ashen

Unite energetic D-beat drums, fast distorting riffs, Czech dirty vocals and four punks who love what they are and do, and you´ll have a band with amazing songs and great soul – that is DEMARCHE. No bullshits and with influences from UK and Scandinavian hardcore, this raw punk band was one of the better things that happened to me in the last year, being really an wonderful finding that placed me closest to young and ebullient Czech punk scene.

Well, this friendly and symphatic guys have released a great EP called Fucking Hangover and soon they´ll release more a piece of D-beat raw punk rage that will do you “sin and drink all the night” and awake with an awesome and agonizing hangover. So, check them out NOW!!

This interview was made with Cezi, Mark Splinter and Kuro in 05/16/2008. Enjoy!! Special credits to Mark for translate the answers of others guys.

1 – Firstly, can you introduce your band to our readers, who are your members, age and what you each do in the band? The Fuckin´ Hangover 7” line-up still remains or already there were changes? How long are you together?

Cezi: Hello everybody. I play the drums, and I have formed the band together with Kuro, the guitarist. I´m twenty seven years old. From the early days there were a lot of people coming and going in Demarche, we have got for example about seven bass players since. The most important line-up change came in early 2007, when singer Havran, one of the former members, left the band. We formed the band with him and Kuro almost ten years ago in 1998.

The line-up that recorded the "Fucking Hangover" EP was: Cezi, Kuro, Kanar – bass and Havran – vocals. The current line-up is: Cezi – drums, Kuro – guitar, Splinter – vocals and Lukas – bass.

2 – In general, the band is identified with the raw punk D-beat line/culture. What that means for Demarche´s members? What attracts you to this punk´s line?

Kuro: It´s my everlasting love for punk rock in the first place. Then there is the band, and my ideas, that I keep since I cut my mohican for the first time, my friends I drink with, and last but not least me being the old oddball (smiles).

Cezi: Demarche is a part of my life for me, because from my prime I always wanted to be in a band. Now it´s the inseparable part of myself, it inherently belongs to my life, just like punk rock as such, and everything about my life for last twelve years or so. “D-beat raw punk is my life“.

Splinter: The thing is, that this scene and this music is made by people for people, no fucking corporations and hustlers. Well, it´s the same with some other scenes, but raw punk is the closest to my ears and to my heart. And I also always loved to wear black clothes and silver trinkets, but hated that so called gothic/neo-romantic shit (oops, sorry, Cezi…) Of all "hard" music scenes, punk rock is the most genuine and true, with no pretending; not just music, but also a way of life… hey, here we go again, you must have heard this thousand times before (smiles). I would highly appreciate blues, which is besides punk rock one of the most genuine styles of music and life as well, and there are plenty of similarities between blues and punk rock for me. Except there are little or no wankers in blues, but sadly many of them in punk.

3 – Since when are you involved in the punk scene? What is the history of each member on the scene? Others bands, labels, activities, etc..??

Kuro: We are involved in punk scene since about 1997. I was roller-skating then, when I met Cezi and we started to go together to pubs and gigs. We started to play with idea of forming a band, which we finally managed.

Cezi: The bands demands nearly all my spare time; basically everything I do is related to the band; rehearsals, gigs etc.

Splinter: I am the singer for Demarche, and I was born a week before Elvis Presley died (the world was waiting for a new King of rock´n´roll, I suppose). Sometimes, about once in three years I release an issue of fanzine called Splinter (there was fanzine first, and then my nickname came). I sang in my first punk band when I was about 11 years old, they were all about 20, the band was called Petkrát Beda ("Five Times Alas"), and they had no money to buy the PA, so they were an accoustic band… Then, when I myself was about 20, I sang in punk rock band called Los Guerrilleros, then in crust-anarcho-punk band Exekuce ("Execution"), who released two EPs and one LP named 'How Long Will You Stand Against The Wall?" (Emergency Records, 2000). Later on I screamed in joke D-beat cliché band called Dis Means War, and from early 2007 I fill the vocal duties in Demarche.

