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Gorilla Angreb (1999-2007)
http://www.myspace.com/gorillaangreb
GORILLA ANGREB started out fall 1999, when Amdi Petersens Armé took a break due to Skralles (APA-drummer) 10 month vacation in USA. Gorilla Angreb has done about 70 shows on one demo tape… The members are:
Peter, also in No Hope For The Kids & Stress – guitar
Simon, also in Headfall Attitudes & Los Retardos – bass
Mai – vocals
Tommas, also in Intensity - drums
You seem to play live in Germany all the time, are you very popular there? How does it feel? Is this popularity somehow related to the Germans’ weakness for oufta-oufta-punk and deutchepunk?
Hmm, i don’t know if we’re popluar there. We’ve had some really good shows there especially in Hamburg and Flensburg. I think we’re pretty far away from being an oufta oufta punk band (whatever the hell that means).
Tommas and Peter, you were both in Amdi Petersens Armé, has this ever felt as an obstacle or handicap for Gorilla Angreb? Or has it worked as a push for the band?
I don’t think it has ever been a handicap to us. Sometimes when people go to a GA show and know that we’ve been in APA, they kinda expect something similar to what APA sounded like. Where APA was more aggressive and hardcore, GA is more basic stripped down punkrock. For a while we cranked out really melodic stuff (without being wimpy that is), so GA don’t sound at all like APA. I guess some people is disappointed with that fact, but most people seem to dig it though.
You’ve been around for quite some time now, and about two years ago there were rumors that You’d call it quits. What has affected Gorilla Angreb most during the years?
Well, the break-up thing was just rumours. We had a while where we didn’t really play that much, but we never wanted to quit, cause we enjoy playing with this band a lot. We toured a lot with APA back then, and I also toured quite a bit with Intensity during that same time, so it was just natural to have a short break.
I’d say you’ve changed your style since the first time I saw you. Now it’s more rock n’ roll, do you get more out of that than punkrock? Did it feel natural to play more rock or did it happend when Simon took the bass instead of Klaus, the old bassist?
I definitely think that we’re a punkrock band, and not a rockband at all. When you say rock, I think of bad cliché-filled crap that is overproduced and just plain boring. It’s true that some of our stuff is getting more melodic, but I think we put in some attitude and a raw touch of our own to it also. The early punk-scene drew its inspiration from old rocknroll and different styles of music. I think that is the part of the secret why there was so many great bands back then compared to today. Cause now, most bands only draw inspiration from other punkbands (or metal), making it all sound the same today. I definitely think a band like The Zeros or The Dils is definitely more punkrock than most stuff around today, even though these 2 bands are basicly just stripped down rocknroll.
How many songs have you recorded all together, how many of these has been released? How come you haven’t released more than one Demo tape in almost 5 years?
I think there’s 10 songs on the demo, and then we’ve recorded maybe 10 more songs since then. Some of them are gonna be on the upcoming 7”, a split 7” with Lokum and a 2 song single. These records are gonna be put out through my own labels , Kick N Punch Records and Hjernespind + the new local label Spild Af Vinyl, so look out for these. The reason that we didn’t release more stuff through the years is because we had different priorities. For a long time, GA was just a project kind of band. Today, it’s our first priority. We were supposed to release a 7” 3 years ago, but we weren’t satisfied with the recordings, so we skipped it. 2 of the songs from that session ended up on the “København I Ruiner” compilation. That is our first songs on vinyl. Check it out.
How old are you? What do you work with?
Peter is 28 and studies, Simon is 28 and works at a printing workshop, I am 27 and unemployed, Mai is 25 and works in a comic store.
How old would you like to be? What would you like to work with?
Hmmmmmm!!
Tommas, you hit the drums too goddamn hard! Is that a disease you have?
I don’t know. I just can’t play soft. It’s easier for me to be tight, if I bang the drums as hard as I can. Sometimes it’s pretty expensive with cymbals and drumsticks but I’m not planning to change my style.
Why did you start Gorilla Angreb? What music made you do it?
We started GA because we had a break with APA and Peter I wanted to play together still in that period. Peter took the guitar and I switched from bass to drums. I guess we started the band out of the love for old obscure punkrock and rocknroll, a style which nobody seems to play anymore. At least not in the punk-scene.
You rehearse at Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, is that cool?
Actually we started rehearsing somewhere else, but it was definately cool to rehearse at Ungdomshuset. You could go there and practice, then just hang out with some of the other bands rehearsing there or maybe go downstairs to check out livebands. A lot of the Copenhagen bands also recorded stuff here in the studio just next to the practise rooms by the way.
What’s best with Copenhagen right now? Bands, records, happenings?
The No Hope For The Kids LP is out now, and it smokes. Most bands in Copenhagen folded. There’s only a handful left of good bands. Hopefully some new bands will start out and continue the tradition of quality punkrock in K-town. Some cool bands to check out is : Arrigt Antræk, Death Token, Mareridt, No Hope For The Kids, Sløseri Der Skader Os Alle.
What’s worst with Copenhagen right now?
The shitty weather, and the same bullshit you have everywhere else. Rumours, fights, people not getting along because of minor differences and shit like that. I try not to pay too much attention to this though, cause it drains your energy if you sink too deep into it.
You sing ”København ligger i ruiner” (Copenhagen lies in ruins), is this true?
Yeah, when Reptilicus (famous Danish monster) returns it sure will.
Would you consider releasing records on a bigger established recordlabel? Why/why not?
Personally I can’t see GA releasing records on any major-label. I think music like this has a better credibility in the underground. Do music like this with people who really care about it, not with people who think they can make money on what you’re doing and market you as just another product. The musicindustry has gotten very pathetic the last few years, only releasing stuff they know will sell good (by following latest trends), and keep creating these icons together with the tv stations. Fuck Popstars, Idols and those kind of tv-shows. I can’t believe people buy into that bullshit. It’s so shallow.
What’s the difference between getting paid for cleaning toilets and getting paid for playing music?
I don’t think there’s a big difference actually. The problem is that most so-called punkbands start to suck big time after they ”have” to make money also. If money is the sole reason a band stays together, make too many records with filler to squeeze every last buck out of the machine, or tour endlessly not because they’re into it 100% anymore, but because it’s their job now, I’m not for it. How pathetic isn’t Dead Kennedys without Jello Biafra or Misfits without Glen Danzig?? Prime examples of bands that only stick to it, cause they’ve got an established name they can use to make a little easy cash on past glories. Many bands best stuff is the material they wrote before getting signed. In my opinion the best music comes from people who don’t give a fuck what people will think about their music, care if it sells or not or gives them a record-contract. And if they manage to live off from it by doing exactly what they want, I think it’s fine. More power to them. I don’t blame them, cause maybe that’s better than cleaning toilets after all.
What’s your future plans right now?
Finnish the split 7” with Lokum, finnish our “Long Island/Supersyn” 7” single and prepare a scandinavian tour for next summer. People who’re interested in doing a show for us can contact us at this address hjernespind@hotmail.com We’ll start off in August and hope to make it all the way up to Finland, so please get in contact if you’re interested in doing something for us.
Thanks for answering
Thank you very much for the interview. Please check out our 7” on Kick N Punch Records (www.kicknpunch.com) and keep an eye open soon for the opening of our web-site.
