LET IT BURN Records

INTERVIEWS OF "AWOKEN"

AWOKEN
Evilized (Germany) | 2006-11-06

Hardcore wie er sein soll. Ehrlich, ambitioniert und das volle Brett. Awoken sehen sich selbst nicht direkt in irgendwelchen Schubladen des Hardcore, sondern in erster Linie als individuelle band, die ihre eigenen Einflüsse verarbeitet. Mit starkem aktuellem Album "Death Or Glory" im Rücken, entpuppt sich Gitarrist Dan als interessanter Interviewpartner, der so einiges zu erzählen hat...

English Version below

Hi! Wie laufen die Dinge? Ihr habt gerade "Death Or Glory" veröffentlicht. Ein schlagkräftiges Release. Wie fühlst du dich damit? Reaktionen? Klingt alles so wie ihr euch das vorgestellt habt?

Was geht Evilized? Ja uns geht es großartig, Danke. Unsere wahren Gefühle bezüglich der Platte gegenüber könnten nicht positiver sein. Sie ist das Ergebnis vieler Monate Songwriting und vieler Monate Sparen. Wir fühlen ehrlich das sie eine der besten jetzigen Hardcore REleases in Europa ist, denn wir schreiben unsere Songs anders als sonst jemand. Es hat gedauert die Songs zu schreiben und ich denke das merkt man. Wir haben viel Geld gespart, um eine großartige Produktion zu bekommen und deshalb glaube ich haben wir die Energie der Songs gut eingefangen. Ich will nicht zu viel darüber reden, wie die Leute bisher auf die Platte reagiert haben, denn es ist wirklich noch neu und nicht genug Leute haben sie bisher gehört. Die Pressereaktionen waren großartig, bis auf ein paar Idioten Reviewer, die sich nicht die Zeit genommen haben, sie richtig anzuhören. Jeder Journalist, der das Teil formelhaft nennt, sollte er sich lieber auf seinen regulären Tagesjob beschränken.

Würdest du mit mir übereinstimmen, wenn ich die Musik als Old School Hardcore bezeichne?

Ehrlich gesagt, Nein! Wir würden es ganz einfach Hardcore nennen. Ich denke unsere MUsik demonstriert einen großen Einfluß von Old School Bands wie Agnostic Front, alte Sick Of It All und sogar Minor Thread… aber das ist versteckt unter der Härte von metalischeren, New School Klängen. Wir haben uns nicht vorgenommen eine bestimmte Art von Sound für uns auszuwählen. Wir lieben viele verschiedene Spielarten des Hardcore und wir wollten die besten Elemente von überall zusammenführen um etwas echtes, authentisches vom Herzen zu erschaffen.

Die Musik die ihr spielt ist sehr `zurück an die Basis`, pur kein Bullshit mit starkem Effekt. Ist das eurer Ziel, solche Musik zu erschaffen?

Yeah, wenn es darauf ankommt sollte, wir wollten niemals zu sehr in Spielerein oder Trends hinein. Hardcore sollte etwas sein, das dein Blut pumpen lässt, etwas das dir Bewegung bei Shows einverleibt and etwas das dich jedes Wort aus der Tiefe Deines Herzen ausschreien lässt. Das ist es was wir wirklich wollen. Aber ich denke, es ist wirklich wichtig zu betonen, dass wir uns sehr viel Mühe geben interessante Songs zu schreiben und das Album so zu gestalten, dass man nicht von vornherein sagen kann, was als nächstes kommt. Manchmal bauen wir einen Break an den Anfang, manchmal am Ende, manchmal gar nicht. Wir haben Lead Gitarren Parts und melodische Passagen auf dem Album und ehrlich gesagt, wenn Du Dir die Songs richtig anhörst, passiert eine ganze Menge. Ich denke unsere Musik ist so vielseitig und technisch wie Hardcore sein kann ohne zum Metalcore zu werden.
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Denkst du, dass diese Art von Musik noch mal so kraftvoll sein kann, wie damals als es damit losging? Wo liegen Deine eigenen musikalischen Wurzeln?

Du meinst Hardcore generell? Nun, ich denke nicht, dass Hardcore noch mal so dioe Hölle entfachen kann, wie das in den frühen 80igern der Fall war. Es war etwas Neues für die Jugendlichen dieser Zeit und jetzt sind wir im Jahr 2006 – wir haben alles gesehen und gehört. Alles was wir jetzt noch tun können, ist uns auf die Art wie die Songs geschrieben werden zu konzentrieren und auf die Kraft der Texte. Ich denke die Welt ist ein finsterer Platz als noch vor 25 Jahren. Ich glaube, dass Hardcore noch genauso wichtig ist, wie damals als alles begann. Wir haben inzwischen größere Probleme und mehr Leute, denen die Augen geöffnet werden müssen. Musikalisch kamen wir von verschieden Seiten zum Hardcore. Ich denke unser Sänger Scott und unser Bassist Adam hörten Sachen wie Machine Head und entdeckten HArdcore vom Metalspektrum aus. Ich (Dan) und unser Schlagzeuger Duncan haben am Anfang wirklich viel Punk gehört. Ich habe mit Bands wie AFT angefangen und kam so zu Redemption 87 und Minor Threat. Das kamen Snapcase und SOIA.

Wo liegen eure persönlichen Einflüsse der Musik? Ist es mehr der Old School Hardcore?

Inzwischen bin ich müde Bands zu hören, die sich selbst als „traditionellen Hardcore“ oder „metallischen Hardcore“ verkaufen. Ich verstehe nicht, wieso eine Band nicht einfach nur Hardcore sein kann – ist das zu einfach und zu langweilig? Die Bands die ich heute bewundere sind Bands wie The Hoods, Death Before Dishonour und Knuckedust. Die bands schreiben einfach großartige, aufregende Musik und befassen sich nicht damit sich in irgendwelche Nischen oder Szenen hineinzuzwängen. Sie können einen Song schreiben, bei dem ein Punk und 3ein Metal Riff direkt aufeinander folgen, einfach weil es passt und sich interessant anhört. Ich mag Bands die sich nicht darauf beschränken lassen, als etwas bezeichnet zu werden, als das sie nicht bezeichnet werden WOLLEN. Das ist wonach wir streben. Wir werden einfach schreiben was natürlich aus uns herauskommt und jeden ignorieren der uns dafür verurteilt.

Welche Musik hörst Du denn? Was ist mit den neuen Formen des Core? Was hältst du davon und wo siehst du die Zukunft des Traditionellen Hardcore? Denkst du, dass man hier eine Sackgasse erreicht hat oder sind Bands wie Awoken erst ein neuer Anfang?

Wie ich bereits erwähnt hatte, ich höre defnitiv Hodds, Death Before Dishonor … Figure Four sind auch großartig. Wir alle Leiben Sick Of It All, Bouncing Souls und die neue Ignite Platte, Strife, earth Crisis und Buried Alive sind auch definitiv unter unseren Favoriten. Ich persönlich höre auch sehr viel Black Metal. Aber obwohl ich das schon immer mochte lasse ich das nicht die Msuik, die ich schreibe beeinflussen. Wir alle glauben daran, dass Hardcore und Metal voneinander getrennt gehalten werden müssen. Wir haben einige metallische Riffs aber sie sind im Hardcore Kontext geschrieben. Wir sind nicht daran interessiert daran, enge Jeans anzuziehen und eine Metalcore band zu werden. Jeder zieht inzwischen über Metalcore und Emo her aber wir haben dafür keine Zeit. Die Kids können die Musik spielen die sie wollen und sie können es auch eine Art `Core` nennen, aber die meisten Leute kennen den Unterschied zwischen echtem Hardcore und es ist nicht wert, sich darüber aufzuregen. Awoken sind etwa vier Jahre dabei und so denke ich nicht, dass wir der Anfang von irgendetwas sind. Ich glaube, dass es eine Menge bodenständige Bands in Europa gibt die einen guten Job machen und den Hardcore, ohne Metalcore zu sein, am Leben halten. Solid Ground, No Turning Back, Teamkiller sind drei großartige Beispiele dafür. Hardcore mit traditionellem Sound wird es immer geben. Egal was gerade im Trend ist, es wird immer Rebellen geben die in die entgegen gesetzte Richtung gehen.

