VANJA - Vokal She finished art school but she hates art. She also hates everybody who's trying to be cool. The only things she really likes are music (garage punk, kraut, ragga) and animals.
BRANCA - Bas She finished the music theory for classical Mars music, but she worked as baby-sitter and also in pizzeria. When she came to Earth, she had to be in prison for 30 days for no rhyme or reason. Sometimes it is worse to be an alien then to be a criminal. She likes mod and power pop music.
BRAINDEAD - Ritam He used to play guitar, but since Arthur (programing and keyboards) left the band he took his job. Educated but he doesn't know anything, 'cos he always cheated on exams. He likes music a lot, jungle, garage punk, but also bhangra and reggae.
SAICOPAT - Gitara Alien invasion on planet Earth is his greatest wish.
===================================== Rattle and Rattled. Supersonic Soundsystem shakin' the brain with electrodefective beatbox rhythms. Sputtering keyboards set off the ancient knee-jerk reactions but in a galaxy where guitars blare chainsaw sounds in what is suppose to be silences know can hear the soapbox yammering. Falling off radar and crashing to earth Nazis From Mars Galactic Priestess Vanya scours the terra firma for amusement amid the disorder.
Me: What is 'Techno Punk'? Vanya: If you don't like techno there is punk, if you don't like punk there is techno, if you don't like any of these two - you may like techno punk.
Me: Why don't Nazis From Mars like being considered a new wave band? Vanya: Because we are not new wave band. i don't know why, but only in US they call us new wave. it seems that everything what's punk and has keyboard (not 60s cheesy sound) is considered new wave over there. I think that musically we don't have much in common with new wave, but that doesn't mean that we don't like it. Me: I think it's the sense of melody...NFM do have some poppy hooks but there's those twisted breakbeats...What do you think of when someone say NEW WAVE? Vanya: I think our melody has roots more in 60s beat and pop and 77 punk and our breakbeats are 90s and not 80s. New wave - Devo, Au Pairs, Gang of Four, XTC etc. Me: Newer American bands like the Lost Sounds and Le Shok get considered new wave. Have you heard much of the "New Wave of New Wave"? What do you think about it? Vanya: Lost Sounds are great, but I really don't like Le Shok. I also like A Frames, but I must admit I didn't hear much of nu wave. Still all these bands sound different from Nazis From Mars. Me: There's a definite division between the techno and punk crowd. I was a little apprehensive about checking out your band at first. How do people react your sound and style? Vanya: They hate it or they love it. There are really different kind of people who like our stuff - from garage punk crowd to punks, also underground techno and digital noise freaks, but even people who like hardcore, death metal or indie pop. I guess everybody finds something in our music cos we mix lot of different things. Me: You're not involved in the trendy aspects of techno, are you? The whole 'Let's pop some E (by the way I tried some E recently hadn't done it ten years. Somewhere, the formula they are use today is ratty) and rave til dawn' thing? Vanya: We are not really trendy techno or trendy anything else. We just like to irritate all of them. I never tried any E and i'm not planing to - don't like chemicals. I'm a beer drinker and that doesn't fit in trendy aspects of techno. I was few times at 'rave till dawn' parties - but that was in the time of hardcore house (or gabber how we called it here) and jungle. Now we play very often at trash, digital noise, electro punk festivals. there you get to see and hear all kind of weird stuff. Last time we played with Astma Boys (among others). It's really great band who mix 80s disco and garage trash punk. Me: Smashin' Transistors "Mandatory Question Time"...Beers! What brands? Lager or Ale? Pilsner or Dark? Vanya: The best beer i ever drunk was Krusevice - Czech beer. It has that strong taste that stays in your mouth for hours. I like dark bitter beer with strong taste. don't like pilsner at all - I'll rather drink water than Heiniken.
