Hooligan's Holiday
zine
Hey everyone! First of all thank you for checking our compilation (in case you haven’t listened to it yet you may download it from our website rnrjunkierec.webs.com (downloads section). Our zine is very little, in fact, this time we just wanted to represent few bands but we hope our next issue will include more interviews and columns. But in any case, we ask you NOT TO PRINT IT, if you want to show this issue, offer to download it, it’s for free. Too much information is printed these days and as you understand, it brings a lot of damage to our woods. Almost same situation is with CDs – everyone use iPods so will copy tracks anyway. But if you want to have personal copy – it’s very cheap and can be found in our shop. We hope you’ll like our compilation and zine and will support these amazing bands! For regular updates and news check twitter.com/rnrjunkierec Rock’n’Roll Junkie Records rocknrolljunkierecords@yahoo.co.uk
Peace One Day looks to engage all sectors of society, including governments, organizations of the United Nations system, regional and non-governmental organizations and individuals in observance of 21 September, through the practical manifestation of non-violence and ceasefire in accordance with UN GA Resolution 55/282, and encourage action on Peace Day that creates a united and sustainable world.
www.peaceoneday.org
In 1999 filmmaker Jeremy Gilley decided to try and establish the first ever Day of Peace with a fixed calendar date. In September 2001 the Member States of the United Nations unanimously adopted the first-ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence—Peace Day, 21 September. Peace One Day now works to create global awareness of the day and manifest life-saving activity and individual action throughout the world on September 21 each year. The day is working. Lives are being saved and individuals are making commitments. If you want to watch the full story, not only of how the day was created but also how lives were saved in Afghanistan and beyond, then purchase your own copy of The Day After Peace featuring Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, the Dalai Lama, Annie Lennox, Kofi Annan and Jonny Lee Miller - peaceoneday.org
Absolutely unique three-piece band, well known probably all around the world already –with track # 3 on CD and interview about own future and Green Day’s guitarists right here. Hey guys! Thanx for wasting your time on this interview, and here’s the first question: tell a bit about your band, how did it all start? CW: Andy had a problem. He needed a drummer. I could drum. Problem solved. DB: Andy had a problem. He needed a designer. I played guitar. Problem solved. AD: I had a couple of problems and these two lads managed to solve them. What do you think, when you’ll be 50 or 60 years old, will you be still on stage? Like Iggy Pop or maybe Rolling Stones ;) DB: I’ll know I’ve made some bad decisions if I'm still playing guitar at 60 trying to earn my pocket money. CW: If I make it to that age, it would be better to be doing that than thinking about what retirement home I'm gonna go in to. I'd like to think though, that if we were still going, then we'd still be writing original music rather than milking our past like a lot of bands or artists do nowadays. Especially with all these shit reunions happening in the last few years. AD: Passion is the key. Johnny Ramone used to refer to gigs as “jobs” and while it’s good to have a business hat on from time to time, I’d rather mature disgracefully like Lemmy - who clearly loves what he’s doing. And, more importantly, he’s done well enough with Motorhead that he doesn’t HAVE to be slugging his Rickenbacker out on the road every year. Ditto with Iggy Pop, although it’s a bit sad that he’s been reduced to doing insurance adverts here in the UK. Dignity and Passion go hand in hand and I’d rather end up as a Keef, who still loves it, rather than a Mick – who loves the money. I’ve tried to count gigs you played but failed, so maybe you will tell, how many concerts did you have? CW: Too many. DB. Not enough (haha). AD: I’ve lost the ability to count. It’s one of the side effects from gigging a lot. What can I say? I’m a tour dog. Are there any festivals you really want to play but still haven’t? CW: Probably just Reading. Only for the fact I've been there for the last 7 years with all my mates and it'd be good to be able to not spend my money on rip off tickets and all the crap over priced food for a year. Four quid for a portion of cold chips isn't that cool. And unless you B.Y.O.B, booze at festivals is shite too. Watered-down bollocks. So hopefully we'd get free drink as well there and I could save my money for paying for the following year’s ticket. DB: Yeah Reading. Or somewhere where you know the weather is gonna be nice. AD: Cochella Festival in California. The weather there tends to be annoyingly lovely each and every day of the year. Dom would approve. And it’s a great festival too. CW: And we're never gonna get asked to play Hell Fest are we? You’ve played in many countries but surely people are different everywhere. So where’s the best audience you ever played for? CW: Definitely not some places in America, like the dirty South. Random small towns, like Worcester for example, are sometimes some of the best gigs you ever have. AD: Every country has its own special charm. In America, we found that things are quite extreme at both ends of the scale on the concert front. Gigs can be absolutely amazing or come narrowly close to hitting the “worst show of your life” end of the spectrum. As rule we’ve found that we’ve gone over the best in cities that have bad reputations. Detroit and New Jersey for instance. Something about the fear of swimming with the fishes after a show just brings out the best in the band. But comparing countries is like comparing fruit. And I love fruit. It’s great to be in a position where we can actually answer questions like this. Eventually we want to be like Spinal Tap and be able to “tour the world and everywhere”. We've also got our fingers crossed for the "Isle of Lucy Festival' this year.
