Inferno (Anti-Trust #1)

This publication is part of Dirk Ceustermans’ collection. The review in his zine mentions Stefan Neuber from Kaarst (Düsseldorf area) as the editor of Anti-Trust. The editorial (see below) tells us why he did it and why it was probaly gonna be a one-off… The content is rather political (and could still apply to the contemporary situation). Besides interviews – ‘Äni(X)Väx’ (Ger), ‘Sons Of Sadism’ (Swe), ‘Mellaka’ (Fin), ‘Siste Dagers Helvete’ (Nor), ‘Deadlock’ (Nl), Rattus (Fin), ‘Maniacs’ (Ger), etc. – there’s also a bit on anti-fascism/-nationalism & an elaboration on anarchy and its trends… The www reveals there was a second issue with ‘Razzia’, ‘Cólera’, ‘Angor Wat’, ‘Circle Of Sig Tiu’, ‘Desordeiros’, etc.

I ‘launched’ the zine after I decided to support the punk philosophy more actively than passively. It was primarily the willingness of the bands to deal with me. Unfortunately, the said willingness of foreign bands was very poor – that’s also why the zine was published so late. There won’t be a #2 very soon as I am currently busy with other things and it’s just too stressful to gather all the material. Furthermore, it was important for me to share my own ideas (even if they sound naïve – because of the wording). Although I was interested in your criticisms and suggestions, I’ld rather leave out my address because I fear reprisals (nazis, state-authority).

My thanks go to those who have somehow contributed to the realization of this publication.

Punk means a lot to me and that’s why I want to mention what I associate with punk: (yes it should be like that)

* The attempt to build better interpersonal relationships with each other, where one’s own egoism is diminished a bit by being wary of the false spirit/moral (= judging people according to their appearance) and to adopt an outlook that isn’t subject of peer-pressure (Ah, what’s ‘in’ again.).

* Not to submit to consumption as the general public does, because it only makes capitalists, who only want my money, richer and because the materialistic lifestyle destroys the relationships between people and also supports devastating environmental damage (Main thing: they have the first choice, they don’t give a fuck about what happens to the world).

* To be critical of any power-structures and if possible not to become part of them.

* Expression of frustration and nihilism mainly through the music, while at the same time compendating one’s own powerlessness.

(Not claiming to be complete.)

What has struck me lately is that the media are always picking up certain events in certain countries (El Salvador, Iran, Poland, South-Africa, etc.) and report on the mess that goes on there.

Well, it’s also important that you get informed about it but it gets forgotten that for one, it will eclipse our own grievances and second, that almost the whole world is ‘in chains’. What happens in South-Africa on a daily base also happens in other countries, maybe just not to the extent that is as eye-catching as e.g. in South-Africa; but people in many other states are defenseless against the arbitrariness of the powers-that-be, and those lowest in the hierarchy have to surrender to the state-apparatus. The whole life there consists only of mistrust, subservience, pain, blood and death.

People are unaware of the extent of what happens daily throughout the world. All you have to do is look at the laws that are in place in many countries, and you can hardly believe what is written. Things are designed in such a way that no one can endanger the position of the rulers even to the slightest extent. For the smallest deviant way of thinking one get’s ‘legally’ shot or hanged or one is immediately wasted by the secret services without judging. Almost everywhere the situation is as it was during the ‘3^rd reich’ and our politicians still maintain diplomatic relations with these states, grant-loans and arms-deliveries, and by doing so support the injustice – very trustworthy these people!?

PRACTICALLY THE WHOLE WORLD IS MADE UP OF DICTATORSHIPS. TOTALITARIAN REGIMES, WHERE NO ONE CARES ABOUT PEOPLE.

And what about here? The prerequisites for dealing with people in this kind of way are clearly visible here. The institutions that characterise a totalitarian state (police, military, secret service) exist here exactly the same way as during the ‘3^rd reich’, namely the principle of obedience, the uncompromising execution of orders. I believe that the need for such institutions can be contested; I also don’t want the nazis take things over here again and create a much worse system, so I advocate that the state creates institutions that protect the freedom of the citizens. But in reality, it seems to me that things are very different from what is always declared. This ‘protection of freedom’ has become a goal in itself or has always been a goal in itself because who makes the laws? It’s these who have a close relationship with the capital, with corporations. So the law won’t change anything seriously in terms of environmental protection, they can continue to painstakingly spread their poisons into the environment, no matter who or what is involved, and if you do something about it, you immediately get investigated (see Robin Wood, Greenpeace).

But back to the subject of the state-apparatus: Everyone who works in the name of the state has, I suppose, adopted a certain state-ideology and holds what he does for the absolute right; how fast can things based on all this end up in that kind of mess as that of the ‘3^rd reich’.

I don’t wanna know how many cops would torture if the order came from their supervisor. To ‘refuse’ would mean not being able to benefit from their position but to become a victim themselves.

Where we are already at regarding benefiting: nowadays, there’s the greed to seize as many traffic-offenders as possible to get promoted faster, or as it’s called: grab as many dissidents and treat under the motto: ‘hard on yourself, hard on others’?

By doing so, not the freedom of the citizen is paramount but the protection. Maintaining the position of the people who get the most out of this system, that is what one recognizes by the increasing surveillance possibilities allowed by the law. That is in fact already becoming everyday life for the police.

And then there’s the secret services: even the word ‘secret’ can be used arbitrarily and that in our praised Democratic State, where the freedom of the individual is allegedly protected.

The totalitarian surveillance state sends greetings.

‘Inferno’ was a HC/punk band from Augsburg (Bavaria, Germany) with ‘Archie Alert’ Christian Pfister (guitar; also ‘Vellocet’, ‘Happy Hour’ & ‘Terrorgruppe’), ‘Zong’ Stefan Vetter (bass), Bernhard Hlava, ‘Donald’ a.k.a. ‘Howie’ (vocals) & Lorenz ‘Max’ Praxenthaler a.k.a. ‘Praxe’ (drums; later Rolf of ‘Cat-O-Nine Tails’). The first 3 went on to form ‘Soulstorm’ in the early 90s. This interview dates from right before the release of their second LP (Hibakusha)…

[Translations with help of Bernd Backhaus]

‘Inferno’ was stamped from the ground of hatred, fear and boredom in 1981!!! In the beginning, they had to deal with problems regarding money and rehearsal-space! The equipment is still one of the biggest problems today.

WHAT CONTACT BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR MUSIC WILL DO YOU ASPIRE TO OR DO YOU SEE AS CORRECT. I’M THINKING ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BAND/AUDIENCE/LABEL/MONEY.

The most important thing is that the band-members get along. You should talk to each other, be able to accept the others. I could never interact with people in a band that I can’t relate to besides making music. Without this said interpersonal relationship of guys with one and other, ‘Inferno’ would have split up long ago.

Especially in Germany, I would like more tolerance from the audiece towards the bands – but also among each other.

Any band that does a record for a foreign label gets fucked over in the end. It’s a lot easier to sell a good record than to write good songs and record them according your ideas. The reality, however, is that the labels earn, on average, 2-4 DM per sold record, the bands get only 0,50-1 DM. [1 DM = 0,50 Euro]

I don’t know exactly how I should think about making money. On the one hand, it would be great to be able to live of ‘Inferno’ but on the other hand, I don’t want to market myself or exploit people of which I know that they have even less money than me.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM PEOPLE IDENTIFYING WITH YOUR MUSIC?

Basically I don’t expect anything from someone who identifies with our music. For example: a fascist would never like ‘Inferno’s music and lyrics.

WHAT’S YOUR POSITION REGARDING ‘INFERNO’S POSSIBLE FAULT RELATING THE SEPARATION FROM DOLF? [Hermanstädter; editor of the fanzine Trust, ex-manager of the band]

In my view, the fault of the separation clearly lies with Dolf. All the band-members just couldn’t identify with Dolf’s attitude anymore. We just couldn’t work with him anymore because he started to think that he, on his own, wás ‘Inferno’. The band-members, who he sometimes tried to put up against each other, hardly had any say. In retrospect, Dolf’s flyer (which consists 3/4 of lies), is the best justification for the break-up. It’s proof of an outrageous lack of character, when (on the one hand) he tries to influence people to turn against the band while a few months earlier (Dolf’s quote) we were “Germany’s best punk band”, and on the other hand speaks of a punk-scene without the necessary tolerance. But he doesn’t want to hinder us anyway. [irony]

WHAT IS THE CURRENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BAND-MEMBERS?

As I said: since the separation from Dolf, the relation between us has become quite good.

WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR THE FUTURE?