Me: Nazis From Mars is obliviously an outrageous name, to me it sounds like a 60's acid horror biker flick, but what kind of problems has it caused the band? Vanya: Well it caused us problems here in holland only. Some people here don't seem to get it but mostly these kind of people also give us complains about what we play like - you can't combine techno and punk. It's just bunch of close minded hippies - the problem is that some of them are club owners Me: Yeah! Hippies. What should be done with them? Any spaceage decimations you'd like to do? Vanya: They run too many things - that's why everything is wrong. **** the hippies. Yeah, destroy the human race. Me: Didn't you get some problems from a pressing plant? What was the story with that? Vanya: They asked us to send signed papers saying we are no nazi band and our band and label don't support nazis. We were ****ed off 'cos releasing of LP was a bit delayed because of all that but at the end it all went good. I wish we could send signed papers to clubs and play there but they don't ask for it.
Me: Is 'Why Don't You Like Us' a fair assessment of what the band deals with? Is that riff intentionally stolen from 'Smoke On The Water?' Vanya: I guess we were ****ed of by reactions of arrogant label ****s who want nothing but copy of some other band. Not to mention that putting techno and punk together is for them the worst thing you can do - you can't mix different styles. Yeah, Braindead came with idea to use 'Smoke On The Water' and 'No Limits' (2 Unlimited) riffs - they fit perfectly together. Me: What keyboards do the band use? There's some nasty analogue goin' on!! Vanya: We have some cheap analogue synth (Opera Seal) who sometimes doesn't work. It was the cheapest one we could find. Me: Is the use of analogue a 'backlash' thing? A revolt against the sterile? Vanya: I think you have a bit wrong picture about analogue and digital. Most of techno, house ... stuff is done on analogue equipment and then sampled and processed in computer but source of sound is always analogue synth. We don't really care about analog and digital as long as we can get the sound we want we'll use anything. Me: I understand that but with digital there a sterility...Transistors vs. tubes type thing. You use drum machines AND electric guitars. Also people try to draw parallels to techno being the "modern" punk with it's "underground" appeal but both fight for space on the mall shelves. NFM make noise... Vanya: I told you already I don't really care about analogue or digital as long as I like the music. If somebody has good songs, ideas and sound - it can be all digital - I don't care. For me punk is not music - punk is attitude so if some techno bands have punk attitude - then they can be punks, but there are not many. For me the closest to punk attitude was gabber and early jungle (no ****ty inteligente drum and bass)
Me: Is a baseball bat a good tool for destruction? Vanya: I don't know - never held one in my hands. maybe chainsaw or laser gun! Me: How about a guitar? Vanya: I think you'll destroy guitar before you destroy anything with it. Why are you so destructive? Me: Punk Rock...not techno! You've to me mentioned before that you weren't originally from Holland. Where were you born Vanya: Mars City, Planet Mars. Me: How did you end up in Holland? Vanya: Our ufo crashed here. Me: You aren't responsible for cattle mutilations or anything are you? Vanya: Ask sick farmers and meat industry about that. i'm vegetarian. Me: Do you think that cable and satellite television is taking too strong a role in Americanizing the world and diluting people's culture? Vanya: No. Rock'n'Roll and Hollywood already did it.
Me: What's the equivalent of an average guest of the JerrySpringer or Jenny Jones where you live? Vanya: I don't watch Jerry Springer - my ears hurt from all that peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeps. Jenny is not very popular over here. We have different kind of programs here. People are obsessed with sex here in Holland - so you get all kinds of sex freaks on tv or you have stupid reality soaps like Big Brother - that's the most stupid thing ever. Me: A question about "TV Love Song"Has your TV really ever blown up? Vanya: Yes - don't use ****ing stand by. Now I always plug it out after watching. Me: I broke the needle on my turntable once and it took me two weeks to get it fixed. Would that be considered a similar experience? Vanya: How did you manage to do that? I do have to change needles too often so i always have few in reserve. The only problem is that I don't always throw the old ones - so sometimes I don't know which are new and which are old - ha ha ha. If the music on record is too soft - use old needle and you'll get nice trashy sound - ha ha ha. Me: What record have you listened to today? Vanya: Sell Outs, Borghesia, London Beats, Hearts Of Stone, The U.N.I.V.E.R.S.A.L., Can Me: What's the worst song that you have been subjected to listen to in the past couple of weeks? Vanya: New hit from U2
Vanya also does a kool zine thang called NO BRAINS and runs a label called ASTRAL ANARCHY!! ================================================== uzeto sa: http://smashintransistors.homestead.com/front.html
