maanantai 15. syyskuuta 2008

Interview with Patrick/DAYMARES




Daymares is a quite new band from Poland, featuring some members of a great band called Sunrise, that broke up some time ago. I talked to the vocalist Patrick on may 2007, just before there tour and shows in Finland. Man, those days bring up good memories!

First; how did Daymares start? Some of you have also played in a band called Sunrise, was the Daymares a logical continuation of that band?

Three of us played in Sunrise, but Daymares is a new band, not a sequel for Sunrise. Daymares started when Sunrise was breaking up. We needed something fresh. We knew really well what kind of music we wanted to play and everything went really smoothly. We started to jam and we found an awesome bassist, that is actually the twinbrother of our guitarist. After that everything has gone faster than we expected; we did a demo, found a record label and started to play shows.

In Sunrise, the themes of Vegan Straight Edge and strong political and social-critical message played a big part, does Daymares continue along these traditions?

Everyone in our band is vegan or a vegetarian, none of us drink, smoke tobacco or use any drugs, but we don´t want to be labelled as this or that. Nevertheless, we still have a lot to say. There are two reasons for the existence of this band: To have fun and have our say. Both are equally important to us. There are enough reasons to be angry and scream for change.

Where does the influences for Daymares come from, musically and lyrically?

Musically there are many genres. Bands like Tragedy, Entombed, Genocide Superstars, Disfear, Damnation A.D., Neurosis, Cro-Mags, From Ashes Rise, Integrity, Cursed have all influenced our sound. Aggressive, wild and dirty stuff. Heavy hardcore punk and death n´roll. That kind of stuff we are pretty much into and that reflects to Daymares more or less. There are also a lot of bands that don’t inspire us that much musically, but more so how they operate as bands or what their message is. Fugazi is one of them.

Poland is known in the field of hardcore/punk from it´s many crust-bands and also as the homeland of the legendary hardcore-band Dezerter. How did you feel you fitted in back in the day with Sunrise, being more “American” and “clean” look (clothing, lifestyle ect)? Daymares is more punk-orientated so this must be easier?


Mad props for mentioning Dezerter. We all love that band. Personally I can say that Dezerter changed my life when I was young. That was the first band whose lyrics I knew from heart. Every word.
Daymares is open to all kinds of audience and we hope to see a mixed crowd in our shows.Everyone who wants to have fun with us, is welcome (excluding the idiots, of course). We don’t want to fit into any image or direct ourselves to a certain group. We do what we do…well, we shall see what the result will be.

Pat, when and why did you become vegan and Straight Edge? Did these things come hand in hand or were they two different things to you? How do you feel about the distinction of those things now?

These two things came into my life pretty simultaneously. I got Straight Edge when I was about 17 years old and became a vegetarian about six months after that. After year and a half from that I became vegan.
I chose Straight Edge because the destructive nature of drinking alcohol. Other intoxicants or casual sex didn’t interest me anyway. I became vegetarian because of ethical reasons.
Choosing veganism and Straight Edge as my values in life are the best choices I have ever made. These two things are very connected in my own life. I have also learned that both of these things keep me healthier and help me to enjoy life as it should be.

In your lyrics, there is a lot of references to making positive changes in individual life and in actions towards the world around us. In your opinion, can one person change the world? What can one individual do for a better future?

People have always changed the world, with their courage and ways of working the way they see best. First of all, you cannot please everyone. Some people are already offended if the lifestyle you have chosen is contradicting the way they were brought up to believe. Whatever you do, youre going to face criticism, but fuck that. That’s how it always goes. Some people talk bravely of things that bring death to them the next day. Either you follow whats in your heart and what is the truth or you seek for acceptance. Very few people in this world are truly brave and willing to give up their lives for what they believe. Those people are usually the ones who haven’t got anything to lose and I respect those individuals and their kind. However, every single one of us can act even a little bit better than we are expected in this world. Be brave, don’t follow the paths that have already been laid, but do what you feel that should be done. Go and do stuff. Personally, I get a lot of inspiration from my friends, who have grown as a people, are active and are improving themselves and their way of acting and are brave individuals. The time spent with them motivates me to go a head and work for things despite the obstacles.
I believe that the best I can do for a better tomorrow is to keep good care of my loved ones, spend time with them, take care of friendships and act against loneliness. This is the real strength. People collapse because they are weak and this happens because they haven’t got no-one to turn to. Especially nowadays we are apart a lot as persons and we drowned in the material world. We think that material things can replace the real friendships and the real excitement in life. Never.

