Gergely - Guitar (2018- ), Hungary:
He is 37 years old, making him the youngest in our team. He works in an IT position and also helps out in a law firm. He currently has another band, Fuck Bad Things, in which he plays bass. This is an up-and-coming hardcore punk band that the surrounding country is slowly getting to know. (before that he played in the predecessors of these)

Charlie - Bass (2023- ), Denmark:
because of him, this world has been a better place for 50 years, he also likes to live his hobby, that's why he became a truck driver. He has played in many bands and plays or helps out on drums or bass guitar. We will mention only a few: Abortion, Filthy Element, Märesvin, Waste of Time, NxAxG etc...

Tonyo - Guitar (2023- ), Hungary:
He has been grinding the ground under his feet for 38 years, one could say that he also makes a living from what he likes to do, he helps people learn to play music as a bass/guitar instructor and works as a studio sound technician. He played in countless bands.

We don't think it's bad to be older in this style of music. As long as we have something to say and as long as even younger people are interested in our view of the world, it doesn't hurt if there are older ones as well.
At the beginning there were five of us, but due to necessity, we became a band of three, and then between 2004 and 2018 there were four of us in the team. A German guy joined us on guitar. János has always liked it better when he doesn't have to play the guitar, because he can express himself better only as a singer. However, the sound required two guitars. Finally, last year in 2023, the opportunity came that Tonyo, originally a bass guitarist, was willing to join in on guitar and Charlie was on bass. By the way, it's funny that in terms of original instruments, Krisz and Charlie are also drummers, and János, Gregory, and Tonyo are bass guitarists. So, we don't have a real guitarist in our team. :D

The name Barackca, what does it mean? How did you come up with that?

-As already mentioned, we named ourselves after a school barracks building where our first rehearsal room was. Then Krisz invented the writing style, because no one had written it so stupidly before.

You come from Hungary, how is it to live there nowadays, racists and politics overall?

-This is a difficult question, because several members of the band left the country 15+ years ago. So there are only two guitarists living there. The suffocating and hopeless political situation also contributed to our leaving that country. The political milieu that started to poison public life after the failed government in 2002 has now succeeded in turning people who used to be hospitable to foreigners into racist and hateful people. A propaganda machine flooded the country, which is difficult to resist, because only his media appear in many areas. (TV, Radio, Newspaper) That's why a significant part of people stuffs people's heads with fake news also produced by propaganda. This machine has proven itself, and since then they have helped to build it in other countries as a franchise, so that the right and far-right political positions can successfully advance.

When you do your lyrics, what are they about, anytime political or is politics nothing to have in music? Is it worth doing music without being political?

-Since 2002, our lyrics have been determined exclusively by social problems and political processes. Before that, we had songs with a fun and party tone, but then we said that there are so many bad things happening in our world that we don't want to write new party songs. We would rather draw attention to these serious problems. So from our side, the answer is clear, that it is important to show our political positions in the songs. Politics is something that many people deny, that they do not deal with politics. While everything has something to do with it, we only take into account the evolution of food prices, which is also the result of political decisions. The same goes for wars, the collapse or redirection of educational systems, the weaving or burning of the social network. It's just that many people don't want to notice that politics is everywhere in their lives.

 

How would you describe your own music in three words for those who haven´t heard you?

-Angry, emotional and raw

 

Is there any there groups you have being compared to? Is it bad or good to be compared?
-We haven't heard much about which band we are compared to. There is a kind of peculiarity to what we do, unintentionally it contains the Hungarian punk style that stuck to us from our youth, but in the meantime, it got mixed up with our favorite bands moving on a very wide palette that influenced us. All of this resulted in what people can hear in Hungarian. We never tried to compare or copy to another band what we liked; everything came from us instinctively. We don't attach any importance to the fact that someone compares bands, it's not an important issue for us.

Have you listened a lot to old hungarian punk/hardcoregroups and do you have any favorites from the past? I don´t know so many, please recommend some?

