Category Archives: Interviews

Interviews, Various

(interview) Alo!Stari:Elitism should not exist in punkrock!

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We recently witnessed fantastic set by Alo!Stari from Maribor, Slovenia when they played with Lagwagon in Ljubljana. It was about time to talk to the guys for our zine. Enjoy this interview like I did.

You guys are relatively new band in the scene, as I heard you exist from April this year. Could you describe your name, music and the background story to the readers of this zine who didn´t hear you yet. As  I understand you guys played in Trash Candy before this band? What´s up with that?

We are new to the scene in this band, but we play or played  in Trash Candy, Happy ol’ McWeasel and some other projects also as you mentioned. So yes, the band is new but the band members are old and we played in various combinations throughout the years.  The thing is, the dialect where we come from is often portrait as funny and stupid, but we tend to change that with great lyrics and catchy riffs. The name Alo!Stari is basically a hello. It’s a hello we use in our daily lives.

Regarding the last question – all our other projects live except for Trash Candy that is currently on hold as we are focusing it all to Alo!Stari.

You recently played with Lagwagon in Ljubljana. How was that for you? I think it was a fantastic show. Two guitar players really give power to the band drive. How many shows did you play until now?

Playing with the music that you loved growing up is always something special. We’ve seen Lagwagon play tons of times, we even shared the stage with them at one point, but for us that day it was two things: Satanic Surfers (duuude, Rodrigo playing and singing at the same time is priceless) and our own gig, which was a first in Ljubljana and that city is a tough crowd to get moving, especially if you’re from Maribor, but we managed to do that, so mission accomplished. Until now we’ve played 4 shows, but there’s a lot more being booked everyday. Every week is more or less full in December.

We tried to buy your record on your merch after the show in Ljubljana, but the girl there told us that the album is coming out soon? What´s up with that? When is the record coming out? Is it going to be only digital or also physical copies? Is it the full length or the e.p.? Tell us something about that, how many songs, how was the writing and recording process? Do you think merch is important for promoting band and where can people find your merch?

We know records are something people still enjoy, but majority listens to singles nowadays. What we tend to do is release 3-4 more singles and then release a full album afterwards (somewhere in late 2020). Times have changed and even though we personally love having records (Jernej and Matej have huge collections at home), we’re going the singles way. Merch is the most important thing in your band besides the music. This is your bands opportunity to get the word going. You can get our merch from our FB site and soon from our website alostari.si

I saw your videos for the singles you released. You sing only in Slovenian language or do you also have English lyrics, do you plan to go international or concentrate more on this region?

This is a regional thing only. We think that the main problem of punk-rock music is that everyone tends to sing in English to be able to tour, but we forget that people relate to the native language way more than they do with a foreign one. We are way past that mindset and we’ve done quite a lot of touring with TC and HOMW all around Europe, so this time is local only – we need the scene here.

Concerning lyrics, do you guys think that punk has somehow stopped being a threat? Did it stop somehow being a rebellion against the stupidity and is sailing more towards safe waters? How important is the message in the lyrics and not only having fun?

Man, not having a message is the biggest problem in music today, because what gets pushed to the mainstream nowadays is either some depression-related lyrics or you know the usual, chicks, party, sex, drugs… I think punkrock delivered itself a fatal blow because of the elitism. This is a complete and utter bullshit. We are the biggest promoters of equality, openess, freedom of speech but deep down inside we’re doing just the opposite, you know what I mean? Scene is too closed. How do you expect to get a following if you don’t let kids join the party? That’s why we need to get back to the roots – heavy, straight in your face, but heavy lyrics in local language but with a catchy twist and party-like attitude to get the kids excited.

You guys are from Maribor. How is the punk scene there? I know Brez Vprašanj are from there, Malo Morgen which I don´t think are active anymore and are there more bands? I know Pekarna is the place to play gigs, my former band played there in 2015.and I remember great times I had there in the 90-ies at No Border Jam festivals. Are there more venues besides Pekarna? I read that there was some hooligan attack there, that someone was beaten or something. Is there a lot of violence nowadays?

