venerdì 30 settembre 2011

KYKLOOPPIEN SUKUPUUTTO interview 2005

Amazing traditional finnish  hc mixed with some weird and original parts. Not too into their later stuff, but the first eps rule. Interview conducted via email with guitarist Juhana and drummer Jonne on Sept. ’05 and originally featured in Perro Maldito#4


Perro: I know that recently your bass player Juha sadly passed away. If you think this is an appropriate space, feel free to write down some words to commemorate his memory. I read somewhere he was an original member of Tampere SS and many other bands.
KS: Thats very true, we lost our dear friend and great bass player Juha Hämäläinen almost a year ago. Our both EP's are from the last sessions played with him. He had been around from early ´80 and played in various bands like Tampere SS, Kuolleet Kukat, Two Witches, Life Is a Riot, Ärsyke and Silmäosasto. Some of the music can be heard here http://www.deepturtle.net/index1.html. He was also into photography and did document Tampere punks and squatting a lot, here you can find some pics on http://koivuluo.pp.fi/kaihi/.

Perro:  Since you are quite a young band, the best way to start this interview is with a brief history of the band.
KS: Our gruppo hails from Tampere, a town in the heart of Finland, but none of us was born here. We four guys started in the fall 2003, nearly two years ago. Jonne - tupatupadrums, Mika - vulcanovocal, Juhana - Guitarro and new member Antti on basso. The chaos we play is full of ruggedness, dangerous moments including disorder. The first demo tape, 9 songs was recorded in April 2004 before we had figured even a name for the band. The first gig was played in May 2004 in Tampere and since then we have approximately 30 gigs behind, including three brief tours. The first 7-inch ep "Kuuluuko Meidän Todella?" was released in winter 2005. The second EP "Helvetin Elementit", consisting of material recorded during the same session in October 2004, released this summer 2005, and later this year a split EP with the Danish group Death Token will be coming out. Spacca Tutto.

Perro: Quoting your words "the name of the group, which translates to "the Extinction of Cyclops", suggests destruction of bigotry". Could you explain this concept better? You even have a song about it.
KS: Cyclop is metaphor for narrowmindness which we all carry more or less, and in bigger scale it goes for politicians and our governments. Extinction stands for its destruction. Clear as fuck. The song "kyklooppien sukupuutto" tells more about these governing powers that still got a hold on us. Here is a translated lyric for it so you can see what I meant. We sing in our native language, as we wanna be part of culture where we live. Still keep up some local tradition before everything is westernized, but we translate our lyrics of course so people from different countries can get a hint what we're after. There is "one eye" also in cameras, and as we know it everything is on tape nowadays, so thats also one explain what the name is after.

EXTINCTION OF THE CYCLOPS
the hollowheads in charge, always take their own
ignore everything around and then swipe the rest
the army of the one-eyed keeping eyes on all corners
absolute self-seeking makes a start for the march towards the end
your words are stirring up panic-it's spreading like a plague
your vice is smugness, me, myself and I
infinite dimensions of the narrowminded governing our lives and theirs
if this globe is just one big eye, then i'm the trash on it's surface


Perro:  You are all around 30 years old. What keep you still involved in hardcore? Do you think that having other interests outside punk has helped it? What do you do in your daily life outside hardcore?
KS: Maybe we are into getting old not to growing up. I love music, I like to do things and I like it dirty... punk it be. Punk motivates me with it's grassroots traditions and D.I.Y. allows you create stuff that looks like you. In daily life I build ancient musical instruments, primitive noise you call it. Jonne goes to art school and is getting super busy and stressed there, gets occasionally involved in other kind of different projects relating to politics and art, recently one squatting project for example. Mika's getting tired in his "rat race work" - as he calls it - in a big warehouse. Antti just graduated from a sort of "nature business" school, being strongly into music and slackering, hah.

Perro:  Your sound is deeply rooted in the 80s' finnish hc scene but, also, it seems to me that you are not scared to mix it with more personal and innovative stuff…
KS: Weird and twisted? Sometimes weirdness is more fascinating than normality. We are not scared about different song structures, melodies like bird singing (?) nor manic speed. Usually Jonne comes with a good fill and we make riffs on that.--- Roots, we've no idea where people get this that we sound Finnish or eighties? OK, we are not that much into mixing in metal, so our sound is more like early ´80's HC, and yes we come straight outta dark, cold northern forests...Funny thing is that here people keep saying constantly that we sound more Italian or Dutch stuff than Finnish! So there you go!

Perro:  Traditional finnish bands like Riistetyt, Terveet Kadet, Appendix etc… have all that cold and depressed sound that have made finnish hc an institution. What do you think has made your bands so unique?
KS: Definitely melancholy, depression, homemade booze. Fights with bears, salmiakki and dark bread. From the very start of finnish pop music it has been strongly melancholy influenced, but in the some strange way it make you feel good. Also the pitch black winter maybe helps it. Then on the other hand in the older times, more or less every country had a unique sound! Swedes didn't sound like Norwegian, Brazilians didn't sound like Colombians. In these days there's just so much more interaction that the national, regional cultural differences have gotten weaker.

