Not Very Nice # 5 by PUNKS IS HIPPIES

NOT VERY NICE VOL 5: FINISHED JANUARY 29, 2009

ACTIVE MINDS INTERVIEW DONE BY FILIP FUCHS. CZECH LANGUAGE VERSION APPEARS IN HLUBOKA ORBA #27. NOT VERY NICE PO BOX 2 BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI 48303-0002, USA CHAOSNONMUSICA@GMAIL.COM WWW.NOTVERYNICEFMP.COM PRINT RUN: 100 COPIES. THANKS TO TOM FOR THE PRINTING.

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w ,*-\l l. SinceI don't haveyour new LP yet, I haveto ask- why this systemdoesn'twork? Becauseit createsvictims just in order to continue.Thosewho advocatefree market capitalismas a way of improving everybody'sstandard of living are conveniently ignoring thosestarving millions whose sufferingenablesour standard of living to be maintained.A global economicsystemwhich cannot provide even the most basic,+ necessities of life for everyonecannot be said to be working. :

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2. ACTIVE MINDS startedon Januarylst 1986- well, it is prettyuncommonfor punk band to exist for so long time, so where do you draw the motivationand inspirationto continue from? 'band' in the I know this soundsa bit corny, but in a way Active Minds isn't really a conventionalsense.As we're brothers we have a relationshipthat lasts where other 'blood is thicker than water', as they say. Although our friendships might not relationshipnow isn't the sameas it was when we lived together,it's still strong and we're both still into the music and the politicsso it just seemsnatural for Active Minds to continue.We've alwaystried to sharethe workload as well, which helps.It's a real partnership- not alwaysequal,but we both haveimportant input into the thingswe do as Active Minds, which makesthe bond stronger. i.lli.'{'l*^f;S#g'ff 3. Whenyou look back - what are someof the bestand worst memoriesfrom the yearsyou did with this band so far? How did the hardcore/punk scenechangedover theseyearsfrom yourpointof view? Probablyboth the bestand worst memoriesboth stem from the sameactivity - touring. We've had some great times, met some great people and seen some great bands. I supposethe novelfydoeswear off a bit, but our earliesttours of Europe in the late '80s alwaysbring back specialmemories- travelingby train to gigs on 17 day tours which took us right down into Italy and right up into Scandanaviain the spaceof just over a fortnight. When we first toured Europe (1987)we didn't really know of any other UK bandswho had ever done it so it seemeda real adventure.Poland in 1989,before the collapseof the "Communist" system,is alsoa specialmemory- as was touring in Mexico a coupleofyears ago. The worst times?Well, in thosetravelsyou do sometimesget bad experiences, play or stayin shitty places,or meetsomepeopleyou'd rather not meetagain.But not too often. I don't want to single out particular instances,but we can usually laugh about them now. How hasthe scenechanged?In terms of activityit tendsto rise and fall every few yearsthingsstagnateand then get reinvigoratedagainwith someregularity. The politicshas ' certainly stagnatedat times, when the scenehas sometimesbecome dominated by cynicalold-timers,but then we get a goodkick up the arsefrom new blood coming into the scenewith the sort of freshenthusiasmwhich inspiresnew activity. Comparingwith the mid to late '80s the major differenceis the awareness, and access,peoplehave to

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music and ideas from all over the world. In more recent years, with the use of the internet,that awarenesshas really exploded. //

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4. BeforeACTIVE MINDS therewas S.A.S.,canyou tell moreaboutthis band?As far as I know S.A.S. splitted up to two 2-piecebands- yours and SATANIC MALFLINCTIONS, did producednot only one but right?Isn't it kind of odd, that smalltown like Scarborough just two 2-piecehardcorebands?I mean,couldn't you play together,when you had pretty similarlyrics and music?And what was this projectACTIVE MALFUNCTIONSabout?I just remember seeingaddfor demotapein UK zinein early90s... SAS existedfor about three years,did a handful of gigs,two demosand an EP. They startedpractisingas a three-piecein early 1983beforeI joined a few monthslater - the line-up then being me (vocalsand occasionalguitar), Ade (bass),Tony (guitar) and Vince (drums). All recordingswere done with this line-up, with the EP coming out aroundthe Spring/Summerof 1985.Shortlyafter the EP cameout Tony and Vince left, and Stu and Setjoined, but we struggledto regainthe tightnesswe'd had for the EP particularlybecauseVince had beena really gooddrummer,whilst Setwas just starting out at that time. For thosewho are trying to find it, the EP had a pressingof 1,000copies and is now quite a collectorsitem. SatanicMalfunctionsoriginally startedas a four-piece(guitar, drums and two vocals)Stu, Ade, Gary and Vince. They began I think late 1985, and they were not a particularlyseriousband at that time (at least,I didn't think so).SASwere still together at that time, but me and Set were growing a bit disillusionedand felt that we could really pursue the direction we wanted to take better as a two-piece- particularly the lyrics we wanted to do. So we made that decisionon New Years Eve (a New Year's Resolution?), and the following day told the rest of the band that we'd decidedto quit whilst we startedwriting new materialfor ActiveMinds. We didn't tell the othersat that time that we were carrying on as a two-piece. Although Active Minds have always been a two-piece,it wasn't the same for Satanics. The core of the band was two people(Ade and Stu), but they were at various times a three-pieceand a four-piece.They were only a two-piecefor the secondEP and first LP. Therewas alwaysthe similarity with us thoughin that they had no bass,but maybethat harks back to the first daysof SAS,beforeI joined,when they were practisingwithout a bass...The other similarify, perhaps,in guitar soundwould be becauseI'd deviseda way of tuning the guitar so that you playedchordswith just one finger,which I then showed Stu how to do and he alwaysusedas well. Why didn't we just all play togetheras a four-piece?Well that's how SAS had endedup, and it wasn't working for me and Set.I know that someother peoplemay think that AM and Satanicswere very similar in our approach,but I certainlydidn't alwaysseeeye-toeyewith Stu over politicsso working togetheras onebandwas too restictivefor me.

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Incidentally,there was another two-pieceHC band from Scarborough for a while as well - Upheaval(two brothers). They put out a split EP as a two-piece. They were definitely influenced by us to do what they did.

As for Active Malfunctions- that was nothingat all to do with us. I neveractuallyheard it, but as far as I know it was somecheekybastardsfrom Lincolnshiretaking the piss. We shouldhavesued!:-)

ght soundlive andin the 5. Beingjust "guitar+ drums"band,how do you manageto getthe ri teihnicaladvicefor similar"minimalistic"projects? studio?lA.ny ] ^'a.llx:x.l

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With mixed results,I think it's probably fair to say! We usually have to borrow amps whenwe play live, and so we don't alwaysquite manageto get the soundwe want. It was more of a problem when we first startedand I just usedto play out of one guitar amp, but after a few years I got a local shop to make me up a specialpedal that split my guitar signalinto fwo, with a switch on each, so that I could play out of two amps at the same time. Sincethen I've always playedthrough both a bassamp and a guitar amp, which tendsto alwaysget a more acceptableand powerful sound than we sometimesusedto get in the old days.Technicaladvicefor similar projects?Get one of thesepedalsmade up. It costme aboutâ&#x201A;Ź15 at the time - the bestâ&#x201A;Ź15 I'll everspend.