Was würdest du als Highlight dieser Art von Musik im Moment bezeichnen? Irgend eine Band die du den Lesern empfiehlst, nicht zu verpassen?

Yeah! Sie mag es nicht mehr geben aber sei sicher, dass Du A Death For Every Sin gehört hast. Special Move, Solid Ground, Final Prayer, Teamkiller, Direction sind nur ein paar meiner Favoriten die mehr Aufmerksamkeit verdienen.

Was ist mit den Texten? Ist Death Or Glory die typische HC Art Aggression und Wut über das alltägliche Leben zum Ausdruck zu bringen?

Nein, nicht „typisch“. Unser Sänger Scott verarbeitet verschiedene Einflüsse und Ideen in seinen Texten. Ich denke die Themen der Texte sind genauso wie das bei anderen Bands der Fall ist. Vielleicht drücken wir das auf eine andere Art aus. Wir fühlen auf jeden Fall, dass es wichtig ist und im Booklet das mit der CD kommt stehen einige Zeilen, die erklären was hinter den Songs steckt. Wir sind wütend auf viele Dinge aber unsere Texte bauen sich auch viel auf positive Sachen, zum Beispiel sich auf Freunde zu verlasen und Menschen auf die man sich verlassen kann. Danach haben wir nur die Möglichkeit die Welt zu bekämpfen wenn wir wunderbare Menschen in unserem Leben haben für die man kämpfen kann oder uns helfen um geistig gesund zu bleiben. Diese Sachen sind genauso wichtig wie die Wut zum Ausdruck zu bringen, die man gegen die Ungerechtigkeiten in der Welt hat.

Das Artwork und Booklet scheinen mir sehr dunkel und apokalyptisch zu sein. Siehst du das auch so?

Yeah, da hast du recht. Es hat definitiv einen apokalyptischen Touch. Das Artwork wurde vom sehr talentierten Meran von Darkmouth Design gemacht. Das Album Cover war seine Idee – Ich schätze er interpretierte den Album Titel auf diese Art. Und wir sind extrem zufrieden mit dem was er daraus gemacht hat. Wir leben in einer sehr apokalyptischen Zeit und ich denke, die Notwendigkeit aufzuwachen und die Welt zurechtzurücken ist ein Schlüsselthema auf Death Or Glory. Das Cover zeigt den Kampf zwischen einem Mann und einer Schlange. Ich denke das symbolisiert den Kampf, den wir alle führen gegen die korrupten Mächte in dieser Welt und genauso den individuellen Kampf den jeder von uns führt gegen die Dämonen der Depression, der Desillusionierung und die Herzschmerzen.
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Was macht die Zusammenarbeit mit Let It Burn? Seid ihr zufrieden?

Es gab Probleme auf dem Weg. Niemandes Schuld aber Christoph hat auch sein eigenes Leben mit dem klarkommen muss – nicht nur die Anliegen von pöbelnden Bands auf seinem Label, haha. Er war großartig zu uns und hat uns viel seiner Zeit gegeben. Wir wären nicht wo wir jetzt sind ohne Christoph und Let It Burn.

Was möchtest du mit der Band erreichen und wie siehst du die Zukunft für Awoken?

Nun das ist eine schwierige Frage. Wir haben schon viel mehr erreicht als wir je beabsichtigt hatten. Zweimal durch Europa zu touren war für uns ein Traum der wahr geworden ist. Alles was wir jetzt wollen ist das die Leute unsere neue Platte antesten und sie sich wirklich anhören. Denn wir fühlen, dass sie den Leuten viel zu bieten hat, dass sie sonst so nirgends in Europa finden. Wenn die Kids sie nicht mögen, sei es eben so. Wir haben unser bestes getan und wir sind dankbar für die ganze Unterstützung, die uns zuteil wurde. Wir haben keine wirklichen Ziele für die Zukunft. Wir werden die Dinge nehmen, so wie sie kommen und hoffen, dass man uns als Band wahrnimmt, die aufrichtig und ehrlich ihr Ding macht. Und das vom ersten Tag an … die nicht irgendwelchen Trends hinterherlaufen und sich nicht den Hindernissen stellen, die sich auf dem Weg entgegentreten. Das sind die Sachen, die wichtig für uns sind. Wir wissen nicht was die Zukunft bringt. Ich schätze wir müssen warten und werden sehen.

Ihr werdet eure Musik direkt zu den Hörern bringen. Was sind eure Erwatungen für die anstehende Tour?

Wir erwarten einfach eine gute Zeit zu haben. Wir sind 4 Jungs die viel Spaß haben und keine Angst haben, sich selbst zu veräppeln. Ich bin sicher, dass wir eine tolle Zeit haben werden in der Zeit in der wir mit den Jungs von Final Prayer abhängen. Wir leiben es einfach Shows zu spielen und die ganzen verschiedenen Orte in ganz Europa zu sehen und die ganzen Kids zu treffen, die es uns möglich machen zu touren. Ich habe keine Vorstellung davon, wie erfolgreich die Tour wird oder wie viele Leute auftauchen werden. Ich hoffe das die Leute die uns schon zusammen mit Hoods gesehen haben uns mochten und wieder auftauchen werden und uns unterstützen. Das wichtigste aber ist das wir eine gute Zeit haben, wir, die Jungs von Final Prayer und die Kids bei den Shows.

Okay, sei es das gewesen. Ich wünsche euch alles Gute für die Platte, die Tour und euch persönlich. Vor allem Erfolg! Danke für Deine Zeit. Wenn Du meinst es muss noch etwas gesagt werden, fühl dich frei das zu tun.

Vielen Dank Olli. Deine netten Worte sind willkommen und wir hoffen, dass wir einige von euren Leser bald treffen werden. Bleib dran an www.awokenhc.com, www.myspace.com/awoken, www.letitburn.de und www.avocado-booking.com für die Details der Tour und die zukünftigen Awoken News. Und ihr könnte zwei Songs von unserem neuen Album auf unserer MySpace Seite antesten.

English Version:

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Hi, how are things going? You just released Death Or Glory. A pounding release. How do you feel about it? Reactions? Sounds everything the way you wanted it to sound?

What’s up Evilized! We’re great thanks. Our direct feelings about the record could not be more positive. It is the culmination of many months of songwriting work, and many months of saving money. We honestly feel that it is one of the best recent hardcore releases in Europe because we write our songs in a different way to anyone else. We made sure that every song sounds different, and is structured in a different way. It took time to write these songs and I think that it shows. We spent a lot of money to get a great production and because of that, I think we captured the energy of these songs well. I don’t want to talk too much about how people have reacted to the record because it’s still really new and not enough people have heard it yet. Press reactions have been amazing, except for a few idiot reviewers who didn’t take the time to listen to it properly. Any journalist who calls it “formulaic” should hold onto their day job.

Would you agree defining your music as old school hardcore?

Actually, no! We would call it simply “hardcore”. I think our music demonstrates the influence of great old school bands like Agnostic Front, old Sick Of It All, and even Minor Threat… but it’s hidden amongst the heaviness of a more metallic, new-school sound. We didn’t set out to adopt any particular kind of sound, we love lots of different styles of hardcore and we wanted to take the best elements from everywhere and bring it all together to create something very real, authentic, and from the heart.

The music for me is very basic, pure, no bullshit with a strong effect. Is this an aim for you creating such kind of stuff?

Yeah, when it comes down to it, we never wanted to get involved in gimmicks or trends. Hardcore should be something that gets your blood pumping, makes you wanna move at a show, and makes you want to scream every word from the bottom of your heart. This is ultimately what we want to achieve. But I think it’s very important to point out that we take great care to write interesting songs, and throughout the record you don’t know which direction the current song is going to take next. Sometimes we put a breakdown at the beginning, sometimes at the end, sometimes not at all. We have some lead guitar parts and melodic sections on the album, and actually, if you listen closely to the songs, there’s a lot going on. I think our music is about as diverse and technical as hardcore music can become without turning into “metalcore”.
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Do you think this kind of music is as powerful as when it started? What about your personal roots musically?

