Keep It Real #7

Hey Pim! What’s going on in SaD’s headquarters?

Yo Apostolis! Sun is shining over here now. So I’m not complaining… Guess it’s way sunnier over there in Greece though. Anyway, the CD is out for some time now and getting some great feedback. At the moment we’re busy finishing everything for the LP release. Artwork is finished and sent off to the pressing plant. Preorders are still coming in and we’re sending those out pretty soon now. Releaseshows are set. Just preparing everything for the release. Aside from that we used this month to write some great new songs. I really feel these song are by far the best songs we’ve ever written. A bit different, but nothing drastic. But how many times did you hear that before from a band already? Oh well… Can’t wait to finish them. For now we’re going to play as much shows as possible again, full speed ahead. Be prepared.

Can you give us a brief history of the band?

Well Said And Done started busting out songs just a year ago, not any longer. But it all pretty much started back in ’99 when Joost (our drummer) and I started jamming. Through the years people came and went, names changed and the sound evolved but we’re playing with Stef and Remco on guitar and Joep on bass for quite a long time now. All great, solid dudes and I hope this lineup will stick together for a long time. We write songs together so easily now, we’re at the same page. It just feels right.

You just released your first full length CD; some more info?

It’s released by the kind folks of Shield Recordings. Gert-Jan & Fieke are great people and we’re really glad to be working with them. As for the CD, it’s 12 songs in about 25 minutes. Hardcore. It’s getting some great feedback from all over the world. We’ve had comparisons to bands like the Cro Mags, Leeway, Bad Brains, Maximum Penalty, Beowulf or even Motorhead. Not our words, but we’re not complaining ofcourse haha 😉 The LP is coming up as I already told you, that’s something we can’t wait for… To hold the vinyl in our hands. Amazing!

Aside from the full length we did a 2 song promo in 2006 that we put up for download some time ago. We also contributed a song to the Pressure Release 2007 tape compilation. An European new breed tape compilation. That’s it for now. Hopefully a 7″ can be added to that list somewhere in the future. Early next year? We’ll see.

How’s the scene in Netherlands?

Pretty good actually. Lots of shows. Great new and already established bands (Union Town, State Of Mind, Tenement Kids, Brat Pack, Civil Terror, Nothing Done, No Turning Back, Born From Pain to name some). It’s a shame Restless Youth did quit recently though, that band was amazing. We have some great labels releasing quality stuff like Shield Recordings, Not Just Words Records and Reflections Records. Let’s see, I like to think we have a good e-zine as well, Asice.net. Shameless plug since I’m part of the crew behind that as well 😉 More importantly though, we need more paper zines! All in all a pretty healthy scene I think. Only the turnup to shows seems to be getting a bit less, oh welll… That will change…

As far as I can figure out, you are all young kids. How did you decide to play hardcore influenced by the back in the days movement, when you haven’t even born (metaphorically!)?

Yeah we’re pretty young I guess. Remco is the oldest one with 25 years. I’m 22. Joep is 20, Joost and Stef are 19. I don’t know. We’re all kids in hardcore right? As for our music being influenced by bands from some time ago. It’s pretty simple, we just really love that music. We never saw those bands back in the days, but that music still speaks volumes these days. Bands like the Bad Brains, Cro Mags, Underdog, Leeway etc. They just created amazing music. Without them we would have sound totally different I guess. But it’s not only hardcore that influenced us. I mean we all listened to Nirvana, we love driving home from shows with Johnny Cash on the radio etc etc… But lately we’re listening a lot to a band called Only Living Witness. Check that band out, I keep telling people that, you will not be dissapointed. Great grooves, amazing voice. It doesn’t matter to me how old a band is. If it’s great music, it’s great music. Simple.

What is your opinion about all these reunions of old school hardcore bands? Have you been in any show like that?

To me, it really depends on the band that is doing the reunion. As long as they’re sincere about it I don’t see any problem with it, as long new bands still have the chance to play shows. But playing with bands like that are a good opportunity for new bands to promote themselves as well. Anyway I’ve heard some horrible stories about the Bold reunion shows, but I didn’t went to any of their shows. I totally loved the Underdog reunion. That show was amazing. It felt sincere. Same goes for Leeway, really good show as well. I loved the Fearless Vampire Killers shows (Cro-Mags & Bad Brains songs played by JJ & Mackey and others). Some were better than others, but all in all I’m really glad I got to see some of those bands. We even got to play with FVK. You wont hear me complaining about those reunions.

