In the first question I have to
ask about the covid-19 situation. How is it in Greece, in Athens? Do the people
comply with the restrictions and prohibitions introduced by your government or
are they opposed to restricting their freedom? Is the pandemic a huge threat or
is it a conspiracy of the world's financiers and governments? What do you think about it yourself?
We could say that the Pandemic is divided into three
phases and respectively into three mandatory Lockdowns. It was about last
February when we started hearing about the first deaths and we started thinking that the days when we
will be locked down are near. Too many
believe in conspiracies and secret agreements and have acted in disbelief. But
the events we live in have been repeated in the circles of history and many
things are difficult to avoid.
So somewhere in the middle of March 2020, another dark
and cold period for humanity begins. If you have read history you know that
this period will pass with millions of dead, with a lot of pain and death. In
one way or another, measures were implemented that sometimes less and sometimes
more necessarily violated laws and rights that have been conquered by sweat,
blood and struggle. Unreasonable schedule bans and assembly bans have become
commonplace, causing people to get tired quickly and react violently or even
turn to conspiracy theories. But all with a common denominator the collapse of
his physical but mainly of his mental health.
Unfortunately, these events are so
shocking that after a similar Marshall Plan that we will experience relatively
soon and the moneyrain that will follow,
it is very likely that even more wars will follow, even more terror worldwide. Let us hope that we will all be strong.
A few people have passed
through ARXI TOY TELOYS over the years, but Kostas (guitar) and Giannis
(vocals) are in the band from the beginning. Tell us the story of your
friendship from the classroom, about life in the 90s in a poor suburb of
Athens, about the old playground where you used to hang out ...
The project was started by Kostas (Guitar) and Giannis
(Vocals). Two classmates who were not very popular at their school. We grew up
in the western suburbs of Athens which is, let's say, the poor side of the
Capital. Nevertheless, we lived in the '90s, which was a decade when in Greece
it rained money from the banks trying to trap people with cheap or expensive
loans, so the changes around us were sudden and violent. The problems that the
whole situation would bring we would face in front of us some years later as
adults, employees, heads of families, taxpayers etc... Situation that led to
the ten-year recession and economical destruction of Greece sometime in 2008.
We both sat at the same desk and spent most of the day
together. It helped that we were just a few blocks away from each other. So
after school we spent hours and hours watching the films of Larry Clark, Gus
Van Sand and others that we still admire even today and at night we ended up in
the grandstands of an old basketball court. There we sat and talked for hours
about what was bothering us, smoking and listening to music.
It did not take long for these reflections to acquire
sound and appearance on paper when we started to bring an acoustic guitar with
us, capturing our first ideas and composing our first songs. We were 16-17
years old then and we met with a drummer a few months later but even today we
consider our band-birth those nights at the old court of Amilla Peristeriou
(the local team that used trained
there).
How was your first encounter
with punk rock? Did you hear Greek or foreign bands first? Which Greek hardcore
punk bands from the 80s would you recommend to our readers?
We grew up listening especially to the
local bands that at that time were easier to find and not so foreign. Some
names that come directly to our mind are METRO
DECAY, CHAPTER 24, DING AN SICH, the bands of CREEP RECORDS, the SOUTH OF NO NORTH but also several from the Hardcore Punk scene such
as ΑΡΝΗΤΙΚΗ ΣΤΑΣΗ (NEGATIVE STANCE), XAOTIKO ΤΕΛΟΣ (CHAOTIC END), ΘΑΛΑΜΟΣ ΑΕΡΙΩΝ (GAS CHAMBER).
Somewhere in the mid 90s there was also a label called ZNORT TAPES with copied cassettes by Greek and foreign bands and
luckily got familiar with bands like CURRENT
93, COIL, NURSE WITH WOUND something that opened our horizons and taught us
to do not get stuck in some kind of music. However, since you ask about the
punk scene, I think that from the 80's we would single out STRESS, EX HUMANS, GULAG. Of course, to be honest, we did not turn
our backs even on the sound of our time. So you can imagine that we often
listened from R.A.T.M. to electronica music.
