Svetlanas; Loud, Fast and Furious!

Photo courtesy of Gary Trueman.

The history of Svetlanas is awash with mystery and mythology; that they’ve been going thirty years, that they were originally KGB spies (1), that Olga is barred from, and Svetlanas are banned from, Russia as of 2014 (2). (True, I think) That they are the ‘most dangerous band in the world’ and that Olga sounds like a ‘cornered mongoose’ (3)!!

It’s all a bit disorientating but what is certain is that this Russian/Italian band creates superb hardcore/thrashcore punk and is comprised of Olga on vocals, Diste/drums, Steve/bass and JJ/guitar with Nick Oliveri playing on their last album and on US dates.

Their first album Svetlanas came out in 2010, followed in 2013 by Tales From the Alpha Brigade on Altercation Records and then Naked Horse Rider in 2015 and then in 2017 they released This Is Moscow Not LA.

Intrigued by such a wonderfully confusing back story and excited by both their music and their track record of opposing oppression whether governmental (‘Nazi Trumps Fuck Off’ tshirt/cover of Naked Horse Rider), sexual (the video for ‘Go Fuck You Self’) or political (they left a US tour last year due to one band not taking a clear anti-Nazi position) I contacted the band for an interview!  

Q: Could you give us an overview of Svetlanas? I think you’ve been going since 2009 (1), how did you meet, were you already in bands?

Correct. We started in 2009 or better I (Olga) started the band. Diste, our drummer, originally was a bass player. His previously band - Sottopressione-did great things for the Italian hardcore in the 90s. Also Steve and JJ played in other bands before Svets. Just for me, it is the first band.

Q: Has the line up stayed pretty constant?

Now it is.

Q: You were banned from Russia in 2014 (2) for your anti Putin stance, that must be quite difficult... and now you are based in Milan. Do you hope to be able to live in Russia again one day or do you feel European now instead of having a strong national identity?

Any of us really don't care about national identity. In this particular moment we are based anywhere and it's pretty fun.

Q: You have moved around all over Europe, are there different musical/punk cultures in different countries? Have you managed to take things from those different punk styles and put them together? Or is that a stupid question because punk styles are the same everywhere!?

That's not stupid at all. The political factor is probably more strong in Europe than in US for example. For us it's obvious that if you play Punk Rock you have specific values, and we are not talking about politics we are talking about simple human rights.

Q: How would you describe your sound?

Loud, fast and of course furious.

Q: Last year you left a tour of the USA with Barbed Wire Dolls due to their not taking a clear stand against Nazism, with 57 also leaving the tour (4). In my experience punk has a definite anti-fascist position but is that not the case everywhere? Don’t these people read history?!

This is what we were talking about. No, it's not everywhere and it's not for every proclaimed punk band.

Q: What sources do you draw on in lyric writing? Books, films, current events, your own experiences?

Every morning we start the day with a cup of coffee and a newspaper, then we do rehearsal when we are not touring. We write lyric about daily news and also about our personal experiences and feelings.

Q: How does the creative process work in Svetlanas? Is there one main songwriter or does the whole band write the songs?

We write together. Someone starts with a riff, or a vocal part and we go ahead. We have a good feeling, everyone is important in this band and this is why I think that Svets albums are pretty insane.

Q: Could you tell us more about the Svetlanas Brigade!?

The first rule of the Svetlanas Brigade is never talk about it. Ah!

Q: As a band you have a strong political position, how did that politics take shape? Is your politics constantly evolving?

This is not politics. We are just ourselves. We are 4 people with opinions and values and we try to use our brain.

Q: Do you hope that your music would wake people up to notice what is going on around them politically and socially, for instance Putin is obvious but many countries, including Hungary, the USA, France, Austria, have strong far right parties?

Fingers crossed! We have a small voice but it's very loud.

Q: I love the anti-sexism message of the video for ‘Go Fuck You Self’! Have you experienced much sexism in the punk scene, is it better than most other areas of society?

Punk and hardcore scenes are full of clichés, bullism and sexism. It's really enjoyable for a small woman to break these "rules".

Q: You have spent 9 years challenging governments and also challenging other punks to think about what is going on around them, how have you managed to stay strong and not get tired!?

When we wake up in the morning we are tired already! Ahahaha Seriously, the trick is to be objective and persevere in what you believe.

Q: What are your plans for 2018?

We are writing this interview on our way to Madrid. We started this 2018 in the best way with a kick off show in Italy and amazing shows in the Basque Country. What follows is an European tour with The Dwarves and after that we will continue to promote "This is Moscow not LA" all over Europe and with a single show at The Punk Rock Bowling in US. We will play many festivals  and let's see what will happen after!

