Ink Bomb sent me their record and it was a
marvellous one. This Dutch band was so kind that
they answered a lot of questions from me and it
took place in the end of may 2024.
Please tell me a little about every member and
the history of the band? Tell me a little
about every member, previous bands and band on
the side of Ink Bomb, work, age and what do you
work with besides of the music?
Joost: "I do vocals in Ink Bomb and I’m the one
who started the band. We didn’t know each other
before the first band practice! I am an
archivist by trade, manager of the audiovisual
collections at BHIC in Den Bosch, the
Netherlands. As far as music goes I roadied for
a band called Army of Darkness, started out as a
bass player in a band called Superhero and also
played bass in Gora from Nijmegen."
Quirijn: "My name is Quirijn Foeken and I turned
32 eight years ago. I play guitar in Ink Bomb
and produce our records. I also work a marketing
job and occasionally work in my studio called
Fiction Studio, which I named after our first
record. I previously was in a hiphop band called
Anders Niemand. I still make hiphop with a
friend which we call Breekpunt. We don't release
that much music but we will still make 4 to 5
songs a year."
Paul: "I always whine about that I don't like
skate punk but I've been drumming skate-like
punk for nine years already. My musical
background is electronic music with analog
synths, noisy grunge and funky indie. The rest
of the band cringes when I play my actual taste:
Japanese idol elektro pop with grown women
posing as bubbly ten year olds. I try to write
and am an aspiring postman."
Arina: "I play bass guitar in Ink Bomb and I
take care of most show/tour management things.
My band mates joke every now and then that I'm
the social media manager without a smartphone
(still going strong with my good old Nokia!). My
former band is called Planet Eyelash, it was
poppy grunge. My new band project is Clearly
Confused: first show will take place next week,
exciting!! As a day job I'm a teacher educator:
my students are the teachers of Dutch language
and culture of the future.
Your
music is a style which came foreward many years
ago, old favorites which you like today?
Arina: “Bad Religion and the Go-Go's, although
the latter is from the '80s.”
The name
Ink Bomb where did it came from? You weren´t
afraid that not any other would be named so
before? Your absolute favorite band name?
Paul: "Best band name? Das Racist. Or Bad
Brains. Anal Cunt. Sonic Youth. Butthole
Surfers. Ultrazeitgeist, Daft Punk, The Who. Our
band name Ink Bomb has something to do with ink,
writing, because we all have done work with
language and writing. Bomb probably stands for
the explosive parts of our songs. If I'm not
soaked and nearly dead at the end of a gig, we
didn't do good enough of a job."
Arina: "Our band name also stands for freedom of
press, it's about the power of words."
Is it
important to release physical things? Or can you
feel that you have done a record if you only
release it digitally? How do you release this
record? Only CD or?
Quirijn: "As a fan it is perfectly fine to
listen to a digital copy of a record. But the
physical manifestion of that record is also part
of it: touching the record, reading the artwork
and being able to hold it in your hand. As a
band it's really nice to have a physical object
or a piece of art you have worked so hard on.
That is the reason we released the record on
streaming, CD and blue vinyl." Buying records or
other merchandise is also the best way to
support a band."
Paul: "I have always been a fan of physical
audio media. Ever since the CD came up, I was
fascinated by vinyl, that clear music can come
from cuts in grooves. I am a terrible hipster in
that respect. If the zombie apocalypse comes and
internet collapses, Spotify will be useless, but
we might still be able to listen to vinyl. And
of course, like Quirijn says, an album with a
sleeve and artwork is a much more complete work
of art."
You have
never been to Sweden and played or been here as
tourists? With this band or any other band you
have been in? If you not have when do you come?
Quirijn: "We would love to come to Sweden! We
had plans to come to Malmö this year but it
really didnt pan out but we still have plans to
play Sweden sometimes. I have been to Stockholm
to the Stockholm Film Festival around 10 years
ago and that was the first and last time I was
there. So it's time to go back and see more of
the country that the local cinemas!"
Arina: "When I was a student, I've been to
Sweden during a holiday. First I hitchhiked to
Berlin and then I took some night trains with a
so-called Scan Rail pass. I visited Stockholm,
Malmö and some places in Norway. Really would
love to play in Sweden some time!
Which
countries have had the pleasure to be hearing
the band live?
Paul: "Belgium, Germany, Great-Britain, Denmark
and of course the Netherlands."
I think
your music is a hybrid between emo, punk and
fast punk, how do you describe it yourself?
Paul: "That's a nice description. Because of our
diverse musical tastes, we diverted quite a bit
from the skate punk we started out with. Also,
we had some shitty times sometime so we've
automatically become more emo. I like the more
indie-like direction the band has taken. But our
main goal is trying to create great, sincere
melodies and explosive riffs."