When you founded the band, you
were 16-17 years old - what inspired you to play back then - I'm not just
asking about music, because it was not only punk rock ... You composed your
first songs on acoustic guitars, but soon you met your first drummer, who was
13 years old and was, I think, a strong inspiration for you, but with a
different taste for music - tell us about it.
That is right, George was also a classmate of ours and
he was only 13 years old when he joined our band. He especially listened to the
extreme metal sounds with his favorites Black and Doom Metal. Despite his young
age, he was a solid - as a rock - drummer who played correctly. This helped us
a lot by improving our technique and playing at the correct time and meter. We
kept this element throughout our releases as you can understand and it was the
A and the Ω of
our compositions.
ARXI TOY TELOYS (ΑΡΧΉ ΤΟΥ ΤΈΛΟΥΣ) - what does your name mean? And
why did you give this name to your band? Didn't you want the name in English? I
suspect that people from Europe have the same problem saying your name and the
names of Polish bands, hahaha.
This is true, we often find it difficult
to read or even pronounce bands that have chosen their mother language.
However, we fully respect the choice of each band and this is a problem in
understanding the lyrics. The Greek language is very rich and poetic. You can
find 4 or 5 words for the same meaning. Unfortunately our vocabulary in English
is not so good and we can say that we do not feel comfortable using a language
whose paths we can not walk. Our name "BEGINNING OF THE END" (pronounced ARCHI TOU TELOUS, means BEGINNING
OF THE END) is a typical phrase used to describe that the end of a period
is really near. When we were young we were fascinated by the idea of the
Circle of Everything. So we chose the name because it was so easy to remember
but also because every single spot of this shape is both the beginning and the
end. Just like things are in life
You played as a trio because
you couldn't find a bassist, right? You even recorded the first demo in three,
but then there was also a bassist - Panagiotis, who stayed with you for a long
time and recorded a few demos with the band - tell about him and about these
recordings. Did it come out on cassettes or CDs? Did you play any concerts
then?
Αs a trio, we did our first rehearsals, trying out
several bassists in the beginning. Well...that didn’t go good with anyone and
so we walked alone for a really long time. Formed as a trio and with the
absence of bass we released our first Demo on audio cassette sometime in 2001.
The cover was a black and white collage. A technique we used a lot in posters,
releases and anything else that had to do with our aesthetics.
A little later,
Panagiotis took his place of the bass
player, with whom we immediately became brotherly friends and we played
together for about a decade. It was the era of CDR and a new world opened up for D.I.Y. bands. Of course, this would largely evolve
into a path of ease and sloppiness, something that we certainly followed,
influenced by the whole situation. Of course, as teenagers we grew up under
tones of audio cassettes, so it was impossible not to have corresponding
releases. We did concerts, perhaps more often than today in self-organized
venues, squats and small local clubs, distributing our demos alone, many times
hand in hand and not in an organized distro. Many times we saw the poster from
a concert and cut cardboard without writing anything on it and put a photocopy
with a random design and the titles of the songs… hahaha it was fan.
On your bandcamp I see
something like six demos and some compilations - tell us about these early
recordings, because I think they sound harsher and songs are played faster than
in later years. Were you looking for your own sound and style back then? What
inspired you then? Do you remember what bands you shared on compilations with?
The truth is that the first decade of
our musical journey found us moving from one genre to another. Many things
would change over the years but certainly not the fact that we always tried to
evolve the sound from release to release. We released 6 demos, on cassette and
on CD. Our sound went from punk to more post forms and structures, even going
through Hardcore or even Metal in some cases.
I
think one can easily distinguish all of the above if you listen to our first
album which is actually a collection of the most characteristic songs of our
first decade.
As the years go by, however, we believe
that we play more and more simply, we find more meaning in experimentation and
atmosphere than in the more technical compositions. There should be no
restriction on music as at all levels of art. It's very easy to write an album
like our previous ones but this will have no value for us. When the ground is getting
muddy, nothing stands out and everything is worth the same.
