Hailing out of Brussels, Belgium and forming and mastering their sound in the back alleys and underground clubs of Brussels are Sons Of Disaster a hard-rocking, high octane, punk filled riff loaded band set to rock. \m/ The Sons Of Disaster released their debut self titled EP in 2011 and followed it up with their first full-length album “Death And Destruction” In 2013 which really showcased their sound and style that mixes elements f Metal, Rock and Punk. Sons had a chaotic few years with a hectic live schedule and even went on hiatus for a little while. But now it’s March 2020 and the Sons Of Disaster are back and better than ever with their latest offering “Cursed” which was released worldwide yesterday through Brussels based label Mottow Soundz,I recently caught up with Sons of Disaster vocalist Greg Triest to talk all things Sons Of Disaster and guitarist Selim and Bassist Gilles also were cool enough to answer a couple of questions as well. Check it out then go crannk the hell out of Sons Of Disaster.
Q: First off can you tell us a little about who Sons Of Disaster are? Hello I’m Greg (singer) … before explaining who we are it’s maybe good to know that we all come and/or live un Brussels (Capital of Belgium) . The fact that Brussels is a small , yet very diversified city makes it a bit special from the rest of the country . Brussels is home to a very multicultural population (I think there are more nationalities represented in Brussels than in Paris) , but also it hosts the European Union (people from all over Europe live and work here) . And most important fact is that the majority of inhabitants speak French but we are located in the Flemish or if you prefer Dutch-speaking part of Belgium . You could say that Brussels is like a melting pot of people with quite different cultural , social and economical backgrounds . AND SO ARE WE , Sons of Disaster … I am Flemish (raised both French and Dutch speaking , but coming from a working class/industrial town 5 miles from Brussels) , Selim has Tunisian roots , Gilles has Jewish roots , J.T. is from Charleroi or Charly-King or Charloose (industrial city in French speaking part of Belgium and was once the centre of the steel industry , now gone and forgotten) , Felix has French roots from his father’s side but was born and raised in Brussels … Like the band itself , our music also is a mix of the influences each of us have … among other influences I bring in the Rock n Roll , Selim and Gilles bring in the Metal , the Hard Rock , J.T. brings in the punkrock , the skate punk , and Felix the new breed of Hardcore , MetalCore etc etc …
Q: How did Sons Of Disaster form? Gilles and Selim had a band called Texas Hold’em and when they decided to part ways with their singer, I came over for an “audition” and they adopted me … I was singing in another band , Butcher Boogie (Psychobilly , Punk) but we were at that time slowing down so I thought I wanted to try something new …
Q; How did you first get into heavy rock,alt music and what was your first album that you bought for yourself? Personally I got involved in the Skinhead scene when I was about 15 (we’re talking end of the eighties) . I met a “gang” of crazy skinheads at a local party in my home town . These guys were really into the original style of the movement (the clothes , the scooters , some violence or aggro if needed 😉 , AND OF COURSE the music !!) . They listened to Ska (Jamaican Ska) , 2-Tone , Skinhead Reggae , Rocksteady , Soul , Jazz , Rythm n Bleus … If I remember it well my first cassette I bought must have been DIVINE MADNESS by Madness or the Specials I don’t really recall (a lot of beer and drugs were used since that day , my memory isn’t 100% anymore 😉 ) … later on of course I picked up Punk , Oi! , Hardcore , Psychobilly , etc …
Q; Before we start going through your latest album Cursed due out this Friday can I ask if you had to pick a favourite track from your previous releases the EP and The Death And Destruction album which tracks would you pick and why? The song Death & Destruction ’cause it is different from all the others on that album
https://sonsofdisaster.bandcamp.com/album/death-destruction-2
Q: How did you first get into playing Guitar,Drums,Bass? Gilles & Selim: Quand on avait 15 ans, on faisait du skate et on voyait les membres de Wise Up et Arkangel qui habitaient dans notre quartier, rouler en skate et jouer de la musique. On voulait absolument faire comme eux. Un gars qui les connaissait, nous a initié à la guitare et à la basse et motivé à monté un groupe de musique. When we were 15 years old, we used to skateboard and see the members of Wise Up and Arkangel who lived in our neighbourhood, skateboarding and playing music. We wanted to be just like them. A guy who knew them, introduced us to guitar and bass and motivated us to start a band.
Q: What was your first Instrument?
Gilles: Bass fender Squier Selim: Guitare Hondo type SG Q: What are you using now?
