A small war has broken out between the now-defunct punk band Scattergun and the label Weird System. The reason for this is the sampler "Punk Rock BRD 2" released by Weird System, which also includes the song "Sick Society" by Scattergun. This song was cut down to exclude the entire second verse. As a result, the band, due to many communication difficulties beforehand, lost their temper and wrote a circular letter expressing their perspective on the matter. Matthias from Real Deal Records also chimed in, sharing some bad experiences related to this sampler. The addressed Weird System creator Niknam did not want to let this go unchallenged, so he eventually published his opinion on the topic. Below are all three statements.
Circular Letter from Scattergun
A WEIRD SYSTEM IN A SICK SOCIETY
How callous can one be to work with anti-social major methods and still call oneself an independent punk rock label?
We are talking about WEIRD SYSTEM, creator Niknam, who has already rubbed some people the wrong way. Most recently, a small, incredible story regarding the 3 CD box "Punk Rock BRD 2". The first contact between Niknam and Scattergun was on 5.8.04 due to an email from Nasty Vinyl, in which they informed us that we should contact Weird System regarding the song release on the CD box. His first suggestion was "Nice Boys". However, since this is a cover song and we naturally wanted to use one of our own, we said no. He claimed that Nasty Vinyl had given their approval for that, which raised our suspicions. So we immediately called N.V., who confirmed that this was not the case at all. They only said it needed to be discussed with the band. Second (telephone) attempt: song "Girl like me", which contributed to general amusement, our second of the 3 cover songs. When asked if we had only made cover songs, it was only worth mentioning that it shouldn't be too hard to choose one "original" from 5 released records (especially since the covers are indicated as such on the records). But it seemed none of them really appealed to him. This raises the question of why he even asked us in the first place.
Long story short: Basically, he was only interested in the photo for the front cover! His main interest lay in photos; the music was secondary. When he really struggled to choose another song, we said:
"Let’s just drop the whole thing, No song - No photo." Which would have been fine, but the following arguments revealed a bit of what was going on in his head. He claimed that on Punk Rock BRD 1 there were also people on the cover who were not musically represented, and then there was the "female quota", where there are so few "known" women in punk rock, blah blah.... One can only say that this attitude: "Good enough as a pin-up, but completely uninteresting in terms of what she does musically" leaves much to be desired. Then he should just slap Minnie Mouse on the front, which we also suggested to him!
The first contact was on 5.8.04. The deadline for advertising, for example, for Pastic Bomb was 1.8.04, and even though, as we learned, it was postponed by a few days, it is clear that he had the advertisement published in this issue 48 long before he even asked us. Even if it is not 100% identical artwork, it is clear that a photo of Patti is on the front and Scattergun is mentioned by name - without consultation.
After a long back and forth, and ultimately a contract between him and Nasty Vinyl, he decided on "Sick Society". Well, we were curious to see if we were even on it. We are - but to top off the whole mockery - the second verse of the song is completely missing!!!!!! How can he dare to simply shorten the song? As it literally states in the contract: "In the version from the Sick Society LP 2001" it should have been. This song does not exist as it is on the CD box!!! It cannot be an oversight, as it was never recorded that way. He must have intentionally shortened it, which is outrageous. He probably expected more compliant reactions from us. On 18.1 `04 we reached him by phone for a statement. When asked what this was about, Niknam tried to excuse himself, saying he knew nothing about it and that there must have been a mistake during mastering. During mastering!!!!? To put it simply, during mastering, among other things, the tracks are adjusted for volume, compressed, and thus sonically enhanced. A part of a song missing in the middle of a song can happen during studio recording or mixing, but never during mastering! To make it less noticeable, they also let the lyrics in the booklet disappear. Apparently, the printing company is to blame for that. This Niknam claims to have known nothing about??? Who paid the studio guy who shortened the song by about 1 minute? A conspiracy between the mastering technician and the printing company?? Also, the contact addresses mentioned in the preface are only with the agreement of the bands, just like the song is now for nothing, as the Scattergun homepage no longer exists.
