Episodes
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Episode 21: Kent McClard
Kent started Ebullition Records and HeartattaCk zine, two important entities in 90s/00s Hardcore and Punk. We talk about
- why he started Ebullition
- how he was about to release Inside Out’s LP called Rage Against The Machine
- how he designed the early records
- why he felt he was forced to do HaC
- punk was about blowing up boundaries, hardcore was about creating your own thing
- his take on straight edge and why he made the XXX 2xLP comp
Kent also talks about Green Day, Ebullition, Maximum Rock’n’Roll, releasing international bands' records after touring abroad with Downcast, hardcore is for nerds, HeartattaCk as a platform for diverse opinions within the hardcore scene, being decidedly amateurish, it’s okay to be an outsider, hardcore is nerdy, giving people a space to participate, the 2008 housing crisis seriously affecting the underground music world and much more.
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Episode 20: Abermals
Happy 20th anniversary to BALG! For this special episode we're doing something special: We're not talking about the past but rather about the present. Abermals is a power-pop-punk-emo-kraut-rock trio from Mallorca, Spain and includes BALG's Chris, so to prevent the order of the universe from imploding, the interview is done by the great Michael Oxley of The Mitchums fame. We go through the new album Reasons to Travel song by song, listen in on it and talk about it all. Check out Reasons to Travel here:
https://linktr.ee/abermalsband
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Episodes manquant?
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Wir haben den ersten returning guest zu vermelden, der Musiker und Musikverrückte Daniel Benyamin ist wieder zu Gast, und nachdem wir in Folge 10 eher über die Vergangenheit gesprochen haben, geht es in dieser Folge um die Gegenwart, in der viel Interessantes zu erzählen ist. Unter anderem geht es um diese Themen:
- warum der Musikbranche wieder mehr DIY und Idealismus gut zu Gesicht stehen würde,
- der freiwillige Verzicht aufs 9 to 5 Leben im Tausch gegen regelmäßige Existenzängste und Strategien, mit diesen klarzukommen,
- Daniel erzählt über Ghost Palace, sein Labelkollektiv/Kollektivlabel, bei dem zwischenzeitlich der große Wim Wenders beteiligt war (den ich peinlicherweise im Gespräch Wim Hof nenne),
- wie es dazu kam, dass seine neue Platte Eral Fun so nach 80s-Pop klingt, obwohl er musikalisch neunziger-sozialisiert ist (falls ihr euch erinnert, die 90er waren quasi die Anti-80er),
- die eigentlich unwichtige aber trotzdem spannende Frage, ob man mit oder ohne Click Drums aufnimmt,
- und noch mehr
#podcast #diy #indie #podcastdeutsch #indiepop #indielabel #nonprofit #musikszene
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I’ve known David for more than twenty years, when we co-released the Tidal/Acabah Rot split 12" in 2002. Out of sight, out of eyes, so it was about time to catch up on what’s been going on in the meantime, and David, a great DIY idealist who has been doing his thing for more than 30 years now, has a lot to talk about:
- getting bullied by Oasis’ management
- touring Europe and sharing a record with Hot Water Music with his band Rydell
- Rydell’s bad luck having to cancel their US tour because it was scheduled to start two days after 9/11 happened
- a strange encounter with Soprano-style mafiosi in Italy
- being blown away by a Fugazi show in a townhouse on the English coast
- how he managed to stick around in the punk and hardcore world for more than three decades
- coming up on 340 releases now on his label Engineer Records
- writing and publishing books for Earth Island Books, born from his archival and collector ideas
www.engineerrecords.com
www.earthislandbooks.com
#punkpodcast #diypodcast #hardcore #emo #screamo #posthardcore #zines #indielabel
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I don’t wanna be buried in a podcast sematary. Deshalb ist BALG nach fast einem halben Jahr zurück in euren Earpods mit einer introspektiven, fast schon Emo-Folge mit Christian "Mosh" Ebert. Mosh war Sänger bei zwei Schwergewichten des süddeutschen bzw. Schweizer Metal-Hardcore, Elision und Cataract, spielte Hunderte Shows mit Legenden der Neunziger wie Chorus of Disapproval, Quicksand, Unbroken. Zufällig und unerwartet traf ich ihn 22 Jahre, nachdem unsere Bands eine Bühne geteilt hatten, in seinem Motorradladen bei Würzburg, und schnell war klar, dass seine Stories perfektes BALG-Material sind.
Darunter:
- wie Walter Schreifels ihm eine Elision 7“ geklaut hat,
- Elision im Lieferwagen des väterlichen Betriebs auf Einladung von Refused nach Umea fuhren
- wie Franky G, der legendäre Gitarrist von Elision, vor einigen Jahren überraschend verstarb und danach für Mosh das Thema Musik erstmal beendet war,
- wie er seine Liebe zu Motorrädern früher in der Punk- und HC-Szene versteckt hat und heute in seinem Laden den DIY Spirit einzubringen versucht
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Just because we’re over forty doesn’t mean we don’t have shit to say anymore! Boysetsfire singer Nathan Gray has always been one to speak his mind on and off stage, and make no mistake, he's still as politically active and outspoken today as ever! So naturally, in this episode we talk about current politics. But Nathan also tells me how Boysetsfire started in the mid 90s, got pretty big in 2000 and continue playing sporadically as a band until today. Nathan is in the middle of producing his third solo album, so we touch on the interesting difference between playing and writing in a band vs. in a solo project, as well as the pros and cons of playing cover versions, working with producers J Robbins and Brian McTernan for his new album, the importance of having a creative outlet in life especially as we’re getting older, and a lot more!
