Part of the crew: Motherpig, Kalo and Atomski Rat members, our friends and family! Pic taken before the gig.


Wow, dudes and dudettes...

I think my head is finally gettin' back to normal. I haven't really slept well in the last 48 hours, but nevermind that, it was for a good cause.

Sunday afternoon we've played for the second time in Serbia, this time in Zemun. Since it's close connected to Belgrade, capital city of Serbia, I've asked people is Zemun part of Belgrade or the city for itself, and everyone has its own opinion. Truth is (as I've digged it), Zemun is a city, but also one of the 17 Belgrade's municipalities.  

This gig was happening in a club called "Fest" and it was organized for us by our friend Zoran, bass player of band called Atomski Rat, an awesome Serbian band which has one album out already and one coming up, so you should really check them out if you like fast and harsh music. The strange thing about this gig was its starting hour - 5 PM. When we arrived, they've explained it to us - it's a sunday matinee thing and it usually goes very well, and all the proceeds from the ticket sale goes up for the bands. That was the first awesome thing I've liked about how things go in Zemun, but first things first.

We've left Sarajevo around 7 AM in the morning, drove through foggy and snow covered region of Romanija which has the curviest roads since fucking ever, I don't know who arranged it like that, but it gives you one hell of an headache and if you're one poor bastard suffering from car sickness, get ready to barf, because you will. Never mind. We've approached Bosnian border around 10 AM and then the border problems fucking started and since I didn't get enough sleep and I knew I will have to deal with ATA Carnet and customs, I was really pissed off. Border police, actually, not the boarder police, but the customs officer gave me even bigger headache by moving our car here and there... park here, park there, do not park there, go behind the trucks even though we're driving in a fucking car... It's usual fucking bullshit, but when you're freezing and he sits inside of his cozy stand, commanding you and fucking you up every five minutes, it starts getting on your nerves, no matter how calm you are. Eventually, we've passed the border and went to enter Republic of Serbia at the same border we've crossed the first time we went to Serbia, to Novi Sad. Not to get too much into that, but we were stripped naked the first time we went there, our car was searched out thoroughly because we were ''suspicious''. This time, no striptease, but custom officer who doesn't get a single thing about ATA Carnet document. All in all, we've lost one hour on two borders because of moving around and people who don't know how to do their job properly and efficiently. 

Although completely mentally depleted, our mood went sky high when we entered Serbia. Apart from the shittiest road I've traveled by in a LONG, LONG time (and I've been taking that road through Serbia since 2005 when I went for the first time to Novi Sad), we've realized Serbia was heaven on that day. No fog, no snow and believe it or not, sun was shining brightly and you can't go wrong with that one. When the sun shines, everything's fine.

We've reached Belgrade in no time, actually, it was around 2 PM and we've stopped the car and asked a guy who was standing at the crosswalk to directions. Instead of explaining it to us, he jumped inside of our car, which was quite a shock which later turned into a really pleasant one since he led us right in front of the venue and then went away back on foot. He mentioned he has a brother living in Sarajevo.

Club was still closed, but the in-front drinking session has already started, with all members (except Zoran) of Atomski Rat welcoming us in Zemun; and what a welcome it was, friendly meeting with lots of beer and rakija (aka schnapps). I've remember GG Allin's song "I Wanna Fuck Myself" was playin' when we arrived. As minutes passed, more and more people arrived, amongst them other band from Novi Sad which was on the bill for Sunday, great punk band called Kalo. People brought more and more drinks so our drinkin' sessions turned out to be pretty hellish, laughing, drinking, having fun, all relaxed and awesome.

When I've entered the club for the first time for a soundcheck, the first thing I've noticed although my vision became pretty blurry due to excessive alcohol intoxication were stage monitors. Fuck, I've thought, finally a club with monitors, I'll not lose my fucking voice like every time we're playin' in Sarajevo. But that wasn't the only one pleasant surprise - main man, the guy who's doing the sound in the club, he's called Nino and he was really a great, great, great helper to all the bands, setting up sound patiently with the bands and giving useful advices. Apparently, he also played (or is playin') in awesome Serbian thrashcore band Osmi Putnik II, which helped me connect all the dots, he's the man from the underground and he knows what the bands need. So if you ever go out and want to play Serbia, I suggest club "Fest" in Zemun and Nino behind the mixingboard.

Soundcheck done and then back to drinkin'. I've managed to get my ass totally whacked when someone announced Kalo is ready to hit up the stage and then a complete shock for a guy who came from Sarajevo... EVERY SINGLE FUCKING PERSON, no matter if their drinks were finished, just opened or whatever, put down the glasses, bottles, whatever they had in hands, proceeded inside and everyone PAID their tickets. Why this is so shocking for me? See, I live in a city where there's no scene, where this band and me personally, we're complete outsiders and we just don't fit nicely with other people. That's their attitude: toward me, toward Motherpig's musical style, toward everything we represent. People here in Sarajevo, they don't support the scene; the individuals are supporting individuals, no common sense, no love and interest for music or something new. When I saw what I saw, I've felt really proud of those people who I was sharing the stage with later that night and toward everyone coming in and paying their tickets. Several times people in Sarajevo bashed me and this band saying we don't belong to Sarajevo's scene and guess what? Now I completely support those statements, we don't. We belong to other scene, other people, not geographically, regionally or whatever oriented, but to the people true to rock'n'roll! Don't get me wrong about me sayin' Sarajevo sucks. It sucks, not completely, but mainly and somehow all the people who are worth a shit in my city are being bashed in or accused by assholes of being this or being that... just because some people do some fucking hardworking shit and some just sit on their precious asses and flap their motormouths. Anyway, the majority of Sarajevo (and Bosnian, to be exact) scene sucks. But now, back to Zemun.

Kalo ripped the house apart with their punk and I've really liked what I saw and heard. Sound was awesome, messy and loud the way it should be. Nino did a great job! After Kalo, Motherpig went up, no playlist, nothing. We've plugged in and started playin' and for the fifty minutes we didn't stop and that was one of the best gigs of Motherpig if you ask me, maybe not technically or musically, but emotionally, it was a blast. I know the crowd will tell you they've loved it too and the energy was transmitted to us, they were literally recharging our energy song after song! And it was honest thing... if they didn't like something, they didn't make a mess out of it (no rude middle finger pointing nor shouting from the back where the band can't see you because stage lights are burning their eyes), but when they did, they were cheering and they were cheering and applauding hard. At a certain point during performance of our song "Insomnija", I've got so carried away by the atmosphere, I've made my body move in such an awkward way, banged my head so hard I've lost my balance and fell over my bass amp, crushing down pretty hard. Alex and Atlija went on playin', we've finished the song without bass since it got disconnected and I couldn't make it work. Nino came back rushing to a stage, working around the amp and he fixed it fast. My pedal got disconnected, but I didn't get it. Traumatized by some local gigs when bar owners are threatening the band, organizers or anyone when this stuff happens or someone in the audience make an forbidden move like starting a moshpit (yes, that also happens sometimes! - threats because of violent moshpits), I've started apologizing to Nino, but he just waved his hand and while going off the stage, he said something like "just go on, it's all part of the show." I couldn't be more grateful to the guy. For everything.

