jeudi 2 mai 2013

Sista Sekunden Interview.... 201?


 
1 - Hey SISTA SEKUNDEN can you please present the band members, functions and what SISTA SEKUNDEN exactly means ?
Andy: I'm Andy and I play guitar. I have glasses. Tommy plays the bass and he's the greatest story teller in Sweden. Dempe sings and tattoo on peoples' skin. Julian is young and french and play drums. We are four deucebags living in Sweden playing hardcore because it's the greatest thing we know. The only true feeling is what comes from the heart and we try to capture that. Sista Sekunden means "The Last Second" which can be translated into many meanings.
 
2 - None of you are really new comers to the punk scene as some of you have played in bands such as SATANIC SURFERS, INTENSITY, SKITKIDS, etc... In what is SS different than your former bands ? And do you feel any pressure starting out a new band after having been quite succesful with your previous bands ?
Andy: For me Sista Sekunden is truly unique cause it's the first band I'm that I was in from the very beginning. Earlier in my punk years I somehow managed to jump into already existing bands which was great, until the times when you couldn't really feel that it was your stuff you know. The only pressure I feel today is keeping all deadlines with stuff that needs to be done. Booking, layouting, printing, merching, releasing and whatnot with this band takes its toll on me.
 
3 - Has singing in your mother language been a problem getting abroad ? Being understood by people ?
Andy: Even if people don't understand the very words, they hopefully appreciate that we sing about something we actually mean, instead of screaming worn out phrases that we don't really know the content of.
 
4 - You've put out 2 LPs a split 7" with I SCREAM 7 SHOWERS from Japan and most recently a new MCD. Do you feel an evolution in the band over the last couple of years ? Has changing drummers changed anything ?
Andy: Yes, I think we all gained some talent since 2005, but I still like the primitive style on the very first recording. The songs are also changing, sometimes harder and sometimes more melodic. Julian is more of a clean drummer than Sixpack so I guess that changed the sound as well.
 
5- You've already toured Japan with some great bands. Can you talk to us about your experience over there and how SS got such a quick close relationship with Japan ?
Andy: I met Shinnosuke from Rock Room Records when he played with his band Iscream 7 Showers at a Satanic Surfers show in Osaka. I really liked their style and ever since we kept in touch. He didn't hesitate about releasing Sista Sekunden or taking us over for a tour as soon as I mailed him some songs. Beeing in Japan was really nice and we met up with old and new friends. One of the best bands were Spunky; youngsters in Osaka who really knew their hardcore. Sweef from Yokusuka were cool as hell too. All shows were with Iscream 7 Showers and they were incredibly kind to take such good care of us! I really beeing in Japan and learning to speak japanese! Going back is mandatory.
 
6- When I saw you in St Etienne I asked you about your european tour with DSB and you told me this crazy story about your singer Dempe getting attacked in Denmark by some assholes at a gig! Can you tell us about what happened exactly and how Dempe is doing now a days?
Andy: Coked up guys got thrown out of the show in Copenhagen for behaving really bad. They started throwing bricks and shit at the venue and when Dempe tried to stop them they beat him up really bad. We had to cancel the whole tour. While Dempe and Tommy stayed home, Julian and I continued the tour with DSB. It was very hard emotionally, and of course physically for Dempe. Today he's back to normal.
 
7- You did your first real european tour this last spring, how was the feedback ? What were your favorite times on this tour ? Any other crazy stories about tours and stuff ? What is the craziest story that you have encountered on tour ?
Andy: Yes. It was really nice. The feedback was actually many times excuses, people must have gotten the impression that we weren't very good, or they were just fed up w hardcore. But after the show they came up and said if they knew how good it was gonna be they'd bring friends, or do the show at a cooler venue or anything. I was just really happy to travel around and play, and honestly, sometimes it's cool when people have no expectations cause then you got nothing to lose. We always do our best though. i think the best show was in Bremen or Bordeaux.
 
8- When I saw you play Dempe was wearing a ULTRA MILITANT HARDCORE t shirt on and I was wondering what you meant by ULTRA MILITANT ? Political? Anarchist? Taking position? Punk is Politics for the band?
Andy: He's ultra militant in-your-face, that's what he is.
 
9- One of your songs talks about singing about War when most bands in the 1st world have never experienced anything close to war and that you didn't feel confortable singing about those kind of things ! Have the DISWAR campaign just gotten to your nerves and finding this very hypocrite ? What are your exact feelings about this?
Andy: The song is a fuck you to people who use the misery of others to look cool. I have never been in a war, so why should I pretend to? I know nothing about war, and I grateful for that. There should always be an awareness, and lyrics or poems sometimes live their own life, but rich white middle class kids should maybe shut the fuck up sometimes. Shit, did I just offend myself?
 