You mean hardcore in general? Well I don’t think hardcore will ever raise as much hell as it did back in the early 80s. It was something new for the youths of that time and right here in 2006, we’ve seen it all and heard it all. All we can do now is to focus on the way that the songs are written and the impact of the lyrics. I think the world is a darker place now than it was 25 years ago so I believe that hardcore is just as important now as it was when it first began. We have bigger issues to raise now and more minds to educate. Musically, we all came to hardcore from different angles. I think our singer Scott and our bass player Adam were into stuff like Machine Head and discovered hardcore from the metal end of the spectrum. Myself (Dan), and our drummer – Duncan, were really into punk-rock first. I started with bands like AFI and through them I got into Redemption 87 and Minor Threat. Then it was Snapcase and SOIA.

Where lay your personal influences in music? Is it more the old school way of HC?

Recently I’ve become tired of bands selling themselves as “traditional hardcore” or “metallic hardcore”. I don’t understand why a band can’t just be a hardcore band – is that too plain and boring? The bands that I admire these days are bands like The Hoods, Death Before Dishonor and Knuckledust. These bands just write great, exciting music and they aren’t concerned with fitting into certain niches or scenes. They might write a song that has a metal riff and a punk-rock riff right next to each other, simply because that’s what works and that is what’s interesting to listen to. I like bands that aren’t constraining themselves through a fear of being labelled as a style of hardcore they didn’t INTEND to be labelled as. This is what we strive for. We will write what comes naturally and ignore anyone who insists on judging us for it.

What music you like listening to? What about the new types of `core`? What do you think about that and where do you see the future of old school hardcore? Has it reached a dead end or are bands like Awoken just a new beginning?

Like I just mentioned, definitely Hoods, Death Before Dishonor… Figure Four are great too. We all love Sick Of It All, Bouncing Souls and the new Ignite record. Strife, Earth Crisis and Buried Alive are definite favourites also. I personally listen to a lot of black metal too. I’ve always been into it and although I don’t allow it to influence the music we write, I think sometimes subtle ideas creep across into the riffs I write. We all believe that hardcore and metal should be kept separate. We have some metallic riffs on the new record but they are written in a “hardcore” context. We’re not interested in putting on tight jeans and becoming a metalcore band. Everbody’s bitching about metalcore and emo music these days but we don’t have time for that. Kids can play whatever music they like and they can even call it some kind of “core”, but most people know the difference between that and real hardcore so it’s not worth getting upset about. Awoken has been around for nearly 4 years so I don’t think we’re the “beginning” of anything. I think there are a lot of established bands in Europe who are doing a great job of keeping hardcore alive, without the use of metalcore. Solid Ground, No Turning Back and Teamkiller are 3 great examples. Hardcore with a traditional sound will always exist because no matter what is trendy, there will always be rebels who are pushing in the opposite direction.

What would you mention as highlights in this type of music today? Any band you would suggest readers not to miss?

Yeah! They might not be around anymore but make sure you’ve heard A Death For Every Sin. Special Move, Solid Ground, Final Prayer, Teamkiller, Diction are just a few of my favourite bands who deserve greater recognition.

What about the lyrics? Is Death Or Glory the `typical` HC way of expressing aggression and anger of all day life?

No, not “typical”. Our vocalist Scott uses different influences and ideas in his lyrics. I think the subject matters of the lyrics are the same important ones that many bands have expressed, but perhaps we express them in a different way. We definitely feel that meaning is important and in the booklet that comes with the CD, many of the songs have text to explain the ideas behind the songs. We’re angry about a lot of things, but a lot of our lyrics try to dwell on positive things, like being able to lean on friends and people that you value. After all, we only have the ability to fight the world if we have precious people in our lives to fight for or to help us stay sane. These things are just as important to express as the anger we hold towards the injustices of the world.
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The artwork and booklet to me seem to be very dark and apocalyptic. Do you see it this way as well?

Yeah you’re right. It definitely has an apocalyptic feel. The artwork was done by the very-talented Meran from Darkmouth design. The record cover was his idea – I guess he just interpreted the title of the album in this way. And we are extremely happy with what he produced. We live in a very apocalyptic time and I think that the need to get up and fix this world is the key theme of “Death or Glory”. The cover shows the battle between a man and a serpent. I think it symbolises the struggle that we all face to fight the corrupt powers in this world, and also the individual struggle we each face in fighting off the demons of depression, disillusionment and heartache. Then again, you could empathize with the serpent instead and see the cover as a representation of the struggle against the wrongdoings of humanity. I’d like to think that people can interpret the artwork in their own way.

How does the cooperation with Let It burn work? Are you pleased?

There have been problems along the way. Not anyone’s fault, but Christoph has his own life to deal with too, not just the concerns of every annoying band on his record label, haha. He has been great to us and given us a lot of his time. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for Christoph and Let It Burn.

What do you want to achieve with the band and who do you see the future for Awoken?

Well this is a difficult question to answer. We have already achieved far more than we ever intended to. Touring Europe twice has been a dream come true for us. All we want right now is for people to check out our new record and really listen, because we feel it has a lot to offer that people won’t find anywhere else in Europe. If kids don’t like it, so be it. We did our best and we are thankful for all the support we have been given. We don’t have any specific goals for the future. We will take things as they come and hopefully people will recognise us as a band who were genuine and sincere from day one… who didn’t follow trends and didn’t back down when obstacles were thrown in our way. These are the things that are important to us. Who knows what the future holds. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

You are just getting your music directly to the people. What are your expectations for the forthcoming tour?

We just expect to have a good time. We’re 4 fun-loving guys who aren’t afraid to make fools of ourselves. I’m sure we’re gonna have a great time hanging out with the guys from Final Prayer too. We just love playing shows and seeing all the different places in Europe and meeting all the great kids who make it possible for us to tour. I have no idea how successful the shows will be or how many kids will turn up. I hope that kids who have seen us before with the Hoods liked us enough to come out again and support us. The most important thing is that we have a good time – us, Final Prayer, and the kids at the shows.

Okay, be it this. I wish you the best for the record, the tour and your personal lives. Especially Succes! Thanx for your time. Feel free to add what you feel has not yet been said.

Huge thanks Olli. Your kind words are appreciated and we hope to meet a whole bunch of your readers soon. Just stay tuned to www.awokenhc.com, www.myspace.com/awoken, www.letitburn.de and www.avocado-booking.com for info about the tour coming up and future Awoken news. And you can check out 2 songs from our new record on our myspace page.

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AWOKEN
Fire Alive (Italy) | 2006-10-07

1. Hi guys, you're welcome in Fire Alive Extreme webzine! Introduce your band to our readers, please.

Hey, thanks! We are Awoken... 4 handsome motherfuckers from the London area, UK. Duncan on drums, Adam on bass, Scott on vocals, and myself - Dan, on guitar. We formed at the start of 2003, 5 guys looking to have fun. We recorded an MCD in 2004 which was released through Let It Burn Records, and just played as many shows as we could. Last year we toured Europe twice (once with Paint The Town Red/Solid Ground, and once with Hoods from the US), recorded a new demo and also had some big line-up changes. We then spent a lot of time writing strong material for a full-length and recorded it earlier this year. It's called "Death or Glory" and it has just been released.

2. Tell us something about "Death or glory". Is there anything you wanna change or add on it?

Hell no we don't wanna change anything. We wrote the 12 best songs we could for this album and we spent a long time working on it. We spent a lot of our own money to record in a great studio and we put every bit of passion we have into it. We bled for it.
We've been around for a few years and we've all been going to hardcore shows for even longer than that. We know what we think good hardcore is and it was our mission to take everything we loved about hardcore music (with some elements of metal and punkrock) and make a record that has the best of it. We concentrated on structuring our songs differently from any other hardcore band in the world and injecting them with pure energy. Anyone who thinks that "Death or Glory" is nothing new needs to stop listen to it again. We write our music and our lyrics differently to any other band.

3. You're from you UK....well, how is the hardcore scene over there? Is there any chance to fill out your own "living space"?