It’s very easy to become popular in Germany if you’re playing songs about politics and especially if you’re an anti-Nazi band. What do you think, what’s the best and easiest way to become popular in England? DB: Be friends with Bono, he's so cool. CW: Wear tight trousers and winklepickers, play a telecaster with the strap real high and have shit hair. It seems to work for a lot of bands out there at the moment. AD: The easiest way to become popular in England is to go on a Big Brother style reality show. Or to date Kate Moss. Or to have been on an Aussie soap. Or to wear tight trousers and winklepickers with your telecaster up to here (points to his chin) while bopping your suspect fringe about. You’re a three - piece band. Green Day used to play only with one guitar too but after many years of playing they started to play with extraguitarists. Still they’re stayed a three- piece band. What do you think is that ok? Or they should announce that they have new guitarist? Imagine yourself on their place, what would you do in this situation? DB: I’d love to have another guitarist do all the work for me. I could then spend my time trying to looking cool on stage as opposed to trying to play guitar. CW: Dom'll never be cool. Bille Joe may of been. Billie Joe is just getting old and tired now though. Jason Freese is probably a better guitarist then him anyway. Jason (who is the "extra guitarist") can't really complain though, can he? I mean, he has to play power chords in front of thousands of people and at the end of it, probably gets paid a fucking bomb for it. If he didn't wanna do it, I'd be happy to. AD: And Craig’s a damned good guitarist too. CW: Only if power chords are in the equation. AD: Dom looks cool even when he’s trying to play guitar (laughs). A number of trios have gone the “added guitarist” route. Nirvana recruited Pat Smear in on guitar just prior to Kurt deciding to do a spot of decorating on the walls of his house in Seattle. I suppose that might be a bad omen. If we get another guitarist, I might feel the need to press finger to trigger. In all seriousness, I think part of the fun of being a trio IS making the sound full despite the stripped down setup. That said, bands like REM and Bon Jovi have had phantom members for quite some time. The drummer with the former and the bassist with the latter both being ‘non members’. The Rolling Stones too. And none of these bands are trios either. Imagine situation: big movie director wants to put one of your songs on official soundtrack. What would you say? Does it really matter what kind of movie it is? CW: I reckon. I mean, if it was a movie praising the Nazi's then we obviously wouldn't do it, although I can't imagine German's taking out a load of Jews to the backing music of "Girls, Skirts, Boots, Bikes". Our crappy music would only probably suit shit romantic comedy's though. AD: Don't mention the war! (laughs) DB: Although due to popular belief "Girls, Skirts, Boots, Bikes" is actually a metaphor for Hitler’s reasoning to invade Austria so a Nazi Propaganda film ain’t outta the question. AD: It would depend on how hard up for money the band were when such a deal came forward. We’re all about the DIY ethic. That said, everyone has a price. On reflection, I reckon that Hitler listened to “Gorgeously Stupid” when planning his invasion of Poland and France too. Damn, I said we wouldn’t mention the war. I reckon we got away with it though. What do you think, current financial crisis will change punk scene or it’ll stay the way it used to be? CW: Is there a punk scene anymore? I can only talk about what gigs I go to and that, but lately it all just seems to be about fashion. I seen Sick Of It All twice in the UK last year and both times there were just loads of kids there wearing Fred Perry and Dr. Martins which I hadn't seen before at a SOIA gig in the UK. Maybe due to the film 'This Is England',
Fred Perry sold a lot more shirts? And those shirts aren't cheap nowadays. Maybe that's because of the financial crisis? I dunno. I don't even know what I'm talking about. I think I've missed the point of the question. DB: I reckon the recession’s gonna bring out another wave of punk, just like in the 70's. CW: Well the band Fucked Up, I've seen those loads, the latest being at The Underworld (in London) just before Christmas. They were in the NME quite a bit towards the end of last year and that last gig I seen them at, most of the people there just seemed to be indie kids who look like they should be listening to Foals. Fucked Up are pigeon holed as a hardcore band though. So was it the financial crisis that got hardcore in the NME or not? Or maybe because of the financial crisis, punk is coming back into the mainstream more because more people are angry at the moment. AD: A wave of people resisting people in tight trousers, with telecasters up to here (points to his chin again) and dodgy hair. They are to 2009 what Progressive Rock was to 1976. And here’s the final question: why punk unity is much more real than any other like for example, football fan unities? DB. It’s not. CW: Dom wishes he was Stevie Gerrard. He was a shit footballer though so music was his second career choice. AD: The punk scene is a much smaller contingent than anything approaching the scale of their football fan equivalents. And, because it’s so specialized, you really have to be passionate about it as there’s very little kudos to be received for flying the punk flag these days. Or even back in ’77. Whereas anyone can find seemingly like-minded people by just wearing the football strip of a popular team without really being a die-hard fan. It takes someone that really loves punk to brave the smelly dives and suspect clubs that the genre has been reduced to dwelling in. Another important factor is staying power. With punk approaching its forth decade, it’s become multi-generational. From a punk band’s perspective, you have to have the mindset of “us against the world” by default. Otherwise you might as well don tight trousers, wear your Telecaster up to here (points to his chin again) and bop your head so that your silly barnet can be shown off to its fullest extent. I guess maybe because it's people that have held on to it for these years. CW: I guess maybe because it's for people that have held on to it for years. I'm not trying to say I'm "old skool" or anything but I'm 22 now and most of the people I used to listen to punk with when I was 16 are now listening to The Kaiser Chiefs and Razorlight. Too many people I know grew up, got a job in a bank and jumped on the wagon with people saying 'you should be listening to this music'. The people who hang on to the punk thing get closer and the others just listen to Radio One.
