Category Archives: Interviews

Interviews, Various

(interview)SKYWALKER:”Growing up, there’s a lot of angst, disappointment and such. And all of a sudden, there’s a place where it’s not frowned upon but rather embraced.”

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I first heard Skywalker at the recent Tepih na paleti festival in Slovenia and I immediately loved their unique style of melodic hardcore punk. It was a perfect opportunity to talk with the guys for this webzine. Enjoy the interview!

YOU GUYS JUST RETURNED FROM YOUR FIRST GIG IN SLOVENIA AT TEPIH NA PALETI FEST. WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS FROM THAT GIG AND FROM THAT FESTIVAL?

It was fun! It’s always a challenge to go to a place you’ve never played before. You have no idea what to expect. There were some people who knew every word of every song, and that’s amazing. It’s an extra challenge to make a connection with people who speak zero English, haha. So that was there as well. And I also think Eastern Europe needs to cut down on the booze, man. Otherwise, it was nice.

YOU PLAY AN INTERESTING COMBINATION OF MODERN METALLIC HARDCORE MIXED WITH POP PUNK MELODIC SENSITIVITY WITH A GREAT INTERPLAY IN DUAL VOCALS, COURTESY OF YOUR VOCALIST AND GUITARIST. DO EMOTIONS LIE BEHIND THE MUSIC AND SHOULD THE EMOTIONS AND HEART BE IN EVERY HARDCORE BAND? DO YOU THINK THAT HEART IS WHAT KEEPS US GOING WITHIN THIS BELOVED GENRE?

I mean, of course hardcore is all about the emotion. I suppose that’s mainly what differs it from metal. It’s not about the skill, it’s the immediacy of the emotion. And that’s cool. But we’ve always been somewhere in the middle so I don’t know. I can’t see how you’d write songs that you don’t feel so yeah, the emotion you’re trying to convey is the at the core of music as a whole. Good music, that is.

AS I SAW COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE, YOUR LIVE SHOW IS VERY ENERGETIC. WHEN I WITNESS THAT AWESOME SHOW, I FEEL KINDA HARDCORE ENERGY, HARDCORE, HOW SHALL I PUT IT, FORCE, TO KEEP IT IN STAR WARS AREA HEHE! THAT FORCE MAKES GOOSEBUMPS ON MY SKIN AND KEEPS ME GOING THROUGH SHITTY SITUATIONS FOR DAYS, GIVES ME STRENGTH. DID YOU EVER FEEL SOMETHING SIMILAR?

Yeah, you’re totally right. That’s punk. I love the energy, there’s nothing between us. There’s the immediacy again, the shared passion. It’s great. Growing up, there’s a lot of angst, disappointment and such. And all of a sudden, there’s a place where it’s not frowned upon but rather embraced. I love this.

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I MUST ASK THIS, CONCERNING THE BAND NAME, ARE YOU GUYS STAR WARS FANS? I AM, I COLLECT THE BOOKS FROM EXPANDED UNIVERSE, ALL MOVIES, COMICS, TV CARTOON SERIES. I TALKED WITH YOUR BASS PLAYER AND HE LOVES HORROR AND ACTION MOVIES. WHAT ARE THE OTHER GUYS IN THE BAND INTERESTED IN?

Yeah man, that he does. Me and Damian (the drummer), we used to be like die hard SW fans. I’m not saying it’s still the same. But for instance, I adore the new films, I’m down with the whole saga. Tom is well into horror films, David likes good old scifi, like the original Alien movie and such, he also likes animated films, which is a pile of shit IMO. My number one thing is undoubtedly South Park!

YOUR SINGER MENTIONED HARDCORE FAMILY AT THE GIG IN SLOVENIA BETWEEN THE SONGS? DO YOU GUYS BELIEVE IN SUCH HARDCORE MYTHIC ALMOST HOLY GRAILS AS WORLDWIDE UNITY, SCENE SOLIDARITY AND BROTHER/SISTERHOOD? I STILL DO, THOUGH I AM ALMOST 41 YEARS OLD NOW AND AM IN THIS SCENE FOR 25 YEARS NOW.

Well, I’m gonna have to correct you on this one. I mentioned family as in we all get together at a gig to share this amazing thing called music together as a family. I mean, I think of this as a punk/metal version of a Sunday roast. When it comes to the hardcore family, I don’t know. A lot is being said and sung of it, but I fail to see as much of it as I’d like to. I’ve recently read a Tweet about how hardcore bands sing about not judging themselves for past mistakes but calling out other people precisely on those big time. Frankly, there’s a load of pretence and hypocrisy. But yeah, heavy gigs are unlike anything else. The bond is there but I’m skeptical as to whether it’s hardcore-exclusive. I’m a major fan of metalcore, and I feel it there massively.

DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR BAND AS A POLITICAL BAND? HOW IS THE SITUATION IN CZECH AND EUROPE FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW? I PERSONALLY THINK THAT IT STARTED TO STINK TOO MUCH OF 1930-S AND THE RISE OF A MAN CALLED HITLER AND HIS COHORTS.

Nope, not a political band like Propagandhi or Bad Religion. We’re socially aware, for sure, though. What we share is music in the first place. But surely that takes you a step further inevitably. You want everyone to have a good time. Not just at the gig. I intend to make you feel like you’re not alone in your struggle. I’m there with you man. And that’s a community which will prove to be a thorn in the eyes of the establishment cause it’s a big “fuck you, we don’t need you”. And there you go, I’m already political, and I just wanna write songs. I mean punk does mix with politics, and if you disagree, listen to NOFX and stand corrected. The establishments in Europe has put all of their chips on made up scares, but we know better. Big up to supporters of liberal democracies, big respect to true anarchists, and to those who generally wanna have a discussion. Disagreement is an opportunity to learn from each other. I’m more willing to speak to a well-educated and decent right winger/libertarian than a dogmatic Communist, to be fair, even though I’m as left wing as can be.

YOU ARE FROM PRAGUE, MAGIC AND WONDERFUL CITY. HOW IS THE SCENE THERE, DO YOU HELP AND COOPERATE A LOT WITH OTHER CZECH BANDS? IS THERE A LOT OF ARGUING AND BICKERING IN THE CZECH SCENE OR IS IT ALL FRIENDLY AND GREAT?

There’s LOADS, and we’re an easy target: the most loved and hated. We’re the only modern hardcore/metalcore band that has made it out of CZ. We have been arrogant and proud, that’s a fact. But we learn and grow. And we’ve always supported the scene, taking bands on gigs and tours, Damian has been a major modern alternative music producer for years. So don’t give me that self-centered bull shit, haha. We’re not a Czech band, though. We’re a band, we tour, we’re people, we represent music. Fuck borders man, seriously.

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YOU RELEASED A COUPLE OF VIDEOS. DO YOU BELIEVE IN DIY ETHICS AS A BAND? DO YOU HAVE A STRONG WORK ETHIC IN THE BAND? ARE YOU A DEMOCRACY OR IS THERE A BAND MEMBER WHO IS NOMINALLY THE BOSS IN THE BAND?

I believe that each member is assigned a role, or grows into it, and then you do it. I believe a band is based on a necessity to express yourself, and that mustn’t change. That being said, you need to run it as a business, evaluate assets, risks, investments, you need to take good care of your image and center the product on a market. Work fucking hard, we work all the time, and our girlfriends hate it. We’re respectful but unapologetic. We do have a manager, though, we work with sponsors, producers etc. I prefer do it together. But man, no one’s gonna write that song for you. And if you can’t write it yourself, perhaps you wanna leave punk? Hahaha.

DID YOU PLAY WITH SOME CROATIAN BAND? DO YOU GUYS GO ON VACATION TO CROATIA LIKE SO MANY OF PEOPLE FROM CZECH REPUBLIC DO?

Not sure and nope. I’d love to learn more about Croatian punk and metal! I’ve been to a resort once, for like an hour. I couldn’t ruin my vacation by hanging out with Czechs man, haha! In any case, we generally don’t do vacations, we tour.

THAT IS IT FOR THE FIRST TIME, FOR THE END, TYPICAL ZINE QUESTION, WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING FOR SKYWALKER?

We’re in the middle of writing a full-length record. We’ve just announced a tour with the American band Beartooth, which is cool. We’ll be well active, trust me. There’s no stopping us. Come join the party, we have all the love for you guys.

https://www.facebook.com/skywalkerhc/

 

 

 

 

 

Interviews, Various

(interview)The Hellfreaks:”For us it is and has always been very important to do our best, to observe, to rethink and to learn.”

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Hungarian legends The Hellfreaks came to my attention about 7 or 8 years ago when they played Trash & Burn festival and they were great. They changed their style and their lineup a bit over the years but remained one of the most hard working and great European bands. I didn´t miss the opportunity to ask the band couple of questions for this webzine. Read the interview!

1.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE HELLFREAKS TO THE READERS OF THIS WEBZINE WHO HADN´T HEARD FOR YOU?

