HELLO BASTARDS

Some months ago I was surfing on the net, searching for some good things to listen.   I discovered Hello Bastards and I was immediately stocked the first time I heard about them  for both music (really great crust/hardcore) and lyrics. A Vegan straight edge band based in London but with members coming from different countries. Here we have an interview I made few months ago with Maxxx.

how started "hello bastards" project? I see that everyone involved in the band is from a different country; how do you live this thing?

Maxxx: Hello Bastards started back in early 2006 as a collective with mainly people from South America (Argentina and Brazil) with the purpose to bring back the importance of the message over the music. With the time, and due to different issues like visas and restrictions to stay in England affecting some of the previous members, we ended up having people from different parts of the world such as Israel, Poland England and Germany playing in the band. We don't believe in flags, countries and borders so for us, what matters is who you are, much more than from where you are from so it was almost a natural progression that the band ended up by having people from different countries. Also, as a side note, I believe that it’s a bit like London, the city where we live, which is a melting pot of different nationalities.

everyone in the band is vegan straight edge, right? what does it mean this choice to you nowadays? do you feel this choice in some way different compared with the same made some years ago in your life?

Maxxx: Indeed, we are and have always been a vegan straight edge band. From my personal point of view, I believe that it’s a much needed stance nowadays, where we are in a constant hazard of pollution, either mental or physical and by this, I mean that we live in a world where the commercialisation of our lives it’s at one of the highest points in the history of humanity. In general, we are pushed to consume unnecessary things in order to keep us controlled and not to think by ourselves and on the other hand, we still take as a standard that the systematic murder and slavery of animals is necessary for our subsistence. All this, it is NOT necessary and actually damaging. By being vegan and straight edge, we are already taking a political stance against society that it’s much needed nowadays. Of course, being vegan and straight edge is not the end goal but just the beginning of the path to attain our complete freedom as individuals and as a liberated society as a whole.

What would you answering to a person who's asking you "why are you vegan"?
   

Maxxx: For me, there is not ONE reason on why you should be vegan. I believe that there are several reasons: political, social, economic and personal reasons on why to be a vegan.

Political, because it is utterly necessary to have a stand against the actual status quo on where we live, animals are no commodities and by being vegan you are refusing to enter into this world in decay. Traditions are here to be broken and the consumption of animals is one of the first that needs to be broken.

Social and economic, because our actual culture related to food is unsustainable, we are destroying the seas, jungles and forests. We are using cereals and vegetables that could feed us to feed cattle raised for the madness of the slaughterhouses. All this needs to stop; we are converting humanity in the biggest plague that ever existed in this world.

 

in this period in Italy, but maybe in the rest of the world, we see an approach of the right-fascist wings to some questions such as veganism, animalism and antispeciesism too, using the same symbology of A.L.F. and antispeciesists around the world.

I really hate this thing personally, but what do you think about it? and what do you think about all the people who say "it doesn't matter! it's a great thing for the animals because the more we are, the better it is!"?

Maxxx: Fascism and conservative ideas can't be linked or supported by people fighting for animal liberation, either organisations or even at a personal level. Fascism goes against real freedom, either human or animal.

And let's not forget that the right chooses to talk about the past because it prefers dead people: a quiet world, a quiet time. The powerful who legitimise their privileges by heredity cultivate nostalgia and that past is not one that had room for liberated animals or non slave humans.

 

what does it mean to you D.I.Y. attitude?

The right way to answer this question, is in fact, what does D.I.Y doesn't mean for us: the lack of union between the different so-called scenes (punks, hardcore, AR, etc), "corporativism" in a scene that should be fighting that, and with this, I mean bands selling themselves like goods, talking about "revolution" but playing in mainstream venues and dealing with booking agencies, the eye on the personal profit because for us, music is not to make money but to put across a message, open minds and create a constructive discussion. And I believe that this is a key point, discussion and criticism, because no one has the right answers and to be challenged and to challenge your ideas is something incredible that needs to remain as part of the D.I.Y.

What does D.I.Y. means? Starting with the basic notion that Hardcore/Punk is much more than just music, D.I.Y. means collectivism, not waiting for anyone to do it for you, there is always certain laziness when you to get to the point that something needs to happen, either putting a show or just going to it or more important situations like taking actions, political actions, or at least to take a political position and be conscious and sincere about it. Spreading a message, because music with a message is like an empty package, without substance.

We consider Hello Bastards as a collective more than a music group, where ideas are more important than how you look or how good you play. At our shows we always have a info stall with several anarcho/political, AR/veganism booklets that we give for free. With Hello Bastards, we believe that sometimes bands can go to the stage, play their music, sing their songs but maybe the message will not come across to the people and that's why we also like to have this free info stall because if at least one person picks up a booklet/leaflet and this changes his approach to this world, that will be more important than anything else.

 

In these months we observed to all the riots around the middle est of the world; to how people from anger and rage destroyed the old and stupid governments based on fear and oppression...what do you think about all this situation? what about the situation in Libya where foreign governments and NATO are giving support to the people which want to destroy Gheddafi's system?

Maxxx: Well, this a delicate topic to discuss because we still don't have a complete and clear picture of the situations that started the uprising in some of the countries in the North of Africa and the Middles East and the results out of this. Also, each country had a different socio-political situation, even if they were similar; the situations that lead to the uprisings in, for example, Tunisia and Egypt were different.

Of course, it is invigorating and inspiring to see that the union of people can make a difference and that can lead to a change. From a euro perspective (even though, I'm not European), I believe that we can take some lessons and start to be much more active to try to bring a real change and literally overthrow the capitalist world in which we are exploited, and Greece is an example on how people can resist and try to refuse economic initiatives created with the only purpose to suck as many resources as possible.

In the case of Libya, there is another ingredient on why there is such a vast media coverage and interest from Western Powers, which is their oil. I can't see the same situation and in a way, urgency, in some other parts of the world where people is facing oppression, Palestine, Yemen, Burma, etc.

War is business and business is good!

 

"straight edge is dead you are next; hardcore is dead born to expire; rebellion is dead, it's all a cliché"

could you explain us why do you think these things?

Maxxx: The so called "sXe scene" but also the hardcore/punk scene in general has grown to be apolitical, a commodity of the mercantilism invading our lives, creating "ready made rebellion" to be bough and available 24 hours per day.

There is a lack of urgency and a dose of reality and a long road to exchange words by actions.

Being drug free/sXe is a political statement, by refusing auto-forced control and unnecessarily created ways of blocking our actions but at the end, all this evaporates once you start to see that people is more interested on how to look and how many records you get from eBay other than to use this political tool that you have in your hands.

I mentioned before the long road to exchange words by actions and by this, I refer to the situations where words are easily used; revolution and rebellion is freely used as part of the basic dictionary but in contrast, actions seems to be purely restricted to a "fairy tale".

 

musically speaking, what are the bands  which are inspiring hello bastards? who does write the lyrics of the band?

Maxxx: Personally, any band with an interesting and politically orientated message will inspire me. Musically, from Dropdead to Infest, Amebix to Warcollapse. Mostly power violence, anarko punk or crust.

Even though, I wrote most of the lyrics, we all contribute in one way or another to the lyrics and overall message of the band.
 

what are your future plans as band?

Maxxx: The plan is to release a 12" during 2011, maybe a 7" split and then go on tour as much as we can!

any final word?

Maxxx: Thanks for the space to express our ideas!
To get in touch with the band visit: www.myspace.com/hellobastardsxxx
or write to: xhellobastardsx@hotmail.com