Perro:  What do you think about foreign bands like Laukaus or Kirottu (I'm not sure to have spelled them right) that now are imitating this kind of sound? Is it possible to do it outside Finland?
KS: Right spelled! Of course its possible to do it, just enough intent on and humor. Like we got here Forca Macabra playing Brazilian hc/thrash and Selfish more Japcore style sound, I think they manage to do it well also. However it can also be seen when the band is doing the thing seriously and when just playing with the idea, not putting enough effort on it.

Perro: Your lyrics are very political but, fortunately, very far from the classic hc stereotypes. What has inspired them?
KS: Well written text is always interesting to read, no matter if is it in punk lyrics or in newspaper or zine. We got same subjects to write as we live in a same globe, and usually you get so fucked up on the world today that it's enough. If you look how they tend to tear every old building down in this city, the concept is ready. You only need to write it down so that it sounds good. I think lyrics are important in the songs. I listen to vocals as one instrument among others, but I like to read what people got to say, what they are after. After reading those stereotypical punk lyrics for years or a decade or more, they just start to get seriously damn boring while at the same time you see there's so much more even in those things what to talk about, or just to pick some other topics you can invent, being at least as relevant and important to deal about, instead of repeating the entertainment style clichés over and over.

Perro: The artwork and packaging of both your EP's impressed me a lot since they are very well done and each one is very different from the other. Who did them? How's important for you the layout of a record?
KS: Covers are part of the package so it is very important. We are a band, making music but there are other elements part of the whole thing and they are all equal. We want to show our ideas with visual methods plus also make sure the whole outlook satisfies us and serves the purposes. For the 1st EP Juhana created the front cover, Jonne did the inside, sheet and the font. Then the covers for the second one are entirely Juhana's work. Still, we always discuss the ideas, sometimes even pretty intensively!

Perro: Let's talk about the so called "Finn edge". You guys have the fame of being all hard drinkers. Could you describe us some funny anecdotes you have lived in first person or saw at gigs. We want dectails!!!
KS: Lesson number one: Always keep a bottle near your mouth or even better, on your lips. There is nothing funny about it, it is a hard job. There is a hollow limit where you start to be nothing more than alcoholic. Finnish culture for a big part is a culture of alcoholism. I, Jonne, remember clearly when Juhana, I and a bunch of other friends were at K-Town festival in Copenhagen 2004. On Sunday morning, after 3 days serious drinking and craziness Juhana's girlfriend comes to ask "Have you seen Juhana today". He had been lost since evening before, but I was no in brilliant condition either. So, we went to this park to see the classic bike wars and there he comes in a while! Being woken up in hospital park by doctors on that morning he started to wonder and wander around... So this sir walks into the hospital building to ask where he and his material property, be glasses, bikecycle, backbag etc.might be. The staff tells he was brought there in the night, or to be exact in the morning, by ambulance, was placed in a section, from where he later escaped but just ended sleeping in that hospital park. From there Juhana goes to a police station to ask about his stuff and the cops make phonecalls to the hospital and tell he was found in the neighbourhood in a completely different direction where he should or even could have been... The search for the stuff made no result in the station either, but at least the cops drove Juhana around looking for his borrowed bicycle. --- So there you have a story, there are other weird experiences shared, but let'save them for the next time.

Perro: I know you are also doing a finnish written zine called the 82mm but I never seen a copy of it. What are your goals with it? Which other zines are a source of inspiration for you?
KS: Zines are simply great! Good reading and boring times. My zine 82MM is all written in Finnish so maybe thats why many people abroad don't know it. It contains travel stories ala. biketrip, photographing, graffiti and street art, columns or rants. Also bands interviewed. There ain't no great goal with it, as I don't believe I'm changing world with it, but maybe documenting this time from a personal level and giving my view on it.

Perro: What's your opinion about @zines? I'm definitely not against them but it's quite obvious that they are killing paper zines.
KS: WWW is good for keeping contacts, but I personally don't have interest to read shit from there. I like my shit on paper! You never can kill paper zines, believe me!

Perro:  Perro Maldito seems to be pretty popular in finland: during the last 4 years I spread more copies there than in my own country!! Do I have to move there or is simply that finnish are smarter and read more than the average italian?
KS: I think italians are too busy to watch mamma cook pasta, and meanwhile the Finns read your zine after a hard skiing session. Look south for mafia enforcement strategies? We're sure you would make your business run better, signore!

