Interview with Leftover Crack

Tell us a little about Choking Victim.

Sturg: Well, I had a band with Alec called No Commercial Value in High School and he quit to join a band called Agent 99, this is around 1992. When we tried to replace Alec on bass with our new guy Sascha the other singer was leaving NYC and the drummer wasn’t that great, so we took our two new songs and started C.V. with our drummer/friend John Dolan. He let me borrow the health department poster above the counter at the taco shop he worked at, and that’s how we got the name Choking Victim, from the first aid for the CHOKING VICTIM posters in every NYC restaurant.

How did you get the name Leftover Crack?

Sturg: We made it up because we though it was funny. Explain the metamorphosis from Choking Victim to Left0verCrack? Sturg: After about 7 months, 10 songs and 2 shows, John was getting restless and we had our friend Skwert living in the same squat that I did. During one practice in said squat (Popeye’s room on the 5th floor) Skwert was hanging out and listening to us. He seemed to know the songs, so without consulting us, John just handed Skwert the sticks in the middle of our practice. It’s funny, because for a long time I had the tape of that practice and the first side has john playing all the songs and the second has Skwert, I even think we have the dialogue of the trade-off. With Skwert drumming, things seemed to move much faster and we became a pretty tight 3 piece. Then Sascha was quitting and going to the West Coast, so Alec was back in the band. Then Shayne came back again for the final line-up, which included Ezra in the last few months of the band. We broke up the day we started recording and I did all of the guitars and vocals on the West Coast after the rest of the band recorded the bass and drums, which without Ezra, wouldn’t have happened, but there was something wrong with the recording of the guitar tracks that he did, so I redid all of them in L.A. Anyways, C.V. split because Skwert and I had personal and the clichéd “artistic” differences, and for the last year we were together I had been stockpiling every song that Skwert didn’t immediately like and I ended up with the songs for the Rock the 40oz.7″ and Mediocre Generica.

Are there any differences in the musical styling of Leftover Crack versus Choking Victim?

Sturg: Basically it was the same music that we put out with Choking Victim: Political lyrics, melodic music, punk ska-crossed metal.

 Give us a brief rundown of your current band mates.

Sturg: Brad Logan, guitar. He was in Los Angeles when I went to record the Leftover Crack 7″ and besides having known him from overseeing the Choking Victim record in New York, he knew drummers, including AWOL who was the first drummer in Suicidal Tendencies and was at that point the touring drummer for the Beastie Boys. AWOL actually flew from the Tibetan freedom concerts in Chicago and the next day he was in the studio practicing with us. I saw a film of the huge Tibetan freedom concert and noticed that he hadn’t even changed his clothes when he was playing with us, it must’ve been a really long day for him. Alec has always been our bass player and Ezra joined up after playing in another band with Skwert for a couple of years and now we have our original drummer Ara back in the band after 4 or 5 years. He plays drums for the Slackers as well.

Tell us a little about your new CD.

Sturg: First of all it’s not that new anymore, but it’s my favorite, it’s called “Fuck World Trade” and the songs are definitely more complexly written than the C.V. stuff and Mediocre Generica. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I’m not the only songwriter on the disc; it was more of a group effort than almost everything I’ve been involved with.

What’s your favorite song on it and why?

Sturg: My favorite song on the record is either “Soon We’ll be Dead” or “One Dead Cop”. The first because I can listen and think to myself, “if I died today, at least I helped make one beautiful song” and the second because I feel like I really got the way I think about police perfectly boiled down to two verses and a chorus–and the music fucking rocks too.

Name a few bands that have influenced your music.

Sturg: Reagan Youth, CRASS, Subhumans (U.K.) for the politics, the Beatles(for the melodies) and Jawbreaker and the gamut of crust-bands for the vocals.

How was your show at Tompkins Square Park last week?

Sturg: It was a good one; we played on August sixth with Witch Hunt, Deathmold, Disassociate, Planned Collapse, and Rabia. Right before that, you played a show in NJ?

Sturg: Yea, with Deathmold. Then we’re going to England later this month, and then we’re coming back in October to do Cracktoberfest, starting in the Northwest of America and going around back up through the south: California to Texas, back up through the Midwest, to NYC and Boston.

Tell us about the West Coast leg of your tour.

Sturg: We will be joined with Citizen Fish and Kylesa; Kylesa will be on the whole tour. Also, we have just finished recording our half of the split with citizen fish and we will be releasing a 7 with one song each for Halloween and a full length to be released in February on Fat Wreckchords. Are you hitting Philly?

Sturg: We have a lot of trouble in Philly getting shows. I’m not sure yet.

Do you have a guarantee?

 Sturg: We prefer a percentage at the door because we know that we draw in certain places, and usually clubs are keener to give a percentage than a guarantee. And if we know that if we do well in a certain town, we’re happier to be like: “give us 85 percent instead of 75 percent and a thousand dollars.” We’re happier to get a larger percentage and no guarantee at all because usually we do pretty well.

So when is Cracktoberfest starting?

Sturg: It starts the 25th of October in Salt Lake City and goes to Seattle and Portland, and then we go south. Then we go to Phoenix, Arizona with St Catherine’s, to Texas, and then I think Deathmold joins us, and we have the same bill back to NY, then to Boston. But I can’t really say if that’s all going to happen, because I don’t know who’s going to fall through.

How do you feel about the police state that is America right now–Big Brother with all the cameras everywhere…

Sturg: It’s really a police state. We’re in a fucking surveillance society where everything we do is watched and monitored. Everybody’s got a file on them that’s against the government, and until the bottom drops out it’s going to fucking get worse and worse. Society and crime is going to get worse and worse because the government cut welfare, they cut jobs— they cut everything. And when that happens, you create people that are going to commit crimes. And the more that happens, the more this country is going to become a police state because of the chaos created by criminals. You see I’m not a criminal, but I’m not a law-abiding citizen. At some point everybody’s going to take up their riches and go to another county because this one will be unfit for them. And in a way I think that their trying to destroy this country. I think that they’re trying to cater to the wealthy.

Do you see our country eventually turning into a THX 1138 (George Lucas’ student film), with a homogenized robotic society closely policed, with only 4 channels of TV completely controlled by the government?

Sturg: It’s already like that in the UK– four channels on TV, facial recognition technology, camera’s in neighborhoods with high crime, faces on file. Then it records only the criminals that they have on file because it recognizes their face. I think that that technology is already operational in the US, and that the U.S. government is quietly using it on us. I think that they already have the ears and eyes that hear and see a mile, and that they just don’t tell us about it because if we know about it…it’s just getting to a point where crime might be necessary in the society that we have today.

Do think it’s coming to where we should stand up and speak out?

Sturg: It’ll get to the point where the amount of people in jail will outnumber the people who are free. It’s already gotten to a point where neighbors are making shit up about people and sending them to jail, and by calling the police you are helping them jail people that might not deserve it. The problem is that people are so numbly subordinate to the police, and that they constantly accept, without question, what the police are doing. Their cooperation, the fact that they cooperate so much with them, is what’s ruining society. The more that people call the police and complain about dumb shit, the more police have to go out and investigate that complaint; this creates focus on crimes that don’t exist. For example: you’re music’s too loud, I smell weed, and I see people dancing. The police have to come out and investigate that complaint–so it’s more society’s fault for seeing the police and locking neighbors up as a solution.

What do you think would be a way to get out of this loop?

Sturg: I don’t think that there’s any solution–maybe a nuclear war, and there would be a few people left over to restart society. But I think that human nature is greedy, and I really don’t pretend to have solutions. We don’t pretend that we have a solution in Leftover Crack. We just talk about the problems, and anyone that pretends to a have a solution to the problem is very presumptuous; I think that they have a large ego to think that they can solve these problems. I wish someone would come along that could solve these problems, but I don’t see or hear anybody today.

