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Hrvoje Bubić | Interview with Rob (the Baron) Miller
Hrvoje Bubić
For start, tell me about your start, how did you get in punk rock movement and music generally, your influence and your understanding of the punk movement.anarcho punk and crust punk.
I was introduced to Punk Rock initially by my Brother Stig back in 1977,when he returned from working in Jersey with a guitar and a copy of Sniffing Glue fanzine,we began listening to John Peel on radio One as the bands began to emerge,a very powerful and exciting time as a young man.we took the advice in Sniffing Glue literally,they said here are 3 chords,now go and start a band,so we did.This was really before Crass appeared properly or the punk rock movement became synonymous with Political ideals,in a sense it was a freer time.
Amebix, you founded with as lead vocalist your brother Stig(guitar) , Andy “Billy Jug” Hoare (drumes) and Clive Barnes (bass player) as Band With No Name, recorded a demo on a tape that came in Crass member and song University Challenged was featured on first Crass Records Bullshit Detector LP. Latter, Clive and Andy left the band and thye were replaced with Martin on drums and you as bass player. You practice in Martin’s parents house basement but he was removed from band by his parents becose he suffered from paranoid schizophrenic, you guys kicked from house and is it song “Largactyl” is about him?
Yes,it was song about Martin,who was quite tragic really,very much like Syd Barrett from Pink Floyd in that way,a sensitive person who burned out quite young.I am glad to say Martin is still alive and doing OK,i have visited him a few times over the years but realise that the damage is done really.
You swithched name from Band With No Name to Amebix, can you tell as why (cos Band With No Name is very good name) and you hired Norm from Screaming Heads, Phantasmagoria, NormYard as synth player(who was replaced by George on EP No Sanctuary) and Disorder’s Virus as drummer, making first two 7′: Who’s the Enemy , Winter), 12′ EP No Sanctuary. In that time, you relocated to Bristol, you lived in squats, how was living that lifestyle,making music and surviving, probably not very nice, right?
The band with no name was a name we gave ourselves after watching the Good the Band and the Ugly with clint Eastwood,who plays the man with no name.yes it was a good enough name but i think it may have become dated,whereas Amebix has an eternal presence.
Bristol was difficult,but we were young,it was a desperate time and also an exciting time in many respects,it taught me a degree of self reliance,and that no matter how hard rings get you can find a way through,you can survive.
During the recording No Sanctuary, you met Jello Biafra, frontmen of Dead Kennedys and owner of punk label Alternative Tentacles, on which you released your first LP Arise, which I would describe as Motorhead meets Joy Divison. Again there was changing line-up in band, with Spider on drums. You signed to Heavy Metal Records,releasing the last LP Monolith,on of your last shows was in Sarajevo, just before of end of Yugoslavia( btw my buddy Franko was on that show and wants to say hi).
Yes,Sarajevo was quite odd,i think we took some mushrooms before that show,a very chaotic affair,but we enjoyed former Yugoslavia as an experience although there was definitely something in the air too
After the split, Spider, George, and Stig formed band Zygote,what happen to you? I read that you live on some lonely island in Scotchland as self- taught swordsmith, please tell as something about that, did you have another music project? I just listening the Tau Cross, and it very good. It was you on vocals & bass, Michel (Away) Langevin of Voivod on drums, Andy Lefton from War/Pleague and Jon Misery of Misery as guitar players. Tell us more about Tau Cross and another projects?
I left England in 1991 and turned away from music and everything i had known to begin a new life on the barren landscape of the inner hebrides,it was a challenging time,before the Internet and the ease of communication we take for granted now.Amebix became a phenomenon whilst i was unaware of that,when i found the Internet eventually it became apparent that we had an influence on a lot of people despite the lack of any real support or success at the time.
I taught myself to become a Swordsmith in the traditional way,and lived my life that way for 20 years,until a documentary maker came to find me to talk about Amebix,and that stated a whole lot more trouble of course.
