Plaid Retina (Silly Hornets Tribune #3)

Silly Hornets was a concert-collective, a D.I.Y. association of HardCore-fans in Lyon, bringing north-american bands to their town and supporting local bands (first half of the 90s). The people involved were members of the “metal punkcore” band ‘Condense’ band (guitarist Varoujan Kestechian, singer Marc Prempain, drummer Sébastien Barcet, guitarist Wilfried ‘Wilo’ Siméan, bassist Fred Garcia => Fabrice ‘Bif’ Godet) and their mates (e.g. ‘Maïe’ Perraud – the band’s manager at the time).

Some of them were also involved in making a radio-programme (garage/punk/HC on Radio Canut) and doing a zine: Silly Hornets Tribune. Four issues were published. Number 2, 3 & 4 (each ca. 40/50 pages) are available on the www.

In #2 (’90) there’s columns (e.g. americanisation of European subcultures); talks with ‘The Tell-Tale Hearts’ (garage rock from San Diego), ‘Enterprize’ (association founded by the Paris punk band ‘Cosmic Wurst’), Tim Warren (Crypt recs), ‘All’ & ‘M.S.T.’; plus reviews & cartoons.

#3 (’91) has columns (e.g. macho behaviour, objective journalism, etc.); interviews with Econochrist, ‘D.I.’, ‘Plaid Retina’, ‘M.D.C.’, ‘Fugazi’, ‘Victims Family’, pro skateboarder Lance Mountain, ‘Shaking Dolls’ (garage band from Angers, Fra), ‘NoMeansNo’, ‘G.I. Love’ (psychedelic HC/punk band from Paris), ‘D.O.A.’, etc.; a presentation of The Crab Song (Paris distro); reviews; cartoons and news.

#4 (’92) starts of with the story of mid-60s punk; then there’s conversations with ‘The Brood’ (garagerock from Portland, Maine), ‘The Mono Men’ (garagepunk band from Bellingham, Wa), ‘Dead Moon’ (punk/garage from Portland, Or), skater Tom Knox, ‘Jawbox’ (indie rock from Washington D.C.), ‘Mudhoney’ (SubPop band from Seattle, Wa), etc. Furthermore a report about HC/punk in Latin-America, columns (e.g. ‘Maïe’ on Surfers Against Sewage) and reviews.

Brob

The right person to talk about the zine is Marc Prempain. I was more involved in organising concerts… You can add the name of Eric ‘Biloul’ Rageys, the sound-man; he recorded our demo-tapes.

‘Maïe’ Perraud

I was part of the association but didn’t take care of the fanzine.

Varoujan Kestechian

‘Plaid Retina’ was a HC/punk band from Visalia (near Fresno), California with Don Hudgens (drums), Matt Morris (guitar/vocals) and Travis Hernandez (bass/vocals). They were introduced to me through The Thing That Ate Floyd compilation double-LP (LookOut! recs; 1988)…

[Translation below]

WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THEIR FIRST EP AND THE ALBUM THEY RELEASED ON LOOKOUT IN 1989, YOU WONDER IF IT’S THE SAME BAND YOU’RE LISTENING TO. THEY’VE REACHED SUCH A LEVEL OF MATURITY IN A SHORT TIME, THAT IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO REMAIN INSENSITIVE TO WHAT THEY’RE DOING. THEY’RE OFTEN COMPARED TO ‘NOMEANSNO’ TO A POINT THAT THIS IS DOING THEM WRONG AND IT’S EVEN MORE A PITY THAT THEY DIDN’T KNOW ‘NOMEANSO’ AT THE TIME OF THE RECORDING OF THEIR LP.

I OFTEN FIND THAT CALIFORNIA HAS THE WIDEST VARIETY OF HARDCORE BANDS. ONE THING IS SURE: ‘PLAID RETINA’ AREN’T THERE FOR NOTHING! THIS WRITTEN INTERVIEW DATES FROM 1990. IT’S AT EVER SO FRESH…

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO RIGHT NOW?

We just came back from our second US tour which lasted 5 weeks; it was really good. We’re supposed to be recording our new album soon. That is also supposed to be released on CD (We’re all doing our best for that.) but no one seems to seriously want to release a ‘Plaid Retina’ CD.

HOW LONG HAS ‘PLAID RETINA’ BEEN AROUND?

We have been together for 6 years, 4 as ‘Plaid Retina’ and 2 with Travis.

WHAT DOES ‘PLAID RETINA’ MEAN?

“If you had a plaid retina, you’d see everything fucked?” That’s a remark that Matt (guitar/vocals) heard from a drunk guy during a concert.

DID YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH LABELS? ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH LOOKOUT! RECS?

Our biggest problem with labels is that we don’t stay in touch enough with the people who run these labels (with LookOut! Too [Lawrence Livermore]). We’re good friends with Dave Hayes [originally co-founder of LookOut! recs] of Very Small recs and we’ll probably do a record with him. I don’t think we’ll ever get to the point where a label likes us enough to hang out with us, come and see us rehearse, etc. It always seems like it’s up to us to get out of town every time we try to get a label’s attention.

DID YOU TOUR TO PROMOTE PINK EYE?

Yeah, twice. We sold quite a few too!

EXCEPT FOR THE PLAID RETINA EP AND THE PINK EYE LP, HAVE YOU RELEASED ANY OTHER RECORDS?

Yes, we did two more EPs. Rejection [1990], which was released in the USA on Duck Butter recs in Fresno, and Boxcar [1988] released in Germany by Musical Tradgedies [Florian Schück].

PINK EYE AND PLAID RETINA ARE VERY DIFFERENT MUSICALLY, DID YOU SEEK THIS EVOLUTION OR DID IT COME BY ITSELF?

If you heard Boxcar you’ll understand the bridge between our old songs and the new ones. It’s just a natural evolution.

THE MUSIC OF YOUR LATEST LP IS VERY RHYTHMIC, VERY TWISTED… HAVE YOU BEEN INFLUENCED BY OTHER MUSIC GENRES SUCH AS RAP FOR EXAMPLE?

Yeah, maybe not rap, but the three of us like a lot of different things. We have a very broad horizon…

DESPITE ITS ORIGINALITY, YOUR MUSIC SEEMS TO BELONG TO A CURRENT STYLE OF MUSIC: THE LAST ‘BAD BRAINS’, THE LAST ‘NOMEANSNO’; WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?

Yes, they’re two great bands, but I hate it when people talk to us about ‘NoMeansNo’ because they think we sucked. Nothing could be further from the truth: we recorded Pink Eye before even listening to ‘NoMeansNo’.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE LYRICS OF YOUR SONGS TO YOU?

The words should be emotional as opposed to intellectual. There are a lot of good lyricists, Jello Biafra for example, but our band is more concerned with feelings.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF JELLO BIAFRA OR HENRY ROLLINS, WHO SOMETIMES DROPPED MUSIC TO CONVEY THEIR MESSAGE THROUGH POETRY OR SPOKEN WORD?

I think that’s really good! Henry Rollins has always been one of my favourite authors. It’s a good thing to know that people have other ways to express themselves besides music.

OUR FANZINE COVERS 60s PUNK AND HARDCORE. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BANDS THAT MIX THE TWO? DO YOU LISTEN TO ANY 60s PUNK BANDS?

