Sick of Being Sick#3?

It’s been a couple of years since the last issue came out

(woops!) and after some failed attempts to restart this project here

we are, a new number probably the last or probably not. This was

never meant to be released on a regular basis and I only did it

when I felt like it thoe I must admit that laziness played some role in

me postponing it endlessly. As the last issue it comes with a

compilation cd with some kick ass bands you might not listened until

now. For most of the tracks the bands were contacted and had their

“permission” to use the tracks I needed, when no contacts were found

the song was used anyway :p

A huge thank you to all the bands and the few who gave a hand in

making this zine possible!

The idea and focus behind this small magazine is still the same. A

project documenting projects, bands and groups around the world

that promote D.I.Y ethics and know how to have fun ;) You shouldn’t

take anything you read here(and in general) too serious and always

do what you gotta do! - if u get mad about something you read in

this zine death threats are always welcomed at this email address:

sikofbeingsickhc@gmail.com

When life gives you lemons

By A.

…You analyze, think, rethink and take a nice decision, embracing those fucking lemons.

*** Today I woke up in compete confusion, I didn’t know what part of the day it is, how long have I been sleeping and what the fuck is going on. It was 6am…nothing was going on, my confusion was just the way my body was trying to tell me that something is wrong… after 15 minutes I realized that yes, I was in pain, after my dear bike was liberated/recycled/reclaimed, call it however you want. I liked that bike a lot, it felt like we were on this planet for each other. As I could appreciate it in with its flaws, she would carry me around like nothing else will ever be able to do. Every stone and asphalt hole was a challenge I was ready to embrace, as every flat tire was another challenge that made out of an ordinary day an adventure.

Needing to use all my limbs so I can fix it, with the tools provided by my dear punk anarchist scene (see Leave me alone zine 9, article Bicyclerepairkit). So our story has come to an end. I felt miserable and naïve. I felt stupid and gullible. I felt like I trust this world too much and it only brings me pain. These moments just make me more confused and I have no idea where to steer my thoughts. What to do? Hate on people? Hate everyone? Hate civilization? Hate the world? Hate bike thieves? No… this is not for me. In a life and a world in which all I have are my humyn or non-humyn companeros, losing my faith in humanity is the least thing I have to do. Given the situation when society has separated us into two groups: the humyn haters that think that humyns are naturally adversaries and will fuck up anyone/anything to get their purpose achieved --- also seen as right wing people; and those who think that we are naturally nice and want to work together to achieve happiness --- also seen as leftists. I totally feel that working together is the only way we can do something in this shitty world. And in my specific situation, this is the only thing that helps me survive. I couldn’t do anything I want without my dear companeros and wouldn’t even have had a bikey to start with if it wasn’t for

my wonderful partner and friends. Concluding this idea, never lose hope in the people, ‘cause we are living in this shit together, and you never know when you will find accomplices and comrades. In such a shitty situation when corporations, the state or economical system try to destroy everything that is nice and wild in ourselves, we have to stick together and don’t let them bring us down.

What hurts me the most is that I know that if encountered the person that has Bikey right now, I am positive that after a nice talk we could figure out a way for Bikey to return to me… I am sure about this… BUT WHAT IF I NEED VENGEANCE?

Vengeance would be nice. But don’t jump into conclusions here. My vengeance will come, and it won’t be directed on a little bike thief. I can’t see why to blame a person, when this system and society has brought her to the point when she steals bikes for survival. I can’t describe the urge I have to steal a bike for myself now, but the real challenge is to get one for free trough mutual aid

and understanding. So I’ll rather take that. The conclusion to this point is that, the only things I can blame to this “stolen bike” situation is capitalism and the state – you did this to ourselves. I am sure we wouldn’t steal from each other when everything is ours; I bet we wouldn’t fuck each other up when we are all happy, or

at least busy doing something constructive. So yeah, I’ll patiently wait for my vengeance, which I will have, while moshing gently on the ruins of capitalism. FUCK THE POLICE! Still in the Bikey area of concerns… what to do when your bike goes missing? Call the police? OOO HELL NO! NA-AH! I ain’t gonna call no cops on no one! It’s very hard for me to accept that many people from anarchist/grass roots backgrounds tend to turn to the police when they are the one that feel that have been mistreated. I find this very disturbing and fucked up. We all say fuck the cops, we all hate them, we all think that they are wrong and make up all kinds of scenarios of what bad things we would do to them. But then your shit goes missing, or your neighbor is an asshole, or whatever, they imprison someone and you feel the justice being served. This is all bullshit! How to build an alternative to this system when whenever it works in our favor we go back to the same system that ruins us and everything we love? As bikey was stolen, our comrades from Pizzeria Anarhia from Vienna have been attacked by cops, beaten up, arrested, kept in custody, their friends’ didn’t know

where they were…all this while being under the constant threat of eviction. It’s more than clear who is on our side and who is not. Cops will never be on our side. They are robots that can only react to commands. What bo$$ say, they do. It’s basically their job. I’ve seen cops regretting fucking with us, because we are nice good people, but having nothing to do about it, because their boss was even more of a shitty person than them. It’s vital to be aware of all this stuff and not to give in to our urges that come from a fucked up society. Do not call the cops; do not talk to the cops! They are all mindless slaves and until they don’t reconsider their career choice, we are enemies. I have found myself in shitty situations that made me empathize with cops and see that they are humyns as well, but yeah. That uniform and career of yours will always keep the hate rollin’. Cops are defenders of the state and corporations never forget this! Don’t be naïve! Veganism realated issues I’ve been surrounded by wonderful people from all around Europe recently. Anarchists, antifascists, feminists, all kinds of amazing persons. And it struck me to see that the majority of them were not vegans. It might sound stupid of

