Rampage

Well, as I state in the first question, it was about time for a new hardcore band in the Greek scene! Rampage! consists of some nice people that are active in one way or the other in the local DIY punk / hardcore scene for many years now. Their first demo / EP ‘Thoughts of a distorted mind’ includes 9 songs of 80s USHC the way it should be played; simple and full of energy! If you like Negative Approach, Circle Jerks and the likes, keep an eye on Rampage! That demo was a super nice surprise for me that I’m kinda fed up with the fact that almost zero new hardcore bands have been formed in Greece lately! I sent a bunch of questions to the band and they got back with some cool answers. Enjoy!

rampagehxc.bandcamp.com

Hey guys! A new Greek hardcore band at last! It was about time! Give us some info about Rampage, who’s in the band, exbands, etc.!

Hi! Rampage! is an old school hardcore band based in Athens. We had our first rehearsal in January of 2020. Lazaros, the singer, has only played in one more band, Phineas Gage from Thessaloniki, like 10 years ago. Christos, the guitar player, was playing guitar in Hibernation (Χειμερία Νάρκη). Mitsos plays the bass. He was playing in Αδικαιολογήτως Απών and Unfit Earth from Volos and currently plays the bass in Cold I. Last but not least, our drummer Vangelis has played and currently plays in tons of bands such as Lifewreck, Chain Cult, Gutter, Αρχή του Τέλους, Junkheart, Feral Kids etc.

How did you decide to go against the flow and form a hardcore band? It seems that the local DIY scene circulates around post & synth punk the last years. There’s a lack of hardcore music lately! Why does this happen in your opinion?

We formed a hardcore band simply because we like hardcore! It is true that there is a lot post punk going on lately... Our bassist and drummer play in post punk bands actually! For us, there is nothing wrong when a specific genre gets big for a period of time as long as you keep listening to it after it gets off trend. Otherwise, it seems you didn’t really like it, you just followed the flow and that is not very punk. Hardcore is a very broad scene (American HC, Finnish HC, Japcore, even Greece had created its own type of HC)… Taking this into account, there are still bands in Greece choosing the hardcore way. When it comes to the American hardcore, like the one we play, it looks that Greece never had a big hardcore scene but mostly some bands from time to time. Regarding the global hardcore scene, there are still a lot of people starting hardcore bands and some of them are really good.

You have recently released your first demo called ‘Thoughts of a distorted mind’. Tell us some more about it! What influenced you composing those songs and what issues do you deal with lyrically?

Musically, our inspiration wan mainly the American 80s hardcore / punk scene.. Our lyrics deal with both political / social matters (cops, war, religion) and personal issues as the frustration in our lives, the hypocrisy in the scene etc. For example, the song “Thoughts of a distorted mind” describes the thoughts of a mentally ill person from start to death... I guess the attitude of the lyrics varies depending on our mood. It can be positive and it can be Negative Approach / Black Flag style... Now we are making some new songs for a split LP with our friends Blood Trace from Athens.

‘This demo tape is inspired by and dedicated to the 80’s hardcore spirit’. What’s your top 5 of 80s hardcore records? USHC I guess, right? You also cover Antidote! Any other bands / songs you’d love to cover when we’ll start having shows again?!

Shit! These top records questions are always difficult! We listen to a lot of different stuff but we gonna include just the records relevant to Ramgage! music! And because there 4 of us there’s gonna be more than 5! So:

Bad Brains – s/t LP, Minor Threat – Filler EP, Negative FX – s/t LP, Negative Approach – s/t EP, Circle Jerks – Group Sex LP, Infest – Slave LP, This Is Boston Not LA LP, 7 Seconds – The Crew LP, The Partisans – s/t LP, Zero Boys – Vicious Circle LP, TSOL – Dance With Me LP, Teen Idles – Minor Disturbance EP, Kuro – Who The Helpless EP, Poison Idea – Kings Of Punk LP, GBH – Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne LP, Cryptic Slaughter – Convicted LP, Beastie Boys – Polly Wog Stew EP.

Well, we have thought of some other bands to cover such as DYS, The Partisan and Infest… But since there are no gigs going on, we are not playing any other covers. I mean we haven’t even played the Antidote cover live yet!

I was checking No Echo FB group the other time, someone posted the link of your demo and a huge discussion followed concerning your band name! I guess you weren’t aware of the Rhode Island based band that was pretty famous back in mid to late 2000s, releasing a single and an LP on Lockin’ Out. How did you choose this name and what does it represent?

Actually, no we weren’t aware of the Rhode Island Rampage. Nice band by the way! But honestly, we don’t consider it such a big deal... I guess you know that apart from the band Antidote we cover in our demo, there is also the Dutch street punks Antidote. Well, both bands are great and we never thought of the fact that they have the same name as a problem!

