Interviews: To Live Among Wolves

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Hardcore/Screamo band To Live Among Wolves from Netherlands. Check out the interview and this band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that? 

Yarí: When I joined the band, the name was already there. It is taken from a poem by James Kavanaugh, an American poet. I think the name means more to Hayo than to me personally.

Hayo: The poem is titled "There are men too gentle to live among wolves." James was a Roman Catholic priest, based in America. The poem is about how, if at all, people can live in today’s world.

Laurent: These poems really mean a lot to me, they’ve given me some great life advice that encouraged me to chase happiness and start living my life to the fullest. I doubt that, without these poems, this band would even exist. This is also why I tattooed “There are men too gentle to live among wolves” on my leg.

Fedde: If anything is appropriate for this band to get its name from, to me it’s a poem. I like to look at our own lyrics as poems. I find that putting feelings and experiences into metaphors makes it easier to share them. The same goes for our band name.

Omar: I joined the band after the name was established.

2. Why did you want to play this genre? 

Y: I’ve been obsessed with ‘extreme’ music for as long as I can remember. I’ve spent the majority of my life trying to form a band to make music myself. I think we don’t necessarily adhere to a single genre, we walk a line between many different genres, and I think that is what makes us interesting to listen to.

H: All 5 of us come from a different kind of background of music, so the combination of our music tastes creates a screamo, grungy kind of hardcore punk.

L: I just wanna make some damn noise!

F: I got tricked into this. I was used to playing Punk Rock. to live among wolves  needed a guitarist to fill in and I stuck. I stayed because screaming and going wild fits with the way I feel sometimes. Letting this go on stage allows me to live a somewhat normal life.

O: Same as Laurent.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed? 

Y: Laurent, Hayo, and Fedde knew each other before, but Omar and I joined later.

H: Laurent (guitar player) and I (Hayo, bass) have known each other from birth. We grew up together. We started the idea of this band years ago. But we never made it out of the rehearsal room. When we finally planned to do so our vocalist and second guitar player left us. Fedde is a known guitar player from our local punk scene. When we were looking for a new guitar player who could bring us to the next level, we came to him. Our former vocalist Alex (Subvert, Decay) told us he had a friend who was looking for a band, so we sat down together, drank a beer and became friends with Yarí. We started with our former drummer but after a few shows he left us. Omar, Laurent’s barber came, bought a new drumkit in a week and started to rehearse with us.

L: There’s been a lot of changes, but I love how it turned out. I consider everyone in this band my best friend and would give everything for there guys.

F: Feels like I’ve known these guys forever. In reality, I only knew Hayo well when I joined. He used to help my punk band ‘The Unknown Children’ with booking shows. I somewhat knew Laurent because he came out to some of the punk shows and we talked after a gig. The rest got tricked into joining this band like I was after some changes in the line-up of band members.

O: I met Laurent when he went to get his hair cut in the barbershop I work. After a short conversation we realised we share the same musical interest so we kept in touch.

4. Each band member favourite band? 

Y: Counterparts

H: John Coffey #fanboi

L: Defeater

F: Anti-Flag

O: Northlane

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs? 

Y: We write our songs about our lives and personal experiences or struggles, but also about political themes. We write about what matters to us basically.

F: Sitting down with Yarí and just talk about what’s bothering us inspires me to write those things down in words. Whenever I come up with a sentence or verse that reflects how I feel, I let Yarí read it and we puzzle it out until we’re content.

O: What inspires me the most is my bandmates. Sometimes after rehearsal we stick around and jam a little. During these jams we sometimes develop new songs without really meaning to do so.

6. Where was your last gig? 

H: Right now, we are in the middle of our EP release tour. Last week we were in Wijnegem, Belgium, and our next show will be in Den Bosch, The Netherlands. 

7. Where would you like to act? 

Y: Playing in the UK and the US has always been a big dream for me.

H: We would love to play in Germany, our friends from other bands tell us the scene there is amazing. So, we are planning a tour in April through Germany.

F: Any dark bar or underground venue will do for me. Although getting up on the bigger stages allows me to run around and get rid of some leftover energy. That’s great as well. More shows. I don’t care where.

L: I agree with Fedde, there’s a certain charm to playing underground venues and dark bars. However, when we play ‘bigger’ shows I’m way more relaxed and usually play a better show. Both are fine either way.

O: Germany, preferably at Wacken. Though anywhere in the world is okay for me.

8. Whom would you like to feature with? 

Y: There’s this Dutch rapper, his name is Joost. I would love to make a song with him one day, although I know the rest of the band would kick me if I even suggested it to them. Or Brendan Murphy from Counterparts.

H: As for me, I would love to make a song with FEVER 333, '68 or Listener. Or if we could bring back The Chariot, I would love to write and play with them.

