Tingler is a new name in Latvian underground, although members have been seen in other projects and probablly have a bigger experience as underground musicians than many other bands on the line-up. Tingler plays a mix of grind and slam with breakdowns, shreds, growls and screams that they themselves define simply as hardcore.
This an interview with local underdogs Tingler.
1. Hey! Thanks for the chat! FILTHY HANGOUT will be band’s 4th show, if I’m not mistaken. Could you share a little bit of band’s history and the meaning behind the band name?
Yep, you’re exactly right! We’ve been flying under the radar for most of our existence. We got together back in 2020, but our creative process has been more of a slow burn. We took our sweet time jamming, changing tunings, members and ironing out our vision – to play weighty riffs, scream at the top of our lungs and most importantly – have fun! As for the name – it comes from a horror movie from the 50s that’s about a parasitic creature that attaches to your spine and feeds off your fear, making your spine tingle when you’re afraid. The plot is so absurd, but it naturally matches our goal – to make your spine tingle when coming to our shows!
2. This isn’t the first band for neither of you. What other projects have Tingler members been part of?
We’re not entirely new to the local underground scene, that’s for sure. Our members have been in such bands as Slaughtered Lambs, Nostra, Wendigo’s Throne and Patagonia.
3. Your first show was at “20 minutes of fame” 2 years after the band started. Later on you performed at Grēkāzis fest. What do you remember from your debut shows? How did they went? What took so long to prepare?
It took us a while to find our sound, and also to get a vocalist that really fit our vibe, but once we got on that first stage – we loved every minute of it! The first shows went as good as we could wish! Not perfect, but we aren’t about “perfect”. “20 minutes of fame” is always a blast since “Depo” is usually super packed for those events – the crowd was moshing throughout our set, so that really warmed our hearts. As for Grēkāzis – it was super well organized and we just felt honored to be invited, the sound the lights and other bands were top notch, and I think we brought our best game that night too.
4. What can FILTHY HANGOUT fest attendies expect from your show? And what are your future plans? Thanks for the interview! Cheers!
Tingler’s overarching goal is to create as much mayhem in the crowd as we can. You can expect some beefy downtuned riffs, vocals like the man’s throat is getting ripped out, thundering bass and beats everywhere from nu-metal to Napalm Death. Regarding future plans – we want to get an LP together in the next year, as we finally have enough tracks!
GLASS WIPE IN RIGA 14.09.24. Riga, LV – Depo (Vaļņu 32) Glass Wipe – fast skate punk, Kemi FIN Disrespekts – caveman crust, Bigauņciems LV ExPosei – post hardcore punk, Rīga LV co-organised by Overlook bookings
PIDARI OBJEKTĀ 06.09.24. Riga, LV – Objekts (Sporta 2) Pidari – experimental hardcore, Rīga LV organised by Pidari
BASS SOLO ZEBRĀS 23.08.24. Riga, LV – Zebras (Dzirnavu 104) Dāvis – dude playing bass Free entrance
.338 EU TOUR 16.07. Tampere, FIN – Vastavirta-Klubi 17.07. Helsinki, FIN – Playhouse bar 18.07. Tallinn, EE – Ülase12 19.07. Vandāni, LV – Munky Pride fest 20.07. Ropaži, LV – Ļunku Ļembasts fest 21.07. Vilnius, LT – XI20 22.07. Kaunas, LT – Garazh 23.07. Gdańsk, PL – Paszcza Lwa 24.07. Słupsk, PL – Motor Rock Pub 25.07. Białystok, PL – Balance Klub 26.07. Renda, LV – Zilonis fest 27.07. Liepāja, LV – Gypsy camp 29.07. Groningen, NL – Waterskaap 30.07. Thylejren, DK – Thylejren an old 31.07. Aarhus, DK – SideSporet 01.08. Copenhagen, DK – Ungdomshuset 02.08. Oslo, NO – Boksen 03.08. Gothenburg, SE – Fragile Mountain fest More info: HERE
СМЕРТЬ LMA 03.07. Riga, LV – Latvijas Mākslas Akadēmija Free entrance, room 38, BYOB
DEATH CAN’T DIE 25.05.24. 🇪🇪 Valga, Rockiklubi (Aia 19) СМЕРТЬ – HCdeathened d-beat doom metal, Latvia RŪSA – Motörized hard rock since 1987 BACKLASH – Suomi hardcore punk since 2009 STRANGULIATORIUS – Death grind degenerates since 2010 TRENCHEARD – Blackened kurland death metal O.D.D. – Punk metal ov death
EHG / DOPELORD AFTERPARTY 17.05.24. 🇱🇻 Riga, Cult (Cēsu 18) NIGHT LIVES – post metal / crust, Helsinki PIDARI – hardcore doom jazz, Riga SKALA BÜNTE – psych / metal, Riga ALKOMULAATOR – crust / raw punk, Riga More info: HERE
Updated on 07.03.24. (added an interview with DEFEKT + a time-table)
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Estonia is experiencing a new hardcore punk wave with youngster bands full of energy. Tallin’s very own Skoone, Düsentroop and Defekt will head south to play in Riga on Saturday, March 9th, supported by locals Defekts and Pidari. Find interviews with all 3 Estonian bands below!!!
– 8€ donation for touring bands (at doors) – BYOB – Time-table: 19:00 doors 20:00 Pidari then Defekts then Düsentroop then Defekt then Skoone – Ādmiņu 4, Riga 4th(!) floor
Cameras only towards the stage. Don’t explore the backyard. Don’t climb on the roof. Don’t be an asshole. Supported by Rotten Smile crew.