Lets get down to sematics and personal feelings; what does hardcore mean to you?


It is an independent community where people that go to shows, play at them and organize them are more or less the same crew. It’s a place where the freedom of expression and creativity are accepted. It is an environment that is real, not artificial, like all the other shit around us. A place where you can turn negative emotions into something positive.

You have just released a full-length album with Daymares. What is to be expected?

Coming up we have got raw material all the way through, spiced with rocking groove. Some faster songs and some slower ones.

The future must hold a lot of touring and rock n´ roll-lifestyle, right?

We try to play as many shows as possible and we are probably going to do tours as well.
We are coming to Finland on may and I hope to see all of you there!

Last question; what does the vocalist-dude Patrick dream for his life? Some wish?

I wish I could never grow tired of doing the things that are part of me. I would like to get more stronger, healthier and smarter when time goes by and I hope to be present in the lives of the people I love. And well, a new season of Twin Peaks wouldn´t hurt either.

This interview was originally done for the Chambers Magazine. The finnish version of this interview can be seen in their website.

Daymares @ Myspace

torstai 11. syyskuuta 2008

Interview with KYLMÄ SOTA


Kylmä Sota is a finnish band that plays punishing and distorted


Kylmä Sota is a finnish band that plays punishing and distorted d-beat.

This interview was done before their show at TVO june 2006.



Here we have Kylmä Sota with us, please introduce youselves?

Reagan – Vocals

Breznev – Drums

Thatcher – Bass

Ok...where did the idea for forming the band came from?

Breznev: My guess is that it happened in some bar.

Thatcher: As I recall, we were at Klubi with JFK and these people here and we talked about having rehearsals together.

Breznev: The person missing from this interview is JFK, who plays guitar. Right now he is playing Kicker over there.

Reagan: I think we had talked with JFK that we should start a band that would play good music, because all the stuff out nowadays is just utter crap. And the only way to make good music is to imitate Disclose and put some finnish and Scandinavian influences in the mix as well.

Breznev: And as far as how we have been playing, I would say around two or three years.

Thatcher: Two and a half.

How did you came up with the name Kylmä Sota (=Cold War)?

Breznev: Well, we sat to my place drinking with Reagan and had this grand idea; Kylmä Sota! That was the thing.

Has it got any bigger symbolism?

Breznev: I don’t know, I mean, we did want to play this kinda Cold War-era hardcore punk, 80´s style, so that’s about it.

Reagan: We are Kylmä Sota because we are not the current day!

What are the most important musical influences, there was some talk about bands beginning with the letter D…?

Reagan: Disclose, Broken Bones, Discharge, GBH, Shitlickers.

Thatcher: I guess everyone in the band has their own preferences, but that is probably the musical direction we have.

Breznev: Old finnish 82-hardcore and so one...Mellakka and the others, Rattus...

Reagan: Personally I dig Varaus, Vendetta and Damage!

With all of youguys living around the city of Turku, what do you think about this town? It must be a wonderful place, right?

Breznev: Awesome place, sometimes straight from the arse.

Reagan: Even too fine around the summer.

Thatcher: I have moved to Turku in 2001 and I have no complaints. I like this town.

Reagan: Summer is very bad.

Breznev: The bad thing here is that people don’t bother to come to the shows. I am also guilty of that myself.

