Inspired by the melodic punk wave of the nineties, the Dutch Antillectual kicks off in September 2000. Their first show takes place in January 2001. After two demo’s and tours all over Europe and the USA they released their first CD in february 2005. They make music in the vein of Propagandhi, Strike Anywhere & Rise Against; political lyrics on melodic punk. In Holland they build up the reputation to be the band who played the most benefit gigs. On a quiet sundayafternoon the three boys of Antillectual and i had the following conversation in my living room...
In the summer of 2006 a structural lack of time made drummer Bob decide to leave the band. He got replaced by Riekus.
 

Can you shortly introduce the band and the members?
Yvo: My name is Yvo and i play bass and i also scream.
Bob: My name is Bob and i play drums.
Willem: My name is Willem. I play guitar and do the vocals. We are a band from Nijmegen. We exist since 2000 and just released a CD.
Bob: Buy it! (laughter)

Although you’re all original band members, there were some line up changes. How has this influences the band?
Yvo: At the very beginning Bob wasn’t yet part of Antillectual, but that doens’t really matter. In the early years i played guitar in the band and Pieter from the band Last To Go played bass. We already knew this was temporary as Pieter was also involved in Last To Go and he was busy with his study. When we started doing more gigs he left the band, just after we recorded our first demo. Then Falco, Bob’s brother, joined us. He was part of the band for about a year. After recording our second demo he quit as well, because we started doing more gigs and Antillectual isn’t the music he likes best. Also it was difficult for him to combine the band with the other things he did...
Willem: ...and because we expected that it would be better for the band to be with the three of us.
Yvo: Yes, that’s true. When it comes to our ideas... The three of us were all very motivated for the band while Falco just did his thing. He played his bass parts very good, but that’s it. Then we decided i had to play bass guitar. The result is that for us as musicians the band became less complex. I think since then the music sounds more unified.
Willem: And everything is much easier to organise with three people. It may sound silly, but it really is that way.
Yvo: You only have to call two other people when you organise a gig.



Recently you released your debut CD. How are the reactions so far?
Willem: Positive! Personally i mainly recieved positive reactions, but the magazines are also positive...
Like the Aardschok? (dutch metal megazine who wrote a whining negative review)
Willem: ...Exactly, like in the Aardschok! (laughter) Of course there are people who are less positive, but ‘til now the review in the Aardschok is the only one with a negative content.
Yvo: Personnaly i’m really overwhelmed. Of course i’m satisfied with the CD, but the reactions we received go way further than i expected.

You recorded the CD at the now famous Bunts studio in Holland where other bands like Sin Dios, Manliftingbanner, Discipline (there’s some laughter when i mention the last name) and Beans recorded stuff. What was it like to record there? Is there much difference with the studios where you recorded before?
Willem: Earlier we recorded a demo at the Jacobiberg in Arnhem. For us it was the first time we entered the studio. This considered it was reasonable, but it isn’t representative anymore. Our second demo was recorded in Hilversum at the schoolingcentre for musictechnology where a friend of us studied. This time we decided to record something at an ‘official’ studio. Because everything Menno (Bakker. Ed) has recorded sounds really good we choose for the Bunts Studio.
Bob: He’s really into this kind of  music. There’re other studio’s who just don’t understand this whole punk thing.
Willem Menno has a good ear for our music, a positive contribution and when necesarry he knows how to motivate you to rerecord some parts

Last year you did several tours through the USA and Europe. Can you tell a bit more about it? How did the audience react?
Bob: Oh well, we truly enjoyed it. And about difference in audience... I think there isn’t that much of a difference. Of course there’re some small differences, like language problems, although i don’t have any problems with it. It are mainly other people in the band who have problems with that. (laughter) Being on tour is really great. It feels a bit like being on a school trip togethe. During the evenings you play, which –of course- is the coolest part of being on tour.
Willem: I don’t see much difference inbetween people in the different countries. But if you have a look at for example the USA you’ll see the scene is totally different from over here. There’s no subsidised clubcircuit like in Europe, so it’s really important that people over there organise their own gigs. These gigs take place at homes, hay-lofts and so on. Every possible place that can be used for gigs, is used for gigs. Another difference is that most gigs don’t work with entrance, but with free donations because of juridical hassle. It has its pro’s and againsts.... For example the sounds isn’t always the way it should be. When we play in a cellar our songs sounded indefinable.
Yvo: But to talk about Europe. What i noticed is that compared to other european countries the scene in Holland is way more into parochialism. In other countries we often play with completely different bands, which according to me is very positive. In Holland this won’t happen so soon.