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6. You always kept strongly thoughtprovokingand critical attitudesin your lyrics and commentson every record you did so far. Is there somethingyou regret looking back, somethingyou feel is not relevantanymoreor you feel you werewrongaboutbackthen? I'm not sure that I think we were "wrong" about anything,as such,but the world does changeand things do becomeirrelevant.After allowhen we started off we were still singingabout Reaganand Thatcher,and the Berlin Wall was still in place.The stuff we did againstCDs is certainly not relevantthesedays - there are young kids listeningto musicthesedayswho've grown up in the post-CDage and for who talking about vinyl recordsis like talking about 8-track cassettes. That's why our new album is availableon both CD and vinyl - even though we said we'd never do a CD. That's one thing I've definitelylearned- neversay "never". You can't predictthe future. i e\'

AlthoughI don't think there are thingsthat we said which were wrong, obviouslythere are things that I wouldn't do or say in the sameway anymore.I'm more than twice as old now as when we started and life's experiences changeyou. You find that certain methods of getting yours views across that seemedappropriate when you were a teenagerare lessconvincingwhen you're middle-aged(which is, after all, what I am now).

Iot gT Regrets?Possiblythat we singledout particular bandsfor criticism in things like "Dis is :i:..,..t$ i:fi getting pathetic...".With hindsight,I don't think that was necessaryin order to make tht tii ttt. polni. It certainly didn't make us a lot of friends. iiiiii.iit'rtii

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, 7. Lets talk now more about some of your lyrics, which probablycausedthe biggest reactions- "Dis Is GettingPathetic"from the EP of the samenamefrom controversy/angriest 1995- do you wantto commenton this now, l3 yearslater,whenthereareprobablytentimes more"dis" bandsthantherewere backin 1995?Are thereany currentbandswith "dis" in the nameyou like? .].''1]'.j:.1.i..-.:;.1'.-,.|i'1.1-.:1...'....:.M..'.:::::'..f:'::i.1{6Yj:i'lEF'.l

I could never really understandwhy it provokedsuch an angry reaction from some people,although,as I said above,it probablywasn't necessaryto singleout particular bandsas that just gets peoplein a defensive,embattledmode. But the basic point we were making was, and is, still valid. That doesn'tmean I'm trying to tell peoplewhat bandsto listen to. Make your own decisions.I'm just making a comment that people of. may or may not want to take consideration Do I like any "Dis" bands?Of courseI do! I did back then too. I'm a mad collectorof hardcore punk vinyl, and have probably got stuff by a hundred bands whose name '!d-beat"(dreadfulterm) bandswho've chosen beginswith "Dis" - let aloneall the other slightlymore original names.But just becauseI like a band doesn'tmeanI can't alsobe , critical of them at times.

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8. "At War With Satanists"from "FreeTo Be Chained"LP from 1997- again,it seemsto me that black metal is gettingpopularagainin punk scenein recentyears,do you still havethe same opinions about it? Isn't it some form of authentic"misanthropic/nihilist"point of view/attitudes, similarto early punk bands,just pushedmorefar?

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Yes,I still havethe sameopinionsabout it, but againI still like to listento a lot of those bands.Where do you think the picturescamefrom that we usedin the album booklet? From my own record collection.As I said above,though,just becauseI like a band's music doesn'tmean I have to acceptor support everythingabout them. I can't really understandwhy peoplethink it's necessary to do so.After all, I can watch "Terminator" is a cool guy or that his and think it's a good film without thinking that Schwartzenegger politicsare sound.It's OK to view music,like films, as purely superficialentertainment. But there'san incliniationnot to do so - to seebandsas somesort of cultural heroesand leaders,just becausethey can producean album that makesyou want to leap around. That makesno senseto me. You shouldn'tbe afraid to criticiseaspectsof thingsthat you alsoadmire in other waYs.

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point of view? I don't think Is black metalsomesort of legitimatefmisanthropic/nihilist' so, but then again I think that nihilism as a philosophyis pretty dumb and selfdestructive.And is it ever really that 'authentic'?I rememberseeingan insert of an LP from a band who was particularlywell know for it's misanthropicviews.The thankslist is this record was absolutelyenormous.I don't think I would even have known that many people,let alonelike them. The idea that they hatedeverybodyon the planet but then had so many friends seemeda little bit contradictory to me. lLT?a \ll \\a / .a.. rlUt larl tnl 9. The lyrics to "Goremless"from "l Am Not Tourist,I live Here" EP inspireda response from ItalianCRIPPLEBASTARDS who wrote song"I Dare You" releasedon their split EP w/WORLD. Do you know it? "Inhibited bigot censors...filanthropic politically correct " theseare somewords from their commentsdirectedto your song...Personally, standards... no matterwhatI think, I think thatit's greattohavethis kind of "dialogue"(if you cancall it - don't you think so? so)with onebandreactingto anotherthroughsongs/comment

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I wouldn't really call it a "dialogue". Yes,I do have that record and when I read the stuff they'd written about us I haveto say that I found it pretty bizarre - focussingin on onesongof a band that probablynot many peoplehaveheard of. When we did our stuff about the rfDis" clone bands,or black metal,or gore bands,we were looking at whole genresof the undergroundmusicscene.In that way we felt that most peoplereadingit would be able to relateto what we were sayingin some\ilay - they'd have at leastsome referencepointsto it. The Cripple Bastardsattack on us seemeda bit more self-indulgent- like having an argumentwith us aboutone particularthing we'd said,and doingso in a publicway in front of an audiencewho might well havebeencompletelyunawareof who we were, or what we'd said, and would thereforebe a bit bemusedby the whole thing. So, I'm not sure I'd agreewith you that dealingwith it in this way is "great", but perhapswe can't really complainbecausepeoplemay considerthat we startedit, in a way.

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10.And finally"YoungFit Males"from "FreeTo Be Chained"questions the way someof the

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you playedoverthe years?Don't you get this kind of reactionslike "you don't live in squar . soyou don't knowhow hard it is,so whatthefuckyoulmow..."? I arf

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Yes, it was difficult to write - but again,we felt it neededsaying.I do feel that if you're wanting to challengepeople'sopinionsyou needto be willing to do so on subjectsthat are closer to home and which may be uncomfortablefor some of your audienceotherwiseyou're not really challenginganythingat all. And yes,it was certainly inspired by someexperiences on tours. I'm not going to single out any particular incidences,but we have played in some very shitty placeswhere gettingthe basicsright didn't seemto be the top of anybody'spriority list. I usedto feel this particularlywhen my son was very young- I would look at a placeand say to myself "Would it be safeto bring him here?".I didn't meantaking a three year old into a gig - would I be able to wash him or hall, but I meanttaking him to the buildingsthemselves get him to a toilet, for example?Similarly,I usedto think of peopleI knew outsidethe punk/hardcorescene- if I took them to someof thoseplaces,would they recognisethem as genuineattemptsto build an alternativesociety? And sometimes,of course,the answer is no. But many times it was also yes. We've played in some truly inspirationalsquats(Leipzig,Berlin, and one in Italy spring to mind, but there have been many others) as well as a few truly awful ones (dogshit everywhere,no toilets, no water, no electricity,unsafestructures,etc.). I hope we've nevergiven the impressionthat we disapproveof squatsin general,becausethat would be entirely wrong - and we've also written songslike "Take It Back" which look at squattingvery positively.As for the "What the fuck do you know?" response- I can't rememberevergettingthat, but perhapswe havesometime...

