Rites comes from Netherlands and play a style
which is between hardcore and punkrock and it´s
one of Netherlands best bands right now. Here´s
an interview with them done in march 2024.
Please tell me a little about the story of
Rites?
Rick: Do you have a minute? We can hardly
believe it ourselves, but we’ve been together
for over ten years now. In that time we’ve
released four records, played over 120 shows in
various countries and became close friends. We
continue to broaden our horizon, for our most
recent release ‘No Change Without Me’ (may 2023)
we collaborated with Shield Recordings (NL),
Engineer records (UK) and Sell The Heart Records
(USA). Exciting stuff!
Nous: We all hail from the same area in Zeeland,
where we knew each other from concerts until we
decided it was a good idea to start a band
together. We all like quite different styles of
music, but a bad sense of humor and love for
80's nostalgia has helped us stick together.
Please tell me a little about every member, age,
work, previous bands etc? Is it a good thing to
be older in this style?
Louisa: Rites consists of Rick (drums), myself
(vocals), Nous (bass), Chris (guitar), Ronald
(guitar) and our bonus member Frank
(bass/guitar/sick dance moves/whatever we ask
him to do). Ronald is the silent force of the
band, working as a manager for whoever can pay
him and always ready to shake things up with a
new guitar sound. Chris is an
editor/communications officer and avid Star Wars
collector. He passed his love for punk on to his
daughter Brecht, who attends every Rites show
she can get to. I do marketing for a big venue
and attend as many concerts as I can, so I guess
I made my hobby part of my daily life.
Rick: I work as a teacher, teached a subject
called Maatschappijleer that has a lot to do
with politics, cultures and finding you place in
the world/society. Before Rites I played in a
bunch of bands. Mostly hardcore or punk but I
also used to play in a post rock-band called I
Could Float Here Forever.
Nous: Before starting up my own band I've alway
been quite active photographing shows of bands.
Over the years it has made for a lot of nice
contacts all over the world and seeing your
photos pop up in flyers, t-shirts, record sleeve
and such which is really cool.
Louisa: About the age thing, I think each period
in your life has its influence. When we started
Rites we were in our early twenties to late
thirties and we’ve grown together even with
quite the age gap between members. So define
‘older’, I don’t believe you're ever too young
or too old to play hardcorepunk or any type of
music for that matter.
The name Rites, where did it come from it sounds
a little like a medicine or something like that?
I mean it´s a short name so it would be possible
that some ne have taken it before
Louisa: Finding a band name proved to be more
challenging than writing the actual songs. So
sorry, this is not a story about creative
masterminds coming up with something wildly
symbolic. It’s more of a ‘let’s each write down
five words we like and vote for the best one’
kinda story. And Rites was the best one haha.
Rick: Louisa actually added Rites to the list of
names, officially it means something like
‘rituals’, but we mostly liked that it was
short, strong and no other band in the area that
we knew of had a similar name. I believe we
found some bands online with a similar name, but
they weren’t very active or played a different
genre of music . I wonder if they’re still
around after covid.
You come from Holland, how is it to live there
nowadays, racists and politics overall?
Rick: The scene is doing well! Lots of new bands
are doing cool things over here like Swell,
Dogma, Tigerknife and Curselifter. And there are
still a lot of bands that have been together way
longer and are still around like No Turning
Back, Antillectual and All For Nothing. Politics
in the Netherlands are pretty fucked right now.
During the last election a far right-wing racist
party turned out the be the biggest. Fuck PVV.
At least we have a lot to be angry about so
hopefully a lot of kids will start bands because
of it. Nous: I do feel politically we are in a
large downward spiral and it frightens me. I
hope that - like Rick says - it's a catalyst for
younger people to become more active, both
politically and creatively. I feel it's a boost
our local scene could use.
When you do your lyrics, what are they about,
anytime political or is politics nothing to have
in music? Is it worth doing music without being
political?
Louisa: Each artist brings their own story to
the table. I'm a pretty positive minded person
but Rites gives me the space to share my
frustrations about the current state of the
world. Our lyrics can be personal, but also
capture a broader story. Lyrically, we’re often
a socially critical band. However I do feel that
it’s always worth doing music, whether it be
political or not. We like to get a message
across, but that message can also be about
expressing yourself.
Rick: I often help Louisa with lyrics if she
needs some ideas or inspiration. In the past I
wrote a lot of lyrics for my previous bands and
I also wrote the lyrics for Echo on our latest
release. It’s quite personal, about getting
through a rough period in my life where I
struggled with my feelings after my wife had a
miscarriage.
