Filip - Loud and Clear - Interview

I've you've never heard Loud and Clear, you're missing out. They put out an LP last year that is a fucking powerhouse, and reminiscent of a tougher and grittier early Justice. You can't really go wrong. After listening to the record over and over again I wanted to include them in this site, so I sent them an e-mail and got the questions I sent back, within hours. Here they are:

Nick: Why did you form Loud and Clear?

Filip: We formed LAC cuz the four of us shared a deep love for bands like Straight Ahead, Youth of Today, SSD and Agnostic Front. We also saw that bands who claimed to sound like YOT or the same style just sounded cheesy, too melodic and plain weak. If you dissect riffs of those bandS man…they’re HARD. Fast and straight forward, it hits you like a ton of bricks. LAC is also a full on straight edge band. Straight Edge is a big part of our lives, but not in the lives of many others, that’s cool. To each his own but we felt that there was a void to be filled and a point to be made. We are also the best of friends who come to together for the glory that resulted in forming Loud And Clear and recording the record.

N: Do you think you achieved all you could achieve with Justice?

F: I don’t know, we could have done more tours, probably a lot of them would have been with Blacklisted since we really saw eye to eye with them. And I really wish we had the chance to play the new songs more cuz we’ve put our heart and soul in the last recordings I did. The recordings of that record was probably the most intense thing I did in my life so far, it was brutal. Also the lyrics are really where my head was at the time…and I’m really opening my twisted brain. I wasn’t feeling that good I guess. Everything came out how we wanted it. We really went for it and went all out…it was insane. It was like we finally knew what we wanted to do and how we wanted to sound after 5 years of playing together, well me and Stief. But when I think of Justice I think me, Stief, Sike and Daan...Klaas, Geert or Bjorn selling shirts…nobody else. When I look to other bands I really have to say that we really connected on all levels to make this band work.


N: Now that Lintfabriek is over, are there any new places that shows are being put on in Belgium?

F: Kids are putting on shows wherever they can. But there is not really a place that feels like the Lintfabriek. Oh well, things change…it will bounce back.

N: You played Ninjafest last year, is there any chance of a UK tour any time soon?

F: I don’t know, should we?

N: So now Justice have split up, do you think that you'll be able to dedicate more time to Loud and Clear, or are there any other bands in the pipeline?

F: I’m not ready for a real touring band at the moment. Justice was a very busy band so I just want to chill out. Also all the other dudes in the band have other bands like Rhythm To The Madness, True Colors and The Reactionaries. I’m busy enough with POWERED RECORDS. We’ll play out once in a while, when the time is right. We might do a couple of weekends here and there, maybe even record a new record, who knows?! Stief is working on a couple of new projects… keep your eyes and ears open!

N: What is the main idea behind Powered?

F: The main idea is plain and simple. Release good records that sound and look good. Everything has to be perfect. I know a lot of you don’t know how much time it takes or thought that goes in every release. It’s hard work and it will probably never pay off. I don’t care…I love every second of it.

N: Top five bands out of Belgium right now?

F: Belgium: The Reactionnaries, True Colors, Rhythm To The Madness, Rise And Fall. World: ABSOLUTION, Trapped Under Ice, Blacklisted, Cold World, Union Town.

Thanks to Filip for being so efficient with the reply, if you wanna check out Loud and Clear go to their myspace page at www.myspace.com/loudandcleareu, or at www.poweredrecords.com
Photo courtesy of Face The Show, check out the site at www.facetheshow.com