RANDOM INTERVIEWS FROM BELIEVE FANZINE (2010-2015)

[believexfanzine]

https://issuu.com/zinestuff/docs/1-merged

new zine yo. 

[believexfanzine]

Aaron Bedard of BANE

( Massachusetts , USA)

March 2015/Believe Fanzine issue #4

*it was a live recorded interview after their Manila show for Bane’s last Asia Tour. Thanks to Tim for transcribing it.

So, let’s talk about straight edge

Ok

Would you consider it as a movement or a personal choice? Do think it’s still possible to be true til death?

Yeah absolutely,  I think a little bit of both to be honest. I think it’s definitely a very personal decision, but I think that if you want to sort of take it on as being part of a bigger movement and feeling connected with, you know, people who sort of walk that same path as you’re doing and that ‘s a beautiful thing, think it’s absolutely true to be – it’s absolutely possible for you to be true to it for your whole life. I intend to do that and I have a lot of friends who intend to do that

I'm asking this because I had a friend who just turned 30, then he told me that when you’re thirty you’re gonna break edge also.

Yeah I mean that’s for sure and I have a lot of  friends who are surprisingly old who have been straight edge for a long time and were just breaking edge like there are people back home who’ve broken edge in the last few months that are just shocking that you’d never would have imagined that they would do that or why would they do it at such an age where you figure that you’re not trying to be like fitting in anymore or that you would have gotten past a lot of the stupid peer pressure bullshit but they’ve decided that they no longer wanna be a part of straight edge and that’s a little bit discouraging when it’s people that you really care about but it’s also it’s their personal choice it wasn’t right for them and that’s fine you know.

I think so.

What's in this scene that excites you that made you stay for a really long time?

Yeah it’s been a long time. I like the aggression and the sort of outlet that it allows for you to be able to get stuff off your chest, to be able to  exert a lot of energy and and it’s a very sort of physical community where you really throw yourself into the music, whether you’re on stage or you’re stage diving or dancing there’s a lot of screaming and shouting, a lot of anger just I think it’s for , you know it’s pretty ready made for people who are fired up and aggressive that was sort of always me you know. Always had a pretty big mouth always felt pretty outspoken about things so yeah it was a good fit and I did not intend for it to sort of make sense as long as it has you know, but it just was always been the thing that worked really well for me and that felt right to me. So yeah the years just kinda flew by and next thing I knew I was not really the age of a lot of kids around me- hardcore kids but I can’t deny that I still love this scene, this music- still believe in it

 Time flies. haha

 Yeah really, time flies very true (chuckles)

So, since you were around in this scene for quite a long time and you've toured almost everywhere, Do you think the future is still bright in the hardcore scene?

For hardcore?

Yeah.

Yeah as long as there’s kids there’s gonna be the future’s gonna look good, as long as there’s young people making bands starting record labels doing shows like that  that’s the lifeblood of this music, this young kids who fucking feel ready to try and take on the world who feel like they can  make real changes both in themselves and then the world around them. Think that’s what’s beautiful about hardcore that’s mostly driven by you know youthful ambition.. you know it’s almost naïve how much kids believe that they can change and you know and I love that about hardcore that they have these incredible beliefs that you can kick this stance and fight against anything. That’s what makes hardcore beautiful is it gives you the soundtrack to believe in that stuff. See I believe as long as there’s kids who are looking to be rebellious then the future of hardcore is looking healthy, yeah.

How about the new record "Don't Wait Up" is literally and obviously saying goodbye.

Yes

So could you tell us more about it or do you have a favorite song?

Yeah I mean I’m happy with all of that record, I think that I can say it’s the record that that I’m most proud of, that bane has ever done. I think that all of us were very aware that this was gonna be it. That really would be the last time that we wrote songs together- it’d be our last time in the studio, and everyone really brought their best stuff to the songwriting process, I mean, every member of the band really pushed it harder than I think we’ve ever pushed it before, we dug deeper inside of ourselves to be really honest with how we’re feeling and this is sort of a sad thing for us. To have to say goodbye to this band, to be actually have to face writing our last record, something that even 3 years ago I don’t think any of us was prepared to even talk about it.  So yeah we worked really hard, we’re able to work with some friends, and we got to do calling hours. We had Pat from Have Heart, Wally from Rotting Out, David from Down To Nothing and Reeba from Code Orange Kids. It was really great for us to work with young people who we really look up to, really admire and they came and gave a lot of themselves to helping us make the record special. And for me, that’s really overwhelming, for people who aren’t actually in the band that came in, have gone far out of their way, written these very beautiful lyrics about how they feel about having to say goodbye to the band. It’s really really nice for us. So yeah, I mean it was a hard record to write, there’s a lot of sadness sort of woven into that record but it’s also the one that I’m most proud of. I really do love it.

I think “Calling Hours” is everyone’s favorite.

Oh? Thank you. It was really nice to be able to play that tonight, and to see and get that response; we didn’t even have it on the setlist. Wasn’t sure how that was gonna go but I think we need to be playing that song 

Actually we’re just waiting for calling hours to be played. So, which one is your favorite?

I think, I don’t really spend a lot of time listening to our music, but I think that’s probably the one that I would have to say is my favorite just because so many people who I admire were, have done it with us you know. Like people whose bands I fucking love like came over to our side, and like get in to our studio and and sang with us and I think  that end result is really good song, I think it’s a very brave song  in that it’s not a typical hardcore song, I doesn’t have a fast part or any big breakdowns, and we were just like fuck it, let’s just do it our way and it came out and kids really seem to like it so that feels nice for us. So that’s my favorite, but favorite changes monthly, so probably month to month it’ll change (chuckles)

I find it really kind of you to tour here in Southeast Asia, at least for the last time. I think the first time was 2010 (yeah) this is the second time.

 Yeah this is our second time here, we were able to come back to some of the countries here after that but we didn’t come to the Philippines. Yeah this is our second time here 

From announcing the new record last year 2014 to this day that like every poster was a farewell tour. How do you feel about it?

Yeah, that’s I mean that was sort of the plan, as we sat down and decided well let’s stay a band for another couple more years, cuz  a couple of years ago we were looking like we’re gonna break up real soon. It was looking like we were gonna break up at the end of 2013, it’s originally the sort of conversation we had, and then we changed our minds, like uhh I don’t want it to end that soon, I’m not ready for it to end. So we said,  well look, let’s write one final record and let’s announce it, let’s push it as the final record, like kids know this is it. And then we’ll have a year and a half, or two years, to sort of do whatever we want to sort of write the final chapter of the band while we’re all still our friends while we’re all still excited about being in a band, that we weren’t gonna be put in a position where we were forced to break up, because of some outside forces. That we would be able to say we did it our own way, and what we decided to do is sort of make a list of places that were very dear to our hearts to be able to let them know that we’re gonna come there one last time, so we sort of made that list- South America, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan,  like obviously Europe, America, and yeah so this is that year, we’re doing that now. Last year was the farewell tour with South America, and now we’ll do this one. And then later in the spring we fly to Australia, we’ll do a US tour in the summer and then in the fall we’ll go say goodbye to japan, and then in November we’ll do our final European tour, which will be really difficult because we’ve been to Europe maybe fifteen times, we have a lot of family, a lot of loved ones there so it’s gonna be tough. And then we’ll have our 20th anniversary party in our hometown in Worcester, in December. And then early next year we’ll do that last, the final tour, which will be in the United States like the actual last Bane tour. So this year is gonna be busy, we go say goodbye to a lot of places, sort of play some festivals for the last time, but the actual final bane tour won’t be until in 2016.

That’s really good to hear

Yeah, we’re gonna be around for a little while aren’t we? (laughs) that’s why we wrote the record, when we’re like we’re gonna stay a band, let’s write another record. Let’s have some new songs

I think that when you announced it, I remember the LA show that got sold out and everyone thought that it’s the last show.

