I first heard this band when they played in Varaždin about a month ago. When I heard their music, I immediately fell in love. It is melodic hardcore punk and it hits your heart and mind and puts smile  back on your face and reminds you why you love hardcore. They have a new album out and it was about time to talk with them for this webzine.

HI AND WELCOME TO MY WEBZINE. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE DEADENDS TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE READING THIS?

Hi and thanks for having us! Well, describing what we’re doing is always the hardest part for me – we’re often compared to bands like LEATHERFACE, KID DYNAMITE or LIFTIME and we really appreciate that, some said we’re walking in the footsteps of the ‘classic Gainsville Punkrock’, even though I don’t see much truth in that. I think our sound can be found somewhere in between and would best be described as emotional and melodic punkrock.

“THE ESSENCE OF EVERY SECOND” IS OUT FOR SOME TIME NOW. HOW IS THE FEEDBACK WITH THE ALBUM?

Pretty good so far. It’s our first album, we didn’t really expect anything of it, but there was that unbelievable moment in between the pressing of the vinyls and the actual release day when people – some of them I knew, some were complete strangers – started telling me that they’re already waiting for it and were excited to hear it. From what they’ve told me so far no one was disappointed, and I hope it stays that way.

DID YOU GUYS TRY ANYTHING NEW ON THE NEW ALBUM? DID YOU DO PHYSICAL COPIES OR ONLY DIGITAL? WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NEW AND OLDER MATERIAL?

We didn’t really try anything completely new, meaning that we never intended to completely reinvent our sound or make something very different from the ‘old stuff’, but in contrary to the recording sessions that we’ve had so far we were in no hurry but took our time to really work out stuff the way we wanted it. The entire album was recorded, mixed and mastered by our guitar player, and I whenever I’m listening to it I can hear how many hours and how much effort he put into it, so I guess the intensity of our work was definitely different to what we did so far.

We knew from the beginning that this would be our ‘first big thing’, therefore we wanted to do it properly, no matter if it would be released on CDs, Vinyls, Tapes or just online afterwards. But since we were lucky enough to find people that saw some potential in what we’re doing we’re really happy to have copies in all physical kinds now (CDs & Vinyls via Fond Of Life Records, Tapes via Turbo Tapes).

YOUR MUSIC AND LYRICS ARE SO HEARTFELT, MELODIC AND ENERGETIC. I CAN FIND MYSELF IN YOUR MUSIC AND LYRICS. IS THAT THE ESSENCE OF WHAT HARDCORE SHOULD BE?

Thank you, I’m honestly glad to hear that! Most of our lyrics deal with very specific situations, feelings or things we encountered in our lives, so it’s great to hear that others can identify with them as well. I can’t talk for everyone, but for us this passionate melodic kind of music offers the chance to express all of these things in a way we like it.

YOU TOURED A COUPLE OF TIMES. CAN YOU SHARE SOME EXCLUSIVE FUNNY MOMENT FROM YOUR GIGS OR SOMETHING THAT MADE YOU ANGRY?

We’re always having a great time together, but it might not fit the clishés of what people might think playing in a punkrock band is like. Because when other bands would tell you stories about how drunk they were last night and about all the crazy stuff that happened after they’ve lost their memory, our stories mostly contain of epic pokémon-battles on our gameboys. Although I do remember that one night in Czech where we slept in the promoters apartment and the camera set-up as well as the decoration of the bedroom were clear evidence that he’s usually shooting porn there…

HOW IS THE SCENE IN GRAZ? ANY GOOD BANDS? I THINK STRAFPLANET ARE FROM GRAZ. THEY PLAYED IN MY HOMETOWN A WHILE AGO. WHAT ARE THE NEWS CONCERNING LEGENDARY GIGPLACE SUB?

For a city the size of Graz, there’s an incredibly vivid and diverse scene, and our (how you said ‘legendary’) local venue Sub is a big reason for that. Despite some financial ups and downs and ongoing threats and attacks by neonazis it is still the cornerstone of our DIY-scene. STRAFPLANET is definitely one name to say, along with bands like REMEDY, CRUSH, RED GAZE, BARRIER REEF/THE GREAT, CIRCLE A or ANTIMANIFEST, just to name some of them.

HOW IS LIFE IN AUSTRIA IN GENERAL? I HEARD THAT RIGHT WING POLITICIANS ARE ON THE RISE RIGHT NOW. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION CONCERNING THE REFUGEE CRISIS?

Even though the rise of authoritarian tendencies and right wing assholes in politics can be observed not only in Europe, but around the world, it’s even more shocking to live in a country with a history like Austria and experience it on the brink of fascism again. And even though the ‘lesser evil’ won the recent presidential elections, we can’t ignore that 46% of the people living here voted for an openly racist and xenophobe demagogue with a well known neonazi history. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like everything is completely fucked here, but ideologies of discrimination and exclusion are definitely gaining more and more influence.

For the latter question: I neither think that there is a ‘refugee crisis’ going on, nor that anyone should judge about a situation where thousands of people are forced by religious fanatics to leave their country. It has always been a common narrative to blame foreigners or migrants for everything bad that’s going on in the world, and it always served the people mentioned above to spread their inhuman bullshit. The only crisis that is going on at the moment is one triggered by an capitalist system that relies on unequality.

YOU PLAY PUNK ROCK HOLIDAY THIS YEAR. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU? HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU PLAYED THERE FOR THE FIRST TIME?

It means a lot to us since we had the best time imaginable there two years ago! It is also really crazy since we only got confirmed a week ago: They were dealing with the cancellation of a band last Sunday and quickly needed a replace since they promised to release the full lineup in the evening. I woke up by the sound of my phone and saw with sleepy eyes that it was a Slovenian number. I was wide awake within seconds and we were confirmed to play at this wonderful festival merely five minutes later.

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE HARDCORE PUNK AND THE UNDERGROUND SCENE? WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIG YOU ATTENDED?

I started going at shows when I was 14 or 15, and ever since I always felt connected with this community of nice people. Afterwards I used to go to shows as often as I could (and were allowed to ;) ), started playing in bands , began putting on shows and somehow ended up where I am today. It’s hard for me to remember what my very first show was though, but it must have been either ANTIMANIAX, RED LIGHTS FLASH or RENTOKILL, so basically one of these Austrian bands that were huge back then and also extremely influential to everyone of us.

THANK YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW. FOR THE END, TYPICAL FANZINE QUESTION. NAME FIVE MUSIC ALBUMS THAT HAD IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE.

Thank you again for having us! Since we’ve just talked about how I got into the ‘scene’ and how it all began, I’d like to name same of the albums that were particularly influential in my early punkrock phase:

Against Me! – Reinventing Axl Rose

Antimaniax – I’m Without Sleep In This Desert Of Concrete

Choking Victim – No Gods, No Managers

The World Inferno Friendship Society – Red Eyed Soul

Strike Anywhere – Exit English