me so say anything about this, but along with the missing bike, it’s been bothering me for a while now. It’s hard for me to accept that when it comes to the fight against oppression, it stops when it comes to animals. It’s hard for me to understand why speciesism is still accepted in our communities. Not that I would kick out the non-vegans, cause I have plenty around and I love them a lot. I respect their decisions, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t slowly kill me. It confuses me to see people connect with stray dogs in a second and find love and friendship with these animals, but then they choose to consume … their suffering. For me it’s clear, I will not consider food anything that comes from an animal. But why do others choose not to see this? I can definitely see that our realities are very very different. Germans have all these vegan options and the money all the time, at every corner. Romanians cook veggies and improvise new recipes to create something they used to eat before going vegan. Many comrades from around the world are freegans and eat whatever is free. That I also like a lot, but I’d love to be a freeganvegan. It makes a lots of sense, but it might take more of your time. It will also make you more aware of what you eat and where it comes from and it will make you realize that almost every

product on the shelves of the supermarket has suffering in it. Which of course, doesn’t make life any easier. But yet again, it’s called a struggle ‘cause it’s hard, not because it’s all fun and games. Anyway, please reconsider what you chose to consume and what not and how this affects the world we live in. Please don’t just keep the struggle against oppression just between the fellows of your own species…

To put and end on stress & this article… As this the universe is collapsing on all our shoulders and everyone needs to find a way to keep sane and keep on going. Keep on fighting. You need power to keep on resisting their oppression, either if it’s about full on police brutality, or fighting for animal liberation, or fighting for your house that some figure of authority tries to take away, or whatever the struggle might be. Not losing your mind and not giving up is a very important aspect in all our struggles and we all have to find something to do to

keep it rolling. So, thank you, my

friend for asking me to write for

this zine, giving me the

opportunity for therapy trough

writing, the pain of not having

Bikey in my life anymore seems

more bearable now.

LOVE AND SOLIDARITY FOR Y’ALL! yours truly, A. For thoughts, opinions (positive or not), new friendships or collaborations, feel free to write to: leavemealone[at]riseup.net

Have you ever had one of

those crazy dreams where everything

seemed so real and so intense and

you’re half asleep trying to fight it and

all of a sudden you’re being woke up by

some nut playing some Mariah Carey

song on his car stereo at 6 in the

morning? Well I did … after realizing I

woke up and it was all a dream I kinda

zombie rushed to the balcony to throw

something at him but he had already left

… or was that a part of my dream too?

I was just mind fucked, looked left and

right on the street and it was deserted. I

needed some coffee to be sure I woke

up and I’m not still dreaming… nobody

dreams about drinking coffee, if you do

you re fucking crazy. While drinking my

coffee I was trying to put it all together

because it left a weird sensation on me I

had a sense of urgency and I needed to

know why but it was all in vain…that

brutal wake up call smashed to tiny little

pieces every memory I had of that

dream.It wasn’t that important anyway,

just a dream, in fact a bad one. I’m not

superstitious bout things anyway so why

bother. It hunted me for a couple of

minutes and then it was gone.

It’s been a while since I sat in

front of a computer and wrote

something. Pausing after every phrase

and think about what you wrote and

what you’re writing next. That process

of creation and the constant thinking

and overthinking going in your head,

the way you try to chose your words to

best reflect the subject, situation,

thoughts and how all grow together to

form a big picture. It s the third time

rewriting my column and the more I

write the more I realize how much I

missed it.

Today is also a good time to

write, the heat and the humidity from

the last few days were unbearable

and I couldn’t stand still for more that

5 min on this chair and all I could think

is how hot it is. Now it s still hot but the

cold breeze makes it just the perfect

weather. T. sent me the recordings of

the new album he’s working on

releasing and I can’t wait for the file

to download and start listening. Got

the headphones close and while the

file was downloading I added a new

layer of ducktape on the wire coming

out of the headphone jack… every

time I do it I think about how hard I

wanna punch the guy that designed

them in the face – the cable splits into

a usb port for the preamp then mic

and headphone jacks. the split is so

close that every time I plug them the

cables have such a weird position it’s

impossible for them not to break

eventually. Download is done now let’s

listen!

Classical Pavilionul 32 sound

and proof they can still deliver. Fierce

riffs and brutal drums along with T’s

voice brought in me excitement in

listening a new record. It might not

have the best quality sound but the

songs just kick you in the head!14

tracks of fast trashy romanian

hardcore charged with heavy political

lyrics. They’re having a small european

tour this summer so

if you get the

chance go and see

them! It’s one of the

bands you have to

see live to really

appreciate, they’re

also good people

involved in a lot of

diy projects.

Speaking of

Pavilionul 32 i had

a chance to go and

visit Timisoara during the minitour I did

with the group I have here and the first

thing I did was to go to Piata 700 and

visit what was left of the space that

holds a special place in my heart –

INCA.

For those that don’t know it

was one of the best places to go if you

were a punk in the early 2000 in

romania, it had the best diy festivals

and concerts.Bands from all over the

world came and it was almost a non

stop punk fest.. and where there’s punk

there’s always problems and maybe

this is one of the reasons the place

eventually got shut down. People

moved to other places and continued

organizing events but when I arrived

the last place they had – Atelier D.I.Y

was closed down a few weeks earlier.

From what I’ve heard it was a great

place and resisted 5 years – hosting a

shit ton of musical and non musical

events. A place

where people met

and developed

ideas, made

groups, express

themselves and

rehearsed. It seems

harder and harder

to organize and

maintain such a

place and not give

in into some

business type

compromise and that tells a lot about

our dominant culture today and how

hard it is for a subculture (or call it as

you want) to make it’s presence known

and also makes you conscient about

how much of a great deal it is to have

a space to express yourself without

trying to fit to any standards –

whether musical or political and just be

yourself period. In the last years I’ve

lost contact with the scene in romania

and the little trip we did in eastern

europe made me feel like home again.

