Diego Rooman (from Temse) edited this zine. There were 7 issues in a period of about 2 years. There was also a band with that name but they had little or nothing to do with the zine…
I found these in my collection:
#4 (’87) contains a column on democracy by Thomas ‘Kikkerspuug’, a lengthy interview with ‘Lärm’, info on civil service in Belgium, a report on anti-military action against a Belgian US Army base, a talk with ‘Heibel’s guitarist Steven and more.
#5 (’87) includes talks with ‘Disorder’, ‘Youth Crew’ (Belgian sXe) & ‘Bambix’; opinions/info (elections, the 4th world movement, human rights, abuse in psychiatry).
#6 (’88) has interviews with ‘Hate Crew’, ‘Carcass’, ‘Deadly Serious’ (Belgian rap), ‘Instigators’, ‘Mind Exit’ (Bel), ‘No Fraud’ & Het Roze Geweertje (“the little pink gun”, an action-group for gay rights); there’s mail-art info, a piece entitled Graffiti Is No Crime, etc. etc.
#7 (July ’88) was a ‘fat fucker’ because it had the Gotcha Graffiti Zine as attachment. Besides that Diego wrote a column entitled Ik Pik Het Niet Langer (“I won’t take it anymore”; about societal norms), had a brief chat with the Japanese ‘Sic’; there was a self-interview of mail-art networker Ruggero Maggi, an article on the extreme right & fascism, a report on the Belgian zinester-gathering, an interview with ‘Scraps’, a letter-section, an article on genetic manipulation, zine-reviews and more. In the editorial Diego announced the next one was gonna be a collaboration with Snotjoenk. (That was the work of ‘Bolle Gijs’ from Muizen.)
Johan ‘Snotgurk’ borrowed me that split-issue… It was filled with articles/opnions on local/national/international politics (e.g. indigenous resistance in Brazil, strip-searching, voting for guest-labourers; the threat of male power), poetry, letters & some reviews (e.g. a book on Marinus van der Lubbe) and loads more. There’s also an interview with the Dutch ‘Lego 5’.
Brob
I just remember the feeling and the pleasure of doing zines, the communication, etc. The first issue was by Geert ‘Macho’ [De Decker] (Someone who was not actively involved in the punkscene; he thought it was all too macho.), after that I took it over. Geert continued with mail-art and another friend was passionate about grafftti. I was mainly interested in the resistance-culture of anarchist punk. Later (in the squat-movement) I did (in collaboration with a few other people) a couple of other zines, a poetry-collection and De Gelukkige Werkloze [“the happy unemployed”] that was eagerly sold at dole-offices!
“How do I look back at doing a zine?” I was driven by idealism, the passion and quest for a self-determined life; there was the non-conformism of late 80s/early 90s. Now, 30+ years later there’s the same struggle/passion for ‘non-compliance’ to the imposed standards/narrative; but with more life-experience and deepening…
Diego
The music ‘Deadly Serious’ produced was dubbed ‘rapcore’. ‘D.S.’ was a funny hiphop/punk/rap-core project (“the local ‘Beastie Boys’…”). The gang (from Helchteren) was: ‘Veld’ Edwin Vande Velde a.k.a. ‘The Big Blaster’ (drums; later a drum-computer TR505), ‘Swat’ Steven Schepers a.k.a. The Mighty PhD (vocals/guitar) & Mark Thijs (bass). Also ‘Swat’s girlfriend (Vicky Hoogmartens) got involved briefly at a certain timepoint. They appeared on a bunch of compilation-tapes and released a demo entitled Music For Half Assed People in 1989.
[Translation below]
ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO A BELGIAN BAND, THAT WANTED TO EXPRESS ITSELF WITH RAPCORE, AROSE. HERE’S A VERY NICE INTERVIEW WHERE SWAT (THE ONLY REMAINING MEMBER FROM THE EARLY DAYS) INTERVIEWS HIMSELF IN A PLEASANT WAY; SWAT IS ALSO THE CREATOR OF ZELFKRANT ZINE! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! THE NAME ‘DEADLY SERIOUS’ COMES FROM AN ANTI-CRUISEMISSILE POSTER WITH A SMILING REAGAN AND UNDERNEATH IT SAYS: IT’S DEADLY SERIOUS MR REAGAN.
