Death Is Not Glamorous

E-Mail interview 02.11.2007

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English

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Hi Christian! How are you?

HELLO! I am good. California is hot.

I find quite hard to start an interview with an original question...so let's go for the most frequent question ever: can you please introduce yourself and your band?

My name is Christian and I sing in DEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS. We're from Norway, although Emanuele (bass) is from Italy, Mathias (bass - long story) is from Sweden, and I'm a halfway American. Espen and Terje (guitars) and Even (drums) are thoroughbred Norwegian vikings.

Death Is Not Glamorous is based in Oslo, Norway. Your country is famous for its Black Metal bands and other really dark stuff. So, how did a positive hardcore punk band like yours form? In other words, where do you get the PMA you talk about through your lyrics in such a cold country? Where do you get such a positive inspiration?

Terje, Espen, and I started DEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS after our previous band (black metal) fell apart. We tricked Even, who then was also playing in DAMAGE CONTROL, to play drums for us, and recruited Emanuele - and suddenly we were a band. It's hard to say where the 'positive inspiration' in our lyrics comes from, not so much because there isn't any as because it's all over the place. Music, (revolution) summer, people, potential, rebellion. Punk rock. If we didn't have it, we'd be fucked. Neccessity!

I don't know much about Norway or Scandinavia. I only heard that it was quite cold, that people were ecologically conscious, that bands did not pay much for their own rehearsal rooms and that girls were beautiful in general! Haha! Well, maybe it sounds as if I've made a caricature of Northern Europe, it's probably nothing but a bunch of clichés...anyway! Tell me a bit more about your area/country by giving three or four reasons to go and live in Oslo/Norway! It can be related to music or not...

All your cliches are pretty spot-on, but you missed church burning, raping / pillaging, the total absence of drugs/alcohol/crime, free iPhones, and NO LAWS! Seriously though.. It's fucking beautiful. I moved here when I was 14, so I have the advantage of not growing up in such stunning environments, thus being relatively unjaded, and my mind is blown constantly. Geographically, it's a very varied country, and I think most people who live here realize this and try and preserve the natural beauty by being ecologically-minded, which is definitely a positive aspect. Continuing on this theme, public transportation is generally very well-planned and comprehensive, so it's easy to get around without having to drive a car.. which is good, because everything in Norway is fucking expensive, which I guess promotes less materialism in theory (though unfortunately not in practice).

What is the Norwegian scene like? Is it close knit?

The punk / hardcore scene in Norway is pretty rich. There aren't so many bands active at the moment, but the ones that are make up for that - check out Raging Fugitives, Common Cause, Kolokol, US, and more for proof! Besides that, it's currently a hotbed for good fanzines, there are a couple really cool venues / squats in the city, and the people in the punk/hardcore scene are rad girls and boys. Check it out.

Emanuele, the bass player, comes from Italy? How did he end up in Oslo? And wasn't it a bit difficult to communicate within the band at the very beginning?

Emanuele moved to Oslo to live with his girlfriend, and now he is so busy 'studying' and 'working' that we have a second bassist who comes on tour with us. It's pretty uncommon for people to not know English in Norway, so we never really experienced any difficulty in communication.

The hardcore punk seems to be huge nowadays, which is pretty cool. However, I have the feeling that lots of people in the scene lack some serious openmindedness. "Punks" sometimes pretend to hate hardcore and "hxc kids" have similar attitudes towards punk rock. To me, it's senseless as I consider both styles as the exact same thing. What do you think? Do you see a difference between punk and hardcore? And if you do, how or where can we distinguish this difference in your opinion?

In theory, punk and hardcore are the same thing. I can understand that through commercialization and adaptation, the term 'punk rock' can mean a thousand things today, but to me it has as much to do with the ethic behind the music as the style of music, if not more so. In the end, both terms have become diluted (almost inevitably) over time and a growth in, if not popularity, then media coverage. I call what we do punk. I call our band a punk band, or a hardcore band, or a hardcore punk band. I think that separation based on superficiality in a scene where 'punk' and 'hardcore' are essential the same thing is a pointless poison. Up the punx.

You're about to hit the road through the USA. How do you feel about this? Have you got any worries or any specific expectations?

