Björn Black Friday 29

Recently you released your new record “the pursuit of happiness”. Where would you say are the main differences to your prior record “the escape”, both musically and lyrically?
Musically we have widened the horizon on this record. We really listen to lots of different type of hardcore music and to different types of music in general and I think it really shows, whereas “the Escape” was more like a real hardcore record and everyone of us listened to the same bands such as the Cro-Mags, Youth of today, mouthpiece, etc. Now we have a wider musical taste. Those bands are still great, but not just the only things that inspire us.
The lyrical difference is on this record Dennis Sommer wrote a lot of lyrics. Perhaps even more than me… We have arranged everything together. On the last album our old guitarist Sven also wrote lyrics and helped arranging everything. I guess lyrics on the old album were a little more angry, so to say.

You have been around since 2002, what would you say about the evolution of the hardcore scene in Germany since then?
I think hardcore has parted itself in more divisions than ever before. Some kids only go to those screamo shows, some only to metalcore, to tough guy or old school hardcore. That is a big difference as well as the now lacking political approach to hardcore.

In how far do you think there is a danger of hardcore losing more and more of its political spirit and becoming more a “fashion scene”?
To an extend HC has become like a fashion scene. Everyone dresses and styles the same, not many people try to inspire or illuminate others. One can rarely see political or animal rights flyers at shows. This has already changed within the last10 years. On the other hand most of the people who are into HC for a few years longer still have their political views. Also there are bands like Verse, Have Heart, To Kill or Anchor that have something important to say and are well received by the HC scene. Plus it is still not accepted to have right wing ideas. The spirit is still there!

You are holding the “Ruhrpott-flag” high, what is so special about this region?
Almost all the cities here have been built to only fill the needs for the industrial companies. You have cities that are no cities but big agglomerations of working class colonies and wastelands where big labors were situated. So life here is pretty simple as most of the inhabitants are simple working class people and people that came from abroad to work here. It is like a melting pot. But this also brought up the problems of post modern society such as a high unemployment rate, crime, youth without orientation, etc.
Somehow you just feel a certain bond if you are from that area. It is hard to describe but I am not the only one who simply feels home when driving the highway back to this area and passing the sign that says “Ruhrgebiet” and has a symbol for a coal mine (My grandpa was a coal miner and all my uncles and my father used to work for steel producing companies). It is as if you have shared the same history, went through the same shit and probably had a similar socialisation. There is a big difference between growing up in Düsseldorf or Duisburg, although this is only a few kilometers distance. But growing up in Duisburg, Oberhausen or Dortmund can be very similar.

The Ruhrpott used to be the German industrial heartland, but many companies had to be closed due to the loss of competitiveness. How do the people cope with the new situation?
You can see how some people cope with that only a few minutes from my house. Drinking alcohol, doing drugs, hanging out on the street. Big shopping centres, cinemas, musical theatres have been built to seek visitors and keep everyone satisfied.
Most of the smart people have just tried to do something about this situation. For example Pete, who will join our band again next month, used to work in a steel producing company, he quit that job a while ago, went back to school and has now opened up a tattoo shop (Times of Grace tattooing). That can be one of the ways to cope with that situation.

Many people blame globalization, and say politicians should stop jobs moving to lower-wage countries. What is your opinion about that? Would you say that globalization is beneficial?
Well… Globalization itself is not necessarily a bad thing as you just cannot escape it in these modern days where communication has been taking to higher levels. It is important to lead globalization in a direction where we do have winners on all parts of the globe and in all spectres of the societies. I have a little faith since I really think that the european polity with its civil societies have to act with reason. While US foreign policies are simply about economical wealth and surpassing the Russian-Chinese military power, the EU countries have other goals and try to solve problems with long time solutions (most countries don’t build new atomic power plants, they put money into poor countries to develop itself, etc.).

In how far do you think politics can change that situation? What would you say is their main priority?
Politics always depend on the society and country. In some parts of the world politics can’t change anything for the better. In others politics don’t want to change anything and in many countries politicians are marionettes of the big bosses. I don’t think you can say: “Politics are there to keep rich people rich and poor people poor” or “politics can change the world”. Politics can do everything in between. It depends on what people make out of it, if the people in power handle problems with reason, etc.

Your new record is called “the pursuit of happiness”, what is the idea behind this title and the song? In how far was the title meant as a reference to the US Declaration of Independence?
The idea is the search of every bandmembers individual pursuit of happiness. Everyone of us has a slightly different idea of how to strive for happiness and this is what drives us lately. We have all been through hard times and good times and yet we still search for our way to find peace and happiness. Even though some people put stones in our way and knives in our back we will still struggle to find our own happiness. That is what it is about. The Declaration of Independence and the liberal thoughts behind this is just a nice coincidence.

