Questions: Jaka Čurlič & Irena Vrtovec
Answers: Shakey Sue - Vocals

1. First  can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your band and your music?

Hey Folks! I’m Shakey Sue, singer and founding member of The Hellfreaks, into-your-face punkrock/psychobilly from Hungary ... or better: currently based in Budapest AND Berlin. Personally I moved to Berlin one year ago and live now separately from the band. So I’m in a kind of a distance relationship with the rest of the band, who all live in Budapest. We started the band in a cellar of Budapest without having any big plans – but things went really quick! Even for our first album we had a German label, and started touring across Europe half a year after the foundation. Till here and now we played at many major festivals, but played in small clubs from Romania till Spain as well – more than 100 gigs at all.

2. In February you celebrated the 5th anniversary of the band. How would you describe your beginnings? Do your origins (being Hungarian) in any way influence your music development? Did you have any problems getting gigs outside of your country? 

I think the only Hungarian influence was that we never thought that we could ever be as successful as we are right now. :D
We started to write the songs in English, and I still only sing in English.
The Hungarian language is really hard, and it’s a big challenge to use the language without sounding ridiculous. We have a huge vocabulary – but that even makes it harder to use it correctly. That’s why The Hellfreaks are in that strange situation to had first success outside of our borders, and later in Hungary. Even the young people who all learn English in school  prefer to listen to music in Hungarian language. So we started with a kind of handicap from the Hungarian point of view.
On the other hand that was exactly what we wanted to do; shows outside of the country, to travel, to see the world and be on tour. We’ve been in a lot of countries where we've never been before thanks to our music. I think that’s an awesome thing. It was not so hard to get international shows. If I remember right we had our 3rd or 4th show already in Vienna/ Austria and from that point we had much more invitations from other countries than Hungary.

3. In 2009 you released your first self titled demo and in the same year you applied for the tender that the Program For National Contemporary Music Culture in Hungary put out for music and motion pictures. Despite over 180 submissions you won and obtained the necessary funding for the music video for your single 'Boogie Man', which instantly resulted in over  1,500,000 views on Youtube. How would you describe your feelings when you received the award? Were you surprised of such a success so early in your career?

Of course we had been surprised! We didn’t even want to try it, just a very good friend of mine helped us and believed that it could work. We had nothing to lose and said okay, let’s try. It was a mixed genre competition between the bands - from pop to hiphop, and other crazy stuff. We know that we are not doing anything mainstream – and normally this is a shot in your head in Hungary. But somehow it worked, and we got this awesome opportunity to make this videoclip. Of course first it wasn’t such a big success. This video started like any other video with some hundred views. But the number of views increased constantly and right now it’s close to 2.000.000 views. We’re still surprised and think: This. Is. Really. Crazy. 

4. Later you released ‘Hell Sweet Hell’ in 2010 and ‘Circus Of Shame’ in 2012. Who is writing the lyrics and what messages do they bring? If I am not mistaken Sue has a degree in Environmental engineering. Are the lyrics maybe influenced also by that? :)

I’m writing all of the lyrics by my own. And fortunately without any influence by my degree. But if you really want to hear a song about a waste-water treatment plant let me know and let’s see what we can do for you! :-)
But in the meantime I will stay at real life experience like I use now.
For the first album – Hell Sweet Hell – I thought it’s better not to sell my sorrows. The lyrics are much more about horror themed stuff, quite far away from real life than all our stuff later. The big difference at the second album about the lyrics is that they are ALL about my personal thoughts and experiences – still with a little spice of horror, but not necessarily anymore. There are horror-elements, but it’s not ABOUT horror elements anymore. Of course there are some exceptions like “Dead & Breakfast” which is about real-happened murdering in Hungary, but which are quite funny. Or “Don’t Feed The Models” where I compare models to little Gremlins… Of course there is a big portion of self irony as I work as model myself from time to time.
We are working on the 3rd album right now. Here I will go even more this road. I would never ever write about any political issues in our songs, but I won't shut up if I think something has to be said. And there are many thoughts collected in my mind I just want to shout out in this world.

5. On Youtube I found the video of one of your shows when you covered The Distillers "I am a Revenant" and I also read on your webpage that Sue is really into them. I would like to know how they influenced you and how was the process of turning The Distillers song into psychobilly?