Yeah, we fucked up, I think we didn’t really make it clear, the word “final” started thrown around, people took that and ran with it. Then we were like “No no, it’s not the final tour” I mean, it’s the final record.  And we made that record so that could- we write hardcore songs so that we can play the lot. That’s why we do it. We didn’t make a record just to record, like we made these songs so that we can have nights like these tonight. That that was the whole purpose of it. So yes, we’re now doing that, really busy year this year, there’s gonna be a lot of sadness, we’re gonna have to say a lot of goodbyes

You know there were a lot of kids tonight who hugged us goodbye and said “We’ll see you next time” and my heart broke a little it’d be like. Cuz last time, I’d be like yes of course! I’m always telling kids we’ll be back this was amazing I promise you’ll see us again and now I can’t say that this tour. It’s gonna be tough you know… it’s gonna be hard

Well, aside from being a veteran band in Massachusetts, how would you like Bane to be remembered?

You know, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that stuff, it sort of stresses me out, I’d feel like it keeps me from concentrating on what’s happening now. I know there will be a time where I’m gonna look back, and look at what the legacy of bane was. Like what we were, what we meant, but I really try not to get to caught up in that.  You know I hope that people will just see us a band who is really true to what we believe. We just try to be honest, with what we stood for and never get too ahead of ourselves. Like never try to grow out of the scene that we were born in. and to me that was the most important thing is to just stay hardcore kids, played hardcore music and who really genuinely cared about the kids, cared about each other. If that could be our legacy, if that’s what people are gonna say about bane. You know they’re a real fucking band who stood by what they sang onstage, I’ll be very happy.  That’ll be fine for me.

 I think that will happen

We’ll see, you know. I hope so.

Do you think that hardcore music has the ability to change the way a person looks at one’s self and the world?

Absolutely, I mean I can only give you an example  of one, which is myself , and it absolutely changed everything for me. It saved me, it made me feel not so alone in the world, not so fucked up, it made me feel connected with music, through that music I was able to feel connected to other people at a show, maybe not to know a kid’s name but know that we are sharing in this together. And then I got to do it in a more fucking insane way that i got to come here, that I got to go places on the other side of the world and have that same feeling to be next to a kid.(Pointing at Jay of Aspire Fanzine’s Minor Threat shirt) I don’t know you, I don’t know your experience but I know that this band is one of my favorite bands in all of the world,  and the thing that makes this band so special is their lyrics, the things that they stand for, and to see you wearing that shirt I instantly feel a kinship, like we have an understanding together. Some normal Joe will see that shirt and feel nothing, they don’t know what that means, but to me and you “Out of Step” this black sheep here we know what that is, we understand what that is trying to say. so for me, absolutely, it saved me it made me feel not so fucking alone in the world, when I was before I found punk rock music, and I did not know where I was gonna fit in. Didn’t know how was I gonna make it, in my teenage years I was really confused about what we were doing, what we thought was cool, and I did, I found this music, it had a message, it had energy to it. That spoke to me instantly, and in here I’ve become a better person when I found this music for sure, like undoubtedly.  So to answer your question, quickly the answer is yes. Absolutely

 Alright, thank you!  Since you’ve already told us about the plans, the last shows, how about This is Hardcore are you gonna play there?

We’ll do that this year, this time we’ll play our final this is hardcore. Uhm, we’re hoping that Joe, who books that festival every year is gonna let us pick a bunch of the bands that we wanna play with.  Sort of let us have our own special day where we can handpick the bands that we really admire, bands like Title Fight, Rotting Out, Code Orange Kids, Down to Nothing, Cruel Hand. Like the bands who are more than just our friends, but you know real family. And uhm, I’m hoping that will work, I’m really hoping that we’ll do that, some of the bands are on tour, not all of them will be able to do it, but I think we’re gonna try as many as possible just so to play on our day. We’ll see but yeah we’ll play at this year for sure, we’re really excited because we missed it last year. It was the first year we didn’t play in I think 4 years, maybe 5?

Alright so, yeah thanks for the interview

Such good questions, really great questions, thank you

Thank you

You’re welcome

[believexfanzine]

Dennis Empalmado of SINEUNA, PLEASANT DREAMS PRODUCTION Independent film maker and screen writer

(San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines)

Nov 2014/Believe Fanzine Issue #4

https://www.facebook.com/SineUnaPH/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClXuiCIBzhhG5CUcYZQ4I3Q

What's up Dennis? How are you doing today?

I'm good thank you.

I find it interesting that you make indie films and listen to hardcore punk. Tell us how it all started.

I'm a music fan. I listen to all types of music. I was a big fan of hardcore music when I was a teenager. Positive noise!!!! But I'm too old for that sound now, I still play some of my hardcore records once in a while. Depends on my mood... And I still collect them If I had a chance to find one.

I was so interested in photo journalism. That was my first love. And then I was introduced by my brother to expiremental/art films. At the same time, punk music was being introduced in the Philippines by radio dj Howlin' Dave so that's when it started. I took up a film course in a university and eventually got a series of film scholarships at Mowelfund Film Institute. One of my first projects was a self-produced documentary on Howlin' Dave. It's called Pinoi Rock & Rythm.       

What exactly is an indie film? Why is it so rare and not that accessible to watch?

Before it was called alternative cinema, underground, DIY filmmaking, anti-mainstream, indie is freedom. And then digital technology came in and BOOOOOM!!! Now, indie is the new mainstream. The term “indie” became confusing now. Things change, they always do. 

You said from your speech at the film screening that you like to make films out of taboo, just like "Hindi Tao, Hindi Hayop". Why such topic? What keeps you motivated in making movies like these? 

I like stories that is very seldomly told. I love to find out why these people did this and did that. Bad things. These are secrets to be revealed. So when you're revealing a secret, your audience will wait for that moment until they find out the truth.    

Let's talk about your vinyl records! When did you start collecting? Which of your collection is your favorite and you're most proud to have? 

I came from a family that listens to records all their lives. My dad used to play in a band, they play surf music in the 50's. They were the finest rock&roll band here in San Pablo during that time. All my brothers buy and collect vinyls. Even when compact disc was introduced, we were still using the turntable. We were not turned on by the digital sound. Never. Until now when that the discussion between analog vs. digital is over.  By the way who won? 

There are so many titles that I'm so proud to have. Maybe one of the rarest lps that I have is the Johnny Thunders and the HEARTBREAKERS Live at Max's Kansas City 1979, also Pleasant Dreams of the Ramones which was where I took the name of my production.     

Since you're collecting vinyl records and making movies, what's your stand in this digital age where anyone can easily download almost anything from the internet? Why do you think vinyl records and cassette tapes are coming back? (Though new ones has download codes haha)

I can't say anything about downloading. It has a good side and of course a bad side. It depends on the situation. The reason vinyls and cassettes are coming back is because of the sound. That's all. Well of course, there will always be posers! But more or less it's the quality of the sound. Some like it because it brings back memories to them, for nostalgia reasons. But there are hardcore audio philes that will tell you, the only reason why mp3's are invented is because of people who are always on the go and move fast. They also need music. So, they put mp3 music in their cellphones, laptops, eyeglasses, underwear and everywhere! But if you have the time and listening to music is a ritual for you, then vinyl it is.   

I am so excited to see your new movie "Log In". What is it about? What inspired you to make this movie?

Synopsis:

LOG IN captures the tale of Angelo, a shy, silent, and non-techie restaurant employee and bass player, who is often misinterpreted and sneered upon because of his eccentric look and punk get-ups. He is often sneered by his bandmates and has never-ending lecturing from his concerned uncle. Until he met the beautiful and conservative lending office staff named Lelay. Would he consider changing his outlook in life even the way he thinks about Facebook just to be with the woman he loves? 

