Introducing: Gone To Waste

Gone To Waste are young band from Germany who’ve been around for a number of years. With a steady amount of releases up their sleeve, they’re set for their the release of their new LP Barking Dogs Don’t Bite. While relentlessly touring Germany, bassist Kreso took some time to answer our questions. Enjoy!

Please introduce yourself and your band.

“Hey, we’re Gone To Waste from Dortmund. Lukas sings, Mike’s the guitarist, Kreso plays bass and David is on drums. Lukas and Dave are brothers and founding members, Mike and I entered later. Mike in January 2011 and I joined in February 2013. Since then a lot happened. We spent several weekends on the road with tons of good friends and bands all around Germany and parts of Europe. Releasing “The Ones Who Light The Fires” (TOWLTF in short) in September 2013 via our friend Hannes in Powertrip Records was a very important step which brought us together as friends and brothers within the band and the good reception by the scene gave us the opportunity to play lots of shows.”

How did you come up with the band name?

“The band name comes from Lukas’ mind back in 2009 when the band started in Warburg. He kind of had 40 band name ideas and Gone To Waste was the one that didn’t suck that much. For him the idea of living a non-conformist life and being ’waste’ in society’s eyes was a leading aspect. The rest of the band is sticking to the idea, even though every one of us is interpreting and living it differently. We love being part of the hardcore scene and everything it means to every single one of us in its own way.”

Please define your sound in three words and elaborate on that.

“By far the toughest question. We would say ’thought-out, groovy heaviness’ – sounds pretty boring though. We consider ourselves a hardcore band (mostly inspired by the New York style) and so are we using songwriting elements. We try to keep up a good mixture between sing-alongs, 2-steps, fast parts and of course mosh. Sounds pretty common so far but the tricky part – especially for hardcore bands – is to make your sound work live, on recordings and for your own, as a musician. If well combined, these three aspects allow you to perform your songs with self-confidence – in the rehearsal room as well as on stage. As everyone knows, music taste can be so awkwardly different. Our aim was to create a sound, we all could identify with. The most important part in writing BDDB was definitely the ‘groove’ part. The heaviness comes with thought-out groove. The goal was to have tunes we wanted to listen to and hopefully people out there, too. So we put in a lot of love to detail in each and every song to make the LP worth a second or even third spin. I can say that I am really happy of the result and to work with such talented guys.”

Barking Dogs Don’t Bite will be released on 12“ vinyl on October 31sr. What’s the story behind this release?

“We started writing “Barking Dogs Don’t Bite” in November 2013. As everyone directly involved in the music scene who had the privilege being part of an active band knows, this means a lot of arguments and discussions in a shitty rehearsal room and sessions till deep in the night. Luckily we had Hannes from Powertrip Records assuring us really early in the songwriting process of his interest in releasing the LP. The lyrical concept contained a lot of frustration and aggression coming up with living in this violent and non-solidary world. It was a way to channel our hate collectively as Lukas was open-minded to the ideas and lyrics of us others. Living in the Dortmund- Nordstadt area was a big influence for our sound and lyrics, as this place is a god-abandoned hole and the perfect example for the failure of politics and the power of money. “Barking Dogs Don’t Bite” refers to all the shit going on there (of course not only there). All the stick-up-situations, drug dealers and addicts and the above-average poverty lead to the question: Who is actually barking and who’s biting? The pushers? The addicts? The students? The police? Politicians? God(s)? We totally stick to the idea, that hardcore should stay socio-critical. The wide range of our lyrics are open for interpretation and kinda allow you an insight in our world views and even some emotional stuff.”

You’re currently touring Europe. How’s it been so far?

“Calling it Euro trip was a bit over enthusiastic by us as it was the actual plan but then turned out to be a German trip with a Belgium and Switzerland date. Two of us study relatively tough shit and it was the hardest part to find an appropriate period. But we’re terribly happy to be on the road, before the semester starts and regular day shit kicks in. We’re on our way to Braunschweig at the moment and the tour was awesome so far. Oberhausen was the only city we already played in, so we were excited every time we arrived at a venue. München, Karlsruhe, Fürth, Luzern, Tessenderlo and Aue were small, familiar shows with young bands and a lot of younger kids, what we were really happy about. This trip showed us in a perfect way how this scene is still vital and dynamic.
We had a really good time with each and every promoter and we felt welcome everywhere. Tomorrow we’re going to play PITFEST 2 in Aachen, which is the perfect ending for this short but really intense trip. We are deeply thankful.”

Whats the next once the LP is out?

“This is easy. Playing our asses off and Tim at Stateless Society is a big help there. We’re planning a short winter trip with our buddies in Harm/Shelter and next year we’re euro tripping (then for real) with Benchpress. We are planning an Eastern European trip too. So keep your ears and eyes open, go to shows or set them up, start a band, write a zine, keep that shit running. We can be really happy that this scene is a shelter from that fucked up world out there. Peace!”