ll. UK has long history of self-runnedplaces,collectivehousing,social clubs,co-ops... which arelweresomeof the most inspirationalplaces,you would recommend?Haveyou ever beeninvolvedin somethinglike this in yourtown?Whatdoesit taketo havea placelike this workingwell? As far as squattingis concerned,the UK hasa history of legalsquattingand squatter's rights that I don't think many placesin the rest of Europe have.But theselegal rights relateto peoplesquattingin housesto live, rather than creatingsquattedsocialcentres, etc. I think this has always producedvery different squattingscenesin the UK when comparedto mainlandBurope.Squattersin Europe,by necessity, usuallyneedto group togetherin larger projects for support and solidarityto resisteviction.It also helpsif they createor provide community spaceand activitieswhich will bring them support from otherswho don't actually live there.This has resultedin a very vibrant culture of squattedsocialcentres. self-managed, Thesesort of placesare largely absentin the UK, exceptfor a few placeswhere the peoplewho have set them up have either moved here from mainland Europe or have beeninspiredby what goeson there.Thereare sometimesrelativelyshort-livedsquatted gig venues,trut I don't know of anywherelike that which has been around for a long time. Squattersin the UK are often peoplelookingfor somewhereto live, who are not looking to draw a lot of attention to themselvesfrom the authorities by operating unlicensed barsor musicvenues. However,there have beena number of excellentself-managed, legal clubs/co-ops etc. I understandthere are somedown in the Southof the country,which I've never beento, but the one I'm most familiar with is the 1-in-12Club in Bradford which is excellent. The other one which standsout in my mind, but is sadly no longer around, was the WarzoneCentrein Belfastwhich I alwaysfelt wasexceptionaland inspiring. * '* 4t-

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I'd saythat to make sucha placework well needsa solid group of committedpeoplewho are preparedto do the work, and it needsthe respectand support of many more people who are goingto useit. If peopletreat a placeor its volunteersbadly then thoseworking on the project can soon get disheartenedand pack it in. And the other thing is that it needsto avoid being 'cliquey' - like a closedclub which feels like it excludesanybody new who might be interestedin comingalongand gettinginvolved.Without new blood and enthusiasmeverythingeventuallydies. There's never beenthis type of place in our town, which is too small and has too few potentiallyactivemembersand supportersto makeit viable. 12. I can imaginethat with lyrics questioningsomepunk sceneissuesyou can often get all sortsof reactionslike that you are someuptightP.C.weirdosneverhavinga fun, criticizing everything,trying to enforceyour point of view on everybody,dictatingto otherswhat is and with reactionslike thesewhat is not punk...I think that you musthavetonsof experiences whatwould you respond? We don't get so many reactionslike that directedat us personally,but I think it's how quite a few peopleview us. We've had a coupleof amusingexperiences where people havemet us and got on well with us,without actuallyknowingwho we were. When they then found out wherewe live, they'veaskedus if we know those'weird, miserableActive Minds folks, who have no senseof humour'. I think it's a little strange that people assumewe're like that, becauseI think that someof our stuff is quite 'tongue-in-cheek'. I thought "Dis Is Getting Pathetic...r'was quite funny - more humourous than most nihilisticgrindcorebands,surely? I wouldn't necessarily try to respondto thosesort of reactionsin any particular way. It's up to other peoplehow they want to react to what you say. I think a lot of it stemsfrom peoplebeing uncomfortableabout looking at their own lives in a self-criticalway. In what we write, sometimeswe will provokethat - to which peoplemay chooseto reactin a defensiveway. There's not much I can do about that. Some people do seem unnecessarilynervousabout approachingus sometimes,but I think that werre a lot more friendly than they perhapsassumethat we are. tM,,',,G*ili,ffiffil13.You stronglypromoteactivitieson personal/local scalethroughyour lyrics/comments or in interviews- tell us moreaboutyour involvement on locallevelin Scarborough. F.e.I read somewhere that you usedto havebillboardin front of your houseinformingaboutall sortsof issueslike multinationals, ecology,animalrightsetc. - tell us more aboutit and aboutthe reactionsit did attracted... The billboard on our houseused to be an advertisingboard for a businessthat was basedthere beforeI movedin. When I arrived I just left the board in place,paintedover it and startedenlargingpostersto fit on it. It's quite big (about6 feet high), and on the cornerof a busy road, so it's quite visible. The commentsI've had show that people do take notice of it. The poster that I rememberattractingmost interestwas oneI mockedup of Gordon Brown, when he was in i$ chargeof the Treasury(rather than beingPrime Minister, as he is now). It was based on a famousWorld War I army recruitmentposter.The posterI put up said "Do your r.,'.1,., nit for the economy- buy things that you don't need".There were then various images f;.X:..*i and statementson it about consumerismand the exploitativeadvertisingcampaignsof multinationals.A number of peoplecameup to me and askedfor smallercopiesof that posterfor themselves, and I usedto seepeoplestoppingand taking the time to read it all, whichwasgood.

so have you been successful? Also I think you were a candidatefor EuropeanParliament? What is your main agendaon local/national level?I think this may soundkind of embarassing to somepeopleas they may think aboutbandlike ACTIVE MINDS to be an anarchistband... so whatwereyour main reasonsto get involvedwith Greenparty? I first got interestedin the GreenParty when I was still at school.I read somestuff and felt really comfortableand at homewith the ideasand philosophybehind the party, as well as with the decentralizedand unconventionalway that it worked. There was no local branch in my hometownat that time, but a few yearslater when one was set up in 1988 I joined. I've stood in many local electionsduring that time, and also for Parliament(fwice)and the EuropeanParliament(once). Yes, I've been successfulwith it. In 2006 I successfullywon a by-election for a local Councilseat.As this electionwas a resultof a resignationby another Councillor,I only had a l year term of office and had to defendmy seatagainin Spring 2007.I won that electionwith one of the biggestmajoritiesof any Councillorin the area, so I am now a localCouncilloruntil Spring2011. On a local level our main agendahas beenconcernedhere with reducing energy use, better waste managementand better pubtic transport.When standing for national or Europeanelectionsthe issueshave been more nationallyor internationallybasedpeace'global wealth redistribution,oppositionto US basesand US-led wars, climate change,animal rights etc. It's still me. I'm still the samepersonwhether writing lyrics for Active Minds or writing electionaddresses, so the issuesare similar - althoughof coursewritten for very different audiencesand thereforehaving different stylesand emphasis. I've neverclaimedto be an anarchist,or that Active Minds were an anarchistband. If peoplewant to take what we say and assumea particular philosophythen that's up to them,but I don't think my involvementwith the GreenParty has beeninconsistent with what I've been doing with the band etc. I've never said, or believed,that more conventionalpolitical action like standingin electionswas necessarilylikely to have more success than other forms of action,suchas protestsor direct action.Nor do I think that doing one excludesdoing the other.Different methodsare appropriateat different times and for different audiences,and, in my opinion, election times offer an opportunity to speak,and get new ideasacross,to a public which otherwisewould be payingno attention. Having said that, after 19 yearsin the Party, I did decideto leaveat the end of 2007.So althoughI'm still a local Councillor I'm no longer involvedwith the Green Party - see below. IU-]j]E1

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l5' Are thereany issueswithin the GreenPartywhich you stronglydisagree with? How do -Party you deal with it? You may know that the CzechGreen is part of th"egovernmentnow andit will mostprobablysay"yes" to US planto buildAmeiicanradarbasein Czech- could you imagineBritishGreenpartyto agreewith something like this? During my time in the GreenParty I think it's fair to saythat I was quite influentialin it - not only locally,but also nationally.I was on the nationalExecutive,in chargeof the Party's Policy developmentfor three years. euite a few of the party's poricieswere actually written by me, including the Party's Core Principles und it.^ policies on redistributive taxes and universal benefits.I was also selectedas the iarty's top candidateon the regionallist hereto fight the nextBuropeanElectionin 2009.