Atomski Rat went on stage as the last band of the evening and killed it with super fast hardcore! Mix of new and old songs, one dedicated to me (I've started moshing and couldn't remember when was the last time I've done it and liked it) which is a great honor. Show ended up around 8:30 PM (such a strange thing, but pretty cool) and the fun continued inside and outside the club. We even sold some CD's and we were really happy about it, and so much more stoked by the people approaching us and thanking us for coming. Even one offer to come to Zagreb, Croatia this spring which we will accept gladly if it comes to realization point. 

We went back home around 9.30 PM. Our designated driver Avdija is THE BEST FUCKING DRIVER this band ever had and you just can't fuck with her driving endurance. She took seven hour drive, went back for seven more in less than 24 hours and she only slept for 1 hour prior to our trip and guess what? No drugs, nothing, just her skills. This couldn't be done without her. She's priceless and you can't even fucking get it with Mastercard, believe me. If we ever get "We are The Road Crew" cover done, it will primarily be dedicated to her.

Came back home around 6 AM in the morning, tired as hell and happy as ever. What I've learned: maybe Motherpig does truly belong to some other scene than the local we have here in Sarajevo, because we've got more respect and love in one night from the people we've meet for the first time than in years from the people I'm meeting on almost weekly basis. Sometimes it hurts when you realize you will never be able to play your hometown with such a passion because people don't show that much of a love and respect, but I'm easily getting adjusted to our path. We've chose it, being relentless, no holds barred, merciless rock'n'roll machine that doesn't fit very well with asskissers and assholes which make around 98% (I'm being positive here) of Bosnian underground scene today. 

They've asked us if we want to come back... why wouldn't I want to go to a place where I feel more like home than in my own city?

At the end, huge thanks goes out to Zoran for organizing this one, Nino for sound stuff, Kalo and Atomski Rat guys (I just can't remember all the names, SORRY!!!) and their (now our own, too) friends, our driver Avdija, Delirium Ramona for handing me out one copy of "Mentalna Smrt" fanzine and a Agathocles tape (THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!), everyone who've bought our CD's and everyone who supported all three bands during the show, before and after it. These are the moments to be cherished forever and these are the moments mainly responsible for me writing all of this down!

WE'LL BE BACK SOON!

So, Monte Paradiso 2011. For all of you who didn't hear about Monte Paradiso, it's an annual hardcore punk festival which became of of the most significant European HC/punk festival grounds, being at the very top of Balkan hardcorepunk events, if you ask for my not so humble opinion. 

We've been invited to play Monte Paradiso after our show on Sick As We Are Festival in Županja. Guys from legendary PASMATERS saw us there live and told us we should come. We didn't, we were replaced by Bosnian band Unutrašnja Emigracija on 2010 edition of Monte Paradiso. Not in any bad way, to make it clear. 

So we've waited. And when we've got a call to join fest roster for 19th edition of the Festival, we said: this is it. We're going to Monte Paradiso! 

We've left Sarajevo on Thursday evening, August 4th, night before the festival. Our ride to Pula was easy and, I'll have to say pretty fast. First of all, finally having a fucking ATA CARNET document is a stress relief - a bit more wait because of customs procedure, but then again, nobody is able to fuck you over because of your equipment. And second of all, our beloved driver Avdija is a fantastic driver - she handles curves bravely, speeding, but driving safely. Huge thanks to her for helping us out.

I've mentioned once Motherpig is probably the book example of all the Murphy's Laws activated at the same time, but I have to say we also get lucky from time to time. Upon our arrival to beautiful city of Pula, we've found out we have an apartment "booked" for us. Nice thing, no squating this time. Nothing against shared bedrooms, but hey, it's nice to have a shower and normal, not plastic cabin toilet. If you consider this to be rockstar superstar attitude, go fuck yourself, I tend NOT TO STINK UNTO PEOPLE AFTER THE SHOW.

We've arrived to Karlo Rojc, which is basically an old Austrian-Hungarian army barracks which was used by Yugoslavian National Army and then abandoned and now taken over by many local collectives helping organize a cultural life of Pula, including Monte Paradiso crew. I'm not sure about this Austrian-Hungarian part, but that's what we've been told, so if you wanna do you own research, do it.

Punks already set up their tents sky high around barracks when we arrived, drinking time started way before the actual gig. Fast forward to 9 PM when the bands started to play. I've heard many locals and multi-time visitors saying this edition of Monte Paradiso didn't host great bands as in the last few years, but by seeing d-beat punx Dishumanity, UK punkrock'n'rollers Trashcat and our label mates Nonsense which were substitute for Dislike (basically, the same crew) going crazy live, that was completely decent and worth making a trip from Sarajevo to Pula for me. 

As for our show, we did 40 minutes show, had a great time on stage, but also had huge problems with feedback (or microphonics, if you like me to put it that way) all the way though the show. We were being "accused" of being too dirty, harsh and volumed sky high, but when we got off the stage, I've heard other bands complaining about feedback during their shows, too. I think the whole thing was a bit way too loud, over the top, but we didn't complain. In the end, as Gera of Nonsense and Dislike would put it: "It's fucking Monte Paradiso, not a Metal Camp... deal with it!" Our crowd reacted pretty positively to our music - talking to guys in front and in the backstage, I figured out most people dig our thing. Some of them even called us the best band of the festival or the best band of the first day. I tend to disagree on that one, but I'm flattered!

Second day of the Festival - Brickheads kicked total ass, their companions The Bayonets also did a damn fine show, I'm not really into street punk and OI! scene that much, but it was a great show and Skitsystem did a great show for totally hooked-up-on-crust audience. 

Now, two things have to be mentioned during this report. First one is also a Motherpig's statement, I think my bandmates would agree on this one - organizers did a hell outta job. We were really treated with huge respect, everything from food, to drinks, to payment to every single fucking thing we've asked for, we got it. Monte Paradiso crew are awesome hosts and great friends and we've been really treated very, very nice.

Now, on the other hands, this second thought is my own, I don't know if my bandmates would agree on this one, so I'm really putting it out as my own - first of all, crusties are torturing fucking dogs, NOT SAVING THEM by exposing them to festival noise, bunch of people and alcohol and drugs influenced behavior of individuals. I'm not saying this in general, but I saw a few dogs being completely out of their mind, acting panickely and biting each other and, although I'm not a dog owner, I don't think that what I saw during two days is a normal animal behaviour. This should be stopped. Just because you own a dog and feed him (something) doesn't mean you can be a fucking asshole toward the animal and other people by putting them at risk by torturing your dog with Skitsystem, Motherpig or Brickheads. What I've found to be very nice is a rule of "no animals inside the festival area - because of their own safety, not yours!", but then again, I saw dogs over there, and I sure as hell didn't bring them in.

