New Morality

New Morality has been around for quite some time now and with the new record (that we’ve been streaming for some time at the end of last year) out, I thought it was time to have a little chat with Jonne, to see what they’re up to.

Hey Jonne, what’s up? What’s on your mind at the moment?

The ass of Doutzen Kroes, that drum fill from Sad But True and the taste of nacho cheese on my tongue so not much to write home about I guess.

Haha, quite the thinker huh haha. So, how was the European, err, German tour with Slapshot?

Tour was pretty cool. I guess the average crowd was 30+ and never heard of us before, that was something we really needed for a change. I catched the flue. That sucked hard though.

So how did that work out for you guys? Did you win over that crowd?

They seemed to be into it.

So, instead of diving right into the obvious questions, anything you want to talk about?

Cro-Mags.

CROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAGS. Alpha Omega is underrated.

Revenge is underrated. If you listen to the White Devil record it is obvious that the good Cro-Mags stuff was written by Parris and Harley. But I like all Cro-Mags related shit. Even the Bloodclot cd haha.

We’re gonna try to record a new EP later this year

Revenge is good indeed. Not quire sure if I agree on that Bloodclot record though haha. Anyway, your new record, “No Morality” is out on CD already, the vinyl is delayed a bit, but how are the reactions so far?

Good. Haven’t checked the internet for it but as far as personal reactions go they were all very positive.

And how do you feel about the record yourself?

It was a pain in the ass to get it out. Since the last record the core of the band all moved to different cities and during the past years everybody was caught up finishing college or just had other stuff going on. For every tour we did we always had at least one fill in, so the little time we had to rehearse was spent on learning someone else the songs. That being said, it’s our best stuff so far. We would not have done another record if we wouldn’t have the idea this record would be better than our earlier work. And there is even some inspiration left to write some more, so we’re gonna try to record a new EP later this year.

Good to hear that. It seems like ages ago when you started to talk about doing your own band. Man, remember we even talked about me doing bass, you must have been quite desperate haha. What I’m trying to say, you guys came a long way. If you would walk away from it all tomorrow, what would be the best memories you have of it all?

Our evolution. When we started this band none of us had ever played in a band before. We sucked. Determination brought us 8 European tours, a full USA tour and now we are touring with bands like Slapshot. Seeing half the world with some of my best friends and getting drunk every night.

I hate our name. Everybody keeps thinking we are political or stuff like that. I have my personal political beliefs but I don’t feel like getting those out (at least not through two minute hardcore songs).

And the worst?

Money. The lack of it haha.

Haha. So looking back, anything you would love to do differently if you had the chance?

I´d choose a different name. I hate our name. Everybody keeps thinking we are political or stuff like that. I have my personal political beliefs but I don’t feel like getting those out (at least not through two minute hardcore songs).

You used to do Light The Fuse Records (with Noot), No Heroes Bookings, but that was when New Morality was a bit more low key. What do you do besides New Morality these days? You work for the NS right?

I still book the occasional show from time to time and about half of their shows I play bass for Cornered, but that’s about it when it comes to hardcore related stuff. I always had shitty jobs ‘cause of touring, but recently got a “real” job. Really wanna hold on to this one, since I never finished college. Besides work I like to walk my dog, read European comic books and drink Belgian beers.

Congratulations on that man. What do you do exactly at the NS? And will you be able to combine that job with touring etc?

It’s an office job. Hopefully I will be able to combine it, we’ll see.

You mentioned reading European comic books. Which ones?

I like all the old French, Belgian and Dutch comics that were made from the fifties ‘till the eighties. Artists like Giraud, Franquin, Hergé, Jije. Stuff that most kids nowadays probably think is old and boring.

I’ve read a lot of those “Guust Flater” / “Gaston Lagaffe” by Franquin. Great stuff. Hmm… When I was reading back older New Morality interviews I read about some side projects that I never heard about again. What happened to “The Hiv demo”? Or the experimental project Ferdinand had going on with Mike? Or how about “Blunted on Reality”?

The Hiv is Thomas and Ferdinand’s project. It’s still bound to happen someday, just needs the right timing. Blunted on Reality never did anything more than some rehearsals and then died out. Thomas, Ferdinand and me also jammed with Gio NTB to do a band called The Megalomaniacs, we actually had a few songs. Might pick that one up when this band is done. Someday. So many ideas, so little time though.. Starting up a band sucks.

What’s important for me is doing our own thing, and since this band consists of a bunch of strong individuals it hopefully leads to something at least a bit different from the typical, uninspired hardcore cliche. At least that’s what I hope haha.

How did that Megalomaniacs band sound? Did Gio manage to incorporate any soul & funk into the sound haha?

Like a faster New Morality or something… No funk in that band, unfortunately we’re not the Bad Brains.

You also talked about wanting to do things a bit differently with New Morality from the rest. The use of clowns and bright colors in the artwork etc. Is that still the case, how did you deal with that on the new record for instance?

Did I ever say differently? I don’t necessarily wanna be different. What’s important for me is doing our own thing, and since this band consists of a bunch of strong individuals it hopefully leads to something at least a bit different from the typical, uninspired hardcore cliche. At least that’s what I hope haha. Anyway, I think the visual aspect of a band is very important and I love to think ahead about artwork, shirt designs, stuff like that. I really like hand drawn stuff and that’s something I try to incorporate in most our designs: no photoshop!

Another thing you mentioned was wanting to redo some lyrics on “Fear Of Nothing”, how do you feel about the lyrics on “No Morality”?

I started thinking about lyrics and a title for this record like three years ago. It was a time when I wasn’t really going somewhere and that reflects on these songs. I’m pretty sure if we’d do a new record now it would be more positive. Haven’t felt this happy since, well, since ever.

Is there a message you want to bring across with New Morality?

Get rich or die trying, think for yourself and think for the best and question everything.

What’s the next step for New Morality?

I just emailed our booker that we wanna have all the ingredients for White Russians on our rider.

Hahaha, nice. Guess that’s a good one to end this with. Anything to add?

We wanna play shows. So book us!

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