Frustrerad comes from Belgium and have a Swedish
name on their hardcoreband. Shalo was so kind
that he in the midsummerweekend 2021 answered a
lot of questions from me…
Please tell me a little bit history of the
group?
-Frustrerad
started as a side
project from me (Shalo) and our drummer (Stan)
back in 2018. We wanted to play hardcore punk
influenced by our favourite 80’s Swedish bands
like Disarm, Anti Cimex, Avskum, Puke and Sound
of Disaster.
After some jamming and putting riffs together we
decided it was time for recording the material
we had. So we invited our friend Koenraad to
join us on the bass and with his recording gear
he helped us record 6 tracks at our rehearsal
room. Those tracks became our ‘Shadow of Life’
demo tape released in 2019.
We did a few local gigs together promoting the
demo, but Koenraad needed more time for his
personal projects. Luckily we met Pawel, who was
into what we were doing and happily took over
the bass duties.
By 2020 the new line-up managed to record 4
tracks again at our rehearsal room. This time
Stan did the recordings and we both mixed it.
We’ve always struggled to explain to other
people the specific sound we wanted, so the
natural thing was to do it ourselves.
These tracks would become our debut 7” EP called
“The Truth in Lies’ which was mastered and sent
to the pressing plant. Production took longer
than planned, but by May 2021 it was finally
released.
Please tell me a little about every member in
the group right now, age, family, work,
interests and something bad about everyone?
Earlier bands? Other bands on the side?
-I’m Shalo and I play guitar and do vocals. I
was born in Brazil in 1988 and live in Belgium
since 2011. I’ve played in bands such as Chaka,
Suffer Damage, Deathdealer and Darmstadt, but
nowadays only Frustrerad. I’m married and have
too many records. I work as a warehouse
operator.
Stan plays drums. Born in 1989, he is actually
the only Belgian in the band. He used to play in
Darmstadt and Matrakk Attakk and his current
bands are Frustrerad and Verpest. Stan lives
together with his girlfriend and has a lot of
dogs. He works as an air measurement technician.
Pawel plays bass. He was born in Poland in 1982
and moved to Belgium in 2016. His current bands
are Frustrerad and his new one called Dodsmask.
He is married and has two children. Pawel spends
his free time making hand made tank drums from
used metal gas tanks and works as a mechanic at
a steel factory.
I can hear much different influences but mostly
hardcore and some UK82 punk? Favorites from the
past?
-We listen to a lot of different bands and each
one of us has his personal influence, but
Frustrerad is mainly influenced by 80s
Swedish/Scandinavian punk as I mentioned before.
Bands like: Anti Cimex, Shitlickers, Svart
Framtid, Disarm, Svart Parad, D.N.A, Avskum,
Asocial, Siste Dagers Helvete, Sound of
Disaster, Agoni, Absurd, Asta Kask.
Frustrerad are you satisfied with the name?
How did it came up? You weren’t afraid that some
other band would be named like this? Which is
the best bandname you know? Why a Swedish name?
-Yeah I would say we are, otherwise why would we
use it right!? I came up with the name and made
sure there was no other band called the same.
You know, these days all the good names are
taken.
It comes from a Swedish band I really like named
Distortion. They released a 7” called Frustrerad
back in 1982. And yes, I’m aware Frustrerad
means frustrated in Swedish, it kinda fits our
lyrics.
Best band name ever? No idea.
What´s the best thing with playing live? Are
you miss it now in covidtimes? Any new gigs
planned?
-I think the essence of a band is their live
performance. All members together create one
identity which comes to life on stage. There is
an energy to the songs that only liberates
itself when playing live, nothing can replace
it.
And as any band, we miss gigs a lot! They are
some kind of therapy that helps us survive daily
life. That’s where we meet with our friends and
like-minded people, where we can be ourselves.
So I really hope this Covid situation gets under
control and gigs can start again.
And where is best to play? And the worst place?
-Any place is a good place as long as you can
feel at home. But we prefer to play in squats
and alternative places. The worse would be some
commercial festival, that seems boring and
numbed. What’s the point to play for people that
don’t understand what you are doing? Quality
before quantity.
How is to play this sort of music in Belgium
right now? Which types of bands do you have
concerts together with?
-Scandinavian style punk, kängpunk
as people say, is not that popular. People
classify us as a “D-beat” band here, they say we
play Discharge punk.