The future will bring the second ‘Inferno’ LP [Hibakusha] in the spring of 1986; self-produced on our own label [Rise & Fall Productions]. In addition: a US tour is planned for August/September ‘86.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU DON’T PLAY IN THE BAND? ARE YOU ALSO INVOLVED ON OTHER LEVELS BESIDES MUSIC, SOMETHING THAT SEEMS VERY IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Professionally: I start my civil service. Archie is unemployed. Praxe is a bricklayer and Zong works in a factory producing catalytic converters for cars. In addition, we now try – as far as it’s possible – to engage ourselves against animal-cruelty in experiments. Besides that, we’re very busy to whip our newly established record-label into shape and furthermore will also (hopefully soon)‚ ‘burst the big bomb’ [meaning “release big and unexpected news”]…

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE THEME OF DRUGS, ETC.?

Drugs and alcohol are OK as long as you do them without permanently damaging any brain-functions. The chromer-case [chroming = sniffing glue] is different, as we know. It’s proven that sniffing makes one daft (to put it in a trite way). Staying creative is everything but to do that I don’t need to be straight-edge.

WHAT’S THE LYRICS’ CREATION-PROCESS LIKE FOR YOU?

If something something annoys us we simply do a lyric about it. It’s the same with things that we find especially cool. Sometimes the lyrics are written by the individual band-members (on their own), sometimes we sit down together.

WHAT, REGARDING PUNK IN THIS COUNTRY, SHOULD GET BE BETTER OR CHANGE?

People should try to understand each other better and to tolerate each other. I’m just thinking of the two groups: the so-called US hardcores, which lately have distanced themselves more and more from the so-called studded punx, and vice versa. What’s all that about? Does it really matter how one looks, what kind of hair (s)he has, what (s)he drinks…? Where’s the tolerance that the punx used to be proud of? Try to get along; of course there are people in both camps who don’t get it and destroy everything that like-minded people try to construct or have built up. Together, let’s try to convince these people, because only together can we remain uncomfortable and unpredictable for the system.

HOW DO YOU COPE REGARDING COSTS FOR FOR REHEARSAL-ROOM, ELECTRICITY, ETC. ?

Short and painless: the four of us together are in debt for more than 10.000 DM.

HOW DO YOU GET ALONG WITH THE ‘GERMAN NORMAL CITIZEN’?

Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. When there are conflicts we try to find ways and means, mostly in a legal way.

WHAT, TO YOU GUYS, IS THE MEANING OF LIFE ?

The purpose of life for me is to try to realise one’s self; that is to say: it’s idiot to a subordinate to a certain boss all your life, just because he likes the system (the top boss). Can one enjoy a life in which one has little free time every day and afford a vacation on the Adriatic coast once a year? Does it make sense to totally subordinate to the system, to crawl up arses and to play the happy one. Anyone who goes to school for 10 years, then humps along for 50 years and dies of heart-failure a year later, has actually lived only for this system and not for himself. This would be worthwhile but only if one could stand by this system a 100% but can anyone do that in this country…?

HOW DO YOU VALUE THE INTERNATIONAL PUNK SCENE?

I can hardly judge international punk. I know too few people from individual countries, so I can hardly paint an objective picture of the local scenes. But in general, the international scene is probably not as shattered as our national one.

To all critics

Howi had to answer the questions; whether you believe him or not, you have to decide for yourself.

Culture Shock (R.O.T. #3)

R.O.T. was a fanzine from Eastborne/Brighton edited by ‘Herbs’ Ruben Vine (a.k.a. Glenda) & ‘Smiff’ Steve Smith. They did 3 issues but the the 4th was just ‘Herbs’. Each issue was given another name: Rock On Thatcher (#1) – Reasons Of Turmoil’ (#2) – Radio-Active Organic Tomato (#3) – Raiding Oppenheimers Tomb (#4).

I don’t have it in my collection (anymore) but I’m sure I laid my hands on the last issue at one time. Number 1, 3 & 4 are available on the www. #1 (1986) has interviews with ‘Oi Polloi’, ‘B.G.K.’, ‘Vulcan Death Grip’ plus articles/info/opinions (South-Africa), record-reviews and more. #2: ??? #3 (1987-88) features ‘Culture Shock’, ‘Concrete Sox’, ‘Deviated Instinct’ & ‘Nox Mortis’; there’s also opinions/info (squatting, repression of Australian Aboriginals, Raising Hell zine) and ‘Anarchy Island’ (story) by Dave Poole. #4 (1988-89): ‘City Indians’, ‘Electro Hippies’, ‘Ripcord’; and travel-report to Stonehenge, columns on sexual liberation, ‘Anarchy Island’ continued, etc.

Ruben Vine promoted punk-rock gigs in Brighton in the mid and late 80s and later on organised gigs (plus UK tours and 1 US tour) for bands such as ‘Citizen Fish’, ‘R.D.F.’, ‘Salad From Atlantis’ & ‘City Indians’. In the late 80s he became active in the travellers’/ free-festival scene. Now he’s screen-printer and he creates/plays/records alternative rock. He distributes lighboxes/T-shirts and his music through his label Articles Of Faith.

Brob

Must have been about 1984/5 I started doing this, I got a friend involved to help with content. Was a young punk greatly into the scene and lived just outside of Brighton, which had a very vibrant scene. Sold copies at gigs I attended or via post, the days of no mobile phones or internet, struck up friendships via post with Mick from original ‘Napalm Death’ plus other bands. Was good friend with Pete The Roadie and the wider ‘Culture Shock’ crew, and put on gigs for them in Brighton and Derby when I moved there briefly. I organised, promoted and road-managed first two ‘Citizen Fish’ UK tours, still have posters from these and a wealth of other gigs I promoted in Brighton or went to.

I’ve known Steve Smith since I was 16. He was the drummer for ‘Vulcan Death Grip‘ (‘V.D.G.’). He had noise band projects in the last few years. We both moved in different directions in life. He currently resides in Brighton with his lifelong partner/girlfriend. I put the zine together, designed and collated it, 70% me and the rest Steve. We used his address as he had a fixed one and I didn’t. Each cover was drawn by guest artist… The story comicstrip Anarchy Island was contributed, drawn and written by Dave Poole, Someone from our local Punk scene in Eastbourne just outside of Brighton.

Herbs is a childhood nickname. But my alias since my punk years , just after the zine and more so since my days on the road, has been Glenda and that’s what everyone knows me as. I was part of the UK travelling scene in the mid 80s and 90s for a decade, I lived in a Mercedes removals lorry and then a 1961 Bristol bus. Ruben Vine is a made up name and character which I released four albums under, the last one with the actor Michael Jayston which was a record-store day release (comes with a 28 page comic and was described as a punk-opera by reviewers, although I’ve always thought of it as alternative rock of sorts).

Ruben Vine

‘Culture Shock’ were an anarcho-punk / reggae-dub-ska band with Dick Lucas (vocals; formerly ‘Subhumans’ and later ‘Citizen Fish’; Bluurg recs), Paul (bass), Nige(l) Johnston (guitar; ex ‘A-Heads’) and Bill (drums,; ex ‘Organized Chaos’). Very danceable tunes but socio-political lyrics aswell. Our Smurfpunx-collective set up a gig for them (88-05-13). Later ‘Citizen Fish’ ended up playing at the Vort’n Vis a few times (93-02-21, 93-10-24 & 94-09-17).

Fobia (A.R. Punk #1-2)

A.R. stands for AntiRepresivo. 3 people from Bilbao (capital of the Bask province Bizkaia) are mentioned as contact: Oska, Patxi & Gorka. This first issue dates from 1987. I have no idea how it ended up in my archive…

Brob

The zine is from the Basque Country. One of the editors was Gorka who used to play in a band called ‘Txäcoly Conflict‘ [guitar/vocals; Iñaki was the drummer, guitarist Javi MRHC (Mundanal Ruido HC tape-/record-label; R.I.P.)].

Luis Andrades

The people of A.R. were good friends and very active people. Sadly two of them (members of ‘Txäcoly Conflict’) died in 2018. Their friends released the discography of the band as a tribute… We worked together frequently for distribution, releases, etc.

Ángel Andrés

The interview below with Ángel Andrés of the Fobia collective in Madrid was done in 1987. He was the bassist of ‘Olor A Sobaco’ (together with drummer Canino, who went on to play in ‘Sin Dios‘) and later also ran the D.I.Y. HC/punk label & distribution Victimas Del Progreso – Crímenes De Estado (“victims of progress – state crimes”). From 1989 on he released records under the name Fobia – Duros Sentimientos (“phobia – hard feelings”).

[Translation below; with help of Spanish-speaking friends]

The questions to this interview have been answered by mail by Angel, one of the collective, also is a bassist of the bands OLOR A SOBACO & FOBIA.