Perro: Each year we see a scaring increase of the number and the destructivity of natural disasters all around the world. Does earth finally rid itself of a scourge called mankind?
KS: For a long time already, especially since the start of modernisation and industrialisation we are having this view of the planet and life, including humans being no more than a technical resource. So, as long as this way we take, understand things it's impossible to make any radical, let's say real change, whatever it could be to save what is rest. Seems like the humankind needs to face really serious and dramatic catastrophes, that are just results of our acts to make even a hint clear how complex for example an ecosystem is, for those who are leading us to whom only existing issues are property issues. So as these property issues are as strong as they are, it seems that most people don't even care if the planet is dying, or if even ("even" for them!) the humankind is dying or not. To simplify just a bit, most people in the modern cultural around world are mainly interested in what and how much do they own, or do they at least have enough cheap gasoline for their cars to go work to take part in this senselessness. "Fuck the treehuggers, I'm a working man, goddammit!" Step by step we, the humans are anyway going forward as we can't stay on our places. And we have taken a road towards the end.

Perro: One of my other passion is cinema. What are your favourite movies? Could you suggest me some obscure and intelligent finnish movies worth to checkout?
KS: We don't watch so much films/movies... We are not the best persons to ask. We (Juhana & Jonne) like French language so thats why we like to see French movies in general also many Spanish, like Almodovar films and Mexican ones have spoken to us! Tarantino has done several great works for sure. Fargo from Cohen brothers is a definite classic! Those Dogma 95 films from Lars von Trier manage to grasp really essential sides of a human mind, recommandable stuff without a question!
From Finland you should check Aki Kaurismäki, he is worth to check out. Mikko Niskanen, Spede Pasanen are some oldschool heroes. Mikko Niskanen did a lot so called "daily life reality" movies in the 1960's and 1970's when there was a big change in the Finnish society structure, in a really big scale turning from agriculture to industrial city life which created a lot of misery, and he made a lot of movies concerning this issue from a personal viewpoint of the maincharacters.

Perro: What are the plans for the near and not so near future? New releases, tours ecc..???
KS: We got split EP coming with danish Death Token hopefully soon. Then all our recordings should be on discography up to date tape hopefully released in CCCP, Czech and Mexico. Some tours planned and booked, like Italy 27.10-7.11.2005. Then we have talked to do LP next and go to Australia, but you will hear about these in a future.

Perro: Thanks for your time Juhana, it's time to conclude this interview…
KS: Always remember to Porco Dio and Madonna, keep your lips tight and see you on tour! Hula hula! Kippis! And thanks for interview, your zine is good. This interview was deeply answered by Juhana and Jonne. You can take contact via our webpages www.kyklooppiensukupuutto.com.

sabato 24 settembre 2011

This is East Coast, not Perth

My infatuation for australian hc started back in '95 or '96 when I got a copy of the Warsore demo. More than 15 years later, I still own that tape and my knowledge/ collection of aussie hc has grown exponentially: Death Sentence, Civil Dissident, C.H.A.O.S., Rupture, WWXIV, Arm's Reach, Victims and so on became some of my fave bands. In 2006 I spent 6 months in Terra Nullius  and, while mainly doing some typical tourist stuff, I was able to witness  the local scene of that time in Melbourne and Perth directly. This meant seeing Straight Jacket Nation and Extortion on stage in their early days, when they were just local bands in one of the most isolated place on earth. I guess part of my love for aussie scene comes from the fact that is not over politicized and full of boring militant assholes like the european one. It's basically just a bunch of pissed off dudes (oops, I mean mates) who enjoy playing fast, loud and noisy music.  
Another thing that amazes me is that such a barely populated country keep unleashing an amazing band after another. Compared to our boot shaped penisula that has a population 3 times bigger than the aussie one (concentrated in a way smaller territory) but can barely produce a decent band a year, it's quite obvious that the rock music tradition is definitely stronger there (ACDC and Rose Tattoos anyone?).  Just look at these three great lps that came out from there this summer:
 The first one is the Kromosom "8 tracks" lp released by Hardcore Victim. Hyper distorted and raw hc/punk mayhem with lots of reverb on vox that's not too dissimilar from Disorder or Chaos UK. It's a bit different from the demo since now Yeap (ex Pisschrist) moved from bass to vocals and there were other line up changes. Their even more recent split with Isterismo is even better. Perhaps a bit hyped because of the pedigree of some members, but definitely a record worth checking out.
Deathcage from Sydney came back after 3 incredible eps with their debut full lenght "plague of the rats" on our own Agipunk. Burning Spirits hardcore with strong NWOBHM influences, especially in the guitars department. Half of the material are re-recorded versions of the best tunes out of the 7"s, the rest is new stuff. Cheesy artwork but I guess it works perfectly for this kind of stuff. In October they will tour Europe, don't miss them!
Last but definitely not least Teargas from Brisbane. My favorite of the bunch. They're doing the Burning Spirits thing too, but with a more straight forward approach. This lp is so good that if they had put the Judgement logo on the cover instead of the Teargas one, I would have taken it as a lost recording of that japanese 90s' institution without any doubt.  Again incredible artwork by Murdoch Stafford

venerdì 16 settembre 2011

GORE BEYOND NECROPSY interview 1998

From around 1995 to 1998 I used to do a 'zine called Relax with a mate. The layout is pretty embarrassing and  some questions are quite banal but I guess it's still an informative interview with one of the most sick band coming out of japan in the 90s. This interview was taken from the last issue that came out sometimes around 1998 and now scanned for your own pleasure...

lunedì 12 settembre 2011

WARSORE interview 2003


Probably my favourite grind band ever. Bassist Mark Harvey interviewed via email during Sept. '03 and originally published in Perro Maldito#3.

