In 1997 there was a show organized by Bob of Vitality at the old casino in Koksijde (‘Coxyde’ in French). Koksijde is a municipality at the Belgian coast to which Oostduinkerke also belongs to. The photo shows people from both KDS Crew and H8000 Crew. With the streets of Koksijde in the background. There are several signs of mutual recognition between H8000 Crew and KDS Crew. This show is one of them. The article has a Q&A done with Edward of Good Life Recordings who had a distro there and Olivier who played at this show with his band Right For Life. Also Bruno of Genet Records remembers being at this show. I was there as well.
Q: Which bands played this show in 1997?
Edward: I remember that Vitality, Sektor, ODK Crew, A Way of Life, Stormcore and Facedown played.
Olivier: There were many bands, I would say over 10 bands but I can’t recall most of them. The flyer should’ve been somewhere in my collection but it seems I’ve lost it. I am quite sure ODK crew played and judging by members on the picture I would also add A.W.O.L and maybe Stormcore?
Q: Who invited you to play this show?
Edward: I was at this show to do distro as there were no independent record stores in that area. So, we were getting the records out to the kids, as always.
Olivier: Sorry, I can’t tell you. I was good friends with Bob from Vitality and ODK Crew maybe he helped getting us on the bill? Or David from Stormcore did because Stormcore were very popular at that time in Belgium and he helped Right For Life a lot in the first years. Or maybe I got a direct offer but I doubt that.
Q: Was this the beginning of the friendship between KDS Crew and H8000 Crew? Or rather a consequence?
Edward: I was already well connected with David Mancilla and Loïc who had started a label and distribution company in France named Overcome Records. They had organised a H8000 Hardcore night with me in their hometown of Rennes, France. It was a huge triumph for my bands. Congress, Liar, Kindred all played. This particular show at the coast in Koksijde was more the beginning of the development of the friendship of Vitality and Overcome and the year after Vitality would release their second album there.
Olivier: As far as I can tell we knew Ed Good Life for a few years already and around that time David booked a special H8000 show in Rennes with Hardside Connection association. Maybe that show was a continuation or starter?
I don’t recall a real friendship between both crews. Like we were not having each others in our homes or talking over the phone. H8000 were bigger and more popular in Europe as well, way bigger record labels and bands. And the french scene was smaller and less dynamic but was growing faster. Both crews were having the same attitude and dedication to built our locals and national hardcore scene, also we used to meet on a regular basis in festival and gigs. I’d say there was respect and mutual interest.
Q: How did you get in touch pre-internet times?
Edward: I (Good Life Recordings) we already had internet, email, and a website in 1997. We started e-commerce the year after. Anyway, I would exchange emails at this time mostly. Up until 1996 it was via snailmail; letters.
Olivier: Post-office exchange mainly. Fanzines were also a huge way to communicate, not between individuals directly but that way you knew what to buy, who to look after so you just had to make the final step by getting in touch with some people you already identified. I also spend many hours over the phone. Many, many. And finally when we met at shows that was a nice time to book future shows and make plans. Overall I’d say post office first then phone calls.
Q: Any other sings of collaboration between KDS Crew and H8000 Crew?
Edward: Well, we would visit each other. Hang out at offices occasionally. Keep in mind Rennes is about a whole day driving from Belgium. Sometimes Stormcore’s bass player Jean-Wilfried was driver on tour when some of our bands needed a reliable tour manager. A good guy! And of course, the business part, we distributed each other’s releases. Stormcore were on a German label that really did fuck all for them. So I stepped in, we sold so many of them. But this ended bad when Overcome Records went bankrupt and we lost a lot of Good Life Recordings stock they never paid.
Olivier: As I shortly started to talk about it before it was not a collaboration for specific events nor tours but more like we were in the same spirit at the same time in the same scene. So KMD bands played a lot with H8000 bands and met each others many times here and there . We, KDS crew, had much respect for what they were doing, it was huge. I personally thought having more bands playing real classical Hardcore in H8000 would have been better but H8000 spirit was authentic and it’s impact was serious. So the collaboration was more like: We’re proud and both building our national and the European Hardcore scene together…
Q: What do you think created the friendship or mutual recognition?
Edward: Real recognise real. We were the same guys doing the same thing, with the same inspiration, just in a different place.
Fugitive Man
Can’t You See
Q: How did you like the show in Coxyde?
Olivier: Not so much. Right For Life had a good line up when we started and our first two demos are cool (were reissued on beautiful collector vinyls around 2020) then we had an incredible line up for our two albums “off the beaten track” and “ pride and joy has gone dull,” I am truly proud of those achievements. But at the time of this gig – as well as the release of the LP/CD “destroy babylon” – things were not stable and we had a weak line up as well as a weak musical connection between the members. So we didn’t really like our shows at that time; 1997 and 1998 were two difficult years. So I wasn’t in the best mood to fully enjoy the rest of the day and groups. Also, as an individual, I was a little fed up with the overly metallic style. I nevertheless recall a zine which described the Right For Life set as a real hardcore fury and me as best European front man. I mean, I had to release pure energy to try and fill out the wonky music.
If Bob from Vitality eventually does find time to answer the Q&A that would be great. I will add it to the post. Also other testimonies and anecdotes from attenders are welcome. Also the flyer of the show would be great to add to the archives. Thanks in advance!
THIS TOPIC IS STILL SUBJECT TO RESEARCH