From Beat Motel Zine issue 5
Originally published 2005
Last night, the collective that I’m involved in put on Dead after School and Fighting Shit as well as my own band. It was probably the most positive, up-lifting gig I’ve ever been to. I was well happy to have been part of organising it. I caught up with Fighting Shit after they’d torn the place up.
Larry: Hi guys, can I have a quick introduction, names and what you do in the band.
O: I’m Olli I play drums.
P: I’m Porir, I play guitar.
I: I’m Ingi, I play bass.
K: And I’m Kolli I’m on vocals but there’s a fifth member.
L: Yeah, I’m sure when I saw you last time there was one more…
O: Where did you see us?
L: Last summer at the Fighting Cocks in Kingston.
K: No, the other guitarist was in Iceland, he’s only 15, he’s not allowed to come on tour.
O: You were just drunk probably, seeing double.
L: For anyone who hasn’t seen or heard of you before, can you describe what you guys play?
O: No, not really.
P: Very fast hardcore.
L: So, how’s the tour going?
O: This is our second show and both shows have been good.
K: Different, but the reactions have been good.
P: Last night was one of the most interesting shows we’ve played, it was the first time I’ve ever had a beer poured on my head while playing. (everyone laughs)
L: This is your second UK tour, how did you first get in touch with Dead after School and Cat ‘n’ Cakey?
O: That was me, when I was booking our first tour, I contacted Daz to see if he wanted to book a show for us in Overton and he was like ‘yeah for sure’ and he actually had one of our CDs and he loved it and he was like really into having us over. And he asked if we’d put on a show in Iceland and I said ‘ yeah of course’ and they came over and we became really good friends and they came for a week in Iceland.
L: Are you pleased with the split that you’ve just done with Dead After School?
All: Oh yeah!
I: It’s awesome
K: Definitely. It’s the best stuff we’ve done.
P: And it’s Dead After School’s best stuff too.
L: What’s the scene like in Iceland?
O: It’s fun, it’s a lot of kids just having a good time and goofing around. There’s no tough guy shit.
K: Not at all.
O: Because we live on an island it’s really isolated and the hardcore scene hasn’t been going very long. About five..
I: Six years.
K: Something like that. So a lot of bad influences in today’s hardcore, like the jock mentality, you know, people punching kids at shows that hasn’t come over.
L: You guys recently played with Good Clean Fun, was that as amazing as I imagine?
O: Kolli and Porir, they kinda hate them, but me and Ingi
K: Yes, we hate them. (laughter)
O: They’re real negi, but I like them and it was real awesome.
L: Are there many differences between shows over here and in Iceland, like how you’re treated by promoters etc?
O: There aren’t any promoters in Iceland, the bands put on all the shows. There’s just a couple of people who put up shows.
P: It’s like maybe one guy from one band wants to put on a show and then he just calls all the same guys to carry the equipment and put up flyers.
K: It’s a really inbred scene so…
L: It must be really nice when everyone knows each other
O: Yeah, it’s really good.
L: So, what do you guys do in real life? Do you have jobs or do you go to school?
K: I do nothing. I’ve been practically unemployed since before Christmas so er…
P: I just play in a lot of bands and I do like my soul (? – damn drunk people shouting in background!) stuff a lot as well.
I: Yeah, I’m working, it sucks.
L: What do you do?
I: I work in a shitty carworks
O: I do. I sell my soul. I give samples. Like: ‘Do you wanna buy a brand new cake?’
K: ‘Try this new pizza from pizzatown’ (Laughter)
O: I do that and I’m a recording engineer at a studio.
K: Yeah we record all our own stuff.
O: I do it all, record a lot of other hardcore bands as well.
L: You say on your website that when you’re on stage you have the right to tell other people about your opinions. What were you referring to, was it about straight edge?
K: Yeah.
L: Or veggie/vegan stuff? Or politics.
P: Our main thing is that everyone treats everybody equal and that people are nice in general, we don’t care if people are straight edge or vegetarian, that’s up to you, you know as long as you don’t act like an asshole, we won’t act like assholes.
L: All round positive message?
K: Absolutely.
L: I think that’s it actually, anything you’d like to add?
P: Buy our split.
O: Tonight was great, thanks to everyone who put us on and thanks to you.
L: No problem, this has been probably the best show I’ve ever been involved in.
P: Check out Dead After School.
K: Yeah, they’re probably the best band I’ve ever seen, they blow me away every single time.
O: And we’re gonna try and come back in May for a month, that’s our plan, we’d definitely like to come back here again.
L: Excellent guys, thanks very much.
Thanks very much to Fighting Shit for being such lovely guys and answering my fairly poor questions, that I wrote during the ten minutes I had to myself in the whole day. More posi-pyramids in hardcore!
Last Updated on February 21, 2023
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