Second part of my individual thought pattern is about hygienic habits of people, and for fuck sake, some of the people I've met and who were rude enough to breach into my own private space and to hang around my neck from behind in a manner of ''I want to talk to you about something because I'm fucking drunk and stoned and I don't know what the fuck I want to say'', well - to put it as it is - it's fucking disgusting.

You're not more punk than me because you reek. It just proves you're fully retarded because in the 21st century you're thinking more about scoring amphetamines than taking a shower and I SAW SHOWERS in the festival area. Some people should be taught some manners and unfortunately, I'm not the one to correct the mistakes of their parents, but I'm also not one to tolerate bullshit because it's "part of the subculture''.

To sum it all up, Motherpig has been honored to be part of Monte Paradiso tradition, so honored we would do it anytime. It's been a great thing and despite some of my own, personal opinions about certain things (which are basically not Monte Paradiso festival or MP crew fault at all, it happens everywhere around), Monte Paradiso is an experience not to be missed out, next year its 20th edtion, four days of chaos, and you'll be seeing me over there!

Thanks goes out to all the bands, especially Brickheads and Bayonets for all the beer and fun we had together, Monte Paradiso crew, especially Mićo, people from Pula's bands Nulla Osta, Homo Homini Lupus, Pasmaters, all the people we've met before and people we've met for the first time, see you around!

Sarajevo Metal Fest 2011 is behind us and we had a huge honor of closing the festival and locking it up until the next year. 

SMF is a huge thing, alternative underground festival promoting heavy metal subculture. Last year in 2010, it featured creme de la creme of the Bosnian metal scene, now it featured creme de la creme of Bosnian metal scene plus two more bands from Turkey and Serbia, Moribund Oblivion and Psychoparadox, respectively. 

Anyway... We were scheduled to close the festival and at the beginning, running order said we'll be on the stage around 1 AM in the morning. Since nothing goes as smooth when it comes to live rock'n'roll, we want on the stage around 1.30 AM (such a small delay concerning it was 8 bands before us, everyone was changing their equipment and stuff...) and  it was really such a huge rush.

Basically, band before us, Psychoparadox ended their show earlier than scheduled so we we're kinda tuning up on the stage in front of the crowd, which is a bad thing. To be honest, I'm no pro, but I like to tune backstage, in peace, alone. Just to do it right. Well, this time we had to do it as fast as possible. And here's what happened: we're all tuned up, I'm standing in the spotlight, turning on my huge Trace Elliot amp which was specially brought up for the Fest. I've set everything up just the way I did on the soundcheck. Then our intro started, it's an excerpt of Alan Moore's recital from Rorschach's Journal. (read The Watchmen to find out more about it).

Intro goes really quiet in the medium size hall which is for up to 1000 people. I'm signaling to sound guy to turn it up, he's ignoring me. What the fuck? Anyway, we rushed into "Insomnija", the first single of our upcoming album and it turned out pretty good. I'm still getting used to my new bass guitar - Rickenbacker 4003 (hell yeah!), but I got it all good. Until the point of singing start.

I'm that kind of vocalist which really spits and sings really close to the microphone, practically kissing the microphone's ball. When I did that on the start of "Insomnija" - BROOOM! Fucking huge electricity shock to the lips and fingers. Cinemas or Sloga, no matter how you call this club where SMF was held has really, and I mean REALLY bad electrical grounding. So whenever I've closed the electrical circle, either with my hand on the bass and lips on the microphone or hands on the bass and foot on the guitar cables, I've got shocked. Over and over again. It was a real fucking torture. My complete jaw got paralyzed. At one point during the setlist I was thinking fuck this and thought about leaving the stage, but then again, a good, solid and yet immobile crowd stayed to support Motherpig, so I decided to go through with it. 

After our show with KRV back in November 2010 (didn't write about it, hopefully I will at some point) where crowd showed huge support for the band, I kinda wished it would happen again in Sloga, but nope. Not really. Actually, support was shown to us by people who stayed after 8 great bands to see one more (and they did not need to do that!) and that one more is more punk than metalheads can usually handle. So, people were just standing and listening, it was probably one of those gigs where people pay more attention to listening than to moshpitting, which is in a way a good thing.

We got a great number of new songs played which we got used to really fast, since we didn't rehearse it after we've recorded it (we did two or three rehearsals before the Fest, to be exact, but nothing in-between). Later, while speaking to people, they've really liked "Insomnija" (in case you didn't hear it, visit our Band Camp profile!) and "Izbor", one more song off the upcoming album. It has such a great intro and it's completely Amebixsque, on purpose if you ask me. We love 'em and we ain't ashamed of admitting it. 

Few people said we had more balls and provided more sweat for the audience than most of the bands out there. Wouldn't want to judge that, but we did our best under the circumstances. Lightning at the show was FUCKING PERFECT for band such as Motherpig, when I take a look at the pictures, we're lookin'  really good and it's not something I can thank to Mother Nature (maybe there's an exception in Atlija's case, but two of us, Alex and me, we ain't that sexy...or are we?).

When we got off the stage we went to the backstage and there happened a really funny incident, which is in a way a big misunderstanding. Band that played before us (Psychoparadox) got really pissed because I've mentioned them on the stage. Here's what happened - I've started playin' "Ace of Spades" intro as every time I do and than stopped all of a sudden. People raised their hands and got dissapointed. I always do this, stop and say something like "fuck off, you've paid tickets for Motherpig show, we ain't playin' no covers" (and we always do play one or two cover songs, sometimes GG Allin, sometimes Impetigo, this time both of them + Ich Gehz Zu Schule by Croatian grindcore legends Patareni). This time I also added - "no cover songs, we ain't doin' this for money, we ain't Psychoparadox". This sentence really pissed Psychoparadox guys off. I understand that, but here is what happened.

I got into their music during my highschool days. At one point, while researching and exploring new genres, I've got stuck loving melodic death metal (shame on me, er?) and bands like At The Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and... Psychoparadox. They were on of the few bands I've really loved back in the day. Still got all of their tapes at home. Now, for the first time I see them on the stage, actually sharing stage with them which was in a way a huge thing for me and the band comes out on something that's suppose to be their reunion and probably last gig (after playin' in Psychoparadox during nineties, guys shifted to more mainstream form of metal and formed Alogia which is their most succesful output) and what did I get as a fan? Setlist created of few of their own songs, but mostly covers of Slayer and Kreator. And I've got fucking dissapointed. I didn't come to SMF to hear them play cover songs. That was the reason I got fucking pissed. Maybe it was a bit too harsh of me to call them up from above (stage), but then again, it's rock'n'roll and criticism is the best when it's served in public. I said to them I'm sorry for what I've done, but only because of the way I did it. They got pretty mad about it. OK, maybe the way was wrong (I wouldn't mind younger band calling me out!), but I stand behind every single word I said - they've did it like it's just another gig based on take-money-and-run policy. And that's why I was angry as a PSYCHOPARADOX's long time FAN. As pros as they are, they've should learn to holster their egos when it's not needed for display especially because we're really down-to-Earth people meaning no harm to anyone. Case closed.

