Let's do a little conversation with Dan, the singer of Since The Day, a very good Metalcore band from Germany.
Thanking Bastardize Rec. we can see them and apreciate them attitude, them naturalness and of couse them music.

If it's possible, we would be very glad to have little, but nice, band introduction..

Hi there, we are Since the day, consisting of me, Dan on vocals, Seb and Friedie on guitar, Andi on bass and Bastian on drums. We are from Germany and play the new German breed thing called metalcore in the vein of bands like Heaven shall burn, Narziß or Under Siege, maybe with a more melodic edge than the mention bands.

In winter 2001 we inked a deal with Bastardized Recordings, where we released a split with Snafu from Iceland in 2002. After that, we played numerous shows all over Germany and in October 2003 we hit the road for a European tour together with our friends of A case of Grenada . In January 2004 the old singer was forced to quit and I joined the band. During summer and fall that year we recorded our first full-length called "El mensajero no es importante" which was released by Bastardized on March 7 th .

What's your occupation...how do you pay the rent?

I am studying a thing called "Literary, Cultural and Media Studies" and because of that, I am always short on money. But I found a part-time job just a few days ago, so I hope I can earn a little money beside my study to pay my bills. The other guys are more or less in the same situation. Two of them are studying too, so they have to work beside as well. The other two guys have a regular job, so their situation is a little better, but we all have to watch our money, especially at the end of the month, when there is not that much left of the little we have! But we are not complaining, there are people around the world that are living in much worse conditions than we do!

You obviously came from the Hard Core scene..do you feel tied to that or do you think you are simply an extreme metal band?

We don't label ourselves neither as a hardcore nor a metal band, we are just in between. You are right when you say that we do have a hardcore background, especially lyrical wise, but on the other hand, our music is far more metal than hardcore, so we are sitting between the chairs. We are always open to new influences, whether from hardcore or metal and just trying to combine both genres together, so I think the best term would be "metalcore", even though it is not popular these days to be called that way because of the hype about that kind of style. But we can live with it.

How important are lyrics in your work? Have you got any message or idea to spread with your music?

Well, the lyrics deal about different issues such the internet, modern lifestyle and the influence of the media on the society. Summarized, I think the print on the back of our shirts describes the message pretty good: "young and free, take this opportunity, our strength is diversity". Don't try to limit yourselves, be open-minded for any kind and always take the best out of the situation. Don't take that much care about the limits a society wants to impose you as long as you are young, make you experiences and realize your dreams before it is too late. There is enough time to settle down and live an ordinary life when you get older, but as long as you have the vitality, go for example abroad for a time and see the world with your own eyes or anything else. Through that, you will learn much more than any school or university will ever be able to teach!

Are "Since The Day" politically engaged?

Even more in the HC scene, lyrics and attitude have lost them power and meaning.
What do you think about that? Many bands now think only about look and silly things like these...isn't it?

Sad but true, that's right. Over the last years, it has become more important to have tons of merch, a stylish layout and a professional production and the lyrics have become less important. But there are still a lot of bands that talk about other issues than style and posing, even though they are a minority. But I think it is something going hand in hand with the progression the scene is now going through. Everything is becoming bigger and more professional, more and more bands are signed to bigger labels and the audience is getting bigger. For me the best example that, lest call it the punk rock spirit was lost on the way is maybe the entrance to a show. I can remember my first shows when I just paid a few bucks to see a band, so even when I was short on money, I was able to attend various shows per month if I wanted to. Nowadays, you have to think at least twice if you are going to a show, because if you are going to this one, you are not able to attend a second show that month because of the prices. But it seems that nobody cares.

What does "Since the Day" means?

Well, there is no special meaning behind the name. We choose the name because we thought it doesn't fit into a special genre. Nowadays, maybe I can say: since the day music became a major part of our life.

Why is the messenger not important?

We want to make the people start to think on their own, so that the messenger, in this case we as the band, becomes minor. We want to talk about different issues, but never wanted to be like preachers. It happened too often that some bands talked about certain issues and everybody was just repeating the bands point of view afterwards. We think that it is good when a bands puts something on the table, but then it is up to the people to think about and get an own point of view, that can, of course, be different from the one the band has!

How people and press responded to your last work?

And what about selling?

The last information we got from our label was that there are just about 50 copies left of the first thousand, so they are going to repress within the next weeks that we don't run out of cds.

Which bands have most inspired you?

I think you can hear that we are listening much to classic metal bands like Carcass, At the gates or Iron Maiden, but also modern bands like Linking Park , Korn or Slipknot. We are always open to any influences from all kind of music and try to combine them, so that in the end we are happy with the result. Lyrical wise, I think I am most inspired by older bands like Chokehold, Left for dead, Unbroken and Shai hulud.

What about German scene?

Do you wanna tell us something about band like Heaven Shall Burn or Caliban, that are keeping a lot of responses in these years?

Don't know if I can tell you something really new, there has a lot been said about both bands in the past. All I can say is that both bands have worked their asses off throughout nearly the last decade so it is good to see that they get something in reverse. Both bands are around for a long time and did a lot for the scene here in Germany as well as for the whole Hardcore/Metal scene if you take in account that HSB for example did a South American tour and played in Iceland and Greece, where the people are not used to see that many bands from outside of their country! So I can only give you the advice to see them live, it is always a pleasure to see them go nuts on stage! And I am definitely looking forward to hear their new "split program" CD this summer!!!

Do you know something about Italian Metal or Hard Core Scene?

How do you feel when you are on stage?

We use the band as an outlet of our anger and emotions, so I think you can see that on stage. It comes straight from the heart! I for myself am just in my own world, I don't see that much of the audience, just a few times for a blink of an eye, but that's it.

Do you think to come in Italy to have some shows in the future?

I hope we will have the chance to play in Italy some day, would be nice the meet the people there and talk to them. So if you read this and you are interested in putting up a show for us, get in touch!

Which are your planes for the coming months or years?

We will do a lot of live shows and hopefully a tour, too. Just check our homepage for more information: www.sincetheday.net . I think a the end of the year we will focus on writing new songs for our next album, but nothing planed so far, we are just trying to play as many shows as possible.

Anything else to say to our readers?

We would like to thank you for the interview and everybody who spent a little of his/her time to listen to what we wanted to say.

Bye, and thanks a lot for your time and passion.

By Webmurder & Ezio & Ezio .