Interview with PISTOLA – Surfjoint 2008

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Interview with PISTOLA

In 2006 PISTOLA rocked the Surfjoint crowd so hard that during their performance most of the inventory had to be removed from the tent to prevent it from being completely obliterated by the raging masses. Needless to say they hereby created the benchmark from which all future Surfjoint performances have been held up against.

Now PISTOLA is back for Surfjoint 08 to give you the best Rage Against the Machine performance you have ever experienced and just as we are all holding our breath in anticipation, we caught up with the band for a quick interview only a few weeks from the big showdown.

1. You are without question the best Rage Against the Machine cover band we have ever experienced anywhere. The first question that is pushing through is: Why the exclusive devotion to playing Rage Against the Machine?

a. Well, there are several reasons for this. One is that the combined skills of the four “guilty parties” fit perfectly for this particular music. Another is that the music of RATM satisfies all of our sensibilities: great music together with great lyrics and aggressive rock riffs together with an undeniable hip-hop groove. But in the most basic of basics, it’s simply all about LUV! We love this music, and to once again get chance to have the Surfjoint crowd pay tribute to it along with us is a tremendous honor.

2. Almost all of RATM’s music is very challenging instrumentally to play and extremely difficult to get to sound just remotely like the real thing. We are sure many aspiring cover bands would like to know how long time it took you to absolutely nail it?

a. Wow…we lose track of time, but the idea of starting a RATM “cover-up” came out of a jam-session about seven years ago. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to hook up regularly for the past years because we live in different parts of the country. Instead, from time to time, we immerse ourselves in rehearsals over a whole weekend – those are truly good times! But what we can say about our efforts to get it right, is that we decided fairly early on that we wanted to get as close as possible to the original music, both in sound, feel, and in composition. That is still our governing principle.

3. It has been two years since last time you played at Surfjoint. What are your expectations for Surfjoint 08?

a. Surfjoint ’06 was a blast and people really embraced us. We were caught off guard and overwhelmed at the intensity of the positive vibe of the crowd that night. But the crowd was also caught off guard – most of the people didn’t know what we were all about. Now they do, and hopefully all parties can benefit from that. Our expectations are that Surfjoint ’08 will be completely off the chain. We’ll be at the top of our game and we plan to introduce new realms of ecstasy to any and all who joins us.

4) As you know, Surfjoint donates 2/3 of its earning to charity. Do you think it makes any difference to the crowd that they, aside from being a part of a great party, also contribute in bringing happiness and quality of life to people across the world that most probably never have heard the word Surfjoint and might never event get the chance to go surfing? Does it make any difference to you?

a. We’re sure it matters to the crowd, and it most definitely matters to us. With the kindness and generosity that we’ve experienced from the international surfing community, it’s difficult to imagine that too many would chose to keep a fat pocket at the expense of those less fortunate. There seems to be a profound humanity about these people that is really inspirational. And as far as we’re concerned, we’re not in it for the profits – we play for LUV, not for money…besides, being in PISTOLA is just too much damn fun to defile it with simple greed.

5) Your performance during Surfjoint 06 was unforgettably awesome. Any hints on what the crowd should be looking especially forward to when you take the stage of Surfjoint 08?

a. Well we don’t want to give away too much, but beside all the great tracks we played last time around, we are bringing some new crowd-pleasing material to Surfjoint ’08. Other than that, the crowd should just be looking forward to the whole gritty and groovy thing – we sure do!

6) Last year we saw both Surfact and Zulu Souljahs/Universal challenging the waves of Klitmøller before they went on stage during Surfjoint 07. Any chance of seeing you out in the water charging this year?

a. There is definitely a 100% certainty that you’ll catch one if not all of us challenging the rowdy waves of Klitmøller. Alex, who beats the bass in our band, is a border-line fanatical surfer, so the real challenge might just be to drag him away from the beach in time for the showdown.

7) Finally, could you drop a line to the many Surfjoint veterans that are waiting in anticipation for your return?

a. Yeah, we’d love to: what’s up everybody! We can’t wait to come back and tear it up with you! Come to Surfjoint Saturday, if you tune in and turn on, then we’ll blow the damn roof off!!!

KIDS IN CRIME Joins the Action at Surfjont 2008

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Kids In Crime is an energy bomb of pure kick-ass rock mentality with a twist of punk and political undertones. Anyone who has ever seen a Kids in Crime concert knows that they are to experience a band who is in this business to have a good time, and to share their party with the audience.

The band started out as a grafitti crew, and since they picked up instruments almost four years ago they have left behind a slew of live performances. Not only on regular stages, but also in the back of trucks making their statement clear on governmental issues whilst driving round on the streets of Copenhagen. In other words: Kids in Crime are not affraid to speak their mind and let the music flow wherever, whenever.