Since we are slow to answer interviews (but fast to attack!), I'm writing this as the last band of the night is playing in a smoky venue somewhere in North Carolina. We've been on tour for two weeks now, and for the most part it's been really cool. We're playing with a band called Broadway Calls and they are solid dudes, we've played a few awesome house shows (which will always hold the key to my heart), and met a lot of nice people on the road. All in all, it's fucking awesome. America is so huge, it's hard to describe it as one country. Arizona is totally different than, say, Florida. But yeah, it's cool to be playing in a country I partially grew up in. Alongside the totally fucked opinions and institutions that exist here (like the death penalty what the FUCK), there are a lot of really sincere and nice kids, bands, and some breathtaking places. Good times.

Besides the band, what are you main activities? Do you work or study? And what about your free time? What do you enjoy doing in your life?

Besides the band, I have a deceptively large variety of interests and activities that I pursue. I am kind of in the middle of a higher education that's been put on the back burner mostly because of our tours demanding too much of my class & study time, as well as because I don't know what I want to do when I grow up yet. When we're not on tour, and when the necessity presents itself, I work at a kindergarten, playing with lego, reading books to kids, going on field trips, and goofing off. Otherwise, I read a lot of books, mess around with pens, paper, and other artistic mediums, play catch, cook, drink coffee, watch movies, play board games, skateboard, and try to stay physically active as much as possible.

Do you all read? If you do, what kind of stuff do you read?

Most of Death is not Glamorous are bookworms. I read a LOT, especially on tour. Right now I'm re-reading Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". I don't know how many books I go through every tour, but I think I buy as many books as records. Too many favorite authors to pick from.. E. Hemingway, C. Bukowski, Dave Eggers, K. Vonnegut, Bret Easton Ellis, Philip K. Dick - my favorite book ever is "Enders Game" by Orson Scott Card. This question is making me miss my bookshelves!

Do you believe in the DIY ethic? You might think this question is strange since almost everyone aspires to be independent and do whatever they want to do, especially in the hardcore scene. I personally try to live my own life and stay active without constantly profitting by some outward help. But I also like the idea to "do it together" as it's sometimes safer and more satisfying than if you choose to do everything on your own. Then again, you have to accept the fact that you lose some kind of control on what you do when you become allied to someone else...What do you think?

I think that DIY and self-reliance are key elements in punk / hardcore, and I definitely believe in them, and enjoy adhering to them when I can. I think it's awesome when bands put their own records out, book their own tours, print their own shirts. When people make their own venues and set up shows in their homes, write, print, and distribute their own fanzines, and in general make their scene truly 'theirs'. I don't, however, think that the DIY ethic and cooperation are mutually exclusive. I think that collectivism and working together to achieve common goals is great, viable, and vital in the punk / hardcore community, as well as 'as the punk / hardcore community'. I might not have totally answered your question.

Let's talk a bit more about music again! Are there any releases planned for DING in a close future?

We put out a compilation CD with all our songs on it for this tour the states, but we're not going to carry it in the future. Hopefully recording an LP this winter sometime - we have some new song ideas and lyrics, so it's bound to happen. We're doing a song for some Kid Dynamite tribute album, but I don't know much past that.

Are you interested in artists that are not part of the whole hardcore punk thing?

The majority of music I listen to is related to punk and hardcore (and emo in the traditional sense of word), but I am into a lot of indie, hip-hop, some electronica, singer/songwriter stuff, etc. Right now I am using up batteries on a lot of Bruce Springsteen and Rocky Votolato besides my daily dose of punk jams. I want to find a jazz record and get lost in it, but it hasn't happened yet.

Can you give me your Top 3 records of each "hardcore decade". By "hardcore decade", I obviously mean the 80's, the 90's and the first few years of the current decade.

This is too hard - here are some Norwegian records I like.
80's - SVART FRAMTID - 1984 EP
90's - SPORTSWEAR - BUILDING, DWELLING, THINKING
Recent: KOLOKOL - FLAMMER OG FARGER

Last question! Let's finish this interview with fun: what is your favorite Embrace quote and why? Please, don't choose "Death is not glamorous", it would be way too easy!

-« As long as another’s held captive, do not consider yourself free ».

Thanx for having answered to these questions! Any last words?

Thanks a lot. Flex your head.

Interview : Bastien

More Infos :

Genre : Hardcore/Punk

Country : Norway

For fans of : Kid Dynamite, Give Up The Ghost

Label : Dead And Gone Records

Myspace : www.myspace.com/deathisnotglamorous

Label : www.deadandgonerecords.com