How do you feel about people who are always criticizing Bush? Do you think that it’s unwarranted?

Sturg: Yeah, Bush is a fucking puppet. It is definitely warranted. Not that everyone knows why it’s warranted, but they know that it is for some reason or another. I can think of many reasons why.

So you’re saying, people are actually criticizing the puppeteers stringing Bush?

Sturg: Yeah, but I don’t think that a lot of people understand that. They don’t think that the puppeteers are the problem. They think that Bush is a problem, and that if they get a democrat in the office it’d be different. But it won’t be different.

Do you still do Choking Victim?

Sturg: Yeah, me and John Dolan and Sasha Dibrell. They started Choking Victim in 92 or 93. And we played a feel shows and then John left and we had another guy who played drums. And that’s the guy that I didn’t get along with, so I started Leftover Crack. Now I’m ready to start a new band. I don’t want it to be about money, and I understand that Leftover Crack makes a lot of money at shows. That’s cool, but we don’t do any benefits–maybe one of ten shows. I want to be in a band that does mostly benefit shows and free shows. So I’m saving my songs the same was I did in Choking Victim; I’m saving my songs for this new band–so that’s my plan. In early August, I went to the Dominican Republic with Choking Victim to do a benefit for this hospital for sick and dying people. We got back and recorded a split with Citizen Fish. I’ll be and doing all that touring I talked about earlier, with Leftover Crack.

Do you have a new name for your new band?

Sturg: Everyone wants to call it the Star Fucking Hipsters, but I used that in my other band for a month, so I’m not sure if I’m going to use that. Maybe the Crack City Allstars or the Crack Rocksteady Allstars. But the Star Fucking Hipsters is good. It’s pretty much going to be the same style of music which is “fuck world trade.” We may take it back to Choking Victim with the three chord songs which is ska punk. I’m not sure.

So what do you do for a living? Are you only in bands?

Sturg: If I wasn’t in bands, I’d just do what I did for twenty years which is eat out of the garbage, squat, ride freight trains, hitch hike, spare change, sleep under a bridge, sleep in a bush, etc. And not bathe the whole time.

Why do you choose that lifestyle?

Sturg: I don’t care about being dirty or all that.

Does it represent Anarchism?

Sturg: I just don’t want to be apart of the society that we live in. American society is bullshit. Every part of it is bullshit. I slip into it every once in a while–slip in and out. But I don’t give a fuck about being clean, washing my clothes, taking a bath. I don’t give a fuck about those three things. That shit doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t give a fuck about eating out of the garbage–It’s all free; I care about freedom. Above everything, besides being an Atheist, I’m an Autonomist–that’s the most important thing to me. I just want to be free to do what I want to do; I want other people to be free to do what they want to do. That’s all that it comes down to.

The reason that you say that American society is bullshit is because that they talk about freedom, but act in the complete antithesis of freedom… meaning society is hypocritical, and hypocrisy is bullshit?

Sturg: Exactly. Even the founding fathers didn’t found this country on freedom. They founded the fucking country on lies and greed. It was about taking the power away from the British and putting it in their own hands. They said: “We’re rich. We can control the native people and take their land. We know how to manipulate them. We’re all white. We own slaves.” I’ve never been a fan of fucking George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, because they’re all fucking liars, slave owners, and power mongers. So you said American society, but isn’t it everywhere—isn’t it a humanism by and large?

Sturg: Exactly, European society, Asian society, wherever you go, human nature is greedy; that’s all it comes down to. It doesn’t matter what country you go to. Around the world, the main factor is control–that greedy people strive for power, and it’s those power mongers that fuck people’s lives up. So it doesn’t matter if you’re in America or not, even though our country is probably the best example around the world of power and greed. But if you go to any country that’s powerful, it’s because the government is lying to the people and they’re sucking it in like its candy. Transcription by Hannah Wagner

Interview with Raised Fist

We sat down and talked with bass player Andreas ’Josse’ Johansson right a few minutes before their Italian show on October 24th. He told us about the band’s new album “Veil Of Ignorance”, the band’s message and a lot more.

Interview by Carlo, photos by Ulf B Jonsson.

You have not released new music since your 2006 album “Sound Of The Republic”: how long did it take to write the new songs?

Well we basically had some trouble in the band and a few line-up changes but we never stopped playing together and thinking about ideas for new songs. So I think it’s just a natural time for the band to find themselves together and record a new album in 2009.

Do you guys do any other things or jobs apart playing in raised fist ? Is Raised Fist your main occupation?

Yeah, we only play in Raised Fist, that’s our main occupation. We do not have regular day jobs out there.

On “Veil Of Ignorance” you can hear new elements since the metal and crossover of “Sound of the Republic”.

The new elements just came out naturally. We did not decide things before writing songs or going into the studio to record them. As I said, it was more of a natural process, we never plan anything.

How long did it take to write and record the new material?

It took about three years to write songs but then, when each member had enough ideas, we went into the studio and wrote the album in about a week and a half.

I read the recording sessions were so intense you ended up in hospital.

We wanted to play as good as we have ever before, so we worked hard. We found ourselves playing for long sessions instead of cutting to much while recording, brings out the best in us so we just kept going. And going…I found myself playing for up to eighteen hours a day for days at a time. Very soon my elbow was becoming very big, playing became impossible and I was forced to head to the hospital for meds to reduce the swelling. When you want things perfect, these things happen.

How was to work with Daniel Bergstrand once again. Did he help you develop the Raised Fist sound in any way? This is the fourth time in a row you work with him.

Working with Daniel is always great. We have a great relationship and he always has great ideas and suggestions on how to make things sound. We are always in touch with him and we already decided that we will work with him on our next record too.

Did he influence your sound in any way?

Daniel usually works with metal bands. He worked with the likes of In Flames and Meshuggah. I think he influences those bands much more, because he knows what metal bands want. With Raised Fist, it’s another kind of relationship. We have our own sound and he just gives us some hints, but never directed our sound in any direction that was not natural.

Some new songs are quite slow compared to your older stuff. Why is that? I think it took me about one full month to get into all of your new songs, while for your previous albums, it took me just one single listen.

Ah! That was not fully intended. But I know on “Veil of Ignorance” we have about seven tracks are that very straight and direct. The first time you listen to them, you are already into them. While for the other tunes, I think it takes many more listens. Each time I listen to some songs I stop and say “hey these elements are really cool, I did not remember playing them that way”. So there is a constant element of surprise and after getting deeper and deeper into them you fully get to know them well.

On the second track “They can’t keep us down” you say it’s not a matter of either punk or hardcore, or metal. So how would you define your music ? And the evolution of what you play?

The evolution just comes out alone. We never decide anything. We played more “hardcore” music on our previous albums and now some people say we are metal. I am not really into any kind of labelling what we do with Raised Fist: we don’t want to have any kind of limitation. I hope you can call our music “Raised Fist music”, that would be the greatest achievement for us.

What are the bands that influenced your sound? And your way of playing?

I like to think there is no band that influenced our sound, but I think I am a lot into Lamb Of God and Protest The Hero.

On your new songs you sing a lot about the evils of society. Do you consider yourself as a political band?

We, as individual, act responsibly to try and change our world, by casting our vote and being active in the political scene of our Country. But Raised Fist is not a political band. We of course have a message, and it’s about what’s going wrong in the world today; we try to have the listeners think about that. But we do not say things are like this, or things are like that, and if you don’t think like we do, you’re wrong. We just give a general view of the world we see.

You’re in the middle of your European tour. How’s the tour going so far?

Oh it’s going great. The crowd response has been amazing and we are very happy with all the places we played in.

