Redemption Denied / Tried ‘n’ True

Imet Kasper back in April 2019, we spent some quality good time on the road and since then we meet on a regular basis every time I’m near Belgium. Kasper fronts Redemption Denied, does Tried ‘n’ True Booking and the fanzine of the same name, and he is one of the most dedicated guys I’ve met in the hardcore scene the last years. Moreover, he is a doctor and that makes this interview even more interesting, since we live in the age of the pandemic. He was super kind to find some spare time, amidst working endless hours every day, to answer to my questions. And this is definitely one of the best interviews of this fanzine. Period.

Interview conducted in mid April 2020. Pictures provided by Kasper Hermans.

www.facebook.com/redemptiondeniedhc www.instagram.com/redemptiondenied triedntrue.org www.instagram.com/triedntruehc

Kasper, what’s up brother! Welcome to Soulcraft fanzine 2! How’s life amidst the pandemic? How’s the situation in Belgium’s healthy system?

Hi Apostolis. Appreciate the invitation. Belgium has been in lockdown since March 18th. So life has changed drastically over the past few weeks. Only essential services and stores remain in business, borders are closed, outdoor activity is heavily restricted by government regulations. I luckily have the privilege to still cross the border and be around people for work. Some areas are affected more severely than others, but healthcare capacity remains sufficient to provide adequate care for the time being. Death toll and hospital admissions have currently stabilized over the past few days, so let’s hope that all investments are paying off.

Your nickname is The Doc, simply because you are a doctor. Pretty busy times, I guess... What force drove you to choose this kind of

profession? I can’t recall any other doctor in the hardcore scene so it always seemed intriguing to me to ask you this ‘Hardcore saved your life so you began saving other persons’ lives?’! What similarities can you ideally find between being, on one hand a member of the hardcore scene and, on the other hand, taking care daily of people’s health?

There’s actually a few in hardcore that I know of: drummer for DOWN TO NOTHING, and one of COLDBURN’s current guitar players, for example. Honorable mention for Dr. Know, of course. To address the first part of your question: I genuinely wouldn’t be where I am right now if I hadn’t found hardcore. I got into loud music when I was about 14-15 years old. My dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer around that time, and both me and (even more so) my twin brother found an escape in rather self-destructive behavior. Coincidentally got introduced to hardcore through local youth centers and skateboarding. Basically offered us a community that embraced / contained ‘fuck-ups’, while at the same time offering an outlet that was far more sustainable. Turned vegan and SXE when I was 16, which really changed things around and probably kept me out of trouble. Eventually also made it easier to perform in college and get accepted for specialist training etc. as well. After secondary school, I initially really didn’t know what I wanted to study nor do professionally in the long run. I took tests through a career advice center that told me I should enroll for Psychology or Audiology / Logopedics. None of which interested me enough to have a go at it. Ended up joining a group travel to India that summer with money I saved from working on the weekends. It involved volunteer work at a school for disadvantaged boys, visiting orphanages etc. Left a lot of long-lasting impressions. Just connected the dots and figured I wanted to do something that allowed me to travel and help other people. Decided to study for entry exams for Medical School as soon as I got back home. I feel like the community aspect of hardcore really sets it apart from many other things. At the same time there still is a lot of ethical and political reflection, which offers a chance to look at what’s going on in society from a thirdperson / outsider perspective if you open up to it. Perhaps that plays a role in why many people end up working in health care and social sectors.

You sing for Redemption Denied, one of Belgium’s stand-out bands the last years. Give us a short biography and share with our readers the band’s latest news please.

RD is a hardcore band from Belgium / The Netherlands. Current line-up features Kevin and Joey on guitars, Lennert on bass, my brother Joris on drums and me on vocals. We started out in the summer of 2011 after a few local bands (World Gone Mad, Blade, Unbreakable) called it quits, and wrote the demo which came out as a self-titled 7” in 2012. Released “Nothing Remains” in 2014. Played our share of shows and toured extensively until mid-2016, followed by about a 2-year hiatus until 2018. We just finished recording 10 new songs for a full-length album that will be out later this year. Release date and info will be available as soon as this pandemic ends. We’re hitting a few good festivals and doing a short run of shows with Earth Crisis this summer if circumstances allow it. Looking to be on the road and head to new places as much as possible thereafter.

