Erik editor of Shrunken & Mummified has reach the venerable amount of 10 issues with his zine, and that means 10 years of underground work and graves examination. I already thought of doing an intie with Erik because I like the way he conducts his zine and the band's diversity within it (his 9th issue is probably his best according to me). You can find grindcore, black metal, doom metal and quite a lot of not so known bands or labels. In his last issue, Erik did a kind of retrospective, and I use it a bit to send some questions to him to now more about his past work and he still has the flame for the next 10 years!Hi Erik, how do you feel right now? Are you ready to suffer from an onslaught of questions and die of alive and slow putrefaction? Ahahah! For those who don't know anything about you,you're the editor of SHRUNKEN & MUMMIFIED Zine and at the end of 2008, you released your 10th issue, a quite honorable status to reach within the Underground isn't it? What are your feelings after 10 years of underground investigation?
Hello Jim, and greetings to all the readers of this excellent fanzine! Well, right now, I am OK, doing not too much, after a mediocre day at work. The weather turned to be rather gloomy and rainy today, so I stay here at home and start answering the torturous amount of your questions, hehe. Well, as you have introduced me, I’d better not say anything more about myself now, some more of my secrets will come to light after this long chat for sure, hehe. As for being in the scene with 10 issues of my ‘zine so far – it is nothing really special and I do not have particular feelings of looking back in time and it is mostly because the scene has changed a lot since my 1st issue and I also see things from a different perspective now than back then. But I think more details about all this shit you will get from my answers to your other questions…
Usually, how many copies are printed of each issue? How do you manage to spread them? Who are your usual distributors? Which issue sold the fastest? Did you get people asking for old issues and would you reprint them if so?
My newest issue was printed in 300+ copies, and it used to be the case with the last 3 or 4 issues as well. Older issues were printed/ Xeroxed in different amount ranging from 100 copies to 200+. I have regular distributors like Terror Blast (Macedonia), No Posers Please! (Norway), Nihilistic Holocaust (France), Terror From Hell (Italy), Neverheard distro (Hungary) and so on, but the biggest amount that I get rid of is thru my own single or bulk trades I guess. I have a good habit of trading with each single fanzine which I am interested in (and when it comes to ‘zines, in 99% I am!), which is a bad habit when we consider a lot of money and time wasting on post, but this I do not much care as of yet. Well, usually I have an issue in stock for about 10-12 months and we cannot really say that there was a ‘best-selling’ issue, but in certain time I always spread all the copies once printed, and sadly, never will be re-pressed or Xeroxed – not by me, at least. At times yes, there are people asking about older issues, but I am sorry to say I cannot bother with making some copies Xeroxed again and anyway, most of the stuff in them are rather out-dated by now…
S&M started in your homeland Hungary, but actually you're living in Czech Republic, it's a bit why there was some delay about your last issue. You moved there for a job matter, if I'm not wrong you're English teacher, right? On a language point of view, you also have to learn Czech, wasn't it a bit hard? On the other hand, musically speaking, it's more advantageous to find gigs and extreme bands out there where the scene is swarming for years? Don't you miss anything from Hungary sometimes though?
Yes, it is true, I have been living here in Czech for more than a year now. I partly moved for a job, but in fact it was just an opportunity that I took after having some personal shit in private life in Hungary. It was the right time I had left the country also when looking into things on a more global matter as the country is having some inner conflicts in the recent months/ years, which makes it not a pleasant place to live. I do still miss many things, from family and friends to my personal collection of releases (I just brought a part of it to over here, but including every single fanzine I have had!), and I feel Czech people a bit too cold and suspicious compared to the Hungarian character, which I still could not get used to. As for the language, it is a pretty hard one to learn and I am somewhere in the middle yet, not able to make more than some basic conversation about nothing. I used to be an English teacher in Hungary, but now my work is completely different, related to informational technology.
In our 10th issue you did a good retrospective about the beginnings of the zine with comments about each one. Sadly, I only know your zine since the 7th issue, but something that always amazed me was the great diversity of bands' nationalities and styles featured in S&M. What inspires you to reach such eclecticism? What were your influences at the very beginning? Which zines create in you the flame of fanzining?
Thanks for the compliments, Jim! I am into a lot of different scenes, liking more types of music, not sticking to one particular genre or ideology – actually, it was so diverse that I decided to form another publication for the core-related stuffs, not to bore the metalheads with my shit any more, hehe (about it we will be speaking later on). Actually, at the time of my first issues I listened to a shitload of doomy stuff and also far more technical music, which I still like of course, but in a smaller amount, and I prefer faster and more intensive and powerful bands these days. Just some fanzines that had a great impact on me: Master of Brutality, Lamentation, Metal Core, Stroke, Dark Flowers and so on. It was so long ago that I could not list many names now, even if they still have in my collection.
