by We Had A Deal -
Here and was blown away by the
passionate songs which were played with aggression and
fused post-hardcore with 90's screamo.
I am pleased to say that the band have taken time out from
their busy schedules to give me an interview.
Who is in the band and how did you get together?
We Had A Deal is Uli on guitar, Serkan on bass, Sascha on drums and me, Micha doing the vocals. Basically the band was founded by our first drummer. We both had been friends for years before that. He asked a guy he knew from school and me to form this band together. After the line-up was completed a crappy first demo was recorded, new songs were written, a second (hopefully better) demo/EP was recorded and so on. The name “We Had A Deal” was chosen referring to an Onelinedrawing-song on a Jade-Tree-Records-Compilation we used to listen to in our first rehearsal room. Unfortunately I can’t tell you more about the Spinal-Tap-moments we had (and there were plenty of them) because there’s this contract we signed, and you know how the Secret Service works.
Is there a big hardcore/screamo scene in Germany or is it pretty underground?
To be honest: We couldn’t say. There seems to be a growing attention but we don’t feel capable to speak for the whole complex or “scene”. It’s impossible to speak in general terms (only seeing the places we play or attend shows at). So far, we played in great places with awesome bands and we like the involved people a lot. What we experienced is that on the one hand there are lots of amazing people who put a lot of effort, time and (as cliché as it may sound) passion into setting up DIY-shows. On the other hand at other places there is a business-like attitude and reproduction of market structures we don’t feel comfortable with. Same goes with releasing records. So you could say it’s a bit of both.
Do you have to put on your own gigs or are there plenty of places to play?
Unfortunately we don’t put on our own gigs besides tiny shows in our rehearsal room which we’ll try to do more often. The number of places to play really depends on the region. All in all there’s a certain amount of places to play in Germany but we lack the experience to compare this situation to other countries. Unfortunately there seem to be not many house-shows and alike here. Or at least we haven’t played any, yet. So if you’re reading this and want us to play in your living-room, backyard, attic or whatever, please contact us!
What has the general reaction been to “Dialectics” - I have seen some really good reviews on the web, Has this album helped in getting people along to see you play and getting gigs?
Most reviews and reactions are extremely positive so far and we’re thankful that people spend time and energy in reviewing this album. We’re pretty amazed up to this point. A lot of the songs were part of our live-set way before we recorded them so no one knew them then. But now there are people actually knowing the words and singing along, which is awesome and always gives me shivers down my spine. So yes, it seems the record allured people to come to shows and we couldn’t be happier about that.
The production really captures the power of the songs and sounds pretty live - any secrets to recording your sound?
“Dialectics” was recorded by Daniel Wied in his room at the basement of his parent’s house with the main idea of making it sound as much as a live-recording as possible and to use as little digital-soundboost-tools as possible. He and Daniel Steinwedel, who mastered the songs, put a lot of effort in this project and we’re really grateful for that. I guess, they never told me the real “secrets”. But they sure did spend a lot of time with every single instrument, fiddling around with different set-ups and improving the sound.…..and it worked.
Your album is pay what you want - do you find places like Bandcamp are able to get your music out to a much wider audience than just gigs and friends?
We favor the idea of making our songs easily accessible to everyone. Online-streaming-sites are very helpful in this crusade and since the giant evil octopus a.k.a. internet has a wider reach than we have it’s also a friend in need.
The labels, which helped to release “Dialectics”, were all idealistic enough to let us give away the record for free and digitalkunstrasen.net made a stable free download possible (http://www.digitalkunstrasen.net/Homepage/DKA114.html). Many thanks to all of them. So if someone decides to let us play or to come to a show or to buy the 12inch or she/he discovers one of the labels through streaming/downloading the album or donates some money via bandcamp because she/he likes our songs that’s all we could ask for. Perhaps free downloads can be idealistically seen as a promotion that’ll eventually get people to buy records, come to shows and support labels/bands. Others might see it as the root of all evil. We chose the hippyesque point of view.
Are there any bands in Germany that other readers may not of heard of before that we should check out?
Yes, there are and we take this chance to advertise the following (in no particular order):
Continents (http://de-de.facebook.com/wearecontinents)
Willy Fog (http://www.facebook.com/Willyfogband)
Cannon For Cordoba (http://www.facebook.com/cannonforcordoba)
MNMNTS (http://www.facebook.com/mnmntspunk)
Ende/Aus (http://www.facebook.com/pages/EndeAus/256283142178)
Patsy O’Hara (http://patsyoharapunks.tumblr.com/)
Hell&Back (http://www.facebook.com/hellandbackpunkrock)
Reznik Syndrom (http://www.rezniksyndrom.de/)
Mahlstrom (http://www.facebook.com/mahlstrommusik)
There’re a lot more I forgot to mention here.
And another advertisement: If you like the “Dialectics”-artwork you’ll probably be interested in visiting http://schwarzerrand.tumblr.com/ and in downloading this zine: http://www.mediafire.com/?2ksbieviey66u3d
What does the future hold for you?
There will be a further release in 2013 and some shows until then. But while I’m writing this there’s this cold hand on my shoulder and a deep voice telling me: “Thou shall not spread uncertain things to come before everything’s ready”. An order I have to follow…..
Thanks for your support and for this interview.
WE HAD A DEAL
wehadadeal@gmx.de