Tallin’s autonomus anti-fa epicenter Ülase12 is facing a new wave of fresh blood. The young punk scene with full hands of activism and poor interest for social media. Here’s 3 little interviews with our nordic borthers about the ideology behind their work, the history and more.
Skoone live at Ülase12 on 01.02.24.
Hey! Skoone has been around for a while now. Could you please tell us a little about the band’s history? Where and how it all started? Does the band name has any meaning?
Aleksander Leetmaa tells the story of Skoone: The first Skoone thing ever was DungelBæengel, which is a really stupid way to say tengelpung (an old way to say wallet in Estonian). It consisted of me – Aleksander Leetmaa (vocals) – Arthur Leetmaa (vox of Defekt), Aldo Jakovlev (guitar) and Harry Ein (former vox of Lobotoomia, check ’em out on youtube). I was around 13 at the time but the other guys were a bit older. We did like 5 rehearsals and the only good thing to come out of these rehearsals was a primitive version of a later Skoone song “Pimedus”. This was around 2017. A bit later Aldo and I wrote a song for a school project. This track “Rahvamürgitaja” (meaning population poisoner) and “Pimedus” (meaning darkness hahahah) are basically the first ever Skoone songs. I think that to truly understand the history of Skoone, one must first understand where the name comes from. The prototype name for Skoone was originally Kratt (an old Estonian folklore creature). The name Skoone came from an old underground bastion located in North-Tallinn, Skoone Bastion. These tunnels used to be bombing shelters and run beneath the majority of oldtown and most of them have collapsed or have been turned into a museum. Actually old ENSV punks used these tunnels to escape from the cops, for band practice and also just to drink and have fun. I can’t remember exactly when was the first time we encountered the tunnels, but I know I was pretty young (probably 11 or 12). There were four of us: Aldo, my brother Arthur from Defekt and our mutual friend. Later we would bestow ourselves the title Founding Fathers. We explored the tunnels now and then, but didn’t go there that often, because it was wet, dirty, smelly, dark and a bit creepy. Also no telephone signal or nothing. But Arthur started going there with his classmates to get drunk or smoke cigarettes because no sane person, even police, would come after you there, which made it perfect for underaged drinking. Skoone Bastion was the shit. Every Friday and Saturday we would meet up with friends in the downtown Subway, buy only 2L Bock beers and candles and head inside the tunnels. At one point they walled the entrance off and we spent 4-5 days making a hole into the wall with pipes we found laying around. Just 2 hours straight each day, hitting the wall so we’d have a hole we could fit through. I don’t know for sure how many times I have walked across the seemingly endless dark corridor on rotten planks suspended on putrid oily water that engulfs the whole floor. Bunk beds running across the walls, where people were scared for their lives on the 25. of march 1944. I would always tell these stories and the history of Bastion to newcomers while we were walking to the main room. I think we took a little joy in inviting random friends of friends or newbies with us to our underground lair. You could see the fear in their faces as we approached the hole in the wall, which marked the point of no return. There were many times that people would refuse to climb through the hole and would just leave. Actually the song Pimedus talks about the perspective of people not willing to enter the tunnels. It’s actually remarkable how many people, if willing, can fit into a tiny room underground. During the glory days, there could easily be about 20 people in the main 3×6 meter room. The whole thing had a little religious tinge to it. As mentioned before, 2L Bock was the drink that everyone had to drink. It passed clockwise and when stopped, everyone shouted “WHY IS THE BOCK STANDING”. The first ones to drink were always the founding fathers and the first sip of the first Bock had to be poured to the ground as an offering to the Gods of the Bastions. Newcomers had to chug the Bock for 10 seconds while everyone else was counting. (We usually stopped at 7 or 8 and kept repeating that number for a while.) After the school thing we decided to play the songs live, or at least try to. So we hit up our mutual friend Karl aka Priidik aka Okulaar aka Peep aka Pepu (drummer of Düsentroop), who was just starting to learn drums. And another friend Alexander “Sass” Kaseste (not to be confused with Aleksander “Sass” Leetmaa) who was supposed to play the trumpet. We played a cover of an old (debated to be the very first Estonian punk artist: Irwin Art Project) song called Keevitajad (meaning welders). The recording of this is actually up on our youtube page and if listened closely, you can hear Kaseste dying on the trumpet in the background. Sadly, after some rehearsals, we decided the trompet wasn’t for us, so Kaseste left. We asked our friend Steven if he wanted to play bass for us, even though he had never touched that instrument before. And also we found a face-tattooed core guy called Zhuurik to play rhythm guitar for us. Steven was later replaced with Kaseste, who had started learning bass and was already miles better than Steven. We had our first show on 30/08/2019 at a DIY spot, Mõru, which was basically just some little rented space turned illegal bar/venue. All the equipment was rented and the local drums were the worst set we’ve ever had to deal with. It was a legendary and historically significant show for the scene of today (which started in 2016). We played with Vimka (defunct batshit hardcore band where Kalli played guitar) and Lobotoomia (also defunct hardcore band), where Kolk from Düsentroop/Defekt used to play guitar. The place didn’t last too long but hosted some really great shows. Zhuurik, as it turned out, had some serious fucked up shit going on with him and was banished from the scene, now replaced by Richard Jerbach. A little after that, our drummer Karl left for mandatory army service. So now we had find a new drummer. Siim Volkmann (from one of the best black metal band of Estonia at the moment: Soerd) played with us for a bit and we also played a show in Valga with some Latvian bands. Sadly he had other things to do so that’s when Kalli Talonpoika (from everything good) joined us. At first he was supposed to play with us until Karl came back from the army but he is still with us. (Oops.) From that point onwards Skoone became tighter, faster and angrier. One day I was day drinking with Sett (vox from Düsentroop) and we noticed some younger punk kids sitting on the other bench, listening to an old Estonian punk band Vennaskond (a good but “entry level” band). This amused us so we decided to blast Extortion back at them. After a while we decided to talk to them. They were much younger and seemed to recognize us. We took those underaged rockers with us and bought a shit ton of beer. Later one of the guys sent us (Skoone) a video of him playing one of our songs “Ärevus”. He said that he had learned our whole EP from just listening to it. Turns out the kid had a band of his own called Critical Corruption (the worst band name ever) aka C.C. and he himself was of course Richard. A few months later Zhuurik was banished from existence, Richard replaced him, and that about brings us up to speed.
