Specials

Ignite - Ten years and still going strong

posted by: David on 7 October 2004

Forget it, there’s no need to introduce Ignite. Just read the interview and see what Zoli told Asice.net before they played their set at the Goudvishal!

Last year you played the Resistance Tour. What’s it like playing a big tour like that?

It was great! It was easy. Everything was taken care of, there were merchandise guys, roadies, everything. It was a total rock star tour, not like the van tour we got right now. We got big comfortable tour buses and great catering every night. You know, on tours it’s not only important how the shows go, but also how you live. Where you go to the bathroom, how you shower, IF you shower, haha. It was wonderful, and on top of that the shows were really good. The responses were very good and we sold out almost every night.

It looks like you don’t even need a new album to tour Europe.

It’s weird, I was just talking about that. This is the fourth year we haven’t had an album out and tonight’s still sold out. Yesterday we headlined a big festival and last summer we did a festival tour where the smallest gig was like 6000 people. That’s huge and it’s crazy of course.

Does that surprise you?

A little bit, yeah, but I’m very thankful. It just scares me, because the next album has to be good or it’s over. Seriously. I was really afraid when we released the last album. I mean, you never know, you do the best you can, you bring it out and it might be shit. Hopefully it won’t be, because we’ve worked on it real hard.

Which brings me to the logical question: how is the new album coming along?

We’ve got 21 songs pretty much done, we’ll cut them down to 15 by combining good choruses and good verses and that kind of thing. Right now we’re going to make a demo and Century Media wants to sign us. But they don’t want to sign us for America, because they’re a metal label in America. And we really want to be on one label all around the world. Otherwise you’re not priority. So we’ll just make a demo and shop around, see what happens. I like Century Media, they’re a good label. For anybody who’s in a band, it’s all about the contract. You could sign to the worst label in the world, but if you’ve got a good contract they’re bound by law to do what you need them to do. So it’s all up to you. If you sign a bad contract, it’s your fault. You can’t expect a label to spend money when they don’t have to.

What’s the deal with California United? Can you still handle playing in two bands?

No, we do one at a time. We did it for about two years and I truly missed Ignite too much. It was cool as a side project, and that’s about it. Ignite is more like a lifestyle and what we’re about. It’s good to write some different songs and I learned a lot about song writing and stuff. But we missed doing Ignite, so we decided to focus on doing the next Ignite album.

And the California United demo that you had with you on the Resistance Tour, was that just for the fans or also to shop for a label?

When you write songs you want to put them out and that’s what we did. There are no plans for a California United album at the moment.

What’s the difference between both bands when you’re playing shows?

Well, Ignite has been on for ten years and we play big shows, people know all the lyrics, which are very political. With California United it was more about good music, while Ignite is very focused on political aspects.

It seems like there are more issues to talk about on stage every day. Do you agree?

Well, nowadays it’s George Bush. We’re trying to get him out of office, which probably won’t work. It’s sad, but they’re very powerful and his running opponent is weak and has no backbone. He flip-flops on issues. He says: “War is bad, I made a mistake, but if I had to I’d vote for it again.” What the fuck does that mean? You’ve got to take stand on an issue, but he never goes out and says that stuff, so people don’t see him as a strong man. The problem is that war is business and business is good. There’s a lot of money in it and all Bush’s friends get rich while the country suffers. And we’re 600 billion dollars negative. It’s just so stupid, they’re building hospitals, schools and roads in Iraq while we need that in America. It’s crazy, the money that is spent and the lives that are lost for nothing.

But why don’t the American people see this and vote for John Kerry instead?

Last time most of the people didn’t vote for George Bush either, he stole it. And he’ll steal this one too. He probably has some friends in the military that have Osama Bin Laden surrounded in Northern Pakistan and they’ll bring him out just before the elections to claim his victory. Or, when he’s really doing bad in the polls, he’ll probably bring a suicide bomber into America, so all the people will vote for him because he’s the strong one.

When you talk about issues like this on stage, do you feel that people are getting the message?

I don’t know. In Europe you’re preaching to the choir. Everybody hates George Bush and they can’t do anything about it anyway. But in America it’s tougher. We just did a show in Hollywood and some guys where shouting: “Stop talking so much about politics!” and I was like: “Listen, you retard, it’s not just about a fucking punk rock show! This is a serious issue, it’s coming up in November, which is really quick. If you don’t want to hear it, get the fuck out of here!” You know, maybe I can still get someone else to vote somehow. When you think about 1,000 soldiers dying while most of them don’t even want to be there. Young kids, coming from poor parts of town go to Iraq. If you go there and you’re in harm’s way you get $80,000 a year. That’s a lot of money. So American soldiers have turned into paid mercenaries for American business now.

And they still wonder why the people of Iraq don’t want them there…

How the fuck are you going to bomb somebody and think they’ll welcome you with open arms? And in America they don’t show shit on TV. They’ll show lots of blood, but that’s about it. It’ll be after the sports. Television is also owned by big businesses and the Bush people, so it’s all very right wing. They don’t show how many kids we’ve killed, because it will hurt Bush.

Is that why you added “Sunday Bloody Sunday” to your set?

Yeah. We played it last year, before the war, when the February march was going on and the whole world was marching against war. That was on a Sunday and I was in Budapest at the time. I remember that before I left we did a show and we started doing it then.

When Ignite started out the name was chosen because you wanted the hardcore flame to start burning again. Do you feel like you succeeded?

The name was chosen because we’re gay and we’re fuckheads on fire, haha! Well, as you know I’m not the original singer, but I guess what happened was that the guys were into bands like Uniform Choice and the West Coast hardcore style. And I feel that we have a certain sound now that comes from that same style, so we’ve succeeded. Of course we’re not the same band that we were in 1994, so we’ve changed musically.

Where’s the challenge for you after all those years? Is it still about politics and getting the message across?

Man, there’s always work to do. I work for a rehab center for pelicans, my brother is a wildlife veterinarian. I’m rooted into politics, so there’s always something to write about.

So you don’t think there will come a day that you’ll get sick of hardcore?

I’ve always wanted to work for the UN, so maybe in 10 years I might take a break or something. But right now the new album is a brand new start for us. It’s like we’re on the start of two years of hardcore touring, playing and festivals. And also trying to make a name for ourselves and get bigger.

Do you still feel like your fan base is growing?

Yeah, right now we’re going to South America and Australia for the first time and we’re trying to go to China? Nobody knows what’s it like in China, because nobody’s been there.

Last question: what’s your most memorable gig in Holland and why?

We played the Lowlands festival in front of thousands of people. That scared the shit out of me with so many people, it was crazy. They sang so loud I couldn’t hear my monitors, I remember that. That was cool. And the very first Dynamo we played in 1997. I was scared shitless. Paul Watson from Sea Shepherd was in jail at the time and 500 people showed up and poured red paint all over the jail and they let him go. That was awesome too!

Interview by: David
Pictures by: AsIce.net crew