I’ve met some old friends that I haven’t

seen in a long time and some new ones

and realized how much it all changed

and that people are still struggling

and not giving up on our scene. The

last years passed so quick and so much

has changed and for a somewhat of

an outsider it seemed so great how

things developed over the years. I’ve

never stopped listening to music, going

to concerts and protests since I moved

to Italy, I’ve met a great deal of

good people here even found some

great friends to make a band but it’s

just doesn’t feel I belong here and this

feeling grows day by day. You know

there are events that can turn your life

upside down in the most fucked up

way and the more you try to escape it

you realize things are going nowhere

and you should just stop fooling

yourself stop running and just walk.

Life doesn’t begin with today and it

doesn’t end when you’re dead – but

for you! so make the best of today I

guess :3

A special shoutout to the

Timisoara, Bucharest, Bistrita and Cluj

crew, Leave me Alone fanzine and to

all the people, bands and collectives

supporting their local scene! Be a part

of your scene not the scenery ;)

No Tav.The Terrorist is the State.

by W.

December 9 th. At dawn take place 4 arrests and various searches in

private homes and occupied houses between Torino and Milano.The

allegations are serious – Terrorism, damage by fire, detention and transport of

war weapons. Charges which call for a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The disputed facts took place the night between 13 – 14 of may (2013).That

night the gallery construction site in Chiomonte (a small commune of Val di

Susa – an alpine valley situated in the western part of Piemonte) was attacked

by unknown persons who manage to enter the Torino-Lyon TAV railway

building-site damaging some equipment using molotovs. An act of sabotage

like many others in the history of the NO TAV movement. Just one of the many

acts of resistance of a Valley which for more than 20 years fights against the

construction of this “opera” so useless, costly and devastating to the area. A

project motivated purely by the greed of large industrial groups and mobsters

who won contracts. A project that only feeds the greed of big banks like Intesa

San Paolo and big political parties who support the project. A huge machine

draining the public funds for private business which in recent years swallowed

around 60 billions of euros for building a railway that serves no one (the

existent one – Frejus is in fact underused!) filling an entire valley with asbestos

and other toxic substances and the wallets of those speculating with money.

Against the movement that opposes all of this the government is

using more and more oppression. These arrests are only the last chapter of a

democratic history based on tear gas fired at eye level, beatings, bulldozers,

media terrorism, expulsion orders and pressed charges. Of a democracy that

increasingly erases the boundaries between internal and external war. With

its concrete and steel fences, barbed wire and military presence (often

composed by returning troops from the “peace” missions in Afganistan) that

in Valle di Susa exceeds in comparison with the population/troop numbers of

those present in Herat.

The alleged accusations against Chiara, Claudio, Mattia e Niccolò –

the names of those arrested, are valid (and can be carried out)in this climate

of war.The nature of the crimes they are accused of (terrorism) is such as to

prevent any possibility of obtaining pre-trial confinement different than

prison. It involves high security imprisonment in the penitentiary system.A

monstrosity within a monstrosity which calls for, among other things, the

isolation from common prisoners, censored mail, reduced visit schedule, air

vents and opaque plexiglas windows. A situation of real torture aimed to

psychologically destroy these comrads and at the same time create some

monsters to put on the front page of the news papers. Dangerous and

violent anarchists that came from outside to terrorize the local population.A

lie that the mass media obsessively repeated these last years like a mantra

but nobody in Val di Susa ever drunk.An attempt to divide a large and

heterogeneous movement who has never agreed to divide itself between the

good and the bad.A movement that repeatedly returned the accusation of

terrorism to the “sender”, taking the streets in solidarity with those arrested

and to reaffirm that the real terrorists are those who ravage the territory in

the name of profit, who militarize it those who break you bones and throw

you in prison. Those that put on equal levels acts of sabotage with terrorism

that kills defenseless people.

On that night of may the only “victim” was a compressor and also to

be noted is that no one present inside the construction site ever reported the

slightest scratch…An action that is defined as terroristic by the magistrates

not so much for its specific characteristics but for the fact that it was carried

out “in order to force the local authorities to refrain from the creation of a

public work(“opera”) of international importance”, “thus causing serious

damage to Italy and the European Union”.

What the prosecutors really want to tell us with these formulas is

very clear: Anyone who opposes in concrete terms to the decisions of the

State and the U.E is most likely to be charged with terrorism.Anyone who

fights against government decisions in a concrete way it considered to be a

terrorist and treated as such!It’s clear that Val di Susa is no longer only a

matter of “a train track” and no longer only a matter of business.It’s a

challenge the state doesn’t want to fail.A challenge it can’t afford to

lose.Losing would give out hope and strength to those not willing to give up

and continue the struggle.The struggle against high velocity train tracks,

airports, mines in Val di Susa as well as in Nantes, Rosia Montana, Chalkidiki

and many others all over the world. For their lives, their future and their

land.For a system free of exploitation.

For these reasons the defense of the comrades arrested and

investigated for terrorism is not only an act of solidarity but the claim of a

struggle that goes beyond the borders of one or more countries.

Understanding the stakes of this repressive operation that today affects the

No Tav movement and relaunching the resistance in Val di Susa as elsewhere

is a matter that concerns each and everyone.

On May 22nd (2014) the trial for the four No Tav has started.They continue to

remain in jail.

