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A Blast from the Past: Amdi Petersens Armé

posted by: Nico on 10 July 2007

Pytrik & Jeroen interviewed Amdi Petersens Armé for Re/Fuse zine issue #2. This might be the most influential Danish hardcore band of all time which is quite extraordinary if you take in consideration that they only have lyrics in Danish and as you can read in the interview they don’t speak English that well either. That’s why this interview is very entertaining thanks to the unintentional but humorous quotes by the band members. It also gives a nice insight on what the Danish society and hardcore scene is like.

APA take you back to the very early eighties very easily, at least when it depends on their sound and the way their record looks. When you talk with them you will however realize these are some up to date Danish kids with an opinion and a good taste for old hardcore. In February they played two awesome shows in the Netherlands. And especially the first one will easily get in the high regions of my best shows of the year list. All these things are good reasons to sit down with the band and let them talk to the tape recorder, which we did in their van, surrounded by a legion of squatters' dogs just before their second ever show in Amsterdam.

Tommas: bass I Peter: vocals I Less: guitar I Rasmus: drums

Pytrik: What's up with Amdi Petersens? And his army?

Peter: Amdi was this person in Denmark who started these schools back in the seventies, a sort of alternative schools. A left-wing sort of thing. He's kind of crazy. He became really paranoid, now no one has seen him for years. The last time they saw him, he popped up from a cardboard box.
Tommas: In 78.
Peter: At the airport. But with these schools... He was like 'be a teacher within a year'. It ends up they just work for him.
Tommas: It was a big corporation.

Jeroen: Was it like a cult?

Tommas: Yeah.
Peter: It was kind of hard to get out. There are cases, like you go to Africa in an old bus and work. And some people didn't want to do it anymore. It was like 'yeah right go', but it was in the middle of Africa and they had nowhere to go. There are a lot of stories like that.
Less: He also wanted to get female teachers to get sterilized, so they wouldn't settle down.

Jeroen: What kind of backgrounds do you guys get from and how did you get into punk in Denmark?

Peter: I lived is a small town and didn't get into punk rock till late. I saw some of it on TV. once...

Jeroen: Why was punk attractive to you?

Rasmus: I was into heavy metal first. Peter: Our backgrounds are, I guess, mostly middleclass.

Jeroen: The reason we ask this is that we get the impression Denmark is this very tolerant and social aware country.

Peter: That's what they like you to think.
Rasmus: Start dressing fucked up and you'll see Danish tolerance.
Less: In Denmark social tolerance is putting every immigrant that makes a crime on a deserted island. It was a serious suggestion in the parliament.
Tommas: In Denmark everybody should be the same, think the same, and talk the same.

Pretty much like Dutch tolerance. What do you think Tommas?

Tommas: I don't think people are that open-minded.

Jeroen: You're actually Swedish aren't you?

Tommas: No I am not; I play in a Swedish band though. Actually my grandmother was Swedish.
Peter: Danish people think they're so tolerant because they watch a lot of porn. But they're really patriotic.

Pytrik: Denmark is also in the European Union, but in a referendum it turned out that most Danish people didn't want to be in it at all, isn't that right?

Less: Every time there is a vote on the EU. Like mostly it is sponsored by the Yes-side of the government. They put like millions and millions in advertising propaganda for a 'Yes'. So no one can really make up their mind to vote yes or no. And when they get a 'No', they just wait half a year and make a new vote.

Jeroen: What do you think about the unification of Europe?

Tommas: It's like the USA. And decisions are being made far away from where you live. And they want it to be like that. So you don't really have a say in it at all.
Peter: I think the bigger it is... Like if you have an issue, the bigger the group of people is the less movement there will be. And minorities are going to lose their vote. Less: And the more they try to unify people in what they call 'One Europe', the more nationalism there will be, like in France, Austria and so on and also in Denmark.
Tommas: I actually think that caused the 'No' against the EU in Denmark.

