New HC Bands

New Hardcore Band Spotlight: X inclusion X

Photo: grainispower

Band: X inclusion X
From: Hasselt, Belgium


Their formation story:
(Kevin, bassist): "We've all been friends for years and Rudi and I had the idea of starting a Youth Crew band for quite a while. But the timing was never entirely right until now. A few years ago we did jam a few times with Steven (the old drummer of Slow Crush, Justice etc.) and we did have some good ideas. But unfortunately we never found a suitable guitarist. So that band was shelved pre-maturely.

"I was also in another band (with a lot of ambition) at that time, we had our setbacks at home etc. so I didn’t really push for it. But the idea of a Youth Crew band always stuck in the back of my mind because I have always loved that style of hardcore.

"Last year, Rudi and I were talking about doing a band again and we were wondering who could play guitar. We really wanted it to be a straight edge band from the start, and we wanted people we knew well. So we asked Jan and Kurt to Join because they’re good musicians and good dudes. We didn’t really expect Kurt to be interested, but to our surprise he was down to do it as well.

"We actually started writing music right away, and we practiced a few times with Willem of Animal Club on drums. That wasn’t really working out because of conflicting schedules and other priorities, so Alex joined us on drums shortly after. I’ve known Alex since he was just a kid and saw him grow tremendously as a musician.

"So right now, it’s Jan and Kurt on guitars, Alex on drums, Rudi on vocals, and myself on bass."

Their sound in their own words:
"Of course the classic Youth Crew bands all were a huge influence (musically but also aesthetic wise). But I think that is fair to say it's also pretty heavily influenced by Floorpunch, Sportswear, and Mouthpiece. Those would definitely be some of the main influences.

"Sportswear especially is a band that means the world to me. I know I can only speak for myself, but while I was writing I also snuck some '90s-styled NYHC and some New Wave in there. When you listen carefully you’ll probably hear it."

Latest release info:
"We’ve got eight songs and two of those are an intro and a really fast and short track. Rudi wrote the lyrics (except for one) and most of them deal with daily life, racism, animal rights, selfishness etc. Those are all common topics within hardcore but there are also songs about Rudi’s children and other more mature issues. Of course straight edge is very important for us as well, so that definitely deserved some attention as well.

"We're all very outspoken about straight edge, but we're the last guys to look/talk down to people. We're all positive people that want to show that there is always a different path, and straight edge happened to work out the best for us. 

"We’re all in our late 30s and early to late 40s so we’ve all got our so-called 'baggage' and our fair share of setbacks. In a way this band was therapeutic for me. I'm not much of a talker, but I did write one lyric about my girlfriend’s battle against cancer and all of the consequences that came with it.

"I tried to keep those lyrics fairly abstract so that everyone who goes through some hardships could relate to it. We're a positive band, so it was truly meant to show that everyone battles their own demons, but that you shouldn’t give up while doing so."

Future plans:
 "I hope to have fun, play some cool shows, and get our name out there. All while still maintaining a good level of quality. Almost no one around here is playing this style of hardcore, so we’re already standing out in that sense of the word.

"I do hope our EP will get a good reaction, and hopefully we’ll put out a 7" or a full LP in the near future. Some splits with cool bands would be great too! 
That is definitely goal I’d like to set for us. We're also in talks for a small tour for next year, so I hope that will work out."

What other bands from the region should we check out?
"Half of our band is in XdevourX and XinvictusX so I might as well plug those bands. We Came As Dirt are a local band that plays mathcore in the style of Coalesce, Harkonen, Botch, etc. They're all old friends and they're extremely talented guys. 

"Not to sound egotistical, but Belgium is always doing great stuff when it comes to hardcore, and now especially with bands like Mindwar, Wrong Man, and Feverchild.
Things to look out for in the future will be Fazed, a great band with members of Justice. And also Parasite, which features members of Dead Stop and Justice. 

"Right across the border from us we have new band called Abuse Forms, with members of Life Spite."

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