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Making Punk A Threat Again!

  •  We are happy to announce our next new release

    WILT – “Self Titled” 

    WILT combine old school metal and crust in a perfect hybrid that very few others have ever achieved. Prepare for a LP thats equal parts galloping d-beat crust reminiscent of bands like HELLSHOCK, and INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL, meets old school death metal in the vein of BOLT THROWER, MEMORIAM (old) SEPULTURA.

     

    Here is a track from the upcoming LP

    https://profanexistence.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/02-sermon-for-the-bootlickers.wav

     

    “Sermon for the Bootlickers”

    Despite the inculcation of helplessness within each there remains great power. Ill at ease with such makes us ill. Learn to see the hand that feeds for what it is. You’ve been fooled if you think you’ve got no power. Refuse to be reduced to a consumer you’re a human being. Define yourself by more than wealth. Define yourself as a human. You don’t need what you’re being sold. Bend your knee to no authority but your own mind. You have the power to avoid the gilded trap. Avarice is what you’re conditioned for. Break the mold discover what’s really valuable to you. 

    WILT will be on in Europe this July / August will ELECTROZOMBIES From Chile

    Wed, July 12 Hanover / Germany / Confirmed
    Thu, July 13 Bremen  
    Fri, July 14 Mulhem / Germany / Confirmed  
    Sat, July 15 Gent, Belgium / CrustPicnic / Confirmed
    Sun, July 16 Paris / France or Amsterdam / Nederland  
    July 18 North-East France or West Germany 
    July 19 Freiburg / Germany TBC 
    July 20 Winterthur / Switzerland 
    Fri, July 21 Zurich / Switzerland
    Sat, July 22 Biel / Switzerland 
    July 23 Lausanne or Geneva / Switzerland 
    July 24 Geneva / Switzerland or Grenoble france
    July 25 Treviso (or Milano or Bologna or Verona) / Italy
    July 26 Ljubljana Slovenia Confirmed
    July 27 No Sanctuary chilling day
    Fri, July 28 NoSanctuary Confirmed
    Sat, July 29 NoSanctuary Confirmed
    July 30 Ilirska Bistrica/Slovenia or Vienna/Austria or Budapest/Hungary.
    July 31 Wiena / Austrai or Budapest or / Slovakia
    August 1 Brno / Czech Republic.
    August 2 Prague / Czech Republic
    August 3 Finsterwalde / Germany TBC
    Fri, August 4 Leipzig / Germany TBC
    Sat, August 5 Berlin / Germany / confirmed
    August 6 Dresden
    August 7 Wroclaw / Poland
    August 8 Warsaw / Poland
    August 9 Poznan / Poland
    August 10 Szczecin/Poland TBC
    Fri, August 11 Rostock / confirmed
    Sat, August 12 Hamburg TBC
     

    For this in the Seattle or surrounding area you can catch WILT this Saturday April first at Highline Bar with NOOTHGRUSH from Oakland.

    Anarchist anarchist metal blackened crust Crust D-Beat death Grind Metal Punk Rock thrash wilt
  • STORM OF SEDITION – “Decivilize” LP

    Are you prepared to brave the storm?…

    Brace yourself for one of the most uncompromising hard hitting and politically outspoken records of this era. STORM OF SEDITION are an anti-civilization anarchist crust punk band based out of Victoria BC. Sharing members with the mighty ISKRA you can definitely expect some serious blackened crust, and yes a huge metal influence is prevalent however STORM OF SEDITION are a bit more reminiscent of bands like CONTRAVENE & NAUSEA. “Decivilize” brings a heavy anarcho punk dynamic to the table combined with over the top blackened crust grind thats littered with blistering solo’s, insanely powerful drumbeats, and thought productive lyrics that challenge our current state of human civilization. All in all this is an absolute monster of a release!

    Comes with a 12 page booklet containing lyrics, notes, and song explanations. 

    -CLICK HERE FOR PURCHASE INFORMATION-

     

    STORM OF SEDITION WILL TOURING THE WEST COAST THIS SUMMER!!! 

    Keep you eye’s peeled for a list of tour dates soon!

