Exactly one year after our insightful interview Fiducia Collective‘s Jos,we’re back with another massive dive into the details of this year’s edition of Fiducia Fest, a DIY hardcore festival that will take place on March 23rd at AZ in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. The line-up for the 7th edition consists of Berlin’s blackened crust metal horde ANCST, UK’s emotive post hardcore act PROBABLY NOT, Hamburg based powerviolent hardcore act Raucнen, Dortmund’sgrungy emo punks SYMMETRY LOVER, Warsaw screamo punks WE WATCH CLOUDS,Bielefeld’s powerviolence band WEAK TIES, Nijmegen’s grungy punk rockers ZAHRADA, and Dortmund based emotive screamo hardcore pack ZILPZALP, and we have teamed up with each and every band to give you a couple of words about their participation, their perspective on DIY punk fests in Europe, other festivals recommendations, as well as quick updates about their current releases and plans for the next months.
Apart from the shows, Fiducia Fest VII will offer distros, info & food stands, and a special book presentation from Our Piece of Punk about the possiblilites and boundaries of queer feminism in punk“.
Rauchen from Hamburg, Germany
Fiducia Fest is something we always wanted to be a part of. When we were asked to play the fest, we were thrilled to finally make it. You should check out Symmetry Lover, who are also playing the fest. They will be your new favorite band!
It is definitely worth to check out Böse und Gemein Fest in Dresden, AZ Bleibt! Fest II in Köln and Stains in the Sun Festival.
In January we recorded a live session with three songs at Sunsetter Sessions. Besides that, we will play a bunch of weekenders and small DIY festivals this summer. Hope to see you there!
Ancst from Berlin, Germany
I – Tom – played Fiducia at least 3 or 4 times throughout the years with several different bands and every time it had been fun. I have to admit that I have played a few rather shitty shows in that same venue but the fest itself never disappointed and we always loved it for the great atmosphere and the hospitality thrown our way. Another thing that amazes me is that although it’s mainly centered around DIY hardcore it never gets boring as the line up is always nicely mixed and showcases the variety this whole genre has to offer. Really looking forward to this.
“Kill the plastic smile” in Oldenburg is definitely worth a check. The Alhambra is a great venue and the fest is mainly centered around darker hardcore, crust, grind and bits of metal and has always been fun to play and to attend. “The punx picknick” at AJZ Neubrandenburg has also been killer several times. Situated at a lake and taking place in summer makes it a great place to hang out and check out tons of cool underground punk & hc bands. Berlin also has some nice smaller Festivals happening every year with Vendetta Fest, Swamp Fest, Miss the Stars Fest & our own small Festival the Solitude Fest.
We are taking things easy this year after 2018 has been our most busy year to date. never the less we have already booked a lot of great shows all over Europe that we are really looking forward to. after 2018 has seen us releasing a shit load of material so we will be quieter this year, working on bringing some of the tape only stuff to CD and Vinyl and working on the next album.
Probably Not from Exeter, UK
Despite playing in bands for years, nobody in Probably Not had ever toured outside of the UK before last year. We came over in June playing 6 nights on the continent (5 in Germany) and we fell in love immediately. Before we reached our homes we were unanimous in our decision to return as soon as possible. We went looking around for the bands we liked and researched where they had all played on the continent, bands like Joliette, Jungbluth, Rope, Cassus, they all had one thing in common: Fiducia. We messaged them on a wing and a prayer, asking for a spot on the 2019 bill, they said yes immediately! We’re so honoured to be asked to play what is surely a linchpin of the DIY scene in Europe.
The Exchange in Bristol, a community-run venue, has played host to some amazing all-dayers over the years. One week after we return to the UK we’ll be playing Fishstock there alongside Bolshy, Darko and Kermes. Happy to see Cheap Words On Handbills come out of retirement, and here’s hoping for more Rad Not Sad all dayers!
We recorded an album in November with Rich Robinson which is all but ready for release. 10 songs that are fast, slow, angry, sad, and it clocks in at just under 20 minutes. Fiducia Fest marks the last day of a joint tour between Probably Not and ZilpZalp, where we’ll be playing 4 shows in the UK and 4 shows on the mainland. Following the tour we plan to release the record proper, continue playing shows around the UK, and begin writing record number 3. We each have other bands too: Tom G has recently released a record with Dear Anyone, Alex has been recording and performing under the name Honey Pot, and Tom S has recently joined Shorts Weather on bass.