I think it’s very good for the people that are into it; the closest thing to 60s punk that I listen to are the ‘Ramones’ or Iggy Pop.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS?

I answer for everyone: ‘Blondie’, ‘King Crimson’, ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’, ‘Rollins Band’, late ‘Black Flag’, ‘Firehose’, ‘Minutemen’, ‘23 More Minutes’ [cowboy-punk from Santa Fe, New Mexico], ‘Alice Donut’, ‘Bazooka Joe’ [punk-rock from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina], ‘Victims Family’, ‘Neurosis’, Julie Cruise, ‘Hoopla!’ [punk from Illinois], ‘Jawbox’, ‘Soundgarden’, ‘Pixies’, ‘Night Soil Man’ [indie-rock from California], ‘Gore’, Morrissey, ‘Jawbreaker’, Tom Knox’s band [pro skater; played drums for ‘Cacti Widders’], ‘Punkin’ Pie’ [California], ‘Drippy Drawers’ [California], live version of Heaven And Hell by ‘Black Sabbath’, late ‘Voivod’. Of course these are just a few examples.

DO YOU KNOW ANY FRENCH HARDCORE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT?

No, I’m trying to take an interest in it. I’m also trying to to gert ‘Plaid Retina’ interested in it because we want to tour and play in France.

ANYTHING TO ADD?

Yes, we would like people to write to us from France. We don’t know how to speak French but we would like to correspond.

interview: Wilo Simean

Renegados (Os Impregnantes #10)

Don’t die while you live! While you’re standing there (doing nothing much), a lot of people are taking action!

This anarcho-punk zine is the work of Armando Tomé from Curitiba (south of Brazil), with support of other punx from the Fazendinha district. “We still have pretty much the same ideals, showing that critical thinking wasn’t a passing fad. Better still: it shows that we haven’t turned into those ridiculous conservatives.” Os Impregnantes could mean something like “we, who’re full of ourselves” (see Armando’s explanation). The following issues are available online:

# 9 (1995): text about atheism, anarchist punx against racism, a presentation of ‘Crude S.S.’, columns about urban violence, squatting & military service.

#10 (’96): interviews with the Brazilian bands ‘Renegados’ (Curitiba) & ‘Mentes Ativas’ (Piracicaba), the story ‘punks del maata’ (“punks from the woods”), Viva la Pinga (“long live pints”) show, etc.

#11 (’96): interviews with Brazilian bands ‘Ação Positiva’, ‘Besthöven’ & ‘Metropolixo’; report on the Maio Negro (“black may”) gig commemorating the general strike that took place in Chicago (110 years before) in the fight for 8 hours of work per day (several anarchists were killed), news from Curitiba, and more.

#12 (’97): presentation of the band ‘Offense’ (Curitiba), report on an a fascist attack and eviction of Czech Squat, info Blitz squat infogroup (Oslo), texts written by the Impregnantes & Libertários cooperative (racist violence in Curitiba, police violence in Salvador).

#13 (’97; in Spanish): scenereport about Curitiba, an article on atheism and presentation of the band ‘L.A.I.’.

#15 (’97): interview with anarchist poet Reinaldo O. Hening, info on the centro social alternativo autogestonado (squat) Casa Encantada (Lisbon, Por), Polenta Frita punk festival VI in Caxias do Sul, talk with the band ‘F.H.C.’ (Fome, Histeria e Corrupçao; Minas Gerais, Bra), meeting with indigenous people in Joinville (Bra), chat with the ananrchopunk band ‘Resistência’ (Uruguay), Austrian scenereport, and more.

#16 (’98): edito on the punk-movement in Fazendinha with info on the Castro Alves cultural centre, reviews (concerts/tapes/zines), homebrew recipe; interviews with (cartoonist) Marião (SCAB Lomhlaba zine), ‘Difekto’ (Curitiba), ‘Sistema Criminal’ (Bilbao, Bizkaia, Euskadi) & ‘Cojoba’ (Porto Rico); Italian scenereport, Payol squat (Curitiba), etc. etc.

Armando played guitar in the anarchist HC/punk band ‘L.A.I.‘ (‘Livre Associação de Ideias’; “free association of ideas”) in the second half of the 90s. He tells me the band is still active (still the same line-up). They promote the ideas of their collective Cooperativa Impregnantes e Libertário. Members participated in other band-projects such as ‘Offense’, ‘The CO2’, ‘Tratores de Luxo’, etc. They also released Cooperativa Impregnantes e Libertário tapes. Armando also has a distro going (Attack Social Records).

Brob

I started doing the zine in 1993. The aim was to disseminate anarchist ideas and the punk ideology, writing about punk activities (shows, demonstrations, protests & meetings). There were interviews with bands from our scene and with people we were in contact with via (snail)mail around the world… The zine is in Portuguese and has always mainly been distributed in the Brazilian punk scene.

The literal meaning of ‘Impregnante’ is a sticky substance that penetrates a body or environment. In our local slang it also has a figurative meaning: an ‘impregnant’ person is someone who is overly insistent, generally uncomfortable, annoying and clingy… Referring to someone with that word is definitely not giving them a compliment.

The zine was started collectively by punks from the Fazendinha neighbourhood, the suburbs of Curitiba. Our initial idea was to disturb, to impregnate the society with our ideas. Using the resources that were available: magazine-clippings, handmade drawings and texts written on a typewriter. After the third or fourth edition I started doing it alone and there were 16 editions between 1993 and 1998. It appeared irregularly; sometimes there were three editions in a year, other times just one… The format and number of pages varied; I kept the last editions to some 20 pages.

At the time, zines were a very efficient way to promote the counterculture, to spread information that is relevant for the punk movement. With the growth of the virtual world and access to the internet, physical fanzines diminished from the 2000s onwards. Now it has gained relevance again. I think the new generation is realizing that the smartphone does everything but is not everything. It’s giving value to physical material, something that for them, digital natives, is new. Currently [spring 2024] I’m doing new editions of the zine in physical format, distributed mainly at local shows but also release them as PDF for wider dissemination. I talk about old and new scenes…

The collective produced many other zines such as: Utopia – a zine created collectively (only one issue), Já Sem Dentes (“already without teeth”) – 1998/2004, a comic zine that I made together with another Brazilian punk who had gone to live in London, Sociedade Auto Destrutiva (“self-destructive society”) – distributed widely in the early 2000s.

Nowadays I dedicate myself to digitally archive my city’s punk history from the 90s on blog impregnantes.com.br [flyers, photos, recordings, video, etc.], for entertainment and research purposes. Most of my zines are available to download. I believe all these are historical documentation, countercultural records that shouldn’t get lost. It’s voluntary work, no intention to make profit, as punk should be. No ads…

In 2020, I participated in the Feria Del Libro Punk [“punk bookfair”], where I gave a talk (in Spanish) about my zine-work in the 90s.

Stay rebel, stay anarchist, stay punk!

Armando

[Translation below; thx to Armando]

‘Renegados’ (“renegades”)

Since when does the band exist and who are the members?

We have been around since February 1995 but rehearsals only began in April. The members are: Moska (“fly”) (vocals), Elvis (guitar) and Fábio (drums).

How do you define the band’s sound?

Punk noise.

Are all the band’s members punks? What projects do you have going?

