An Interview with Gulag Beach!

Gulag Beach are a political powerhouse of a punk rock band from Berlin Germany.  They walk the fine line between stripped down 77' style Punk and later, harder hitting Oi!/ Street Punk.  Their music uniquely and exquisitely exhibits anxiety, high energy, and enough entrapping hooks to make the Cenobites in Hellraiser jealous. Unlike the Russian Gulag, these four Germans aren't here to force anyone into their beliefs.  They offer their opinions on society and world events in lyrical form and they present them loudly.  Weather you choose to listen or succumb to the pogo is up to you!  

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start out by introducing yourselves.  Who is in Gulag Beach and what does everyone do in the band?
GB: We're the Gulag Beach Boys from Berlin and have been around since late 2013. So far we played nearly 50 shows in Germany, Poland and Greece, released one demo tape cassette ("No ice above the DMZ") and two vinyl-LPs ("North Korean Sun" and "Favela Blues"). There is Hupe on vocals, a smartass and weisenheimer, because he is that old. Then we have Hässlon on bass, who always has to drive being the only one with such a cool car. We also have Marcel on guitar, always tired and overworked and Nils on the drums, always late and playing with broken cymbals.

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?
GB: Berlin is quite big and a lot of hedonists are stranded at this melting beach so it's easy to find each other. Anyway, it all started as a project. Hupe usually is a drummer and has been doing this for many years. He was bored by playing drums and wanted to sing. He knew that Marcel and Nils share more or less the same music taste like him and so they met. Hässlon usually plays guitar and sings and joined Gulag Beach some weeks later after buying a bass in a Berlin so called Späti (kiosk). We all knew each other (more or less) before the band started and all have bands beside Gulag Beach.

Can you remember who it was that inspired you to want to pick up an instrument and learn how to play/write music?
Hupe: I remember when I was a kid and around 6 or 7 years I was very impressed by Udo Lindenberg. My aunt listened to Udo's "Sonderzug nach Pankow" behind closed doors because we had GDR and Stasi was everywhere. I liked his cool voice, his sunglasses, his appearance at all and from this day on I started playing air guitar on a battledore. As a teenager I started playing drums after listening to NY Hardcore and Deutsch-Punk. I was always autodidact and in my early 30s I started singing, after being inspired by Abe (Bodies) or Greg Attonito (Bouncing Souls).

Nils: I may be a little bit hyperactive. Playing drums is probably a good way to overexert myself in a good way. And that's the point. For me as drummer (by the way, also autodidact), it's always impressive to see drummers hitting the set so hard that they are already soaked in sweat after a few minutes on stage. Harda Tider for example. You should see this band live and direct your attention on the drummer. So powerful! In the end, it's too many bands that could be mentioned. Besides, Hupe - our singer - he's a very good drummer as well (haha)!

Hässlon: When I was 14 and I realized that most punk song structures are done quite easily and most people that did punk rock haven't been real musicians, I thought to do this by myself and started playing acoustic guitar. One year later I had an electric guitar and played in my first punk rock band. Bands that inspired me in those days were Slime and Die Toten Hosen and later all those English punk bands from the late 70s.

Marcel: Yes, I can remember, but it's like a cliché story. When I was the age of 9 or 10 and I saw Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen for the first time on TV performing their songs "Schunder-Song" and "Kauf mich", it touched me and I wanted to play an instrument as well. A few years later I got influenced mainly by early German punk stuff.

How would you describe Gulag Beach to someone that’s never heard your music before?
GB: We are a primitive melodic punk rock band that likes to play live. In our opinion a punk song doesn't need much more than verse-chorus-verse-chorus-interface-chorus. Just like the Ramones did many years ago.

What sorts of things inspire your lyrics?  Can you remember the strangest person or event that inspired you to want to write a song about?
GB: An easy answer to the question as our demo and first LP was only inspired by North Korea. We've been writing 13 songs about the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea because EVERYTHING there is so fucked up, so far away, so special, so surreal. Like a sect. And so we remember the strangest person everyone from the KIMnasty: Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and little fatty Kim Jong-un. Anyhow we like to write songs about dictators such as the KIMs or Putin or Pol Pot.

For us, Punk is a good way to express important things happening in the world in a more simple way. Describing things in a few sentences. To put it in a nutshell and to be subversive (at least we try). If we sing about the favelas in Brazil in the first-person perspective, it's clear that we are not affected by ourselves. Look at us. We are four white guys. We don't want to treat someone like a child, we empty the artistic freedom that Punk enables! And we think it's important not to care only about the shit going in our own lives.

I’ve heard people say that writing/playing music is therapeutic to them.  Have you ever found this to be true in your lives?
GB: Just try it Mr. Castro! We recommend it. Making music is fun and it helps you break out of daily life. A band is always very special by meeting so many different characters inside the band and seeing the result after the 1st song is written and also by meeting so many different characters outside the band at places where you never would have gone if a band wouldn't exist. Interesting and maybe therapeutic but anyway something we all don't wanna miss.

