SILVER

ROCKET RECORDS

A small label from Prague that names Dischord and AmRep as major influences and releases great noise rock. What more do you want? Of course, some answers to obvious questions. So what Silver Rocket boils down to is basically a bunch of guys playing in bands and releasing records. Is that a kind of proto-communist “regaining the production means for the workers” strategy? Actually, it is no strategy at all. It is what comes naturally, if you take on things in an honest and straightforward fashion, treating everyone with respect and leaving all the business shit aside. That has always been the best (and in a lot of ways the only) merit of punkrock. But Silver Rocket likes noise in capital letters.

Please give us all the basic information about Silver Rocket Records? (who are you, where are you, when did you start, are you able to live from releasing records, what do you do besides releasing records? and so on).

ADAM: We start in 1996/1997. We are guys who play in the bands, that´s it. Everyone in Silver Rocket gang plays in some Silver Rocket band and that´s what makes everything much easier. There is NO WAY we could live from releasing records, we are extremely happy when we get our money back (it happens only from time to time). In my "ordinary life" I work as a journalist.

PETR: Correct. What is funny or important, that the "central commitee" of this label is a collective of 6 or more people. We have no boss and we argue a lot, but this is our power. I make money from editing books.

MARTIN: Six or more very different people, i would like to say. It's always very surprising we are finaly able to do something. But Petr is right, this is what pushes our forward and because of the variety of opinions we can come with (and then realize) very weird and open-minded ideas. I work in non-profit organization called Tamizdat and make book typography  and graphic design.

TODD: I wasn’t there at the beginning, I first noticed the label when I was following around Adam’s band Gnu. I bought a compilation tape of bands they were selling at their gigs (Garbage from the Moon) that had the SRR logo on it, and got into things from there. In my real life I’m sort of a media anthropologist, I do research and teach about politics, media and globalization and try to make the lives of journalists as miserable as possible.

ONDREJ Its now more clear than it was on the start, that there is a certain number of people involved in driving silver rocket. Mainly defined by admin access to our webpage, but we still expand somehow. I’m from OTK and work behind the sound.

Silver Rocket Records is hitting its tenth birthday. What kind of special stuff have you planned for the anniversary? A party? A special release?

TODD: I don’t think it’s the kind of label that does the traditional kind of celebrations that other operations do. Its not that anyone would have anything against it, it’s just that no one can be bothered. This will sound a bit like a cliché, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that every concert we put on or record released is a celebration in itself.

PETR: Maybe a big party, where none of the Silver Rocket bands will play? Like a gift for the audience? No, perhaps not.

MARTIN: Cake with 10 candles.

ADAM: I didn´t think about it yet. I have no idea. Maybe we should kick out some stupid bands out of our roster… like Wollongong, Lyssa, OTK and Memevoodoopöká. What do you think?

10 years of running a small label is a long time. What were your worst and what your best experiences? Would you do it again, if you knew then what you know now?

TODD: For me I think the best experience is every time someone that you don’t know writes and says that they like a record we released or a show we put on, and that they discovered something that they didn’t know existed, or didn’t think was possible. That makes it all worthwhile. I can’t think of any bad experiences, except for when every once in a while some arrogant person comes along and tries to challenge what you are doing with some sort of strange jealousy or competitive intentions. But even that helps you to sit back and think about what you are doing and why you are doing it, so it isn’t always bad.

PETR: At the beginning we were impressed by the simple fact that is POSSIBLE to release a seveninch. I never forget that. Something, what we stole from the smart professionals. That was really good. We probably made many mistakes, in the practical sense, but who cares now.

ADAM: One of my best experiences so far was Silver Rocket Summer Saga 2005 – the summer festival we did at the old castle called Tocnik. The best thing was that the crowd was totally disciplined, yet they had a lot of fun. No drunken idiots, no garbage, just nice people having fun watching their favourite bands playing in that very special place. I felt all the people who came to see it was part of Silver Rocket. Very very nice.