Punk scene is at its lowest point at the moment, there’s just not enough bands to keep the scene rolling. Sure there are some bands but none of them are working towards the same goal, which is keeping the scene alive. There were some festivals in the past like No border Jam but those are now a distant past. Festival Scena is trying to help the local bands and get them to perform but it’s not on the same level as were the old school festivals. There are some other venues where you can play, like Štuk, Satchmo… Everywhere you go in the world at one point or another you are going to bump into assholes, so Pekarna is not immune to that but I wouldn’t say there is anymore violence nowadays.

What do you think of the so called immigrant crisis? I saw on tv that some kind of right wing extremist paramilitaries are strolling on Slovenia-Croatia border with guns in their hands. Do you think that media should ignore those lunatics and not give them any space in news and newspapers and portals, or should people be warned about their existence?

The immigrant crisis is very real and should be addressed properly. At the moment it is not. If we (I mean Eu and Usa) wouldn’t go there and start wars for them and then leave them to pick up the pieces, believe you me there would not be an immigrant crisis. Who doesn’t want a better life for himself and the people close to him? Would a mother cross a fuckin Mediterranean sea on a dingy boat with a child if it were this great in their country?  So they go on this perilous journey leaving their home and loved ones behind. Sometimes you have to look at things from a different perspective and the world seems a little nicer.

As everything else around us, everything is blown out of proportion so the media is having some content to report about. I mean does anyone takes these guys seriously? Bunch of low IQ kids and men with nothing to do on the social welfare playing soldiers in the forest is not the most important issue we have here. Bigger issue here is why doesn’t the state or province or whoever arrest those morons and send them to jail? That’s the issue. I don’t believe this is freedom of speech if you are intolerant to others and want to do them harm!

Back to the music. What´s next for the band after the record release? Gigs, tours, what´s up with booking summer festivals? Punk Rock Holiday maybe?

Hopefully to play a lot more gigs and get our message across. We won’t be touring as much as is normal for touring band mainly due to Slovenia being so small and we don’t have a reach in other countries due to the Slovenian lyrics. But we can guarantee you that you will be seeing a lot of us this year, maybe even on PRH, who knows? Stay tuned on our channels and page where we will update any news we will have.

Slovenia always had great melodic punk scene, since the 90-ies and nowadays too, with so many awesome bands playing, maybe not big, but tight and compact. Do you guys get along? I can only tell from our perspective, I have been part of the scene here since 1992.and I can safely say that nowadays the scene is great here in Croatia with so many fantastic bands, kids organizing gigs etc…the only thing that we must work on more is gig culture, attending and supporting more gigs and quit so much talking and start more working. How is Slovenia with that? I love that most of your gig venues are non smoking areas hehe. You don´t smell like smoked ham after the gig hehe.

We grew up in the mid 90s when bands from Epitaph, Fat Wreck etc… were at their peak, skate culture was at it’s peak, but nowadays we cannot talk about the scene anymore. There are two reasons. First – punkrock elitism. It’s what killed the community and the second thing, we are really small. But none-than-less there are a nice number of great punkrock bands from Slovenia that keep the music alive. What we now need are bands with Slovenian lyrics. People tend to feel the native lyrics much more than English for example. Hopefully we are giving some younger kids some inspiration to go and start a punkrock band.

As for the non-smoking venues – it’s awesome, but we remember the days of smoked ham parties.

This is is all for now. You guys watch after yourselves and I am looking forward to your record. Thank you so much for answering all these questions hehe.

Thank you for interviewing us and supporting the scene! All the best dude!

 

Interviews, Various

(interview) TSUNAMI BOMB: Everyone has the right to be heard and should be given the chance to explain why they feel the way they do!

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Tsunami Bomb are back with a new record soon out with Alternative Tentacles and it was about time that I talked for our zine with Oobliette, keyboard player and vocalist, also one of the co founders of the band.

YOU ARE BACK AND THERE IS A NEW LINE-UP IN THE BAND. WHAT ARE THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS DOING RIGHT NOW? HOW DID THE NEW MEMBERS FIT IN THE BAND?

OOBLIETTE: We are!  If you go back to the very beginning, I think most of the original, original members are not necessarily some of the members that many people know of.  I think the most questions we field are asking about Emily.  She has her own project right now that she is focusing on and wasn’t interested in a return to the punk scene.

