Kultura

Hrvoje Bubić | Interview with Blaine Cook

Hrvoje Bubić

 |  velj. 14, 2017

For a start, can you tell me how did you get into the punk rock and become a musician, your influences,hardcore scene back in 80’s in Seattle & USA and how did you get nickname Zippy?

I got into punk rock after seeing flyers pasted on telephone poles around the city for bands like: The Refuzors, The Enemy, The Lewd,The Mentors and so on. I went on the hunt for some records by some of these bands. I bought the first singles by black flag, dead kennedy’s and the lewd. I found the sex pistols lp in the cut-out bin at the record store. I’d have my little record player just keep spinning the same records over and over again. The music had an intensity that I didn’t hear in other music I was listening to at the time. Ted Nugent, Judas Priest, AC DC and so on. I found out quickly that with some of these bands all they had out was on single.

What really got to me was the germs, black flag and discharge. Heavy hitters for the time. If you want to call me a vocalist those three bands had the biggest influence on me. I don’t consider myself to be a musician.

What I would consider to be my first hardcore punk show was Black Flag and the Subhumans playing at Washington Hall. Pure mayhem.

I was a big fan of underground commix. The checkered demon and zippy the pinhead being two of my favorites. Somehow zippy just became my nickname. Not to be confused with the Zippy from the Dils.

Your first band, The Fartz, among members were Paul Solger and future Guns ‘n’ Roses bass player Duff McKagan, so please tell me little about that,you know, first gigs,how did you come to the Jello Biafra & Alternative Tentacles, your lyrics about racism,misogyny and poverty.

First off the funniest thing about Duff . He is and was one of those guys who is kind of like a prodigy. He can play all instruments and at that time was in all kinds of bands. He played drums with the fartz for a very short period. We did record five songs with him and only played one gig in Portland with him. Interestingly enough that show was with Poison Idea and a young band who showed up to the club and asked if they could play. That band was the accused,

The fact that duff was in the band would’ve been lost. If just for shits and giggles we didn’t put that sticker on the Fartz We See You Crawling lp that stated that the records features Duff from guns and roses.

The first gigs were alcohol and drug fueled events sometimes disasters. Trying to embrace this fuck you violent punk rock imagery. None of us were good players. Coupled with the fact that rehearsing sporadically did nothing to make us better. Loud was really a guitar player not a drummer. Steve had never played bass before. Original guitar player Tommy Hansen had played with Louds old band KAOS. Tommy was the only one that had any real experience in a band.

Steve wrote the lion’s share of those fartz lyrics. I can’t take credit for those. At that time I was barely out of high school and honestly knew very little of the world. I cringe reading old interviews and some of the stupid stuff I used to say.

Being a child of the 70’s I did feel very strongly about racial harmony. As far as politics and religion I’m dumber than a bag of hammers.

We met Jello while playing a show with the Dead Kennedys at the showbox theatre in seattle. I can’t remember the specifics. At that point we had put out a single and Jello really dug it. He was really supportive of young bands all across the states. He worked it so the single would get released on in the UK on the alternative tentacles label. He gave us the opportunity to play with the DKs in San Francisco. Hooked us up with a place to stay with this band called the Fuck Ups who lived in a little storefront in the Mission district. On that first trip we took to SF. We got to play with a who’s who of hardcore bands from 1982. Minutemen, Seven Seconds, Toxic Reasons, Fuck Ups, Dead Kennedys, Bad Posture, Free Beer, Legionnaires Disease. Looking back all I can say is that I wish that I’d been paying more attention. When you’re there living the moment, you have no idea that you’re seeing history being made.

Accused are pioneers of fusion of hardcore energy with thrash metal riffs among the DRI,Suicidal Tendencies and SOD and godfathers of grindcore and you paved path to bands like Cannibal Corpse and Slipknot. What motivated you guys to form Accused, what was your influence as music and lyrics,the “splatter rock” term, which member has been past away and is it your mascote Martha Splatterhead is hommage to Iron Maiden’s Eddie?

