Although the Stealers have been around since 2007 it wasn't untill 2012 that the shit hit the fan with the release of their self-titled debut album. Raw, rowdy and violent rock 'n' roll from Rotterdam, Holland would be the easiest way to describe these guys' sound. This gained them fans throughout various subcultures uniting those who like their music loud and dirty! At the moment the band is working on a brand new album, so time to ask guitarist Rudo a few questions!
Hi Rudo, first of all thanks for doing this interview! How is everything going?
Hello Mano things are going well Stealers did some awesome shows lately in our hometown Rotterdam some small festivals in the Netherlands and in France, been in Italy and Swiss. Great responses from the audiences. Now finishing new material, which is going very well.
Since you guys are from The Netherlands not everyone might be familiar with The Stealers yet, so let’s kick off with some basic questions. Could you first introduce yourself and the rest of the band to my readers?
Well first off we have Pat on vocals, raw honest vocals, no fear and a great mind.
On bass, we got our own Johnny, although some people know him as Peter. His precision bass is like dirt bike running you over.
Gerry on drums, machine gun drum rolls, he likes to train vicious dogs in his spare time. Drummers are always the craziest and most dangerous types in a band so is Gerry.
Me, Rudo, on guitar. Doing my best to be Johnny Ramone and Steve Jones at once with les pauls through too loud amps.
You guys started out in 2007 already but it took about five years to get your first release, the self-titled full-length, out on CD. How come?
True, we gigged since 2007 and had various line up changes. Drummers exploding like in the Spinal Tap movie, it was horrible. No one wanted to release us, so we did our own demo ep, which never got picked up by any label. Then Wouter of Rebellion Records saw one of our shows and told us he wanted to release us. We went straight to the studio and the rest is history. Big up to Wouter for believing in us.
Thanks to the vinyl release a year later, the “Breakout” single and the four way split “Rotterdam – Milano” it still feels like yesterday to me, but you guys must be working on new material! Can we expect a new EP or perhaps even a second full-length in the near future?
We got like 14 songs ready, some old tunes and maybe some covers we can record. We are now planning to enter the studio and hopefully finish recording a new full length before the end of the year. Looking forward to it!
Can you tell a bit about the songs you guys are working on at the moment?
Well more of the same i guess. Listen to breakout and the 4 way split track called Run you down. Rocking riffs with memorable refrains is what we aim at. We’re pretty critical with new material. So we trash many songs until we feel it’s hard and catchy enough in our opinion. So i think the new songs are pretty damn good.
Musically The Stealers aren’t much alike like the bands you used to play in (I-Reject) or are currently playing in (Razorblade, Cenobites), can you get all your musical kicks out of the bands you are playing in at the moment or are there perhaps other genres you’d like to explore in the future?
Yeah very different bands i agree. I-Reject is a hardcore band my first real successful band which i started in as a teen. Hardcore wasn’t my music back then but i got the opportunity to play in a band with some cool people and learned to love hardcore music with them. I am very proud of that band. Well Stealers is the sound i was dreaming of since i was 12 years old. But i could never find like minded people to make this music. So finally it’s happening and i hope other people dig it too. Cenobites are my long time friends, i was always skeptical about psychobilly you know, but Cenobites is loud and in your face and they don’t care about scene shit, so that made me dig them. Razorblade, i’ve always been a big Oi! fan and the skinhead days were the best days of my life, when i was asked to join the best Oi! outfit from the Netherlands, i felt honored and didn’t hesitate. About other genres, i like a lot of music and who knows what will happen in the future, but right now i play in 3 bands and i don’t have time to focus on new musical projects unfortunately.
With The Stealers you get to play in front of all kinds of crowd. The crowd on your home turf Rotterdam is always a bit off and crazy (in a good way) but you also get to play with sleazy rock ‘n’ roll, crusty punk and noisy hardcore bands while in two weeks you guys are opening up for Condemned 84. How did The Stealers become this band that can pretty much play for any kind of crowd and everyone seems to enjoy themselves?
Well first of all our music is raw stuff which attracts different subcultures i guess. We rarely play for very hip crowds, Stealers is music for outcasts and outlaws in my opinion. How we can play for all these crowds? That’s why, all those groups share one common thing it’s being on the outside, we support that all the way. And Rotterdam is the best, but everybody knew that already, real city with real people no blah blah bullshit ;).
That is the strength of The Stealers, but there also seem to be some health issues from time to time with one of the band members (don’t think it’s necessary to say who), do these issues have any influence on the band either in a positive or a negative way?
Yes we struggled with health issues within the band and around the band. Illness, death it’s life and we try to deal with those things in the best way possible. Until now we play shows, we release stuff and we will continue to do so. Stealers is our life.
I want to go back to your releases, Rebellion Records released your full-length on CD and the “Breakout” EP, but the vinyl release of your album was in a co-release with Stolen Stereo Recordings as well as the “Rotterdam – Milano” split that was a co-release with a whole bunch of other labels. Is this label your own? Are you planning on releasing other bands with this label?
The label stolen is run by me and Johnny and yes we are planning to release more things or co release. First of all the new Cenobites album and new Stealers material. We got some other cool plans, involving other bands, but we gotta see if it will work out.
Prior to the last mentioned split 7” you already build up a friendship with Brutti E Ignoranti, an Italian Oi! band. You invited them over to The Netherlands for a small tour and they took you guys to Italy. How did this friendship started out?
The friendship with the Milano boys started out when i was 17 years old! I used to visit my friends there and i had a girlfriend in Italia back in those days. We always remained in contact and we always supported each others bands. We love Italia and our mates of Brutti E Ignoranti. Expect more cooperation between us in the coming years, Rotterdam-Milano!
And how was the mini-tour through Italy and Switzerland? Any crazy stuff happened abroad?
The tour was great! We didn’t know what to expect cause we are not too well known over there of course. We played with our skinhead friends there and some punk rock bands. Coolest thing happening was the dutch team killing Spain during our show in Lugano Swiss. We played after the victory and the people went nuts. Craziest was Gerry running through some italian streets in his underwear, but hey Gerry is one crazy motherfucker, you never know what’s gonna happen when he is around. It was great all over and we met new people and friends. Hopefully we can return some day soon.
Okay I am about to wrap this interview up, but I got one question I wanted to ask… you used to have this website when the internet was barely invented called Delftskins, got to know a lot of good bands from France, Germany and Japan through, thanks for that. Do you ever feel the urge to start up a website or webzine like that again or do you barely have time for that due your personal life and bands you play in?
haha thanks, that was way back! It’s funny through the years touring in Europe many people mention the website and compliment me on it. I ran it with my little sister Rosalyn (R.I.P.). After that site i did a blog about japanese oi music too for a while, but yes my bands and personal life took over. I still would love to do some music reviews or interviews, but not enough time for it unfortunately. Who knows one day i’ll do something again.
Ok that’s it! Again, thanks a lot! If there is anything you would like to add to this interview, feel free to do so!
Thank you for the interview. Shout out to Wouter and Rebellion Records, for always supporting us. Stealers will run you down! Buy, listen or steal our recordings and come to our shows!
http://www.stealers.nl