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Therewere someminor bits of policy that I disagreedwith, but nothing major. If there - I was quite had beenI would havetried to get them changed(and may havesucceeded a persuasivespeakerat Conferences, accordingto others...).But the Parfy's individual policiesweren't as important as its overall philosophy.Policiesare tactical ways of trying to put philosophy into practice,so they will inevitably change over time as externalcircumstances change. Whilst I was in the Party I alwaysfelt that the philosophywas sound,thereforeI was happyto be involved.Certainlywhilst I was in the Party I was sure it would neverhave consideredsupportingUS radar bases(which alreadyexist here - includingone just 15 milesaway from us - and which the GreenParty hasalreadyopposed). But last year somethingchangedwhich meantthat I felt I could no longer remain in the Parfy - it decidedto have a Party Leader.Up until that time it had never had a Leader, and had advocatedcollectiveleadershipand bottom-upempowerment.It was one of the things that had originally attractedme to the Party - the fact that it actively opposed conventionalpower structuresand tried to work in a different way. It's oppositionto havinga conventionalparfy Leaderwas later written into its philosophy(oneof my own proposals).But last December,after a bitter internal struggle,the 'modernisers',who wanted a more conventionalParty to appealto a more conventionalpublic and media (onemore interestedin celebrityand personalitypoliticsthan radical ideals),finally won a membershipballot and the Party decidedto have a Leader - at which point I announcedthat I was leavingit, and resignedas the lead Europeancandidatefor the region. Ironically,the last pieceof policythat I proposed,and which was adoptedby the Party Conferencelast Autumn, was to advocatea newsystemof Governmentwhich didn't havea Prime Minister - i.e.an administrationwith a collectiveleadershiprather than a singleLeader.in my opinion,this unconventional view of how the country shouldbe run now sits pretty much at oddswith how the Party hasdecidedto manageitself...

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16.Why thereareno ACTIVE MINDS T-shirts? \./ \_rJI've

never been interested in making band'merchandise'. Apart from music I want

understoodwhy peoplefind it so important to advertiseto the rest of the world what bandsthey like. Of course,you can find someActive Minds t-shirts around, but they're not 'official'. I'm not too fussed,providing peoplearen't ruthlesslyprofiteering from doingthem,but it's not somethingI want to spendmy effortsdoing.

! 17.LoonyTuneslabelput out tonsof greatrecordsoverthe years I think that someof your stuff like v/a "splitting HeadacheOn SundayAfternoon" EP, vla "lve Got An Attitude EP or TOTALITAR EP muStbE tOtAICIASSiCS Problem',EP, SATANIC MALFLJNCTIONS I thinkthatdemandfor them is high...also them? repressing now,did you everthoughtabout after few years of silence there are 2 new releasesout now - your new LP and KULTURKAMPFLP, pleasetalk moreaboutthemand alsotell us if we can expectmore in thefuture. releases

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We've never thought about repressingthoseold records,becauseI don't considerthat we have any right to do so. All the master plateshave long ago been destroyed(the companythat made most of our recordswent bankrupt someyears ago).We'd have to a remasterthe recordsfrom the original vinyl, and if the bandswanted to make the stuff availableagain in that way then they're just as able to do that as we are. I'm not sure whetheror not all the old Totalitar recordshavebeencompiledinto an album, but if not then I'm surprisedand I think someoneshould do it becauseI'm sure lots of people would be interested.As for SatanicsMalfunctions- at the time that was releasedLoony Tuneswas run with Stu from Satanicsand that was obviouslyhis project. Any sort of y' reissuewould be up to the band membersthemselves. I heard from Ade that some ,l German label may be interested in reissuing all their releasesin some form or other, so we'll have to seewhat happens. Yes, we've got fwo new releasesout. We always intended to do a new Active Minds record, but that's just been delayed for a (very) long time. As for Kulturkampf, they were an anarcho- band from the early '80s whose demos I always thought were great and I always wished they'd come out on an LP. For many years I had the idea that I should try to contact them and see if I could put it out, and a couple of years ago I actually got round to writing to a 20* year old contact address on the vague chance that I could still reach them there. I was amazed to find that I did make contact. and thev were happy for us to do the LP of the old demos. Future releaseson Loony Tunes? There are a couple more older bands whose stuff I'd like to posthumously release,and I've contacted one of them. Whether it works out or not I don't know - it's a question of getting some co-operation from ex-members who are frequently no longer involved in the scene.You'll just have to wait and see...:-)

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18. You are around40 yearsold, right?I think that with the aqe comes sometimesmore it leadsoften to peopleleavingthe feelingsand especiallyin hardcore/punk cynical/jaded anymoreaboutit, not giving a fuck aboutnewer bands,just scene,not beingenthusiastic living {surviving?}in thepast...how do you fightthis?Do you still manageto keepan eyeon scene?Whataresomeof thenewbandsyou like? currenthardcore/punk

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Yeah,I'm 41 now. I don't activelytry to fight cynicismin otherswho are gettingotOe, $ and a bit jaded. If peoplehavehad enough,then let them go. A'sfor me' yes I still think and seeingas I'm an avid recordcollectorand run a distro I keep I'm quite enthusiastic, up with a lot of newerstuff that way - too many to list individually.There'squite a few good,energetichardcorebandscroppingup in the UK at the moment - althoughmany of them don't seemto last very long.Quite a few goodsplit 7"s out though of newerUK bandsin the last few years - checkout labelslike Peter Bower and Town Clock. The befweenboth thoselabels. Bickle'sCab LP impressedme too - a co-release

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19. Punkrock, family, marriage,kids all+ogether... for someyoungerpeopleit may sound like a crazything,for you it is realityfor longtime already,how do you manageto work this out?

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Not marriage- I nevergot married as I don't believein the institutionof marriage.How do I manageto work it out? Having a family and still having a life? The sameway millionsof peopleoutsidepunk still manageto fit thingsthey enjoy around having kids, I guess.I've only got one son,and he's15 now.Whilst he was growingup I guessit did impact on things like touring, as I didn't feel it was fair to leavehim too long with my partner on her own. But adaptingto different responsibilities doesn'tmeanyou haveto giveup on everythingelse- just maybefocusa little lesstime on thoseother things.

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20. Sincethe "Free To Be Chained"LP I haventheardmuch from you I think you did just the split Eps wfuRKO, AN-ATTA and VOCO PROTESTAin these10 yearsand definitely I thinkthatmanypeoplethoughtthatyou dontplay anymore... not muchgig-wise/tour-wise... What were you doing all theseyears?I may be wrong, but I think I heardsomethingabout Mexicantour,but I know no detailsat all - how wasit (if it is not a rumour!)? We alsoput out two 7"s in that time - "NationalLotta e" and "RecipeFor Disaster",the split 7" with JesusCrost, and I think the split LP with Petrograd and the 7" with UmbretlaTribe cameout sincethe secondLP too. But you're right - we haven'tbeentoo activelately.Althoughour three LPs are eachseparatedby l0 year gaps,until about the year 2000we put oul about a record a year or so,when you includethe 7"s. Since2000 * we'vedonevery little, and actuallywent 6 yearswithout enteringa studio.

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What havewe beendoing?Well we'vestill beendoinga few gigson occasion,and doing the distro,but much of our time hasbeentaken up with other commitments largely family and politicsfor me. I'll havea lot more time to giveto the band, labeletc.again now. Yeah, we toured Mexico in January 2006,which was a real blast. We had a great time celebrating 20 years of Active Minds over there, played some cool placesand met some great people.A few months earlier we'd toured Spain as well, which was also great fun, - just the but other than that we haven't really done a proper tour for quite a few years odd couple of gigs over a weekend on a couple of occasions.