Oh, the process was quite easy; because this is our style and we can't do it otherwise … or at least we don’t want to do it. But the plan wasn’t to make it “psychobilly way” – the plan was to make it Hellfreaks way. Everyone did his job, and after trying it 3 or 4 times in the rehearsal room we thought “let’s go on the stage with it”. I think that’s not really professional, but our cover songs were always born this way - without a concept or rehearsal it a million times.
But thank you very much that you call it “psychobilly version” – that’s a nice compliment

6. You've been on quite a few tours, what is the strangest thing that happened to you on stage?

Pooh, let’s think about it. There are some I have in mind. My first thought was how I've made a very clever move and my microphone sticked in my hair. And all that at a quite huge festival in Leipzig in front of 500 people. That looked quite stupid how I tried to get the microphone off my head.
Or once the police came on stage in Prague and ask if we could be so nice to stop the show cause we are too loud.
Or once a guy came to me between 2 songs to ask me if I could kiss the paper he was holding in his hand, cause he would love to tattoo it on his body. weeks later I got an email of his ass with my kiss tattooed on it.
Or once we played at a huge punk festival in Germany. The story would be quite long to go in details, but the promoter left the festival, and there was absolutely no more organization, security, absolutely nothing. So it was pretty cool! But the crowd was soooooooooooooooooooooo drunk, that most of them ran around naked. I have never seen so many penises in front of a stage. I was amazed :D

7. If you had to do a cocktail named The Hellfreaks, what would you put in it and what effect would it have on people?

Do you know the very last scene in the film “The Perfume”? This would be the effect. And that’s why I would take the recipe into my grave. ;-)

8. Best album artwork of all-time is…?

We are working on it ….

9. In your opinion which famous movie should have a punk rock / psychobilly soundtrack?

Planet Terror

10. You have traveled many countries with your band, what is the weirdest food you have ever eaten?

The weirdest food was in Spain. And we still don’t have any idea what it was. I guess some crazy seafood, but none of the people could answer us the question in a language we speak, and it’s pretty weird to eat something you have no idea if it swam, crawled, flew, or if it was a plant once.

11. If you could have any musician of your choice on your next album who would it be and why?

I guess that’s not  a big surprise; I would choose young Brody Dalle. I just love her powerful don’t-give-a-damn-voice. Or Taylor Momsen. But the reason is more her body, not her voice.

12. What do you think about the role of women in alternative music? Do you think that there should be a greater number involved in the movement? Sue, if I’m not wrong, besides being the lead vocal, you are also the band manager. How do you see the involvement of women in this sort of music?

I feel like a man in this band! And I’m sure that every woman answers this if they are surrounded by guys in their band. You don’t survive that behaving as a woman…
To be serious: There is no special role in the alternative music scene for women. We're also just doing music and hope that everything goes well while we have huge fun. I don’t see any difference compared to guys. The only difference I see is the number of female musicians – because you’re right, there are much less than guys. Why? I have no idea. Sitting in a tourbus with a hellish hangover and a bunch of guys isn't so attractive for most girls, maybe. Personally I LOVE female musicians. It makes it interesting, because music done by a girl is always different, it always has something that makes it special, and it always has a “what? I don’t get it” effect – in my point of view that’s awesome.
Yes, I do the whole management of the band, and yes, I think that girls are getting more brave to kick some asses on stage step by step. But maybe I’m just getting older and just get to know more people year by year. A big problem I realize in the scene are those movements who put all the girl-fronted bands in one genre. Even if they don’t have anything in common. We are compared to other female fronted bands all the time, who also use an upright bass – bands like Horrorpops or Kitty In A Casket. You have no idea how angry it makes us to be compared with these bands! The only thing which is the same is that the singer of these bands have no penis between their legs and use an upright bass. Nothing else. Totally different sound. But some people just don’t care, and try to hear music with their eyes, not with their ears.

13. How is the alternative scene in Hungary? Are there many alternative clubs? Any interesting new bands we should check out?

