Frukt Knæsk was done by Betty (Anne Beate) Johannessen a.k.a. Battie from Bergen; with help of co-editor Tonnie (a punk girl that grew up in London and moved to Bergen) and some friends. ‘Battie’ was the drummer of the feminist punk band ‘Nor(rr)ske Budeier’.
‘N.B.’ were active 1979-81. After that, Betty (born 1963) was involved in several bands/musical projects (until this day). Betty recs is the “record-company” managed by her hubbie Bernt Marius Stjernen Johnsen.
Kjell Arne Sandvik (nopunkhc.blogspot) provided #3 & 4 (1980-81). In #3 there’s info on ‘Siouxsie And The Banshees’, ‘The Ruts’, ‘Dexys Midnight Runners’ & ‘The Bodysnatchers’, punk news, reviews (records/zines/gigs), readers’ letters, what & why on fanzines, interviews with ‘Mat’ (done by ‘N.B.’s singer Ote K.), ‘Bontveit Rejects’, etc. #4 informs about ‘Fader War’ (Bergen; “one off the first Norwegian HardCore bands”), ‘Alle Tiders Duster’ (new-wave band from Bergen) & ‘Overdose’ (Bergen; punk); and contains similar sections as the previous issue…
Brob
‘Battie’ was one of the two people behind Ingenting For Norge [“nothing for Norway”; compilation-LP], the other one was Ote (May) Kippersund [singer of ‘Norske Budeier’]. The latter later ran the label X-port Plater [together with Gunnar Nuven of ‘So Much Hate’].
Kjell Arne Sandvik
I started the zine back in 1979. It was my way to connect with punks everywhere and to tell people about that movement. Ote and me created Luppe Klubben to get our own stage and organise gigs for other bands. We played in ‘Norske Budeier’, but we did seperate fanzines: she did Gnarak, mine was Frukt Knæsk (meaning: cool stuff). I was motivated by the punk attitude: do it yourself. I interviewed bands and wrote about concerts I attended. The distribution was just by selling it on the street and sending it out to people. Doing a zine thought me that I can do whatever I want to do and say whatever I want to say. I gave away all issues of the fanzine to the Rockheim museum. People can contact them.
Frukt Knæsk #3 (page 13): >>Why we create a fanzine and what is a fanzine? To explain what a finzine is, is – to be honest – not easy. We’re not sure ourselves but we will give it a try. Firstly it’s not a punk newspaper as many seem to believe. It’s an independent form of newspaper, published by amateurs. A fanzine is about a certain topic and Knæsk is about music. Originally it was meant to cover new bands and records from Norway, but that would’ve been just one page. So we started to write about concerts and similar stuff. But again we ran out of things to write about. This was visible in the previous issue, which was – to put it bluntly – a failure. Too little material for a too high price. But we hope we’ve made up for it with this issue. We would gladly receive tips about what to write about. And if someone has knowledge of new bands or somebody that plans to start a band, please write!!! […] We have no precise schedule but plan to get out #4 in 2-3 weeks, So please be patient. The price caused some reactions. Well, it’s expensive to get it printed. The previous issue didn’t give value for the money. We printed too many copies and the price had to be 5 NoK [ca. 45 Eurocent]. This time, we will do fewer copies but with more pages so the price will be the same. […]<<
Betty
Here’s some brief bits about some local (Bergen) bands (help with translation and clarifications by Bernt Marius Johnsen & Jo Raknes):
‘Overdose’ was a punk outfit with Gunnar Martinsen (bass; R.I.P.), Ørn(ulf) Akselsen (drums), Stein Vang (guitar) & ‘Pille’ Per Ivar Martinsen (vocals). They had a split-7″ released in 1980.
ATTRACTIONS: OVERDOSE & TAV! [Bernt: The Aller Værste! – “worst of all” – Norwegian new wave/ska band]
It’s just not enough, it’s not enough…
Place: Alladin
Well, for those of you who have experienced an ‘overdose’ without losing your life: you have been lucky. Me too, ‘cause there have been many doses over the years (with the joys of playing, speed, sweating and fun). The split-ups of ‘[Bernt: punk & new-wave bands] Kollaps’, ‘Hærverk’, Blaupunkt (etc.) was of course sad. But for ‘Ovderdose’ to go the same way, was really a tough challenge. Folks, we don’t have a single punk band in the city, anymore. Do things look bright??? Well, we have ‘Bontveit Rejects’. But at the time of writing this, they haven’t practiced yet.
The concert…
After a lot of talking and fussing with bouncers and the like, all ‘Overdose’ supporters came to Alladin on Sunday, November 30th. The stack of membership-cards requests grew [Jo: It was a disco and members-only club.], i.e. there were a lot of people present.
