Eric from Deathjocks sent me two records one with Deathjocks and one with his second band Jack Torrance, we begin with this band which plays beautiful and good americanstyled hardcore.  November-2019

Please tell me a little bit history of the group?
-We formed the band around 12 years ago. We all were friends before and played in other bands. Over the years we released 1 Demo, 1st Album: Deathjocks - Morality is what we breathe. (LP/CD), 2nd Album: Deathjocks - In Jock we trust. (LP/Download-code).
Right now we write new songs cuz´we want to release new material in 2020. We made some Promo Videos you can find on Youtube. So as Walk on by or Codex Kids.

Please tell me a little about every member in the group right now, age, family, work, interests and something bad about everyone? Earlier bands? Other bands on the side? I know you have Jack Torrance…
-Well, we are 4 individual guys who have all kinds of different influences in music. Like 70. Psychedelic rock, Stoner Rock and Oldschool hardcore, wich i think makes the Deathjocks sound very unique. I´m Eric, 38 years old. I´m the singer of the Deathjocks and I write most of the lyrics. I work for a record-Label called PHNX Records. I have a son and i also play drums in a band called Jack Torrance. I´m also the singer of a band called "Anti-Control" and that´s more of some kinda Anarcho Hardcore sound.
My brother Sven is the guitarist in Deathjocks and he has 2 kids. He´s 48 years old. (He also was founding member of Anti-Control) He´s writing most of the songstructures in Deathjocks and some of the lyrics here and there.
Fuzzy is the Bass player in the group. He has 3 kids and he brings a lot of blues feeling into the way he plays the bassguitarr in a hardcore band such as Deathjocks. He works as a theatre technician close to Frankfurt.
Andi is the drummer and he brings a lot of this "Pete Finestone" (Bad Religion Drummer 81 - 90) drum-feeling into the bands sound. He has a daughter and waits for his next kid right now.
We all love music in general and we share the same idea of using music/art as weapon. Our songs are munition in a way. The more people you reach the more people you can give something. Like ideas, hopes, support or transporting something in our lyrics.

I can hear much different influences but mostly old American hardcore music? Favorites from the past?
-Yes Peter that´s true. we all like all kinds of music. And you can definetely hear all these influences in our songs.
From the hardcore movement i would say that most of our influences are bands like: Bad Brains, Black Flag, J.F.A., Off!, (the old 80.) Bad Religion and Circle Jerks. But of course also the lyrics of Jello Biafra had a huge Impact on us.
And we understand comedians like Richard Pryor as very important influences on art and lyrics.

Deathjocks  are you satisfied with the name? How did it came up? You weren’t afraid that some other band would be named like this? Which is the best bandname you know?
-Well, i came up with the bandname. And since the word "Deathjocks" is a selfcreated word, i was pretty sure no one else would come up with this name. haha..
We wanted to come up with some element from 80. Movies. So we came up with the word jock. You know, ...these highschool footballteam fuckups. Bad haircuts, college jackets, always beat up young, weak and neardy schoolkids. And the word death pretty much fitted to jocks in our eyes. Creates a very strange picture to discribe a person. A deathjock. Don´t get me wrong, we don´t like the idea of jocks running around in schools or bars looking for a fight. We combined these two words and liked the idea of what it could mean. What it says. Also from the eyes of a nerd or a weak guy full of fear facing guys like them. Going like, ... Oh fuck, I need to go with the schoolbus again this morning. Knowing that a bunch of fucked up whipping boys waiting
for you there using you as a doormat.

What´s the best thing with playing live?
-Well, Deathjocks shows are always an experience for both. the band and the audience. I personaly like to play live beacuse i intergrate the audience as much as possible. I love the dynamic of playing live.
Epecially with our drummer Andi, cuz´you never know how fast he might play. Haha..
I also love when people come and sing your lyrics along with you. Just shows that they know what you are up to, what you think about. Or just appreciate your output and creativity. that´s very cool as a singer Imust say!

And where is best to play? And the worst place?
-Ohh, we really love to play everywhere. We never been to England or Sweden. Hopefuly some swedish promoter reads this here and wants to put up a show for us!? Cuz´we realy would love to play in Sweden.
I think, that you can end up disappointed with people everywhere in audiences. Doesn´t matter which country or which nationality. To be honest, we don´t believe in nationalities.
But also other way around, people can positifly suprise you as well here and there.
I think Italy has great places, and so have France and Germany.

How is to play this sort of music in Germany right now?  Which types of bands do you have concerts together with?
-Also depends on the city and the venues, in some cities around 200 people show up in other cities you come across with 30 people. But sometimes the smaller shows are even better then unpersonal shows with 100 people plus...

How would you describe your music in three words?
-Straight forward Oldschoolfueled hardcore. (4 words haha..)