Oh… A heart-aching question! There are really, really super little alternative clubs in Hungary. There are some in Budapest, but they are always on the edge to close their doors, because the alternative scene is just so small. Of course we have some punks, rockers or psychos. But let’s say, it’s still “not cool” to be different there. There are always some “trendy-waves”. Likes some years ago everyone listened to hardcore. Now all those guys shake their ass in those super fancy techno clubs. Just not my cup of tea. Of course there is also a true scene. But next to 10 million people who live in Hungary its just a hand full of people, who stay strong and ARE the scene. That’s one of those million reasons why I moved away to Berlin where absolutely no one cares how you look.

Yeah of course – a pretty funny thing: We have a small scene, but a lot of great bands. Not so far I discovered a band from Budapest called “Vex” – angry girlpunk. They've recorded their demo not long ago. I think they are pretty cool.

13. What are your plans with The Hellfreaks for the future?

Record our third album, being on tour, survive to live separated, and collect crazy stories.

14. Any last words for our readers?

Check out our tourdates, stay tuned on our website (thehellfreaks.com) and be there to make a night unforgettable.

15. Thank you for your time! 

Thank you for giving my words some space!

ID

Questions: Jaka Čurlič
Answers: John Canaglia (Bass + Vox)

1. To break the ice; could you describe Glory Owl in one sentence.

Five guys that unexpectedly have found an easy way to create something that is fun to see, good to hear and recommended to have sex with.

2. Why Glory Owl? How did you come up with the name?

Finding a good name is always a struggle. We first thought on going “classic” or “on genre”, but suddenly during practice, Tony came up with this sort of pun and yelled “GLORY OWL!”. Everybody laughed, everyone agreed that instant.

3. I can hear some influences of retro/occult rock in your sound, what do you think about the new wave of retro rock and stoner rock , if we can call it like that, bands like Ghost, Orchid, Red Fang etc.? Do you follow that scene? Did maybe any of those bands inspire you?

We are all avid music eaters. Above all of us Tony and Moka are the ones that follow that scene the most. Raffo, Gian and me are following other genres, but always keeping an eye on what’s going on. We all agree on Red Fang but again.. who doesn’t? We might share with them the same inclination towards a modern take on stoner rock, catchier and more approachable than the classics.

4. Your vocalist has an amazing voice color, personally it reminds me of Soundgarden/Audioslave meets Black Sabbath (Ozzy era), were you vocally searching for that kind of sound or did it evolve by itself?  Does he have any formal education in singing or does he take any/ singing lessons in order to achieve it?

Thanks! Well, at the very first I had to do vocals but I was struggling since I didn’t have that much of a stoner/doom vocal know-how. At that time I was singing with an Hardcore band so go figure it out! Then our bass player left and I took over his place but I wasn’t really able to deliver both bass and vocals. Because of that we called in this former acoustic-solo-with-a-silly-hat guy we met in Tetris club and he fit right away. I remember he wasn’t so sure how to sing but we told him just to go with his guts: he did and we loved it.

Gian (voice): When the other guys invited me to join the band I didn't have any experience with vocal style like that. To be honest my knowledge about stoner music started and finished with Kyuss and QOTSA. My musical background goes from a lot of seventies Prog Rock, Frank Zappa and Zeppelin to Minimal, Pop and a tons of Funk, Rap and Soul music. So when I started it was hard to find a way to do it. Quite soon I've found a way to scream all my voice out without losing my vocal cords. When you sing this kind of music it can easy become unoriginal and derivative, so when we create new stuff I always try to find a way to be part of the band as an instrument and not only a screaming siren. No vocal lessons but a lot of shower session.

5. You have a very specific and interesting guitar sound. Can you tell us a little bit about your equipment/presets that you use?

This is a really nice compliment, thanks! Let’s go nerds on this one: we really spend a lot of time working on our sound, talking with other musicians, selling and buying gear.. it’s not easy to find the perfect blend, but we try! Both guitar players are using vintage Marshall 100 watters (JMP and Superbass), on celestion V30 speakers cabs (Orange and Titan). Tony plays with a Gibson SG thru a Blackout Effectors Musket fuzz; Moka plays with a Reverend Sensei thru a Blackout Effectors Mantra OD or a Black Arts Tonework Pharaoh fuzz (he is the most restless of us all when it comes to gear research!). I play with a 1984 Fender Precision re 62 made in Japan, thru an Orange Terror Bass 500 on an Ampeg 410 HE. All of our songs are played in standard C key.

