Hey!
I’m very sorry that it took so long. Originally, our bassplayer wanted to do
the interview but he forgot about it and after I reminded him he did totally
waste. So now, I took care about it myself. I’m sorry that you had to wait
so long...
This is what Dan wrote to me in February 2015 and Aggressive interview is
the one which is following.
Please tell me a little bit history of the group?
-In spring 2013, I decided to form a new constellation. I did some music
before in other bands but it was all not going the way I wanted, so I tried
another way. In the moment, there is no powerful English singing Oi! combo
around in the area where I live. I like music that is rough very much so I
had the idea to form a mixture between old English Oi! And some hard
American HC/Oi. Said and done. I talked to David and he appreciated the idea
from the first moment I started to talk about it. With Gawo on the bass, my
mate from another band we were playing in, we first started with a 3 man
constellation. David on guitar, Gawo playing bass and me hitting the drums
and singing. Everything fit and after the first rehearsal, we already
finished the first 3 songs. Then I found out that singing and drumming is
fucking difficult. We had to find a drummer so that I could concentrate
myself on singing. It took a while and we had Timo from Pöbel und Gesocks
behind the drumkit. After a year, some gigs and our first promo record,
Gereon at second guitar joined us. Aggressive was now complete and we went
into the Studio to record SPIT BLOOD last summer.
Please tell me a little about every member in the group right now, age,
family, work, interests and something bad about everyone? Have you been in
any other punkbands before?
-David is the youngest member of Aggressive. He was playing for Lost Boyz
Army before. Then he quit and is now playing for Aggressive, VJ and his own
melodic HC Band called Behind The Sun.
Gereon is in the late 30s. He was doing some hard Metal stuff in a Band
called Rost. After that he did some quiet stuff in The Reverie and was also
working for a sludge instrumental project.
Gawo played for Mittelklasse. Then he joined my HC band Under Fire. I
recruited him to play with me in Aggressive. He is in the beginning 40s and
the grandpa of our combo.
Timo is a special guy. He is in the same age as me. He loves to play drums.
And he loves drinking even more. He is a very funny and harmful guy,
especially when he is drunk. We always have a laugh with him cause he has a
delicious kind of humor in his being.
I am in the end 30s. I try to sing as good as I can. I’m also writing the
lyrics for Aggressive. I have a strict character. That’s sometimes good but
often bad for the people around me but I don’t really give a shit about
that. As the most musicians, I love to be on stage. I was playing for Under
Fire before and on side, I’m doing in a small alterative/sludge project
called Krell.
You have listened a lot to both hardcore and streetpunk I think ? Am I
right? Favorites from the past?
-Ok. I can only speak for myself now. I like oldschool hardcore like
Madball, Blood for blood or Cromags very much. I also listen to newer HC
like Devil in me for example.
I love 80s streetpunk and Oi. Especially rough sounds. 4 Skins, Condamned
84, all that crap from the past that was recorded in some cellar on midband
tape with an old cassette recorder...
Aggressive(it suits you really fine), are you satisfied with the name? How
did it came up? Which is the best bandname you know?
-That was very easy. When I was recruiting musicians for the band, I already
had the name. I wanted to do an aggressive sound like Combat 84 or 4 Skins
or the first Böhse Onkelz tapes. I wanted to perform music in which you can
feel some energy rolling down your neck that let your hairs rise. My
personal aim is to offer live music where you can almost touch the
aggressive atmosphere that is floating through the air in this moment. If we
can realize this someday, my mission is done and I will say with pride that
we are a fucking good band. But it’s a long way to that point...
What´s the best thing with playing live?
-Touring around, seeing the world, meeting a lot of people, playing music,
doing something for the scene, making people happy or angry ;)
And where is best to play?
-I prefer small club shows where you are eye to eye with the audience so
that everybody can transfer the party to each other. I like it when the
crowed is part of the show. I wish that someday we have some nice small club
parties where the crowd is exploding like on a Terror gig for example.
How is it to play this sort of music in Germany?
-Our music is nothing new. There are a lot of bands who play the same style
as we do. Especially in the states. In Germany, we have a lot of German
speaking Oi bands but nearly no English talking ones. You can only find
harder English music when you look to the German hardcore scene. Our Style
is a mixture out of Oi and HC. So we fill the hole between this two genres.
And till now the feedback is quite good.
How would you describe your music in three words?
-Rough, loud, aggressive
What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or is it a lifestyle?
-Of course it is a lifestyle. There are so many different shades, categories
and ways of punk. Some are more mainstream, some are not. But it’s still a
rebellion. Even when times have changed and it is no longer a crime to be a
skin or punk for most of the people. If you live the shit from the bone-
it’s a lifestyle!
How do you see on downloading, mp3 and that stuff?
-It´s music evolution. It’s a technical evolution. You can’t stop it so you
have to deal with it.
How is it to live in the Germany now? Politically?
It’s cool to live in Germany. We have everything we want. You cannot die
because of unemployment or being homeless when you don’t really want it. The
state and the social system will help you if you lose your job or have an
accident. It’s all paid.
But there is a lot of bullshit going on here too. The government is lying,
the media is lying, the rich slave the poor, there is always a good and a
bad side of the coin, like in every other country too. We have our own
problems and our own solutions. In that point, there is no difference
between the rest of the world.
