WARVICTIMS are a fucking awesome D-beat raw crust band from Sweden. They formed in 2006 and have gone on to release numerous records taking D-beat back to it’s roots. This interview was conducted via email in 2009 when the true identities of WARVICTIMS and Skitliv! zine was still yet to be revealed, Fisen was actually Jocke from TOTALT JÄVLA MÖRKER now ELECTRIC FUNERAL and DESPERAT and Fetebob was really Per from ACCURSED, MARTYRDÖD, GIFTGASATTACK.
Can you give us some history to the band? When and why did WARVICTIMS start? Is it correct the band started as a drunken project?
Fisen: There is not much to say. Boredom and restlessness started the band. I known Challe for a very long time and we have been playing together in other bands and projects before we started with WARVICTIMS. We rehearsed and did our first recording in June 2006, you know the rest. Lot’s of members have passed through the two years we have been active. The only two members who have been present at all recordings are me and Challe.
You started WARVICTIMS specifically to play back to the roots D-beat raw punk? Apart from the obvious influence of DISCHARGE what other bands initially inspired you to start WARVICTIMS?
Fisen: This might come as a shock to you but DISCHARGE has never been an influence to WARVICTIMS, at least not to me! I think it’s a damn lie when zines write that we sounds similar to DISCHARGE cause I think that DISCHARGE is quite a lame band and I don’t consider us to sound anything at all like them. The main influence when we started this band was crust/punk bands from the mid 90’s. We wanted to keep it simple but raw, in the same vein as all the other “DIS-kång” bands from that period. Just like most of those bands we only write lyrics about war and injustice. Why change a winning concept? Haha.
Fetebob: For me WARVICTIMS represent both back to the roots D-beat and serious retrospect on past wars and new ones going on now. It’s not only music that inspired to start this shit it’s the fukking stinking life who keeps fukking up all the time. Personally I’m inspired by DISASTER and CRASS (in lyrical sense), DISFEAR and bands like that.. DISCHARGE is in my and the other hearts forever!
You’ve had a couple of line up changes since you started. How long has this current line up been together? Who plays what?
Fisen: We still don’t have any official line-up. For our proposed European tour we asked some friends to help us out. This was supposed to be the line up on tour: Challe: vocals, Fisen: guitar/vocals, Fetebob: guitars/vocals, Ced: bass, Granaten: drums.
Who writes the lyrics? Are they written by one member or is it a collective?
Fetebob: Challe writes most of the lyrics but we all contribute with ideas I guess, it can be a drawing or an instant thought written down on a bus ticket.
Fisen: Yeah, most of the lyrics are written by Challe. His really into writing lyrics and for every new subject he search information on internet like a maniac. Sometime I think that he’s putting down to much energy on the lyrics. But that’s the way he wants to have it and there is nothing wrong in being well-read on the topics you are writing about. In the end I think his lyrics turns out really good.
You have songs in both Swedish and English? Why both instead of one or the other?
Fetebob: Well, it’s important to sing in a language that most understand though we want to keep some of our native writings as well.. Some songs come out better in Swedish. For me it doesn’t really matter if we write in Swedish or English as long as people get the message across.
Fisen: I personally like the Swedish language better, it feels in some strange way better and rawer to sing your mother tongue. All of our songs are more or less about war, starvation, oppression etc. You know… nothing new, just ordinary punk lyrics. I guess that we all know what it’s all about by now. Haha.
Fisen: I personally like the Swedish language better, it feels in some strange way better and rawer to sing your mother tongue. All of our songs are more or less about war, starvation, oppression etc. You know… nothing new, just ordinary punk lyrics. I guess that we all know what it’s all about by now. Haha.
Are any members of WARVICTIMS involved in any other bands? What about bands before WARVICTIMS?
Fisen: Yes, all of us have played in other bands before WARVICTIMS and some of us play in other bands today. I hate to focus on what other bands you are/been involved with. I prefer to not talk about my other bands. I want people to listen to WARVICTIMS with objective ears, you know?
Fetebob: Yes there are other bands.. In time you all will know.. For now lets just say we are in some bands.
Fetebob: Yes there are other bands.. In time you all will know.. For now lets just say we are in some bands.
How do you write the songs? Is it something that happens spontaneously when you rehearse or does one of you come ready prepared with a specific idea?
Fisen: We don’t rehearse that often, it’s very rare. It’s more or less just for the recordings. We are spread across Sweden which makes it hard to rehearse on a daily basis. This is sad because I would love to rehearse more often. So far I have done all the music but since Fetebob joined the band we have done some awesome songs together. Fetebob joined the band last year and the split 12” with FLYBLOWN is his first recording with, so you will hear our collaboration on that record. Slight a little different sound from our previously songs. I think it sounds much rawer. It’s easy to walk the same old paths when you’re doing all the music by yourself. I’m glad that Fetebob wanted to play with us so that he can contribute with new riffs and ideas.