6. Who's behind the artwork of your EP and the whole graphic image of the band?

The artwork was made by an amazing artist named Andrea Toselli. He is a true genious when it comes to drawing. Like many artists he’s pretty shy and reserved, so it’s pretty impossible to find something about him on the internet. We know him personally and asked him for some sketches… and it worked!

7. If I'm not mistaken there are also some occult themes in your lyrics, what's the inspiration behind them and can you tell us a little more about the themes/message behind them?

Actually Gretta and Crow of fate are the only two songs with kind of an occult theme. But in fact they are not. These two songs are like almost every lyric we wrote metaphors of life. Gretta is a mock conversation with Satan in wich our singer points out that God (the world, in general) is more evil than him. A good synopsis could be that a lot of times what society pictures as evil is not that bad as what society pictures as not evil. Even if it looks serious we proudly sing “porn is the new religion”! On the other hand Crow of fate’s lyrics are about a very bad period of life I suffered...and that’s it! Quite frankly we don’t spend that much time on lyrics. Most of all efforts are in music, lyrics come always last minute, some times even the day before a gig or a recording session. We really don’t have any message to carry, we just try to talk about everyday stuff seasoned with some funny-stoner-rock style stuff!

8. I know that some of you are also working as promoters/event organizers, can you tell us a little more about that? Are there many clubs in Italy that support independent new bands? Do you get any support from the municipality or the state?

Ahahaha dude, I almost pissed my pants at “support from the municipality or the state”. The only support we got is from this DIY club called Tetris in Trieste. Gian used to book the shows but now he’s retired. I still carry on with Moshpit Trieste and Krang Events with my good friend Ale. It’s tough because you always have to know what’s going on and crush this with your audience and your personal taste. As I said we are based solely on Tetris club and we do everything for free and for our own and the audience’s amusement.

9. What about rock and the alternative scene in Italy? Would you suggest any interesting new bands to check out?

Italian alternative scene is really flourishing. There are lots of good bands, from hardcore to black metal! I would definitely suggest Hobos, Discomfort, Slander, Blame It On The Ocean, Isaak, Holy, Ooze, Grime, Danny Trejo, Border Bastard. But there are many many others that deserve everyone’s attention that for sure I forgot to mention!

10. You are at an early stage of you career, what are your plans/wishes for the future?

Our wishes are to play as far as we can from our hometown. Every gig we’ll do away from here will be another achievement. We would also really like to find a nice label. And to become rich by playing our music. And bigger cocks. And more hair on our heads.

11. On 8th March you have a "semi-release" of the EP at the Tetris club in Trieste. Can you tell us something more?

Playing in your hometown is always a pleasure and another excuse to party. We play once a year in Trieste, because we feel it has to be a special occasion and we don’t want to spoil it. On march 8th we’re going to play some new songs, release the EP via some homemade CDs and sell some new merch we’re printing. But most of all we’re in for party!

12. Do you remember which was the first song on guitar/drums/bass that you learned?

Oh god, I think Genocide by The Offspring. I don’t really remember if it was the very first but for sure is the song I really want to remember as my first!

13. Which is your favorite album release of 2013?

Tony says Nails - Abandon All Life, Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry Of Consciousness, Bolzer - Aura. I'm going more underground with Hobos - S/T EP

14. What do you like the most vinyls, cassettes, CDs or mp3s?

Vinyls for sure!

15. If you had to do a cocktail named Glory Owl what would you put in it and what effect it would have on people?

Gian suggests a beer with champagne taste and weed effect. So we can combine all our passion.

I’ll go for Lasko pivo, FULL STOP!

16. Any last words for our readers?

Support your local scene™, meet people, chat, get drunk with strangers, eat & drink nice!

ID

Time flies fast and it's been way too long since I've made the last mixtape, but that's life - too much projects and no time for anything! On the mixtape#4 you will be able to find some tunes from local Thrash Metal maniacs Lintver, local old school Hardcore gang IVAN!, fresh song by Hardcore Metal Punxs Ponor and Dirtcore/Powerviolence Italians Discomfort which will both visit KC Mostovna, Nova Gorica on 01.02.2014 and many more! Terrorize your ears and share it with your friends! ;)

Questions by: Jasmina Lozar & Jaka Čurlič
Answers by: Deez Nuts

1. Hi guys! How's going? How are the reactions to your newest masterpiece »Bout It« so far?

Well it's been out for quite a while now, but the responses have been amazingly positive right from the beginning, and now the responses to the new songs live are in incredible.