Yes. Elvis does the zines Berro HC (“HC scream”) and Ação Subversiva (“subversive action”), Moska plays in three other bands: ‘Quebra de Padrões’ (“pattern breaker”), ‘Sobreviventes da Desgraça’ (“survivors of disgrace”) and ‘Nojo Social’ (“social disgust”). He also works on the zines Berro HC and Discórdia (“discord”). Fábio also plays in the bands ‘Nojo Social’ and ‘Sobreviventes da Desgraça’.

Tell us in a few words about how the access to shows, rehearsals, etc. is?

We rehearsed at the house of a mate of ours and at Kaaza squat (play on words: casa means “house”). A space for shows is not avialable.

What is the band’s objective?

To spread and encourage punk culture, resist, annoy and be the thorn in the side of the bourgeois, the clergy, the military and all fascist parasites.

Is ‘Renegados’ influenced by other bands?

We enjoy the music of some activist punk bands but there are no direct influences.

The band is featured on the compilation-album Maldita Repressão (“danm repression”). Can you tell us about that?

It was something unexpected, it was a stimulus to continue with the band-project.

How can people contact you?

P.O. Box 1094 CEP 80.020-970 Curitiba/PR. People who think punk is a joke or a fashion shouldn’t write.

Plans for the future…?

Recording for a compilation-tape with the activist bands from Curitiba: ‘Desajustados’ (“misfits”), ‘Transgressão’ (“transgression”) and ‘Livre Associação de Ideias’ (“free association of ideas”). It will be titled Bêbados, Pobres e Contestadores (“drunks, poor and contestants”). And continue resisting and revolutionizing within the punk culture.

Any messages?

No more ‘77 punks. Fuck fake punks, death to the bourgeoisie and idols. God does not exist! Smash fascism!

A.P.P.L.E. (Sekasorto #5)

Sekasorto (meaning “mayhem, chaos, confusion, disorder”) is the work of Harri/Harry Joensuu (from Kauhajoki) & Kari/Gary Waskivuori a.k.a. Wasky (from Päntäne); both West-Finland (between Vaasa and Tampere). Gary was the vocalist of the HC/punk band ‘Valse Triste‘. Harry ran the label Trash Can recs.

The www learns that Sekasorto #2 was with ‘Peggio Punx’ (Ita)… Jari Mikkola (guitarist of ‘Aivoproteesi’) shared a copy. There were also presenations of Finnish bands such as ‘Purkaus’, ‘The Rutto’, ‘Äpärät’, ‘Aivoproteesi’ and many more; plus interviews with ‘Mau Maus’, ‘Maho Neitsyt’, Marionetti’ & ‘The Septic Psychos’…

In the issue (#5?; 1986) I found in the Punk Etc. collection there’s interviews with ‘Irstas’ (Fin), ‘The Ewings’ (Ger), ‘A.P.P.L.E.’, & ‘H.H.H.’ (Spa), and a report on squatting in Amsterdam (by Susanne of Vrankrijk).

Brob

Sekasorto was started [in 1982] by my friend. He did the first two issues by himself before I joined. We also released eight compilation-tapes under the name Trash Can Tapes.

Kari

Around 1986 the anarchist peace-punks in ‘A.P.P.LE.’ (N.Y.C.) were Janette ‘Jae’ Monroe (vocals, R.I.P.), Michael ‘Mike’ Millett (guitar, founder of Broken Rekids), Vinny Monroe (bass/vocals) & Mickey ‘Malignant’ (drums). The band was founded (circa 1984) by brother and sister Vinny & Jae.

Tim Yohannan wrote (MRR #40; Sep. 86) about their Neither Victims Nor Executioners tape: >>Proving there’s more to NYC than street-survival and ‘fuck you’ lyrics. Fueled by strong female vocals, intelligent lyrics, and still powerful playing, there’s a ‘Penetration’/’Poison Girls’ influence, but also more going on here – funk influences, folk rocks aspects (cover of Blowin’ in the Wind [Bob Dylan]) and classy production.<<

[Translation below]

‘A.P.P.L.E.’ is an organisation whose purpose is to publicize opinions and thoughts about anarchy/autonomy, pacifism for peace, freedom and equality. Music is just one of the means we use to bring our thoughts to life. We also publish Counterculture zine and other written materials when necessary. The name ‘A.P.P.L.E.’ refers to the initial letters of the things we value. The following five paragraphs briefly explain what these things that we support are and try to set some general issues straight; misunderstandings related to things we have come across.

ANARCHY: Anarchy/Autonomy or individual independence. A common misconception about anarchy is that it’s supposed to be some form of government or at least a substitute for government… People very often have these thoughts in their heads saying that anarchy is something great but utopian; that anarchy is a great idea but that it won’t work. First of all, anarchy is not utopian. Capitalism is… If you think that capitalism has ever worked or will work, then that’s wishful thinking. Secondly, anarchy will work as long as there’s one person in different parts of the world made it work, has changed their lifestyle and dedicated themselves to social change…

PEACE: Peace or mutual understanding. The abscence of military intervention or use of military forces to settle conflicts between states? A typical misconception about peace is that it’s great but unattainable. Peace is only possible as a result of people’s own work, and not under the control of governments or politicians. Imagine if everyone banned guns. Peace is possible but don’t expect someone else to make the decisions. The solution lies with you!

PACIFISM: Pacifism or the desire not to harm others. We shouldn’t think of violence as an acceptable means of coercion. It’s generally believed that pacifists are passive and that we just lay our heads in front of the feet of the leaders. As a pacifist, I firmly believe in self-defense. Pacifism suggests that violence and physical force should only be used as an extreme measure, and more meaningful alternatives should be sought. Many anarchist-pacifists support armed resistance but not because they accept violence, rather because they respect the individual’s right to use violence if necessary to defend themselves against unyielding government power.

LIBERTY: Independence or freedom from shackles. This includes freedom from both physical slavery, such as the black slave-trade, and mental slavery, which is caused by law and regulations. The most common day-to-day form of slavery is work. We have to work to get by. Isn’t that slavery?

EQUALTY: Put an end to racism, sexism and speciesism. With speciesism, one species is considered superior to others, such as for example humankind’s superiority over other species. We simply do not have the right to exploit animals just because of our own luxury and greed, just as we do not have the right to discriminate against other people based on the colour of their skin. True freedom can only be achieved when all kinds of prejudices have been eliminated, including prejudices against different races, sexual minorities, gender or species. Speciesism, racism and sexism are forms of discrimination, and are the result of human-made moral laws, which are not natural laws. Oppose speciesism, sexism and racism!

Motus Vita Est (Glans Penissis #4)

Glans Penissis was the work of Zlatko ‘Vuka’ Vuković (R.I.P.) & Vedran Meniga (‘Nula‘ drummer), both from Šibenik (city on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea).

Jadranko Mlinarić of Fanzini 80-ih made 2 issues available:

#4 (1991): gig-reports & reviews; ‘ interviews with ‘Motus Vita Est’ (Zagreb), ‘Oi Polloi’, ‘Ritam Nereda’ (Novi Sad, Serbia), ‘Schliessmuskel’, ‘Emils’, ‘Internal Autonomy’, ‘Mere Dead Men’; presentation of ‘Gottschee’ (Kočevje, Slo); presentations of Zagreb bands, and more…

#6 (1994): booklet with info/lyrics that came with ‘Nula’s tape Pobjedimo Laž (“let’s defeat the lie”); plus an interview with ‘W.O.R.M.’, presentations of local bands ‘Antitude’, ‘Apatridi’, ‘Enklava’, ‘Frontalni Udar’ & ‘My Life/ My Dreams’), etc.

