My Love My Way 'Zine: dicembre 2013

I think that's really hard to explain a feeling that a person could feel when a train's just coming in front of you. Well, when you listen to Coke Bust you can easily sense that feeling. They are fast, angry, and if you had the chance to see them live, they are that famous train.
Let's talk with Nick, the singer of the band.

1 - Please introduce the band. Was it easy to start a band in a city like Washinghton D.C., from a lot of years a fertile place for hardcore and punk in general?

Hi Giovanni! Thanks for the interview! Hardcore and punk is alive and well in Washington, DC and the city obviously has a very rich history. The first hardcore punk band that I ever saw was called CRISPUS ATTUCKS and I saw them play in 2001 when I was 14 years old. They blew me away and inspired me to later play in a band. I joined my first group, Griptape, in 2002 and then met Chris Moore who would go on to play drums for us. My involvement in bands in the early 2000's introduced me to all the guys I started Coke Bust with. To answer your question.... yes, it was easy to start this band!

2 - Hc punk and social media now it's a pair pretty hard to break. Do you see this relation such as a good or a bad thing?

I think social media can be good and can help spread information and ideas. Facebook has helped me book shows all over the world and made it easier to tour and get music distributed everywhere. I think that as long as social media is a launching-pad and not the "end all/be all" of punk... I think it's fine!

3 - I read about the fact that there are No squats in the States;how do you explain this thing? How was for you the first time you found this reality in Europe? And what's the main difference of playing in squats and diy shows in the US?

You are correct in that we do not have squats in America. When a building is vacant, it is still private property. Anybody who enters that building is breaking the law and faces punishment. This is why we don't have squats. I first came to Europe in 2007 when I was a roadie for Magrudergrind on their long tour. We played in squats all over the continent and I had no idea that they even existed until we went over there! I loved squats. I love the history associated with them (e.g. learning that a squat used to be an old German war barracks, etc) and I think it's cool to play in places that normal people are afraid of.

Here in the US we have a lot of DIY shows in houses and basements. I love playing house shows! I've never seen one in Europe, so that is what I would say the main difference is.

4 - Where are we "confined"? Or where are confined people who realized to be in their lives?

I wrote Confined about myself and I can't speak for other people. I think that many people could probably relate. I felt confined by my job, relationships, parents' expectations, money, etc.

5 - What's the meaning of "another fucking problem"?

I wrote "Another Fucking Problem" the day that my dog was euthanized. I was so frustrated with my job, not having money, medical bills, the loss of my dog... that I had to just let everything out. That song helped me channel my frustrations at the time. To be entirely honest with you, I write all the lyrics for myself. I don't write them for other people. I can't speak for how people should take my lyrics or what they should think. I just write songs about how I'm feeling and if anyone can relate... that's cool!

6 - It has become common nowadays to hear stories about "labels" who just try to make money behind the mark of diy. I mean, trying to use the diy as a kind of excuse just for selling more records while at the end they don't follow this ethic and even don't give a shit about bands they produce etc. What do you think about it?

Coke Bust is a band that has always worked with labels that we trust and labels that we are friends with. Grave Mistake Records, who has put out a few records for my bands over the years, has always been incredibly cool and supportive. Alex is a personal friend of mine and at the end of the day he's not doing this to make money. Alex loves hardcore punk, just like we do. We work together and there are no problems. I am aware that there are ripoffs in hardcore and punk, but we have nothing to do with those people. Six Weeks, Vinyl Conflict, Grave Mistake, Third Party, Refuse, and Carry the Weight are punk operations run by legit HC warriors.

7 - Talking about straight edge, one point that i really like in your band is that, although in the band you are all sxe, i feel that you live it more as a personal choice, preferring to speak about political and social issues instead of the usual common sxe themes. Or if you talk about it, you always connect it with the issues i mentioned before. Is it true? How is following the sxe philosophy in 2013?