Of course we remember some of the names
with which we entered collections, many are well known and respected for their
music and action. Specters, Iskra,
Warcollapse, Rudimentary Peny, Filth of Mankind, even our beloved Black
Trinity are important bands for the global underground
Ιn 2008, George leaves your band
and decides to fulfill himself in the band SHATTERED HOPE - this band was some
local legend, right? Your next drummer is Vangelis, who plays and played in
many famous Greek bands - which ones? And whose you consider to be one of your
best drummers - why? What is so unique Vangelis has brought to your music and
your band? Which of yours recordings did he appear on for the first time?
A few more demos followed until 2008 when George left
the band after “ΘΡΒΣ” (NOISE / CD,2009) recordings
following Shattered Hope (a classic
Death / Doom band with a long history on the local scene) and was replaced by
Vangelis. Even today we consider Vangelis as one of the greatest drummers we
ever seen or played with. An ideal combination of an athlete musician who
listens to punk hardcore and studies jazz techniques. You will meet Vangelis in
many local bands such as Chain Cult,
Gutter, Lifewreck, Mammock, TimeTrap, BlackListed, Junkheart, Ramdat and I
am pretty sure that we forget some.
If George (our first drummer) taught us to be stable
and solid, something that you can see on our first album "ΘΡΒΣ" Vangelis released us. The more static playing
became dynamic and fast and so we released three albums where the 7 or 8 minute
long compositions have been replaced by 2 or 3 minute songs.
In 2009 you made your own CD
"ΘΡΒΣ"
("Noise"). I think this is the moment when you found your own music
style. There are songs that are 4, 7, 8 minutes long ... Was that when you
started playing proper post punk? Were your lyrics then political? What were
they about, who wrote them and what were they inspired by? What was the
response on the Greek DIY scene to this album?
We would not say that we stand at the
top of the D.I.Y. pyramid hahaha. You know we have our ideals and we play where
we think we should play. We think people have largely misunderstood the meaning
of the do it yourself movement. So
when a band starts playing and just before wearing D.I.Y.'s armor. should go in
front of the mirror and wonder if it is D.I.Y. because he has chosen it or
because it cannot be something else.
We see concerts starting with the new
and unknown band and ending with the older and well-known one that has acquired
Rock Star behavior over the years. Something that goes against the logic of the
support and headliner band that should have existed. We also find it unpleasant
that people for the most part turning their back on the music part and turn
their attention to the costume design. An endless stylistic frenzy that has turned
a claiming vehicle into a need for tattoos and clothes.
At some point this movement will have to
make a harsh self-criticism and look back at the mistakes of the past if it really wants to save that particular
subculture. Of course, as in all levels of life, there are remarkable and
quality projects such as fanzines, bands and socio-political groups that
consistently and consistently express concern and anxiety for our world.
A very simple example that comes to mind
is the following: through the pandemic
was a movement of solidarity and support for artists because the state aid has
been scarce all these months. A lot of these people were accusing the artists
for years and years for being sell outs performing on small clubs for living.
This is so paranoid. So let us stop
saying “NO” to everything, let us
have critical thinking and a free spirit. Not all zebras are the same.
In 2013, you put out the cassette "Πτώση" ("The Fall"),
which was released on vinyl a year later - who released this album on vinyl?
Vasiliki, known from several bands, but mainly from ΨΥΧΙΚΉ ΑΠΟΝΕΎΡΩΣΗ,
has joined your band for bass guitar. She plays bass, but also plays keyboards
in your band. Tell us about her, where you met her and what Vasiliki brought to
ARXI TOY TELOYS. Has her melodic bass guitar playing made your music darker or
more "hit"?
Τhe puzzle could not be completed if in 2013 and after
the release of our second album "ΠΤΩΣΗ" (The
Fall, 2013, Scarecrow Records, Cassette
and Vinyl) Vasiliki did not come as a bass player. We met Vasiliki
on road back in 2009 when we had a mini tour opening for the US legends Witch Hunt (Burning Bridges to Nowhere
era). A pure Rock and Roll personality
and an exceptional and moral person with whom we have been walking for several
years. Definitely this period is the best and most productive of the group.Vassiliki gave the dynamics she needed
on stage and took us out of introversion. We do not have the reputation of the
most social band. We think he is the right person to bridge any gap that may
exist.