The song “Fucked For Life” is about drinking booze, taking pills and getting fucked up. How much of an influence does alcohol and drugs play in WARVICTIMS?
Fisen: My life has always been a fucking mess with depression, anxiety and drugs/alcohol abuse. It all started when I was around 12-13 years. It came to a point in my life when I had to change my way of living or I would end up like a wreck. Today I rarely drink or taking drugs because every time I do I’m getting into lot’s of troubles, hurt my loved ones and do things that I normally wouldn’t do when I’m sober. I still enjoy a cold beer in the sun and I’m still taking pills in form of medicine for my anxiety attacks.
Fisen: My life has always been a fucking mess with depression, anxiety and drugs/alcohol abuse. It all started when I was around 12-13 years. It came to a point in my life when I had to change my way of living or I would end up like a wreck. Today I rarely drink or taking drugs because every time I do I’m getting into lot’s of troubles, hurt my loved ones and do things that I normally wouldn’t do when I’m sober. I still enjoy a cold beer in the sun and I’m still taking pills in form of medicine for my anxiety attacks.
Fetebob: Yes we are heavily inspired by our lifestyle which is very chaotic at times, this started as a drunken project remember? There are so many things fukking up all the time and sometimes life is just too much of a burden.. I honestly don’t like getting shitfaced so much as I used to in my early teens but its habit I’ve got and I have, at times, to keep supply to my body to not fukking die on me.
Fisen: It’s really hard to give the right translation but I’ll give it a try. “Bellum Se Ipsum Alet” is latin for “War Breeds War”. “Lögnen Om Fredsavtalet” is Swedish and means something like “The lie of the peace agreement”. At the time when we recorded the “Bellum Se Ipsum Alet” 7 inch was the beginning of my black metal period so you might hear some influences from the Norwegian black metal scene. “Lögnen Om Fredsavtalet” is straight forward d-beat with dual vocals, expect nothing less then tedious WARVICTIMS raw punk d-beat mayhem style.
What about the split EP with CHOKE COCOI and the split LP with FLYBLOWN? Have you found labels to release these yet?
Fisen: At present time we have 5-7 different labels who shown interests for the split 7” with CHOKE COCOI, but nobody wants to be in charge for the whole project. D-Takt & Råpunk will release the vinyl version of the split with FLYBLOWN. I sent the master to the pressing plant yesterday so hopefully it will be out in September. Black Seeds will release the CD version. Jery at BS have released tape version of “Until Man Exists No More” and he’s also released the CD version of “Lögnen Om Fredsavtalet”. He’s a great guy who’s doing a great job and so far we have only good experience with him. We will also contribute with one track (Victims) for the DISCLOSE tribute compilation CD he’s about to release.
Tell us about your label D-Takt & Råpunk Records? When and why did you start the label? Do you have a strict agenda when it comes to what style of music and bands you release?
Fisen: When we first started with WARVICTIMS it was really hard to find any serious labels who wanted to release our stuff. We did our first release by the end of 2006, the mini CD “When The Innocent Cry” with WARVICTIMS. Back then it was not serious at all, we even called the label WARVICTIMS Records. We saved some money and released some 7” in the end of 2007 with no expectations that the label would turn out the way it did. We just wanted to release our own music. But then we got in contact with tons of great bands through the zine that we wanted to help out and release too. So that’s why we started D-Takt & Råpunk Records. “D-Takt & Råpunk” is Swedish for “D-Beat & Raw Punk” and that’s what kind of music we love and listen to ourselves. I think that we have released lot’s of amazing bands so far, don’t you think so? Just check out our discography with bands like; MOB 47, GIFTGASATTACK, NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR, DISSOBER, TORTYR, MARERIDT and so on… I couldn’t believe it when we first got in contact with MOB 47 and when they agreed to release there double LP/CD at our label. I have listened to them since I started to listen to punk in the early 90’s. I would never have thought that I someday would release a record with them. We have more awesome upcoming releases to come like; “RAW HATE” (brutal and distorted raw punk) “KROSSA” from Japan, “SPRITVEV”(members of band, I think they reminds of TOTALITÄR), GIFTGASATTACK 12” and some other shit. So keep your eyes and ears open.
Fisen: We started around 2005 and the first issue got out February 2006. We have done nine numbers so far and we’re going to do one last number (#10) and after that we’re done with the zine. Sad but true. It’s very funny and rewarding to do a fanzine but since it’s a true old school cut and paste zine it takes lots of time to put it all together. We just ain’t got the time anymore and it feels like each new number is a recurrence of the previous ones. Skitliv! were a big practical joke from the beginning to the end. The funniest part is that most of the readers took it dead seriously. I don’t know if you ever heard about the Swedish fanzine “Sika Äpärä”? It was Finnen (Finn Records) and Jallo (MEANWHILE/KVOTERINGEN/Finn) who did that zine and it was really good. It’s hard to explain but they did not asked the same old questions like all the other zines did. And they provoked lots of people with their according to my called humour. Like “Sika Äpärä” we wanted to provoke the readers and the scene in general, and I think that we’ve manage really well with that. Punks have no sense of humour, I mean; you have to be able to make a joke without getting lynched. There are so much narrow minded punks in the scene today and it seems like it’s more important what patches you have on your stud vest then what’s happening around the globe today. I’ve met punks that think it’s cool to be an alcoholic and doing drug, well trust me, it’s not. We just wanted to make fun of all this. Our tensions was never to hurt anybody, we just wanted people to think for themselves with an open mind.