Basically it's a love story. 100% indie set up!  But the good thing about this project is that all the production people are locals of San Pablo City. Most of the actors are musicians (Willie Desamero of Pathogen, John Guiller Abarcar of The Abhumans, Mico Catipon of Sinkk... and many more). This is a work in progress. Hopefully we can screeen it this year.

[believexfanzine]

Jade Fandiño of WALK ME HOME (San Pablo City, Laguna Philippines) 

June 2010/ Believe Fanzine Issue #1

https://walkmehomerocks.bandcamp.com/

Hey Jade! What’s up? To start, give us a short background on when and how the band started.

Hmm after Mellow Del Prado and Reagan In Action broke up (both are previous side projects before) around 2005, we decided to continue making music together but under a new and fresh concept. At first Walk Me Home is a power trio only with me handling the bass, Jhay on drums and Jeroze doing the vocals and guitars. But later on we realized of looking another guitar player to add up some crunchy-ness to our music. And that would be none other than Orville from local hardcore quintet Aurora. Our initial idea during the early years was to make music out of our favorite musical influences like Jimmy Eat World, Hum, Texas Is The Reason, The Jealous Sound, etc. and luckily we end up making our own songs too. 2 years later we released our 6 songs demo ep “embers” which receives lots of positive feedback from the local San Pablo music scene. Then, our drummer Jhay went to Italy for better career opportunities, that’s the time our band went to hiatus not until we finally convinced Sepoy from Aurora too (who played sessions with Reagan In Action also) to fill in to Jhay’s shoes. The change of drummer is indeniably a much better sounding and made the band a much tighter unit. Then only last year 2009, we again recorded four new songs which end up in “probably not your thing” 4 song demo ep which again received favorable feedbacks from the local scene… So basically that’s how we started out as a band…

Why was the band named Walk Me Home?

We played our first show with Typecast under a different name Roller Queen (a Jimmy Eat World song) but after making lots of thinking we decided to change it to Walk Me Home taken from a song of Jeroze’s previous band Regan In Action (“until december”). And apparently, is also a Mandy Moore song title haha.

Who wrote the lyrics? Who influences you guys the most?

As I’ve said earlier, our musical influences for WMH are basically early albums of Jimmy Eat World, Texas Is The Reason, Hey Mercedes, etc. That’s basically what inspires us to continue the band. Jeroze is our chief singer/songwriter and tell tales about break ups, sleeping habits and probably almost all about nothing. Actually most Jeroze’s songs in our first ep “embers” obviously came from his experiences from a bad break up with his girlfriend. Ask him about this now and I’m sure that he will deny it haha.

You recently put out your second EP “Probably Not Your Thing” and at the same time you had a reunion show with Village Idiots. How does it feel?

The recent cdep was also recorded in Monopond Studio under Ron Francisco’s (That Epic Reggae Set) recording and mixing expertise. He was known for helping indie albums of bands like Bad Omen, Teenage Hero, Hilera, etc. So we figured out, we are in safe hands knowing his resume. The four new songs of WMH was financially produced by our former drummer Jhay and it also features our new drummer Sepoy from our fellow 7 Lakes scene-mate Aurora. The “probably..” ep is the most memorable so far for the band because we have a song in it with a music video (“poor anthony”) which receives an airplay in MYX.

Well, about Village Idiots reunion show in the last Lakefest, well it’s no big deal for us. It just happen that our drummer was in town as well as Ebong and my band (Legarda and WMH) was also in the bill, so playing 4 songs again together was quick decision making for us. The hardest part only for that reunion is how to convince Topet, our bassist to play music again haha.

Any bands you guys love playing shows with? Or touring with? hehe..

Well obviously, we love shows like the recent Chillidogs ep launch in our hometown San Pablo City. It really feels good to play a show with all bands in the lineup are San Pablo-based. It’s like old times. I really love the reunion set of Fall Face First and Aurora, both bands were obviously and terribly missed by the local kids including me. Also I’m proud for our local street hc outfit Chillidogs who recently released their “new breed” 4 song cdep as well as Standout’s platinum 3 song cdep “for my brothers” haha. Also watch out for Towards The Ends’ new cdep and I think they will also appear in the upcoming Take Four hardcore compilation. Well, those bands were basically our fave bands to play shows with. And of course Legarda for obvious reasons haha.

What are you guys up to right now?

For WMH? Hmm we’re preparing and getting our mind set for Sepoy’s temporary leave for the band because he will also migrate in another country just like our first drummer Jhay who is in Italy right now tsk tsk tsk. So we’re taking advantage right now to play every shows we can to maximize Sepoy’s remaining days with the band.

I really like your music video “Poor Anthony”, How did you guys prepared for that? Is that song planned to have a video?

The said video was originally conceptualized by our good old friend Dyop Reyes who also did a music video for our old band Mellow Del Prado. And the guy who also played a big part in it was Dyop’s partner in video making Don Vergarra who is responsible for the post-production and editing of the video. We shot it in San Pablo during typhoon Ondoy haha. It’s basically a low budget and 100% D.I.Y. but end up much like made by professionals. Good thing we managed to asked major music channel MYX to get it on air to reward Dyop and Don’s thankless job in making the video for us.

What makes Mr. Jade Fandiño so punk rock?

Haha! Next question please… but one thing’s for sure, being punk or hardcore is definitely not a music based thing only. It’s beyond that. It’s the community and camaraderie in a scene and also the ethics of D.I.Y. under the radar of mainstream culture.

Your zine has been around for a decade now, can you give us a short story about how it started and how was it now?

Coffeemug is an indie music/personal oriented magazine which supports local/foreign bands and labels too. It is also my own vehicle in expressing my views, opinions, whines, rants in almost everything. It serves as my outlet and my chance to criticize and patronize local/foreign bands haha. I’m on my 9th issue this year and hopefully next year I could celebrate our 10 years with a show to launch the zine.

Trivia: the first issue was launched last 2001 the same time and year Mindrape (Ronald’s pre-The Beauty Of Doubt band) launced their debut album.

What can we expect from Walk Me Home in the near future?

Hopefully find a new drummer and record new set of songs. We’re planning to re-release our previous cdeps together with the new set songs in one pressed cd. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. Also we will be appearing in the homegrown section of PULP’s July issue. We’re pretty psyched about it.

Any tour, releases or merch? Feel free to plug anything.

Simply log in to www.myspace.com/walkmehomerocks for more news and gig sked. Hope we could update our myspace or facebook account more often. Tours? God how I wish we could afford to tour. But one show we are all excited about is the third annual Lakefest in San Pablo City.

Well that’s it. Thanks for the interview. Ask me anything, any message for the readers.

Thanks Rann for considering to feature me, WMH, my zine Coffemug  and a little bit of Village Idiots in your debut issue haha! Don’t stop believing! Good luck with your zine!

[believexfanzine]

Francis David of LOVE FROM HATE RECORDS/DISTRO

(Pampanga, Philippines) 

 March 2015/Believe Fanzine issue #4

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/lovefromhatepampanga

Believe: You seem to be very attached to the local Kapampangan Scene and I would say you’re one of the busiest if not, the most Notorious (hehe) guy I know in the Philippine HC-Punk Scene. Tell us how it all started.

