Kregel may have been around since 2016, and even earlier if you count the members’ earlier projects, but it was in 2020 that the group stood out, with four great EPs of Dutch-language wave, released on Wagonmaniac Music. In 2024, a follow-up to those EPs was released, with ‘#5’ and ‘#6’. Why we didn’t ask Kregel to play at a Dark Entries Night sooner? No idea, sometimes we’re just confused. Anyway: on Saturday January 18th, they’ll be on stage at the Kinky Star, and we managed to ask the group a few questions at the last minute.

Kregel was founded in 2016, with the intention of making Dutch-language new wave. Who would do such a thing, and why?

Kregel: Correction: kregel was founded to make Dutch-language music with two electric guitars, played by Sven and Jeroen, a (drum) computer and Bart as a singer. Only Bart had an idea about a direction: ‘DAF with guitars and in Flemish’. For Sven and Jeroen everything was fine: we would see what came of it. So there was no real preconceived plan, and we never used the word ‘new wave’ ourselves.

By the way: what is 'new wave'?

At that time we had already been playing together for about 7 years. First in the quintet feetfetish (where Bart played bass), and when we decided to continue without a drummer after two years and about ten drummers, it was under the name SALK. Helder, the singer at the time, left in 2015, and in 2016 we introduced kregel to the world with an untitled debut EP.

In the meantime, the idea of making alternative music in Dutch seems to be gaining a lot of followers, but it was still different in 2016. How did you view the decision to sing in Dutch at the time, and – if you agree with me that more and more songs are being sung in Dutch – what do you think is the reason for the increased popularity of Dutch lyrics?

It was clear to us from the start that we would use Dutch. Partly because Bart already sings in English in his other bands Vandal X and flipo mancini. He provides the majority of the lyrics, and the language difference alone ensures that different themes are automatically addressed.

Your lyrics are both absurd and committed, both slogan-like and artistic. How do you view the tension between seriousness and humor that I appreciate so much in your lyrics?

Kregel is not a comedy show. We are first and foremost a rock band, and we want to be taken seriously as such. We are all in our fifties, with a job, a family, and children to raise in a world where things aren’t exactly going smoothly... We’ve had our fantasies about the girls of our dreams by now, and we make songs about things that concern us: the refugee problem, the climate, relationships, power relations ...

The lyrics are concise, and so they have to be witty. That’s where humor comes in handy, although kregel humor usually has a very cynical side. Our wealth of proverbs – there’s that Dutch again! – also helps us to capture an image in a few words that is very understandable to the listener. ‘Few words, few chords, but all on target’, that’s what kregel means.

People often say about kregel that your music sounds very 80s. That’s what happens when you play new wave: the newness has worn off a bit. However, I recently read a comment from someone who wrote that new wave from 2024 sounds very different from new wave in 1982, and I think that person has a point. Do you have an opinion about this, and if so: what is it?

As I said: Kregel doesn’t have a master plan in which our sound is drawn up in advance. Bart and Jeroen were teenagers in the eighties, so the music from that period will have influenced us, but we didn’t live in secret seclusion in the decades after that either. Sven is ten years younger, and he also grew up with the blues. We throw all that together and the result is what we do, and what we will continue to do as long as we enjoy it. Whether that results in ‘new’ music, or music that sounds ‘dated’ (or is called that), doesn't really interest us. We are not going to bother chasing a ‘new wave sound’ anyway and believe that authenticity is more important than the label. Not to mention the definition of new wave ...

You come from Limburg, a region that was mainly known as an economically disadvantaged area in the 80s, symbolized by closing coal mines. This also involved some dark music from fellow countrymen such as Siglo XX and De Brassers, the latter of whom even sang in Dutch. Do you think this background has had an influence on the music you make?

We are from Borgloon in South Limburg, and think that we have had just as much to do with the mine closures and their consequences as someone from, say, East Flanders, so no.

In 2020, the digital label Wagonmaniac Music decided to release your first four EPs, each with four songs, in quick succession for your fourth anniversary: ‘#1’, ‘#2’, ‘#3’ and ‘#4’. This happened in the middle of a pandemic. How did you come to this, and what was the reaction to it?

The release of those first four EPs was the result of improvisation when The Virus was ruling the world ... Our plan was to release our collected work up to that point – 16 songs, the first four of which we had previously released on a self-released CD – on a double LP in the fall of 2020. Around the time that Alessio had finished the final mix, the pandemic broke out and turned everything upside down: everything was uncertain and performing – to recover part of the costs – was out of the question ...