Pipes and Pints were formed in 2006 by Vojta Kalina (Highland Bagpipes/Vocals) with a dream of a band that combines punkrock with dirty folk music such as The Pogues. Soon after, he met Tomas Novotny (ex-Who ate my Skate, Guitar/Vocals) who shared the same dream, flavored by country and rock and roll. For some time (in 2007/08) the band was functional. Released demo, toured the Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Czech rep., Slovakia) as a lead band or as a support of The Porters, Society Parasites and more. Only to collapse because other members had different vision of the future. But it was not the time to wake up yet. Now the hard core of Pipes and Pints is powered by Lukas Vincour (Drums/Vocals, ex-Punkhart and more) followed by Syco Mike (Lead Vocals, ex-Mugshot76) and finally by Ondra Balvin (Bass/Vocals, Super Pilot, ex-ElPaso). The journey of these musicians, to find people like themselves, punks who want to spend their lives touring, seems to have finally ... started. New Ep2008 is a promise of better days and the beginning of a new adventure. Promise that these kids will give you all they have. Check track # 13 on Hooligan’s Holiday comp. Contact info and booking: pipesandpints@email.cz www.myspace.com/pipesandpints www.pipesandpints.cz
How can I introduce this man? Seriously, I don't think he actually needs this introduction. Well known MRR columnist, musician, activist, writer.. c'mon, everyone knows George Tabb ;) Hello George! First of all tell us please how do you feel now? I’m feeling okay, Toma! Thanks for asking. It changes every day. Sometimes, every hour. I just take it one minute at a time, ya know? But I’m feeling okay....these pain killers do work and I really do WANT to feel better....so maybe half of it is mental? As long as you’re quite unique person, it’s very difficult to decide where we have to start our interview. So, let’s just begin with your childhood. Do you remember your first steps into punk? Your first concert maybe? Actually, I remember my first steps! And those into “punk” as well. My first steps as a human happened in Brooklyn, New York. I kept falling and actually cracked a baby tooth that pushed up and broke a later “adult” tooth! Punk Rock at the age of one!!! Anyway, I first got into punk because I was into a movie called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” which was kind of punk. Then my stepfather checked out a record from the local library by a band called “The Dead Boys” called “Young, Loud and Snotty!” It was fun, funny, cool, loud, and did I say funny? I love funny....next I found the Ramones...more funny and more cool. It was all great!!!! I think my first punk show was at CBGB seeing the Ramones, but I really did care before they played because I didn’t know who the band was...after their whole concert (twenty minutes) I was blown away! Yay!!!! You’re writing for Maximum Rock’n’Roll for almost 20 years, right? But how did it all start? They asked you to join or it was your initiative? Actually, I started doing scene reports in 1985...some maybe twenty five years? Who knows. Anyway, I was friends with the editor, Tim Yohannon, and great and wonderful human being I really miss. Anyway, one day I asked if I could do a column and Tim says, “Wait, I didn’t ask you already?” Doh! So that’s how it started! MRR changed: now it’s more about politics than about music. Wasn’t it better when it was more about bands? Yes it was. There was some politics...mostly Tim’s ideas of socialsim...but it didn’t overrun the magazine like it does now. Whatever. I still love reading about the bands and the reviews and columns and stuff. Just get bored with the politics...because people think they are holier than thou.... You had your own zine too, tell please about it. Why did you stop making it? I actually had a few. But the first one was called “The Big Sleep”. I reviewed records, told stories, had comics, etc. Then I started working with my lead singer of Roach Motel’s zine, “Destroy”. It was a lot of fun and we pissed everyone off, which is what we wanted to do. Actually, we just wanted to be a cross between “National Lampoon” and “The Weekly World News!” It was fun while it lasted...but then I got involved with MRR... You used to play in so many bands so it’s almost impossible to say how many CDs you’ve released with them all. Do you know the correct number yourself? I have no idea, Toma. I ‘d guess around 20. But I don’t know. It’s all been lots of fun, though! Yay!!!!! Lots of 7” records were released that later ended up on Compilations. Also, I recorded TONS for compilations...so 20 is a good number..but now thinking about it..it’s a lot more... Your TV career is very impressive too. Destroy Television was very popular. What was this show all about?
