A while ago I got pleasantly surprised by this Dutch hardcore act called My City Burning. It felt like a good moment to ask singer Igor some questions. As always, you can find the result below.
Hi there, how’s life?
‘Everything’s going pretty well, actually. Busy, but content for the moment.’
Please introduce yourself and your band.
‘My City Burning is a hardcore band from Amsterdam. We mix oldskool hardcore and thrash metal into energetic songs. Lots of room for circle pits and sing-a-longs. I’m Igor, the singer.’
You guys switch between two bassists at the moment, how do you arrange who’s gonna play when and don’t you think it’s time for a permanent player?
‘Actually, we only rely on one bass player at the moment; Spit. Geert, a good friend and also the bass player of Fire Walk With Us (look ‘em up, they rock) only filled in on our Italian tour. As you may know though, Spit has 2 full time bands already – Demia and Magnacult – so he could never commit to us.
In this light, we’ve actually been looking for a permanent bass player from the very start, but no one we’ve auditioned had the necessary “click” with us – the kind of click that exists between Ramon (guitars), Maarten (drums) and myself. Until we find that person, we’re sticking with our bro Spit. It’s worked for more than 2 years already.’
How did you guys come up with this band name?
‘The band started about the time the Israeli bombings on Lebanon began. Maarten was watching the bombings on Beirut on tv and came up with the name. We’re not a political band, but we despise wars and bad things people do to each other.
“My City Burning” is basically a metaphor for “when the place you feel safe gets torn down”. And not taking it lying down, I might add. We try to maintain a certain positivity in the music and lyrics, even when we’re writing about bad things.’
If you had to compare your musical style to any other band, what would it be?
‘I guess you could classify us between Sick Of It All and Walls of Jericho, but we’ve got too many influences to really narrow it down.’
What instrument do you play (brand & type)?
‘The band uses a Pearl Masters kit with Zildjian cymbals, ESP guitars with a Line6 pod, in combination with a Hughes and Kettner amp and Marshall cabs, and Peavey bass equipment.’
Tell us about writing and recording White Lies, Black Eyes, did it turn out the way you wanted?
‘The songs on White Lies, Black Eyes are among the first we’ve ever written as a band. They were written in pretty much the same way we write all our songs, following the motto “if it kicks ass, it stays”. Recording the songs went pretty smooth, only it took a bit longer than expected (because three of us were still in college at the time). We recorded the drums in a studio and did the rest – guitars, bass, vocals – at Ramon’s place. He had recorded and mixed bands before and studied audio engineering at the time, so we knew what he could do. All in all I’d say the mix turned out kickass!’
How did you come up with the title for the album?
‘We actually spent a couple of weeks during the recording and mixing process throwing around ideas. White Lies, Black Eyes seemed to convey the intention of all of the songs best.’
What steps in your career are you most proud of?
‘I think I’m the most proud of the fact that we’ve done everything on our own strength so far – Ramon took care of the recordings, I do all the designs and management type of things, and Maarten and I are always looking for shows.’
What goals would you still like to achieve?
‘There’s too much to mention on this one, because we all feel like we’re only at the start. Think along the lines of playing with more bands we admire, touring more countries, making more friends along the way.’
What’s the most precious thing you would give up for landing a great record deal and/or lots of publicity?
‘My virginity! (please?) hehe. No, but seriously, if we continue along the lines we have set for ourselves, we probably won’t have to give anything up. I think that if we keep working hard enough and keep ripping it up live, people will take notice sooner or later.’
Please share your touring/future plans with us.
‘In the coming months, we’ll be busy writing more new songs for our upcoming full length. The songs we have so far are the best we’ve written so far. In between we’ll be playing shows where we can – maybe some short tours in the South of Europe and the UK.’
Anything left to say to our readers? Here’s your chance!
‘First off, we couldn’t have come so far already if it wasn’t for our friends, who stuck by us from the very beginning, the people who still come to underground shows and the people who were kind enough to book us so far. We can’t thank them enough.
Secondly, please come out to see us when we’re playing in the neighbourhood. I hear people say we’re better live than on CD.’