Tell us someting about the history of FOBIA as a collective (how many people, for what purpose, etc.)

FOBIA was formed at the end of 1984; after a dissolution with the old group from Madrid for a while in 1985. Myself, Angel, contacted them in 1985 and after collaborating with them for a while, the relations deteriorated and I left with some members and formed FOBIA. It was set up as a collective for anti-utopia and creation, of unity and fun, of radical struggle, of an anarchist nature, of attack and also as a musical group where we tried to express all this. As a collective, things went well, we contacted a lot of people who had similar ideas and in Madrid there were several movements that we organised, although we always used to engage ourselves in all the projects that seemed positive to us, collaborating from within, not starting as FOBIA. Musically we play sometimes but the difficulty of finding a person to sing that shares our ideas, gave us a lot of problems. After a while, in September 1985, FOBIA dissolved, as all its members decided to study and needed time off. Myself, Angel, was the only one who remained. In November I joined Nemesis and we started to contact our friends with which we were corresponding, and in May 1986 we got out a pamphlet out where we defined ourselves and explained our path a bit. After searching for someone similar to us, to get involved in the collective and doubts about some people, the collective was established, as a collective aswell as a band: Nemesis on guitar, Javi Canino on drums and Angel doing vocals. Javi is not very involved in the FOBIA collective, so it was up to ‘Neme’ and me, but we were joined by Josebaldo, former bassplayer of ‘S.D.O.’ [Ese De O or S.D.O. (Servicio Del Orden) 100% Vegetal] and Fernando Márquez; and distributed all kinds of self-produced material, especially through our position that we had established in the Madrid scene for 2 years. Now located at Tirso de Molina square, next to metro-station. The purpose of all this is to fight for freedom, both ours and that of other people, and all that this implies; some examples may be to end the privatisation of the world, with the current police, the borders or repression, etc. The purpose of the band is the same, a front for demonstrations, direct action, pamphlets, etc. As well as performing musically; since we like to play, we also look for fun but for me this is the last reason that I play in FOBIA. In FOBIA’s music the most important thing is the ideas. The purpose of the FOBIA collective for distribution of self-produced material is to support other collectives and individuals, meet people, expand a countercultural and therefore cultural movement, and disseminate certain ideas. Mainly to help the collective develop.

Members of the band FOBIA, type of music, etc.

Nemesis guitar, Javi Canino drums and Angel bass/vocals. We have been rehearsing for a few days and we more or less got started. Our music is still not very defined although it’s fast music, more or less Hardcore. So far of the 6 or 7 songs that we have, none resembles another. The most important thing is the message but we seek to make what in our opinion is the best music. We still have to learn to play well in order to do what we want and rehearse a lot. We still can’t perform musically but we are working on it and we hope to be prepared as soon as possible.

How about the alternative scene for Madrid?

With the arrival of summer and with the students moving, everything is very quiet. We, Klesa [collective; libertarian group of highschool-students from CNT-CGT], have organised alternative concerts where bands such as ‘Olor A Sobaco’ [“armpit smell”], ‘Tarzán Y Su Puta Madre Ocupando Piso En Alcobendas’ and ‘Andanada 7’ played.We got things on the track. These things took place on April 30th, especially targeting banks and fur-shops. The F.L.A. [???] is currently inactive. The squats have been evicted and what we actually need is a space where the alternative movement can develop in Madrid, a place where we can organise all kinds of activities together, set up a bar, interact, etc. As long as this doesn’t exist, the alternative movement will go slow. After the summer we will try again. We will do what can be done. But only if there are more and more groups, the alternative movement (to give it a name) will expand. There’s no place in Madrid where anti-commercial and self-produced music is played. Madrid is big business, everything you find is designed to make money. There are several fanzines such as Sabotaje El Molotov & El Tetuan, the latter being done by people from the Tetuan [district of Madrid] libertarian atheneum. On the outskirts of Madrid there’s another collective, Afrika, who edit a zine under the same name, and in the village Légañas there is a band ‘Alta Suciedad’ [“extreme dirt”] but they don’t rehearse. The only store where you can find self-produced material is Totem in Lavapiés [historic neighbourhood in Madrid]. There’s another zine called Waldemoro Y Su Gente [“waldemoro and his people”].

You do a zine, other activities (M.O.C., A.L.A.)?

We have a zine-project Victimas Del Progresso – Crimenes De Estado for a year and a half, and after preparing some articles we had it ready. Now we want to get it out but don’t have anyone to publish it. I think we will be able to do it in a while, it’s one of the projects that intrests us the most. We’ve put a lot into it. Regarding M.O.C. [Movimiento de Objetores de Conciencia]: Javi and myself are conscientious objectors, and we have also protested the law. We have collaborated in collecting signatures and in some acts of protest, spreading their pamphlets, and that’s it. About A.L.A. [Alternativa para la Liberación Animal]: it’s a pity because before we worked together well, we got along well and we were very active. Now we’ve left it all behind because one person takes all decisions, but we continue and will continue fighting for animal liberation. I’m an ovo-lacto-vegetarian.

Tell us a little about the occupation and subsequent eviction of Amporo 83 by the police.

Amparo 83 is already a bit far away. [calle (street) Amparo 83. was the first squatted Social Centre in Madrid] It was our first occupation: 11 days of activity, of meeting people, of movement. A great experience followed by a brutal eviction by the GEOs [Grupo Especial de Operaciones = Special Group for Operations; tactical unit of the Spanish National Police]. They put us half-dressed against the wall, with a bunch of rubber-bullet riffles and cans of tear-gas behind our backs, and a large deployment of police. There were nothing but policemen 200 meters around us. They handcuffed us and put us in a van. From there on, everything was fun. We reacted after the unexpected eviction and laughed at all types of police and guardia civil [military police].

After that bitter pill, it was fucked up. The place remains unused. Disgusting. Recently we squatted two more times: first Atocha 35 and then Argamosa 41. The first place was old and very delapidated. The eviction after three days was silly. They entered through the locked door. They took our ID and then put us on the street. Illegal eviction. The second, the best of all: barricades, a lot of security, expulsion by three secrete policemen, a lot of activity. On the third day, the eviction, but they had to face the barricades, were unable to enter anywhere and after not being able to knock down the door, they got up on the roof and sneaked in. Great rocket-launch and an alarm that showed a fist to the cops. All neighbours got up. Illegal eviction. After the eviction we opened Ronda 35 (in Atocha) and the law-inforcers entered guns in hand. Then the riot-police tried to catch us but they couldn’t. Fuck them! During the eviction of Argamosa 41 several police-officers were slightly injured, which we were very happy about. They came after three of us and a dog, material was stolen, a cop lost his watch, in short, chaos.

Do you have contacts with people from Euskadi? And from other places?

We keep in touch with a lot of people from Euskadi, from Spain, and we have some contacts in Germany, Italy and Colombia. Thanks to all of them for their collaboration and friendship. Too many to mention. But if we want to answer all the letters, we will need several months; and we will be out of money and we rather eat then going to the post-office. Forgive us for delays (only sometimes) but there are times when we don’t have any money.

Do you know anything about the scene in Euskadi; bands that you like, national and international?

Thanks to our contacts, we’re acquainted with the scene in Euskadi quite well. Besides that we’ve been in the gaztetxe [autonomous social centres in Euskadi (Basque Country)] and everything that surrounds them. We like bands like the ones from the gaztetxes, ‘Radikal H.C.’ [band from Bizkaia], ‘Mendeku’ [“revenge”], the majority of the squaters from around the world, ‘F.L.A.’, ‘Disorder’, the Vancouver 5, Klesa, ‘Andanda 7’, ‘A.F.P.P.’ [???], ‘Ataque de Caspa’ [Spanish pop band], groups that fight for their expropriated land, the Corsicans, the Kurds, the Kanaks, indegenous people from North and South America, etc., ‘Amebix’, ‘Razzia’, ‘Conflict’, ‘Crass’, ‘Zyklome-A’, ‘D.R.I.’, ‘G.R.B.’ [band from Barcelona], all those who’re engaged and haven’t sold out. They are many and that’s why we’re happy.

Your opinion on: the military, multinationals, machismo, war, security-forces (heh, heh)?

Therer’s is no bigger thing to hate than the military. I don’t know how they think I’m going to want to do that. I’m not willing to submit to anyone or fight for the interests of anyone in a war that creates a person or a state that is neither my friends nor I recognize their power, and who try to crush me day by day, having created a reality as the one we all live in and is bullshit. I don’t want to have anything to do with them if it’s not to destroy them.

Multinationals are economic states that crush villages, destroy ecological areas, create pollution, etc. The difference with governments is that they are directed by politics, and multinationals by money, although in reality they both act for the same power and money, like McDonalds, a case of a daily reality. Destroying all multinationals and large companies would be a great step to achieve a better world.