Thatcher: Yeah, everyone does it...

Reagan: I am guilty of it because crap is crap and there aren’t very good bands in our town.

Turku is being planned as a cultural capital, what do you think of that? Why should it get this title?

Reagan: Well, I don´t know why it should, I think they could sell the whole idea to Helsinki, because the want it so much...

Thatcher: It probably doesn’t effect my life in any way, because its most likely about finer arts and that kinda stuff...

Breznev: Yeah, I can´t see Kylmä Sota getting any cultural grants....

Reagan: Yeah, I doubt that too. So if that cultural town-thing happens here, then…

Thatcher: …It probably consists of hippie nonsense, fiddling and such...

Veikki/Dissect: They don´t support underground culture here at all, they have even prohibited the glueing of posters.

Thatcher: Yeah, think about that.

Reagan: But this place is still better than Tampere! In that town, there is only one place where you can put posters and anywhere else it is strictly prohibited. Have cops ever stopped you while you have been gluing posters here in Turku? I don’t think so.

What is the message of your band?

Breznev: Life sucks, working sucks and everything is wrong. This is pretty along the lines of typical finnish ´82-punk lyrics.

Reagan: Really? I think there are some hints to finnish social democratic party there somewhere…semi-red kinda messages...I would like it to be “either or”...

Breznev: So this is what we have to say about our lyrics.

Thatcher: I think our lyrics have to be in unison with the views of the persons in the band.

Reagan: Meaning that when I sing “Runkkari, vitun runkkari” (= Wanker, bloody wanker), the audience also thinks that “right; we are wankers.”.

Reagan already mentioned something about finnish hardcore. What is the state of finnish hardcore nowadays, please analyze?

Reagan: Pretty stable. People should really filter their stuff more. Good bands are maybe Selfish, Kyklooppien Sukupuutto...

Breznev: Kaivosurma...

About your releases...you have at least one demo out, what else is coming up?

Breznev: We recorded new demo in easter and I really hope it stays as a demo, because it really sucks. The first one is better.

Thatcher: I think its ok...

Breznev: The sound is crappy and the playing is bad. But that might also be a good thing in part.

Reagan: There is probably an EP coming out and the leftover songs are going to some split release.

Thatcher: We are also going to appear in one compilation.

Any last words?

Reagan: Everything is shit, if it doesn´t change into something else!


This interview originally appeared in Chambers Magazine and was conducted in finnish.


Kylmä Sota @ Myspace.

keskiviikko 3. syyskuuta 2008

Interview with NUEVA ETICA





This interview was done with the drummer Mariano Safe sometime around summer 2006.

First we could have something about the history of the band. What, when where, with whom and why?


-Nueva Etica was started around 1997-78 by a group of good friends. We wanted to play hardcore in the style of Path of Resistance and spread very direct Vegan Straight Edge-message. At that time, Sxe had a really bad reputation in Buenos Aires and we wanted to change those negative conceptions. We have been in the scene for long and have been involved in the bands like Autocontrol, Vieja Escuela and Eternity. After all too many changes our line-up got steady. Now the band consiust of Punga, Beto and Alvarez on vocals, Iisandro and Jave on guitar, Tuku on bass and I, Mariano play drums. We have released one demotape, one cd called “La venganza de los justos” and our latest album “Inguebrantable”. Our latest release contains our feelings about Straight Edge and many other things that we have experienced during all these years.

Was your choice to sing in your native tongue a conscious one?

-To sing in Spanish is a conscious choice for us. We do respect the bands who choose to sing in English, but when it comes to Nueva Etica, we feel that its more natural for us to express ourselves with our native language. We feel it reflects best how we talk day to day and it also expresses more clearly what we say. The intensity of the lyrics is also better because of this. I am also not very good in English and I write all the lyrics, haha.

Is veganism and/or Straight Edge a big thing in your country?

