It's been a while since Al and I had a good chat and really get down to the good stuff, so I asked him if he would do my first interview for THROUGH THE MOTIONS. Al's intelligent, has no teeth and is a really good dude. Enjoy!
Connections in Europe '08How’s things since you left home, are you enjoying Europe/Ireland?
Yeah I am, I'm in Northern Ireland at the moment seeing my family and getting to know relatives I haven't had the chance to see a lot of and seeing as much of the country as I can. Before I came to Ireland I was in Europe, mainly Germany, and that was awesome too. East German hardcore is some of the best in the world from everyone who has had the chance to pass through and I've been lucky enough to spend a few months there playing and going to shows. I swear I've seen some of the best shows of my life in a 2 month period.
It's awesome seeing countries with such a depth to their history as well. I mean, Australia has a couple of hundred years of history and most of it is based on the English mistreating the people of the land they have colonised, but in Europe there is a much longer period of history and a greater number of defining events that have shaped the continent and it's nations. I was a real culture shock at first too because things over here are a lot different to back home. As soon as i got here i realised just how cut off Australia is from other parts of the world and how the overbearing American influence has stopped us from seeing other cultures in a way that would allow us to gel them into our own. All in all my first few months away have been massively eye opening and really given me new perspectives on a lot of things I never put much thought into.
most definately man, i think you're right.. it's up to all of us here to get out of out little pocket and experience some things. during your time in europe What were the immediate differences you found between the euro and Australian scenes?
The biggest difference for me is the approach to everything. I've always said that Australia has a hardcore industry, and in saying that i mean that it is all treated like a bunch of companies working together and everyone is trying to create a network of small business transactions that create a big circle of people shaking hands, making deals and getting ahead. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that if that is how you want to do things. But this misconception that you NEED a label to release your record and you NEED to tour this many times a year and you NEED to do this or that is complete bullshit.
Here in Europe everything is DIY and from my viewpoint it is because they don't need a big label to put out their releases because they have their own network that works on it's own level. Distribution here is based on trading and selling releases and merch at shows. Kids run distro stalls that are bigger than the Whykillamoocow stall at the West End markets. Shops don't stock hardcore unless someone has done so well with their distro that they can then afford to open a small shop. It's a big difference to me. I remember being told that we needed a distribution company on board when we (Just Say Go!) released One Chance to Live to make sure we got our CD into the big chain stores.
Looking back now, I think if you work hard enough you don't need chain stores to sell out a pressing. Another big difference I have found over here is the depth of the scene in terms of people. I mean in Australia the older people involved in the scene are late 20's. Over here there are guys having mid life crisis's and going bald who come to shows and stage dive and are still 100% active in the scene because they love it. One classic example is Mike Inside. I've done a few trips with Something Inside and more often than not we'll talk bands and I'll say "Undertow, I like Undertow!!!" and Mike's reply will be "Oh Undertow are ok, I saw them in 93...." and it's become a running joke for him to rub it in that he has seen all of these bands from 15 to 20 years ago.
It's awesome sitting and talking to these guys, it's like talking to your grandparent about your family tree, and looking at the younger generation of hardcore kids that they hang around, you can see a sort of mutual education system where the older guys teach the younger guys a bit of history and the younger guys teach the older guys how to use itunes and give them new bands to check out. I never saw that depth in Australian Hardcore and often felt like the older guys were looked down on instead of being treated as a good source of history and also a valuable part of the hardcore community.
White kids can jump!
I totally agree man, and you can see/understand that just by talking to any dude that comes here on tour, we understand what we can learn from these guys so we do our best to. would you say Australia's scene is lost in terms of that respect? do you think it's something the majority will ever understand? because for me it's one of the most important parts of a hardcore community...
I think Australia has a constantly young scene. I think the cricles move around so much that the scene for the last few years has always been young people. The problem with that is that young people are more often than not still evolving and learning who they are and what they want out of life. So in that situation you get a lot of people passing in and out of trends and dipping their toes into this or that to see where they fit. But the thing I think really plays a big role in this is the culture of Australia and it is my belief that this is part in parcel with the history of the country.
I mean when you look at some of these countries I mentioned earlier, and their history, you see pretty strong events that have caused the relative society to form groups, choose sides and really fight. You had to know what you wanted because jumping from one side to the other would be suicide. You couldn't be a Catholic in Ireland and then one day decide "Oh I think I will head down to the Protestant Church this weekend" because there's a good chance it would cost you your life. You couldn't be a Neo Nazi and head out to a Bar Mitzva just to see if you are interested in the Jewish faith. People were forced into a position where they had to know themselves well enough to decide where to fight and what they would wuite literally die for. I think that has filtered down into the younger generations lives of these countries and they seem to know who they are at a very young age. Australia really seems to lack that and it is one thing that really shows when you get out and see different countries with such an adverse history with events that shape a culture in so many different ways to our own.
I guess that's a big part and difference in Australian society, compared to others. When you're founded by something established and you're a convict colony where from day 1, your nation's established history is 'people arrive and continue what they knew back home', it becomes a societal confusion and so many lines are blurred.
Yeah definitely, I mean, a culture is what you create. Walk into a room full of people and have a frown on your face and it will change that room; walk in with a smile and it will have the opposite affect. I don't believe that Australia has had the sorts of events that would create a culture of people really needing to understand and analyse their role in a situation so they can walk away saying " this is 100% how I feel about this situation and I'll stand by this position for good"
most definately, and i think its something that we're going to have to deal with. moving onto more hc related stuff You’re doing connections shows over there with a solid line-up and working on a 7, how far is that away from completion?
