Meet "Shai Hulud"


Shai Hulud’s new CD, That Within Blood Ill-Tempered, hit stores May 20, and they’re finally getting the attention they deserve. They’ve been compared to … well, everybody, so we’ll save the explanations and just say that they rock. They’re on tour all the time, so watch your e-mail for your chance to table with them.

The members of Shai Hulud have a lot to say in their lyrics, and Geert Van der Velde, the band’s vocalist, has a lot to say about veganism and animal rights, so let’s get to it!

PETA2: Your lyrics are aggressive and dark, but at the same time, positive and sincere, which seems pretty hard to pull off. How does this reflect your outlook on the world?

Geert: Well, our latest record is probably the most pissed off and, at the same time, the most positive because we have a lot more uplifting lyrics on this one than we did on the last one. We mainly just draw on what we see around us and on interpersonal relationships—the way people communicate and talk to each other. We try to word our feelings into something poetic with the knowledge that we bring together.

PETA2: Something related to your outlook on life is your vegan lifestyle. Can you tell us how veganism and animal rights relate to your personal beliefs?

Geert: Well, I went vegan about seven years ago, when I was 17, while I was still going to high school. I heard of this band called Earth Crisis. They were very outspoken within the hardcore scene, and they brought information relating to animal rights to me through their music, and they explained what their reasons were for it. And it made sense to me, so I thought that there is no need for anyone—in the Western world especially, they can get anything they want—to continue eating animal products and making animals suffer. We don’t need to eat meat, and we don’t need to drink milk. It’s unnecessary to kill or use an animal in that sense, and it’s a very selfish thing to do. I also started reading an amazing book called Animal Liberation by Peter Singer, and that’s where I also started recognizing the ecological side of it. And when I thought about it—and about how we are wasting land to make animals produce our food—veganism even made more sense. And from the health point of view, a vegan diet, when properly done, is so much healthier than eating animals.

PETA2: That reminds me of the way that Dennis from The International Noise Conspiracy explained his interest in animal rights. He said that he went vegan in Sweden over ten years ago because he had the information and, even back then, it was pretty simple to do, so he just decided that supporting animal rights was the right thing to do. He was brought up in Europe, and you were raised there, too (in Holland). Do you feel that the European outlook on veganism and animal rights differs from the American perspective?

Geert: I don’t really know if there is much of a difference, because we’re all people with the same values, norms, and information at our disposal. Dennis’ opinion is probably set in the same roots that mine came from. I think he probably read a lot of the same literature that I did and must have made up his mind that it only makes sense that way. I think animal rights and activism are just as important in the U.S. The only thing is that it’s not always reflected in the U.S. legal system, whereas European countries are starting to address it more at the governmental level with political parties that are taking stances on issues like factory farming so that we can live a more enduring lifestyle, and veganism is a part of that move to work towards a better balance in society.

PETA2: So how do you assess what issues are worth supporting?

Geert: The most important thing is for people to be educated and make informed decisions. Animals are living, feeling beings who suffer and feel pain and emotions just like we can. We cannot just take what we want and oppress others just because we have the resources to do it. That’s why I like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—because they do speak for animals who cannot speak for themselves or defend themselves.

PETA2: We are working with bands like you guys, plus Snapcase, Boy Sets Fire, Most Precious Blood, The Disasters, Stretch Arm Strong, and many more to educate the younger generation about these issues and get them active. Why do you think so many of these bands are getting involved in the animal rights movement?

Geert: The scene has changed, and the style of music and the lyrics are a lot more personal, too. I wish bands would speak up more because I feel that hardcore and punk are idealistic forms of music, and not in a negative sense. We have a chance to express different viewpoints. I think being idealistic is a great thing because if we weren’t idealistic we couldn’t set any goals and if we didn’t do that then we wouldn’t be where we are today. I think a lot of kids and people in the hardcore scene are idealistic, and that is great. That’s why I feel the scene is compatible with messages like animal rights. Even though veganism seems like such a big step, it’s really not when you start to live more consciously. Hardcore music focuses on outside society and your place within that, just like being vegan puts your personal actions into that frame of reference.

PETA2: PETA2.com’s street team has been tabling at concerts, including some of Shai Halud’s, all over North America. How do you think that has been going?