Pytrik: Are there a lot of Nazi’s in Denmark?

Peter: There are some, but they have problems with themselves and there's a strong anti-fascist movement that keeps on beating the shit out of them.
Rasmus: Mostly they're like shitty white middle class kids.
Peter: They hate their own lives and need some kind of enemy. They haven't even thought it over you know.
Rasmus: We got a new song about that actually.
Peter: The song is basically making fun of them with their own words. Like in a sort of sarcastic way.
Tommas: It's like 'they're not like us because they don't eat pork'. Excuses like that.

Jeroen: Is there a lot of antipathy against those right wing groups in Denmark?

Less: Everybody is against racism. Ordinary people claim to be anti-racist, but still when they hear that some don't want to eat our national dish that has pork in it, they go crazy. Seriously, that's enough for a lot of people.
Peter: They just hate everything that is too extreme.

Jeroen: I know some of you are involved with that big squat in Copenhagen Ungdomshuset.

Peter: It used to be a squat.
Tommas: It got legalized a few years ago.
Peter: They basically squatted some houses to start a youth centre and then the local government was like 'here you can have these'.

Pytrik: What's the political and cultural function of it?

Peter: There's a meeting every week where we decide things.

Pytrik: It's all volunteer run?

Peter: Yeah, basically everybody can walk in from the streets and help.

Jeroen: How important is it for cultural and political life in Copenhagen?

Tommas: Very important.
Peter: It's the only place for freaks and punks to go. There's like two stages, a bar, a soup kitchen, meeting places.
Tommas: The city council just sold it actually. Nothing has happened yet, but somebody new owns it now.

Jeroen: I've been there a couple of times and when I was there with Reversal of Man, it seemed to be like the centre of all the riots that were going on that night. There were kids at the roof and...

Peter: That's one of the excuses for the government why they wanted to sell the house, because they say that all the trouble, all the riots come from there. Maybe some of the people who are involved with something in the house got something to do with the riot, but it's not that it really comes from there. Less: It's more like a cultural space.
Rasmus: The government had all these excuses about the house like...it was ugly and...
Less: They said we had like rats running around it the kitchen. They seriously said that.
Rasmus: They said it would cost twelve million to renovate it and we did it for 15.000. When all those arguments turned out to be lies they put it for sale. Just another way to get rid of people with funny haircuts and stupid ideas.
Less: The value of the ground it stands on is like twelve million, but they put it for sale for like 1.6 million, which is a total scam. They sold it to some private investor. And these say like 'we really want to help these kids' and stuff. They just want to control it and balance it with the common way of things.

Pytrik: Are you trying to put something against it?

Tommas: Yeah, like every time there was a meeting about it in the city council we had a demonstration against it. There were demonstrations outside of the building where the meetings were.
Peter: A lot of stuff happened, we did all these things.

Jeroen: What were those riots about when I was there (on tour with Reversal of Man, summer 2000 - ed.)?

Less: I wasn't at that show, so I don't know.
Tommas: There was a law passed against wearing masks during demonstrations. It was against that.

Jeroen: What do you think about laws like that?

All: IT SUCKS!!
Peter: Some of these laws are just so they can basically arrest you for anything, when you're not doing anything.

Pytrik: They do that every where. A few years back there was this ant-fascist demonstration in Utrecht and they used an old anti-NSB (pre-war Dutch fascist party) law to arrest people that might attend that demonstration just because they were wearing the wrong 'suspicious clothes'.

Less: In Denmark they only used it two times so far. They use it for everything. If you are in a city where there's going to be a demonstration and you have a pair of sunglasses they can arrest and charge you for that.
Peter: You can get up to six months for that. Even if you weren't at the demonstration at all, they'll just say youwere going there and it is enough for them.
Tommas: They get free hands...
Peter: Violence increases. The police say it does, so they get more money and stuff.

Jeroen: A little bit more to the music now... You're style is a lot like early DC hardcore. Is it something that just happened, or is it a conscious choice?