Belgium has way more influence of American style
hardcore punk, you know, shorts, vans shoes and
skateboarding. There is of course a bit of UK
influence as well, but there aren’t that many
crusties as oppose to Germany for example. Bands
here are
very diverse, everyone is doing their own thing.
Sometimes it feels there is no group of bands
that really belong together. This has positive
and negative sides. There are a lot of
geographical divisions as well, people tend of
stick to their own region instead of attending
gigs in other cities.
How would you describe your music in three
words?
-Raw, sincere and to the point. (That wasn’t
three words was it?).
What does punk mean to you, is it only a word
or is it a lifestyle?
-To me punk means doing what feels true to your
heart without capitulation. That can be applied
to music, art or lifestyle.
People like to give all sorts of meaning to it.
And in the end, it’s a very personal thing. Some
like to make rules and put a lot of energy into
“who is punk and who is not.” I guess it comes
from our tribal roots to classify everyone and
put them in groups. You know: “I’m part of the
group and you are not, I’m special!”
Which song/album or group was it who took you
into punk/hardcore?
-As cliche as it sounds, the band that really
changed everything for me was Discharge. I was
hooked the first time I heard them. I remember
being amazed at how perfect it sounded, I
wouldn’t change anything about it.
What shall a young guy do today to shock
their parents as the way we did when we were
young? They have already seen everything ;-)?
-Do what you want to do not what is expected of
you. This will always shock people around you.
How is it to live in Belgium right now?
Politically? Fascists?
-Belgium is a really small country in the middle
of Europe. The quality of life is ranked high by
world standards and the geographical location is
perfect to travel and meet people from
everywhere. It is the capital of European Union
after all. But if you go out of the main cities,
the countryside is pretty old fashioned. A lot
of farmer mentality!
People here have forgotten about history. Lately
there has been a rise on nationalistic feelings
and right-wing ideas. There is a far-right party
called Vlaams Belang that used to be taken as a
joke, but misleading ideas about immigration and
cultural differences are getting spread a lot.
So people started to vote for them as a final
solution to their immigration problem, you know
what I mean.
More and more people are getting sympathetic to
the idea that left-wing socialists are
destroying the country and their identity. That
makes me really worried about the future!
Is there any good bands from Belgium right
now? Is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene
big? How is it in your hometown?
-As I mentioned before, there are a lot of
bands playing their own style here. The scene is
big but not that united, it could be better.
Little groups of friends create their own scene
instead of trying to unite everyone. But some
people still try to bring it all together from
time to time. I guess everywhere is the same
right?!
You should check out bands like: Silence Means
Death, Raw Peace, Gagged, Permanent Debt, Arrogänt,
Vort, Freddie & The Vangrails, Verpest, Netra.
What do you know about Sweden? Have you been
here sometime? What is typical Swedish?
-More than half of the country is covered by
forests and you like to assemble your own
furniture!? hahaha
I’ve learned about Sweden because of punk music.
I actually love the fact that growing up and
listening to punk bands made me discover the
countries where these bands came from. Like a
geographical map that expanded together with my
search for new music.
I’ve been to Sweden twice now, unfortunately
only to Stockholm. But I have plans to come back
soon and explore more.
Typical Swedish? harsh language and harsh
weather equals harsh music! Haha
I would say that in Sweden people can play
various instruments and form bands with each
other because they love the music they play. It
amazes me how the same people that play in punk
bands also plays in metal or rock ‘n’ roll
bands. The scene doesn’t seem to have a lot of
division. But I might be wrong, the grass is
always greener on the other side.
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
-A lot of them! From Rude Kids and Ebba Grön to
Entombed and old Disfear. I really like your way
of making music. I think the Swedish language
works really well for punk, it sounds very
aggressive and even when you sing in English,
that aggressiveness is still present. But I must
say I prefer old bands compared to new ones
though.
Your lyrics, who does them and what
influences you? Never in your own language?
-I write the lyrics myself, because I’m the
one who has to sing them. They are very personal
and help me get my feelings out. But it takes me
a lot of effort, as I find difficult to write
relevant lyrics that fit the specific way I want
to sing.
Once the song is more or less finished, I
already have an idea on how I want the vocal
melody to be. So first I record the vocals
without any actual words and only after
listening to the recordings, I try to come up
with lyrics that fit to it.
