THE STUBS, so called “low budget rock’n’roll / punk’n’roll” band from Warsaw, Poland, have recently released their new “classic” video :) for the song “Nation Of Losers”. You better check it out, it’s a perfect chance to go back in time and the beautiful acountry of Poland back in the 70s and how sweet paradise it was ;) The song comes from their upcoming album “Second Suicide”, to be released on April 10th! I took this chance and sat down with Tomek (guitars/vocals) to discuss the band, their history and their view on punk rock. Radek (drums) joined us in the last question to show the pure spirit of punk! Don’t miss it!
THE STUBS have already released “The Stubs” LP in 2011 via Antena Krzyku and “Kill Yourself EP” one year ago via Instant Classic. They have played a bunch of great gigs at squats, toilettes, clubs and at the biggest festivals :)
Hi, guys! Pleasure to have you here. To start off, tell us how the idea for the video for “Nation Of Loosers” came about?
Well, idea was to make a no-budget video, because we have no money at all. We found some parts of polish chronicle where Poland looks like some paradise on Earth, which it obviously wasn’t back in the 70s so we found it totally funny. Then we started to search for some chronicle that is showing Poland as it was really looking like, then we mix it together. It was a little boring so we add karaoke-like subtitles and that’s it. A no-budget stubs video.
So that’s what low budget rock’n’roll is all about, huh? [smiles] Where else did “the nickname” come from?
You mean “The Stubs”? Yeah, It’s strictly connected to “low budget”. We, ourselves, achieve value of ashtray full of cigarette stubs. And we like to belive that “The Stubs” means “cigarette stubs”. But it also can mean “short pricks” or even some worst stuff. Depends who’s listening.
Alright, let’s go back to the new outing. “Nation Of Loosers” is a foretaste of your new album. What’s the release date and what can we expect this time?
10th of April is the date. We have organized the release party in “Powiększenie” club in Warsaw. You can expect the worst! From the record itself, as well. Distorted, croocked, rude, low budget rock and roll. But we are definitely way more satisfied this time. I mean… Our debut… Was fucking terrible. New LP will be… Less awful. You can expect that.
What’s different in terms of the production? [smiles]
I think the producer made a bit of difference. We really like to work with Marcin Klimczak from Mustache Ministry. He’s a very funny and creative guy. He helps us a lot. And he have also played all of the key parts. But don’t get it wrong. New LP gonna sound nastily enough to be a proper STUBS record.
Pick one song from the new record that you especially love and tell me the story behind it.
Oh, come on, man… would be easier to pick one that I hate, maybe. I think I treat the whole record as a one piece. But of course there’s a story behind every single song. Some of the stories are funny, some of them are tragic and others are just silly and pathetic. For example. I wrote “Love her (while she’s gone)” because I hated one of my friend’s girlfriend at some particular moment. And this is not a first time when I’m writing a song because I hated someone so much, and then I’m getting along with that person and… The song is already recorded… and It’s a very good song so… Fuck it, It’s staying as it is.
[laughs] OK, fair enough. What are your plans in terms of promotion of the new record and bringing it closer to the kids? Apart from the release show you mentioned, do you have any gigs schedule?
Promotion? We are completely unable to do this stuff. We would like to. But we have no skills, no connections, and we don’t want to make moves that we gonna regret for the rest of our lives. You know those big TV shows where you are fooling around with your useless, ridiculous talents and some celebrities are judging you. Imagine that we receive a several offers from the shows like that. To be honest, I would rather die by a self immulation. All we can do is play as many gigs as we can handle. And that’s what we are doing. To check out exact dates go to www.thestubswarsaw.com.
Some might say you’ve already tasted highlife by performing at some of the biggest Polish fest. [laughs]
Well, yeah, some may say that we do. But to tell the truth, all these festivals, without exception, were awesome. We were Pretty sure that they just gonna treat as like shit over there because we are nobody well known. We were like “if those stuff guys start to push us around they gonna have a piece of us, we don’t give a fuck”. We were very positively surprised. With exception with OFF Festival‘s main stage crew. They were a little bit of assholes. But fuck them. We played the same stage with THE STOOGES, BARONESS and THURSTON MOORE on that day.
Yeah, the festival really has it all. What about touring abroad? It’d be relatively easy to increase the reach of your music this way, don’t you think? Why wouldn’t you try?
And you have to mind that we are no longer teenagers. We have our jobs, kids and other lame-ass commitments. My son’s favorite band is MURDER CITY DEVILS, dude, I was working for that for years. I’m afraid to leave him alone with some shit-pop-listeners for a month. Besides, I think that we are playing more than most of the bands.
Cool, was it hard to infect him with punk rock? [smiles] How do you do that?
It not like I was trying that much or pushing him in any direction. We are listening a lot of rock’n’roll in a car when I’m driving him to kindergarden. It’s totally hilarious because he’s singing lyrics in his own language.
[laughs] Can’t wait I’ll be able to do the same thing, man. Amazing.
Ok, let’s go back to the release show at Powiekszenie for a while. What can we expect? Who’s gonna be supporting you guys over there?
This show will be also a first of our short, week-long tour with WE ARE IDOLS, our dear friends from Breslau. There is also a third band playing then, POISON HEART. Great guys. They are drinking vodka from tea cups. I would rather forget last show we were playing together. In fact, I can’t remember it anyway.
[laughs] Any groupies to join you on the backstage?
Groupies? What kind of idea is that? I’m a married man. Even if there would be any groupies… and of course there was none… I woudn’t tell you.
[laughs] Alright, before we end up, guys, please tell me more about your cooperation with Instant Classic. Who are they and how are they helping you out with this new album?
They are two great guys from Krakow. They have a lot of passion for what they are doing and they are helping us as much as they can. We are very grateful that they are wasting time for losers like us. Thanks, fags.
How have you guys changed as a band over the past 3 years?
It’s three years already. Damn! I kinda feel like we started this band a month ago. I don’t think we have changed at all. Maybe we play our instruments a little better. Maybe a little. I think that situation around the band have changed more than we do.
Ok, last question, guys. What are some of the best things about tiny, intimate shows like the ones you did with DRIP OF LIES? Why does punk rock and hardcore punk not belong to the big stages?
I think that the band and the crowd are making the gig. If those two combine for good energy then it have no matter what is the size of the stage. We played once in Radom on the superhuge, festival size stage in front of 50 persons and it was awesome. We gave everything from ourselves and people appreciate it with their enthusiasm.
You’re too politically correct [laughs].
Radek:
Punk rock and hardcore belongs to squats and small clubs. The best shows are those where sweat is dripping from the walls and people are running on heads.
Now you’re talkin’! Radek, we need to do another interview, just with you, ok? [laughs]
Alright, seriously guys, thanks so much for your time, guys! Have an awesome rest of the year!
Photos by Fisty Photography.