Peter: I think we all listen to that old punk rock.
Rasmus: When we started we got that DC 1981 record, with the four 7"s on it and we liked that one a lot. I don't know, we just listened a lot to that.

Jeroen: So you're influenced by bands like Youth Brigade and Minor Threat, or do you hate it when people say that?

Peter: I don't know, I mean it's kind of true but I don't really like it when people compare bands with all those categories.
Less: Sometimes you need those categories to describe a band, like on flyers.

Pytrik: Who writes the songs?

Peter: me and Rasmus, the drummer.

Pytrik: And why do you sing in Danish?

Peter: It seems more natural. I think it's more real. If you sing in English you can end up hiding behind words that don't mean so much. I mean you know when words rhyme, but when you sing in your own language all of sudden it means more.
Rasmus: When we first started there weren't bands singing in Danish.

Jeroen: Is there any history of Danish punk bands?

Tommas: In the late seventies and early eighties there were some bands and there used to be a scene but it died out in the middle of the eighties.
Rasmus: Now it is the biggest since the mid eighties.
Tommas: I can name a few bands from the early and mid eighties like but after that I can't even think of one.
Peter: It's always been a kind of rip off from English or American bands. The same as we do (laughter).
Less: It's weird, because Sweden always had a lot of bands, in the eighties and nineties. So I don't know why, it's weird.
Tommas: A of lot bands played in Denmark, also in the eighties, like Poison Idea and whatever. But kids seemed to have never really started something of their own. It's better now though.

Jeroen: A lot of young kids?

Peter: Yeah, like 14 year olds and stuff.
Less: People in Denmark are really young. Being 20 is almost being old. Rasmus: I really like it in Copenhagen compared to where I have been. Places like Sweden and America seem really segregated, you're either hardcore or straight edge, or crusty or punk rock or whatever, but in Copenhagen everybody gets along. People of all ages get along and do things.

Jeroen: Why do you think people get attracted to it, style or music, or?

Peter: Sure a lot of kids get into it because of style or something. Rasmus: A lot of kids come from the suburbs. They feel like they don't fit in anywhere else, you know.
Peter: It's also becoming more political I think.

Jeroen: To finish off the interview, maybe you can tell us what you're going to do the following year?

Peter: We didn't play for a year now. We just have a new guitar player and Rasmus was in the USA for a while. In the beginning it was weird to start playing again. Then we just decided to put on the tour and that's where we are now. Later we're going to record new songs for a compilation and after that we're just going to see what happens.
Tommas: If no one is going to get killed on this tour.
Less: We just want to say a big thank you to all the people from Utrecht. It was fucking great there.

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Related bandprofile: Amdi Petersens Armé

