Mass Confusion is a new band formed by musicians who have been part of Dutch hardcore for decades.
Featuring members of A Step Apart, Nothing Done, Abusive Action, O’Hara, and Cornered, the band came together through old friendships and a shared love of the straightforward hardcore they grew up listening to. Think Right Brigade, Stop & Think, early Carry On, and Striking Distance rather than the more metallic or post-punk-influenced sounds they were hearing around them.
Guitarist Mirko and vocalist Alwin played together in Glory Bound and A Step Apart back in 2003 and 2004, while drummer Niels and Alwin have been friends for roughly 20 years. As Mirko puts it, the Netherlands is small enough that people from that era of hardcore tend to keep running into one another anyway.
The beginnings of Mass Confusion can be traced more specifically to Leeuwarden, where Mirko relocated several years ago and where Niels also lives. The two played a Breakdown cover set with younger musicians and regularly talked hardcore while watching SC Cambuur football matches.
“We were talking about the core every other weekend at SC Cambuur, in the stands watching football, and kind of coming to the conclusion that every hardcore band is either metallic beatdown or squatty post-punk,” Mirko says, quickly conceding that this obviously isn't entirely true. “In the end, we decided to record a few songs in the style of hardcore that we missed.”
For Mass Confusion, that meant reaching back to the early 2000s. “We had the feeling there aren't enough bands right now playing that kind of hardcore, so what do you do? You start your own band,” Mirko says. “There are always kids around to help out, even if they're around 40 years old and have kids themselves. That's the great thing still about this scene.”
Mass Confusion’s first demo began about as informally as the band itself. Mirko and Niels wrote several songs and recorded rough guitar and drum versions on a phone. Niels later bumped into bassist Arjan at a hip-hop show, and he agreed to get involved.
On a particularly cold and snowy winter day, Arjan traveled from Utrecht to Friesland, where the band recorded with Douwe Bladecrusher at his studio in Franeker. Getting Alwin behind the microphone required a little more persistence.
“We really wanted Alwin to do the vocals, as he was a mate of all of us,” Mirko says. “We had to bug him for a few months to do it at Pitter’s Amsterdam studio, but finally he came through in great style.” Demian, guitarist for Terzij de Horde and a longtime friend of Mirko's, mixed the songs in exchange for a couple of bottles of Clynelish Scotch whisky. Lyrically, the demo finds Alwin directing his anger toward injustice and inequality around the world.
There wasn't initially a plan to put the material on cassette, but Light the Fuse and Trilob Records stepped in to give the demo a physical release, complete with individually spray-painted tapes.
As for turning Mass Confusion into a heavily touring concern, adulthood presents some logistical obstacles. The members live a fair distance from one another and have families and other responsibilities competing for their time. They do, however, have a show scheduled in Dordrecht in February, and the door remains open for more.
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The Mass Confusion demo is available on cassette via Light the Fuse Records & Trilob Records.
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