The original idea for the reunion was to only play the two first shows as a sort of album release for our retrospective, ‘Trust No One’.  We had so much fun playing and enjoyed Kate Jacobi so much we decided to get the band back together.  Kate fits in perfectly,  after spending the last few years playing with her I can’t picture the band any other way.  I hear her voice any time that a Tsunami Bomb song gets stuck in my head.  Andy Phol is a long time friend and was actually at the very first Tsunami Bomb show.  His guitars add a whole new perspective to each song and I really enjoy writing with him and am always floored by the parts he comes up with.

THE NEW RECORD IS READY FOR RELEASING IN ABOUT MONTH TIME. HOW WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS? DID YOU GUYS PRODUCE IT YOURSELVES? 

OOBLIETTE: We are so excited to get this album out!  We recorded it several different places and in two batches.  I live in New York, some of it was recorded out here.  We did produce it ourselves.  When thinking about it, it just came natural.  Dominic and I have always had a really strong connection in writing music together.  We also both know the sound we were going for and had a vision for the album.  I feel like it was a smart move, with our comeback after being gone for so long to be able to have that creative control over the release.

WHAT WAS THE LYRICAL INSPIRATION FOR THE NEW RECORDS? DO YOU CONSIDER TSUNAMI BOMB TO BE A POLITICAL BAND?

OOBLIETTE: Let’s see, if I had to describe this album it would be…..  “Don’t tell us what to do, everyone do what you want and don’t let anyone make you feel bad for it, everything we love dies, put your money where you’re mouth is, don’t tell us what to do,  shit is fucked up, like, really fucked up right now, we are so happy to be back, if you don’t like that we are back, fuck you, don’t tell us what to do.”

So, I wouldn’t say we are political as far as taking sides but I would say that we are political in the way that we think everyone has the right to be heard and should be given the chance to explain why they feel the way they do.

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photo credit Amber Mannon

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE SONGS ON THE NEW RECORDS, I KNOW IT IS HARD QUESTION. COULD YOU GIVE US A BRIEF TOUR THROUGH THE NEW ALBUM, SONG BY SONG?

OOBLIETTE: I think my favorite is a song called Petaluma.  The second I heard the song I immediately thought of this kind of haunting chorus singing the word “follow” .  It’s different, and it’s dynamic.  I like that it’s sad but also angry.  When I left the band originally there was so much hurt that I feel like I had been carrying and this song makes me feel like I can finally start to let some of those emotions fade.

Really, the whole album is my favorite.  There was a lot of heart and soul put into these songs.  In the past, when I had written, it was always in satire.  This is the first time I’ve been this serious and this honest in music.  Writing with Kate and deciding the topics of each song was a great experience but it was also very painful.  I feel that this album tells a very distinct story when you listen from beginning to end, it tells our story, and I am so happy we were able to do it and to share it.

YOU ARE RELEASING THE NEW ALBUM WITH ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES. WAS THE LABEL NATURAL CHOICE FOR YOUR BAND? HOW DID IT COME TO COOPERATION WITH ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES?

OOBLIETTE: It all came to be because Jello asked Dominic if we were boring.  The rest is history.

IS THERE A TOUR IN PREPARATION FOR PROMOTING THE NEW RECORD? ARE YOU CONSIDERING COMING TO EUROPE? HAVE YOU PLAYED IN EUROPE BEFORE? WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FANS AT CONCERTS AND SCENE IN AMERICA AND IN EUROPE?

OOBLIETTE: We don’t have any dates yet but it is on the horizon.  I haven’t played in Europe.  I left the band just before we started touring internationally.  But I am very excited to visit.

PHYSICAL ALBUM RELEASED VERSUS DIGITAL ONLY RELEASES. WHICH ONE DO YOU PREFER?

OOBLIETTE: Vinyl, all the way!

HYPOTETICAL SITUATION. LABEL YOU SIGNED ORDERS YOU TO COMPROMISE YOUR ART, YOUR MUSIC, YOUR MATERIAL ACCORDING TO THEIR WISHES. HOW WOULD YOU REACT?

OOBLIETTE: 10 middle fingers in the air!

CAN YOU LIVE OFF MUSIC? WHAT DO YOU DO FOR LIVING OUTSIDE THE BAND?