     

    Listen to the song “Disconnect” here… 

    https://profanexistence.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/storm-of-sedition-decivilize-05-disconnect.mp3

    Living a domesticated existence
    Starves people of meaning in their lives
    Everyone feels the void beneath the surface
    Of everyday activities and routines

    Miserable, exploited, mass populations
    Feeding the industrial systems endless hunger
    Treated like machines, living beings
    Enslaved and kept passive in a technological noose

    We live in these cages
    Made of concrete, glass, and steel 
    A functioning human made hell 
    Complete with natural scenery 

    Yet there is no community
    Deprived of connection with real people 
    Technology perpetuates alienation 
    But promises to connect us

    And fill the void in our lives
    In constant need of escape and distraction 
    From this fucking ugly world
    Technology creeping into our lives 

    Pop culture, pacifying shit
    Endless distractions to curb dissent 
    A society of lonely domesticated beings 
    Attempting social interaction behind a digital screen

    Clinging to the feeling of connectedness 
    Personalized profiles, mass communication tools
    Monitored and funded by pigs 
    Spying on people, on movements
    While corporations profit off government control
    Microsoft, apple, fedbook
    Endless lists of corporations
    Infiltrating our everyday lives
    The NSA, the CSE 
    Databases created from what you share
    Information for incrimination 
    Millions of people on terrorist watch lists
    Technology’s a weapon used against us 

    Its function is to propel their ability
    To efficiently exploit us and the natural world 
    While doing so capitalizing off selling us
    Gadgets to distract us from the lives we live and hate 

    Turn off that shit, enter the real world
    You are not connected
    You are alone staring into a fucking a screen

    Get outside, meet with real people!
    Even if we use these tools 
    We must never forget 

    Technology is a system created by and for those in power
    And it will only exist with 
    Division of labor, exploitation, and death

    Becoming connected through technology
    Is a sick fucking joke

    PROFANE EXISTENCE RECORDS – PO BOX 647 – HUNTINGTON WV – 25711 – UNITED STATES

    WWW.PROFANEEXISTENCE.COM

     

    Activism Anarchist anarcho-primitivism Anarchy anticiv blackened crust Crust D-Beat DIY Grind profane existance Punk Punk Rock Storm of Sedition stormofsedition
  • aus-rot-logo

    AUS-ROTTEN

    “The System Works For Them” LP

    -FINALLY RE-ISSUED AFTER 20 YEARS!-

    Originally pressed in 1996 PROFANE EXISTENCE is bringing this quintessential anarcho punk masterpiece back in circulation.

    aus-rotten-the-system-cover

    All original artwork (label logos updated) with three different vinyl color options.
    All original artwork (label logos updated) with three different vinyl color options.

    In 1996 AUS-ROTTEN released their first LP “The System Works For Them” on an unsuspecting punk scene. It spread like wildfire in a pre internet era within a genre that mostly depended on tape trading.  (at least is was pre internet for us penniless punks) “The System Works For Them” was the perfect mix of anger and intelligence that the scene needed at the time (and still does today). It was like a wake up call that opened the eyes and ears to many punks the world over. The messages where crystal clear and most us were hooked as soon as the beginning shouts of “Boycott” bellowed over the speakers. I don’t believe any of us ever expected their message to resonate so well within the scene, but even more surprising is how the songs are just as relevant today as on they the day they were written. Which is why PROFANE EXISTENCE has decided to repress this record. We feel that that messages that AUS-ROTTEN brought to the table are to powerful to ignore. We feel that this LP is important and therefore should be highly available and priced affordably.

    "The Battlefield Is Still Red" Bloodsplatter Edition.
    “The Battlefield Is Still Red” Bloodsplatter Edition.

     

    PROFANE EXISTENCE has worked out every last detail of this release with the members of AUS-ROTTEN whom have been involved from step one.  All tracks have been re-masted by Jay Matherson at the Jamroom studios. To be 100% honest we didn’t want to do a complete re-master of what we already considered a good recording. However when we opened the tracks on protools we noticed a few balance issues that required fixing. These fixes resulted in a tremendous upgrade to the overall quality of the tracks. We painstakingly scanned, puzzled, and photoshopped the original artwork to make sure that it was as close to authentic as it could possible be. We then went for broke by pressing in three different vinyl color combinations! Overall to say that we are pumped to release this would be an understatement, we are absolutely ecstatic to bring you this LP on PROFANE EXISTENCE!