What sorts of feelings or sentiments do you want your audience to walk away with after seeing one of your live shows?
GB: As we are a political band and playing pretty sad songs we are not really entertaining our audience in the way that most bands do. But we absolutely like to play live and hopefully people recognize this and share this. We don't expect applause but pogo.

Can you remember how you were first introduced to punk rock music?  Tell me if you can recall who it was that first played it for you, where you were and what song/album you heard?
Hupe: I discovered Punk when one of my distant cousins played this Toxoplasma song "Pass dich an" on his tape deck that sounded as shabby as his mohawk looked like. It was after school when we met at a secret spot to smoke our first cigarettes and I liked the rough and pissed sound and the lyrics. Toxoplasma was also one of the very first "bigger" punk bands that played close to my village after the wall broke down. Anyway my first "punk record" was Kreator's "Extreme Aggression" on tape as well after my aunt bought this cassette in Hungary totally overpriced and one-side-only-recorded (so the vendors at the black market ripped off my aunt) back in 1989. I will never forget the first time I heard Mille shouting the chorus "Extreme Aggression" through my little ghetto blaster. All I wanted was Volume Max.

Nils: That's easy. My eldest brother once gave me a Misfits record. I can't remember which one. One of the releases from the 80's. I still love that music! I went on with political HC/ Punk from U.S. like Dead Kennedys. Later all this Skinhead/ Punk Bullshit from UK. Oppressed, Blitz, Angelic Upstarts. I still love it! That is to say, I didn't start my love to Punk with German music like Toxoplasma. I recognized all this good stuff from Germany a little bit later.

Hässlon: My first real punk album was Slime's "Yankees Raus". I liked its lyrics and its forceful energy that you as an outsider makes you feel strong and all you want is smashing your fist and spitting your snot in some asshole's face. If you like this music you feel it.

Marcel: My first punk record was the Bloodstains across Germany-compilation. I got it at a record flea market when I was still in elementary school. I was really interested early on in music and wanted to get some vinyl records of bands I liked so I introduced myself to punk rock. I was looking for a sound that kicks me. I found this sound in early German punk, even if some of those bands were singing in English. It really impressed me how punk bands shout out their feelings, what they are thinking, this non-conformity, the aggression and always that fast music.  I still love all the songs off this compilation. Maybe my favorite were the Buttocks with their song “Kreatur:, the Pack with their song “Com'On” and the Cretins with their song “Samen im Darm”. 

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” just because I don’t think anyone should feel guilty for liking something if in fact they actually do like it.  So with that being said, what record do you own and enjoy that you think some Gulag Beach fans would be surprised you like?
Hupe: I like Rio Baile Funk (Funk carioca) out of Brazil's Favelas. I'm glad I don't understand Portuguese 'cause the lyrics must be very very stupid. And I like everything CCR did - John Fogerty is the shit!

Nils: I personally like Hip Hop and rap music a lot! But not this "Zeckenrap" bullshit (mostly rap from german "antideutsch" guys). I like music that is authentic with good lyrics. There's a lot of great Hip Hop and rap from the Banlieus in France. I love Keny Arkana! Or Jedi Mind Tricks from the US.

Hässlon: For me there's no other kind of music that nearly has the energy that punk rock has. But there are bands I like all by myself and don't match into this "genre": Fehlfarben, Element of Crime or Die Aeronauten.

Marcel: I like some pop punk stuff like Cub or Tiger Trap. It's a hectic and stressful world and I need music to relax and to calm me down and that's exactly the right music for this! The acoustic stuff of Keven Seconds also helps me to relax. I also like some new Indie bands from the States like The Babies and King Tuff.

I hear a lot of old school punk influences in your music.  Are there any current bands you guys like listening to that inspire you from Berlin?
Hupe: Well, for me as the view from a singer - currently from Berlin I like Mark Sultan singing in The King Khan & BBQ Show, Jasper Hood singing in the About Blanks or Elli in the Inserts . But sorry, there's not only one band from Berlin that inspires me in doing Gulag Beach.

Hässlon: Don't forget the Dreipunktbande (RIP) because of their nihilistic attitude that you can even hear by just listening to their instruments. I also mention The Shocks (RIP) that had a lot of energy and steam. But finally I am more inspired by bands of Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover or ex-GDR.

Marcel: There are not many current Berlin Bands who inspire me. Maybe The Shocks or NOXON did but I don't think that they inspire me in what I'm doing in Gulag Beach.

Nils: All the bands my friends from Berlin play in. I don't care if it's not my kind of music or simply bullshit. It's cool to see friends live on stage and have high level talks (haha) about music afterward.