Write to:

Chiara Zenobi, Claudio Alberto at this adress:

Casa Circondariale via Maria Adelaide Aglietta 35 -

10151 Torino – Italia

Mattia Zanotti, Niccolò Blasi at this adress:

Casa di Reclusione via Casale San Michele, 50 - 15100

Alessandria - Italia

SoBS: Introduce yourselves and tell

us a bit about how did u guys got

together to form Killer Victim.

Viez: Hey!I’m Viez, I play vocals. Well

we were talking for some time to start

a hardcore band but only when the

four of us got together a few nights

skating the streets of Bucharest that we

decided to give it a try.We had some

difficulties at the beginning because

we didn’t have a rehearsal space but

eventually things worked out and here

we are!

SoBS: KV is a new presence on the

Bucharest scene but you all have

played in other bands before.What

are some of your previous projects,

what motivates you musically as a

band/individuals and where do you

draw your influences from?

Viez: My former band, along with

Radu, was called Mediocracy. For me

it was the band that taught me what a

band really is and how things work . I

can only speak for myself but I guess

we all draw our influences for

everyday life, things that bother or

make us angry, society, etc. My

motivation is to address some topics

that I feel need to be said, or need a

coverage in the underground scene, so

that we don’t just go to shows to mosh,

get fucked up and go home. I grew up

going to diy hardcore/punk shows and

besides having the best time, I always

got to learn something, from the bands

on stage or the people who showed up

at the gig, it gave me a feeling of

belonging and awareness and I

always wanted to be a part of that.

SoBS: To my knowledge you don’t

have anything out right now except

for videos from your gigs, are you

planning to release a Demo or E.P

soon?And since I mention it, you did

a great cover to “Voi meritati sa fiti

negati” (You deserve to be denied)

from Terror Art why did u chose this

particular song to cover?

Viez: We don’t have anything

released yet because we just started

to play shows. We wanted to first get

some feedback from live shows and

then record something. I guess an ep

or something will come very soon.

The cover is a thing I wanted to do for

a long time because I think Terror Art

was probably the most influential punk

band ever to come from Romania, the

lyrics in particular striked me from the

first time I heard them. I chose that

song because first of all I already

knew it by heart and it was one of

their best. It’s also very actual even to

this day.

SoBS: More or less the local scenes

seem to gravitate to a specific

musical style or message. How does

your sound/attitude fit into the scene

in Bucharest?

Viez: I guess people can relate to

what we play because despite the fact

that there aren’t too many hardcore

bands in Bucharest, people do listen to

a lot more music that they did some

years ago. So when a band like us

playes the music that we do, people

tend to support it. Granted I only talk

from the feedback we got so far…but

seeing that most of us in this scene

know each other more or less I think it’s

pretty safe to say we are well

received.

SoBS: How would you define KV in

just a few words? What were the

reactions after your first shows?

Viez: KV is our way of taking part in the

diy hardcore scene, with our own input,

sound and ideas. It’s angry, fast, slow,

dirty and loud!Just the way we like it!

Like I said the reactions were mostly

positive.We’ll see what comes next..

SoBS: What do you do in your day to

day life and how do you avoid, or try

to avoid the day to day routine? Do

you have any non musical projects?

Viez: Avoiding routine is probably the

hardest part. I for one work two jobs

doing graphic design, plus my own

project where I do artwork for bands

and such so I tend to keep myself pretty

busy. If I get tired of too much work or

just don’t feel like it, I go out and get

smashed so I guess it all works out in the

end haha!

SoBS: Tell us a bit about the D.I.Y.

scene in Bucharest.Any good bands

we need to check out maybe some

cool places to visit if one happens to

be in town?

Viez: Well..depends on what you want

to hear. In my opinion the Bucharest

scene is not that complex, and we are

mostly the same people in all the

bands. You can Check out Drop Out Of

Life, wich is Radu’s other band.They

play some good metallic hardcore

reminiscent of bands like Converge or

Integrity.

Void Forger is also a good band, they

play a style of doom/crust wich is very

good and they are also very hard

working. One of the very few bands

from Bucharest to go and tour outside

of the country!

Other bands worth mentioning are

CapdeCraniu(death metal/grindcore),

H8(metal/hc/rap),Crossbone(thrash

metal),TheBoyWhoCriedWolf(posthar

dcore),Valerinne(postrock),Roadkillsod

a(stonerrock),Enviroments(drone/noise/

ambiental).

SoBS: Who are you looking forward

to killing this year? ;)

Viez: The first nazi or priest I come

across haha!

SoBS: What is in store for the future

and where can people contact you?

Viez: We want to play as many shows

as possible, in as many places as

possible, maybe record something

soon and just..survive I guess. We only

have the facebook page at the

moment but I hope to get that fixed

some tome soon and maybe do a

website or something..we’ll see. Find us

at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kill

er-Victim/264380730404889

SoBS: If you want to add something

now is the time to do it! Thanks for

taking the time to do this interview!

Viez: Keep your eyes and ears open, go

to shows and support diy! See you soon!

Cheers!

SoBS: Let’s jump right into it and tell us who are you, where are you from and what

is Intrigue.

Hello. We are Intrigue from Croatia, to be more specific, from Zagreb, although

none of us are really from Zagreb, we just live here. The band is built out of 4

members: Ivona sings, Mišo plays bass guitar, Ivan is the drummer and I (Máteja)

play guitar. We are quite a funny bunch. We are oldish punks, ¾ straight edge, still

angry and hungry for punk fun.

SoBS: Did you played in other bands before? Do you have other musical projects

you’re involved in?

Our drummer Ivan used to play in the band Dying in this place, bassist Mišo o sings

in the band Dispro and used to sing in Dying in this place, Ivona is the vocalist and

Intrigue is her first band ever, and I used to play bass and sing in INxSANE for 15

years before this band came to being.