Perro: Around mid '95 Warsore starded to exist. You told me at first you weren't a serious band. How did the whole thing started to become serious?
Mark: W@rsore started as just crazy noise but still had the swedish HC influence and we had some different members......it was fun for a while then we got bored so we got better at playing our instruments ...and more serious about starting a real band because we wanted to play brutal fast music that would totally blow people away not just making noise and people would laugh at us!!! hahaha and they thought we were just crap!!!!! So we started to practice and write real songs .....we were listening to shit like Sore Throat and Arsedestroyer which was still noise but real songs......and i love stuff like 7MON and Anal Cunt!!!!

Perro: Warsore was a grind band with deep punk/hc roots but I've always got the impression that you were more popular in the gore/ metal side of the grindcore coin. How could you explain that? I mean, you were around when the whole powerviolence thing was big and grind was pretty popular in HC...
Mark: I think W@rsore was just too brutal for normal punx!!!and most gore/death heads didnt think that punx could be so brutal!!!!hahaha....we were always friends with and played shows with lotsa punx like Stand Against and Drunkard!!....But i think there is always too much emphasis on the catagories...people should be more open minded and not only listen to one "type" of music.....and if a band doesnt fit in any catagory -it sometimes gets labelled as something its not.......but i like the fact that different people can get into W@rsore...

Perro: Talking about your huge discography, which is, in your opinion, the best W. material and why? 
Mark: The W@rsore "Brutal Reprisal" 7" which has just been released is our most brutal release ever!!!! I think its gonna make your head fucking explode???!!!! It was our last ever recording in Oct 2000--it also had our new vocals Bo....maybe vocals are a bit different but still sounds brutal???

Perro: And the worst one?
Mark: Im not so sure about the W@rsore/Egrogsid split 7"--it is a really bad press--only 100 made on clear vinyl....sounds very bad and there is an echo after every song finishes but its still cool......
we relesed it ourselves on our own label called Violent Swing Records...it is now very hard to find!!!!

Perro: Warsore toured Singapore and Malaysia with Demisor and Japan with Gore Beyond Necropsy. Is there any funny or scary story? We want dectails!!!
Mark: We had the best fun touring with those bands..they were so much fun!!!! Demisor are really cool guys and just want to drink and hang out... Singapore has a really good grind/crust scene and they are kind of poor and they showed really great spirit!!!!!there were lots of great bands !!!
Demisor are fucking brutal band and there was supposed to be a W@rsore/Demisor split 7" but it never happened!!!
Japan is a fucking crazy place and GBN are totally fucking crazy guys!!!!...lots of drinking and soo much laughter you start to cry!!!hahaha...they just laugh all the time!!!!we stayed at their house and their mother cooks nice food for us and we get really drunk always!!!!they drove us around in their van and they always get lost!!!!haha its very funny! They showed us all around Japan to see the sights....we went to a Japanese theme park and it had a haunted hospital---that was crazy fun!!!!!!
and we got to play with lots of cool japanese bands!!!!...both of these tours would not have been possible if not for Demisor and GoreBeyondNecropsy--so huge thanks to them for everything they did for us!!!!!!

Perro: I remember you were planning a tour in europe around '00 and there was an upcoming full lenght album, too. Both never saw the light. Why?
Mark: We really wanted to come to Europe -- a guy in Germany i think made lots of promises -then nothing happened...the same guy also talked about doing the CD....i guess some things dont always work out the way you would like them too.....but i would have loved to come to Europe!!!!i think it was quite well known that we were supposed to come too and i just want people to know it wasnt our fault -we were trying really hard to organise it...and i was sad when it didnt happen.

Perro: All things come to an end: what made you decide to quit the band? 
Mark: First Den (vocals) got kicked out and we got new vocalist Bo-we played a few more shows and recorded the "Brutal Reprisal" 7" ...then Erik (drums) got married and moved to Japan (he also did all of W@rsore live sound and studio recordings)....and also Paul (guitar) got married and moved to US ...so i never wanted to quite the band--i was trying very hard to keep the band together and i was extremely pissed off when Erik and Paul moved away!!!!!!