Where is the best place for people to go or log on to hear and buy your music?
GB: You can stream all our songs here http://GulagBeach.bandcamp.com and buy here http://lefthandpathrecords.bigcartel.com/

What’s in the future for the band? Any new recording or touring plans in the works?
GB: As just released our new LP in November 2015 we're currently writing new songs and playing shows in Europe. Maybe we can also find a label in the US to release our crap there. And maybe we buy Nils our drummer some new cymbals.

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Dysnea Boys

Berlin's Dysnea Boys play relentless, hard hitting punk rock as if they were in Southern California and it was the Reagan years all over again.  The band recently answered some questions for us about how they all got together, what the band has coming up in the near future, and what exactly is a "Dysnea" boy!

Interview by J Castro

Who are the folks that make up Dysnea Boys and what do you all do to earn your keep in the band?

C.C.: I’m the bass player, and I do my best to keep up my chops so the guys don’t kick me out of the band!

JASON: I sing, do the words. Love to do graphics too.

CHRIS: I play guitar

TOM: I play drums and I am needed to counter the West coast with some basic south Germanism.

Dysnea Boys are currently based in Berlin Germany, but some of you aren’t originally from there.  How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

C.C.: None of us are form Berlin actually, but most of us have spent a good number of years here

now. I’ve just put in my 5^th year. Although Chris is also from Vancouver, we didn’t meet until living here through mutual friends. Jason and I met at a party in my first week of being here. He was talking about the Germs and snorting a vodka shot. I knew I wanted to be in a band with him immediately. Tom and I work together and met there. 

Jason. Moved here about fifteen years ago. Two kids and a tone of other music too. I’m from near San Jose, California.

CHRIS: C.C. and I wanted to get a band started pretty much as soon as we started hanging out here in Berlin, had a few jams with Tom and shortly after tricked Jason into singing for us.

TOM: I guess that´s how it happened. For me it´s great that I was lucky enough to have run into people that still appreciate the Punk and Indie stuff we all grew up with but on the other side are totally open (and able) to create our own sound.

What band or musician would you say has been the biggest influence on you?  If you can recall, tell me a bit about the first time you heard them:

C.C.: I had an older cousin who introduced me to AC/DC and Van Halen when I was really young. Those were my heroes as a kid. It wasn’t until the 8^th grade that I heard punk, and that was life changing. Obviously we all traded tapes and got our hands on everything we could, but SNFU at that time was my favorite band. I can still sing every word of their first two albums.

JASON: .The Who, Zombies, Beach Boys, 70s rock stuff, Germs, Fall, oldies and cruise music. As a kid I loved watching little RnB groups jamming in the band pavilion at Flea markets. Guys my age actually pulling off listenable music. I’d get over that later.

CHRIS: hmmmmm... so many bands...

  

You recently released the Find Water 7” earlier this year.   Can you tell me a bit about the making of the record and what led to the decision to release it yourselves?

C.C.: We recorded it at the school Tom and I work at! It was recorded and mixed by Brodie White (from Berlin’s The Sun and the Wolf) 

JASON: Compulsive need to give birth to music and songs. Get them out there in the world. Sonic messages in bottles. Who’s gonna respond??  What opportunities will be created?

CHRIS: Releasing it ourselves was the fastest way to get it out there.

You guys did a video for the B-Side to that record, a song called “Mind Stories”.  What was your experience like making the video, were you pleased with the end results?  Where were the live cuts of the band filmed?

C.C.: Jason made this one happen!

JASON: Bryan Ray Trucotte in LA did that. The guy from Kill your Idols who published Fucked up and PhotoCopied. Punk is Dead Punk is Everything. Live footage is from Schockoladen here in Berlin. That other stuff is stock US advertising and Natl Geo stuff he’s been sitting on since God knows when. We had nothing to do with the editing process;  that was his Frankenstein. I’m fine with it. Time to get some together for the other songs.

CHRIS: the live footage was filmed by Derek Howard at a Berlin venue called schokoladen.

You also just released a split 7” with a band called Jiffy Marker on the Canadian label Debt Offensive Records.  How did you end up pairing up with the Jiffy boys and Debt Offensive?

C.C.: The guys in Jiffy Marker are long time friends of Chris and I. Chris played in bands with some of the guys and everyone in that band has a long resume in the Vancouver music scene. 

CHRIS: Yeah, longtime friends. So great to be on a 7” with such swell peeps!

What sorts of things typically influence your song lyrics?  Is there any subject out there you try to steer clear from in your songs?

JASON: Try to steer clear from?  Um, no…. Intentionally stay away from???  No.

On the contrary, I hyper focus on things I’m obsessed with, stuff that I really really really only want to sing about, Atmosphere, quest, emergence, redemption. Trying to carve out a space through voice, word and song.

Do you feel like music is as much of an influential force to young people in this age of instant accessibility and excessive consumerism as it ever has been?  If not, do you think it ever can be again?