2. Do you remember which was your first song that you learned on guitar/drums/bass?

It was Avery long time ago and that I started learning all those, round when I was 23 or 13. I remember teaching myself to play nirvana songs on guitar and gold finger songs on bass. Drums I used to just make up beats.


3. Which artists/CDs got you into Hardcore?

Strife, earth crisis, snap case, hatebreed, Madball and raised fist were some of the first international bands that got me into hardcore. And local bands like day if contempt and force fed 9.


4. Is there a song you like so much that you wish that you have written it?

Haha yes, everything by biggie smalls, everything by Ryan Adams, everything by the deftomes. 


5. You have traveled many countries with your band, what is the weirdest alcohol drink you have ever drank and the weirdest food you have ever eaten?

I don't know about weirdest but foul looks were the wildest drink if had until they took all the wild ingredients out cause people kept dying, I loved that drink. Weirdest food is probably everything we were served in Indonesia haha.


6. So you obviously got a lot of tattoos, what got you in the world of tattooing and which was the strangest place you got tattooed?

I was always drawn to it since I was a kid. I started getting tattooed at 16. The strangest place? Probably the tiny beer pint on the inside of my finger haha.


7.  What's the worst idea you ever had on tour?

Pushing a car in the river was the best and worst idea we've had haha. You can see that in documentary "fuck the world" it's on YouTube.

8. What is the strangest thing that happened to you on stage?

A couple got up on stage at a show once and proposed during our set, that was pretty strange. Cool though haha.


9. What’s the most difficult situation you have found yourself in since you started the band?

Playing a show that had a zero drinking policy and doing a alcohol breath test before we played. No body passed... Haha.


10. Which famous movie should have a Punk Rock/Hardcore soundtrack?

Finding nemo.


11. Best album artwork of all-time is…?

Worship and tribute by glassjaw


12.  What’s usually on your playlist while you’re on tour?

It changes constantly, but we listen to a lot of asap rocky, Danny brown, kings of Leon, riff raff, the story so far and paramore on tour recently.

13.  If you could play/sing one song with any artist/band dead or alive who would that be and why?

Biggie smalls, he's my favourite rapper of all time and he's a huge inspiration to me musically.


14.  What do you like the most vinyl, cassette, CDs or mp3s?

I like cd's that's what I grew up with and I think it's the best medium for art work. I have a large cd collection. Vinyl is also cool though.


15.  What is the most unusual gift you got by one of your fans?

A framed painting of myself.


16.  If you had to do a cocktail named Deez Nuts what would you put in it and what effect would it have on people?

Gin, Hennessy, beer, weed, Valium and tequila. Because then the effect it would give people would be knowing what the members of DN feel like everyday haha.


17.  If we’re not mistaken your show in December at Mostovna (Nova Gorica) was the 3rd time that you played in Slovenia. How is your experience with Slovenian crowd so far (at Punk Rock Holiday and Ljubljana)? 

We had a great time the other week, we've had a great time at the last 2. People are very responsive and cool two us. Punk rock holiday was weird for us though, I think we were a strange fit for that line up.

18.  What are your plans with DN for the future?

We have a tonne of touring already locked in for 2014 and we'll be recording a new album!


19.  Some last words for our readers? 


Thanks for taking the time to read this and if you've checked us out before, thanks so much for your support!

ID

1.     For the beginning can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your band and your music?

Jani : Well hello there. My name is Jani Stefanovic and I am one of the main founders and composer in Solution.45 . S.45 is a half Swedish half Finish band. Musically one could call us a band that plays melodic metal with some melodic death influences.


2. Which artists/CDs got you into this music?

Jani : Many bands have shaped me into what I am today. All the way from Iron Maiden, Helloween, Yngwie Malmsteen in my early years to bands like Symphony X, Metallica, Sepultura, Pantera, Meshuggah, and Hypocrisy. So a quite wide spectrum of bands I started out listening to. 


