Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #247
note this is the controversial column that led to my resignation as an MRR columnist.


I recently had the chance to see the documentary film “Afropunk” wihich is currently on tour with director James Spooner. This film is pretty masterfully done. He manages to interview and extremely broad cross section of blacks involved in the punk scene from accomplished musicians to teenage street punks. The focus is more on the personalities and issues of being black in the punk scene and less on the history of particular bands or scenes. Unlike a lot of documentaries that seem to just scratch the surface and leave you with more questions than answers, this one really digs deep into the black punk experience from several angles. It was the right length to get into detail with several individuals on any particular issue, as opposed to allowing a few spokesmen to grandstand as is also often the case with music documentaries. The director mostly lets the individuals interviewed talk for themselves, there is no narration or on screen questions from the interviewer. He edits together live footage, still photos, and candid interviews with the dialogue in a manner that is visually quite appealing. I found it more like a punk style video fanzine and less like the annoying jerky hipster style that a lot of indie film is shot in these days. All in all a solid piece of work that I would highly recommend. Only thing I would have added is more detail about some of the bands, but you can see that wasn’t the directors intent. You can see if it’s playing near you or whatever at www.afropunk.com. Of related interest there is a good web page detailing the involvement of blacks in the early punk scene at http://www.roctober.com/roctober/blackpunk1.html which would add some depth and background to some of the people interviewed in the film.


This September I accompanied Nine Shocks Terror on a three week European tour. This was my fourth time in Europe and second time touring with a DIY hardcore band. My objective on this mission was to look more deeply into the European DIY hardcore/punk scene with several objectives in mind. The first and foremost was to bring the raw brutal hardcore of Cleveland rippers Nine Shocks Terror to the people. I also wanted to see a lot of bands I would probably never get a chance to see in the USA. Also on my list was to visit my old friends, meet people I only knew from trading records online and make new friends and connections. More practical concerns were improving the distribution of Havoc records in Europe and make more connections for bringing bands on my label over to Europe to tour. So I have made a few observations about some of the above topics to share with our readers.

First I’ll talk about touring from the American band perspective. Most every reasonably successful American hardcore band strives to tour Europe. However, there are a lot of things to take into account when planning such a tour. I covered a lot of this stuff when I wrote about the 1999 Code 13 European tour. This time I think I have better perspective so excuse me if I cover some old ground again.

The first and biggest concern is knowing when you are ready to tour Europe. Currently Europe is pretty full of US bands touring. There are several factors to blame for this. First, Europe has a more organized DIY touring network, second there is somewhat of a lack of big drawing European bands at the moment. While the US has a good DIY touring network, it relies a lot more on personal connections such as bands doing each other favors, and one off shows. Europe on the other hand has a lot of established venues that are consistently booking hardcore, youth centers, squats and clubs. In Europe most of the people involved in punk are older and approach setting up shows with much more experience and a more professional attitude than in the US. Outside of the major cities with established diy venues most of the shows in the US are still fairly one off events in rental halls, coffee shops etc. set up by young fans turned promoters who may only book shows for one year or two before moving on. In Europe (as in Japan) the venues seem to be better run with sound taken more seriously, and a more professional attitude all around. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are “professional” clubs in a commercial sense, just that the people have the experience and knowledge to make sure the gigs go down properly, sound good and the bands get taken care of. And take care of the bands they do. It is almost universal in Europe that bands get dinner before the show, free drinks during the gig, sleeping accomodations, and breakfast the next morning. Only a handful of the people here are providing this kind of benefits to touring bands. Of the 18 gigs Nine Shocks Terror played, there was dinner at all but one and breakfast at most. Last US tour I did with Damage Deposit there was dinner maybe twice and breakfast only once (thanks Anne and Ben!) and free drinks only maybe once in the tour.