Who does
the lyrics? Never in dutch?
Joost: “I write all of the lyrics. Never in
Dutch, I like for my lyrics to be as universally
understandable as possible. English is by far
the best language suited for this purpose. We do
cover a Dutch song, though!”
Is there
any subject you never will sing about?
Arina: "We wouldn't write an ode to beer and
whiskey. We’re just not the type of band for
something like that."
How is
it to live in Holland nowadays, racists,
politic,?
Joost: "A difficult question. It is frustrating,
saddening even scary to live in the current
Dutch political climate. The Netherlands had an
election in november last year in which the
extreme right PVV party won the majority of the
vote. They have just finished negotiations with
three other major parties for a consensus
agreement on main policy issues. It is a party
founded on Islamophobia and they generally blame
the left and asylumseekers for most of the
country's problems. Things are gonna get worse
before we have a chance to turn things around.”
Is it
better to live in Holland if you compare for say
about 25 years ago??
Paul: "Of course 25 years ago everything was
better, but that's mostly because we were
younger. Getting old is torture. I guess there
is way more individualism nowadays and also more
polarisation, deep divides between political and
etnic groups, however it's not nearly as bad as
in the USA. We try to get along with everyone.
We're all pretty much the same, even if we seem
to be different. Hallelujah. The music? There
have always been shovelloads of shitty music.
You just have to know where to look for the good
stuff."
Do you
have any favorite football team(I support
Arsenal and a Swedish team called GAIS myself)?
Or any sport favorites at all?
Paul: "It used to be PSV Eindhoven when Ruud
Gullit played there, but nobody at my home
watched football. So I could never keep up and
now I just don't care anymore. But it's fun if
NEC wins. It's an aggressive underdog from our
hometown Nijmegen. Especially against Vitesse
Arnhem, which is the evil arch enemy. And when
Holland plays, I also might follow them."
Quirijn: "I always have said that watching
sports or playing sports should be against the
law. The only sports I condone is when my
children play tennis. Just kidding: you do you."
Arina: "I love surfing!"
Beer is
expensive in Sweden. I have a very big interest
in beer and brew myself? Your favourite
beerstyle ? You don´t have an own Ink Bomb-beer?
If you do that or will do that what is it going
to be called? Or maybe you are straightedge?
Quirijn: "Belgian beer is probably the best: I
prefer Brugse Zot (out of Bruges) and Duvel 666.
An Ink Bomb-beer would be fun but also kind of
weird since not all of us drink alcohol."
Is there
any good bands from Holland worth to mention?
And how is the hardcore/metal/punk scene living
on in Holland right now? Is there some of the
old dutch bands which still is around?
Arina: "Good bands from the past: Undeclinable
Ambuscade, I Against I and Travoltas. The last
two are still (more or less) active (again). For
newer bands it's tricky, because friends in
bands will be angry after reading this interview
and see that they are not in it! Okay, let's try
to name some great bands from our hometown
Nijmegen: Antillectual, No Breakfast Goodbye,
Mark of Chaos and The Unsinkable. The scene here
is small but nice. Punk shows are put up in
different cities, so not only or mainly in the
capital as is the case in some other countries.
What is
your strength when you play live? What is the
most difference between playing nowadays and if
you compare when you started to play?
Paul: "We've become more of a unit. In the
beginning, our playing was way more wobbly. Our
greatest feat is I think that we don't really
look punk and have an innocent charm. But we
also always give everything we got."
Which
type of people comes to your concerts? Which
type of people do you miss?
Quirijn: "A lot of the people we see in the
crowd are the same as us: people in their 40's
who listened to punk rock in the '90s. We would
love to see some more young people! It also
would be nice if the crowd was a bit more
diverse."
Do you
buy much records, or is it only Spotify and
those type of things to listen to music? Any
good record store in your town?
Paul: "I buy a lot of vinyl. If I like an
artist, I just HAVE to have it on vinyl. Since I
am a hipster, I have already been on the vinyl
train since the '90s. We have at least four
stores in Nijmegen where you can buy vinyl. I
like Kroese for the nicely priced new stuff and
Het Vinylarchief for endlessly browsing old
stuff until you find a great Conway Twitty
record or something."
Are you
selling any merch on your gigs, do people buy
it? What sells best?
Joost: "We bring all our releases, some
compilations, T-shirts and pins to our shows.
Shirts and CDs sell the best."
Which is
your own favorite song among your own songs? And
which song is the people choice?
Paul: "Frankenstein, Mutilation Boy and Sum of
all Fears are my favourites right now. I have no
idea what the audience likes. Maybe Mutilation
Boy?"
Arina: "To play during a gig: Tough Cookie and
Brittle."
