HARDBOILED

In Clear Sight’s debut album, ‘Fuck Fairytales, This Is Reality’, has been recently released by Clenched Fist records and it’s pretty strong effort if you’re into metallic, mosh-ridden hardcore. To be honest, I was expecting some mindless tough-wannabe mentality that that has been so played out in this genre, but it turns out there is a lot of thought to what they’re doing. I think their FB fanpage gives the best description of what they try to represent: ‘In Clear Sight is about getting your thoughts and goals straight. It's about not giving up to reach the goals you've set for yourself. At the same time these words refer to the scope of a gun. This metaphor reflects the power behind this beliefs.’ Here’s interview with Roger, one of the two vocalists of the band.

In Clear Sight’s debut album, ‘Fuck Fairytales, This Is Reality’, has been recently released by Clenched Fist records and it’s pretty strong effort if you’re into metallic, mosh-ridden hardcore. To be honest, I was expecting some mindless tough-wannabe mentality that that has been so played out in this genre, but it turns out there is a lot of thought to what they’re doing. I think their FB fanpage gives the best description of what they try to represent: ‘In Clear Sight is about getting your thoughts and goals straight. It's about not giving up to reach the goals you've set for yourself. At the same time these words refer to the scope of a gun. This metaphor reflects the power behind this beliefs.’ Here’s interview with Roger, one of the two vocalists of the band.

First off can you just introduce yourself and your band? How long you’ve been around?

In Clear Sight was born in 2007. Three of our guys (Yannick, Tijs and Tom) started rehearsing in an old stable of Yannick’s grandpa. After a while they’ve added Fille Cools (singer) and Gael Renier (drummer) to the band. So In Clear Sight has been around officially since 2008. It didn’t work out very well with Fille. He had to work a lot en therefore he didn’t have enough time to play in the band. From then Kenny and me (both vocalists) joined in 2010.

‘Fuck Fairytales, this is Reality’ is quite strong name for an album. What other aspects of life influence your music?

We try to talk about a lot of things in our music. It’s my passion to write about problems which people find so modern or so obvious, that they won’t even think about it anymore. I am talking about the difference between rich and poor, children who are mourning about their parents’ divorce, the poor in Africa, nature disasters, losing friends or family, growing up, … Struggle For Life for example is about a friend of mine who had to struggle against cancer. This was a very difficult time for her but she overcame her illness and this made her stronger as person. This is one of the many things that I want to clarify to society, or at least want them to THINK about this!

What is the general message of the album? If you could have listeners take something from the album, what would it be?

Our general message is pretty easy if you think about it... We just want to say, look, life isn't easy and don't let anyone tell you it's a fairytale. But you can find strength in a lot of things, like music, friends and life experience. Don't be afraid, live your life, it’s worth it!

You guys have kind of a NYHC vibe, but there are also some metallic elements as well. Where does that come from? What kind of influences feed into your sound?

Actually we listen to all different genres of music. Hardcore is the main element for everyone in the band and there still lies our hearts, but aside from this we also listen to punk, metal, hip hop, drum&bass, dubstep, whatever, you name it... This is probably the reason why we have different kinds of influences in our music. In the end, aren’t we ALL musicians?

We feel that in hardcore you have to try to keep things interesting. We try to put something else on the table then other bands. So if you listen carefully you'll find some metal, you'll find some punk and even some hip hop. It's all there…

What are the bands you’re most glad to share a stage with?

We like to get to know people from all over the world. So it's always fun to play with international bands. But there are also some good Belgian bands we love to support. Go check out bands like BEAR, The Setup, ... Great stuff. Apart from these bigger bands, we can’t forget that it hardcore lives because there are a lot of unknown bands playing in little venues. Belgium has so many hardcore bands and the scene has always seemed to be very strong over here. So this is my message to all of your readers: come out, go to shows, represent hardcore, and the most important, get along and support each other!

What’s the scene like in your area nowadays?

I think it used to be bigger than it is today, but we can't complain. The Belgian scene is quite strong and this gives us the opportunity to play a lot of shows and to build up a local fan base.

Do you have any early memories of hardcore that stick out in your memory?

I have lots of good memories in hardcore. I used to live in Kontich, this is where Lintfabriek was. This is a small but fucking legendary venue. The people that worked there, the people who came to shows, everyone was one big family, like hardcore should be. All the great bands have played there. I remember going to shows there. But then a couple of years ago the venue had to shut down due to some fire security issues. We got to play on the last show there with my old band (Expect The Recoil). Good times!

Any last thoughts or shout outs? What’s next for In Clear Sight?

My biggest dream is to play on a real festival or going on a world tour. Playing with ‘the big ones’! I hope that I can make this dream come true with In Clear Sight. What’s next for ICS? I don’t know, we’ll just keep on rehearsing, playing shows, representing hardcore… just doing our very fucking best to grow and reaching more people.

And for the people out there? Don’t give up on hardcore, be yourself and live your dreams!

FUCK FAIRYTALES, THIS IS REALITY!