Why did you start the label? Was there some initiating moment? (e.g. I started to write about music when nobody I met knew or appreciated the power of Zeni Geva and the refinement of Shellac)

ADAM: You had GREAT initiating moment, what can I say... I understand you completely. I guess our main goal was to hear our friend´s music at home. Like I wrote - we all were in the bands and we played with another bands, we hung around together and we became fans of our friend´s music. I play bass for Gnu and we played with Lyssa a lot. I fell in love with Lyssa´s music and attitude so it came naturally - to try to help Lyssa with releasing their music. But generally speaking - I think Silver Rocket as a label has two big inspirations: the one is AMPHETAMINE REPTILE, the second is DISCHORD. We took that "fuck you, we´re having a fun" attitude from AmRep a mixed it with the DIY attitude of Dischord.

PETR: Yes, it is difficult to say it better. As for my initiating moment (congratuilations to yours!), I was collecting AmRep t-shirts and I really wanted to have another collection with the names of my favourite local bands. With a cool logo on the back, of course. It was some kind of visual identification, those t-shirts with big NOISE on their back. At the end we have no t-shirts - CDs and vinyls are much better.

MARTIN: I am younger than they are, for me it was already fascination by the cult of Silver Rocket and i came into Silver Rocket later. I knew OTK since my 16, but i was 20 or what when i saw Gnu and Lyssa for the first time and that really hit me a lot - i saw really original bands doing their stuff regardless and straight, and who were obviously part of some comunity. We crossed our ways few years later and it was no surprise that we understood like we knew each other for years.

TODD: For me it is more a question of being involved in releasing heavy music that has nothing to do with promotion, trends, or commercial mass media. Ignoring, refusing and not recognizing anything that has to do with mainstream corporate culture.

ONDREJ: I think Silver Rocket started somehow with rise and fall of Scrape Sound (now inactive cz noise label) ending with split with AmRep. GNU/LOVE666. But that time I was involved mainly and only in sound.

Do you have a special “mission statement”? Something that you want to do or reach with running the label?

ADAM: I don´t know. I am not sure. I always wanted to help to create a space that would be totally independent on mainstream music. I feel Silver Rocket is that kind of space. Besides of releasing the records, we book shows, we organize DIY festival... we want our website to work more as a fanzine than a "record label website".

PETR: From my point of view this is something what I love to do. It is a great feeling, that you can do things on your own, and you can more or less ignore most of the "bussiness" rules. We are the worst bussinessmen of central Europe, probably.

MARTIN: I would say FREEDOM might be also important part the mission statement. Freedom in any possible meaning of the word. Just do what you want, however you feel it.

TODD: For me the ‘mission’ is to be involved with releasing bands that are ‘losers’ in the way that we are ourselves for those in the regular music industry. Bands that ignore the rules, realize the primal energy of rock’n’roll, and aren’t interested in selling it, but rather doing it fairly and cooperatively, and letting it die a natural death without any aspirations of ‘success’.

ONDREJ:  Our mission is to discover and expose weird or special music. To me is every srr relase somehow special. Or the other activities.

How do you handle situations when there are arguments among the people running the label? Do you discuss and decide democratically or are certain people responsible for certain aspects?

TODD: I handle them quite well, because as the cleverest of the bunch I am nearly always right, and thus there is no need for discussion. Arguments arise when the others forget this, and the arguments end when they remember.

PETR: Chaos is the main principle. And simple logic, for example: “Do the opposite if Todd suggests something,” or “Be always suspicious, when Ondřej likes a band” etc. We are friends, everything works fine.

MARTIN: Noone from them understand music at all, so I just don’t listen.

I am the greatest one, I am 2 metres tall. And I am really strong. I like beating people. I am also the cutest one and right now I have a moustache like Mark Spitz. So I am always right.

Do you feel in any way part of any bigger scene, be it the “noise rock scene”, the “global DIY-community”, or whatever?

ADAM: Yes, I feel this connection, it would be stupid if we act like we are alone in the whole universe. I feel like we have a lot in common with DIY community. Some labels have this "me first" mentality, but what I love about Silver Rocket - we have "pass first, shoot second" attitude. It comes from our background (like I wrote - we all play in the underground bands so we know how does it feel - to be treated as piece of shit).

PETR: More Socrates or Zico than Romario or Bebeto, if you like brazilian football.

MARTIN: Do you want an example how we work? Last year we decided to do our festival on old castle. The first thing we discussed was "How could we make Silver Rocket flag to be seen from 10km distance?"

