Face what you can achieve, face tomorrow! Not just another band from Reflections causing really
    terrible ear bleedings, haha... we had a nice talk with one of the most catching bands at the moment'
    worldwide! just take a listen to their new full length (the closer you get) and convince yourself... the
    questions have been answered by drummer Sjoerd (S) and guitarist Marc (M). 

fRk: please give us a short description of "face tomorrow"... M: Well, we're a five-piece from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Been around since 1997, all good friends, just doing what we love most; making music... fRk: i think most people would declare you guys as "emo's" ... sometimes, but nevertheless how would you describe your own wall of sounds?

    S: We don't try, and don't have to I guess. It's something for any listener to do if he or she feels
    the need to... It's often asked and we're often like: "uhm... uh, well... ehm". Call it emo if you 
    really have to ;) 

    M: That whole 'emo' tag is being used nowadays to classify anything remotely alternative rock
    and has totally lost it's meaning. So in a way it's a good tag to get, we don't make music with a 
    certain style or genre in the back of our heads, so with all the bands labeled emo nowadays oh
    well, it could be anything... 

    fRk: mhhh, please tell us something about the dutch indie/rock emo scene... to be honest' i 
    never heard or saw one;) or are the netherlands only represented by hardcore bands?

    S: No, definitely not only hardcore bands. There's a lot going on. I know or know of  a whole 
    lot of people making music on the edges of what you can call hardcore. Either by adding all 
    kinds of ingredients to their in HC/punk roots or by just sticking to whatever others bands in 
    the indie/emo rock genre had already done... Eitherway, it's a way to vague genre anyway...

    M: There's a lot of bands, and a lot of people interested in 'alternative' music in general. There
    are a lot of fun shows going on every week in Holland. But to be honest, there's not so many 
    bands that really stand out in the indie/rock scene to me. Some interesting underground bands 
    at the moment; Textures, Razor Crusade, Malkovich, This Beautiful Mess, Vladimir and The
    Motion. 

    fRk: some years ago' there was one band from your country, which released a record on deep
    elm. unfortunately i forgot their name... oh wait, "this beautiful mess" and i really liked them, but
    that can't be all good bands from the NL or not?!

    S: Funny you should say, the guitar player in that band produced our record, Axel Kabboord...
    I really respect them for what they do and they do it well. Off course, it's not ALL good but 
    that's how it is everywhere...

    fRk: are you guys worrying about the future?(>>> "face tomorrow") if yes, what's your... 
    biggest scare? 

    M: No, I guess it's more a way of saying you should live today, stand up for what you believe 
    in, have dreams, goals, hope and believe in what you really want. So there's no fear in that, 
    only possibilities...

    S: No, not at all. If you have no pretentions, there's nothing to fear... ;)

    fRk: for now i suppose you already read some reviews of "the closer you get"... what were the
    first reactions like? probably really good' cause it's an great album... however were you 
    suprised by that occasion? 

    S: People in the press have been really nice to us, people seem to like it, a lot. And that's a 
    good feeling. I'm happy for that... 

    M: It's easy to get caught up in either good or bad reviews. In the end it's always one person's
    view. I guess we're pretty convinced of what we do, and a either a good or a bad review 
    doesn't change the way we feel about our music. So it's cool to hear when people like what 
    we're doing and interesting to hear what people don't like about it... 

    fRk: you're the one outstanding band at reflections or in other words you're the only band on 
    reflections which doesn't cause an ear massacre;) and at the same time the only band, which 
    doesn't really fit to the rooster, so please tell me why you did choose them...? i know they're 
    really great, but didn't you have other options?

    S: We did have other options I guess, but we don't look for lables by genre, we look for 
    honesty, integrity and love for whatever music their bands makes. Reflections Records has all 
    those things, they are a fast growing name in underground music in Northern Europe and we 're
    growing with them. By the way, bands like Malkovich, soon to release a record on Reflections,
    are really good and rather a kiss on the ear...

    M: I think Reflections over the last couple of years have become much brpader than the 
    hardcore label they started out as. With releases ranging from bands like Circle and Razor 
    Crusade to The Red Chord and Daughters they've proven not to be limited to just one genre, 
    but have a great ear for refreshing underground bands. We're proud to be a part of that. 
    Maybe musically we're not your regular hardcore band, but we have certain views on music 
    and everything surrounding it and a label like Reflections gives us the possibility to stick 
    to those.

    fRk: do you think "the closer you get" is easy listening...??? i think you have to take a lot of time
    to explore whole of the beauty!!!

    S: Thank you. I know every inch of the record by heart . But it's never easy listening when it's 
    your band playing...

    M: I'm not sure, it's hard to listen objectively to your own music, so difficult question. 
    We added some extra layers into the music though to try and make it a listening experience 
    which lasts longer than just the first spin... 

    fRk: didn't you just tour germany... mhhh, maybe "tour" is the wrong word, if i remember right' 
    just for three shows? however, how did it went on?

    S: We like playing in Germany a lot! Those shows were no exception..

    M: We toured Germany at the end of last year with 'The Break' for a couple of weeks for 
    instance. And we had a great time! We'll be doing some single shows this summer and we'll 
    do a full German tour in September. We had a lot of fun the previous times we came over, 
    so we're really looking forward to that! 

    fRk: i read the tourlist on your page, guys' please be honest' isn't that way toooo much?!

    M: Music to us is all about communication and interaction and there's no better spot to make 
    that possible then when playing live. That's where the songs come alive and it's awesome to be
    able to share that with people, can't be often enough to me... Ow and all the free food is great 
    as well, I'm the worst cook ever, so otherwise I'd probably die ;) 

    S: No... Never enough, we are a live band. There isn't really any other reason to be in a band.
    With exception of bands like XTC who haven't played live since 1985 or something, but only 
    put out (amazing) records. 

    fRk: short nice question about your criminal past, which is an old part ouf our e-zine. so have
    you ever been in "funny" conflict with the law?

    S: Yes, we've been strip-searched twice on tour in Germany by the border patrol!! 

    M: Not really, not that I'm the most innocent person ever, I just never got caught haha... 

    fRk: are any of you guys straight edged?

    S: No, some of used to be...

    fRk: mhhh, i forgot to ask about your dish of influences? if you like' feel free to mention some 
    bands, but i hope or suppose that's not all.......

    S: There are so many bands we listen to, that it would faster for you to name a band and we 
    say if it's an influence or not... Some indications are in the personal playlists on our site 
    (www.facetomorrow.net)

    M: We've been together for a pretty long time now and I think the biggest influence on Face
    Tomorrow has become Face Tomorrow itself. And it's everyday experiences, feelings you get 
    etc. Of course you're inevitably influenced by everything you heard, but we've never made 
    music with another band specifically on our minds. I think we all have really different and broad
    musical interests, for me personally ranging from Billie Holiday to Dinosaur JR., from Coldplay
    to The Hope Conspiracy, From DJ Shadow to The Beach Boys and from Dillinger Escape Plan
    to The Robocop Kraus. Really could be anything as long is it's challenging, sincere, moving or 
    whatever. In general I do think we have a preference for guitar orientated alternative music, but
    still, that could be anything... 

    fRk: appologize this standard question, but what are the face tomorrow future plans?

    S: Play live more, make new record, play more, and so on... In short to be a band...

    fRk: last question: what do you do when the NL sinks below sea level?!;)

    S: Learn to swim...

    M: That would be a nice time to tour Germany some more.... 

    text: frankie