F: If we’re talking about collaboration, I’m looking forward to working with any artist who is passionate and speaks from the heart.

L: I’m down to collaborate with any artist that I look up to and shares the same passion for music that we do.

O: Northlane

9. Whom not? 

Y: Anyone who thinks they’re better than someone else based on completely trivial things like the color of their skin, the country they were born in, the people they fall in love with, their gender, or anything like that.

H: I agree, any fascist or homophobic artist is an artist I would not want to collaborate with in any form.

F: Anyone who is untrue or is true about things you shouldn’t be so true about. I’m all for being open- minded towards different ways of thinking, but when it comes to music, I wouldn’t be comfortable sharing it with someone that has views too different from my own.

O: Like the rest has said, anyone who does not agree with our views or disrespects basic human rights.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that? 

Y: Definitely. I don’t think there’s anything you can really do to beat it, except just push through. And try to have fun.

L: For sure, I don’t think I’ve played a single note right at our first show ever. However, don’t give up, it’ll get better. For me, it helped a lot to act like you’re giving a live show while rehearsing.

F: I still feel nervous before and during most shows. Whenever I’m not, something is usually wrong. If you’re anything like me, I’d say embrace that feeling. Use it. Something that helps me is to jump around on the stage before a gig and do some finger exercises. This will get your muscles warmed up and it helps you get used to the place you are going to play. There is nothing worse than playing your first few chords and feeling your muscles tense up. Also, you will want to make sure nothing breaks when you climb on top of it.

O: The first show is the only and last time I suffered from stage fright. I had been dreaming of playing in a band from a very young age and now it was finally happening, so of course it was scary. However, I managed to overcome that fear.

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

Y: Personally, I think bands like Counterparts and Knocked Loose inspire my writing the most. As a band, this is a little more complicated. I think we all take a lot of inspiration from our friends in Searching for Relief, and the amazing musicians in letlive.

H: Our Dutch pride John Coffey, love the sound and live performance of that band. And The Chariot, FEVER 333 and Listener for me are big inspirations. Believing in something and putting that message out through your music is very important for me.

F: Any artist that speaks out what’s in their heart inspires me. I do feel that bands like John Coffey have shown us that local hardcore and punk bands can still make an impact on our lives and grow to something beautiful.

L: I went to a Defeater concert in an underground venue in Stockholm once. This was kind of an eye- opening experience for me, the atmosphere and welcoming hardcore scene next to the killer show was truly inspiring for me.

O: I started listening to metal when I was 8. My uncle got me into drumming and inspired me to start playing. I listened to a few subgenres of metal and ended up loving the hardcore scene most of all.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

Y: I don’t think we really have fans hahaha, but someone once told me to eat their ass while I was on stage so that was kind of funny, I guess.

L: I’d eat your ass.

F: Not sure. I don’t think I’m in any position to tell you anything is weird. I’m  probably one of the weirdest people in the room when we play.

O: My girlfriend offered me a blowjob. (I have no fans, apart from my girlfriend)

13. What do you think of your fans? 

Y: Honestly, anyone that takes the time to listen to our music is the fucking best, and I cannot thank them enough. I think it’s really important for us to communicate our love for anyone that decides to spend their time listening to us.

H: I agree. Our fans are the reason we do what we do. Without them, we would just be a couple of men screaming into nothingness.

F: I’m fine with being a bunch of men screaming into nothingness. But then again music is about sharing. I’m very grateful to the people who are willing to share these moments with us.

L: Now that we’ve released some music, people can learn our lyrics. We played a show in Leiden a while back and people started to scream along, grabbing the mic. This was truly intense and means a lot to us. However, anyone that listens to us or comes out to a show deserves a big hug!

O: Without our fans we would be nothing. Now we have released our EP we have gained a bit more fame and people are actually singing along to our lyrics which for me is still insanely awesome.

14. What do you think of our site?

Y: I think it’s a really cool initiative, and I’m really happy sites like yours exist.

H: We just found your site because you guys shared our new single. We love people who invest in the scene. By playing in bands, setting up shows, and sharing music. So, we love what you are doing for unknown bands like us. 

F: Anyone willing to work hard to support local music is my hero. Hugs and kisses xoxoxox.

L: Keeping the scene alive, I love it and really appreciate you guys for it!

O: I like how it concentrates on the scene. You are giving bands like us a chance which I really appreciate.

15. Something add?

H: Please listen to our album on Spotify and let us know if you dig it!

Y: I’d just like to give a quick shoutout to anyone that has listened to our music, went to one of our shows, bought our merch, or supported us in any form. Thank you.

F: If you are out there making noise you love, please keep going. I’m looking forward to hearing about it.

L: Thank you!

O: I would like to urge our current and future fans to keep an eye out because I feel we are going to be

producing more music of great quality.