Straight edge is something that is different for everyone. Everyone has their own reasons and philosophies behind straight edge, and I think it is important to remember and recognize that. I don't want to speak for all straight edge people, or even everyone in my band. For me, personally, I am straight edge for a few reasons. First... I do it for health/life reasons. I think that if I drank or did drugs I would be an addict for sure. I have the personality for someone who wouldn't do well with drugs. When I find something that I like, I tend to go for it at any cost (just like hardcore, hah). Next, I am also straight edge because I don't want to support these giant industries that thrive off of human addiction/misery. The drug trade is particularly despicable and people die every day because of the trade. I don't want to support that fucking shit. Lastly, I think you have to look at the politics of the liquor/tobacco industries and who is running the show and their political affiliations.

8 - How is to work with grave mistake and refuse records?

It is awesome. I can't imagine being on better labels, honestly. Both are incredibly supportive, well organized, professional, and are run by people who truly care about the music before the business. I'm proud to call Alex and Robert personal friends.

9 - From "Fuck bar culture" 'till "Confined" what has changed musically speaking and inside the band?

We replaced our guitar player and bass player in those six years. The attitude has remained the same though. Fast, aggressive straight edge music. I think we are better on Confined!

10 - What do you think about the concept of democracy? I mean, democracy it's always used as a word with positive meaning("let's see what the majority says, we are all in a democracy") but one of the things that i think about it is that's a mere illusion and more a reflection of what the majority itself wants to let pass like good,over all the minorities. Do you have any position about it and what do you think about?

I think that a democracy is the best overall system of government. Can you think of a better alternative? I don't think that anarchy is actually a better form of government. That would leave society in a vulnerable place and could possibly give way to extremism, fascism, etc. I think there are a lot of problems with what we consider to be "democracy" in America, however.

11 - Any last words?

Cook your own food!

you can get in touch with the band following:

http://cokebust.com
http://cokebust.storenvy.com

http://cokebust.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/cokebust

After more than a year of hiatus i decided to comeback for interviewing some of my favourite bands around.
I started again with HOLY from Milan (Ita). I think everyone of you already know them, mostly because they have already played (for sure) in your own hometown and even because you can only love them listening at their records (first one out for Hell Yes! rec. , second one out for Adagio830).If you don't know them, please follow the links at the end of the interview! Let's talk with the singer Stefano about what's around the band.

The first question is the usual boring one: please introduce Holy. Could you please guys stop touring in this way?

Ahahah Don't worry, I don't mind to introduce the band, mainly because there's nothing too complicated to explain. Holy is a punk band, made by four friends, we come from Milano, and we love to play. Right now is Stefano typing, I'm the one who sings. Tadzio is playing bass, Giacomo the drums, and the other guy named Stefano plays guitar.
To answer to the second part of your question, right now we're just coming out from a 3 months of hiatus, for the first time in these two years, so, we stopped for a while.
Right now we're about to start practicing again, and plannig new shows/tours and probably start writing a new record.

When did the band begin to take form? How did you come up with the name of the band? What bands did inspire you to play the sound that you do?

We started rehearsing in the June or July of 2011; we've been discussing about forming a band together since forever, somehow we got all stuck in Milan during the summertime, and you can imagine it could be pretty boring, so we decided to give it a chance.
The name "HOLY" came out because we were looking for something very short and catchy, but also in some way ambiguous and Ironic/sarcastic; we are all Atheist/Rationalist, and also religion is a recurring theme in our songs, so we picked up the name Holy. We were (and still we are), very aware that this name it's very easy to misunderstand; it happened more than once that we had to make ourselves clear about the fact that WE ARE NOT A RELIGIOUS BAND.
Speaking of our sound it's something we turn into during the very first afternoons we spent praticing.
I can't quote just one band that mainly influenced us, i think we put in the mix everything that we love, like classic punk, 90's hardcore, powerviolence and obviously tons of DBeat.

Making hardcore punk and touring around the world is even a way of expressing dissent ideas and being part of an "underground" culture but do you think that today just being DIY and working outside of the mainstream it’s a political act in itself or does it risk to became just a form of dissent art?

You're making a good point, I mean too often DIY, and punk in general, are mythologized and one of the biggest threat for bands and individuals is start practicing something merely self-referential, and stop looking at the big picture. On the other side we're living in a world founded on manipulation and suppression of individuality, and I don't mean only in politics, but under any aspect of our lives, how we eat, how we have fun, how we spend our free time, who we decide to have sex with, how we earn and spend money (like these two last things are absolutely essential).

