1. Recently, your album "Dat soll Punkrock sein?"
was released. What do you want to convey with the album title? Is it related to your frustration with how norms and laws are established in the scene, which some can't even live up to? Does a certain type of know-it-all in the scene annoy you?
Marcel: To be honest, the song is about our old singer, who was kicked out of the band almost two years ago. There was a kind of dictatorship, with the motto: Your riffs and lyrics are not punk rock. I’ll show you how it works. But it’s of course interesting to read and hear how listeners interpret and understand our lyrics. And that’s what the lyrics are ultimately for. To get back to your thesis: Of course. You get looked at strangely if you don’t have a mohawk, a shaved head, or whatever. For me, punk always means doing your own thing. Period.
2. The themes on your current album are quite varied. It’s about the scene, parallels are drawn between a few know-it-alls and Sarrazin and Guttenberg, you also take aim at those who think they can define themselves only by their mohawk (“We understood punk”) and you don’t shy away from your connection to the Ruhr area and “Rot-Weiss Oberhausen”. How did the selection of songs come about? Who writes your lyrics and who does the music?
Marcel: Daniel and I compose and write lyrics at home and first gather ideas. Then we sit down together and see what can be used or not. The song is then "presented" in the rehearsal room and arranged together as a band. It all works much better than before. With the lyrics, it’s pretty much the same as always. You experience something, you see things that you deal with, or you just write a bit of nonsense. And that’s what makes the mix.
3. You now have your guitarist as a second singer, who can really sing, as heard on the new record. Was he forced to the microphone or did he voluntarily start singing with you? How did that come about?
Marcel: He didn’t have to be forced ;-) At EK77, we’ve always had a lot of choir singing, which means we’ve always sung a lot together. And when Böhle didn’t come to rehearsals in the last months before the split, we had already divided the vocals back then. So the transition was very smooth and didn’t cause us any problems.
4. Did you draw inspiration from other bands for the album, and were there any special, personal, or current events that influenced the lyrics? What does Emscherkurve 77 listen to privately, mostly punk rock or do you expand your horizons?
Marcel: Privately, I actually listen to everything I like. That ranges from metal to punk and hardcore. I’m not limited at all, meaning I have no problem listening to pop or a chart song as long as the melody touches me. And that’s what counts for me. The song has to move or inspire me. That’s where I draw my inspiration for new ideas at EK77. I think the others feel the same way.
5. The album also features a punk rock version of "Keine Lieder gegen Nazis", which most of your listeners already know from you. You sing that one should better trade their microphone for a club and you don’t think exaggerated phrase-mongering in punk is necessary. I also believe that one doesn’t have to sing about the topic of “Nazis” in every song, as it should be a given for every punk rocker to actively oppose it. But for some teenagers, a typical “anti-Nazi song” can often be the spark for their further life path! How do you actively oppose the right?
Spiller: Of course, you can sing about many things, but if you don’t also stand up and intervene or follow through with actions, nothing will change. Maybe one should think about that when they loudly chant "Nazis raus" at some concert but then prefer to look away on the way home when people are attacked. Or when as a band, you’d rather secure your amplifiers while others have to fight with the Nazis storming their stage, like in the case of a well-known band from Plauen in Hamburg a few years ago.
6. Your lyrics also give the impression that they are drawn from life, or you can somehow hear that you have experienced something. What’s the deal with "Nicht wie Sie"? Do you think hypocritical idiots who sweet-talk you in front and stab you in the back are a significant part of our scene?
Marcel: You hit the nail on the head. Such people are not only found in the scene. You find them at your job, in stores, and who knows where else.
7. Is it even possible that there is no mistrust in the scene, especially when the specter of right-wing openness looms and many bands and promoters often distrust each other because they think that band XY or person XY has connections to the right scene? You often don’t even know what to believe anymore. What do you think about that?
Spiller: There’s a lot of talk and writing about that, and it’s measured with double standards. What one band can do, another may not. I’ve rarely seen such a hypocritical witch hunt as in recent years. Correct bands are pushed into a corner over trivial matters, while the handful of supposedly politically correct bands can step into one faux pas after another without it being mentioned anywhere. Of course, I think it’s very important to keep your eyes open, and especially here in the Ruhr area, we were among the first to put some of these idiots in their place or to draw attention to them for the first time. But you can also overdo it and should, in case of doubt, do your own research and not just believe everything that a small group of desk jockeys spreads as the only and true truth online. Thinking for yourself may be more exhausting, but most of the time you end up being smarter than if you leave it to others!!
8. What are your experiences regarding such accusations? Didn’t Spiller have problems with various rumors? Is it difficult to get rid of a bad reputation once you have it? Shouldn’t every dropout get a second chance? Is it often due to envy that so much is said?
Spiller: The majority of these accusations are driven by envy, as seen in the case of Stomper 98. When they were still unknown, no one cared, and now that they are at the top of the German skinhead bands, suddenly everyone has something to say with some nonsense. Moreover, the band has often justified themselves for their missteps. But as mentioned above, what one can do, another may not. One only has to apologize half-heartedly once, while others are still held accountable years later, like in the case of Stomper 98. One law for them, another one for us? Of course, no one should be denied a second chance, but one should also carefully examine where the change of heart came from and whether it really happened, or if they are just putting on a facade because it’s simply more convenient than living with the consequences.
9. Where do you draw the line for gray areas, which band do you stop at? How do you feel about bands like Krawallbrüder and Frei.Wild? Do you view them critically?
Spiller: Deutschrock is the worst for me. But that’s just my personal opinion regarding the bad music that is offered there. Because of that, such bands are completely irrelevant to me, and I hope we never have to share a stage with them. Due to the Northern Italians, we canceled our participation in a festival years ago, where more and more punk bands play every year. But again, double standards are applied when it comes to mentioning these bands in various blogs. Everyone should know for themselves what they do and who they play with, but they shouldn’t complain later when "strange" audiences show up at their concerts, or when other bands no longer want to play with them.
10. One more question regarding "Dat soll Punkrock sein?": What are your views on high ticket prices and costs for records and CDs? At what point is it no longer punk rock for you, or should one perhaps also question the financial circumstances in which the band lives? Can one actually secure their existence from punk rock, and if so, where do you see the line crossed into commercialism?
Marcel: Of course, everything has become more expensive. If I look at my old tickets....;-) We always try to offer a fair price with EK77. Whether for CDs or merch. Many people don’t understand that we also have to pay for the production of the items and then want some things for free or at a reduced price. In my opinion, we are more than fair in this regard. And of course, we can’t live off the music. That always sounds so grand. Band XY can live off punk, but I wouldn’t want to know what their life looks like. Although we are not talking about Die Toten Hosen or anything like that here.
Thank you to the guys for the interview!
