Exposure

Kickin' it Hard as F@ck!

Germany. Mannheim. Harsh, aggressive, and visceral Music. Hardcore. Exposure has been around for a few years now. According to them, their aim was to pay tribute to Integrity, a band that lives within the same scope of violence Exposure took for themselves. "Atonement", released in 2020 is their latest release, and we took a ride to the band's world to understand it a bit more.

Thank you, first, of accepting my request for an interview. Hope all is well, especially now that the whole pandemic situation has mellowed down.

I messaged you while you were on tour (or on your way to a concert) if I remember correctly. And before we start, allow me to ask how it was to return to the stage, with people jumping, that awful smell of sweet, the screaming… rocking it out, simply put. Was this your first after the massive shutdown due to Covid?

Hey man, thanks for reaching out. Yeah, I was on my way to play Paris with Spark and it was wild and chaotic, with a bunch of people standing on my feet the whole set, I love it. I played Hannover on Halloween last year and some other smaller shows this year so far. Seems as if people have a lot of pent-up energy, and used the lockdowns to start new projects and bands, pretty cool to see. 

Let us start from the beginning. May I ask you to present the band, the band members, and how did Exposure come to be? I imagine you had a background in Music before setting up Exposure, right.

Exposure started with me writing some songs to start sort of an Integrity tribute band, if you want. There’s other stuff in there, other Clevo bands, some nods to Japanese Hardcore, but obviously Integrity is sort of the main ingredient. We started with Micha on drums, which I have now taken over. Philipp joined to play guitar alongside Chris, Dom (check out his project Wedding Songs) plays bass and Volker handles vocals. We have all been in several bands before, so I guess you could call that a “musical background”, ha-ha.

Going a bit back, before the beginning of the band: how did you get into Music, into Hardcore, what band / records paved your way into playing Music and listening to Music? 

I started playing instruments when I was a kid, tried some things before I settled in bass. Then I taught myself guitar and drums over the years, always trying to play stuff I was listening to. Hardcore came after Metal for me, so I was into a lot of Metalcore in my younger days, which I have completely discarded in the meantime. Hardcore resonated with me because of the whole DIY thing, the shorter, more aggressive songs and the abundance of different sounding bands. Straight Edge was a logical extension for me, and so I was hooked. I’d say some of the most important bands for me were and are Mind Eraser, Floorpunch, Integrity, Carry On, Youth of Today, Cro Mags, Stop and Think and probably a bunch more. 

What do aim to address with your Music? Hardcore is known for having a strong feeling behind it, being more than just Music. Do you take that idea to heart, and run with it?

Me personally, I am all about that, even though it has become sort of a platitude. I think Hardcore should stand for something. What that is, can change. Moreover, sometimes, the “scene” can be a little too beholden to how things have been handled so far. Think of the questions around how to handle sexual violence. There is definitely still a strong “bro code”, where men will stick up for assholes because they are friends, or because they’ve “never seen them do anything”. That dynamic is changing, albeit slowly. And while it’s still extremely stressful and risky to go public with your story as a woman, I have the feeling that some corners of this subculture have started to become less of a safe haven for abusers, which is what I want to see and which is due to girls being brave enough to speak up. As a band, Exposure is centered on personal topics examined through mythology. However, that does not mean we don’t give a shit about politics and so on, it’s just not the focus of our lyrics. 

Inspirationally speaking, and being quite direct: what are the bands that motivate the Music you create with Exposure? I hear a lot of Thrashy bits on it, although you never lose that Hardcore thing. Ferociously epic!

As I said before, this band was started as an homage to Integrity. The LP, I think at least, takes a bit more from bands like In Cold Blood, Ringworm, Bastard, old Anti-Cimex etc. There is definitely some Metal in there, no question, although I do not really know where that specifically comes from. 

That being said: do you see Exposure as a Hardcore band; a Heavy Metal band with Hardcore elements; a cross between 2 worlds; none of the above / all of the above? Not that I need labels to enjoy my Music, but we all know people need to place thing into “drawers”. In the end: you slap everyone’s face. Period!