In the song “ghosts” you ask a lot of essential questions, like “What’s the option? What is the way out? How can I not be a part of this disease?…” Would you please explain that song a bit more? Have you found any answers yet?
The questions are essential and I will hopefully criticize the answers I find for myself over and over again. The song is also about becoming a better person, trying to give your best in life, trying to change things you don’t like. To this point I have found my answers how to be a better person and how to not be a part of the disease but I might have to ask me the same questions again and again. I do think this way is right in my eyes, but who knows if it is really right?
The ignorance and unsocial behaviour of people have driven me to write this song. There are many people that don’t even want to meet other people, don’t talk to others and basically don’t have anything to say but just function like drones. This can never be the way I want to live. Life is about new experiences, meeting new people, inspiring and helping people and even taking part in the society you live in and make changes for the better.

“
Crush and be crushed” is about a pretty unusual topic: torture. What has motivated you to write the song?
Initially this song has been written by our old guitarist Sven. Me and Dennis Sommer have changed it and put it into the shape it has now. Well… torture has been in the media a lot. Be this the situation in Guantanamo or in Russia. It is also about the powerlessness to change anything and the disguise of torture.

One line in the song is “you’ll be the bug- crushed under my shoe” would you say that somehow everybody is responsible for the torture not only the one doing the actual deed?
I don’t think this is what we wanted to express with it, but what you said is certainly true. Society that accepts torture is responsible for this, too.

Can you imagine a situation in which torture would be justified?
That is hard to say. I don’t believe in torture as a judicial method. On the other hand. If someone rapes and kills a little kid I feel a strong will to let this guy be tortured although this might not be the smartest solution. Violence is usually not the best way to solve problems, but what if someone would have tortured Hitler to death? It would have saved the life of many.

In “the swarm” you criticise modern aspiration for consumption. Do you see that this belief, let’s call it “consume your pain away”, will change in the future?
In my opinion this mentality will only get worse. I live in Oberhausen, where the biggest mall in Europe is situated. I see a lot of these people who think that identity can be bought and just live to consume in order to not criticize anything. But when all the wealth in this country is gone what will be left? And what will be left when you lose all your money? Not much if you all you ever cared about has to do with status symbols. Especially the less privileged parts of society spend all the money on things you don’t really need to live. Why do you need to have the newest phone, the shiniest rings, the most modern haircut?
Only to feel accepted for something because your character lacks originality. That is what people try to make up for. People should be impressed by the person you are and not by the clothes you wear or the car you drive. When you die people only remember persons that have inspired or changed something, not people that have only followed.

Our modern economy is based on consumption, what do you think would happen if people really stopped buying stuff they don’t need?
I cannot easily answer this question, since the whole economic system would change. Perhaps to a system in which you only produce what you really need and therefore don’t have to exploit other persons, countries or nature. This also demands a complete different approach of politics. It would bring a heavy upheavel and I haven’t got the vaguest idea of the consequences.

You recently adopted a godchild in Nicaragua. How did you come with this idea? You also are collecting money for him at your shows, how are the reactions to that?
We were talking about what we could do, to do something positive apart from writing lyrics to make people think. So we were discussing many things and might even do more in the future once we have more time. But our first step is to support a child and his family in Nicaragua. We transfer money every month mostly from our bandmoney (although we are damn broke again) and from the donations. We also buy stuff and send it over, like pencils and little things. For these things we take the money mostly out of the donations from shows. The postage is really expensive, too. Everything has to be shipped to the organisation first and then you also have to put money in stamps inside the box so that they can cover the costs for shipping to Nicaragua. For example last time we sent stuff for like 15 euros and payed almost 15 euros for postage. Actually it is not that much, but it is a start and there might be people following our example and therefore it is worth it. Like I said we might even make something bigger out of this once we have enough time… we’ll see. So far people have been positive about it and we always collect a few euros at shows. We also don’t play that much anymore so we cannot collect often. Last weekend we got like 13 euros as donations and we take 13 euros out of our bandmoney. So we usually have a little left over to buy send stuff over. We are currently waiting for the second letter from Edwin (our godchild) and then send another package down there.
Like I said… we are not expecting to change the world with this. We just want to do something positive with our band and not only sing about change but make an effort and do something even if only this little.

Thank you very much, do you have any last words, any recommendations, reading list etc?
Thank you for the interview. It shows that people are still interested in the ideas behind lyrics and hardcore as a movement with substance and not just fashion.
I could recommend a few HC bands but that doesn’t really fit the interview. I don’t really read a lot lately. I have always been impressed by Immanuel Kants “Categorical Imperative”. I tend to inform myself through the radio a lot and magazines. Just keep ears and eyes open and be interested in what happens around you. You don’t have to read Adorno and Horkheimer to feel being enlightened, haha.