TODD: I feel far more closer to the DIY scene than the ‘noise rock scene’ (does that really exist?). Bands on Silver Rocket may not play your standard crust or variations on ‘77 punk, but I feel much more comfortable talking to people at a squat in Zurich than at a rock club in Berlin where the latest ‘noise rock’ band is playing.

ONDREJ:  well, we do something like noisy rock music, shows, relases, and we are not doing SKA or reggae. From organization point of view, DIY is closest to our feelings and needs.

Most of the bands on the label – from what I could hear to this date – could losely be labelled as “noise rock”. Why this style? What do you like about noise rock?

ADAM: In the beginning and in the mid-90´s, punkrock / hardcore scene became very "institutionalized". It became very boring, very selfish in some way. Bands from AmRep were like a revelation: there was the same (or bigger) energy as with the hardcore bands, but there were no rules how to act, how to dress etc. It became more punk than "punk bands". And I love it musically.

PETR: And what is better than play your instrument as loud as possible? Styles are coming and leaving, but to play loud and with power will be always up to date. But we also release (and will release) bands, which are not exactly "noise rock". This is secondary. But "noise rock" is still my cup of tea.

MARTIN: I agree. I mean, I don't really listen to noise rock and I would hardly say my band is noise rock, but we always play as loud as possible. It's fun and people can hear me, haha.

TODD: It encompasses and recognizes all key variations on classic rock’n’roll, without limiting itself to a particular genre, as Adam says. I think you get to a point sooner or later when you realize that speed doesn’t have to mean power, the same way solos aren’t indications of proficiency on an instrument, that lyrical ‘purity’ rarely means authenticity. It is what is in between the lines that counts, and with this type of music, where there is a lot of space between the lines, you can find a lot of honesty and power.

ONDREJ: I felt that noise was just easiest and most safe way how to describe something unexplainable. If someone had problem to say what is that music, said NOISE. Sometimes more noise, sometimes less noise, ambient noise (our OTK case), stupid disco noise (ememvoodoopoka), two bass noise (gnu) I took it in the beginning as kind of new wave hardcore (I think post rock didt exist in 1994…)

What is it that you love about Noise Rock so much? What are your favorite noise-rock albums of all time?

TODD: That is almost impossible to answer!! And it would be even more difficult to limit things to just a few albums, so I’ll just drop a few names: In terms of classic Albiniesque ‘noise rock’, then of course SCRATCH ACID and the bands that evolved from there (THE JESUS LIZARD, RAPEMAN, BIG BLACK, SHELLAC) were influential on me, in terms of straightforward rock my main loves lie with TAR,  KILLDOZER, BLACK SABBATH, NEIL YOUNG, SWANS, THE GRUESOMES, early MELVINS, more recently I (finally) discovered GODHEADSILO, TODD, PART CHIMP, and of course more locally GNU LYSSA and SLUT. But I am also a big fan of early eighties hardcore, 60’s garage punk, and the golden age of Gospel.

PETR: My personal top five from the nineties: TAR/Jackson, HAMMERHEAD/Evil Twin, THE JESUS LIZARD/anything with 4 letters in the title, GOD BULLIES/War on Everybody and LOVE 666/American Revolution. And many, many more… Actually I am still waiting for the second Tar. They stopped playing because of “lack of interest from the audience”, have you heard about that?

MARTIN: I’m not much into noise rock, so I can’t tell. I know the records a bit, I guess it’s ok, but not exactly what I am listening to.

ADAM: I think it´s better than punk rock in the way that really EVERYONE can do it. You don´t even need those famous “three chords”. And here´s my TOP5: TAR – Jackson, HAMMERHEAD – Into the Vortex, UNSANE – Total Destruction, COP SHOOT COP – Release, THE JESUS LIZARD – Liar.

Would you ever think about changing basic policies of the label (e.g. style of music, distro, contracts, etc.)

ADAM: No. I am very happy with the way it works now.

PETR: Me too. The first written contract with a band means the first crisis of identity in Silver Rocket, hehe. We love our ghetto.

MARTIN: The whole thing runs on friendship and it's enough. If we lose this, we should quit the label.

How do you choose bands / music for releases?

ADAM: We must know them personally and we must love their music. And we must feel like they really WANT to be just on Silver Rocket. We don´t want to be "just another small independent label" in some famous band biography.

