Mindwar is one of the few current Belgian hardcore bands containing young people that manages to turn heads. Witnessing this band live will rekindle your love for hardcore. Read what their bass player Emmanuel has to say.

Can you introduce Mindwar? What would you consider your influences

Sup, we’re Mindwar, a Lokeren based hardcore band that’s been busting all over Belgium the last few years. Our main influences consist of some of NYHC’s biggest powerhouses such as Madball, Sick of it all, Breakdown,… No Warning, Down To Nothing, Cro mags have definitely been influencing the Mindwar sound and even younger bands such as Backtrack and Fire & Ice have made Mindwar what it is today.

How much difference did adding Andy as a second guitarist make for Mindwar?

Surprisingly not that much to be honest, everything went very organically. I think the biggest change has to be sound wise. Adding Andy as our 2nd guitarist made us sound even heavier and fuller and gives us the musical freedom to experiment a little more with cool and different guitar riffs and song structures. It did get a little trickier to get rehearsals sorted and transportation to shows too but so far so good.

You are one of the few bands around that can actually get younger people to come to shows. How come our scene lacks an influx of younger people?

To be honest I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone says it is. I mean sure, there could be more young people coming out to shows but slowly I see more and more kids finding there way back to hardcore and underground music and let me tell you, they’re passionate as fuck!

I’ve thought a lot about why it is that younger people didn’t really show much interest in hardcore the past few years and I think we have no one but ourselves to blame for it. You know how a lot of times hardcore is portrayed as “one big happy fucking family”  but that shit’s a straight up lie. The hardcore scene isn’t any better than the outside world is and anyone who says it is is either lying or in denial. The truth is it can be very hard, very judgmental, very hostile and I think the younger kids just got fed up with that shit. They got sick and tired of the elitism that plagued hardcore, of not being fully accepted for who they are, of the bullying, of feeling left out and being mocked for some of the bands they liked. (as if anyone is born into liking the “cool OG bands” anyway?!) And I mean honestly can you blame ’em? Fortunately these days a lot of those elitist pricks and a lot of people who used to ruin things for everybody stepped down  and I feel Belgium hardcore is in a much better place now. Everyone is less uptight, more tolerant and instead of trying to look cool everyone’s too busy having a good time. I’m telling you, we’re in the Belgian hardcore Renaissance!

Is there a message that Mindwar wants to bring? Based on your lyrics it seems that you are trying to get rid of personal demons. Are you trying to get rid of some frustration, or are you hoping some people get something out of them.

Being the vocalist Anthony takes care of all the lyric writing himself and I’m pretty sure he does use his lyrics to get everything that bugs him in his personal life off  his chest. Hardcore is a very emotional genre and the only way for it to be genuine is to sing about the things that get under YOUR skin, things that bother YOU. You can’t be sincere if you’re singing about stuff  you don’t really care about just cause you’re trying to connect with as many people as possible. If people fuck with it and get something out of it that’s great but the number one person you gotta do this shit for is you.

Although a lot of the themes in Mindwar songs are rather negative I don’t think our message is a negative one per se.  A lot of our songs are about realizing something’s wrong and admitting you feel unhappy about certain things in your life. During this wake-up call I think it’s perfectly normal to feel kinda lost and alone at times. But at least now you know you gotta make a positive change and turn things around. So yeah the way I see it we’re kinda positive haha.

Your lyrics seem to deal with depression, self-doubt and feeling all alone in this world. Do you use your lyrics as a form of therapy or are you hoping to reach out to others for mutual support.

Both I guess. Being in a hardcore band (or just being a hardcore kid in general) is very therapeutic. Hardcore is one of the realest, most emotional genres out there and it takes real balls to admit to yourself you’re not OK, especially in this day and age. Getting up on stage or in the pit and seeing all those kids relating to  what you’re saying/feeling is the coolest thing EVER. Helps you realize you’re not alone.

What is the main difference between the demo and the Hollow ep.