     

    "What Good Is Money, When There Is No One Left To Buy" T-shirt.
    “What Good Is Money, When There Is No One Left To Buy” T-shirt.

     

    To top this all off we worked with AUS-ROTTEN vocalist Dave Trenga on redrawing the classic “What Good Is Money, When There Is No One Left To Buy” design for a T-Shirt to concede with the albums release. This is a fresh take on an old image to create a new and original design.

     

     

     

    See through "Smoke" vinyl. Available at SKULLFEST record release show.
    See through “Smoke” vinyl. Available at SKULLFEST/ PROFANE EXISTENCE 27th anniverseray party / record release show.

     

     

     

     

    Vinyl options are…

    1. Standard black vinyl

    2. “The Battlefield is Still Red” Bloodsplatter vinyl.

    3. See through “Smoke”. – Available at SKULLFEST only

    ORDER HERE- http://profaneexistence.storenvy.com

    ALL PREORDERS WILL BE SHIPPED OUT BY AUGUST 19TH

     

    Flyer for PROFANE EXISTENCE 27th year anniversary party at SKULLFEST 8!
    Flyer for PROFANE EXISTENCE 27th year anniversary party at SKULLFEST 8!

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    PROFANE EXISTENCE – PO BOX 647 – HUNTINGTON WV – 25711 – UNITED STATES

    Activism Anarchist Anarcho Punk Aus-Rotten Behind Enemy Lines Caustic Christ D-Beat DIY Hardcore pittsburgh profane existence Punk skullfest
  • SILENCE 

    The Deafening Sound of Absolutely Nothing LP

    OUT NOW!

    Click here to purchase

    Silence-LP-Jacketpromo-withborder

    Silence are a highly active post-punk/peace-punk band from Pittsburgh, PA. “The Deafening Sound of Absolutely Nothing” strives (and succeeds) to achieve the perfect balance between peace and post punk. By taking influences from The Mob, Bauhaus, Zounds, Killing Joke, Amebix, Crass, Conflict, Internal Autonomy and Joy Division SILENCE have created what can only be described a brilliant debut LP.  At one moment this record is dark, heavy, and atmospheric and then the next moment it makes you want to dance and sing along. Lyrically SILENCE are much closer to the anarcho side of the previously listed influences. Lyrics focus on a variety of topics but often have a strong focus on the way punk and activist communities deal with political struggle in our current political climate.

    image1

    “The Deafening Sound of Absolutely Nothing” comes with a 16 page magazine size zine containing lyrics, personal writings and song explanations. Designed, printed and assembled by the band themselves in true D.I.Y. fashion.

     

    Silence will be having a record release show in their hometown of Pittsburgh PA at the Rock Room Friday April 22nd  with SHADOW AGE and SKELETON HANDS. Then later this month SILENCE will embark on a full United States tour to support “The Deafening Sound of Absolutely Nothing”. Here is a list of dates. Be show to check in with the bands “bandcamp” or “Facebook” page for show updates.

     

    Select shows with DJ Erica Scary!