PETR: And we trust each other's instinct and taste. If someone from Silver Rocket says "I have heard smoething interesting", we at least start to think about it and discuss it.

MARTIN: I guess it's still like magnetism. The right stuff simply comes to Silver Rocket by some way, which i can't really explain, if you know what i mean.

TODD: There aren’t really a whole lot of bands around these days who aren’t trying to fit in with the latest trend, or who aren’t ripping off some other band’s sound. When one of us comes across a band like that, the others are usually eager to listen.

If a band wants to send you a demo of their music, what would you advise them to do? Who should they send it to? Do you listen to demos at all? Have you ever signed a band after listening to a label (most labels say they don’t, but you’ll always read: we heard their demo and its great so we signed them…)?

TODD: I think the general approach in the past has been to discourage this, because, as is probably clear by now, we don’t release bands just for the sake of releasing bands, or for the purpose of attracting any sort of attention the way things work at other more commercially oriented labels. No band has ever been released on the strength of a demo by SRR, and I can assure you it will never, ever happen. I personally would be happy to listen to someone’s demo if they like and understand the vibe of Silver Rocket and think they are doing something on a similar wavelength, just for the sake of interest. But I think the others have much more negative views on this.

PETR: Demos are weird. But I don‘t know, Adam and Bourek deal with them. I remember one funny case: an ex-porn actor, male, asked us to release his musical project. He even had a script for his first video: Prague, early in the morning. Fog and dust, one of the main roads (it is a highway actually) is empty. The ex-pornstar walks slowly, dressed in fur, with a leopard by his side. Hehehe, strange person.

MARTIN: Last demos we got some months ago. I can’t even remember if I heard those CDs. I always dream about writing extremely straight and cruel reviews on the received demos for Silver Rocket website, but I have time for it.

ADAM: I don´t listen to demos. My band NEVER sent demo to anyone.

Which one is the best selling release on Silver Rocket? Which one are you most proud of?

ADAM: I am very proud of Lyssa - Amoral. I think it´s phenomenal. But I love all our releases, no kidding!!! I really do! Best selling releases are these:

Gnu - Milimetry ticha

OTK - Sona a kuva

Esgmeq - Devil´s Servant

PETR: We are the biggest fans of the bands we release. My personal choice: Gnu, Wollongong, OTK, Ememvoodoopoka... and all the others.

MARTIN: My personal very top 3: OTK - Kot, Esgmeq - Behave Yourself, Lyssa - Amoral, but i really love all the records.

TODD: My personal favourites are the first full-length Gnu record (Srdce v kusech zvuku), both Esgmeq records, and the split 7” my band (Wollongong) did with Lyssa, because they’re one of my favourite bands, and split 7”s are such special things. Like a marriage for love with no obligations beyond the spiritual, the concept of divorce unfathomable.

ONDREJ: Both Gnu Cds, Emems, Squall, Naquei Manou, but it really doesnot mean I hate the rest…

Bands on the label seem to be mostly from your own country or at least Central Europe. Did this just happen, or is there a special policy behind it (e.g. that you want to support the music scene in your place)?

ADAM: I think it came naturally. We are close to those bands, we play in those bands, we know each other. It is not a policy.

Who distributes Silver Rocket in the rest of the world?

ADAM: Tamizdat, Day After and X- Mist. But we want to have better distribution. We work on it.

ONDREJ: some of our relases are split relases with labels with other distributions, so some of our relases are also availiable thru Indound, Forte and others in Japan, Hong-Kong and so.

What is your position in the that inavoidable internet / download / mp3 discussion? A threat or a good thing?

TODD: Mediums never really die, they just take up a new place in the system. Today we see the musical recording taking on a new, fragmented identity as a result of the proliferation of technologies. For a long time music was created and recorded for the purpose of selling it in fairly limited ways. Now that that no longer has to be an issue, it can’t be a bad thing, can it? I can record something for very little financial cost, and post it somewhere where people can hear it nearly anywhere at any time, with little effort and at no expense. But still I find that when I go to concerts and I like the band I want to buy their record, to take something away from that experience. Personally, I buy vinyl now almost as religiously as I ever did, but I also download MP3s when I am looking for something new.  With vinyl I just feel safer, comforting in some bizarre way, I guess I find it more personal. Whereas I use MP3s for pure consumption I buy records for the relationship I can have with them.