The accused were a band before I joined. As I eluded to before they played one of their first shows with the fartz. They asked me to join the band in the spring of 1984. That was the beginning of the splatterock era. The term Splatter Rock as we originally used it had nothing to do with splatter or gore flicks. We used it to describe the music we were making. A bunch of different styles all splattered together. While the music has a common thread. We weren’t trying to just play one style. None of the band were song writing machines. Every riff or idea that was brought to the table eventually got used. Putting a song together in those early days was a collective cooperative thing. The same was true for the lyrics. Not only did we have those horror/gore/comic themed lyrics. We had some social commentary. Child abuse, Alzheimer’s, rape were some of the topics we wrote songs about.

I’m honored that what we did back then was an influence on some of the greats. In 2017 it would be great to see the accused AD get a chance to play some of those old songs to a new audience.

Martha Splatterhead is a total rip on Eddie. I picked a woman so that we might still get some write ups in Maximum Rock and Roll.

Later, you fronted the Toe Tag (which single Machette Killah is really great btw) with some your colleagues from Accused, you also featured vocalist thrash/death metal band, Denial Fiend. Tell me something aobut Toe Tag,first LP and other possible plans projects.

We’ve been doing the Toe Tag for about ten years now. We started writing songs right after we were involved in the last go around with the accused. First toe tag line up consisted of me, alex “maggotbrain” sibbald (bass player for the accused now playing guitar) steve “o-ring” nelson accused drummer in the late 80’s. We wrote songs for almost six months before we got a bass player. We did the machette killah single with a small local label. We’ve been on a bunch of complilations both on cd and vinyl. We did another single with UK label called rat patrol. A split cd with a metal band called world of lies. Our side of the cd has been released on a one sided lp. We did the here she comes cd. Split picture single with potbelly. Another split single with Brazilian band los bandanos. Hide the knifes 10”. And we have a single sided lp that will be out in 2017.

Toe Tag loves to play live. We occasionally do our accused tribute band called the accused AD. We’re learning the more fun than an open casket funeral record. This will commemorate the 30 year anniversary of that records release.

We started playing with a new drummer a few months back. He’s trying to learn the 50 or so toe tag songs. While trying to pick up on the accused material.

With music,you are know as someone who mades damn good burgers, and you even get a prize for best burger in town. How did you get in burgers making?

When I stopped working with kids about ten years ago. I thought it would be a good idea to have my own business. A small restaurant a few minutes from my house went up for sale and I bought it. I’ve been making burgers for almost 9 years. We do a pretty good job.We’ve won numerous awards. We’ve been on a Japanese Tv show and also had the opportunity to be on the reality show Mystery Diners. That was a real hoot. The name of the episode is Mascot Mayhem check it out it’s on youtube.

And you also work with pre-school children like teacher so please tell me little about that, you know I used to sleep friend’s son with Accused (of course there was Megadeth,GG Allin,DRI and early Slayer), and guess what, little boy became cheerful and playful, so I think you are good teacher.

I stopped working with kids some years ago. I did a pretty good job. That’s a whole other story.

You are also a big horror fan, so what are your favorites,what is your opinion about today horror movies (my my recommendation, serbian horror movie Leptirica/She-butterfly) and I read that even your daughter loves horror movies,what are her ‘s favorites?

I’m not as much of a horror fan as I used to be. Deathgasm best thing I’ve seen recently. Attack on Titan is pretty good too. A lot of the new stuff I just don’t dig it. I’m gonna check out the one you suggest.

My daughter is more of an anime fan. She’s in university now . She doesn’t have much time blood and gore.

Punk rock had influenced your wiev in world.Once you said that for the movie „Decline of the Western Civillisation“ that definition of punk rock is for you more than a swastikas,pierciengs and mohawk haircut, and I really love your comment that if you want to shook somebody,do with your brain rather with metar high mohawk, which on other hand reminds me on Robert Fripp’s statemand that progressive music is an atittude rather a genre, so please tell me something about this.

How ever long ago I made that comment. It’s more relevant now than ever. I don’t know if it’s for me to comment on punk rock. Almost 40 years in to it I’m a bit cynical. Now people need to do something. Commenting on or liking a facebook post doesn’t mean that you’re being an instrument of change. Volunteer, donate your time to a cause or organization

For the end, what are plans for future,would be reunion of Fartz,Accused,new Toe Tag LP and will we ever experience Martha’s stories here in Split?