The best description of it is probably it was a “zine” on video. Interview and live music from Punk Bands. Lots of humor, fun stories, interviews with celebs, animation, whatever! It again was fun, so that’s why I did it!!! Do you like any current TV shows? Lots of them, Toma. I really like this show called “The Dog Whisperer” which teaches you how to train your dog..it’s fun! I also love Sci-Fi stuff, old Twilight Zone episodes, Monty Python, etc! You appeared in a movie Summer Of Sam and The Crowned Prince is filming now. Still you never worked on your own movie. Have you ever thought about making something like that? You’re excellent writer so your screenplay can be simply amazing! J That’s very sweet of you, Toma! I wish I was healthy enough to do that. I have thought about it..but just way too sick right now. If I can walk around the block with my dog, Scooter, it’s a great day!!!! I do admit I am so blessed to have worldwide attention from friends like you...so no matter how bad I may feel..I know I have great friends!!!!!!!! So thank you for being you!!!!! And what’s your favorite movie? Do you think anything popular these days like Dark Knight for example is worth seeing? I saw “Dark Knight” and didn’t think it was all that great. Whatever. The new James Bond, though....Daniel Craig, he’s fuckin’ great. “Casion Royale” may be one of the best Bond films, ever. I liked that and “Quantom Of Solice”. I haven’t seen much else besides those movies...but that’s what DVD’s are for!!!!!! Oh, “Watchmen” looks really good......but I feel like I want to read the Comic Book again, first! Three books so far. Can we expect another one in the near future? Not the NEAR future..but hopefully in the future. I gotta feel better so I can laugh and then write the next one. Right now I feel unfunny...and that does not translate well into my stories. I need to feel good and be better. Healthier. So hopefully, one day in the future!!! Thousands punk bands appear every year all around the world. Many are great, some aren’t interesting at all. Who impressed you during last few months? I have been unable to go out..but got some great CDs in the mail. “Potatoe Famine” from Oregon is fuckin’ awesome. Great songs..real sing-a-long stuff. Also “The Bloodrunners” from New York City are really “Dead Boys meets Iggy”. Really fun! I like the new “Rydells” album...very Ramones...which is great. And “Whole Hog” is an AWESOME band from San Diego, California. I’d have to say there were my favorite. Hard punk and rock and even some Slayer thrown in, too. Fuckin’ rock, dood! Yay!!!!!!! You have very very beautiful dog! Tell a bit about Scooter J All I can say about Scooter is he is my best friend and I love him very much. Very much!!!! He goes with me almost everywhere and I swear I understand his barks like he understands certain words I say. Having a dog is the best thing, ever. They are not called “Man’s best friend” for no reason. And Thank You for saying he’s beautiful! That’s very kind! Thank you very much for interview! Few final fords please, if you don’t mind ) Thank you, Toma. All I can say is have fun, remember life and health don’t last forever....so enjoy it while you can...and punk rock!!!!! And yeah, again, HAVE FUN!!!!!
I'm not going to say anything about this band's sound - it's simply too unique. Where are they from? Not that easy to explain too. But their "Juda Ballerina" is track #9 on CD and in this interview Drunken Balordi speak about their roots - so just check them out.
Hey! If I’m correct, Clemens is from Germany actually so, the first question: wie geht’s euch? CLEMENS - Danke, Toma, uns geht' s prima! und Dir? Tell a bit about your band, you always wanted to play exactly gypsy punk? PAG- Not exactly, but I love the music we’re making. I like a lot of ‘world’ music and particularly some eastern European stuff like Goran Bregovic, and I like real punk like The Clash and The Dead Kennedys, which I think we have more in common with than some of the shit that gets called punk these days. And I love The Pogues who we’ve been compared to, which is cool. I kind of joined spontaneously ‘cos I drink with these guys and I got sick of them saying they couldn’t find a good drummer every week. I’m not even a drummer, I’m a guitarist. But this is the best band I’ve ever been in, regardless of style – it’s got IT, whatever IT is, and lots of IT. KATHY - I never thought of playing gypsy punk, but have always played an eclectic range of music. BILLY - Drunken Balordi has only been together eight months now...so, gypsy punk is still relatively new to us. How it started, .. I have always played in punk bands, but I got tired with the punk scene, it’s the same old cliché bands these days, back in the day they were great, but now days there are very few that are doing anything new (laughs)! For me 'punk' represents an attitude, and in the music it's how you deliver it and the energy you transmit. A lot of the punk bands today use their instruments as a fashion accessory and they are more about the image than the message. So where does gypsy punk come into the equation? Well, I left the punk scene just over a year ago I was getting tired of the whole thing so I went off and to find something new and that’s when I discovered Balkan music while watching the film 'Underground' by Emir Kusturica which is a great film but it was the soundtrack by Goran Bregovic that started turning the wheels in my head. You know, that music can be so powerful and emotional, perfect for rejoicing, partying and yet it can be so moving and sad too. I thought if I could mix that eastern music which is the perfect party music and cross it with the deliverance and attitude of punk music it would be killer.