-When we were young in the early 90s, we listened to several Hungarian bands and loved them, but then that changed. We became more mature and understood better what all this punk/hardcore was about, and then we saw what it meant to these old Hungarian bands. (there were plenty of differences) Many bands from the 80s have recently re-formed, but as it turns out, they didn't understand even then that punk was questioning the government of all times and not just the current "communist" regime (in 80's). So, after their revival, these bands still only sing against communism, and they thought that the best way to express this was by amplifying right-wing topos. Among them are the voters of the far-right party and among them are the voters of the right-wing neoliberal government. They wrote songs against immigration and refugees, and voiced these views of the government in their posts and between songs at concerts. That is why we distance ourselves completely from them and do not usually recommend them for listening. We are not willing to perform with these bands on the same stage or at an event. I can only mention the band Trottel (1982- ) with a calm heart, because they certainly did not go in the direction of right-wing views, but musically they have been on the psychedelic/jazz instrumental line for a long time.

Which is the best format to put out records on?
-It's worth publishing everything digitally too, since most people (even my 72-year-old mother) listen to music mostly on their phones. At the same time, we always want to release physical copies, because it feels so good when what we created becomes tangible. It has a good cover, you can take it in your hand and turn it around to read. That's why we will also release the next album on vinyl. The first 5 albums were released on cassettes. (we sold them all) We released them on CD between the fifth and eighth. Finally, for the first time, we released the 7th and 8th albums on a one vinyl. Everybody has different preference, so we can't tell which one is the best.

Can you feel that you have done a record if you would release it only digitally?

-Not yet at the moment. See our answer to the previous question.

When you listen to music, what is your favorite way to listen to music, Spotify, vinyl, CD or what do you prefer?
-We all have different attitudes, but I think we all listen to music in different ways. At home, when there's chill out time, it's on vinyl, and when traveling and coming and going, it's digital. (most of us don't have a Spotify account, but we listen to it on other sites or on the phone) maybe we put in a CD the least, but even that happens in the tour van.

Do you buy much records yourself?
-There are those among us who don't, because they don't have any record player. However, there are those who take several records home at the end of each tour. I bought my first record player not so long ago and started buying my favorite records. When I discover a band new to me, I listen to it digitally, and if I like it, I check to see if they have a physical release. If they don't have vinyl or CD, then I'll buy it digitally, if I have it, I'll see if I can catch them at a concert sometime. If it succeeds, I will buy a record from them there, because I'm also directly supporting the band, if I can't see their concert, I'll order it from them or wherever their record is available.

Is there any good record shops left in your hometown?
-We only know of one record store that does not sell records by Nazi bands. (I think it's because it's run by a former punk musician) the Wave, which is in the middle of Budapest, is worth checking out if you're there.

Any good bands from your town and in Hungary nowadays overall?

-Are. Bands are constantly forming, disbanding, coming and going, but there are a few who have been on the scene for several years or even decades and are worth watching/listening to. Among those with whom we did a lot of concerts or organized things in our first 10-15 years, only one remains really active, the band called tHE sNOBS. Apart from them, our guitarist's other band is Fuck Bad Things, there is also a group called IGA, who have been playing music for years. Liberal Youth, KBT, Tetra, Rotty-On and many more

What does punk mean to you, is it only a music style, a word or is it a style of living?
-Taking a stand against: today's consumer society and the political/capitalist patterns and laws and regulations which created against our environment and humanity. This can be expressed not only in music, but also in countless works of art, but at the same time it is the lifestyle itself, if we don't stay in line and we become just one of the cogs in the machine of bad systems.

