Interview of Barcode the April 2005

It’s been already 10 years that the danish Barcode have been travelling through the european scenes and have been working desperately at delivering a brutal hardcore without compromise. Forever faithful toward the NYHC scene which gave birth to the style in the 80’s, Barcode is back now on Nuclear Blast with a fourth album without the slightest default. A concentrate of energy which will crumble all the trendy gang of US metalcore bands into dust. Poor nice little lamb on prozac in comparison ! Here’s an interview with the guitarist Panter in March 2005 which has been translated by Jean-Damien Scimia.

 

>Hi guy, you’re one of the european oldest hardcore bands. What’s your secret for staying loyal to this kind of music after all these years ? Time didn’t seem to affect your rage ?
Well, it\'s pure dedication. We just love this kind of music - regardless of the changing trends.

 

>Talking about rage, what are the people or events that still keep your blood boiling ?
Basically, selfrighteous pigs of any kind - all who put themselves, their ideas and beliefs above everybody else. No one is spared!

 

>Let’s talk about your awesome brand new album entitled "Showdown". These 16 tracks are some of the best old-school hxc songs i heard for a while. What did you try to improve this time ? Did you try to avoid some errors you’ve done on your previous albums ?
It\'s funny. I\'ve been asked this question before. Clearly, we\'ve improved over the years, but it\'s not like we think anything needed improvement from "Hardcore". That album is still a killer album. Of course, if you compare "Showdown" to our first release from 1997 then it is a massive improvement - stylistically, musician-wise, and production-wise. It doesn\'t even sound like the same band, and truly - it\'s not. There\'s only me left from the original line-up. The present line-up, however, is by far the best ever in this band\'s 10 years\' history.

 

>How have been your studio sessions ? Do you like to work in studio ?
Yes, it\'s really great. Our other guitarplayer, Dr. J, has his own studio (Smart\'n\'Hard Productions) and he\'s been doing all the recordings so studio sessions are really laid-back. No one on your back constantly reminding you to finish up for the day so he can get home and watch TV. Most nights we weren\'t finished until 3-4 in the night because we just carried on until we had all details done to perfection.

 

>Maybe I’m an ignorant froggy but it seems that Danemark is not famous for his hardcore bands. Don’t you sometimes feel lonely among all these death, thrash & black-metal bands ? Is there a real hxc scene besides Barcode & As We Fight ?
No, there\'s no real hc scene in Denmark. I know there\'s a number of other hc acts around, but none that I\'ve heard of. Therefore, we usually club up with metal/cross-over acts or play with international acts when we play in Denmark.

 

>I read there are a few guests on "Showdown". Can you tell our readers all the details ?
We had Laurits from As We Fight/The Produced doing the battle vocals on "End the War". He was really fast (almost first takes all of his vocal work) and his voice suits the song perfectly as a contrast to Butch. Besides him we had some guests helping out with the backing vocals - Che and Rob from Born From Pain, Obeast from Mnemic, Jake and Jimmie from Blunt, our promotion staff from Nuclear Blast Yvette and Kathy and our publising agent Dirk from Prophecies Publishing. We had a really great time doing the backing vocals with those guys.

 

>Voices have a huge impact on your new songs. When composing in your rehearsal room, at what moment do you know a song has came to maturity ? Do you always compose by keeping in mind the efficiency a new song will have on stage ?
This time around Dr. J has written all the music. To tell you the truth - he\'s a true composing wizard. By the time we had the deal signed with Nuclear Blast (late October 2004) we only had 6 songs ready. The studio was only available in December leaving us 5-6 weeks to come up with additionally 10 new songs. Dr. J managed to do this in due time for the studio session and on top of that we even have two unreleased songs recorded for bonus tracks for an alternative release. The lyrics were done in the studio while the music was being recorded - so at times things were really hectic testing verses/choruses, making arrangements for backing vocals etc...

 

>One of the songs on your new album’s called "Stressed". This song is different from the rest, with a strange feeling inside. What did you try to express ?
I think the lyrics speak for themselves. "Stressed" is clearly about feeling stressed - having committed oneself to too many things eventually fires back on you.

 

>Curiously, you covered Accept’s "I’m a Rebel". Do you like 80’s heavy-metal ? What do you think about their comeback with Udo Dirkschneider ?
We\'re old metal heads and if you check out our previous releases we\'ve covered other 80\'s metal acts (Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Megadeth). We do this partly as a tribute to our old heroes, partly as a gimmick \'cuz honestly, nowadays such acts sound quite ludicrous. The Accept revival with Udo just completes the picture.

 

>Twelfth song is called "Padre Sifredi". Do you like to watch porn movies ? Don’t you afraid of censorship by associating sex & religion (the word padre) ?
Yes, we do like watching porn movies. Again this porn thing is a connecting thread running through all our releases. We\'ve paid tribute to John Homes, Traci Lords, Ron Jeremy, Jenna Jameson and Rocco (Padre Siffredi). And no, we don\'t fear censorship - who\'d succeed censoring us - the pope?

 

>"Showdown" cover artwork is really cool with its little touch of "Reservoir Dogs" design. Who did release it ?
It\'s done by an American (Adam Hansel). I think it\'s a visually strong anti-violence representation and a big fuck-you to the American National Riffle Association and their idiotic clinging to that utterly anachronistic constitutional right to bear arms - in memory of Dimebag Darrell. Anyway, to be quite honest, we just gave Adam free hands to do whatever he wanted. We sent him a rough mix of the album which inspired him to do this layout. And we\'re really happy about it.

 

>What does a text like "Fanatics" refers to ? What do you think of religious fanaticism ?
I wrote that song and I think the intention is quite obvious - and no, it\'s not about religious fanatism. Fanatism comes in many shades and you should be careful judging peoples intentions meassured by your own standards. People who fail to recognize that what they themselves believe to be true may not necessarily be the one and only truth, are really dangerous - dangerous fanatics. Generally, our songs are blows to selfrighteous pigs of any kind - all who put themselves, their ideas and beliefs above everybody else. Governments, militant straight edgers, rockers - No one is spared! But basically, our lyrics are open for the listener\'s personal interpretation. Not to be snobbish or arty, but I really think our lyrics are pretty straight forward, and besides that, we\'re not gonna give you any further "interpretational keys". Check out the attached lyric sheets.

 

>So you’re signed on Nuclear Blast. What are you awaiting now that you wouldn’t succeed with Hardboiled ?
Well, for one thing - NB is a much bigger label which means that our album will actually be available to a much wider audience. Unfortunately, Hardboiled didn\'t have the financial strength to push the albums so eventhough we worked hard touring and playing shows, it\'s been an uphill struggle to get our name and reputation out there. And with Agnostic Front also on NB I think it couldn\'t be a more well-chosen release date for our album - now the audience knows that NB is indeed also a hc label.

 

>Last words are yours, thanx for your time & for this great piece of hardcore music that is "Showdown".
Look out for Barcode at your local club. If you can\'t find us on the show schedule, go beg (or threaten for that matter) your local venue/promoter to set up a show. Cheers.