JASON: Music’s role in my life has changed drastically several times. I’m going to go with the notion that this happens to most people. At first it might be aegis and kinda like a life preserver. Then it becomes a social tool to help you rediscover and invent yourself. Maybe even show you why you behave the way you do. Music then might turn into a spring board to help hurl you into all kinds of other arts and forms of expression. I’m hoping that’s what it can do for someone.

CHRIS: Depends on the kid I guess... there's definitely a lot of distractions in the world today but I would like to think being a music fan runs a bit deeper than apps for your telephone. Also, these days anybody interested in music has access to pretty much everything, usually for free or very cheep. Music fans are just as crazy about music as they ever were.

TOM: Music is still really present in young people´s lives. Festivals are sold out, everyone is hanging on earphones. There is still a lot of great and shitty music out there. 30 years ago too. Anyone who tells me that nowadays it´s so hard to find great music just hasn´t checked properly. Maybe the great amount of choices and the unlimited accessibility makes kids like their stuff for shorter periods, but there are still lots that become seriously interested or even part of a fan/sub- culture.

Like me, I’m sure you remember the days before Social Media.  Do you feel like it’s become an essential part of promoting shows, records etc..?  Do you think promotion can still be done effectively without it?

C.C.: I think there are negatives and positives. I’m grateful that I played in bands back when records still sold, and little labels could support bands on tour, and with distribution and promotion. These days with less and less money coming back from music sales, I think social media is where promotion can be done cheap, or free and bands and labels have to be fairly tech savvy. That’s where we could use a little help!

JASON: Had a talk with a guy a couple weeks ago who I believe was born in ‘96 or so. He asked me how we booked tours way back then without computers. I told him with a straight face,’’ Telephones, post cards and moms cooking in kitchens next to phones scribbling and dictating messages spoken by distant voices down on sheets of paper. Sometimes that paper might have been pink or even yellow with thin blue lines placed horizontally. It was best if you wrote between the lines. Then I might call back and in turn give someone else a message if the person I needed to speak to wasn’t there. We handled tons of dates like that. Vast tours. Worked just fine.  Bet you could do it with a cell phone too.

CHRIS: It's definitely a good way to reach a lot of people at once, we still make posters and hand bills for every show. There's a lot of people that have nothing to do with social media and prefer to find out about gigs via more classic means.

Tell me about the name Dysnea Boys, how did you come up with that?

JASON: I liked it because I thought it was an homage to the Bruce Johnson Beach Boys song Disney Girls (1957). Thin White Rope has a track called that as well. Chris came up with it.

CHRIS: it's a reference to a song by Blue Orchids. We originally spelt it like the corporation does but figured we could avoid legal action if the spelling was different. Now it reads more like dystopia and nausea, perhaps a little closer to the shady dealings of the magic kingdom.

Where can people go to hear Dysnea Boys and to buy your music?

JASON:  Contact us and order a 7 ’’ Find Water” b/w “Mind Stories”. There’s the split 7’’ as well but it’s extremely limited from what I understand.

CHRIS: Bandcamp would work. Your local record store hopefully!

What lies ahead for the rest of 2015 for the band?

C.C.:  We have a new full-length record completed. We recorded in Berlin with T.V. from the Radio Dead Ones. It was mixed in London by Andy Brook, and was mastered by Daniel Husayn at the North London Bomb Factory. We’ve had some great people work on it, and we’re super happy with the result. Now we’re looking for the right label. Hopefully we can announce that soon. 

JASON: Yeah, our album’s done. Call us to come play your town!!

CHRIS: Gigs! Traveling! More rekids!

Follow Dysnea Boys!  

www.facebook.com/dysneaboys

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Modern Pets

Photo by Andrea Shettler

     Any ignorant fool that utters the words “punk is dead” needs to pick his ignorant ass up off the couch and direct his/her attention towards Berlin, Germany. It’s a land of culture, politics, science, and top-notch punk rock! This is the city where Modern Pets dwell. This band relentlessly hurls snarling, anxiety filled ‘77 style punk rock similar to bands like The Gaggers (R.I.P.) and American groups like The Stitches and The Briefs.  It’s fast, snotty, and the songs are driven in and pierce your eardrum just right, to ensure maximum pogo-bility. Modern Pets have been at their game and perfecting their craft for years now, releasing a number or EP’s and LP’s on various labels. Once you hear them you’re gonna want to gather them all and realize playing Modern Pets records at maximum volume is mandatory!   

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start off with introductions, who’s all in Modern Pets and what do they do in the group?

JAN: Its Axel, Tobi, Alvar, and Jan. Bass, guitar, guitar, drums and we all sing. Everybody is writing songs that we arrange together in our practice room. I am doing the main part of the organizing, Tobi and Axel do a lot of the recordings and help with organizing too and Alvar looks really good!

The band is currently based out of Berlin, Germany. Germany has a history of great punk bands back in the day, The Razors, PVC, The Pack just to name a few.  What’s it like there now, are people pretty receptive to what you guys are doing musically?