Francis: Ahahaha Notorious talaga. It started when I met Marc Liwanag at Pampanga High School back in 1992. I saw his band Holocaust playing “Friday I’m in Love” by the Cure and “God Save the Queen” by the Sex Pistols. My two cousins Jaybee and Jude Pangilinan lend me their new wave and punk rock cassette tapes but Marc opened the door for me to discover the UK Punk, US Hardcore Punk, TRC and early 90’s punk scene in our country. I got interested in searching those aforementioned eras and learned they’ve all done it DIY. I started playing with Istukas Over Disneyland in May 1994; playing cover songs from seminal bands. After reading Oi Banger zine, I decided to make a zine with my friends; covering the active punk bands in San Fernando, interviewed the bands, wrote a scene report, reprinted articles of Punk Scene in the US from magazines until Notorious fanzine reached 10 issues. Now my new fanzine called Eksena Lokal has two issues and currently working on the third issue which is already long overdue ahahaha. You know, I see to it that I will write a scene report of Pampanga every year for you guys to be updated on what’s going on with our scene. I met this French guy Sebastian Gonnot and he encouraged me to run a small distro and share the music of bands from Italy, France, UK, Spain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hungary, Nepal, Czech Republic since buying them abroad is expensive. That was the time I don’t have my own PC. What I do is record them on my cousin’s desktop and sell them for a cheaper price – the cost of photocopy of lyrics and covers and the CDR. Every records sold will produce new titles from bands abroad. Ah yeah I remember I also distributed dubbed tapes of Brigada Flores Magon and Les Partisans (France) using hi-tech and betamag blank cassette tapes. The name Love from Hate was taken from Klasse Kriminale “Mind Invaders” 7”EP. I’m thinking of writing a newsletter so probably this May for the 21st Anniversary of the Pampanga Notorious Scene, my fingers are crossed.          

Believe: Being that you run a record label/distro, make a zine, organize shows, help out on a radio show, play in 3 bands and you have a job on a graveyard shift; have you ever thought that it’s a bit overwhelming? Why / Why not?

Francis: Indeed it’s overwhelming but of course it takes a lot of patience, effort, responsibility and understanding. I remember this guy asked me “Are you committing suicide?” and I replied no, I just love what I’m doing and no one will do it for me but myself. I always say “Buhay pa tayo, madami pang oras at Bawal mag reklamo sa ginagawa mo na nagpapasaya sayo”.  Let me tell you about my life with these projects; Love from Hate – every release has special memories for me like the Bad Omen LP, I went two times to Cruz Paper Craft to follow up the layout of the Bad Omen LP since Jon was in Indonesia that time and when he came back, the artist has not worked on the layout. Ang comment pa sa akin nung caretaker e masungit daw ako nung nag follow up, I mean we’re meeting deadlines and following up for the second time is too much ahahaha. Jon found an artist to work on the layout of the LP and we always meet in Cartimar, Recto to provide the details of the artwork, record label’s logo, and poster. We then learned Cruz Paper Craft is outsourcing the job of the positives of the layout, cover and poster. Jon and I went to the artist just to fasten the work for Cruz Paper Craft since there are personal issues with the printing press owners. It was a stressful experience but at the same time I discovered and learned about the in and out of printing press business/industry. Cruz Craft Papers is the cheapest printing press in Quezon City if not, the whole Philippines since most of the major label companies print their releases there.  Eksena Lokal fanzine – Dyey Punk is helping me out with the layout, of course we have our misunderstanding in terms of the outcome of the zine but most of the time siya nasusunod ahahaha. Most of the typing are done here in the office when I have spare time then I’ll email the content to Dyey and he’ll run the lay out. It really takes months before I email him the details especially the interview, columns, reviews and other stuffs I wanted to include on the zine. Organizing shows – Marvin Zapata, Ching Pangilinan and Toie Lustre are the current organizers right now in San Fernando. I’ll be responsible for the May 16 (in cooperation with Maximum Rock and Roll) and May 30 (21st year anniversary of the Pampanga Notorious Scene) and I thank Ching for helping me book the venue and the instruments for these shows. In the recent gigs, the budget for the instruments is our main problem. The cheapest sound system/instruments in San Fernando right now is 8 thousand pesos. We’re lucky because we have Popo and Dexter who give us money to pay the instruments and somehow we manage to save money from the tickets but on the previous gigs we have to pay damages like the fly boards the guys of Peste Boys mistakenly used for their vert ramp, we paid the Giant Lantern Committee who owns the fly boards 7 thousand pesos. Ang hirap magpa gig ano? Eksena Lokal Radio – my job is collating the playlist for the month, review the songs, provide information of the songs and the bands and advise the bands we’ll play their songs, review fanzines and gigs, search for upcoming gigs, look for a scene reporter and instruct them on what to report and do on air. My deadline is every Thursday and I send the details to DJ Lia where she then formats the show. Playing with my bands – actually I play for 4 bands but The Holiday is taking time off for now, I play drums for the band and I hope in the coming months they’ll make a comeback and record their new songs. Graveyard Shift – yeah everybody needs to pay the monthly bills.        

Believe: What keeps you excited in this Scene that we’re in?

Francis: Discovering punk rock in other places and getting new contacts. It always cracks a smile on my face when learning there are bands, fanzines and distros in obscure places in the Philippines. When Bane came to the Philippines for the second time, I was so happy to meet Pam of Dienasty from Cagayan De Oro, I mean when we discuss punk in the Philippines, Manila comes to mind but punk went regional and I was so glad he handed me their demo and played “Apoy sa Sarili” on air at Eksena Lokal Radio (Bright FM 91.9) last March 6, 2015. On that gig, I was able to meet Siak from Davao who’s going to host the tour of Istukas Over Disneyland, Holy Cow and Monthly Red on March 21, 2015. I got to see again old contacts/friends like Maricar of Plug N’ Play zine, Grey of Thought, Weigner of Shrapnel/Gardo/Left of Center all from Cebu City; Mae of Refuse from Baguio City; Raymond and Neil of Unforce from Pagbilao, Quezon Province; Randy Rayos of Outcry; Papao and Raymond of Feud. We only get to see each other during gigs and catch up with our individual lives. When Bad Omen toured in Santiago City, Isabela, I was so excited learning there are punks in that city while Jayson and Regy of Revolution X Department invited my band to play in their City and nailed it last December 20, 2014. It leads to Love from Hate in releasing “Freedom” split CDR with Revolution X Department and State of Rebellion (Santiago City, Isabela). It’s great to know these people are supporting their own scene and when they organize gigs, they don’t charge at the gate and entrance is free knowing the cost of instruments are expensive. I also met the guys of Death My Hombre from Ilagan, Isabela and got their demo, The Plunders and the people from Nueva Vizcaya and Tuguegarao. Back in 2010, I went to Cebu for vacation to visit my friends and got excited learning Toxic Orgasm, Minority Blocks, One Man Down, The Deviants and Hard Feces are scheduled to tour Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. I was their roadie on that tour ahahaha and met Jedd of Oppressor, Oro of Demos Against and Ricson of Pedro Bruno. It’s nice to have new contacts away from my comfort zone because of punk rock. I then learned Insomyaks from Surigao playing Punk Ska and featured them on Eksena Lokal issue #2 while Egg of Declaration of Purity and Left Hand Path Press handed me over the Domestic Airport Violence demo and learned they’re from Mexico, Pampanga. Kent Cee and Jarred, two awesome hardcore kids from Lubao, Pampanga and the Turnips from Angeles City playing TRC repertoire. My friend Marvin of Provoke once told me Philippine Violators toured San Fernando City, La Union so I hope there are few there who are listening/appreciating punk rock. He also mentioned there is a punk band in Ilocos. If that’s true it will be a killer. I failed to search for local bands in Bohol when I was there last January, I know there are local reggae bands and their songs are played on air. I wonder about that band from Bohol when Piledriver played in Cebu this year. What do they play Gin? Do they have a demo?      

Believe: Doing Record Label over the years, what’s your stand on this digital age with free download of music from the Internet and at the same time Vinyl Records started to increase its demand?