Lukas (34) is simultaneously playing bass with Noise Wave (metalHCpunk), and has been playing with bands Kurwa Sistema, CNS, V.I.R. and Vnitrni Nepritel ("Inner Enemy")

4 – I have read good things about the Czech scene, its public, its growth and the satisfaction of the bands that go to play there. How do you analyse the punk scene, since you involved yourself in it? What's the current situation of the Czech punk scene and how it is developing??

Cezi: There´s quite healthy scene in Czech republic, a lot of bands from HC punk to crust or grind core. There are a lot of young punks who try every which way to support the scene, hence the scene grows and develops. Czech punk scene is a bit younger than the rest of Europe, because of the regime that ruled the country twenty years ago. Most of the people on Czech scene is between 20 and 40 years old. There are the older ones of course, but not many of them. Definitely it´s not like England, where you can meet 50 years old people at gigs.

Splinter: You know, the scene is always good, if you don´t take it as political faction or religious cult, but rather as a family. There are really lot of punks in Czech republic, which sadly means also a lot of assholes, but fortunately a plenty of great people as well. I knew hundreds of people, who were punks when they were 20, and now they ask me: 'Oh boy, you are still punk? When will you grow up?' Well, fuck them, que se danem. Now I´m 31 and I´m going to stay punk till the day I die, and I´m pretty sure that my present friends would be there in it with me…

5 – Which was the situation of punk scene when the country was ruled by Communist Party and still was called Czechoslovakia? How hard was live under this regime? Do you can say us something about that?

Cezi: Well, I didn´t even know that there is a punk scene at all then, but there was. From my older punk friends I know, that it wasn´t easy to be a punk rocker under a communist regime. Common police practice was to pick somebody up on the street, take him away over the city limits, rip the earrings away and beat him black and blue. Cutting the mohicans was also common practice. Usually they procured you to be kicked out of work or school. Something of this lasts till today, but really not so often, and now the cops are more careful about what they do. You must remember, that the same people, who did this to the punks, are still working with police, and they didn´t change their mind about punks. I think the scene was more united due those things, people were in touch, and they would meet personally at gigs maybe two or three times a year. People were holding together more, and they appreciated the trivialities. The young punks of today have well beaten track by their predecessors, and it´s easy to get things like records and punk clothings. That´s why there are a lot of assholes, that doesn´t value anything. There are also a helluva lot of people, who are punks when they´re 17, and they get bored with punk before the´re 20. That sucks. Punk´s forever, vá a merda, you bastards!!

Splinter: I was 12, when the communist regime collapsed, but I already knew something about punk. But bear in mind that there was a government propaganda that showed the punks as the criminals and anti-social people. Life as such was quite easy, if you were not politically active. The food was cheap and the wealthy service was for free, but everyone had to keep their traps shut and keep the pace with the regime. There was very little chance to go abroad, unless you were a prominence and a bashaw. And the police was really opressive force. Punk rock bands had to play their songs in front of the political committee, and then they were – or were not – allowed to play them on. In some cities the punks were given the free play to perform, in others they were pursued, and the punk rock gigs were raided by the police or secret service. In 80s the regime was already falling apart, so for the punk rock bands it was sometimes easier than for the underground rock bands in 70s.

6 – Compared with the political situation above mentioned, what has changed in the day-by-day of the population, in general, from the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993?

Cezi: Yes, a lot of things definitively changed, because the transformation from socialism to capitalism isn´t an easy thing. Some things are better, some remained the same, and some things are even much worse. Well, that´s the way things are, but we are still here. We scream, we hate and we love…

Splinter: Well, the main change is, that under communist regime you have to be quiet, or you would be arrested, and now you can say nearly anything, but no one would listen to you. With the arrival of liberal capitalism the rich got richer, and lot of the poor got poorer. One of the bad things is for example wealth charges, which are not too high, but the same for the richest as for the poorest, even for pensioners or little babies. No era in human history was perfect, and neither is this.

7 – Which are your favourite bands and releases, past and present?

Kuro: Really plenty of them. My all-time favorites would be for example Discharge, Varukers, Motörhead, Restarts, Poison Idea, Wolfbrigade, Post Regiment, Disorder, Exploited, Bones ets…

Cezi: Well, that´s for a long answer… A lot of bands influenced me, and they influence me still now. Discharge, Broken Bones, Amebix, Extreme Noise Terror, a lot of old UK bands were and still are great, bands from whole world still hold them highly as an inspiration. I really love Finnish raw punk from the 80s: Rattus, Kaaos, Tampere SS, Riistetyt… also old swedish and japanese punk. As from your country, I love Ratos de Poráo, which is great band, but I know also a lot of smaller great bands from Brasil.

