INTERVIEW        Previous        Next

Date: 09/06/1989
Questions by: Serge (FRA)
Appeared in: TRASHING NECRO MANIAC #8 (FRA) - October 1990

01. Line-up du groupe + bio ?
02. Que représente pour vous la scene alternative, une façon de s'éclater, de s'exprimer ou autre chose ?
03. Pourquoi ce nom ?
04. Ambition en tant que groupe ?
05. Comment voyez-vous l'avenir ?
06. Difficultés pour le groupe ?
07. Influences et goûts sonores ?
08. Quel genre de musique pensez-vous jouer ?
09. Votre voeu le plus cher ?
10. Pensez-vous que le punk et le hardcore changeront quelque chose dans le monde ?
11. Que pensez-vous du fascisme ?
12. Vivisection ?
13. Anarchie et paix ?
14. Comment ça se passe pendant vos concerts ?
15. Comment réagiriez-vous si l'on vous proposerait de passer à la tv ?
16. Occupation en dehors du groupe ?
17. Votre avis sur l'armee ?
18. La politique, c'est important pour vous ? Vos textes, sont-ils politisées ?
19. Des concerts en France ?
20. Comment sont vos rapports avec les autres groupes ?
21. Quels sont vos projets avenirs ?

01. Line-up du group + bio ?  

At the end of 1981, PIK had written a few songs which he wanted to share with some other people than his relatives. So he looked for a bassplayer, a drummer and a singer, and he found them too, namely HANZ, ANIMAL and DUVEL. After ten gigs (the first one on 6th March 1982) the drummer left the band (exhausted ?) and also the singer stopped because he didn't want to search another drummer and start all over again. After a while the rest of the band found another drummer (ZJANTIE) and vocalist (BART, brother of HANZ) in April 1983. In summer 1983 the brothers were thrown out because they weren't interested anymore. No panic however, the very same day JENZ (bass) and CLO (vocals) were recruted and the SCUMS could continue destroying the world. But after a year CLO got fired after some disputes (she drank all our beer out of the rehearsalroom and she didn't want to participate anymore at the weekly orgies) and since then THE DIRTY SCUMS are a three-piece band, namely PIK (vocals/guitar) - ZJANTIE (drums/vocals) - JENZ (bass/vocals).

02. Que représente pour vous la scène alternative, une façon de s'éclater, de s'exprimer ou autre chose ?  

For us, punk is a way to express our creativity (music, lyrix), our feelings, our ideas, ... But of course it's more than that, it's also an attitude, a way of life where freedom, peace, axion, reaxion, ..., are very important. Those values can also be found in other lifestyles, but all together they are united in punk. Punk is also rebellion, it's a bit like the rock'n'roll attitudes of the Stones e.g. (in earlier days of course).

03. Pourquoi ce nom ?  

SCUM means RACAILLE in french and it's the title of a sex movie. We added the word DIRTY because it's typical for punx. So THE DIRTY SCUMS means SALE RACAILLE in french, and that's the first thing that flashes through people's heads when they meet a group of punx.

04. Ambition en tant que groupe ?  

Like every other band we want to reach more and more people, we want to play lots of gigs, ... It's also our ambition to make a foreign tour once and to make a record about every year (single or album). We also want more airplay (and TV) but that's not a necessity to keep the band going. What is more important is the friendship amongst ourselves and our entourage and the fun we have after and during a gig. Another ambition is maybe that we want to proove that a couple of friends can reach something without the help of big business and can stay honest towards themselves and towards the scene during all those years.

05. Comment voyez-vous l'avenir ?  

Now we just have recorded our third album called THE BOOZE AND THE CHICKS which should be released in July. We also have made T-shirts which should be available right now. We organize a gig (8th July) to celebrate our 7th anniversary (of the band of course) with following bands: EARDAMAGE, BAMBIX (NLD), THE MUSHROOMS, GET STUFFED and THE DIRTY SCUMS (all three-piece bands). In a further future, we see ourselves always continue and keep on doing the good thing !

06. Difficultés pour le groupe ?  

A big problem for us up till now has been the distribution of our records. We have always sold them ourselves but we have the impression that we don't reach enough people, and that we can reach more if we would have a good distribution. We almost have a solution now for the third album.
JENZ also needs a new bassamplifier and he really should send the interviews back in time (inside joke).

07. Influences et goûts sonores ?  

We listen to a lot of bands and to many kinds of music. First of all our favourite music, punkrock: SHAM 69, THE CLASH, SEX PISTOLS, STIFF LITTLE FINGERS, X-RAY SPEX, VIBRATORS, UK SUBS, DAMNED, RAMONES (our favourite, they are the bible for us), and many more. We also listen to hardcore and metalmusic: CYCLONE, BONELESS ONES, TOXIC REASONS, ENGLISH DOGS, GBH, EARDAMAGE, VORTEX, HEIBEL, VERBAL ABUSE, MOTORHEAD, JUDAS PRIEST, ... We also listen to pop, rock, sixties, blues, hardrock, e.g. ROLLING STONES, STOOGES, IGGY POP, AC/DC, STATUS QUO, TYLA GANG, JOE JACKSON, PATTI SMITH, LOU REED, HERMAN BROOD, SWEET, HOLLIES, ... Maybe we have influences from all those kinds of music and that can only be interesting for us and for the people who listen to our music.

