Code Blue Coma from Germany/Austria are currently preparing themselves for vs Goliath, their new EP that will be released through Anchored Records. On December 6th, they’ll be playing the Legends Arising stage at the Northcote all-dayer in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, so we asked vocalist Dave to introduce his band. Enjoy the read!
Please introduce yourself and your band.
“Hi everybody, it’s Dave (vocals) answering your questions. Code Blue Coma (CBC) started as something completely different, compared to how it turned out to be. Olaf (guitar), Nico (Bass), Matthias (drums) and our former band member Arthur (guitar), wanted to play hardcore in the vein of bands such as In My Eyes, Champion and Count Me Out. Fortunately for me, the guy who was supposed to sing didn’t show up for their first rehearsal. Me and Olaf were in contact before, since I asked him if he wanted to form a band with me. First he turned me down because of having this new band going on but contacted me again, after their singer let them down. So I went to meet the guys and we clicked immediately. At that time I was still sure to start singing for an old schoolish band but if you listen to our first release, it’s easy to tell that our sound is far away from the original idea the guys had. I don’t know if it was me being heavily influenced by 90s hardcore or what it was that changed the style they wanted to play originally but we’re super happy with what we create. Most importantly we try to push ourselves and the limits the music we are rooted in sets for us. “You die if you don’t grow,” so evolving CBC is constantly in the back of our heads when songs are being written.
A difficulty we had to deal with was the fact I was moving to Austria. Originally I am from there and I didn’t like living in Cologne anymore so I went back after two years of CBC’s existence. I offered them to make space for somebody else on the mic but thank god my buddies wanted to try if we can sort it out somehow. Thanks to the internet we were able to. Whenever Olaf, Nico and Matthias write songs, they record them, upload them on the internet where I can listen to them and write lyrics. Of course we have to make compromises working like that but we want to keep this band going so we love to put all our efforts in it. So now we have a stable lineup of 4 people that know what they want and how to achieve that.”
How did you come up with the band name, Code Blue Coma?
“Code Blue Coma is a song title by the band Downset. Whenever I read that title I thought it’d be a great band name. Time proved that most people think it’s stupid but time also proves constantly that most people are stupid so we’ll keep our name as long as Downset doesn’t sue the shit out of us. Shout outs to them for writing Check Your People – by far one of my favorite hardcore releases ever.”
Define your sound in three words and elaborate on that.
“Rollercoaster – the first time you ride a rollercoaster, you can’t really tell how the journey will be so every twist and every turn is a surprise to you, while loopings and camel backs can be hard as fuck to take. We try to be as unpredictable, hard, and exciting as your first ride on a rollercoaster, you were not sure if you want to ride it, because of being too scared to do so.
Spinach – Love our sound or hate it. There’s not much in between.
Spiderweb – Sometimes fragile, still ready to kill and once you are caught it’s fucking hard to get out again.”
Your last efforts dates from 2013. Can you share a little bit about the story behind this release?
“At the time we wrote Triump of Time / Corruption of the Body, we all went through shitty times. We lost love, loved ones, jobs, perspective and went through a lot of other personal stuff we had to deal with. As cliché as it may sound but to us life is about getting back up on your feet again after it smacks you in the face, so we took all the negative emotions and created something positive out of it. So I guess TOT/COTB can be seen as the result of a process called life. This sounds rather stupid but it is what it is. 5 ordinary guys surfing the waves existence was sending them, refusing to drown, always keeping their chins up, aiming for the safe coast, while doing tricks on the obstacles we had to face. Sound-wise we were (and still are) not 100% sure in which direction the train will take us. We all draw influences from varied genres, placed all over the musical map, so creating something unique is something that happened naturally. We just could never create something that has been there a million times before and we will never do so. For my part I have to say that the lyrics on TOT/COTB can be pretty much explained by a lyric line by Slug of Atmosphere: “I highly doubt that y’all think about sex, Anywhere near as often as I think about death.” I don’t want to give your further details but the topics vary from addiction to self-empowerment while the foundation of all those words is death and how to deal with it.”
Even more important, when can we expect some new music? Have you guys been writing new track recently and are you planning to hit the studio any time soon?
“Yeah I know we’re slow, haha! But actually, you can expect new music from us. It’s been a bit silent around CBC recently but it hasn’t been silent within CBC. We recorded a new EP this summer at Hell Smell Studios in Rome, shot videos, organized future tours and were busy putting the vision we have for our band into reality. New music will be released very soon, so stay tuned for a release that will hit you harder than a horse on methamphetamine. Vs. Goliath is coming your way early 2016!”
Code Blue Coma are playing Northcote in December. What are you’re expectations for this all-dayer?
“First of all, thanks a lot to Louisa for asking us to play Northcote after we played a few shows with her band Rites. To be honest, we were surprised to got asked to be part of the line-up, since Northoce has always been quite a big name for us. So why would anybody want us to play there you know, since we still see ourselves as a rather small band?! Having that in mind we don’t expect much but creating as much energy as possible. What people can expect from us is being dragged into our 30 minute vortex of creativity, hardness and message. If other bands give a 100%, we give 101% live on stage. Watch us, we deserve it!”
Legends Arising 