JAN: To be honest – All the bands you are mentioning are ok, but not our favorites if it comes to German Punk from back in the day. We´re more into The Buttocks, Neurotic Arseholes, A+P, Schleimkeim, Abwärts, Betoncombo, Chaos Z and the likes. Anyways, nowadays the most German Punk/Deutschpunk is really shitty if you compare it to the ‘80s or early ‘90’s, it actually pretty much sucks! The scene, especially in Berlin, totally changed, Berlin is a really international city and you have all kinds of influences and languages from all over the world. So nowadays you find all kinds of different subgenres of Punk in here: from UK influenced HC, American garage to Spanish post punk and back. The scene still is a much more political one than in the US for example as its roots are deeply connected with the squatting and antifascist movement. It’s also still really big, at least in Berlin and still you find loads of different venues and places to go if you are into Punk and anything related. To me it seems an active and vital movement. Getting back to your question: yes, people are and always were receptive to what we were/are doing, as most of them at least partly understand where our influences are coming from (people in the US seem to understand that way better though).

You guys toured Japan in 2014, how did that go? Was it your first time there?

JAN: We got invited to do a tour there together with The Kidnappers from Hamburg and Your Pest Band from Tokyo. The tour's been absolutely great and was a really special experience! None of us have been there before ever, but we all hope we can do it again someday!

Speaking of playing live, what has been the most memorable Modern Pets show, good or bad that you can remember?  Where was it and what made it so unforgettable?

JAN: That´s a really hard question, maybe the one in the end of a 40 show European tour in 2013 where we were punching each other on stage in Gothenburg/Sweden, a really bad memory though. Still we learned something out of it I guess and it was a great show for the audience!

When you guys are up there playing in front of an audience, what distracts you most?  What kinds of things annoy you that you see people doing during your gigs?

JAN: As we´re having a pretty solid experience in playing live I think it’s kinda hard to distract us from the outside. A bad monitor/stage sound is always something that sucks and kinda makes you feel uncomfortable playing, but that´s how it goes sometimes. What really annoys me are stupid people in the audience; people that dance too violent or disrespect others, smaller people with their acting and moving and also people who seem like totally not interested in what you are doing. I don´t get how you can pay money to enter a show and then just stand around and shake your head and build a semi circle in front of the stage. Luckily we don´t have any of these types in our audiences too often.

You guys have released a number of records on a bunch of different record labels including Modern Action and Secret Mission here in the U.S.  How did you hook up with these guys on a different continent?

JAN: They got in touch with us and asked if we wanna release something with them. Both labels are run by amazing people and we really like what they are doing, so we're really happy about that.

Do you remember as a kid, who made you want to pick up and learn to play an instrument?

JAN: As far as I can say, I started playing drums in the early ‘90’s, it was definitely Guns n’ Roses when I was an 8 year old kid. I know that´s a bit awkward, but they definitely were the first rock n’ roll band that I was ever listening to and had a big impact on me at least for 2 years. And of course when I was 13 and started to listen to punk I always denied that I ever listened to them, he, he. But yeah, if it comes to punk it was maybe popular bands like Green Day, Nirvana, Offspring, Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen, Bad Religion that first touched me and then later on bands like Slime, Spermbirds, Black Flag, Crass, Discharge and Minor Threat as well as a whole bunch of popular ‘90’s Deutschpunk like Wizo or Hammerhead that got me deeper into it and really made me play what I´m doing today at least kind of. That’s excluding all the much more specific ‘70’s punk, power-pop, Beat and HC stuff that I got in touch with later that clearly had an of an effect on what we are doing with Modern Pets now. Tobi and Axel are both about 5/6 years younger than me, so for them it must have been quite different and Alvar is my age – we have a couple of similarities, but he´s from Spain, so there´s loads of local differences too.

Do you remember where you were and who first introduced you to punk music?  Tell me a bit about that, can you remember what record or song it was? 

JAN: It was my uncle, it was on the south German countryside in a village called Sülzbach (that´s close to Stuttgart), it was in the mid ‘90’s and it definitely was “A Texas Cowboy” from the Spermbirds. I remember jumping around my uncle’s room (he is really young and by that time he was still living with my grandparents) together with my sister while we were listening to it.... Good times! 

When you aren’t playing or listening to music, what other sorts of thing do you enjoy doing, any non-musical hobbies or interests?

JAN: Music is definitely the thing for all of us. Every one of us is at least playing in 2 bands at the moment, so as sad as it is, I think all of us are spending most of our time listening and playing music as well as organizing shows for other bands or putting out tapes. If I don´t do that I´m reading a lot, doing a bit of sports, watching movies and smoking pot with my housemate. I think I can more or less speak for all of us that this pretty much sums it up, if you ask me what we are doing. Some of us are also recording bands or DJ-ing, man maybe I should change something in my life he, he.

Where can people go to, or log on to, to listen or buy your music?