To sum it up, it's been an honor to play Sarajevo Metal Fest 2011. This festival will probably get into the books as one of the most important underground events in the history of Bosnian heavy metal subculture. Everything was perfect, organization, technical stuff, everything (not that I like being shocked all the time, but I assume it's my own fault (?!?), no other bassists experienced shocking moments on the stage). To be honest, maybe we weren't too exciting for metal crowd after they've bashed their heads over and over again for more than five hours before we've got up on the stage, but we did our best in the situation. We aren't pure metal to be honest, we aren't pure punk, we're just band called Motherpig playin' something we call ourselves rock'n'roll. I know we took hard and narrow way to "stardom", but then again...who the fuck cares? We like it and we'll do it until the way we die!

Motherpig salutes you all!

We thought - man, no way, no more gigs until we finish recording debut album, but then again, when you get a call from friends asking you to play in certain towns you've never played or visited before, you just cannot stop the urge of sayin' YES loud and clear. 

So, on October 29th, we packed our equipment (Alex and I) and headed out to Osijek by train, picked up Atlija and took a wild car ride to Vukovar. Our designated driver was Kris, vocalist of local band called Wardakhin, which by some strange coincidence also has our very own Atlija Hun playin' guitar. Guys do play great twisted version of hardcore, it's strange and it's good so check 'em out. As far as I know, their album is coming up soon enough so there you go - you need to get it.

We've settled at Kris's house, ate something, went to his attic and there we had short, but fun rehearsal. Then, off we went to the club. To be honest, when we arrived, it wasn't all looking so great. The hall was way too big for three local, underground bands (beside Motherpig, there were two more bands - Borovski Štakori (eng. Borovo's Rats) and The Rock Flock, and I later found out, TRF are kind of famous in Croatia because they've emerged on local talent show so, I guess, that's why people like 'em.

Sound check was the first great disappointment of the evening. Actually, it was the only one, but it was so strong it almost got me to cancel the gig. So, there we are, standing in huge hall, walls are covered with either wood or that bathroom walls material, floor is concrete and the sound is banging like crazy off and on the stage, creating total confusion where you just don't know what you hear and what you play. OK, we're used to it, we had even worse problems before. BUT, the main problem was the owner of this place. Some of you know about cruel and sad period Vukovar has gone through in the nineties. Basically, you still feel the influence of it - today, the owner of this place is the guy who was in the army. It's the only fact that matters - guy joined the ranks in the nineties and today, he's the man. Just because of that, not because he knows to do his job properly (which he don't). City felt obliged to get him a job, nonetheless his erratic behavior is putting in jeopardy the whole subcultural scene in Vukovar. Fuck the subculture. 

So, this owner or  manager or what the hell he thinks he is is coming up front during our soundcheck, messing with my pedal (guy is usually doin' wedding parties or some bullshit like that, he never heard of possibility of plugging the bass into overdrive!) and acting like a complete asshole. OK, I'm being polite, I'm guest, I'm tryin' to explain to him that this is the way our sound suppose to be, but NO! he knows the best. OK, I'm still really, really patient. On the other side, show promoter Toni, singer of Borovski Štakori is standing and not doing a thing. At first, I was a bit mad, but then I figured it out. You can't blame the man, if he tells a thing, he'll risk not doing another gig in that space and it's the only one, as far as I know. I understand that bitter feeling, so I forgive if there is anything to be forgiven. 

Sound check was utter hell. You just CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING and after that, I've got completely pissed because in ten minutes of soundcheck I  earned sore throat. So there I am, running of the stage, cursing, swearing, banging through the door to the outside and telling Alex and Atlija that I think about canceling the gig. Fuck the money, we ain't gonna take any, we have our return tickets for train. And then it occured to me how I have low self-respect for me and the band sometimes. After being on the road and playin' through Europe here and there I still don't manage to bang my fist and yell STOP! when it's needed. So, I've thought it over and decided to do the gig, but it would be the last gig I would do on shitty equipment with shitty, unorganized people who think wedding balls are the biggest music related events mankind has met during its course of existence.

The gig went well. Borovski were playin' as an opening act and their set was really long, got me going in and out during their show because, as you may know, smoking is not permitted in clubs in Croatia (most of them). They play great old school hardcore punk and what I've heard, it sounds good and listenable to me. Could take a dose every single day.  

We came up second and since I've decided to go on the stage, I've also decided I will spit poison into the face of the asshole that thinks three bands can play on PA consisting of TWO (2!) vocal boxes connected to an amp which is connected to small mixing board. No monitors, no microphones on the amps. Let me not even start about drum sound. Our show was good. Shorter than usual because I've completely lost my voice, yelling, trying to hear myself. Crowd was, let's say, inactive, but after the gig, few people approached and said they enjoyed it and they would like to hear from us again. And I was super glad we did this show. Because we do it for those kind of people who supports us no matter what. That's the least we can do for them - support them back.

The Rock Flock was headlining band of the evening, cute melodic punk band singing in Croatian and English, having two ladies handle vocals and guitars and a male drummer. It's cool, radio friendly music. Not something I will listen to every day, but I wouldn't mind hearing it. Later, I've met with the band members, guitar girl and drummer went away somewhere, but I had a few drinks with local crowd, Motherpig buddies and TRF's basswoman Ana and she is really cool person, hope to meet her on stage sometimes soon again.

So, that's about it. Sorry for not writing this report before, but recording album and having some more obligations slowed me down pretty good. Vukovar was a nice place to visit, we met some new friends and re-joined with some people we knew only through Facebook or Myspace channels, so it's a positive experience for me. It also learned me to cherish Motherpig a bit more and not to go out and accept every kind of deal people are offering to me. Not that people are always trying to fuck you up intentionally, but when the damage is done, the damage is done, so let's just try to stay away from it in every single way.

Thanks to Kris for beds, driving and food, Toni for organizing gig the best way he was allowed to do it, Wardakhin guys, bands and local people for alcohol and nice time! See you around!

Sharan  

Hey everyone!

We got back from Mostar few days ago, gig happened on September 25th and we had a fucking great time. But first things first.

ANTIFA Fest Mostar was a two-day event of music and discussions organized by Antifašistička Akcija BiH, our friends who also organised two Anarcho Punk Festivals here in Sarajevo in 2008 and 2009. This time, fest was more about dealing with fascist forces and how to get rid of them. By setting it up in Mostar, city that is divided by political cunts since the end of Bosnian war was another victory - we all proved we will not accept and tolerate political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina which wants us to act as sheep. I am going so far I tell anyone to shut up if they try to explain to me which side of Mostar has Bosnian Catholics and Bosnian Muslims living on. Fuck it, don't wanna know, fuck you and your borders.

So, Motherpig was scheduled for a gig on 25th, along comrades from Totalna Rasprodaja (Sarajevo's OI punk band), Brickheads (Novi Sad's awesome rock'n'roll freaks) and Ljubiša Samardžić (Zagreb's prime hardcore act featuring members of AK47). Since we had problems with transport, my mom (love her!) decided she will give us a ride, so we went to Mostar around 10 AM in the morning on 25th. 