What other musical projects are Skoone members part of?
Aleksander Leetmaa – vocals (guitar in Düsentroop, bass in Defekt) Aleksander Kaseste – bass (bass in Ave maria and Düsentroop) Aldo Jakovlev – lead guitar (guitar in Intrepid and Viktor Kuu, makes electronic music as ultra.laundry) Richard Jerbach – rhythm guitar (vocalist/guitarist in C.C., replacement bassist in Huiabella Fantastica, solo artist) Kalli Talonpoika – drums (drums in C.C., Ave maria and Estoner, vocalist and songwriter in Kalli Talonpoika and the Sunshine Band)
Skoone has already played in Riga once. It was at Lokal House last year in May. Saddly Lokal House has ceased to exist. Was this your first time aboard as a band and what do you remember from that night? What would you like to be the same or different this time?
It was our first time abroad as a band. Everything was perfect besides Riki’s guitar breaking and his pedals being stepped on 50 or so times. Otherwise the crowd and energy was excellent, we’re hoping for more of the same!
Latvian punk band Alkomulaator covered one of Skoone’s song. Have you heard the cover? Do you know anyone from Alkomulaator band? Do you have cover songs on your set-list as well?
Yeah, we’ve heard of their cover, it was really cool and surprising to discover it. We have known Pavel for a while now, the guy used to ride his bike or hitchhike just to see us in Estonia on multiple occasions. Now that’s dedication! He also organized C.C.’s first show in Riga. We’ve occasionally played a cover of Moblapood, originally by Müstika on a 1999 punk comp. No idea when it was recorded, though. We’ve more consistently been playing a cover of “BMW & NBA” by Koer, a legendary Estonian punk band which evolved into Vaiko Eplik & Eliit. The song is originally about small town jocks who just drive around in their cars and fight all day. The refrain of that song translates to “BMW & NBA, I like to fistfight!”. We changed the lyrics a bit so now it’s “RMV & PWA (two infamous nazi bands in Estonia), I like to fistfight!” to make fun of boneheads who just want an excuse to brawl. A song on our EP, “Mis kell on? pt. 2” is actually a cover of an estonian dance/rap song, but we haven’t been playing that one too often.
Two of Skoone members are part of radio series MÜRA. Can you tell us more about it? I have heard there’s an underground zine as well!
Kalli: Correction: a member of Skoone (Kalli) and Mihkel Kolk from the two other bands host MÜRA. It’s basically a radio show that is meant to give more unknown underground stuff in Estonia a platform to be heard, promote shows and also to broadcast bigger developments in the scene a la album releases and so on. Besides that it’s just me and Kolk playing music that we like, leaning heavily on loud and aggressive stuff. We record the shows at Ülase and they’re on air every wednesday at 5 PM. At the time of writing this, we’re about to have Buzhold as guests on our show talking about their new album and last time we had Arthur Leetmaa from Defekt, who is a co-creator of the MÜRA zine, which is about a year older than the show. The zine is run by Arthur and Mihkel and focuses heavily on documenting the social aspect of the scene, as in how the people of the scene think about things and so on. There’s also art and poetry and other kinds of write-ups, so it gives a pretty panoramic view of the scene.
Thank you! See you in Riga! What should we expect from Skoone this time?
Total annihilation.
Düsentroop live at Ülase12 on 01.02.24.
Hey! Tell us please, what is Düsentroop? How the project started? Who’s playing in the band and what other project does bands members take part in?
Düsentroop is basically just five guys who like the same type of music (eggpunk, hc punk and powerviolence) playing a combination of fast, short and loud. The name itself doesn’t mean anything, not in estonian anyway. “Düsenteeria” (shitting yourself to death) + “psühhotroop” ( LSD, DMT, weed) = Düsentroop yaknow. Sass said he wanted to do some other shit next to Skoone with Pep. Play some riffs and drink some beers. Then we met Sett and thought that he needs to be in some band with us you know. At one point Mihkel got out of the mandatory military service and joined. At that point we started hunting for a bassist. The first guy that tried out was Svart (also named Alex, stop naming your kids Alex or Aleksander) from Hukk but he was too shroomed the one time he tried out. Then we asked Kaseste one night when we we’re out drinking. He accepted and never left. The rest is history. So the band consists of Pep on drums he was in Skoone once upon a time and now drives his car around. Mihu on guitar he used to play in a sick ass band called Lobotoomia before they broke up and now he’s doing a zine with Arthur from Defekt called “Müra” and a radio show of the same name with Kalli from Skoone, C.C. and a bunch of other bands. Then we have Alexander “su ema gei” sass on bass who also plays in Ave Maria and Skoone. Aleksander “sass” Leetmaa also on guitar but he’s in Defekt and Skoone as well. And then Sett on vocals, I don’t do shit. Real soon all of us are gonna live in like a 5min radius of eachother in Kalamaja ’cause the sassid are moving in together.
The band doesn’t have any social media, nor any recording available online. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard of you? What are song about? Why do you choose to anonymus?