Definitely a Hardcore band, no question. And I think that’s mostly due to our ethos and us as individuals being “HC Kids”, if you will.

“Atonement” came out in 2020; why haven’t we gotten anything new from you since then? Did the pandemic, and all its restrictions, “sabotage” your plans?

Simple answer: Covid-19. We live pretty spread out, which makes regular practices impossible. In addition, we want to play shows off the LP for a while, before we put out new stuff.

Your record came out when the pandemic was well on its “March for Power” (November, in Portugal, was massively f@cked due to Covid). Meaning you got it all prepared right before it blew, correct? Correct me if needed. Did you ever stop and think it would be better not to go ahead with the release of the album?

We really just got our shit together shortly before the pandemic, but the LP was being pressed and sold before Europe even really became aware, I think. I do not think we would have delayed it, though. 

And not going ahead with it might meant you would not get the opportunity to promote it properly. However, did you get the chance to do it? Get yourself a new album, start promoting that one, and bring it to Portugal.

Well, we are playing our first show since the pandemic this Saturday (mid May) in Wiesbaden with some other cool German bands, so that is a start. I think everyone needs some time for life to get back to whatever “normal” is and then we can think about and plan for more shows.

Do you have plans, or is there already new Music in the making?

No concrete plans yet, but I never stop writing stuff, ha-ha.

The German Hardcore scene is well known throughout the Globe. Does this put more weight on you, or do you just go about your thing, and do not care about it?

I do not know if I am as optimistic about that fact as you are, but I guess there has been more attention for what we do here. I do not think anyone feels pressure, though. It’s mostly about doing shit you like with some friends and seeing where that goes. Nevertheless, I am just super glad we got over the phase where every band from here tries to sound like No Warning (not to say No Warning isn’t great), to be honest. 

In what manner do you look at your Hardcore scene, local and national? Do you have the same perspective we have, the ones standing on the outside, that it is a strong one? And what about Mannheim… how is the Music scene?

I think there is different layers, or bubbles. There are some intersections, no doubt, but I feel like “our” bubble positions itself a little apart from others. Some people have called it elitist, which I understand, and also agree with, to a degree. I think that comes from the fact that we do not defer to the “old heads” in a way that some of them expect. Maybe also, because we go for a more rough and unpolished version of the whole thing. Mannheim, while I don’t live there anymore, is still going strong. Check out Placid if you haven’t and keep your eyes and ears peeled for Mortal Form. I am sure there’s more stuff in the works too. 

Did this pandemic, in any way, made you look at Life differently? I know this is a serious matter, and that this set of questions has been quite light, but this has to have had an impact on you, as a band and as musicians. How do imagine it will change your way of doing things, in case it does, obviously?

Personally: not really. My life did not change that much, as I am not used to going out regularly or seeing a ton of people every day. I was working as a translator before the pandemic, so I was used to working remotely. But I realize that a lot of people have been uprooted and had their lives turned upside down. The whole thing really shows what a scam capitalism is, but that’s something people with more knowledge and brains have already discussed, so I’m not going to get into it.

And what about Night Force?! Mate that is a stomping whirlpool of violence. Can I ask you just a little bit about it? I just found out about it during the course of prepping up this interview. German, Danish, Dutch?! Do we have to set up a new interview just to talk about this?

Night Force started as me writing and recording everything by myself, cause I wanted to learn how to do that. Right now, the situation is difficult, I’d say. It was never the most active band, so we’ll have to say if and in what shape it continues. I have plenty of songs written though, so it is just a matter of logistics now. 

Well, I will leave you in peace now. Bothered much, I guess. It was a pleasure! Hope we get to talk in the future, as I have a small project I want to jump into. Once again, thank you very much. Greeting from Portuguese shores. Rock on! 

Thanks for the interview! Shout outs to German bands, check out Phiz, Placid, Slon, Echo Chamber, FOD, Suspect, Tides Denied, Urinstein, Spirit Crusher, Mortal Form, Powerage, Mercy... hope to be back in Portugal soon to look at pretty shit and go on hikes!

Exposure Official Bandcamp

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