You just toured Australia before Europe. Is there any difference?

The main difference is that in Austrlia we did a couple of shows that were not all ages shows. Only 18+ could come in. That kind of sucked. Next time we go to Australia we hope we can play only all ages show, as it’s happening right here in Europe.

Are you going to tour the United States too?

It’s quite difficult, because it costs a lot of money to us. Our new album has not been officially released there yet, even tough it’s available on iTunes. I think we might end up doing some shows in America, but we’ll have to see if we can afford it.

What’s your opinion on file sharing ? You come from Sweden, which is considered the home of European file sharing movement. As the pirate party, etc…

Personally I totally support it. I mean, we have to think that the CD, or the album as we intended once, is dead. People can download your music, check out your tunes at any moment. And I like that. The important thing is that the listen to Raised Fist music and then, if they come to our show, support the band by buying music on iTunes or buying stuff is all good. But the most important thing is seeing people listening to Raised Fist, no matter if they downloaded illegally our new album.

So how is your relationship with your record label?

That’s ok. We have a good relationship with the Burning Heart label and they always supported us.

Do you know some big bands lately have gone independent, by self producing their music. Do you think this might happen to Raised Fist, too?

Yeah, I mean, we have never talked about that but I can’t say we will never self produce our record and release it by ourselves. It might happen.

How is the music scene evolving in Sweden ? I read about new bands from ex singer of Refused Dennis Lyxzèn called AC4 and the new band formed by Rodrigo from Satanic Surfers Atlas Losing Grip.

The Sweden music scene has always been big but I do not follow it as well as I did in the past so I do not know those new bands very well. I know Dennis has always been into a ton of projects, tough.

What are you listening to right now?

Not very much, but I listen a lot to bands that do not follow the trends, as the two bands we’re touring with, Endwell from New York City and Deez Nuts from Australia. They’re really great guys and everybody should check them out.

Thanks for your time Josse, I hope you do have fun on stage tonight!

Thanks man, we will surely do.

Crucial links:

Official Raised Fist Myspace Page

“Friends And Traitors” HQ Video

Warp 11 Interview

This photo has not been touched up or adulterated in any way.

Although recovering from a long Tranya binge on Rigel IV, I managed to squeeze some answers out of Captain Karl (bass, vocals) of the rogue Starfleet Corps of Rockers infantry division, Warp 11. The band was hungover, so apparently only Karl had the power of speech. John Merlino (drums) gave up an answer under torture, however.

(For more on the band, check out TruePunk’s band profile of Warp 11 and album review of “I Don’t Want To Go To Heaven As Long As They Have Vulcans In Hell”)

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BIJHAN: Warp 11 is a nationally recognized name, and your music has been heard all over the world. So when does the whole country get to see the live experience? Or will we forever need to make pilgrimages to Sacramento to see your performances?

CAPTAIN KARL: We’ve talked about doing an Alpha Quadrant tour for some time now. I guess it just comes down to getting the timing right. We’re all pretty busy in our non-band related lives. Brian raises and sells pedigree tribbles, many of which have repeatedly won Best of Show. Kiki is busy teaching Klingon martial arts self-defense classes to exotic green Orion women. John is an alcoholic. I’m busy working on an actual holodeck which admittedly at this time is an old shed, a RealDoll I got on e-bay and some Pirates of the Caribbean costumes someone left at my last Halloween party. But hey… you gotta start somewhere.

BIJHAN: What was it like to have “Everything I Do I Do With William Shatner” played in front of the man as part of a tribute to his career?

CAPTAIN KARL: It was like having a quantum torpedo fired directly into the pleasure center of my brain. Now all I need to do is have kinky borg sex with Jeri Ryan (Using lots of my home homemade borg love attachments of course.) and I can die a happy man.

BIJHAN: Your promotional material usually depicts you wearing the 1960s Starfleet uniforms. Was the Original Series your favorite series?
CAPTAIN KARL: Most definitely. Though I do feel a certain bald affinity with Captain Picard, I have to go with the original series. Besides Shatner’s bald too; he just hides it under a toupee. The original series was all about kicking ass and taking names and getting laid. They didn’t need a holodeck to make interesting episodes. All they needed was Kirk, Spock, Bones and an alien girl in a bikini.

BIJHAN: You sometimes dress up in costumes other than Starfleet uniforms, though, such as the Borg or Cheron. What have been your favorite costumes to perform in?

CAPTAIN KARL: Our costumes are irrelevant. Only Kiki’s costumes matter. See the website photo section if you don’t believe me.

BIJHAN: What’s the creative process like for Warp 11? Does one member of the band come to the others with a fully-written song, or does it emerge from jamming, or what?

CAPTAIN KARL: Everybody writes and everyone has their own process when they do it. My writing style consists of loading up my DVD player with about 40 random Trek episodes and opening a bottle of Jim Beam. Then I sit in naked in my living room with a pencil and a pad of paper and press play. I don’t really remember much of what happens after that but the next morning I usually have about 6 or 7 songs written. (Strangely they never appear to be in my handwriting.)

BIJHAN: Fans have been eager to accept John “Number One” Merlino as a crew member. But it marked the departure of beloved Chief Medical Officer Jeff Hewitt. Jeff still has writing credits on your latest album “I Don’t Want To Go To Heaven As Long As They Have Vulcans In Hell”, though. So what’s the story? Why did Jeff leave and how did you find John?

CAPTAIN KARL: We wrote some of the songs before Jeff left and we always give credit where credit is due. As for why he left, I can assure you it was on good terms. Jeff dislocated a groin muscle whilst practicing for a Full-Contact Klingon Origami match. I always told him those things would be the end of him but he was obsessed. What can you do? After that he had a lot of issues playing the drums and graciously bowed out of the band. It was a sad day for all of us. Not really sure where we found John. I think he answered an ad or something. Or maybe he’s someone’s cousin. I don’t really remember.

BIJHAN: (To John Merlino specifically) What was it like to join a band that had already developed a dedicated following?

JOHN “NUMBER ONE” MERLINO: Warp 11 fans are the best. They buy us drinks whenever we ask and they treat me like the rock star that I always knew I was. What more could I ask for? Other than to stop bringing up that damned Jeff guy – FOR EXAMPLE!

BIJHAN: Some fans want to see you in the next J.J. Abrams Star Trek film. I must say I would be excited. Have you been approached? Even if you weren’t, what kind of roles would you want to play?

CAPTAIN KARL: Are you kidding? I’d give Jeff’s other groin muscle to be in the next film. If anyone reading this knows J.J. tell him were interested. As to what we’d play, two words — ”Red Shirts.”

BIJHAN: In your promotional video for “I Don’t Want To Go To Heaven As Long As They Have Vulcans In Hell” we can see what appear to be Enterprise badges circa 2266 tattooed on Captain Karl Miller’s chest along with his Vulcan companion. Who is the man in the Spock mask? And are those tattoos real?

CAPTAIN KARL: Yup. The tattoos are real. I always said that when this band made me my first million I would get the Starfleet logo tattooed on my chest and I am not one to break my word. As for the man in the Spock mask… It’s actually Leonard Nimoy! He owed me a favor. Don’t ask for the details.

BIJHAN: What’s next for Warp 11?

CAPTAIN KARL: Probably more songs about Star Trek, I imagine.

BIJHAN: Thank you very much for your time and answers! Live long and rock hard!

CAPTAIN KARL: Lick long and proper!

Interview with Control

CONTROL is a street punk band from Britain that has just released what I believe is the one of the greatest debut albums in their genre. It was my pleasure to catch up with singer/songwriter Iain….

