Backstreet Battalion is a online zine that is going strong for years now. Hundreds of reords got reviewed on there and dozens of bands got interviewed so there's pretty much a good read everytime you head over to their website http://www.backstreetbattalion.com! Altough from the Czech Republic everything is translated to English as well. This is part of a back to back interview where I interviewed Peddy from Backstreet Battalion and he interviewed me for his website. Another reason to check it out!
Hi, thanks for doing this interview! How are you?
Hi thanks, little bit in stress, but OK :).
Can you first of all introduce yourself to our readers, hobbies, bands, daily life etc…?
Ok, I am Peddy, 30 years old, I used to sing in band Disdainful which released two CD´s (Hated, Proud and Disdainful and The Real Heroes) and played bass in Engine (we have no official release just video made by ourselves - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-i2kPNZ3zc). Nowadays I play bass in The Riot which will release EP next year. My hobbies are music, sport, military history, trips, travelling, etc…
First of all I got to ask you, how does it feel as a interviewer to be interviewed? Ever been interviewed before for other zines or about other subjects?
Haha well I like to make interviews from both sides – question and also answers. I did one interview like that for Real Enemy zine from Slovakia (cheers to Picko).
You run the zine Backstreet Battalion, did you already wrote, or had, other zines prior to Backstreet Battalion?
I am still writing reports from gigs to some other zines (again Real Enemy) and I used to write reviews for zines like Boots and Braces or Bulldog.
Can you give us a brief history of your webzine?
I found the zine in 2006 and since that time I run it with no breaks. Some people who helped are running their own zines or just leave the scene…some people are still helping me.
What was your main reason to start this magazine? What message did you want to send out with it?
The main reason was that fact that I want people to know new breed and less known bands so I started the page (the old one can be found on back.backstreetbattalion.com). I did not want some kind of web with well known stuff like history of skins, overview of bands from 80´s, etc… I always like more DIY attitude and underground spirit so I want people to know more about this kind of bands and I want to support my friends distribution and label 4Subculture by writing reviews for him and I hope that some people buying the musical stuff due to my reviews (cheers to Phil from England).
Do you think you have succeed in sending out that message?
I think yes, the web is quite well known in Czech Republic and abroad (I hope) and people are reading the page.
Over the past years you did tons of interviews, what was the most fun, or best, interview you have ever done? Please explain.
The most funny interview was with The Haggis from Norway, really funny stuff. Good interview (and well known by PC stuff) is with Balefire which ended sadly with trouble for Infa Riot gigs. I like the interview when band says something more about them not just simple answers like yes/no/don´t know…
Obviously you can’t interview every band in the world… but is there a band you’d still like to interview you haven’t had the change to yet?
Well I will like to do an interview with Ultima Thule (they did not respond) and Serbian band Ritam Nereda which I really like. Maybe Close Shave after their reunion.
Now something about reviews, I guess you also get promotional material send to you. What band, that you never heard of before, surprised you in such a positive after receiving their promo?
Well I am not much into HC stuff but I like Coldside and Hard Resistance which Wouter sent me. I also like Dead End Street from Italy which was quite good surprise for me, Gli Ultimi from Italy with their album Storia da un posto qualunque, Thumbskrew from Spain or SIStema from Portugal. This band was quite unknown for me and I really like their sound
This year, 2013, you reviewed almost 100 records for your website. What’s in your opinion the top 5 records of this year?
So without sequence – Badlands – Alexandrian Age, Marching Orders – Living Proof, The London Diehards/East End Badoes/Johnny Asbo – Live Bad and Die Hard, Plan of Attack – Stick to Your Guns and re-release of Strong Style album on LP by Shout Proud Records.
And what were the worst?
Well it´s up to personal taste of anybody, so I won´t answer if you don´t mind.
In your interviews you always ask what people, or bands, know about your country the Czech Republic. What DO we need to know about your country? Labels, bands, etc…!
Haha Czech Republic is really small country but there are many things to see (nice historical cities, beautiful countryside – moutains, forests, many historical castles and chateaus and also military monuments). This is from the tourist point of view. From skinhead point of view there are bands like Pilsner Oiquell, Operace Artaban, Neparkovat Vjezd, Crossczech, 3:2 pro MH, Saint and Sinners (which plays mostly abroad) or The Riot and great streetpunk band Normals?! There are also some HC bands like Streetmachine, Everyday Hate, Primitive Core, etc…but I am not much into HC stuff so I don´t know much about any other bands. Just check youtube (for official clips or just stuff upload by fans) or web for more information about them. There are also some shops in bigger cities – Bulldog Shop in Prague, Hardset Shop in Brno, Tattoo Rock Shop in Pilsen etc which are run by skinheads and you can buy clothes and music there. Most active record label is 4Subculture Recorrds which is oriented on bands from abroad, other labels oriented more on Czech/Slovak scene are Bulldog Empire Records or Rabiat Records (run by owner of Hardset Shop in Brno). There are people who organize the gigs (again I will speak about DIY scene which I follow) and they are from above mentioned bands or friends around them (Kamil from Pardubice, UTG and Lions Roar Crew which organize gigs in Prague and Vyskov, Kabanos from Brno and his Streetkids Party, Duchin from Budweis, Míša from Pilsen, etc…. sorry to all I didn´t mention…) and they are quite good at it I think (this year was quite good for example). There is also good connection to scene from Slovakia and bands like Ani Krok Spat or zine like Real Enemy….
Okay that’s it! If there’s anything you would like to add, feel free to do so!
Well thank you for the interview, I will send my questions to you in couple of days…Keep the faith and if you want something just write on guestbook or on redakce@backstreetbattalion.com.