Look forward to seeing you in London in April at New Cross Inn!

Cheers!

Bibliography.

(1)https://infectiousmagazine.com/interview-svetlanas/

(2)http://dyingscene.com/news/svetlanas-olga-talks-on-their-exile/

(3)https://www.facebook.com/pg/svetlanas77/about/?ref=page_internal Dying Scene and Jello Biafra

(4)http://dyingscene.com/news/svetlanas-and-57-cancel-remaining-dates-on-barb-wire-dolls-tour/

Suzi Moon interview on all things Turbulent Hearts!

Based in Los Angeles and formed in 2015 Turbulent Hearts, a name inspired by the writings of Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran, took shape after Suzi Moon's previous band, Civet, disbanded in 2012. After Civet ended Suzi was writing new songs and playing with various line ups, Turbulent Hearts eventually solidifying into Suzi on guitar and lead vocals, Mark Johnson on bass and Jay Skowronek on drums (1). In 2015 they released their first EP 'The Panic' with 'The Rage' and 'Crazy Girl' following over the next year. Taking inspiration from the first wave of punk Turbulent Hearts were signed by Headcheck in 2016 and have a double A sided 7" single out this spring and ahead of the vinyl release The Punk Lounge has got an exclusive premier of the video for 'I Don't Do it for You'...and as if that's not enough we also managed to get an interview with Suzi herself!!

Turbulent Hearts formed in 2015 and really hit the ground running! Three EPs in a year or so! Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted TH to sound like from the off?

- Thanks! Yeah, we are definitely a DIY band and knew that we wanted to release as much music as possible, as quickly as possible, so we set out to do quick 5 song EP’s to introduce the world to our sound! The music comes naturally; too many influences to count. I’ve always loved simple, fast punk rock songs just as much as classic soul ballads, so it’s been really cool to blend it all together… This is what we got!

You signed to UK label Headcheck in 2016, how did that come about, was it off the back of your live shows or recordings?

- We were scouted by Mark Sesin, the label owner, who has been a big supporter of female rock n’ rollers in England. He understands & believes in our vision and has helped make some tremendous dreams come true… Headcheck is a natural fit for us and we are lucky to call them family now!

I think the first TH release on Headcheck was a combo of all three EPs and this April you've got a double A side vinyl coming out 'If It's True' with 'I Don't Do It For You'. Can you talk us through the new tracks? How has TH sound changed since 'Crazy Girl'? 

- Yes a vinyl! So exciting! The first single, “I Don’t Do It For You” is a doo-wop rock n roll tune about owning your life and not letting a significant other dictate how you live your life. I’ve seen too many friends lose themselves in unhealthy relationships and this is an anthem to break free and live your life for yourself. “If Its True” is super special to us because it is a Mark Johnson song written from the Suzi Moon perspective! He wrote all the lyrics from my point-of-view and I think it’s a great song. Very Ramones-y and so fun to play live! Both songs were written when I was getting out of a crappy situation… And I don’t think the sound has changed, really. Just some slight evolution and a lotta revolution!

What sort of resources do you draw on lyrically? Mostly personal experience or books, films, wider culture as well?

- I tend to write lyrics based on personal experience. They are mostly autobiographical. To me, that is what makes them relatable to people, like a musical diary…

What are the new tracks about?

- Oh, they are definitely about being with the wrong person. Ha! Love drives me. It drives me crazy and it drives me to play rock n’ roll. “If It’s True” is specifically about an untrue partner and how its just better to know that someone doesn’t feel the same any more, or is in love with someone else, than to be kept in the dark and consistently lied to, no matter how painful it may be… And I think that if you fall in love with someone else while you’re in a relationship, than that first relationship wasn’t the right one anyway! So just be honest and everyone will be set free!

What does the creative process look like in TH? Is it very collaborative?

- Absolutely, this band thrives on collaboration. When it comes to songwriting, I usually start off with some idea brewing in my head… A riff, some lyrics, a hook, whatever… And then I’ll take it to the guys where we all kinda just jam it out and throw ideas around. We always try the crazy ideas once, because you never know what you can come up with ‘till you try. I’m very grateful to have such creative dudes in my band.

You mentioned in a recent interview (1) that 2018 would see the rise of Turbulent Hearts 2.0! Could you give us a bit more info on what is taking shape?