I was lucky enough to hear the demos for this record over a year ago, in which time you have taken the songs to a whole new level. At what point did you realize you were onto something amazing?
Iain – Mighty praise indeed, thanks for your kind words. To be honest with you, we are just pleased that the album seems to be striking the right chords with people in the scene. We are all pretty happy with how it came out, but there are bits we would already change on it and that has to be healthy as it means we can use these ideas on the follow up.

The lyrics are quite obviously an attack on the British government and general national apathy. What made you feel so angry?
Iain – I am only writing about the things that are affecting our daily lives. I wouldn’t write so many songs about the current rabble in power, if they were not making such a mess of the country I live in. They are without doubt, the worst in living history and continue to dumbfound us with the endless conveyor belt of absolute nonsensical rules and decisions that they bring out. The real problem is these politicians do not live in the real world. They live in their country estates, behind barbed wire fences at the weekend and during the week they live in penthouse flats and never mix with the real people on the street. If they did, they may start realizing just what a mess they are making and perhaps then try do something about it.

You obviously have an axe to grind with ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair. Has Gordon Brown won you over?
Iain – Tony B Liar is a two faced, self-serving pig who had absolutely no interest in the people of the country he was in charge of. He is a career politician who signed the Human Rights Act, without discussing it with his cabinet or putting it to the public, to ensure that his wife, who was a leading Human Right Lawyer, became a multi millionaire. The Human Rights Acts, which should not really be allowed to be called that, is one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation in history. It was not written to help the poor or helpless, otherwise I would back it unequivocally, it was written to ensure fat cat lawyers made mountains of money by being able to manipulate the legal system. Gordon Brown is just as bad, he is officially the worst Chancellor in the UK’s history and is now the un-elected Prime Minister, as Tony B Liar left mid term as he realized he did not have a hope in hell of being re-elected and left everyone else to sort his mess out.

Will the songs translate well to an American audience?
Iain – The songs are full of passion, power, melody and hooks, and I am sure the Americans can translate the feelings in the songs to former rulers of your great country.

What has the reaction been to “Hooligan Rock ‘n’ Roll”?
Iain – It is only early days but in general the reviews have been awesome. I am told by several different internet punk stores that is has regularly topped their sales charts, which is amazing for a new band who has not had any advertising placed in any major publications. We played the famous Rebellion Festival this weekend, for the first time, and we completely sold out of all the CDs and merchandise we took with us. The response to the band was amazing; we were told by so many people that we were the highlight of the weekend. I do not think we were the best act, not by a mile as there were some legendary acts on the bill, including Agnostic Front, The Adicts, Exploited, Flogging Molly, H20 and many more, but it shows the impression that we made. It was better than we could ever have expected and to be honest, it makes us feel weird as those bands are light years better than us, so to be mentioned in the same breath as them is amazing.

It brings to mind bands like THE BUSINESS, COCKNEY REJECTS, THE BLITZ etc. How does it feel to be in such illustrious company?
Iain – It is an honor to be told we sound like any of these bands and one interesting thing is that the Business approached us asking if they could record one of our old songs, and it has now come out as a split single, with Control and The Business on People Like You Records!

Are you planning to come to the USA to promote the record?
Iain – Absolutely, we fully intend to come to the states and tour, the sooner the better, so hopefully if there is a decent interest in the band and the CD starts to sell we can start to approach some agents in the states. I love the USA, I really do, it is an amazing country, and can’t wait to come back over.

What label is it on over here? How can people get hold of it?
Iain – It is on Step1 Records and people in the States can get hold of it through Interpunk or Amazon as well as other smaller outlets. You can also get it from our site at www.controlrocknroll.com or through Step1 at www.step1records.com, but as we are in the UK, Interpunk or Amazon would probably be easiest. In November it is coming out on vinyl on Longshot Records, SF, too.

If you had to sum up your message in what statement, what would it be?
Iain – Be true to yourself and never be afraid to stand up for what you think is right.

Bernays Propaganda Interview

Luckily, the father of PR, Edward L. Bernays, is dead – otherwise, the United Nations Security Council, NATO, Mossad, Interpol, the Macedonian police, CNN and some other self-proclaimed leader, world’s cop or sleazy politician would condemn Bernays Propaganda as enemies of humanity, dangerous anarchists, atheists, feminists and terrorists. However, the only crime of guitarist Vasko Atanasoski, drummer Dzano Kuc, bassist Sasa Pavlovic and singer Kristina Gorovska, is that they’re protesting the consequences left behind by Sigmund Freud’s nephew and one of the most influental Americans of the 20th century. Bernays invented the most powerful of all weapons which kills painlessly, purposely incites hate and secretly leads humanity towards destruction. Manipulation, control, and seduction of the masses disgust Bernays Propaganda, so they’re inviting us to a politically engaged dance!Vasko and Dzano played in the cult HC thrashers FxPxOx until last year, and all four of them were or still are active in many other bands (Suns, SmartXBomb, This Home Is Prepared, Demoncrats, Choice of My Own, Backstab Warning, Boombyx, New Police State, Treta smena, tk.sk)

Music Reviews Happiness Machines Review Lyrics Happiness Machines Lyrics Links Bernays Propaganda on Myspace Moonlee Records Order Happiness Machines News On Tour