PETR: Smart analysis, I say. I always buy CDs and vinyls I like, but I have a small mp3 player now, and I can see how the situation has changed. You can agree with downloading, or not, but that‘s all you can do. I am not sure what is better: when people download Silver Rocket releases, it means, that they will listen to them - that‘s OK. But if they buy it, we can release something else.

Martin: I download to know what’s going on and I buy to support bands and labels. I guess Silver Rocket fans don’t download and share our stuff. Or at least not much.

ADAM: I am from 13th century when it comes to the modern technologies. I think people shloud buy vinyls, because it saves you from the living in the gutter, it makes you poor life worthy, it saves you from the hell. Haleluja.

Why is there no English version of your website? Don’t you believe in all the good the internet brings?

ADAM: We will have English version VERY SOON. Keep working on that. Sorry....

PETR: Yes, we will. But all the best jokes in our texts will be omitted in the english version. We keep them as a bonus for those, who speaks Czech.

What is the best relationship between band – label – listener?

ADAM: The best relationship? It´s a tough question. When I´m listening to the band and I like it, I feel like I want to play with those fuckers in this band. I want to be part of this band, I want to play those killer riffs. That´s when I realize I fell in love with the band and that´s the best relationship. I want people to fell like they are BIG part of Silver Rocket because they are!!! I don´t treat them as "fans" or whatever, I feel like they are part of the gang...

PETR: For me the point of the whole thing is the live performance. If you play music, you should play it for someone. At least for two persons, hehe. I like to buy records directly from the bands. I like to buy their stupid buttons and t-shirts. I like to talk to them. The club is the place, where everything makes sense.

MARTIN: You know, Silver Rocket exists in something like circles. The inner one is the six or more people we were talking in the begining... But then you have all the members of SR bands and then also the closest fans, who are our friends and so on. I mean when you go to play some gig to some small crappy club at the other end of the czech republic, it's not just playing some other gig for few people - it's meeting friends, meeting Silver Rocket fans, people who are interested in what's going on. I guess all these people feel like they are part of the whole thing and that's actually true. Silver Rocket is not label, it's more like a good old family from Sicilia.

TODD: For me as a listener it is more a question of developing a sense of trust that a certain label will release products by bands that are doing something authentic, and that that label will go to great lengths to preserve this sense of purpose, and not change with the times or the trends, or only release records by their friends, who may be nice people, but don’t quite get the point. That is why I buy records from, for example, Dischord, Constellation, Malarie, and for many years Touch and Go, Alternative Tentacles, and so on. And I would hope that people who buy records on Silver Rocket feel the same.

Has becoming a part of the European Union had any impact on you / the label? What has changed?

ADAM: Nothing changed... It doesn´t matter at all.

PETR: Yes, nothing really important. Less stamps in our passports, I guess. And less hassle if you for example order the pressing of some vinyls in Germany.

TODD: A direct effect on label activities probably can’t be detected, but the cost of living has started the uphill climb that all other new member states have experienced, so I can’t say that nothing important has changed.

ONDREJ: we don’t know anything about what Todd mentioned. Pressing cds cost still about the same like 7-8 years ago.

What are the best places to go to and hang out, see shows or have lunch in Prague? Can we come over to your house and party? (Don’t worry, we won’t. We hardly get out of our own flats anyway…)

ADAM: The best place to play is 007 Club. Cool place. Then there is Metropolis club, also good.

PETR: And you can still find here those old school czech pubs, which make you feel that you are back in the 80s. Very cheap beer, thick smoke, extremly weird interior and absolutely unfriendly personnel. They don't talk, and if you enter the place, they simply give you a beer, and they don't care that you just wanted to ask where is the bus stop. It is not for everyone, I guess, and unofortunately these places are slowly disappearing. Zizkov, Vysocany, Nusle - that is the area to explore.

MARTIN: Dining room Hell. Definitely the best place for having lunch you will never forget. 

TODD: Well, I’m with you on that, I hardly get out of my flat either unless the label is doing a show or my band is playing somewhere. When I do get out I usually go to the kind of local neighbourhood place that Petr is describing, or the clubs that Adam mentioned.