What kind of redemption are you seeking for and who denied this to you? Did you take the name from the Blood For Blood song or it’s just a coincidence? Which bands have influenced you both musically and lyrically and why?

Name is based on the BFB song. When Davy (our first guitar player) came up with it during one of the early rehearsals, I actually recall that no one was into it… But it only became a more apparent issue when we got closer to releasing the first record. We wanted something that somehow covered a part of what we were about and sounded a bit different. Redemption Denied managed to stick with us long enough, and other alternatives didn’t make the cut, so we eventually just went with it. Obviously we all have our own musical preferences as individuals. But e.g. (early) Hatebreed, Death Threat and Stigmata are examples of bands that we’re all into and that will undoubtedly have influenced the song-writing to some extent. Maybe some more All Out War, Kickback and Machine Head in the newer songs. Just bands

that can really get that feeling of urgency and anger across while staying straight forward and relatively close to the roots musically without having to resort to songs that sound like 3-minute long breakdowns. As far as lyrics go, I guess I do have some favorites. I definitely read too many Earth Crisis booklets when I first started going to shows. Possibly still do. I really like a lot of Pat Dubar’s lyrics for Turning Point. Trial’s ‘Are These Our Lives’ is among the favorites as well. 100 Demons. One King Down. Battery. Just to name a few.

How hard is to be a European hardcore band in a US dominated scene? How do you feel when US bands get all the hype and great Euro / UK bands are underrated? What’s your favorite bands of today’s hardcore by the way?

I never felt like that, to be honest… Obviously, when looking at the chronology of things, a lot was happening in the US before anyone around here had ever even heard about hardcore. But throw any ½ decade period at me from early 90’s forward and I’d be more than happy to point out bands that were at least on par with anything coming out of the US, possibly better. Arkangel, Kickback, L’Esprit Du Clan, Dead Stop, Justice, Rise & Fall… There’s plenty of old and new EU bands that are hyped on the other side of the pond as well. Try putting your old merch online and you’ll know within 30 seconds. Some current favorites: FORESEEN from Helsinki. Really liked the new NEVER ENDING GAME and QUEENSWAY records and would love to see them make it over here. ALL OUT WAR are still releasing awesome new material. WORST DOUBT from Paris and ANGST from Hannover definitely are promising young(er) bands. I’ll go and see KNUCKLEDUST any time I can. TERROR never disappoints. Clearly impossible to write down a comprehensive list that’d do justice to all bands worth mentioning.

You’ve shared the stage and toured with lots of cool bands, including Backtrack and Trapped Under Ice. How hard was to get hooked with these tours? Which one stands out the most for you? Any funny stories?

Yeah, looking back I guess we’ve been blessed with a lot of really good tours so far. We have always just tried to play as many shows as possible… I believe the biggest factor is that all of us were either really motivated or crazy enough to make things work up to a point where we’d usually be able to accept most opportunities when offers came our way. Never paid to play - please NEVER do - or any of that crazy shit. All of us have been around for quite some time and were / are active in multiple bands so that definitely helps to build somewhat of a network as well. Also eternally grateful to (still) be surrounded by friends that helped us along the way by learning all songs on short notice or driving us around. There’s a lot of great memories and stories... Loved the TRUE SPIRIT tour #1 with NO TURNING BACK, STRENGTH APPROACH, WORLD EATER and RISK IT. Everyone on that tour just really bonded after trying to evade menstrual blood and handing out ‘special’ whisky during some of the most horrific sleep-overs to date. Tour with TERROR and NAILS for the ‘25th Hour’ was beyond great. Stepping on stage hoarse voiced from singing along to RIVAL SCHOOLS and listening to unreleased NO WARNING songs on the backseat of a night-liner… First Ukraine-Russia tour really stands out as well. Touring through a civil war, being seconds away from getting caught by armed military police whilst smuggling merch and instruments across the Russian border on a train with tourist visas. Toured with BACKTRACK twice, but recent farewell tour with HANGMAN and HIGHER POWER was pure gold. Best part for me is mostly about getting to make awesome memories with close friends, playing music or seeing bands I love every night and meeting / catching up with a lot of cool people everywhere.