1) To start could you tell us a bit about your band and its members and past bands any of you have been in the past? Vasko:Here is what others say about us:Macedonian band BERNAYS PROPAGANDA could be shortly described as danceable newwave/post-punk band with charming and attractive female vocal. But don’t be misleaded, we are talking here about extremely political band influenced by a variety of bands, from Submission Hold over Fugazi all the way to the Gossip and Gang of Four. Firm drum beats accompanied with thick and groovy bass lines are the base upon which layers of funky and broken guitar chords are placed, and above all comes unique, strong and remarkable female voice as a cherry on the top. Were lunatic enthusiasm, bursting energy and catchy atmosphere already mentioned?(Maybe because BERNAYS PROPAGANDA is deeply rooted in d.i.y. hard core scene).I can just add that we are playing from 2007 under this name and we’ve released our debut album this year on Moonlee records. We’ve been part of the tones of hard core bands in the past and we are still part of hard core bands. 2) Your name comes from Edward Bernays correct? He was the writer of the book Propaganda and delt manipulation of public opinion and felt it was necessary in any form of democracy correct? What made you decide to name your band Bernays Propaganda and how does this influence your music? Vasko:Yeah,our name comes from Edward Bernays. He wrote book PROPAGANDA in 20’s and established new world order with that. Just see documentary movie CENTURY OF THE SELF and you will get the point. Here is what Wikipedia says about him: Edword Louis Bernays (November 22, 1891 – March 9, 1995) is considered one of the fathers of the field of public relations along with Ivy Lee. Combining the ideas of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter on crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, Bernays was one of the first to attempt to manipulate public opinion using the subconscious.He felt this manipulation was necessary in society, which he regarded as irrational and dangerous as a result of the ‘herd instinct’ that Trotter had described. Adam Curtis’s award-winning 2002 documentary for the BBC, The Century of the Self, pinpoints Bernays as the originator of modern public relations, and Bernays was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine. One of the most influential Americans of the 20-th century by LIFE and he is still much unknown. Does this fact supports the fact that politicians are just a puppets in someone’s hands, which makes us their third rate puppets? 3) With your last release “Happiness Machines” the album came with a rather in-depth booklet. Could you describe this to our readers? Tina:The booklet that we released with the album can be seen on the first sight, as a separate story , digression from the album and from the Edward Bernays’s concept of “Happiness machines”, but on the other hand is pretty much connected with the raised questions in some of the songs. “No translation”- the last song from the album is the real beginning of the booklet. Actually the real provocation and reason for writing an essay on the subject of Violence towards animals (and the question of human violence in general) were the billion stupid and unanswered questions that are thrown into the face of every person which decided to be vegetarian or vegan because of ethical reasons. And it’s a compilation of many references and strong arguments said by very clever people. In few words, it’s trying to investigate (or “fight” with) the most common alibi’s that are used by the people who are eating, torturing, molesting or killing animals. The two most popular arguments that are used when animals are being killed are: 1. the humans have this right because they are the homo sapiens (they are the intelligent creatures with a brain, mind, reason), and the second argument 2. The humans again have the right to kill the animal because they are on the top of the food chain (so now they are creatures that are following their natural instinct to kill the subordinate members of the “chain”). And this is 100% absurd situation– but anyway people are constantly and schizophrenically using the both arguments even they are contradictional (the one is excluding the other one), if we say that we torture the animal cause we’re driven by the Instinct to do that, than we’re admitting that we’re not driven by the Reason, and so on, and so on… million excuses to hide the everyday butchery…in the name of hedonism, greed, laziness. Whatever, we’ll think of some excuse – we are the brainiacs, not them. 4) Why did you decide to add this booklet with the albums release? Tina:Starting from the personal experience, when I’m listening to some record I always pay special attention on the lyrics and I’m extremely happy when I see that some band spent a minimal energy and effort to include the words in the artwork. Of course If I take a record from Beyonce I wouldn’t expect that J but when I listen some diy band, I am one of those naïve and romantic persons who believe that when you’re part of the diy anarchist scene, putting an accent on the ideological part of your music is not a stupid cliché obligation or duty, but it’s a personal need to express your vision. Having your own vision, that’s the point. That’s why we released a booklet with the album. It’s our imperfect perspective for the perfect reality. I’m constantly listening comments that 90% of the bands are repeating and copy/pasting the same lyrics, the same rhetoric, the same colors. But blank pages or being ignorant is not helping at all. If you think that it’s boring to sing again and again against corporations, governments, laws, anti-world, anti-everything, then – choose another way, be more creative. That’s even better! On the cover of our first EP we wrote: “Never forget to Ask. If you don’t ask that means that you know everything. And if you know everything, do not expect an answer from me. Cause this EP is not a therapy. I don’t believe in Happiness machines. And I don’t see the things clear neither.” – I think that’s the point on the end – We’re not the privileged ones, we don’t have the cure for depression, swine flu or aids, and we don’t have all the answers, we are just stubborn enough to ask. The Wo/Man who is curious is the opposite from the Edward’s yuppie humanity formula. That’s a good start. If we were on the same side with him, I would be worried. 5) In your press release and on your myspace it says you are from Macedonia which was a part of Yugoslav. I honestly can’t say I have ever heard of the country before hearing about you. What is the country like politically, and what is the punk movement like out there? Vasko: We are small and young country. We’ve been part of Yugoslavia from 1945 ‘till 1991(part of the communist system as well).In the last 18 years we are witnessing criminal privatization under the name of the transition to a capitalism. So, we are stuck between crazy system changes, non stabile social and political situation and crisis of identity. We can’t speak for punk movement. There are just dedicated individuals hitting their heads against the wall. But, feel free to write me if you need some contacts from this area. Somehow, foreign touring bands are playing here and there is small d.i.y network here. 6) Is your band ever considering visiting the United States for a tour, or have any of your past projects brought you over to the United States? Vasko: I’ve been 2 times denied with my old band FxPxOx. 7) I love hearing new obscure bands from Europe and other parts unknown. Are there any bands that you love and want to share with the rest of us to check out? Vasko: Sure. There are plenty of great bands. Check: Backstab Warning, Smack Attack, Junk Messiah, Final Approach, Aktivna Propaganda… 8) What are the social movements like in your part of the world and which ones do you as a band support and try to help influence as musicians? Vasko: There is bunch of stupid neo liberal or right wing/religious movements here but we prefer helping anarchist/feminist and other human rights movements. We support local animal rights movement aswell. 9) Any final comments you want to share with our readers? Vasko: Punk dies when someone is not thinking with it’s head. Thanx so much for your support. Feel free to contact us on: bpropaganda@freemail.com.mk

Interview with Propagandhi

As they gear up for the busiest touring period in their long career, Canadian protest-punk veterans Propagandhi break the drought with Supporting Caste, their first album in four years. Truepunk speaks with drummer Jordy Samolesky about playing Italian squats and standing up for the little people.

Interview with PROPAGANDHI – February 2009 By Steve Tauschke

Formed in 1986 by Samolesky and guitarist Chris Hannah, Propagandhi’s penchant for taking extended breaks has kept them off the live scene but has ironically given the band a longevity few acts dream of.

“We actually had a few periods where we’d take as much as two years off, either we’d stop touring to start writing a new album or something like that,” says Samolesky from Winnepeg of the band’s two decade tenure. “So we haven’t played ourselves out to the point where we’re completely sick of our material.

“More recently we added a new guitar player Beav (David ‘Space Beaver’ Guillas) to the band and kind of spent a good couple of seasons working him into the new stuff and writing new material. So we haven’t been too active on the road really.”

All that is about to change as Propagandhi, now a quartet, embark on a very busy 2009 to promote their newly released fifth album Supporting Caste, issued by their own imprint G7 Welcoming Committee, after four albums on Californian indie punk label Fat.

“I wouldn’t say it’s straight ahead in terms of our early stuff like our How To Clean… album, it’s definitely not like that,” offers Samolesky. “But I wouldn’t say it’s prog-rock or metal or anything like that. I think we have a lot of elements of our earlier stuff but it’s layered a little more effectively now.”

Recorded at the increasingly popular The Blasting Room studios in Colorado with engineer Jason Livermore and drummer-come-producer Bill Stevenson, formerly of Black Flag, Descendents and ALL, the album addresses themes close to the band members’ socially aware hearts.

“I guess one take on it could be – and it’s certainly open to interpretation – it’s kind of like we’re all this supporting caste for the powers that be who are the top of the caste in the caste system,” says Samolesky of the record’s title. “But it’s more of a global thing, it’s not really based on the Indian caste system.

“I think we have to realise what our different roles are in this sort of supporting caste system whether you’re at the bottom and you’re the most marginalized and powerless or completely exploited to death or if you’re in a relatively more privileged caste where you have the ability to do something to change things …

“We’re all written into this ongoing story and the history’s always written by the victors, the people at the top of the heap. But it’s all based on a false sense of reality.”

Supporting Caste may also be regarded as a continuum of the band’s long-held championing of grassroots, non-profit and community-minded initiatives that have seen them perform at atypical rock venues over the years for a variety of causes.

“We’re all more inspired by the independent side of music and if there are counter-cultural elements then I think we’re into some of those,” says Samolesky. “I think just being able to see different examples of independent and anti-authoritarian culture around the world has been really interesting. One thing comes to mind is playing in some of the squat scenes in Italy and until a number of years ago, in Germany as well, that was really inspiring.

“Some of the places we played were absolutely incredible and examples of forms of participatory democracy with people living an independent lifestyle in a really successful and interesting way. We’ve played factories and an armoury I believe it was from the 17th century.”

Interview with Fat Mike of NOFX

Fat Mike, the old punk who won’t lie down, tells Truepunk about success-hungry kids, the Scarface of Ecuador and NOFX’s new old-school album Coaster.

NOFX – May 2009 By Steve Tauschke

Hi Mike, are you guys still only touring about three or months a year these days?
“Yeah although it just so happens I went to Japan last week and I have to go to Europe tomorrow so I’m only home for seven days. But we rarely do that but there’s a couple of really big festivals we had to take so ..”

Japan – do you enjoy it there?
“It’s probably my favourite place in the whole world to go but not for normal reasons, my festish-y weird reasons. They’ve got some really weird creepy bars there that I love going to. There’s a place called Osaka Jail I like to frequent, your basic bar with a dominatrix and you get a good tie-up and some needles through your tits, that kind of thing.”