Splinter: Would Ashen zine have 1000 pages? If not, there wouldn´t be space enough for my favorite bands. Classic punk rock from 70s, raw and hard core punk from 80s, japanese bands, old swedish and finnish HC, and also bands from Brasil, such as Olho Seco, Brigada do Odio, Ulster, Fogo Crusado, Hino Mortal, Colera, Ratcida etc. My beloved music is mainly punk rock and all its sorts of course, but also a lot of other genres, such as reggae, rockabilly, country, celtic folk etc. etc…

8 – What you have listen of music, lately? Bands, kinds, styles, etc…?

Kuro: Almost everything, apart from white power music, techno and pop.

Cezi: Apart from punk I like Killing Joke or Sisters Of Mercy. I like a lot of music of course, but mostly it´s punk rock, hard core, D-beat or any other branch of this style anyway.

Splinter: As said in previous question…

9 – Which current Czech bands do you could recommend us?

Splinter: So, where to start? Demarche, for example? Well, let´s go: Zemezluc (one of the longest running and one of the greatest punk rock bands), Gauneri (Motörhead / Ramones style punk rock), Thalidomide (American style punk rock), Guided Cradle (mighty crust metal, in fact they are American band, but lived and played long time in Prague), Red Insect, Victims Of Hate (both fast and furious HC punk), Climax, PNS (both very raw punk), Mad Pigs (fast punk rock). For the fans of darker and grinding side of hc punk we could recommend Nemá Barikáda ("Silent Barricade"), See You In Hell, Risposta, Homo Consumens, Mass Genocide Process, Ad Acta, Jonestown… Check out also Slovakian band Davová Psychóza ("Mass Psychosis", great, raw but melodic punk rock), and Tublatanka (the greatest hard rock/heavy metal from Europe). And also there are a lot of great bands from the past, try and check out for example Telex, Plexis, Radegast, HNF, Kritická Situace ("Critical Situation"), and many more I can´t remember now… Have you ever heard of Karel Gott? He is Czech version of Sinatra, Elvis and Caruso in one, and unofficial head of state for more than forty years. Try and check Youtube or Myspace…

10 - Which are the traditional foods and drinks in Czech Republic? What do you, guys, like to eat and drink??

Kuro: Traditional Czech meal would be potato dumplings with sauerkraut (cabbage) and pork meat, traditional drink is beer. My favorite food would be pastries with sweet poppy seeds, and my favorite drink is alcohol free beer.

Cezi: I am a vegetarian, and most of the traditional Czech meals include meat, so I wouldn´t recommend something special to you, I´m afraid. All the vegetarians worldwide eat similar meals (smiles). But the Czech beer is probably the best in the world, so I could recommend it to everyone.

Splinter: Yes, that´s right, Czech language has the same word for "cook" and "boil" (read: "Boil the meat till it´s tender"). Most of the vegetarian Czech meals are sweet. If vegetarians eat in some Czech pub, usually there´s nothing for them but fried cheese. But there are for example very tasty potato pancakes, or hotcakes with spinach. My favorite meal would be beans with chilli and a lot of garlic (like feijoada, but vegetarian). Well, and then there´s beer. Try Gambrinus, Pilsner or Kozel (especially dark). Don´t drink Budweiser, it´s shit, and it´s a deceit, because it´s not Czech, though some say it is. And then there are some special Czech spirits and liqueurs: fake Czech rum (not real rum, since it´s made of potatoes), Slivovica (made of plums, and similar drinks made of all sorts of fruit), Medovina (made of honey), Fernet and Becher (both made of herbs), and Slovakian high spirit Borovicka (made of juniper, drink and die!) My favorite drinks, apart from beer, are sadly very expensive here: whisky, stout and cider.

11 – You´ve a sound called Holy Porno. Who´s Paula Wild? Do you have suffered because her? Paula broken your hearts?