Perro: What are now doing all the persons involved in the band? Is there someone still involved in the grind/hc scene?
Mark: Well...Erik and Paul are just living the married life i guess but they are still into grind/HC i think?...sometimes i do a noiseshitcore band called Faecal Fork.....really just a joke band and we just make fun of people and other noise bands!!!!!hahaha but its really crap sound --nothing like W@rsore!!!!!!we released demo #1,split tape w/ Sonic Disorder and split tape w/ Tapasya.....
and yeah i still really love the grind/HC scene althought its so hard to keep up with all the new bands these days...but i still love old HC/punk/grind/metal/thrash......and i spend most of time collecting rare records--anyone interested in trading please get in touch!!!! but i will be
fucking Hardcore until i die!!!!

Perro: When looking back at that period, do you have any regrets?
Mark: NO - I dont regret it at all...i only regret that W@rsore slit up....i had the best time of my life playing in W@rsore!!!!!...I never did it to get famous or make money-i did it because i loved doing it .....the feeling when your playing live is a fucking awesome rush for me....

Perro: When you started in the mid '90s the scene was pretty different: there wasn't internet and all the demo were on tape, not cdr. Do you think the whole thing is better now or back in the day?  
Mark: I guess im kinda stuck back in the old days...i’ve always loved demotapes and tape trading......but now for me is just not the same!~!!!but i think it is a much better way to get your music heard by lots of people- and of course its just the way of the future!!!!also i love videos and video trading and now everybody wants DVDs!!!!and i still think vinyl is better than CDS in my opinion!!!!.....but for sure the internet and emails is a much better way to keep in contact with friends than writing letters!!!!so i guess im just trying to keep the old spirit alive!!!!!!

Perro: Will you ever bring Warsore back to life if you'll have the possibility?
Mark: I would love to bring W@rsore back to life but maybe it will be impossble as other members have moved so far away......but i guess it still kinda feels like W@rsore is still alive because there is still some releases coming out!!!!!

Perro: Ok, it's time to conclude. Thanks for your time! Feel free to let us know something more about the upcoming stuff that's going to be released.
Mark: Watch out for the W@rsore "Brutal Reprisal" 7" and the "Reopened Wound" CD...and also there will be some W@rsore discography CDS too!!!! so people will finally be able to hear rare stuff like the W@Rsore/Egrogsid split 7"......I just wanna say horrendous mega ultra thanks to all friends-old and new for the friendship and support!!!!and also a huge thanks to you Rafael for asking W@rsore to do this cool interview-your interest is very much appreciated!!!!
keep the true HC/punk spirit alive!!!! be true to yourself and others in your scene-unite and do something positive!!!and fucking kill rip off bastards!!!!
I hope in Italy you will stay true fucking grindcore maniacs forever!!!! Stay drunk and bong on.....Cheers friends.....Mark

WARSORE DISCOGRAPHY:
-Warsore/Egrogsid split 7" ( Violent Swing Records .Australia. 100 made)
-Warsore "Open Wound" demotape ( Violent Swing Records. Australia )
-Warsore/Autoritar split 10" ( TVG Records .Germany )
-Warsore/Unholy Grave split 7" ( Mink Records.Japan )
-Warsore/Quill split tape ( Obliteration Records. Japan )
-Warsore/I.R.F. split 7" ( Nat Records. Japan )
-Warsore/Egrogsid split live tape ( Infernal Records.Japan )
-Warsore/Nee! split 7" (Mortville Records. US )
-Warsore/Gore Beyond Necropsy split 7" ( Sterilized Decay Records. UK )
-Warsore/Dysmorfic split tape ( Smell the Stench Tapes. Australia )
-Warsore/Head Trauma split tape ( Melophobia Tapes. US )
-Warsore "Collection" tape (Melophobia tapes. US )
-Warsore "Reopened Wound" CD (Vomit Noise Productions. US )
-Warsore "Brutal Reprisal" 7" (Pshychotherapy Records. Czech Rep. )


venerdì 9 settembre 2011

Since I'm not a millionaire...

..I'm glad that these have been repressed recently since OG copies are worth 2000+ €.

This is how a repress should be: a perfect reproduction of the original. Nothing should be changed. But if you're forced to do it, please avoid something unwatchable like the recent repress of the Negative Approach 7" that came out on Touch and Go Records last year. 
Records that I'd love to see back on print soon: both Razar eps, 4th International flexi 8", Deathside eps and lps, BSN eps, Cider 1st ep, Darvocets ep, Dust Noise eps etc...

giovedì 8 settembre 2011

CONFUSIONE interview 2002

  
The reincarnation of Negazione! Conducted via email with Alessandro and Bongi  and originally published in Perro Maldito#1