We are The Hellfreaks, a 4-piece punk-rock band from Hungary, Budapest, which is quite in the middle of nowhere in the international rock world. But somehow,  with a bit of luck and hell lot of work we managed to play way more shows over the border than in Hungary. Since the foundation in 2009 we have played over 200 gigs across Europe and also made it over the big pond and toured in the US.
We play loud & fast modern punk rock with a very unique female voice on the mic, which is way more than just-another-riot-band. We are definitely the kind of sound you can love or you can hate, but nothing in between.

2.YOU´VE COME A LONG WAY FROM THE BEGINNINGS OF THE BAND, ALMOST TEN YEARS IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN, ABANDONING YOUR EARLIER PSYCHOBILLY STYLE FOR MORE PUNKROCK MUSIC AND DARKER ATTITUDE. DO YOU THINK THAT YOURE NOW AT YOUR CREATIVE PEAK?

That would be devastating! No, we don’t think that, as this would mean that we reached our personal highest level and the road would go down from this point. But for sure that’s not the situation. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any sense to continue – or why would you spend your time with something that can’t get better, that can’t develop?
For us it is and has always been very important to do our best, to observe, to rethink and to learn. That’s also one of the reasons why our albums are so different from each other. The other reason is the line up change. Even since the last album: after the album release tour, Béla, our drummer joined the team 2 years ago, and now, just some weeks ago,  we welcomed our newest member Jozzy. Jozzy & Béla have been bandmates in the past in a pretty famous Hungarian rock band called Leander Rising. With these guys we have an extremely strong line up, and yes, we are stronger than ever, but we’re by far not on the top of our personal mountain!

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3.TIME HAS PASSED SINCE YOUR LAST ALBUM WAS OUT. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FEEDBACK TO THE ALBUM? HOW MANY VIDEOS DID YOU MAKE? WAS IT FUN TO MAKE THE CLIPS?

Yeah, totally! We got many reviews and feedback from our fans who underpinned our target, to make a step away from our old genre, to make a more complex album which is not squished by any genre boundaries anymore. Of course we can’t intend to please everyone, we also got negative feedback, that it’s “not like the old”. But that was exactly what we wanted to be – not “like the old”. That’s why even this kind of feedback turned out positive for us.
We released 4 videos for our album Astoria.
The first one was “Back To My Planet”, which was basically a very heartwarming present from a talented fan of us. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr7CvojaliA)
The 2nd one  was “Rope” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbtdi0zzhM8) , which is a roadmovie of our gigs in 2016 summer, which was obviously fun, as we all love to be on tour and be on the stage. It’s kind of our natural habitat. The third one was “Burn The Horizon” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow9W64QnR4c): The video was managed by a really one-off and special teamwork. Steven Shea (American writer, producer who worked on many videoclips and US movies before), is big fan of the band. He offered to make a videoclip for us with his professional team and manage the writing and production also. The unique thing about the video alongside the production is the location of the shooting, because only the ‘viral video’ was made in Budapest, all the other parts were made in the United States of America.
Our 4th and last video is “I’m Away” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guaEK62mxno):  An interesting fact about the video is that the financial background for it was partly based on fans’ support through an indiegogo campaign. This makes it really special, as only our fans made it happen to bring this video alive! The shoot of the video wasn’t easy, as parts of it were shot in Croatia, at the monument by sculptor Dušan Džamonja at Podgaric, on a day when we had over 36°C with almost no shadow, as we were working in the middle of nowhere. We also collected some ridiculous sunburns: (https://www.instagram.com/p/BddFg5CBPGS/?taken-by=thehellfreaks)
But it was worth it. Not just because of the result, but also because with the video production team “Mihaszna”  we found our partner in crimes for the future, and can’t wait to continue our work with them!

4.IS THERE NEW MATERIAL COMING OUT SOON?

 