    April 29: Pittsburgh, PA, at Down Launder, tour kickoff and Antifa benefit, w/ Empathy Box (https://www.facebook.com/events/1181565898523083/)
    April 30 (early show): Kent, OH at the Workshoppe, IWW presentation matinee punk show w/Cuttlefish Agenda & SAP (https://www.facebook.com/events/1697295593893224/)
    April 30 (late show): Akron, OH at Anabelle’s w/Empathy Box, Rabid Reason, Weird Penis (https://www.facebook.com/events/214123672288175/)
    May 1, Cinncinatti, OH, at Mockbee w/ Abraxas & Sour Ground (https://www.facebook.com/events/173087806408132/)
    May 2nd, Chicago, IL, w/Autonomy, venue TBA
    May 3, Minneapolis, MN at Cafe Reverie w/ Scrutiny & Verminoze (https://www.facebook.com/events/935701729883330/)
    May 6, Seattle, WA at the Kraken w/Frustration & Arcane (https://www.facebook.com/events/1595913700726950/)
    May 7, Bremerton, WA at the Charleston
    May 8, Olympia, WA, venue TBA w/ Flesh Collage, Duzz, Hen’s Teeth
    May 9, Portland, OR at Blackwater, with Vivid Sekt & Decomp
    May 10, Eugene, OR at Black Forest
    May 11, Oakland, CA at the Annex w/Ortiz
    May 13, North Bay Area, CA, venue TBA
    May 14, Reno, NV, venue TBA
    May 17, Asheville, NC at the Odditorium
    May 18, Baltimore, MD at the Sidebar
    May 19, Richmond, VA venue TBA
    May 20, Philadelphia, PA at the Beaumont Warehouse w/ Hellshock, Deathwish, Dronez, Interloper (https://www.facebook.com/events/200642220290173/)
    May 21, Oil City, PA, The Annex Art Exhibition Room w/ Swampwalk & Omission (https://www.facebook.com/events/1703401133252324/)
    May 22nd, Altoona, PA at the Anvil w/T-Tops, Warmingtons, Loyd Bird (https://www.facebook.com/events/1590404134615322/)

     LISTEN TO THE TRACK “WAR DRUMS” HERE.

    https://profanexistence.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/03-track-03-war-drums.wav

    Lyrics…

    When all that remains is a world in flames. Is that when they’ll say the wars are finally won? That wars are finally done?

    They’re beating on the drums again, they’re fueling up the planes. The congressmen fall into line and sing the old refrain. In the name of peace they’ll burn the land and drop a thousand bombs.

    Meanwhile we’ll just stay at home and go back to our sitcoms. It’s the same old song, we’ve heard it before. They’re beating the drums and they’re calling for war. What it’s supposed to accomplish, no one is sure But the victims are always the hungry and the poor.

    Once the drums of war begin it’s hard to make them stop. The noise silences the dissidents once the bombs begin to drop. All those who call for peace will be mocked and pushed aside. In 10 years they’ll admit we were right after many thousands more have died.

    11216846_941427835906092_2640867628394013088_n

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    PROFANE EXISTENCE RECORDS PO BOX 647 HUNTINGTON WV 25711 UNITED STATES
    Activism Anarchism Anarchist Animal Rights Crust goth Hardcore lp new release PE Peace Punk pittsburgh post punk profane existence Punk SILENCE Tour Veganism
  • new-banner2

    Finally after many delays from the pressing plant the WARWOUND Demo’s LP “A Huge Black Cloud” is out and copies are moving fast! 

    warwound-cover-Recorded in 1983, this record contains 15 songs from 3 sessions. With a few different takes you get a total of 25 blistering tracks. For those unfamiliar with WARWOUND, they are a UK band formed in 82. WARWOUND recorded 3 demos in 83 before disbanding and members went on to join THE VARUKERS and form SACRILEGE. These demos never received an official release… until now! Highly influenced by DISCHARGE, WARWOUND is one of the first bands ever to take D-Beat Punk to a raw and intense level. Recently reformed in 2015, original guitarist Damian is now joined by Ian Glasper on bass and Rat Varuker on vocals. After a few gigs in the UK word is spreading fast of the relentless onslaught of a live show these veterans put on. WARWOUND have also recently hit the studio to record for the first time in over 30 years. Needless to say WARWOUND is back with a vengeance!

    LP – LINK

    LP+ SHIRT – LINK

    Wholesale 5 LP’s

    Wholesale 10 LP’s

    Audio “3 Minute Warning” Demo 3

    https://profanexistence.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/01-warwound-three-minute-warning-d3.wav

    Audio “Yopper Boy” Demo 2

    https://profanexistence.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/25-warwound-demo-2-yopper-boy.wav

     

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    PROFANE EXISTENCE RECORDS / PO BOX 647 / HUNTINGTON WV / 25711

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PROFANE EXISTENCE has a web store filled with records, shirts, zines, tapes, patches, pins, CD's and more. Check it often as we are constantly adding new items to the list and selling out of old ones.

