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.
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).
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!!
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?
7 – Which are your favourite bands and releases, past and present?
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?
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.
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…