Yes! We are in the middle of the songwriting process for our upcoming, 4th longplayer. We don’t know when and on which label it is going to be released yet, but for sure, there is something coming. So it’s worth following us on our channels to be updated!
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5.YOU TOURED HARD ALL OVER THE WORLD, YOU SAW THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EUROPEAN CROWDS AND FOR EXAMPLE AMERICAN CROWDS, ARE THERE DIFFERENCES?
It’s true that there are huge differences between culture and way of thinking in between all those countries – but it’s not necessary to look over the big pond. Even if you compare the way of living and possibilities between Western and Eastern European countries, the differences are huge!
But your question pointed out exactly the funniest fact – the only thing of our whole US tour which felt like exactly the same as in Europe , was the feeling on the stage, the crowd we faced. We didn’t feel any differences. Looks like the punk rock scene doesn’t need borders. ;-)
6.DO YOU LIVE FROM THE BAND? CAN YOU MAKE A LIVING WITH THE HELLFREAKS? HOW IS LIFE IN HUNGARY IN GENERAL?
We’re not making a living of it. Of course it’s a goal – not the money, but to be able to do what we really love and burn for full time. But of course after almost 10 years, it’s more than just a hobby. Some of us have other bands and are full time musicians,  some of us have part time jobs, and some of us work full time. Time management is a heavy struggle in our life, especially as it’s really more than a hobby, time- and workwise also. We’re doing almost the full management on our own, and it takes a lot of time. Basically it fills out our time like a full time job.
To talk about Hungary in general isn’t a question we could answer in a couple of sentences. But we’re not living our best time: Hungary is very centralized, all the young people, everyone who is able to do so move to Budapest, as it’s very heavy to find possibilities & jobs on the countryside or even in the smaller cities. Also in the way of thinking we are a very split country – from the open minded younger generation to those who are still binded by their roots. In general we miss the possibilities and standards like our Western European neighbours. It doesn’t matter if you have a university degree, you can easily end up with a job where you don’t earn enough to rent a room and have proper food, or easily end up without a job and out on the streets. But all Eastern European countries struggle with these problems. From the outside you might think “ but hey, they neither have so high costs”. But it’s just not true. Life is harder over here, and that is a simple fact, which is not worth crying about. If you have a dream – it doesn’t matter if the dream is to have a successful band or to have a house one day with a garden – you have to work 3 times harder than in Western European countries.
But it’s important to say that Budapest is not just beautiful, it’s also a place you can fall in love with pretty quickly – as especially these kinds of struggles awake a kind of magic which makes it so unique.  I (Sue) also lived in Berlin, the coolest city in Europe for a couple of years, but came back, and I am more than happy about it because I just love this city as it has its very own, heartwarming spirit.
7.YOU LIVE IN BUDAPEST WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITIES IN THE WORLD. IS THERE ANY URBAN LEGEND THAT YOU KNOW FROM YOUR TOWN? ANY GHOST STORY, SCARY STUFF?
Unfortunately I don’t know any scary legends about Budapest.
I think the most famous villain of Hungary might be Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was famous for her sadistic activities. She lived in the 16th century and it was said that she enjoyed torturing and killing young girls. She believed that drinking and bathing in the blood of young girls would preserve her youth and her looks. Witnesses told stories of her stabbing victims or biting their breasts, hands, faces and arms, cutting them with scissors, sticking needles into their lips or burning them with red-hot irons, coins or keys. Some were beaten to death and some were starved.

8.LETS TALK HORROR. DO YOU WATCH HORROR MOVIES? READ HORROR BOOKS? WHICH DO YOU PREFER? MINE FAVOURITE ARE SLASHER AND FOUND FOOTAGE HORROR!
I’m not really much into horror films. I enjoy if there is some pressure, but I don’t enjoy useless, loud, shocking scenes. I think the most horror-like film that I really like is Tucker and Dale vs.Evil, which is way more a comedy with some dark, horror-kind of jokes.
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9.SINGING IN ENGLISH VS SINGING IN HUNGARIAN?
The Hungarian language is super difficult and complex. It is very hard to write lyrics in our language without sounding stupid, and to be honest, I know that I can’t. I prefer to write in English and sing in English. We have all in all just one line in Hungarian in our songs, which is a part in “Back To My Planet” – and it’s meant as a joke, meant as the language of the aliens.
10.DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR GIG IN CROATIA? DO YOU KNOW ANY CROATIAN BANDS?
Our last gig in Croatia was way too long time ago in 2012, which feels like lives ago.
We know for example the band Clockwork Psycho – but we don’t know them personally.
11.THATŚ IT FOR THIS TIME. DO YOU HAVE ANY STUFF THAT YOU WANTED TO SAY AND I DID NOT ASK YOU?
Thank you so much for having us!
Interviews, Various

(interview)The LessOffs:”Knowledge is real power”

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The LessOffs are Californian melodic punk band which recently released the new record via FirstOff Records and I reviewed it for this webzine. I immediately liked the band and it was only about time when I will be able to ask the guys some questions for this webzine. Read the interview here!

Hello and welcome to my webzine! For start, how would you describe The Lessoffs to the readers of this zine that didnt hear your band yet.

(Shitbird) We’re a melodic punk band with pop punk sensibilities.  Honest  lyrics about broken hearts and drinking.

 What does the name mean?  

(Jake) The name doesn’t have any real significant meaning it came from a friend I went to high school with. We were in the process of putting a band together at the time so he came up with the idea of calling ourselves “The Lessoffs.” Everybody thought the name was ridiculous so it never made the cut. I brought it up to an old guitar player years later as a joke and he loved it. The name eventually grew on me so I decided to use it for this band.