JAN: Hopefully your local punk record store, definitely our live shows and at our labels, Secret Mission Records, Modern Action Records, Dead Beat Records in the US; P.Trash, Concrete Jungle Records, Rockstar Records, This Charming Man Records in Europe and Black Hole Records in Japan. We also have a Bandcamp site with almost all the releases we did so far. You can download there for free or at least listen to the stuff. Its modernpets1.bandcamp.com

What lies ahead in the near future for Modern Pets?

JAN: We're pretty much focusing on working on new songs at the moment that might end up on another record one day and we'll tour Eastern Europe this year for the first time as well as some smaller weekend things in Spain, the UK and of course Germany and then hopefully the US again in late 2015 or next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbdwhmKo6_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yN41D9ocV4

website: http://modernpetssuck.blogspot.de/

bandcamp: http://modernpets1.bandcamp.com/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modernpets

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The Bloodtypes

Photo Credit: Jack Baikoff

     The Bloodtypes extract the best elements from ’77 punk and ‘80’s new wave and combine it into a form of music that’s as catchy as an airborne illness. Guitars that are straight from the Johnny Ramone cook book: fast and loud with hooks that don’t stop coming. A rhythm section that does more than keep a tempo, but constructs a sturdy frame work in which to deliver this volatile and explosive music to the listener with ease. A front woman with a voice that has the glam and urgency of Missing Person’s Dale Bozzio fused with the bounce and pop of The Go Go’s Belinda Carlisle. What you feel when listening to the Bloodtypes is a fully oxygenated, nutrient filled substance being delivered through your neurotransmitters straight into the sensory parts of your brain that will immediately form a physical and psychological dependence. You’ve been warned!      

Interview by J Castro

Please tell us who is in the band and what everyone does in The Bloodtypes:

SCHNECK: Hey, Schneck Tourniquet here. I’m the singer, and I also play synthesizer.

JESSE: My name is Jesse B Negative, and I play the bass guitar in the Bloodtypes.

I.V.: You sure do! My name is I.V. Frehley and I play guitar, kind of a side man in the

Bloodtypes.

SCHNECK: Guitar-stage-right-side man.

I.V.: Yeah, one of my many bands, just down to one band right now.

MATT: Matt O Dermic and I play the drums.

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

MATT: Well, you see, I was hitch-hiking…

JESSE: It was a dark and stormy night.

MATT: in Wyoming.

I.V.: Oh God.

MATT: Trying to get from St. Louis to L.A.

I.V.: It was ’72, and you were trying to form a Credence band. That’s pretty cool. Then Schneck and Jesse picked us up from the side of the road.

JESSE: Well, I guess, that answers that.

SCHNECK: That’s our answer to that question?

I.V.: Well, we were all living in a damn house together, except for Matt, Schneck moved here from Germany when she and Jesse got married and Matt and I were in a band together previously….

JESSE: For the record, I think we should go with the earlier answer.

Photo Credit: Michelle V Motta

The band is based out of Portland. There seem to be a lot of really good bands there.  Is it tough keeping your heads above water so to speak or is the scene there pretty supportive of each other? 

SCHNECK: I think saying “scene” is misleading because there are so many different scenes. We went to Blackwater, an all ages punk club, the other day and there were all these people we had never seen before.

JESSE: Alright, “scene” is the secret word of the day. Every time you hear “scene” you’ve got to scream real loud.

SCHNECK: I was trying to make a point; the point being that there seems to be

different scenes.

Everybody: “AAAAAAHHHH!”

I.V.: Well, there are definitely ally bands.

SCHNECK: And the fact that some clubs are going under might in the long run make for a more unified scene (lifts a warning finger to screams of “AAAAHHH”). Anyway, I feel well supported, competition’s not something I worry or even think about.

You guys toured Europe last year if I am remembering correctly.  How did that go?  Can you tell me about the most memorable show you played?

JESSE: It went great! The most memorable show that we played was playing a giant concrete auditorium to 300 of Schneck’s closest friends and family and friends’ and family’s coworkers and clergy in front of a theater set with lots of doors, they were serving snacks.

MATT: Everyone in the audience had a Bloodtypes t-shirt on.

SCHNECK: It was pretty epic. I also liked playing that squat in Dijon where you guys almost got into a fight with a guy at the merch table.

MATT: It was the realest punk show we’ve played in a long time, or ever maybe.

I.V.: We won the crowd over. They were there for the Oi! Bands.

MATT: What about Lille, where we played to nobody? That was my most memorable show: a 300 Euro practice.

SCHNECK: And the dude paid up, kudos to him.

JESSE: He was super cool about it.

Photo Credit: BlommeMarnix_Kortrijk

How are European audiences compared to Americans?  I’ve heard they show a lot more enthusiasm in Europe.

JESSE: I don’t know if I agree with that.

SCHNECK: People come out more, I feel like. The shows seem better attended for sure.