Even in the 4 years that we've been a band, we've seen the hardcore scene here change a lot. Bands don't last very long and kids get bored with one stlye of hardcore and move onto something else. Or they get bored of straight edge and grow their hair. I guess that happens all over the world. We have just stayed true to ourselves and stayed positive. We have a lot of friends here and there are a lot of very genuine, dedicated hardcore kids in the UK who have been around for a long time. They make it all worthwhile. But right now, I think we're in a difficult situation because we're too metal for the hardcore kids, and too hardcore for the metal kids. We have a good following here, but we refuse to change our sound or the way we look, so we just stick to what we know. The hardcore scene can change it's attitude every month for all we care. It doesn't affect us. We'll have a good time and continue to make good music.
I don't really understand what you mean by our "living space", but I guess what you're asking is: "will we outgrow our own scene?"... It depends what way you look at it. Being in a hardcore band is tough. We have never made any money being in this band and we have had to quit jobs to tour. We will grow as much as we can. We will never put a limit on what we can achieve. It doesn't matter anyway... even if we played a show supporting Bleeding Through or someone like that, we'd still be the same hardcore kids playing hardcore music with a hardcore message.

4. "Death or glory" is out on 2006 via Let It Burn Records. How did you get in touch with them? Are you satisfied about the work they made 'till now?

Our good friend Sheep, who has been part of the UK scene for many years, recommended us to his friend Christoph at Let It Burn Records back in 2004 when we were quite new. Christoph liked what he heard and asked if we'd like to work with LIB. We had no other real offers and were really into the idea of working with a European label because we felt like we were able to promote ourselves in the UK, and that we only needed a label to help promote us in Europe. Things have been good since then. Christoph doesn't make a living by doing LIB Records so he can't dedicate all his time in the world to Awoken, but he is a great guy who loves hardcore and has always treated us with respect. Promotion for our new record is still happening but so far it seems that lots of distros and zines in Europe have our CD and are very excited about it, so we're satisfied.

5. Well, you must explain us the meaning of this artwork...starting from the image on the cover, the kind of "old fighter"...that's simply straight in face, compliments. Who did work on it?

The artwork was done by a German artist called Meran (www.darkmouth.com). He has worked in LIB Records releases before but it wasn't until he contacted us saying he wanted to do the artwork for our CD that we looked into his portfolio and were really excited about what he could do for us. The main cover was actually all his idea. I guess that's how he interpreted the title "Death or Glory". It is actually a photo of a statue depicting a warrior defeating a serpent. The warrior has a shield which says "Et Draco Nem" on it. I looked into this and I think it translates to "and Draco's law shall be", which relates to Draconian law, one of the earliest forms of the death penalty. The artwork relates well to the lyrical content becuase the lyrics are all about defeating your demons and the demons that exist all around you in the world to find the strength to stand up for what you believe in. Meran did a great job with the artwork and it couldn't have turned out better. He actually did the artwork for the new Hatebreed record soon after the Awoken record. We didn't know this when we asked him to work with us.

6. Who write the lyrics? What are about?

Most of the lyrics are written by our vocalist Scott. He takes influence from outside of hardcore and turns those ideas into really effective hardcore lyrics. Scott, like all of us, is pissed of about the lack of meaning in hardcore these days. We all grew up on hardcore bands that had something important to say but now, hardcore kids just care about their vinyl collection and who can dance the hardest. Songs like "No-one Questions" are about how nobody in the world questions the actions of their leaders. A lot of the songs are about how our world is falling to pieces and how we need to draw upon our inner-strengths to repair the damage and lead an effective life. 3 of the songs on "Death or Glory" were written by me. They have the same kind of theme to them. I don't have a lot of faith in the human race and I feel like distancing myself from the world because of how fucked up our civilisation is. My lyrics come from that anger.

7. Are you guys planning a promotional tour? Are you leaving UK already? If so tell us more, please, especially if you'll rock Italy!!!!

Yeah! It's only short, but we have a 10-day tour coming up at the end of November. We will be co-headlining with Final Prayer from Germany. They are another LIB Records band and we played a show with them on the Hoods tour last year. Great band! Unfortunately, the tour won't be coming to Italy this time. We played Milan last year as part of the PTTR/Solid Ground tour but nobody showed up haha. We would love to come to Italy, in fact, we'd love to play every single country in Europe but it's really difficult. Maybe when more kids get into our new record we will have an opportunity to play everywhere.

8. Thank you very much guys, thanks for your time!
Is anything to know about Awoken yet?

Just stay tuned to www.awokenhc.com and www.myspace.com/awoken for tour updates and updates on everything else we're doing as a band. Thank you for the interview and maybe one day soon we'll be able to come and play in your beautiful country again. Check out our record. We put our hearts and souls into it and we think it has a lot to offer every kind of hardcore kid, and maybe some metal kids too.

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You are Not Alone Magazine (Holland) | 2004-10-04

Can you tell us the story of Awoken so far? (What are your goals with the band, why did you start the band and things like that?)

We formed the band at the beginning of 2003. Some of us weren’t very experienced musicians so we taught ourselves what we had to do to be a hardcore band. We were 5 good friends who wanted to have fun and see what we could come up with. As time went on, we realised we could make a difference to the UK scene. We wanted to do something to unite the different factions in the scene. We wanted to be a band everyone felt they could enjoy because we felt the scene was kind of divided and not as strong as it could be.

Have you guys ever been in any other band before Awoken cause the new MCD sounds solid as hell?

There were no significant bands before Awoken. But three of us have played around locally in bands with friends but it was nothing major. All the real rewards and responsibilities of being in a hardcore band were totally new to all of us when we formed Awoken. We’ve had to learn pretty much everything from scratch; like how to communicate with promoters and labels, how to arrange merchandise, and how to approach the recording of a CD. We’ve done well for ourselves considering we don’t have the same experience as a lot of other bands at our level, and we’re proud of that. We’ve made mistakes but mostly we’ve fought to make sure we do things right.

Can you give me the story behind the band name?

We didn’t think very hard about band names. Awoken was pretty much the first suggestion and it just seemed to fit. Everyone felt comfortable with it. We just wanted a simple name that could be interpreted in different ways and have different meanings to different people because we don’t share the exact same beliefs in the band. Awoken excludes no-one. But we do believe that hardcore gives you a different view of the world, wakes you up from whatever apathy you once had. It also stands for the fact that we were friends before we formed the band and the whole musical side of us just kind of woke up one day and took over our lives.

The new MCD (Take Aim) is released on Let It Burn records, why a German label and not a British? And why Let It Burn of all mainland European labels?

To be totally honest… Let It Burn was one of the first labels that expressed an interest in releasing our debut. We’d had offers from some UK labels but we decided that we wanted a label that could strongly promote our CD all through Europe. We had already played so many shows around the UK, we didn’t feel like we needed help to promote ourselves here, but we did need help with mainland Europe. Awoken does not begin and end with the UK. We’re working to take this everywhere that we can, especially Europe. Chris at Let It Burn made us a really reasonable offer and from communicating with him we could see how well run his label is. We were also into a lot of the stuff Let It Burn had already released and were happy to put ourselves amongst that. We’re very happy things worked out with Let It Burn because Chris saw something in us before anyone else and that’s the kind of person we want to work with. Someone who has faith in us and sees what we are capable of.

In The Netherlands I get the impression that the scene isn’t country bonded, it’s much of a western European scene (lots of Belgians and Germans show up at shows and the other way around as well). How do you think the British scene fits in the European hardcore scene? To me it’s a bit like the US scene, far away and almost no interaction with mainland Europe.

Right now, I don’t think the UK scene fits in with the European scene very well. But the link between the UK and Europe is getting stronger. More UK records are being released by European labels and more European records are being released by UK labels. I can totally see why European hardcore kids would see the UK as being similar to the US scene. But we’re not that far away. The main problem is that only a few UK bands want to play in Europe. We hope that by working with a European label, European kids will get hold of our CD and people will WANT us to come and tour in there. If we know that people in Europe want to see us play, we will make it happen. I am half Dutch and I love Holland. To play shows there would be a dream come true. A lot of promoters in the UK are bringing European bands over here. We have a big event here called Ninjafest in a few weeks and probably about half the bands playing are European.There does need to be better interaction between Europe and the UK. Instead of always trying to bring US bands over, we should look closer to home.