If you compare a gig in a cellar in the USA with a gig in a youthcentre in Holland, do you notice a difference in enthusiasm?
Willem: Yes, but maybe this is because people in the USA are more positive-minded than people in Europe...
Yvo:If you look at Holland... almost all touring bands play in Holland. I think people in Holland are spoiled compared to the USA. On tour over there we met some really naive people who never met someone from outside the USA. Quite hilarious.

Antillectual has the reputation to be a political band. What’s more important to you? The words or the music?
Willem: I think we all have a different view on this. I can imagine I’ll play in a non-political band which plays this kind of music, but I’ll never play in some crust band with political lyrics. When I listen to music I prefer the more political bands, but for me the musical aspect is a bit more important.
Bob: Not all the bands I listen to are political (laughter). To me the music is very important as well. Usually when we write new songs, it starts with the music. Most of the time Willem and Yvo already wrote some lyrics, so I read the lyrics when the song is almost finished. Of course I agree that it’s important to have a say, but if the music sucks it just doesn’t work out.
Yvo: Personally I don’t think you can choose. It isn’t this or that, but for me it’s both. We never made the decision to be a punk band nor did we make the decision to be a political band. We just started and here’s the result. During the last years we build up a reputation of being a political band. Personally the message we spread is really important to me, but so is the music.

In songs as ‘Yes, I’m truly naïve’ and ‘No government needed’ you sing about dreams for a better future and massive resistance. What motivates you to go on, since things aren’t getting better at all. Holland has the most right-wing government since the end of WWII, the anti-war movement has almost silenced, the union bosses killed last years workers’ resistance…
Willem: You already name the arguments…
Yvo: Politics have disappeared from punk, so that is the motivation to go on. Like we just said, we never choose to make the music we do or write the lyrics we sing. We just play melodic punkrock with a clear message. It’s possible some young kids buy our CD, read our lyrics and read this kinda ideas for the first time. Maybe this is naïve, but hey, that’s where the song is about. Even if only two people decide to check out Indymedia after reading our lyrics, it’s enough to motivate us to go on with what we do.
Willem: We want to encourage the Aardschok reviewer to check out Indymedia (laughter)!

 

Throughout the years you played as support to several ‘famous’ hc/punk bands. What are the worst and best experiences you have with these bands?
Bob: This is different from band to band. With some bands there’s almost no contact like for example Ignite a few months ago. Other bands are more ‘normal’. I don’t mean that Ignite isn’t normal, but other bands they don’t separate theirselves from the rest. They sit next to you with their beer, I mean water (laughter) to have a talk.
Willem: The way another bands threats you has nothing to do with how big a band is, but if the people are nice or not. We played with some more unknown bands who’re too arrogant to notice you, but we also played with some bigger names like in Ede with The Lawrence Arms in Ede (Holland). This band is on Fat Wreck Chords and it are great people.
Yvo: Someone in the band can be ill, or just tired. Too often people see this as arrogance. When we were on tour I wasn’t always in the mood to be really social and to talk with everyone. Sometimes I just felt more comfortable while laying in our bus and not talking to people.

How did you guys came in touch with this whole punk thing?
Willem and Yvo: Skating!
Willem: All of us were into skating. The songs you hear in skate videos are mostly punk songs, and I liked it.
Bob: Me too.

Do you have any wise closing comments?
Willem: Read our book! (laughter)
Yvo: Thanks for the interview. Ireally appreciate the existence of DIY zines like Smashed Images or other zines. This is much more important for the scene than what a big booking company like Mojo does.