Geert: Well, first off, not everyone in the band is vegan or vegetarian, but everyone respects the views 100 percent. The majority of the guys in Shai Hulud are vegan or vegetarian, and that is why we put out the literature—because we want people to make up their own minds. If you expose facts to people who are unaware, hopefully they will change their minds.

PETA2: Where do you want the band to go in the future? Would you like to stay within the hardcore scene or break into the mainstream?

Geert: To me the question of staying in the scene or breaking into a new audience is trivial. We are musicians in a band, and we want to make a living off of what we are doing. There’s nothing wrong with any artist trying to make a living off his art, as long as he’s not compromising what he wants to do. Shai Hulud has always stuck to that path. The only goal for us is to keep writing music our way and making a living. As far as realistic band goals, we are off our label after this CD, and we will, hopefully, get some offers from bigger labels after some hard work touring. Revelation Records is just a smaller medium-sized hardcore label with no interest in breaking into a larger audience, so we are hoping to find a label that can get us to that next level.

PETA2: You’re on tour all the time. Do you have any interesting stories from the road?

Geert: We were making an extremely long drive in our van and decided to pack six people into a hotel room just to save money, so we told the hotel that there were two of us, and snuck the rest in. We thought they figured it out, but we went in anyway. A little later, we got a call from the hotel people asking how many people were in the room. We told them that there were only two and hoped that would keep them at ease. Later, there was a knock at the door, and a police officer came in to tell us that we either had to leave or pay the extra money. He got all of our information because they suspected us of possession of drugs, which was funny because everyone in the band is pretty much straight-edge or doesn’t do anything, except for me since I drink on occasion. So he was asking all these questions about all kinds of stuff at, like, 5 a.m., and we were just trying to explain that we are in a band and don’t really make much money and wanted to get a quick night’s rest between our drive. Since we didn’t want to pay, we got kicked out. The cop, afterwards, was just laughing his ass off and waving.

PETA2: So you didn’t give the clerk or the cop any free merch?

Geert: Well, no. But in the past, we have had cops pull us over and ask about the band and ask for a CD. Actually, you know what? Once one of our band members was taken into custody because he was he was driving without a license because it was suspended. He was driving to work, so he was a bit screwed over and in a stupid situation. So he was pulled over and taken to jail, and he was stuck in there for a while. When he talked to the cop later about music and things like that, the officer was saying how he was into that kind of stuff, so our band member told him about the show we were playing the week after. So about a week later, this cop showed up at the show and moshed and rocked out with Shai Hulud!

PETA2: While you’ve been traveling on tour, have you found any great vegan restaurants or foods?

Geert: Well, I love eating and food and finding places with good vegan food, and some of the guys in the band come with me sometimes. I really like Soul Vegetarian all over the Midwest and South; Kate’s Joint, Red Bamboo, and Vegetarian Paradise in New York City; The Vegan Express in Los Angeles; and a ton of places in Philadelphia. I don’t have a favorite food—just anything vegan! It’s definitely not hard to be vegan on tour. If you’re willing to put one ounce of your energy into looking for food, it’s not a problem. And you would know because PETA2 people are all over the country, too. Anything from a fake meat sandwich to fake chicken fajitas to tofu and vegetable dishes are great.

PETA2: What do you think of the success of bands who came out of the underground hardcore and punk scene like Good Charlotte, The Ataris, A.F.I., New Found Glory, Hatebreed, Jimmy Eat World?

Geert: I think those are bands that deserve everything they get because they put in all the time and effort to make it happen. They write music that people can relate to. Hatebreed especially had no radio play but just toured their asses off from small clubs up to Ozzfest, so it’s well deserved. Bands like New Found Glory and Good Charlotte are bands we know, and they have something positive to say, so I think it’s awesome.

PETA2: Are there other bands you think are worth checking out?

Geert: This Day Forward, a melodic hardcore/punk band is a great bunch of guys who play awesome music, and a lot of their band members are vegan and vegetarian. Another band is Unearth from Massachusetts—they’re something like Hatebreed playing Iron Maiden riffs, that’s how I would describe it. Local bands are always great to support, too, but the two I mentioned are constantly touring.

PETA2: Anything else before we close?

Geert: Check out our Web site at hulud.com and our outside, fun, side-project band Zombie Apolcalypse at mortiviventi.com. And, of course, peta2.com and peta.org are important sites. Just, in general, educate your mind and learn more about vegetarianism and veganism. Make up your own mind and learn that it’s the right thing to do for you and your community.