OOBLIETE: I might be able to, but it’s not something I want to do full time.  I am the GM of a restaurant group and work for an amazing boss.  I love what I do and wouldn’t change a thing.

TSUNAMI BOMB IS FANTASTIC MIXTURE OF PUNKROCK AND MORE DARKER SOUND. WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO MUSICWISE? 

OOBLIETTE: Thank you.  I really love Oingo Boingo, I listen to a ton of the old Trojan Records artists like Desmond Dekker, I like a lot of metal, especially viking metal, Andrews Sisters, I’m all over the place.

FOR YOU, WHERE LIES THE BEAUTY OF UNDERGROUND SCENE? CAN YOU STILL REMEMBER WHAT DREW YOU TO THE SCENE, WHAT MADE YOU SAY, THIS IS IT, HERE I AM TO STAY, THIS IS WHO I AM?

OOBLIETTE: It’s that you can be whoever you want to.  I was drawn to the scene because there was a local theater, the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, CA., that gave kids a place to hang out, go to shows, skateboard, paint, you name it.  Bands from all over toured there and that what really got me into the underground scene.  The music, I just got into on my own.  I used to pick just the most messed up CDs I could find in the dollar bin.  From there I got into metal, industrial, and punk music.  Once I found out there were local places to see music like that, I never looked back.

LAST QUESTION, THANK YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME. ANY SHOUT OUTS? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING THAT I DIDN´T ASK YOU?

OOBLIETTE: I just want to say thank you to anyone who takes a listen and gives us a chance.  We don’t do this for the money, we do this for the fans.  We have to juggle our jobs and families to be able to leave and make the few shows we get to play happen, but the fans make it all worth it in the end.  Tsunami Bomb has a long history and we are so excited to show you this new chapter in it’s tale. 

 

Interviews, Various

(interview) KRANG: Punkrock is family. Closer or more distant family, but it´s family!

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Krang from Czech Republic are fantastic melodic hardcore/skatepunk band with a lot to say. It was time for me to talk with Stanislav and Tom at Punk Rock Holiday. This interview is one of my favorite all time interviews I did.

YOU RECENTLY TOURED WITH USELESS ID. HOW WAS THE TOUR? WAS THAT YOUR FIRST TOUR WITH, CONDITIONALLY SPEAKING, LARGER BAND?

Stanislav: It was actually the first tour we ever been with another band. We usually tour alone.

Tom: Sometimes we do it in our country with another band, but we never did it like that before. It was awesome because I have been listening to Useless ID since I was 15 years old.

SO IT WAS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE FOR YOU.

Tom: Yeah, exactly!

Stanislav:There is not many bands for which we all can agree on. The few that we can are Descendents and Useless ID, so Descendents didn´t ask us for a tour yet, but we did it with Useless ID and we were really happy to do that.

IF I UNDERSTOOD WELL, YOU ALSO HAVE A NEW LABEL, SOUND SPEED RECORDS, KRIS IS IN MY OPINION A REALLY GREAT GUY, SO HOW COME YOU AGREED WITH HIM FOR A COOPERATION? PHYSICAL RELEASES OR ONLY DIGITAL?

Stanislav: When we got robbed by Bird Attack, the new record was just out on a physical copy, but we just found out that he(Garret Wadford-Bird Attack owner) stole all our money from us and from the other bands, so we asked if there is a label who would want to put it out and couple of labels reached out to us and Sound Speed guy was really interested, like Kris was really interested in releasing, so the vinyls were already done with Bird Attack logo on the back of each record, so what  we had to do, we made like 500 stickers and stick all the vinyls with the Sound Speed stickers, totally diy(hahah).

I LOVE YOUR MUSIC BECAUSE IT IS LIKE A PERFECT MIX BETWEEN OLD SCHOOL SKATEPUNK, LIKE MELODIC CALIFORNIA STUFF AND MORE TECHNICAL STUFF, YOU GUYS CAN REALLY HANDLE YOUR INSTRUMENTS WELL HAHA, ARE YOU CONSIDERING YOURSELVES AS NEXT GENERATION OF BANDS OR STILL PART OF THE 90-IES WAVE OF SKATEPUNK?

Stanislav: I am the oldest in our band, I´m like 35 and the singer is ten year younger, so he is from the different generation.

