Hetze took the Belgian scene by storm last year. They released a 3 song promo in April, released a first full length in June and played all over. Their mixture of fast hardcore, noisy punkrock and powerviolence with Eva’s lyrics and delivery really hit a nerve. If I were to do end of year lists, their LP Bedbugs would be on a very high spot in that list. Here is a short interview I did with Eva over email.
Hetze has a sound that can be placed somewhere in between powerviolence, noisy punkrock and fast hardcore. What would you consider your influences? Was your sound a conscience decision or was this just what happened to come out?
Dorien and Caroline write most of the songs. Dorien and me love Despise You a lot, we really tried to get some powerviolence into the songs. She loves to write D-beat songs too, the D-beat is most definitely her signature. Caroline is more influenced by hardcore, punk and black metal especially with our newer songs.
Most of you are active in the scene for quite a while already. What drove you to doing a(nother) band? What are your past activities in the scene?
Busy attending Reproach shows haha. No, but yes! I sang in some other bands when I was younger but those bands never left the rehearsal room. I have a YouTube channel, Gizmothrashcat, trying to capture as many Belgian bands as possible from the pit, caused me a lot of bruises already. I organized shows with Dirty Pizza Bookings together with Stijn and Bulle. Wrote Gloo zine with Stijn. Euh don’t know, I forgot… oh some bands slept at our house, neighbors call the cops, that delivers good tour stories. Dorien asked me to come in Hetze. Finally somebody asked me! Haha
Dorien and Caroline wanted to start a band together, because Dorien got the taste for more while being live stand-in bassist for Travolta from time to time.
Caroline and Viktor are/have been in several bands before, but they were metal, not punk, so they wanted some fast, short, easy songs, in stead of all the 10-minute crazy stuff!
Hetze was received very well with lots of shows and immediately an LP. What is the secret?
Eat a lot of vegan banana cake!
Your LP was released on 5 different record labels. What is the story behind that?
It’s not easy to find a label. So we were very lucky and thankful Loner Cult records wanted to bring us out. Loner Cult found 4 other labels to collaborate with. 500 copies were pressed. The cool thing about having different labels is that they sell and promote our music across Europe.
Some of your songs are about animal mistreatment or about slaughterhouses. Do you think this is a topic that still needs to get attention with the popularity of veganism in the mainstream?
Yes, it still needs attention! There are still animals in captivity for the entertainment of people and there are still animals victim of the meat industry. People get shocked by slaughterhouse cruelty but they still eat meat or drink milk. There is a rise of veganism indeed, and that’s cool, but for most people it’s just temporary or part time because it’s healthy and trendy. But I am not complaining, the hipster vegan business delivers some great eateries. I can recommend you some in Ghent, V-Box is my favorite!
In the song Cats, not calling you address the issue that a woman is master of her own body. But in the song Selfish you describe getting a baby as a selfish act. But isn’t getting a baby a decision a woman should not have someone else make for her? Can you explain the meaning behind both songs a bit more?
Ha! I realize I can offend some people with what I choose to write about. But hey, that’s life! In your question you think that I mean getting a baby is a selfish act. But it’s the opposite, being selfish is what we child free women have to hear a lot. Even now in 2019, we have to hear over and over the same stereotypes. Having children is a choice, not an inevitability. Unfortunately, a lot of people view that perspective as something to be picked apart and judged. We often hear a lot of presumptuous blather.
Cat’s, not calling is about street harassment, happening thousands of times a day all over the world. Catcallers need to shut up, it’s not flirting, it’s creepy, unnecessary and scary.
I recently saw that you will shortly will release 7 new songs on a split with Dismalfucker. What can we expect from these songs?
We met Dismalfucker at a gig in JH Sojo in Leuven, we shared the stage that evening. We love their music and they are fun people to hang out with. I believe, we grew a lot musically the last year so expect our new songs to be better, harder and more tempo both slow and fast!
It seems like the fast hardcore scene in Belgium is getting stronger again. What other bands should we really keep an eye out from Belgium? Is there a reason why that is the only hardcore scene that seems to be really flourishing in Belgium?
The Raw Peace release came out very strong, but the Permanent Debt 7” too. The Haemers demo kicked ass a lot, they bring out a 7” later this year. Keep an eye on B. Polar and the Spacefuckers and Slavemaker, both from Tournai. Reproach is still playing shows after so many years! There are so many active bands at the moment like Dissguy, Travölta, Lotus, Onfire, Cocaine Piss, Freddie and the Vangrails, … not bad for a small country like Belgium. Why it’s flourishing? More people with punk ethics in this scene? Maybe that helps?
Any last words?
Don’t let the bedbugs bite!
Pictures by Nele Vandermaesen & Jeroen Jacobs
Prophecy 