Thank you very much for your time and good luck in the future!
‘Thanks, dude!’
Hi there, how’s life?
‘Everything’s going pretty well, actually. Busy, but content for the moment.’
Please introduce yourself and your band.
‘My City Burning is a hardcore band from Amsterdam. We mix oldskool hardcore and thrash metal into energetic songs. Lots of room for circle pits and sing-a-longs. I’m Igor, the singer.’
You guys switch between two bassists at the moment, how do you arrange who’s gonna play when and don’t you think it’s time for a permanent player?
‘Actually, we only rely on one bass player at the moment; Spit. Geert, a good friend and also the bass player of Fire Walk With Us (look ‘em up, they rock) only filled in on our Italian tour. As you may know though, Spit has 2 full time bands already – Demia and Magnacult – so he could never commit to us.
In this light, we’ve actually been looking for a permanent bass player from the very start, but no one we’ve auditioned had the necessary “click” with us – the kind of click that exists between Ramon (guitars), Maarten (drums) and myself. Until we find that person, we’re sticking with our bro Spit. It’s worked for more than 2 years already.’
How did you guys come up with this band name?
‘The band started about the time the Israeli bombings on Lebanon began. Maarten was watching the bombings on Beirut on tv and came up with the name. We’re not a political band, but we despise wars and bad things people do to each other.
“My City Burning” is basically a metaphor for “when the place you feel safe gets torn down”. And not taking it lying down, I might add. We try to maintain a certain positivity in the music and lyrics, even when we’re writing about bad things.’
If you had to compare your musical style to any other band, what would it be?
‘I guess you could classify us between Sick Of It All and Walls of Jericho, but we’ve got too many influences to really narrow it down.’
What instrument do you play (brand & type)?
‘The band uses a Pearl Masters kit with Zildjian cymbals, ESP guitars with a Line6 pod, in combination with a Hughes and Kettner amp and Marshall cabs, and Peavey bass equipment.’
Tell us about writing and recording White Lies, Black Eyes, did it turn out the way you wanted?
‘The songs on White Lies, Black Eyes are among the first we’ve ever written as a band. They were written in pretty much the same way we write all our songs, following the motto “if it kicks ass, it stays”. Recording the songs went pretty smooth, only it took a bit longer than expected (because three of us were still in college at the time). We recorded the drums in a studio and did the rest – guitars, bass, vocals – at Ramon’s place. He had recorded and mixed bands before and studied audio engineering at the time, so we knew what he could do. All in all I’d say the mix turned out kickass!’
How did you come up with the title for the album?
‘We actually spent a couple of weeks during the recording and mixing process throwing around ideas. White Lies, Black Eyes seemed to convey the intention of all of the songs best.’
What steps in your career are you most proud of?
‘I think I’m the most proud of the fact that we’ve done everything on our own strength so far – Ramon took care of the recordings, I do all the designs and management type of things, and Maarten and I are always looking for shows.’
What goals would you still like to achieve?
‘There’s too much to mention on this one, because we all feel like we’re only at the start. Think along the lines of playing with more bands we admire, touring more countries, making more friends along the way.’
What’s the most precious thing you would give up for landing a great record deal and/or lots of publicity?
‘My virginity! (please?) hehe. No, but seriously, if we continue along the lines we have set for ourselves, we probably won’t have to give anything up. I think that if we keep working hard enough and keep ripping it up live, people will take notice sooner or later.’
Please share your touring/future plans with us.
‘In the coming months, we’ll be busy writing more new songs for our upcoming full length. The songs we have so far are the best we’ve written so far. In between we’ll be playing shows where we can – maybe some short tours in the South of Europe and the UK.’
Anything left to say to our readers? Here’s your chance!
‘First off, we couldn’t have come so far already if it wasn’t for our friends, who stuck by us from the very beginning, the people who still come to underground shows and the people who were kind enough to book us so far. We can’t thank them enough.
Secondly, please come out to see us when we’re playing in the neighbourhood. I hear people say we’re better live than on CD.’
Thank you very much for your time and good luck in the future!
‘Thanks, dude!’
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