I am in the process of getting the order away for to the pressing plant but I just need to iron out a few wrinkles. The artwork is ready to go and I just need to find a printing plant to do that and we're firing away. It's been a bit of a long process because it's taking me a while to get used to the pricing system over here. You get a price for €500 and think you're sweet but then the final offer comes through at about €1000 and it's hard to work out how the price doubled over night, and most of the time the pressing plants put it down to VAT (taxes) but they are only 19% of the production costs. But I think I finally have it worked out and have a plant who are going to do a good job. So we'll have pre orders available soon and the seven inch will be out in early to mid September.
good news, i know a lot of people here are asking me about it... how have shows been for you guys?
Shows have been really good. Our first 2 shows were with Miles Away which was cool. We played good sets both shows and had fun seeing the other bands, although one of the shows was a bit small and the turnout wasn't great. We've also done 2 shows with No Turning Back and Down To Nothing which were awesome. No Turning Back are one of the best bands I've ever had the chance to see so playing with them was something I'll really look back on with pride. We also played a show in a kind of punk squat which was rad. That place was cool. It looked like a run down old building but inside there was a small room at the back with a PA and a small stage. There've also been some rad local bands on the shows we've played as well like The Realness, Something Inside, Black Friday 29, Built On Trust and Break Through.
Al working hard on What Remains stuff.
What remains records is another project of yours, how’s it travelling, how are you finding running a label?
I'm definitely winging it hahaha. I'm putting out the Connections seven inch first of all then taking it from there. I've also been talking to Stand Hard about doing some tapes for them here in Europe as a second demo i think. They were going to do a seven inch but had too many songs and weren't ready to press a CD just yet so it'll be released as a tape. I'm also looking at the possibility of releasing a Connections split later this year but first I need to get back over to Germany and have a good chat with Thomas from Something Inside to bounce a few ideas off him. So basically What Remains is a work in progress but I'm hoping to be able to build on it and work on it and do good things with it but I think if i start with Connections I can avoid mucking other bands around if i have any big mishaps.
You’re a guy who always has things up his sleeve, anymore hardcore related projects?
I'm getting really into doing design projects. I've done a few shirts now and Something Inside have just released their Lionheart LP which I whole heartedly believe to be one of the best Youth Crew influenced albums to come out this year from anyone in the world, and I was lucky enough to do the layout for them. I've done shirts for Values Here, Something Inside, Reach Out, Just Say Go and Connections and I'm currently working on some ideas for No Turning Back. Whether or not the band will like them, I'm not too sure but they are pretty nice guys and easy to deal with. I've recently finished the Connections seven inch layout and also done a few tape layouts since landing in Europe.
I'm really enjoying the learning process of it all and each project has given me a little bit more of an idea what I'm doing. Eventually I want to be able to recreate that mid 90's era feel to shirts and layouts. Some of the shirt designs coming from the 90's are pure gold and I'm currently in the process of learning to rip them off. I'm also working on a zine called Cutting Away.
You might remember Our Time which was a zine I wrote about 3 or 4 years ago and I got one issue out and started work on another but lost track of it. I gave some of the interviews to the Sharp End zine to print but a lot of them were really out of date so I just dropped them. Cutting Away is a new zine I'm working on with a new approach to avoid losing track. Issue 1 should be out soon with interviews from Trial, Betrayed, The First Step, Things We Say, The War, Reign Supreme, One Voice and Get The Most. I'm really psyched on getting it out and being able to hold a printed copy in my hands. ...and in saying "you might remember Our Time..." I mean just you, not everyone reading this haha.
What’s it been like being able to see some pretty incredible bands? What’s your fondest memory in Europe thus far?
The best thing has definitely been meeting people and just talking, but really talking. Not just "hey I'm Allan, hows it going?" I caught up with Aram at The First Steps shows in Germany and he introduced me to some of the people he had met in past tours of Europe and I really got talking. I met a really nice guy called Gabi who runs a label called Cycle Records and writes an awesome zine called One Kind Word and I really puzzled him i think because i was asking all of these questions and really digging to find out what happens in his home city of Barcelona.
I've stayed in touch with him and hopefully will be getting a few copies of the final Damage Control seven inch off him as he put it out through Cycle. I've also had some really good chats with some of the older German guys who have been really educating me. It's kind of cool because for years my brother and i had this formula for finding out about new bands like a family tree where you would look for links. For example, Ray Cappo sang in Youth of Today, from that you can link him to Revelation Records, Shelter and Better Than A Thousand. When you consider that there are normally 5 members per band and most of them have played in other bands you get this huge network of bands to find out about. I've had the chance to meet older guys who do the same thing. It's like brain storming as a pair but the other person knows a shit load more than you do and you just soak up all this info. It really changes your interest in hardcore, especially considering that i was feeling a bit burned out on it all when i left.,
As for seeing bands, I've seen some of the best bands in the last few months that I've ever seen full stop. Seeing The First Step was totally uplifting and really blew me away. I've also had the chance to see Miles Away play to a European crowd which i guess a lot of people would think isn't much because i get to see them a lot in Australia but when I saw them i was really thinking "I wonder what it will be like to see and Australian band play in Europe." In the end it was pretty enjoyable and they played a few older songs which was awesome because I don't really get into their newer stuff. No Turning Back are a great band and no matter what sort of show they are playing they give it 110%. It's awesome to see a band that has toured the world, played for over ten years, and released records on some big labels, but when you see them, they are a hardcore band. They are down to earth and have a real ground level attitude. It really gave me a boost to meet those guys and see that they don't take a single thing for granted and work really hard to be able to do their band full time.
amazing al, well it's been awesome being able to pick your brains for more than small talk. it's always a pleasure man. any final words, shameless plugs etc?
I think I've plugged enough for a lifetime through there. Thanks Stu.
1 comment:
good work on the interview! it's a good read
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