I think that DIY encourages individuals to chase a more suitable lifestyle, and now I'm aware that I don't need a corporate media to spread my ideas, or to make my music listened, I don't need 2000 € to spend a week abroad, because luckly someone will let me sleep on a floor. I can live as a perfect healty human even without consuming meat or dairy and so it goes.

To preserve it for turning to something merely "arty" we have to try to keep it alive on a political level, and by "political" i mean in the easiest and primary form: interaction between people, share ideas, question things, get ready to be questioned and, most important, be opened to change our minds.
I'm not that naive to think it will always work, and I'm conscious, in first place, of my limits as a person, but i still think that this is the only way it somehow can work.

You toured around west-coast together with Punch last summer. How was this experience? What are the biggest differences you've found between touring Europe and Usa. How was tour with another band from the "new world"?

The tour was amazing, and so far, the greatest experience we've lived as a band. I really felt I was literally on the other side of the planet.
We ate tons and tons of pretty amazing vegan food, we had the chance to play with so many amazing bands, and in so many amazing places.
There are plenty of differences, just to quote one it's pretty amazing to see how the kids there have managed to "run" a DIY and political active scene even though there are no proper squats over there.

We felt we were warmly welcomed, and everybody was so supportive and seemed so happy to have a band from abroad playing their town, and this is very different from what, in most cases, happens here in Milan with touring bands.

Punch deserves a whole chapter of this history, I mean they were the main reason why we played there, they booked all the tour, they shared with us their van and all their gear, and still got time left to carry us around, and let us act like proper tourists in Cali.

Also we were always late (not me, but the other three guys!) and they were super patient and understanting; and I can't imagine five better people to share a tour.

Do you consider Holy being a political band?

I think in part I've already answered to this, to be more specific I can say YES, Holy are a political band. A lot of people will probably disagree, because not all of our lyrics are what in punk is considered strictly political.

I take full responsibility for this, because, when I write lyrics I try not to use any slogan. I never believed in the dicotomy political lyrics vs personal lyrics, i think that in everyday life the two aspects are connected, and, as I said before, I intend the word "political" in his primary meaning; it's political being angry for another imperialist invasion of a sovereign state, as well is political being frustrated for the incapability to relate between individuals.

Also themes like veganism and atheism are themes that we try to consider under a different light, beside the two punchlines "meat is murder" and "no gods, no masters".

"This town has blew the life away from me" - Does Milan really suck in this way, and how is for Holy living as a band in this city?

Milan is not that bad, but in some ways is bad. I mean it's not a very welcoming city, and sometimes it's hard to feel some human warmth. I don't want to reinforce some of the worst stereotypes about my city, but it can be a tough city.

I must admit that after some years of struggling with the idea of living here i'm right now (for now, maybe...)in peace of mind.

The song you quoted is pretty much about a strong feeling of disillusion, and the feeling of not fitting in anymore with my peers, not only with the town, it's also about facing years of failures of and not achieved goals in politics.

For a band Milano is pretty challenging, I mean Milano is still on the map of Italian punk, but in the last years having shows in packed rooms, with a lot of people having fun, and not standing still in front of the band, has become pretty hard.

Also the lack of venues to play is the root of this problem, We're still playing shows, and booking shows for touring bands, but basically it's ups and downs.

To be fair, it seems like it's gettin better, more young kids involved e more new (good) bands.

Reading your lyrics i felt a lot of dark feelings; are we really live a life without sense? How do you try to overwhelm the bad things around you?

Obliouvsly the dark feelings are right there, where you read them, ahah. When I was writing the lyrics for "the age of collapse" I Was facing a lot of disillusion and a certain sense of impotence, among my usual trust issues, so I guess everything sounds a bit nihilist. But I don't consider this negative or, even worse self indugent. In our view of the world having consciousness of the shit that surrounds us is the first, unavoidable, step, to try to change these things. You can say "Be negative to be positive", ahahah, don't say it, I'm just joking.

Religion (every kind) into punk hardcore...are people serious about it? What do you think?

