BIOGRAPHY
Name: Mise*En*Scene
aka M*E*S
Born: 1995, coma in 2000, reborn in 2002
Place: Deinze, Belgium
Style: street-ska -
ska*streetpunk - oldschool punk with ska influences - whatever
YESTERDAY
Mise-En-Scene (or M*E*S) started way back in 1995 in a placed called Deinze, near Ghent (Belgium). Some line-up changes & some rehearsalrooms
later, we wrote the first songs.
Koen (vocals) wrote the lyrics, Christophe (guitar) wrote some songs,
almighty Fré played bass & Guido backed us with his drums. Heavily
influenced by bands like Seein’ Red, Discharge, Boycot, Manliftingbanner, we wrote
the first 5 songs (in 4 weeks time!!). We kinda developed our own style: heavy
double-bassdrummed metallic chaospunk (yeah, right!).
After some time, Fré
left, leaving M-E-S as a 3 piece. Hey, what the heck, then we just play without bass!
After some months & some gigs without bass,
Vik (known from his Smart Art –
NSG activities in Ghent) became our new bassplayer. We rehearsed some more, although we
didn’t write any new songs (lazy!!).
The same old shit you can read in many other biographies happened (kicked out of
rehearsal rooms, disorder, anarchy, bla-bla-bla…). We played some more gigs with bands like Factory Pilot, Funeral Dress, Discipline & the Dirty
Scums, who became our greatest fans, it seems ;-) !!!
Somewhere in August 99 we recorded a MCD with 8 songs.
This MCD is completely
sold out.
Anyway, in May 2000 the band decided to call it quits, but did that with a remarkable
gig: after 30 sec. or so a string from Vik’s bass broke, so we continued our show
without bass. And although we smashed their heads with a giant champagne-bottle, some
drunks kept asking for more. So we ended up playing some Ramones, Nirvana & Sex
Pistols covers… the M-E-S-way of course, which means 1000 times faster & more crusty than crust could ever be. A nice ending of M-E-S!!
Each member went his own way. But M-E-S wasn’t done with this world…
Christophe wrote some new songs, & Flien played the bass for a time. But trying with some new singers & drummers didn’t work out, so this wasn’t a big sucksess..
TODAY
But when Careel aka JC & Bjorn (both from Ten Slash Two) joined M-E-S, & Guido decided to come back, things finally started to pay off. Due to the input of 2 these new members, our sound was refreshed a bit, some new influences were put into our music (more
oldschool streetpunk, more ska...!!). We also included some
coversongs on our playlist.
We released a split-CD with our Finnish comrades
The Divisive on FULL CONTACT RECORDS. 3 new tracks were recorded, + a Divisive cover. The Divisive cover our "Money out of Misery". This CD came out on 6 December 2002, and
by the time you read this, it will be probably sold out, so you better order
your copy while you still can...
We also decided to go on tour with our friends The Dirty Scums, Belgium's oldest most active punkband. This turned out to be a real succes, as all dates until July 2003 are scheduled before 2003 had even begun.
After a summer-break, we intend to do some more DIRTY SCENE shows as the
bookings keep comin' in.
On 28 december 2002 we presented our new CD to our home-crowd, and it turned out to be a real succes: although the annual Goodlife Fest was organised on the same day/evening, only 10 km. away from the youth centre where we organised our CD-presentation, and with bands like Sky Came Falling, Count Me
Out, Angel Crew, Face Tomorrow... on their bill, we were able to play for a full youth centre! For sure a highlight in our existence!
It turned out to be one hell of a night!
The 21st of
September 2003, we played at the Gathering of the
Thousands Festival in The Forum (London), which was a
memorial concert for Joe Strummer. We played
there with bands such as Anti-Flag, Conflict and
Subhumans. For sure a highlight!
TOMORROW
A full-CD is scheduled for 2004, the
first songs have been written, and - according to some insiders - sound really
great.
We also recorded a cover from
THE CLASH for an international tribute to one of our main influences.
That’s it for now, be sure to check us out when we’re in your neighbourhood.