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21. You know "bigger bands",when they have new LP out, they usually tour a lot to "promoteit", so canwe expectanotherACTIVE MINDS Eurotour sincemid 90s,whenyou wereherelasttime?After 20 yearsof playing,hugeline of recordsout, are thereany goals you feelyoucanreachwith this band? Yeah,I'm hopingwe'll get over to Europefor a decentsizedtour either later this year or early next year. And we'd like to visit someother placestoo in the next coupleof years (now that people know we're still around!) - maybe the US/Canada,Japan, Mexico again. . Those aren't really 'goals' as such - just things that would be fun to do. I don't think we I really have goals as a band, but it's always good to get feedback from people who say that we've been a positive influence for them, or that we'ye made them think about things in a way they might not have otherwise.If we can still get a few of those responses from time to time then I'm sure we'll feel that it's worthwhile us carrying on and that it's not just self-indulgenceon our part!

69 UYKEHAH ST. YO127SA

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ACTIVE MINDS DISCOGRAPHY: You CanCloseYour EyesTo The HonorsOf Reality..."7" 12" "WelcomeTo The Slaughterhouse" Is A Diseaseandmoneyis an addictivedrug"7" "Capitalism "Behindthemask"7" "The lunaticshavetakenover the asylum"7" flexi 7" "Dis is gettingpathetic..." Split 7" with Yapcopsae Split7" with Freakshow Split7" with UmbrellaTribe Split7" with An-Atta "l'm nota tourist..." 7" Split 12"with Petrograd "TheNationalLotta E" 7" "FreeTo Be Chained"12"lTape 7" "RecipeFor Disasters" Split7" with Urko (partof DirectHit zineissue# I ) Split7" with JesusCrost Split7" with VocaProtesta Disc "It'sperfectlyobviousthatthe systemdoesn'twork" 12"lCompact

"AgainstThe Grain" tapehasthe Acitve Mindstracksfrom thesethings: "SplittingHeadacheon a SundayAfternoon"comp7" "Exclusion"compLP "Wild andCrazyNoiseMerchants"compdoubleLP " 1984theFourth"comp7" compdoubleLP "NoiseAgainstRepression" 7" "Tic tactoe" cornp "An InsultTo Our Freedom- SmashFascism"compLP "Mit mir ist nichtzu rechnen"comp7" "Europein Decline"compLP "WearYour Smell"compLP "EveryTwenty Seconds"comp 7" split LP with Petrograd Theyalsohave4 trackson the "RetroIs Poison"LP whichis a 4 way splitwith CIRIL, KARNVAPEN ATTACK and I OBJECT,

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FORA COPYOF THE''AGAINST THEGRAIN''TAPE SEND$4 IN THEUSA,$7 WORLDWIDE TO THISADDRESS OF THISZINE COMESWITHLYRICBOOKLET

1981. SWANKYS formation. Member is WATCH, LOODS, JIN, BEER. 4 people. 1981. 12. JIN withdraws (for high skill entrance examination) 1982. SWANKYS real action begins. Many session bass players take part in live performances. Every gig is very extreme. Afterward, our performance was refused. 1983. 5. SWANKYS band name to be liable to incompetent action, band name was changed to GAI . In December of the same year, 1st tape "DAMEGING NOISE" is published. 1983. 2nd generation bassist GAUSE joins as a member. This time, we conducted gigs outside the prefecture. 1984. 2nd tape "DAMNATION" is recorded. Already mail order has sold about 500 copies! GAUSE suddenly withdraws in the middle of recording. At that time when the lineup of GAI was incomplete, the punk band SIEG HEIL broke up. Their leader, TV, joins GAI as a member. "DAMNATION" is published. 1984. 12. 1st flexi "EXTERMINATION" is published. Astounding sales are recorded. 1985. 3. The band name returns to SWANKYS once more. Participation is taken in the KPP omnibus LP, "PINCH AND OUCH". 1985. 7 City Rocker LP, EP, omnibus recording for the sake of Tokyo. KPP's EP "THIS IS MY LIFESTYLE" recording. 1985. 11. First gig in Tokyo is performed. 1985. 12. The 1st LP "THE VERY BEST OF HERO THE SWANKYS" is released from Dogma label. At the present, the record sells good! INSERT PROVIDED BY MIKE MCGRAW. TRANSLATION BY ZACH HOWARD

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DIE HARDSOF THE CZECHHARDCORESCENE;SEE YOU IN HELL HAVE BEEN AROUNDFOR ALMOST1O YEARSALREADY!THIS INTERVIEW WAS DONEWITH MEMBERFILIP.DEFINITELY GUITARIST AND FOUNDING CHECKOUT THISBAND IF YOUHAVEN'TALREADY!!!

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1. Ok, let's get the typical stuff out of the way first, when did SEE YOU lN HELLform, line up changes,influences,etc. Also, what were your initial intentionswith the band? Are these still the same? SEEYOU lN HELLstartedin May 1999,but it took us morethan one year to get the stable line-upand to startplayinggigs(ourveryfirstgigwas in August2000at infamousVrahClub goingstrong(M.8. in Roznov). Backthen I stillhad my otherbandMRTVABUDOUCNOST did splitup in April2000)and I wantedto playsomethinglittledifferentfrom the hyper-fast extremeHC slaughter M.B.did.Backthenme and SYIH'sformerdrummerwereinfluenced by bandslike BORNAGAINST,ORCHID,CATHARSIS, ZEGOTA,REVEARSAL OF MAN, PALATKAetc., basicallythis politicalEbullition/Crimethlnc. stuff,so obviouslythere were someinfluences of it in our music(butwe suckedcomparedto them!).You can hearthis on the firstdemo,on split7' w/MINDLOCK and full 7" - our recordings from 200012001. ln 2002 we did changedthe old drummerand took the Brno'ssceneveteranBeno(he'sthe oldest SYIH membertoday- he's 36), who usedto play in early90's hardcore/crust bandsLOS SOMMROS(who were even supposedto releasesplit7" w/DISCLOSE in 95 | think but flakedoutl)and NO PASARAN.We alsotriedseveral2nd guitarplayers,but noneof them worked,whilesingerJozkaand bassplayerTomare in the bandsince1999.Withnewman beatingthe drums,our style has evolvedas well: it becomemore direct,simpler,more straightforwarddark hardcore/crust and later it has evolvedeven more to fast and raw hardcoreinfluencedby JapaneseHC like JUDGEMENT,BASTARD,DEATHSIDE, FORWARD, D.S.B., LIBERATE,ASSFORT etc. We all listen to many differentstyles of hardcore/punk and three of us have huge record/tapecollections, but I think that the ' common agreement h *-{t among us in last few years is, that Japanese HC in all it'sformsis the most aggressive/full-on energy music ever created!But I hope we don't imitate/don't copy (f.e.we don'twritelyrics in intentionally"broken English", we stilldo lyricsin our language), we just try to takethe energyand straight-forward musicalattitudes fromJap HC.Well,decidefor yourself. i\.

