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Interview: Damien of Fucked Up

People forget that there's a history of blood letting in rock - By Morgan Short, Mar 20, 09

Apart from calling my parents to come and pick me up when I got suspended from school from smoking, this was the scariest phone call I've ever had to make.

But it turned out the old rule is true: the dudes in the most brutal hardcore bands also turn out to be the nicest and most down-to-earth guys.

SmartShangahi called up the lead singer of Fucked UP, Damien Abraham, to talk about touring in China, getting a bill from MTV for 5000$, and Dungeons and Dragons.

Don't miss S.T.D. pres Fucked Up at LOgO Bar this Saturday. Here's the band blog.

You might also just want to Youtube them.

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Damien: It's amazing. It's definitely one of the most... uh, different places I've been. I had a lot of pre-concieved notions of what China was going to be like, and they¡¯ve all be shattered. I was kind of picturing it either like a Soviet-era, World War II-type place, or a super cosmopolitan place, like the China I saw on TV during the Olympics.

It's bizarre because it's a lot more "free" than I thought it would be but at the same time, there's a looming presence...


Damien: No, not yet. Luckily. Actually we've been really lucky so far. I think we're flying below the radar of the powers that be, but that being said, I hear all these stories from kids about punk bands having their shows canceled and not being allowed to open for other bands and things like that.

But knock on wood, we've been alright so far.


Damien: Well, we ate bees the other night.


Damien: Which was... well, the object when we go on tour is we try to find food we cannot find at home, and we've never ever been presented with the option of eating bees until last night. And they are delicious. Fried bees...


Damien: Yeah, definitely. The crowds here are smaller, but they're more enthusiastic. That's the thing I've kind of noticed. Definitely people are paying a lot of attention, back home you play a show and you look out into the crowd and you see the odd person texting, or staring off into space, but here everyone is watching so intently and the kids that are dancing are dancing their hearts out.

From what I understand, there's not a huge number of touring bands that come through. So people are appreciative when bands do come through. You know. So when we go back we'll tell all our friends that they've gotta try coming.

It is a truly once in a lifetime kind of experience. You know. Back home you end up playing the same places over and over again. I think we've played New York like 10 times last year. We've played London 14 times last year. And how many times can you find something exciting to look at and different.

It's unbelievable to come here and be truly out of our element.


Damien: Yeah, absolutely. Speak Chinese or Die. Carsick Cars. I was really ignorant about Chinese punk before I got here. I knew like the odd band that would make it into an article in Newsweek or something. But I was at a loss for Chinese music and Chinese punk music especially.

But it's been unbelievable. I've bought countless numbers of CDs and records. And one 7" by a band called No Name...


Damien: I really get excited by finding punk I've never heard of from places, so this has been an exciting experience.


Damien: Really?


Damien: Yeah, well. Maybe there's some bad bands. We've had Abe taking us around. He's our tourguide / tour manager / life support system. He's been playing me stuff and I think there are unbelievable bands here.

It's like there is a diversity that hasn't been separated into little scenes. It seems that generally people are open to different types of music.


Damien: You know maybe... once again I'm an outsider so maybe I'm not seeing the nuances on the way things are. But that would surprise me that he would say that because every band we've seen so far has been really good.

Maybe Joey is just forgetting that in the States, you have to sit through 15 terrible bands all the time. But every band we've played with has been really interesting, and I'm not just saying that as a token thing.

Like the band Speak Chinese Or Die are one of the best bands we've played with not only this year but ever.


Damien: I wouldn't say it's "educating"... maybe the impulse to take a colonialist attitude is there when bands come to China. I wouldn't say that though -- I think maybe we're exposing people to things they haven't heard, but we're getting exposure to things we haven't heard too. It's more like exposure than education.

The kids here do their own shows, put out their own records, and run their own spaces. And that's with a government that's not necessarily supportive...

If anything there is a reciprocal education going on. We're learning how punk works in a place that doesn't have government grants for art spaces or a free media that's willing to cover these bands.

We've had years and years of records and punk stores... I guess it's a younger scene here but that being said, it's definitely people coming to us and telling us that there's a band we have to check out or a Beijing skinhead band we have to check out -- we're being educated.


Damien: Absolutely. It's one of those things -- hardcore is very pure, and its one of those things that survives because of the pure aesthetic. When you upset that, you tend to upset people.