In this editorial you point out an interesting thing about how easy it was to get reply to interviews back then. Ironically, when communication became easier these days with Internet (and now with the Myspace trend), you have hard times getting some inties back. So my question is: what happen to the underground scene these last years according to you? Does Internet make people lazy and stupid? Is the Underground dead? (Oups that makes three questions! Don't take the last one too seriously!)
I do not think that underground is dead, otherwise we would not be having this chat now, right? Hehe. I think there still is a fair amount of people interested in paper ‘zines, tape-releases, writing hand-written letters, spreading flyers etc. OK, it was the only way of communication back then, and there were a lot more people in it, but I do not think all of them were necessarily ‘real’ fans. They just took it as a necessary way to get releases, they did not have any feeling about doing things this way, just get their daily metal this way as no Internet, downloading and myspace existed. Now these people can get everything easily – but the question is, do they really enjoy the big amount of shitty, low-quality stuffs they can get hold of this way? Speaking about bands, most of them do not see any potential any more in giving inties to paper ‘zines, they prefer webzines as allegedly this way they can reach more people than thru a printed ‘zine copied and spread in 200 or so pieces. But in my opinion it is rather stupid, as more probably their album will be bought and ordered by those supporting the old way rather than by those reading webzines and downloading stuffs (OK, that this way more people can be reached, but I question the quality of these ’fans’). Still, I could not dare now to summarize what happened in the underground in the last few years because I also changed as a person, there happened many things in my personal life that made an effect on me, so I cannot see things with the same eyes I did 5-10 years ago. Only thing I could add is that I am not against modern technology and Internet, I do use them regularly and find some services utterly useful, but old manners mean a lot more to me and I am still into things I listed somewhere in the beginning of this question.
In 10 years you gathered tons of contacts, trading lots of stuff, discussing with people from all over the world... It's the best side of these undergrounds activities in my opinion... How many people are you in touch with approximatively? Which zines are still active and among your contacts? Have you been disappointing by some people who turned their back to the UG? And what about the rip-offs? Those scumbags also evolves with Internet and steal people with Myspace now...
Jim, do not think that I have thousands of contacts from the old age by now. Actually there are people that are still active in the scene and we exchange some letters/ materials every now and then. I cannot do to write everyone a letter or email every week asking how he or she is, however much I would like to. It is great though that during the channels of underground, which we have been speaking about, we do get some info about each other’s activity. It is amazing if I find in a ‘zine from Thailand for example some info about an old German contact of mine whom I have not heard from years proving that he is still active. It is also nice to get in touch with someone again after some years of silence. Contacts come and go, and I cannot blame on anyone not wanting to be any more in the scene – people can lose interest, and for sure new ones will come instead of them. Older contacts of mine include Adam’s Necroscope fanzine or Vampir ‘zine from Macedonia, but quite an ancient ‘zine is Burning Abyss from Poland, with which I was not in touch back in the day, but now we started cooperating. Also, as I mentioned, I am glad when earlier contacts appear again, just like in the case of API ‘zine from Malaysia or when thru a trade I get hold of a long-existing publication like Orfismo (Spain) of which I have been curious for about 12-13 years, and never been in touch in fact. Sad to say, but my constant moving could also cause the end of my contact with some worthy people that might have written to my old addresses in vain (I am really sorry, but I cannot do anything against this shit). Rip-offs nowadays seem to avoid me, I can sort out the serious emails now, and it is certain that they rarely or never spend time and money on regular post, hehe.
Let's talk about the way you write reviews. How do you write a review? How many times do you listen to the CD/demo/EP before starting writing it? Did it happen you hardly wrote a review because you simply didn't find words or inspiration? Did you ever regret any review you wrote years ago and finally today you would write it differently (because after all tastes can change)?
I think it is nothing really particular to write about. Simply, sometimes I can write a review after listening to the given stuff only once or twice (the stuff must be rather convincing this time, because I always give some more chance to the ones I do not like at all for the first time), but at times it is really hard to write anything that could catch the readers’ attention. And after having written more than 1500 reviews in the 10 issues so far (no kidding, I have just counted them the other day), it is really difficult and challenging to avoid repeating myself (even if often the materials sound the same). Many times I think after a time I evaluate certain materials differently, but I try not to read my own reviews after having written them, hehe, just not to get very disappointed or be dead of laughing at how stupid and deaf I was.