Machismo is a reality in which we live and that the state promotes for economic interests, discrimination and to keep people submitted while they think about sex. Many women are guilty of this too because they have assumed their role as objectified women, and when men or boys go on their hunt, they’re allowed to hunt. The use of sex, is the most natural and human thing, along with eating and some other things, but, since you get pleasure our of it, it’s more exploitable and it fits a society based on buying pleasure of any kind. A pity. Rape is another cause of all the corruption that surrounds sex-machismo, together with prostitution, etc.

Wars only mean death, misery, suffering and destruction for the people. Others take them as interests, money, honor, power. But there are many types of war. The whole world is at war because there is oppression throughout the world.

The security-forces are like this: keeping the bastards, kings, businessmen safe, and control and crush those who don’t submit. The law is unfair, whoever enforces it is unjust and moreover it tortures, represses and kills, as it usually does. It’s one of our main enemies, whatever its color.

Talk a bit about other bands in Madrid (‘Alta Suciedad’, etc.).

‘Alta Suciedad’ is a band from the south of Madrid with whom we get along very well. They don’t have a lot of money and therefore don’t have the possibility of doing many things. We’re in permanent contact with them and we have plans to do things together, although we will have to see how this ends up. People that we trust, sincere and authentic, but with the serious problem of not being able to catch the bus that takes them from their area to Madrid some days. Positive rock.

‘Andanda 7’: Very funky rock. We like them very much, although each one has his history, and most of them have a lot of violence in them. Lately they are a bit left out when it comes to playing, something that makes us angry. Their ideas don’t have much to do with ours and in many cases they are adverse, as with bullfights. I don’t know how it is lately but right now I’ll support them in whatever I can.

 

GREETINGS TO ALL THE GROUPS WHO READ THIS!

 

A.R. PUNK – We believe that this collective deserves everyone’s support so if you’re interested in contacting them write to FOBIA apdo c. 46443 20080 MADRID; include a stamp for response. It’s likely (although not yet sure) that we distribute some FOBIA material (tapes) in late summer.

 

AGAINST SPECULATION

OCCUPATION

The young citizen of Madrid suffers under a model of society that makes it unbearable for us. We’re fed up with the police and working our but off. Tired of surviving and aware that only by uniting and fighting it, we will be able to change this dirty horizon; one of the first requirements is to have our own premises and therefore we need to occupy spaces. With the squatting we intend to:

1. Stop the brutal speculation under which Madrid is suffering. Urban spaces shouldn’t be a commodity in the hands of speculators. We don’t want skyscrapers That dehumanizes the city, and we claim the non-negotiable right for housing.
2. Create spaces other than those established, stop leisure, work and everyday life; spaces of solidarity, creativity and self-management to develop our culture and our life in the margin of what the state imposes on us.
3. Break the isolation that the state wants to impose on us, isolation that forces us to integrate and accept the current way of life. Those of us who refuse to have our happiness identified with consumerism, that refuse to go to the army, or wear clothes from El Corte Inglés [big department-store chain], in short, we still refuse to obey, we have to unite to move projects foreward for work, struggle and leisure.

Stop saying that while the youths are denied their rights for housing (without money, with very high rent…) Today in Madrid there are thousands of flats and houses abandoned, some of them waiting peacefully until they’re declared ruined. Then to be demolished and replaced by a skyscraper so that the bank-accounts of the speculation-pigs are greased.

If you are not an idiot, be aware of the next announcements and occupations.

 

People who understand Spanish and want to read about the history of squatting in Madrid, there’s the book Okupa Madrid.

Cry Of Terror (Krisis #3)

The guys who did this (trash magazine; as they advertised it) were from the Eeklo area: ‘Ratte’ Guy Ginneberge (brother of Peter ‘Rabbit’ Ginneberge, the drummer of ‘Creep Insanity’) & ‘Trash’ Peter De Zutter (guitarist/vocalist of ‘Creep Insanity’). There were 3 issues (1987-88). If I remember correctly ‘Ratte’ also did a small distribution.

The first issue was a merge with L.E.F. (Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité) zine: interviews with ‘Heibel’, ‘Attitude?’, ‘C.P.D.’ & ‘Anguish’; bits on apartheid, binary weapons, suffrage for migrant laborers, etc.  Inserted is the first free issue of Fabeltjeskrant (Marco Bauer), which is pretty much a report on Best Genôg & on Pakhuis, 2 venues/youthcentres in Heerenveen (The Netherlands). #2 contained interviews with ‘Disgorge’, ‘Chronic Disease’ & ‘Bambix’ plus info on ‘No Debt’ and animal-experiments. #3 featured ‘F.F.F.’, ‘Cry Of Terror’ & ‘Tyfoon’.

Brob

We were very young. We wanted to highlight crossover: hardcore, metal & skatepunk. I came up with the name and the logo. Peter’s younger brother played bass in my other band (‘Slow Death’)…

Peter De Zutter

This ‘C.O.T.’ interview was done when the band hadn’t released anything yet (early 88; Ronald Hogeboom (‘W.C.F.’) had left), with guitarist Wouter Maarse. The others were vocalist Hans Aalbers, drummer Peter/Pierre ter Bogt & bassist Walter Raben. If you wanna know how they sounded at the time, click Cry Of Terror (Hol) live (Hengelo, Hol, 87-11-14)…

[Translation below]

INTRODUCE YOURSELF.

Well, my name is Wouter, I’m 20 years old and I’m goin’ to school. There’s also Pierre. Pierre is 21 years old and is unemployed. Then there’s Hans. Hans is 19 years old and he works. Finally (last but not least) there’s Walter. Walter is 21 years old and is studying.

WHO’S PLAYING WHAT?

Hans sings. Walter plays bass, Pierre the drums and myself (Wouter) guitar.

HOW HAVE YOU MET? HOW LONG DOES THE BAND EXIST AND WHAT DOES ‘C.O.T.’ MEAN?

We originate from 2 different bands. Hans & Walter played in ‘Royal Vomit’, and myself (Wouter) & Pierre played in ‘Mad Rats’. We were all not satisfied with the musical developments of these bands. So we quit them and formed ‘C.O.T.’ together. ‘C.O.T.’ stands for ‘Cry Of Terror’ and that means something like cry of fear. We’ve been playing (rehearsing) since December ‘86 and have started to perform in March ‘87. We did almost 25 gigs by now.

WHAT DO THE LYRICS TALK ABOUT AND WHAT DO YOU FIND MORE IMPORTANT: LYRICS OR MUSIC?

Our lyrics deal with various issues such as war, apartheid (fascism, racism), vivisection, capitalism and the like. In general we find lyrics more important than music. The music may not be that good but if lyrics are ‘vague’ then a band gets discarded by us. I mean when a band is musically decent but the lyrics are vague (bands like ‘S.O.D.’ [‘Stormtroopers Of Death’], ‘M.O.D.’ [‘Method Of Destruction’]), then that band is shit to us. Also bands with lyrics that have absolutely no content (satanic lyrics) are not our taste.

IS THERE ANYONE IN THE BAND S.E.?

We’re not straight-edge. Hans no longer drinks or smokes but he doesn’t label himself XXX. If you drink, you have to know for yourself; as long as you do it in moderation, not in such a way that you’re drunk for days. You have to be able to control yourself.

THERE’S A LOT OF MESSING ABOUT WITH DRUGS IN THE NETHERLANDS, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?

We’re all against the use of hard drugs. Soft drugs shouldn’t be a problem, but that is the limit for us.

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION REGARDING THE ARMY AND THE ARMS’ RACE? HAS ANYONE OF YOU SERVED IN THE ARMY?

No one of us has been in the army yet. Hans and Pierre have already refused, and I will refuse if I will be drafted. I don’t know about Walter but I believe he wants to refuse too. But I’m not going to do military service. It’s against my principles. I think it’s all a waste of time and I don’t see the point in serving the homeland. Let the government sort out their problems themselves; I’m not going to fight for them. Also: all that money that is spent on defense every year: well, well, well… What kind of useful things one could do with that money!?

ANY POLITICAL OPINIONS?

Yes, we have. There are few (or perhaps no) political parties in the Netherlands that we can relate to, idea-wise. They’re promising a lot but never actually do anything! We’re against capitalism, class-society, right-wing bastards, etc.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE REGION YOU’RE LIVING?

In our area there’s some things going on. Here in Winterswijk you have the Chi Chi Club where sometimes HC bands are performing. You can call it a kind of scene but it’s fairly small. [It grew over the next years and became a hallmark.] There are a few bands in our area. A band that we regularly play with is ‘Winterswijx Chaos Front’. There are more bands but these often split up again after a while. But maybe some day a decent band will emerge again from our region. There aren’t any people making zines in the area. In the Netherlands there are only few fanzines compared to Belgium.