You run a great tape label called Pressure Release, along with a member of Justice, right? How did you start and what are your main goals?

Thanks dude! It’s not with a member from Justice though. Maybe you mixed us up with Powered Records. That’s their thing. Check that out by the way, they’re putting out some awesome stuff now! Anyway, Pressure Release Records is me and Rob from the Light The Fuse Fests & Records. We talked about our mutual love for bands like the Cro Mags now and then but one day he asked me what I was planning to do with Pressure Release Records. I originally started that label to release tape demo’s from Said And Done sideprojects. But those sideprojects pretty quickly fell through and those releases never happened. So I told him I was just waiting for the right band to get things started. He told me he wanted to put out the Tenement Kids demo on tape but the other dudes from Light The Fuse Records weren’t into the idea. I really liked that TK demo, so when he asked me to restart the label together and make that demo our first release… I didn’t have to think that long. That was our first release. Demo’s by Diablo Blvd & Mans Ruin from Belgium followed. Our last release was the “Pressure Release 2007” compilation I told you about earlier. A huge success, we made 250 copies and they sold out in no-time. If you get the chance to pick that up, do yourself a favor and do so. Some great new bands on it.

Our main goals are are pretty much releasing stuff on tape again. Lots of bands skip the demotape part (hell, we did that with Said And Done too, but this is my way for making up for that ;)) nowadays and because we like tapes a lot we want to keep them around. We don’t have any plans for the future yet. We’ll see what crosses our path. We’re both pretty busy with our own stuff at the moment. If the right band comes along…

What’s your opinion about the following: a) tough guy / macho, b) straight edge / vegetarian c) metal-core & other related to it trends? d) politics in the scene?

tough guy / macho:
Don’t know man. Don’t get it at all haha. Act as though as you want, just not something for me. I’m a nerd haha, so no need for me to act all tough guy and macho. People wouldn’t accept it. Otherwise I would be sooo though. For real. Masterkiller!

straight edge / vegetarian:
If people are into it for the right reasons I think straight edge is a great concept. The whole ‘keeping a clear mind’ thing does appeal to me I have to say. It’s just that I like to drink a beer now and then. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. And if you look at the size of me you probably already guessed I eat meat 😉 It’s just not something for me, being a vegetarian. Maybe it’s stupid. Nobody is flawless… I don’t do drugs (aside from beer that is) and I don’t smoke though.

metal-core & other related to it trends:
If you asked me this question a couple of years ago I would have answered it totally different because I was totally into that style back then. I just wanted everything to be as loud and agressive as possible. I found that back then in metal-core. Nowadays I think most metal-core is pretty boring. Boring riffs, most of the time horrible vocalists. ‘I don’t know, it’s just not something for me anymore. Each to its own though. If you like it, good for you. Enjoy it! When I want to hear something LOUD (even heavier than those bands) I’ll crank up a Rise And Fall record or something. Check that band out people. Awesome punk-metal from Belgium. LOUD.

politics in the scene:
Good. Hardcore is more than music right? Politics are important. I think those two go perfectly well together. I think a message is imporant. I do want to say something with our songs. It’s not like we have the greatest lyrics ever, but it’s always something I wanted to get off my chest. Something important to me one way or another. I also think people need to think more. Use your head people, use your head. And speak up. Express yourself. We’re getting too passive. Myself included. We all need to wake up.

What about tours and stuff? Are you planning to conquer the world?!

We’ve been to Spain in February, which was an amazing experience. Such a beautiful country. We hope we can go back there sometime next year. Aside from the shows in the Netherlands we also did some shows in Belgium and Germany. Next up are some shows in the UK and we’re talking about doing some shows in France & Germany as well. We’ll see where we’ll be heading. We want to play as much as possible but because most of us are still in school we’ll have to see when and where. Get in touch when you want to book us though, we’ll work something out!

Thank you a lot for the interview! Do you wanna add something more?

Thank YOU for the interview dude. Thanks for the chance to let us speak out about our band in your zine man. Good luck with everything. As for adding anything? Just use your head people, that’s all. Take care and hopefully we’ll be coming over to check out Greece someday. With this band or just on a personal visit. Heard some great story about the country.

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