-No. Argentina is well know for its wine- and meat-production and it is very had to be a vegan here. There are not too many alternatives, but you can still act according to conscience and discipline and say no to the use of alcohol and animal products!

It seems there are a lot of Vegan Straight Edge-bands coming form Southern America. Do you think there is any particular reason for that?

-In Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia and other places the people that are interested in hardcore are very active and new things reach them pretty quickly. The spreading of information between the scenes has been really active even before the time of internet. Our bands played also those kinda places where there was no scene and we strived to start activity through those concerts. Today, internet has made many things easier.

How does the hardcore/punk scene look like in Argentina and what kind of role do you think your band plays in that?


-Hardcore punk scene in Argentina is pretty ancient. It has gone though both good and bad times, depending on social climate, I think. Right now the scene is growing and there are many bands.
Our role in the scene is in my opinion to continue with the spirit of our old scene, trying to continue the legacy of bands like Autocontrol and Vieja Escuela. We have been Straight Edge for about 12-13 years and we are the foundation of this scene. Our band is old and we are among the oldest SxE people around here. We and our friends organize shows of our own, festivals and so on.

Some Vegan SxE bands like Point of No Return seem to add politics to their message as well, what is your take as a band to political issues?


-As a band, we don’t have a political view, but because we come from a country that is filled with political conflicts, we want to reflect the social problems that we have, for example in your hometown or in Latin America in general. Imperialism doesn’t give much room for better living conditions or even the basic wellbeing when it comes to third world nations. Corrupted politicians work as slaves for the imperialism, defending the rich while denying education from poor people.
Globalized politics result to a very hard reality and the onlyu weapon we have left is our knowledge of what goes on in our country and the ideas that we can use to effect the reality around us. Our lyrics reflect how we live, so some of that social environment can be found in our songs.

Do you discuss other topics in your lyrics besides veganism and Straight Edge?

-Yes. Like I said earlier, we tell about things that could happen to anybody. That’s why we talk about politics, personal things, friendship and betrayal. These all issues are dealt through our viewpoint and how they relate to our values in Vegan Straight Edge, of course.

What are your influences musically and lyrically?

-Musically HC- and metal-bands, mainly Earth Crisis, Path of Resistance, Cro-Mags and Madball among many others.

I gotta ask this; does your name come from the Earth Crisis song called ”New Ethic”?


-Yes, parly. We chose the name because in our hometown Buenos Aires, people who have chosen the Straight Edge-lifestyle are often labelled as Nazis and we wanted to put back some of that ethic of honour and respect, that these accusations had hurt. That is what we wanted to do by simply representing non-prejudicial Vegan Straight Edge-views. SxE is not fascism!

How does the future for look for Nueva Etica? I know you have got a long tour (over two months) a head of you in Europe, any expectations?

-I don’t know. I hope the tour is going to be as good or better than the last one we did in 2003. We had no expectations for that tour and the reaction was unbelievable, people were very kind and many of my pre-assumptions were proven wrong and that was really positive.

We hope that the future tour goes well. We go to represent our latest record and we are very enthusiastic to play both our new and old songs and we want to make each show a very good party.

Time for the last question; what are the main goals you would like to achieve as a band and what goals have you already reached?

-One of the main goals that we have achieved is to stay friends and so we have did for almost 15 years. As a band we feel that we are slowly starting to achieve some things that used to feel very distant. For example, we would have never dreamt of getting to go to play to Europe so soon and that wish came true. We are very grateful and lucky to have been able to see these things that are happening to us as a band. One big achievement was our last album. We recorded it at the studio of the drummer from the band A.N.I.M.A.L., Martin Carrizo and it was mixed by Tue Madsen. These are all very unbelievable things. European tour is a culmination point of a very arduerous time of work for our band and we are very satisfied, but we are also always waiting for the new opportunities.


This interview was originally done for Chambers Magazine (http://www.lammaszine.fi) and is awailable in finnish on their website.


Nueva Etica @ Myspace.
Order their cd.