Our music is uncomplicated, loud and to-the-point. No song goes over 3min and we try to destroy everything on and off stage as fast as possible. The songs are about love, self-destruction and moments of violence. But mostly love and everything that comes with that shit. I don’t think we’re anonymous really, we just dont have social media ’cause fuck that shit come see us live pussy!
What plans does the band has for future?
We’ve been sitting on an EP since summer but it’s almost finished now so when that shit gets released you’ll get to hear it online or on cassette and listen to our pretty little songs at home.
Thank you! What should we expect from Düsentroop at their show in Riga?
Expect disorder, raw d-beat and broken english i guess.
Defekt
Defekt is another anonymus project from Tallin with little to no info about the band online. Could you please tell a little bit about the history of Defekt? What other projects are band’s members taking part in?
Begin with maksim(drum) and mihkel(kitarr) (and many other frends) getting together and jamming and doing stupid shit, we then wanted more…… we figured that he would be perfect in making worlds evilest and shittiest music……. then we took sass into the equation and it realized to us that we can make some very sinister evil groovy music tohether……… we started defekt The drummer Maksim Malyshev is also the drummer of “Hukk” The singer Arthur “Tont” Leetmaa has An industrial/aggrotech project “Consecrated Despondency” and is a vocalist of a black metal band “Värdjas” and is also the co-founder of the “Müra” magazine The bass player/in our case the rythm guitar so to say, Is Aleksander Leetmaa, he is the lead singer of “Skoone” and the rythm guitar of “Düsentroop” On lead guitar we have Mihkel Kolk, He is also the lead guitar of “Düsentroop” and The co-founder of the “Müra” magazine
Defekt describes their sound as schizosludge. What does it mean? What makes it schizo? What’s the meaning behind the suicide rope in the logo?
Well we really use this labeling because it’s usually necessary to include a musical style something for live shows, and alsof because “Sludge” might be pretty close to our style, however we don’t want to use any one label to describe our music, we use a lot of different influences, depending on the band members personal taste, a song can have parts that resemble of extreme metal, parts derivative of hardcore punk, parts that resemble Skramz(early screamo) or just experimenting with what fits, but overall the point of the sound mostly is reflective of insanity, misanthropy, bitterness, loss and regret, to me as a singer personally this projects fills the role of therapy in a way. To answer the question of “what makes our music schizo?” Long story short is our hectic genre hopping and lyrics that would be fitting on a wall of a psych ward. The noose in the logo in a way represents the different musical influences of our band. The noose being made out of a cable reflects the bands noise, hardcore, sludge influences while the shape of a noose more is more derivative of DSBM (depressive suicidal black metal) and reflects on the bands misanthropic and self destructive lyrics and music.
There’s couple of bands named similar to Defekt. There was a raw punk band in Riga Defectives and now we have a hardcore punk band Defekts. I know 2 more bands in Europe with the same name. Why did you chose this name and have you thought of making a show with only bands named “defect”? Have you ever been mixed up with another band?
Well, I suppose the name “Defekt” seemed fitting for that kind of music we’re making, relating more to individual self image and relationships with others. The word can be derivative of mental illness. We haven’t really been mixed up as far as I’m aware, but that’s probably due to the fact that we have not made a release -Yet. And yes we have had the idea of doing a live show with only bands named “Defect” or a variation of that word so to say.
What can we expect from Defekt during their show in Riga? Thank you for your time!
Hard to say, as our music and lyrics are from wall to wall misanthropy while longing, regretful while unforgiving, from manic to psychotic, from numbness to emotional outbursts – and so on. Maybe the word “mental” would be fitting.
02.02.24. 🇱🇻 Riga, Sid Vicious day, club DEPO (Vaļņu 32) .338 – d-beat,Tampere 🇫🇮 Depustūtes – riot girl, Riga 🇱🇻 Pūķis un Vella kalpi – hardcore punk, Riga 🇱🇻 PND – street punk, Riga 🇱🇻 All Day Long – ska punk, Riga 🇱🇻 Inokentijs Mārpls – punk’n’roll, Riga 🇱🇻
03.02.24. 🇪🇪 Tartu, club HELL (Tiigi 76A) .338 – d-beat,Tampere 🇫🇮 S.I. – crossover death, Tartu 🇪🇪 Shrapnelle – neo-avant core, Tartu 🇪🇪
Interview by Pvsrs for Sid Vicious day promo, translated.
“SID VICIOUS day guests from Finland – .338. After few years break, this year on Feb 2nd at club DEPO a foreigner band will joing the festival’s line-up. For the sake of truth, the band has some connection with Latvia. A memmber from Latvian punk / HC scene, more known as Dave (Dāvis) is playing bass for .338. The band is a high caliber d-beat band from Tampere, Finland. .338 is playing fast guitar riffs with technical drum patterns, old school guitar solos un lyrics in Finnish.
.338 was found by guitarist Tomi, vocalist Niklas un drummer Jane. The trio recorded a demo and soon after solo guitarist Juuso and bassist Dave. The band is truly international because Dāvis is travelling for practice from Riga but Nikals is nowadays living in Sweden. The band is nammed after the .338, a rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It was developed during the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. “We play fast, shoot from our guitars with .338 caliber,” the band adds.
.338 lyrics tells mostly about the darker side of being a human and the struggles of life and misery, stuff that probably a listener can identify with. Having our dark lyrics with heavy and fast music makes it quite a d-beat bomb together.
.338 have played in Riga before. It was at Turboballe at Ādmiņu 4 during band 4-day weekender with Pidari. Band is mostly playing in Tampere but have done shows in Helsinki and Tallinn as well. In July we plan an European tour, with a show at Munky Pride fest in Latvia and Fragile Mountain fest in Gothenburg fest in Sweden.