3. Is there a song that you like so much that you wish that you have written it?

Jani : Oh yes, just that there´s too many of them to mention here and now. A lot of good music out there.


4. If you could throw one big party with unlimited budget what would it look like and who would you invite?

Jani : Haha, interesting questions. Hmm probably a big place with all the great people you once have admired musically or as a human beings. I would have a lot of good food, and definitely my favorite Balkan style pita haha, and other good things. With lots of different music areas and bars. Not only metal but cool jazz lounge area, and a main stage with all the best and coolest bands out there. 


5. What are your lyrics about and where do you find inspiration for them?

Jani : In S.45 the theme is about fiction and real life situations without becoming too personal. But World events, human relations and everyday life is a big part of the inspiration. Movies, literature, it could basically be anything exciting you come across at some point in life.


6. If you had to do a cocktail named Solution.45 what would you put in it and what effect would it have on people?

Jani : OH man, I suck at cocktails since I rarely drink any hard liquors :). But this has to be metal right. So yeah, a smoky whiskey with some kind of twist. No I don’t know, I simply just suck at this. I´ll stick to writing music :)


7. If you could listen to just one album for the next 2 years, which one would it be and why?

Jani : I don’t know now a days, but when I was younger I could listen to Pantera - Cowboys from hell over and over for many many months without changing the record I was like 12 years old at that time and it was mind blowing, same thing with Dream Theaters Images & Words and Awake album. But now I rarely listen to metal music and I get bored quite fast with all the new bands that pop up every now and then. So don´t know, it would mean death to me if I would have to listen the same album for 2 years. It would need to be something that has many many layers of texture and something that might inspire me into learning. Maybe some classical grand masters, really don´t know.

8. Do you remember which was your first song on guitar/drums/bass?

Jani : I started out as a drummer in my early years. And the first songs I learned to play along with was Megadeth songs from Countdown to extinction and Yngwie material. But the actual first songs I had to play live for the first time was music that I hated, Oasis, Green day and Offspring and luckily one Metallica song, haha. It was a school event.


9. If you could play one song with any artist/band (dead or alive) who would that be and why?

Jani : Today I think I would choose to perform a song together with Meshuggah. Or it would be awesome to be a session musician at some of the big arena events of the today’s mega stars.


10. What is the strangest thing that happened to you on stage?

Jani : Maybe two events that I remember most clearly. First one was in Japan 2006 I think. I have bad sight, so I need glasses or lenses. I didn´t have contact lenses with me on that trip and I don’t play with glasses. It was time to enter the stage and it was totally black and I had forgotten to plug in the guitar cable, it was lying on the floor somewhere but I couldn´t see it, and it was my responsibility to kick of the first song, got a bit stressed there, In total blindness I luckily found the cable and got just in time. Second was in the States 2012 with S.45 at Progpower. Where I played with a pair of jeans shorts, and already quite in the beginning as I went down to head bang I felt how my pants got ripped. But what I didn´t realized was how bad it was. I had my back against the crowd many times and at some point I tried with my hands and found that the shorts had ripped all the way from my balls up back to my belt, haha :) . Well nothing to do, just had to continue the show, but I didn´t turn my back towards the crowd after that.


11. The strangest thing you have ever eaten/drank?

Jani: I don´t like to eat anything that´s weird so I haven´t actually eaten or drank anything odd. NO snails or snake or grasshoppers, nothing like that. I´m not that adventures, because I would puke quite easily :) .


12. What do you like the most - vinyl, cassette, CDs or mp3s?

Jani: I would say that I actually would prefer vinyl but have to admit that I mostly listen to mp3´s today, because of the iPod and such which is a shame actually.


13.  What are your plans with Solution.45 for the future?

Jani: We are in the middle of writing our second album and so far we have about 10 songs ready but we´ll write some more just to make sure we have a great selection of songs that we can choose from. Entering the studio sometimes around early spring 2014. Hopefully we have a release out late summer and after that we´re planning on getting out on the road.


14. Some last words for our readers?

Jani: Thank for the interest and hopefully we´ll be able to come someplace near you in the future to rock together with you and to eat some pita and have a pivo or two. Take care people. Love and respect.