We had thought of a lot of other names but there was always something we didn’t like and one day we just thought of Rampage! It fits our style of music nice, it sounds good and it can be pronounced by our illiterate friends!

Also, believe it or not, the fact that we have a babouine on the cover has nothing to do with the video game or the movie. We weren’t aware of these either... We just wanted something on rampage on our cover and we picked that one. We had thought of a pack of hyenas or a furious bull but eventually we picked the babouine.

Let’s get back to the Greek scene. How do you see the scene nowadays? Give us some insight for the non-Greek readers of the zine! How has the pandemic affected the scene and do you think that it’s gonna overcome this huge crisis?

Well, there is a big punk scene in Greece. A lot of bands, a lot of gigs with many people most often and a strong DIY ethic. The truth is that the punk scene in Greece is more limited than the past years though... The thing is that bands in Greece tend to not exist for a long time and not release a lot of stuff before disbanding. It seems that the scene is constantly recycling itself and the people from a band which is over go on making something new. The pandemic has affected the scene as it has affected everything in the world. No gigs for now and not a single gig for Rampage! so far... But patience is virtue and we believe that the scene is gonna overcome this crisis as it has overcome other difficulties in the past.

What are your best places for shows in Greece and what are your favorite current and old Greek hardcore bands?

Unfortunately, many squats that were throwing gigs in Greece have been shut down by the cops… Yet, there are still various places and groups of people organizing DIY shows! We can’t mention all of these but I guess the most active places in Athens are Idrima 2.14 (Ίδρυμα 214) and Ypoga K94 (Υπόγα K94), and in Thessaloniki, it’s Biologica. Apart from these there are other places, not only in the capital but also in smaller towns. Through the years, we have been to most of them and had a great time!

Regarding the active hardcore bands in Greece, we would mention Lifewreck, Blood Trace, Χωρίς Οίκτο (Horis Oikto), Youthcrusher, Ξέρα (Ksera), Παροξυσμός (Paroxismos), Antimob, Chernobyl Attack, etc. From the older hardcore bands, our favorite ones are Hibernation, Ναυτία, Rajahtaa, Gutter, Cut Off, Censored Sound and Αντίδραση (Antidrasi). Apart from these, we also like other Greek bands playing punk, grind or crust but we don’t want to make a huge list!

We are coping with a really awful situation and Greece is definitely in deep shit; increase of unemployment rates, lots of young (and not that young) people fleein’ abroad, poverty, anxiety and depression on our daily agendas. Do you see a light in the dark? And on the contrary, there’s no big demonstrations and no upheavals against the oppressive system, only self-isolation and separatism. What the hell is going on?!

Indeed, things in Greece are going from bad to worse... Financially, most people are in deep shit due to the fact that the current rightwing government has stolen millions of euros through economical scandals and also invests money mainly on police enforcement and the army rather than education or public health. On the contrary, they try to disorient people from their actual problems using as a scapegoat the anarchists, left-wings, refugees, or outside enemies as Turkey or Macedonia and boosting racism and prejudice. And it seems that it is the first time that media are helping them openly so much in spreading their propaganda! When it comes to demonstrations and generally reaction against this oppression, it is true that things are not how it used to be... It seems that many people are afraid of the consequences of uprising as the state nowadays has made clear that all rebels will be prosecuted and punished to the maximum level. The police oppression and judicial arbitrariness are out of control when only few people take a stand against them. But still not everyone has submitted and there are still people and groups that are fighting against this shit and holding the hope for a better future still alive! The time will come for all of us to go on a rampage!

Is music still a weapon? Does hardcore answer any questions? How relevant is the music we love nowadays? I love asking this question, by the way. Has hardcore become another subculture that the capitalistic system has manipulated?

If by music you refer to hardcore / punk, we don’t consider it as a weapon in terms of changing this society... It affects only a small percentage of the population when most people ignore its existence. What hardcore / punk answers to is our struggle to keep control of our lives with our own terms, have an ethical code in our everyday life, organize our entertainment the way we want, have an open-minded mentality and, of course, it helps us to get through all the difficult situations we often face. Surely there are benefit shows and bands that have had a big influence on people and lyrics that have inspired a lot of individuals on their fight against the system but still we don’t think that punk can disturb the fundamentals of the society because to do so, you need much more than that. We like it or not, capitalism has put its hands on every aspect of our life, even hardcore / punk... I mean, you send your stuff to a factory to print a record or you use Google to make it easier for everyone to listen to your album. You can’t avoid these... But there are bands that, in realistic terms, try to keep it as DIY and decent as possible and bands that want to go full mainstream. So, maybe it’s in every band’s hand to decide if they want to be manipulated by the capitalist system or not… Our opinion is to keep it DIY and remain as pure as you can as an individual!

Thanks for your time! Hope to see you live sometime in 2021, fingers crossed!

Thanks for the interview! And for running a hardcore fanzine in Greece! We hope to play live soon too!