2. You recentlydid a tour with SHEEVAYOGAthroughoutsouthern Europe.How did this go? Any cool stories to tell? How does the scene in Europe compare to other placeslike Braziland Japan,both of which SYIHhad toured in the pastfewyears? ;trF

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our bestEuropeantrip ever.We did It was one of the besttourswe did so far and obviously Greece,ltaly,Franceand almostthreeweekstour with gigs in Austria,Serbia,Macedonia, (Austria), bandslikeSOTATILA ENTROPIJA Spain.We haveplayedwithsomeass-kicking (Serbia), DEVASTATION OF LIFE(Greece), DIRTYPOWERGAME,MEMENTO MORIand (Spain)- watchout for them!We toured JILTED(ltaly),YAKUZAHORRORand DISKOIRAA in Marchwhichwas OK as therewere not so manygigs at all and we had good turn-out almostevery night,yet still we managedto looselike 1000 EU on this tour becauseof expensive van rental,ferryfromGreeceto ltalyand esp.highwaytolls,whichare prettyhigh in someof thesecountries. playingin underground garagein Macedonia for 50 wildkids Someof the highlightsincluded and then settingup the distro stall outsidein children'splayground,shows in squatted Universityclassroomsin Greece,playingin Romefor bunchof crazy madmenin frozen BO'sTorinosquatEl Pasoagain,meetingall our friendsfromthe squat,playingin legendary last2003tour in Spainand France,alsofoodanddrinkseverywhere and ofcoursebeingwith SHEEVAYOGAeveryday,whoare killerband(anyfansof powerviolenceMUSTcheckout their split LP w/DISNEY!)and good friendsof ours. The movementof autonomous places/squats in Greece,France,ltalyand Spainis reallyinspirational self/governed and it makeshardcore/punk herereallyD.l.Y.to the bone! It's not easyto comparethis tour to Brazilor to Japanas each regionis unique.For sure Brazifis morc crazywith more young people interestedin hardcore/punk and goingwild, also with many killerthrash bands and often with not so good backline/p.a. (but who gives a fuck..?).Japan is 100% professional, with best bandsaroundtodayand huge culturaldifferencesfrom the rest of the world. Europeis more "laid-back",also sadly currentlywith not so exciting hardcore/punk scene in most of countries, but Southern Europe is still better than NorthMestin my opinion,not so boredand moreenthusiastic. I reallydon'tknowwhenwe couldrepeatthisagain,butwe wantto makeat leasta shorttrip aroundBalkanlikeCroatia,Serbia,Macedonia, maybeTurkey...we will see.

3. What releasesis SEE YOU lN HELLplanningfor the future? How about upcoming tours? Releases:2-3 new songs on split 7" w/CROW,which should be releasedby Insane Society/Phobia on vinyl/mini-CD in April2009.We willtry a differentstudiofor the firsttime in lastfive years,so I am lookingforwardto hearthe finalresult.CROWalreadydid recorded for the splitand I haveto say thatthe theirfirstsongon this is one of the besthitstheyever did (andthis comesfrom a longtime dedicated CROWfan - MRTVABUDOUCNOST did covered"Last Chaos"alreadyback in 1995!).Otherthan that no more plans apart from havingour previousrecordsreissuedon differentformatsall aroundthe world- thereshould be "Umet se prodat"/"Utok" CD versionin Braziland "Umet se prodat"tape versionin Malaysia(just this year we had CDs/CDr's/tape versionsof these recordsre-releasedin Macedonia, Belarus, Philippines, Japan,USA...thanxa lotto allthe labelsinvolved!). Maybe 3rd LP or maybesplitLP?We will see,no hurryat all sincewe don'twantto crankout new recordevery2 months.

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great Tours: Brazilagain in late April/earlyMay 2009_,it seems that it should be another great raw new (Check out, them guys DISKONTROLL from welan't wait!The experience, THE ON FUCK VIVISICK and meet to hope we it and crustbandfrom SPI)shouldorginize BEACHtoo sincewe tour in the sametime.In 2010Japanagainmaybeand maybenot only too?We wouldliketo tour U.S.as well one day Jip"n, but Malaysia,Singapore,Indonesia eachyear,who knows,whenthis can happen..' touring for left bui as we haveonly2 weeks Hahaha... 2011??? And I will visit JaPanagain for the 3rd time in just few weeks, just for the gigs (FORWARD, SYSTEMATIC WARHEAD, LIFE, VIVISICK, DEATH, record CROW...), ZYANOSE, buying and meeting many friendsfrom my Previousvisitsor from their gigs here in Brno - | can notwait! 4. You write some of the lYrics along with your singer Jozka, tYPe of correct? What messageare You trYing to get across(if any)? No, let me correct You, Jozka doesn'twrite lyricsin SEE YOU lN HELL.Untilnot so longtime ago I did all of them, but recentlyBeno steppedin some 60-80 too, which isiool sinCeI am runningout of ideasslowlyafterwriting_like lyrics-writting Some HELL. YOU lN in SEE 50 like and tyricsin my lrevious bandMRTVABUDOUCNOST lifeless people becoming society, modern in man of tne older'lyricswere aboutalienationof isolationand shit likethis.Someof the morerecent breakdowns, communication machines, not givingup and aimingstrongto individuality, lyricsare'kind of optimisticencouraging but alwaysdo our bestto provide language, in Czech goals. We sing reachyourdreamsand Russian,Spanish or German Japanese, to somltimes translationsatleastto English, world. the all over albums of our releases too,whenthereare language

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5. Can you tell a little about your fanzine/labelHLUBOKAORBA? How many issues haveyou done with your zine and what haveyou releasedwith your label?ls there any interestfrom abroad or mostly iust in Czech/Europe? The fanzinedid startedback in summer1993,but beforeldid anotherone between19911992,whichwas more collectiveeffort,whileH.O. usedto be in the beginning"one man" showonly.This had changeda littlein late90's,when I inviteda coupleof goodfriendsto The greatthingis, that someof themstill writecolumns,tour reportsor to submitinterviews. even 10 yearslater.People(mostlysingers!)from bandslike GRIDE,PANGS do contribute OF REMORSE,MINDLOCK,BALACLAVA,FESTA DESPERATOand of course both and SEE YOU lN HELLhavehelpedduringtheseyears,so you , I MRTVABUDOUCNOST knowit hasto be a goodqualityread,haha...Sincethe beginningI decidedto covermostly ,rl DIY networkand !r'.;(r scenewith hugefocuson international the extremepartof hardcore/punk also some more radicalpolitics.Some of the bandswho were interviewedso far are f.e. ilr RESIST,DISORDER,DROPDEAD,CAPITALISTCASUALTIES,DISCLOSE,SPMZ, ' a '-( EBOLA(uk), FINAL EXIT (jap),CRIPPLEBASTARDS,MASHER,REAL REGGAE,BAD I LAMANT, REAGAN SS, i l ACID TRIP, KONSTRUKT,ASMODINASLEICHENHAUS, RED, ORCHID, ANTICHRIST, CITIZENS LOCUST, SEEIN DS 13, NULA, AGATHOCLES, DESASTRE, BOMBENALARM, HRYDJUVERK, ARREST, CONFUSIONE, f.e. MACABRA+ obviouslymanyCzechbands.FromlabelsI interviewed SELFISH/FORCA Darbouka, Tian An Men, Prank,StronglyOpposed,I also printhugetour reportsof Czech