Francis: For me it’s okay as long as the artist and consumer respect copy right. We all know the internet has its pros and cons. For example, I asked help from DJ Lia to download for me the Veills and Nonentities demos and played them last March 06 at Eksena Lokal Radio. I also asked her to download the new album of Brixton Cats (France), RVIVR and Punch (USA). I also wanted her to download the Chin Chin’s “Sound of the Westway and We Don’t Wanna be Prisoners” and Tappi Tikarrass – Bjork’s punk rock band from Iceland. I admit I’m a technophobe and I don’t know much about computers and the internet ahahaha. Emman told me there is this one guy who uploaded the Underground Asia CD on the web and we’re very excited knowing the fact the compilation was sold out from our record labels. He also told me if someone wanted to distribute the compilation he can always send them copies of the covers/layout which is amazing. Me, I love buying original records from labels or bands and even though I have them on MP3 format, I would love to buy a copy for myself. Vinyl and cassette tapes are gaining grounds since CDS have no value anymore in my opinion, I mean the demand of vinyl and cassette tapes is great knowing the fact that people are buying original records but sad to say we don’t have any more pressing plants in the Philippines to produce these records, only compact discs. Let’s just support the bands who have releases may it be on CDR, CD, Vinyl or Cassette Tapes for them to continue releasing new records.  

Believe: It’s always stated that Kapampangan’s cooks the best dishes in our country. So for you, what is Pampanga’s best? (Best in food) Plus, what makes Pampanga’s Scene worth checking out?

Francis:  I would say Pork Sisig and Burong Babi (Tocino). My mother is originally from Orion, Bataan but she cooks good food especially her kakanins and pastries but there are a lot of great cooks/chefs in Pampanga like Aling Lilian of Cucina and the owner of Everybody’s Café who serves exotic foods. Would you like to try our local cuisine like Tinolang Palaka and Fried Kamaro? Funny because I told Maricar of Plug N’ Play if she’s in town, I’ll treat her for a bite of Tinolang Palaka and Kamaro even though I don’t eat these dishes ahahaha. I guess the hospitality; I mean the guys in our scene in Pampanga will treat you like you are in your own home even though they don’t have the money, still they find ways to welcome you in their homes.    

Believe: I get pissed off every time I hear parents telling their kids that boys who cry are gay and that’s not cool or not tough. I keep telling my nephew that it’s okay to cry if he’s hurt and crying will make him feel better. But some kids are too afraid to cry and someday I don’t want my kid to feel that way. Too afraid to express how they feel because of peer pressure. It made me ask you this question, when was the last time you cried and why?

Francis: I knew this question is peer pressure ahaha. I don’t know if you can call it crying or shedding of tears but when I talked to my supervisor last week about what I felt when my team mate who’s also her friend disrespected her position. I mean sometimes it’s easy to say but it’s hard to do and most of the time I shed tears while saying what I really feel. I don’t know, maybe because you don’t want the person to be offended or telling the truth will hit her/him in the face. Filipinos are known to be brave and our elders took the tradition and pass it on to generations. It only meant for the kid to stop crying but deep inside their elders are hurt too when they see their kid crying. There is no harm in bursting out in tears, baka ikamatay mo pa yan kung hindi mo ilalabas  

Believe: I get really excited every time you release in any of your projects! What should we look out in the near future?

Francis: Thank you Rann. I just finished cutting the covers of Holy Cow/Monthly Red/Istukas Over Disneyland “Minda-Now” tour 2015 CDR we’ll be releasing the CDR this coming March 20 & 21 in Polomolok, South Cotabato and Samal Island, Davao. The CDR contains the first demo of Holy Cow, Monthly Red and Istukas Over Disneyland songs taken from their releases. The tour CDR is limited to 35 copies for both gigs, I invite you to purchase it to help us during the tour. I want to take this opportunity to thank Dyey Punk for wasting his time constructing the layout of the Tour CDR, he did not sleep just to finish the lay out, I harass the guy that’s why ahahaha. The split 7”EP of Random Violence/Value Lasts will be available soon in the Philippines, a collaboration from Still Ill Records, Delusion of Terror Records, Aklasan Records, Left Hand Path Press, Get Up and Go Records, Love From Hate and the people from RV and VL. I invite you to purchase a copy and support RV and VL! I personally dedicate this release to Denver of Value Lasts. As of now, I have projects lining up but they’re still on the dark side so I’ll let them stay there for a while before they see the light of the tunnel. I just don’t want to spoil the bean that’s all. Thank you Bram Ibrahim for the logo!          

Believe: Maraming Salamat Kuya Francis! Where can we check out your distro and releases?

Francis: Maraming salamat din Ate Rann for your interest and support. You can email us at [email protected] or the ever popular social media FB, just search for Love from Hate. I have not updated the page but will be in the next couple of days. Buy Believe fanzine and support your locals

[believexfanzine]

Emmanuel Jasmin of DELUSION OF TERROR RECORDS

(Manila, Philippines)

April 2015/Believe Fanzine issue #4

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/dotrecordsdistroph03

instagram: dotrecordsph

Kamusta Emman? What made you want to start a label? How was the first release?

Hi Rann! All is well. Just finish listening to Feral Trash 'Trashfiction'LP. Awesome stuff,i highly recommend it. Regarding the label,the label started out after me and my younger brother went on a small South East Asian tour back in 2003. It started out as a distro at first since i've acquired a lot of Hc punk titles from those places i've visited. The label part was born a couple of months after with the idea of releasing local and foreign bands that i like. The 1st official release came out as a collaboration with friends from the now defunct Take 4 Collective. That was the Vitamin X "Pissed Off" CD back in 2005, since the band was currently on tour in the region at that time. Working with friends make things more easier and less complicated so to speak.

 Since that time, where have you looked for inspiration and guidance in running the label? How much have your ideals and views changed since the beginning of it all?

Running the label is more of a trial and error thing for me. It has been a learning curve for sure. One thing i learned about running the label is that you need to have a steady source of income to finance it, in other words you need to have a regular job. Since i consider the label more of a hobby, I always save up money from my work to keep the financial side of the label active and current. I dont rely much on label/distro sales to finance or cover up the cost of running the label. There are expenses that will surely arise when you least expect it. So the best way for me to deal with it is to allocate some of my personal earnings which would serve as the backbone of the label/distro finances. So far i was able to manage it. I always keep in mind that the main reason why the label got started is to release bands that i LIKE regardless if its going to sell or not, at least I'm able to see something materialize out of the band's hard work. That is more than enough for me.

 Along with the label, you've obviously expanded your focus beyond just local bands and included mostly bands from Asia. What made you focus on such area?

As previously mentioned my idea of starting the label is to release bands that i like. So i dont confine my releases to just local bands. I do think that there are tons of good bands out there that needs to be heard beyond our waters. I believe that we should keep an active and open communication with neighboring scenes in our region. Doing co releases with other labels/bands outside our country is a good way to promote our own scene to them,the same goes with their scene to us. Having our own releases being available in other countries means a lot as well. It's more of a mutual cooperation.

 How did you start connecting with bands outside your own country?

I started being in contact with bands outside our country thru zine writing and tape trading. Prior to me having a label/distro i used to edit my own fanzine called Resist To Exist. Thru my zine i was able to reach out to various zinester outside our local scene. It gives me a better perspective / insight to know whats going on beyond our own scene at that time.

 In relation to the previous question, how do you choose the bands that you want to release/ co-relase or distro?

Before i join a particular release i always make sure that i like the band. That's the most important thing. Music & lyric wise should be appealing to me. I want the band to be part of the label for the right reasons, at the same time most of the bands i work with are the ones i have an affinity with. As for the distro titles,same thing. I always carry titles that i like. I often distribute bands that have made an impression or impact on me. The distro part pretty much describes my musical taste.

 Doing record label over the years, what's your stand in this digital age with free download of music from the internet and at the same time vinyl records started to increase its demand?