Weak Ties from Bielefeld, Germany
We are happy to be a part of this years Edition of the Fiducia Fest. It’s a beautiful festival made with a lot of passion and love. We would have played last year but had to cancel so it’s super nice of the Fiducia crew that they invited us a second time.
One of the most important D.I.Y. festivals in our opinion is the Fluff Fest. We all try to go there every year. Its always like a big family gathering and the line up, the level of organisation and the food (haha) are always beyond awesome. Then there’s the Cry Me A River Fest . We were able to play last year. Also always a great line up and super cool and dedicated people. Two of us are helping organising a fest in Bielefeld this April. Almost 40 bands will play on two days. Every band is Bielefeld based and we are really excited to see all these different bands and genres.
We’re writing songs for a new record we will record in August. After that we will pause for a while.
Zahrada from Nijmegen, Netherlands
We are Zahrada and we all played in several DIY-bands for quite some years now (for example Zegota, Landverraad, the Smudjas and saw a lot of places and bands throughout Europe. What brought us together is the desire to make music of our own and hopefully we will be able to continue to shape and create our own sound even more in the future. We are a bit tired of strict genres or styles, which doesn’t mean that we aren’t influenced by many great bands of course. But we try to develop what we like instead of copying it.
For live shows, we like to be surprised when we see a new band. To hear something we haven’t heared before. And within that, the most important thing is the passion. That’s what makes the difference. Because of this, we were really happy to be invited at the Fiest in Madrid (this year’s edition) for example, because there were all kind of bands together playing different styles of music, but with a nice attitude. We hope that Fiducia Fest will also have some surprises. On our European tours we played at many nice places as well, especially in Eastern Europe. That’s another advantage of playing the style of music that we play; you can play everywhere (or nowhere, but that’s the bad way of looking at it). If you are interested in it, you can check this page where we wrote down all the shows that we have played in the past.
Symmetry Lover from Dortmund, Germany
We are really looking forward to playing among other great bands we appreciate and to spending time with likeminded people in an environment we feel safe in. The AZ Mülheim is a great venue and we are happy to take part and support the fest and all the people involved. The great thing about the Fiducia Fest is, that there will be a lot of friends but also people and bands we will meet for the first time. It’s the 7th edition this year and an already well-known mini-festival in Europe. As a young and unknown band it’s great to have the opportunity to introduce our music to the audience.
We just finished recording our first 12“ and did as much as we could on our own in this whole process. We enjoy creating things and taking matters in our own hands, so we really feel connected with the DIY culture and are happy to be a part of this fest.
We Watch Clouds from Warsaw, Poland
Hey, we’re we watch clouds from Warsaw, and we are very glad that we can take a part in the Fiducia Fest. This is going to be our first fest that is placed abroad which makes it even more exciting. We can’t wait!
Of course I would recommend checking Miss The Stars and Cry Me A River, these are well known, but also Please Don’t Cry Fest in Cracow and an Ultimate Screamo Fest II in Warsaw might be worth checking as they are featuring some local emo and screamo bands from Poland. Also the Swampfest in Lithuania is a cool event too. It. Takes. Place. In. A. Swamp. Literally!
Our plan for this fest is very simple. Meet some cool people that I am in touch with via Internet and have a great off-job time going with my beloved bandmates in our 21 years old Volvo estate. We got some shows booked around the fest, so come and check us in Warsaw, Hamburg, Dresden, Liepzig, and Szczecin.
ZilpZalp from Dortmund, Germany
We feel quite connected to the fest and the Fiducia concert group. They organised some of our very first shows and one of them was at the Fiducia Fest. There’s something special about this group. No matter how known they are and how long they’ve been around they seem to remain true to their taste and rather book some rookies they like than a well know band keeping elitism out of the scene. Without Fiducia and their fest we might not be where we are now.
We’d like to mention the Sick As We Are Festival in Županja, Croatia. It’s very far from being an insider’s tip. However, we’ve been very amazed by the love and work the people behind the festival put in little details and the nice location. Another diy fest we like to visit is the Cry Me A River Fest close to us in Versmold which attracts fantastic bands to this region every year.
We’ll try to keep being as productive as possible. After the UK-Tour we will release our latest record on vinyl. As soon as we have practiced all the songs we lately wrote we want to record again. For the summer we’re about to plan a tour to North Eastern Europe.
