CRUSHER Magazine: punk/metal/hardcore/industrial: Feature: Discipline

      He wanted to know if I would be heading over to CBGB to see NY Rel-X, Lower Class Brats, Discipline, and Roger Miret & the Disasters. Now in case some of you don’t know, I’m a single mom, which leads to the two inevitable problems of babysitters and cash flow—both of which were non-existent at that particular moment. But if any of you know Sean, he can be quite the great instigator and motivator when it comes to getting your ass to a show. I had been wanting to see Discipline for a while. This was their first trip to the States, and they were only going to be here for 12 days—as Sean pointed out to me. So, having failed to cajole any of the neighbors into watching the kid, and being the committed Editatrix that I am, I did what any other music nut would have done—I packed up my tape recorder and dragged the kid along with me.
     It was an early show, and Sean met us at the door. (Might I add that many thanks go out to Billy Milano for getting us in.) Much to my surprise, I wasn’t the only one there with kids in tow, which lead Vinnie Stigma (Agnostic Front) and I to joke about the viability of starting NYHC Babysitting Service so all the people in bands with kids could dump them in one place and go to shows. Couldn’t you see it now, a bunch of rugrats in the basement area of NYHC Tattoos with Vinnie Stigma, Sean Kilkenny, and Jimmy Gestapo as the caretakers? Lord knows what kind of mayhem that scenario would lead to…But I digress.
     I’ve been into Discipline for a while now. And they’ve been around for a few years. Vocalist Joost de Graaf, bassist Carlo Geerlings, guitarist Erik Wouters, and drummer Joost Strijbos are the defining line-up of the group that originated back in ’90 in Eindhoven, Holland. Still, it wasn’t until the summer of ’95 that their Stompin’ Crew ep was released through Lost & Found Records in Germany, followed by their first album Guilty As Charged in 1996 and Bulldog Style in 1998. The success of their Streetcore sound, a combination of Oi! and Hardcore, led to the band doing a lot of shows, including a European tour with one of their idols, The Business.
     “The band started out earlier, even,” guitarist Erik Wouters tells me after the show, “with a different name and a different line-up. Carlo the bass player and Joost the singer started the band with some other guys. And, this line-up, we have it now for about, 5 or 6 years. I am the last guy who joined the band. About six years back. I knew these guys from high school, you know? I started out with Joost, the singer, to make music, the kind of school rock bands, you know, with some guys, and it fell apart. And he went on with, well, really with Discipline.”
     “I think I was about 16, and Joost was about 14 or something, 15, or something like that,” Wouters continues about the band’s beginnings. “And we were bad. We forced ourselves in this—festival kinds of things in school, you know, that we might really cross over—hardcore, you know--really bad. We didn’t have the instruments and the stuff, you know? We listened to a lot of crossover stuff like DRI, Suicidal Tendencies, also punk bands, like Exploited mainly. We started to listen to Oi! music, the old Heroes, Cockney Rejects, Cocksparrer, The Business, which are our best friends now. And it’s so strange. Back then, I would have said, ‘No way. It’s impossible’. These guys are more than 40-45, something like that, you know? Now we’re playing together. Now we’re friends.”
     And things were only getting started for Discipline then. Although they had a pretty good following, it was when they signed with Belgian label I Scream Records that things really started getting huge for them. First came the ’99 release Nice Boys Finish Last which found the boys touring with Agnostic Front, Dropkick Murphy’s and US Bombs. Next came the Hooligan’s Heaven ep and the Love Thy Neighbor album in 2000, which found them doing the UNITY Tour 2000 with Agnostic Front, Ignite, Shutdown, and The Forgotten, as well as sharing stages all over Europe with The Business, Cocksparrer, Madball, Sick of it All, Cockney Rejects, and Warzone. They also played every major European festival, like Dynamo Open Air, Holidays in the Sun, With Full Force, Vans Warped Tour and European HC Parties. 2002 saw the release of Saints & Sinners and the Everywhere We Go ep and had them doing the Eastpak Resistance Tour with All Boro Kings, Hatebreed, and Biohazard among others.