Perro: Well, let's start with the most banal question expressed in the most obvious way: since you are quite a young band, tell us something about the Confusione birth and history. (A=alessandro; B=bongi)
A- Ok, Confusione is not so young as it may seem, it was started in late ’94; in those days we were Diego (g), Matteo (v), Rodrigo (d) and me (b), then someone went and others came, I started to play drums and now we are: Diego (g), Bongi (v), Marco (b) and me (d). Marco is the freshest member: until the last summer, when the 7” came out, Dodo played with us (he’s on the recording too), then probably he lost interest in the whole thing and got sick of us! We’ve been in the deepest “underground” for many years: few gigs, few recordings and releases (1 demo and a 7” which never came out) and so on, we played above all for ourselves, for the sake of it, then times passed by, we grew up, got bored of things and with new energies, new heads and new members we got out of the “shell”, now we love hanging around and playing, meeting new people, new bands, knowing new places and realities.
B- The current line-up for me is improving: I have some different ideas of what playing this music (in some places rather than others…) means, that diverge from Marco’s point of view about the argument. Sometimes I ask myself if could be better to quit my involvement in the band, stop doing Confusione, I dunno…even because those divergences have a positive aspect too: I can reconsider better my own ideas and my own actions out of the boundaries of a musical gender and his stereotypes. We’re persons with different visions of the hardcore scene and attitude.

Perro: If I have to define your music I would say that is fastcore with a '80s italian HC influence and a very personal style. How would you describe it to the uninitiated?
A- Well, for us it’s hardcore, then it’s up to YOU to give your definitions, we don’t care too much. About the 80’s Italian hardcore influence I can say that some of us may have some records from those scenes but we never really listened to those bands so much to get such an influence as you and other say. We take inspirations from many bands, not just hc bands, but we don’t feel so close to anyone in particular.Anyway your definition seems to be one of the fittest, something similar can be found in many reviews….
B- I’m the one with the records of the 80’s. My favourites are Nabat and Nerorgasmo: in the golden age of Italian hardcore two of the most controversial bands. I don’t like definitions too much, but for me there’s no problem in the term “fastcore”…even if I think that Confusione is not only concerned in how fast we play our music.

Perro: Talking about the italian scene, what do you think about bands who just repeat again and again the classic 80s italian HC formula without adding nothing of new/personal? What's also your opinion about those who simply rip off popular yankee bands?
A- Basically I think here we can find the gap between expression and creation. Many bands keep on playing the same old things simply as a means to express feelings, thoughts, despair and so on and keep the focus on it more than on music itself, personally I think it’s always good but not so easy, I like even bands playing stuff someone else played 10 or more years ago but first of all I must feel sincerity coming out of their sounds and not third hand tunes: so something personal has been added. In many other bands I can find some kinda of “musical mind” who expresses his/her individuality playing and so rearranges everything heard before ‘cause nothing would exactly fit to what he/she has to say……nothing is completely new but we can make our own version of it. Then I know there are stupid wannabe trends in punkhc but they’re stupid wannabe trends and nothing more.
B- Revivals are boring and so stupid…we don’t play some old school tune added with modern arrangements and sounds…ok, maybe it seems this, but the riff-o-rama of Diego flows out from various sources and for me it’s fresh and original: not just an update or a deja-hearing nostalgic project.

Perro: If I understood well, your ep is born from a cooperation through various labels. How's born that collaboration? Is it hard to have three labels involved in releasing one 7"?
A- The cooperation was born ‘cause we need mainly help with distribution since it was our first experience and we didn’t feel so prepared to face it alone. So we get in touch with those two guys (MarcoZas! from Oulx and BorisHeroine from Forlì) and here two different stories must be told……With Marco we were friends already before, not so close but we met many times until we decided to do it together, then we started to keep in touch more often and our relation evolved, he got really involved in the thing and supported it with great rapture, he’s always interested in our projects and sometimes comes with us at gigs, festivals…a constructive experience and I’m sure more will come. BorisHeroine: we received a letter from him where he said he had heard our master and he was interested in coproducing it: we thought this was good. We met him once in Turin when we played with his band LaQuiete so we don’t know him very well but that’s the story: when we got the records, it was the mid of July, we sent all his copies to him through MilaAgipunk and we got the money in December when we played at Confino squat in Cesena, near his town; well, the problem is not delay, we know well that money and d.i.y. don’t walk hand in hand, but in those months, after a lot of mails and phone calls, we never heard anything from him but a confused story about missing money orders, furthermore never our 7” was mentioned among future or past Heroine productions anywhere (actually I haven’t take a look at his website in the last months) and never heard from him anymore. We just think all this is quite ambiguous and not much correct.
Maybe next time we’ll be wiser in choosing our partners (in crime); coproduction itself is not hard, hard to find are people really involved in doing the thing together, able to give/get trust, then thing could only get easier.