The fartz and the accused (with tom in the band) both dead issues. Maybe we’ll do a 40 year anniversary of the first fartz single??? We’ve been doing the accused tribute band for quite some time.Originally called martha’s revenge. We changed the name to the accused AD last summer. We’ve put the word out that we’re learning that more fun record. Sure would be cool if we could get few festival dates.

I admit that I personally am not involved in any causes. Our business is. We’ve dontated almost $10,000 to a variety of community groups over the past year.

HRVATSKI PRIJEVOD….

Za početak, možete li mi reći kako ste ušli u punk rock i postali glazbenik, Vaši utjecaji, hardcore scena tada u 80’ima u Seattleu & SAD-u te kako ste dobili nadimak Zippy?

Ušao sam u punk rock nakon što sam vidio flyere zaljepljene na telefonske stupove po gradu za bendove kao što su: The Refuzors, The Enemy, The Lewd,The Mentors i tako dalje. Krenuo sam u potragu za albumima od nekih tih bandova. Kupio sam prve singlice Black Flaga, Dead Kennedysa i neke nepristojne. Pronašao sam ploču od Sex Pistolsa u dućanu, na mjestu gdje stoje oštečene ploče. Imam svoj mali gramofon koji vrti jedne te iste ploče neprestano. Glazba je imala intezitet koji nisam čuo u drugoj glazbi koju sam tada slušao. Ted Nugent, Judas Priest, AC/DC i tako dalje. Ubrzo sam saznao da je nekim od ovih bendova sve što imaju na singlovima. Što me stvarno privuklo su bili Germs, Black Flag i Discharge. Jaki udarači tog vremena. Ako bi me prozvao vokalistom, to troje bandova su bili moji najveći utjecaji na mene.Ja se nesmatram uopče glazbenikom. Volio bih uzeti u obzir da je moj prvi hardcore punk koncert su bili Black Flag i Subhumans kada su svirali u Washington Hall. Čisto osakačenje.

Veliki sam fan underground stripova. The Checkered Demon i Zippy the pinhead su moja 2 najdraža. Tako nekako Zippy je postao moj nadimak. Nemojte me brkati s Zippyijem iz Dilsa.

Tvoj prvi band, The Fartz, među kojima su članovi bili Paul Solger i budući basist Guns n’ Roses Duff McKagan, pa molim te možeš li nam reći malo o tome,tipa prve gaže, kako ste došli do Jelle Biafre i Alternative Tentacles, vaši tekstovi pjesama koji su govorili o rasizmu, mizoginiji i siromaštvu.

Prvo, je u stvari najsmješnija stvar kod Duffa. On je jedan od onih što ih zovemo čudom. Znao je svirati sve instrumente i bio je u to vrijeme u svim bandovima. Svirao je bubnjeve s Fartzima nakratko. Snimili smo pet pjesama s njim i odsvirali jedan koncert u Portlandu .

Zanimljivo je to što je bio show s Poison Idea i mladi band se tu pojavio u klub koji je tražio gažu. Bio je to Accused.

Činjenica da je Duff bio u bandu bila bi izgubljena. Zbog sranja i cerekanja nismo to stavljali na sticker s Fartzima.Na albumu We See You Crawling stavljeno je da na njemu gostuje Duff iz Guns n’ Roses.

Prve gaže su bile događaji pojačani drogom i alkoholom, a ponekad totalne katastrofe. Pokušaj to povezati s “jebi se“ pankerskim imiđom. Nitko od nas nije bio sjajan glazbenik. Spojeno s činjenicom da probama spontano nas nisu ni najmanje učinile boljima. Glasan je bio jedino gitarist ne bubnjar. Steve nikada do sada nije svirao bas. Izvorni gitarist Tommy Hansen je svirao s Louds u starijem bandu KAOS. Tommy je jedini koji je imao nekakvo iskustvo u bandu.

Steve je dao lavovski doprinos pisanju pjesama Fartza. Nemogu to uzeti sebi za značaj. Tada sam još pohađao srednju školu i da pravo kažem malo sam znao o životu. Dodvoravao sam se čitajući stare intervjue i kazajući gluposti. Kao djete 70-ih, osjećao sam jaku potrebu za rasnom jednakošću. Što se tiče politike i religije, glup sam kao stup.