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In these times of isolation, where travelling has become a virtual impossibility, let BALG at least take your ears and mind where your bodies can’t go! Today we’re in Curitiba in the south of Brazil in full summer, where I talk to Rodrigo Ponce of Brazilian melodic hardcore band Colligere. We go deep on the feeling of empowerment that playing in a hardcore band, releasing records and touring the world gave us when we were in our early twenties, and how that has or hasn’t changed in almost twenty years, and the challenge of translating these feelings into our current lives and making something good of it. Rodrigo also talks about growing up on, rejecting and rediscovering traditional Brazilian music, why straight edge got so big in Brazil and how Colligere broke up in 2008 at the height of their success and now are back together recording a new album. Working as a staffer for a regional politician, Rodrigo also gives some insight about the political upheaval in the past years in Brazil, a country that has transformed from the economic wunderkind under socialist rule to a reactionary ultra-right-wing government.
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Ein leicht Musik- und Ton-ange’nerd’etes Gespräch mit der süddeutschen Produzenten-Koriphäe mit den vielen Spitznamen („Don Böni Albini“, „Papst Beni Fleisch I.“ etc.), seit den Neunzigern mitverantwortlich für viele großartige Platten von Bands wie Monochrome, Dawnbreed, Sabeth, Robocop Kraus und vielen anderen. Wir sprechen über die empfohlene alljährliche Beatles-Dosis, Bönis Anfänge auf Vierspur-Kassettenrecordern in Korntal-Münchingen, Atari-Computer, Aufnahme-Sessions mit zahlreichen Hardcore- und Indiebands, aber auch mit Bands wie Pur, Nena oder dem legendären Hank Häberle.
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A nocturnal conversation that fell victim to strange occurrences at the stroke of midnight and therefore had to be continued a day later. Don DeVore is a full-time musician and artist who played guitar in seminal 90s bands Frail and Ink&Dagger, the latter known for wild shows played in full vampire make up. We talk gold prospecting in the wild west, music and self-empowerment, the spirit of Sean McCabe, soaking an entire audience in fake blood, putting out a 7“ on Revelation with a full-on Drum’n’Bass track and Don’s current project, Collapsing Scenery.
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BALG starts off the new year with an episode like a vaccine shot full of pop hooks! This episode is a bit different than the others, more like something of an audio documentary telling the story of Belvès, a folk pop duo consisting of Pablo Burgués and yours truly, who by chance met in Cuba in 2005. It’s a story about exploring the world, the beauty of creating music and the ups and downs of an intense long distance band relationship. Pablo and I talk about riding through Cuba on rusty bicycles, getting robbed on the Mexico City metro, playing on kids’ birthday parties, listening to an entire school class covering one of our songs, recording marimbas in Guatemala, and crazy part-time band members. The story of Belvès is a story of hope and friendship. Isn't that just what we all need in 2021?
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BALG ist nach ein paar Wochen Pause zurück in deinen Headphones mit einem Gespräch zwischen alten Buddies über Jigsaw Jackson, eine obskure Garage-Punk Band aus dem Stuttgart der mittleren Nullerjahre, in der beide Gesprächsteilnehmer spielten, das frustrierende Tages- und Nachtleben Stuttgarts zu jener Zeit, folglich die damals von Twentysomethings hochfrequentierte Fluchtroute Stuttgart-Berlin, die auch Sead in die Hauptstadt gebracht hat, und seine dortige Noiserock-Band UV Glaze. Außerdem erzählt Sead von seiner Jugend im Schatten des Daimlersterns als Sohn bosnischer Gastarbeiter, Spielautomaten in Untertürkheim und wie sich die Jugo-Expat-Community im Zuge des Bürgerkriegs der frühen Neunziger plötzlich veränderte.
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Die Jubiläumsfolge – Zehnmal BALG und dieses Mal auch mal wieder auf deutsch. Zwei gleichaltrige Musiker, einer Amateur, einer Pro, beide aus dem Stuttgarter Raum, unterhalten sich über den deepen Stuff. Gott und die Welt. Leben und Tod. Spiritualismus und Religion waren für Daniel nämlich seit der Kindheit ein Thema und wir hatten vor vielen Jahren recht kontroverse Gespräche über diese Themen, die wir nun weiterführen. Außerdem geht's mal wieder um Band-Beziehungen, ums Touren und die damit einhergehenden menschlichen Komplikationen, die folgenschwer sein können. Übrigens könnt ihr in dieser Folge exklusiv ein paar Takte aus Daniels brandneuem Soloalbum hören, das es sonst nirgendwo im ganzen Internet gibt. Es ist nämlich analog only! Außer natürlich bei Bands Are Like Girlfriends, wo es extra für euch zwangsdigitalisiert wurde.