10- Since you've played in SATANIC SURFERS and that SISTA SEKUNDEN is close to bands such as MILLENCOLIN can you say that flirting with the semi mainstream punk scene that having huge and wide audiences gets you a chance to get your message out to more people ? Do you feel more confortable in the DIY scene or playing in front of a bunch of 14 year old kids clueless about politics and stuff ? Is it important for you to have acces to both scenes and why?
Andy: I think DIY measures different for different people. We do everything ourselves and that's what I consider DIY. I really enjoy playing squats and small clubs, and I feel at home there. But it's also really cool to play a festival where you actually get the opportunity to make a change instead of patting your friends on the back. I believe it's called preaching to the converted. I mean, even if new kids show up they are most of the times already cut to fit the mold. Most important for me is beeing diverse enough to do both and not limit yourself just because someone says so. I don't care, any stage or floor we play on becomes a punk area.
 
11 - You are going on tour to the states in October. I think the guy from ANS is organising your tour ? How is it going work out and what are you expecting ? Will there be any US pressing of your records?
Andy: Yes, Kenny from Gnarly Slaughter is gonna do a 7" with us. I'm so excited about that! How the actual tour will work out I have no idea. So far only three shows are booked so we better lace up to make it work. I'm expecting great shows and hopefully food and a place to sleep.
 
12- You also take care of INSTIGATE records and work in a printing shop. What importance does this all have to you ? Is it fundamental being a part of your own musical projects ? And what do you think about the potential of underground punk labels the future holds for records, etc... ?
Andy: All the choises in life I make is always for the benfit of the thing I hold dearest, HARDCORE! Getting a job at a printshop to print my own sleeves, collecting old typewriters and rub off letters, starting the label almost 10 years ago, staying up half night doing label stuff, you bet it's fundamental. All these things are measures to make Instigate work out the way I want it to. I'm gonna die one day, and I have a lot of stuff to do before that. The future is shit. Records suck ass. Ther only cool thing is that there are many good new bands coming up, and a few awesome labels too!
 
13- In one of our last communications we talked about how bored we were getting with all these copy cat crust bands while still being big fans of all the old school crust era. Where does all this mediocrity and tending to be unoriginal come from ? I feel ( as Henry Rollins said in 'Punk Attitude' documentary ) the punk scene gives you just so much space to express yourself that being original nowadays ( and mostly worse through this last decade ) makes punks turn their back on what you do. Isn't punk about tearing down the walls of frontiers ?
Andy: Punk is about not fitting in. That's why people get so upset when major bands use the term of punk. Cause if you're major you must fit in somewhere... And fitting in anywhere is an urge among people. That's why so many bands did that neo-crust thing a few years ago. Hell, I even did it myself. So you see, there's a fine line between major bands and copy-cats. They all want the same thing. I consider myself beeing a punk, cause I never fit in. People either think I'm too major or too underground, too feminin or strange, too stiff or too sensitive. I couldn't be bothered anymore of what people think. As long as I don't fit in, I know I'm right.
 
14- I was reading some interviews lately about all these bands from the early 80's in the hardcore punk scene and all of the actors being from the US / france / poland / etc... were talking about all the confrontations they were having with rednecks in unfriendly zones ( while the DIY punk scene didn't have their own show spaces yet! ) and always having to put up a fight when they played somewhere. Having to bother people in their confortable traditionnal way of dealing with music, attitudes and playing in front of various attenders and show spaces ! It seems that today DIY bands don't try at all to confront themselves to unsecure places and not trying to pull any debate further about things. Should punk be 'safe' and not confront itself to global society ? Or is it only in Black Bloc protests that they show themselves to the world ?
Andy: There's this thing again. Some might consider punks to be chickens for just staying inside the safe punk haven. And others consider the real chicken is the one who "sells out" and reach for something else. I totally understand that some punks can't deal with normal idiots and normal life and therefore hide in the punk world, but I lift my hat to the one who dares to confront the idiots and tread new ground. I mean the almight Sex Pistols were on friggin EMI and A&M. Never Mind The Bollocks were produced in one of the finest studios they could provide. Still they were banned from BBC. We're all just a bunch of chickens and idiots trying to avoid each other.
 
15- Your artwork and mostly the 'live and domestic' photos of the band are really of great quality. Who does all those nice professional 'Rolling Stone magazine' haha pictures ? As for the layout I guess you have good computer skills since Andy works for a printing company. By the way does working in a printer shop get you some liberties about getting free posters, flyers, stickers, record covers ? I've always thought that working for a printer or better being a printer was a necessity in anarchist and punk propaganda network and we need more of those people of course. Is it a pleasure actually to have a job that serves yourself as others ?
Andy: I don't think it's about computer skills. It's about knowing what you want. I'm not a computer kind of guy but I realized it's what I need to know to get what I want. As for the pictures, our friend works in this studio where he can shoot amazing photos that look really nice. He really has an eye for shadows and lights. You can see his stuff at www.jensnordstrom.com. On tour we've brought photographers cause it's a matter of documenting the thing we love. Yeah, as I said before, working at the print shop definitely helps me out when it comes to posters, sleeves, stickers and shit. I can't live without access to graphic devices, they are kidneys, hearts and lungs to me.
 
16- What other projects are to come ? Any last words, comments ?
Andy: US tour, vinyl release of the new mini-CD, more touring, and hopefully one day I can catch a 5 minute break. Thanks for the interview Flox, you the man. People should check out the new LPs Victims and The Now-Denial, they're amazing. And also the website for my label: www.instigaterecords.com. Cheerio