Nowadays Vedran labels himself as a “publisher, journalist, DJ, promoter, organiser, producer, party-animal, underground music activist, sound provider and positive lifestyle supporter”… He’s the owner of Pozitivan Ritam (“positive rhythm”) agency and PDV recs (label). He was a pioneer of the MonteParadiso festival (Pula) and still organises festivals…<< (e.g. SeaSplash festival)

‘Motus Vita Est‘ was a HC/punk band formed in Zagreb ’88, Croatia (still Yugoslavia then; Croatian independence was internationally recognized in January ’92). The line-up at the time of the interview (after their first LP was released) was ‘Hogar’ Rade Preradović (vocals), Dalibor Knežević (guitar), Zoran Stojanović (guitar), Damir Mihulja (bass) & Nenad Koporčić (drums).

[Translation below; with help of Dejan Požegar]

MOTUS VITA EST [latin for “movement is life”]

(answers by ‘Hogar’)

I did this interview after attending a ‘Motus’ gig, and their first LP confirmed all that, i.e. the quality … /N. [???]/

Tell us a bit about the beginning of ‘Motus’.

The first rehearsal of ‘Motus’ was in the tenth month of 1986, I gathered some friends and suggested that instead of drinking and being bored, we’ld start with a band. It was a wild bunch but we lost it and split up; only to start again a year later.

Line-up changes?

There were a lot of changes.

Do you have any role-models or favourite bands?

Hogar: We don’t have a role-model and we all like divers bands. Personally I don’t have any favourites since ‘Dead Kennedys’; I even don’t have time to listen to other new bands poperly.

Many people talk about how your music used to be HC, and nowadays is crossover. How would you describe your music?

Well, listen…we’re a HC band but it would be a sin against music and ourselves if we’ld be limiting ourselves to a certain rhythm or way of playing the guitar. Depending on the atmosphere of the lyrics, we make music regardless of the style. The functionality of the music is important, not whether or not hammering is used.

You’ve released a lot of demos. Now there’s vinyl. How did you manage to realize it: through an independent label or self-financing, D.I.Y.?

We were financed by Sacro Egoismo from Vienna and everything else we did ourselves.

You appeared on the compilation-LP The Return Of Yugoslavia [Street Tuff recs & Sacro Egoismo, 1990]. I recently noticed that it’s sold by foreign independent labels; do you receive letters or calls from abroad regarding this?

The letters are coming in and have been arriving at a constant pace, because our tapes are being distributed a lot outside [of Yugoslavia]… It’s not like the Return LP it’s a turning-point for us.

Does your city support you? I was in Zagreb, most of the people love you, but still there was teargas used at your show. Was that a coincidence or are there problems when you play?

Those for whom our gig was intended love us and that’s important. We’re only in conflict with some wanna-be rock-critics. That teargas was thrown by some moron but it didn’t ruin our concert. The reason was that we kicked two people out of the band because they wanted to do commercial music. There were no excesses before and there won’t be any in the future either, because we cleared things up.

Speaking of Zagreb: are there any young bands that are progressing and could get somewhere?

There are cool bands and the more they try, the more they will achieve. The most active of the youngsters are ‘Hell’s Bells’.

Do you cooperate with Zagreb noise bands such as ‘Patareni’, ‘T.M.P.’ [Total Mošt Proyekt] & ‘Buka’?

No. Otherwise: what you listed is one band. [Dejan: same members – different projects]

What do you think about the Yugo scene as a whole? There are more and more great concerts and independent labels.

We have everything but there’s no significant progress: instead of tapes, records are made; that’s all. Those ‘independent’ publishing labels behave like Jugoton [national record-label/-company, pressing-plant and recordstore-chain], only they have less money. Their goal is mostly the same: to make profit.

You’re definitely one of the best Yugo bands. Do you happen to like and listen to any Yugo bands?

Thanks for the compliment. As for local bands: I like them just as I like foreign ones. The last few days I’ve been listening to ‘Ludilo’ [Dejan: “maddness/insanity”; trashmetal from Bosnia], ‘Distress’ [raw punk from Belgrado], ‘Overdose’ [Serbian HC/crossover/industrial band], ‘Hogari’ [Dejan: “punk/oi from Belgrado]; I also like ‘Gottschee’ [Slovenian thrash band]. There are many good and interesting ones.

About your concerts. You often play in Zagreb. Where else did you play in Yugoslavia?

The furthest away from Zagreb, we played in Koper [Slo] and Smederevska Palanka [Ser].

What’s your opinion about the concert at the Gallery, that you did to promote your album?

We played a standard [Dejan: quality-wise] set for ‘Motus’, we didn’t make any mistakes, the audience reacted well, even when there was teargas. I’m glad that ‘KBO!’ [Serbian punk band], ‘Zadruga’ [Croatian punkrock band], ‘Hell’s Bells’ [HC from Zagreb], ‘Ex-Sandra’ [Dejan: don’t know that band] responded to our invitation. ‘Zadruga’ pleasantly surprised me. By the way, I still didn’t get my amplifier fixed that got broken there. Not to forget: I really liked the attitude of the ESCE Gallery [important place of alternative culture at the time of the break-up of Yugoslavia] staff and the P.A. guy.

Have you played outside Yugoslavia, and if so: where?

The first time we played outside of Yugoslavia was in Vienna, at the Arena [venue] on 25/05/1989. Now we have promo-concerts in Austria in March. Besides Austria, we have only played in Germany. This season we have some more countries coming up.

Did you continue working after the release of the LP? Are you thinking of trying to reach a wider audience: you mentioned shooting a video for TV?

I will try my best to arrange as many gigs as possible and I believe that this should be echoed in the media as well, because HC is also part of the culture.

Anything to end with?

Oats to the horse and fuzz to the guitar.

Dead Ends & Intoxication Of Violence (Mutilated News #6)

This fanzine (to be contacted in Las Pinas, in the Manila area) was started in the late 80s by Noel/Emmanuel Francia a.k.a. Noel Punxia (plus some other people). His college-friend Regie Pablo was his full-time zine-partner for #4/5 to #8. Their aim was to feature their favourite local & foreign HC/punk bands. It was cut & paste style, photocopied and communication went through snail mail… There were ten issues before it went online in 2000…

Some bands featured: ‘Instigators’, ‘Decadence Within’, ‘7 Minutes Of Nausea’ (#5); ‘Disorder’, ‘Portobello Bones’ (Fra), ‘Spinners’ (Tur), ‘Care Bears’ (Fra), ‘Valse Triste’ (Fin) (#8). Never seen any of these. Noel donated the interviews below: #6 (1990) had interviews with Philippino bands ‘Intoxication Of Violence’ & ‘Dead Ends’, and ‘Chimica Katalypa’ (Gre), ‘Cowboy Killers’, etc.; there was also an article on world-starvation and scene-reports (Holland & Scotland).