What is your opinion about today music scene, ether was mainstream or underground, do you think it still like was in 80′ during the Cold War and today’s War on Terrorism,you know fear as tool? Your opinion on political correctness,what is your life philosophy and view on world?
That is another discussion,and impossible to summarise in a written interview.As we grow older we can become less connected to music,this is how i feel now,there is very seldom anything i hear that makes much of an impression.
For the end what is legacy of Amebix,I notice that lots of bands mention Amebix as influence. The last Amebix album was Sonic Mass from 2011 with Roy Mayorga on drums, will there be a new Amebix stuff, some show in Split and what you would to say our readers?
Amebix split up again 2012,there will not be another Amebix.
Hrvatski prijevod
1. Za početak, recite mi malo o svojim počecima, kako si ušao u punk rock pokret i glazbu općenito, koji su bili tvoji utjecaji te tvoje poimanje punk pokreta te anarcho punka i crust punka.
S punkom me upoznao na početku moj brat Stig još od 1977. , kad smo se vraćali s posla u Jerseyu s gitarom i primjerkom Sniffing Glue fanzimom, počeli smo slušat John Peela (radijski voditelj i DJ na BBC Radio1, zaslužan za promicanje novih izvođača op.prev) na BBC Radio1 dok smo kao band tek počeli,bilo je jako moćno i uzbudljivo vrijeme za nekog tko je bio mlad, preuzeli smo savjet iz Sniffing Glue doslovno, kada su rekli da su dovoljna samo 3 akorda za osnovati band, pa smo tako i uradili. Tako je bilo prije pojave Crassa (pioniri anarcho punka, op. prev.) ili punk pokreta koji je postao sinonim za političke ideje te je u tom smislu bilo je slobodnije vrijeme.
2. Amebix ,kojeg si osnovao gdje ste Vi bili kao glavni vokalist, tvoj brat Stig (gitara), Andy “Billy Jug” Hoare (bubnjevi) i Clive Barnes (bas gitara) kao Band With No Name (Band Bez Imena, op. prev.), snimili ste demo na kazeti koja je došla do člana Crassa i pjesma University Challenged je dospjela na Crass Records Bullshit Detector LP. Kasnije, Clive i Andy su napustili band, kao zamjena došao je Martin na bubnjeve i ti kao basist. Vježbali ste u kući Martinovih roditelja, u podrumu, no on je napustio bend zbog roditelja jer je patio od paranoidne šizofrenije, dok ste vi bili izbačeni iz kuće te da li je pjesma Largactyl upravo o njemu?
Da, to je pjesma o Martinu, koji je bio jako tragičan lik, jako nalik na Syda Baretta (osnivač i frontman Pink Floyda, op.prev.) u tom smislu, jako senziblina osoba koja je kao mlada osoba „izgorjela“ . Drago mi je kazati da je Martin živ i da je OK, posjetio sam ga par puta prije nekoliko godina ali sam shvatio da mu je šteta učinjena.
3. Promjenili ste ime od Band With No Name u Amebix, da li možete reći zašto ( jer Band With No Name je jako sjajno ime) i unajmili ste Norma iz Screaming Heads, Phantasmagoria, NormYard kao synth klavijaturistu (koji je zamjenio Georgea na EP No Sanctuary) te iz Disorderov bubnjar Virus, s kojim se napravili prva dva 7′: Who’s the Enemy , Winter, 12 EP No Sanctuary. U to vrijeme, preselili ste se u Bristol, živjeli ste u skvotovima, možete li mi reći kako je bilo živjeti takav život, stvarati glazbu i preživljavati, svakako nije bilo ugodno, zar ne?
The band With No Name je bilo ime koje smo dali sebi nakon što smo gledali Good the Bad and the Ugly (Dobar, Loš, Zao) s Clint Eastwoodom koji je glumi lika Man With No Name (Čovjek Bez Imena). Da, to je jako dobro ime iako je postalo datirano dok Amebix ima vječnu postojanost.