It always goes down to the listener if they ought to get thier music online for free or buy the actual physical copies. To each thier own. If you think that it would be more convenient to just download the music online and just pop it on your ipod or whatever devices you have then feel free to do it. Maximize the technology you have but i do hope that you'll be able to get something out of it. Whatever floats your boat.

As for Vinyl records making a huge comeback,it's kinda like a double edge sword. It's good in a sense that a lot of bands are able to release their stuff in that format and it's one of the many ways to properly document thier recorded material which is great. The only problem that im seeing is that the prices of vinyl records are getting more expensive. Expensive in a sense that there those who would sell a particular release higher than the normal price. I mean i dont have a problem if you make money out of your label releases as long as you do it fair & square. What i dont really like are the bootleg copies which are being sold at insane prices. Just because this release was done in a limited pressing doesn't justify the idea of selling it 5x times the original price when it 1st came out. A bootleg is a bootleg.

 What is your favorite thing about running Delusion of Terror Records/Distro?

The thing i like most about running the label is being able to release bands that i love and adore. It's an awesome feeling working with bands that you strongly believe in. Helping them spread thier releases to a wide array of folks and getting positive & not so good feedback makes you want to strive more and work harder for future projects.

 Do you think the future is still bright in the Philippine hardcore punk scene?

The local scene is pretty much alive and kicking and it still has a lot to offer in my opinion.There are a lot of good bands here that are worth checking out. We just need to go over the extra mile to further boost our scene here. If a band releases a demo or zine maker has new issue out go buy and pick a copy. If someone puts on a show always pay the required entrance fee and dont fuck things up. Small stuff like these definitely helps the scene. Complaining and whining about everything you despise about the scene wont do you any good if your not doing anything to help or rectify the situation. Talk without action equates to nothing.

 What advice can you give to kids who want to start a label/distro?

- If you’re going to do a particular release always try to check which format suits your budget so you can plan it well.

-Release bands that you strongly believe in.

- Always do a test print of the cover/sleeve of your releases to ensure that you have the right information,same goes with the proper length & width of the layout before sending them to the printing press.

-Feel free to trade your own releases with other label/distros. It helps spread the label name and it promotes the bands as well.

 Maraming Salamat Emman! Where can we check out your distro and releases?

Thanks Rann for the interview, appreciate the support. All the best with your upcoming projects. Mabuhay ka!

For updates regarding the label/distro you can check the following pages. Thank you for reading and have a good day! :)

[believexfanzine]

David Wood of DOWN TO NOTHING

(Richmond, VA USA)

Feb 2014/Believe Fanzine issue #3

How and When did Down To Nothing started? If you can remember it, How was the first show? Any song that you covered before?

   We started from an older band we had. We were very young, I think I was 17 when we played our first show.  Our first shows we would cover Dead Serious by Side by Side, All Out War by Earth Crisis, and Take Me Away by Judge. 

Honestly, listening to your songs makes me wanna go to Richmond, VA. Especially "Home Sweet Home" tell us something about Richmond,VA! What are the best things there?

  There's lots of good restaurants here. Lots of cool bars if you want to drink. In the summer bike rides with your friends to parks, or swimming in the river all day.  There's lots of historic sites, and it's a small city so there's always a lot of people just hanging out. 

 You sing for Down To Nothing and you play bass for Terror. Just released Life On The James and Live By The Code. From VA to LA, Man how'd you manage your time for all of this?

  Ha, it's not easy.  It took us a long time before we found the time to record Life on the James. Terror is very busy. 

Tell us about the albums that you released and what each album meant for you.

  Live by the Code was fun because we all wrote the album together. Everybody helped with everything from things like guitar leads, lyrics, breakdowns, chorus. It was cool, and out drummer Nick recorded it, so we got to do everything that we wanted to do.  That was a fun album. 

  Life on the James was about a 2-3 year writing process haha. I'm always on tour with Terror, our drummer Daniel is a doctor, and Jared was always on tour with Trapped Under Ice. So we never had time to sit down and practice and jam the songs out. We would just change around the demos over and over again. But we finally got to do it, Nick from terror recorded that too and hooked us up. It's my favorite down to nothing album. 

What makes Life On The James different from other records that you made?

  Not much honestly. I'd say it's a little catchier maybe, but it's just Down to Nothing.  Better Down to Nothing songs. 

  You sing about straight edge a lot, "Undefeated" "Save It For The Birds" and "Smash It" are on the top of my list. So, how'd you get into straight edge? Were you a straight edge kid ever since you got into hardcore/punk? Has anything changed since you knew it then and now?

   My friends in school were listening to less punk and more hippie stuff and getting into bad drugs.  I was listening to less punk and more hardcore. They were all getting kicked out of school and getting in trouble and straight edge just seemed like a good idea. I grew to love it because it was SO different.  Not drinking is such an extreme way of life, it's very out of step. Very black sheep.  

 I haven't seen anything change besides trends. Some years it's cool to be straight edge. Some years it isn't and all the trendy kids sell out. Whatever.  

   In relation to my previous question, What makes you hungry for more in this scene?

   Seeing young, new bands stoked to be playing live. Seeing people stage dive. Watching people drop out of the scene and realizing who stuck around. New zines. 

 Sexism has always been a problem in a male dominated scene. In what ways can we share our ideas about it in the hardcore/punk scene to those who are not aware of it? How would you tackle this issue?

   Take a stand against it if you see it going down in your scene.  That shits not cool and is not what hardcore is about. 

You have an Australia Tour on March this year which was really awesome! So, do you guys have any plans of touring Southeast Asia?

   No plans yet. Between my schedule and Daniel's, it's gonna be really hard. But hopefully we get there one day. 

 Thanks for your time man. Feel free to plug anything.

   Stay positive, support your local bands. 

[believexfanzine]

Willie Desamero of PATHOGEN

(San Pablo City, Laguna Philippines)

November 2013/ Believe Fanzine issue #3

https://www.discogs.com/artist/125777-Pathogen-2

https://www.facebook.com/Pathogen-PH-177645992334222/

Hello Willie! How is Pathogen doing? How and when are you guys formed?

Greetings, Rann! The band is doing just fine. We just finished recording and mixing our fourth album few weeks ago and we’re busy preparing for some upcoming gigs and other areas of our lives. Music consumes much of our lives, needless to say. But, of course there will always be other aspects of our personal existence that we need to address just to keep everything in balance.

It’s amazing just how fast time flies! I would never have imagined that when we started out in 2001 that we would still be here making music and being more vital than ever. And it’s certainly didn’t feel that long ago! Many things have changed personally and otherwise.

Our goals were very innocent back then-we would just have been happy to record a demo and probably break up and venture into other things. The notion that this would be our careers is the farthest thing from our minds. I could not even afford to buy a set of guitar strings back then and now we’re already into our fourth album which would most likely be released next year by Dunkelheit Produktionen, Germany.

Looking back it’s quite unbelievable. Perhaps the reason we kept on going is that the band is only thing that we had, I mean none of us came from wealthy backgrounds nearly all our members and ex-members came from working-class neighborhoods. Our band and the music we create are probably the only things that gives us the most satisfaction and of course, the hope and confidence to face our troubles and fears.

When I was in college you guys gave me a lot of demos of your side bands and a copy of your own cd which was really cool. But we rarely see each other now. How are your bands' releases so far?  