Noel also ran a non-profit distribution (Mutilated News distribution; duplicated tapes of mostly classic foreign punk, HC, oi, ska and crust taken from imported material); that developed into the Mutilated Noise recs (label/shop).

Regie did volunteer work for several indigenous tribes and he’s also a mountaineer (a.o. Mount Everest).

Brob

The printed version ran from 1988 to 2000 and featured underground hardcore, punk, crust, thrash bands from the Philippines & the rest of the world. We did 10 issues (bands, scene-reports, political rants and reviews). Our scene was really isolated back then, in the pre-internet era…

Noel Francia

‘Dead Ends‘ (punk; Malabon, Manilla/Quezon area) were: Jay Dimalanta (bass; R.I.P.), Al(fredo) Dimalanta (vocals/guitar), Rouen Pascual/ Harley Alarcon/ Bong Montojo (drums) & Lourd De Veyra (guitar).

‘Intoxication Of Violence’ (HC/thrash; Manila): Xeres Anicete (vocals), Gerri ‘Bagets’ Dueñas (guitar; Blatant Underground zine; R.I.P.), Radzon Medina (bass) & Ruben Querubin jr. (drums).

 

Mike Bullshit (Dear Jesus #37)

Dear Jesus is known as the zine of Sam McPheeters but he started did it with Adam Nathanson (who had done the zine Paralyzed Veterans Of America before) & Neil Burke (guitarist & bassist of ‘Born Against’). I started corresponding with him when he was living in N.Y.C. (ABC No Rio scene), doing vocals for ‘Born Against’ and running his label Vermiform. I distributed heaps of his zines and records…

There’s 4 issues of D.J. in my collection: issues 36-39. It started in 1989 with #36; #37 got out in the fall of 1990; # 38 in the summer of ’91 and #39 in spring ’92. 2,5 years before D.J. he had done Plain Truth zine (together with Jason O’Toole, ‘Life Blood’s singer). Later on he would do other zines such as I, Yeast Roll (’93) and Error. Sam once sent met a spoof zine-history supposedly published in Newsweek.

I already did a brief post about Sam’s zine – with a ‘Rorschach’ interview (Dear Jesus #38) – but this is intended as a more complete overview. To get an idea of the persona Sam McPheeters people can read the interview in Seen Not Heard #1 (1992). Mind you nót to take everything serious… He had the reputation of being an “opiniated asshole” but that’s what I liked in him: not being afraid to tackle controversial issues (religion, record-labels, etc.).

After a period in Richmond (Virginia), Sam moved to California. He authored a couple of books (e.g. Mutations – The Many Strange Faces Of Hardcore Punk) and has written for bigger magazines (HC/punk and other). Hopefully he’s keeping up his sarcasm and uncompromising attitude…

There’s a self-published collection (anthology) of Dear Jesus that Sam published. He wrote about it: “D.J. was a hardcore punk fanzine. There were four full issues, and a mini-issue I made 50 copies of and sold at one show in 1990. Everything is included in this collection. (140 pages).”

Here’s my overview… #36: an article on corporate violence; interviews with ‘Life’s Blood’, Dan O’Mahony of ‘No For An Answer’, Richie Birkenhead (‘Underdog’), Ian MacKaye (Dischord recs), ‘Soulside’, Hilly Kristal of CBGB & ‘Nausea’; plus reviews & pics (by Richard Unhoch and others). #37: letters; talks with Mark Ryan (‘Supertouch’ singer), Mike ‘Bullshit’ (‘Go!’ vocalist), the Maximum Rock’n’Roll crew, Seth Tobocman; an article on the German reunification (by Stefan Riebesell), column on the ABC No Rio scene, reviews, etc. #38: more letters and reviews, article on the Gulf War; conversations with ‘Rorschach’ & ‘Econochrist’; brief intro to ‘Neanderthal’, Latin-American hardcore/punk, and more. #38 is with Mykel Board; punk-rock and municipal politics is an intro to interviews with people from the HC/punk-scene campaigning for mayor: Bob Beyerle/Barley (Vinyl Communications), Doc Corbin Dart (‘The Crucifucks’) & ‘Jello Biafra’; there’s also a report on ‘Born Against’s US tour, reviews; a talk with Jordan Cooper (Revelation recs), ‘Nation Of Ulysses’ pics, plus more…

I’ve also seen an interview with ‘Swiz’ (from Dear Jesus #36.5) floating around…

As another example of his work here’s the interview with Mike ‘Bullshit’ Bromberg, editor of Bullshit Monthly, ‘S.F.A.’ & ‘Go!‘ vocalist, gay activist and ABC No Rio ‘shitworker’…

Jesus Went To Jerusalem (Tutti Pazzi #3)

Tutti Pazzi was the (music) fanzine (concentrating on HC & metal) edited by ‘Roby’ Roberto Saccone (from Savona, southwest of Genua/Genova). The idea to do this was born in 1986. Before that he had plans to do first fanzine Shrapnel (named after a thrash band from his hometown) – but that didn’t work out – and he also used to sing in the band ‘No Corruption’.

Roberto provided issues 1-7 (except for #6; and some that appeared later on but fall outside the scope of this archive).

#1 contained interviews with ‘Atrox’, Paul ‘Chain’ Catena, ‘Deathrage’ (speedmetal band from Milano) & ‘Necrodeath’ (thrash band from Genova); info on ‘Negazione’s Little Dreamer LP and reviews.

#2 (’88) features various Italian bands such as ‘Schizo’ (“deathcore” from Catania), ‘Crime Gang Bang’ (HC from Alassio/Imperia), ‘Death SS’ (metal from Firenze), etc.; there’s also an Australia HC scene special, a presentation of ‘Crash Box’, and more.

#3 (’89) contains quite some demo-reviews; brief chats with a multitide of thrash/metal bands (e.g. ‘Death In Action’ from Germany & ‘Ice Age’ from Sweden) and a few HC bands (‘Infezione’, ‘Eversor’, ‘Jesus Went To Jerusalem’, ‘Fallout’ & ‘Agnostic Front’).

#4 (’89): interviews with ‘Massacra’ (deathmetal, Ermont, Fra) ‘Agathocles’, ‘Mortem’ (black/death metal, Oslo, Nor), ‘Usurper’ (thrash, Vlaardingen, NL) and many more; there’s also a presentation of Roby’s own band ‘No Corruption’. and reviews.

#5 includes conversations with Roberto Farano of ‘Negazione’, ‘Pablo’ of the Swiss ‘Brains Of Humans’, ‘Rabid Duck’ (HC band from Ravenna), and loads more; there’s scenereport from Greece (by ‘Panos’ of Decapitated zine) and reviews.

The cover of #6 mentions ‘Kina’, ‘Rostok Vampires’, ‘Contropotere’, ‘Maze’, ‘Desecration’, …

#7 (“extreme underground zine”) features ‘Pungent Stench (from Vienna), ‘Entombed’ (deathmetal from Stockholm) and ‘molto di più‘.