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YOU ARE THE SAME LINE-UP FROM THE BEGINNING?

Stanislav: Yeah, we are, but we started as a fun project, because Tomas here and other Tomas, we have two Tomases in the band, one on guitar and one on drums, they also play in one of the oldest Czech pop punk bands called Criminal Collection…

I KNOW KRITICKA SITUACE HEHE!

Stanislav: Yeah, that´s really old, that is the oldest hardcore Czech band.

WE USED TO LISTEN TO THEM A LOT IN THE 90-IES IN OUR COUNTRY.

Stanislav: Yeah, they were also big in Czech Republic, but when we were young they already stopped playing.

I ALSO LIKE THAT GRIND CRUST BAND MALIGNANT TUMOUR.

Stanislav: Oh, yeah, they are from Ostrava.

IT IS YOUR HOMETOWN?

Stanislav: It´s not our hometown but it is the closest biggest town from us, they are still around playing. They work hard, they are old guys, but are still playing, they are like big small band, probably they are more famous abroad then in Czech Republic. When we created this band, we were just talking to do like fun project, so I talked to Tomas and other guys and we decided to do something on which we like grew up, you know like Pennywise, Bad Religion, like old stuff, because no bands play this style in Czech Republic and the guys listen to newer music so they put more melody into the songs.

IN THE EARLY DAYS, DID YOU SING OR CONSIDERING SINGING IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE OR WAS IT ENGLISH FROM THE START? I THINK ENGLISH IS THE PERFECT WAY TO REACH MORE PEOPLE.

Tom: We were planning to play more abroad in foreign countries, so it was English from the start.

Stanislav: Singing in Czech is only good if you are planning to stay big only in Czech Republic.

Tom: Our scene back home is pretty small and if we sang in Czech, we could play it only like for few people, but this way we can play for more people around the world.

YOU ALSO HAVE DAILY JOBS? NO ONE LIVES OFF THE BAND REALLY, IS IT?

Stanislav: Tomas here is freelancer, so he arranges his own business hours.

Tom: Yeah, sometimes it´s hard, because the guys have to take day off from work which is sometimes hard, but we manage somehow.

Stanislav: Daniel the singer used to be, not anymore because he changed job recently, but he is a tennis coach and player, he also plays tennis league, so one German club hired him and he played for them and also won a championship in duels, like a year ago in Czech Republic and second Tomas, the guitar player, he is only one with really like proper job, like from 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.

YOUR SHOW HERE AT PRH IS THE FIRST TIME YOU PLAY HERE OR HAVE YOU PLAYED HERE BEFORE? WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS? ARE YOU EXCITED?

Stanislav: Yeah of course, I mean Punk Rock Holiday is like a shopping mall for punkrock. It is really great from the promoters here they let small bands show off and it is great that the two stages don´t cover each other, so it is always just one stage playing and if people want to listen to music they go there, so lot of people will discover new music, there is a lot of really great bands out there at the Beach stage.

IT IS REALLY FASCINATING HOW NOT ON TOUR PROGRESSED FROM LITTLER STAGE TO MAIN IN FRONT OF SO MANY PEOPLE IN JUST TWO YEARS.

Stanislav: Not On Tour are fucking great, Mute also played first at the Beach stage and Counterpunch, you know bands which play clubs now play festivals.

I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT THAT, PUNK ROCK HOLIDAY IS LIKE MERCATO IN FOOTBALL?

Stanislav: Yes, yes, totally!(laughs). People come and see bands and usually discover new favorite. Sooner or later if the band is good, people will discover it. Punk Rock Holiday is a good way to start, you show yourself at the small stage, if you did well and push hard, probably in few years  you will play on the bigger stage. It doesn´t matter, even if you play again on the Beach stage, it´s really like dream come true, playing for people who care about your music.

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THIS FESTIVAL IS REALLY NICE, BECAUSE IT IS FROM THE FANS FOR THE FANS.

Stanislav: Oh yeah, that´s it! Iti s not corporate big festival, okay, you got few sponsors but you need it. If you promote a show like this with this line-up, for this price, you can´t probably cover your expenses only from the tickets and keep it small like this. I mean, there are like 40 or 50 000 people in Groezrock in Belgium which has similar line-up but tickets are three times more expensive and only two days, here you have five days.