Is there any good bands from Germany now? Is the punkscene big? How is it
in your hometown?
-The german subculture scene is huge. We have tons of bands. Nobody can even
know all the bands from even one area. There are always new combos coming up
when old ones quit.
I live in Düsseldorf. We have very good punk n oi bands like Broilers, 4
Promille, Toten Hosen, Rogers, and so on... The music scene is very strong
in Germany.
What do you know about Sweden?
-I know Ikea if that is what you expected ;)
I like Sweden. You are a proud country with old traditions and fresh ideas.
Your school system for example is one of the best in the world. You have a
disgusting taste of serving and eating rotten fish, you have a very
beautiful landscape and quite good cars (Volvo). The prices on luxury items
like alcohol and tobacco are very high but I don’t give a damn cause I don’t
live there ;)
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
-Everybody knows Perkele. I heard there are a lot of good Metal bands coming
from Sweden but I can’t remember any of them. And there is a lot of RAC
bands but that is not my kind of music...
Your lyrics, who does them and what influences you?
-I do the lyrics myself. It’s all about life, it’s all about things that
happen to me or my friends. I don’t like it if bands go the funny way about
everything and the most important thing to do is drinking, having fun and to
care about nothing . I write about the happenings that make me think about
and I’m glad that I have to say that most of our songs are negative. But
this is called Aggressive and not a fucking unicorn combo or something...
Is there any subject that you never will write anything about?
-I’m tired of doing political statements to anybody only because I have
cropped hair and boots on my feet. Of course, everybody has his own believes
and you have the right to stand for them. But please, leave me alone with
your fucking opinions about your point of view. If you are friendly and you
don’t try to fuck me up with your leftwing or rightwing bullshit, you’re
welcome. But if you are acting like an asshole, then you are an asshole for
me and you can take your "good willing force to form a better world" and
fuck off.
Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?
-See above ;)
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can change anyones life, I mean
people who listens to music?
-It definitely can! When I was a young boy, music was such a big influence
in my life. It made me think. A lot of stuff that was said in song lyrics
was twisting my mind. Sometimes in a positive- and sometimes in a negative
way. I think, music played a role in forming my character when I became an
adult.
Why don´t you sing in German?
-English is the common "World language". I like speaking English. I have a
lot of friends around the world who cannot speak a word in German. So why
should I sing in German when there are so many people who can’t understand a
fucking sentence? We do music for everybody who likes the style that we
perform. It doesn’t matter if you are German, British, Malaysian or from
anywhere else. English is multinational.
Are you satisfied with Sunny Bastards? Is it important to get out your
records a physical records?
-Sunny and Chris from Sunny Bastards are good friends of us. So it was just
a matter of course that we find a place on their label. They are really good
friends and fair partners. We are happy with them.
In Germany, vinyl has a big comeback nowadays and there is a huge boom on collecting vinyl in rare and limited editions. So it’s quite important to produce an album in hardcopy.
Please tell me a funny thing which have happened during your career and
under some gig?
-We always have a lot of fun when we are playing gigs. As I said before,
Timo is a very funny guy. He is always acting funny when he is drunk. He
can’t speak English so he is trying to talk with hand and feet when we play
with bands from other countries. Last year we were supporting BISHOPS GREEN
from Canada. Timo accidently sat down on a piece of awful smelling cheese
that was lying on the table for dinner. So his trousers were stinking like
hell. He tried to explain that to Greg Huff from B.G. He only could explain
himself in German so he always stick his hand in his ass pocket and then
held it in Greg’s face that he should smell the cheese. Greg thought he shit
his pants or other pervert stuff and tried to escape but Timo was behind
him. The whole scene was so fucking brilliant, we still laughing about it
today....
How does your audience look like? Which people do you miss on your concerts?
-This is a Skinhead band. What do you think the audience looks like? ;)
Please rank your five favoriterecords, five favoriteconcerts and five most
important things in life?
Fav. Records:
1. Judas Priest: Screaming for vengeance
2. Böhse Onkelz: Kneipenterroristen
3. Madball: Look my way
4. Cock Sparrer: All of them
5. Many more, I can’t count them all
Fav. Concerts:
1. Such a Surge and Thumb 1994
2. Madball 1995
3. Biohazard 1996
4. Cock Sparrer Reunion Tour
5. Every Punkrock Holiday in Tolmin Slovenia
Important Things:
1. To be happy
2. Health and protection for my family and friends.
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much interviews??
-We did a few interviews already. It’s only getting boring when people
always ask the same questions. Online interviews are easier and more
efficient because you have more time to think about it before you answer.
If you could choose five bands from the past and the history and nowadays
and both dead and living bands to have a concert together with your band.
Which five have you been chosen?
-1. Stomper 98
2. Lions Law
3. Hardtimes
4. Close combat
5. 4 Skins and many more...
Futureplans for the band?
-We are already working on new stuff for the next album. There will be a
Super Sound Single in Split with WARRIOR KIDS from France coming out this
year. And we try to organize a little European Tour in May. Let’s see if we
can make it all happen...
Something to add?
-Thank you for interviewing us and doing the review on our new record.
For anybody who read this shit to the end.
Support your scene! Support your lifestyle and your culture! Go and visit
gigs in your city! Form a band and stay true!
Thanks!
Stay aggressive!
Dan