DO YOU HAVE FAVOURITE BANDS? ARE YOU INFLUENCED BY CERTAIN BANDS?

We don’t really have favourites but bands that appeal to us at the moment are ‘Accüsed’, ‘Excel’ & ‘C.O.C.’. I don’t know if we’re influenced by bands. We will always unconsciously take over influences from other bands because we listen to them.

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE MUSIC THAT YOU PLAY? HAVE YOU RELEASED ANYTHING?

We play hardcore/crossover. We haven’t released anything yet but it’s pretty certain that we’ll be releasing an LP this year; but nothing concrete yet. We want to release other things anyway (demo, EP).

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD?

I like … uhum … I don’t know. There’s nothing special that I like best. But I do want to eat healthy.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ‘MEAT IS MURDER’?

Only Pierre is a vegetarian and I eat meat in moderation. But there’s definitely something to say about the ‘Meat is murder’ slogan. I think humans are too spoiled to be able to live without meat (in the first world anyway). I find it amazing that someone is vegetarian.

WHAT QUESTION SHOULD I HAVE ASKED? ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SAY?

Keep thinking, voice your opinion and don’t let the bastards of this society fool you.

Zyklome-A (Fetvadd #1)

Magnus Grehn (’16 B.U.H.’ vocalist; brother of Fredrik Grehn, who did Byt Ben zine) did this zine together with Mikael ‘Löken’ Karlsson (’16 B.U.H.’ guitarist; ex ‘Rövsvett’) and Frank Bergsten (’16 B.U.H.’ drummer; ex ‘Rövsvett’); all from Tranås (Sweden). Fetvadd translates as “wadding/stuffing”. There was also a compilation-tape (What’s Going On Inside My Head) released under that name, and material of ’16 B.U.H.’ and ‘Rea Respirator’ (Fredrik Grehn’s band)…

The first issue of the zine (1985) featured ‘Civil Dissident’, ‘Scapegoats’, ‘Zyklome-A’, Terveet Kädet’, ‘Dom Där’, etc. #2 was with ‘Inferno’, ‘Raped Teenagers’, ‘S.O.D.’, ‘Gepøpel’, ‘Mellakka’. #3: ‘Stupids’, ‘G.K.H.’ (Swi), ‘Apognosis’ (Gre), etc. (’86): ‘I Refuse It’, ‘Rapt’, ‘Upset Noise’, ‘G-Anx’ and more. #5-6-7: ???

Brob

In 1985 myself, Mikael ‘Löken’ Karlsson and Frank Bergsten started the fanzine Fetvadd. We had read zines for many years and all of us played in punk and hardcore bands like ‘Rövsvett’ and ‘16 Blåsare Utan Hjärna‘. Over the years we got lots of contacts playing with the band, putting up and attending  gigs, trading tapes/records all over the world. ‘Löken’ was the only one that had done a zine before (Mardröm [“nightmare“], in 1982). So why not put out a zine and write about the scene in our region, and ask bands abroad for interviews? Me and Frank were a part of Fetvadd up to 1987. After that Löken ran the zine, and started a tape-/record-label.

10 years ago I started a small pubishing-company that has released 14 books so far. 3 of them are comics by Frank Bergsten. I publish mostly poetry.

Magnus Grehn

We started Fetvadd end of 1984 at my parents house. I ran Fetvadd recs and tapes mostly myself; I had to get my band out somehow and it was D.I.Y. The last record was the 1st ’16 B.U.H.’ LP in 2017. I will also put out 2 CDs of ’16 B.U.H.’ and maybe a tape…

Content of #5: ‘No Lip’, ‘Kafka Prosess’, ‘H.H.H.’, ‘Diatribe’, ‘Filthy Christians’ etc. #6: ‘Varukers’, ‘Agent 86’, ‘Maimed For Life’, ‘Instigators’, etc. #7: ‘Desperate Minds’, ‘Down Syndrome’, ‘SS 20’, etc. Frank left after #6, Grehn after #7; so I lost interest to do a zine and #8 (1988) came out as a split-zine with Happy Väder #1… Fetvadd #8 featured ‘Th’Inbred’, Happy Väder ‘16 Blåsare Utan Hjärna’.

Frank has put out 4 art-zines after leaving ‘Rövsvett’.

‘Löken’

‘Löken’ suggested I reprint the ‘Zyklome-A’ interview he did with bassist Marc Verbeek (R.I.P. 2018) as a tribute. This legendary Belgian HC/punk band seized to exist when guitarist Toon Puttemans deserted (went to Amsterdam) and didn’t plan on coming back to our little nazi-country (dixit brother ‘Bie’). He passed away in June 2013. They existed from 1980 to ’85, did the Repression split-EP (with Moral Demolition; Punk Etc. 1983) and the LP Made In Belgium (Punk Etc. 1984). A bit later his brother ‘Bie’ (Robin), the drummer, and Marc started a new band with Dirk Ceustermans (‘Koyaanisqatsi’ bassist) on guitar: ‘Ear Damage’…

[Translation below; by Frank Bergsten – scans/pics provided by Mikael Karlsson]

‘Zyklome-A’ is a band from Belgium that plays hardcore. They have released a split-EP with the defunct ‘Moral Demolition’ and one LP named Made In Belgium on Punk Etc.

Does the name ‘Zyklome-A’ mean anything in particular?

‘Zyklome-A’ comes from zyklon-B which was a poison-gas (used by the Germans in World War II to kill Jews), so we changed zyklon to zyklome (because it sounded better) and B became A which stands for anti-fascism, anarchism. So Zyklome-A = anti zyklon-B.

What’s the punk-scene in Belgium like?

The Belgian punk-scene is just getting better and better. There are more people getting involved with the scene all the time. There are more gigs and festivals, more fanzines, and much more great bands like ‘Capital Scum’, ‘X-Creta’, ‘Wulpse Varkens’, ‘Vortex’, ‘Dirty Scums’, ‘W.R. 3’ and more.

Why wasn’t ‘Zyklome-A’ included on Maximum Rock’n’Roll’s compilation Welcome To 1984?

We don’t know, we think they liked ‘Moral Demolition’ better. But we’ll be on Pushead’s compilation with ‘Kaaos’, ‘Inferno’, ‘7 Seconds’, ‘Poison Idea’, ‘Septic Death’ and loads of other bands.

Whatever happened to ‘Moral Demolition’?

‘Moral Demolition’ split up a couple of months after we released the Repression EP. The drummer didn’t like it anymore and the singer joined the marines (Fuck him!!!) but the bassist and guitarist are busy forming a new band which will be very good.

Did Repression sell well?

There was 1.000 pressed and they’re all gone, so we can say it sold well.

Have Punk Etc. released anything else, or something new coming up?

Punk Etc. did two compilation-tapes (both sold out), and one EP with ‘Sexy Bollocks’. Punk Etc. is planning a compilation-LP with ‘Capital Scum’, ‘Vortex’, ‘W.R. 3’, ‘Wulpse Varkens’ and of course ‘Zyklome-A’.

Any problems with the police?

We’ve got lots of problems with the cops “when we walk down the street they laugh at us”. We have to show them our IDs, sometimes we have to take off our jackets and let them search our pockets. They also raid clubs and pubs. They also check up on us at gigs and festivals. Belgium is a real police-state and we hate the cops.

Do you have many nazi-skins in Belgium? Problems with violence at gigs?

There are not that many nazi-skins in Belgium (only some in Brussels). Most skins are friends with the punks. There isn’t that much trouble at gigs but lots of violence in the streets, with football-hooligans, fascist movements like V.M.O. and soldiers.

What’s more important, lyrics or music?

The lyrics are very important (anti-army, anarchism, anti-fascism, anti-war, etc). But the music is very important (especially at gigs, have fun and pogo).

Do you play live a lot? Planning a tour or a particular gig?

We’ve played 35 gigs (28 in Belgium and 7 in Holland) and we’ll go to Germany soon.

Bands you played with?

‘M.D.C.’, ‘Crucifix’, ‘B.G.K.’, Lärm’, ‘The Ex’, ‘Pandemonium’, ‘Conflict’, ‘X-Pozez’, ‘Capital Scum’, ‘Moral Demolition’, ‘Neuroot’, ‘S.Z.S.’, ‘Scoundrels’, ‘Wulpse Varkens’, ‘X-Creta’, ‘Pigs In Blue Glue’, ‘Vortex’, ‘Brrr’, ‘Dirty Scums’, ‘Sponky Business’, ‘No Numbers’, ‘De Boegies’, ‘A.I.D.S.’, ‘Gepöpel’, ‘Indirekt’, ‘Blitzkrieg’, ‘The Mudgang’, ‘Electronaze’, ‘Frites Modern’, ‘Pix’, ‘Krank’, ‘Sexy Bollocks’, ‘Amsterdamned’, ‘Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig’ and lots of others.