SoBS: You’re a very political charged band, all of your songs tackle religious, social

and political subjects but sometimes also towards some sort of self criticism (in a

positive/constructive way).Do you think people and the D.I.Y. scene today need a

little dose of it?

What the DIY scene needs is a healthy dose of reality. Kids are bitching about

nothing happening, that there are no shows, that no good bands exist and alike. The

reality is the opposite. They just sit on their asses and don’t go outside their safe

little rooms to check out the shows, read a damn book and get interested. The new

generations never really got in touch with the whole “diy scene” cause they were

never used to it like we were. We used to go out and bought cd’s, tapes, vinyl, zines.

We read about music, about the politics behind it. Of course there are exceptions

and there are some younger kids getting into that kind of thing but the reality is that

most of them just sit at home in their safe worlds functioning as some kind of scene

police without even being a part of the scene they are bitching about. Self criticism

is always good. It takes us further and makes us stronger. We don’t need right wing

politics in the scene, we don’t need apathy, we don’t need super technical music

without a message behind it. We need passion, anarchism, love and creativity.

SoBS: And since I brought the D.I.Y. scene in the discussion, please tell me about the

current situation of your local scene. Also - Can you recommend some bands, zines,

distros and maybe places to go if someone happens to be in Zagreb.

The scene in Zagreb is amazing. There’s a bunch of bands. Bunch of zines.

Punk/hardcore/alt shows at least 2 times a week I’d say. Bands worth checking out:

Black Sails, Dispro (altohough they are from Split), Black Gust, Divided Minds,

Modern Delusion, Sentence, Jaded, Shin, Ponor, Tomorrow We Hunt, Bastinados,

Lack of Soul, Kurve, Mašinko, and many many many more. As for Zines – the oldest

one that is still around is the International Old School Conspiracy, there’s a new one

called Čebula and some others. The people are politically active and we have

wonderful squats called Reciklaonica and AKC Medika (where most of the DIY shows

in Zagreb happen).

SoBS: You’ve done some touring after releasing your selftitled EP. Can you tell us

about your experiences and maybe some crazy stuff that happened while touring?

We had some weekend shows and had loads of fun meeting new people seeing old

friends. Crazy? Well our drummer likes to stay up late and he’s the oldest one,

midlife crisis I guess

SoBS: What are some of your musical influences and what Croatian bands people

might have not listened to (new and old ones) but should?

Our musical influences are hardcore bands from the 80’s, Minor Threat, 7Seconds,

Black Flag. Lately I am into Sista Sekunden, Boston Strangler, Good Clean Fun and

many more. We also listen to a lot of melodic stuff like Jawbreaker, Hot Water

Music, Iron Chic, Sommerset, As Friends Rust, but we like the harder stuff like From

Ashes Rise, Tragedy, d-beat is great, as well as modern hardcore bands. It’s just a

bunch of different punk/hardcore related music styles that we do listen to but

primarily the influences of the band are uncompromising straight in your face punk

and hardcore. Preferably as raw as possible. For list of Croatian bands you have to

listen to see above question.

SoBS: Are there many bands in Croatia that have girls in them, or only girl bands? Do

you think that the scene as a whole gives enough support to girls to get into bands

or make bands?

You would be surprised but yes. We have a really cool scene where girls take part in

the community which is great cause everywhere else it’s mostly a male dominated

scene which is a shame for an egalitarian scene like the punk/hardcore one. There’s

Shin, with a female vocal, now already dead Ugly Fucks, Sentence, Ponor,

Bastinados, La Kurtizana, Amok… all bands with girls playing and/or singing in them.

SoBS: A lot have changed in the last years and the concept of D.I.Y. at least from my

point of view lost a lot of it’s political charge and even the radicalism against certain

politics, way of doing things etc to some it became a routine and not something

unique that offered new and challenging alternatives. What is your opinion and if

there was something to be changed what would it be?

The internet changed a whole lot. And globalism and postmodernity. Punk has

become mainstream and DIY kinda lost its edge. People of all political options now

go to shows and listen to punk. Right wing kids come to shows and we let them join.

No more animal liberation, no more radical left wing politics, no more antifascism.

I’m not saying all of it is gone, but somehow I have the feeling that it all lost in

importance, people are more interested in music and not the message behind it.

They just wanna have a good time without any obligations. First and foremost if

something has to change, it’s the thing that we need new blood. There’s a lack of

new kids. There are some and they’re cool but we need more. When we were young

we went to every show (now that I am older I pick my battles – as in shows I am

going to, some people might say that I am a hypocrite, but man, I don’t care)

nowadays kids don’t have the feeling of the role they play in all of it.

SoBS: When can we expect a full lengths LP from you and how can someone order a

physical copy of your EP? Do you have any tours planed around Europe soon?

No LP plans, although we’re working on new songs. No tours as well. Just weekend

shows. We are all busy with different stuff. Some of us study, some of us work.

About the EP, if you want one just drop us a mail at intriguexband@gmail.com

SoBS: Thanks for agreeing to make this interview and if you like to add something I

didn’t covered here s your chance!

Thank you. This is our first interview and we’re happy we could be a part of this zine.

SoBS: Lets jump right into it with the classical question - When did Vera Renczi

formed? And why did you decided on this particular name for your band, tell us

a bit about it’s origin?

Vlad: We started playing almost 2 years ago. Misu and I used to play in Stuck In A

Rut, but then our drummer quit right before we were supposed to go on a short

European tour. That was the end of Stuck In A Rut. We wanted to make something

a little bit different from Stuck, faster and more like powerviolence, and we knew

Marius played the drums and he was into this sort of stuff. We made some

rehearsals, wrote some songs and then Vera Renczi took shape. The name is actually

taken from a famous Romanian serial killer. Vera Renczi was a woman who

between 1920 and 1930 poisoned 35 men. A fitting name for a pv band.