Cezi: Yeah, we used to play this cover song, but it was only sort of a joke for the audience. Now we don´t play this song any more. We just wanted to say the people not to forget to have a fun. There is a lot of shit and bad things around us, and it´s important to sing about it and point an accusing finger to all this filth, but we also wanted people to know, that the fun is also very important. Another fun song is called "Whores, Drinks and Sandwiches", and the rest of the song have serious lyrics.

12 – Nowadays, how Demarche´s members living in Czech Republic? What you make in day-by-day, out of band? Studing, working, watching Paula Wild´s movies? How is to live in your country?

Kuro: I work for an enterpreneur, I provide the sleeper trains with food and drinks. My life would be the same as of anyone else. There are a lot of things that piss me off, but also a lot of things I enjoy.

Cezi: Yeah, I also go to work. I hate my work, I answer the phones in building company, but now I don´t see any other opportunity. I would like to open my own piercing shop, I keep my eye on it and I hope that one day I manage to do it.

Splinter: I work in bookshop, and I´m also a translator (Eng-Cz). As far as punk is concerned, I have officially translated Real Story Of The Clash to Czech. (Now I work on Guns 'N' Roses book…) In my spare time I like drinking, gigs, trips to nature, archery, and everything about American Indian and Celtic culture and history. I don´t watch Paula Wild movies, since I´m straight and narrow boy from decent family (and I feel very envious watching the porn flicks.) Lukas restores old furniture, and he likes history, art and travelling.13 – I imagine that with the Fuckin´ Hangover 7” there were more invitations to do gigs and/or to tour. Do you have traveled so much for play in other countries? Which the places you most liked to play?

Cezi: Yes, we play a lot of gigs, mainly in Czech republic and neigbouring Slovakia, we also played a tour in England and one in Germany. Sometimes there are a helluva lot of gigs, but we enjoy them, and that´s why we do it. It´s really great to meet new people, first of all it´s great when you find out, that the punks in whole world are basically the same people like you. It also stands for the fucking assholes, who try to rule us or make our lives nervous. But we will never give up, diga-se o que se disser.

14 – In despite the band exists since 1998, the Fuckin´ Hangover 7” is their only single stuff, ok?. Are there other releases? Are there big difficulties to release punk stuff in country, whereas the 7” was released by several Czech recors labels and distros?

Cezi: Well, it´s not very easy to release a record here. We were lucky to make it, and now we busily work on another one. There is also Demarche´s CD demo, and some songs appeared on various compilations. Not lot of them, but we hope to change it for better.

Splinter: Also there is live split (with old line-up) with Prague raw punk band Ginnungagap; the sound is thin, but there are some songs, that doesn´t appear anywhere else and we don´t play them any more.

15 – Do you have already plans for a next release? Which the Demarche´s news to us? Are there new sounds for a new raw punk hangover?

Cezi: Yes, like I said before, we rehearse the material for new EP, and after that we would like to record our firt full-lenght LP. It should be recorded in the same studios as "Fucking Hangover" EP. Now we think about adding the second guitarist, and we have asked our friend from England, who lives in Prague. We will see if it would go well.

16 – Well, big thanks guys for this funny and rich interview. Yours rules!!! Any last words?

Cezi: Thank you for the interview with Demarche, we wish you good luck with your zine.

Splinter: Thanks and cheers; use the contraception, don´t jaywalk across the streets, and don´t let the people believe that all punks are stupid assholes…

Da FAST AS FUCK Section

Life – a contagious disease transmitted from parents to children; 100 % mortality

Future – something that we are hopefully waiting for, and when it comes, we say: “Things used to be better when we were younger“.

Love – a financial plan to overdraw the bank accounts

Death – very long holiday without health insurance

Hapiness – a state of mind caused by sexual intercourse, alcoholic intoxication or combination of both

Punk – casting pearls to swines

Wish – something that completely differs from what we really wanted

Mankind – a herd of cattle with human mimesis on

Likes – love, peace, friendship and chocolate

Fears – hatred, despair, loneliness and dentists

World – nothing much to write home about, but still the only place where one can get a good dinner

Demarche – four of a kind; whores, drinks and sandwiches…