First of all, we're all atheist but we all stand for freedom of cult; in other words, I don't blame anyone for believing in some god or for being a spiritual person.

What really depress me is how can somebody think that religion can fit into punk. Religion is by definition a static and dogmatic syste; religion is, and has always been, one of the main obstacles to social changes, free tought and self realization.

I don't know how it happens that religion and punk joined, if we're talking about the whole khrisna core thing (which is not the only example of religion into punk), i think that probably a certain way of seeing straight edge helped, like trading one set of rules with another; but honestly I don't know for sure, what I know is that for me punk will always be the black sheep LEAVING the herd, not joining it.

You are a 100% vegan band. What does this thing mean to you and how does it affect your everyday life? I'm captured by the lyric of "Old Habits" and in particular <<You're the slaughterer Repeat yourself: "at least it tastes better">>. In what terms do you think a personal choice could turn life in a good or bad way?

I think we're living in a very complicated times, it's like the causes to fight for are getting more and more, and bigger, but everybody feels powerless and feels let down and disenchanted.

What really encouraged me to be vegan is that by being that I'm not delegating the change to anyone else, I'm not givin away anything of my power of choose and do things, I think that eating and consuming other living beings is wrong, and so I do something about it, I'm not voting for a law to reduce the consume of meat, or to enlarge chicken cages.

I quit contribuiting with my money to this system, and try to be as much communicative as I can about it, with the people around me, so maybe someone else will start considering to became vegan.

Just to discourage some Anti-vegan enthusiast, who maybe is reading, I'm aware veganism is only a small thing, and that it's not enough per se, and I'm in no way saying that I care not of human animals.

I choose to became vegan maybe later than my bandmates (I Was like 22 yo, or something), it was a well thought out choice, and I was not passing through some phase, and after these years I realize it is more challenging explain the reason of my diet, than the diet itself.

I mean, being vegan is pretty easy for everyone to me, so everybody should considered it, but earing EVERYTIME justifications like: "meat tastes good", "meat is healty", or "eating animals is natural" is pretty depressing, mainly because distract from the main point about veganism; eating/exploiting animals means to kill living being not different from your cats and dogs and yourself, this what "Old habits" is about.

What do you do outside the band? Any other big passion?

Punk is a big part of our lives, even outside Holy, and probably playing is what we love the most. Besides Holy Tadzio and Giacomo plays in Komplott, Giacomo also started a new band with some friends from the US, it's called TORSO, Stefano Has also a new hardcore band named CLASS, they just recorded some songs which you're going to ear probably at very beginning of 2014. Giacomo and Tadzio set up shows here in Milano. I'm thinking myself to start a new band where i can play the bass and not singing at all, and I'm about to print my first zine. We all have other passions but probably nothing so intersting to read in an interview; i spend most of my time reading, watching movies or cooking stuff.

I was hoping you could comment on some of the writers, artists,bands and thinkers that you currently find inspiring in your life and work.

I'm a voracious reader, sometimes too much, and maybe it doesn't help. Right now I'm reading stuff from Henry David Thoreau, and watching lot of documentaries by Werner Herzog, and I'm in general very interested in the relationship between humans, society and wild nature.

I hope that somehow I can make it fit in some lyrics. I'm also a lot into Edward Bunker, and in general prison novels.

Speaking of band lyrics, i really love the approach of classic italian punk bands like Indigesti, Wretched, or Sottopressione. His is hero is gone are between my all time favourites, nowadays I Particularly like the lyrics of Dangers and Punch, and the (early) Ceremony.

Is there any more you can tell us about further Holy plans?

Tomorrow we're gonna have our first rehearsing time in almost 7 months, and next saturday we're gonna play our first show after 3 months, so things are starting to roll again, we're gonna write new stuff, and the we'll decide what to do with it.

We're planning a european tour around February/March, and whenever all the shows are booked we will start the usual spam.

Wanna add anything?

Thank You so much for the interview, and the space you gave us, I hope my answers aren't boring, because I really loved the questions.

If anybody is interested in animal rights issues please check out and support animalequality.net, or just write us.

Hey you out there! you should listen to CAINO!

Bye