HEROS & ZEROS

Could you please introduce yourself (whole band and nationality of your members :-))?

Our nationality, age and jobs:
Here goes:
Marko – Vocals – Serbia – 30 – Actor/Theater worker
Anna – Bass – Holland - 27 – Airport salesperson
R.C. – Drums – Russia – 25 – Fireman
Mali – Guitar – Serbia – 25 - Librarian
Boban – Trumpet – Serbia – 30 - Sound-Engineer
Gilian – Guitar – Holland – 22 - Mailman

Is anybody from your band married :-)?

No wedding bells yet.

Scene in your land and in your region (town)?

Small, but it‘s ok. Around Amsterdam we have bands like Antidote and Good Old Habit playing good streetpunk. There‘s stuff going on all over the country but it‘s very separated and small, especially Oi! and streetpunk.

Do you listen „only“ Oi!, Punk, Ska – streetstyles, or from time to time other styles too (for example kinds of metal etc.)?

We listen to a lot of stuff. We listen to Rock n Roll, Garage-rock, Surf, Soul, Reggae, Dancehall, Hip-Hop, Gypsy-music, Country & Western and Blues. You name it! Nu-metal sucks, Slayer is ok though.

Your musical inspiration?

Old U.K. bands like Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer, 4 Skins had an heavy influence on our style. Same goes for American bands like Wretched Ones, Templars and Anti-Heros.
But on our new record you‘ll definitely hear some (punk) rock n roll influences too, we‘re all into Motorhead, Ramones and AC/DC.

What do you sing about in your songs?

Everything: politics, fun, football, bicycles, you name it. We sing about stuff we care about, doesn‘t matter what it is. Obviously we have political statements in our lyrics, but we‘re not meaning to change the world through music, cause that happens on the streets. We just voice our opinion, take it or leave it.

Could you describe me your debut CD??? (I have not watched this yet :-(

Our debut album rocks some serious ass! It‘s called ´Wake-Up Call‘ and contains 14 killer songs. It‘s hard-hittin stuff, but it‘s definitely something else than our EP. Stage Bottle Olav plays additional saxophone on a few songs. We even did our own interpretation of Hank Williams song (he‘s gonna roll in his grave). It‘s streetpunk allright, but not as we know it!

On your EP you have angry song „Sloba“ which is about Milosevic…Your opinion on this politic? He was socialist who wanted to defend Serbia from Moslems (Albanians) wasn’t he?

-No, he was an idealistic moron, who just wanted power, and who fucked up million of lives, but on other hand he did really believe that what he was doing was good thing.
By the way, he and his party just had the name socialistic party, in reality, it was pretty much dictatorship, where criminals and his politician friends were getting rich, and the rest of society was living in poverty.

 

Your opinion on A) prostitution and B) violence on women?

  1. It‘s exploitation of women, it‘s degrading and a last resort for women to make some money. It‘s legal over here, in Amsterdam we‘ve got the famous red light district. But there‘s a lot of bad stuff going on there, it still happens that women get forced in this job by pimps. Outlawing it won‘t stop it though.
  2. Violence on women happens in the prostitution business too often. Guys who beat on women should get some ass-whooping themselves.

 

Where would you like to drive on holiday?

Highway to hell!

Have you on sale anything for your fans (for example T-shirts, patches, pins, CD, EP etc)?

You bet we have! We have t-shirts (girlies too!), pins, a new CD, an EP and we have stickers too. G-strings, boxershorts and Heros & Zeros socks are in the making.

Is anybody from your group vegetarian or SxE (for example Marko J)? And why this way of life?

Only me and Anna are vegetarians, and only I’m sXe in the band.
Well, I just feel better being drug free....

How could you characterize your style of music?

Streetpunk with trumpets, but no ska! Raw and loud, yet melodic.

Are you proud of your Working Class roots?

Of course, we wouldn‘t have it any other way.

Marko, could you please say to me anything about your second band Vitamin X? It’s sXe, is not it?

Yeah, it’s a fast political sXe hardcore punk band, influenced by `80 bands like: Minor threat, Negative Approach, Jerry’s kids, Ill Repute, YOT, Infest, MDC, Heresy, Crucifix, etc....
We have four „7“ and two LPs out, and we did bunch of European tours, two US tours, Brazilian tour, and in November we’re going to Japan.
So as you can see, we are pretty active, and together with playing with Heros & Zeros,
making me totally busy, and totally without free time.

Make you strong the fact when you can see skins and punks united on your concerts?

Ofcourse, skins and punks should always unite. We should fight boneheads and the upper-class instead of each other.

!!When skinhead starts to be a non-skinhead?!!

When skinheads start being racist and nationalist, they got it all wrong. Original skinheads started out listening to ska and rocksteady, music made by black people. They were proud to be working class and there‘s nothing wrong with that. Considering yourself a skinhead and being racist, is like kicking yourself in the head with your own boot.

Were you on demonstrations in Genova against G8 summit? Your opinions on these protests?

Yes, 2 of our members where there in Genova. Incredible to see so many people united against capitalism and globalization. Since 1999 protests became bigger and bigger. This will continue to happen, especially now when right-wing policy is growing in politics.

Do you prefer any street sign? For example Fred Perry, Lonsdale, PitBull or do you rather wear T-shirts with motives of your band?

Not our own shirts, they look better on you! Although we could use some (levná reklama) cheap self-promotion. Some of us wear Fred Perry, Lonsdale and Ben Sherman. Some of us wear t-shirts and jeans. If one of our members shows up in a leather vest with a tutu (sukénka) and yellow cowboyboots, that’s ok too.

Which part of woman’s body are you keen on? (is this question for Anna too :-)))?

The nail of the big toe on the left foot always get‘s us hot. If you have some nice pictures, send them to info@herosandzeros.nl

Do you love any land in this blue planet? And why?

Well, one of those small islands, but I forgot the name...
And the reason is because it‘s small and because it‘s an island.

Your cure for the illness called capitalism?

A healthy dose of protest and action always helps.

Your own reasons for to be antifascists?

Because there is no other option.

Your message to all skinheads and to the readers of S-R?

Stay anti-fascist! Fight capitalism! But don‘t forget to shine your boots! And visit http://www.herosandzeros.nl/

When would you like to drive to the Czech Republic again?

As soon as possible, probably early 2004.