German Hardcore – An Interview with Family Man

It is interesting finding out what peeps on the other side of the world are doing in regards to keeping shit real, releasing music heaps DIY and attending all underground events to see bands that we have never heard of. I thought I would catch up with a dude from a German DIY hardcore outfit called Family Man to speak with their main dude, founder, writer etc Mr Henry Crudos.

Tell us about the band, How long have you guys been around?
We formed around the end of 2005 when I came back from Glasgow, my head full of nonsense and later BLACK FLAG. At the time (up in the UK at least) the latest fad was fastcore/thrashcore, and I couldn't think of any band that played more rocking/slower/heavy hardcore. So that's what we went for, pretty much straight after the recipe at the beginning but developing our own style before soon. The only band I've ever seen that were halfway comparable to what we do was DEPRESSIVE STATE from Saxonia, sadly split-up now. Lyrics are about everything I take an interest in, some political stuff, some societal things, some fingers-giving, little nonsense. Our 2nd album (still hot) was semi-concept cos I wrote a lot of lyrics about religion, its institutions and philosophies for that. Apart from that we try to tour as much as we can. Getting harder with more and more kids between band members, but we cope nicely, methinks.

What is the best thing about the German DIY punk scene?
The best thing is that there's a well-developed network of DIY bands/promoters/venues around, so it's really easy to play gigs in Germany. Usually, the standard treatment you get as a band in these venues is excellent as well: free bevvy, sleeping places, petrol money, food. There have been a considerable number of venues closing down/squats being evicted though, and that's shit. The worst thing about the German DIY scene is that sometimes it feels really stale, people are over-saturated and unwilling to contribute. Plus, there are few really original bands around, so sometimes things get a bit boring.

Who is Germany's best Grindcore band and why?
My grindcore horizon ends beyond NAPALM DEATH and TERRORIZER. Well, okay, PIG DESTROYER, and a few more on the bill as well. I wouldn't be able to tell. I hear that CYNESS are really good (they're nice laddies anyway), but I wouldn't be able to judge.

Where do German DIY bands look to for their influences?
Haha, definitely the past rather than the future, sadly. You get some good and loads more bad copies, and some merely influenced bands in every imaginable "style" of music, from d-beat to power violence to old school hardcore to doom to whathaveyou. Regionally, the usual suspects as well: US and Scandinavia mainly, I'd say, a little Brit stuff as well, but mostly in the wrong vein. I'd like to see more proper COCK SPARRER-y Oi! bands with good lyrics and attitude, and many more SCATHA, QUARANTINE or SCUNNERED rip-offs, please!

What do you find to be a necessity to bring along when touring?
1 long novel, 1 non-fiction book preferrably of the rock biography type, a small pillow, a toothbrush. The rest is freestyle.

Can you tell us a bit about your label? They seem fairly established?
Our label is BEHIND THE SCENES RECS from Berlin really, which is run by our friend Loewe. He's released both our albums on vinyl and put a lot of trust in us when we just got together. Not that he has ever regretted it, haha. NIKT NIC NIE WIE have just released our two albums on one CD. They're one of the longest-running DIY labels in Poland and have just celebrated their 20th anniversary. They released tons of really cool bands in Poland, mostly on tape. So, at least on paper, we're now labelmates with the likes of HERESY, MDC, SEDITION, LOS CRUDOS, UNHINGED, HIS HERO IS GONE, CRASS, SUBHUMANS, POST REGIMENT, HARUM SCARUM, BIALA GORACKA. How cool is that? They also release some of the best Polish punk bands of today, such as THE FIGHT, GOVERNMENT FLU, KNIFE IN THE LEG and NEXT VICTIM. Michal is a cool chap, and again he put some trust in us by releasing this thing, which we're very happy about. We've played in Poland quite a bit and plan to go back again this year and many times to come cos we love the Polish punks.

Is punk dead?
Sure is, thank fuck we're corpse-grinding cannibals!

For more info go to: http://www.family-man.org/

Family Man
Live in Berlin