You feature scene reports in almost each issue, written by someone from the concerned country and I totally enjoy the idea to feature extra articles by other people, however it's not that easy to find enthusiastic persons. Are there countries you haven't featured yet? Did you have good feedbacks about those scene reports?
Actually, these scene reports are rather personal. I mean they represent a given country’s scene from the writer’s perspective, and, by default, cannot be complete or utterly exhaustive. It is not my aim with those scene reports, and in fact most often it is the writers that offer me something like writing about their countries’ activities, which I found great and give them a free hand. Yours from France was one of the most detailed and info-filled one, but the one from Jordan was also interesting, though was more like an insight into the life of metalists down there, the approach I hinted at before. I would like to get some more exotic countries to be featured in this little ‘series’, and probably the next issue of mine will have something from Mexico, written by an old friend of mine, with again some personal aspect. The feedback are usually good – some people complained about the quality of the English language used at times, but I take it as the writers’ character as well and I do not feel rightful to alter any word of them.
The particularity of S&M Zine is the feature of the mummy on each issue, it became a kind of mascot a bit like Eddie with IRON MAIDEN. Where this passion for mummies come from? You were into Egyptian themes even before NILE! My favorite one is the one on issue #7, even if it's probably too funny for some people! The zines' name came from PUNGENT STENCH “Been caught buttering” album: Shrunken and mummified bitch. Who comes with this name? Was there any other option? Are you still into PUNGENT STENCH records?
Yes, I feel some inexplicable devotion to mummies, and you are sure my friend, it is not the influence of Nile, hehe. Anyway, I have some relatives living in Egypt and would be cool to get there some day, but actually I am at least as much fascinated by Inca mummies as the ones from the deep, dusty chambers of pyramids, hehe. Yes, the cover of my #7 was criticized by many, but I also think it is one of the best covers I have ever had (thanks to Utku for that superb drawing!). The name comes from that song, you are right again, and in fact this was the only option in my mind, having had it even years before the actual first issue hit the stands. As for the band itself: to be frank, I kind of lost the line where they are now, but for me that was the best album of theirs for sure. I saw them live some years ago at Obscene, but found them a bit weak among the many grinding and more energetic bands. Of course I still gladly listen to their early records and respect what they did.
Now that you reach the 10th issue of the zine, tell me honestly that you're gonna put another one next year? I ask this because I found an ounce of pessimism at the end of your editorial, hope I'm getting wrong.
Well, there was some pessimism in that editorial, you discovered it correctly. Actually there was a period after my moving when I though the fanzine would be no more because so many things changed around me and I did not feel the one I used to be. Furthermore, for months I could not even think about releasing a new issue as I did not have too much money even for foods and drinks. Well, my financial budget is not so rosy still, and releasing one issue per year might be an utopia from now on – and also that I work with computers and sitting at home writing articles is getting to be a pain in the ass. As long as I have a little spark of motivation (and there still is, I can assure you), there will be a continuation of my fanzine, but maybe even with a longer gap between two issues. I will not promise any concrete release date, I am doing my things in a way I feel comfortable, there is no rush and I do not want to meet any expectations as for deadline, because first of all, it is my fanzine which I am doing for enjoyment and don’t want it to become a kind of duty or job.
You also planned the release of a new zine supposedly called SPÁLENÁ RAMENA which is gonna focus on grind/hardcore/punk/crust stuff. Do you want to have a state of mind close to Roddy's PLOPPY PANTS Zine? Why do you want to focus on this scene in particular?
In fact the first issue of this new fanzine came out almost at the same time when S&M#10. It was born because I wanted to make some experiments as for format and mixing of genres apart from Metal and it would not have been possible without changing the overall concept of S&M if I had put all these stuffs into my first fanzine. It touches the styles mentioned, but I think it is a bit far from what Roddy is doing with his Ploppy Plants (which I find also a great publication), because Spálená Ramena is also about music, with no politics, no ideology, no personal stuff included (though I planned to put a bit in it of this latter one, but did not manage at last). For sure it is something on a smaller scale than S&M, with less pages and a smaller circulation (and it is just Xeroxed), but with more room for experimenting with cut and paste technique as well as some other things which would look odd in a metal fanzine like S&M.
During some investigations on Internet I read lately a comment stating something like: “I read a cool intie on a webzine that reminds me the printed zines era.” As if printed zines doesn't exist anymore! Erik, I must say that nowadays there are a lot of printed zines running. Well some of them only released a couple of issues before vanishing, but each month you can see a new zine popping up from elsewhere. What can we conclude about this? According to you, do printed zines have still a use? Which qualities make a zine worthy in your opinion?