How did you get in touch with the underground music scene?

(Shitbird) I got into punk when I was 12 years old.  I skated and surfed and was listening to a lot of thrash and metal. Punk rock instantly struck a chord with me. All the rebellion and anger in music that I could play.   It just made sense.

Why is this diy underground scene and ethics so beautiful?

(Shitbird) To me, because you’re not beholden to anyone. what you do, you take credit for.  How you do it is totally up to you. It’s also great in the sense that it’s an education.  You have to figure it out or ask. Knowledge is real power.

What is more important in your music, the lyrics or the riffs, what comes first when you are making a song? Where do you get your lyrical inspiration?

(Jake) For me personally the lyrics are the most important part. I wanted to sing songs that people could relate to. Of course, catchy riffs are a part of that too but for me growing up it was the lyrics that really connected me to a song.

Usually the music comes first when I’m writing songs. On occasion I may have lyrics written down before hand sometimes I may even have a title that I really like and I want to build a song around that. But for the most part usually music first.

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My lyrics come from life experiences usually a past event that took an emotional toll on me at some point. Sometimes I write about friends that have gone through tough or emotional times.

How big is the scene in your hometown?

(Shitbird) Actually it’s pretty sizeable and pretty tight knit as well.  Most of the bands are friends with each other and there isn’t really a sense of competition. Just a ton of great punk bands, from young guys to guys my age that are all pretty cool and supportive.

Are there venues and clubs and fanzines, bands?

(Shitbird) Jake and I are pretty lucky in that we live in Down Town Riverside.  We have two great historical venues that bring national acts in pretty regularly. The Fox Theater and The RMA. Bands like NOFX, Social Distortion, The Offspring, The Cult, Pucifer to name a few.  Also there’s a few medium sized clubs that have hosted a TON of national and regional favorites Like Voodoo Glowskulls, Guttermouth, Mike Watt and the Minute Men, MDC, Revalation Records did a fest here a year or so ago with Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Ignite, and CIV.  Not too many fanzines anymore, although in the 90’s there were a TON!

How is living in California in general?

(Shitbird)  It SUCKS, dont move here, ever-  Nah,  It’s great. no joke.  We’re an hour away from the mountains, the Beach, the desert and L.A. and San Diego. Traffic sucks, but it’s a fair price to play for year round great weather and killer music scenes.

We hear in Croatia that there is pretty  there, is there such thing as American dream?

(Shitbird) Man, that’s tricky.  I do okay, but that’s not the case for everyone. I think it’s still a thing, but it’s fading.

How was the feedback on your last album?

(Shitbird) We got a lot of positive response! Unfortunately we had some line up shake ups and it stalled out how much we were able to support the album.

How are you satisfied with FirstOff Records?

(Shitbird) TOTALY satisfied.  We had worked with Kyle before and just got a great vibe off the guy.  He’s a no bullshit go getter that just makes it easy to want to put in the work.  We’re looking forward to great things in the future!

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How does The LessOffs gig look like? (Shitbird) confusing sometimes, Ha! Yeah, we play with a lot of hardcore punk bands.  sometimes the crowd isn’t sure how to react to our less super fast, super shouty songs. but once they start feeling it, feeling what we’re doing,  they get into it!

Do you guys tour a lot?

(Shitbird) We try and play locally as much as possible. But we did a 6 day run with some friends of ours from Vegas this time last year from San Diego to San Jose with shows in Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, Santa Cruz in between.  We just did a little weekender with some other friends of ours (3 days) from Riverside to Las Vegas to Santa Clarita.  We try and get out to Vegas a couple of times a year, and we’d like to get out on a south west tour soon.

Have you ever been to Europe?

(Shitbird) We have not.  but if that’s an invitation we could talk!

What do you think is the main difference between the European and American crowds at the gigs/festivals?

(Shitbird)  I’ll let you know when I find out!

What does the future hold in store for The LessOffs?

(Shitbird) The immediate future is gonna have some new music in it.  We’re working on new songs and we’re planning on getting back in to the studio towards the end of June.  After that, time will tell!!

Thats it for the first time, thank you for your answers. For the end, tell me one thing. What do you guys know about Croatia?

(Shitbird) Man,  okay, Honest-  not a whole lot. Maybe I need to do some reading!

Maybe you heard for some Croatian band from our scene?

(Shitbird) I have not! What Croatian punk bands should I be listening to?

Follow the band on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lessoffs/

Follow FirstOff Records: https://www.facebook.com/firstoffrecords/