INTERVIEW        Previous        Next

Date: 21/04/1988
Questions by: Didier (FRA)
Appeared in: BKZINE #? (FRA)

01. History of the band (date of formation, composition, how many gigs, discography, …) ?
02. What is your prefered beer ?
03. Can you tell us your opinion about: Church, Vivisection, Pacifism, Anarchy ?
04. In Flandres there are a lot of hardcorebands and you have more possibilities than us to play gigs often, for cheap entrances. How does that happen, who organises the gigs ?
05. How does the population and the people react towards you ?
06. There aren’t many skins in Flandres. Is there a particularly reason ?
07. At most of the HC-gigs in your country, we can see HC, Punx, Hardrock and New Wave all together with good relations. You have no fight problems and the sphere is much better than at most French gigs. Do you have a secret ?
08. A dream to realise ?
09. In France, there’s a man called Le Pen, it’s a big fascist and racist, who, if he didn’t had an electorate to ensure, would frankly declare that he has nazi tendencies and that we have to destroy the Arabian race. Is there a man like that in Belgium and what importance has he got in the country ?
10. What would you like to change in society ?
11. Have you got a good anecdote about the band ?
12. Some projects ?
13. Tell us what you want !

01. History of the band (date of formation, composition, how many gigs, discography, …) ?

At the end of 1981 PIK had written a few songs that he wanted to play before an audience. So he looked for a bassplayer (HANZ), a drummer (ANIMAL) and a singer (DUVEL). But after about ten gigs the drummer left the band and also the singer went away because he didn’t want to start all over again. After a while PIK and HANZ found a new drummer (ZJANTIE) and a singer (BART, who was the brother of HANZ) in April 1983. In the summer of the same year HANZ and BART were thrown out of the band because they showed no interest anymore. The same day (in September 1983) JENZ (bass) and his ex-girlfriend (CLO) were recruted and the Scums could continue to conquer the world. But a year later CLO got fired after a quarrel and since then THE DIRTY SCUMS are a trio namely PIK (vocals and guitar), ZJANTIE (drums and vocals) and JENZ (bass and vocals). Throughout the years we have played about a hundred times, mostly in Belgium (two times in the Netherlands).

Our discography:
DIRTY SONGS - July 1985 - LP - sold out
MARTENS-single - November 1986 - single
FULL SPEED AHEAD ! - February 1987 - LP
5TH ANNIVERSARY GIG - May 1988 - C-60

02. What is your prefered beer ?

Very interesting question ! We like a lot varieties, but our favourite beer is Jupiler.

03. Can you tell us your opinion about :

- Church:

We think that everybody has the right to believe in something (punx also believe in e.g. anarchism) but the church as an institute is conservative, authoritative and intolerant and hypocrite.

- Vivisection:

Vivisexion is disgusting and very cruel. We have read somewhere that vivisexion isn’t really necessary because they can do tests on the cells of the animal instead of on the animal itself. Of course the usual methods are cheaper and easier but it’s barbaric.

- Pacifism:

We are pacifists but we also face reality. In some countries e.g. in South-Africa, in South-America, pacifism won’t change anything because the government too acts violently and fanatical and terrorises the people. The only solution there is to use violence, words won’t help.

- Anarchy:

We think that the ideas of anarchism are very good but we don’t think it can be realised because there are too many people who are against it and it’s too difficult to convince them, but we still try.

04. In Flandres there are a lot of hardcorebands and you have more possibilities than us to play gigs often, for cheap entrances. How does that happen, who organises the gigs ?

In Flandres we have a small but active scene. The people here wanna do something, so some play in a band, others make fanzines or join or organise gigs. The scene is small we said, so that could be an advantage: everyone knows each other so it isn’t hard to inform them about gigs etc. And in that way you are always sure that there a lot of punx coming to the gig. The bands in Belgium don’t ask a lot of money to play, therefore you can keep the entrance low. There are a lot of people who organise gigs but there are two "big" organisations, namely Smurfpunx and Hageland Hardcore.

05. How does the population and the people react towards you ?

Some people don’t understand us and think we are crazy, others think we are violent and use drugs all the time, they are scared, some really hate us and finally there are people who like us. But in general the population doesn’t give us trouble a lot.

06. There aren’t many skins in Flandres. Is there a particularly reason ?

There are a few places (Brussels, Antwerp, Leuven) were there are a lot of skins. In former days we had a lot of trouble with them sometimes. But now they don’t come to ordinary gigs anymore. We don’t know why, maybe they think it isn’t interesting anymore, because of the many metalinfluences in the music nowadays in Belgium. But they still exist !

07. At most of the HC-gigs in your country, we can see HC, Punx, Hardrock and New Wave all together with good relations. You have no fight problems and the sphere is much better than at most French gigs. Do you have a secret ?

The punx in Belgium always act (there are exceptions of course) intelligently and if there are fights it’s almost always caused by other groups like skins or snobs who are trying to ruin our gigs. The violent elements feel that they aren’t welcome and that they are ignored and they stay away. As we already said, there are now a lot of metalinfluences in the scene and through that a lot of metalfans come to gigs to enjoy the music and to meet people who like the same music. Everybody accepts everyone and we think that’s our secret. It’s no use to fight each other, it’s better to cooperate. But metal is becoming a norm instead of an influence and sometimes punx are ignored in favour of metal. So you see the cooperation is not perfect, but at least it’s a start.

08. A dream to realise ?

To keep on with the Scums till eternity. To live from our music. To tour with the Ramones. That the world would be better for everyone.

09. In France, there’s a man called Le Pen, it’s a big fascist and racist, who, if he didn’t had an electorate to ensure, would frankly declare that he has nazi tendencies and that we have to destroy the Arabian race. Is there a man like that in Belgium and what importance has he got in the country ?

In Belgium there are also people like Le Pen, and organisations and political parties like e.g. Vlaams Blok (Flemish Bloc), Front National, V.M.O. (Flemish militant Order), Westland New Post, … Maybe they haven’t such a big impact as Le Pen in France, but they are us dangerous. They attempt foreigners, they all have a fascist and racist program. We think they are very active (underground) and more and more people are beginning to believe them, it’s becoming a plague.

10. What would you like to change in society ?

We would like to see a peaceful and cleaner world, without nuclear weapons, polution, wars, … A society with more tolerance and love, but that’s a dream, of course that can’t be realised.

11. Have you got a good anecdote about the band ?

There are such a lot of stories to tell, it’s difficult to choose something here, sorry.

12. Some projects ?

Somebody offered us a few gigs in Spain, so maybe we’re going on tour in Spain this summer. Further we’re going to record a new single and later on (maybe September) a new album which should be released at the end of 1988.

13. Tell us what you want !

ENJOY !