SoBS: What previous bands have you played in and are you involved in other

projects? (not necessary musical ones but related to the d.i.y scene/activism)

Marius: I’ve been involved in some punk bands in my hometown.

Mishu: I played guitar in a punk-rock band called Los Pogos and bass in a ska-punk

band – Dance Trauma. After that I played guitar in Stuck in a Rut together with

Vlad which later became Vera Renczi.

V: As I said earlier I used to play in Stuck In A Rut. Other than that I was involved in

the DIY scene for almost 10 years now. Right now, apart from booking shows in Cluj

and playing with Vera, I’m working on the Leave Me Alone zine and I’m involved in

the PAC (https://www.facebook.com/piata.autonoma.cluj) and some other projects

that revolve around this idea of community and mutual aid in an non-hierarchical

way. And we also have an animal rights advocacy group that at the moment seems

to be kinda slow, but hopefully that will change soon.

SoBS: Did u decided on a particular style when you made the band or it was/it is

more about the message and having fun? How would you best describe your

music?

Ma: We have never discussed what style to have. From the first rehearsal each of us

knew what he wants to play and what he feels and then VR emerged.

V: Ha, we were supposed to play powerviolence. I don’t know if what we ended up

playing can be called that. I started using the label of sludgeviolence because it’s

sounds funny and because of the numerous sludge parts we, but in the end I don’t

really care if we fit in any category or if we sound “true” or not. For me the main

goal of this band was to have fun and release some steam. It’s really great to have

a place where you can spill your guts and take out some of the pressure of the

outside world. I guess that’s why our songs are so negative and bleak sometimes.

SoBS: A lot of people seem to like you and you show at No Border fest was a

Bomb!Why don’t you have a Demo or E.P. out by now?!Do you have any plans

to release something in the near future?

V: We’re lazy. I could tell you tens of reasons why we couldn’t enter a studio, but

ultimately it all comes down to the fact that we’re basically lazy. At one point there

was this idea to record something in Timisoara at the Atelier DIY, but now that the

Atelier is gone, I don’t know. I hate professional recording studios and we don’t

have the gear to do it ourselves.

SoBS: What were the first bands you remember listening to and what good

bands do you have on repeat in your playlist right now?

Ma: Hmmm… I’ve always listened to a large spectrum of music genres , which I

choose depending on the weather: weeks when I listen only to sludge: bongripper,

acid witch, sleep, conan, toner low etc. ; also other genres like crust (dystopia,

tragedy, finisterre, nausea, ironlung, doom, witch hunt); crack rock steady (morning

glory, daycare swindlers), d-beat (all the bands that start with Dis-).

Mi: Led Zeppelin and Dire Straits when I first started listening to music. The

Offspring was the band that got me into punk-rock (although I didn’t know it at the

time). Ratos de Porao was the first hardcore band that I remember. Now I listen to

all sorts of stuff.. But the ones most likely to be on repeat are Thou, The Body,

Noothgrush, Hatered Surge, Insect Warfare, Iron Lung, Grief.

V: Actually the one band that I remember listening constantly in the last 10 years is

Alkaline Trio. Not very “trv”, I know. But I love pop-punk and I’m not ashamed to

admit it. I don’t really have one or two bands that I can say influenced me in one

way or another, I always listen to a lot of stuff from many kinds of genres. Right

now I’m listening to a lot of hip-hop and Darkthrone. I love the way they sound since

the “Dark Thrones and Black Flags” album, they are way more punk that most of the

bands that pass off as punk today. I’m also really digging the whole pv revival in

the US, bands like Full of Hell, Dead in the Dirt, Curmudgeon or ACxDC sound so

good and are so much fun live.

SoBS: What do you think about the scene in your city as a whole? Are the

people supporting the concerts, bands, diy activities and initiatives? How would

you describe D.I.Y. and the D.I.Y attitude? How do you think things changed

over the years?

V: The scene here seems literally stuck in time. For the last 4-5 mostly the same

people are showing up to shows. I think we’ve also been charging the same

entrance for about 5 years now, although the living cost has grown considerably in

that time. On one side I like that we manage to do this and keep shows affordable,

but on the other it’s getting harder and harder to offer bands at least gas money so

most bands that play here have to do it on their money, which sucks. It also sucks

that we have to do shows in bars and clubs but since we are so few people it’s hard

to find an alternative and support that alternative. There are some plans for a

place of our own, where we could do more than just shows and projections, but for

now we are stuck with the bars. Do people support the DIY culture? It’s hard to tell

what DIY means anymore. I mean for me, DIY is a way to get some self-sufficiency

without involving the capitalist market or the state and doing that through networks

of mutual aid and solidarity. But now the term DIY has been so appropriated by the

capitalist system that it turned into this super-individualized notion where you no

longer need anyone to do the stuff you need (of course you still have to pay for the

stuff, but it seems that money has become so abstract that many can’t even make

the connection between money and labor anymore). DIY is constantly attached to

ridiculous trendy capitalist bullshit like self-made jewelry or furniture or shit like that,

that just end up being sold for a profit anyway. But I think it’s important to promote

DIY in our scene even though many seem to take it for granted. Ultimately if we

want a scene that is run by the, kids for the kids, doing it ourselves is the only real

way to go.

SoBS: How often do you play outside of Cluj and did you had any concerts

outside Romania? Any chance to see you soon around Europe?

V: We don’t really play that much anymore. Not even in Cluj. We are all busy with

other stuff at the moment and since Misu moved to Timisoara it’s hard to get in the

rehearsal room.