I imagine your new DVD Backstage Passport chronicles such footage from your travels.
”Yeah, there’s some footage from Osaka Jail in the DVD actually. It’s hard when you’re in places liken Singapore or Indonesia finding some creepy places because the countries is so creepy already that you really don’t want to find the underbelly. But we did, we went to our share of cool places. Once in Ecuador, which is a pretty poor country, we played a show at a country club and we asked ‘who’s the richest kid in town – let’s have a party at his house!’ So we had an after-party at his house and that was awesome. He was like the Scarface of Ecuador.”

You mentioned last time we spoke how CD piracy pretty much generated your tours of various third world countries given your albums aren’t officially available in these places.
”Right, it’s all word of mouth and kids giving it to each other somehow. But when we used to tour Europe in the 80s we didn’t have distribution there either and kids still knew who we were and knew our songs. Back then it was cassettes tapes from person to person and now it’s a lot easier.”

Having flogged yourself across US and Europe so many times, it must be fun to play to new audiences?
”It sounds stupid but it was really exciting and fun for us because it had been really long time since we got off an plane and were thrown into a culture that you’re like ‘what the fuck is going on here?’. We got off the plane in the Philippines and it was weird.”

You’ve sold six million albums without mainstream promotion and yet you advise young bands against pursuing the whole DIY thing these days. Why?
“I just don’t think kids these days have the stomach for it. The first six years we were touring no-one liked us and there was no hope of ever getting bigger. But it’s fine for us because we’re alcoholics and we really like being on the road. But kids today they want to make it, they don’t want to play in garages for six years like us with no hope. They want to get in a band and within two years they want to be big and if it doesn’t work out for them then they’ll start a new band. They’re worried about their career rather than having good times. You see them gang up on one band member for being too drunk one night. I’m like ‘are you fucking serious – this is rock n’ roll and it’s about fun and excess. Fuck moderation!’.”

Is that a generation Y instant gratification attitude?
“Absolutely! Instant gratification! So if you’re in band and get a major label opportunity then go for it because those labels will be going under within a year or two anyway. I mean with the record industry, our depression started four years ago.”

People are still buying records though.
“It’s not like it’s totally dried up. I don’t think people can just live off songs, a single here and a single there. People still for a long time will want an album. Bands put 12 or 15 songs on one album for a reason, because the songs belong together. It’s a point in your life that you can remember, an album you were listening to, whereas you don’t really remember just a song you were listening to.”

So how do you look back on your 90s albums such as Punk In Drublic?
”I think White Trash Two Heebs and A Bean is really our first listenable record, that I can listen to. And Punk In Drublic is our biggest but at the time it wasn’t a big deal at all, it wasn’t like that album came out and we got huge. It happened slowly and we’ve held onto it. And I’m just really stoked and flattered and couldn’t be happier that the attendance of NOFX shows hasn’t gone down at all.”

Not bad for a band that recently celebrated its 25th anniversary!
“Yeah it’s pretty crazy. We did I think make a really good move in the mid-90s when a lot of our friends were making videos and signing to majors but we thought ‘you know what – I’d rather have a long career. Let’s just go with what we do and play clubs and not fuck with success’.”

There’s nothing flashy about new album Coaster .. it has that consistency we’ve come to expect.
“I think we’ve made a record that I would have enjoyed when I was 14 more than any other record because it does kind of have an old school sound. NOFX started from hardcore and we got more melodic whereas with this record it’s more of a throwback to ‘81/82 LA punk rock. It’s slower and kind of more manic and the sound is a lot cleaner.”

Producer Bill Stevenson must have helped there?
“You can’t go wrong with Bill and Jason because they’ll give you the sound that they want and they know how to get it. You’re not going to get bad-sounding record with them. And Bill, he listens to old punk every day, he’s obsessed with it and if he’s not listening to it he’s talking about some old Black Flag story. He made us listen to this Suburban Lawns song every single day and we watched the video called I’m A Janitor and I can actually hear some of the influence of that song on our record.”

www.nofxofficialwebsite.com

www.myspace.com/nofx

Interview Funeral For A Friend

Last year saw some changes in the Funeral For A Friend camp. Having found a global audience early in its career, the now seven-year old Welsh quintet spent the middle part of this decade building an empire, successfully tackling the lucrative US and European markets, working with super-producers Gil Norton and Terry Date among others as well as playing all the right festivals – not to mention sharing a stage with their metal heroes Iron Maiden in 2005.

Interview Donots

Interview by Carlo (carlo@truepunk.com) with Ingo.

Hello there Ingo! How are you doing and how are the Donots guys doing in 2008?

Hi there, Carlo! Thanks for asking, we’re doing pretty good! Actually we’re the happiest people in the world at present since our headlining club tours in Europe and Japan were amazing and we’re more than proud about our new album “Coma Chameleon” which we have released through our own label Solitary Man Records. Things couldn’t be better… apart from the fact that we don’t get to sleep a lot recently…

Your new album “Coma Chameleon” has just come out. How do you feel about it and how do you consider it in the Donots history? Like, your best one, your more experimental one?

I guess everybody says their new album is the best achievement ever so I’ll have to go with that answer as well. But it is seriously the most important album of our career because all the changes that we have made, the re-invention of the Donots Sound and the decision to release it on our own. The album sort of marks a second spring for our band and paves the way for another 15 years of Donots, I’d say. We managed to surprise ourselves again and playing the new stuff live feels even better than playing the old stuff. We experimented a lot but I’d say the album is still very focused. Probably our most focused material ever.

The new songs – to me – sound a lot darker than your previous works. I remember on “Pocket Rock” I felt a lot of pop vibrations, on “Amplify The Good Times” a lot of pop sensibility, on “Got The Noise” a lot of rock anthems. Your evolution does not seem to stop. What’s up with “Coma Chameleon” ?

I agree with you. The new stuff sounds a bit more melancholic or perhaps more stripped down and rough. I think it’s most important for a band to evolve and re-invent themselves all the time. Stagnation was never our thing and the new album sort of sounds a lot more different than the old stuff. It’s still Donots but with a much more mature edge to it. We won’t be losing our pop roots, though. The pop melodies are still there but we have wrapped ‘em up in a different packaging…

You recorded the new album in two different studios, at the Tonstudio 45 and at the Principal Studios, where you recorded “Got The Noise”. How was the recording experience? Did you go to the studio with the songs done and ready to be recorded or did you spend some time to write new material in the studio?

The approach was completely different this time around. We went into the studio after throwing away some 50 demo songs we had recorded. We only used them as our daily inspiration and that was that. We have basically written every song on the album in the studio on the very day we have recorded them. Thus we maintained a lot of freshness and drive in the songs. In the morning we didn’t know what we would have taped in the evening which was a very exciting yet risky experience. But: Mission accomplished, band happy! ;-)

It’s the first time you have not worked with Fabio Trentini for you album: how did you decide to change producer and on a side note, is H-Blockx still around?

When we parted ways with Gun Records (our old label which is a division of BMG/Sony) we felt it was time for a complete change. We could have easily recorded “just another” Donots Album and Fabio was up to doing it but we agreed on looking for somebody else in order to re-invent our style a bit and get a different view on our music. Thus we hired Kurt Ebelhäuser and Vincent Sorg for the job. Kurt is the guitarist for German alternative rock icons “Blackmail”. He’s a good friend of our band but he always hated our albums. He thinks we’re a great band but he was very critical of the recorded songs. It was sort of seductive for us to get somebody involved who thinks our trademarks need another perspective. Together with Kurt we took a step back from our usual writing process and the things that Fabio had told us. This was the perfect moment to get Kurt for the job and reinvent the Donots. Vincent on the other hand is an old friend of the band who we wanted to get involved again. He recorded our 2nd DIY record “Tonight’s Karaoke-Contest Winners” in the middle of the 90s so we wanted him with us in order to sort of re-live the careless feeling of the early days of our band. Fabio is still one of our best friends and he was completely supportive of the idea to get another production team this time around. He doesn’t play in the H-Blockx anymore, though. Actually he will move back to lovely Italy this month and do some more production there. Oh, and just for the record: The H-Blockx are still around indeed.

