Band’s name: THE ICE
Location: Cologne, Germany (that’s where we were founded as a band. some members come from other areas, though)
Active since: Well, our first demo was released somewhat in 2005. Some line-up changes, blab bla bla… I guess the recordings for our second demo in 2007 would be the real starting point of our career. From that demo on, we had an old member leaving (Heiko – bass) and two new members joining the band (Peter – bass, Andy – 2nd guitar).
How do you define your overall style?Tough question… Musically, we get a lot of inspiration from different backgrounds. We are all heavily into NYHC and bands from the mid 80ies and early 90ies. Mix that up with some classic Rock ’n Roll elements and a good amount of Heavy Metal and EBM like Sisters Of Mercy or Depeche Mode. There you have it. Overall style…? That’s pretty tough, too… I guess, we are all deeply involved into media, art and fashion. That is and always has been a huge influence for the band. It resulted in various shirt designs, that went really well, our reputation as a band with a strong affinity for sneakers and not to forget, our collaboration with Florian Bertmer, an awesome artist, who designed our Demo and our 7inch.
Furthermore, we see ourselves as a band with a really high work ethic. This might surprise some people out there, cause we had to cancel so many good showcases in the last two years. But believe me, it is just, because we always try to be the best THE ICE we can possibly be. That leads to long periods of work behind the curtains. After all, we want to be understood as a band, that always tries to set themselves off this mediocre hardcore scene, with all the look-alikes and random songwriting or images.
What’s your goal with this band?
See my last answer… We do not want to be famous or whatsoever. We want to stick out of the masses, artistically. Plus, we would be deeply satisfied, if we broke up some people’s stereotypes when it comes to the definition of a hardcore band (stylistically and musically).
What do you have recorded so far?
As I mentioned above, we recorded a demo in 2005. But forget about that demo. We really started off in 2007 with a five song demo, that got released as a 7inch in the same year. You don’t own it, yet? Get the free mp3 through our myspace profile.
We just finished the recordings for our upcoming EP. Great stuff, that went way further than I had expected it before! I truly believe that we achieved something special with these recordings. You just wait and listen to the stuff in the near future!!!
What can we expect from The Ice and what does the name represent?
You can always expect excitement. Whether it will be on stage or at home, when you listen to our tracks. Boredom is death, so we try to break things up and present something fresh. The band’s name could stand as a good metaphor for that. But to be honest: we just tried to give a little tribute to two of our favourite bands, when we picked the band’s name.
It also represents the coldness in our hearts and our society. A cold and harsh atmosphere – mirrored by our songs.
How did you meet each other and how long have you been a group?
We did not really meet. We were all friends before we started the project that soon was to become a real band.
Your new Ep should be released somewhere soon. Could you shed some light on it? What kids should expect from it? How are the new songs different from your first demo?
I already said, that we mixed up some musical inspirations on this EP. And we wanted to set the whole recording process back in the past, to honour the way and the aesthetic bands from the late 80ies recorded their material with. No Pro-Tools, no trigger sounds. Pure music in its natural state. Listen to the old records from that era (Icemen, Danzig, etc.) and you get a good idea, what the new tracks sound like. People evolve. We all evolved as individuals. And so it is just common sense that the band evolved with us. We all grew as musicians and that really went into our recordings. We used to play straight up riffs with a lot of quotes from bands like the Mags or Judge. On our new record, we slowed down a bit and gave it more ambience, more atmosphere, more emotion. In the end we picked up the pace, again, and finished up with a good balance between melody and quickness. You can expect to be positively surprised.
So what is your label situation? What label is releasing the EP?
We just signed to COUNTDOWN RECORDS from Italy to telease the EP and we are very happy out it. Its a hard working and passionated label. The EP is coming in november. So watch out for it!
What bands influenced your sound?
I listed up some names in the answers above.
Lyrically, where do you find your inspiration?
Since I usually write all the lyrics, this question is easy to answer for me. Well, I listen to old Crowbar material and copy and paste the most from that. Ha ha ha
Seriously, I studied literature and right now I work on a thesis on space and time in narration. That’s why I read a lot about philosophical and ethical approaches towards the concepts of being, time and space. Some inspiration derives from this reading. I try to pick up the atmosphere from the songs and reflect it through the words I write down. In the end, most of the lyrics tend to have some wider concepts involved. They also reflect my experiences as a living human being.
Make sure, you read our lyrics. That really means a lot to me.
How did you get into hardcore music?
I can speak for myself only, at this point. Well, typical hardcore vita, I guess. Got into Metal and Punkrock, when I was 13/14 years old. Quickly went from Metal to Trashmetal. Liked the political and critical approach of the bands from that days. Looked up the booklets for further bands to check out, stumbled over the name Cro-Mags a couple of times, got the records… the rest is history, hahaha…
Well, I had a NewSchool phase in the mid 90ies. That’s it. Started a couple of shitty bands, some cool bands, now I am here, playing guitar for The Ice. I really enjoy what I am doing with this band. I all aspects, that is!
What are your thoughts on current state of hardcore music and the scene?
Too, close minded, to self-restrictive, too young! Old people don’t get off their asses anymore, youngbucks are too braindead to check the roots. But then again, a lot of very promising and fresh acts are around, today. I guess European Hardcore has outrun US Core in the last couple of years.
What excites you about hardcore in 2009?
That I am still a part of it. I am 31 years old now, and you know, life starts to become quite serious. Haha. I wouldn’t want to miss out on the scene, though!
What's next on your agenda except for the new EP?
We are working on our live performance, right now. We want to give it a bit more event-like character. Well, some little touring could fall into place, also. Let’s wait and see…
Any additional comments or shout-outs?
Never stop creating, never slow down. Evolve and reinvent yourself every day.
Thank you for interviewing THE ICE.
Touch the void!
Check this awesome band here:
http://www.myspace.com/theicerules
Download the demo here.