I.V.: I think the enthusiasm level in Bern, Switzerland was not that great, they were just kind of staring at us. That wasn’t true for the next night in Zürich. The crowd was more into it.

SCHNECK: I flashed the audience in Bern. Maybe that’s why. I also think Swiss

people just don’t have a lot to be angry about.

JESSE: I think you can’t generalize about an entire audience or place like that.

That’s like what a Greek person would do. They’re all generalizers.

I.V.: It is definitely easier to tour in Europe. The drives are shorter; you get a little

more respect.

You guys released an EP called Johnny in 2013 on Bomb Pop Records out of Seattle. How did you hook up with that label?

JESSE: Bomb Pop is essentially the long-standing dream of a friend of ours from Seattle who has been a fan and supporter of rock n’ roll for a long, long time, and I guess he finally got a little pile of cash together, and decided he just wanted to release the bands he really loved. It’s obviously kind of a small label but he’s been so good to us and so enthusiastic about it that it was an easy decision to go with him.

Photo Credit: Ronny Primitive Sound

What sorts of things typically inspire the lyrics to your songs? 

SCHNECK: It really varies. I feel like on the first record it was kind of the first thing that popped into my mind. You have all of those silly songs, like “Be A Man” and “Katz R Punx” then you have the angst-y break up songs like “Tear It Down”.

I.V.: What about “They Live”?

SCHNECK: Yeah, there are books and movies that inspire for sure. I’ve been listening to lots of stuff, podcasts, and I’m really interested in the dark aspects of life. Recently, I’ve been obsessed with the Cold War as evidenced by “Johnny”, and conspiracy theories, which will show on the new record quite a bit.

I.V.: And World War I.

SCHNECK: Yeah, I actually just finished a first draft of a song about that today.

MATT: So we’ve gone from cats and love to war?

SCHNECK: You know, things that are too introspective I usually cast aside. It’s usually not about my story, it’s about bigger picture stuff.

MATT: The third record should be about communist cats.

Photo Credit: Ardonau_Limoges

What band or musician first inspired you to want to learn how to play an instrument? 

SCHNECK: My parents basically sent me to music school when I was 5, and I guess I stuck with it. But I ended up wanting to play punk rock because of seeing the Epoxies probably, I was really into them.

JESSE: I’m gonna go ahead and say my dad. If I’m being real, he played guitar and then I was in 5^th, 6^th grade and wanted guitar lessons. Even before that, my friend Jubal and I did something in 2^nd grade. He could play guitar. We wrote songs and stuff together. I guess “always” is pretty much the answer for me.

MATT: I’m gonna riff off that and say it was probably my brother. My younger brother played drums and I just wanted to do something with him so I picked up a bass guitar. We played really crappy Nirvana covers then I started playing drums because there were no drummers in the college town that I moved to.

I.V.: My uncle Danny was an excellent blues guitarist; he’d always bring a guitar to family gatherings. He was such a cool guy: smart and had a quick way of talking, just sharp, witty. I’d never seen anyone play guitar like that before or after, or ever. Oh, and Nirvana (Everyone giggles). The coolest thing was to show up to school with a guitar and play like “Molly’s Lips” with your friends.

Do you think there’s any way a band nowadays can get away with not using social media to promote their records or shows? 

SCHNECK: Oh yeah, absolutely – if someone else does it for them, like if they have a great label to support them.

MATT: Facebook sucks!

JESSE: I think it’s probably perfectly possible. As Matt points out, Facebook is really terrible for promoting music. You know, I can think of a number of bands who maybe technically have a presence on social media but certainly don’t work at it and nevertheless everybody gets all excited when they come to town, like the Spits. They knock it out of the park every time.

SCHNECK: The Spits do post on Facebook.

JESSE: A little bit.

SCHNECK: I haven’t seen them tweet yet: we challenge you, Wood brothers!

I.V.: Those are more known acts. Do you think there’s any way a new band nowadays

can get away with it? I mean, sure if you’re the Spits you don’t have to push yourself on

Facebook quite so hard, as for example the Bloodtypes….

MATT: Sure. Play with other great bands that you like! Ultimately we all listen to bands

not because we saw them on Facebook but because we played a show with them.

SCHNECK: But we’re old, as you said.

JESSE: I think if you put out killer records and have a killer show then people will do it

for you, they’ll talk about it.

I.V.: I don’t think you’re gonna get to open for X because you have an awesome social

media presence but because you know people.

SCHNECK: But I think we live in a time where the audience kind of expects to have a somewhat personal relationship with artists. It feels like they wanna know what you had for breakfast and they want to you Instagram your cup of coffee or whatever it is you’re up to.

JESSE: I think that’s a way you can do it. It’s the way that a lot of people do it, but I

don’t think it’s necessary.

MATT: I don’t care what anyone ate for breakfast. I just want them to play a damn good

show.