SoBS: For those that don’t know your city is time to time a hot spot for

Romanian and/or Hungarian nationalistic propaganda (especially on national

days), what is the day to day reality in Cluj and why do people still insist

promoting hate by using the same bullshit they use every year when the real

problems lie elsewhere?

Ma: In Cluj you can’t really feel such a strong influence of the hate-speech. Actually

in this area, you can feel it the least, considering the history of the towns, which were

always multicultural: romanians, hungarians, saxons… Being from transilvania, the

blood that runs trough your body is probably coming from all these “nationalities”.

From my point of view, there are less people that tend to have this hate-speech in

this area, than in other parts of the country.

V: Well, about 15% of the inhabitants of Cluj are of Hungarian descent. There was

a time a few years ago when the ultras from the two football teams would clash on

the streets and they were mostly motivated by ethnic hatred, but that was it. There

is not much xenophobia here really. Of course there are some small nationalist

groups from both sides but their impact is minimal.

There is racism directed at the Roma communities though. And unfortunately it has

become institutionalized in a way that prevents them from accessing even the most

basic forms of subsistence. There is ghetto of about 2500 people right next to the

garbage dump. This is ghetto mostly created by the evictions performed in the last

20 years by the local authorities. There are local initiatives by various groups to

combat this issue but they are a minority and they speak for a minority. And

minorities don’t win votes. This in my opinion is a way bigger problem that

xenophobia and the so-called hungarian-romanian clash. Even though there is much

talk about the threat of Hungarian separatism in Romania, I don’t think this is a very

real threat and it’s just a scheme to divert attention from real problems and get the

votes from insecure people that are looking for scapegoat.

SoBS: Time for little game! If you were to have the chance to travel in time to

change history what would you do? You can be as violent as you like ;)

Mi: Behead the Neolithic farmers and herders and feed them to

wolves/lions/tigers.

V: I would probably just go back a few months and try to save our cat Doris. I know

it may sound selfish but I don’t really see any moment in history where one person

could make such a difference. Maybe go to the first monkeys that left the forest and

just say “no! stay in the fucking forest, you will ruin the world!” haha.

SoBS: Any last words, threats, shoutouts?

Ma: BLARGH

V: Thanks for the interview and the nice times we had we you and your comrades in

Romania. Also thanks to all the people that make up this scene, bands, promoters

and people who just attend shows. Take care!

SoBS: When did AntroPong started and what was the main reason or

motivation for such a project?

Antropong ”started” 3 years ago... I think first collection was planned in 2011, but

failed to make it, but ”the struggle continues”... I guess. 'Motivation' was the fact

that little or nothing is known about Romanian Underground (music, politics,

culture, arts) and much is getting lost along the way – leaving place for confussion

or urban legends. This way you get stuff that happened 15, 20, 25 years ago in

Romania undocumented... articles/stories/studies about ”underground” are

pretty lame as they lack a proper documentation.

When we speak of the ”Romanian Underground” might be that some will say ”not

much” was done / happened (who decides what is ”much” and ”not much”?)...

but people did spend time money energy emotions etc believing working trying to

build something different than the shit we was/are being shoved down our

throats as ”normality”... I tried 'Otherground' as term of description for the

'movement' I document, for me all people trying to create something different are

part of this...

I guess leaving behind some proof of what I was/am part of and saying to people

who did it that their efforts were written down somewhere... even if most might

think/feel that they did not achieve nothing by doing them.

SoBS: You’ve just released your first work Fanzinul Fanzinelor TM, a collection of

independent fanzines and magazines published in Timisoara between 1994 until

present (2013).Tell us something about working on this project, what were the

main difficulties you encountered and do you think you managed to realize

everything you wanted to in the end? How was it received and what were the

reactions to this book until now?

FF-TM it started something like 2 years ago and was suppose to be the second

collection by AP. It was a work slowed down by my own personal problems. The

project was made by people at thousands of km one from others. Not to this

moment did all people involved meet each other... with this I don't mean we are a

big conspiracy, I guess I am trying to say that it was difficult (more like physically

impossible) to ”to sit down and make a plan”... so, Chaos was our guide.

Initially the project was meant to be about fanzines in all Romania, but as contacts

with some of the zine-makers in other cities were lost, and communication was

going hard or nowhere, I decided to keep it just to Timişoara, where there were

many zines and had copies of most of them.

I think that the difficulties have made so that in the end the book did not come

exactly as expected. I will never achieve all I want... I want too many things

(smile). But still, I am very content with this first set printed. Later on, I discovered

some more zines and leaflets that I would have included... oh, well.

Reactions were good, people liked it, I did not really insisted on getting reviews or

opinions on it because actually this was a ”test print”... (read next question)

SoBS: The book has almost no presentation(this is one of my biggest

disappointments), and no conclusions which seems a bit odd. Someone that has

no idea about the history of the Timisoara Underground/diy movement picking

up this work isn’t he left with only pictures? If this was due to time constraints or

maybe other factors will the next volume going to add something to the first?

Well, your disappointment is my and our (?) disappointment... yet, I am sure we

all got bigger disappointments in life (smile). The introduction, presentations and

conclusions were written and changed and changed 10 times maybe.

This is why I call it a ”test print”, I cannot ask peoples opinion about a story... it's

more interesting when they also see... now people have some idea, one closer to

what AP wants to make.

To answer, for the existing copies left there is a plan to make a small booklet with

short stories of each fanzine... and as a second print might be out sometimes in

the future, it will include pages of presentation in Romanian and English and

technical+content boxes (geek-info on aspects like what type of layout, format,

number of copies etc and list of articles/contents inside each zine). So, yes, time,

distance, life and myself made it impossible that first 100 copies have it included. I

think this booklet should be available for download on AP website sometimes in

the future... Dog knows when.