And I prefer to sing in English as fortunately
or unfortunately it is an international language
and everyone can understand it.
Is there any subject that you never will
write anything about?
-Stupid subjects, as I call them. I would
never write about partying, getting drunk,
having sex with hot girls, fast cars or
pretending to be tough. I find that if you gonna
take the time to write something, you might as
well take it seriously. Why use the opportunity
if you not gonna say anything relevant? It’s
easy to make a joke out of everything, but isn’t
that just a defense mechanism?
Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?
Which is your most political song? Is it
important to get out your opinions in music?
-Anything you do or say can be political. If you
gonna communicate with an audience through
words, you end up expressing your political
views. Of course, you might not use political
ideologies or terminologies, but your values and
beliefs are always politically charged.
Best political band/artist? The best
unpolitical artist?
-I guess I’ve mentioned my opinion about
that in the previews question. But yeah, if I
must, here it is:
A classic political band: I would say Crass,
they really got me thinking a lot back when I
was younger. Non political: I would say
Pentagram, their lyrics really speak to me on a
personal level.
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can
change anyone's life, I mean people who listens
to music?
-Any exchange of ideas or thoughts can change
someone’s life. I think people always take in
consideration what a band has to say or how they
say it. At least I do! So yes, music definitely
changed my life.
Your favorite recordcover alltime? Who does
your recordcovers? And do you have any good
recordstores in your hometown?
-I would say Discharge’s Fight Back single is an
iconic one that set the tone for a lot of bands
that came after them. But I find difficult to
choose a favorite record cover as I believe we
attribute meaning to the artwork based on how
much the music means to us. Have you ever
thought that the art from a record you really
like, would seem totally uninteresting if you
didn’t like the band?
The artwork from Frustrerad is done by myself,
in the most amateur and time consuming fashion.
Record stores? Well, Ghent has some decent ones,
but nothing really specialized in underground
music. There are some people with DIY punk
labels or distros. We actually have a record
fair that happens once a year and brings sellers
from all over Europe, that would be the best
chance to find good stuff here.
Is it important to get out physical records
of your stuff? Why or why not? Vinyl, CD,
cassette, what do you prefer if you could choose
whatever ? You wrapped in your record you sent
to me very well. It almost took me ten minutes
to open it!
-In these internet times it’s really easy to
release music online. You can get a lot of
exposure without having physical copies. But at
the same time, it’s so easy that people forgot
how it feels to hold the music in your hands. I
like the effort that takes to release physical
copies! Things are too easy now, you don’t need
a real amp, real drums, real records. Life
became too virtual!
I prefer vinyl and cassette, it has that analog
sound to it and feels more real to me.
Music used to be difficult to find, you had to
save money and buy a record without listening to
it first. Or a friend had to make a cassette
copy for you. You would hold the cover in your
hands, read the lyrics and watch the pictures
while the record was playing. It was way more
intimate and ritualistic experience. You would
listening to the album so many times that you
could sing along to it. Now everyone listen to
music on youtube, bandcamp or spotify, you can
have the whole discography of a band in seconds
but won’t even remember the song titles.
Please tell me a funny thing which have
happened during your career and under some gig?
-One thing that comes to mind was a tour I
did with my old band Chaka. We’ve booked a
European tour in 2008. But failed to find
someone with a van to drive for us. So instead
of canceling the tour, we decided to do it by
public transport! We took trains, buses, got a
ride with people from one gig to the other. It
was a total nightmare! But we managed to make it
to almost all gigs, expect one which we had to
cancel because there was no buses in time. It
was a great experience, but I would never do it
again!
How does your audience look like? Which
people do you miss on your concerts? Which is
the biggest band you ever have played together
with?
-I have no idea who listens to us actually.
My guess is someone who still likes to listen to
the 80s classics? I’m not sure there are that
much people listening to what we play these
days. Some must think we are boring and are
living off the past. I have no idea!
In our concerts I miss people who listen to the
same bands as we do.
Biggest band I ever played together? I would
have to say Discharge. They don’t really sound
that good these days, the drummer ain’t doing
his job properly! But I really don’t care about
playing together with “famous” bands.
Please rank your five favoriterecords, five
favoriteconcerts and five most important things
in life?