I noticed the same as you did, there are many printed fanzines these days, I regularly meet their flyers coming with my post and naturally, mostly only with their debut issue, but luckily many of them continue and do really good jobs. I can mention many names with ease with whom I met in the last months as a proof, so here they are: Metalized Blood, Pure Fucking Underground, Posthuman, Escritas do Subsolo, Satanic Metal, Vaginalluftwaffe, Iron Hammer, Terror Cult and so on. What makes a fanzine good? It is a really hard question. For me it has to have some original face, with interesting questions and dealing with interesting acts, definitely not the ones you can meet in bigger magazines. I also like when there is some plus in its outlook, but of course the inner content is more important.
Does the idea of an internet version of S&M come to your mind? Do you check some webzines in moments of perdition?
No, never. I do not want a website for S&M, not even for promotional reasons. Simply, I do not feel the need of it, and I do not want to waste my time sitting in front of the PC more updating it etc. I check webzines only for some gig-dates, that’s all, I am unable to read the shortest review or interview on screen. If something interests me very very much, I prefer printing it and read then, but it is very rare, I am satisfied with all the info I find in printed fanzines.
I was surprised to discover you take part of a band called DAILY LIFE SUCKS, who released a first very short demo, where you played drums, right? Can you introduce the band to the readers? Did you play in other bands before or is that a first attempt? Now that you moved to Czech Republic, are you still involved in DLS?
Well, at the moment I cannot say any update as for the status of this band, which was a bunch of friends rehearsing once a week when I was still in Hungary. For sure we cannot rehearse any more, but there are about 10 more songs written by the guitarist that are waiting for me to put some drums on them. I am planning to do these soon, but there are certain difficulties recording them at the rehearsal place here in Brno where I practice drums, but sooner or later I will have them done for sure. Unfortunately this band will not work any more as a regular one due to the distance, but I still want to do some continuation even in this way with this guitarist friend of mine (and also the vocalist is into it). Actually we were playing together in other projects before, but I’d better not talk about them, hehe. And as for DLS, I think it is also a discussion of an uncertain future…
You also take (took?) part in Korpse Fire Distro, a small distro with a lot of underground stuff, but you also release some compilations (Have a brutal day/night) whose particularities is to show really underground stuff. These compilations are spread worldwide and I read a lot of reviews that proves you don't neglect promotion. Are there upcoming stuff to be released by Korpse Fire / Neverheard Distro? Do you think compilations have still a use today with the intense downloading madness?
I can say that KorpseFire does not function any more. I just do some trades and I cannot take too big quantity from now on as I am short of space here. And in fact not too many people are interested in buying musical materials, so I trade what I have and mostly for my personal collection or curiosity. Yes, we spread a lot of copies of both compilations. At the moment I cannot tell if there will be a third part, we haven’t talked about it with Balazs (Neverheard Distro) yet at all. Actually it is a compilation tape that I have wanted to put together for ages, but I do not think I will ever have the power to do it. I would like to accomplish it one day, even if I am aware that few people are into cassettes any more. I like compilations, I always liked them, and it will probably never change. A good way to get to know new bands, and also great that you do not have to listen to the shitty bands for more than one or a few songs, hehe.
Going back to your homeland, I must say I am quite curious about your scene, because you had (and still have) some interesting bands. Csaba (Hi man!) from Deadly Illness Zine dubbed me some killer death metal stuff from the 90's: ECZEMA, INTENSE AGONIZING, LAST PASSING, ATOMIC, etc... Your bands didn't have to feel ashame to what was more famous back then...it just lacked of exposure, sadly. What can you told us about this period? What were the active zines from this period? And today which bands and zines would you recommend to our voracious readers?
Frankly, I do not really follow the present Hungarian scene. At times I doubt it is still existing. There are no labels, almost no fanzines, no clubs for gigs and the bands that we have do not release demos, do not spread their name in the classic way via flyers and hand-written letters (let alone tape-trading), they trust only in Internet and myspace. As I just rarely follow these channels, I do not often meet Hungarian newcomers. I cannot even remember the day I got a demo from a Hungarian band! And if you just think it over how many flyers you got in the last years advertising something from Hungary, it will be clear what I am talking about. Yes, the early 90s were way different, with many bands, many fanzines and many fans, even though we did not have a serious label supporting underground bands over here. I am familiar with the bands you mentioned (except Last Passing), and I can add plenty of names more, which we can be proud of, and at the same time sad, that they could hardly reach fans outside our border. Here they come some: Undertaking, Subject, Extreme Deformity, Life Discussion, Parasite Crowd, Barbed Wire, Detonátor and really a lot more! I can mention some fanzine names as well which represented the golden era of Hungarian scene: Stroke, Underground, Death Trap, Feszültség, Lamentation or Stiff and Cold.