FESTIVAL LIKE THIS COULD NEVER HAPPEN IN OUR COUNTRY, BECAUSE THERE IS STILL TOO MUCH NAGGING ASSHOLES, VIOLENCE, PRIMITIVISM WHO SPOIL EVERYTHING FOR OTHERS. THREE OR FIVE ASSHOLES NOT DANCING, BUT FIGHTING KUNG FU IN FRONT OF THE STAGE AND SPOILING EVERYTHING TO OTHER PEOPLE WHO CAME TO SEE THE SHOW. I MEAN, I AM NOT AGAINST DANCING AND SLAMMING AT THE HARDCORE SHOWS, YOU ARE NOT AT POETRY EVENING, BUT HARDCORE SHOW, YET IF YOU ARE RUINING FOR EVERYONE ELSE AND PUSHING PEOPLE IN THE PIT WHO DON´T WANT TO DANCE, POGO OR SLAM, YOU ARE A DORK.

Stanislav: Of course, we have a song against this. The real story happened in Mexico with one of the Mexican kings of the dancefloor. There was a one guy.

THERE IS ALWAYS THAT ONE GUY!

Stanislav: Yeah, there was that one guy, punching girls around and everyone else, so we stopped playing and told him to get the fuck out of there. I mean it was a punkrock show, really small place, almost like a living rooms show, it was packed, everybody was enjoying except this guy. He tried to explain us that he just had fun, but he was like two meters tall, and there was this small girl dancing, enjoying, you could see how happy she was and then he just like punched her. I was like, what the fuck is going on here?

DO YOU CONSIDER KRANG A POLITICAL BAND? I MEAN POLITICS IS EVERYTHING TODAY, EVEN WHEN YOU GO OUT TO THE STORE TO BUY BREAD AND MILK, IT IT ALSO TIED TO POLITICS.

Stanislav: We try to mix it. I mean, we are trying to make a little bit of fun from serious things, we are not political band per se, but something similar.

I DIDN´T THINK LIKE PREACHY BAND, IT IS A WASTE OF ENERGY TO PREACH TO THE CONVERTED. YOU HAVE THAT FINE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PERSONAL LYRICS AND BETWEEN THE LINES THERE IS A SUBTLE SOCIAL MESSAGE.

Tom: I like when the band is political and when they sing and have lyrics in a different way, not only fuck this and fuck that you know? Because it is so clichee now. So, I like when they make it in a different way, when is more interesting to hear the song.

Stanislav: Kinda like Propagandhi does it, I am not the biggest fan of Propagandhi, but they do it in a good way, they are making good lyrics and deep, still funny on one side, but touching hard issues around the world.

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ARE THERE A LOT OF NEO NAZIS IN CZECH REPUBLIC? IN OUR EASTER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES THERE IS A LOT OF RIGHT WING NATIONALISM ON THE RISE RIGHT NOW. I COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW SOMEONE COULD BE A NAZI AND A SLAV AT THE SAME TIME, CONSIDERING WHAT NAZIS DID TO SLAVS IN WWII.

Tom: I mean, those Slavic nazis don´t call themselves nazis. There are a few people who are nazis, but most of the people who are nazis, don´t consider themselves being nazis.

Stanislav: Just plain racists.

I HAVE READ THAT A LOT OF NAZI SKINS NOW GO TO BLACK METAL GIGS.

Stanislav: Yeah, black metal stuff is really connected to the racist scene, you know, they don´t wear svastikas and stuff, but they are just hard racists.

YEAH, THEY CONSIDER SLAVIC RACE TO BE SUPREME RACE, NOT ARYAN BUT SLAVIC, HOW ABOUT THAT?

Stanislav: Wow, they probably don´t read much, I am not even sure they can read. There are not much Nazis in the Czech Republic, there are a lots of stupid people, al ot of hooligans, and with the refugees, lot of people get on that wave , like political parties who just build they career around that.

A LOT OF PEOPLE TRY TO FIND BLAME, EXCUSE FOR THEIR POVERTY ON SOMEONE.