- Oh yes, Turbs2.0 is in the works… So this 7” is the last project that Mark & Jay will be a part of. They had both been talking about making an amicable split from the band for some time, which is why Jay did not join us in England this past summer. I love those guys to death and they will always be my dear friends. Sometimes the road just takes us down a different path and I am ok with that! This will be the first time announcing that Jeff Garrison, who did the UK tour with us as a fill-in drummer, has joined the band as a permanent member and we will announce a new bass player soon. Turbs2.0 is going to be faster, louder, and even more rock n’ roll… We’ve been busy writing for our first full-length album and will be doing a big summer tour ahead of England and Europe… But I can’t say it yet!

I suppose with new personnel come new musical reference points, new influences! That must keep the creative evolution within the band very dynamic!?

- Exactly that. I’m not intimidated by any line-up changes. Granted, yes, that does change the dynamic but I see nothing wrong with that! It has given me a fresh perspective and well, I’m certainly not going anywhere. I’m excited to share this new energy with the world and we will be able to do a lot more touring now.

In the book 'One Chord Wonders' (2) the author comments that first wave punk gave women the chance to deconstruct and explore gender, have you experienced the punk scene as still being a liberating space for women?

- Oh yes, I think the punk world has always been a special place where women can do whatever they please. There are gunna be creeps in any scene, but punk rock has always been progressive, and regardless, us chicks are gunna do what we want anyway.

What contemporary bands have you been enjoying lately? 

- There are a lot of great bands right now! Some of my faves are New Evil, The Darts, Kim & The Created, Svetlanas, Vigil Of War, ShiraGirl, Screech Bats, Minotore, BadCop/BadCop, The Last Gang, Maid Of Ace, Royal Distortion, The Jordyn Show, 222, Go Betty Go, The Bombpops, Kilo Tango, and so many more. A lot of badass chicks to check out!  I’m proud to call all these ladies friends! 

Good luck with the UK tour in the Summer!

- Thank you! Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and a town near you soon! Xo, Suzi Moon

Bibliography.

(1) Coyote, G. (2018)  Truly inspirational: Suzi Moon-singer and guitarist for Turbulent Hearts. http://www.punkglobe.com/suzimoon0118.php

(2) Laing, D. (2015) 'One Chord Wonders; Power and Meaning in Punk Rock', PM Press, Oakland, CA, USA.

Thunder On The Left: National Insecurity. Music For Your Head And Feet.

Drawing comparisons with both Rage Against the Machine and Gossip dissident alt-rockers Thunder on the Left formed in early 2015 releasing their debut EP The Art of Letting Go later that year to very positive responses. I was lucky enough to see them at the Loud Women Fest in early September 2017 where for me they were the stand out band. Their set of multi textured modern rock was powered by Adam Kingsley on bass/vocals and Arun Dhanjal, drums/vocals, with Carla Tully showing a startling ability to combine complex guitar and vocals with more energy than one could reasonably expect. The intensity of their live show has caused one reviewer to claim ‘the future of rock music may just depend on’* them!(1). So with that sort of a live reputation does their debut album National Insecurity do them justice? The short answer is ‘Yes!’ Apparently it was recorded over nine days in Foel Studios in Wales with the band avoiding multi-tracking in an attempt to capture their live sound, and it worked, though Interestingly the first thing that struck me about the album is that musically it is much more intelligent, atmospheric and varied than I was expecting, I guess hearing them for the first time live I had missed some of the subtlety of their sound. Second thing; lyrically this is straight out the top drawer, here is a wordsmith able to articulate sophisticated ideas thoughtfully. Their self description of ‘Dissident alt rockers’ is no empty boast (check out the video to ‘Sick’),there is a lot of thought and, I would guess, a lot of reading behind this.

The album kicks off with with Carla intoning, slightly disturbingly, over a sparse musical background “Trust your gut, it’s all you’ve got”, on ‘Everybody Is Not Me’ before the music kicks in reminding me a little of The Raconteurs. Carla continues “Everybody says you won’t do it, you won’t make it, you won’t achieve a thing. Everybody is not me!..You’ve got to think for yourself” over a rock track containing plenty of light, shade and undulation. Good start.

Next up is one of the early stand out tracks for me ‘Cliche’, “Everybody here who wants a cliche say ‘Hey’, everybody here who is a cliche say ’Hey’...” now as a call and response this is unsettling, who is going to punch the air to that? But what do we want from our bands? For ourselves? Are we engaged in simple recreation of culturally expected roles and practices or do we want to be involved in true creativity and exploration collectively and individually? The accompanying video widens out the questions further critiquing the performance of gendered expectations and the reproduction of idealised households in a capitalist system. It goes on “Go ahead stick your label on my forehead, patronise me, classify me, sell me to the government”-  a critique of reductionism, of data collection?

