-length, and he thought it was cool to do the record in two periods. So we recorded the 6 songs we already got in May 2007, and went back into the practice room to write the rest of the tracks which we recorded at the end of 2007. When we were finished in January, we talked with some labels and after that it came out in May. It took a while, but we’re a little bit control freaks...

You have a lot of concerts I see on your My space....is it the best way to see you live, I mean is that your strength as a band? Only in Netherlands or?
-I don’t know. I guess our strength is that we’re pretty energetic on stage. We got good response all over Europe, especially when people know the songs. Crowd in the Netherlands could be lame and spoiled compared to other countries, but once in a while they go nuts. Amsterdam, for example, is for bands like us pretty cool to play.

Which is the biggest band you have played together with?
-We did some big shows with the Adolescents. Besides that we played shows with the Casualties, Leftover Crack, Avengers, No Means No, Strike Anywhere and did some festival that were pretty well attended. This kind of shows are cool as well, because new people will found out about you.

What does punk mean to you is it only a word or is it a lifestyle?
-It's more than just music.. it's a hairstyle…

All for on, what do you mean?
-I didn’t write the lyrics, but for me it’s kind of  like a methaphore for the outside world. Teachers, preachers, your boss, your peers… people who try to tell you how to live and how to think. The artwork of the record is a sarcastic kind of self-reflection and doesn’t have that much to do with the initial lyrics. Some obnoxious brats ruining there apartment, playing loud music, yelling and screaming at 5’ o clock in the morning. Of course the neighbors got pissed off, and then you hate them for being pissed off haha.

Have you done anything more than the debut CD, demos, singles? If you have how can I get it?
-Yeah, a year ago we contributed one song to a 7” called Glory Days with 3 other selfproclaimed promising Dutch bands: Union Town, the Real Danger and the Tenement Kids. After the 7” came out we put that song on our full-length as well. We got one leftover song from the studio, but we reject the song cause it ain’t good enough. I hope it won’t be released.

Which is your own favouritesong of your own?
-Sick Burn- I’d like to write an entire record in this fast manically technical style, but it’s difficult to come up with this kind of riffs.
Spending Money- the first song we wrote
Hate the Neighbours- best song we wrote, at least the most catchy one.

It feels like if you mix a lot of styles in your music but that you always have punk as a ground? What other styles do you like?
-Like I said I’m pretty much into G-funk lately. Like NWA, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G. and stuff like that. Kenny,our singer, and me are even more influenced by their videoclips. Besides that I’m listening A LOT to Black Sabbath, I guess I’m even influenced by them when it comes to the guitar stuff. I don’t listen to one particular style of punk music. I like all kinds of subgenres within punk, but only listen to the (in my humble opinion) best bands in one genre. Some favorite punk bands of mine are the NoFx, Adolescents, Bad Brains, Reagan Youth, the Wipers, Operation Ivy, Rocket from the Crypt, Peter and the Testtube Babies, Dead Boys and Zeke.

Is there any good bands in your country nowadays? Any old favourites?
-Gewapend Beton, Tenement Kids, Sick Mormons, Antillectual… There are a lot of great bands, not always my cup of tea, but when it comes to quality Holland got a lot of good bands for a tiny little country.

What do you know about Sweden?
-Blond chicks, knackebrod, expensive beer and cigarettes and the IKEA bed I trashed

Have you heard any good swedish bands?
-Yeah, we’re all pretty much into NITAD. I like the Regulations, Disfear and Sista Sekunden as well. Oh, and the first two records by the Hives are pretty cool. In the 1990's I used to listen to these westcoast punk from Sweden. Bands like No Fun at All, Satanic Surfers, Millencolin.

I know that Netherlands had problems with footballhooligans , how is it with that now? Favoruiteteam in football??
-Pff, I hate football and I hate the other guys in my band arguing all the time about football like it’s rocket science haha. Our guitarplayer Dibbus is from Amsterdam so he’s a huge Ajax fan. Roel Bos, our drummer, is pretty much into NEC. A few weeks ago he even showed up with a NEC-scarf and a mullet… oh my fucking god.. ; ) I don’t know what’s up with hooligans, but I guess it doesn’t have that much to do with football. I think it’s some kind of ‘us vs. them’- group behavior that’s not exclusive for football. If they think it’s cool to beat each other up and don’t threat on innocent bystanders or their properties it’s okay with me.

How is it to live there right now, I mean politically?
-Rody: Still better than a lot of other places in the world i guess, but were not moving forward at the moment with our Christian government and reactionary politicians. Right now they're trying to forbid squatting and softdrugs, and we're not allowed to smoke in bars anymore for a while now. Luckily these things are still being fought relatively hard in Holland, when compared to other countries, so we can still smoke like a chimney in all our favorite bars for now!

Please rank your five favourite records, five favourite concerts and five most important things in life?
-1.Michael Jackson- Thriller
2.Guns n' Roses- Apetite for Destruction
3.Bad Brains- Rock for Light
4.NoFX- Ribbed
5.Adolescents- Blue Record

1.the day I was born
2.the day I drank my first beer
3.the day I smoked my first sigarette
4.the day I found out I was indeed capable of reproducing myself
5.the day I listened to Ribbed by NoFX

About concerts. My first concerts were by bands like the New Bomb Turks, No Fun at All, Pennywise, Good Riddance and a lot of local acts.

First, last and most expensive record ever bought?
-First: Michael Jackson, Thriller
Last: Gewapend Beton, Empty Batteries
most expensive: I don't know

Most embarrassing record in your collection?

-I used to do a fanzine, so I got a lot of crappy promos. The worst record might be from Do or Die, a metalcore outfit from Belgium who have this maffia theme. I also got a decent amount of B-category Oi! And poppunk records.

What do you think about Facebook, My space and all those stuff, is it good for a band of your caliber?
-Rody: I can't see how facebook could be any good, since you can't put any songs on there, can you? Although myspace has a lot of obvious downsides, it's also a very nice medium to get to know new bands, and therefore a good way for us to get our music out there.

Where do you stand when we talk about mp3 and downloading?
-I don’t know if my bandmates are with me on this one, but it’s fine with me! I’d rather see 10.000 people downloading our record than 1000 people buyin’ it, but it’s a grey area. It’s very cool when people buy your record, check out the artwork and read what we have to say, but for me personally in the end most important is the music and crowdreaction, and I don’t care that much if people enjoy listening to it on mp3 or on vinyl. Back in the days me and my friends copied a lot on tapes from each others’ collection. It’s the same with mp3s, but on a bigger scale. When it comes to financing the record: if more people come to our shows and more people buy a shirt we’ll get our money out of the recordings that way. I guess it’s more a problem for big record labels, than it is for bands like us.

Futureplans for the band?
-We’re busy writing new songs for future releases. We want to release another 7" this year, and another full-length later on. Besides that we won’t play that much Dutch shows and will do more foreign weekend-tours and a south-european balcans tour.

Futureplans for yourself?
-It's late, I'm going to sleep in a couple of minutes. : )

Wisdomword?
-Gaan we ff normoal doen? Je lijkt wel een kwoalla

 
Something more to add?

-Thanx for the interview! If anyone wants to book us, drop us a line! Cheers, Oi! Oi! Oi!