     Now it’s 2003, and the Discipline boys just aren’t finished getting in our face. Besides finally bringing their noise to the US, they have released a new split with Agnostic Front through I Scream in Europe and through GMM here in the US. So how did this come about and where did they record it?
     “Uh, well,” Erik starts, “we had a couple of gigs. We toured with them in Europe, so I think that was about 17 shows, and then some. We played with them before, I think, also, maybe short tours or something, weekend shows, and—I have to think back, how the idea started up. I think we wanted to do—yeah, that’s it—we wanted to do live recordings. We needed some live recordings, and, we had this gig with AF planned already. And we said, ‘We’re gonna record our show there’. And, we talked to them, and asked them, and Roger said, ‘Well, why don’t we record the AF show also and get it all on one album?’
     “It’s [the equipment’s] all there, you know, so we did it,” he continues. “And they had a lot of problems with their contract on Epitaph--I think it was. They had some commitments over there. But after a time—it took some time, because the recordings are from, 2000 or something, or maybe 2001--anyway, it took more than one year to bring it out. But it’s cool.”
     The split, titled Working Class Heroes (as if it could be called anything else with the work ethic of these two groups) was recorded at the famous Belgian club ‘t Lintfabriek and produced by Roger Miret. It’s a classic, encompassing the best of the old and new schools in one fabulous package. It captures the aggressive energy that is the trademark of both bands.
     Discipline on stage is an intimidating spectacle. Their presence dominates the stage, with each of the members standing at or around 6 feet or more. It’s like looking at the defensive line of the NFL. Add to that the intensity of the show, and they are like no other band you’ve seen recently. Sadly, their stay here this time was a little too short—not much you can do in 12 days—but hopefully it won’t be the last time we see these guys.

	DISCIPLINE By Christine Natanael LINKS: discipline.nl iscreamrecords.comdi
	So I was at home on a Sunday afternoon when the phone rang. It was Sean Kilkenny from All Boro Kings. Those of you who read the site know that he writes for CRUSHER on occasion, so I thought it was going to be one of those, “so what do you want to write for me now” kind of conversations. Which, in the beginning, it was, but soon the talk turned to what was happening around town that night.
He wanted to know if I would be heading over to CBGB to see NY Rel-X, Lower Class Brats, Discipline, and Roger Miret & the Disasters. Now in case some of you don’t know, I’m a single mom, which leads to the two inevitable problems of babysitters and cash flow—both of which were non-existent at that particular moment. But if any of you know Sean, he can be quite the great instigator and motivator when it comes to getting your ass to a show. I had been wanting to see Discipline for a while. This was their first trip to the States, and they were only going to be here for 12 days—as Sean pointed out to me. So, having failed to cajole any of the neighbors into watching the kid, and being the committed Editatrix that I am, I did what any other music nut would have done—I packed up my tape recorder and dragged the kid along with me. It was an early show, and Sean met us at the door. (Might I add that many thanks go out to Billy Milano for getting us in.) Much to my surprise, I wasn’t the only one there with kids in tow, which lead Vinnie Stigma (Agnostic Front) and I to joke about the viability of starting NYHC Babysitting Service so all the people in bands with kids could dump them in one place and go to shows. Couldn’t you see it now, a bunch of rugrats in the basement area of NYHC Tattoos with Vinnie Stigma, Sean Kilkenny, and Jimmy Gestapo as the caretakers? Lord knows what kind of mayhem that scenario would lead to…But I digress. I’ve been into Discipline for a while now. And they’ve been around for a few years. Vocalist Joost de Graaf, bassist Carlo Geerlings, guitarist Erik Wouters, and drummer Joost Strijbos are the defining line-up of the group that originated back in ’90 in Eindhoven, Holland. Still, it wasn’t until the summer of ’95 that their Stompin’ Crew ep was released through Lost & Found Records in Germany, followed by their first album Guilty As Charged in 1996 and Bulldog Style in 1998. The success of their Streetcore