There was rain pouring all day long. I haven't seen anything like that, it was like someone set up the shower above our heads. ALL DAY LONG. There was not one minute of non-raining. We arrived in Mostar around 1 PM and had a coffee/beer/tea, whatever anyone wanted. 

The first thing I've noticed was a huge swastika spray painted on one of the walls of the venue. Organizers told me someone came in the middle of the night and did that, probably some of the football supporters who are into that kind of shit. BUT! guys and girls of ANTIFA FEST did not remove it. Why? Because it look stupid. Stupid fuck who did his work of ingenious art didn't know which way to point the swastika, so he drew it backwards. SIEG FAIL if you ask me.

Inside the venue we met friends from NEMA TEORIJE, Sarajevo's punk youngsters who were playing on a Day 1 of the Fest. These guys are one of the greatest bunch of punks ever and we had so much fun with them and the rest of the crew.

To cut the long story short, we had a sound check. Went well, had a few more beers. After the soundcheck, we were ready to drink some more and to watch Brickheads. And Brickheads blew us away...such a fine three piece rock'n'roll, you cannot believe your own eyes and ears when you hear it! I was really sad because they played as an opening act that night, but it was their decision, according to organizers and they were the only band with left-handed drummer, so it was technically the easiest way so we don't lose time setting up drumset twice, but only once (after their gig). We came on stage second. We planned on doing new song "Savršen Kraj" ("Perfect Ending") in Mostar, but there was no time. We've played for half an hour, maybe 40 minutes. It was a good show. Lots of beer, lots of sweat and we were so loud and dirty I couldn't believe my own ears. They're still hurting, believe me, even after few days, it's still ringin' in my ears. When we got off the stage, guys from Ljubiša Samardžić told us it was a cool show, which means a lot, and even their bass player was kind enough to show me his Thunderbird bass because I was thinkin' about buyin' one for myself. I remember he was speaking all that tech stuff about it, all the details and I was just nodding my head because I didn't know shit about what he was talking about. I only knew it fits me fine in my hands. And it's a bit light. My bass, J&D, is really, really heavy and I'm used to its heaviness, so this one is like a small baby. 

Next came Totalna Rasprodaja, they have a new singer, they've played their show, I saw many people jumping and liking it, I'm not really into all of their stuff, but I like some of the songs and they even played cover of "Sarajevo's Feeling" by Sarajevo's cult band Protest. I wanted to jump on the stage and sing with them, but I had some more important job (pleasure) to do. 

Lubiša came next, their fine, classic show, their vocalist Robert preaching between songs, but not being boring at all. He's one of a kind guy, really cool. And he has a cool distro and label going on it's called DHP AK/47, you may want to check it out, buy stuff and support the cause.

Anyway, a great gig with four great bands, great people and constant raining. And one more thing - I don't know how, but that vegan food at these kind of festivals is always so fucking awesome, so I'm hailing the cooks who made food for us this time, you guys / girls are awesome!

Cheers, people!

Sharan

So, beautiful and first (but not the last!) trip to Albania happened on July 24th and I have to write down few of mine (ours) impressions about country most metalheads and punks don't know anything about.

We've got contacted by Mr. Mero about two months ago, we've set up two dates, but couldn't make it and we finally agreed we can make it on July 24th. Motherpig left Sarajevo around 8 AM in the morning on July 24th. Our driver was Madnessa, our good friend and definitely the biggest help on this road adventure. You don't get too many girls willing to drive three punks through hell to heaven these days, don't you?

Internet and GPS calculations based on our speed and distance between Sarajevo and Tirana told us we will arive in six, maximum seven hours, but even the most sophisticated devices can't calculate effects of bad roads in Bosnia and border crossing jams. Our trip took more than 13 hours! Basically, it wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't for a tremendous and horrible heat wave spreading all over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. I was riding a shotgun on a front seat, Madnessa driving, but those lucky SOBs, Atlija and Alex, they were CONSTANTLY sleeping and napping in the backseat, just waking up for cigarettes and drinking some water. I still can't figure it out how did they manage to sleep all day long.

We passed through Montenegro border fast enough and when we went through tourist heaven, a city named Bar, choked full with foreign tourists, it was really hard not to stop to take a swim in a beautiful sea, but we were already late and we couldn't afford such a luxury, so we continued. Maybe 15 kilometres before only border crossing between Albania and Montenegro road gets really, really fucked up. There are no traffic signs, nothing, it's one way road to the border, complete chaos. If it wasn't for our GPS system, we would never make it. Finally, when we got to the border crossing, a huge line has been formed. We've waited around two hours, surrounded by nervous tourists and local people trying to cross the border as fast as possible, which is quite impossible. The problem was that there should be 3 lines for 3 crossings but drivers made around six or seven different lines and as they were approaching border crossing they've tried (FUCKING RUDE!) to just drive back into regular three lines. After two hours of waiting we finally entered Albania. There's a small town or something like that, we passed through it and there was a wooden bridge we had to cross. This wooden bridge is even worse that those bridges from Evil Dead and Beetle Juice movies combined! Luckily for us (and Tirana's crowd!) we did it.

If you ever go to Tirana, be very careful, there are police patrols with radar control scattered all around the way and you don't want to get caught in a situation where there is you speaking English and Albanian cops speaking only Albanian (and occasionaly Italian).

To skip this road trippin' stories, we've arrived to Tirana around 10 -11PM and missed the club, this time thanks to GPS. I've SMS-ed our organizer, Mr. Mero and after all the fuss, he managed to find us and take us to the club.

We've unloaded stuff from tha car as quick as possible and when we entered Alkimi Overworld Rock Caffe, we got a huge applause from the gathered people. Soon enough, local band called Silent Scream went onstage and performed bunch of cover songs.Young guys playing Metallica, Megadeth, Rage Against The Machine, Slayer songs. They have fucking awesome guitar player, this guy fucking rules, he's maybe 18 years old, not older, and he eats guitar, he shreds like crazy. They've been a bit out of tune here and then, but then again – who isn't? We are way out of tune. And most unfortunately they didn't play any of their songs, which is quite a shame, I would like to hear their songs. Maybe next time when we come.

We've took the stage by storm, opening with "Censorshit", just to rush in with "Camp Arawak", "Nuke 'em High" and "Kill Us All". Easily, step by step, crowd started reacting more and more to our noise, so at some point, there were attempts of stage diving of 20 centimetres high stage, people caring each other on their shoulders, headbanging and moshpit. Really cool and warm atmosphere and we really gave our best, performing 23 songs and for the first time ever we've played the first song from our debut album. Song is called "Insomnia". Also we covered Motorhead's "Killed By Death", that's my wish coming true. When I watched myself on video (yeah, we shot the whole gig with camera!), it looked like I'm having an orgasm. Well, probably a Motorhead playing effect :)

We've also played "Flesh for Sale", long forgotten song from Agathocles/Motherpig split, but this time, Atlija suggested we need to play it faster and it turned out to be a fucking awesome song. Just love it!