Visit the PE web store at:
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VARIX Interview

  • February 21, 2012
  • by stinkbot
  • · Interviews · PE Web Zine

This interview was done early this November in Minneapolis by Mandapocalypse. We drank coffee and beer, and chatted and laughed in a grimy basement before their practice for the Midwest Doomsday Festival. All photos are done by Twin Cities punk photographer ADAM DEGROSS.

PE:  Varix! I remember your first show, and how ready, excited, and nervous you all were to be a band. Since then, it seems like you’ve all exploded with creativity, confidence, and punk ambition. Knowing you all personally, I’ve just got to say what stand-up, rad womyn you all are, and how stoked I am to know ya! Alright…. enough of the flattery, time to inform the punx about VARIX! First things first, who are you, and what do you do in the band?

Emily: I’m Emily, and I play the bass.

Angie: I’m Angie, and I play the drums.

Stacey: I’m Stacey, and I…. sing? (laughter)

Ashley: I’m Ashley, and I play guitar.

PE: How did you start up VARIX and come together as a band?

E: Very drunkenly….

Ash: Interesting question, don’t really remember, you were there, Manda! (laughter)

Ang: Well, I learned how to play a D-beat. Then Emily had a riff, and Ashley had power chords and distortion, and we were drunk, and that pretty much did it.

Em: We wanted to sound gross. Nasty.

Ash: We accepted early on it was going to be nasty.

Em: We embraced the nasty. (laughter)

Ang: But then at a point we worked on it and realized we had some songs and should get a vocalist. We really didn’t want to have a girl vocalist because we didn’t want to be a “girl band. J.P. Toulon (RIP) was actually going to be our singer early on. We saw Stacey could do it and we realized we were being sort of sexist not wanting her to do it at first because she was a girl. (laughter.)She came to a practice, yelled, and it was really great.

PE: What are your musical backgrounds? Did you play any instruments prior to this or in any bands? Or is this your first go-about?

Em: I played trumpet in middle school (laughter). I lived at the Rathole with a bunch of musicians, so it was intimidating to start playing music. My roommate Tony who is now in AGITATE started learning drums, and I started jamming with him playing bass. From there, we started ANNELIESE with our friend Matt. We played loud hardcore and eventually broke up, so I had nothing to do! Shortly after, VARIX started jamming and it was sick.

Ang: I’ve played bass for some years, in QUESTION, GANGLION, and ANIMALES &

BEASTS. Some harsh family stuff happened about 2 years ago where I was holed up with my mom in the suburbs and my brother, who is a drummer, gave me a shitty, stripped down, really basic kit that I just sat at and started playing. For a week straight, I played for 8 hours every day, trying to figure out how to play a D-beat, a 1/2 beat, figure out a fill, get the symbols in there, and eventually it worked out to doing that for like 12 minutes at a time. That’s about as far as I’ve gotten with drumming.

S: I half-assed played the drums at some point and played the piano when I was younger. I’ve always been on the other side of playing music, hosting bands and setting up shows.

Ash: I played bass when I was younger. It was a similar situation where my best friend wanted me to play bass for a band, so I just did. I was in voice lessons from age 8 to 16. And now I’ve picked up guitar.

PE: So where were you at as individuals when you first started out? You mentioned briefly you were having a hard time and came together through madness, frustration and anger, but also it seems like you were all just wanting to have a good time.

Ang: For me, it was definitely both. My dad had just died and things were pretty intense. I didn’t work for a little bit and when I went back to work it wasn’t full time and I wasn’t in school. I had all this time and intensity and felt I needed to do something with it. Also, I just needed to have fun. At first, we practiced just to play and have a reason to get together every week and hang out and do something constructive while we drank. It progressed from there. For me personally, that was a really fucking rough year and VARIX was the thing I looked forward to every fucking week. It really kept me together. It was an outlet for everything. It was always so much fun though, too-even when we started and had so much trouble just playing our instruments. Well, besides Emily, she was fine. (laughter)

Ash: I definitely picked up guitar when I was in a bad spot. Angie was like, “You gotta do something with yourself, why not play guitar?” It’s about bettering yourself while in positions of sorrow.