I'm not saying that we're trying to "save" hardcore music or anything though. I think a lot of the backlash from hardcore kids is because a lot of people in the media said that "we're saving hardcore," but we were just trying to make the record that we wanted to make.

But you know its one of those things. Like I have a bunch of friends that now hate me because of my band [Laughs]. It's funny because I don't think I've changed. I'm the same guy...


Damien: Well, it's one of those things that we never planned for it. And I know this sounds really clich¨¦ but I never in my wildest dreams thought that there would be any attention for what we're doing.

But I'm a very shallow person with low self-esteem so of course I like to hear people talk nicely about me. But I don't think it's really affected the band. It's provided us with opportunities that we've exploited -- being asked to play a festival like Glastonbury or other festivals, those are opportunities that come from increased media attention.

But I don't think its changed the way we do things as a band. We still don't get along with each other... that hasn¡¯t changed...

And I know the media attention will go away in a second. It's very intangible. It hasn't percolated to massive audiences or record sales. It is very flattering but it seems it can disappear any moment, and you'll be left with what you had before.

That and also a bunch of hardcore kids who used to like us but now hate us [Laughs].


Damien: [Laughs]. MTV Canada -- there's a lot of young people there but it's funny because one of the reasons that Fucked Up has gotten a lot of media attention is because the people that grew up in punk or hardcore or underground indie music have now found themselves in positions of power at places like MTV Canada. A lot of people that work there used to be punk kids and they really wanted us to come on.

So we went on the first time and it went well. We did some damage and it made for some good TV. So they wanted us on again and wanted us to do it in an even smaller room, and we had the host and various people come into the back room and be like "you guys should trash that bathroom."


Damien: Yeah, well they wanted it "crazy" you know. People like insanity until they have to deal with it, and that was one of the few times where I think we legitimately lost control of the situation.

[Ed's Note: Hey! Youtube link of that Fucked Up show in the MTV bathroom here.]

And so 5,000$ later [35,000rmb], MTV sends us this bill...


Damien: Oh yeah, they sent us the bill. They were telling people that we were trying to blow up the building. All these crazy things... It was like the one time we actually capitulated and gave people what they wanted but apparently not.

But yeah, it was legitimately terrifying being in that room.


Damien: Well, it's funny that Ian said that because, don't get me wrong I like Minor Threat, but he was notorious for fighting people back in the day.

But about violence: I've never enjoyed seeing violence but I do like insanity. I kind of think hardcore shows try to search for that thin line between things being exciting and people actually getting hurt. And it's hard to get to that point. Sometimes it goes over the edge and there¡¯s too much violence.

That being said I've always had really positive experiences from hardcore shows. I've been fortunate enough to avoid random violence. But then again I'm like 200 pounds so I've got a defense mechanism. I'm like a porcupine.

The violence thing is definitely part of hardcore -- not stabbing and murdering -- but moshing and bravado... it's part of the experience.

I don't know. I'm sort of two minds on the subject -- violence at shows. I don't want to see anyone get really hurt but I like the perception of violence. That presence.


Damien: I did.


Damien: Oh really, yeah at one point we were going to get a campaign going in Toronto like three years ago with all people from punk bands in Toronto.


Damien: It was a very wonderful place for a kid like myself who hated outdoor activities and hated sports. It was like a day camp with different things, like Canoe Camp, Gymnastics Camp, Circus Camp, but it also had like Rock Video Camp and Animation Camp.

So one of those was Dungeons and Dragons Camp, and my parents knew how much I hated sports and thought that the best way to get me out of the house for the summer was to send me to DnD Camp.

Every Saturday. All day. I played DnD. It was like heaven on earth.

It was weird though because there were kids at this camp that we in their mid-20s. I was like 8 or 10 or something, playing DnD with a guy beside me who was like 26.


Damien: [Laughs]. Yeah, like it was the first time I even saw a Deicide shirt. Thank goodness I discovered drugs and stopped playing DnD...


Damien: Yeah, definitely. Oh yeah. You know that band Mental? That hardcore band?

Huge Magic The Gathering players. Huge Magic players.

You know its funny, everyone who is into interesting stuff used to play this game where you get to be creative when you're younger but now everyone is really downplaying their involvement.

***

Don't miss Fucked Up this Saturday.

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