Because of band’s international members, it seemed interesting to find out how different is punk / HC scene in Finland and Latvia. .338 believes that there’s way more quality bands in Finland than Latvia. That’s way Finnish listeners has more options to choose from, who to see live. On the other hand, in Latvia punk shows are a rarity. And most of them are packed and the crowd goes nuts. Possibly, this is the biggest difference between scenes in both countries.
See you at SID VICIOUS DAY 2024: annual Latvian punk show on February 2nd at club DEPO.”
2 dienu “biļete” – 15€ ziedojums (pieejams tikai “iepriekšpārdošanā”, rakstot uz e-pastu diskultur@riseup.net) 2 dienu “biļete” un festivāla krekls – 25€ ziedojums (pieejams līdz 8.aprīlim tikai “iepriekšpārdošanā”, rakstot uz e-pastu diskultur@riseup.net) 1 dienas “biļete” – 10€ zjedojums (pieejams tikai koncerta dienā pie ieejas durvīm)
Visi ziedojumi tiks izmantoti, lai nosegtu ceļa izdevumus ārzemju grupām, kā arī noīrētu aparatūru un telpas abām pasākuma dienā.
2 day entrance – 15€ donation (advanced only) 2 day entrance + festival t-shirt – 25€ donation (advanced only, pre-order available until April 8th) 1 day entrance – 10€ donation (on doors)
All incomes will be used to cover travel costs for Esotnian and Finnish bands as well as rent backline and venue for both nights.To order your ticket, write to diskultur@riseup.net
The 2nd edition of FILTHY HANGOUT festival. A 2-day indoor death metal, crust, grind and doom gathering will take place the same time as last year, the weekend around 4.20
This year the festival will take place on April 19 & 20 at Ādmiņu 4 in Riga. Last year’s location Vagonu Hall is on-hold, waiting for better times and recharging after last year’s intense event marathon. So, we are moving to Riga’s very best underground spot – Tesa’s rehearshal room (400 people capacity). Same as last year, 2024 edition will gather bands from neighbourg countries, as well as local spirits. Usually I work with punk bands and it’s always interesting to mix it up with some metal as well. Get to see bands from other subgenres and meet new people who otherwise would never show up at punk parties. Metal scene in Latvia ir way richer with bands but more poor with keeping the scene united. So Filthy Hangout’s mission is to introduce punk scene with metal scene and kill the little innervoice hating on eachother. No politics – just beer & hangout!
I was drinking at Lokal House sometime last year and few young russian came to me and had a little chat. They were a band looking for shows around Baltics and asking for tips. Young fellas wanted to play live. Back then I didn’t know them. They sent me some demos in different genres with the same grungy stoner mood in all of them. Sounds like something you want to hear on Saturday while fighting hangover. They will open the 2nd Filthy Hangout day, warming up the 4.20 stoner vibes!
You like OM, cult and psychedelic doom? You want to hear it on 420? I got a message from a friend about Almyth, a new local stoner doom band with international members. Heard their debut before by randombly browsing bandcamp, and were very surprised when they dropped me a message! So far with only 1 live show in their history, Almyth is an undiscovered treasure in Latvian doom scene.
ANTI FALLOS – hc punk, Tampere where to listen? – live!
What are these Finns so special about? Well, their name is “anti-dicks”. They are a bunch of pissed off skaters. Uncommon hardcore punk sound with blues guitarist playing angriest hardcore riffs, a chilled out bassist siting the whole set and not missing a note, not giving a fuck. And the vocalist teleporting from one side of a stage to another. Saw them twice in Tampere. Worth it!
Girl power hanged by a tie! Depustūtes, a word play mix of “deputies” and “prostitutes”, the young punk assault delivering the latest update on how far we are with the local riot girl ideology. Primitive sounding, angry and full of pogo. Anarcho punks hating on assholes trying to watch over, comanding and forgetting themselves. United scene starts with a united message! Here’s your messenger!
GERĀRIJS – hardcore / nu-metal, Valmiera where to listeni? – live
Band from North Latvia, rarely playing in Riga. Saw them at naked punk calendar presentation. A bit loose heavy metal band that lables them selves as hardcore and nu-metal. Vocals variate from singing to growls, song’s in mid-tempo. The slopiness and riffs reminds me of 80s proto-black metal bands that made the atmosphere with rawness alone. Gerārijs are doing that thing but mixing it with some more positive melodies and a bit of theatrical elements.
I’ve been trying to book these guys for years, I think. Saw them some time ago at club Hell in Tartu. The drummer is one of those guys that play in every band. He’s the machine behind Kuritarvitaja (crust) and Dinner Christians (grind) as well as few other bands most likely. The other 2 parts of Käptör are old school speed metal freaks. Band’s vocal style reminds me of Bathory and definetlly not something from present-times. Definetly one of the head-liners this year.
How does black metal sound tremolo-picked by yough Estonians? Lein is a melancholic and atmospheric, and mostly sad music by a band that performed their debut show only less than a year ago. But now they are crossing Latvia to play on a black metal mini-festival in Vilnius, called Dūstant. Let’s greet them well and make Estonian brother remember Filthy Hangout as the highlight of their run.
Fucking Mörv is back! 2nd year in a row Finnish maniacs will head-line Filthy Hangout fest. You like crust, death metal, hardcore punk, sick chuggy drops, guitars solos, fast riff changes, bdsm masks and tight sounding drums? Well this is all-in-one type of instant coffee straight from the capital of Scandinavian crust. By the way, Mörv and Finnish/Latvian d-beat guns .338 are recording a split later this April (catch .338 on Feb 2nd at Sid Vicious day in Riga!).
