Solid Ground

Interview par e-mail réalisée le 03.01.2007
avec Martin, chanteur de Solid Ground

Clique ici pour lire cette interview en Français

Anglais

Clique ici pour lire cette interview en Français

Hi Martin! First of all, can you please introduce yourself and also your bandmates?

We've got Roman on drums, Raphael on guitar, David on guitar, Thomas on bass, and me on vocals.

When did you discover hardcore and how did it affect you?

I got into HC around `93. Before that I was more like a metal head guy.  You know, Sepultura, Slayer, Metallica, and even some death metal stuff ...These were the bands I rocked out. I was very young and just wanted to listen to music that was hard and fast. I was also really into skateboarding at that time. But those friends hated my metal music. They were into Bad Religion, ALL , and the Gorilla Biscuits. So I got in touch witch HC and totally got into it. SOIA, Cro-Mags, and YOT became my favorite bands. And to this day I totally love hc music with all its diversity and attitude. Through HC I learned about animal rights issues and read lyrics that said „use your head „ . That really impressed me. It really changed my way of thinking and living.

You used to play in a band called Blue Water Boy before Solid Ground. Can you tell me more about that band?

Blue Water Boy was pretty much my first band that played some shows and put out a record. It was our first try to put some songs together and we had a really great time doing it. We were five friends into straight edge and  listening to a lot of that Ebulition records stuff. You know, all that mid. Nineties emo bands like navio forge, indian summer, and anasarca.But the band was never really that serious and I think most of the time we were just to lazy to get real tight as musicans. As I said before, I remember it as a fun time, but now with solid ground , it’s a whole different story. We’re much more focused and serious about what we do.

When did you start Solid Ground and what were your aspirations in the beginning?

We played our first show in february 04 and also released our „ run and hide“ demo at that show. I think it was a pretty cool show for a „first show“ and we got supported right from the beginning. With SG we wanted to start a straight up HC band. A band that reflets the music we all like best. We never wanted to reinvent HC or be all different. We always wanted to keep it simple and to the point. But do what we do as good and as tight as possible. That’s it.

Do you think the band has been evolving a lot through all these years?
I mean, have you noticed any changes within the band in comparison with the early days?

I still like some of the first songs we ever wrote. And we still play some of them live. But in general, I’d say, that we just got better and tighter as a band. I’m also really happy with all the new songs that we wrote for our new record. I think this is by far the best material we ever had. And I ’m very glad things are going very smoothly when it comes to writing new songs.

It seems that nowadays the hardcore scene is kinda divided. There are punx, hardcore kids, edge kids, tough guys, skinheads and many others. But they're seldom together as one, at least that's what I can usually see at shows. However, a lot of people seem to be bored with the whole unity thing, which I think is a shame because a message of unity is what we all need, it's necessary in my opinion. What are your views on this subject?

I really couldn’t care less if someone is a punk, a straight edge kid or just a skinhead type kind of guy. What matters to me is, that you have respect for each and everyone and that you treat others the way you want to be treated. Your not better and your not worse than anyone just because you dress a certain way. So yes, some sense of unity is cool. Cause we all have the same background. But I also think that it is all pretty much mixed up at shows. Especially here in Switzerland. So that’s cool.

In Switzerland, we are lucky enough to have many languages. I think it's a great thing but it might constitute a barrier too. Have you ever felt that barrier language within the scene, here in Switzerland or even somewhere else?

In fact, I really do think that it’s sometimes kind of hard to comunicate with people from the french – or the italian part of switzerland. My french is pretty bad and i’m barely able to speak. Not to mention my italian ... so we always have to speak english, and I think that kind of sucks. Because not everyone’s english is fluent. So sometimes we can’t comunicate at all. I personally don’t like the fact that we have 4 different languages.

There seems to be less and less fanzines today, so it's always a real pleasure to pick up a zine at a show! So tell me, do you like reading zines? Have you ever attended to write a zine? What are your thoughts on zines (webzines as well as "paper" zines...)?

Yes, of course, I like zines. But i never did one myself. I’m not really a writer person. I was always more interested in doing bands and stuff. The only thing that bothers me about zines is, that they often lack quality and originality. In this case, they are just boring ...

Where and how do you see yourself in ten years? Do you think you'll still be intersted by hardcore?

Yes, I do. You might not see me at every show, but I really think  that hardcore will still be a part of me and my daily life. I might will not have all the latest records, I might will not be dressing the way hc kids will dress. But that’s not what hc is all about anyway. But I really do think, that I will hold on to all the things hc has taught me.  Let’s talk about that in 10 years.

Can you give me you top 5 records of all time and leave a short comment for each record?

There are probably more than 50 records that I really dig, and it’s always hard to pin it down to just 5. It also depends on the mood i’m in. So they keep changing every week. Right now it would be:

-Youth of today ( all and everything) that band had such a big impact on me and my teenage years, it’s incredible. They got me into SXE and vegetarianism. This band really changed my life. Plain and simple. To this day, i still love all their records and lyrics. Essential.

- Cro-mags  „the age of quarell“  this is probably one of the hardest records ever recorded. Everyone knows it and everyone loves it. They wrote all the mosh parts each and every band tries to copy nowadays. So you know the deal.

- Minor Threat „ out of step“ they pretty much wrote the formula for a good hardcore song. Plus they had truly great lyrics. I can never really decide if I should name Minor Threat or the Embrace record here. Or even Fugazi ... ? I really don’t know. Fact is, that I love all of them.

- Madball „hold it down“ if you need the perfect soundtrack to work out. Put this record on and you’ll lift weights like never before. Believe me, I tried it. Not for the weak ...

- Judge „bringin it down“ well, i guess you know the deal. Straight edge and proud. Just like i am.

Any last words?

Thank you for your support!
Please check out our website for any news or downloads : www.solid-ground.ch
We’re going to have a new record out in 07 on dead serious recordings.
So keep your eyes open ... thanks!

Interview : Bastien

More Infos :

Kronik : Lire la Kronik de l'album "Get Used to It" de Solid Ground

Genre : Hardcore / Old School

Pays : Suisse

Webpage : www.solid-ground.ch

Myspace : www.myspace.com/solidground

Label : www.deadserious.de