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Paul grew up in the South of England where he watched his older brother start a punk band in 1977. Subsequently he played in a couple of bands, and he talks about how him leaving his then band Older Than Dirt somehow led him to leave Britain and move to Spain. I was introduced to him a few years ago by a shared friend in Mallorca and we ended up playing together for two years in Sa Causa, a band that broke up recently after finishing the mixing on our first and last album, due to musical differences. We try to find closure during this conversation and mend our broken band hearts. So this is quite a typical BALG episode about universal travelling and band breakups, this time however featuring some first hand eyewitness reports on the UK punk scene from the late 70s to the early 90s.
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Thirteen years ago we had a chat after a Vague Angels show, now we're back at it on the mics and Chris Leo talks about how he first sang in a band with the former drummer of Agnostic Front, before starting his bands Native Nod and later The Van Pelt. He also tells me he wants to cover a freestyle song (this slightly trashy underground early 80s electronic dance music), why The Van Pelt broke up in 1997 and why they got back together in 2014, how he got signed to and then dropped by Matador Records, the process of writing lyrics and literature, and we talk about one of the best songs of the 90s, The Speeding Train. There's lots more, like how during the last days of Dangerous New York too many espressos made him discover open tunings, being in band and being a dad and of course we talk about the upcoming new Van Pelt album. We don't mention the Virus once during the whole of the conversation, that's how much there was to discuss!
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A talk with Justin Pearson of Three One G records, active in countless bands since the early Nineties, such as The Locust, Swing Kids, The Crimson Curse, Dead Cross, Planet B, Retox and many more. Highly inspirational to me and many of my peers in the late 90s. JP talks about moving to San Diego from Arizona as a twelve-year-old punk kid, Kiss, Misfits, The Cramps, skateboarding, Struggle, Swing Kids, why he started Three One G records, the impact of Drive Like Jehu and politics. An episode sub-titled Influences, Inspirations, Imitations and Innovation a.k.a the four big I's of Hardcore.
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Martín Solana a.k.a. Tuka is another old friend from Tidal's world travellin' days. We met in 2002 when he organized an amazing show for us in Montevideo. In early 2003 Hablan Por La Espalda toured Europe and I joined them on that endeavor. We've stayed in touch but haven't seen each other since then, so this was a perfect opportunity to catch up and dig a bit into his band's history, which actually goes back as far as 1996, when Martín started the band together with his brother Fermín and Valentín, the other guitarist. Today HPLE is well known and popular in Uruguay, but it hasn't been an easy road for them. They famously screwed up a couple of times and for some time even were Uruguay's most hated band. They upset Brazilian cowboys and straight edge kids alike, as well as German PC people. Tuka also talks about the difficulties of getting good music in the pre-internet 90s in a country like Uruguay and skateboarding and going to see Guns'N'Roses live for his 13th birthday as the key events that set off his musical career.
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Die erste schwäbische Folge geht der Frage auf den Grund, warum eigentlich Bands wie Girlfriends sind: Musikalische Vergangenheitsbewältigung mit meinem alten Weggefährten aus Tidal-Zeiten. Ein Gespräch unter Freunden, draußen in der Natur, mit jeder Menge selbstgedrehter Kippen und ein paar Flaschen Bier, über das Aufwachsen in der Provinz, die "Entdeckung" von Punk und Hardcore und die komplette Tidal-Story vom Anfang über den Höhenflug bis zum Ende. Es ist an der Zeit Bilanz zu ziehen – wir sind älter geworden, doch sind wir unseren Idealen treu geblieben? Tidal war für uns mehr als eine Band – Tidal war everything. Die ultimative Selbstverwirklichung. Wo stehen wir heute und was haben wir aus dieser Zeit mitgenommen? Finde auch du es heraus, exklusiv bei Bands Are Like Girlfriends!
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Nineties music from a different perspective: My neighbor Emma was part of a popular Euro-Dance group in the mid 90s, so I just had to pick her brain about this last bonanza of the music industry. A talk about hanging out in the tourbus with 16 year old Justin Timberlake, getting in trouble for giving East 17 too much wine before a show and our embarrassing common history with early 90s hard rock power ballads.
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I first met Pedro in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 2002, when Tidal was touring South America. In 2003 we spent a couple of intense weeks together on his pals Hablan Por La Espalda’s European tour. We haven’t talked since then so we had a lot of catching up to do: We talk about how Pedro took a chance and left Uruguay to become a Director of Photograohy in Los Angeles, growing up in 90s Uruguay, how we both started making music at around the same time in opposite parts of the world, art and censorship in times of political correctness and a bizarre legendary psychedelic night in Amsterdam in 2003.
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Dieses mal auf deutsch (sorry non-Germophones!): Ein Gespräch mit Marc Calmbach von Monochrome, einst Dawnbreed darüber, wie Hardcore sein Leben beeinflusst hat, die süddeutsche DIY-Szene in den Neunzigern, Touren in den USA und wie Steve Aoki einst auf seinem WG-Sofa übernachtete.
- Montre plus