Pidari don’t need no introduction. They are known in both punk and jazz scenes due to the weird mix of memmbers coming from different backgrounds playing the most fucked up crust music imaginable. The band is back with a new set, more blast beats, breakdowns and a clarinet.
Did you knew Riga has a great gore/grind scene? Me neither. Well, here’s an example pulled out from the black hole. Heavy tune noone has heard of. Tingler is a hardcore band with weird ass vocals, slam riffs and gory sounding snare. Mince core meets grind core meets sludge meets misery. And that’s a review of their debut single “Deadhead” alone. Join all other bugs in the moshpit trying to keep up with these boys!
Oooh, you know them! Liepāja’s finest death metal. Even the gatekeeping metal fathers in the scene mentions Trencheard in the same sentence with “Latvian metal is not dead”. Technical stuff, blackened tunes, deep growls that are hard to believe to be coming from a teenager’s throat. They saddly have no records released yet, but for their offten touring between Riga and Liepāja, they are known in the area and there’s no local band that can keep up with them.
Finally, our very own decent black metal. Saw them at Humanicide when they filled in for Disdāvji. YR is a wall of noise consisting of monoton high scream that fills the role of another instrument in the mix, guitar noise performed on classical music scale, and nonstop blast beats by the same guy who’s keeping the backbone straight in Polycephaly. YR is evenly evil, powerful and angry. Hard sounding black metal.
Time-table:
Friday, 19.04.
19:00-19:20 Depustūtes – riot girl 19:40-20:10 YR – black metal 20:30-21:10 Lein – black metal, 🇪🇪 21:30-22:00 Tingler – grind 22:20-23:00 Käptör – speed metal, 🇪🇪 23:20-00:00 Trencheard – death metal, Liepāja
Saturday, 20.04.
18:10-18:55 All in Measure – stoner grunge 19:15-19:55 Pidari – hardcore crust jazz 20:15-20:55 Anti Fallos – hardcore punk, 🇫🇮 21:15-22:00 Gerārijs – hardcore, Valmiera 22:20-23:00 Mörv – metal punk, 🇫🇮 23:20-00:00 Almyth – stoner
DISKULTUR nowadays not only book shows but also make zines, write books, design posters and have a tape distro.
BOOKING Diskultur is book shows since 2013. The biggest achievements would be a summer tour in 2024 for .338 with 18 shows in 19 days, an European tour in 2023 for UK crust pioneers HELLBASTARD with Latvian punks PIDARI (10 shows in 9 countries) and PUNX PICNIC RIGA 2021 festival gathering 38 bands from 8 countries and 1000+ attendies in 5 days.
Diskultur is based in Riga, Latvia and works with mostly Baltics and Finnish scene, occasionally booking other European countries as well.
Contacts: diskultur@riseup.net
ZINES & BOOKS Since 2022 Diskultur is releasing PUVE books and GRÜST zines both in Latvian and English. The recent issues are still re-printed and available to purchase straight from Diskultur crackhouse in Riga. All zines are handmade and contains a lot of graphic design as well as plenty of text.
Bibliography:
♠ 03.2022. PUVE #1 (Latvian & English versions) book about the new wave (2020-2022) of Latvian punk scene with interviews and concert reviews. 125 pages.
♠ 12.2022. PUVE #2 (Latvian version) book about the history of Diskultur, celebrating the 10 years anniversary. 130 pages.
♠ 03.2023. GRÜST #1 (half Latvian, half English) zine with Latvian undeground album reviews, the history of Latvian punk zines by Jānis Daugavietis and an interview with German fastcore legends Yacøpsæ.
♠ 04.2023. GRÜST #2 (Latvian only) zine is a short promo for FILTHY HANGOUT fest with interviews and album reviews.
♠ 06.2023. GRÜST #3 (English only) zine about Latvian punk band PIDARI as a promo for their tour with HELLBASTARD.
♠ 08.2023. GRÜST #4 (English only) zine titled THE ULTIMATE LATVIAN CRUST ZINE is what it says. From first experiments in post-hardcore scene with d-beat patterns in early 2000s to crust only local shows with plenty of bands.
♠ 12.2023. GRÜST #5 (English only) zine with Latvian undeground album reviews, an interview with a local artist Tīna Ērenpreisa about their nude punk calendar, as well as personal thoughts of modern punk ideology.
♠ 05.2024. PUVE #2 (English version) Diskultur history 2013-2023 with additional chapter not included in the Latvian version
PUVE price is 10-15€ and GRÜST is 0-5€ but these prices are variable. Any kind of payment is accepted; cigarettes, booz, help or just ask if you are interested if you want a copy but can’t afford it, we will figure it out! Shipping available as well!
To order a copy, contact: diskultur@riseup.net
TEAM Diskultur has consisted of many members during the years. Non of the members are “official” as Diskultur never registered their trademark, company, union or whatever. For every show the team changes, we look for a new group of volunteers, sound and light guys and other crew members.
As for now Diskultur consists of 3 people; Dāvis (Dave Raven) – organiser, posters, promo, the “head” of the spider; Barbara – social media, volunteer management, co-organiser Žurka – English translation for books and zines
BANDS Besides booking shows for other bands, I’m active with my own ones. Here’s the ones I’m playing with and/or managing in 2024.