What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or is it a lifestyle?
-Well,Ii think if you look at musicscenes all over the world from rock to pop, Techno etc.. I think this punk thing is a very familiar thing. A bunch of underdog people who have a lot of things in common.
Political ideas, ideals and a kinda common view on the world.
Unfairness & the evil of the world. It´s clear that you go playing a punk/Hardcore show somewhere the people in the audience understand or know what you are about. Aslo it´s more easy to connect with other bands and promoters around the globe. Cuz´it´s not about getting famous or something like that. As i said, it´s more familiar. It´s not about business. I mean most of the time.

Which song/album or group was it who took you into punk/hardcore?
-In my case it was the "Dead Kennedys - MTV get off the air" live videocassette. A live show from 1984. I was 14, into rock music and all kinds of music i knew from friends and parents.
And my brother came around with this video he bought in America on vacation. We watched it together and within 10 minutes my whole point on music and what i thought i knew changed. I never heard or saw anything like it! IT WAS A FUCKING BLAST. And i wanted to be a part of
this scene. Soon I jumped in to a group of older Punks from my hometown and they intruduced me to Misfits - Earth A.D., Schleimkeim -Abfallprodukte der Gesellschaft, Crucifix - Dehumanization, T.S.O.L.,Anti Cimex, Mob 47, M.D.C., Crude SS, and Black Flag, etc...
Also my brother and I shared new bands once we heard a new band.
Changed everything !!!!!

What shall a young guy do today to shock their parents as the way we did when we were young? They have already seen everything ;-)?
-Hmm, that´s a good question. It really depends on the parents. I never was rebellious against my parents cuz´they were very cool with alot of things i did. They were in fact pretty much supportive. For me it was more the rebellion against society and the system we live in. And I think it´s not harder to go against the grain and against the system nowadays. I think it´s as easy as ever. Cuz´ nothing changed. The other way around, we have a huge problem with nationalistic tendences
here in Germany. The political tension around the globe is drastic to us and maybe it´s not only about shocking but more about taking action in a matter. Going to demonstrations and yeah, getting active.

How is it to live in Germany right now? Politically?  Fascists?
-Well, it´s again a thing that never really went away here. We always had a problem with that. I just think it´s important to grow our kidspretty much educated. And telling them about the past. Educate people in school and make sure people know where to go, who are good and who
are the bad people. Looking behind structures of companies. In the eastern part of Germany it´s still rough to go as a punk band. You really need to watch your steps. There are squat houses who need to protect their community and shows with guns and massive security to make sure they don´t get fucked up by Nazis. I feel that people everywhere are very much easy to manipulate. Specially when it comes to the refugee policy in the moment. this is the earth where all this nationalistic rush and hounding grows. And that´s a huge problem. Also the fact that people are unwilling to make up their own mind about things wich brings me back
to people who are uneducated.It´s a vicious circle.

Is there any good bands from Germany right now?  Is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene big? How is it in your hometown?
-Yes , i would say we have a big scene here in Germany. We also have so many great bands as well. Like Berlin Blackouts, Scheiße Minelli, Pascow, WWK, Rawside, Abriss, etc..
In my hometown it´s not so great in the moment, cuz a lot of young people went to live in other cities. The gouvernmet closed a lot of clubs and bars.

What do you know about Sweden?  Have you been here sometime?
-We don´t know that much about Sweden´s Musicscene. Of course we know a  lot of bands from there. But more like oldschool bands such as, ... Totalitär, Mob 47, Anti-Cimex, Asozial, Refused, DS-13 or Disfear.
We know that you have a lot of nice coasts there, around 9 million people living there and Stockholm as the maincity.
We heard about the commune Christiania, which sounds very interesting!(Sorry to say it´s in Denmark)  But that´s about it.

Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
-Totalitär, Mob 47, Anti-Cimex, Asozial, Refused, DS-13, Raised Fist, Crude SS, Disfear, Asta Kask, Operation, Hellacopters, Dozer, The Hives or Sötlimpa. I would say those are our Favoz.

Your lyrics, who does them and what influences you?  Never in German(I really like that language as a punklanguage)?
-Life gives the inspiration. If you walk with open eyes and an reflective mind, there´s a lot to write about. My brother and i write the lyrics.
Yeah, uhmm... we decided to go for english cuz´ around 330 million people around the world speak english. So it´s about reaching people. Plus to me singing in the german language doesn´t have any flow! but thank you Peter!

Is there any subject that you never will write anything about?
-Something you will never read from me or in my lyrics would be:
- Pro abortion. (i think that´s something only a woman needs to decide ONLY)
- Refugees taking away our money and jobs and bullshit like that! (
There´s a reason why refugees are in our country. It´s  because we destroy their countries while we earn a lot of money delivering weapons. / Two faced morality) stuff like that...

Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?  Which is your most political song?  Is it important to get out your opinions in music?
-Yes, i think in a way this is also a part of punk. But we would never bring some kinda approach like vote this or do that.
We only have political songs/ Lyrics only but more in a "how we see things" kinda thing. You know what i mean?

Best political band/artist?
-Dead Kennedys, Crucifix are the two we would say.

Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can change anyones life, I mean people who listens to music?
-Well, that´s hard to say. But I think it´s a great chance to try.
Reaching people out there and try to give a glimps of how we see the world or what matters to us. Maybe someone somewhere finds him self in those lyrics.

Your favorite recordcover alltime?  Who does your recordcovers?
-Best record cover?? Puhh... that´s very hard. I would say: DEAD KENNEDYS - PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTER.(but there are tons of great Record covers out there, Bad Brains -
Roir Tape, Bad Religion - Suffer, or Crass - Feeding of the 5000) The covers transport the idea and the content of the Record/ Album. Goes hand in hand.
Well , my brother is very very smart in doing layout. So he is doing all our covers. And we all love it!

Is it important to get out physical records of your stuff? Why or why not? Vinyl, CD, cassette, what do you prefer if you could choose whatever ?
-We like this oldschool idea of producing records. Like back in the days! We try to get rid of this CD plastic shit. So we try to put a download code in every record now.

Please tell me a funny thing which have happened during your career and under some gig?
-Ohhh, wow. There are tons of stories if you are on the road for over10 years. HA! Once we played a houseparty in a staircase also with the drums in the staircase. The show was crazy fun.
We played a show and painted our whole bodys in blue paint. We played a full playback show on MTV and made it even worse. (You can find this on Youtube) We got hammered a night before and got into the studio super drunk and way to late!
People got lost on tour, brushed teath with Jack Daniels, passed out on stage, shit like that..

How does your audience look like? Which people do you miss on your concerts? Which is the biggest band you ever have played together with?
-Most of the shows are very mixed up. So it really depends on where we play. But I really like when it´s mixed up. Girls , Guys, Black & white, Straight edge people, freaks, etc.. Everybody´s welcome. We played some shows with Poison Idea, Fang, Slime or Jello Biafra &
School of Guantanamo and Total Chaos.

Please rank your five favoriterecords, five favoriteconcerts and five most important things in life?
-5 fav. Records:
Scream - Still Screamin´, Bad Brains - Roir Tape, Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disaster, Crucifix - Dehumanization,M.I.A. - Murder in a foreign place.
5 fav. Concerts:
Saul Williams, Converge, Neurotic Arseholes, Gang Green, Fugazi.
5 most imp. things in life:
True love, My son (family in general), health, Loyalty with the people I´m with (work / art), Freedom in any kind of form.

The most expensive record ever bought?
-Dave Brubeck - Take 5 (original 7") for 60 €

Is it boring with interviews? Is it much interviews?
-No, we like interviews. Normaly we do interviews after shows not so often over the internet. This one was a nice one. It´s about the questions of interview. We liked yours!

Do you care about reviews? Which is the most peculiar you ever had, with this band or any other band you have been to?
-Yes, we think reviews are important. But they are more or less in the same level. Each one is different but it´s very interesting to read all the different opinions from people. How they see or hear the album.

Which bands do people compare you to, is it boring that people compare you to other bands or is it understandable?
-No idea! Like honestly. I don´t know.

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?
-J.F.A. , T.S.O.L., Dead Kennedys and Bad Brains.(It was only four or?)

Is music a good way to get out frustration and become a nicer person outside the music??
-Well, i would say it´s a very important ventile. Not a better person but I think it´s part of a reflection if you try to be a very pure person on stage. Like a cleaning process on stage. Like giving all you have. It can make you fell very empty by the end of a show. (in a good way)

Which is the most odd question you ever have got in an interview?
-I don´t remember ? Maybe whats my favorite food or something? ... don´t know.

Which is the question you want to have but you never get. Please ask it and answer it?
-Every interview is different. Your´s had pretty much all good questions within.

Futureplans for the band?
-We would love to continue recording new stuff, and we would love to go to countries we haven´t got the chance to go to yet!
Such as Sweden or Portugal, USA..

For yourself?
-Well, I love to travel with my girlfriend around the world. I hope the time and money allowes us to travel a lot next year. I wanna be creative in many things, like paintings and other music productions.

Wisdomword?
-Educate and be good to your kids if you wanna change the world.

Something to add?
Thank you Peter for getting in touch with us.
If people are interested in putting up a show for us or wanna catch up with something get in touch with us please on swcrecords@gmx.de
We also have some Youtube Videos if you wanna check.

Thank you very much. Eric Deathjock
eric@phnxrecords.com: