SmokeBomb are revealing “The Smoke Of Bomb To Come”

Mixing various types of music, SmokeBomb is definitely a band you have to discover! The guys just revealed their EP “The Smoke Of Bomb To Come” and answered, on this occasion, a couple of questions for us.

Hey SmokeBomb! For those who might discover your band via this interview, would you mind introducing yourselves?

Hello Everybody,
SmokeBomb is a 5-piece band from Brussels, Belgium, that mixes Punk, Hardcore, a bit of Metal with Hip Hop, Funk and anything else that comes with a groove. We started in 2018 with a first line up, then in 2019 we changed drummers (our first one went to live in Copenhagen) and in 2020 we’re adding a turntablist.

We’ve been long-time members of the hardcore punk community in Belgium since the 2000s. We’re influenced by bands like Downset, Suicidal Tendencies, Dog Eat Dog, (Hed) PE – and we got the chance to have Jahred on one of our song-, Snot, Biohazard, E-Town Concrete, Beastie Boys, The Transplants,… And the list goes on. We like to fuse all kinds of styles with a hardcore punk mentality.

SmokeBomb is :
– Arnish : Vocals
– G-Loose: Drums
– TanBomb : Bass, Vocals
– DJ Crust Killer : Scratch, Vocals
– Gravel Piet : Guitar, Vocals

You’ve revealed your EP “The Smoke Of Bomb To Come” a few days ago. How long have you worked on it?

We took quite some times for this one.
First we got to rebuild with the new line-up then we got hit as the whole world by the pandemic and we all have adult life that make everything harder. We recorded two songs in 2022 – “Impakt” and “Harvest”- and we launched “Harvest” as a single with our first music video in June 2022. We then completed the three last songs in 2023 before launching it this fall of 2023

How did your band approach the songwriting and recording process for this EP?

Basically, TanBomb comes up with bass riffs and a skeleton of a song, which he sends to Gravel Piet, who puts in his (tons of) guitar ideas.
Then G-Loose on drums comes in with his ideas and makes a few changes to the arrangements to improve them.

Then Arnish lays down his vocals, and we adapt the songs to fit perfectly with his lines and lyrics. DJ Crust Killer then spices things up with scratches and samples.

As for recording, “Harvest” and “Impakt” were recorded by G-loose himself for all guitars and our friends Jérôme Hiernaux for drums, vocals and turntable. For “Out Of Control”, “PMA” and “2Gether”, G-Loose decided to take charge of everything.

We asked our friend Jérémie Bezier of Blackout Multimedia and Emptiness to master it for consistency.

Could you please elaborate the themes explored in this EP?

The themes explored in this EP range from mental health to the importance of community (especially after a pandemic) to the danger of social media and fake news. We also have a classic hip-hop-style ego trip theme and a song about the magic green plant.

Who’s the artist behind the artwork of “The Smoke Of Bomb To Come” and what were the main inspirations for the visual?

The drawing was done by a friend, Roger Causto, on a sketch made by TanBomb. The main inspirations are Punk Hardcore and Hip Hop artwork, 90s action movie artwork, and our hometown, Brussels. We also put everything that inspired us growing up as easter eggs.

“The Smoke Of Bomb To Come” is also available in CD and tape versions. If you had to pick betweens CDs or tapes, which one would you pick and why?

This is a tough one. As kids of the ’90s, we mostly grew up with CDs, so I guess we have a soft spot for CDs, even though they’re the lightest of all music media these days. Tapes are cool too, and we all made our own compilations back in the day to listen to on our Walkman. But it’s new, with the return of the cassette trend, that we’re actually buying band Tapes.

In general, as a band and as music fans, what’s your favorite merch item and why?

As a musical medium, vinyl is best for the sound and beauty of the object. We all love merchandising, and buy a lot of t-shirts because it’s a cool way of supporting bands and representing them.

These days, we also like other types of products like sports shirts (baseball, basketball, …), short, long sleeves and caps.

The last words are for you. If you have any other projects in the making or a message to convey, here’s your chance!

Hope you will like the SmokeBomb Project, we put a lot of us in it.

Support your local scene and do not be afraid to take an active part of it. Fight oppressions of any kind, give love to each other and don’t let hate consume you. Edginess don’t lead anywhere.

Cheers to everyone who support the band and to the SmokeBomb Clan. We are together.