Why do you only show your legs on the records?

First it was just to be funny (our lyrics are serious, but we’re funny guys), but also a reaction against poseurs, we hate to see pictures with poseurs on the covers.

Your favourite bands? Heard any Swedish punk and do you have any Swedish favourite bands?

Bie’s favourite bands are: ‘Inferno’, ‘Upright Citizens’, ‘Kanalterror’ and lots of other German bands, ‘Terveet Kädet’ and other Finnish bands, ‘Crucifix’, Lärm’, ‘Capital Scum’, ‘B.G.K.’, ‘Moral Demolition’, ‘G.B.H.’ and more. Toon: ‘Ramones’, ‘Bad Brains’, early JOE JACKSON, ‘The Damned’ and all sorts of 77, ‘De Boegies’, ‘Inferno’, B.G.K.’, ‘Kanalterror’ and everything with a beat. Marc: ‘B.G.K.’, ‘Inferno’, ‘Crucifix’, ‘Bad Brains’, ‘Lärm’, ‘Septic Death’, ‘Motörhead’, ‘Discharge’, ‘G.B.H.’, ‘Agent Orange’, ‘Poison Idea’, ‘Terveet Kädet’, ‘Anti-Cimex’, ‘Rattus’, ‘M.D.C.’, ‘D.R.I.’, ‘Capital Scum’, ‘Moral Demolition’, ‘Dr. Know’, ‘Metallica’, ‘Zmiv’, ‘Slayer’, ‘Venom’, ‘De Boegies’, ‘Outrageous’ and more. We know of some Swedish bands like ‘Slam’, ‘Huvudtvätt’ but our favorites are ‘Anti-Cimex’.

Could you tell us something about your lyrics?

We’ve got quite a few lyrics against war (Abort All Wars, Atomic Powers, People Die, Last War, Somewhere They’re Fighting, De Bommen Vallen, The End). We also got some lyrics against cops (Target of Police Controls, We All Hate Cops). Then we have lyrics about people in general (Scapegoats, Different Kind of People, Change Your Life, Angry Faces). And we have lyrics about the future, our country, violence, rape, about the night and more.

What are you up to beside the band?

We work together with other people to arrange gigs (especially Marc) and we write about stuff for fanzines, print posters and lots of other things. We also drink lots of alcohol (hahaha) and have a great time together.

What do you think of racism, fascism, nazism and things like that?

We hate all racists, fascists, nazis and sexists. All people should be equal (black, red, yellow, white, man or woman, everyone!)

Is there a lot of unemployment in Belgium?

The unemployment is quite high in Belgium. Two of us are out of work. Marc is still studying.

Has the church a lot of power in Belgium? What do you think of god, religion, etc.?

The church itself doesn’t have much power, but the catholic party does, one of the biggest and most important party in the government. To hell with god, religion, church, jesus, etc.

Anything to add?

Think! Have fun! Fight back! Pogo! OK, that’s it. Cheers from Marc, Bie and Toon.

Abuso Sonoro (Cacho De Cabra #5)

Cacho De Cabra (“goat’s horn”, a hot pepper from Chili/Peru) was edited by Felipe P. from Santiago, Chile. This issue had zine-/record-reviews, interviews with Joao M. Da Silva Forttes – vocalist of ‘Redención 9-11’ (left-wing HC/punk band from Santiago, Chile), ‘Dios Hastío’ (Lima, Peru), ‘Abuso Sonoro’ & Maxi Bueno of Pinhead recs (Argentina), and articles … It was proably sent to me for review.

‘Abuso Sonoro’ was a HC/punk band from São Paulo (Brazil). At the time of this interview (1997, before the recordings for their Infância Armada split-LP), the band consisted of Elaine Campos (vocals; replacing Beto), Arilson (guitar/vocals), Angelo Bruno (bass), Rui Costa (guitar) & Juquinha (drums). Even though they played 4 gigs in Belgium during their European tour in autumn of 1998, I didn’t get to see them…

[Translation below; thx to David Del Rio for proof-reading]

I was fortunate to get a tape (Tortura, Nunca Mais!!!) that covers songs of ‘Abuso Sonoro’ edited in France, the U$, Japan, Brazil and eight live tracks. Listening to all that material increased my interest in the music and ideas of one of the rawest anarchist bands in Brazil. This mail-interview was with their bassist Angelo Bruno.

Since when does ‘Abuso Sonoro’ exist and who are the members now?

‘Abuso Sonoro’ exists since ‘93, the line-up has changed many times but now we are: Elaine (vocals), Arilson (guitar/vocals), Angelo (bass), Rui (guitar) and Juquinha (drums). This is our most recent line-up, very recently our singer Beto left the band…

Amongts the recordings I have – Tortura, Nunca Mais!!! [“torture, never again”] – there’s material that you have released in various parts of the world. Tell me about these experiences and why you decided to put everything together and do this tape?

Well, the experience of recording for many labels is very interesting, because our music is in all kinds of places now, many people (like you) can learn what we think and talk about with our music, and it’s good to know that what we do is erasing borders somehow. We decided to do that on a tape because it’s very cheap and also because so! we put a bit of material on a 60-minute tape. The tape is being distributed in many other countries; here in Brazil but two or more labels are doing the same, also in Japan and others.

How did the idea of doing covers of ‘Rattus’, ‘Força Macabra’, ‘Teervet Kädet’ and ‘Disrupt’ come about?

Well, we love all these songs, I think that’s why we recorded them. We always like Finnish bands ‘Teervet Kädet’ and others, we also like newer American bands like ‘’Disrupt’, ‘Detestation’, ‘State Of Fear’, etc. We’ve always recorded covers but we never talked about it, this was the first time we did it. Bands like ‘Teervet Kädet’ and ‘Rattus’ are of great importance for our scene, because many people were influenced by their music in the 1980s. The Brazilian HC has a lot of the Finnish HC, mainly the old bands and now in some newer ones.

You’re a band with a direct and clear message. How important are the anarchist and feminist ideologies within ‘Abuso Sonoro’?

The anarchist ideology is very important to us. We’re an anarchist band, we don’t just talk about it in our music as some people do, we try to live it in reality, we’re part of an anarchist group called U.L.B.S. (Uniâo Libertária da Baixada Santista [libertarian union of Baixada Santista, a metropolitan area on the coast of São Paulo state]), we’ve been involved in activities, workshops and demonstrations, against everything that oppresses us. Now we’re fighting for the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal (American political prisoner, sentenced to death, for a crime he hasn’t committed); we also support other struggles, such as the landless peasants; whenever possible we play benefit-concerts for farmers, in exchange for food or clothes, etc. It’s obvious that some people in the band are more active than the others, but we’re all anarchists and we believe in it. As for feminism: the band’s singer Elaine (my partner) does an anarcho-feminist newspaper called Libertarias, with another girl. We have songs that talk about the struggle of women to survive in society. We’re also anarcho-feminists – although the majority of the band is composed of men, we believe that the struggle of women is a valid one and that’s why we support it. We support all the oppressed; not only women, but also black people, indigenous people, homosexuals; as [Subcomandante] Marcos [military leader and spokesman of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation] says: “We will be where there is injustice.”.

We get a lot of news here about what happens in Brazil but it’s information manipulated by the press. I would like you to explain us your vision on two things: the mobilization of the landless peasants and the reality of the children who live in the streets of the big Brazilian cities.

Those are two well-known topics of everyone who lives here. On the mobilization of the landless I can say that the massacres continue, but now a little more undercover. The government is always distributing a bit of land (this year is an election-year). It’s good for the government to distribute some land to the farmers: in that way the press doesn’t spread bad things about the government. The landless keep fighting but a lot of political parties try to manipulate them with promises and gifts. Some without land are more rebellious and do not believe the government; they steal to live and when they’re hungry. There’s always invasion of lands, there’s a lot of land in the hands of the land-owners, there are always conflicts between the land-owners and the peasants, the land-owners have a group called U.D.R. (Uniéo Democrática Popular [Popular Democratic Union]). There’s nothing democratic about it, they are paramilitaries hired to kill peasants and end the invasions, they’re supported by a group called T.F.P. (Tradición, Familia y Propiedad [Tradition, Family and Property]). Sometimes the landless are a bit more insurgent but the police always ends up winning the fights, because they have a lot of weapons and the landless have none.