Tell me please about your recent discoveries (demos, albums, books or zines). What would you suggest our readers to listen to?
Again a hard question, as I consume a lot of music on a daily basis, I get, trade and buy lotsa stuffs, so I’d speak about what I was listening in the last few days, and it is up to the readers/ fans if they find the suitable for their taste. I bought pretty much Grindcore LPs lately, like the new Gride (Cz), Bloody Phoenix, Capitalist Casualties, or the Sheevayoga/ Disney split, traded some Black/ Thrash tapes, for example Necrosquatch, Nocturnal Hell (Spain), Sabbatical Rites, Barbatos rehearsal tape by Kárpátia Prods, or I got Bullet’s tape (good, old Heavy Metal from Sweden) out on Thai Slava Prods, the first MDC of Dög (Hungarian project of Marblebog mastermind and Blizzard of Vorkuta), Kathgor demotape from Malaysia and I could go on until the last page of your ‘zine, hehe. The fanzines I recently read: Chaos (from Germany, it is almost a magazine, I fucking like its lay-out though), the new Thrash Attack, Funeral Vomit #2, Flesh Salad #6, Not Very Nice #5, Ripping Thrash/ Hell and Damnation split issue or some local ones like Drunk Nach Osten #2, Cerelitida #3, Hluboka Orba #27, Rectum #1… Actually I do not read anything else just fanzines and language books, hehe. OK, I am not proud of it, but simply I do not have time for anything else beside these, and nowadays not too many things interest me in this rotten world, maybe I am getting old, hehe…
Erik, we reach the end of this interview. Hopefully we could make another intie to celebrate your 20th issue (and I promise to not bother you with another blindtest, héhé!). Please end this chat with your own words.
Hey, Jim, thanks a lot for this long and interesting chat! Would be cool to meet at my 20th as well, but before let’s celebrate your 10th anniversary, hehe! I promise I will get you for an intie even before that, as I know you have something to talk about, concerning your band, too! Blind test can come again as well, it was a nice experience, indeed! Thanks also for the readers for having read all this – I respect each of you still supporting paper fanzines, you are the ones that keep the scene alive, you rule!
I do not think that underground is dead, otherwise we would not be having this chat now, right? Hehe. I think there still is a fair amount of people interested in paper ‘zines, tape-releases, writing hand-written letters, spreading flyers etc. OK, it was the only way of communication back then, and there were a lot more people in it, but I do not think all of them were necessarily ‘real’ fans. They just took it as a necessary way to get releases, they did not have any feeling about doing things this way, just get their daily metal this way as no Internet, downloading and myspace existed. Now these people can get everything easily – but the question is, do they really enjoy the big amount of shitty, low-quality stuffs they can get hold of this way? Speaking about bands, most of them do not see any potential any more in giving inties to paper ‘zines, they prefer webzines as allegedly this way they can reach more people than thru a printed ‘zine copied and spread in 200 or so pieces. But in my opinion it is rather stupid, as more probably their album will be bought and ordered by those supporting the old way rather than by those reading webzines and downloading stuffs (OK, that this way more people can be reached, but I question the quality of these ’fans’). Still, I could not dare now to summarize what happened in the underground in the last few years because I also changed as a person, there happened many things in my personal life that made an effect on me, so I cannot see things with the same eyes I did 5-10 years ago. Only thing I could add is that I am not against modern technology and Internet, I do use them regularly and find some services utterly useful, but old manners mean a lot more to me and I am still into things I listed somewhere in the beginning of this question.
In 10 years you gathered tons of contacts, trading lots of stuff, discussing with people from all over the world... It's the best side of these undergrounds activities in my opinion... How many people are you in touch with approximatively? Which zines are still active and among your contacts? Have you been disappointing by some people who turned their back to the UG? And what about the rip-offs? Those scumbags also evolves with Internet and steal people with Myspace now...
