photo by: Vdwig22
I recently helped release THE RABBIT THEORY and ADOLINA split 12"LP last month. If it wasn't for that split, I never would have heard ADOLINA. Thank you split releases. Thank you. I quickly became quite attached to the Belgium band's unique and quirky take on emo/math-rock and decided to ask them a few questions, for which they kindly obliged to answer. Check it out below.
What bands have inspired the ADOLINA? How have those bands changed in the last few years?
*Oliv (vocals/guitar): A lot of classical indie/noise bands from the 90’s (Unwound, Chokebore, Fugazi…) , all the stuff from Dischord, Touch and Go, Amphetamine Reptile. And some old Belgian bands like Reiziger, Hitch and Vandal x. Now I listen to all kinds of music but when we work with Adolina, I think I remain committed to my first influences.
*Jean Lou (bass): The common influences (from our youth!) are Reiziger, Fugazi, Pixies, Unwound, Sonic Youth, Shellac, and so many more.
*Meursault (guitar/vocals): This is quite difficult to point out a couple of bands. Back in those days I listened to maybe 10 different albums by week, but I agree with the guys.
What is your favourite active band right now?
*Oliv: Too many to list.
*Meursault: Gentle Veincut from Germany.
*Antoine (drums): Right now I really enjoy the first Cult Leader EP.
*Jean Lou: I listened to "Les Thugs" today!
What other bands do you want people to know about?
*Oliv: You have to listen to Calva, Revok, Kitchen Tool Set, Gentle Veincut, Frank Shinobi, Petula Clark, Buildings, Blacklisters, a bunch of good guys that we meet on the road.
*Antoine: Megamoto which is the other band I play with.
*Jean Lou: Revok, Gentle Veincut... every good band smells of sweat and beers!
*Meursault: All the bands above of course. I’ll add Commodore, the Swiss band, not the Lionel Ritchie one! And Goodbye Diana from France.
If you had to rename the band...HAD TO, what might some names be?
*Meursault: I have no damn idea. I'm so glad that those searching-band-name times are far away behind us. Maybe something stupid like Black TV/Red Wall because this is what I'm seeing right now when I raise my eyes from the computer. Haha...
*Oliv: It’s too late! We’re too old!
*Antoine: Chlamolydia.
*Jean Lou: Cradolinaze.
*Meursault: The Jean Lou idea is a joke impossible to translate in English but it mixes Adolina with some words like “dirty” and “sucks”.
What tour stories do you have?
*Jean Lou: Too many to be told here... and honestly, we have children old enough to read this interview!
*Meursault: Once we had a surrealistic and really unpleasant night with a bunch of junkies. Our drummer at that time had a really big toothache. They proposed methadone as painkiller then decided to not let us sleep. They made the TV scream all night long. They looped a movie again and again… it was Batman. Even now I can’t see Michael Keaton without a little shiver going down my spine… what a hell!
What's the most exciting thing to happen to music lately?
*Meursault: The internet. First it's a major pain in the ass. Second, the world is given access to your music so you can give it and sell it like you want. I have the feeling that there is like an explosion of "little" bands. Of course there's a "but", everyone seems to be lost in this explosion, lost in the mass, “another splinter in the flow".
*Jean Lou: Oliv has a brand new guitar!!
What is happening next for ADOLINA?
Antoine: Writing some new stuff, trying to bring other dynamics as I'm the new guy in town.
Oliv: And then probably a third album.
What have been the best places to visit while on tour and why?
*Oliv: My best memories: all the amazing shows in Switzerland, the A Tant Rêver Du Roi festival in Pau with a lot of amazing bands, all the times we left squats to play in large venues. But the most important thing is all the new friends we have in all these countries.
*Jean Lou: Yes, everywhere we met and shared times with great people.
How did you meet THE RABBIT THEORY?
*Jean Lou: In Antwerp, in a bar under the sea.
*Meursault: To be more specific, we played with them in a basement back in 2006, in Antwerp indeed. The connection was quite obvious and instantaneous. Then I exchanged emails on a regular basis with Nino. We booked a couple of gigs for them in Belgium and we played a couple of time in Zurich. I know that when people are gone they are always beautiful and kind and nice and so on. That's a kind of a sinister cliché, but Nino was truly an incredible beautiful person. It's a shame to see a smile and an energy like that simply disappear.
What is the biggest threat to the world right now?
*Meursault: The internet. Before now, since there are people on earth, the biggest threat was stupidity. Today, internet is the best way to spread stupidity through the world. The internet is nothing more than a tool, the best hand-in-hand with the worst.
*Jean Lou: A system of self-destruction of the human race called capitalism, as we know it.
What are the band members' favourite 10 records?
*Meursault:
Pink Floyd - Meedle
Linda Perhacs - Parallelogram
T. Rex - Electric Warrior
The Clash - Eponym
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
Unwound - The Future of What
The Van Pelt - Sultans of Sentiment
Melvins - A Senile Animal
Dominique A - Remué
*Oliv:
Unwound - Repetition
3-Mile Pilot - Another Desert Another Sea
Gentle Veincut - Concrete Landing
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Unsane - Scattered, Smothered, Covered
Prong - Cleansing
Swans - Children of God
Extra-life - Dream Seeds
The Ex - Dizzy Spells
Ventura - We Recruit
*Antoine:
Daughters - Daughters
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Melvins - Hostile Ambient Takeover
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R
Millionaire - Outside the Simian Flock
Oxbow - The Narcotic Story
Shora - Malval
Cave In - Jupiter
Converge - Jane Doe
Mr Bungle – California
*Jean Lou:
René Binamé - Vocations
Pixies - Doo Little
Brassens - Live à Bobino 1969!
Rush - Hemispheres
Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
Programme - Mon Cerveau Dans Ma Bouche
Genius - GZA - Liquid Swords
Ramones - Rocket to Russia
Unwound - Repetition
Sonic youth - Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
Photo by: Vdwig22