How would you describe your own music in three
words for those who haven't heard you?
Rick: Melodic hardcore punk
Are there any groups you have been compared to?
Is it bad or good to be compared?
Rick: I love that we once were described as the
hardcore Paramore. Besides that people hear a
lot of things in our music. A friend of mine
once said that we remind him of Tsunami Bomb. I
thought that was funny because Andy (of Tsunami
Bomb) released our record in the US on his label
Sell The Heart Record. I think it’s a good thing
people compare us to other bands. It means
people are interested in your band and they are
searching for references.
Have you listened a lot to old Dutch punk/hardcoregroups
and do you have any favorites from the past?
Rick: There are a bunch of cool old Dutch bands
that I still listen to. Bands like Seein Red,
Mainstrike and Reaching Forward. There are also
newer bands (but oldies to some of the new kids)
that I still love to listen to like Justice
(from Belgium but they had some Dutch members),
Omission, A Step Apart and Razor Crusade
Which is the best format to put out records on?
R
ick: Vinyl. Not the most practical but man… I
love vinyl.
Nous: What he says! Big beautiful sleeves to
look at the artwork.
Louisa: Vinyl all the way, although I also love
that we have some on tape.
Can you feel that you have done a record if you
would release it only digitally?
Rick: Sure but it doesn’t feel like you have
finished it. All our releases eventually ended
up on vinyl and tape. NCWM will be out on tape
in a few weeks.
Louisa: Releasing music digitally is the best
way to reach a broader audience, so never
underestimate the importance of that. However,
there’s nothing like holding something you
created in your own hands.
When you listen to music, what is your favorite
way to listen to music, Spotify, vinyl, CD or
what do you prefer?
Rick: At home I prefer vinyl. On the road it’s
Spotify.
Louisa: I love listening to music when I’m on
the road, so Spotify it is. But at home I always
try to spin vinyl as it’s a more authentic
experience.
Do you buy much records yourself?
Rick: Yes. According to my partner, more than is
acceptable.
Louisa: Me, Nous, Rick and Chris have quite the
vinyl-collection between ourselves.
Is there any good record shops left in your
hometown?
Rick: There are a bunch of record shops in our
area. None of them are really into punk/hardcore
but we have a nice bunch of shops that sell
second hand and new vinyl.
Louisa: The Dvrukkery in Middelburg carries our
vinyl, so definitely go check them out.
Any good bands from your town and in Holland
overall?
Rick: Middelburg has a few active punkbands next
to Rites like the Scallywags featuring our very
own Chris. Tarzan and the Beachwaiters and
Bierwolf. Zeeland (the area that Middelburg is
part of) also has a new skatepunkband called
Hexndheving. The Netherlands has a lot of cool
bands. I already mentioned a bunch of them.
Dogma, Swell, Antillectual, No Turning Back,
Lone Wolf, The Real Danger, Tusky, Pressure
Pact, Video Store, Tigerknife, Angstgegner, …
What does punk mean to you, is it only a
musicstyle, a word or is it a style of living?
Rick: Next to music for me it’s a part of
mindset and thinking. The DIY-mentality and
being critical, self aware and social is a big
part of it. In my opinion right-wing has nothing
to do with punk besides something that we have
to fight against.
Tell me a little about the following song and
what they´re about? Who did them and tell me a
little about the story?
No change without me
Louisa: The title track of our record is about
the human tendency to turn a blind eye to the
current state of the world. It’s easy to wait
for others to initiate change, but every person
can make a difference. There’s no change without
you taking that first step.
b/ Low love
Louisa: These lyrics were written based on a
feeling, roughly they’re about the sense of
freedom you get when making choices that
resonate with you. It can be scary following
your own path, but exciting at the same time.
c/Echo
Rick: I wrote the lyrics to this one. It has to
do with the periode after my wife had a
miscarriage. It was a rough period and the
miscarriage was very heavy. We almost needed to
go to the hospital. My mind was full of
emotions. I was mourning and trying to find a
way to be strong for my wife. It was very
therapeutic to write all those feelings down.
I’m glad Louisa wanted to use and sing those
lyrics on a Rites-tune. The song ends with the
heartbeat of my daughter who’s two years old
right now. That heartbeat is recorded with the
fist Echo we had. It’s the perfect sound that
signifies the end of a very dark period.
Are you selling any merch on your gigs, do
people buy it? What sells best?