So can you give us a short introduction in the UK hardcore scene? Any good bands, fanzines, labels etc we should know of?

The best bands here are the ones who are sticking to their styles and not being swayed by trends. Knuckledust are one of my favourite hardcore bands ever and they have been doing what they do for 8 years. Also, The Legacy. Some people are expecting the worst of them for no good reason but they know what they’re doing and are really good at it. Also, check out Of Noble Blood from Wales (www.ofnobleblood.tk). They’re a really tight band, kind of like The Promise. And The Break In; They’ve just signed to Gangstyle and have a new CD out on www.deadandgone.co.uk.Check out www.rucktion.com, www.yolondon.net, www.burialrecords.net

Once the UK was a cradle for musical innovations (for instance the whole punk movement); it seems the UK lost that position in the world. Do you know why the UK lost that status and does it bother you?

It doesn’t really bother me. I don’t really care that a lot of my favourite bands are from Norway, Finland or the US. What’s important is that the UK gets recognised for what it does have, like the great hardcore and metal bands here. I don’t think there are many countries who are any more innovative than the UK right now. I think Scandinavia is probably the best place for musical innovations right now.

What’s your opinion on trends in general and especially trends in the hardcore scene? Do you think the hardcore scene in an honest scene?

Trends are the biggest thing holding hardcore back. Fuck them. We formed Awoken not caring about trends and we will end Awoken not caring about trends. Sometimes I look at the UK scene and almost everyone seems so weak. People who talk about how strong their character is but are afraid to admit that they listen to Hatebreed because it isn’t the cool thing to do this year. We like what we want to like. We like honest music; whether that’s Agnostic Front, Knuckledust, Sick Of It All, Redemption 87, Earth Crisis, Snapcase, xMaroonx, Buried Alive or Bouncing Souls. We don’t care what style is “in”. Fuck that. We’re better than that and most of our friends are intelligent enough to think that way too. Those are the people who make hardcore worthwhile. Just listen to the music you enjoy and who cares if the cool scene kids don’t like it. No I don’t think much of the scene is very honest. We have a long way to go.

Your music is very aggressive and so are the lyrics, what drives you to this aggression?

Aggression creates energy. And energy is the most important thing in hardcore music. We just naturally choose to write songs about things that are wrong in this world and about the friendships that help us through that. To change things for the better, you must first identify what the problems are and express how much you hate those things. If you are writing lyrics about everything that is good in life, you are looking past the problems, sweeping them under the carpet, never solving them.

What do you consider as your influences musically and lyrically?

Our strongest influences musically I’d say are Sick Of It All, Figure Four, Madball, Knuckledust, Hatebreed, Until The End and Earth Crisis. Those are some of the bands that influence us directly but we’re also influenced by stuff like Ignite, Bouncing Souls, AFI, Carcass in a less obvious way. Lyrically, I don’t think we really take much influence from anyone. We just try to express our thoughts in a powerful way. I guess we’re all really into Hatebreed’s lyrics.

One song that distinguishes from the others is ‘Red Justice’ mainly because of the lyrics. Can you explain why you wrote this song and what the message is behind the song?

I wrote the lyrics for Red Justice intending them to be like an anthem about strength and integrity. The one thing that gets me down day after day is seeing people compromise their integrity and forgetting what it is to be honourable. The more people that grow weak around you, the more difficult it is to stay strong and not follow their ways. I’ve often found myself alone in my beliefs with no-one to back me up but I still swim against the current. I will always try and better myself and this song is for everybody who finds the strength to better themselves. That’s where the real revolution begins. The line “Red Justice, beating colour back into my heart” refers to how alive you feel when you stay true to what you believe in

What’s your relation with tattoos, cause in the booklet some tattoo designs (very nice ones!) are used in the lay-out.

Thank you. We will make sure to tell our friend JJ who designed them. I guess we’re all quite heavily tattooed for our ages. We are 5 good friends and tattoos are a common interest we all have. It’s something to get involved in and be creative with. We love tattoo imagery so we just felt it was a natural choice for our design concept.

What will the near future for Awoken look like?

We have plans to tour Europe as soon as possible. That is our priority right now and we can’t wait to do it. Second priority is continuing to write new material for our next release which should be recorded in the first half of next year. Basically, we’re gonna take every opportunity we get and enjoy everything.

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Subba Cultcha (England) | 2004-09-30

At what moment did music actually affect your life, becoming more than a mere background?

It's hard to remember a time when music was just a background. It probably started to hit me harder right about the time I got into Sick Of It All, The Misfits and AFI back in like '97-'98. I started going to lots of punk shows, and as a 15 year old kid, it became my social life. I met new people, had new ideas and started expressing myself in a different way.

What bands influenced you the most musically?

As a band, we share the common heavy influence of bands like Madball, Knuckledust, Sick Of It All, Hatebreed, Throwdown... even stuff like the Bouncing Souls and H20 just for their attitudes towards life and friendship. Personally, I owe a lot to Carcass, Minor Threat, AFI, Earth Crisis, Samhain too.

A moment in your life and a song that seem so perfectly intertwined in your memory?

Driving home from playing shows, all of us singing along to "Manthem" by the Bouncing Souls.

The best live show you ever saw, and the reasons why it was so amazing?

Fuck. I've seen so many incredible live shows. Sick Of It All are without a doubt the greatest live band... but I'm gonna say for me, it was the first time I saw AFI in 2000 at the Underworld, London. I had been waiting so long for them to come over on a headlining tour and I've never been more satisfied.

The best live show you ever played yourself and why?

Our best live show was probably our record release show. Cos even though there were other shows going on that day and it wasn't a packed out venue, I've never seen the crowd enjoy themselves so much at one of our shows. There was an awesome atmosphere and all the people we care about were there to show their support. And because of that, we enjoyed ourselves so much onstage.

Why did you chose to pick up and start playing the instrument you primarily play?

I play guitar... I picked it up when I was 11 cos I wanted to be Richie Sambora. haha. I'm really into being creative and I figured that guitar was maybe the most creative and diverse instrument.

we all have favourite songs for different moments/emotion. What are your; A) top three love songs:

Meatloaf "I would do anything..." Sonata Arctica "Last Drop Falls", Misfits "Hybrid Moments"

B) top three sad song:

The Cure "The Funeral Party" AFI "God Called In Sick Today" Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

C) top three party songs:

Bouncing Souls "Say Anything" Sick Of It All "Good Looking Out" Carcass "Rotting in the Free World"

Favourite Joke?

Michael Jackson is walking along the beach when he stops in front of a sunbathing family. The Mother calls out to him "Excuse me. Can you please get out of my son"

Party trick?

expelling fuckers.

The person you connect with most?

I surround myself exclusively with the people I connect with. So my girlfriend, my bandmates and closest friends.

Name three people you could quite happily see disappear?

George Bush is the only one I would name. I'll keep quiet about the other 2 cos scene drama is a pathetic subject for discussion.

Are you happy?

happier than I can remember ever being.

Best piece of advice you’d give to aspiring musicians, or the best piece of advice you were giving when you started?

I don't remember being given any positive advice. Just a few people saying that it's pointless to pin any hopes on success as a band. Just recording a CD made us successful in my eyes so I'd say just relish and enjoy every little thing that happens for you. Maybe you won't ever tour the world, but you'll achieve more than most people in this world with just a bit of effort and love for what you're doing.

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Handle Me Down Magazine (England) | 2004-09-05

You recently released your first EP via ”Let It Burn Records”. Tell us something about the working process on this output, which is titled ”Take Aim”.

Well… just as we were about to book recording time for the CD, our drummer Duncan broke his wrist. Soon after that, Chris from Let It Burn contacted us saying he had heard great things about us and wanted a demo. When he heard it, he immediately got back to us saying he wanted to release our debut. We weren’t able to record as quickly as we and LIB would have liked, but as soon as we were ready, we worked fuckin hard. We already had most of the songs written, but we wanted time to shape them and make them as great as they could be. We recorded and mixed it in 5 days and we’re very happy with the outcome. We have a lot of confidence in it.

What can you tell us about the history of AWOKEN and its members?