Earlier, I asked about your
lyrics on the album "Θρβσ",
but in 2016 you released another album "Καθαρση"
("Katharsis") - your music on this album has gone strongly towards
post punk, although we can still hear the strong influences of old Greek punk
bands such as GENIA TOU XAOUS, ADIEXODO or EX HUMANS. You have the same
darkness, sadness and cold atmosphere... What are the lyrics on the album "Καθαρση" about? Are they more
personal or still socio-political?
"ΚΑΘΑΡΣΗ" (Katharsis, 2016, Scarecrow Records, Vinyl)
is probably the period when the band reached 100% the level we wanted,
playfully, synthetically and lyrically. But this does not mean that we are not
happy with the rest of our releases. Special mention should be made to the
production of the album which took place at Ignite Studio and he fully understood what we had in mind. It is
true that it can bring to mind the bands you mentioned above and maybe
subconsciously we have such an icy and dark aesthetic as you mention, which is
strange for a country like Greece if you consider that we have summer almost
ten months a year.
However, at that time we particularly listened
to the approach of the American school and bands such as Wipers, Funeral Parade, and Estranged and our beloved Canadians The Organ. In “ΚΑΘΑΡΣΗ”, as
in any of our other albums, the lyrics acrobatic between our experiences and
our perspective on the world. Many times they refer to historical events or
even mythology using them with metaphors to describe things of today. The
lyrics are written by Giannis and we all process them together before finally
dressing them with music.
In 2020, you released your
last album "Η Φθίνουσα Σκιά Της Θλίψης"
("The Descending Shade of Sorrow"), which in my opinion is more
mature, more polished, very cold and sad, but also melodic. And the most
atmospheric! What is the matter with the instrumental piece "Στις Κατακόμβες"?
It has its own unique mood and atmosphere! Tell us about working on these songs
and what inspired you. I noticed more keyboards than on previous albums ...
We're glad you liked our new album. We
tried to follow a more lyrical path in our compositions. It is true that it is
the least aggressive but at the same time our most atmospheric and
multidimensional album. Many compositions are inspired by the styles of other
genres. One of them is Black Metal, bands like FORGOTTEN WOODS, IN THE
WOODS and ULVER have always
provided food for thought and study with their perception. We try to write the
guitars on the bass that we mainly write first to have the general idea of
the structure of each song. Then we try to have harpsichords or lead guitars
and get away from the trivial logic of simple chords. We used to write the lead
points with the logic of synth - characteristic melodies that will act as an
eerie carpet. In this release, however, we put synths that we thought served
the purpose better. The composition belongs entirely to Vassiliki who took over
this too. We are lucky to have her since the perspectives she gives us often
take us out of the quagmire. About the "Catacombs" song you mention is obviously influenced by the old
school Dungeon Synth and Ambient bands and artists like Jim Kirkwood, Secret Stairways etc. It is an instrumental that we
wanted to be different and really contribute to the coherence of the album. A deep breath for the second half of the album
and not just a filler.
I love your music but I don't
know what you sing about… Most bands in Europe translate their lyrics into
English, but Greek bands rarely do it - why? Maybe you will think about it on
your next album? We want to share your sorrow with you!!!
This is true. However, we do not think
that it is done for reasons of elitism. Rather deep inside us we believe that
no one else is listening to us outside the borders hahaha. However, on
platforms of our time such as Bandcamp, most people now put the lyrics and with
a simple translate you can understand (well, or not) what they want to say.
Did you do a lot of shows
before the pandemic? Did you only play in Athens or also in other Greek cities?
Were these shows in squats and in independent clubs or do you also play
concerts for larger audiences? With which bands have you played gigs so far?
Have you played gigs outside Greece?
We can not say that we are a band that
has travel a lot. If we could count the number of our live appearances, it
would be limited to just a few tens since we do about 4-5 concerts per year.