On ‘Survivor’ they really cut loose and rock, imagine the Foo Fighters if they were exciting and good! “The past is a story we tell ourselves over and over again...sick of the lies, the pretence, the disguise”

‘Rather be Dead than be Fake’, really interesting guitar break in the middle “ bodies hidden in the walls of our history”, some nice tempo changes rising to a crescendo- nicely textured track.

Running through each track individually carries the risk of missing the overall effect of the different songs which is of finely written, complex rock, clever tempo and chord changes within songs that are never dragged out but instead are finely honed, laced through with thought provoking, at times challenging, lyrics that range from personal experience to social commentary.

The atmospheric, tense title track ‘National Insecurity’ is built round the repeated refrain of “Brush your teeth it’s time for bed, are you living are you dead?” and (going by the video) explores the intersection of dystopian surveillance, technology and social media and their configuring effects in contemporary experience.

Penultimate track ‘Sign my Name’ is Thunder on the Left succinctly skewering the experience of 21st Century working class Britain, “ The government hates you,...nothing really matters as long as you pay the bills, honey. Nothing really matters as long as you meet the rent. Nothing really matters as long as you save all your money. Nothing really matters as long as you get in debt.” Neat analysis of the situation where debt and financial pressure are used as a means of social control by a government serving the interests of the powerful. “A paradigm of control” as TOTL more elegantly put it later in the same song.

In response to Bono’s poorly thought out comments about rock music in Rolling Stone where he seemingly suggested that real rock was driven by young male rage and that modern rock had become ‘girly’ TOTL tweeted that “Bono obviously hasn’t heard of Thunder on the Left yet”...a situation that may be rectified by this album. (Although he seems to need  to do a crash course in rock history as well as getting up to speed on contemporary music!)

National Insecurity is a superbly realised album of intelligent, well written, modern rock music that is full of texture and complexity while expertly critiquing social injustice in the UK. Music for your feet and your head. What more could you ask for from a band?

  

 

*https://www.facebook.com/pg/thunderontheleft/about/?ref=page_internal

The Revue Magazine (live review 2017) 

Cover by TOTL and Christopher Allen.

Nigdy się nie damy! (We Will Never Give Up!) by Radioactive Rats.

Polish punk has a long and impressive history, emerging under totalitarian Communism in the 1980s and seen as a threat by the government, it learnt to survive in hostile conditions. The end of State Communism made things easier for Polish punks but it was still viewed with suspicion by many and being a Polish punk in the 90s wasn’t an easy option as “Travelling to bigger places in Poland…a lot of people would like to hit you for looking different!”(1). Despite official and unofficial opposition Polish punk thrived in the 80s and 90s producing bands like Dezerter, Homomilitia, Siekiera and Apatia.   

In 2003 a bunch of young punks formed Potluczony Kaloryfer (Smashed Radiator) in the Polish town of Namyslow, fast forward to 2013 and the assorted Smashed Radiators, now living in the UK, decided to reconstitute the band and give it another go playing their first British gigs in 2014. After a couple of gigs a change of name seemed like a good idea and Potluczony Kaloryfer became Radioactive Rats, a name chosen as “Rats are very cute and very smart but disliked and seen as a threat… a little bit like punk rockers!”(2) according to lead singer Ewa Zablocka. The next year or two saw a couple of personnel changes with additional  guitarist Marek Stepien, previously of Snowball Ambush(2), joining Ewa, Josef Borach (guitar) and Kubczak Zablocki (bass) and, until very recently, Bartosz Gilewski taking over from Jimmy the original drummer.

Spending the last few years getting out and gigging-they played 14 shows in 2017- Radioactive Rats have developed their danceable riff laden sound, which has become harder and heavier, into an all encompassing experience as the twin guitarists wander into the crowd and the music infuses you with a sense of exhilaration, anger, hope and frustration. Which raise lots of questions as most of the lyrics are in Polish! How does the communication of those universal experiences and emotions work across language (and culture)? The intonation of a voice? The structure of the music? Is the person next to me sensing the same things?!   

Over that time they’ve also been writing and recording and in December 2017 self released a mighty 8 track CD Nigdy się nie damy!-(We Will Never Give Up!)- consisting of 5 self penned tracks and 3 covers.

With all the guitars and vocals recorded at home on a very small budget Nigdy się nie damy! somehow manages to capture the sound of 5 piece Radioactive Rats in full flow so intrigued I asked Marek how they had pulled it off, about his academic background and whether it had come in handy and also asked Ewa to explain a bit more about the songs.