Ang: It’s fortunate that we genuinely wanted/want to play really stripped-down music, so that any limitations we might have with technical ability aren’t really a problem…

Em: That was awesome though, ‘cause when we started, I had been writing more complicated riffs for ANNELIESE . For me, it was challenging just writing punk riffs and to simplify. It took some work creating pumped-up punk music and getting the hang of raw punk, which I love.

PE: Tour? Releases?

S: We toured at the beginning of this year. We went straight south and back. On top of that, we’ve done some weekend warrior stuff in the Midwest.

Ang: We have a demo tape out. This new label called Double Dutch did an LP comp with the most random DIY bands from Minneapolis. It’s a strange assortment, but I like that. In Minneapolis you get these DIY shows that are totally mixed bills and I think that comp totally reflects that. We’re about to be on a Profane Existence comp coming out, and have a 7” coming out on Discos Basura Records in a month or two.

S: The Profane comp’s all local too, with KONTRASEKT, FAVELA RISING, COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, IN DEFENSE, and PONX ATTACK.

PE: What kind of crazy stuff happened on your tour?

Em: Stacey has another dog now….(laughter)…VARIX has a mascot. The name is Torpedo.

Ash: We found a miniature wiener dog outside of Dallas, Texas that was abandoned at a truck stop. After a thorough investigation, Stacey decided to bring him home.

Ang: We were all outside, and this adorable wiener dog came up and put its head in Ashley’s lap as she was just sitting there and we were like,”OH MYGOD IT’S SO CUTE!” And so sad! Who would leave this little dog? We were also discussing how we needed to get it away from us before Stacey came outside. Well, she came outside. After no arguing, that dog was in the car with us 10 minutes later.

PE: Punk dog!(laughter)

S: We had 2 shows left, where we walked up with a little dog on tour in a punk vest.

Em: Yes! We found a pet store on our journey and had to stop and get her a vest. During a long drive, we sewed a patch onto it. It looked very badass.

PE: Are you all Minneapolis natives?

Ash: Wisconsssinnnnn!

S: Me too….

Em: St. Cloud.

Ang: Suburbs! Nameless suburbs.

PE: So what drew you to Minneapolis?

S: I came here for school more than anything else. At the time, it was the furthest away from Appleton, Wisconsin that I could afford to go to without paying out-of-state tuition. That’s what got me here, though it’s the punks that kept me here. It’s funny because I have so much love for Appleton now. Up the Wisco punks!

Ash: I came for the graffiti scene. And the punks here are just as brutal.

PE: Can you describe what it’s like to be a part of the Twin Cities punk community?

Em: It’s really sick. It’s a very vast community and most shows we play are quite varied. It’s awesome not having strict genre dividers.

Ang: Most people here are very supportive of each other and DIY music. It’s very cool to see. Another thing about starting this band is that I’ve just been getting into more and more stripped-down music and been wanting to hear things that are just punk. I didn’t feel there was as much of that going on here as there might be in other places. There’s tons of DIY music and really good bands for sure, but it was cool starting up something I thought was lacking. I wasn’t sure if people would be into it, but everyone’s been really supportive.

PE: Do you feel like the scene is divided between Minneapolis and St. Paul? Or is there a greater scene because the cities are so close together?

Ash: I feel like it was really divided until recently. There was a Twin Cities United show and it seemed like people were making more of an effort unify the scenes.

S: I think it’s still definitely divided in a sense, but it’s been slowly evolving and changing, people are letting go of the issues that divided the two in the past. Some of the most energetic reactions we’ve had at shows have been from the St. Paul kids.

Ash: Yeah, St. Paul, off the wall!

PE:Do you guys go to shows in St. Paul at all?

S: There isn’t much over there in the way of DIY spaces lately, so I don’t get over there unless it’s a bigger show at a bar or something.

PE: Do you guys get shit or feel like you get special attention for being an “all girl band?”

All: Ugh…. yes.

Ang: How much time ya got?

S: Where do we begin?

PE: I remember specifically whenever I’d book you guys, you all being like “Do not write on fliers that we are all womyn!”