Unfortunately, as we get older, things become even more difficult and due to
everyday life, it becomes more and more difficult to arrange things that will
be set up almost from scratch. Unfortunately in Greece many people confuse D.I.Y.
by not playing in clubs. We can not say
that we particularly agree with this logic. We play in independent venues and
basements because it is our choice and not because some rules have imposed it
on us. We would especially like to have made our own amplifiers and
instruments, as well as the beer we will drink at a concert but we know we can
not. So as a band we have chosen not to be judges of everything. Regarding the
audience, we think that the easiest way to play in a large audience is to
follow the D.I.Y. Paths. For at least a
decade, many live shows have gathered from hundreds to thousands of people. We
remember the live shows we went to when we were younger or even the ones we set
up ourselves. At that time it gathered only a few dozen people. I do not know
if it is good or bad we will prefer what many say Angel to some, Demon to
Others. We have played abroad only once, in 2009 for the release of our first
album and that it was in Germany. Hopefully we can do it again soon.
I love Greek crust bands such as PANIKOS,
HIBERNATION, CHAOTIC END, NAFTIA, FORGOTTEN PROPHECY and many others and I have
the impression that Greek punk, crust and post punk bands sound similar. They
can generate this specific Greek sadness and regret in their music, and in the
background the wind blows and the sea rustles - what is it all about?
The history of Greece, like that of all
the Balkans, is full of political upheavals. This, as was normal, is
emphatically reflected in all art forms, as it was in music. Punk was born in
the country in the early 1980s, a few years late due to a seven-year
dictatorship.
A long list of bands and artists from
then on are considered to this day remarkable and pioneering. The bases were in
place and several releases are still classic and popular. With a better period,
perhaps, that of the early '90s, of which several bands you mentioned above.
The covers of your last two
albums are collages, and you also used a collage on the earlier demos - who is
the author of these covers and graphics? Why this form? I also like the cover
of "Θρβς"
- I can say that it is typically post-punk and dark for sure. And what is this
sculpture on the cover of the album "Πτώση"?
We could say that every album, musically
and lyrically works thematically as a Concept. In "ΘΡΒΣ"
for example we cauterize the problem of communication between people for this
and we chose this pattern with the antennas from the roofs of apartment
buildings in Athens. In "FALL"
we chose a shot from the "three
girls one boy" statue of the River Spree in Berlin, mentioning the
social decay as well as the isolation of the individual. "KATHARSIS" revolves around
self-criticism and our daily choices, while "THE DESCENDING SHADE OF SORROW" refers to how important or
insignificant man can be in universe, raising concerns about his faith and
evolution. We choose our artwork according to what concerns us every day. Man
is a political being, and so we must act at all levels. In our work, in our
social relations, in our family, in our bed. We consider the artwork an
integral part of the circulation. The cover is so important that it starts
almost simultaneously with the music and the lyrics.
The second guitarist Dimitra
joined your band ARXI TOY TELOYS - who is she and what does she bring to the
band's music? Has she played in any other bands before? Have you played any
gigs with him?
Dimitra is a 20-year-old guitar
virtuoso. A young girl raised in classical music with her diplomas and
everything hahaha. We hope she gives us the extra boost we need right now. She
has energy and her perspective on music will take us to the extra mile. she
plays in another band called “NTEKA”
for some years with whom they have not released anything yet. We could describe
them as mixture of noise rock and experimental sounds. Hopeful and full of
energy as it is, we expect a continuation commensurate with their capabilities.
The positive side of the
current pandemic is a lot of free time. Are you preparing songs for a new album?
Will it be in a similar atmosphere to your last album or are you trying to look
for new sounds? Will the new songs be darker or will we rather hear more
melodies?
Yes, to be precise, you are succeeding
at a point where we are slowly gathering our ideas to move on to the basic
ideas of the songs on our next album. We collect pictures, lyrics, read books
and look for information about periods that interest us historically. We will
try to create something completely different again.
Our ambition is to trace the previous century,
perhaps the most violent in human history. We study large chapters of history
such as the two World Wars, the famine of Ukraine and India, the Iron Curtain period and the Cold War fear, the building of cities such as Nowa Huta, the exploration
of Antarctica and the Conquest of
space are so many that stigmatized the world we were born into. It is a
really interesting project because the views of each other differ and we think
that it is really daring to try to give something with such historical weight
but at the same time balance. We do not know if we can promise something audio
since depending on how the material will look to us we will make the
corresponding changes. It could be a Noise / Ambient album, it could be Garage
Punk.