From a biography by Roberto (www): >>Not happy with the result of Shrapnel, I rolled up my sleeves and with a certain commitment I changed the name [Tutti Pazzi (“all crazy people”) was of course inspired by ‘Negazione’.]. The first 3 issues were A5, from the 4th onwards I used A4. There was also an experiment with an issue entirely in English (I don’t remember which one [#8]) which I immediately abandoned (too much confusion in translating the various articles). In the mid-90s the Italian version of Metal Hammer nominated Tutti Pazzi the best fanzine of the month. I also organised concerts (metal to HC/punk) under that name, in various venues in Savona, for about ten years (together with other friends). 26 issues have come out (the 27th in preparation [2022]) and two specials, one dedicated to Italian musical essayists, the other to local D.I.Y. labels. The zine is completely self-produced and self-managed, it’s on paper, photocopied, b/w.<<

‘Jesus Went To Jerusalem’ was a HC/thrash band (“powerful and heavy mixture of hardcore, funk and hard rock”) from Garessio (south of Torino; near the French border) with Fausto Balbo (guitar), Simone Basso (vocals), Roberto Leardi (drums) & Franco Gulotta (bass). Besides the two mentioned demos, the Swiss Resistance Productions released a split-tape with ‘Brains Of Humans’. In the 90s some of them played in ‘Der Tod’ (an “underground metal act combining industrial elements with more progressive solutions”)…

‘Jesus Went To Jerusalem’ were formed on 01/05/88 from the ashes of two local bands: ‘M.O.X.’ and ‘Nevrotica’. The former are known for a pretty good demo that was reviewed in the metal magazine HM, the latter however unknown to everyone.

Answers by Fausto.

SMALL HISTORY OF THE BAND?

‘J.W.T.J.’ were born on May 1st 1988 as an instrumental outfit and were very much influenced by ‘Black Flag’s album Family Man. After a few months our first demo was released with an instrumental A-side and the spoken B-side. In the autumn of the same year, Franco (ex ‘M.O.X.’) joined us on bass and the former bassist Simone switched to vocals. After a few months, a second demo (horrible both recording- and content-wise) arrived December 16^th, when we had done four concerts: Firenze – Torino – Imperia – Roma, not very successful because we didn’t have a stage-presence. The turning point was in La Spezia on December 17th, with a fairly successful concert and a good presence. From there on we moved on to the new year with two concerts in Imperia; the first with ‘Capite Damnare’ [anarcho-punk band from Milano / Verona] and the second with ‘Perjury’ (UK) on 26 March; these concerts were a great success. The last concert (for now) was on April 1st at Virus (Milano) which suffered from the terrible organisation and the clashes between the ‘managers’ of the place. Now two compilation-LPs with some of our songs on them should be released, the first on E.S.T. [Edizioni Storie Tese] from Alassio [Giú Le Mani; 1989] and the second on Goddam Church recs from Ascoli [Attitudine Mentale Positiva; 1990].

WHERE DID YOU GET THIS PARTICULAR NAME FOR THE BAND?

It comes from a theme developed by our vocalist Simone which talks about an unlucky boy who tries to get by with his group despite various problems, and that group is called ‘Jesus Went To Jerusalem’. We really like the name, it’s quite original!

DO YOU THINK THE LYRICS ARE IMPORTANT?

The lyrics are important to us but not on a political level; they talk about the different situations in which one lives her/his life. Simone writes them and he prefers to talk about topics close to everyday life, perhaps from a pessimistic perspective.

DO YOU THINK WHAT IS DONE IN ITALY IS SUFFICIENT FOR THE HC SCENE?

No! There’s a lot of carelessness lately and people who once worked hard have locked themselves in a ghetto. For us it doesn’t make sense to distribute the same products just in one particular circuit, we need to reach people outside of it too. Luckily not all people in the Italian HC scene have blinders on; see for example what ‘Kina’s label Blu Bus does.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN STAIGHT-EDGE?

Personally, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke and I don’t use drugs: but I don’t define myself as straight-edge because I don’t like labels; it’s ghettoizing yourself. The others in the band think like me; they drink a few beers every now and then but never more than they should.

IS THERE A SCENE IN YOUR REGION?

Unfortunately this question can be answered with a simple no!!!

HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED ABROAD?

At the moment not because I’m leaving for military service [compulsory in Italy at that time] in the summer, but once that problem is resolved, we’ll take off. We already had the possibility of playing some dates in France in the summer but for now it’s not possible!

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT D.I.Y.?

It’s wonderful if it’s carried out by people who are aware of what they’re doing. Most of the time it’s an excuse like any other to do what you want by harming others.

CAN YOU MAKE A LIST OF THE 5 MOST BEAUTIFUL RECORDS OF ’88?

For me they are: Sweet Life by ‘GOD’, Do It by the ‘Rollins Band’, Danzig by ‘Danzig’, Ultramega OK by ‘Soundgarden’, Mornful Cries by ‘Saint Vitus’, and then I would say one of the best of the first months of ‘89 is Wrede by the great ‘Gore’.

TELL US WHAT YOU WANT…

First of all, thanks for the space in this zine, thanks to everyone who is interested in a forthcoming compilation album with ‘J.W.T.J.’, ‘Crime Gang Bang’, ‘Ulcera’ & ‘102 Truffe’, with 4 pieces by each band. [Giú Le Mani; out on Edizioni Storie Tese 1989]

Write to: Fausto Balbo, Garessio (Cuneo).

 

VOGLIO ESSERE LIBERO (I WANT TO BE FREE)

I want to be free

I don’t need the money

I don’t want any gifts anyway

I’ll be interested

Freedom is doing what you want

It’s not something you can put…

In rhyme

There’s no explanation

I feel it inside the prison

Of our existence

It’s a burden that makes you cry and oppresses you

Free at last, but not

With a syringe in my arm,

With a mercedes

Free to live, free to do

What I want

Maybe one day you will understand what

I mean but it will be too late

You will always have remorse

Of a life that could have

Been the opposite

NON COMPRENDO (I DON’T UNDERSTAND)

On the streets of total alienation

The value of life is irrelevant

The ephemeral partially dominates

The compromise becomes castrating

I don’t understand

All this optimism

I don’t understand

The triumph of exhibitionism

In the system of the great illusion

Happiness is important

And an incubationperiod

For a future that will never be

MOMENTI DI GIOIA (MOMENTS OF JOY)

A few instants, a few moments

They arrive without warning

They almost always leave too soon

…And to think that there are people who believe

To buy them with money

…Illusions…

B.A.P.! & Kortatu (Uniq & Rare #5)

When I visited Anderz Nielsen (Boston Tea Party label & ‘Misanthropic Charity’) in Kopenhagen in 1986, I got the fifth issue of this zine. It was in Danish and edited by Anja Bjerre & Henrik Lund (residing in Ry & Århus, Denmark). Besides doing her fanzine (in the 80s), Anja also contributed articles and interviews to other publications such as Maximum Rock’n’Roll. Henrik was the bassist of the band ‘The Zero Point’; he also contributed to Johnny Concrete’s No Århus zine.

The cover of this 5th issue (Sep. ’86) mentions it used to be called Ha! zine. It has info on the Basque bands ‘B.A.P.’ & ‘Kortatu’, and ‘Scraps’ (both in English); the rest is in Danish: interviews with Chris Chacon of Borderless Countires Tapes (a.k.a. Bad Compilation Tapes) & ‘Beneath Contempt‘ (a band from Copenhagen that labeled their music labeled “garage jazz” but was part of the punk-scene), scenereports from California & Amsterdam (with info on No Olympics), ‘Misanthropic Charity’ pics, reviews and more.