Actually, ‘TAV!’ was supposed to be the headliner but it was ‘Overdose’ actually. Because when they were to play during ‘TAV!’s break, the cheering wouldn’t end.
His name was Per Ivar and he cried when he was born [Bernt: Reference to the classic Norwegian novel by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson En Glad Gut (“a happy boy) which opens with the sentence “Øyvind hette han, og gråt da han ble født.”).], stepped up on stage and announced that they were ‘Overdose’. After countless requests, Gunnar [Martinsen; R.I.P.] (bass) played the immortal intro of Takk Hold Kjeft [“thank you, shut up”]. Unfortunately, the sound-quality was terrible, was impossible to hear the guitar and ‘Pille’ (vocals) was too loud in relation to the rest of the band. The second song was 6. Avdeling” [“sixth department”] and the third was 1984. That song had the best chorus, no? It’s hard to remember the order of the songs but they played Supermann I Kvikksand [“superman in quicksand”], Glad To See You Go, Blå Hud [“blue skin”; Jo: on their record spelled Blå Hun by mistake], Skoletrøtt [“sick of school”], Discojævel [“disco bastard”], Pretty Vacant, Ku Klux Klan. Were there more??? During the Superman song, the guitar was barely out of tune [Jo: Ironic, I believe.] and the song Go, Go, Go, Go slowed down too much. No other errors were registered.
By the way, no rules without exceptions, except: Gunnar’s bass actually has a historical background. As ‘Bontveit Rejects’ was to take over the bass and Andy reported that all the strings had been removed. Except for one and it was painted white. But all the strings were there, until Gunnar performed the e-string snapped for the third time during ‘Overdose’s lifetime. [Jo: Correctly translated but makes no sense haha.]
After running through the songs they were called back up to play more. ‘Pille’ bravely tried to explain they didn’t have any more songs but that didn’t help. Some they played the same songs again…
Well, thank you…they shut up in the end. Thanks for everything. Finaly and best: Blå Hud. Very catchy. ‘Overdose’s 4 brave faces were blue for the entire song. [Jo: Referring to the song-title I think – Blå Hud (blue skin).]
I doubt there was a single dry eye, T-shirt or whatever [Jo: Because of the sweating, crying or whatever.] when Betti’s gods (haha) got of the stage for the last time as ‘Overdose’. This was actually the end of the band and I hope all four succeed with their new bands.
‘Fader War’ (a pun on the prayer Our Father) was a HardCore band, consisting of Robert ‘Robbe’ Isdal (drums), John ‘Steven’ Stephen Keogh (vocals; R.I.P.), Stein Vang (bass) & Frank A. Østrem (guitar). They appeared on the Ingenting For Norge compilation-LP (1982). Their song Religiøs Terror has been covered by, among others, the Japanese band ‘Disclose’… The band existed for half a year. MRR (#12, March ’84) wrote: “Fader War is more hardcore than Discharge.”.
Zero power, no government, away with people who take advantage of their positions of power; shouted out in aggression…a voice desperately trying to be heard…the bass & guitar at full volume… The music should be so loud that we don’t hear when the earth perishes.
The people paricipating are: Stephen on vocals, Frank A. on fuzz (guitar), Stein on bass and Robert on drums…
Finally a band we can trust… I was a little disappointed about ‘Discharge’ when I got hold of an English fanzine and read an interview with them that said: “We’re not really against war but we’re not for it either.”. And that while the ‘Discharge’ guys only sing songs against war, etc. And the people from ‘Crass’ are just some old idiots that can’t use their instruments… Don’t really know if I should believe that interview but…at least we have this band. I’ve only been at their rehearsals but according to reliable sources, they have better stuff than Kutt Heroin’en. [“cut the heroin; a song by ‘Alle Tiders Duster’].
Their covers are ‘Discharge’ and ‘Exploited’ songs… The only song of their own is called Jeg Er Bare En Jævel [“I’m just a bastard”] (which used to be titled Jeg Er En Anarkist [“I’m an anarchist”], and was about people who thought that anarchy e.g. is free wrestling on TV…but the whole song was misunderstood).
Well, you have to see them before you can form an opinion about ‘Fader War’… For example: you can’t find them at a Rock Against Noise [a play on words, referring to concerts such as Rock Against Apartheid, Rock Against Drugs, Rock Against Violence, etc.] concert… rather Rock for that. WE MAKE NOISE, NOT MUSIC. Apart from the fact that you feel like banging your head against the ceiling inside their rehearsal-room and the aggression blooms red in the face… I think those guys are serious about the band…
Brob Tilt's zine-world 2 