How do you spend your time
during lockdown? Are you working? Have you found time to do things that you
never had time to do? Overdue
books, films, planned cleanups?
For our good luck almost all of us work
and this is something that helped us keep a routine in our daily lives. To a
large extent we tried to stay away from the tv and the insanity of social media. We found
time and maybe the appetite and energy, if you prefer to read things that we
might not have been able to do under different circumstances. Either way, maybe
something good came out of the whole adventure. Who knows,; life itself will
show.
Tell us about the Greek
scene. We probably all know this 80s punk scene (STRESS, ANTI, ΕΧ HUMANS, PANX ROMANA). We are
more interested in the music scene from the 80s and 90s related to post punk,
dark wave, new wave, cold wave. Which Greek bands influenced your band? Which
of these bands do you consider the most important in Greek music? Which DIY bands would you recommend to
us?
We started with as a reference point
mainly the part of Post Punk and Dark Wave of the Greek scene. The bands of Creep Records., Yell o Yell, Reporters,
South of no North, Clown, Chapter 24 are some of our initial influences.
Surely you can find several of them in our pieces.
We respect a lot of bands from the D.I.Y. scene since as a behavior we had a corresponding one
over time playing in respective basements, squats or participating in
respective political groups. Bands like Antimob, Chain Cult, Χωρίς Οίκτο, Παροξυσμός function as beacons in the dark times
we live in. However, this has never stopped us from making decisions that
express us and make us feel good about ourselves. There can be no big
"We" unless there is a healthy "I" first. We can not be
unhappy with following an informal code of operation with which we do not
always agree. We have never apologized for any of our choices before and we do
not think we will in the future. In any case, we are all judged by the time and
the consequences of our choices.
We do not want to be nostalgic for the
past. Every season has its heroes and every season gives birth to quality bands
and releases. Among the latest bands we would recommend Convex Model, ΟΔΟΣ 55, Era of Fear, Cold I, ΣΚΟΤΟΔΙΝΗ, Chain Cult, ΠΑΝΔΗΜΙΑ, Hekate
I think we had an interesting
post punk/new wave scene in Poland in the 80's. Do you know any Polish groups
from those years? Do you know any Polish bands at all?
Of course. It is impossible not to
recognize the value of bands like Siekiera and Brigada Kryzys. Especially the first ones we think are
one of the most emblematic and special - musically and not only - of the
European Sound. We would also single out No Smoking and 1984 whose vinyl was
found recently hahaha. Of course, we have to admit that our first ear-contact
with the Polish scene was much later and with a not so post punk band. I am
referring, of course, to Homomilitia and a little later to Filth
of Mankind.
I also have a personal
question... A lot of people on the European DIY scene are vegetarians and
vegans, while in Greece they are still very few. What is it related to? With
Greek culture, with traditional cuisine? For you, is the fight for animal
rights and not eating meat important aspects of an independent culture?
The relation between to man and animal it’s
a long chapter and maybe a whole
discussion should be devoted around it. In recent years a great effort has been
made to promote this type of diet (the vegan one). Nevertheless, we all understand
that as a country, Greece is behind in this part. Maybe it's our fault that our
diet is directly related to the consumption of meat, fish and their
derivatives. In the part of D.I.Y. though,
there are artists who hold the vegan's arm firmly, such as "ΜΑΥΡΟ ΓΑΛΑ".
As a band we have experimented from time to time studying different habits.
Some of us even went vegan or vegetarian but it did not prove that we were
strong enough to hold on. However, we believe that the exploitation of animals,
especially to the extent that it is done by modern man, leads to major changes
which are related to climatic, social and not only consequences.
Is reading zines still
popular in Greece? Are there any long-term zines still coming out? Do you read
any zines yourself?
There was a golden age for zine and that
was the 90's. Unfortunately, the evolution of technology has taken us away from
the logic of paper and scissors with blogs replacing this subculture to a great
extent. In recent years we have seen an attempt to revive this independent
format of circulating information and opinions. There is a retro lust in all
media which is transferred to the fanzines as well. We like to read independent
publications. We will not recommend a specific one so as not to offend anyone,
however you can visit fanzines.gr and discover some essentials work.