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politicalextremism, bands,alsosomepoliticalstufff.e.articleson policesurveillance, car industry or squatting. in my city, workers struggle of So far I did 26 issues,the lastthreecameout in pressrun of cca 800 copies,in full page formatand put togetherlike a book in soft-cover,also ofset printed.The newestissue (27) with shouldbe sentto printersin just 2-3 weeks.lt'll have200 pagesstuffedwith interviews ACTIVEMINDS,GERMATTAK,BLOODY '. PHOENIX, PRUMYSLOVA SMRT, .'.. DISKONTROLL, tour reportsfrom Brazil, ,' ..: . SouthernEurope, Baltic states, Balkan, '..r.. huge special feature on autonomous spaces (incl. historyof squattingin ltaly, Oslo/Norway, Poland, interviews with Club/UK, AJZ Rostock/Germany ii7,::;'.:;:',. '..:al.4tjCowley sni Milada squatters/Czechetc.), scene reportsfrom Croatia,Belarus,Serbiaand Bulgaria,tons of reviews,articleon Brno ? shows organizedby our collectivein last i;: two years, columns + ofcourse tons of photos.Well,the photosand punk as fuck graphicsare mostprobablythe onlythingof interestto foreignreaderssince the zine is writtenentirelyin Czech! But I usuallydo submitthe Englishwrittenstuff (interviews, scene reports)to foreign zines, mostly to i:l MaximumRock'n'Roll.I don't promotethe :.i,ztne of tne the zine to abroad at all, because ot irfar.:t:...::t ::;t:,:ii';;:i.; languagebarrier,but few peoplealwaysuse iiai'i1i!i:;i!:: ii.7il:;i!.:: to buy or trade a copy even they can not '.i;

read it. ;i.i:;:.7.r::.i;;,

r^::?The label startedaroundthe same time as the zine,firstwith sometape releases,later I contributedto MRTVA BUDOUCNOST and SEE YOU lN HELL records,which of more labels,HlubokaOrba beingone of them. Lastyear, were releasedin cooperation when I was doingprettyOK financiallysinceI had a good incomefrom bothjobs I decidedto "resurrect"(it was never big deal anyway)the label put some hard-earnedcash to OF MY LIFEsplit EP, STOLENLIVES/TIME like RISPOSTALP, DEMARCHE cooperations 11 splitEP. RecentlyI decidedto stopthe labelagain SMRT/KOBRA EP or PRUMYSLOVA etc.The zine is killing due to lackof fundsand time to dedicateto moretrades,distribution me recently,it's such a monstertakinglike 1-2 yearsto put out a new issue,infactit's a book, not a zine,you know.Also the band and gig organizingeat lots of my free time recently, notto speakaboutfamily,jobsetc.etc.

6. What do membersof SEEYOU lN HELLdo to make a living in this c;.;azy fucked up daify fife? Do you ever find it hard to be in a band/doa tabei/doa zlneldtc, and still work a normaljob? Jozkais conductorcheckingout the ticketsin trains,Tom worksin laboratoryand Benoin pharmacy'David,who is nota fulltimeSYIHmember,just a friendor guest-guitar player(his mainbandsare THEMA11 and TUMMO)is currentlylookingfor newlob inFrague,200 km awayfrom Brno,so who knowsif he will continuewith us. And I wori as a soci-allawyerin Roma/Gypsie ghettoand as a side-jobI do the samefor drug addicts,who want to solve

theircrazyfuckedup dailyproblems likedebts,criminal recordl,familydisputes etc.I think .. it'sprobably betterto havea "normal" (well,myjob is nottotally"norrnal",'but thaib*ii"i i ff i/rZ likeaboutit!)job and not to havehardcore/punk labetor bandas a mainrour."-oi yo;; t[ income,becausethen it's very hard to resistthe urge to become anotherfucked up r l.:ai;:V1a77;:.:!:i:i:i:::::i:::f \-/I\

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bussinesman. I thinkthatthe bandlikeSEEYOU lN HELL(andmanymore,I shouldadd) can provethat you can havejob and family(all of us exceptDavidhave kids, I will have2nd one in March2009)and stillcan producesomefuckedup noisefor 10-15yearsand tourthe worldfrom JapanthroughEuropeto Brazil.And you don'tneeda manager,presssupport, exclusive deals,advertising and similarbullshit.

7. Can you tell us a little about the (much overlooked) Gzech hardcore/punk scene? Why do you think that people from abroad ignore awesome current bands like SEE YOU IN HELL, GRIDE, LYCANTHROPY, SHEEVAYOGA, FESTA DESPERATO,etc, just because they're not from Japan, USA or Sweden?Do you think there will ever be a time when kids in the USA will be wearing RADEGAST patches and KRITICKA SITUACEt-shirts? Hahaha,pleaseno, not this questionagain...I usedto spendhoursand hourswritingscenereportsfrom the wholeCzechRep.or from my city to foreignzines like MaximumRocknRoll,I put togethertwo comp. LPs with Czech bands,recordeddozensof RADEGASTdemosto foreignpenpalsetc. and now I feel little tired.I feelthat I don'tneedto persuadeanybodyanymorethat we are not some2nd class citizenswhen it comes down to some raging hardcore/punkand honestly,why it should alwaysbe us tryingto convertthe Westernpunxto our shittybands?SometimesI feelthat I shouldn'tgive a fuck anymore, seriously.I am all for internationalcommunication, places(Fuck,get some stuff from TAM discoveringnew punk scenesfrom unusual/"exotic" 89 and Darbouka, two of my favelabelsever,alsoreadWe GonaFightzine!)and honestly,I totallylovethe communication and tradingwiththe few international hardcore/punk fanatics likeyou, ZachtI reallyappreciatethe interestfromdie-hardpunkfansfrom all over the world, publicdid not changedat all duringall theseyearsof but the generalforeignhardcore/punk (l my hopelessattempts understandthat back in 1992 you had no source of information aboutthe situationhere in Czech,but c'mon,in 2008?!?).Mostof them continueto ignore the bands,whichweren'tborn in Sweden,Japanor USA,but I don'tcry aboutit anymore. CurrentlyI feel little too old to bust my ass trying to changethis and rather dedicatemy effortsto otherthingslikesupporting the localBrno-city scene,whichtodayseemsto be the bestwe ever had sinceearly/mid90's. By the way, it is little weird that when Japanesebands play here, they are always very interestedin our localscene,alwayswatchthe other bandsplaying,filmingthem on their camerasetc., but when we have US or Swedishbandshere,they are often boredand full of themselves or just plainignorant. Besidesthe bandsyou mentionedaboveI wouldalso recommendPRUMYSLOVA SMRT, SAY WHY?,RISPOSTA, EVIDENCE SMRTI,NEEDFULTHINGS,RABIES,DEMARCHE, MAD PIGS, HIBAKUSHA,REAKCE NA ZMENU, ZEMEZLUC,TOMORROWSHELL, INNOXIA CORPORA, COMPLICITECANDIDE, STOLEN LIVES, RED INSECT, DEZINFEKCE, LAHARor KOBRA11. Also you shouldcheck out coupleof ragersfrom neighborhood Slovakia: ROXOR,IDIOTSPARADE, VINTAER, ABORTION,E330or TIME OF MY LIFE.90% of these bandshavevinylsor myspacesites(mostof them both),so it shouldbe prettyeasyto find theirmusicevenfor overseasfreaks. Kids in USA wearingRADEGASTT-shirts??? Hahaha,I don't know...soundslike a true utopia.

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and I am not one of those snobbyassholeswho alwaysdo complainabout compilations "AtaqueSonoro", Hardcore", I loverecordslike"Ljubljana aboutlocalcompilations. especially "Kobenhavn "Thisls BostonNot LA","TokyoCrusties", I Ruiner"and manymore."Spalte Brno na prach"("BurnBrno To Ashes")is compilationLP of local bands from Brno and songs. around,it was put out in August2008ad contains12 bandsand 27 {unreleased} RISPOSfA, ZEMEZLUC(who play Maybeyou have heard about FESTADESPERATO, butthereare moreunknownbands MADPIGSor SEEYOUlN HELL{hahaha}, since19871), SMRTI.Mostof the featuredbands as well likeAGE OF DEATH,PRIPYATor EVIDENCE play raw punk,crustor fastcore,someof themcouldbe filledunderthe "typicalold school drivingEasternEuropeanpunk rock"as well.lt comeswith huge bookletfeaturingnot only politicalactivitiesetc. 14 the bandspages,but also infoaboutlocalfanzines,gig-collectives, this and thereare 800 blackvinylsand 300 red labelsfromCzechand Slovakiaco-released so I thinkit shouldbe prettyeasyto find,alsothe priceherein Czechis very vinylsavailable, cheapcomparedto otherrecords.I am sureyou can easilyorderthis from labelslike Insane Societyor Phobia.