S: We used to be like FUCK YOU if someone would call us a “girl band” and are still a little uneasy about it, at least if using that as our description on a flier or something. That’s not who we are as a band. That said, we have embraced it a bit as we’ve seen that it is something people support and value. It sounds so cheesy but when people-ladies specifically-come up to us after shows or on tour and say they were inspired that we were women making music.  It’s something you want to embrace.

Ang: It’s really fucking cool to see girls get involved when we’re playing. In Houston while we were playing it was all of us, then a huge circle pit of girls, which was fucking awesome. Almost everyone is pretty cool about it, and really all we want is to have a band, not a gender issue. But it does become an issue more often than it should, and even if it’s only one or two people out of an entire show that act fucked up about it, that’s more than I want to deal with it. I never really want to spend time fighting or explaining why sexism is bad to someone who’s not really listening to me anyways. But no matter where on the range from latent, i.e. “You know who you guys remind me of? SMASHING PUMPKINS! They had a girl, didn’t they?”, to blatant “seriously, I just want to fuck you,” just letting that shit go never feels right to me either…

S: Like hearing after the fact that while we were playing the SUBHUMANS show in Minneapolis someone was shouting, “Oh yeah, I’d totally fuck every one of them.”  It’s sad to think people are that dense that they’d say that. We’re up here to play fucking music, that doesn’t mean we’ve signed up to be some object to degrade. It’s bullshit. I can’t even count how many times someone’s come up and been like, “Oh you play pretty well for a girl”.

Em: I feel people are also subconsciously offensive, and things are exposed when they talk to me. For example they say something such as, “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to be very good…..but damn, you guys rule!” My response being, “Fuck you! What do you mean you weren’t expecting us to be good? Why would you even say that? Fuck you for coming to that conclusion.”

Ang: I really hate this pressure to represent women and women musicians. It is very satisfying to play well and our band is good and fuck yeah if we had something to prove, we proved it. But there is this added pressure being women, and I hate that, and I hate that if I fuck up it’s not just that I fucked up, I feel like it’s this bigger gender thing where women can’t really play music. And I hate that pressure! I just wanna do my shit and play in a band just like everybody else and have fun with it.

S: I think we’re lucky in the punk community of Minneapolis being that there is definitely more support and more active women here than I’ve seen in a lot of other communities. It’s really cool to see at shows where the whole front is women rocking out. Last time CHOOSE YOUR POISON played here I remember looking over and being stoked seeing the entire front of the show was ladies. Maybe I’m just more aware of this now that I play in a band. Or maybe it’s always been there, or it’s something that’s changed in the last few years. I’m not sure, but I like it.

Ang: It’s definitely true that there are a ton of really rad ladies in this city. I find it strange that even here when we play there’s at least someone that says something vaguely offensive about being a female musician. I feel like it would be easier here than other places, but it’s still an issue.

PE: How do you handle the fucked-up remarks? Do you let it slide or make an effort to call them out on it immediately?

Ang: If you say calmly to them, “This is not appropriate, I’m just trying to hang out,” or “No, you just need to be more respectful,” they just don’t hear it. But then if you get pissed, it’s like, “Oh, they won because now I’m angry.” It’s hard to win these situations. Especially when someone walks up to you and takes power over you, it’s a hard fucking thing. We wrote that song “Puke”about that. How nice it’d be if you could just vomit on somebody and win. This doesn’t turn out to be very practical in the actual applying sense, so lately we’ve found it satisfying to just point and laugh.

Em: I just don’t have enough vomit to regurgitate, unfortunately, and I don’t want to have to train myself to use bodily functions to prove a point. (laughter)

Ash: So, we tend to just point and laugh….. And get our homies to point

and laugh, too.

PE: So do you feel like being in this band has made you stronger as individuals?

Ang: Yeah

Ash: I hate to say, it but most definitely.

Gain confidence?

Ang: Yeah. We’re ridiculously supportive of each other. It’s sort of silly at a point. Like if someone is having trouble picking out trail mix, we probably don’t need to be like “No, I got your back.” But really it’s pretty nice knowing I have this support base.