Renslip announced for Surfjoint 08

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“Renslip” is an established coverband that really knows how to rock the crowd. Their song portefolio includes solid hits from famous Danish artists such as Kashmir and Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, which are all delivered to the audience with such skill and perfection that it is very hard to distinguish from the real thing.

If you have a weak spot for good old fashioned rock delivered in a well played no-bullsh*** kind of way, you really got something to look forward to.

Interview with Zulu Souljahs AKA Universal Soundsystem – Surfjoint 2008

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Ever since their unforgettable marathon debut during Surfjoint 2005, ZULU SOULJAHS has been the musical backbone of every single Surfjoint episode ever since, as well as achieving true cult status among the Danish surfers.

We caught up with half of the talented duo for a quick interview before they kick off Surfjoint 08 with a bang Wednesday August 27.

1) You were there right from the start and have been the essential musical backbone of Surfjoint ever since. How did you experience the gradual evolution of Surfjoint since you flipped the first vinyl back in 2005?

Souljah: The first Surfjoint was an enormous experience that always will be printed into our memory. Back then it was ONLY us, so we were there flipping records for 12 hours non-stop. It was super cool, but also a bit exhausting when looking back.
But later on live bands started joining the events in the following years and that has really elevated Surfjoint extensively since the first year. We get a chance have a break and the audience gets to experience more than just us jumping and dancing on stage – even though we properly would prefer to play all the time hehe 
We are really looking forward for Surfjoint 08 now it’s an entire different setup this year and with a program that spans over 4 days. Lots of cool bands and of course MUCH more time for us to play records. Things are definitely moving in the right direction! It has to be bigger, wilder, louder and then there has to be BASS!

2) Since last years Surfjoint there has also happened a lot to ZULU SOULJAHS. 2007 was the year where you joined forces with UNIVERSAL SOUND and won an impressive 3. Place during the Danish Soundclash Championship in “Den Grå Hal”. How would you describe the evolution that you as a sound system have gone through during last year?

Souljah: Zulu Souljahs as a sound system does not have as long a history as Universal Sound has, so it was clear that we would continue to play under that name. At the same time it has been a natural thing for us to team up. We performed together already a year before we joined forces and it has only contributed positively on all fronts. We each have our own strengths and combined it just reaches a higher level. We are a very strong sound system and we proved that in “den Grå Hal”, and we will continue to do so again and again the next many years. Also at Surfjoint!!!.

3) What has it meant to your musical expression that you now are a part of UNIVERSAL SOUND?

Souljah: The musical expression is more or less unchanged. We have of course become clearly much more experienced during the last year, so our style is now much more uncompromising in its expression. But there is still room for all the humorous and fun loving moments and we have many of those in Universal Sound. The fact that we are now a much bigger Sound naturally means that we also get to do even more jobs and work much more seriously with finding new records and make dubs and mix-tapes. Oh, yeah we are indeed very serious about this.

4) What other delicate treats are on offer from your event calendar for the remaining of 2008?

Souljah: For starters we are going to Silkeborg and blow away Raggapak Reggae Festival, and after that we are going to Iceland to play a few jobs. Then there is Surfjoint and after that we are planning to go on a little mini-tour to southern Europe. And well then there are of course all the other jobs that fill up the calendar home in Copenhagen. Safe to say it’s going to be a busy Autumn – Wicked!

5) There is now less than a month until you pop the lid of Surfjoint 08, but your many fans within the Danish surf community have already being looking forward to hear you fire it up in Klitten again for almost a year now. Is it possible to get a small appetizer of what your performance is going to include this year?

Souljah: Because it is the first time we officially plays as Universal Sound during Surfjoint we will of course play a lot of dub-plates, but bottom line I think people can just expect quite a lot more savageness, more records (if possible) and of course we are going to make Surfjoint 08 the greatest party on Danish soil. And then we are really going to treat the crowd in the days leading up to the big Saturday party, were we will be cranking it up to the max. We are having an awesome time in Universal Sound so it is pretty certain it’s going to be awesome . And then I think it is about time we clean out among some of Zulu Souljah’s vinyls. So don’t be surprised if there will be a pile of Zulu Souljah’s Special 10’’ vinyls on stake in the competitions this year.

6) Finally, do you have some props to the many fans that are waiting with anticipation for your return to Klitten to hit the gas pedal during Surfjoint 08

Souljah: We are REALLY looking forward for this year, and are looking forward to see some of the old Surfjoint faces again. This time we have more time to play for the crowd, so fingers crossed, people haven’t got sick of reggae since last year…he..he. No seriously we don’t think you can get tired of that.

And then Universal Soundsystem ALWAYS sends props to Natasja (R.I.P.) Big Up!

On behalf of the Surfjoint Team we can only say that we are not sick of raggae at all and are looking so much forward for experiencing you drop the bomb in Klitten again along with the rest of the UNIVERSAL crew.