♠.338 is a Tampere, Finland based 5-piece internation d-beat project mixing thrash metal riffs with fast d-beat, intense solos, rhytms and song structures. The band has performed in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. .338 has released a demo and a split album with Finnish band Mörv. https://point338.bandcamp.com/
♠PIDARI is an experimental jazz crust band based in Riga, Latvia. The band consists of 4 jazz, blues and metal muisicians trying to play crust. Songs variate from grindcore to crackrock steady, doom, drone, noise and other experiments. PIDARI occasionally performs with guest musicians, like trumpetists, keytarist, black metal vocalists etc. The band has performed in 11 countries around Europe and plan to release a debut album in 2025. https://youtu.be/3A4jk9AgeA4?si=MPcNnycSz32SP4qy
♠СМЕРТЬ (Smert) is the first Latvian crust band that started in 2019 and disbanded in 2023 but has recently reformed with a new line-up. СМЕРТЬ has performed in 12 countries around Europe, released a split with Baltics crust bands, as well as other releases with pre-СМЕРТЬ projects. The band reunited in 05.2024. Their debut EP “Alkopower” came out in October 25th, 2024. https://smert.bandcamp.com/album/alkopower
♠DISRESPEKTS is a new international d-beat band based in Lapmežciems, Latvia. They play in the style of caveman crust with nothing but high tempo d-beat and sludgy slow parts. The band has no recordings.
Ex-bands of Diskultur:
♠HATZ (ex-Erdiko Hatz) was a rock band from Riga that existed from 2012-2013. Members were Dāvis Krauklis (bass, vocals), Roberts Kits (guitar, vocals), Oskars Krūmiņš (drums). live video
♠CUBA (stylized as cubA) was a punk band from Riga that existed in 2013. Members were Dena Doloresa (vocals), Jēkabs Vilnis (guitar), Dāvis Krauklis (bass), Elizabete Punka (drums). demo
♠OYTÖ (ex-Oytödedos) was an experimental noise band from Riga that existed from 2015-2018. Members were Marģers Zālītis (vocals, electronics), Dāvis Krauklis (bass, didgeridoo), Aleksandrs Barons (drums, percussions, poetry). The band took influence from The Body, Einstürzende Neubauten and Swans. Oytö recorded a live album “Oytö is dead” in 2018 and called it a day. live video
♠POLINÖIZ andÖTYO were Oytö side-projects, consisting of Dāvis Krauklis and Aleksandrs Barons. Polinöiz played crasher crust (live recording) and Otyö was a more calm vesion of Oytö (rehearshal video).
♠WOODOOM (ex-Engage Your Mother) was a doom/drone band from Ikšķile from 2017-2020. The band had several line-up changes. The first line-up played more stoner influenced style. Members were Linda Elfonsī (female vocals), Daniels Dijevs (vocals, tuba), Reinis Švagris (guitar), Dāvis Krauklis (bass), Mo Aspen (drums). The line-up existed until 2018 and recorded a split tape with Lithuanian sludge band “Wifebeater”. The second line-up consisted of Ed Weird (vocals), Reinis Švagris (guitar), Dāvis Kristers (bass) and Rūdolfs Akermanis (drums). The line-up existed from 2018-2019 and recorded a debut album “Live Slow Die Homeless”. The third line-up existed of Dāvis Krauklis (bass, vocals), Reinis Švagris (guitar), Rūdolfs Akermanis (drums) from 2019-2020. The line-up gained some recognition with their touring. During the year of existence, Woodoom performed in Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The late line-up changed bands name to Смерть and started to play d-beat. latest line-up live
Bands as a temporary member:
♠DŪMU ZĀRKA ZĒNI, a drone orchestra, lead by Dāvis Burmeistars from Tesa. Playing double bass and clarinet since 2021.
♠NIKOTĪŅI, a punk band with various influences from radio rock to thrash metal. Fill-in bass player during the summer of 2023.
I first met Žurka in 2013/14 and not short after we figured out we both are born on the same day in the same year. We tried to celebrate our birthdays together in 2017. I organised a little show at NABAKLAB in Riga but two of the headliners cancelled and the whole show didn’t happen.
A year later, in 2018 we tried again. We organised a birthday bash at the sauna house FUKUŠIMA in Riga with 20 people capacity. Sludge band SLØGA and hardcore punk band M.P.I.S.A. both from Vilnius played that night together with a local traveller BEYOND THE BORDERS. It was a cold and snowy night and we all squeezed together around the drumset and went in sauna afterwards.
In 2019 we came up with the name HUMANICIDE, taken from DYSTOPIA’s song. The gig happened at REPUBLIKA bar in Riga with black metal punk band DEGRA from Vilnius, black’n;roll band HÕBEKUUL from Tallinn, hardcore punk band HUIABELLA FANTASTICA from Tallinn/Helsinki, crust band PROJECT DEKADENZ from Tartu and sludge bands SKAVEN VANTH and WOODOOM from Riga. PŪĶIS joined for an acoustic jam on the bar floor. Saddly finnish grands ROTTEN SOUND played in Riga on the same night so we ended up splitting the already small Riga scene in half.
HUMANICIDE 2020 was a blast. It happened in Kuldīga city. A well known metal-head town in early 2000s. We teamed up with local guys from doom band ZVJOZDOČKA and organised the festival at their rehearshal space that was an empty industrial house on the border of the city. The virus was already a thing back then and we managed to do the show right before it started to spread in Latvia. Around 120 people showed up. We invited Chezch post-black metal band CHANDRA and a few new names in Latvian doom / punk scene – WOODOOM, ZVJOZDOČKA, DEBESIS, D.R.OWN and ZINTNIEKS. The night was heavy. A week in advance we made a DIY bar, sold everything for 2 Euros. Bar got its own tape juke-box. We had a backstage balcony to watch the show from higher ground.
2021 edition was booked to happen at the same place but Latvia got it’s first lockdown and the whole thing got cancelled.