Jim, do not think that I have thousands of contacts from the old age by now. Actually there are people that are still active in the scene and we exchange some letters/ materials every now and then. I cannot do to write everyone a letter or email every week asking how he or she is, however much I would like to. It is great though that during the channels of underground, which we have been speaking about, we do get some info about each other’s activity. It is amazing if I find in a ‘zine from Thailand for example some info about an old German contact of mine whom I have not heard from years proving that he is still active. It is also nice to get in touch with someone again after some years of silence. Contacts come and go, and I cannot blame on anyone not wanting to be any more in the scene – people can lose interest, and for sure new ones will come instead of them. Older contacts of mine include Adam’s Necroscope fanzine or Vampir ‘zine from Macedonia, but quite an ancient ‘zine is Burning Abyss from Poland, with which I was not in touch back in the day, but now we started cooperating. Also, as I mentioned, I am glad when earlier contacts appear again, just like in the case of API ‘zine from Malaysia or when thru a trade I get hold of a long-existing publication like Orfismo (Spain) of which I have been curious for about 12-13 years, and never been in touch in fact. Sad to say, but my constant moving could also cause the end of my contact with some worthy people that might have written to my old addresses in vain (I am really sorry, but I cannot do anything against this shit). Rip-offs nowadays seem to avoid me, I can sort out the serious emails now, and it is certain that they rarely or never spend time and money on regular post, hehe.
Let's talk about the way you write reviews. How do you write a review? How many times do you listen to the CD/demo/EP before starting writing it? Did it happen you hardly wrote a review because you simply didn't find words or inspiration? Did you ever regret any review you wrote years ago and finally today you would write it differently (because after all tastes can change)?
I think it is nothing really particular to write about. Simply, sometimes I can write a review after listening to the given stuff only once or twice (the stuff must be rather convincing this time, because I always give some more chance to the ones I do not like at all for the first time), but at times it is really hard to write anything that could catch the readers’ attention. And after having written more than 1500 reviews in the 10 issues so far (no kidding, I have just counted them the other day), it is really difficult and challenging to avoid repeating myself (even if often the materials sound the same). Many times I think after a time I evaluate certain materials differently, but I try not to read my own reviews after having written them, hehe, just not to get very disappointed or be dead of laughing at how stupid and deaf I was.
You feature scene reports in almost each issue, written by someone from the concerned country and I totally enjoy the idea to feature extra articles by other people, however it's not that easy to find enthusiastic persons. Are there countries you haven't featured yet? Did you have good feedbacks about those scene reports?
Actually, these scene reports are rather personal. I mean they represent a given country’s scene from the writer’s perspective, and, by default, cannot be complete or utterly exhaustive. It is not my aim with those scene reports, and in fact most often it is the writers that offer me something like writing about their countries’ activities, which I found great and give them a free hand. Yours from France was one of the most detailed and info-filled one, but the one from Jordan was also interesting, though was more like an insight into the life of metalists down there, the approach I hinted at before. I would like to get some more exotic countries to be featured in this little ‘series’, and probably the next issue of mine will have something from Mexico, written by an old friend of mine, with again some personal aspect. The feedback are usually good – some people complained about the quality of the English language used at times, but I take it as the writers’ character as well and I do not feel rightful to alter any word of them.
The particularity of S&M Zine is the feature of the mummy on each issue, it became a kind of mascot a bit like Eddie with IRON MAIDEN. Where this passion for mummies come from? You were into Egyptian themes even before NILE! My favorite one is the one on issue #7, even if it's probably too funny for some people! The zines' name came from PUNGENT STENCH “Been caught buttering” album: Shrunken and mummified bitch. Who comes with this name? Was there any other option? Are you still into PUNGENT STENCH records?
Yes, I feel some inexplicable devotion to mummies, and you are sure my friend, it is not the influence of Nile, hehe. Anyway, I have some relatives living in Egypt and would be cool to get there some day, but actually I am at least as much fascinated by Inca mummies as the ones from the deep, dusty chambers of pyramids, hehe. Yes, the cover of my #7 was criticized by many, but I also think it is one of the best covers I have ever had (thanks to Utku for that superb drawing!). The name comes from that song, you are right again, and in fact this was the only option in my mind, having had it even years before the actual first issue hit the stands. As for the band itself: to be frank, I kind of lost the line where they are now, but for me that was the best album of theirs for sure. I saw them live some years ago at Obscene, but found them a bit weak among the many grinding and more energetic bands. Of course I still gladly listen to their early records and respect what they did.
Now that you reach the 10th issue of the zine, tell me honestly that you're gonna put another one next year? I ask this because I found an ounce of pessimism at the end of your editorial, hope I'm getting wrong.
