Birds In Row are an awesome hardcore band from Laval, France who while on their first United States tour with the equally impressive Loma Prieta, will make a stop at the The Space in Hamden on Sunday. The band, which consists of xBartx (guitar/vocals), Ditow (bass/vocals) and Timmy (drums), have recently signed to Deathwish Inc. and will be releasing a new album through them sometime this year. Right now, Vitriol Records, has reissued two of the band's previous releases, the "Rise Of The Phoenix" 7" and the "Cottbus" LP as one full length record called "Collected", which is definitely worth picking up if you are a fan of quality music and quality packaging. (Vitriol always does something extra with their physical releases, bless them.) So, we sent the band some questions and here are their answers. True to their hardcore ideals, they answered these questions collectively. So, enjoy and don't miss the show this Sunday. (Info on that will follow below.)
This is going to be your first tour of the United States. What are you looking forward to on the trip? Why has it taken a while to get over here?
It is not easy to tour here in good conditions. We needed a band to tour with and had several proposals since the beginning of the band but each time it failed. And then we met up with Loma on our last Eurotour, and today we are in Oakland, CA, waiting for it to start ! This tour is going to be a way for us to learn about the US in terms of music but also as a landscape and ambiance. This is our first time visiting the country.
You recently went into the studio to record songs for a new record to be put out by Deathwish Inc. How did the recording go? What can you tell us about the new record? Is it done? If so, when can we expect it?
We composed everything on the period of November/December and recorded on early January. We feel like the songs are way more aggressive and diverse. It is still what we used to do but more violent and melodic at the same time. It should be out....one day.
How are the new songs similar and/or different from previous songs you have put out? Explain.
Like I said, we feel like we pushed a bit forward the things we tried to do previously, like playing violent dark songs still keeping a good place for the melody.
How did you hook up with Deathwish Inc.? Why?
It seems they heard of us from different sources and one day they contacted us to work something out with them. I still don't know why, but i guess they somehow liked our previous releases.
What is the hardcore scene like in France? How do you guys fit into it?
There is no real hardcore scene. It looks more like a bunch of friends from different cities setting up shows of a different kind. Not a lot of big hardcore bands plays in France as they know the shows are not going to look like Germany. So, it doesn't really help to develop something around hardcore in the medium/small cities. Still, the hardcore fashionistas exist in most of the biggest cities and some really involved persons also. We have the place of any touring band in this simili-scene.
You have a very distinct sound and have been know to take some risks as far as songwriting goes. First, how did you come up with your sound? And second, do you think it's important to experiment with the standard hardcore sound?
We don't play hardcore/punk for playing hardcore/punk, that's the only explanation I can see concerning the fact that some people finds our songs original. We've never tried to fit into one cultural circle that doesn't even exist where we're from. I guess we just play the songs that touch us the way our small musical skills allow us to.
Why do you think hardcore has continued to be a viable form of musical expression for so many people? How does this apply to your band?
It is a counter culture and people are fed up with the mainstream tube feeding culture. Also the artists in that culture are part of the audience and conversely. It means they are talking about what most of the kids feel like which make them identify themselves more easily than a guy talking about big cars, big money and stuff like that. We are part of the type of bands who talk about what they live, not making it up, so I guess that's how this applies to us.
What is the significance of your band's name? Does it have one?
Birds are known to be a freedom symbol, able to fly anywhere with no real boundaries. But still they fly together, wait together on wires. It is a good image of the society, people could decide of what they could do with their life but they prefer to let their surrounding decide for themselves. Just like birds flying in rows or waiting in a row.
Sunday March 18
The Saddest Landscape
Loma Prieta
Birds In Row
My Fictions
Parkview
The Space
295 Treadwell Street
Hamden, CT
All Ages - $8 advance/$10 door - 6:00pm doors
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