Brob

Henrik Lund is still active in Århus and works for a big newspaper…

Anderz Nielsen

‘B.A.P.!’ is an acronym for ‘Brigada Anti Polizialak’ (“anti-police brigade”) or ‘Babarruna ta Aza Popularra’ (“popular beans and cabbage”). They were a HardCore band from Euskadi, the Basque Country. They formed in 1984 in Andoáin (south of San Sebastian; in the Spanish province Guipúzcoa) and dissolved in 1996. The members were: Eneko Abrego (vocals), ‘Jomes’ (guitar), ‘Drake’ Xabier Olazabal (bass; early on he played guitar and Andres did bass) & ‘Txanpi’ Luis Javier Saiz (drums).

‘Kortatu’ was (1984-88) a ska-punk band from Irun (Guipúzcoa, Euskadi, Basque Country). The musicians at the time were Fermin Muguruza Ugarte (vocals/guitar), Iñigo Muguruza Ugarte (bass/vocals; R.I.P.), ‘Treku’ Javier Armendáriz (drums) & ‘Javi’ Javier Silgueiro (trumpet). ‘Kaki Arkarazo’ Ignacio Arcarazo Bariandiarán later joined as second guitarist.

 

Euthanasie (Pläbeu #3)

This was a zine done by ‘Gurke’ Michael Kammer (‘Crowd Of Isolated’ singer) & ‘Geizig’ Thomas Klauck (Saarbrücken area). I found #3 (1985) in the Punk Etc. collection. It has a scenereport from Belgium (with ‘Zyklome-A’ presentation), info on ‘Euthanasie’, a column on doing zines & an article on the armaments-race, zine-/concert-/music-reviews, plus interviews with ‘Funeral Oration’, the ‘John Denver Clan’ (punk band from Peine, Ger, with Rüdiger Wöhrle) & ‘Capital Scum’.

Brob

Thomas and I always wanted to be active in the scene, to simply do something and not just consume. We were enthusiastic about this subculture, which seemed to have its own rules and was bursting with activism. We quickly recognised the network of friends, made contacts and, after reading many magazines from Germany, Switzerland, France, the UK and the USA, decided to do our own thing. We simply called the magazine Pläbeu, i.e. Playboy in German pronunciation and incorrect spelling. We were still working with a typewriter, pencil and scissors when the first issue came out in ’83 or ’84. The third and last issue was published in spring 1985. We had actually planned to publish a bigger magazine with friends but unfortunately it never happened: we had to take care of ‘Crowd Of Isolated’ so we had enough to do. The magazine was mostly produced in the youthcentre [Heusweiler], we often made copies illegally in offices to save money. The magazines were then sold to friends in our circle, distributed via small mailorders, sold at concerts or simply swapped with other fanzine makers. The content: bands, concerts, politics, the scene and other fanzines.

I no longer own any magazines from that period, not even my own. I can only remember that there was a lot of personal stuff in the first magazine and things about my own little scene…

‘Gurke’

‘Euthanasie’ was an anarcho-punk band from the Freiburg-area with Holger Schatz (bass), Corinna Weiss (drums/vocals), Robert Jahn (keyboards), Andi Lauk (guitar) & Thomas ‘Tom’ Lauk (vocals/drums). They did a demo in the first half of the 80s, were featured on the compilation-tape Objection! The First and Loony Tunes released an anthology (Prison Pain – Demo & Live 1988/1989) after the turn of the century.

[Translation below]

‘EUTHANASIE’ * Protest And Survive

Some band-info:

Many of you may not be familiar with this band from Kirchzarten near Freiburg, but that’s the point of it all! Besides that, we wanted to talk about bands that not everyone already knows. Because every band has the right to be mentioned. So I’ll start right away. Many thanks to Thomas. Here we go:

‘Euthanasie’ was founded in 1983. The instruments at that time consisted of a a 60 Watt amplifier, an electric guitar and a stupid microphone. The drums were a copymachine and some cooking-pots. Beginning of 1984 the band really started playing. The line-up back then: Thomas (20: vocals), Holger (18; bass), Andreas (17; guitar), ‘Demo’ (18; drums). That lasted until spring 1984. ‘Demo’ left the band because a hot political spring was brewing. Corinna – a female creature – came in his place and started playing the drums. Since she also has a good voice, the vocals and drums are now alternated for 3 songs. Through intensive rehearsals – four times a week – 13 songs were presented in time for the first concert. ‘The Cover Girls’ (Rheinfelden), ‘Jolly Roger’ (Homburg) and ‘Circle Of Sig-Tiu’ (Bingen) were also present at this punk festival. The second gig took place at a squat-party in a newly occupied house in Freiburg. Performances are also planned in May in Homburg, at an anti-animal testing festival, and in Pforzheim. Anyone who wants to let ‘Euthanasie’ play for them should be told that, true to the principles, they only have to pay for food, beers and places to sleep for the night. On the other hand, it’s also a good opportunity to get to know new people and friends. In addition, participation in a German punk sampler is planned (initiator: ‘Circle Of Sig-Tiu’).

Regarding the name: ‘Euthanasie’ was a program during the time of nazi regime, intended to destroy “unworthy” life. In a new fascism, we – punks, freaks, hippies – are going to be the first to light the fires of the crematoria. In the nazi logic we are unworthy lives that should be put out of existence.

About the lyrics: They’re a political band. What they want is total freedom – meaning: anarchy is the only social condition in which peace is alive and is lived.

The will for freedom is suppressed and attempted to be destroyed by the system! Its protectors are the police and army as the force that exerts violence. Politicians as figureheads, doctors in animal-testing laboratories and the “normal citizens” who’re shaped by one-sided reporting by the massmedia. Everything goes the way the driving power, economy and industry, wants it to. They accuse this existing powerstructure, which calls itself a democracy but in which there’s still censorship of political prisoners, psychological torture, oppression of minorities such as punks, freaks, gays, lesbians, foreigners; who have a different lifestyle and do not want to give in, in which there’s furthermore sexism and chauvinism instead of total emancipation of women. They say: all we want is anarchy and peace. Not oppression and war !

About the music: The style is a mixture of the different punk genres that the bandmembers listen to: Andreas has been listening to oi! music since his skin past, Holger & Corinna listen to melodic ‘Crass punk’ and Thomas is into hardcore punk à la ‘Varukers’, ‘Disorder’, ‘M.D.C.’, etc.

Well, that’s it actually, all that remains to be said is the zine that Thomas is doing: AUFRUHR [“revolt”]. And that the band is now going into the studio to record a demo-tape.

Contact: Thomas Lauk

—

Zensur (“censorship”)

Cable TV – one-sided programmes, media-power in a few hands. Freedom of choice between Dallas & American mindlessness.

chorus: Censorship – Germany on the way to self-destruction.

Axel Springer’s company of lies, the federal government promotes and once again an example of power – finances. The responsible citizen is destroyed.

