1. Hi. First question: tell us about the history of the band, who, where and when founded DSD?
Hi! Everything happened pretty randomly. One evening I drank some beer and my friend suggested going to a rehersal of a reggae band. So we went there and I was pretty amazed when I saw only two guys – drummer Zayets and guitarist Sasha - who were actually playing melodic hardcore. At first I was supposed to play bass but later ended up playing 2nd guitar. Later we found another bassist – Boroda and Danik and Natasha on vocals (Natasha and Sasha are married). Later Boroda went into the army and we had to find another bassist – Mitya (who played in a lot of bands before - Dissent, Partija, Skullbreaker and Fuck It All where he’s still playing to this day). Not so long ago we changed our drummer to Kolobok (played in Dissent, Pull Out An Eye, Jiheart).
2. Where did your name Devil Shoots Devil come from? Was it the Stretch Armstrong song or something else?
Yes that’s where the name came from. But not just because it’s a good song but also because it’s a nice name for a band with sort of a sense to it.
3. DSD discography?
For now it’s a split CD with our Swedish friends Set My Path put out by Old School Kids records.
4. What do you think about Old School Kids? Would you like to put out a record on some other label abroad?
We think OSK is a very good label. We already have our record put out in New Zealand and Malaysia! If you want to put our record out in your country – no problem.
5. All of the songs from the CD are downloadable from the internet. What do you think about copy rights? Do you approve of people using Soulseek and Emule?
Fuck copyright. Download and enjoy. Most of our songs are downloaded from Soulseek actually. All our 10 songs you could find on this link.
http://www.375crew.org/component/option,com_files/path,+devil_shoots_devil/
6. Tell us about your shows. Where did you play, what where the things you remembered most?
.Belarus,Russia,Ukraine,Lithuania,Poland,Slovakija.Well one of my favourite shows was one of our last shows in Lithuania together with Children of Fall. That show was great. Also the shows in Moscow were very good. I remember this one time during our show in Moscow when Natasha announced our new song ‘Fuck Macho Pogo!’ this one guy cried out with amazement ‘What do you mean fuck macho pogo?!’
7. Tell us about how you never made it to Poland twice.
Oh, right. The first time we were supposed to go to Poland was on this mini-tour together with Wasted. We were driving a van and Polish border control told us that we should have at least $100 for each person in the van. We put all of our money together and it turned out we had only $80. Although we begged them to let us through, they didn’t. So we decided that some of us will have to hitch-hike our way through the border. So me, Danik and Mitya were the ones that would do it. I stopped a car for Danik and Mitya and soon was lucky enough to get a car for myself. The guys that were driving a car bought more alcohol because now that I was in the car they could buy alcohol for one more person (there are strict regulations about alcohol transportation). And the guys gave me free vodka too! That was probably the only good thing that happened that day. I asked the driver to show $100 for me and I got through but later I received a call saying that Danik and Mitya didn’t make it through. So we all met up together again and tried to drive through a different border control point. No luck.
A few months later we were supposed to have some shows in Poland together with Provoked. This time we were prepared – each of us had $100 in our pockets. Some of us drove through Grodno and our bassist together with our drummer – through Brest. But they got put into a cell for illegal immigrants on the Polish border for 8 hours and they annulated their visas only because they didn’t have an invitation for the show.
So this time (3rd time) we are REALLY prepared. We will have the money, an invitation (thanks to Marek), I even gave a call to the polish council in Minsk. ‘Fuck the Borders’ is sort of a personal song but it certainly is appropriate in situations like these. Borders counteract love, friendship and revolution.
8. And now a question we ask each and every Belarus band – how’s it like to live in the last totalitarian country in Europe? From what we hear it’s shit. Tell us how it looks from your point of view.
Actually, every country has it’s own Lukashenko. In one of the countries he has more power in others he’s not that powerful. Our “Luka” is totally fucked up. It’s fucked up living in here not only because it’s almost impossible to go abroad but also because we lack social contacts, we are being watched we can’t say what we want to. And those who aren’t satisfied with the way things are often disappear. Lukashenko actually put out a new decree not so long ago. It says that it you say or write something bad about him and his government you can go to jail for up to 2 years. So you can use this interview to get us into jail =D
9. There are rumors in Poland that Polish people in Belarus are oppressed (especially the Polish Union). Is this true or just some anti-polish propaganda?
I’m not sure about this one. It’s sort of really blown out of proportions by mass media. What I heard is that one Polish journalist wasn’t allowed into the country twice. But anti-polish propaganda is total bullshit, it’s impossible to plant hate between 2 neighboring nations.
10. Tell us a little about the elections in Belarus. Is there a way out of the situation you are in right now? Is there a possibility that Lukashenko is going to lose his power?
Hoping that we’ll get rid of Lukashenko after the elections is a pretty hopeless and stupid thing to do. You’ll see, the official statistics will say that he gets about 60-80% of the votes. It’s obvious that there will be cheating involved but for the most part the people of Belarus will vote for this bastard. We aren’t Ukraine, we have a different mentality. It probably sounds scary but we’ll have to wait another 10-20 years until the USSR generation is dead, maybe then something will begin to change. Although the young generation doesn’t look very promising either.
11. The scene in Belarus is developing quickly. Especially since Hate to State. What Belarus bands would you say are the best right now?
There’s a lot of positive things going on right now, the scene is definitely getting bigger. But of course there’s a lot of shit here and there too. You know like more fashion, more indifference toward politics, less unity and so on. There are a lot of good bands right now – Aorta (metal-hardcore), Pull Out An Eye(thrash-punk), Appleshout (fast punk), Partija (punk rock), Fuck It All(NY hc),Broken days(p/hc)and lots of others. You can find out more about this bands at the Belarus DIY punk/hc site www.375cre.org.
12. What about DIY shows in Belarus?
There are more shows, more people, more bands coming from abroad. The only problem is the shitty sound quality most of the times.
13. Were there any squatting attempts in Belarus?
Yes, I remember there was this one time but after about an hour the cops came. About a year ago there were people who collected signatures to try to get an abandoned building but that didn’t go through either. It’s pretty unreal to do something like that here.
14. We heard that Russians are having problems with Neo-Nazis. What’s the situation in Belarus?
Lately Nazis are getting into football hooliganism. Anti-fascists are now grown up men and the fights are more serious right now. Most of the times Nazis get what they deserve.
15. Okay, let’s relax a little. Who’s the most fashionable one of the band (Goofy has to know this one).
Well if you judge by my photos on myspace, I’d say it’s me =D But actually I’m a freak and a punk and I’m pretty sure everyone else will get a chance to see that!
16. Last words.
Thanks! Wet kisses and we’ll see ya!
GUFAZI
DSD.375crew.org
