Interview by Tub



Good Life Recordings. To me, there is no other hardcore label in Europe that has churned out so many quality records in so little time. They have put out releases from bands such as Morning Again, LIAR, 25Ta Life, Length of Time, As Friends Rust, Shai Hulud, Sportswear, Congress, the list goes on and on. Their catalogue exceeded the 50 mark just before the new year. That is fairly amazing considering Goodlife has only existed for going on 5 years. The fact is though, from all the releases, there has rarely ever been an average one. The owner, founder and king of Belgian hardcore, Mr Edward Verhaeghe, was kind enough to participate in an interview with a completely humble yours truly. Read, learn, be inspired and start a label foolz!


Edward firstly, Goodlife has been going for only 4 years, has it been a good four years?


Yes of course. We’re in our fifth year right now. Plus I took control of my own life – The ultimate punk thing to do!


Goodlife is possibly the largest and best known HC label in Europe, how do you feel about that!?


Dunno. I never cared about being the biggest. All I care about is surviving, having fun at what I do and maybe give a mate or three a real cool job as opposed to slaving our lives away in the factory.


How many people do you have working for Goodlife? Do they work full time?


There are four of us who work full time here.


You have many labels that work alongside Goodlife, such as Trustkill, or Eulogy. How did these relationships come about and is there a label you’d like to work with in the future?


Well all those labels needed help in Europe, so because those guys are my friends I helped them out. John from Eulogy was in Morning Again so that’s how I got to know him. Labels I’d like to work with? None really right now - I’m busy as it is!!!!


How did you get into hardcore all those years ago?


I got into HC ‘cause there was a pretty active scene in Belgium around 83-84. I went to a couple of shows, picked up a Minor Threat record and that was it basically… The lyrics and lifestyle projected appealed to me immensely so I got into it. I still love all the old bands; Crass, Dead Kennedys, Conflict, M.D.C., etc…


Have you ever worked for any other labels before setting up GL?


Yeah, together with a friend we ran two labels: Machination records And Warehouse records, which only released 7"s and band’s demos… But that was all out of our bedrooms just like Goodlife was at the beginning.


How is the hardcore scene for you at the moment?


It’s cool, very varied – There’s always room for improvement of course, but I like it as it is… In fact I LOVE IT …! Always have, always will.


Do you get a lot of demos of bands wanting to be on the label? – What do you look for in a prospective band?


Yeah dude, we get about ten freakin’ demo’s every day… It becomes hard after a while… Finding the time to listen to all of them. As far as working with bands, I’m looking for great music of course, combined with smart lyrics and a positive attitude.


Do you ever go on tour with Goodlife bands? – Do you enjoy sleeping in stinky vans?!!!


I have done my share of touring – I’ve even been the driver on a couple of tours… Right now I don’t have the time for it. My friend UXJX (bassist in LIAR) drove As Friends Rust on their last tour… Stinky vans… YAY !!!


The summerfest seems to be a big hit with kids from all around the globe, how long does it take you to prepare everything?


We usually start having meetings and start preparations about 6 months before each fest. We also have an annual new years eve fest so it pretty much means that we are busy all year!!!!!!!!!!


How do you feel about Hardcore and major labels? – Good or bad? – Is it breaking the scene open?, Or is it making money from a strong fan structure?

To be honest I don’t care about that. I do not like the way major’s operate but who am I to judge? I’d like to quote the mighty Carcass on this topic: ‘Your corporate rock really sucks’.


Are you vinyl collector/junkie? – If so, what’s your favourite record you own?


Yes of course I am. I buy records all the time. Favourite? Hmm, That would be hard… Probably my Chung King LP? HEHEHE, Or maybe rare Minor Threat and Uniform Choice/ Youth of Today 12"s.


What record in the entire world, regardless of time and space!, do you wish you had put out on GL?


Probably anything that sold over 10 million copies cause it would mean that I could employ about 40 kids permanently. Give their lives maybe a little more meaning… And maybe open up a theatre for touring bands to play at and stuff with all that money…


The Goodlife fanzine/magazine, "The Paper", gets a lot of readers and is a great zine. How did you become involved with this?

Dunno. Just thought about it and decided to do it you know. Too many people only talk about stuff. We try to approach stuff differently and go for it.


What future plans do you have for releases?, Any words of wisdom for everyone?

Future plans? Hopefully keep busy with HC for a long time and have fun at it… Releases… Tons of stuff as usual.

KIDS CAN WRITE FOR A FREE COPY OF THE PAPER AT:

GOODLIFE, PO BOX 114, 8500 KORTRIJK BELGIUM OR EMAIL US AT: fire@goodliferecordings.com or check all our latest news at www.goodliferecordings.com

Cheers Ed for the interview, keep Goodlife as a force to be reckoned with!