Ryker´s are one of my favorite European hardcore bands since I was a kid growing up in the 1990-ies. They are back with the new record and here is what Chris told us for our zine.

YOU HAVE A NEW RECORD COMING OUT. TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT THE NEW ONE, HOW WAS THE WRITING AND THE RECORDING PROCESS, WHAT LABEL IS RELEASING THE RECORD, WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS? WHERE CAN WE BUY THE RECORD?

Chris: We recorded – as always – with Andy Classen at Stage One Studio… He really knows what we want – so that’s the perfect choice. We wrote the songs between 2016-18 so there was definitely some progress in the songs. Unfortunately we were banned from our rehearsal room for about a year due to safety reasons… otherwise I think the album would be out already. Anyway, it will be released by our friends´ label Beatdown Hardware and should be available everywhere… if not contact your record dealer to order you a copy or get it directly from http://www.bdhw-shop.com.

DO YOU THINK YOU WENT MORE MELODIC WITH THE NEW MATERIAL APART FROM THE CLASSIC RYKER´S MATERIAL? ARE THE SONGS SOMEHOW MORE CATCHY AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU RETAINED YOUR CLASSIC MORE AGGRESSIVE HARDCORE SOUND?

Yeah, I think we added some more catchy tunes… but also added a lot of rawness and brutal guitar sounds too. The bass is also more present – which was always a trademark. We were always open to all kinds of underground music… punk, hardcore, metal, oi! Whatever… I think the album totally represents RYKER’S 2019!

IS THERE GOING TO BE A TOUR PROMOTING THE NEW RECORD? SUMMER FESTIVALS ONLY OR THE LONGER FULL TOUR MAYBE?

We will see… we have about 15 shows scheduled already… festivals and club shows. I think we won’t do a 4-6 weeks tour… but I have no problem with spending my weekends on the road. If you wanna book us feel free to contact our friend Ute at MAD-Tourbooking!

I DON´T THINK YOU EVER PLAYED IN CROATIA. YOU PLAYED THIS BALKANS REGION, WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THAT GIGS?

We played Sofia – that was a great show!!! I can really tell we would love to play Croatia ’cause I know we have a lot of friends down there… so book us! We are coming!

IN THE 90-IES WHEN I WAS A KID, WE LOVED KASSEL CREW HARDCORE SOUND AND YOU GUYS WERE SOMEHOW, HOW SHOULD I SAY, ROLE MODEL FOR OUR CREW BACK IN THE EARLY DAYS TO START BANDS, DO ZINES AND PUT THE SCENE TOGETHER IN OUR HOMETOWN. HOW MUCH IS LEFT NOWADAYS OF KASSEL HARDCORE FAMILY? HOW IS THE SCENE THERE?

Well, thank you!!! That means a lot to us. We just recently played a sold out show in our home club AKKU and had people from all over coming it. That was great to see… a lot of sweat and bruises but everything went with a smile. So yeah, the scene is still alive also with new bands like SIC BOY and a lot more. Yeah, I still run into my old buddies from the crew all the time and we are hanging out… Hardcore for life! But it isn’t as crazy as it used to be. Also because of some stupid laws… when we played our ‘final’ show in Kassel – we packed that place with about 800 kids… nowadays we they are only allowed to let 346 (something like that) people in… still we were letting in a 50 more… but you know – stupid rules.

I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTION BEFORE, BUT I MUST ASK IT NONETHELESS. IS THIS LINE UP OF THE BAND THE BEST ONE YOU HAD? OBVIOUSLY YOU TOOK SOME SHIT FROM THE SO CALLED FANS WHEN YOU CHANGED THE LINE UP. DID IT HURT YOU OR JUST MADE YOU STRONGER IN YOUR RESOLVE TO CARRY ON?

Every RYKER’S l ine up was great for the time being. For the most part we had a great

time so every single line up made sense. But I feel like I’m carrying the torch… and keep that fire burning. And I feel more than comfortable with the current line-up. We are friends, hanging out together and traveling the world playing some hard tunes. Life´s good.

DO YOU GUYS LIVE OFF THE MUSIC OR YOU HAVE YOUR DAILY JOBS?

Well there is no way (for us) to make a living out of this music. So we all have regular jobs… BUT this gives us the freedom and creativity to do want we want to do. We are not depending on record sales. We are a 100% true…

MANY PEOPLE IN CROATIA THINK THAT GERMANY IS PROMISED LAND, HEAVENLY LAND AND GO THERE TO WORK AND BASICALLY SURVIVE, DO YOU THINK THAT GERMANY IS THE LAND OF HONEY AND MILK, HOW IS LIFE IN GERMANY IN GENERAL?

Hmmm, well I can say, that generally speaking  -we can’t complain at all. We got health insurance and you are not starving to death. But of course, it is like everywhere else in the world the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. It can not be that a manager earns 200 times the money that a ‘normal’ employee does… Is the manager really working 200 times more or harder?!… hell no! So that’s fucked up.

I think my opinion and thought on this would be too much for one interview – but I’m also wondering how someone defines ‘the promised land’. I´ve been to many, many countries being considered poor – but to me it seemed like people are enjoying life a little bit more there.. what is success? Money?? A brand new car?? Or having a family and good friends  and a good time??

BACK TO THE NEW RECORD. WHICH ARE YOUR FAVORITE SONGS ON THE NEW ONE, I KNOW IT IS HARD, BUT YOU GUYS HAVE YOUR FAVORITES, CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THEMATICALLY TRACK BY TRACK?

I love Let’s Ruin The Scene – I really dig the lyrics ’cause they are so sarcastic and the trumpet is epic!

Cast In Stone is an important song for me – as it is super-personal.

Sightseeing is all based on true stories about me making friends in NYC – and yes, I say it all the time – it’s more than just inspired by a band called Adrenalin O.D.

The new version of Cold Lost Sick gives me goosebumps (Kid D loves that song).

Collateral Damage – man, we have Matt Henderson playing a freaking great solo on this one… and we are having Roger Miret singing with us on Dead End Street – if you would have told me that when I was a kid..

Well, the list goes on… I really like all the songs on the record. That’s why they are on the record… no fillers.

THIS IS IT FOR THE FIRST TIME. NOW, CLASSIC ZINE QUESTION, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY AND I DIDN´T ASK YOU, ANY SHOUT OUTS OR SOMETHING! THANKS FOR TAKING TIME TO TALK WITH US.

Well first of all thank you for doing an interview with us and supporting us. We would love to come to Croatia anytime!!

Cheers and shout outs to everybody involved in that new record, to everyone who have supported us through all these years… and cheers to my old pal Krmpa and our friends in Deafness By Noise… let’s do a show!!!

The Pre Order has already started:
BDHW: http://smarturl.it/rykers.bdhw
CORE TEX: http://smarturl.it/rykers.ctr
IMPERICON: http://smarturl.it/rykers.imp

Rykers
Rykers Homepage
BDHW Rec.
BDHW Shop