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Your time use it comes from Germany and they
play really good hardcore. Why don´t an
interview them I thought and here´s the
result…September-2019
Please tell me a little bit history of the
group?
-Hi, I am Markus, singer of Your Time Use It
from Aachen, Germany. Thanks in advance for the
interview. We really appreciate it!
Our band consist of Rene and Roschan (guitars)
David (drums), Rene (bass) and Stefan (merch,
sound, etc.).
We started out in 2014. Most of us already knew
each other for quite a while and used to play in
different bands together.
We released a demo in 2016, an EP in 2018 via
Stay Cold Records, and are currently working on
an album which we will record in 2020.
Besides that, we try to play as much as our work
and family lives allow.
Well, I guess that's our infamous history in a
nutshell.
-We all are in our mid-thirties. Most of us have
kids, all have wives or girlfriends and we all
have a regular job, which, as for most people,
takes up too much time but provides for us and
our families.
We spend a lot of time talking and we often
argue or piss each other off. But in the the end
we always manage to straighten things out and
find compromises. This is also what makes this
band very special to us. It’s not merely a
musical project. We are friends, and I am really
happy to have these guys in my life.
Bandwise we all had a few bands before Your Time
Use It. As I mentioned earlier all of the guys
already played together in one or the other
bands.
None of us has any side projects...or none that
I know of...
I can hear much different influences but mostly
hardcore? Favourites from the past?
-A lot! We are kids of the nineties and are
mostly influenced by 90's and early millenial
skatepunk and hardcore bands. Satanic Surfers,
Raised Fist, Snapcase, 59 Times The Pain,
Shelter, Endstand... just to name a few.
-We are completely satisfied with the name
because it has a true meaning to us.
All of us have only a limited amount of time on
this planet and for us it is important to strife
for and create something positive during that
time span. So this is your time, use it.
Coming up with it was a huge pain in the bum
though. There are so many cool and meaningful
names but most of them are, of course, already
taken. We had dozens of promising ideas which,
after a short google research, went straight to
the bin.
Because we checked carefully we are pretty sure
that we are the only band with that name. If
some guys want to name their band the same way
they will receive a very angry email ;)
The best bandname? I can't tell. I like
meaningful bandnames that leave room for
interpretation such as Comeback Kid or The Ghost
Inside.
-The energy. The raw power and excitement.
Putting your heart out and sharing this moment
with your friends. That's one of the best things
in life.
Nope, no covers ever.
-To be quite honest, we only play dirty punk
clubs, pubs, youth centres or tiny rehearsal
rooms of befriended bands. They are all great
because some DIY dude took the effort to
organize a show for him and his buddies and we
were happy enough to be invited to crush the
stage. That's what it’s about.
-There are a lot of great bands in Germany at
the moment...and a lot of bands in general. We
mostly play with other hardcore or hardcore punk
bands. Most of them are friends or become
friends pretty fast. We try to help each other
out and support small touring bands so we get
the same love back.
-Energetic, positive, playful.
-It’s definitely more than a word. For us it
includes that you try to broaden your horizon
and become the best version of yourself that you
can be. Its a way of dealing with life by asking
uncomfortable questions. To yourself and your
surroundings.
Which song/album or group was it who took you
into punk?
-I started to listen to punk with Green Day “Dookie”,
but the band that really brought me into it
where the Satanic Surfers with “Hero of our
time”. That's my most favourite album ever!
What shall a young guy do today to shock their
parents as the way we did when we were young?
They have already seen everything
-Tattoo their face and do crappy autotune trap
music...or maybe wear a suite, go to church and
study economics.
I don't have any children, but the latter would
really freak me out I guess.
How is it to live in Germany right now?
Politically? Fascists?
-It's like almost everywhere in Europe, or maybe
even the world. Populists provide easy answers
to a complicated world and point the finger at
lesser fortuned people so that some miserable
narrow minded dickheads have somebody to blame
for their shitty lives. Up to now it’s quite ok
but there is too much hate towards foreigners.
We also have people who display their fascist
attitude openly. Those guys are bad, but it’s
the deep rooted rightwing “average joe” from the
middle of our society that scares us the most.
Is there any good bands from Germany right now?
Is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene big?
How is it in your hometown?
-I think there are many really good bands. The
latest hardcore releases that let my mouth drop
open where No Shelter and the latest Vlada Ina
Single. Take Your Guilt, a band from our
hometown, just released their EP which really
kicks ass. Besides those I am really waiting for
new stuff from Selfish Hate who just finished
recording their new album. World Negation is
also a great band that needs to be mentioned.
Unfaded, those guys have nice, raw energy...I
could go on and on...
-You have great lakes and woods! I have been to
Sweden when I was fifteen and had a great
vacation in a youth camp. I drank self-distilled
vodka with some swedish punk kids. I also
visited my wife a couple of times when she was
working in Stockholm. She introduced me to
kardemummabullar - they are awesome! Nothing to
complain about Sweden so far!
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
-Some of our favourite bands come from Sweden.
Satanic Surfers, Raised Fist, Millencolin,
59Times the Pain, No Fun at All. There are
really some great bands hailing from your
country.
-I write the lyrics. Mostly I write about stuff
that pisses me of, but I also write about things
that motivate or inspire me.
We have no songs in German so far, but I could
imagine doing some songs in our mother tongue as
well. I somehow prefer writing in English. The
language is way smoother than German.
