real screamo, real punk, real life

so, i’ve not posted on here in a while, i moved from stoke to manchester etc etc… started a new band - http://eyespeeledband.tumblr.com/

will be posting more stuff on here soon xxx

Interview with David (Hansei DIY)

David loves DIY, he does Hansei DIY, he releases records (Casually) and puts on shows whenever he has the chance - great guy!

when and why did you start hansei diy?

When I was younger I got frustrated about not being able to get a decent band on the go and wanted to find other ways to feed back into diy/punk. Around the same time I heard about an Italian screamo band called Chinese Dama who was looking for labels to co-release their EP. I put some cash in with 5 awesome labels and we put out the 7’’. I didn’t know what to do with the 7’’s I got that weren’t bought from me right off the bat, so I traded them for records other people had put out and ended up with a small distro.

briefly, what is it you actually do?

I really just put on shows in Glasgow these days. I’ve helped put out records and tapes in the past and I’ll help release more records when I have cash in the future. I also have a really small distro.

what’s scotland like for punk/screamo/hardcore music?

Scotland is really good just now. There are a lot of solid bands in Glasgow – Citizens, Clocked Out, Jackie Onassis, By My Hands, Flags Raised. In/near Edinburgh there is Defence and up in Aberdeen there is Carson Wells. Kaddish and Black Channels are also from up here! Some now-defunct Scottish bands people should check out are: BROKEN OATH, Cap Santé, Archives, Fall of Boss Koala, Mesa Verde. I’ve probably missed some. Come play Glasgow.

what are your views on diy and punk music as a whole, obviously there’s no ‘rules for punk’. what are your ethics, what do you believe?

I guess I just think that everyone is welcome as long as they pull their weight and don’t bring any sexist, racist, homophobic or sectarian bullshit along with them. I get pretty angry when I see people using diy as a stepping stone for indie/major aspirations, or trivialising it by (labels and ‘promoters’) making cash off the back of records/shows. DIY or DIE.  

any bands or labels you’d recommend checking out?

Broken Oath are the best band in the world. Everyone should be listening to: Battle of Wolf 359, Divisions, the Rat Mask demo tape, Curb Crawl, Abolition, Arc of the Covenant, Male Nurses, Formaldehyde Junkies, Video Disease, Coke Bust, Dry-Rot, Ecoli, Cold Sweat, Shikari and fucking DISEMBODIED!

thanks

thanks david!

http://hanseidiy.tumblr.com/

Interview with Andi (Epileptic Media tape label)

hey andi, how’s it going? what are your views on diy and punk as a whole?
hey jake everythings fine here!
hm i think that diy is very important for the whole scene (if its punk, hardcore, powerviolence or whatever)… there are a load of cool bands out there and most of the time they are not looking for a big contract with a major label so its nice that there are people out there doing diy releases to support them! for me its also nice to see what other labels are releasing, there are always new forms of packaging, new ways to make tapes look cooler or special gimmicks… for me it has a lot to to with creativity and its always better to have something thats handmade with passion then getting a massproduction item.

when and why did you start epileptic media, had you done anything else before?
i started epileptic media in april 2009 cause i love tapes and i had the plan to start a tapelabel since a long time… in the beginning i wanted to support technical extreme music, since i was listening a lot of techgrind and most of the bands i was listening to disbanded i tried to support those ones left… this is where the name comes from, techgrind was just epileptic, spastic and fast :)
next to epileptic media i run noise park activities since 2007, i started doing releases when i was 15 with my first band and started to do releases for others then, after some time it just came to the point that i needed a name for my work so NPA was born.

I like how you don’t stick to one genre all the time - although you release lots of extreme music the style varies - is this important to you and why?
hm, it just happens this way! i really try to release innovative extreme music and there are no borders in which genre this should be… its just the music i love to listen to so the styles varies cause i am not  stuck to one genre

what are the future plans of the label?
trade a lot, release a lot, getting in contact with other diy-fanatics and maybe release some vinyl someday…

can you recommend any bands or labels for us the people should check out?
oh sure… check out these labels:
gafas del rigor tapes, ponyhell records, power negi records, eat a book records, yakuzzi tapes, obi wahn, yehonala tapes (its dead but still awesome to look at), clockwork cassettes, nerdcore, delicious music, zx tapes, scumbag summer (not a label but an awesome zine), shitpiece.records and all the artists they release(d)!
i think i forgot some but you will find more if you check the ones above!

where can people contact you?
on myspace or email epilepticmedia[at]gmail[dot]com or send me a good old letter, address is on my page…

thanks andi!

Interview with Matt (Expect Delays Zine)

hey matt, you do expect delays zine, zines are quite a foundation in punk - how important do you think they are today?

As much as I hate to admit it, people’s interest in fanzines definitely isn’t what they were. I presume it is mostly down to the advancement of online magazines and blogspots, which can provide the same sort of services as a fanzine without the ‘hassle’ of buying or posting or having to wait to receive some information. In a time when even major newspapers are forced to give ground to their online counterparts, independent printed media is becoming, at best, old-fashioned and romantic, and at worst, worryingly anachronistic. There are still a good number of zines going, but you do have to dig a bit deeper to find them – fortunately the people who do enjoy reading and writing punk fanzines aren’t going to let them die out altogether.

what’re your views on both the UK punk/screamo/hardcore scene and the global one?

I think it is getting stronger and stronger, this seems to be a good period to be in right now, and there are a lot of passionate and motivated bands - across genres - in the UK and Europe. (Mainland) Europe’s screamo scene is consistently amazing, there are so many incredible bands – I can’t help but feel that the UK is too removed from mainland Europe to be able to see or even hear about every single band which deserves your attention. The hardcore side of things in the UK is a very mixed affair. There is that tough-guy, self-aggrandizing bullshit attitude returning in certain bands, which I’m not interested in - but I don’t get too het up about it: There’s no shortage of great attitudes about to combat that. Next issue I want to try and feature more UK or European bands, but without turning it into a purely ‘regional’ zine.

are there any new records you’ve heard that have made you think ‘wow this is amazing’?