Yeah I remember that! I gave them to you for promotional purposes more or less. I was playing also with another band back then which was Boxwagon. I suppose I just could not live without music. Writing, performing and playing music is sort of like therapy for me. It’s the catharsis for venting out all the frustrations and discontentment of living in a world where I rarely felt a part of. But anyway, our current available releases are the CD’s of our second and third albums, “Miscreants Of Bloodlusting Aberrations” and ‘Forged In Crucible Of Death” and the mini-CD/EP “Lust Of Evil”. As far as our labels tell me, they are quite happy about the sales of our CD’s in Europe, I would not be exactly surprised about that since they did an incredible world-wide effort to promote the said releases which is really great because it really helped to spread our music all over the globe. Before that, I would personally send our demos painstakingly to record labels, fanzines, foreign bands, and demo traders world-wide almost every day! I went broke far too many times to actually remember! But all the determination and hard work paid off I guess!                                                                                                                                                            

I understand that most of your albums are released in either Europe or North America, What's up with that?

It’s in Europe mostly. Our last North American releases were the “Gryphon” tape in 2011 which was released by The Northern Cold Productions, Canada and the tape versions of Toxemia/Pathogen split and our third album by Mandarangan Recordings, USA both in 2013. And our past 3 CD releases were in Europe. Since 2011 we’ve gotten a very good deal with two European labels, Old Temple from Poland and Dunkelheit Produktionen in Germany. They are very professional and have a very good reputation in the underground metal scene, plus they both have world-wide distribution which is a very good thing for us in terms of spreading our music out…And besides Europe has always been a hot spot for metal and all underground music in general such as punk/HC/grind/crust/doom/experimental, etc…for many, many decades. I don’t know why but Europeans are very eccentric in their musical and artistic tastes. Sadly enough, not many Filipinos are like that. Most Filipinos always tend to immediately criticize things that they do not understand instead of giving it an open mind. And in a nutshell that explains why 95 percent of Pathogen releases are released by foreign independent record labels. We Filipinos tend to be too ’trend’-oriented when it comes to music and art. I mean, Pathogen are relatively unknown here in San Pablo City-or even in the Philippines, for that matter, except to a few individuals and close friends, but step outside this country, in Europe or elsewhere in the globe our music are very well respected and admired. We never really bothered too much to promote our music in our country because we knew there is no future for a metal band in our third world shit hole. It’s sort of like we are living in a different world when it comes to our band and our music, and the international underground scene is our own universe where we can escape to and it has its own visual art, literature and sound. And we felt we belong here where international cooperation and comradeship are very much prevalent despite the fact that very few people appreciate our music here in our own city. For over a decade we are living in this international underground bubble-our own little world and infinitely enjoying it.

Speaking of album releases, can you give us a list of your previous and current releases and where is it available?

Our first album was “Blasphemous Communion” which we independently released in 2007, and in 2008 we got an offer to release it on vinyl LP from the German label, Iron Bonehead Productions. Our second album, “Miscreants Of Bloodlusting Aberrations” was also released independently by us in 2009 and in 2010 it was released on tape by Satanized Productions, France. And in 2012 we got a deal with the German label, Dunkelheit Produktionen to release it on CD and vinyl. As for more current release, our third album, “Forged In The Crucible of Death” was released by Old temple Records in Poland as well as the “Lust Of Evil” CD. Prior and in between our albums we have a lot of demos, EP’s and split releases which I didn’t mention but right now the only releases available from us are the last 3 CD releases the rest are out of print.

How does living in San Pablo, Laguna influence your music? Though I know most of your shows are in Metro Manila.

San Pablo City is geographically beautiful, but culturally, it’s total bullshit. There is nothing here for Pathogen. There is no significant underground/counter-culture scene and the rest of the inhabitants here are trendy hipster dumb-asses and social-climbing ignorant fools. But you know, I like this place because it’s HOME  and it’s not as hot and congested as Manila and we have a good quality water source, and it’s not very far from Manila. San Pablo is still sort of an isolated place that very few from Manila or other provinces knew about and of course we have a lake nearby which is quite a beautiful place and it’s a perfect place for tapping into your creative consciousness. However, in reality, living in our city does not really influence our music in anyway. It’s mostly the conditions of our lives that directly affect our music. I was once asked by a foreign fanzine what is it that inspires us to write and release a lot of music in a rather short amount of time and my answer basically is our discontent and dissatisfaction with life are what inspires us the most and that still stands true today. Like I have stated earlier, none of us came from prominent backgrounds. And it’s a terrible thing to exist in a world where you are never truly accepted for who you are and rarely feel a part of, but for some reason all that negativity became a positive thing for us because we can create music with as much conviction and passion as the bands we admire.

I watched you play guitar for Boxwagon before, can't remember what year that was. How was Boxwagon? Do you guys still play? Any punk bands that you listen to?

It was most likely in 2009! I was never really a founding member of Boxwagon. It was John’s band first and foremost and I was ‘asked’, or shall I venture to say I ‘volunteered’ for John to ask me to join the band, because at that time Boxwagon was undergoing some line-up difficulties and when he needed members. Vic and I volunteered along with two other members of Infestor. And I always liked their music. I even recorded their first demo on my old Sony tape recorder. As soon as we stepped on board we tried to ‘revolutionized’ Boxwagon’s sound by adding metal riffs and exotic guitar scales to make it sound more ‘broader’ in musical terms as opposed to their stripped down punk/crust approach on their first demo. We also recorded a 5 song demo with Boxwagon in 2010 entitled “Civil Defense Against Conformity” after which things went stagnant with the band and John wanted to venture into other areas. But hopefully he will reform the band and record a new demo. You all maybe surprised, but we do not exclusively listen to metal. If you limit yourself to listen to only one musical style then you are probably a stupid idiot! Ever since the beginning we listened to other forms of music such as experimental/progressive rock, ambient, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s classic rock, late 70’s and early 80’s synth pop, industrial music, Blues, Jazz, folk, classical, etc… and we actually listen to a lot of punk. Earlier stuff like The Misfits, Iggy Pop, The Exploited, The Damned, Amebix, Doom, LARM, Richard Hell and the Voidods, The Dictators, Rudimentary Peni, MC5, The Cramps, amongst others, makes me wanna pogo! And as much as possible we try to absorb and learn from everything we listen to. I always prefer to think of music as ‘language’ and not math. Since I was young I was always amazed on how musicians can communicate and express their thoughts and emotions through music and directly affect the listener. Even without lyrics you can communicate through an audience with a musical instrument. It’s quite amazing how sounds can convey a wide array of emotions from joy to anger to sorrow and everything in between. Music is a form of non-verbal communication, it’s almost telepathic!

By the way, How was your zine? I wouldn't know that you make one since you told me.

My ‘zine making days are long gone. It’s been a decade since I last put an issue out. And besides I couldn’t afford to have a band and a fanzine at the same time nowadays. I still do, however, contribute reviews and interviews to several local fanzines. I doubt it very much if I would start my own again and I don’t think the underground scene needs another fanzine. When I first started doing my own fanzine as a young teenager, Synapse, in 1997 there isn’t that many fanzines in our country yet but by the turn of the century, in 2000, the underground scene was filled to the brim with fanzine makers. I was doing a new fanzine with another comrade called Dead Reckoning by that time and I was starting to get tired of the whole thing as I wanted to focus more on music and my band. Doing a fanzine has started to feel like marriage-in the beginning it was pure joy, and I had a lot of energy and determination. It was very exciting but after doing it for several issues, things start to level off and everything becomes a routine and I started to get bored. And in those pre-internet days it was quite a very hard, time-consuming work to do a fanzine. Printing and shipping it overseas is expensive and promoting it is humiliating. Eventually I quit after the last issue of Dead Reckoning came out in early 2003 and focused more on what I really enjoy-playing and making music. It was quite liberating to get out of that. Perhaps if I wasn’t playing in a band I’d continue writing my own fanzine. But music really is my true calling.

5 facts about Pathogen

Haha! Good question! This one is for all you fact-junkies out there. 1. Our original, bass player, Alex Alfonso is a nephew of iconic and legendary Pinoy folk/rock singer, Sampaguita. 2. All Pathogen full-length albums are released by predominantly black metal record labels despite the fact that we’re a death metal band! 3. Vic and I also used to play in Effluvium/Negatron and for a short while also in Boxwagon. 4. All of us are mostly self-taught musicians. 5. As of 2013, we have recorded 52 original songs since we were formed in 2001 that includes all albums demos and split releases.