Rick: We do sell merch and people that are
excited about our music buy it. It’s nice to see
people like what we’re doing and supporting our
band. Vinyl and t-shirts sell the best. Right
now we also have some fannypacks, longsleeves
and cd’s with us.
Nous: And it seems we have a good taste in
design, quite often we run into people wearing
our t-shirts when we go to shows.
Which is your own favorite song among your own
songs? And which song is the people choice?
Rick: I love to play all the songs from our No
Change Without Me EP and one new (unreleased)
song that’s part of our live-set. Mostly because
those songs feel the strongest and more diverse
compared to our previous stuff. And I love the
drumparts of those. We wrote those songs partly
in the pandemic so I had more than enough time
to try out different approaches with the drums.
Louisa: Not specifically my favourite-ever Rites
song, but I love the energy we get when we close
our setlist off with ‘Overdose’.
When you do songs, is it one in the group who
does them or how do you compose a song?
Rick: Mostly one of us (Ronald or Chris) comes
up with a guitar-part or parts. We start jamming
a bit and when we have a solid base we make a
rough demo out of that one and send it to
Louisa. If she likes it she will start exploring
some vocal-ideas and when that feels done we
make a proper demo out of it. We started working
this way during the pandemic. Before the
pandemic we worked out all the parts together in
the rehearsal-space.
Please rank your five favorite records? Five
best concerts you have been to? And the five
most important things in life?
Rick: Wow. That’s a tough question. Here we go.
Best five record (in no specific order):
Hot Water Music - Caution Quicksand - Slip The
Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
Deftones - White Pony Wu Tang Clan - 36 chambers
Best concerts: Modern Life Is War - Reflections
fest, Hengelo 2006 Mewithoutyou - ‘t Beest, Goes
2001? Maybe 2002 The last Lintfabriek-show,
Kontich 2007 Quicksand - Dessertfest, Antwerp
2023
Most important things in life My daughter My
wife Friends and family Music Louisa: I’m happy
Rick answered this one because I’m having a
tough time picking. To name something:
everything Drug Church puts out is solid, Thrice
is always a classic but there’s too many
concerts to mention haha.
Do you care about reviews? Which is the most
peculiar you ever had, with this band or any
other band you have been to?
Rick: Yeah, reviews are always subjective but I
love to read what people think about our music.
Louisa: I love it when people take the time and
effort to listen to our music or attend a show
and write about it. As a woman in hardcorepunk,
I’m often described as ‘cute until she starts
singing’ which I’m getting a bit tired of. Other
than that we’re always very appreciative.
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?
Rick: Taylor Swift, Wu Tang Clan (with all the
members from the 36 chambers record), Minor
Threat, Inside Out and The Get Up Kids.
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music?
Rick: It works. Sometimes a bit of therapy helps
as well.
You have never had any thoughts in singing in
dutch?
Louisa: Not with Rites haha, who knows what the
future might bring.
Any good Swedish bands you like?
Rick: Yeah! I love Satanic Surfers, Anchor
(mostly Norway but some of their members were
Swedish), Hårda Tider and Balance. I wanted to
add Damage Control and Death Is Not Glamorous
but they are from Norway. Close enough?
Nous: I'll have to add Venerea and No Fun At All
and Rick's probably forgotten Refused
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews? What do you prefer
Telephoneinterviews, face to face or as this one
via e-mail?
Rick: We don’t do much interviews but I don’t
mind doing them. I love to do them mostly face
to face (or by skype and stuff) but e-mail is
okay as well.
Louisa: I really appreciate it when someone
takes the time to get to know more about us, so
ask away.
Futureplans for the band?
Rick: We have some plans to do some short tours.
We are the weekend warrior-band. Most of us have
a nice jobs and family so we try to be
responsible on that part. We also started
working on a bunch of new songs for a new
release but that will take some time.
Louisa: Write more music, play cool shows, have
a good time.
Futureplans for yourself?
Rick: Try to be a good father and husband and
person in general.
Louisa: Rick is such a wholesome man. I guess
seeing a bit more of the world, improve my
guitar-playing skills, be a good person and
create good memories.
Wisdomword?
Rick: Be responsible to your environment and the
people around you. Fuck racism!
Something more to add?
Rick: Thank you for your effort and attention to
our band. Please check out all the bands we
mentioned, everything Shield recordings, Sell
The Heart records and Engineer Records does!
Louisa: Thanks for the questions and feel free
to hook us up with a show in Sweden, we’ll
gladly come over.