We got together at the beginning of 2003 as 5 friends who just wanted to come up with some good hardcore music. Back then we were Kris, Tom, Duncan, me (Dan) and Ben. Towards the end of the year, after we had recorded our demo and played our first few shows, we all realised that Ben wasn’t really fitting in as a bassist. He wasn’t into hardcore like the rest of us were and he didn’t have the same ambitions. So we talked with him and parted ways. He’s still a very close friend of ours. Fortunately, we had a very good friend Adam who was so into what we were doing he learnt bass to play in the band and he’s now as valuable to the songwriting as anyone. Since all this we’ve played maybe around 60 shows all round the UK and just recorded our debut MCD.

How came the cooperation with ”Let It Burn Records” and why did you choose a German record label for the release of “Take Aim”?

Like I said, Chris had heard about us. He had actually been interested in working with a UK band for a while and I guess we impressed him the most. He got in touch and we began to communicate with each other what we were looking for. It was soon apparent that we were the right band for him and LIB was the right label for us. We’d had interest from UK-based labels and a couple of them were prepared to offer us the exact same deal as Let It Burn, but we didn’t care about the money or anything like that. What was most important to us was that we had a label we knew was hard-working and had good distribution worldwide. We’re at a point where we can sell our own CDs to the whole of the UK, but what we needed help in was getting it out all over Europe and elsewhere in the world. This is what Let It Burn is great at. Also, we admire the Let It Burn roster of bands.

Are you totally satisfied with “Take Aim”?

Yes. We recorded it in April and for that time, it’s the best piece of work we could have created. We had a very good idea of the sound we wanted for the CD so we were heavily involved with the production and mixing of it. We actually re-mixed it 3 or 4 times because something wasn’t perfect. But now, we’re extremely proud of what we made. That’s why we’re eager to tour and show Europe and the world what we’re made of and that this CD is just the beginning. Right now we’re in the process of writing a few new songs to make our live show totally fresh and in a lot of ways they are an improvement on the “Take Aim” songs, but it’s all in the same vein. We are totally happy to let “Take Aim” represent us right now.

How would you define the music of AWOKEN?

I hate doing this. Some people say we sound like tough NYHC, some people say we sound metallic, some say whatever they think is gonna piss us off. Whatever. We’ve always prided ourselves on just being honest heavy hardcore. We concentrate on structuring our songs so that the energy is always kept high. We make sure we build up the breakdowns in exciting ways and the right speed changes in the right places. It’s heavy fuckin angry music to mosh to and sing along with.

Which bands have inspired and helped you to find your musical direction?

We came together as a band because our taste in music was similar. We’re all huge Sick Of It All and Madball fans. A lot of NYHC stuff has helped form the music we play as well as Hatebreed, Throwdown, Knuckledust, Figure Four, Until The End. And probably in some kind of indirect way Bouncing Souls and non-HC stuff like that.

What are your lyrics dealing with and where does the content of your songs originate from?

We draw upon the negative shit we see for our lyrics. And we do that for the sake of identifying everything that causes suffering so that everyone who identifies with it can make a stand against all the bullshit. Our songs are angry and aggressive because we play them with conviction. We have the lyrics to go with that. Along the spine of our CD are the words “I’ve still got hate”. We put that there because it’s what most of the songs are about; hate stays within you until you’ve dealt with whatever it is causing that’s causing it. The subject matter in our songs deals with everything from the people who consistently try and destroy friendships to people who are so quick to judge you when their own values are a mess.

What do you think about ´Straight Edge´ ?

Awoken is not a straight-edge related hardcore band. We have sXe members and non-sXe members and those who aren’t sXe respect the movement, and those who are respect every person’s individual decision. We all count sXers and non-sXers amongst our close friends. The only thing I will say is that despite the fact that no-one we ever come across will admit it, there are kids who are determined to see the whole hardcore scene drug free one day… and even more who spend far too much of their time caring about who is and isn’t straight edge. I know plenty of straight edge sluts who need to look at their own actions before judging someone who has a drink every now and then. Far more of the conflicts and problems in the scene are thanks to that than drinkers or smokers.

How were the reactions and on “Take Aim” so far ?

Our record release show was the best show we’ve played. We’ve been playing some of the songs from Take Aim for a while and now people can finally hear them recorded and understand what they’re about. Kids have been tearing shit up at our shows, especially since the CD came out. We’ve had a lot of amazing feedback and more people than ever want us to play shows for them. The CD still hasn’t been in distribution for very long so things are only just starting to pick up.

Are there concrete plans to hit the European roads later this year ?

Nothing concrete yet. But we are determined to make it happen. We don’t have many contacts in Europe so at the moment, we’re talking with friends about the best possible ways to approach this. We’re gathering contacts and all the information we need to organise a tour of the mainland really soon. As soon as a few more people in Europe contact us expressing an interest in us coming over, we will know it’s the right time to make it happen. Sit tight. We’ll be over soon.

How do you plan your near future ?

Right now we’re writing some awesome new songs and just preparing to get out to wherever we can in the world to play our music. We’ve had interested from people in Australia and Europe so whenever we can, tours of both those places we take place. We will continue writing for a full-length release on Let It Burn maybe early next year but for now we’ll be pushing our MCD as hard as we can cos we believe in it.

What is the best way for people who are interested in the music of AWOKEN to contact you guys?

Any way at all. We always want to hear from people interested in what we’re doing. You can e-mail me (Dan) at reflectremain@hotmail.com , or any of the other guys if you go to Awoken. Or just leave us a message on the message board. You can download an mp3 from Take Aim at Let it Burn Records.

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Trueside Music (Germany) | 2004-08-20

Hey guys what´s up? How are you doing?

Great thanks. Things are moving forward since the CD finally came out. I think people had got frustrated waiting for the release since we've been playing the songs and talking about it for a long time. Now that it's out, I think people have a better idea about how hard we worked to write those songs and make the best CD we could at this moment in time. And since it came out, people have been dancing harder and singing louder than ever before so we're really excited about that. We feel like the release has been a big wake up call, even to people who have been to so many of our shows before.

Could you please tell us who you are and which part do you play in AWOKEN?

I'm Dan, I play guitar. Then there's Kris on vocals, Duncan on drums, Adam on bass and Tom on guitar.

How did you start?

We started the best way a band can start, as good friends hanging out and going to shows together. This was back at the beginning of 2003. A couple of us were playing in bands already but were really keen to form a new band based on friendship and a mutual love for good honest hardcore music. Since then we've had the best time ever.

Tell us something more about your first MCD? What do you expect from it?

"Take Aim" is 20 minutes of the best songs we've written up until now. Expect something heavy. Those songs bring action to the dancefloor live and we made fuckin' sure that they have the same impact on CD. We spent a lot of time getting the right mix. The force that we put behind that music comes from the heart and we aren't messing around. A lot of UK hardcore acts haven't ventured but we intend to venture as far as this CD will take us. We want to tour wherever we can and we're all saving up to do this. That's why we chose to release it on Let It Burn. We believe in the CD and we want as many people to have access to it as possible. "Take Aim" is a strong taste of what's to come.

Yeah on this MCD, which is called “Take Aim” you sound like a little fury. Full of anger, rage and sometime, I think, hate. Are you so angry?

Fury, anger, rage, hate. Yeah it's all there. In my opinion, hardcore is only hardcore when it's driven by negative emotion. But we don't hate for the sake of hating. The hatred expressed in our songs comes from a desire to change things, to show our dissapproval for the way some people act and to hope that those people might take a closer look in the mirror. We're all fun-loving guys who have a lot of people we care about, and some of us have very positive lifestyle beliefs, we just choose to bring anger to the stage, the studio and the practice room.

Which bands influenced you musically?

We all got into hardcore through Sick Of It All, Hatebreed, Madball, even Throwdown. So those bands have probably had the most profound effect on how we think about hardcore music. But we wouldn't have as much faith in this band and the potential it had if it wasn't for UK bands like Knuckledust and xCanaanx. Those bands have proved how well the UK can write hardcore music and how willing people are to support them. We owe a lot to those bands.

Talking about influences. Who gave you the influences for your lyrics? I mean to me they sound truly bitter and very personal?