ONDREJ: In Prague there is a very nice zoo with winter bears and penguins, that’s a cool place if you don’t work for animal s.o.s. and you can have lunch there. Or you can as stated above, visit 007 and end up in Jamor Studio on the floor (like Moller Plesset(Fr) did).

If we would travel to Prague, what would you absolutely recommend us to do or see? What would you advise us not to do? Is it a dangerous place or family friendly? What do you like best about Prague? (If you don’t live in or near Prague, then I was mistaken. In this case, please forget the question.)

TODD: I am not going to go into what to see, there are hundreds of tourist guides and net sites which can tell you what you need to know. There is just too much to recommend. My personal tip is Gnu’s practice place, if you can find it and they let you in, and Ondrej Jezek’s studio, where most Silver Rocket bands record. They are holy spaces. Otherwise Prague is probably the safest city I have ever been to. There is virtually no violent crime, and there are no ghettos or housing projects where you could get into trouble if you went into. The centre is ideal for families, and there is a stunning public transportation system. What I like best about Prague is that it leaves me alone, lost in my melancholic world and lets me work and get on with things. In other cities I have felt more overt pressure to conform to mainstream normal life and the expectations of it, or extreme guilt when I don’t. So here I feel more free in a sense, at least for now.

 PETR: I like Prague, of course. I was born here. You can spend many days here, depends on what are you interested in. My advice is to leave the touristy centre (after you visited all the historical monuments), Prague is not only Wentzelplatz. The city is pretty safe, if Esgmeq (one of our bands) are not in the town. And go outside Prague too. Go to Kostelec. We all move there one day.

MARTIN: Just take care which one of Kostelecs you will choose. But Prague is funny, definitely. Pretty small, what gives the scene special - familiar – feeling.

ADAM: I don´like travelling, so I don´t have many experiences with the other cities in Eurpe. It´s interesting what Todd says.

Future plans? Especially a Silver Rocket Records showcase show in Vienna?

ADAM: This year will be special, we have so many things to do... we want to release records from Anyway, Deti deste, Kackala, Balaclava, Vas Szuszanne, OTK, Gnu, Wollongong, Esgmeq... this year will be crazy. If we will survive it, we will survive EVERYTHING.

PETR: And as for Vienna, who knows... it is our former metropolis, we probably should come.

MARTIN: Is someone interested in doing the showcase?

TODD: It would be nice to get the English web site functioning so that we can meet more like-minded people like yourselves. I think we underestimate the cross-border friendships that can evolve from what we are doing.

ONDREJ: Its so much work to d this year than we still don’t know if its better to plan it or not at all.

Give us some more information on the upcoming releases for 2006. What will they be like musically? All noise rock, or are there other styles among them? (I asked, so plug them as shamelessly as you want ...)

TODD The first release will be from Anyway, a sort of frenzied, dirty punk’n’roll band with from a town north of Prague. It will be their first full length on Silver Rocket, they had a 7” split with POINT a few years back, and in between had an LP on  DAY AFTER. We also hope to release a 7” by a band from the eastern part of the Czech Republic called VAS SZUSZANNE. They play a very energetic mix of non-whingey emo and early eighties hardcore in a battered old rock’n’roll trenchcoat. One of those bands that you see just once, and you know…

PETR: And DETI DESTE, really heavy stoner rock band, they are more or less a new name on our roster, with a singer who likes Edith Piaf. I also hope that we can release something new from Gnu and OTK this year. What else?

MARTIN: LP from BALACLAVA, straight-edge/ vegan/political/ metal core guys, really lovely people. Hopefully also 7” buy prague’s post punk trio FETCH! – they are very quiet and clever offstage, but do pretty loud and groovy (kind of math-) rock.

ADAM: Kačkala CD – all girl band from Tabor. They use only their voices, no instruments. It´s cowgirl – gospl music, very brave and unique. And Deverova chyba – also from Tabor. Two bass one drums attack.

As you can see, these guys plain rock. They have the right attitude, the right aspirations and the right records to release. Reviews have been done on Emememvoodoopöka ("Dort Jak Brus") and Lyssa ("Amoral"). for more information please visit www.silver-rocket.org you'll find the catalogue / discography easily even if you don't speak any czech. Check it out, order some. Tell them, I sent you.

Georg Cracked, January 2006