For your new work, you left the major label that released most of your previous albums in Germany, Supersonic/Bmg and released the new material on your very own record label Solitary Man Records. What’s up with the do-it-yourself ethics versus the major label industry?

Basically speaking we were just discontent with the way that Gun Records represented us in the last couple of years. We weren’t on the same page anymore and I guess we never were completely. Thus we had our lawyer get us out of the deal which cost us some 2 years of legal issues that needed to be sorted out. When we were free people again in 2006 it felt really good to not be signed to a label at all and take on the new record all by ourselves. We got lots of offers from small to big labels but in the course of time it became more and more evident that at least for “Coma Chameleon” the best thing would be to release the record on our own label Solitary Man Records. We wanted complete control this time around, hired external people (good friends and family) for various jobs and took a chance on releasing the album DIY again, just like we did in the old days. I’m not dooming major companies here. It’s just that they’re having their common structures which make them less flexible when working bands. They make the same mistakes over and over again and are not really open to new approaches and platforms. With Solitary Man Records we’re capable of putting our own ideas into action straight away. We know how we want our band to be represented and since the label foundation in Japan 2005 we know a lot more about release structures. One can say we have made really good experiences with my label Solitary Man Records over there by releasing bands such as Dropkick Murphys, Beatsteaks, Boy Sets Fire, Toy Dolls, Dover and more…

Lately a lot of major bands started going d-i-y or at least releasing stuff by themselves with the help of the internet, as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and also Coldplay and The Offspring, who made their new single available for free. Is this the future of the music world? That the bands produce and release their stuff by themselves and the big labels are cut out?

I guess in the long run the music industry needs to open up to new ways of promoting the bands. At present everybody’s just desperate what with the illegal download rates and the ever shrinking market. The Radiohead model might not be the smartest move for smaller bands but it’s true – what the industry needs right now is movement. I’m sure that a lot of bigger bands will follow and separate themselves from those obsolete structures. It’s only just the beginning and I’m happy to see somebody makes a first move. If the bigger companies don’t follow and find new approaches of marketing then they’ll be facing problems. We felt that for a long time when being signed to Gun Records so we are truly glad we have made the indie decision and are now our own bosses and completely open to a brand new perspective on marketing.

I saw you did an amazing promotional job via your website, myspace and youtube: you did contests, added free streaming of your album, videos, podcasts and more. Was this a hard work and did you get some help from friends?

Thank you, Carlo! You have no idea how much we work at present. We are busy 24/7 but that’s something which we really enjoy doing since we do it for our own benefit and for the benefit of our fans. We have a couple of friends who help us out and do a great job on the internet and promo front but in the end it’s all us deciding and making up our minds. That’s exactly what I was talking about earlier – we are willing to try new structures even if that means working overtime and not knowing what might work and what not. It’s trial and error these days but we’re getting massive positive response on our work. I think it’s really important to offer the fans of our band something special. In the end it’s them who have supported us all along and we’re very grateful for that. And isn’t that the very point where to start your promotion?

I remember you guys put your song “Time’s Up” on the American compilation “Rock Against Bush Vol.2”. Did it help you in any way to reach new fans in the US? Did you get some love mails from some kids over there? Because I see on such sites as Last.fm you’re very played by non German people too.

We got a lot of feedback on the Rock Against Bush contribution which made us really happy. People all over the world seem to agree when it comes to the Bush adminstration and all the mistakes they have made. Actually I think it’s so weird that Bush got re-elected anyway since it feels like there’s not a single person on the planet who likes him. We got a lot of attention for “Time’s Up” from outside of our usual touring territories which is a nice side effect. But in this case that wasn’t our primary goal. We felt the need to contribute to the compilation because of the political background.

Speaking of your new songs, I see you used a lot of non conventional instruments as banjo, accordion and a brass section. How did you decide to experiment this and was it difficult to arrange those instruments for your rock anthems?

What we wanted this time around was to focus a lot more on the songs themselves and not the overall feel of the album. There was no such thing as a sound guideline for the album so we decided from song to song what we needed when it came to choosing the instruments. It was very interesting to experiment and get people involved who were capable of playing accordion, pedal steel guitar, banjo and the like. I think the additional instruments add a lot to the freshness and diversity of our new material. People seem to be really surprised to hear all the tiny experiments going on in the songs. And I personally think it was about time we got new instruments involved in the studio process. I can’t wait to start working on the next album already…

Some fans consider “Stop The Clocks” the best song you ever wrote: do you agree with that? If not, which is your favourite Donots song to play live?

It’s really crazy. We never got that much feedback for a single song in our career before. “Stop The Clocks” seems to be the essence of our band although it’s very different from the old stuff. People from various scenes and musical backgrounds can all agree on the song and we’re getting massive radio airplay for the song already. Even MTV seems to be completely blown away. I love performing the song since it’s a lot more laid back and singer/songwriter based than our previous stuff. Funny enough it was the hardest and fastest demo we have recorded in the last couple of years. My favourite Donots track at the moment is “Somewhere Someday”, though. Gotta love the country touch to it, y’all…

You released your record in Japan even before than in Germany and I saw you already toured Japan with a lot of sold out shows. This is not your first time in Japan but did your fans react to the new songs? Are your more popular in Japan than in Germany ?

I’d say you could compare our status in Japan and over here. The difference is that Japanese kids are paying much more attention to the bands they like and really go out and buy the records straight away (even if that means buying crazily expensive imports). That’s why we released the album in Japan officially first. We were really curious how the kids would like the new stuff and a lot of Japanese Fans think that we are sort of a brand new band by now but they’re liking the album a lot obviously. Actually the reactions for tracks like “Pick Up The Pieces”, “Stop The Clocks” and “New Hope For The Dead” are really overwhelming…

I am aware of at least three b-sides for your album: “Second Best”, “City Lights” and “Your Life Without You”. Are you ever going to release some cd-singles for the singles “Break My Stride” and “Stop The Clocks” with these b-sides as you did for your previous albums?

We might be putting out an EP to “Stop The Clocks” later this year. I guess we have recorded some 6 more tracks that haven’t found their way onto the album so please keep your eyes open for a possible release with those tracks. We haven’t decided when and how to do it but I really like those songs just as much so I’m dying to get them released somehow.

The video for your second single “Stop The Clocks” was just released, I saw it and it’s very nice with those puppy dogs. I have not understood the whole meaning anyway, so, is there one behind it? I think it’s your first video where you don’t see the band playing, except you and Guido.

Thanks! There’s no such thing as a real meaning to the video. We wanted something different this time around. Not the typical band performance video and a different look as well. So the video director Magnus from Sweden who already did “Break My Stride” came up with the crazy idea of having us be prison escapees carrying puppy dogs through the woods being chased by police dogs. Yup, it’s only Guido and me and a bunch of hired actors this time around. It was freezing cold when we shot the video in Stockholm but a big deal of fun. I’m crazy in love with dogs so this has been my favourite video shoot ever…

I saw you are touring a lot in the Countries where you released “Coma Chameleon”: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Will you release the album in the rest of Europe and will you tour in other places too? What are your future plans?