Upoznao sam Jellu dok smo svirali s Dead Kennedysima u The Showbox uSeattleu. Nemogu se sjetiti specifičnosti. Tada smo objavili singl i Jelli se jako svidio. On je jako podržavao mlade bandove kroz cijelu zemlju. Jako se potrudio da singl bude objavljen u Velikoj Britaniji preko Alternative Tentacles. Dao nam je priliku da s Dead Kennedysima nastupimo u San Francisco. Spojio nas je s bandom Fuck Ups koji su živjeli u malom izlogu u distriktu Mission. Na našem prvom putu išli smo u San Francisco. Svirali smo s „Tko je tko“ od hardcore bendova od 1982. Minutemen, Seven Seconds, Toxic Reasons, Fuck Ups, Dead Kennedys, Bad Posture, Free Beer, Legionnaires Disease. Gledajući unatrag sve što mogu reći je da mi je žao što nisam više tome posvetio pažnje. Kada živite moment, nemate pojma da gledate kako se stvara povjest.

Accused su pioniri spajanja hardcore energije s thrash metal riffovima među kojima su DRI,Suicidal Tendencies i SOD te kumovi grindcorea te ste utrli put bandovima tipa Cannibal Corpse i Slipknot. Što Vas je motiviralo da oformirate Accused, koji su bili vaši utjecaji kao glazba i tekstovi pjesama, pojam „splatter rock“ , koji je član banda preminuo te da li je maskota banda Martha Splatterhead hommage maskoti Iron Maidena Eddieu.

Accused su bili formirani prije nego što sam se ja pridružio. Izmaknuo sam se prije nego što su svirali neke svoje prve koncerte s Fartzima. Zamolili su me da im se pridružim na proljeće 84′. Tada je započela ideja splatter rocka. Splatter rock pojam koji smo upotrijebili nije imao nikakve veze s splatter ili gore tematikom. Upotrijebili smo ga da opišemo našu glazbu koju smo stvarali. Hrpa različitih stilova glazbe zbrčkani zajedno. Dok je sama glazba zajednička nit. Nismo ni pokušavali svirati ni jedan stil. Nitko u bandu nije bio stroj za pisanje pjesama. Svaki riff ili ideja koja je bila predložena na kraju je bila upotrijebljena. Sastavljajući pjesmu zajedno u tim ranim danima je bilo kolektivna zadružna stvar. Tako je bilo s tekstovima glazbe. Nije bilo samo horror/gore/comic tematike. Imali smo društvenu poruku. Zlostavljanje djece, Alzheimerova bolest, silovanje su bile neke od tema kojih smo se dotakli. Počaščen sam da smo dobili povratak tada kao utjecaj na neka veća imena. U 2017. bi bilo sjajno Accused da svira svoje neke stare pjesme pred novom publikom.

Martha Splatterhead je totalna kopija Eddiea. Stavio sam ženski lik jer sam tako smatrao da bi tako dobili neke recenzije u MaximumRockandRoll.

Kasnije, počeo si voditi Toe Tag (usput čiji singl Machette Killah stvarno dobar) s nekim svojim kolegama iz Accuseda, te ujedno si bio gostujući vokal za death/thrash metal band Denial Fiend. Molim te reci nam malo o Toe Tag,prvi LP te drugim planovima i projektima.

Počeli smo s Toe Tag prije otprilike prije desetak godina. Počeli smo pisati pjesme ravno kada smo bili uključeni u zadnju turneju s Accusedom. Prva postava Toe Taga je činila mene, Alex “Maggotbrain” Sibbald (basist Accuseda sad na gitari) Steve “O-Ring” Nelson bubnjar Accuseda iz kasnih 80-ih. Napisali smo par pjesama za otprilike 6 mjeseci prije nego što je došao basist . Singl Machette Killah je bio izdan preko lokalne neovisne izdavačke kuće. Bili smo na dosta kompilacija, bilo to cd ili vinil. Napravili smo sljedeći singl preko britanske izdavačke kuče Rat Patrol. Split cd s metal bandom World Of Lies. Naša strana cd je objavljena kao jednosvirajući LP. Napravili smo cd Here She Comes. Split picture singl s Potbelly. Drugi split singl je s brazilskim Los Bandanos, Hide the knifes 10”. Također imamo jednosvirajući LP koji bi trebao biti objavljen 2017. Toe Tag voli svirati uživo. Ponekad sviramo kao Accused tribute band nazvan Accused AD. Učimo ponovno pjesmu More fun than an open casket funeral record. To bi trebalo proslaviti 30 godina objavljivanja tog albuma.