I’ve been listening to the new Chalk Talk cassette, ‘The Food Chain’, which is brilliant. For anyone who hasn’t heard them, they are a raucous, twinkly, summer jam band, and definitely worth checking out if you enjoy bands like Menegaur or Bear Vs Shark. Also, the new Joie De Vive release (“The North End”), Meandgoliath’s self-titled 10”, and Protestant’s “Antagonist” 7” have all blown me away – I know I got hold of those last two records a few months ago, and they were released a good long time before that, but they are both incredible records which have spent far too much time on my record player.

when can we expect a new issue of expect delays zine?

I’m planning for autumn 2010, if I can remember how to concentrate on something. I know what I want to try and do and include in the next issue, so it is just a case of putting these ideas into practice and organising my time a bit better!

where can people get in touch with you?

If anyone wants to find out more about my zine, get hold of a copy, or anything else, you can reach me via email at: mattexpectdelays@hotmail.co.uk

Or on myspace at: www.myspace.com/expectdelayszine

I’m always up for trades of any sort as well.

 
any punks you think deserve a mention here? (bands/labels/zines/diy people in general)

(I focused on the ‘diy people’ option in general)

I’m lucky enough to have a group of friends who variously play in bands, put on shows, screen-print, write, or generally do something positive and productive with their spare time. They will show me how to do things or help me out – up until last week I hadn’t paid for a haircut in over a year thanks to my friends (haha!), and a few weeks ago my housemate showed me how to DIY some patches with fabric paint, stencils and old bed-sheets. Making and doing stuff is not just about the ends but also the means; you want to learn something, show something, or hang out with your friends - but more importantly have fun doing it. So anyone who this relates to deserves a thank-you for keeping themselves and the larger ‘scene’ from rusting over, and for inspiring people like me to try to fill the empty spaces in what we want to see around us.

Thanks Matt

bastions inteview

i’ve had the pleasure of knowing bastions right from the start near enough. they’ve had a few line up changes since then but the founding members (danny, the drummer + jamie, the guitarist) still remain. i can’t quite put my finger on their genre exactly but they’re definitely punks. jamie also does great art work, i’ll link at the bottim. i’m going to be asking them how they’ve changed and what the future holds.

So, Bastions - you’ve been around longer that a lot of people realise. When and why did it all start?

Bastions started in May 2008 with myself (Danny - drums) and Jamie (guitars).  In a nutshell we were bored of playing in the same old quasi-emo, indie, kinda metal bands.  More than anything we were just angry with our surroundings and wanted to play something truly harsh.

Do you still hold the same views now, on punk music etc, as you did then?

We saw Punk as an attitude rather than a specific music style.  When we started we just angry with everything so obvious comparisons were made.  As we’ve come along over the years, that’s just grown into a general surly attitude problem but the DIY Punk ethic has held with us and it’s very unlikely it’ll ever leave us.

DIY is really important to you then? I know you’ve released your own CDs and experimented witih screen-printing your own covers and stuff. Would you prefer to do it that way or have someone else do everything for you?

Anyone who has known us in this band will tell you that we’re at our most content when we’re making something ourselves.  It’s not that other companies aren’t any worse than printing than us; it’s purely a trust thing.  At the end of the day this is personal to us so it’s obviously going to mean more to us than a person doing it purely for monetary reasons. 
that said; these things do take a lot of our time and we do have other jobs and some of us have familes.  So it is beginning to get to the point where we actually need outside help.  When Tangled Talk Records approached us; they saw what we were about and why we did things the way we did - and just began by lending a hand… From there it’s developed into a solid partnership

Great stuff! You’re going on a little tour with holy roar band maths tomorrow - what do you think that’ll be like?

Intense!  We rarely get to do many gigs with other hardcore bands - so in a weird way it’s a novelty!  What could honestly be better than touring with like-minded people who are out to have a good time and give people the best show possible?

I hope it goes well. No on to a very important question… you’ve released/ had released 3 or 4 records so far as well as radio sessions, what does the future hold release-wise?

We just finished up recording our latest EP: Island Living - which will be released on double sided 7” Vinyl (with digital download).  This is going to be released through Tangled Talk Records and Holy Roar Records.  All I can say for now is that it will be released in the next few months!

That sounds great - i assume you plan to tour with that as much as possible? any plans for europe?

Due to some real life commitments; we’re actually having to hold off the heavy touring till Winter.  Which is okay; we’re not really a Summer band anyways… but we will do our usual streak of weekenders whenever possible; we don’t really want to let up on the gig front. 
Europe is definitely a high priority.  We’ve heard so many good things about touring through there that it seems daft not to take the time to go out there and play.  If and when we do go though; it will be over quite a period of time; it’s something we don’t want to do half-cocked.

I think that’s it - any bands or labels you’d like to recommend to people reading this blog?

power negi records, tangled talk records, holy roar records. some bands we’ve played with that you need to hear - kerouac, brace for a fall, nitkowski, guillotines

Thanks Danny/ Bastions - check their myspace for all upcoming shows:
www.myspace.com/bstns

sly the bear - tape label, germany

sly the bear is a new tape label from two friends - they are also doing a little distro. their 1st release ‘when hearts are magnets’ compilation tape sold out real fast. Next up is a tape version of Jackals’ 7” ‘we are jackals’. there will be an interview with them when that’s available

http://slythebear.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/slythebearfamily

fujicolor songs download (with permission from the boys)

http://www.mediafire.com/?btqe0mhzo1mnax9