We then emailed the concept of ‘4’ together: 4 EPs with 4 tracks each that would be released during 4 consecutive last-days-of-the-month (June-September) to celebrate the 4th anniversary ... Each of those EPs was also accompanied by two video clips, mostly of our own making, because one had to do something in the isolation of that time. That way, we thought, we could generate a bit more attention than by releasing everything on a double LP, which would be forgotten a month later.

Luc from Wagonmaniac was all for it, and for that we are eternally grateful.

What was the reaction? At that time, it was mainly a virtual thing, because we were not allowed outside ... The reactions on Facebook - we don't have any other social media - were all very positive, because of course we only preached to our own church.

Although you promised in 2020, after the first four EPs, that new work would follow soon, it was not until 2024 that new releases would be released, even though the songs for this were already recorded in 2022 and 2023. You chose to continue the method of 2020 and divide the songs over two EPs of four songs with the names ‘#5’ and ‘#6’. You were not in a hurry to release new work, were you?

Well, between dream and reality, you know ...

The point is that there is little point in being in a hurry, because the plans we make have to be constantly adjusted due to unforeseen circumstances. We remain amateurs, and do not want to force anything. We can only do the best we can. Especially since we have always done everything ourselves up until now: from the recordings in Bart’s own home studio, to the ‘artwork’ and everything that goes with it (except the mix and mastering).

With the titles ‘#1’, ‘#2’, ‘#3’, ‘#4’, ‘#5’ and ‘#6’, did you want to profit from obsessive-compulsive collectors, did you lack inspiration, or is there another reason for these names?

Well, by now we believe that an EP with four songs for kregel is the best possible way to release new work. We try to get together once a week, so the output is limited. We are also not top musicians who can write songs on demand, and our collective way of making songs is quite labor-intensive.

The # number has become a gimmick to indicate continuity on the one hand, while an EP is not really worth getting a ‘real title’ ... The songs themselves are more important than the collection they are part of.

The last two EPs are collected on a vinyl. I understand that you initially wanted to release the first four EPs physically, but that the pandemic made you decide not to do so. How do you view physical releases, which are a wonderful object, but which nowadays also carry some financial risks?

The first four were indeed only released online, except for that untitled debut EP, which of course became ‘#1’ in 2020.

We released the next two EPs together last year, and indeed had them pressed on an LP. We made a real ‘homemade fun package’ of it, with an inlay with the lyrics, a photo of the band, a sticker, and even a grumpy pick. As you say: a gadget for the fans – and for ourselves! – because the music online is completely free.

In the meantime, we have the next four tracks ready for ‘#7’. We are currently looking for a suitable studio and a suitable producer, because we want to see what added value a more professional recording can mean for our music. We have asked a few people, and are therefore in exciting anticipation ... For us, ‘#7’ cannot be recorded soon enough, but apparently everyone is always busybusybusy.

Bart, besides kregel, you have been the singer of Vandal X for almost thirty years now, which is the mirror image of kregel in almost every way. Vandal X plays noise rock, often without irony and in English. Although there are also similarities in the sloganesque and the socially critical. Do you feel a bit schizophrenic about playing in two such different bands, or do they complement each other for you?

Bart: I have indeed been playing in both Vandal X, and also in flipo mancini, for thirty years and, if I include the predecessors of kregel, also for more than sixteen years together with Sven and Jeroen. Precisely because they are such different bands with their own dynamics and working methods, I can keep them quite separate. But there are certainly also similarities. For example, the song ‘Databeheer’ by kregel is a reworking/translation of ‘Datacontrol’ by Hüsker Dü, and we also covered that same song with Vandal X in the early days. I have two lyric books with ideas, one in Dutch and one in English. Some ideas, which I think can be done in both languages, I just write down twice, then it is usable for all bands …

Kregel: Finally, kregel would like to thank Dark Entries for the invitation for Saturday, and you, Xavier, for this great conversation and the attention! We are really looking forward to Saturday, there in that beautiful Kinky Star, which has already welcomed us very warmly several times. It pleases these old guys that this place has existed for so long and continues to offer a stage to all those thousands of people who are passionately involved with live music, and the incredibly warm encounters that this brings with it every time.

Kregel: Facebook / listen to or download their music on Wagonmaniac Music

Kregel will play at a Dark Entries Night on January 18, 2024, together with Brussels postpunkers Factheory. After the performances, DJ Drexl and DJ Djuna Keen will take their place behind the turntables. See you at Kinky Star, Vlasmarkt 9 in Ghent, from 8pm onwards.