Tell me a little about the following song and what they´re about? Who did them and tell me a little about the story?
a) Fizess
The special feature of this song is that it was already written during the studio session. Jani wrote the lyrics and, in the refrain, the phrase that became the name of the whole record. (Recycled Humanity) The lyrics focus on the fact that for centuries and thousands of years humanity has lived in such bad systems where a few rules over the great majority and constantly have to pay for everything, for things that normally all people need. All this for the immeasurable capitalist profit, who are not ashamed to ask for an unrealistically large amount of money and taxes even for the fact that the person is dead and needs to be buried. For these systems (kingdom, dictatorship, capitalism, democracy, etc.), human life is just an easily reusable object. At will, they sacrifice humanity to wars, starvation, or slave labor (today a paid slave). The only point is to make more profit from people born, living and already dead.
b/ Van Meg Remeny
I wrote this song on a more hopeful day (Krisz). Somehow, we already saw the world as a very dark place where human life does not matter, only profit matters, where the destruction of our environment does not matter, only profit matters, where it does not matter if everything and everyone is destroyed, even those who could be the beneficiaries of this damned profit. I could best compare this to conscious and unconscious suicides who constantly act to harm themselves. The music is therefore also slower and has a deeply depressing gloomy sound, at the end of which we put very fast music with a strong contrast and there in the text we describe the hope that even from this low point there is a way back and what needs to be done in order for our world to change in a short time don't collapse inside and have a future for planet earth.
c) A Teren
I (Krisz) also wrote this song when I was still in high school and during one of the boring lessons I remembered the experiences I had the previous weekend. In those days (90s), it was easier for people to get into trouble because of the punk look due to prejudices based on appearances. The song is about the young man pondering mutual respect and ideals that accept everyone in the square while waiting for his friends. They do no harm to anyone either with their looks or their thoughts. Despite this, he still provokes hostile feelings from the Nazis and the obnoxious citizens, who therefore attack and beat him. Several people see this, but instead of helping, only they make mean comments. Unfortunately, this was part of everyday life for many years, and society has been stuck in this kind of apathy ever since.

Are you selling any merch on your gigs, do people buy it? What sells best?

-Yes, we have merch, the sale of these also helps cover the tour budget. People mostly buy t-shirts and our albums, but our entire range can be viewed on our website.

Which is your own favorite song among your own songs? And which song is the people choice? Do you play any covers too, if you do which songs?
-It would be too difficult to choose one song from our 107 songs. So there are several that we don't miss at the concert: Anarchia él (Anarchy live), Ellenőrzés Alatt (Under control), Nyisd ki a szád! (Open your mouth!), Háború (War), Miért élünk?! (Why we live?!), Függetlenül (Independently), Történelem (History), but still very important to us too: NATO, Nincs semmid (You have nothing), Squat the World, Munkadal (Working song), Város (City), Egymással szemben (Face to face), Segítő kéz (Helping hand). The audience choices vary depending on where we go, but of course they really want to hear our drinking song Ja voll, written in german language everywhere.
We don't play covers because we have plenty of our own songs that we want to tell our audience. However, at the 30th birthday concert, we played 1 cover in honor of our friend's memory, because he died young and he and his band played this piece a lot at our common concerts.

When you do songs, is it one in the group who does them or how do you compose a song?
-Until now, János usually came up with melodies and he and I (Krisz) prepared the basics in the rehearsal room. After that, the bass was added, and finally the two of us went through the text ideas to see which one fits one of our new tunes. In the future, we don't yet know how they will develop, now that the band is finally, we are 5 members.

Please rank your five favorite records? Five best concerts you have been to? And the five most important things in life?
-János: I don't count anything in rankings.
Krisz:
Albums: Oi Polloi – Fuaim Catha, Millions of Dead Cops – More than ever, Inner Terrestrials – IT!, Aus Rotten – And now back to our programing, Juggling Jugulars – Propaganda Immunity
Concerts: Oi Polloi, MDC, Dropdead, Bad Religion, Propagandhi
Life: live free, feel free, my family (inc. my band), planet, humanity
Gergely:
Albums: Bad Religion - No Control, Danny Trejo - Another Trejo's night, Drunktank - Return of the infamous four, The Casualties - Under attack, nemecsek - csupa kis betűvel
Concerts: Bad Religion, Talco, Oxo86, Not on Tour, Pennywise
Life: music, family, friends, energy, freedom
Charlie:
Albums: Napalm Death - From Enslavement to Obliteration, Voivod - Killing Technology, Agnostic Front - Dead Yuppies, Agathocles - Razor Sharp Daggers, The Young Gods - TV Sky, Igorrr