08. Quel genre de musique pensez-vous jouer ?  

We think you can call us a punkrockband. Punkmusic is the basis but as we have mentioned, we have (a lot of) rock, pop, and other influences.

09. Votre voeu le plus cher ?  

Recording a single with La Cicciolina and playing together with her (music or whatever else), playing a gig with the RAMONES.

10. Pensez-vous que le punk et le hardcore changeront quelque chose dans le monde ?

Musically, punk has changed the world a lot. If punk hadn't been existing, the musical world would look totally different, lots of bands wouldn't exist, also THE DIRTY SCUMS wouldn't (maybe that's a big change in the world ? haha). There is a whole new attitude created in '77.
If you mean if punk really could change the world, no, we don't think so because punx don't press on a government, they don't have the power to change laws, politicians don't listen to a small group of people who don't agree with them if they have no economical, political, financial, ... importance. Thinking punk can change anything is flogging a dead horse. But you can change things in your own world, you can live your own life, you can create peace (or at least try to) in your own life, that is what punk is all about.

11. Que pensez-vous du fascisme ?  

Fascism means: unequality, violence, oppression, control, terror, torture, breafly: in such a system you can't live. We hope that it doesn't turn up again in the same measure as it did in the thirties. Anyway, we are warned. However, some people give the impression not to be warned at all, and they are a real danger.

12. Vivisection ?  

We aren't vegetarians, but we do care about animals. We think it's disgusting that they are tortured cruelly in name of scientific, mostly useless purposes. It's not fair, they can't defend themselves, they are an easy prey to lunatix in white jackets. One should do the same tests on them instead. It's good and necessary there are organisations who come up against it and do have alternatives.

13. Anarchie et paix ?  

Anarchy is a nice thing but we think it's hard, not to mention impossible, to realise it on a large scale. Too many people don't agree with anarchism, a lot of them don't even know what it really means. We think it's better to try to realise anarchism in a small group, with a bunch of people you like, e.g. in a band. That is better than screaming slogans that the world is rotten while you have trouble to live with your own friends. Anarchism, start with yourself (and maybe later on the rest of the world).

14. Comment ça se passe pendant vos concerts ?  

Normally we don't have problems. Mostly there are a lot of people, who, according to the quantity of alcohol in their veins, give the best of themselves. In former days there were regularly troubles with skinheads and cops, nowadays that's decreased. Now people are just having fun, they come to see their favourite bands, they are enjoying themselves and that's it. It gives us really a kick to see that people are having a good time while we are playing.

15. Comment réagiriez-vous si l'on vous proposerait de passer à la TV ?  

Well, we think we would do it just to show those arseholes that there exist other music than the bullshit they are broadcasting all the time. Punx are always complaining that they never see bands they want to see/listen to on TV or radio, well, that would be a great occasion to do something about that. It's stupid to complain that the punkculture is never on TV if you ignore certain programs or just refuse it if you get an offer.

16. Occupation en dehors du groupe ?  

There's not much time left when you play in a band, but here we go: reading a book/paper/fanzine, watching movies at home, working, going out and drinking beer, listening to music, playing our instruments, working in the garden, talking nonsense to girls, making love and liquor, going to concerts, answering letters and fanmail, and more things we forget to mention.

17. Votre avis sur l'armée ?  

We are against it because an army is just there to defend a system, to defend the proporties and interests, concerns, of the powerful, the rich. It's not there to defend the people from "foreign aggressors", they just use the people, the working class, to fight and die in name of nationalism or whatever, but in fact they sacrifice them for their own sakes. PIK and ZJANTIE didn't have to join the army, JENZ refused it and worked fifteen months in a hospital instead. We also wrote a song against the army, called (translated, the song is in Dutch) "No money for the army" (first album, Dirty Songs).

18. La politique, c'est important pour vous ? Vos textes, sont-ils politisées ?  

Earlier we discussed more about politix than now because we met each other more regularly. We were especially interested in anarchism and communism but in fact we discussed about a lot of different political subjects. We also had a fanzine (translated: The Truth is Revolutionary) in which we wrote amongst others political articles. The lyrix we wrote for the music were also more engaged. Why an evolution ? Now we have no longer that big impulse to try to change people (when you're younger you think you know the absolute thruth). Besides that you only reach those people who are already convinced, you don't reach those for whom it is meant. So if you want to change the world, you better become a politician because by singing about the bad things in the world you can't change anything. We don't want to say that we don't care anymore, we just write more lyrix nowadays about our personal life, our world, or just pure nonsens.

19. Des concerts en France ?  

Up till now we didn't have a gig in France. Recently we almost had a gig in Toulouse with SCRAPS, but that one was cancelled. If we now should get an offer for a gig in a foreign country, we really should have more than one, otherwise it's far too expensive for us, except for Holland because it's not too far. We played already one gig in Switzerland this year, but that was an exception to the rule.

20. Comment sont vos rapports avec les autres groupes ?  

We have a good contact with VORTEX (Charleroi) with whom we played many gigs and we also made a T-shirt together (front-side THE DIRTY SCUMS and back-side VORTEX, and vice-versa). We have also contact with other bands but that's mainly limited to gigs and letters.

21. Quels sont vos projets avenirs ?  

Our new album of course (which should be released in July), and for the rest we will wait and see. Cheers !