9. Do you see SEEYOU lN HELLstill activein 10 years? couldbe a problemone day,thisfucking Maybe,but I don'tplantoo much...alsodeafness Hahaha... musicis unhealthy!

10. Ok, that's all the questions I have. Thanks so much for the interview!Any final comments,contact info, etc? Well,one important thingwe didn'tdiscussed (= at all is our UnitedCrustiesgig collective basically all SYIHbandmembers+ somefriendsfromtimeto time).We organizes gigs in Brnosince2003,so far we did like60 showsand sincethe beginning we havetotalblast w/dozensof greatbandsfrom all overthe worldfromArgentinaor BrazilthroughRussiatill Japanplayingin our bestlocalgig-placeof all the timescalledYacht,sleepingon our floors and havinga greattime here!Justthisyearwe did gigsfor bandslike D.S.B.,VOETSEK, P I S S C H R I S TV, I V I S I C K ,A R M A G E D O M , ACTIVEMINDSand in 2007we hadGIUDA, SUMMON THE CROWS, GASMASK TERROR, AFTERBIRTH, FRAMTID, AGHAST,PAVILIONUL32, BORN/DEAD, NKO or DUDMAN here... Also every Decemberwe set up an annual Killed By Brno Fest, where SYIH always performs some special set involvingcover songs, stupidcostumesand some more shit, it is alwayscrazy fun. Sometimeswe organize gigs in our tiny practiseroom, where we couldfill like 40 peoplemax. We book only DIY hardcore/punkbands under fair conditions, no hotelrooms,no guarantees, no rock star attitudes.lt is reallycool to meet peoplefrom other bands from all over the world,from 99% we had alwaysonly good experiences and I am surewe willcontinuewiththis.Of coursethereare othergig collectives in Brnotoo and you can read more aboutthem in the bookletof compilation we already discussed above. Thanksa lot fo this interviewtoo, Zach,andalso big thanksfor your huge supportof SEE YOUlN HELLthroughtheyears,we reallyappreciate itl Filip,November 2008 Contact: orba@seznam.cz www.seeyouinhell.cz www.myspace. com/seeyou inhellthrash

LIVE IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. PHOTOS BY JOHN MCCABE.

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REVIEWS SPALTE BRNO NA PRACH comp LP Fuckin’ hell! If people start putting out more compilations that are as high quality as this one, then maybe comps will stop getting such a bad rep. This LP features 12 hardcore/punk bands all from the same city in the Czech Republic; Brno. The bands are varied enough in styles so that your attention won’t wander, but they also aren’t too varied either. My personal favorites were EVIDENCE SMRTI, SEE YOU IN HELL, AGE OF DEATH, FESTA DESPERATO, and PRIPYAT, but really, every band on here is great. Get this now or you’ll be kicking yourself later! (Released by many labels…try Insane Society for a copy: http://www.insanesociety.net) QUESTION – Insanity 7” EP Fast and raw hardcore punk! This record is really fucking great. All I really knew about this band is that Saira from DETESTATION is their vocalist. This is much more direct and furoius than DETESTATION was though! Six songs of fast, pissed off hardcore punk. Cool hand screened and blood splattered covers too! This is their 2nd EP by the way! (FASHIONABLE IDIOTS RECORDS, PO BOX 580131, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55458. http://www.fashionableidiots.com) THE WANKYS/EXIT HIPPIES split LP 100% noise punk through and through here! THE WANKYS present 5 tracks that just might be there best stuff to date. Total SWANKYS worship as usual, which is of course never a bad thing. The EXIT HIPPIES side is total noisy chaos, no house beats though! Oh well, you can’t have everything. (DETONATE RECORDS. http://www.myspace.com/distortdk) NK6 – Yellow Beauty 7” EP Apparently, this 7” was released for NK6’s European tour in 2007, but I just picked this up out of a distro box at a show recently so hopefully there are still copies out there. This is hyper fast, distorted HC in the style of GAUZE (which makes sense when you consider that members of NK6 are roadies for GAUZE!). Contains some re-recorded older songs and some new songs too of course. For some reason though, the guitars are mixed much lower than the bass, so that’s kind of strange. Regardless, if you don’t get this you lose at punk, so it’s up to you!! (Yellow Dog Records. http://www.yellowdog.de) NOISEAR/MAGNICIDE split 7” EP Devastating fucking grindcore terrorism! I was honestly blown away by how insane this EP is! NOISEAR continue to dominate over every boring fake tech “grind” band out there with their own style of pin point execution blasting. This was the first time I heard MAGNICIDE (from Singapore) and they just fucking crushed me. Amazingly heavy grind like 324 on speed. Unbelieveable! All grind freaks, GET THIS NOW! (Rescued From Life Records. PO BOX 14821, HALTOM CITY, TX 76117, USA. http://www.myspace.com/rflrecords) THE SICK – MATOHAZURE CD Straight outta Tsuyama city Japan, it’s the heirs to the throne of Sweden’s ASTA KASK! 10 songs of great melodic hardcore punk in the famed Trall style; hard and fast but amazingly melodic and catchy. In fact, these songs are so catchy that they will get stuck in your head for days on end! Ex-members of LAUKAUS so you know that these dudes know what’s up as far as Scandinavian punk goes. (Classick Records. Try natrecords.com for mailorder) OGO DYS – Neptune Everywhere CDR + OHM CDR From the genius behind ULCERRHOEA, NETJAJEV SS, and SYPHILITIC VAGINAS, comes the most recent project from the inimitable Magnus Lundberg: Motherfuckin’ OGO DYS! These two CDRs are truly next level. In fact, I can safely say that I’ve never heard anything like the music contained on these discs. A mix of hardcore punk, sci fi movie soundtracks, and fuck knows what else. I think “out of this world” would be an appropriate descriptor, as outer space seems to be a very apparent theme throughout these releases. Anyone who’s talked to me for more than 3 seconds knows I’m nuts about anything Magnus produces, so naturally these come with my highest recommendation. (http://www.ogodys.com. populationx@gmail.com)

SAYWHY?D.H.I.B.A.C split 7” More sick grinding thrash terror! SAYWHY? From the Czech Republic throws down five songs of killer grind/hardcore like early GRIDE. You definitely can’t go wrong with a band that sounds like that! D.H.I.B.A.C from France give us six songs with a similar approach as well, maybe a bit slower, but still fast as fuck on anyone’s radar. All in all, this is a fucking great split 7” and I would highly advise you to try and get a copy. (Out of Control Records. www.lycanthropy.wz.cz) TAKAHASHIGUMI - Trall-i-La-La CD Anyone who’s talked with me about hardore punk knows that for the most part, I hate melodic stuff; feed that fucking shit to the birds. However, this CD is one of the most melodic hardcore punk releases I’ve ever heard and to tell you the honest truth, it fucking rules! Like THE SICK, this is another Japanese band paying tribute to the mighty ASTA KASK, right down to lyrics and titles in Swedish. I got this back in August 2008 and have listened to it constantly since then, it’s just soooo fucking catchy! A total must!!! (http://www.hipcatsrecords.com) 902 – 犯される洗脳bang CD Ah, good ole Japanese hardcore punk! Charging HC in the traditional Japanese style like WARHEAD, NIGHTMARE, etc. I believe this band contains a member from ZONE, so you know it’s high quality HC for sure! Not much more to say other than the fact that it’s awesome! (Bloodsucker Records, get it from natrecords.com)