sound, a combination of Oi! and Hardcore, led to the band doing a lot of shows, including a European tour with one of their idols, The Business. “The band started out earlier, even,” guitarist Erik Wouters tells me after the show, “with a different name and a different line-up. Carlo the bass player and Joost the singer started the band with some other guys. And, this line-up, we have it now for about, 5 or 6 years. I am the last guy who joined the band. About six years back. I knew these guys from high school, you know? I started out with Joost, the singer, to make music, the kind of school rock bands, you know, with some guys, and it fell apart. And he went on with, well, really with Discipline.” “I think I was about 16, and Joost was about 14 or something, 15, or something like that,” Wouters continues about the band’s beginnings. “And we were bad. We forced ourselves in this—festival kinds of things in school, you know, that we might really cross over—hardcore, you know--really bad. We didn’t have the instruments and the stuff, you know? We listened to a lot of crossover stuff like DRI, Suicidal Tendencies, also punk bands, like Exploited mainly. We started to listen to Oi! music, the old Heroes, Cockney Rejects, Cocksparrer, The Business, which are our best friends now. And it’s so strange. Back then, I would have said, ‘No way. It’s impossible’. These guys are more than 40-45, something like that, you know? Now we’re playing together. Now we’re friends.” And things were only getting started for Discipline then. Although they had a pretty good following, it was when they signed with Belgian label I Scream Records that things really started getting huge for them. First came the ’99 release Nice Boys Finish Last which found the boys touring with Agnostic Front, Dropkick Murphy’s and US Bombs. Next came the Hooligan’s Heaven ep and the Love Thy Neighbor album in 2000, which found them doing the UNITY Tour 2000 with Agnostic Front, Ignite, Shutdown, and The Forgotten, as well as sharing stages all over Europe with The Business, Cocksparrer, Madball, Sick of it All, Cockney Rejects, and Warzone. They also played every major European festival, like Dynamo Open Air, Holidays in the Sun, With Full Force, Vans Warped Tour and European HC Parties. 2002 saw the release of Saints & Sinners and the Everywhere We Go ep and had them doing the Eastpak Resistance Tour with All Boro Kings, Hatebreed, and Biohazard among others. Now it’s 2003, and the Discipline boys just aren’t finished getting in our face. Besides finally bringing their noise to the US, they have released a new split with Agnostic Front through I Scream in Europe and through GMM here in the US. So how did this come about and where did they record it? “Uh, well,” Erik starts, “we had a couple of gigs. We toured with them in Europe, so I think that was about 17 shows, and then some. We played with them before, I think, also, maybe short tours or something, weekend shows, and—I have to think back, how the idea started up. I think we wanted to do—yeah, that’s it—we wanted to do live recordings. We needed some live recordings, and, we had this gig with AF planned already. And we said, ‘We’re gonna record our show there’. And, we talked to them, and asked them, and Roger said, ‘Well, why don’t we record the AF show also and get it all on one album?’ “It’s [the equipment’s] all there, you know, so we did it,” he continues. “And they had a lot of problems with their contract on Epitaph--I think it was. They had some commitments over there. But after a time—it took some time, because the recordings are from, 2000 or something, or maybe 2001--anyway, it took more than one year to bring it out. But it’s cool.” The split, titled Working Class Heroes (as if it could be called anything else with the work ethic of these two groups) was recorded at the famous Belgian club ‘t Lintfabriek and produced by Roger Miret. It’s a classic, encompassing the best of the old and new schools in one fabulous package. It captures the aggressive energy that is the trademark of both bands. Discipline on stage is an intimidating spectacle. Their presence dominates the stage, with each of the members standing at or around 6 feet or more. It’s like looking at the defensive line of the NFL. Add to that the intensity of the show, and they are like no other band you’ve seen recently. Sadly, their stay here this time was a little too short—not much you can do in 12 days—but hopefully it won’t be the last time we see these guys.