PE: So what are you involved in outside of punk? Interests? Passions? In school?

Em: I’m going to the University of Minnesota right now, pretty indecisive, not knowing what the fuck I want to do, but I’m really into art. I like to do that. I play bass. I love to cook, been stealing many gallons of vegetable oil from my work and deep frying everything. We made vegan donuts! And various fried things…. (laughter). If anyone has any deep fried ideas, please contact VARIX and we may make them, and maybe send you something we made in the mail-just one…. a very greasy package… with the nutrition facts by Ashley.

Ang: I’m in my first year of law school in New York. So right now my life is law school and punk. And there is no time for anything else. I eat food, and I put clothes on my body, and I take a shower like twice a week, and that’s all for now.

S: I graduated from the U of M a while back. I cook a lot, vegan/vegetarian cooking, I love animals & sort of live for my dogs and little cat. Uhm…. booking shows, natural healing, running, working out, trying to push myself physically and feel good, but then I also drink a lot…. (laughter)

Ash:I stay really busy. I go to school for nutrition science and study food, so I’m really passionate about food. I play guitar, do graffiti, (PTS!) do yoga, and run a lot. Those are my priorities in list of importance.

PE: Any issues personally, locally, worldly you’d like to address? Anything you’re particularly pissed off about right now?

Ash:I listen to Democracy Now and have been involved in much activism. I totally support the Occupy movements all over the world. There is a ton of crazy shit going on constantly. If you pay attention it’s so engaging, but can be really frustrating and deflating. You really do have to focus inward and focus on your community. If you have the time pay attention- there’s so much going on!

Ang: It is overwhelming. It’s hard to focus on just how fucked up everything is, because it does just make you want to drink, and just not do anything, and even give up.

Ash: But you can’t quit…

Ang: Just trying to do something, anything, to make a positive difference.

PE: Plans for VARIX?

Em: Varix forever.

Ash: No one knows what exactly is going on. We’re doing the best we can here.

Em: It’s a secret.(laughter)

Ang: We have tentative plans to do an East Coast long weekend tour this winter. We’re still writing riffs and trying to write new songs. I get back here when I can. We all want to continue to be a band, but if it stops being fun, we’re not going to force it.

S: I think we’re far too ambitious to stop taking on new projects. We had our “last show” a couple months ago, and yet we brought Angie back to play this fest in Minneapolis, and we find ourselves writing new songs and sending riffs back and forth through cell phones….

Ang: Or walking down the street singing a riff to Emily’s voice mail.

S: I have a feeling we’re going to just keep finding things to do as a band

Em: We have no choice.

PE: What are you listening to right now?

Em: TED NUGENT… the Nuge…(laughter)

S: Outside of shows, I kind of live off  hip hop and soul.

Em: BO DIDDLEY, ROBERT JOHNSON.

Ash: Anything that I can run to, which is super high energy. Lately SLAYER, IRON MAIDEN, GAUZE, APPENDIX. Shit that makes you want to kick some fucking ass. I find myself playing air guitar when I run sometimes.

Ang: PROTES BENGT, KAAOS, THE CLASH.

Em: I’ve been watching a lot of ‘90s music videos lately.

PE: Any new bands you’ve seen lately and have been blown away by?

Em: KONRASEKT is the shit!

Ash: Yes, and WILD CHILD.

Favorite drink?

Em: I have this espresso machine…. I lure people to my house by making delicious coffee beverages.

(laughter)

Em: Otherwise I just really like whiskey. and coffee. Those two things. Water’s good. Chasing whiskey with water to balance things out.

Ang: The coffee beverages. Coffee with a shot of espresso with vanilla and some soy milk.

S: I drink my coffee black. Any kind of beer.

Ash: Coconut water! It’s the king supreme for sure. It’s the closest thing to your plasma, so if you’re on a desert island and your friend is bleeding to death, you can hook them up with some coconuts, and it will be good for them.

Any last words?

Ang: Punx rule.

Ash: Punx win.

S: Up the punx!

Em: Fry them!(laughter). Not the punx.. just various fryables.

Contact Varix at badlybrained@yahoo.com

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