We expect from people who claim to be an independent punk rock label an honest approach with the involved bands and employees - clear statements and not such questionable behaviors. In this sense, those who complain about MTV, which places more value on sellable optics than on musical and lyrical content, should first clean in front of their own door!!! How funny that the refrain of our song goes: "All I wanna do, is to low the system up for you and me" Who would have thought...
SO PUNX,
Don’t let yourselves be fooled
SCATTERGUN
Statement from Matthias (Real Deal)
An Addition
For the Berlin punk rock sampler from Weird System, two friends of mine were asked to contribute some materials from that time. When it’s for a good cause, we are happy to help. My friends Frank and Christian wrote a text for which a small fee was even promised. They also helped with information such as tapes, posters, flyers, and tickets from that time. I sent a sold-out single to Weird System in Hamburg. Of course, everything was supposed to be returned. A free copy of the sampler should naturally go to us. Everything went quickly towards Hamburg. They were also constantly ready to provide more information over the phone, sometimes daily. When the sampler was finished, suddenly there was radio silence.
No one could be reached at Weird System, they kept postponing, etc. It was already sad that we did not receive a copy of the sampler, not to mention a fee for the article. This might have been because the text was changed without consultation! Annoying, but the originals we contributed to the success of the sampler were also not returned! So we called Weird System every week and ... nothing happened. When we finally considered a date to pick up our stuff in Hamburg after months of waiting, our things were returned after all. After some back and forth, there were then two free copies of the sampler; by the way, very nice: just enough for three. Yes, I won’t say anything more about the promised fee. Just this much: Always be careful with whom you work together.
Because as if it had not always been suspected:
The system is sick!
Matthias c/o Real Deal Records
Statement from Niknam (Weird System)
Topic: Frank Scattergun vs. Weird System
I find the ritual of public accusations and counter-statements a rather juvenile letter-to-the-editor level game. Usually, my desire to participate in this is below zero. However, the accusations made by Frank against Weird System are such strong stuff that I must respond. I do not wish to engage, right from the start, in the super-aggressive tone used by Frank.
To the point: Frank's accusations are mostly simply false or based on misunderstandings on his part. This can happen, after all, the good Frank did not take the trouble to exchange even a word or a line with me in his entire life before he released his statement. I think most people would be bored to hear my rebuttal to each of his points. For those interested: at http://www.weirdsystem.de I will address all accusations in detail.
In one point, Frank is right: 'Sick Society' was released in a shortened version on the 'Punk Rock BRD' Vol.2 sampler, and without consultation with Scattergun. The shortening happened without my knowledge and without my instruction in the studio. It was 'well-intentioned' by the studio guy, and I really don’t see it as the end of the world. But I want to make it clear that the action is not acceptable without the band's consent. And regardless of whether I knew about it, the record was released on Weird System. So I stand by it. I was first made aware of the shortening on January 18 through a call from Patti Pattex. Subsequently, I wrote her a letter on January 25 - the full text is also available at http://www.weirdsystem.de - and offered to correct the case and instead release the long version. Unfortunately, I never received a response. Instead, I learned on February 8 (from a third party) that Frank had sent his text out to a wide distribution on the same day. I called Frank on 09.02, by the way, the first time we had anything to do with each other - mind you: the day after his circular letter. He admitted to having read my letter before he sent out his accusations without any reaction to it. Frank promised to at least send me his distribution list so that I could present my point of view. I am still waiting.
Conclusion: Frank's criticism is valid in one important point. The rest is unfortunately largely nonsense. The way he goes about his broadside is, however, only one thing: self-important, unfair, and extremely incorrect. Otherwise, I have no interest in a big war with him and Scattergun. The shortened version on the sampler will be replaced in the future. The matter is thus resolved for me.
Mansur Niknam - WS R&R continues.
