Interview for Pankerknacker zine

1. You seem to be pissed off all the time.
Why haven`t you become happy, peace-loving hippies, instead?
Halt die Klappe du Ashloch. Never liked the aestetic of those hippy pigs. Some friends of mine say they are respectful about the woodstock heritage. Grhhhrrrr. In fact I don’t care.

2. Is there anything the Hatepinks love – except punkrock, of course?
We love: bratwurts, Jägermeister, war, all those German things. I love to read fanzines, doing drugs. I would love to have more hair. We love to walk in the woods. We would love people to be less superficial.

3. Does punkrock mean more to you than making music and getting rid of your hatred on stage?
Sure! But not much more. It means trying to do things by yourself. No good band? Make one! No good shows? Book somes! No good clothes! Make them! It’s really important, even if punk can get really stupid when it comes around drunk assholes, or, for exemple those nice fashion punkrock shops you got in Berlin...

4. Do you have squats and an anarchic scene in Marseille?
Is there anything like the „Chaostage“ here in Germany?
We get some anarchic scene here in Marseille but it’s really really small. It’s really hard in France to talk about a squat scene, as the autorities send the police as soon as a squat emerges. We had some good squats, but they only last few months...

5. Do punks take part in the riots of the suburbs in Paris?
Do you take part in demonstrations or riots yourself?
No. These riots were just done by very youg peoples living in the poor suburds. It was more Rap/hip-hop teenagers burning cars. If I riot or demonstrate? No.

6. What are punk shows like in a fucked-up town like Marseille?
Does the crowd in Southern Europe go more crazy than in Germany?
Punk shows can be really hot here. With people throwing things at bands, dancing on stage. But on the other hand, people don’t come to shows when they don’t know the band. Germany got better clubs, more fanzines, bookers... etc, a better organisation.

7. In what way does the French punk scene differ from the German one?
Is there a good network? Are there any cool punk stores, bands or fanzines? Are there any other cool bands besides the Hatepinks and the No Talents? Which ones?
The scene is smaller, not so much good record stores, Lollipop in Marseille, Born Bad in Paris, Armadillo in Toulouse. Zines: Dig it!, Abus dangereux. You should try to get the out out of print record from Périphérique Est, great! The Aggravation is the best French band right now. And you got the usual snobbish parisain Wave: Volt, Operation S, Anteenagers they sometimes think they shit gold, but hey, great records.

8. Why did Carla Bruni fall in love with the right-wing-populist Nikolai Sarkozy (and not with you)?
Because she is a nazi bitch. She loves men with power. I hate her.

9. What about going on stage sober? Does that ever happen? What kind of drugs would be too dangerous if you want to perform? Which drugs do you prefer?
Yes, while on tour a few drinks is enough to go on stage. Even totally sober, its funny sometimes. Things become strange. You can go out your body and louk the band from outside. LSD and extasy and ashish/grass are realy to avoid for me. I have a problem with rythm in general, and with those drugs it’s even worse! Best drug? Speed. But we got to take care, we are getting old, and one day on speed equals three days to recover a normal health. While on tour in England or Spain, we almost split up because of members becoming nuts on too much speed.

10. We all know that French people like very special food (delicacies).
Do you prefer to eat a frog or do you lick its back in order to get a flash on LSD?
You should learn to make the difference between a grenouille (frog) and a toad (crapaud). You can lick as much frogs as you want, you won’t get no trip.

11. Sexual liberation for animals: Would you fuck a cow from behind if she asked you to?
No. Dumb question. Halt die Klappe du Ashloch!

12. How do you finance your drugs? Do you have real jobs?
Yes except for Rémi, we all have real jobs.

13. Germany sucks but still you seem to be facinated by our country.
How come you cover German songs like „Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein“? And why do you choose German titles like „Deine Mutter die Pute“ and „Sehr gut Rock’n’Roll“?
My mother is German and I was born in Saarland. I used to play a lot this Eisbär single from my mommy when I was a kid.

14. Do people compare you to the Briefs or do they even mistake you for the Briefs?
Have you ever played together with the Briefs?
Why do you think is the 77-retro-style so popular at the moment?
We get compared with the Briefs aproximatly 3 times per day. I don’t even care anymore. It’s just stupid laziness. I don’t mind about the Briefs. I love the Damned! Starshooter, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Wire, Richard Hell, The Monks, The Kinks, Buzzcocks, Swell Maps and tons more. Yes we played wity them several times, mostly in England. Cool guys, and I like their first record a lot.
I thinks this 77-retro wave is coming to an end. And we absolutly don’t care. I played this kind of music when it was hype to have a skateboard with baggies, and I will always do.

15. People say that some of you are studying to become a doctor and that you are sons of millionaires.
Would you call yourselves upper-class-rich-kids?
The band is like Marseille. It’s separated in two sides. One side is the poor side, the north side, with dead suburds, poor foreign peoples, big grey buildings. Colonel Nasser and me come from that side, and on other side you got the rich side, with beach , big white houses with garden, seafront, parks, joggers... That’s Rémi and Huggie. Their parents are quite rich. I hate them. Assholes.

16. Which bands are important to you? Who would you like to play with?
No band is really important. It’s just punkrock, it’s the best part of life, but nobody should take this too seriously. Take drugs and kill yourself.

Retour News