There is not only pictures inside! Stop spreading rumors, now all kids will want it

for the pretty pictures. The presentations are necessary for sure, and some of my

conclusions on the topic might be interesting to read, but the stories and the

contents of the zines should help the reader make an opinion. I think I do not

want to spend more words than needed, the possibility of one ”otherground

rebel” person to read an article from 1994 1997 2001 written by people like him,

should be already an achievement... To hell with my conclusions! Anyway, we will

see what happens next.

SoBS: Since we’re talking about fanzines, do you think that they’re that

important to a scene? By the way...do you remember when you wrote your first

fanzine?

I think is important to communicate your ideas and to communicate yourself. Yes,

that is important... some play music, write lyrics, make graffiti, other make spaces,

festivals, demonstrations, write blogs etc - all of them are part of this

communication inside of a ”scene/movement” thing. ”It's not the form”... fanzines

were about communication, sharing information, ideas, feelings, presenting

projects... building Other kind of community/s... all others forms of expression

above mentioned serve same goal. So, fanzines/publications are not more and not

less important than any of the others forms of expression in the ”otherground”.

Nothing is crucial, yet all matters... are eyes important to the human being?

Fingers? Hands? - you can live without all of them, right? Of course, might be little

bit more difficult to fight your enemy, shooting arrows while being blind, or

handling the bow without fingers... or hands.

Anyway, I think fanzines were important and useful in the past, now Internet

seems to be making most of them to seem ”unimportant” and ”not so useful”. In

the end, to be honest, we do live virtual lives in virtual times, might be ”only

natural” to read virtual zines about virtual scenes also. I don't know...

I made first zine in 1997... I remember.

SoBS: This is a self published book so i imagine that some crazy effort was made

to make it available in printing form. Have you tried or will you try to get in

contact with independent book publishers for this project?

Yes, Effort was crazy indeed... he still is.

AP slogan is ”Pong Is Freedom. Pong Is Life. Pong Is Working Hard.”

Did speak to some just to get some ideas, but I did not insisted though too much.

Not interested loosing more time with bureaucracy and protocol... besides that...

Antropong IS the independent book publisher! Don't care if ”the kids” will read

my books... don't care if independent media or anthropologists will appreciate it...

The books are out there... you want one... make an effort... find it. I am not

showing myself or my projects on anyones throat... neither do I try to present

them as shinny uber-cool things to buy or own.

SoBS: How would you describe the D.I.Y scene in Timisoara today, it’s not about

putting labels or if it’s better or worse but are people/bands still

involved/interested in creating free spaces and keeping alive the underground

movement in the area?

I think I don't have a clear idea about Timisoara. As Antropong is a one man

nomad tribe I live less in that city. To make a point... I think Timisoara is less cooler

than what ”people saying that is cool” say it is, and is much cooler than what

”people saying that is not cool” say it is.

There is stuff inside of what I call ”Otherground” happening since 30-35 years

ago... there are people who are children of the people from the 90s which were

younger brothers or cousins of people in the 80s... sometimes you see this (this

tradition of 'Other') in peoples lives, ideas, words - sometimes not.

I learned, when I speak about Romania, to applaud any and all efforts in the

”Other” direction... not just the Do It Yourself. Still, in Timisoara the DIY spirit of

self-organization can be found in some very nice projects or individuals in the

present or in the past (examples should be looked for elsewhere though)...

SoBS: Tell us what were/are your favorite fanzines and some interesting books

you recommend reading.

You give me too much credit, my friend. I will skip this one... (smile).

SoBS: This volume is also part of a series , tell us a little about it and when can

we expect to see volume #2.

Its a series of 10 (until now) similar books... on different topics.

...the most advanced work is on ”Otherground Romania” a book plus 4cd

compilation with 100bands from the last 20years in Romania (punk, post punk,

hardcore, extreme, noise, experimental etc). Actually this was meant to be

number one but as the process of getting the songs from all bands proved to be

harder than expected... we release first the FFTM.

Anyway, financial reasons have blocked this project to happen in this spring...

I guess Pong must work Harder. (smile harder also)

SoBS: Where can people order Fanzinul Fanzinelor Timisoara and where can they

contact you?

There is the antropong.webserv.co website (which also is under construction) –

there will be more news and all stuff. Generally you should find them at Pavilionul

32 band concerts... antropong @ webserv.co is an contact email which you could

use to ask if there is any available copy and how to get it. I don't know, when we

were younger, you remember (maybe), was a real adventure getting some tape

with X album of X band, or a fanzine, or a book... now everything is everywhere –

and no one wants it... what to do?

AP secret HQ

SoBS: Do you have anything else in the works besides this huge project ?!

Yes, quite a few... wish I could stop keep on starting new ones.

SoBS: If there’s anything you want to add here’s your chance! Thank you for

doing the interview and looking forward to volume 2!

Thank you too... was a nice and annoying surprise, your interest. I am also looking

forward... to whatever is gonna come. Good luck with the zine!

Compilation tracklist:

1.El Banda – Psy

2.Attrito - L'incubo della quiete

3.Despite Everything - No Smoke Without Fire

4.Delicje - Po drugiej stronie lustra

5.Grandine - Pericolo Legale

6.Landverraad - Amputy

7.Pavilionul32 - Sicrie de beton

8.Intrigue - We're the punks that never knew how to play

9.Produkt - Dalej isc

10.La Grande Industria Del Vuoto - Tensione

11.Contrasto - Piu' Di Mille Parole

12.Acute - Dioxins

13.GenteStranaPosse - Tutto e niente

Thank you for reading and see you next time!

XoXo

Sick of Being Sick #3 - 2014