A Russian band called 'Leningrad' blew me away whom I also discovered around the same time when I heard some of their tracks on the Everything Is Illuminated soundtrack. Vocalist Sergey Shnurov "Shnur" is the mastermind behind the band, and even though he only sings in Russian the songs still moved me, so I guess I have to blame Sergey for inspiring me to start Drunken Balordi! CLEMENS - I played Klezmer with my last band and I wanted to punch it up a bit. That it would go this way was not planed, of course. When you play with others, everyone brings his part to the band. Especially when everyone comes from such different cultural backgrounds, the only thing you know is, that you don't know anything about the result. Still when one of us brings a new song to the rehearsal, we mix it and whirl it, till it is something totally different. None of us can imagine, what will come out at the beginning. BILLY - It must have been destiny that I found our violin player Clemens, or should I say, he found me on Gum tree while still in Germany ... believe it or not. He had been looking for a few months for a band to play in, so I guess whatever I wrote it convinced him to move over to London. I then played him a few tunes I had as ideas, and straight away we clicked. He is quiet a talented musician, classically trained and has played in a Klezmer band ..so he had no problem interpreting my songs correctly. After the foundations were laid, we eventually found the other talented members of the band. Pag, our drummer is the key to our orchestration of the songs, particularly our new songs which we are already playing live but not yet recorded. Pag has great feel and the moment Clemens and I auditioned him, we knew he was the one. He loves Slayer and the stabs you hear in our songs come for him! Then we have Justin the 'blond Elvis' who has been playing rock n roll for years who sets a real groove in our style and then Kathy who paints over the whole picture with her accordion. You have side projects, right? Few words about them, is it also punk bands? PAG- I used to front another band called the Virgins of Voodoo. It was a jazz-funk-metal-cabaret thing with lots of make-up, but I’m not sure if it’s still going because the last gig ended in fisticuffs and we haven’t really spoken since. Maybe we’ll do a one-off at Halloween. Billy, can we support Balordi? And I sometimes do a comedy thing called The Afterschool Club; sketches and funny songs, pretty dark, sick humour (we all trained as doctors). We’re playing the Brighton Fringe festival in May this year- look us up. CLEMENS - I do have several side projects. Mostly playing with singer -songwriters. Cyrus Gabrysch is one of them who is doing very well. KATHY - I’m one of the founder members of another band the River Gypsies, based in Ross on Wye originally formed in the mid 90’s. For want of a better word it has been described as a ‘Jug Band’! We gigged regularly for over 10 years and now perform on an infrequent basis, as we all have other musical commitments. BILLY – Personally, I don't have the time for a side project, I spend all my free time outside of my job, writing songs for Drunken Balordi and if I am not doing that I am sorting out gigs, fan requests, correspondence and exposure in general! I can tell you it's a full time job and if a band is going to be successful someone has got to be pushing it, ...constantly! I was in the London Gypsy Orchestra for a few months but soon came to realise that if you want to do something really well on an international level then there is no time for anything else. We have been doing so well and have achieved so much in this short space of time, but that is only through the sheer determination and drive we have been putting in. Justin helps me a lot with gigs etc and by sending cd's off to fans on the other side of the world and those are the people who make you or break you, they are a bands asset...you gotta talk to the fans! Punk scene in Germany is very large. In your opinion, as long as you’ve played, is it much bigger than here in UK? Is there a lot (if I’m correct again there a big difference between them?
PAG- You’d better ask … BILLY - From experience I have noticed that bands in eastern Europe tend to be inspired by, or look for reference to the west to model their punk band on. Just like, England in the late 70's was inspired by New York around the time of Max's City Diner when you had the New York Dolls, Patty Smith, Richard Hell and the Ramones and then later it spread to England and we got the Sex Pistols and the Clash and what have you. I lived in Bologna for seven years and there is a big punk scene in there and the north of Italy and I noticed I have found the level of punk musicianship to be better in eastern Europe, but then again I saw little innovation. You’re not singing about politics still, you’re going to play at Love Music Hate Racism Carnival. Racism isn’t exactly only political thing but anyway, are you interested in political news? PAG- I guess the music’s not overtly political, like, say, Rage Against The Machine, but some of the ideas are kind of political. But more day-to-day politics. What’s politics anyway? Everything is politics, you can’t escape it- band politics, office politics, sexual politics… And yes, politics is important, to me, because I care about how fucked up the world is. I wish I didn’t, but I do. CLEMENS - Nobody is uninterested in politics. There are just some bozos who just don't know that they are. BILLY – Me too, I am interested in political news, n views etc, but I try not to get bogged down in political writing too much. I really admired Joe Strummer from the Clash, his song writing skills, as it is not easy to write in a political vein and still make it sound interesting, but you don’t have to write about politics to have political views... you can support political events such as the Love Music Hate Racism Carnival. Drunken Balordi do support Amnesty and have asked to play the LMHR in Victoria park but we are still waiting for confirmation, I have been in touch with Charlotte Dryden in Northern Ireland who is involved with the LMHR NI who digs our music and is trying to make it happen. I can speak for the whole band when I say we despise racism, Drunken Balordi is a multi racial band, Clemens is German, Kathy is English, Justin is South African, Pag is English with Italian blood, his surname is Pagliero hence the nickname 'Pag', and I am Irish. I think Drunken Balordi is a testament to what all these different cultures and personalities working together can do to make great music. What made me start this band was because of the dire condition of the music scene and bands today, its all way to serious, pretentious and more about money rather than the music so again I try to steer clear of political writing as it just frustrates a lot of people even more than they already are about the music scene today and in particular