Yeah. The lyrics are all influenced by situations we encounter in our lives. Mostly they are aimed at people we know who have tried to tear holes in friendships and tried to drag us into their meaningless ways of life. These songs are our declaration of strength to withstand all of that. "Open Fire" is aimed generally at everyone demonstrating the worst in human nature. "Red Justice" is about using hardcore as a tool to improve yourself. "To The Bitter End" is about those who are so quick to judge the way someone else chooses to live their life, especially when they don't have the integrity to stand behind their own chosen way of life.

What´s going on at a AWOKEN show? Give us, please, some impressions. So we can better imagin how it is to at your shows.

The shows are intense. We give as much energy as we have and when the crowd responds, we give even more. We have played a lot of shows around the UK and have only recently had a CD available. A lot of people know our songs just from hearing them at the shows, so they have always been really good. Kids mosh hard, and sing along wherever they know the lyrics. The 2 or 3 shows we've played since the CD came out have been more incredible than ever so we're ready to take it up a gear once people REALLY know our songs. Our record release show was over-whelming. We don't take any shows for granted and we're always gonna make sure they're as good as they should be.

Future plans? What´s going on with this band in the near future?

We're already writing new songs to throw in to the live show. Somehow we're putting even more effort into the song-writing than ever before so we're ready to smash expectations. But our main priority now is to make sure we get a chance to play to everyone who owns a copy of our CD. We're totally geared up to tour Europe and maybe even Australia sometime soon. Of course, we're always gonna be playing all round the UK, but we're ready to take it further as well. We're talking about possible tours with good friends of ours and awesome UK bands like The Break In, The Legacy, Taking Names and Rough Justice. We're hoping interest is going to be big enough for us to come to Europe and hopefully play some festivals soon.

Thank you guys for this interview. Do you got some shout out´s?

No, Thank you! The UK hardcore scene is something pretty special right now. Check out The Break In, The Legacy, Taking Names, Rough Justice, Of Noble Blood, Deny Everything, November Coming Fire, www.rucktion.com, www.deadandgone.co.uk. And of course, the amazing new releases on www.letitburnrecords.com like the new Under Siege/Traitor Like Judas split and Scars of Tomorrow's European release. Thanks to anyone who has checked out our CD.

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Sweet Jane Music (Germany) | 2004-08-20

What's your self-understanding of AWOKEN - what does your band stand for? Please introduce the members of AWOKEN and the idea behind your band.

Awoken stands for friendship, conviction and sincerity. What we stand against are trends and gimmicks. We don’t worship Nike and we still love Unearth, no matter how uncool that is in today’s scene. We’re 5 good friends who had been going to shows, playing in other bands and were just heavily into hardcore. We were inspired by hard-working UK bands of the time like xCanaanx and Knuckledust. Those bands showed us just how strong a UK band can be and how strong a scene can be with bands who are willing to work for it. We wanted to contribute to that. We are Kris on vocals, Tom on guitar, Dan on guitar, Duncan on drums and Adam on bass and we’re from just outside London, England.

Is there a deeper meaning behind the name of the band? A personal one?

The name just seemed to sum up so many things about us and what our music represents. We write music with the main intention of energising people, empowering them, waking them up I think we also feel that our involvement in hardcore has given us new direction, new ideas, and a new insight into life in this world.

What´s important to know about the history of the band (foundation, releases, labels)? Where did you guys meet and how did you start playing as a band?

We got together at the beginning of 2003 and some of us didn’t have any real experience playing in a band. But we worked hard, supported each other and now feel comfortable as a band. We self-recorded a demo in August 2003 and played our first show in September. We sold maybe 2-300 copies of the demo and got offered more and more shows as our reputation grew. As we started to write new songs, a few labels contacted us interested in releasing our debut CD. Chris from Let It Burn Records heard about us from people he knows over here so we recorded a rough demo of new songs for him and he was really into it and offered us a deal. Over the past year we’ve played a lot of shows, maybe nearing 100. That has been our main focus and now that the record is out, we want to bring Awoken over to Europe.

At what point in your life did you decide to become a musician?

I started playing guitar when I was 12 so I’ve been playing a while. I pretty much wanted to play in a band since then. Some of us in the band have aspired to play in bands for years and others got really into the idea only when we had ideas about forming Awoken. Music has always occupied the majority of our time and that’s why we work so hard for this band.

Well, at the moment there´s a hype in the “metalcore”-genre and styles like hardcore meets metal are becoming very popular as not few of the bands like Heaven Shall Burn etc. What do you think about that hype? Will this be helpful for a band like AWOKEN?

I don’t see any kind of hype in metalcore anymore. Maybe it’s different here in the UK from Europe(I know a lot of the larger Euro labels like Goodlife have mostly metalcore bands). From what I can see, metalcore was the big thing in hardcore a year or 2 ago. Over here, nearly every hardcore kid is raving about the traditional hardcore revival right now and talking shit about the metallic bands they used to love. Last year kids travelled to Hellfest and goodlife fest and this year it was posi-number ya know. Anyway, we really don’t consider Awoken a metalcore band. We don’t care what people want to label us but we deliberately DON’T write metal riffs for this band. Awoken is inspired by SOIA and Madball, not The Haunted and At The Gates. If any of us wanted to play metal, we would form a metal band. Awoken is hardcore. We’re heavy as fuck but that’s the kind of hardcore we like to play. Heaven Shall Burn are awesome.

What was the recording process of “Take Aim” like in creating the record?

We took a lot of time making the right decision about where to record Take Aim. We didn’t have lots of money to spend but we wanted a really good recording. We felt that the places where most UK bands record were overpriced and couldn’t offer us the huge sound we wanted. So we chose to go to a fairly unknown producer called Peter Miles (www.petermiles.com) and we talked with him about the kind of sound we wanted and he was confident he could achieve that. So we took a bit of a risk and went with him and we couldn’t be happier with the recording. We recorded and mixed in 5 days and had the resources to get great guitar sounds and vocal sounds. Peter Miles let us have a lot of control over things (cos we were very particular about certain things) but was always there to make sure it sounded great. We had a lot of fun recording and we’re really proud of the outcome.

Is there an underlying idea behind “Take Aim”? A personal meaning that can stand for the record as a whole?

Awoken isn’t about breaking new ground, just creating the best, most powerful hardcore we can. To do that, we focus on themes of hatred, anger and dissatisfaction. “Take Aim” is about fighting back against everything negative in your life. That’s how we came up with the title of the record. It’s about not being afraid to speak out against certain people or groups of people in this world. We don’t put up with shit.

In short: What should we be expecting with “Take Aim”?

Expect the kind of hardcore you can mosh, singalong and get your aggression out to. That’s what it’s about. We took time over those songs and learned how to play them well before recording them. We have total conviction in those songs and we spent a lot of time creating the most effective, energetic songs structures that we could. It’s basically a fuckin heavy ball of rage.

From your point of view: The European market is full of releases of bands from the States. How do you see your chances as a European band? Do you think AWOKEN could also make its way worldwide. What´s your goal? How would you define it?

There are so many incredible bands from Europe right now. A lot of bands who I believe can easily rival the best of the US. xMaroonx, Knuckledust, No Turning Back, xThe Break Inx, November Coming Fire, The Legacy, Paint The Town Red, Deadstop, Rise And Fall, to name just a few. I think the fact that European kids are still mainly into US bands is through habit. We’ve always been used to being second best to the US but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I think it’s changing. The most important thing is for European bands to put in the hard work and aim high. It isn’t selling out to tour America. In Awoken, we’re aiming high and we intend to follow through. We have a lot of experience to gain and a lot of room for improvement but I think we’ve made a great record and we put on a good show. So if we get the chance to play Australia, Japan, America, wherever, we’re gonna take it (as long as we can afford it). Our main goal is to write the best hardcore music we can and to put on the best live show we can. Those are things that will give us the most satisfaction.

What is you favourite song off the new record?

Man, that changes every day. One thing I will say is, I do really enjoy our record. I still sometimes listen to it. What’s the point in creating music you don’t love. My favourite song right now is probably “Sick Of Second Chances” just cos I think it has some awesome mosh parts in it and it’s got a lot of energy. I don’t think the record has a strongest or weakest song, which is why we play every single song live.

What type of success did you hope to gain with this record?