Marek: Yes, I have MEng in Electronics and Telecommunications majoring in Acoustics and my Master’s thesis was about Home Recording. Having a theoretical basis and already some experience in home recording (the demo of my previous band was recorded in the same way) helped a lot. Basically we used USB audio interface to connect guitars or microphone to a computer and recorded tracks through Reaper software. All the tracks were recorded as a DI (before signal is compressed or distored) to re-amp it later (raw tracks sounded very funny). It was all done in my living room. With guitars it was easy because everything was recorded quietly on headphones, but always when recording vocals I was worried that one of my neighbours would call the police reporting domestic violence as Ewa (or Joseph or Kuba when doing backing vocals) had to really scream to reflect the energy we hope we are showing live! Then I had to choose the best shots, cut, move, time-align etc. Because recording drums is most time consuming and costly we decided to program MIDI drums and process in drum software afterwards. After that we sent all the tracks to my friend 'Lotnik' from www.sound-online.pl (I cannot recommend him highly enough!) to do the aforementioned re-amping, drums processing and final Mix and Mastering. Because with DI tracks you can change sound almost 'in the fly' he sent us a few samples of guitar and drum sounds, we chose the ones we liked the most and ‘Voila!’

Q: Ewa, can you run us through the songs, what the titles mean and the subjects they engage with?

Ewa: The tracks 'Nigdy sie nie damy' (‘We Will Never Give Up’), 'Sprzeciw' (Protest) and 'Do bolu' (Till It Hurts) are all political(ish) about The System, politicians, corruption, lies, etc and that we do not agree with all that shit.

'Pojebany' (Fucked) is about a fake person who pretends to be the part of punk culture and 'Bog' (God) is about religion, that you don’t need any gods to prove yourself, to understand that you are your own god.

Q: We had a (drunken) chat once about the twin themes of hope and frustration running through Radioactive Rats lyrics and that I could sense that despite not speaking Polish-are they emotions you feel strongly when singing these songs?

Ewa: Yes, as per our conversation, I don’t think you need to understand all the lyrics to understand the meanings and feelings. In our music and lyrics there is a lot of anger, but it’s hard to say whether I feel anger on the stage. It’s more that I just feel the music and energy. Even if I didn’t write most of these songs, I do feel connection with most of them. All these old songs like 'Pojebany' or 'Nigdy sie nie damy' reminds me of when I was 15 and we started to play as a Potluczony Kaloryfer ‘angry, untalented kids against the world’. 'Sprzeciw' and 'Do bólu' reminds me about a very important part of my life when I started gigging with ZMT and growing up as a person and a vocalist. 'Cyrk' or 'Zero' are the songs of my favourite band from my hometown, Terra, Joseph’s and Jimmy’s (original RR drummer) previous band. I shared the stage or travelled with them numerous times (and would highly recommend their two CD’s on their Bandcamp page).

But to be honest most of my energy comes from the music itself and people around me during the gigs.

Q: You included three covers on the CD by Zielone Zabki, Homomilitia, and Apatia, are they songs that are special to you, were they part of your growing up in Poland, are they important songs in Polish punk? I noticed when you covered the Apatia song in London-the place went wild!

Ewa: Zielone Zabki, Apatia and Homomilitia are good, old, punk/hc punk Polish bands. I think everyone knows them. We started to play 'Młodzi faszyści' and 'Policja' because of the lyrics… 'So2' we chose because it’s very simple to play and it’s nice to sway for a change, also it was nice to drink some cheap wine before a gig when we were teenagers and the lyrics are about love to cheap wine!

Q: How do you feel about the CD being out, what has the response been like?

Marek: To be honest I feel a kind of relief that we managed to record these songs and we’ve also just released on our Bandcamp 14 tracks recorded live at BSV Studios in Nottingham in 2013. In some sense this closes the chapter titled ‘Potluczony Kalofyfer’. Hopefully now we can concentrate fully on writing new material - 100% Radioactive Rats! The response for 'Nigdy sie nie damy' is very positive. We were praised for the sound (all credits to Lotnik), recreating our live energy (to some extent), and even selection of cover songs, so ‘so far so good’. And all of that motivates us to work even harder on new stuff and give 110% on each gig...

I’ve been eagerly waiting for a Radioactive Rats CD and Nigdy się nie damy! does not disappoint, full on metal tinged punk that has successfully captured and transposed the energy of their live show. If you like your punk vibrant, modern and hardcore then do yourself a favour and get hold of a copy...and then go see them live!     

Bibliography.

(1)http://echoesanddust.com/2016/12/radioactive-rats-the-sumac-centre/

(2)http://echoesanddust.com/2017/05/ewa-zablocka-on-all-things-radioactive-rats/

Also referenced Hutchcraft, J. (2017) ‘There’s a Polish Punk Scene in London and it’s Thriving’. https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/d7e89x/polish-punk-scene-london-anti-fascism