Some other factors making it attractive to tour Europe is that it can be made easier for you when someone else is booking the gigs and providing the van and backline. Several European labels provide booking services and also have van and backline for rent. In theory a US band could do a European tour on a pretty low budget with a pretty minimal amount of work. However, this attractive scheme of things overlooks a few factors. One is that due to the large number of bands touring there is stiff competition for an actual audience at the shows. Only a few US DIY bands draw big crowds in Europe, Tragedy, From Ashes Rise, RAMBO and a few others. Like in the US it’s great that there is a DIY touring network for bands to use, but rather unfortunate that so many bands take advantage of it. The result will sound familiar to anyone who has booked shows in the US the last few years, too many bands touring at once and low turnouts to all but a few bands gigs.

I would offer a few pieces of advice, first don’t tour too early. Wait for a while and several releases to build up your fan base in Europe before you attempt to tour. Code 13 waited five years, and Nine Shocks Terror seven years before attempting a European tour. And still most people didn’t know who the bands were. Too many bands take advantage of the ease of touring Europe to do so before there is really any body in Europe interested in their music, a phenomenon which should sound familiar again to people who have booked shows in the US of late. Aside from that there is the whole circuit of bogus reunion bands that are touring Europe constantly or bands that form just to tour Europe. The mind boggling continued popularity of NY hardcore and faux youth crew HC means that bands like Slapshot, Integrity, One Life Crew, Youth of Today etc. who we thought broke up years ago, are still on tour in Europe and drawing big crowds. I would also note that the crust scene in the US is kind of disorganized right now, when all the kids who book crust shows in middle America move to Portland and drop out, it starts to get difficult to book a decent US tour. Born Dead and Phalanx’s tour is probably the exception. In Europe most of the work is done for you and there’s free beer at the shows so I think some of these sort of bands probably tour Europe a bit prematurely as well. The main thing I would say is, don’t force yourself on the European scene. Wait until people are coming to you asking if you want to tour. As with other things in life, it’s much nicer to be invited than to just show up and say “here we are.”


Another thing I can’t stress enough is a release on a European label. Out side of a subculture of record collectors most US bands aren’t so well known in Europe because the records aren’t so well distributed. There are two factors at work here. First a lot of the DIY hardcore bands are on Mordam distributed labels like Prank, Sound Pollution and Six Weeks. Unlike the US most record distro is done by small “shoebox” distributors at gigs, there are actually very few independent record stores. Mordam and similar distributors cater mostly to stores and very few of the distros that sell at gigs are buying from them. In general most of the distributors selling records at gigs get their stock through trading, as most are also running labels. However, the DIY hardcore labels in the US who are trading often find that there is a limit to the amount of European stuff they can reasonably get rid of in the US. Due to a lack of really popular European bands in the US those of us who are trading often find that while a European label wants to get 100 copies of our latest release, we can only reasonably expect to sell 10 of theirs. There are a few larger wholesale distributors in Europe such as Plastic Bomb and Green Hell, but the further away from Germany you get the more expensive it gets to order from these distros. I think Europe could greatly benefit from a large DIY record distributor like Ebullition in the US. But a lot of people I talk to in Europe don’t think such a distributor would work out because of the high costs of shipping from country to country inside Europe and the reliance of most distros on trading alone. One of the biggest challenges to my label is trying to get my records distributed in Europe.

What this means for the US band is that it’s pretty important to either make sure you are working with a US label which has good European distribution (there aren’t many) or do a release on a European label. This could be an exclusive release or a European pressing of a US record. The most popular US DIY bands here, Tragedy, RAMBO and From Ashes Rise all have European pressings of their records available. Another very important factor is that vinyl is still the primary format in Europe. I was shocked at how few CDs I sold over here compared to the US. Since I’m mostly a vinyl person anyway, this was fine with me, but I miscalculated in bringing over a lot of CDs to sell at gigs. All the vinyl I brought over sold briskly in the first few shows my best releases were all gone, but the CDs I sold only a handful in three solid weeks of shows. I would recommend finding a European label you like and trust and work closely with them to do a European release in advance of the tour, help you with booking, van and backline and also to do a new release for the tour.

Another thing that I would say is essential for touring in Europe is to have a new release to sell. A lot of bands have done tour 7”s (Artimus Pyle, What Happens Next, Holier Than Thou etc. ) Or bring over copious quantities of your newest release to sell on the road. If you bring distro stuff with you weight it heavily towards new releases and vinyl. CDs and back catalog will just be dead weight. I think you can probably get shirts printed a lot cheaper in Europe right now than in the US so it’s best to have your shirts printed here and pick them up on tour.