Well, there was some pessimism in that editorial, you discovered it correctly. Actually there was a period after my moving when I though the fanzine would be no more because so many things changed around me and I did not feel the one I used to be. Furthermore, for months I could not even think about releasing a new issue as I did not have too much money even for foods and drinks. Well, my financial budget is not so rosy still, and releasing one issue per year might be an utopia from now on – and also that I work with computers and sitting at home writing articles is getting to be a pain in the ass. As long as I have a little spark of motivation (and there still is, I can assure you), there will be a continuation of my fanzine, but maybe even with a longer gap between two issues. I will not promise any concrete release date, I am doing my things in a way I feel comfortable, there is no rush and I do not want to meet any expectations as for deadline, because first of all, it is my fanzine which I am doing for enjoyment and don’t want it to become a kind of duty or job.
You also planned the release of a new zine supposedly called SPÁLENÁ RAMENA which is gonna focus on grind/hardcore/punk/crust stuff. Do you want to have a state of mind close to Roddy's PLOPPY PANTS Zine? Why do you want to focus on this scene in particular?
In fact the first issue of this new fanzine came out almost at the same time when S&M#10. It was born because I wanted to make some experiments as for format and mixing of genres apart from Metal and it would not have been possible without changing the overall concept of S&M if I had put all these stuffs into my first fanzine. It touches the styles mentioned, but I think it is a bit far from what Roddy is doing with his Ploppy Plants (which I find also a great publication), because Spálená Ramena is also about music, with no politics, no ideology, no personal stuff included (though I planned to put a bit in it of this latter one, but did not manage at last). For sure it is something on a smaller scale than S&M, with less pages and a smaller circulation (and it is just Xeroxed), but with more room for experimenting with cut and paste technique as well as some other things which would look odd in a metal fanzine like S&M.
During some investigations on Internet I read lately a comment stating something like: “I read a cool intie on a webzine that reminds me the printed zines era.” As if printed zines doesn't exist anymore! Erik, I must say that nowadays there are a lot of printed zines running. Well some of them only released a couple of issues before vanishing, but each month you can see a new zine popping up from elsewhere. What can we conclude about this? According to you, do printed zines have still a use? Which qualities make a zine worthy in your opinion?
I noticed the same as you did, there are many printed fanzines these days, I regularly meet their flyers coming with my post and naturally, mostly only with their debut issue, but luckily many of them continue and do really good jobs. I can mention many names with ease with whom I met in the last months as a proof, so here they are: Metalized Blood, Pure Fucking Underground, Posthuman, Escritas do Subsolo, Satanic Metal, Vaginalluftwaffe, Iron Hammer, Terror Cult and so on. What makes a fanzine good? It is a really hard question. For me it has to have some original face, with interesting questions and dealing with interesting acts, definitely not the ones you can meet in bigger magazines. I also like when there is some plus in its outlook, but of course the inner content is more important.Does the idea of an internet version of S&M come to your mind? Do you check some webzines in moments of perdition?
No, never. I do not want a website for S&M, not even for promotional reasons. Simply, I do not feel the need of it, and I do not want to waste my time sitting in front of the PC more updating it etc. I check webzines only for some gig-dates, that’s all, I am unable to read the shortest review or interview on screen. If something interests me very very much, I prefer printing it and read then, but it is very rare, I am satisfied with all the info I find in printed fanzines.
I was surprised to discover you take part of a band called DAILY LIFE SUCKS, who released a first very short demo, where you played drums, right? Can you introduce the band to the readers? Did you play in other bands before or is that a first attempt? Now that you moved to Czech Republic, are you still involved in DLS?
Well, at the moment I cannot say any update as for the status of this band, which was a bunch of friends rehearsing once a week when I was still in Hungary. For sure we cannot rehearse any more, but there are about 10 more songs written by the guitarist that are waiting for me to put some drums on them. I am planning to do these soon, but there are certain difficulties recording them at the rehearsal place here in Brno where I practice drums, but sooner or later I will have them done for sure. Unfortunately this band will not work any more as a regular one due to the distance, but I still want to do some continuation even in this way with this guitarist friend of mine (and also the vocalist is into it). Actually we were playing together in other projects before, but I’d better not talk about them, hehe. And as for DLS, I think it is also a discussion of an uncertain future…
You also take (took?) part in Korpse Fire Distro, a small distro with a lot of underground stuff, but you also release some compilations (Have a brutal day/night) whose particularities is to show really underground stuff. These compilations are spread worldwide and I read a lot of reviews that proves you don't neglect promotion. Are there upcoming stuff to be released by Korpse Fire / Neverheard Distro? Do you think compilations have still a use today with the intense downloading madness?