Time to move on to the policy
questions… Has Greece recovered from the 2010 economic slump? I suspect the
coronavirus pandemic has made the situation even worse… How is it today? How
does a Greek citizen live on a daily basis?
If we take a time machine and travel a
few decades later focusing on today's Greece, surely these two periods will not
stand out much. Many people were strained during the decade of recession.
People close to us collapsed, or even ourselves. An estimated 6,000 people committed suicide during
the economic downturn. The problem was no longer in Africa and far away. It was
not just a picture on TV it was on us, our families and our friends. In the
last 2-3 years, slowly and mainly due to tourism and food industry, the local
economy has raised its head, but it does not mean that many are not stressed
even today. We will be able to see what the pandemic period will leave in a few
years or even earlier. In capitalism, always after great disasters, there is
endless financing that fatally leads to new economic holes. We will be here to face
them again.
Some time ago, the media
reported about the largest lawsuit in Greece: the Golden Dawn party was
recognized as a criminal organization! Tell us how it happened that Greek society
allowed Golden Dawn to enter politics and the Greek parliament. Who is
supporting this organization?
It's a very black page in the daily
political scene of this place. Golden Dawn has always expressed the extreme
right-wing beliefs of their like-minded people through criminal acts. Its
history begins in the mid 80's.
In the decade of economic recession
which coincided with large migratory flows that passed through Greece due to
geographical location, if you want we can translate this into cheap labor that
Europe needed to hit the Chinese market and products. This had the effect of absorbing people who
were desperate and confused through, say, a hypocritical and social behavior
and defending the interests of the Greek people.
So the 0.1% in a few years exceeded 8%
and a wave of black terror spread throughout the country. Going back a few
decades is something that has happened over and over again. From France to
Balkans, from Oswald Mosley's in the UK to the rise of the NSDAP. The
propaganda of the press, the feeling of extreme national arrogance. Hundreds of
incidents of violence were recorded from end to end. The Golden Dawn trial
ended after years of litigation with it being branded a Terrorist Organization.
Its percentages have returned to very low
clothes and now its supporters have been absorbed by other right-wing parties.
The snake egg unfortunately exists. All that remains is to see when it will
find the right conditions to hatch and break.
Recently, in the Exarchia,
district of Athens, the situation has become very tense ... The Greek
government has declared war on squatting and the alternative community, there
are many demonstrations, fights with the police and protests in the streets.
Tell us about the Exarchia district, its history and its specific atmosphere.
Tell us about the current situation and why squats are being evicted in Athens.
How is the autonomous community across the country reacting to government
repression?
It is an area where we live, work and
frequent from young children. It is a very special area and you understand that
when you enter it. Major political events in the country, such as the fall of
the 7-year dictatorship or even the December battles (the month of 1945 that
marked the Greek Civil War) but also many more recent events such as the
Assassination of Michali Kalteza in 1985 and Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008
sensitized many people and began to create free social centers. The action of
all these people and places in the dissolution of the Golden Dawn played a big
role.
Nevertheless, many times in the most beautiful
and pure ventures they find refuge morbid elements as well. So as you can
easily understand incidents of violence (gender or not), drug trafficking etc.
stood as an occasion for mass evacuation of spaces by the right-wing government
of New Democracy after the July of 2019.
However social centers that had a more structured operation over the
years. Those who operated consistently and continuously all these years
remained open due to the support and solidarity they received from the common
people.
Finally, please tell us, when
will your next album be available? Do you plan to visit our country when it
will be possible to travel freely around Europe? Would you rather play in
Poland at some big DIY festival or a tour around squats and clubs? The last
word for Polish readers!!!
If you think that we have taken
advantage of the months of inactivity and we have already advanced our new
ideas quite synthetically, maybe we will not have to wait as long as our
previous albums. Of course many times you hear something again and again after
a few months and you want to change several things hahaha. It would be really
nice to visit your country. Hope this crazy period end up soon and our next
destination will be Poland. Thanks a lot for the chance of having this
wonderful conversation.