Stanislav: Yeah, so those kind of nazis and racists, not like in 90-ies when it was like really hard fight every day and it was really tough. I guess in the 90-ies was like now it is in Russia. This cycle never ends, it is always like your grandfather did this to mine, so I have to do this and similar. It never ends, it is like Israel and Palestine. Everyone goes back like ten thousand years when someone did something to someone.

Tom: If people don´t start to educate themselves properly, it´s gonna be neverending circle. Even then it is going to be hard, but education is basic thing, lack of education creates fear, that is like the first step to anger and anger is connected to racism, so education is basic point, good education, open mind you can´t control people if they are educated well.

ARE YOU GUYS LISTENING TO IGNITE? I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THEIR SHOW TONIGHT, IT IS MY FOURTH IGNITE SHOW IN FOUR YEARS, BUT I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT ZOLI,  HE ALSO HAS SOME CONTROVERSY…

Stanislav: Oh yes, we love Ignite. I know Zoli is kinda patriot Hungarian. He is also like hard Christian.

I DIDN´T MEAN TO GOSSIP ABOUT ZOLI, YOU KNOW…

Stanislav: He is also like strong anti communist because he is from Hungary and they got that awful Soviet regime there, we had similar but a bit softer one in Czech Republic. It is good he sings about it, all those songs, about the Hungarian revolution in 1956. Nobody´s perfect!

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AND HE HAS THAT FANTASTIC VOICE!

Stanislav: He is a fantastic singer, of course. Until he is not a racist or something I have no problem. I mean, being proud of your country is not a bad thing, being proud in a good way, not to put it above all other countries and slander others. Every country has its own good and bad sides.

THIS IS GOING TO BE MY LAST QUESTION AND A HALF. DO YOU THINK YOU WILL EVER GET SOME MONEY BACK FROM GARRETT WADFORD?

Stanislav: That is probably a question for me. He stole money from really lots of bands. Us, Straightline, Hit The Switch, Authority Zero and probably all the bands on the Bird Attack. He also stole a lot of money from the vinyl pressing factory and now he also commited tax frauds in the States, he is moving from state to state, so the whole system of lies is so complicated so we will never get all the money back.

IT IS REALLY FUCKED UP THING TO STEAL FROM YOUR BRETHREN, FROM YOUR COMRADES IN ARMS.

Stanislav: That´s the worst thing. If we got robbed by some label corporate asshole or something it would be fucked up, but hey, that was expected from that corporate fucks. But, someone who pretends to be your friend, a family, because all of us in the punkrock scene are family. Closer, or more distant, but family. And you never want to steal from your family. And I understand that people make mistakes, that is life, that is normal. You can also do some shitty things, but there comes a time when you step up and say hey, I fucked it up. I will probably not give you your money back in next five years or so, but I just fucked up and I am sorry.

YEAH, AND HE WROTE REALLY NASTY THINGS ABOUT YOU ONLINE, THEN HE LIKE PUT ONLINE THAT LETTER OF APOLOGY WHICH HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING.

Stanislav: So I think if that guy never even apologized to anyone of the bands or the people he stole from, then we can safely say we will never get our money back.

I MEAN IF HE DID THAT TO ME OR MY BAND, I WOULD PROBABLY KICK HIS ASS, I AM NOT A VIOLENT MAN, BUT IN AFFECT WHO KNOWS?

Tom: Yeah, but you would have to fly to the United Stated and find him.

THEN HE WOULD PROBABLY SUE MY ASS AND GET THE MONEY FROM ME FOR BODILY DAMAGE HEHE.

Stanislav: Yes, he is the exactly type of person, haha, he fucks you up, robbed you and still he goes to court and claims you owe him for kicking his ass.

LAST HALF QUESTION, HAPPY QUESTION. IMMEDIATE FUTURE PLANS FOR KRANG?

Stanislav: Yeah, we are thinking about two tours next year. The problem is we have like lots of opportunities for touring, but problem is to get vacation from our work. We have like four weeks for whole year and then we have to split it between our families, girlfriends, friends and band. But, we want to record a new album after the new year in the winter probably if we manage to do all the material, we already talked with Useless ID guys, they are gonna produce the stuff, the record, so we will see if it´s gonna be better, worse, we never did it with a producer, we always did all by ourselves so we hope it will be good.