hcmorethanmusic

Sunday, 27 December 2009

Latvia

The latvian hardcore scene is not living its best days at the moment, mostly because of the economical situation in our country. For example in 2006-2007 we invited such bands as Gorilla Biscuits, Ignite, Madball, Death before Dishonor, No Turning Back, but nowadays all we can afford are some european or russian bands. This year we have had only 2 gigs of non-latvian bands - Ray (Russia) and The Vendetta (Italy). We simply can't afford to invite someone else.

Also the best days of latvian hardcore bands are in the past. All my favourite acts are disbanded now.

In.Stora

When My Authorities Fall

Vimaz Trīs Vārdi

Cita Attieksme

The only band which plays since 90's and still is alive is Kriegopfer from little Latvian town Saldus.

What I like about our scene is the strong sense of community. We don't care about nationality (it's a problem in Latvia, you know), are you hc-kid, skinhead (normal skinhead, not nazi of course) or punk and so on.
Our scene since the 90's, when it began, has not always had the typical attitude of most worldwide hc bands - it has been more crusty or anarcho-punk. Lyrics are anti-establishment, anti-capitalist, anarchist etc. Music also is more crust-punk influenced or metallic.

Lyrics are mostly in latvian. But for example band Vismaz Trīs Vārdi has translations of their lyrics in russian and english on their web page.

Also one of first latvian hardcore bands, Hope Dies Last has an album with english lyrics. Mostly lyrics deal with more worldwide problems, but, I think, for ex-USSR countries, the issue is how politics doesn't stop stealing and lying.

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

New Morality

Le Pub, Newport 17/12/09

Is hc a product? Do we need more people at gigs wearing more t-shirts buying more vinyl? Does it come down to money at the end of the night? Don't get me wrong, a little bit of money will always make things easier for bands, so keep buying the merch, but DIY effort and self empowerment will give hc its legitimacy and ultimately its ability to last.

So what are live music, split 7 inches and shirt designs if they aren't products? They are energy, ideas and attitudes captured to help communicate the spirit of hc's fight back. New Morality are a perfect example of what live music can show about a band. I went to see them because I knew they would be great live. Cornered had set Le Pub on fire a few weeks ago and my impression is that dutch bands can be trusted to offer honesty, intelligence and passion. Ferdinand plays drums in both bands, Jonne is the bass player in Cornered and the frontman for New Morality. I was expecting something when they stepped up on stage but all of us in the crowd were in a strange mood. It was as if we wanted to be entertained. As if we were asking "What have you got?" This isn't fair because we should be giving our dutch friends an unconditional welcome after their long journey. But we just stood there...we weren't in the mood at all.

"So who is going to a funeral tomorrow?" Jonne asked. No one replied.

("What have you got?")
It's like we are treating the band as a product.
("We've paid our money. We've come out on a cold Thursday night...What have you got?")

And then, as the first chord sounded, we all found out! New Morality have an extra dimension as a live band. Jonne likes to force a reaction out of the crowd. He likes the fight and it is clear he doesn't want the easy life. He enjoys the pressure of challenging people's perceptions. He told me afterwards that he constantly wants to start an argument. An argument in its truest sense, a dialogue, a persuasion. A new morality? Yes, my guess is that his motivation is to inspire people to a fresh way of looking at life. Real values for real problems. Everything that New Morality showed onstage was a call to mobilise against the forces that have squeezed the vitality out of our old ideals. It is time to look at old things with a new clarity and resume the fight with more purpose.

We spoke after the gig about the rise of right wing politics in the Netherlands and the problem of lazy sloganeering in politics that goes unquestioned in the media. There is a danger that the lyrics of our favourite new bands are nothing more than words. They will be if we don't get inspired and get involved. New Morality showed how hc is so much more than a product.

"So who is going to a funeral tomorrow?"

Greece - Athens

Brilliant report from George who used to sing for xfor no reasonx!

Hardcore in Greece (actually in Athens, because at the smaller cities it's a little bit different) is getting more popular in the last few years but I'm not sure if we can speak of a scene! The reason is that it's not so well organised as a way of life (I mean DIY shows, mutual support etc) but there are mentionable efforts from really nice guys and recently we have had the chance to see amazing shows here.

In the last 4-5 years metalcore is the most popular here, but there are smaller venues that make a change and are organised by some friends of mine. You can check this (World's Appreciated Kitsch) from a good friend of mine. He organises small hc venues, puts out some cool fanzines and tries as much as he can to make things happen in Greece.

As for a community the things are just ok here. Not bad blood between anyone usually, but everyone has got his "crew" (not in a gang way, as friends I mean) and they're not really supportive of others. The DIY scene is awesome here, more political and it's a little bigger in its own way.

There are some very good bands that you can check on myspace and they're very popular here:

Vodka Juniors (Athens)

xfor no reasonx (Athens) (they broke up, the first greek edge band-I used to sing for them)

Censored Sound (Athens)

Faithreat (Volos)

The Voldera Cult (Athens)

Endsight (Athens)

Disharmonic RIP (Volos)

Slavebreed (Athens)

Croatia

Many thanks go to Nikola for this report.

Croatian hc punk scene is very small; virtually non existent. Gigs usually take place in capital Zagreb but there are also gigs in second largest city Split (credits for that goes to few great guys in Klub Kocka) and sometimes in cities like Osijek, Cakovec and Kutina. Gigs aren't often, local bands perform 2-3 times a month and we rarely have a chance to see foreign bands (few times a year) and when they do come they usually play in capital in venues such as Mocvara, KSET and Medika.

There are few promotors who are bringing foreign bands in Croatia, like
Metalsound

zloSTavljanje crew from Split etc. (I'm not that familiar with that part of the scene)

There is a sense of community in Croatia but with so few bands and people who are into hardcore punk there isn't much that they can do; bands and enthusiasts help other bands get gigs in their towns and we usually travel together to gigs abroad.

Croatian hc bands don't have a specific sound and there are only a few of them, the biggest is Deafness by Noise who have been active since 1991 and have played numerous gigs all over europe so check them out!

Stronghold (Zagreb)

FOAD (Zagreb)

True To The Cause (Zagreb)

Immanuel Cunt (Split)

Dispro (Split)

.upset (Zabok)

Bulletproof (Cakovec)

Think Again (Virovitica)

Bugarska Skubstina (Osijek)

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

Bulgaria (Part 2)

About the attitude here,one thing is for sure-there is no star attitude,definitely.Folks are down to earth normal guys just like anybody else:)
About fighting for a change, unfortunately not many people are. Bands here are not involved in politics and activism, excluding 1 or 2, with not that much success. But yes, it is more than music, I know its kind of a platitude, but hc here still means friendship.

We have 3 distros,the guys are great dudes, who provide us with quality music:
Straight From The Inside (they also run a webzine)

Ugly And Proud Records

xbldclotx

Unfortunately all the web places with info about bulgarian hc are written in bulgarian! If I find any in english, I'll let you know ;)

Here are some of the best bands on the bulgarian hc scene:

Last Hope (Sofia)
(the most well known and I believe the oldest, still active)