SCHNECK: One way is to forego social media altogether. Have a website with current

info and a mailing list. These are great tools to keep in touch with people that dig your

music directly without a medium getting in the way. If you wanna be on our mailing list:

and we send updates very judiciously, targeting them by location etc. then go to our

Facebook page or shoot us a message on our website.  

Photo Credit: Jared Prophet

With the amount of songs being illegally downloaded, do you feel there is ever going to come a time when music will just be free and bands/musicians are going to have to find other ways to make money?

Matt: Psh. We’re not making any money now (Chuckles).

JESSE: Will there ever be a time? I think that time is now. It’s more or less optional to pay for music at this point.

I.V.: I don’t think it’s gonna get any worse.

SCHNECK: We’ve hit rock bottom.

JESSE:  That’s the basic point. It might, hopefully get better and artists might be able to profit off their releases more in the future but it’s hard to imagine they could profit less off them. Platforms like Pandora and Spotify haven’t exactly come to the point where artists are making a legitimate living off them.

I.V.: That then comes back to playing shows that pay the bills, selling a shit ton of

merchandise.

JESSE: I’m down with that and you can make a good argument that that’s the way it can work for an artist but it also makes a certain kind of artist extremely disadvantaged. The

Brian Eno’s who just want to create an amazing studio record no longer have a revenue

stream for that amazing studio record.

SCHNECK: I guess that’s why we’re talking so much about the media presence. If

people like you, they’re more willing to spend money on you, and that’s one way to spin

it. Bandcamp’s been good to us too, power to the bands.

I.V.: We’re also past the point maybe, well speaking for myself, where I would love to make a living off of music right? So yeah, the focus is again on playing awesome shows. Hopefully the travel expenses are picked up and we’ll pay ourselves back a little bit for the time we take off to tour. Playing good shows with good people is always more the payoff.

MATT: We should be a wedding band. That’s where the money’s at! Weddings and Bar

Mitzvahs: that’s what we’re missing.

SCHNECK: Even NOFX figured that out.

Photo Credit: Jared Prophet

How important do you think image is to a band?  Do you feel this gets neglected by a lot of bands these days? 

Schneck: I love having a shtick. I think it’s awesome.

I.V.: Is image shtick?

JESSE: It can be. I think image on the other hand can also mean being the earnest guy

with an acoustic guitar and something to say. That’s an image, too.

Matt: It can also be the energy of a band on stage. I just don’t wanna go to a show and see a dude stare at his t-shirt and sneakers and play the exact same thing that’s on his record ‘cause I can listen to that at home.

JESSE: And that said image, in the broad sense, is incredibly important. What people want is, for the most part, in pop music a feeling of who they are and a certain kind of cool that comes from listening to music that you think is cool. I’m sure if everybody in the Cure dressed like Boys II Men they wouldn’t be popular with Goths.

MATT:  I’m visualizing that now.

I.V.: Point is we’re not all lounging around in our leather jackets. I’m the only one that has one, actually. Schneck: you have one too right?

SCHNECK: Well, it’s faux.

JESSE: I got one; it’s in the closet.

I.V.: Where it should be. We don’t push that sort of style. We’ve made a big point of being slightly more tongue in cheek.

JESSE: To go to the implied question there. Yes, we have a definite shtick that we execute on stage and I think it’s awesome and a big part of our appeal. But hopefully it’s a cherry on top and not a critical element of what people like about us.

SCHNECK: When I came up with the name “The Bloodtypes” I was like “I got it!

We’re gonna call ourselves the Bloodtypes and we’re gonna wear white spattered with red, like blood!” and Jesse was like “Don’t you think that’s a little silly?” … Five years later.

JESSE: It’s hard for me to imagine that I said that.

MATT: My point is you’re both right: Yes it is a little silly and yes it still stuck.

Photo Credit: Keith Johnson

What lies ahead for the Bloodtypes in 2015?

JESSE: Writing, recording, and touring, just like every year (Giggles all around).

MATT: Take over the world! Just like last year!

JESSE: Yes, specifically we’re ambitious to put out another album, do a west coast tour and hopefully get to Europe sometime around the end of the year, beginning of next year.

MATT: And some videos, speaking of social media presence.

JESSE: So keep your foot in the gutter and your fist in the gold.

MATT: Is that a reference to Ricky Rackman?!

SCHNECK: Our second record is probably gonna be called “Embracing the Sophomore Slump”.

I.V.: This new record will sound different.

SCHNECK: Yes, but I’m super-stoked on a lot of the songs on it. I think our songs are getting kind of complicated. We’re counting to 3 and to 5.

MATT: We’re kind of complicated for the genre.

I.V.: We’re counting to 5, is that what you said?

Website: www.thebloodtypes.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebloodtypes

Twitter: thebloodtypes

Bandcamp: http://thebloodtypes.bandcamp.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZMu1aF-bR5a2lGGld3418w 

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