We have already made the album available digitally for the rest of the world but we are working on physical releases in other territories as well. And we will most definitely go out for a lot more of international touring later this year. Please hang in there, folks – the Donots are on the way! ;-) Oh, and just so you know: We are already very keen on going back into the studio and start working on the next record in the not so distant future. Next year we will celebrate our 15th band anniversary and that would be a great date for a new record. We shall see what happens…

Thanks so much for answering my questions. Good luck and keep on rocking!

Thank you so much for the interview, Carlo! You rule, mate. And everybody reading the interview – thank you for your attention and interest! We hope to see you on one of the upcoming shows and please do check out “Coma Chameleon”. You can get an impression and all the latest news on www.donots.com, www.solitarymanrecords.com and www.myspace.com/donots … See you soon!

Interview with The Vacancies

Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, The Vacancies music is honest, and their shows are non-stop high energy. From Billy Crooked’s rough-edge powerful vocals, to Michael James’ driving guitar, coupled with Bo’s powerful bass and Angelo Merendino’s relentless drumbeat, The Vacancies are a commanding force that’s here to last.

The Vacancies have been described as “exactly what the music industry is missing right now – raw, solid powerful bass lines and riffs combined with lyrics that are infectious, unpretentious and completely relatable.” The band’s influences range from The Ramones, The Clash, The Stooges and The Dead Boys to The Beatles. The Vacancies have shared stages with Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, The Buzzcocks, The Hives, Stiff Little Fingers, The Casualties, Rise Against, The Supersuckers, The Dwarves along with stops on The Warped Tour and this year’s Bamboozle Festival to name a few.

Their debut record “Gutpunch” was released on indie, Smog Veil Records. The band was recently signed by Joan Jett to Blackheart Records. The band was recently signed by Joan Jett to Blackheart Records. Joan and Kenny Laguna produced their new CD, A Beat Missing or a Silence Added.

How did you guys start out?

Billy: In 1998 Michael and I started out. We met though a mutual friend and started playing together. That was the early formation.

 The band we started originally, I wasn’t singer. I was playing guitar. We had a different singer and bass player and drummer. Eventually I started singing, and one thing let to another. So, the last couple years it’s been the four of us with Bo and Angelo, me and Michael. But that’s basically how it started with Michael and me meeting though a mutual friend and just gradually finding our sound and finding the right people.

How would you describe your sound?

Michael: We’re influenced by a lot of early CBGB punk rock bands. We get labeled a lot as a punk rock band, but we always call ourselves a rock band. So I think to call ourselves a punk rock band is wrong because it gives the wrong impression.

Billy: Well, we try not to label our selves as a certain sound. We listen to all kinds of music. Old rock and roll. The whole spectrum of rock and roll, great bands that have influenced us over the years. And I think it’s easy to just call us a punk band because we play songs that are faster and somewhat aggressive, but really we just try to play songs that we like. We try to write the best songs that we can. We don’t try to write a certain genre, or a certain band. We just really try, and I know we’re not “reinventing the wheel“, but we just try to do our own thing. Everybody borrows from influences from other bands, but we really try our hardest to just be our own sound. Which is sometimes harder. If you fit a certain style of music. Easier road. If you sound like a band that is already big, it’s a hell of a lot easier to create fan base or tour.

Michael: (laughs) So to answer the question: Greenday.

 Billy: No, everyone has a different opinion, which is what we like. And we’ll read a review on our album and one person will say that we sound like pistols, Ramones, and Black Flag. Then we’ll read another and it’ll list totally different bands. I guess there’s just a little bit of everything in there. It’s up-tempo and melodic. We definitely try to make a chorus that you can sing along to. Bo: It’s New York City Hardcore meets the Beach Boys. Tell us about your new album. It’s called A Beat Missing or a Silence Added. Kind of a long title, but whatever, we liked it. It’s on Blackheart Records. It’s produced by Joan Jett and Kenny Laguna. Kenny Laguna is Joan Jett’s long time producer/manager. He also runs Blackheart records and plays in the blackhearts. So they produced it. Fifteen songs and it was actually and album that we worked on for a few years. Our first record was on a smaller more independent label. It was like in 2002. So we had two or three years of just writing and lots of time to find the right label to put the record out.

Michael: And we had no money. So we just kept practicing and doing local shows. That’s when we did a show with Joan Jett and she asked after the show if she could put our next record out. And we were like, ‘yess!’ No questions asked. So that was it. We didn’t worry about contracts. It was all handshake deals. We just wanted to hang out with Joan Jett.

What was it like meeting Joan Jett.

Michael: It was pretty nerve racking. When you first meet her you have this idea of what she’s like. You know, rock star legendary and famous. And then when you meet she’s such a cool person. No ego. And she’s like a buddy now. She’ll call you up on the phone just to see how you’re doing. She just wants us to have fun. I said to her one day, ‘This record’s probably not going to sell anything.’ I feel bad that you’re paying for us to do this. And she said, ‘I don’t care. I just like you guys and want to see you get your name out there.’ So it was cool like that. When you made it, was it a pop, or was it gradual and a lot of work.

Billy: We had struggled for a long time. We had all been in bands before the Vacancies. Officially I think that we were the Vacancies in 2000. So we had been doing it for so long. But definitely when we hooked up with Blackhearts things got a lot better. They did a lot for us. With a couple of movies, and that failure to launch song coming out. We never dreamt that we would have a song in a movie let alone a sound track. We’ve been able to do some cool things and tour but it doesn’t feel like we’ve arrived yet. We’re still at a stage in our career where we’re just trying to get our sound out there.

Michael: We really feel lucky that all these things our happening to us. We’re really thankful. We would all do this whether anything happened or not. There hasn’t been a moment where we’re like, ‘finally we have arrived!’ (laughs). We all go home and we all work jobs. We don’t make money doing this. The moment when I will feel like I have arrived is when I don’t have to go and punch a clock when I go home. So I would say that I think that we’re still struggling towards that.

Billy: But a lot of cool things have happened in the past year and a half. With college radio and just being able to be out on the road. Things are definitely looking up. But we’ll just ride the wave until whatever.

Where’s your home base?

 Michael: We all live right outside of Cleveland. Angelo lives in Cleveland. So that’s basically our home base, Cleveland Ohio. I heard you’re writing a new album.

Billy: Well, we started writing right away, even before A Beat Missing came out. So we went in the studio and laid down a bunch of drum tracks and had a bunch of rhythm guitar stuff that we had done already. So a good chunk of it’s done, but we had to put a stop to it to come out on the road for five weeks. So as soon as we get back from this we’re going to try and bust ass to get it done. We’re saying maybe a fall release. So if that’s possible that’d be really cool. We’re really excited. We’re really happy with the material. We think that it’s going to be a strong album and are just really excited to get it out there.

What inspired your new album?

Billy: We’ve pushed ourselves with song writing. The sound is the same, but we’re definitely writing better songs. But as far as influences, it’s the same. Not a whole lots changed in the world since we were writing the last record, sadly. We’re still pissed off at shit (laughs). Same kind of topics.

Would you qualify it as an extension of your previous work?

Billy: It has a different vibe. It’s hard to say. We’re still writing and not sure what will end up on that record. But we have enough right now to put out a pretty solid album that we’d be proud of. As far as still be frustrated and just wanting people to get along it’s the same. But we touch some different topics. But still the same watching the news and getting mad.

Michael: We’ll do better.

Is there anything else you want to add?

Michael: Check our website. Thevacanciesmusic.com. Billy: Myspace.com/thevacancies and blackheart.com

The Vacancies are:

Billy Crooked –Vocals

Michael James – Guitar & Backing Vocals

Bo – Bass & Backing Vocals

Angelo Merendino – Drums

Interview transcription by Hannah Wagner

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