The greatest madness happened while we played "Promazin". Everyone was jumping around, Gjergj (Mr. Mero) was grabbing mic and singing with us. Later he explained to us he got into us by pure mistake. He visited Korrozao's Myspace and there he saw our comment or something like that. Somehow, he thought we were Korrozao, and although he figured out he was wrong, he checked out songs on our Myspace profile, liked "Promazin" so much he decided to book us for show. Now please tell me more of those "Myspace-is-for-corporate-punks" bullshit stories.

We've played for one hour and fifteen minutes and people asked for more so we've played "The Stench" and "Kill Us All" again. We were completely exhausted, but the end wasn't even near, after the gig, bunch of people took photos with us, we were signing autographs, I haven't used any kind of pen or pencil in a long time (except when I'm having college exams which doesn't happen very often) and my hand got really stiff from signing all those autographs. Will not lie to you, I've enjoyed it completely because I saw people, although this was their first encounter with Motherpig really did enjoy all of our repertoire. And honesty is what I cherish the most about rock'n'roll. 

Later, we talked to Gjergj (Mr. Mero), our booking agent for Albania, he told us we are third international underground band ever coming to Albania. First one was Zora from Italy, second came Korrozao from Brazil and we were the third. I'm really proud of that fact. In a way, we are part of Albanian rock'n'roll history and will try to be part of its future as well.

We fell asleep after taking a shower. Our hostel room was really sweet with wooden beds, totally comfortable. In the morning we went to have a breakfast and then we saw a bit of Tirana. It's colourful city, it reminds me a lot of Cairo (been there in May 2009), especially in the terms of traffic, drivers here make three lines out of two, nobody really gives a fuck about traffic lights and stuff like that. It's totally crazy, not so European, and I just like that kind of atmosphere. Want to return to Tirana to scout some more time through the city as soon as possible. Atlija said Tirana reminds him of Sepultura videos, and it does in a way, it has bad roads, we saw some kids setting containers on fire – total chaos, but then again, not chaos as something bad, but chaos as something wild. It's different, I really do advice you to go check out this marvelous city. Loving it!

Tirana will always stay in our heart as one of our best gigs, if not the best one for now. We will return any time we get a call from all of those pleasant and friendly people!

Just to thank Madnessa (Motherpig Road Crew) for driving us to Albania, Gjergj Mero and Alkimi Rock Caffe for being the most generous and nice booking agents man's mind can imagine, Brisi and Ela for all those beautiful pictures, Anatol for filming our gig. Silent Scream for supporting and last, but not the least – all of you Albanians who came to support us on our first gig in Tirana! WE LOVE YOU! 

P.S. You can check out bunch of photos by Ela and Brisi on our Facebook page.

So, we had bunch of fun in Osijek, Croatia on April 11th! You know this gig was planned to be one supporting CONCRETE SOX along with Nonsense from Pozega, Croatia, unfortunately, both bands (Concrete Sox and Nonsense) didn't show up, so we played our way through the night along with awesome bands Raptor, Birth Machine and Subside, all three from Osijek.

We arrived to Osijek by train, Alex and I, accompanied with SexTiger Selver and HellTiger Osman, bass player and vocalist of Bosnian metalpunk forces HELLTIGERS. Traveling by train is fun if you have nice companions you can chat with, and if you get bored, read a book, take a nap or listen to some music. Also, it's great because it's only type of transportation in Bosnia which grants you your rights to smoke cigs inside the compartments and that's fucking awesome for all of us nervous fucks. Unfortunately, once you enter Croatia, you can forget about it - you're not allowed to smoke inside train and in most cafes, pubs and concert halls smoking is forbidden. Good for your health, bad for your nerves. 

In Osijek we were warmly welcomed by old friend Kruno and our guitar player Atlija, we ate, we drank, we had lots of fun. I unfortunately was in the middle of medical treatment, I used some antibiotics, so I didn't drink which caused me a severe fucking headache, but it's all in a day job, what to say.

Nonetheless, great fucking show with bad fucking tech problems with guitar, but the crowd supported our asses through ripping 19 songs. We even played ''Promazin'' live for the first time and although we didn't have any rehearsals since November when we toured with Faak Am See, it was fucking great. 

Go play Osijek, those guys are fucking fanatics and you'll have a great rock'n'rollin' time, believe my ass when I say that.

Cheers to Kruno for organizing the show, Jaca, Ivana, Vjeko, Vedran, Frano from Raptor and three bands that supported us as we supported them!

Sharan

P.S. As you can probably notice, I started uploading old diaries from tour in 2009, it's gonna be up when the time comes.

May 25th 2009 - Day 12

Woke up with the first signs of hangover on tour, went down the pub and had a beer. The rest of the crew was already on their two legs (or four, depends how early they got up and started drinking morning coff...I mean beer) and chatting with people. Guys from a great band P-M-H organized jam session in front of the club, jam session anyone could join in and have some fun. Great guys.

Anyway, this was our day to travel, we needed to move out for Munich, get out of Czech Republic and go to Germany, which is an idea I didn't like at all. Czech Republic is like a home to me. Nevertheless, some people like Djafir were specially excited by German territory and I understand that, it's great punk rock country, but for me personally...

So we said bye to all the beautiful Sazava people, packed the gear, entered the van. Started driving and I started sleeping. After some time I woke up all sweaty and realized everyone was pissed since Mujo The Stench didn't get lost once in Prague, but three times, trying to find a highway to Munich. Way to go, he's been paid by kilometres, and he already punched in 300 KM of nothing by getting lost from time to time. Everytime.

Finally!...on the highway to Munich. I traveled on this highway once before, on Flatline tour in 2007, and I considered it highly boring, I just don't know why, but if you ask me who went, for example, from Bosnia to Sweden by bus in 2003, what part of the trip was the worst, I will ALWAYS say - German highways. Way too fucking boring.

The thing with this day was that we really didn't know where we will end - we went for Taufkirchen, suburb of Munich, where we were about to play tomorrow evening. I tried to phone Daniel, our promoter, but couldn't get him at all, so we wanted to try our luck, so we went on the road to Taufkirchen hoping we will find the guy and ask him to give us a place to sleep for this day, too.

Some 100 kilometres before Munich, a HUUUGE fucking mess. Total traffic jam. The reason is that Germans are building some kind of bridge in the lenght of three kilometres, so we were standing in the line for 3 hours because of that. Maybe making one lane opened for normal traveling, er, assholes?

Skip forward, we arrived to Munich pretty fucking late. Too late. It was also Sunday, so I didn't really know if Jugendzentrum (Youth Center) where we play will be opened at all. I just hoped. And hoped. And kept on hoping.

After some time, millions of map checkings, people asking, getting lost AGAIN by Mujo (this is typical Mujo situation, so - we're on the highway, we're 500 metres before turning right, and we all go: ''Now Mujo, you will turn right. Right, Mujo. Here in 100 metres, right, Mujo...MUJO, RIGHT!'' - and he goes straight. And we miss the exit. And the next one is in 5 kilometres.), we arrived to Taufkirchen. Ghost town. No one around. We're desperate, tired, hungry and smelly. Some of the guys went around to check where JUZ is, and I'm sitting in a car, reading some shit, when I see young guy on a bike riding like crazy, and I'm outta car, asking him where Jugendzentrum is.