I can say that KorpseFire does not function any more. I just do some trades and I cannot take too big quantity from now on as I am short of space here. And in fact not too many people are interested in buying musical materials, so I trade what I have and mostly for my personal collection or curiosity. Yes, we spread a lot of copies of both compilations. At the moment I cannot tell if there will be a third part, we haven’t talked about it with Balazs (Neverheard Distro) yet at all. Actually it is a compilation tape that I have wanted to put together for ages, but I do not think I will ever have the power to do it. I would like to accomplish it one day, even if I am aware that few people are into cassettes any more. I like compilations, I always liked them, and it will probably never change. A good way to get to know new bands, and also great that you do not have to listen to the shitty bands for more than one or a few songs, hehe.
Going back to your homeland, I must say I am quite curious about your scene, because you had (and still have) some interesting bands. Csaba (Hi man!) from Deadly Illness Zine dubbed me some killer death metal stuff from the 90's: ECZEMA, INTENSE AGONIZING, LAST PASSING, ATOMIC, etc... Your bands didn't have to feel ashame to what was more famous back then...it just lacked of exposure, sadly. What can you told us about this period? What were the active zines from this period? And today which bands and zines would you recommend to our voracious readers?
Frankly, I do not really follow the present Hungarian scene. At times I doubt it is still existing. There are no labels, almost no fanzines, no clubs for gigs and the bands that we have do not release demos, do not spread their name in the classic way via flyers and hand-written letters (let alone tape-trading), they trust only in Internet and myspace. As I just rarely follow these channels, I do not often meet Hungarian newcomers. I cannot even remember the day I got a demo from a Hungarian band! And if you just think it over how many flyers you got in the last years advertising something from Hungary, it will be clear what I am talking about. Yes, the early 90s were way different, with many bands, many fanzines and many fans, even though we did not have a serious label supporting underground bands over here. I am familiar with the bands you mentioned (except Last Passing), and I can add plenty of names more, which we can be proud of, and at the same time sad, that they could hardly reach fans outside our border. Here they come some: Undertaking, Subject, Extreme Deformity, Life Discussion, Parasite Crowd, Barbed Wire, Detonátor and really a lot more! I can mention some fanzine names as well which represented the golden era of Hungarian scene: Stroke, Underground, Death Trap, Feszültség, Lamentation or Stiff and Cold.
Tell me please about your recent discoveries (demos, albums, books or zines). What would you suggest our readers to listen to?
Again a hard question, as I consume a lot of music on a daily basis, I get, trade and buy lotsa stuffs, so I’d speak about what I was listening in the last few days, and it is up to the readers/ fans if they find the suitable for their taste. I bought pretty much Grindcore LPs lately, like the new Gride (Cz), Bloody Phoenix, Capitalist Casualties, or the Sheevayoga/ Disney split, traded some Black/ Thrash tapes, for example Necrosquatch, Nocturnal Hell (Spain), Sabbatical Rites, Barbatos rehearsal tape by Kárpátia Prods, or I got Bullet’s tape (good, old Heavy Metal from Sweden) out on Thai Slava Prods, the first MDC of Dög (Hungarian project of Marblebog mastermind and Blizzard of Vorkuta), Kathgor demotape from Malaysia and I could go on until the last page of your ‘zine, hehe. The fanzines I recently read: Chaos (from Germany, it is almost a magazine, I fucking like its lay-out though), the new Thrash Attack, Funeral Vomit #2, Flesh Salad #6, Not Very Nice #5, Ripping Thrash/ Hell and Damnation split issue or some local ones like Drunk Nach Osten #2, Cerelitida #3, Hluboka Orba #27, Rectum #1… Actually I do not read anything else just fanzines and language books, hehe. OK, I am not proud of it, but simply I do not have time for anything else beside these, and nowadays not too many things interest me in this rotten world, maybe I am getting old, hehe…
Erik, we reach the end of this interview. Hopefully we could make another intie to celebrate your 20th issue (and I promise to not bother you with another blindtest, héhé!). Please end this chat with your own words.
Hey, Jim, thanks a lot for this long and interesting chat! Would be cool to meet at my 20th as well, but before let’s celebrate your 10th anniversary, hehe! I promise I will get you for an intie even before that, as I know you have something to talk about, concerning your band, too! Blind test can come again as well, it was a nice experience, indeed! Thanks also for the readers for having read all this – I respect each of you still supporting paper fanzines, you are the ones that keep the scene alive, you rule!
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