The music. It’s still Mindwar, it just got a little more advanced. The riffs are heavier, the hooks are bigger. While writing for the demo we were still kids who  didn’t really know what they were doing, we kinda knew how to play an instrument and kinda knew how to write a “Mindwar song” but that’s about it. Between the writing of the demo and our “HOLLOW” ep we grew so much both as musicians and as people and I think this growth is something you can really hear on our Ep.

You are quite an active band doing several weekenders and smaller tours and lots of shows. What was your favorite Mindwar show?

Cool question! Makes me go over all those memories again. Over the years there have been quite a few really cool and memorable one’s. Both our release parties were epic as fuck, first time playing Brakfest with well over a hundred people queuing up before the venue even opened it’s doors was pretty wild, playing the mainstage of the Swiss Abyss festival,… But for me personally my all time favorite  Mindwar show has to be playing lovely ZURICH during our first European run in the summer of ’17. During our soundcheck there were literally NO PEOPLE there but as soon as we started playing the whole venue unexpectedly filled up. For 20 glorious minutes everyone was beating the shit out of each other and that’s what it’s all about am I right?

How did you guys get into hardcore, and more importantly: what made you stick with it.

I’ve already told this story a bunch of times but for me – after being a poppunk/punkrock kid for a few years- everything changed when I saw Sick of it all for the first time killing it at Groezrock. It was the most violent, aggressive, scary but at the same time most beautiful thing I’d ever seen and I absolutely loved it. There was blood, sweat and yes in some cases even tears. It was like a battle scene from Braveheart came to life in front of my eyes and it was fucking GLORIOUS. Me and the rest of the band have always been drawn to extreme things and hardcore is as extreme as it gets. Obviously I do love the message and the music but for me hardcore is the most fun, action packed genre there is. At a proper hardcore show you’ll see things, feel things, experience things you’ve probably never seen before. It’s like a new, exciting world where everyone turns into a windmilling madman as soon as the music starts. It’s an adventure, the wildest most exciting ride you’ll ever embark on. Sometimes I like to take a moment to just look around and watch how all the pit warriors on the battlefield are battling their own personal demons. It’s epic, it’s beautiful and at times I feel privileged to be a part of something like that. Lemme tell you: if you’re missing out on hardcore you’re missing out on life. Fuck I didn’t wanna get all poetic about this shit hahaha.

Most of you are active in more than one band. What are the Mindwar brother and sister bands. How does this all work out.

Andy and Emanuel both play guitar in Soul Grip, a Ghent based black metal band. Sometimes it can be a bit of a struggle to match both bands’ busy schedules but for the most part everything works out pretty well. Anthony and Emanuel also play in this really cool Boston hardcore influenced band called FORCE. FORCE only plays a show every so often so if you get the chance don’t  miss out! It’s gonna be your new favorite band, promise.

What other current bands should we check out if we are into Mindwar?

American and UK bands already get enough exposure as it is so I’m gonna take this opportunity to shout out some of our home boys! Check out Chain Reaction if you can’t get enough of that NYHC sound, Redemption Denied if you’re looking for Belgium’s hardest, Escape, Absolve, Minded fucking Fury, the fuck ups in CORNERED, Pebble the new breed of Lokeren hardcore, Lustrous if you wanna be all melancholic,…

What will the future bring for Mindwar?

Fortune and glory son! Haha nah to be honest I have no idea. There’s a lot of stuff we wanted to do when we first started this band that we’ve already done (touring, going to the UK, playing the legendary IEPERFEST, releasing a 7″,…) so yeah everything that happens now is more or less a bonus I guess. We just got announced as support for the exclusive BENELUX GUNS UP! show which I think is very close to selling out so that one should be pretty cool! We got a few bigger shows coming up e.g. Revelation fest, Klokfest, Evil or Die fest, Limburg hardcore fest,… And we’re working on a little summer tour as well so yeah, cool stuff coming. We’ve also started writing for our first full length which I’m insanely excited about. The songs we’ve written so far are straight up fire and I promise will be worth the wait.

Useful links
Mindwar
Reality records
Kick out the jams records