{"id":4222,"date":"2012-07-16T05:27:48","date_gmt":"2012-07-16T09:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/punkoutlaw.com\/po09\/?p=4222"},"modified":"2012-07-24T11:57:01","modified_gmt":"2012-07-24T15:57:01","slug":"not-so-spooky-times-in-romania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punkoutlawblog.com\/2012\/07\/not-so-spooky-times-in-romania\/","title":{"rendered":"(Not So) Spooky Times in Romania"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The nice people of Bucharest, Romania<\/p><\/div>\n

Romania, land of Dracula, vampires, werewolves and Vlad the Impaler. Also, land of “punk music?”…. Yes, well lets just say, it’s getting there.<\/p>\n

Not that long ago, Romania was a communist country where a pair of jeans could be traded for almost anything. Punk music was outlawed and just getting your hands on some rock-n-roll meant some serious under-the-table bartering. \u00a0If you were a guy with long hair, the police could arrest you, give you a nice, short state-approved hair cut and then, maybe after a fine or stern lecture, they let you go… sans long hair of course. No hippies or individualism allowed.<\/p>\n

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Everyday Romanian Architecture.. Spooky Right?.. buwha, ha..haa, hahh,hahhh!!!! \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (is that how it goes?)<\/p><\/div>\n

Maybe that’s why of all the places I visited, it seemed in Bucharest, Romania I saw more male ponytails per capita than any other place, even some in the punk scene were sporting them. You know what, I get it. It’s the ultimate form of rebellion for a society where there was never a hippie movement or flower power or any of that stuff.<\/p>\n

I decided against a 14 hour train trip with a sleeper car to Bucharest, Romania from Belgrade, Serbia partly out of my spoiled sense of comfort, partly because I found a really good last minute airfare and partly out of the fact this would be the only way I’d get to Bucharest in time to cover the Summer of Punk IV<\/strong><\/em><\/a> concert at the famed Underworld Club<\/strong><\/em><\/a> featuring “Just Another Lie”,<\/strong> <\/em><\/a>“Nuggers”, “Raizing Hell”<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and Argentina band “The Argies”<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\u00a0(Big thanks to Casian, a punk promoter in nearby\u00a0Timisoara who filled me in on the event and to Ati from Silvershine in Budapest for referring Casian).<\/em><\/p>\n

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Underworld Club<\/p><\/div>\n

Underworld has an upstairs bar and terrace cranking rock tunes and a downstairs underground live music venue in the basement with a stage and state of the art sound system. It has become THE go to place for any type of underground music the last few years it’s been open and for good reason.<\/p>\n

Underworld is owned and run by Gabby<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, the former sound guy for many years at the famed NYC punk club CBGB’s<\/strong><\/em><\/a> up until it’s final years and lead singer of the legendary NYC hardcore \/ punk band (and one of my personal new favorite “old” bands)\u00a0“Molotov Cocktail”<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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(DIY Certified) Gabby working the sound & lights @ Underworld<\/p><\/div>\n

Underworld quite fittingly is a DIY club and when I first met Gabby he was too busy doing sound check and getting ready for the show to speak to me. But later in the week, when things had calmed down a hair, I\u00a0finally got a chance to sit down with Gabby and get his impression of the punk scene in Romania which he described as slightly confused and small but making strides.<\/p>\n

I got that sense too. \u00a0Not quiet like a toddler making it’s first tentative steps, more like an adolescent going through puberty and figuring out if it should shave or grow that faint mustache. There are classic Romanian bands like Zob,<\/strong><\/em><\/a> which are Green Day-ish and have been around since the late 80s \u00a0communism was losing it’s grip. Like Green Day, Zob inspires debate about whether they are “punk enough” or not.<\/p>\n

For Gabby, there is no such debate. He is perhaps the epitome of punk. My man has run around with GG Allin<\/strong> <\/em><\/a>and other legends of punk while growing up in the “2nd wave” of NYC punk. Gabby is a fascinating character and I could have talked to him all day, but he’s quiet a busy chap.<\/p>\n

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Gabby escaped communist Romania with his parents as a child and eventually moved to NYC’s lower east side where he spent most all of his adult life, spending some time in C Squat<\/strong><\/em><\/a> in Alphabet city. He moved back to Romania in 2010 because he said he needed a change but he’s been associated with Underworld since day 1, even before moving back.<\/p>\n

Gabby still gets back to NYC and we both be-moaned the scattered punk scene there thanks in part to the closing of places like CBGBs, but he keeps his fingers on the pulse of the punk & hardcore scene with his buds Agnostic Front<\/em>, Murphy’s Law<\/em> and of course his pals in Molotov Cocktail<\/em> \u00a0(who are celebrating over 20 years together and getting ready to drop a 20 year anniversary CD).<\/p>\n

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Raizing Hell before the show<\/p><\/div>\n

On this sweltering Romanian Saturday night, Summer of Punk IV was set to begin at 8pm and I arrived a little early so I could interview a couple of the bands recommended by Casian (turns out concerts here start more or less on time… go figure).<\/p>\n

My first interview was with “Raizing Hell” a self described horror punk band somewhat new on the scene (2010). They cite a variety of influences including Motorhead, Misfits, Plasmatics<\/em> plus some in the psychobilly genre like Horrorpops, Meteors<\/em> and Demented Are Go<\/em> as well as any horror b-movies as obvious influences.<\/p>\n

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The band is fronted by Liv Decay<\/em> (vocals\/guitar), a talented and eloquent fearless female (yet another in Eastern Europe!) and bandmates Vlad<\/em> (guitar, backing vocals),\u00a0Vlash<\/em> (bass guitar,backing vocals) and\u00a0Oly “Sinnister” Sinn<\/em> – (drums).<\/p>\n

The guys filled me in on what it was like to grow up in communist Romania compared to a Romania that has embraced capitalism today. My favorite quote was from Oly that went something like and I’m paraphrasing here\u00a0“I’m glad to live in a democracy, even a fake democracy is better than a communist Romania where I couldn’t wear jeans or long hair”<\/em>. When Oly mentions “fake democracy” he was referring to the rampant corruption and political strife in Romanian politics that I can’t even begin to touch on, so I won’t.<\/p>\n

The guys indicated their lyrics, similar to psychobilly, don’t focus on government corruption (which they readily admitted could be scarier than a vampire… hmmm, I’ll resist the temptation at a ‘sucking’ reference here)\u00a0or social issues, but they do focus on “other things that scare people”. You know things that go bump in the night. This seems fitting given were in the land of Dracula tales, monsters, werewolves, zombies and the sort.<\/p>\n

Of course one of the “technical” things that separate “horror punk” from Phsychobilly is the fact that “Raizing Hell” doesn’t play with a stand up bass, which is maybe why\u00a0Raizing Hell’s set felt like a good old fashioned punk show or if you’ve ever taken in a Rob Zombie show without the pyrotechnics.<\/p>\n