Spirituality and Distortion
Concerts: Voivod, Wehrmacht, No Means No, Municipal Waste, The Young Gods, Igorrr.
Life: LIFE itself if you understand me. Love and respect to everything what surrounding me.
Tonyo:

I eat coriander, even if I didn't like it, so I don't keep track of what my favorite is from anything.

Do you care about reviews? Which is the most peculiar you ever had, with this band or any other band you have been to?

-If the opinion comes from relevant people, then I am interested, but not so much as to comply with them. In Italy, a man over 70 came with a young guy who translate between us and said: I was completely captivated by this music (then he hummed the song 'Under Control'), I don't speak Hungarian or English and I don't know what they sang exactly, but that's what it meant to me the song: "..." and here he said exactly what we sang about in the song. We have come across a similar opinion quite a few times.

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?

-Krisz: Aus Rotten, Subhumans, Berurier Noir, Crass, Capitalist Casualties

Is music a good way to get out frustration and become a nicer person outside the music?
-Basically, it's a good way to vent your frustration, but it doesn't make you a nicer person on the outside the music. Even after the concert, we are just as angry with the system and the gears that move it. However, we can be kind to other people who deserve it, despite our frustration.

You have never had any thoughts in singing in English or any other language?
-This has occurred to us from time to time, but there is no other language in which we can write songs as expressively as our mother tongue. We wrote a song in German about drinking. However, recently it has come up several times that we might sing some songs in English, but who knows what the future will bring.

Any good Swedish bands you like?
-DS-13, Satanic Surfers, Asta Kask, Mob 47, Anti Cimex, Totalitär, Disfear, Skitsystem, Refused, Borgerlig Begravning,

Is it boring with interviews? Is it much interviews? What do you prefer Telephoneinterviews, face to face or as this one via e-mail?
-It is not boring, as we are not approached for interviews that often. A few times a year is easy to answer. Although, in this case, 30 questions are now quite a lot. Anyway, if the questions are not the same, it will never be boring. Now I have to write a lot for another book about Hungarian punk bands of the 90s. (Krisz) The easiest way for us is via e-mail. Since we live very far from each other, we can talk to each other about questions and answers very quickly. Later, we can think about what we want to say with our answers. We don't want a phone interview, a lot depends on the network and we can easily misunderstand each other, especially if the interview is not in our own language. Face to face, it's still okay, but it's not the best. Before or after a concert, it is not so easy to answer questions in a coherent manner.

Futureplans for the band?
-We have two more tours left in our 30th anniversary tour series this year. We started in May last year and will end this year in October with our 31st birthday concert. After that, we want to get together at the end of the year to rehearse and finish the new songs. We would be happy if we could release it on vinyl next year. In May of next year, there is a plan of Scandinavian-Baltic common tour with the band Millions of Dead Cops. It would be perfect if the new album could be released by then. And then more tours as long as we can.

Futureplans for yourself?
-Stay alive, be healthier.

Wisdomword?
-Actually, we are not that wise during an interview. We just live our lives and try to create something good with our songs and show people a way out of hopelessness. It might be worth supporting local concerts and going to see unknown and new bands. You never know when you will see something that will change your life or the way you see. However, if we let all the places where bands like ours can play die out, sooner or later only the cultural bleakness will remain and we can complain at home that it is no longer possible to go to good concerts.

Something more to add?
-If you liked what you read about us, then visit our websites, there you can see when we play near you and we are available for discussions at any time. You can listen to our music for free on many platforms and if you like it, support us either by ordering something from us, or by coming to our concert and you'll find what you like from the merch.
Or if you support someone else, that's also good, because humanity needs each other and helping hands.

https://linktr.ee/barackca