the stage performance by the majority of bands out there. Gogol Bordello’s frontman Eugene Hütz is also kind of movie star: he has two movies so far. Do you want to play in a movie yourself someday? What kind of movies do you like? In your opinion, music is very important in a good movie or it doesn’t really matter if soundtrack isn’t good at all? CLEMENS - Music is the salt of a movie. It’s just boring without it. BILLY - Yeah sure, I know we would all love to play in a movie, for example the film 'Mystery Train' by Jim Jarmusch, Joe Strummer plays this drunk guy called 'Elvis' just look at it...it's gotta be fun to do. Or, another film by Jarmusch 'Coffee and Cigarettes' the sketch with music giants Iggy Pop and Tom Waits I could watch that a thousand times. Iggy's acting is class and his facial expressions too, I mean the way he acts so like an innocent but at the same time careful where he threads with the more devious and grumpy Tom Waits and it just cracks me up. I believe most good front men are good actors, you have to be don’t you, its show biz, its entertainment. When I was living in Bologna I actually starred in two short movies that my friends from the garage bands 'Jack and Themselves' and, 'The Tunas', who are a great band (check them out!) wrote and directed called 'Stoned Zombie' and 'Stoned Zombie II' ...it was such a laugh! It was about these teenage kids who buy this grass from a shady dealer, but there is something wrong with it and after smoking the weed it turn us all into zombies!!! We ruined a couple of flats with all the raw liver and fake blood I can tell you ...not to mention we got incredibly high from all the takes and
different camera angle shots we had to do of the smoking scenes! I'm not a dope smoker, but for that film I was trying out the 'method acting' technique! ha ha Music is extremely important in film, take Tarantino's classic 'Reservoir Dogs', the soundtrack helped the film become a success and also his career catapult upward and then he did it again with 'Pulp fiction', half the world and its mother have been listening to the soundtrack for years and have played it to death. Then we have the all time heavy weight composers of soundtrack, Ennio Morricone the guy was a genius, some of the scores he wrote for 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' and 'A Fistful of Dollars' to name but a few of the westerns, and 'The Mission' are as good as the films themselves. PAG- The Godfather and westerns and good horror movies. And David Lynch. And not fucking Star Wars. God, I hate Star Wars, especially when in beats The Godfather in greatest movie polls. There’s a band everyone should listen to called Calexico who make this beautiful music that makes you feel like you’re in a Western- it’s like soundtrack music for a cowboy film that hasn’t been made. They should collaborate with Tarantino… BILLY - Soundtracks are both extremely influential and inspiring. The Pogues for example, wrote one of their greatest albums, I think it's 'If I Should Fall From Grace With God' while purposely listening to the soundtrack of 'Once upon a time in America' by Sergio Leone, and Shane MacGowan’s song writing really comes into its own on that album. Again, Drunken Balordi probably would not be here today if I didn't go out and buy the soundtrack to Everything is Illuminated. Kathy, very personal question ;) How does it feel to be the only girl in a band? What do you think, what’s better: to play in a girl band or to be the only girl in a band? PAG- I’d like to play in a girl band. With lots of make-up. KATHY - It doesn’t concern me at all, I’m also the only ‘girl’ in the River Gypsies but I’ve never really thought about it. At the end of the day it’s all about the music being played & the chemistry between us all as musicians. If that’s not there then it doesn’t work. Many people think that it’s not the right thing, when music festivals and concerts include bands with different music styles. You’ve played many shows so tell, does it really matter if bands have different styles? CLEMENS - If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have agreed in sticking to one style. Last week we played after a soft indie rock band and before a gothic metal band. And the crowd obviously enjoyed each act. So I personally thought it was really...interesting... BILLY - I like a bit of band variety at festivals. I love all kinds of music and as they say... 'variety is the spice of life', isn't it? PAG- Does it matter?!! It’s the most important thing!! I’m a real fan of diversity and eclecticism in music. I used to just listen to punk and heavy metal as a young kid, but there’s just too much great music in the world to limit yourself to genres. The best festivals are the ones where you can watch metal one minute, jazz the next and end up off your face in the dance tent at four in the morning. My all-time favourite bands usually combine lots of styles as well, like Faith No More, but then some bands are great cos they just do one thing perfectly, over and over again,
like Slayer. There are no rules. Good music is good music, whether it be an Armenian traditional nose-flute band or German industrial-techno - and the best stuff, you can’t explain why it’s great, it just grabs you. Is there any place you‘ve never played before but definitely want to go someday? BILLY- I would love to bring Drunken Balordi to Sziget Festival in Budapest, I know we would be very well received. It's the largest music and cultural festival in central Europe and I have heard so many good things about it from friends! PAG- My dream was always to headline Donington – but when it was Monsters of Rock, not Download. What the fuck does Download mean anyway? It’s not a computer festival! I’d also like to play on a boat at sea – that would be a pretty awesome gig. CLEMENS - We are still a new group and have to find a niche for us. So every new experience is welcome! KATHY - The World is our Oyster!!! What does independence mean to you? What’s better, to be a little band and has a chance to do whatever you want or to be only big corporation’s pat, with lots of money but without personality? CLEMENS - Well, some people do this obviously, but how shall one be creative, when you can’t breathe in your corset? BILLY- Well, ...you know with most bands that are under a big label they will get plenty of exposure and financial backing with their first album, then they are sent out on the road...maybe too long and then they come back burnt out and have probably lost a lot of artistic credibility along the way as they are being marketed like a Pepsi commercial. The big corporation gets them back into the studio for that 'make or break' second album to pay for all their over the top marketing money spent and if they don’t get that hit single that’s it.. they are chewed up and spat out, and probably end up owing the corporation money at the end of it all, so they break up. You see it all the time...it's so cruel ...and there is NO mercy! As Clemens always says to me... 