Bristol je bio jako gadan, ali mi smo bili mladi, bilo je jako očajno vrijeme i uzbudljivo, u mnogim aspektima me naučilo samopouzdanju i bez obzira koliko je teško da se oslanjam na sebe i bez obzira na sve, ma koliko god bilo teško, uvijek možeš pronaći način da preživiš.
4. Tijekom snimanja No Sanctuary, upoznali ste Jellu Biafru, frontmena Dead Kennedysa te vlasnika punk diskografske kuće Alternative Tentacles, na kojem ste izdali svoj prvi LP Arise, koji bi opisao kao Motorhead meets Joy Division. Opet je došlo do promjene postave u bandu, s Spiderom na bubnjevima. Potpisali ste za Heavy Metal Records, na kojem je izašao zadnji studijski album Monolith, te jedan od zadnjih koncerata je bio u tadašnjoj Jugoslaviji, u Sarajevu (inače moj prika Franko je bio tu i želi Vas pozdraviti).
Da,u Sarajevu je bilo malo ludo, bili smo na gljivama prije nastupa, bila je doista kaotična scena, ali kao iskustvo jako smo uživali u bivšoj Jugoslaviji, iako je također nešto bilo u zraku.
5.Poslije raspada, Spider, George, i Stig su osnovali band Zygote , što se dogodilo s Vama? Pročitao sam da živite na nekom otoku na sjeveru Škotske kao samouki kovač mačeva, molim te reci nam nešto o tome, da li si imao nekakav glazbeni projekt? Upravo slušam Tau Cross, gdje si ti kao basist i vokal, Michel (Away) Langevin iz Voivoda na bubnjevima, Andy Lefton iz War/Pleague i Jon Misery iz Misery kao gitaristi. Molim te reci mi malo o Tau Cross i ostalim projektima?
Napustio sam Englesku 1991. i odmaknuo sam se od glazbe i od svega što sam poznavao te sam odlučio započeti novi život neplodnom krajoliku Unutrašnjih Hebrida (arhipelag u Atlantiku na sjeverozapadu Škotske, po.prev.) , bilo je jako izazovno vrijeme, prije interneta i jednostavnost komuniciranja koju danas uzimamo zdravo za gotovo. Amebix je postao fenomen dok sam ja međutim o tome nisam imao pojma sve dok nisam na internetu pogledao zapravo koliko je vidljiv utjecaj na bezbroj bandova bez obzira nedostatku bilo kakve stvarne podrške ili uspjeha u to vrijeme.
Ja sam sebe naučio kako kovati mačeve na tradicionalan način i tako živim već 20. godina sve dok se nije pojavio autor dokumentarca o Amebixu koji me pronašao da popričamo o Amebixu, što me naravno izložilo još više nevolja.
6. Koje je tvoje mišljenje o današnjoj glazbenoj sceni, bilo to mainstream ili underground, mislite li da je isto danas kao u osamdesetima za vrijeme Hladnog rata i današnjeg Rata protiv terorizma, znate strah kao ključ vladanja? Koje je tvoje mišljenje na političku korektnost, koja je tvoja životna filozofija i pogled na svijet?
To je već neka druga rasprava i teško je rezimirati kao pisani intervju. Kako smo odrastali, postali smo sve manje povezani s glazbom, tako se osječam danas, sve je plastično, mislim da je to po sebi utisak.
7. Za kraj koja je ostavština Amebixa, primjetio sam dosta bandova nabroja Amebix kao utjecaj. Zadnji album je bio Sonic Mass iz 2011 s Royom Mayorgom na bubnjevima, hoće li biti novi album od Amebixa, nekakav koncert u Splitu i što bi ste voljeli preporučiti našim čitateljima?
Amebix se ponovno raspao 2012.,tako da nema više Amebixa.