We think it’s a really good debut release and I think most people who check it out will be really into it. That’s the most important thing to us, that a lot of people check it out and really listen to it. Hopefully it will lead to tours and people will really enjoy the shows.

Do you have any further plans for 2004? How about touring in Europe? What does touring mean to you in general? Is it just a promotional act or are you really in it. If yes, why? I think you´re gonna be on tour for the whole summer…

We haven’t played to Europe yet and we’re really looking forward to doing it as soon as we can. Right now, we haven’t been offered any shows or tours, but it’s early days. The record only just came out. We’re working hard to get hooked up with the right people so that we can come and tour Europe as soon as possible. We honestly don’t even think of touring as a promotional act at all. We live for the experience of it all. It isn’t a means-to-an-end! We love discovering great new bands and we love it when a band we’ve never heard blows us away live. Maybe kids in Europe will enjoy us in the same way. We’ve also started writing new songs to introduce into our set and for a future release.

Any thing would like to add or just say? Then, please, here is the place:

Ignore trends in hardcore. There is so much great metalcore, traditional hardcore and heavy hardcore around. Fuck what’s cool, just give good bands a chance. Also, there are so many great bands, festivals and shows in Europe and the UK, and in Australia too. Dig around, download mp3s and just give all those bands the time of day as well as all the great US bands. Check out www.shotpointblank.com, an amazing band from Australia. Also check out a lot of the great hardcore the UK has to offer right now. www.rucktion.com, www.deadandgone.co.uk, and all the great releases on www.letitburn.de. Check out our site www.awoken.co.uk. Thanks for the interview!

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AWOKEN
Keep the Faith Fanzine (Germany) | 2004-06-01

1. Who are you, what’s your rank in the band (starting with private, ending with general) and why did you found / join AWOKEN?

I'm Dan. I play guitar in Awoken. Awoken was founded by Tom (guitar), Kris (vocals), Duncan (drums), and me. Adam joined on bass about 2 months after our first show. We formed the band to have fun and nothing more. We're all best friends and had been going to shows for a while when we decided it would be awesome to make some music ourselves. I guess if there was any kind of motive behind Awoken's origin, it would be to put back into the UK scene what we thought was lacking; anger, unity and a fuck-you to trends.

2. Tell us a bit of band history and give us a short overview of what has happened with AWOKEN within the last 6 month.

We formed beginning of 2003, recorded a 3-track demo in August, played our first show in September and have been playing lots of shows since. We just recorded our debut MCD for Let It Burn Records which is released pretty much now I guess. We've played some awesome shows with bands we've always admired and the UK has shown a lot of support.

3. What was the most striking and moving moment in AWOKEN’s career so far (A show, recordings, new members, first band practice…)?

There have been a few. A couple of shows we played at the Verge in London earlier this year where tons of kids were dancing and singing along for the first time. We've also had some really memorable shows in Peterborough and supporting Throwdown. We worked so hard in preparation for our recording too and it turned out as good as we could have hoped for. That stands out to us too. we've overcome obstacles and had incredible friends of ours show their worth. We know we have the strength to do that and we know who we can rely on.

4. Which song on “Take Aim” is the one that means most to you, lyrically and musically? Which one do you think the kids will like most?

The lyrics on the CD were written by me and Kris. Usually we'd write a song each and then help each other out changing parts to make it come across the right way. We're a band who generally draw upon negative experiences to express our views on life because it's the negative things in life that need talking about and changing, not the aspects of life that are good. I'd say the song that means most to me lyrically is "Love Your Killer". It's about how forgiveness can go too far and how some people are attuned to taking advantage of your compassion. Some people make the same mistakes and hurt people the same way over and over again and are never caught out. This song is about making sure those people are the last to prosper. Musically, I'm most proud of a different one ever day and I think the whole band feels that way.

5. Let me know what motivates you to play in a band. Is there any certain goal you want to achieve, something you struggle for?

Playing in a hardcore band means the world to me. I often look at my friends who don't play in bands or go to shows and feel sorry that they don't have what I have. They haven't met the people I've met, been to the places I've been, seen the bands I've seen, and felt the energy I've felt. It makes close friends even closer and I've never had so much fun. Every member of Awoken holds different views on life and has made different lifestyle choices so collectively, there are no causes we fight for except to do what we each believe is right and to be there for those we love. All we want to do is play as many places as we can and hope that people enjoy what we do. We'd like to think we're one of the bands helping to strengthen a growing UK hardcore scene.

6. Would you say that playing in a band or music in general is the most important thing in your life? What else plays an important role in your daily routine?

Everyone in the band puts music before anything. We've put so much of our lives over the last year into the band and wouldn't have it any other way. None of us have careers. Music comes first whether we can afford it or not. Some of us have girlfriends we very much care about and for the most part we owe that to music too. We work to pretty much fund the band and rarely have the time or money to do much else.

7. There’s a lot of fights between the different factions of the hardcore scene going on, especially in the UK. What’s your opinion on that? In what way does AWOKEN as a band and also as individuals experience that?

At first we didn't think it was an issue but as time has gone on, we've come to learn a few things about the nature of the scene that you can only learn when you're in a band. There's a rift between metallic, heavy hardcore and more traditional hardcore. There are festivals that only endorse one style of hardcore or the other and we have no interest in supporting that kind of attitude. As individuals, our number 1 rules is to see past the current trends of hardcore and to enjoy good music regardless of whether it's old-school or new-school, metallic or punk rock. As a band we've been inspired by everyone from Agnostic Front to Madball to Throwdown. I'd even say our love of bands like Bouncing Souls and Carcass have had an impact on the music we make. In the UK, a lot of kids share our views and enjoy themselves with an open mind. But there are plenty who speak out about the falseness of metallic hardcore or some that they dislike straight edge. It means that good bands aren't getting the recognition they deserve and that hardcore isn't becoming as strong as it could be. We hope to always play shows with traditional HC bands and metal bands.

8. If you could put together a “alltime favourite band” of all musicians (dead or alive) of the world, who would you chose and what would be the band’s name?

haha. Fuck this is hard. Mostly cos I'd argue that Sick Of It All is already the ultimate hardcore band. If I was gonna put a band together it'd be a metal band cos I could find some real fucked up imaginations and make them work together. Fuck knows what I'd call them. I'd probably have to resurrect some ancient icelandic warcry or something.

9. What are the things that make a good band?

There's nothing more important than dedication and percevierance. End of story. To keep playing shows that you're losing money on and to overcome the obstacles that fall so easily in front of you, you need to be passionate about doing it all. Duncan broke his wrist in February, weeks before we had planned to record our MCD and had a whole list of important shows coming up. We were lucky enough to have a good friend help us out but the whole thing delayed us and caused problems. I'm sure we'll encounter plenty more things to fight through but we know we have the strength and frame of mind to do it. Musically, we collaborate totally and that's what gives us our sound and what makes us confident we can write good songs. Lots of bands have a main songwriter. We don't. I think that makes us a good band.

10. What is the most influential book you have ever read? When was that and why did it have such an impact on your life?

How to bluff your way into the scene - it taught me how to speak and talk like a true hero as well as giving me cool fashion tips that stop you getting picked on. haha. Honestly, I don't know. I've never really found that books inspire my way of life. I have music for that. When I read, it's usually sci-fi stuff. I've read some stuff by Noam Chomsky that was pretty enlightening and I studied the poetry of William Blake which inspired me to see the world in a new way I guess.

11. What does it feel like to be the UK's most tattooed band and how important is that to you?

haha. We're not, but we're getting there. Give us a few years. As a group of friends, it's just something we have in common and pretty much always have been interested in. We wanted tattoo-style artwork for our CD because it represents us and what we're interested in. I've always thought that someone who can confidently spend a lot of hours under the needle is someone with a lot of conviction in everything they do. We're a band with conviction and we're individuals with conviction so I guess that's where the tattoos come in.

12. What would you die for?

Sick of it All - Madball - Hoods - Blood for Blood at the garage in london, or to be immortalised as a character in the Simpsons (Adam)
Justice, knowledge. The world veers further and further towards injustice and ignorance and if I had to, I'd die to put it back on course. I'd die defending the people I love.

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