'Don't sign anything'! PAG- If you’re doing it for the music then that’s the most important thing. Not everyone is, and that’s fine- there’s a place in this world for the Take That’s and the Britney’s, just not in my record collection. Fair play to them, they’re business people, they’re celebrities, but they’re not really artists. I’d love to be successful and tour arenas, but not playing shit music. If you want to make a living out of music, unless you’re very lucky or very, very good, you’ve either got to play rubbish mass-appeal nonsense or scrape by on a shoestring with an unsuccessful band doing session work and shit to fill the gaps. And neither of those sounds very appealing. That’s why I’ve still got a day job. I’ve thought and long and hard about this several times in my life and yeah, I’d love to earn a living from doing what I love, playing music, but only on my terms. You have a 'Gin'll fix it' demo. It was released only this January. Full length album will be released soon too? CLEMENS - This Demo was an important process... but next will come a single, or maybe an EP. The Album comes, when the time is ripe... hopefully this year. PAG- I hope so, but it’s a little way off yet I think. The next thing we’re doing is recording a single at Metropolis Studios in London with a producer friend Mike Hillier, then getting someone to release it. Then the album. Then world domination. Should be pretty straightforward. BILLY – As we said earlier, Drunken Balordi are only just born last summer to be exact, but we do have an hour’s worth of original material already, we are working hard and already supported Alabama3 last summer, played with Shane Macgowan and the Popes at the Pogues after party in Brixton at Christmas, and more recently been invited to perform at the Roots festival with the Levellers in Norway this July. We are very busy also in a competition called
Emergenza and if we get to the final we will play alongside Flogging Molly in Taubertaul, Germany in August. However, we are planning as Pag stated to set a date to properly record one or two of our newest tracks properly at Metropolis studios at the end of the summer and that will be our 'product' that we will use for our EPK (Electronic Press Kit) to entice the right person. On that note, we have already received quiet a lot of attention from someone in the music bizz, I cannot disclose his name yet, but it goes to show, even as rough as the recording quality is on the demo, the strength of the songs and our live shows are drawing a lot of attention and spreading a buzz around London, so there is no rush for an album yet. I do feel sorry for all the people around the world on MySpace etc who write to us asking for more material cause they can’t get to our shows, all I can say is I'm sorry but I can promise you all that the wait will be worth it! Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) said once: "Do I want to change the world with music? Well fuck I want to change the world to a certain extent. It needs to be changed....it needs a kick in the ass." Do you want to change this world in any way? Is it possible to change it with music? PAG- I’d like to think so, but who knows. The more things change the more they stay the same, anyway. Someone much cleverer than me said that. JUSTIN - No, you cannot change the world through music what you can do is change someone’s life, if they want it to be changed. Music builds boundaries and breaks them too, you have different genres with people blinkered to their click whilst others are open to all sounds. So to think that cause you sell however million copies of your last record people are gonna drop to their knees and follow a new messiah is as arrogant as ignorant. To me the most important thing is making people happy and hopefully when you come to a Drunken Balordi gig you leave with a smile on your face and a extra beat to your heart. I would never want to change the world, the world is a beautiful place, “Weird on top and Wild At Heart”. BILLY- Justin is right, the world is too big to change, we can only help make people happy or excited with our music or when they come away from our shows. As long as you’re from different countries, it’s probably quite difficult to watch international football cups together, you should support different teams – Or you’re not interested into any sports? CLEMENS - We are friends and friends tolerate other opinions. So why shall we have a bickering about football? The other can support the team they want, .... as long as it is mine, of course! PAG- We’re pretty enthusiastic about drinking games. In fact, we challenge any other bands reading this to an international inter-band drinking Olympics, anytime, anyplace! Any takers? Few final words please BILLY - Yeah, thanks for the interview. I have done a few over the years with other bands, but you are the first person to interview Drunken Balordi! ..So hang on to it cause it might be worth something in a few years time! Arrivaderci!!! PAG - A lady goes to the doctor with an embarrassing problem. “Two green circles have appeared on my inner thighs near my, um, private area”, she explains. The doctor takes a look and admits he has no idea what could be causing it. Just as she is about to leave the doctor suddenly says, “Are you in a relationship?” “Yes” replies the woman. “With a gypsy?” asks the doctor. “Well, yes…” says the woman, blushing, “How did you know? He’s the singer in a gypsy punk band…” “Well, tell him his earrings aren’t real gold!” CLEMENS - Aufwiedersehen!
Brand New Hate. Formed in sept. 2007, with members and former members from Plastic Guns, The Panther Party and The Clean-Cuts, Brand New Hate seems to be the ultimate punkrock band from Saint Etienne Rock City, Fr. Driven by their love for rock’n roll, they mix several influences from the New York Dolls, to the Hellacopters, and from 50’s and 60’s r’n r to glam, punkrock and garage. Only one month and a half after the band was formed, Brand New Hate have played their 1st show and recorded a 4 tracks Demo (rock and roll is urgency!). In less than 1 year, they’ve played about 20 shows sharing the bill with some of the greatest bands like Ass Bandit (France), the Movements (Sweden), the Staggers (Austria), the Trashmen (USA), Jesus Volt (France), the Lords of Altmont (USA), … and were also featured in fanzines and magazines like PowerGlide mag. During spring of ’08, Brand New Hate have recorded their debut album called “Guitar Junkies” that reveals their vision of punk rock and roll with heavy drumbeat, loud guitars, big bass, but also with a touch of harmonica, piano, rhodes, hammond, and brasses. This pure r’n r album will hit the street on April, 10th 2009 on Vitamin Bomb Rds. In order to promote “Guitar Junkies”, many shows are planed across Europe, as well as a German tour between April 30th and may 1st.