Selim: Gibson Les paul Signature T
Q; How did you first get into heavy rock,alt music and what was your first album that you bought for yourself?
Selim: quand j’étais petit, ma mère avait une cassette de Led Zeppelin avec notamment le morceau « Immigrant Song ». mon premier album était Get A Grip d’Aerosmith When I was a child, my mother had a Led Zeppelin tape with the song “Immigrant Song” on it. My first album was Get A Grip by Aerosmith.
Q: “Cursed” is a rocking album and one of those albums that for me was a lot of fun to crannk into, can I ask how you approached the songwriting and song composition for this album?
When we start working on new songs we usually come together and start jamming , often someone already has an idea , a riff , a rhythm , song line … I find it fairly easy to find a songline (singing gibberish , yoghurt as we call it , just words after another giving a songline) on any kind of sound . At a certain point the musicians start to structure the song and by then I usually have a songline with certain words or even sentences … later on , at home I write the lyrics to the song . It only happened twice that I came up with lyrics already written and that we put the music to the lyrics .
Q; Can you tell us about the recording and production process for the Cursed Album? Ooh man … the recording and production of this album was least to say a FUCKIN’ TREMENDOUS PAIN IN THE ANUS ! ! It took us like 5 or 6 years and the CURSE still goes on ’cause that Corona bitch made us cancel our SOOO LONG AWAITED Release Party and we don’t have ANY clue on when we will be able to unleash that album upon the masses … Over those 6 years we had 3 different drummers , we had a break of nearly a year cause I just slammed the door behind me , we had a little quarrel with the sound engineer who recorded the first 6 songs (with Levy , our 3rd drummer) , we had to record 4 more songs which we did with Felix in order to have a Full Length album , then something wrong with the pressing of the vinyls (a version without vocals of the third song on the A-side somehow made it to the pressing factory … we had to get all the vinyls back and get them to the factory in order to be reprinted …) AND finally but not least the Release Party has been postponed … We named the album CURSED just because of all the shit we went through , all the setbacks , and back stabbings …
Q; Can you tell me about the track that has been released Land Of The Sons and what that track means for you? The Land of the Sons , is an utopia where we would be kings or rulers , but it would be a land with no borders , no laws , no police , no ballbreakers , where EVERYBODY (no matter what religion , background , colour of skin , …) would be welcome to ROCK AND ROLL 24/7 , FREEDOM & RESPECT for each other would be the moral standard !! There is and will always be only ONE HUMAN RACE (fuck labels like black or white , catholic or muslim , rich or poor , … they’re just made up to avoid people to unite …) Alcohol , drugs , hangover-medicine and morning-after pills would be FREE and available from distributors in the streets HAHAHAHAHAHA …
Q: Do you have a favourite track on the album if so which one is it and why? TO ME the favorite tune is definitely the Tribute song . We wrote it for our brothers who play in the bands SPEEDOZER , TOXIC SHOCK , REPROACH and THE PROGERIANS … these are bands we like and/or played a lot with … have us over for an Aussi TouR , the Belgian BLITZKRIEG man !! After that tour you will all eat fries and drink beer from early morning till late at night, every day of the rest of your lives ! This song is like a medley , we play each part in a similar style of each band , referencing something about each band …
Q; The album drops this Friday the 20th of March yeah, I know the world is in chaos at the moment but does Sons Of Disaster have any shows planned for the release? YEAH we had a big party planned (and quite a few shows booked after that date) with 3 bands opening for us and DJ’s after the shows … as it has to be postponed just come over man , we’ll let you know when the new date is booked 😉
Q; Before we sign out is there anyone you would like to give a shout out to or anything else you would like to add? I thank my fellow bandmembers ’cause we made it … we had fights , we had issues , but we still exist as a band , a lot of people would have thrown in the towel … thanx kids for that ! !
SONS OF DISASTER:
Greg Triest – Vocals
Selim Mahdhi – Guitar
JT Paridaens – Guitar
Gilles Gutmann – Bass
Felix Trossat – Drums
DISCOGRAPHY:
Cursed (LP, Mottow Soundz) 2020 https://www.mottowsoundz.com/sons-of-disaster-order
Death & Destruction (LP, Center Rock)2013 https://sonsofdisaster.bandcamp.com/album/death-destruction-2
Sons of Disaster (EP, 2011) https://sonsofdisaster.bandcamp.com/album/e-p
Sons Of Disaster SOCIALS:
Bandcamp – https://sonsofdisaster.bandcamp.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thesonsofdisaster/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/SonsOfDisaster1
