Zero Tolerance #40 - Let me see your warface!

ELECTRIC FUNERAL interview in Zero Tolerance #40. The Anger Burning section is curated by Cormac O' Siochain.

Infused with napalm and awash in horrendous distortion, Electric Funeral scream from the speakers like the blastwave from a thermonuclear explosion. Better known for his other bands (Totalt Jävla Mörker, Warvictims, a dozen others), this is the first time that lifelong D-beat addict Jocke has handled all the instruments alone. The result is a filthy assault of no-frills Scandinavian noisepunk hatred: four tapes, two 7"s and a 12" have been unleashed, with no less than six more vinyl releases forthcoming. "I got tired pestering grown-ups to get them to the rehearsal studio, to play live and tour," sighs the Swede, "so I said, 'Fuck it - do it yourself'. It's very liberating to avoid complying with others' bad taste. I have quite different tastes in music and art, how I look and think about things. The only limit is that I'm not an accomplished musician - I guess it's that feeling my listeners dig".
Whilst the raw sonic approach is common to both D-beat and black metal, the one-man-band aesthetic tends to be most commonly associated with the latter.
"I see many similarities with black metal" enthuses Jocke. "What appeals to me is the raw, primitive and uncompromising attitude; they do their thing and don't care about the rest. I listen a lot to black metal privately, so I get inspired by the genre." Yet with such musical purity, there's always the risk of verging on parody through devotion to form and content - "I hear you!" cackles Jocke. "I often experience the punk scene as a parody of itself - people take themselves so damn seriously. Punk, for me, is about taking control over one's own life, trying to create a better place to live and be inspired. I will never take orders from anyone, and I couldn't care less if people consider me less punk just because I sometimes listen to hip-hop or do puzzles." Hardly a revelation that there's a concerted geekdom here, considering Jocke's record collecting and highly prolific label, D-takt & Råpunk: "D&R rarely press more than 500 copies of our releases. Some titles are sold out in less than two weeks, some take longer. People are more discerning today; they'd love to have 'something more' than just a black vinyl with a xeroxed cover. I've never really understood the digital generation, and that's the main reason why D&R don't have any digital bullshit distribution. My little sister's friends don't even know what vinyl is - how fucked up is that?! I prefer to have as little as possible to do with the internet, and people have difficulty understanding that. I choose vinyl, even noisy tapes, before a crappy mp3 any day. As long as there are geeky record collectors like myself, there'll always be an audience."

Thanks to Chrille who bought me a magazine!