Počeli smo svirati s novim bubnjarem prije nekoliko mjeseci. Upravo uči otprilike 50 i više pjesama od Toe Tag dok ujedno pokušava skinuti materijal od Accuseda.

Uz glazbu, vi ste još poznati kao netko tko radi prokleto dobre burgere , te čak ste dobili nagradu za najbolji burger u gradu. Kako ste ušli u posao s burgerima?

Kada sam prestao raditi s djecom prije nekih desetak godina, pomislio sam da pokrenem vlastiti posao. Jedan mali restoran koji je bio udaljen od mene par minuta šetnje se prodavao pa sam ga kupio. Radim burgere več 9 godina i stvarno sam dobar u tome. Dobili smo razne nagrade i priznanja. Bili smo na japanskom TV showu i imali smo priliku da budemo na reallity showu Mystery Diners. To je bio pun pogodak. Naziv te epizode je bio Mascot Mayhem, možete ga pogledati na youtubeu.

Također radiš s pred-školskom djecom kao učitelj pa molim te reci mi malo o tome, znaš ja sam uspavljivao prijateljevog sina s Accusedom (jasno bili su tu Megadeth,rani Slayer, DRI,GG Allin), znaš što, mali je ispao jako veseo i živahan dječak, pa bi po tome mogao zaključiti da si sjajan učitelj.

Prestao sam s radom s djecom prije nekoliko godina. Uradio sam sjajan posao, što je neka druga priča.

Ti si također veliki fan horor filmova, koji su tvoji favoriti, što misliš o današnjim horor filmovima (moja preporuka: srbski horor film Leptirica), te negdje sam pročitao da je i tvoja kćerka voli horor filmove, pa koji su njeni favoriti?

Nisam više toliki ljubitelj horora kao što sam prije bio. Deathgasm je zadnje dobro što sam vidio u zadnje vrijeme. Attack on Titan je također dobar. Previše novih stvari mi danas sjeda, pa bi mogao pogledati taj film koji si mi preporučio. Moja kćer je više fan anime. Sad je na fakultetu. Nema previše vremena za krv i koljačinu.

Punk rock je utjecao na tvoje viđenje svijeta. Jednom si rekao za film „Decline of Western Civillisation“ da je za tebe punk rock više od svastika,piercinga i irokez frizura te jako mi se svidio tvoj komentar da ako želiš nekog šokirati, šokiraj ga svojim mozgom a ne metrom visokoj irokezi, što me podsjetilo na izjavu Roberta Frippa da progresivna glazba je stav a ne žanr, pa molim te reci mi nešto o tome.

Bilo je davno kada sam dao taj komentar. Danas je to važnije nego što je bilo prije. Neznam da li je za mene više da komentiram bilo što vezano uz punk rock. Skoro sam 40 godina u tome pa sam pomalo ciničan. Sada bi ljudi trebali napraviti nešto. Komentiranje ili lajkanje na Facebooku neznači da si čimbenik promjene. Volontira, doniraj svoje vrijeme slučaju ili organizacij.

Ja prizanjem da ja osobno nisam uključen u nikakve slučajeve. Naša politika je da doniramo skoro 10 000 $ raznim udrugama tokom godine.

Za kraj, kakvi su planovi za budućnost, hoće li biti reunion Fartza,Accuseda, novi album Toe Taga, te hoče li Split doživjeti Marthine priče?

The Fartz i Accused (s Tomom u bandu) su mrtve točke. Možda odradimo 40 godina obljetnice izlaska prvog singla Fartza??? Odradili smo neko vrijeme Accused tribute band. Izvorno smo se zvali Marth’s revenge. Promjenili smo ime u Accused AD prošlo ljeto. Poručili smo da ponovno učimo More Fun album. Jasno bilo bi sjajno kada bi mogli nastupiti na par festivala.