Depustūtes is quickly gaining the leading role in Latvian riot girl punk scene. They recently released their debut album “Kretīnu Pavadā” (“Led by assholes”) full of fast and short songs about a young female life struggles in the modern times. They gained more recognition after appearing on a local radio show “Bitīt Matos” and defending their ideology while leaving interviewers confused, unable to relate to younger generations.
Here’s an inteview with the controvesial local hardcore punk Depustūtes.
1. Hey girls and Mark! You have probablly answered to this question before a lot but for foreigner readers, please tell the story of Depustūtes. The meaning behind the band name and the ideology.
The band’s title is very simple, its supposed to mock the government by calling the deputes government’s prostitutes because they sell themselves out for money. But recently it also got a new meaning – as in if you call someone a Depustūte it can also just mean a fan of depustutes, a punk girl that hates the government and is a feminist. Meaning isn’t anything crazy we’re just trying to spread feminism a bit more, make people uncomfortable by showing the issues in the world (inequality, etc.) in their face with with unromanticized lyrics.
2. For most of Depustūtes members, this is your first band. But that doesn’t stop the band to be confident about the message. As an anarchist band, do you set lyrics as a priority? How much attention do pay to riffs and song structure? Who’s writting songs and how do they come together? Also, I have heard that all of you have a tattoo of the band logo. Does this applies some promise to eachother (for example, to never split up, change members etc.)?
Tbh we think most of the time some bandmates don’t even know what the lyrics are until way later they just read it maybe once to get the general meaning. The whole melody part is mostly Marks work, he makes the riffs and construction before anyone else and then we have to adjust to it. Kata write most of the songs but ofc she always tells bandmates that they can always write lyrics themselves too – as for songs “menti” (cops) and “alus” (beer) which were written by the drummer. Most of the lyrics are twisted explanations of how Kata sees the world or her stances on it’s issues. Back in the day it started as writing poetry but now she tries to not care about rhymes as much. Most of us have a tattoo yes. We think to each bandmate the meaning is different like for mark tattoo means that he is associated with a band and likes it very much. For Kata it serves as a reminder for the good memories that she had with this band, she thinks she would still think about it even if she wasn’t playing in it anymore besides the motivation to not leave the band. But the tattoo for her also serves as a reminder of who she is – a punk at heart.
3. You are planning to tour the whole summer, including some shows outside of Latvia. All of your songs are in Latvian. How do you plan to translate the message to foreigners? What other future plans do you have?
Actually we talked about this with the band before. Band said they feel like singing in latvian is the most authentic, even if people won’t understand. Then Kata offered to make one album in english for tours. Our rage against the system and crappy things in society is so strong that the lyrics need no translation. and we try to put so much energy that everyone catches the message and feeling, no matter the language barrier. Plans for future – more albums and tours in the future ofc maybe changing the sound to be more rough but that’s over time.
4. Do you feel like Riga scene has divided into groups based on ideologies? If so, which group/bubble do you associate with the most? I don’t think there is a political venue in Latvia. Are you fine to play anywhere or are there venues or promoters or events you would not agree to perform at?
Maybe there are different bubbles in the underground scene, but we kind of don’t want to sort into one specific bubble. Of course, we have our shared ideological views and could technically fall into one bubble or another, but this division is really toxic. Maybe the “normies” and conservatives conspired against the underground and plotted these bubbles, who knows 😀 anyway, what underground needs, is honest and open discussion, that people try to resolve differences and unite around some common ground, not hide into bubbles based on conflict and inability to listen to each other. We don’t think there really exists a bubble, but for Kata besides the feminism bubble, because most popular subcultures are goths, metalheads and crusts.
Obviously we wouldn’t agree to play at a show where the organizers have questionable stances like white supremacists etc. but that’s obvious for any punk band. Probably wouldn’t agree to play if someone from the band is with bad terms with organizers as well.
5. What can FILTHY HANGOUT attendies expect from your show? Cheers and thanks for the interview!
Angry women yelling about why we need feminism. Kata stuttering in mic as usual, wearing crazy outfit and screaming. Evisa sharing beer propaganda. Mark playing full max speed and trying not to fall from the stage because of his jumps and runnings, always looking for energy on stage and in the crowd. And bassist is living the time of her life, fulfilling the dream of playing insane music and looking slutty. She has known the system for too long so has some true rage.