Below is an interview with Spain`s Dramatic Battle. The following interview was originally conducted by a zine in Canada.
1. Could you just tell us about the history and the line up of Dramatic Battle?The band was formed about 2000 or so playing a classic blend of Oi!/ RAC in the vein of bands such as Skrewdriver, Combat 84, English Rose, Freikorps, Endstufe, etc... At first there was only one member and he recorded a low-quality demo-CD entitled "Violencia Nocturna" (Nocturnal Violence) playing all the instruments; some time later the band got a regular line-up and recorded the mini-CD "Terroristas" including 4 tracks which became very well-known over the Spanish nationalist scene; later the band recorded a 2-way split together with Depresion (Spanish Streetpunk band) which got them a bit better known abroad. About two years ago, the band recorded a 4 track mini-CD called "La vida en un pacifico nuevo mundo..." (Life in a new pacific world... ironically making fun from a Jehovah Witnesses pamphlet) under the name of DB (to avoid hate laws here); the 4 songs included have become anthems (you can believe me) among Spanish nationalists since the lyrics are more direct and deal with social/political problems with tons of irony and humour. Again, the band suffered new line-up changes, and started to play in a regular basis all around Spain. Recently, it was released a CD with 4 new songs which also includes the 4 previous ones of the last mini-CD...
Being honest, the band started as an unpolitical patriotic Oi! band, but later on the original member and founder took the right path towards nationalism. He was into patriotism but not in a strictly political point of view... He was fed up with left-wing infiltration into Oi! scene and the numerous self-proclaimed Oi!-Skinhead bands formed by sharpies and redskins and his views about immigration, crime, national identity or patriotism were not well received by those liberals and left-wingers… He also drawed influences mainly from patriotic Oi! and RAC bands and that’s was not politically correct for unpolitical skinheads. He really didn’t change his heart but took a determination and choose a side since it was nearly impossible to sit on the fence and watch things pass by. I guess it’s pretty similar with the situation of bands such as The Unruly, Hated & Proud, Empire Falls...
Line-up:
D. Battle - lead guitar, lead vocals. Twenty-odd. Fitter.
R. Battle - rhythm guitar. Twenty-odd. Tattooist.
J. Battle - bass guitar. Thirty-odd. Computer stuff.
J. Battle - drums. Twenty-odd. Government employee.
2.When you talk of Dramatic Battle, which battle are you talking about?Since the beginning, the founder of the band wanted an epic name, a strong and real name. In his eyes, life of a young working class Spanish man is a fucking dramatic battle full of trouble, abuse, injustice,... if you have love for your country and think about the situation you’re in, you realize everything’s getting worse and there’s no return. Our greedy Government doesn’t care about the national working class and our land itself. Capitalism set the rules.
About the fact of having a name in English is quite simple, skinhead culture is so influenced by its mother language and so we thought the name of the band would fit better in English.
3. If our readers could only listen to one of your songs to judge your band, which one would you recommend?Well, I would say "El fin del paraiso" or maybe "En las calles", "Ibero y Brutal"... let them judge by themselves.
4. What are the topics discussed in your lyrics?Well, basically about social problems, the hard life of a young Spanish man in this corrupt and immoral society, the skinhead way of life (or what’s left of it!), patriotism/nationalism, our cultural identity, our rejection towards "democratic" politicians... and don’t forget irony and sense of humour!!
5. What are your musical influences? Which one is your favorite skinhead band? Which is the best skinhead song?Mainly European classic Oi! and RAC. About the bands, they’re too many to mention all of them here… An example: old Skrewdriver, Brutal Combat, Skinkorps, Evil Skins, Komintern Sect, Camera Silens, Close Shave, English Rose, Razors Edge, Combat 84, Indecent Exposure, Endstufe , Störkraft, K.D.F, Freikorps, Holsteiner Jungs, old Böhse Onkelz, Peggior Amico, Plastic Surgery, Nabat, Hope & Glory, ZZA, Malnatt, Max Resist, Intimidation One, Blue Max, Kommando Skin, Blue Max, Malnatt, Ultima Frontiera, Hassgesang, Legion of St. George, TMF, Troublemakers, Frei.Wild, Civico 88, Orlik, Kratky Proces...
Favourite skinhead band? Hard to say... Everyone in the band has his own point view but I guess Skrewdriver, Endstufe and old Böhse Onkelz are on the top.
About the best skinhead song... too many to mention only one. I especially enjoy Endstufe’s "In die eier", Combat 84’s "Rapist", Skrewdriver’s "Boots & Braces" or "Voice of Britain", Plastic Surgery’s "Rivolta"...
6. Have you had the chance to do many live performances so far? Which one was your favourite?Til the moment we have played with bands such as Estirpe Imperial (Spain), Brutal Attack (GB), Zetazeroalfa (Italy), Brigada 1238 (Spain), Mas Que Palabras (Spain), Retaguardia (Spain), Territorio Salduba (Spain), Brigada 1238 (Spain), Frakass (France), Kill Baby Kill (Belgium), Blue Max (Germany), Aufbruch (Germany), Non Plus Ultra (Germany), Guarda de Honra (Portugal), Hobbit (Italy), Delendha Cartago (Italy), Testudo (Italy), Kriminal Tango (Italy), Gesta Bellica (Italy), Malnatt (Italy), Hate For Breakfast (Italy), Legittima Offesa (Italy), Post Mortem (Spain)...