Another factor is where to tour. Conventional wisdom has it that you should center your tour around Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Scandinavia as these are the most profitable areas with the most developed and Americanized scenes. However, since every other band is also touring in these areas you might find yourself playing a lot of gigs to unenthusiastic audiences. A few bands have tried to be more adventurous, playing in more out of the way parts of Europe like Spain and Portugal, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Common wisdom currently is like this “you want to make money play in Germany, you want fun shows go to Eastern Europe” The kids in Iberia, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe get less touring bands coming through and therefore are more likely to be excited when one does come through. I strongly recommend making contact with an Eastern European label to do a cassette release of your material before you tour there. Very few of the kids in Eastern Europe can afford imported records, but like in SE Asia locally produced cassettes are very affordable and the best means to spread your music. CD-Rs are beginning to become more widespread in Eastern Europe, but the tape release still seems like your best bet.

I would point out that as you leave the rich center of Europe for the less economically developed periphery getting your van and gear ripped off becomes a much greater threat. There is a whole subculture of criminals in Europe who break into any car with foreign plates. I heard countless tales of bands who had their vans stolen and broken into in Poland, Italy, Spain, etc. In fact, Nine Shocks Terror’s van got broken into in Czech in broad daylight in a busy parking area. I have heard some bizarre tales of shady promoters making arrangements with local mafia to heist bands gear and bands having to pay the local mafia to get their stolen van and gear back. In Eastern and Southern Europe you should probably keep security conscious at all times, keep a person with your van and think proactively.


Another factor that makes a big difference when touring in the US is having strong local support on the gigs. In the US it’s common to have 3-5 bands on a show and sets tend to be 15-30 minutes. In much of Europe 2 band shows are the norm and rarely more than 3 bands play. The shows tend to start very late by US standards and the set times approach and often break the one hour mark. One thing I noticed is that Nine Shocks Terror’s best shows were with strong local support acts, Vitamin X in Amsterdam, Skitkids in Copenhagen, Intensity in Malmo and so on. Likewise gigs that I expected to be really good came off kind of half hearted without a strong local draw on the bill. A lot of the opening bands we played with were young kids with new bands. I always think it’s great to put such bands on a bill, but also a more well known local act between them and touring band is going to help bring in a crowd and pump up the energy level at a gig. Another factor playing at squat clubs is that a lot of the people would be hanging out there drinking even if there was now show. These are the guys who have never heard your band but are up front doing the “crusty wave” all night because the touring band goes on at 2 am and they’ve been drinking at the bar since 6.

Now onto some other factors. Your cell phone doesn’t work in Europe unless you get one that you can change the chip in when you get to Europe. Some people buy cheap phones just to use in Europe or maybe if you hire a driver they might have a phone. There is always pay phones which are thankfully more common in Europe that in the US these days. Driving on the highway in Europe is so much nicer than in the US. People are more courteous and actually travel only in the right lane and use the left lane to pass. If you are in the left lane and come on a car going slower, they simply move into the right lane and let you pass. I think this is how it worked in the US like forty years ago, but traffic moves way more efficiently in Europe. However, city driving is crazy since the cities are old with tiny narrow streets many of which are one way and parking is an expensive nightmare. Almost everything in Europe is more efficient, less wasteful and more thought out than in the US. Bottles are still returnable, the diet is healthier, public transport is extensive and well run, cars are smaller and more economical etc. All of this comes at a price, but you have to remember that the cheapest and most profitable way of doing things is not always the best way. The standard of living for average people in Europe is much higher than in the US. There is much less crime, very little poverty and education and health care are cheap or free. There is an extensive social safety net so a lot of young people don’t work, barely work, or are getting paid to go to a free university. On top of this the state actively supports youth centers in some countries that are booking hardcore shows. Some kids we met in Sweden actually got the government to give them a club to run for free and gear and a practice room for bands with no equipment or practice space of their own. It blows my mind to think that the government would actively subsidize punk, but there it is. It actually continually blows my mind how much the government lets kids get away with in Europe. Of course when you go to Eastern Europe it’s a lot different, more crime and poverty, a lower standard of living etc. The further east you go the more it is like travelling deeper into Mexico from Tijuana.

