The Ignorant Youth zine recently had a chance to ask Justin Odgen of WRONG ANSWER some questions.
Q) After touring the U.K in 2011 with Guilty and in 2012 with Kingdom how did you enjoy those tours and what makes being in the U.K/Europe different from being at home?
A) I think I speak for everyone in the band when I say that we enjoyed these tours immensely and feel extremely lucky to be given the opportunity. people like us don’t normally get the opportunity to tour Europe, like most of the dudes I work with (I work for a junk hauling company, I drive a truck around and clean junk out of people’s houses) are kind of in awe of the fact that I got to go overseas, let alone more than once. each time we had an amazing experience and met a ton of people who showed us the utmost hospitality and kindness and aside from the warmth it’s just such an amazing experience to go see how people live in countries that are far away from us. I think that touring in a small hardcore band is one of the best ways to get a perspective on how real people live in other parts of the world because you’re right there with them, sleeping in their homes, eating at the local spots, stuff like that. i could never take it for granted because even if I was some rich executive who could travel around the world on a whim, I would be so far removed from that reality, I might as well be at Disney Land watching that international merry-go-round thing.
As far as the differences between the US and Europe like in terms of being in a hardcore band, most bands who get asked this question seem to have a stock answer like ‘everyone is so much nicer and more hospitable, they really take care of you and care about the music’ blah blah. that’s kind of a surface observation – the difference between hardcore in Europe and America is that in Europe hardcore is an accepted thing, it’s just another style of music. the cops aren’t trying to shut down every venue and show. here, even on the most base level, hardcore is always something that’s looked down upon. loud music that just sounds like noise to your average adult, kids jumping all over each other and moshing, like adults hate that shit. even when we were teenagers trying to make shows happen in the most innocent way possible, we were always at odds with authority. in Europe it’s pretty much just a different kind of music, all the venues are so professional and many of them have regularly been doing shows for like 20 years or more. people with no involvement in hardcore go to shows just to drink and hang out because almost every venue serves alcohol. some countries even get money from the government to put on shows – now that’s insane. that’s cool because you get a level of professionalism that you obviously don’t experience in america and it allows people to take care of you better but here, where you have to put on almost every show in some random room you’ve rented out, if not someone’s basement or living room or some crazy thing, it kind of makes hardcore mean more because you know everyone is there because they really want to be there. you’re putting yourself at odds with society and normal ways of life/forms of entertainment by associating yourself with the hardcore scene and I think it makes the whole experience more relevant, at least for me. I mean obviously when you look at the high turnaround rate you can tell that hardcore is just a form of after school entertainment for a lot of kids at shows but for me, the kind of ‘outlaw’ aspect of it definitely made it more interesting when I was a little kid. the UK is a little more like America it seems, most shows are in dingy bars and stuff like that and in some areas that’s a lot like America too, but the UK is certainly more like America than the rest of Europe so I guess that makes sense.
Oh and as far as the general ‘way of life’ in Europe vs America, it’s a simple difference. over there, the people in charge actually give a shit about you. over here, they leave you to fend for yourself/die. i haven’t had health care in ten years. if i don’t work my ass off i’m going to end up homeless. everyone hates each other and will fuck people over just to survive and try to get some of the crumbs that the people up top leave for us. it’s pathetic.
Go here to read the full interview.