Perro: Your lyrics seems to me very personal and sometimes it's hard to understand what's the point. But generally they have a very negative/pessimistic attitude. Is pessimism the only way to be realistic in this world?
B- There’s no point to understand and they’re not only filled with negative thinking. States of mind, sensations: I just try to overthrow anxiety and sorrow.
A- I think negativity is deeply radicated, in different ways, within us all and obviously pessimism finds room in words/music coming from our inner-selves.Pessimism is not the only way, being realistic means first of all knowledge. Then pessimism or others may come…

Perro: About the phrase from the song "Indelebile": "go away because you hide me the sun!". Where have you taken it? If I remind well is from the greek philosopher Diogene...
B- I took this phrase from the writing on the guitar of a dear friend of mine. I dunno the font… maybe it’s not a quote taken from other sources, maybe it’s my friend’s thinking after reading some Stirner’s book and seeing some Magnum Ego Algida’s spot (the one with the hippies on it). The entire song is a dedication to him. “Indelebile” ends with a dawn and it’s the last song of the ep. The first song starts with a rude awakening in an early morning…the circle is complete.

Perro: If I'm not wrong the title of the ep is about the burning of the Torino's Dome. Why have you decided to use that events as a title? If I will burn S.Pietro will you use it as title of your next release?
A- Once for all: that’s not the title! it’s just the note of the print, it’s a part of it.It was just a church burning, from those flames someone got nothing but fear (cats, rats, bigots), someone felt it so romantic, for someone it was a dreadful icon burning, for someone just a great show. But Cristiano took from it the inspiration for some works and when we saw‘em while we were looking for the right artwork, this was the one! Sorry but on the cover of our next release we should put the burning of the A.S.T.(acciaierie speciali terni) steel-plant occurred on the 24th of march, during a 3days HC festival here in Turin (take note: A.S.T. is in front of Cascina squat where the night before played 10 bands from all over Italy!!) then we could use your portrait for cover (once you’ll get S. Pietro burnt down, sure!) but probably we won’t. We decided to quit with arsons.
B- A great show! Similar to our gigs… 

Perro: From some reviews I read it seems that your debut 7" has been received very well both from the local and overseas scene, did you expected such a good reaction with the first ep?
A- We didn’t know what to expect, in the first days probably we didn’t even care, we were so proud of it… after all these years this was exactly the idea we matured of what a Confusione record had to be and with the help of some people (first of all Cristiano and Tino V°piano) we got it. Then came the spreading season and with the help of Mighty MarcoZas! our record arrived quite far away all over the world. Many zines and labels spoke very kind words for our 7”, sometimes even too enthusiastically to me, often drawing us near to the Italian 80’s thrashcore bands although we never meant it (see answer #2); I got so influenced by those words that when I read on a Yacopsae t-shirt something like “death to the 80’s thrashcore hype” for a moment I felt hurt. Anyway that is great, alluring, supporting and helping with keeping it up, thank you all.
B- For me Yacopsae are right on this: it’s just an hype. Even if we are invited at the bandana thrashcore festival…but it’s not a movement, it’s a mode.

Perro: Who are the five person from italy/world that make you sick every time you see or read about them? 
B- If juventus was a basketball team the question would be solved.
A- They’re more than five and I try to see/hear/talk about them the lesser I can, it’s quite easy, problems rise when we have to deal face to face with sickening people everyday, that’s quite hard.

Perro: Plans for the future?
A- We have a “slow-motion” plan about a split 7” with a u.s. band (maybe Carcrash?) on George’s label, NuclearBBQ, from California and nothing more, we have new songs and we’re thinking to start recordings then……we hope to play a lot around and maybe in September we’ll be touring Germany and that would be great! Thanks Raffa, best luck to you and Perro Maldito. Cheers.

HATRED SURGE interview 2006


Great powerviolence outta texass. Conducted via mail with Alex Hughes  and originally published in Perro Maldito#5.
   
Perro: When I first heard your band name, I immediately thought “finally someone used it…”
Alex: My old roommate brought it up. I don’t even think I had another name picked out for it. That was the first thing he thought of and it sounded perfect. All the other good Napalm song titles had been used.

Perro: Ok, let’s start with a brief history of it….
Alex: While I was playing in Machine Gun Romantics, I was living in Denton, almost 300 miles from Houston. In the Denton/Dallas area, there aren’t a whole lot of people to play with and as far as what I like to play, it’s even harder to find people. I recorded 6 songs just for fun on a 4-track and brought it with me on the 1st MGR tour. After our Gilman show, I played it for Max in the car and he made a copy of it when we got back to his apartment. After tour he asked if I wanted to do a record and I of course took the offer. The rest is history.

Perro: Hatred Surge is basically a one man band where you play all the instruments. Since you also toured, it’s quite obvious that you were not forced to do everything alone due to a lack of good musicians but it’s more like a conscious decision. Please, explain…
Alex: My friend Beau had switched over to guitar in Insect Warfare and asked me to fill the bass duties on their tour. They asked if I’d like to do Hatred Surge with Beau and Frank of Insect Warfare for the tour since we were already doing a split together.

Perro: It frequently happens that people don’t take one man bands too seriously and usually they don’t pay them the same attention they usually do for “normal” bands. Does something like that ever happened to Hatred Surge? I mean, something like labels that refuse to pay attention to you due to it?
Alex: Luckily I haven’t had that problem. I could understand though, I’m not a fan of drum machines, I think that’s a big turn off.