Which aspect of playing in WARVICTIMS do you prefer the most? Recording and releasing records or touring and playing live?
Fisen: Since we never have played live I would have to say recording. I would love to play live with WARVICTIMS but the situation with members all across Sweden makes it really hard to get the band together. I prefer to play live cause when you play live you have less pressure on you. You only have a good time with your friends on stage and with the people in the audience.
Fetebob: Due to various reasons we have not played live at all in our existence. You know, many times members has disappeared or got arrested for drunken disorderly stuff.. It got to the point where we just said fuck it, we don’t play live. But we are shaping up a bit now and want to do a serious attempt to do a tour and see how this is gonna work out. I like playing live but it’s not all in the band who does and they have to have a say about it too.
Can you talk about the European tour and why you decided to cancel? Did you have any expectations about the tour?
Fisen: Well as you know the whole tour is cancelled due to various reasons. Challe have been depressed the last 5-6 month, and his not the only one. But he felt that he couldn’t go on tour and that his anxiety would increase if he did. We have to respect his choice, but I’m not saying that we’re not disappointed at him who tells us this with such short notice. We were all really looking forward to this tour. I love being on tour. First of all you can just put aside all problems back at home and focus on having fun with my friends. I like travelling, see new places, meet new and familiar faces, play with other great bands and so on. It was our first tour so we did not have any expectations at all. We were supposed to do 18-20 shows in three weeks. Starting at “ShitTown” and end at “Play Fast or Don’t” festival in Czech. Read more about why we had to cancel the tour at our MySpace profile with a personal blog both from Challe and the band.
What bands are you currently listening to? What are you favourite bands at the moment?
Fisen: At the moment I mostly listen to a lot to black metal and old school hard rock bands like DARKTHRONE, SATYRICON, AC/DC, WASP, BLACK SABBATH, MAYHEM, GORGOROTH, IRON MAIDEN, NATTEFROST, LED ZEPPELIN etc. I would say that AC/DC and DARKTHRONE is my favourite bands at the moment.
Fetebob: Hm.. the recent DYSTOPIA LP is played on a daily basis, so is DISASTER and DISCLOSE and various English anarcho punk such as FLUX and THE SEARS, ANTISECT… I just totally love DISORDER so I have to name them too.
Top five Swedish bands?
Fisen: MOB 47, DISCHANGE / MEANWHILE, DISFEAR, WOLFPACK, MARTYRDÖD. Ask me the same question next month and I would probably name drop other bands.
Fetebob: Oh.. NÖDVÄRN, SKITKIDS, MARDRÖM, MOTORBREATH, WARVICTIMS, haha!
DISCHARGE or ANTI CIMEX?
Fisen: ANTI CIMEX no doubt! I have never liked DISCHARGE that much. I actually think that they are a way overrated band who isn’t that raw and brutal that all other punks claim. I bought “Never Again” in the early 90’s but I thought it was quite lame songs so I never paid to much attention to them. Everybody is nagging about all their classic hits and records so I ordered “Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing” and “Why” some month ago to hope that it would prove me wrong. I must admit that they had 3-5 good songs on the albums. BUT there are million other bands in the same veins which sound so much rawer. ANTI CIMEX for example. Haha.
Fetebob: Hm, Fisen is gonna be pissed with me now but I have to go for DISCHARGE here. “Why” 12” totally blew me away when I first heard it and still does everytime I play it.. ANTI CIMEX did some amazing stuff both in their early age and later. I think “Raped Ass” and the “Country Of Sweden” 12” are masterpieces which never gonna fade in their rawness.
Any last comments? Anything else you want to say?
Fisen: I’m so sorry you had to wait this long for the answers, things have been fucked up the last weeks. Hope you understand. Anyways thanks for your interest. I like previously Agitate numbers you sent me and I’m looking forward for more numbers in the future. Keep up the good work Chris! Time will tell what will happen to WARVICTIMS in the future. We have recorded four new songs that will be released as a 7” by Abuse Records from Belgium. D-beat will never die, see you all in hell!!
Fetebob: Thanx Chris for letting us have a say in yer zine, I enjoy reading Agitate so it’s a pleasure for me to be in here myself. The summer of 2008 will be a great time for WARVICTIMS and I hope to see some of you out there. Chris, bring us to England!!!
WARVICTIMS
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