Pop in Europe tastes different because they don’t use the same fructose corn sweeteners used in the USA. Coke and Fanta are the main soft drinks. Mountain Dew is almost totally unheard of. I found it at only one gas station ever. Pepsi is also not so common and don’t be fooled, “pepsi max” is not an more extreme version of Pepsi but is in fact diet pepsi. However, there is such a think as “pepsi X” which is indeed a more extreme version of pepsi. The coffee in Europe is pretty lame. It’s mostly instant Nescafe crap with grainy bits at the bottom of the cup served in a tiny little dixie cup which is mostly foam and sugar on the top. In fact, most of what passes for coffee here is the same as that powdered stuff they call “cappucino” you get at gas stations in America. Actual drip whole bean coffee is pretty rare, and if you do find some it’s served in a dixie cup. As a result, I started drinking a lot of Red Bull, which is widely available and cheaper than in the US. I saw Jolt in a few places pronounced “yolt” which always cracks me up.

Girls in Europe are hotter than hell. I think the better diet and lots of exercise means a lot of women look really hot into their 30s and even 40s. I think the northern Europeans are the hottest, especially Danish, Swedish, and Dutch. However, in general I think the Europeans are less sexually charged than we are, and not so quick to jump in bed on a random hook up. Or maybe I was just not meeting the right dames…

Europe uses 220 volt current as oppsed to our 110 volt and they have a different plug on the end of the cord. Simply putting an adapter on the plug isn’t going to work. Marshall and other European made amps have a switch on the back to go from 110 to 220 and you just get a power cord with the European plug. You can use US amps with a “step down” voltage converter which is about the size of a small toaster and plugs in between the amp and wall.

Some things that will be strange to the US band are that it’s quite common in Europe for the bands to all share a backline. Frustratingly they all usually want to use the touring bands backline. This would be pretty unheard of in the US but it happened on a regular basis to us in Europe. Bands show up with guitars, heads, cymbals and snare and expect to use someone elses gear. Sometimes bands show up with guitars only. I know this sort of thing goes on here too, but usually arrangements are made, typically between bands who are friends. I think borrowing gear can lead to a lot of trouble. I have both let people use gear that was broken and been in bands that broke other peoples gear and it’s never fun or easy to deal with. Try to make sure who ever sets up your tour gets clear who is using what gear at the shows so you know in advance. It was frustrating when we were renting gear by the day to have other bands all expect us to set it up for them to play. I guess this is one of those things we just aren’t used to.

The one thing that really galls me about touring in Europe is how merciless most distros are. I know that when I’m selling records at gigs I don’t sell the touring bands releases in competition with them and when people ask if I have the touring bands record I tell them to go buy it from the band. In Europe however it is quite common for every distro at a show (and there are often quite a few) to carry your releases prominently and sell them to all comers right in front of you. This is totally accepted practice over there and no seems to think it’s a bad idea. The only thing I can say is that if you have some limited tour release, don’t trade or sell it to anyone until the END of the show/tour so they don’t under cut you at your own shows.

OK, I hope that fills in some blanks or answers some questions about touring Europe. I’m sure some Europeans will take umbrage at some of what I’ve written, but they probably don’t like they way we do things here so whatever. I would make one final note, after 20 years the St. Paul hardcore legends Willful Neglect have had their material re issued. There is now a CD, released actually by the same guy who put out their two LPs in 82 and 83 which also features a full unreleased LP (which is surprisingly good). Willful Neglect were East St. Paul meatheads who never fit into the more artsy Minneapolis scene. Their lyrics are thankfully not printed on the re-issue because they are pretty retarded. However, WN played some excellent fast, raw, energetic, snotty hardcore and if you can’t get the two original LPs this CD is a good start.

Publication Date:
October 1, 2003

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