His name is Robert. He was the only one in JUZ in the last four hours. He was there to setup a stage for Bosnian bands. He said he just locked it up, there is no one there anymore and he is going home...

TAKE US THERE!!!

I explained him the situation, and the guy took us to JUZ, phoned Daniel, and Daniel told us to be there, to have a sleep. Anyway, we arrived. Kitchen, free of charge football soccer and The Majesty Shower. We are one lucky god damn fucking bastards, someone from up there takes good care of us.

So, drinking some camilla tee (the first non alchoholic drink I had in days) and lying down on couch - if Mujo just turned left one more time, we would drinking piss (alchoholic one, ofcourse) and sleeping on the streets...Lucky us. :)

May 25th 2009 - Day 13

Some guys went on walking tour through Munich and Motherpig crew stayed in Jugendzentrum, rolling tobacco and drinking apple juice (the fridge with the beer was locked up!). And then, the beautiful thing - creativity. We just made two new songs, a beautiful songs, one if dedicated musically to our friends from Inepsy and it is entitled THE STENCH. Song is about - Mujo. Mujo being the reaper who is killing people in post-apocalyptic world. Crazy shit. Awesome song. 

The other song is called NOTHING EVER CHANGES. Call me a fucking bozo, but this song is the MOST SERIOUS AND MOST BEAUTIFUL SONG by Motherpig EVER. Atlija and I are real fans of Amebix and it influences both of us in a way. So Atlija made this great music and I, all of a sudden, wrote lyrics about Balkan territory. Why? Because that was my starting and ending point on this tour. I was born and bred there, I'm living there, and now, from this perspective I see how fucked up we all down there in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia really are. This is the most personal song, the chorus goes like this: Nothing ever changes/the curse will not be lifted/nothing new but graves/and mothers mourning their children!

This is why this song is so strong. It's personal and with great music. I think people will love it.

Daniel, our promoter and friend from 1328, German hardcore punk band, came to see us around 3 PM and he was really happy to see that we didn't burn the whole place down. (hahaha)

We had a fine chilly goulash lunch with corn and beans (for Alex Amigo!), and I was so stuffed I couldn't fucking move, so grabbing a beer is a way to go.

OK, not to insult the German breweries and German beer fans, but Czech beer is number one, will always be number one and you people can't do shit about it. I'm deeply sorry if I'm making some enemies with this statement, but I'm one honest bastard and some people agree with me and only one man doesn't - Djafir. :D Still, beer is beer and we love it.

Our support band (playing better than us!) was Munich based ska (but not ska!) punk rock band DESTINATION FAILURE. Now, this guys and girls kick some serious ass! Great people, also, so we enjoyed some beers with them, too.

And Munich is one really special gig for us, too, since we played in front of ZERO (0) people. Actually, there were some people, but NO ONE paid a ticket. ZERO. NONE. 0.

Not that we liked it, but it was a completely new feeling for us, so, after the gig, we got drunk even more! :)

One more thing before I finish this report - JUZ Taufkirchen is THE BEST STAGE I have ever played on, lights, sound, every single tiny thing - bands, go and play there!

Next stop - Vienna

Cheers,


Sharan

Day 9 - May 21st 2009

Got up really late for sightseeing, so we all took a shower (EVEN A DRIVER!!!) and went to stroll thru the city as fast as possible. Prague is so big and beautiful and I just cant explain how much I love the city. So, we had a basic idea of getting some cheap pizza and meeting Yarda in Hostinec, a great pub where I used to drink on Flatline tour in 2007. Boris decided to guide us and we were stupid enough to accept that, because after 5 hours of walking we had our legs falling off and not being able to find a pizzeria, so we all got really pissed and nervous. Luckily, we met Yarda and had (one too) many drinks with him.

Went back to our Prague promoter apartment and had some more beer. Fell asleep as babies.

Day 10 - May 22nd 2009

Ok, time to play, we are on our way to Decin, getting lost from time to time (thank you, Mujo!). Arrived at Decin, met Rene, our promoter who said that is forbidden to drink on the streets. WHAT THE FUCK? Nevertheless, we risked and it paid off. We got fucked up. We played great little club where bunch of rap guys were hanging around and they were really polite toward dirty fucking punks like us.

We played solid shows, not too many people, but good atmosphere and really good sound on and off the stage.  After the gig, I got so wasted, I couldnt get in the car, so the guys left and (as far as I remember), totally wasted Atlija and me, along with wasted Djafir and wasted Alex ended up at promoters girlfriend house (???). We got fucked up there with some booze too, and feel asleep like babies. It is necesarry to say the beautiful white dog who was there didnt like me at all, and kept on barking all night. The last thing I remember is Alex kicking this girl ass in Soul Calibur game.

Day 11 - May 23nd 2009

The beautiful sound of vomiting woke me up from short and harsh sleep. Alex was vomiting, got poisoned by some shit. We went the hell outta house and met with the rest of the crew. Had a kebab at chinese restaurant (can it get more irrational???), so we were ok with the food. Jumped in the van, and headed to Sazava, our last gig in Czech Republic.

Sazava, small but great city. We played in skateboardong half pipe in front of maybe 100 people who went fucking nuts during Motherpig show. Lot of Gride fans, and really great people. Have to say that in Sazava we ate really an awesome lunch, fucking swedish table with LOTS AND LOTS of vegetables and (more importantly) fruit. I havent taste any fruit in days, so eating watermelons and oranges was nice, and in a way, new experience for me. Mixing them with BOZKOV rum was also an experience and not a good one, at least for my stomach.

Have to say something more about the bands that played with us in Sazava. P-M-H - fucking ass kickers. Need to get those guys to Sarajevo. Demarche from Prague - FUCKING PUNK LEGENDS. I know them since FUCKING HANGOVER 7 inch release, and I even got to sing chorus of Fucking Hangover song with them. Great people, great friends and great musicians. Not to forget other bands, too, they all were so fucking great.

We slept on the second floor of the club we played at. Not really neat and tidy place, but who cares when youre dead drunk and equiped with sleeping bag??? :)

Our Czech part of the tour is done. I knew when I get up in the morning I will leave one of my fav countries in the world and nothing will be the same. What I didnt know that we will have bunch of fucking, and when I say fucking, I mean FUCKING problems in the future...more about that soon enough!

Cheers,

Sharan

P.S. Big excuse to everyone for keeping reports short. Our laptop fucking died on us and we dont have internet access every day, so Im keeping it short as hell. Sorry, everyone!

Day 5 – May 17th 2009

We had some problems getting into Roznov, but getting to a club was no big deal, since Martin, our promoter gave me exact instructions how to arrive safely. I was specially excited about this gig since there was one really great band playing and their name is Inepsy. Inepsy plays rock'n'roll the way it has to be played. Go check 'em out and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, we arrived at the club around 5 or 6 PM and there was Inepsy sitting all around. We started speaking and it was a nice experience to speak with someone whose English is ok, so we don't have to use sentences like ''go right house left'' anymore.