Besides being a doctor and singing for RD, you run Tried & True Booking. Could you give us an insight into how things work with T&T? Where do you usually do shows and how can a band get in touch with you if they want to play your area?

TNT books shows in the eastern part of Belgium and southern part of The Netherlands. Initially started out in 2013 as an effort to primarily help friends’ bands from other countries get decent shows in my area when other bookers were slowing down. But gradually moved on to bigger things thereafter. Bands or bookers usually just get in touch with me or vice versa, and we’ll just discuss possibilities depending on what’s on

the table. I try to do the occasional fundraiser show as well. Easiest way to get in touch is to just contact us on social media (IG/FB: @ triedntruehc) or through the website (triedntrue. org).

Tried & True last year transformed into a super cool fanzine, too. Issue no.1 was released in April 2019. Any plans for issue no.2? It took me 4 years to start working on the 2nd issue of this fanzine, so I definitely understand the delay. How important are fanzines nowadays?

Issue #2 is in the works. Most interviews are completed, and must say we’re really stoked so far. But a lot of the other stuff is unfortunately being delayed by a multitude of factors, not all COVID-related. Should all be done by summer time nonetheless. Fanzines rule. There’s always been somewhat of a special element to holding a DIY zine. The ‘mojo’ of the look and feel that make it a hardcore / punk zine from a mile away. Also love just how clear it is that it took a lot of time and effort to produce, and as part of a bigger and long-standing tradition. I have a big box of old(er) fanzines, and every single one is a time capsule that offers a glimpse into specific time or place. In contrast, a lot of things on the internet easily feel more superficial or unfortunately prone to disappear into oblivion faster than one might expect. We all thought Myspace was forever, right?

Belgium used to have a great scene many years ago. You got your H8000 / edge metal / core movement back in late 90s and then in between 2000-2010 all these awesome bands like Deadstop, Rise & Fall or Justice used to be ambassadors of the Belgium scene in the worldwide hardcore. How’s the scene nowadays? Am I wrong or it has decreased in numbers of attendance and bands? If so, how did this occur?

We get this question pretty often. As you state yourself, everything seems to come in waves. I guess that the people that make a big deal out of it are the ones that possibly lost track at some point or don’t show up at shows that often

anymore. Of course it’s different from a couple of years ago, but Belgium’s still doing OK in my book. Cool things seem to be happening in the Brussels area, with a lot of new and more 80’s / punk oriented bands. And we just had a huge sold out Liar reunion show / H8000 book release etc. with young bands on the bill as well. Enough to get excited about. If anything, I feel like everything seems more fragmented now. Little niches and sub-sub-subgenres that for some reason don’t really mix anymore. There’s multiple simultaneous shows every weekend within a 3hr drive radius. Makes it harder for promoters to take risks because it is more difficult to draw bigger crowds for separate shows. However, it does offer lots of options for new bands to get on stage etc. which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’d really love to see promoters just get in touch and work together more proactively, maybe try some mixed bills to keep people open minded. I’ve been working with Coma Bookings a couple of times now and has been great.

you like One King Down?! Cheers bro, stay safe!

You know I have a spot for OKD. Just one of the first bands that really solidified my transition to hardcore music. Coming from a more metaloriented background, I really gravitated towards hardcore-punk because of many things as stated earlier. But OKD was one the final pieces of the puzzle that drew me in for life. ‘Bloodlust Revenge’ is a masterpiece and would still be regarded as such if it came out tomorrow. ‘Prey To Human Silence’ and ‘More Hate Than Fear’ remain in the short list of personal anthems to this day, and will still blast “Hasp” (from ‘Gravity Wins Again’) through my earbuds to e.g. get amped for the last kilometers when running. And, as it happens to be, really awesome guys as well! Beyond stoked I had opportunity to tag along for the recent run of EU / UK shows, thanks again brother. To anyone reading this: check out the extensive interview I did with Matt Wood in TNT #1 and find out for yourself. Number 2 coming at you soon! THE DOC, OUT!