And the situation of the children living in the streets is the same as always: many get killed by the police or because they’re drug-addicts or because they live in the streets stealing. For the government, they don’t exist. They say there are only 4.000 in the whole country. But that’s a lie, they know there are many more, there are thousands in cities like São Paulo, a lot of times they’re sent to other cities so tthat they can say “We’re doing something, getting children from the streets. ”. When John-Paul II was here, the children were not seen in the streets; whenever an important person comes, children are transported to other cities or are forced to stay in places called F.E.B.E.M. ([Fundação Estadual para o Bem Estar do Menor; state foundation for child welfare]), which are like prisons for boys and children who commit crimes. Here, where I live, there aren’t a lot of children living in the streets, in most cases they’re older people, 30 or 40 years of age, who are unemployed or who are alcoholics. The misery is a lot bigger and the government does nothing to change that, but people also do nothing… Some children get help from people from a church or by people who have a kind heart, but that’s not very often.

Is there unity among the people of the punk, HC, metal scenes in Brazil?

Yes and no! There are a lot of people involved in the punk-scene and hey, here there are some differences when talking about the punk-scene, there are many scenes within that scene; there are anarcho-punx (the most political of the scene and are real anarchists), there are 77 punx (some say they’re anarchists but they don’t know what they are talking about, they just talk nonsense, are always fighting with gangs and others), there are also sXe (some are political, very few anarchists now, they have other concerns, most of them just care about music, they are very involved with veganism but they don’t do anything else). Others are more HC, some are anarchists, others political and others into it for fun, they want to make music for fun, they’re mostly unhappy. The metal-scene is very crowded with all of that, they have their own press, MTV (a lot of people who say they’re punx have videos on MTV, the singer of ‘Ratos De Porão’ works for MTV, he’s a bastard capitalist pig, who thinks he’s punk); some other fools now play in HC-bands, there are a lot of NY-HC bands, with a more metal sound but I don’t like that. In the past the metal-scene was closer to the HC-scene but there was never real contact with the punk-scene. There are many guys into death-metal and black-metal with fascist ideologies, some say they’re nazis and stupid as well. Also with MTV talking about HC/punk, a lot of people who played metal now do HC, it’s just a fad for them.

What’s the band upto these days and what are the plans for the future?

Well now we’re just practicing to record new material that will be released on LP/CD but we still don’t know when that will be. In December ‘97 we did some gigs with ‘Los Crudos’ (Chicago, USA); those were great. The people of ‘Los Crudos’ are excellent people, and are very political and active too. As for the future, I don’t know what to say, we think about touring Europe, in countries such as Germany and others, but nothing’s sure, we all have no money to do something as great as that, I hope we continue performing here and maybe do a tour of South-America.

Anything else to say to those who are going to read this interview?

Well, I would like to say thank you very much to all who read this. I would very much like to have more contact with people from Chile and other countries in South-America. I couldn’t go to the anarco-punk meeting in Uruguay, I would like to talk to people who were at the meeting or people who’re into anarchist ideology and crust.

 

To contact us write to: Angelo Bruno, Cx Postal 2098, Santos / SP, 11060-970 Brazil

e-mail: elephant@centersoft.com.br

Hail to those who fight!!! Down with the fascists!!! Anarchy now!!!

On the same address you can contact Inner Liberation [tape-label] and Elephant recs [HC/grind label] that he runs. Together with Esperanza Gravaciones he released the LP Resistência AnarcoPunk with tracks of ‘Pós Guerra’ [“post war”], ‘Metropolixo’ (RIP), ‘Discarga Violenta’ [“violent discharge”] and ‘Lixo Urban’ [“urban waste”].

Esperanza Gravaciones [record-label]: Postal 22542, Sao Paulo / SP, 04799-970 Brazil

Point Of No Return (Co-Existence #16)

Laurent ‘Veglam’ Chopard & Olivier Bresson, from the Besançon (France) area did this zine. Laurent drummed in a few bands (e.g. the emo outfit ‘Sapo’) and ran the label Coexistence Obscure; Olivier sang for the HC band ‘Existence’.

Brob

Olivier and myself got to know each other trhough mutual friends. We started CoeXistence when we got back from the 1996 Vort’n Vis festival. Before we’d already had the idea to do fanzine but this really motived us to take the plunge. We like the format of the fanzine Earquake (one of our main influences) a lot and we managed as well as we could to type things out and do photocopies. DIY! Only Olivier had a computer, and for a long time we did it ‘cut and paste’. It took long but it was a lot of fun! Content-wise, we mainly talked about hardcore/punk and tried to avoid the macho point of views that surfaced frequently in the scene of that time. We also often addressed animal-liberation, mainly from a libertarian political point of view. The fanzine existed from September 1996 to August 2002, and there were issues almost every 2/3 months.

Contents? To mention a few bands/people… #1: ‘Strain’ (Can), ‘Backstroke’ (Ger); #2: ‘Battery’ (USA), ‘Tempo Zero’ (Ita), ‘Sarah’ (Fra), ‘Seekers Of The Truth’ (Fra); #3: ‘Dropdead’, ‘Slamface’ (Fra), ‘Sottopressione’ (Ita); #4: ‘Undone’ (Fra), ‘Öpstand’ (Fra); #5: ‘Intrude’ (Ger), ‘Alcatraz’ (Fra), ‘Ahimsa’ (Pol), ‘Öpstand’ (part 2); #6: ‘What’s Wrong’ (Fra), ‘Spoonful’ (Fra), ‘Providence’ (Fra), ‘Discontent’ (USA); #7: ‘Abhinanda’ (Swe), ‘Serene’ (Swe); #8: ‘Consolidated’ (USA), ‘Damage I.D.’ (Swi); #9: ‘Intensity’ (Swe), ‘Awake’ (Pol); #10: ‘Refused’ (Swe), ‘X-Milk’ (Spa); #11: ‘Nothing To Prove’ (Fra); #12: ‘Reversal Of Man’ (USA), ‘Blue Water Boy’ (Swi), ‘Division Of Laura Lee’ (Swe), ‘Disaster Funhouse’ (Mal); #13: ‘Costa’s Cake House’ (Ger), ‘Section 8’ (USA), ‘Burn On Ice’ (Fra); #14: Molaire Industries [Fabien Thévenot], ‘Kuwanlelenta’ (Ger), ‘Red Kedge’ (Mal); #15: ‘Good Clean Fun’ (USA), Maloka [French anarcho-punk collective], Boislève recs, ‘Elevate Newton’s Theory’ (Fra); #16: ‘Point Of No Return’ (Bra), ‘Romeo Is Bleeding’ (Fra); #17: ‘Analena’ (Slo), ‘Elektrolochmann’ (Ger), Refuse recs [Robert Matusiak], ‘Demon System 13’ (Swe); #18: ‘New Winds’ (Por), ‘Burn Hollywood Burn’ (Fra), ‘Lack’ (Den); #19: ‘Fear My Thoughts’ (Ger), etc.

Laurent ‘Veglam’ Chopard

‘Point Of No Return’ was a vegan, straight-edge metal-core band from Brazil (São Paulo). They were interviewed when they played at the Hardcore festival of the Vort’n Vis (Ieper, Belgium; August 2000). Their music was described as “a mix of ‘Earth Crisis’ metal-mosh with death-metal elements”, others compared them with ‘Judge’; they had political lyrics in Portugese focussing on the Third World struggles and on the animal liberation fight. The band performed with 3 singers: Alexandre Fanucchi (a.k.a. ‘Kalota’), Frederico Freitas (fredericofreitas.org) & Marcos Suarez; the others were Tarcisio (De Arantes) Leite (guitar; also ‘Personal Choice’), Paulo Júnior (a.k.a. ‘Juninho’; guitar), Jefferson Queiróz (a.k.a. ‘Tigrilo’; bass; replacing Gilberto ‘China’ Gomes) & Luciano Juliatto (a.k.a. ‘Lobinho’; drums)

[Translation below]

We don’t have the opportunity to interview Brazilian bands live every day. The presence of ‘Point Of No Return’ at the Vort’n Vis festival (2000) deserved a conversation with Tarcisio (guitar) in the background of the festival (in the street with all the surrounding noise: all the vehicles you can imagine, excited people of different countries screaming, etc. and the rain to refresh us…). Gael happened to pass by (with a blanket!?!?) and joined in. Sweet!

When did you start playing?

We started in 1996. At the beginning, it was a side-project, most of the members played in ‘Self Conviction’ and then it became the main band. That said, the band-members also play in other formations.

Do you have a lot of dates in Europe during this tour?

Yes, we started in Italy with about 15 concerts, then Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and now Belgium.

And how do you ook at the European HC scene, how would you compare it to the Brazilian scene?