Perro: What are the pros and the cons of being the only member of it? 
Alex: Pros: I’m in control of everything (art, music, etc.). I write what I like and don’t have to worry about another “member” not being into it or not being able to play what I write. Recording also goes faster despite what you might think.
Cons: Not being able to hear ideas in their full form. That’s about it.

Perro: The Despise You influence is unmistakable but I think there’s something more on it. How would you describe it? Which other bands could be considered influential?
Alex: I don’t know how exactly to nail it. Here are some records I like:
Discordance Axis – Jouhou
Pig Destroyer – Explosions In Ward 6
Napalm Death – From Enslavement…
Despise You – Stapled Shut split, Left Back, Let Down comp.
Disrupt – Unrest
Nasum – Inhale/Exhale
Infest – Mankind
Neanderthal – Rorschach split

Perro: Talking about Despise You, I was really impressed by guest vocalist Amy: she sounds like a Leticia clone!! Did you look for someone who sounded in that way or you’ve just been extremely lucky?
Alex: I’ve always liked guy/girl vocals. I asked my girlfriend if she’d be into recording some for the split w/ Insect Warfare and she was down. I didn’t tell her specifically what I was looking for, just yell into to the mic. It ended up being just what I wanted.

Perro: Your lyrics are very negative, short and straight to the point but sometimes they seem to be also a bit obscure so maybe people could misunderstand them. What is your wish to say through them?
Alex: I guess you’d have to be specific about which songs could be misleading or confusing. I write songs about people, things, and institutions I don’t like. Hopefully I’m not too cryptic.

Perro: During the last few years I noticed that heaps of cool grind, powerviolence and fastcore bands are coming out of Texas. What’s going on there that’s worth mentioning? Bands, labels, zines etc…
Alex: Gulf Coast:
Insect Warfare – traditional grind, ripping
50/50 – gore grind w/ lyrics about skating
Knuckle Scraper – Spazz worship, we already broke up
Lethal Enforcers – heavy power violence, lots of slow, chunky shit
Pretty Little Flower – almost 8 years of grinding, still raging

Labels:
Psycho Wolf – Josh from R.O.I., Gulf Coast Massacre Comp LP, putting out old Houston/Gulf Coast shit that ripped but didn’t see the light of day.
Dangerously Small – Our (my girlfriend, Amy and I) label, just put out the Mindless Mutant EP.

Austin:
Repercussions – fast, ripping hardcore w/ Shawn Cold Sweat, Stan Deathreat, Matt Army of Jesus, and Sissy Pedestrians
Army of Jesus – just broke up, hardcore w/ influences like Poison Idea, Reagan Youth, Rudimentary Peni (obviously), Void

Perro: Generally talking, it seems that in the whole USA a lot of extremely fast hardcore bands are forming here and there, and someone even talk about a coming back of powerviolence….
Alex: Max has put together an LP called “Trapped In A Scene” that documents this resurgence of “powerviolence”. I’ve always been a fan of that style, unfortunately some people can ruin it (i.e. girl pants, haircut, Locust fans). 
 Perro: Stereotypes describe Texas as a very conservative place with rednecks and rifles everywhere. But stereotypes are always far from reality. How’s the real Texas? I mean, I’ve heard that Austin is one of the most politically progressive cities in the US… 
Alex: The redneck stereotype comes from East Texas. Central Texas is where the major cities are located and it’s not as “uptight” (i.e. Austin). I actually think Florida and the Southeast is a lot shittier and more “redneck” than Texas if you can believe that.

 


Perro: On the other side, I know that sometimes terrible things happen to mexican immigrants that try to cross the border illegally…
Alex: The security on the border is getting tighter. It’s hard for people to understand that becoming “legal” is a long and tough process. With as much work as illegal immigrants do and have done for the U.S., I don’t know why it’s becoming such an issue now. Probably related to the whole “War on Terror” and exaggerated and inflated American pride that’s been more visible since ol’ Bushy has been in office.

Perro: If there was an hatred Surge movie, how would it be and who would direct it?
Alex: It’d be similar to Twin Peaks and of course David Lynch would direct it.

Perro: Plans for the future?
Alex: Split LP w/ The Endless Blockade on Schizophrenic Records should be out soon as well as the “Trapped In A Scene” comp. Working on a split 7” w/ In Disgust on Torture Garden Picture Company and possibly an EP on a new label from Houston.
I’m supposed to be heading to Europe in May 2007 with The Endless Blockade and Iron Lung. The line-up for that tour will be me on bass/vocals, Jensen from IL on drums, and Ben from EB on guitar.

Perro: Thanx a lot for your time, hope you enjoyed this interview. Feel free to conclude as you like!
Alex: Hopefully I’ll see you all soon! Thanks for the support, keep it angry!