Do you
do any cover songs when you play live? If you do
which have you played?
Paul: "Lady In Red, Stiekem Gedanst, Time After
Time, Cease, another Bad Religion cover, Nothing
With You and maybe some more. Most sets we don't
play covers. It's mostly for special occasions
like a Christmas charity."
Do you
care about reviews? Which is the most peculiar
you ever had, with this band or any other band
you have been to?
Arina: "We have the impression that people write
less reviews nowadays, compared to the time of
the release of our first album Fiction (2019).
It's great if people take the effort to listen
so carefully to our music that they can actually
write (or say, if it's a video) something about
it, really appreciate it. What comes in mind as
an example of something peculiar is a show
announcement which said that we look like
teachers in daily life and on stage... We still
look like teachers but than teachers who play
cool music. Something like this."
If you
could choose five bands from the past and the
history and nowadays and both dead and living
bands to have a concert together with your band.
Which five have you been chosen? Or have already
shared stage with all these bands?
Quirijn: "I would choose bands I never saw live
and since I can resurrect people in this
scenario I would go for 1. Leonard Cohen 2. The
Beatles 3. Nirvana 4. Bob Marley 5. Django
Reinhardt. No way I am playing at this festival
myself: I would be too nervous. I will invite my
family since we are all huge Leonard Cohen
fans."
Joost: "Good lord, my dream line up? Here goes:
Ramones, Jawbreaker, New Found Glory, Rage
Against The Machine and The Aquabats."
Is music
a good way to get out frustration and become a
nicer person outside the music?
Joost: "Music is literally a driving force
for me in my life. I love the DIY music scene,
going to shows and playing shows myself, and the
uplifting feeling many songs give me."
Quirijn: "To quote my father: "a man needs a
hobby". Music is absolutely a way to get out
frustration. I don't know if it makes me a nicer
person but I do feel that making and playing
music keeps me sane. Music is also an obsession
and it can be the only thing that is on my mind
so that is kind of a doubled edged sword. But I
cannot fathom my life without music."
Paul: "I've been making music for a long time,
starting with saxophone. If I create something
nice, it can really help me through dark times.
And good times. Especially when I play the
drums, because that's a great physical outlet. I
don't think I've become a better person through
music: I remain a terrible sinner, although
music can sometimes connect you with the Divine.
Gratia plena."
Arina: "If something sad happened, band practice
(for example) can cheer me up, even if I'm not
saying so much, just being there and playing the
songs. At the end of the night, the band finds
me joking or laughing. I don't know exactly how
this works. Working towards something new (like
a new song, a new album, a show or a music
video) with my band mates gives me some
fulfillment in my life."
Politics
and music, does it belong together?? Which is
your most political song or do you not want to
put politics into your music?
Joost: "I think it does. Especially punk rock
which is supposed to question the status quo and
promote empathy for the downtrodden.
Unfortunately much music these days is about
escapism and quick gratification. Our most
political song must be 'Scourge' which deals
with the rise of fascist politics in the
Netherlands. But we have other songs that deal
with cultural political stuff as well
Any good Swedish bands you like?
Paul: "ABBA!"
Quirijn: "We just opened for No Fun At All:
those guys are a huge inspiration to us and it
turned out that they are really nice guys too!
Of course you have to mention Refused and
Millencolin. I like Death By Horse as well."
Joost: "Liberator, ska-punk from Malmö! And
Randy from Hortlax."
Arina: "I want to add Sahara Hotnights here.
Without their album Jennie Bomb I
probably wouldn't be in a band. Heard it for the
first time at the local music venue where I
volunteered and I was impressed immediately
because of the super catchy melodies. Couple of
years later, I ran into this album at a record
store, bought it and while playing it at home, I
called my friend to tell her we should form an
all female band too. We had five years of fun in
our band Planet Eyelash."
Is it
boring with interviews? Is it much interviews?
What do you prefer Telephoneinterviews, face to
face or as this one via e-mail?
Joost: "Interviews are not boring. We don't give
many interviews so any interview is a nice
opportunity to talk about our band, music and
viewpoints. I can imagine if you give interviews
on a press day and get asked the same question
over and over again it can become repetitive,
but for us that is not the case."
Arina: "Really appreciate the effort that people
take to do an interview with us."
Future
plans for the band?
Arina: “We just released our new record
Saudade, so the band is in a ‘chapter’ of
playing lots of shows now.”
Joost: "Hopefully play countries like Germany,
Belgium and other European countries more. I
also would love to play in Italy and Sweden
sometime."
Future
plans for yourself?
Paul: "Unfortunately, no future.”
Wisdomword?
Joost: " Be kind to yourself and people around
you. And smash fascism."
Arina: "People and other animals."