Studio recording music or playing live?

I’d say both. We always get a kick out playing live-and it’s also somewhat of an adrenaline rush when you’re upstage. The live setting is where metal truly comes alive. As for recording music we totally enjoy it as well. It’s in the studio is where we are most focused and creative. During recording sessions you tend to think of ideas to add to a song that you don’t normally think of during rehearsals or live. Anyway, our limited budget often limits our ability to experiment more in the studio. But we plan everything before hitting the studio in terms of what effects to use on the songs, etc…

Any thoughts on mixed genre show or all metal shows?

We have no problem with mixed genre shows at all because when we started out most of our gigs were like that, it’s also a chance to reach people that might not have been aware of this kind of noise that we’re playing. But mostly, our gigs are all metal shows and whatnot, but every once in a while we do play in some mixed-genre shows. Most of our friends attend metal shows of course. There were even times in the past where we play in nothing but punk/crust gigs but everyone’s cool with it. We actually enjoy playing in punk gigs because everyone is friendly there are no big airs about them unlike in other genres, etc…

Do you prefer big or small crowds?

It doesn’t really matter for us if we’re playing in front of 5,000 or 5 people. The important thing is that you give your 666% every time you play a gig.

Thanks for the interview man and for giving me an idea about this. Ha! Much Respect. Anything you wanna plug and greet maybe? Malapit na pasko haha

Sure, no problem! Thanks for your support and for the interview. It is much appreciated! Salamat! Oo nga  malapit na ang pasko! You can almost smeel it in the air! Hehe! To be perfectly honest Christmas just seem to be just another ordinary day for me. Probably when I was young it was something to anticipate. But now it doesn’t matter that much to me. No offense to anyone, but there are much more special days for me than Christmas.

[believexfanzine]

Mic Nuestro of STILL ILL RECORDS

(Manila, Philippines)

Feb 2015/ Believe Fanzine issue #4

[email protected]

http://www.stillillhc.com

https://www.facebook.com/stillillrecords

http://stillillhardcore.bandcamp.com/

To start this interview, what exactly is Still Ill?

Hi Rann! STILL ILL is a group of individuals who have combined their efforts to release some good old quality punk rock from bands that we like and feel deserve a chance to get their recorded material out through the label. It started out as an idea with me and Dangie when Take-4 Collective was about to fold that there needs to be a continuity of a hardcore punk label which will try and push the envelope on releasing music that we like. We got Led and convinced him to close shop on Major Malfunction and became part of Still Ill. Aside from the three of us there are individuals who have been constantly with Still Ill like the RANDOM VIOLENCE, VALUE LASTS and right now VEILS people.

 Aside from the label, we also run a mailorder for people who want to buy records, CDs, shirts or whatever stuff they want and we can bring it here. How it works is that you send us a list of stuff you want then we get back at you on the price including the shipping costs from the US to the Philippines, pay it, we order it then have it delivered to you.

 I'm a big fan of compilation albums, it sort of gives me an intro to some bands I've never heard of. Still Ill recently released the compilation "Movin Up Movin On". So, Aside from the bands under the Still Ill belt, how did the idea of this compilation came up?

 Well the idea came about when we realized that there almost no more local labels releasing local stuff and we felt at that time that there really good bands that needed to be heard. Keep in mind that at that time, most bands were just content on having their releases on line and some of them just wanted to sell shirts rather than records. So we asked a few labels who might be interested in co-releasing a compilation of the best hardcore punk bands (at least to our mind) that our local scene had to offer. We wanted it to represent (ugh.) bands not only from Luzon but also some from the Visayas and Mindanao region. We actually succeeded in that part when we got some bands from Mindanao and Cebu to be part of the compilation.

 Come to think of it, the idea of "Movin' Up, Movin' On" was because we wanted to move on from the local scene norms at that time to 'move up (to move forward) and to "move on" (from old scene politics and sht).

 What's your stand in this digital age with free download of music from the internet and at the same time vinyl records started to increase its demand?

 As with everything, there is a good and bad side to it. Free download of music enables people from every part of the globe to share music for free. The downside of it is that people tend to be lazy. They just download stuff and hardly listen to it.

 It was a lot different than when people had to "work" to listen to good punk rock records. Even if you're listening to a 3rd or 4th generation mix tape of Chokehold, Los Crudos and Nations on Fire, you try to listen to that tape over and over because that's what's available to you. Unlike today where it's so convenient to have a "music library". All you have to is have a big hard drive and an internet connection.

 Listening to physical copies of records, tapes and CDs jut gives you an entirely different vibe than listening on your iphone or laptop. Just browsing through the artwork, reading the lyrics and identifying yourself with what that band/person had to say or getting up on your chair to write about how you disagree with what was said is a feeling somewhat lost nowadays thought I think its making a comeback with the upward tick in the demand of vinyl and tapes. We'll see,

 Do you think the future is bright in the Philippine hardcore punk scene?

 Of course the future is bright! There might be some hiccups and bumps on the road but its all part of it. Just have to work harder.

 Still Ill is currently known not just a record label but also for bringing foreign hardcore punk bands in Manila. Any tips for our brothers and sisters who want to expand their knowledge regarding this matter?

 Tips? Hmmm. Lemme see.

 1. Be up front with the band or the promoter talking to you about their expectations with the tour. There are bands who cannot work without a guarantee and some who cannot. There are bands who you need to pay airfare for, there are bands who don't require you to. Just inform the band or the promoter on how much you see the show will earn. Factor in the number of attendees on how much you will charge for the door including equipment, food, etc. and tell them how much you can pay the band and the airfare.

 2. Don't have too many cooks in the kitchen. Just have one point man who will talk to the band/promoter. Keep the collective brains small especially for the show so it does not get confusing for the band/promoter and the show.

 3. Airfare. Use a credit card. Buy tickets online. Check out as much info as possible on the available flights. Book early. Flight prices change almost every week. Don't forget to buy extra luggage for the band as they're expected to carry a lot of stuff.

 4. Transportation. Vans are usually available in the airport. Ask friends if they're willing to lend their SUV's or vans to pick up and bring the band to the airport.

 5. Venue. Easier venues to organize shows: clubs/bars in Quezon City like BKB, Selda Dos and the now-defunct Ten02. There are bigger venues but they will be more expensive. It's easier to organize in a venue with equipment rather than a venue wherein you have to rent out equipment. The PA system itself will kill you.

 6. Show line-up. Keep it as few and varied as possible. Of course this is not as easy to do as you have to factor in the crowd attendance, your friends who expect you to put their band in the line-up. There is no hard and fast rule here. Don't line up a ton of bands and have the touring band play at 2 or 3 in the morning. That's just wrong.

 7. Price. Don't be shy in asking for an amount wherein you can recover the amount paid to the band, to the show and everything else. People who get it will pay no matter what. Assholes will just be assholes. Wherever they are.

  What can we expect from Still Ill in the near future? Also, recommend us bands from your label.

 Right now, we're expecting the RANDOM VIOLENCE/VALUE LASTS split 7" to arrive soon. Of course we'll throw a party to celebrate the release of that record. Then probably some new stuff from VEILS. We were also talking to SURROGATE PREY some time ago but nothing has materialized as of yet. Always keep an eye out for the PRAYER OF ENDURANCE and PLAY records, you never know when they might come out! :D

Maraming Salamat Mic! Where can we check out the previous and current releases of Still Ill?

 For more info on the label, check out www.stillillhc.com. Send us a message at [email protected]. Thanks for the opportunity and support Rann!