Sometimes later, Martin The Promoter arrived, and we checked out the club and everything. Pure crust holocaust, Club Vrah is one stinkhole, but fucking great stinkhole, if you ask me. It's a great thing for a city to have a club like this.

So, we started playing sometimes around 8 PM, Rapa Nui went first, Inepsy second and Motherpig, ofcourse, as the headliners, hahahaha :D

Rapa Nui played a great gig, but people were not so much impressed or they usually don't move around during punk gigs. But when Inepsy went on the stage with sick-as-shit bass player (guy was looking as a zombie, totally fucked up), they fucked the whole place up. Fucking awesome show. Their rock'n'roll is what the world needs.

Motherpig – standard basic show. Guys and girls liked us. Some of them even bought some stuff. Oh, yeah, forgot to tell you about this. Tour manager of Inepsy is a guy who's owner of Agipunk, Italian music distro, so Atlija and me, we spent around 100 Euros each buying vinyls of Hellhammer, Hellbastard, Amebix, Alehammer, Misery, Sepultura and so on. Great opportunity and we took it.

Later on we got a bit fucked with the money (we got less than we would ever expected), but having some drinks and talking to Inepsy saved the night. It's great to meet the band who is relaxed and friendly, who is being honest and DIY on and off the stage. Chany, guitarist and singer and I were discussing all night long about influence of Fast Eddie Clarke on Motorhead's and Inepsy music.

I will not say anything about one ''incident'' that happened after the show, since that is a really private band thing, but I will tell you that I will remember Roznov and most of us because of Inepsy. They are fucking great guys, a great friends and if you have a chance to see them live, go, buy t-shirts, vinyls and CD's. Big thanks to Chany and Sam for everything!

Day 6 – May 18th 2009

My voice is fucked up. Sore throat. Luckily for all of us, this is the last gig before the first day off. We're doing a gig in Ostrava, Hellgate Ostrava, city of bands like Malignant Tumour, Needful Things and Cerebral Turbulency.

We arrived at club Bogota after getting lost with our driver. Let me say something about our driver, too late we realized guy is fucking stupid as shit. He can't do anything right without anyone of us pointing the way. We're on the highway and he justs turn right for no appearent reason. Why? Nobody knows. And that way with his fucked up actions, we lost more than half an hour trying to enter center of Ostrava.

But! our driver has some worse habits. He doesn't take a bath. He stinks as shit. Literally. Worst crust punks smell like lillies compared to this guy. So, I fucking went crazy and told him in front of everyone that he needs to take a bath because he smells like shit. He didn't like it, but it worked. Making someone publicly ashamed always works.

We arrived at Bogota and started drinking. Later on, Simek and Bilos from Malignant Tumour joined us for a drink and it was a great experience to meet some old friends. Simek helped a lot with a guarantee letter for Czech visa and me and the boys, we own him a lot. We were discussing show of Malignant Tumour in Sarajevo in September, so save some money, you're gonna need it. The Biggest Band is coming!

Ondra, our friend and organizer brought us Analegs as support act. Basically. Analegs doesn't exist. It's fake name of band called The Neunikneš, one of the greatest and oldest punk bands from Ostrava. Their punk is fucking awesome, go check 'em out.

Motherpig and Rapa Nui played afterward, we did OK shows, nothing special, but no reactions from the audience. To be honest, no real audience, some of them were sitting, some of them playing table football, some of them just standing. Maybe 20 people in the crowd. Lucky for me, since my voice went to hell and didn't come back.

After the show I've had some drinks with Marcel, Fulnek show organizer. Such a great guy. Also, more friends joined for a beer.

We slept at Ondra's girlfriend place. Huge apartment with two dogs (Sheena and Betty), one cat (Garfield) and one SNAKE. It's like a zoo. I would usually mind all the dog hair all around, but I was so wasted and tired, I went to sleep with my face into dog hair with no problem. At least, I'm not a driver, shower is waiting in the morning...

Day 7 – May 19th 2009

First day off. Woke up, had a breakfast. Went to the city center, grabbed a beer. Tried some more Ostravar, local beer. Then Boris, Djafir and I went to a porn shop with a bunch of VHS old school nasty shit german porn which basically didn't make us horny, but made us laugh as crazy. Scheisse this and scheisse that.

We also checked out two music shops in Ostrava, in one I bought some picks since I've lost my fav Jim Dunlop one, Ensar bought travel bag for guitar and the rest of us were just checking out everything since most of it is bloody expensive.

Other shop we saw is called Mondo Bizarro, it's one of those instant-punks-and-metalheads-in-5-minutes- Hot-Topic bullshit shops where you can buy Bullet For My Valentine hoodie, t-shirt, female t-shirt, coffee cup, earrings, wallets, gloves, guitar picks, keychains, name-one-product-yourself, so you can be ultimate fan. Shit.

Skip forward, later on we went to Ondra's house in Bohumin, which is basically Ostrava's suburb. He has a beautiful garden, and we lit a fire at a fire place, gathered around and drank all night long, while trying to bake potatoes. Wonderful day off. Tomorrow – Prague!

Day 8 – May 20th 2009

Prague. Been there in 2007. Huge city, so I suggested we get up early in the morning. We got instructions from Ondra about the fastest way and I told Boris he shall guide Mujo. Mujo The Van Driver got smelly again, so I really didn't have enough nerves to sit next to him for five hour drive.

I feel asleep in the van, and when I woke up, I realized we're completely on the wrong way to Prague, I got pissed, but then again, I fucking didn't care how we will get there, the most important thing was to get there. Anyway...We arrived to Club Jet and meet Karel, our organizer, he's a guitar player of a band called Onanizer. An ugly surprise at the club, there was basically NOTHING. No mics, no stands, no nothing. Luckily for us, we brought in the whole backline and band P.N.S. which drummer and backvocalist Marko is from Belgrade, so we fucking could talk in our language (Marko, jebem te, jesam rekao da uzmes CD besplatno!), they brought mics and one stand. So, there goes a gig with only one guy singing. But, the worst was just about to happen.

Bands, listen up, whole Europe except Czech and Slovakia have the same AC outlets. Czech outlets have some kind of protective pin, so, you can't plug in standard AC cables to it. Which meant only one thing – we can't plug our bass amp. So, the solution was equal to hanging around with Nazis, shouting Sieg Heil (read: SHIT) – we plugged bass to PA. Awful. NEVER DO THAT. NEVER.

We had to finish our gig until 10 PM – I don't know why, so Rapa Nui played only four songs, Motherpig was also fucked up, P.N.S. was way too loud. To be honest, bad show. Not that we're guilty of it. Karel should predict some things like the outlet problem. He must had same situation before. Never to say that he's a bad man, he just didn't get everything set up for us.

Oh, yeah, it's nice to say that I've meet my friend Yarda from Poppy Seed Grinder again, so we had a few beers, and we're meeting tomorrow for a tour over Prague.

Until then...

Cheers,

Sharan