For 2022 edition we booked Valga Rockiklubi on the bordercity of Latvia and Estonia. No events were allowed in Latvia till January 11th so making it in Estonia was a logical solution. You could get there with a train from Riga, the last train station being on the Estonian side, so you were able to legally cross the border with no virus rectrictions check-up. A loophole. Most of 2021 edition bands got booked for 2022. Latvian biggest name in post scene TESA, WOODOOM crust reincarnation СМЕРТЬ, Tartu punk bands PROJECT DEKADENZ, KURITARVITAJA, SÜLIVERI, a doom band TRACHEA together with Vilnius’ TURETO SINDROMAS. The venue had no bar so visitors were allowed to bring their own alcohol. Few days before the show PROJECT DEKADENZ and SÜLIVERI cancelled due to positive covid tests. So MUUMIORU SS from Tartu and UGUNS step in.
The 2023 edition was the biggest one so far. It happened at Ādmiņu 4 in Riga. Lithuanian jazz punks CHALAT JAZZ, Finnish hardcore punks DART, GAZE and HAUTAUSTOIMISTO, Riga legends RŪSA and TESA, as well as local crust bands TRENCHEARD, СМЕРТЬ and PIDARI performed on 2 stages. The venue was packed. It was a grandiosso night! And a terrible hangover…
The 2024 edition will happen on January 13th. All info on a previous post.
Turbo’s and Žurka’s 26th birthday bash. Join us as we celebrate with noise, punks and booz!
This will be the 6th year me and Žurka are celebrating our birthdays together. It’s somekind of a tradition already, hahah! So what are these unknown bands on the poster:
UGUNS no recordings available
I know Guntis, the songwritter, guitarist and vocalist of UGUNS for about 10 years now. We first met at the Bunker squat where we both participated in poetry nights. He used to play bass for a psychedelic rock band SO LUCID ELECTRIC FEEL, while I was with OYTÖ. I remember playing together in Daugavpils in 2016 when gopniks started a fight during the show and suddenly the whole bar turned into chaos. That was one hell of a night! Here’s even a video: https://youtu.be/JaETsv7WTIM?si=UsfcEQbpGIS2O1Zn Guntis later moved to Berlin where he fell in love with black metal and decided to make a solo project while he was looking for other band members. He played guitar and screamed alone, with no drums or anything. It was a pure black metal act. I booked him for PUNX PICNIC in 2022 where during his set he sacrificed a couple with wine and blood and some shit. I don’t remember much of it but it was a great show to watch while drinking. The ex drummer of SKYFORGER, Artūrs and DEODIUM bassist Mārtiņš has joined Guntis and UGUNS has transformed into a powerful trio.
GRAB is a project by Kārlis, the bassist of TESA pluss someother all-stars of Latvian underground music scene, the cellist Sarma, drummer Artis (ELKUPE, DZZ, ANNA KIJEVĀ, APVEDCEĻŠ and buch of other projects) and bassist Jānis (ELSSA, PAMIRT, CATALEPSIA etc.). They rarely play live and if they do it’s usually a bigger event and definitely not a punk show. I honestly haven’t heard them live, so I’m more than happy to add them on the line-up. On a record they sound super experimental and noisy. Kinda like hyperpop with electronic and post-metal influences. Hyped to finally experience them live!
DISDĀVJI no recordings available
While PIDARI is on a creative brake, me and the drummer, Dāvis thought of making a d-beat raw punk band in the vein of D-clone. I have tried to go this direction several times with POLINÖIZ in 2016 (the sideproject of OYTÖ) and with APES STRONG in 2022 but these projects never survive longer than few shows and DISDĀVJI will probablly be no exception, hehe. Boys just having fun with d-beat noise and samples of Charles Manson, Gummo and other stereotypical crust-approved anger.
SKALA BÜNTE no recordings available
These guys are the new big band in the scene. Mixing metal with 70s psychedelic, covering SKYFORGER and being sexy on stage. So what else do you need for a Saturday night with sweaty and drunk punks?
POLYCEPHALY no recordings available
I saw them yesterday for the 2nd time (3rd but don’t remember one!) at Tīna’s punk nudes calendar presentation. They have grown a lot since their debut show. Kinda like a nu-metal vibe with female vocals, death metal with drums and slam with guitars. Cool mix. I guess that’s where the punk and metal world is going to, being blended together with each other and bands not playing a specific genre anymore. They have some new songs with super nasty sludgy riffs. That was a treasure to experience while being high. The vocalist promised me to try high screams on the Humanicide set, so I’m looking forward.
ALKOMULAATOR no recordings available.
Finally a crusty hardcore punk band in the scene. I’m trying to catch their sets whenever I can. I have noticed that they have “borrowed” a few СМЕРТЬ riffs but I don’t mind, hosnetly. It’s cool to be an inspiration to the next generation and let’s be real – there isn’t much you can variate with power chords and tupa-tupa. In hardcore punk it’s not about being original musically but about the power you give on stage and in songs. Yesterday I heard a new gossip about the new ALKOMULAATOR guitarist, Mārcis. He went to XI20 birthday party in Vilnius where the Lithuanian ska legends DR.GREEN had a reunion show. And after fighting the night in the backstage he started to vomit from a bunk bed on DR.GREEN guys. With greetings from Latvia! Haha, yeah, that’s the attitude!
So, if you’re interested to come by, the show will happen at Ādmiņu 4 in Riga. 3rd floor, TESA’s place. We don’t have a heater there and it’s the middle of winter so check on your friends to not pass out in the corner. It’s a BRING YOUR OWN BOOZ event, so maybe switch to a stronger alcohol to keep warm. There will be some merch available as well. GRAB has tapes and POLYCEPHALY just printed patches and t-shirts. I will bring my new tape distro and zines. So you can go home with a souvenir. Have fun! See ya there!
Cameras only towards the stage.
ALL IN MEASURE – stoner / grunge, Riga