-Well, my favorites keep changing, depending
on my mood at certain moment. But I will try to
list 5 records that made an impact on me:
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath LP
Motörhead - Overkill LP
Misfits - Collection I LP
Discharge - Realities of War single
Anti Cimex - Raped Ass EP
Concerts:
Riistetyt at Mosh in Porto Alegre
GBH at Trix in Antwerp
Motörhead at Brielpoort in Deinze
Avskum at Dead Rhythm Fest in Stockholm
Asocial at Smash The Silence in Ghent
Important things in life:
Yourself
Family and friends
Music
Freedom
Experiences
First, last and most expensive record ever
bought? And the most embarrassing record you
own?
-The first was Iron Maiden - The Number of
The Beast.
Last one I think was Anti Cimex - The
Complete Demos 82-83.
Most expensive was Black Uniforms – Faces of
Death. I really don’t like the crazy prices of
second hand punk records. The money doesn’t even
go to the bands, but to some asshole trying to
make money out of music. But unfortunately,
supply and demand rules our world.
Embarrassing? Some Bob Dylan records I have.
They used to belong to a girlfriend, but she
didn’t want them back. I don’t actually listen
to them at all.
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews?
-People
have short attention span these days, I wonder
if anyone still reads long interviews. This one
was the longest I’ve ever done, but I wouldn’t
say it’s boring, it just takes a lot of time.
Do you care about reviews? Which is the most
peculiar you ever had, with this band or any
other band you have been to? Have you ever
changed anything after a bad review?
-I find important to have an outside
perspective of our own music. It’s a good
feeling when someone understands what you are
doing and describes your sound as you hear it
yourself. But of course everyone has their
opinion, and I respect bad reviews as well. We
actually had one about our new EP where the
person said we have fabricated
melodies and wouldn’t
classify us as hardcore punk. Wtf?! But I guess
everyone hears music their own way.
And no, I wouldn’t change anything about our
music because of a bad review. You should do it
because it makes sense to you, not to be
accepted by anyone.
Which bands do people compare you to, is it
boring that people compare you to other bands or
is it understandable? Do you do the same thing
when you talk about other bands?
-We haven’t actually been compared to other
bands that much, maybe to Disarm?
I find comparing things to be a natural
reaction. We all do it, knowing it or not. I see
no problem with comparisons and I actually do
the same when I talk about other bands. Some
people don’t like it. They don’t want to be put
in a box or limited their bands to genres. I
understand what they mean and their intentions,
but in the end, everyone is copying something
they’ve heard or seen before. Or do you think
people dress in black and have a mohawk because
they came up with it themselves? Na! We like to
pretend to be unique, but punks kinda look all
the same.
If you could choose five bands from the past
and the history and nowadays and both dead and
living bands to have a concert together with
your band. Which five have you been chosen?
-I have no dreams of playing together with
any specific bands. I think playing together
with a big or famous band doesn’t really affect
your band. I mean, just because the other bands
are great it won’t make you sound any better.
Wanna be a rock star? Wrong music!
On the other hand, it’s nice to hang out with
great people and learn to know them. So I would
maybe like to hang out with my favorite bands
and exchange ideas and experiences. But for that
you don’t necessarily need to share the stage.
I would have loved to share some beers and
listen to music with Kawakami from Disclose for
example, he really seemed to be into the same
stuff as I do. I’m still sad about his passing.
Is music a good way to get out frustration
and become a nicer person outside the music??
-I think people always find a way to get their
feelings out or to cope with life. Music is one
of them, and to me, is the one I chose to use.
But there are other healthy ways to do it as
well. I don’t really believe that playing music
makes me a nicer person, it just makes me feel
better. Maybe it makes me more friendly?
Which is the most odd question you ever have
got in an interview?
-This one?
Which is the question you want to have but
you never get. Please ask it and answer it?
-I think you already did a great job! No
more questions, please! Hahaha
Futureplans for the band?
-Playing as much gigs as possible and
touring outside Belgium would be great! We are
already working on some new material, but no
releases planned for now.
I guess our main goal is to just keep doing what
we love to do.
For yourself?
-Continue to make the music I have in my
head even if people don’t understand it. (I
cannot survive without playing in a band). Stay
alive, discover new music that inspires me,
travel as much as possible and have meaningful
experiences.
Wisdomword?
-The answer to most of your problems is inside
yourself. Don’t place this burden upon others.
Something to add?
-Thank you Peter for the interview and
interest in our band. Keep doing what you do and
always be true to yourself.
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