Is there any subject that you never will write
anything about?
-I can't think of any. If I feel like it I would
write about anything.
-To transport a message is very important to us.
We have a couple of political songs.
Soulless machine or Beautiful place for example.
Of course it is hard to come up with solutions
to specific political issues in a song. But to
state an opinion or inspire a listener to think
about a political topic is a huge part of
hardcore and punk music.
Best political band/artist?
-Maybe Rage Against the Machine or Stray from
the Path. I don't know. There are a lot of bands
that have well written lyrics. Good Riddance or
Propaghandi have great political lyrics as well.
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can
change anyones life, I mean people who listen to
music?
-I sure do! Listening to punk and hardcore bands
had a huge impact on my life. The way I think
and approach things and problems were influenced
by the music I listened to. Besides that it gave
me a scene and role models I could identify
with.
The right music can help you through hard times.
I know some people who literally feel saved by
music as they discovered hardcore when they
where dealing with drug or alcohol issues and
found a way out by becoming straight edge.
Your favorite recordcover alltime? Who does your
recordcovers? And do you have any good
recordstores in your hometown?
-I don't care too much about record covers. I
like the covers of Hot Water Music albums
though. Our Demo cover was designed by our buddy
Stefan that I mentioned earlier. The cover of
our EP was done by Mario Turiaux, a talented
artist from Aachen.
We don't really know who will do the cover of
our album, but we want to keep the cartoonish
style we are establishing.
-I am kind of undecided when it comes to
physical records. Of course it is nice to have a
copy of your music in your hands and many people
are collectors. But the trend is going the other
direction with nearly everybody consuming music
via streaming platforms. For me it’s the same. I
buy the record to support the band but I always
listen to it digitally.
Our next release will be vinyl. It’s the most
stylish way of releasing a record and the true
collectors prefer it anyway. The rest has to
listen to our stuff on the streaming platform of
their choice.
-We were supporting a “bigger” German hardcore
band. During the break in our first song our
guitarist Roschan executes a stylish dance move.
He lifts his guitar high up in the air to slam
it down in a mighty blow with the next chord.
The strap fails, his guitar drops to the floor
with a big clonk and he looks kinda funny.
How does your audience look like? Which people
do you miss on your concerts? Which is the
biggest band you ever have played together with?
-We don't really have an own audience because we
are still a very small band. It’s just people
that go to small shows supporting the DIY scene.
With that being said there is nobody we miss,
but everybody is welcome...except fascists and
the like. They can stay at home and smash their
heads against a wall.
Please rank your five favoriterecords, five
favoriteconcerts and five most important things
in life?
-Satanic Surfers-Hero of our Time
Raised Fist-Veil of Ignorance
Red Hot Chillipeppers-Californication
Hatebreed-Satisfaction is the death of desire
Rage Against the Machine-Evil Empire
Any Sick of it All show.They always wreck the
place.
Questions at Cafe Bluff. A really small venue
and a positive oldschool hardcore band from
Brazil. I was blown away by their energy and had
a great party with basically everyone in the
venue.
Die Tote Hosen in a living room in Cologne, that
was epic.
Ignite at the Musik Bunker in Aachen. The Bunker
is also a small venue which was packed when
Ignite played. Everybody went completely
bonkers.
H2O at Groezrock in 2016 (at least I think it
was 2016...) the stage was full of people
singing along and stagediving. Awesome!
My family
My friends
My cats
My health
The rest is nice to have but no necessity.
-Green Day-Dookie
Probation-Fucked by Life
I don't know
-It’s the second interview I do and I am having
a great time!
-We don't really care much about reviews
although they are mandatory if you want to get
your name out. It is always nice to hear if
somebody likes your music...and sometimes
uncomfortable if they don't. But in the end it
doesn't matter. We do what we like and that's
it.
One review we got was really funny. The guy
basically only said that we are a band and we
play music. Well, at least that's the truth.
Which bands do people compare you to, is it
boring that people compare you to other bands or
is it understandable?
-I thinks it is completely understandable. I
think there are always similarities between
bands. It is unavoidable. Besides that, there is
no shame in having a style that is comparable to
a band that you like. We already got compared to
Comeback Kid, Biohazard, 59 Time the Pain,
Downset, Snapcase, Bane and most recently to old
Deez Nuts and Stick to Your Guns stuff. Those
are grat bands that all sound very different to
me, so I hope we have our own style that's
somewhere in the middle of it all.
-I would choose the bands that I like and know
personally. Right now it would be World
Negation, Selfish Hate, Dead District, Honour
Never Dies and Hometown Crew. That would be a
Line Up that I would really dig!
-Hell Yeah! Music helps me to transform negative
emotions into something positive. It does so in
many ways, by writing lyrics and shouting them
at the world, by listening to it loud at home or
at shows and, most importantly, at our concerts
where we can go crazy on stage and let
everything out.
-As this is only my second interview there
haven't been too many strange questions asked.
Sorry I can't name a particularly odd one.
-How do you like your coffee? Black.
Futureplans for the band?
-Record a LP in 2020. Play shows. Have fun.
-Driving and camping with an RV from Seattle to
Yellowstone National Park and back.
-Don't expect too much from people. It sets them
up for failure and can easily cause
disappointment in you and others. Let them be as
they are and love them that way. Add a good
portion of self-acceptance to that and you're on
a good way I think.
Thanks for the interview and showing interest in
our music. We really appreciate it! |