 

I’ve Got A Message

I’ve got a message and you should hear it

I’ve got a message and I want to tell it to you

We’re fighting for a peacful world, without weapons and atomic bombs

We’re fighting for a world without trouble, without primitive violence

We’re fighting for a world without oppression, without governments and leading persons

We’re fighting for a world full of love, without hate and aggression

We’re fighting for anarchy, not disruption

We’re fighting for a grassroot revolution

We’re fighting against fascism

We’re fighting for a real democracy

All we want is no government

We’re fighting against environmental pollution, for a lifeable world

We’re fighting against human torture, against destruction of human psycho-power

We’re fighting against suppression of social groups

We’re fighting against manipulation on TV and other massmedia

We’re fighting against commercialisation of punk

We want no rip-off punk bands

Residuos Nukleares (La Pesadilla Del Poder #1)

The editorial address of La Pesadilla Del Poder (“the nightmare of power”) was that of ‘Josin P.P.’ (Joxi Ubeda) but the fanzine was put together by a whole bunch of people in and around the band ‘Tortura Sistematika’ (from Tolosa, Guipúzcoa, Euskadi).

Yurre Ugarte (author, scriptwriter, director) was one of the people from that gang in Tolosa. She took part in the first squatting-attempts in the area, and collaborated or wrote for fanzines…

There were two issues made in 1985 (available on the www). #1 opens with a provocative piece ‘nazi punk = @ punk’ (a criticism of the consumerist punk movement), there’s an interview with ‘Joni Destruye’ (at that time singer of ‘Residuos Nukleares‘), a lengthy talk with Juan Camacho of ‘The Detonators‘, Fernando of ‘Anti-Dogmatikss‘, Iván Jullit Navas of ‘MG-15’, ‘Rattus’ & ‘B.A.P.’; info on ‘Desperdicio Social’ (Donostia), ‘Whipping Boy’ (Palo Alto, California), etc. #2 starts with a reprint of a Mexican article about self-management, anti-imperialim, antifascism and punk. There’s also info on antimilitarism & disarmament, the Fobia collective (Madrid); interviews with ‘Terveet Kädet’, ‘Frites Modern’, ‘Wretched’; lyrics of ‘Tortura Sistematika’, ‘B.A.P.’ & ‘Último Gobierno’; and more.

Brob

The idea of making a fanzine came shortly after creating ‘Tortura Sistematika’, it happened almost simultaneous. At that time we were reading all the fanzines we could get our hands on, Destruye! [Javi Sayés], Brigada Criminal [‘Richard Hardcross’], Penetración [Alberto Eiriz], N.D.F. [‘Joni Destruye’]. We thought it would be a good idea to make one of our own. The fanzine was made by the members of ‘Tortura Sistematika’ with the collaboration of some friends. The process was fun. We made very few copies. The second (last) issue was almost entirely made by Joxi (‘T.S.’ bassplayer). Lamberto and I were caught by laziness; we saw that our path in the “music-press” was over and we focused more on noise.

Yurre has been a good friend of ours for many years. At the time the fanzine was made, she was living in London, although she is from the same town as us. Nowadays she basically writes and has published a few novels as well as some scripts, most recently for comics. She usually writes in Basque, although some of her work has been translated into Spanish…

Shanti Irribar (‘T.S.’ vocalist)

Interview with Joni D. (Jesus Maria Sahun Castet a.k.a. Joni Destruye), at that time (1985) a teenager and the singer of ‘Residuos Nukleares’ (“nuclear waste”; from Barcelona). Earlier (’83) he was in ‘Epidemia’ (with his brother Fernando – later in ‘Anti-Dogmatikss’ – on guitar). He also edited the fanzines Melodías Destructoras and N.D.F. Later he authored a few books (e.g. Que Pagui Pujol! – a punk chronicle of Barcelona in the 80s). He also founded a couple of recordlabels (Hace Color and Kasba Music).

Joni Destruye: ‘Epidemia’ (83-02-03) & ‘Residuos Nukleares’ (84-01-29)

[Translation below]

Interview via mail with Joni D., singer of ‘Residuos Nukleares’

When was the band formed?

The band was formed in early January of ‘84; at the time we were Charly (drums), Manel (guitar) and Joni D. (vocals). With this line-up we performed at the fanzine-party [84-01-29] of N.D.F. and Contaminación. Later Charly left and two new members joined, then the line-up was Joni D. (vocals), Manel (guitar), Poly (drums [Josep Urpí Gausachs; bassist of ‘L’Odi Social’, ‘Anti-Dogmatikss’, etc.]) and Marc (bass [Marc García Sastre]). We made two pamphlets and we performed together with ‘L’Odi Social’ in a concert organised by N.D.F.

What were your objectives when creating the band?

It’s not that there were any objectives, I wanted to create a band to express myself and at the same time have fun, so I looked for other people.

What bands have influenced you?

The musical influences are very varied. The person who makes the music is Manel and his tastes range from ‘Madness’ to ‘G.B.H.’, passing through ‘The Lords Of The New Church’. As for me (I’m the one who writes the lyrics): I like ‘Razzia’ (Germany), ‘Civil Dissident’ (Australia), ‘EU’s Arse’ (Italy), ‘Terveet Kädet’ (Finland), ‘M.D.C.’ (USA), ‘Existenz’ (Sweden) and ‘Crass’ (England), to name a few. In Spain I like ‘L’ Odi Social’, ‘Anti-Dogmatikss’, ‘O.X. Pow’ and ‘T.N.D.’ for example.

What does punk mean to you?

A way of life, which is different in each country and for each person.

Do you consider yourselves punx?

Yeah.

Do you consider yourself pacifists?

Yes, for us pacifism is the fight for peace.

What do you think about oi?

We can’t talk about oi because there’s different interpretations that can be given; as in all places there are people who mean well, and people that don’t.

How’s the punk scene in Barcelona?

It’s quite good because there are people who get things moving around now, there are quite a few concerts by punk bands, both Spanish and foreign, and new ones are always given a chance.

What do you think about vivisection and abuse of animals?

We’re totally against abuse, we understand that man eats meat but not that he tortures animals.

D’you think your lyrics are engaged?

Yes, I think that our lyrics mean something, and that our way of living and our clothing tell something.

Do you think the system can be changed?

We believe so, although it will take a long time to make people aware.

What is anarchy for you?

It’s about freedom and mutual respect, very difficult features for the human race, but possible.

Do you consider yourself anarchists?

There are different points of view but I do.

What do you think of bands such as ‘Exploited’, ‘Anti-Nowhere League’, etc.?

Better not talk about them.

Do you think you can do something similar to squatting over here?

Yes, but mutual support is needed, I don’t mean to raid twohundred people in a house but rather twohundred people in groups of twenty, ten different houses.

Anything to add?

If anyone wants our pamphlets, send 30 pesetas in stamps to P.O. Box. 23270 in Barcelona.

THEY SAY WHAT JUSTICE IS, THEY HAVE A PALACE THAT ACCREDITS IT, THAT IS JUSTICE, JUSTICE IS BEING ABLE TO SAY WHETHER A PERSON IS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN CHAINS OR TO THE ELECTRIC CHAIR, THAT IS JUSTICE

Lyrics

* It’s not just Reagan / It’s not just Thatcher / It’s not just Felipe [Spanish king] / It’s not just anyone / war isn’t waged by one man / we all make war…or no-one

* Surrounded by borders: four walls around us; they block our step, our way; we got nowhere to live; but they sit very comfortable in their chairs; we have nowhere to sleep; but they don’t hear our screams…Squat!!!

* They give us freedom, look ahead and you will see them. A statue in New York that points you between the eyebrows, with a rifle, it’s your freedom, they offer it to you, accept it…