A funny incident was when the band (I was not in the line-up) was asked to play in Switzerland with Italian non-political band Prima Linea and some others some years ago... It was a huge concert including many different bands from Punk to Oi! The fact is that the band showed up (heavily drunk by the way...) and after some songs they suddenly started to play Skrewdriver’s "Boots & Braces" and some people from public complained and whined. The organizer and singer from Prima Linea told them not to play that song and the band decided to leave the place... I've got to say that they played with a Spanish flag including a double-headed eagle (a clear nationalist symbol)... The truth is that they really pissed-off many people there!
We really enjoyed the one we played together with Estirpe Imperial in Barcelona in an infamous bikers’ clubhouse, it was a private one to honor a friend… The one with Kill Baby Kill was funny too since it was held in a ruined warehouse with half-roof (a private gig too); KBK were really shocked about it, you know, it was a bit strange!!
The biggest gig we played was in Madrid honoring Ramiro Ledesma Ramos (founder of the 1st Spanish NR party, JONS) together with Territorio Salduba, Brigada 1238 and Zetazeroalfa (during their European tour; check out their DVD): there were about 500 people and we really had a good time…
7. In North America, most of the immigration comes from Africa and the middle East. What is your immigration like?Well, due to the America discovering and conquering patronized by Spanish Catholic Kings most South American countries speak Spanish (or something similar!) and still keep a bit of Spanish traditions and culture... So, the majority of immigrants here come from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, also many people from Argentina (many of them from Spanish and Italian backgrounds so they are very close to our culture)... anyway, though they speak Spanish and got remains of our culture there are many differences in their way of life and how they behave here, so there are incidents and confrontations due to their lack of education and alcohol ... We’ve got a strong Moroccan immigration which everybody dislike due to its involvement in crime and riots (especially drug-dealing, robbery, rapes...), but there are more of them every day. Also tons of Romanians who right now belong to European Community and aren’t considered immigrants any longer, some of them are involved in crimes too... There are many European citizens living here but we share the same culture and traditions (even religion, for those interested in that issue) and the don’t use to cause any trouble.
We’ve got many Chinese people too into convenience stores... though they don’t use to cause troubles the economic impact on Spanish society is hard since the money they earn here flies to China and doesn’t circulate here any more which result in economic losses. There is a Chinese Mafia which controls them and their activities but police only arrest some of them to keep things on a low profile.
Authorities claim there is no relation between crime and immigration, but the truth is that the majority of people who got into prison these last years are non-European immigrants...
8. What do you know of Canada’s nationalist movements/bands?Well, we know some organizations (I guess most of them are defunct now) such as the Heritage Front (including former leader George Burdi), Canada First, Canadian Heritage Alliance, Canadian National Front, Blood & Honour, Aryan Guard (but we heard they're just a bunch of Hollywood nazis...) and also the Quebec nationalism (Nouvelle France) and its identity fight against the British supremacy. Being honest, we only know that Quebec people tried to preserve their Catholic religion and culture from British Empire occupation and that there was a short war but finally they were able to keep their identity from absorption...
We know many bands from Oi!-Punk-HC (including the legendary band Gassenhauer -and their song "Drunken Skinhead"-, DOA, SNFU, Vacant Lot -with Griffin who later formed Aryan-, Bitter Grin -I really liked this band-, HammerBoiz, Emergency, The Class Assassins, Jenny Woo -even though she look like a sort of "skingirl popstar"-, Lager Lads, Subway Thugs, Rabblerousers, 12 Pointbuck, The New Breed, Glory Stompers, Sons of Pride, Coup de Masse, Bootprint, Section de Guerre, Legitime Violence... to RAC/Identity Rock (Cross -a very good band-, Rahowa -their 2nd album was great even though it had nothing to do with Oi! or RAC-, Aryan, Stonehammer, Involved Patriots, Vinland Warriors, the great Trouble Makers -one of my fave groups! I consider them a RAC band-, Dernier Guerriere, Prison Bound, Fleurdelix et les affreux Gaulois...).
We also know some Quebec sharp/left wing/commie bands such as The Prowlers, Impact, Street Troopers, Jeunesse Apatride (and its ugly fat singer!), Esclaves Salaries, Shock Troops... but we’re not interested in these scumbags. It’s funny to see most of them wearing such expensive clothes and tattoos and then singing about antiglobalisation, anticapitalism, working class, etc...
9. What does White Pride mean to you guys?Nothing to do with hate, it means a matter of pride and love for your identity, tradition, culture… nothing more and nothing less. If everyone can be proud of their roots and forefathers or their particular way of life (Black pride, Mexican Brown pride, Gay pride...), why can’t we be proud of what we are?? We’re not racist but proud of being white, a sort of "pride without prejudice" motto... we can be proud of our nation and culture without hating anybody else. We only want to preserve what our forefathers left us and don’t want to be absorbed and diluted into globalization.
10. And what are your future projects?Play more gigs... Record anything if we can... Meet some nice people around... Have a good time...
11. Anything else to add?Thanks a lot for the interest in our band... It would be really good to visit Canada and especially Quebec if we can. Maybe one day, who knows?
Take care and keep the good work.
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