In Brazil, the people that are engaged in it come from less privileged classes than here even if there are also a lot of middle-class people; that’s due to the economic situation of the country. Since the 1980s, the Brazilian HC scene has always been linked to the punk-movement, to its revolutionary and ‘anti-system’ side. That’s where we really come from. To us, HC has always been a way to express our anger. Currently, the scene is growing enormously, which also brings along people who are not interested in politics.

Are all Brazilian straight-edge bands as politicized as you are?

Hmmm… There aren’t a lot of sXe bands in Brazil but it’s clear that the other sXe bands have views close to ours. I think it’s because of the punk-scene: we were interested in politics and we saw that the sXe way of life really fitted our ideas well. I think it’s quite different in Europe or the USA where the effect of fashion is important and where most go to the university, etc. There isn’t too much of this ‘youth sub-culture’ effect here, we’re trying to make the sXe scene a place where everyone can express their opinions and debate. It’s different because in Brazil, certain people got interested in the message, the political ideas before discovering the music. The Brazilian sXe bands I know are therefore developing more political topics than talking about friendship-problems…

We noticed that you had political leaflets in your distro, you seem linked to an organisation, can you tell us about it?

Yes, the MST [Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra = Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement,] is a movement of ‘workers with out land’. We’re trying to spread the message of what is one of the most important social movements in Brazil. We thought that it would be good to make it known to the people involved in the European HC-scene because they have more and more influence in the country, they make the headlines every day. In Brazil, the resistance against capitalism and neo-liberalism took the form of agrarian reforms; because of the situation, this movement could unite different groups and develop the struggle. We asked how we could help them, we were informed about occupations of peasants, very poor people… But we decided that our role would be more to help them spread their message.

Are you all vegans in the band?

Yes, we’re all vegans and sXe since the beginning of the band. We try to integrate veganism into a broader perspective because too many sXe bands simplify the vegan message, as if everything was either black or white, as if we were the angels and the others were demons. We consider that veganism is part of a fight against an entire system and that’s why we also try to adapt the vegan message to the Brazilian reality. You know, talking about veganism in Europe and Brazil are two very different things. (Short break because German and Swiss friends come to greet us before heading back.)

Is it difficult to be vegan in Brazil?

Not for us, because it’s easier to find vegan food in the big cities. Besides, we don’t need vegan goodies and stuff to live. Since Brazil is the biggest producer of soybeans, it’s very cheap and can be found everywhere. Rice and fruits are not expensive either. On the other hand, it’s more difficult on the countryside for example; mainly because of a problem of the culture and poverty there. There are places where people really have to struggle to get food and they don’t have a choice, and at the same time, in very poor places, there’s vegan people simply because they can’t afford to buy products of animal origin. Even in Mexico; I read an article about the Zapatistas: they’re basic food is corn and they said they had a mostly vegan diet. I believe that the circumstances are to be taken into account…

What do you think of the festival [the Vort’n Vis Hardcore 2000 in Ieper, Belgium]?

I think the most important thing here is that we met people from all over the world, we also appreciated the fact that a lot of people came to talk with us, ask us for explanations about the lyrics and wat we talked about on stage. The communication aspect is very important and at the same time we offer a different point of view because few South-American or third world bands came to play in Europe. People are curious to know how our life is for example.

And what did you think of the quite violent moshpit during your performance?

In fact, because I was playing, I couldn’t really realize what was happening. I have trouble seeing the audience because I focus a lot on my guitar-playing. That said, we don’t really feel we have right to say: “You there, you don’t have the right to dance because you’re too violent.”; we rather think that it’s up to the public to decide what is acceptable or not. We don’t oppose the emotional release as long as you don’t harm those around you. I think the main problem is that some people don’t care about the band, they just want to show that they can dance more violently than the others, and that really sucks.

(Gael): Don’t you also think that there is an americanisation of the audiences here and that some people have said to themselves “Well, this isn’t the typical Belgian band and they’re on Catalyst [the American label Catalyst recs], it can be the new fashionable band, so we’ll prove them something.”, you see?

It’s quite difficult for us to answer this question but I don’t really agree; on other dates, we were often perfect strangers playing with local bands, they didn’t know that we had just put out a 7” on Catalyst recs for example and that they would also release the CD. Even then, most who came to talk with us, didn’t know we were going to release something on an American label. At the same time, I can’t ignore it; the americanisation is everywhere, imperialism is also present in HC, not just in the outside world. It’s the same in Brazil, many dress the American style and only listen to American bands.

The singer of ‘Good Clean Fun’ told us that it was still less obvious.

Yes, it’s just a matter of degrees. As I told you, the HC-scene may be more critical in Brazil because of its political side. That said, americanisation is indeed present. Here, it’s true that it’s quite obvious, one just has to see how some people dress… You don’t get to see that in Brazil. I think we have to fight imperialism both from outside and inside the HC-scene. It may also be a question of language.

(Gael): You sing in English, right?

Yes, but we’re starting to use Portuguese, our CD is half English, half Portugese. And from now on we will only use Portuguese because we’re tired of adapting to the United States. In addition: few speak English in Brazil, many are illiterate. We think that singing in English in Brazil is a contradiction for us. We try to take a critical stand, to rethink the HC-scene and its values.

(Gael): In Europe, people tend not to be interested in poor countries and have a lot of prejudices regarding immigration…

When we released our CD in English/Portuguese, it was also a way to let people hear another language, encounter another culture.

(Gael): I’m sure there’s also reactions like “Hey, Portuguese is for pop bands, aggressive music must have English vocals. ”. In France, for example, many HC-bands sing in French but it’s not always well received, it often gets associated with old punk-bands.

Yeah, it’s the same in Brazil. At first, the punk-scene and the HC-scene were one, then there was a kind of split and the punk-bands continued to sing in Portugese. On the other side, HC-bands began to sing in English in order to stand out, to build themselves a new identity; they thought that using Portugese would be too punk. When, for example, you hear protest-songs in Portugese, the first reaction is “Oh, it’s very punk. ”. Singing in English was cooler. And then, after using English all that time, we said “But what are we doing?”. We don’t care if it sounds too punk or not. In Brazil, singing in English makes us a kind of elite that is only for kids of the upper-classes. The change has therefore imposed itself.

(Gael): Have you ever done big shows, with non-punk/ HC bands? Perhaps you could reach another audience?

Well, I think our music is too dirty for the tastes of the general public.

(Gael): Yes, but the metal-scene for example?

Yes, metal-kids might be interested.

The fans of ‘Sepultura’ (laughter)?

In fact, most of the known bands in Brazil sing in Portuguse. We’ve never thought too much like many HC-bands to turn to bigger labels to supposedly spread the message to a larger crowd. We don’t believe too much in that but I think we must always weigh the pros and the cons. A group such as ‘Rage Against The Machine’, for example, does a lot of good things; they really grab the opportunity to spread their message to the general public, but at the same time, it’s a difficult position to take on and the message doesn’t always get heard.

Yes, and there is a contradiction… In a sense, yes, since they are called ‘Rage Against The Machine’ while they are part of that machine. However, I respect them very a lot because they’re really concerned. At least, they do still spread their message unlike HC-bands who sign to major labels and drop their message and change their language.

(Gael): Have you ever seen ‘Sepultura’ in concert?

Of course! In 1991 or ’92; the concert took place outdoors, in a public place and all the different subcultures met, which caused a lot of fights, someone even got killed. Personally, I wasn’t very much at ease, I remained on the side, there were a lot of tough guys and all the trouble imaginable. It was a very big concert in a kind of huge square. Everyone remembers that concert in Brazil! The last time I saw them, was a year ago with their new singer; I didn’t really like, I preferred the old one. He came from the ‘Discharge’-style punk-scene. Since he left the band, it’s really pure metal. It must also be said that ‘Sepultura’ have good lyrics; at first they spoke about typically metal stuff, then they developed more interesting topics from Chaos A.D. on.

(Gael): Are there glam bands in Brazil? (Ed.: Well, hey! Even myself couldn’t have come up with this question, hé, hé!)

What bands?

Glam, you know, make-up style, ‘Mötley Crüe’? (laughter)

Ah! ‘Mötley Crüe’! I get it now. Yes there is, but make-up groups are rather black-metal. They remain very underground. There are bands in the resembling ‘Poison’ and ‘Mötley Crüe’with a less extreme look (laughter).

(Gael): Do you know that the drummer of ‘Poison’ is vegan?

(laughter) Oh yeah? I didn’t know!

Yes, he talks a lot about it on his website and he has a very militant approach.

Really? Cool!

I’ve always been a fan! (Laurent of course)

We continued the discussion some more while returning to see what was happening at the festival.