Contact info:
www.myspace.com/brandnewhaternr brandnewhate@hotmail.fr www.myspace.com/vitaminbombrecords vitaminbomb@hotmail.fr
Song “She Talk Too Much” from new album “Guitar Junkies” is track #2 on Hooligan’s Holiday Comp.
It’s great when a punk rock band isn’t only into own stuff but is also an active band. Inroad is a perfect example and their bass player Tobi isn’t only great musician, he’s also very interesting and thoughtful person. Hey Tobi! Represent your band please, how long are you playing already? Hey Toma! The band Inroad was completely found in 2002 and we stay on stage for these 7 years, but our old drummer and our singer and guitar player had formed a project which was called Selftherapie in 1999! In the year 2006 we changed our drummer, because the priorities in music between the band and our old drummer get more different. Is this the first band you’ve ever joined or you used to play somewhere else before? I play in two Punkrock bands before Inroad, and start to play bass guitar in the year 1997. You’ve played with many amazing bands like Comeback Kid and TERROR. What was the most remarkable concert you’ve ever have? Do you remember your first gig? I remember my first gig. It was a concert in the school club! The first Inroad concert was a concert at a birthday party on the beach in the sand...it was very amazing to play there. The most remarkable Inroad concert is hard to say, for us is each concert we play important and remarkable. For us it is important to say something to the people in front of the stage. Playing for two or two hundred is great. The most remarkable concerts are the concerts in our home base grimma or leipzig with all the great humans we like and love. Playing with a headliner is cool to get more famous, but normally the people in front of the stage waiting for the headliner and don´t want to see YOU! Two LPs so far and another one will be out already this year. Previous CDs are pretty much different, and what’s about the next one? What can we expect? The first and the second LPs are different and the third became more different than the other two LPs! You are inspired by the music you hear and each band member hear different music and different styles we love good music and not a style and so the different music come out:-) On the third Album which we called "Lebendigkeit" we want no one show anything, we want to make and play the music we love and so the songs are from Hardcore to Drum´n Base and back to Hip Hop and Punk and anything between. You’re touring a lot still, you definitely haven’t played everywhere. What the ultimate place you want to play? :-) yes we definitely haven´t played everywhere! A ultimate place we want to play, mmmhhhh I only can talk for me and so I say Japan, Russia and Сhina! Do you have any side projects now? Yes we have, but only me and our drummer. I play together with our drummer in a radicalpoliticalakustikpunkrock project called Aktion X, till summer last year a had play in a HC/Trash/Metal - Band called What the Fuck...!?, in the moment I play in a small Stoner/KickAssRock Projekt called Red Star Freaks and our drummer played in a RussianSka Band called Die Ukrainiens and a FlamencoHC Projekt called Los Barricos. You’re very much into political stuff – there are even few links like “Move Against G8” on your webpage. Why you still haven’t joined “Kein Bock Auf Nazis” activity?
"Kein Bock auf Nazis" is a very popular campaign here in Germany with many stars and so and we or I don´t have a bearing to this campaign. I touring through some clubs with a presentation to the "Lets Fight white Pride" campaign (look the link on our web page) and organize some money for this campaign. It´s the successor of the "Good Night White Pride" campaign! Then I work together with schools to make some projects against racism and fascism and promote the tolerance under the kids in the school. In my opinion racism only can exist when the state and the government promote this and do something wrong! I know that this is a little bit more difficult, but it´s hard to explain that in English...in German I think I can talk to this many hours:-) Something is wrong and against this we must fight...no more social differences and no more racism and when we all believe that and do something for this...the other world we dream from is possible! Punk is very popular these days. What do you think is it good that even Paris Hilton wears Ramones t-shirt? Oh I don´t see that Paris Hilton wears Ramones Shirt..I don´t have a television and don´t read magazines in which I can see paris:-) But I think when you see the fact that the Sex Pistols are a casting band and the only one who get more richer through the punk rock is the industry and the big labels or in the situation with the sex pistols Malcolm McLaren so I think Punkrock died in the late seventies or so and the more revolutionary music became hardcore, but today the HC spirit is died too with the consume and the big labels. I stop to think about this and live my life and look for me I’m not a part of this consume society...we can´t stop this, the consume and so on! But we can make it better and tell it to our friends to make it better too, or write it down in a magazine like this...!make magazines like this, make the music we like, buy the books we like...don´t let us manipulated by the promotion! D.I.Y. this is punkrock and this punkrock won’t be killed by Paris even if she wears a Ramones shirt! Many people blame die Toten Hosen because they’re much more “mainstream” now and play even at some TV shows. What do you think is it possible to stay punk rock and become popular at the same time? Some bands can be...the better question is when are you famous? But I don´t think that "Die Toten Hosen" are Punkrock now. They start as a punkrock band but now they live from and have many millions of their bank account and so this is no punk rock, no revolution and no critical contention with our system and the racism and fascism problem in the German society. It´s not enough to give your name for the "Kein Bock auf Nazis" champagne:-), but it´s good to come to the kids with this statement...but on a CD it´s only a statement the reality especially in our area Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz is a little bit difference. But I can´t say it, I don´t know a member or talk with a member of a famous band:-) Big Labels/Companies managed their business, and so D.I.Y. is dying and I think the punk rock too! Thank you very much for this little interview! I know you’re busy with your upcoming CD now but few final words please! Thank you too and I hope we can come to Russia:-) all good things are three:-) The final two sentences: If you will change the world! Start home!