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Comments

Author	Message
CIVIL TERROR	Posted on 10.07.2007 (08:32) goto top
	Supercool.
coorde	Posted on 10.07.2007 (08:49) goto top
	Die show in het ACU was zonder twijfel een van de coolste shows die ik van m'n leven heb gezien. Wat een fucking koningsband!
iaatbYntiaY	Posted on 10.07.2007 (09:53) goto top
	Leuk om te lezen. Maar is het Engels ondertussen aangepast dan? Ik zie niet zoveel van het slechte Engels waarover een opmerking werd geplaatst. Bestaat deze band nog btw? En dat pand, is dat nog door hun in gebruik?
Rups	Posted on 10.07.2007 (10:01) goto top
	De shows in Utrecht (ACU en UBICA) waren beide 1 brok energie en ik denk zeker dat APA de interesse in hedendaagse Europese bands heeft opgekrikt in die tijd. Wel een beetje flauw om in de introductie hun engelse taalgebruik af te kraken, alsof dat de essentie is van het interview
smash the statues	Posted on 10.07.2007 (10:02) goto top
	"Danish people think they're so tolerant because they watch a lot of porn." En dat pand, is dat nog door hun in gebruik? Nee, dat is door je vrienden in beslag genomen.
dogfight	Posted on 10.07.2007 (11:07) goto top
	leuke band leuke lui voor zover ik kan herrineren.. ubica was idd 1 van die gigs die je nooit vergeten zal.. band van de avond toen was all tensed up wat mij betreft.. al was het alleen maar door de kots partij van roy haha waarom wordt er geen nieuw bestaand bandje belicht..er loopt genoeg leuks rond..? volgens mij heeft david nog iets deensch op de stapel liggen!? haha mike d.
Dannydiamond	Posted on 10.07.2007 (11:31) goto top
	acu toen brak geloof iemand iets ook wat een choas
impulse manslaughter	Posted on 10.07.2007 (12:45) goto top
	eerst gezien tijdens de releaseshow van vitamin x.. behoorlijk onder de indruk hiervan en daarom afgereist naar die semi-legendarische show in de ACU aka het unity slam-feest
Agent_Orange	Posted on 10.07.2007 (12:47) goto top
	ontzettend gaaf was dat toen in de Ubeca! Die show wtaat redelijk op het netvlies gebrand.
Rups	Posted on 10.07.2007 (13:11) goto top
	Friso SAF brak zijn pols in de pit van de ACU ja. Ik geloof dat die verkeerd onder een pile-on lag. Van de show in de Ubica is nog een gave DIY video in omloop
kissthegoat	Posted on 10.07.2007 (13:20) goto top
	En dat pand, is dat nog door hun in gebruik? Nee, dat is door je vrienden in beslag genomen. HULDE!
MiguelTegen	Posted on 10.07.2007 (14:04) goto top
	Geweldige band. Ik moet nodig die 7"-es weer eens opgraven...
pistolenedje	Posted on 10.07.2007 (14:46) goto top
	UBERvette band... hun show op de vitamin x release party in entrepotdok (in '98? ) is zondermeer de tofste show die ik ooit heb gezien!
Sndr	Posted on 10.07.2007 (15:15) goto top
	eens eens eens... wat een supergave band en gave shows in utreg!! heerlijk lompe utreg trash!! rups, was het friso die zijn pols gebroken had of muts? mijn geheugen laat me toch wel een beetje in de steek, maar de pile-on in het acu kan ik me nog goed herinneren!!
dogfight	Posted on 10.07.2007 (15:22) goto top
	het was friso.. maar er zijn wel meer ledenmatet blijven liggen na een apa gig...
coorde	Posted on 10.07.2007 (16:55) goto top
	Die spijkers die uit het plafond van het ubica naar beneden staken. Ik trok het slecht. Ik ben tijdens die show over een meatpile heen gewandeld. Dat trok ik dan weer goed. Beide shows waren belachelijk goed, maar acu > ubica.
pils	Posted on 10.07.2007 (17:09) goto top
	wat een supergave band! heb die gasten ook eens geinterviewd maar natuurlijk niks mee gedaan, en nu outdated. ik denk ook de favoriete band van room thirteen gaaf interview
xconfrontx	Posted on 10.07.2007 (21:42) goto top
	Coolste show ooit in het acu, ubica was ook zeer gaaf en helaas entrepotdok moeten missen. Mazzel Gijs cool om terug te lezen
kissthegoat	Posted on 11.07.2007 (20:41) goto top
	Tommas heeft overigens sinds kort een eigen platenzaak in Kopenhagen: Repoman records. Mooie winkel met leuke platen
EVACUATE Bookings	Posted on 12.07.2007 (16:55) goto top
	eens met Coorde, ACU legendarisch!!
ratbones	Posted on 13.07.2007 (04:11) goto top
	Die zotten van APA hebben tijdens die eurotour ook nog in het Reproach repetitiekot gespeeld. 15 man in een kamer van 5 op 4 ofzo. Knettergek!
xtamarax	Posted on 15.07.2007 (12:50) goto top
	Leuk om het interview weer te lezen! En een vette band natuurlijk...

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