DIEGO ASKED ME, ‘SWAT’, A.K.A. MC SWAH TEE, TO SEND SOME INFORMATION TO PUT IN DOODT ILLEGAAL. TO KEEP IT A LITTLE MORE READABLE, I USED THE FORMAT OF A DIALOGUE FORM. A SELF-INTERVIEW AS IT WAS. BUT I’M GRADUALLY BECOMING A SPECIALIST IN THAT ANYWAY, SO…
IT’S OF COURSE EASY TO INTERVIEW ONESELF, BECAUSE YOU CAN ALWAYS AVOID VICIOUS QUESTIONS AND YOU NEVER HAVE TO ANSWER THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE…
Right! Hopefully fanzine-writers will also start to see that and they will come up with some interviews…otherwise I will keep being be obliged to take care of my own advertising, hahaha.
BUT THIS TIME YOU WILL HAVE TO WATCH YOUR STEP BECAUSE YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO TAKE IT EASY!
Must, have to; “That’s a word I don’t know!” my mom always says.
AH, YOUR MOTHER IS ANARCHIST TOO!?
Oh yeah, I mean, no. One would to go on believing that, but I think she’s yet a typical result of the brainwashed generation from just after the war. A time where the dictatorship of catholicism reigned and where the word anarchism was only known by 10% of the population. She’s rather a darn good woman, let there be no doubt about that, with the typical gullibility and wisdom of the dear housewife. No, not anarchist, all in all!
BUT YOU ARE?!
Yeah, you can safely put it that way. Well, I know a lot of people laugh at that. They either think it’s just another label or they don’t understand it at all!
THAT YOU’RE ANARCHIST? OR ABOUT ANARCHISM ITSELF?
Both! I don’t care much about the later. More about the first. You often hear that you’re “dangerous” or “unrealistic” or even “unwise”! That’s why it would be better if people would seriously inform themselves about what anarchism is and especially what it’s nót. Because prejudices are of no use to anyone!
SO YOU’RE OPEN ABOUT BEING ANARCHIST, BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU WOULDN’T GET THOSE PREJUDICES?
Indeed. Although honesty compels me to say that I’m not doing that everywhere.
LIKE WHERE?
Well, I’m a qualified teacher; you can imagine that I don’t drop in everywhere with the fact that I’m anarchist, or feel that way anyway. You know how conservative most schools still are. Although people always seem to quickly understand what I think about it in general. People often inform you quickly that “it could be a while before a place becomes vacant again”, etc.
AND HOW DO YOU ACT TOWARDS THE CHILDREN IN YOUR CLASSROOM?
That isn’t always easy to fill in according to the principles of anarchism. Children are ‘educated’ from kindergarten on to be sweet, well-behaved and who have to listen carefully to the teacher in the classroom, because otherwise they deserve (?) punishment. So we’ll also be standing in front of those children and in fact they expect a similar attitude from the teacher. Not consciously, of course, but in practice there can hardly be full participation, because some children can no longer do without a ‘leading’ hand! Not because that would be their specific character, but simply because they’re molded that way. But I try to be as little pushy and authoritarian as possible, and sometimes that works, sometimes it fails. But that’s life, so…
AND HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY STAND IN LIFE. I MEAN: WHAT ARE YOUR IDEALS? WHAT DOES ANARCHISM MEAN TO YOU?
An uncle of mine once asked me: “How do you know what anarchy is? Have you ever read Bakunin or Godwin or something?”. I said no and that I didn’t intend to either. He laughed. According to him, that was not possible. He also has rightwing ideas (liberal) but every person with rightist ideas is looking for leaders, for people who, so to speak, know it all so well. My thinking – also according to my uncle – is on the far left. Probably, but I’m not looking for a leader or anything. ‘The Apostles’ once said that nicely in a song of theirs (Hello, Black Flag): “You say you got no leaders but you’re all true believers / Your head is locked away in a prison from yesterday / Your life is clearly defined, your attitudes have been outlined / You believe what you have read, written by heroes long since dead. Godwin and his mates are dead / Who cares what Bakunin said?!”. I can’t be any more clear. For me, anarchism can be summarized like this: “Trying to be the best possible, for everything and everyone, and to be able to expect the same from others.”.
ON TO SOMETHING ELSE THEN: RAP IS SUPPOSED TO BE TENDENTIOUS AND TOTALLY COMMERCIAL.
Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!
YOU WERE SAYING?
That might be true in many cases but it also goes for hardcore and punkrock. ‘Crass’ was also commercial, because they sold a lot of records and so they were commercial. ‘Suicidal Tendencies’ also sold a lot of records before their Virgin period and so they were also commercial then. However, the big difference between said bands is their attitude and how they got to these sales-results. I think the same goes for rap/hip-hop. You have bands that sell well or bad, you have un- and credible people. Oh well, this is actually too stupid to talk about.
AND WHEN VIRGIN OFFERED YOU A CONTRACT TOMORROW, THEN WHAT?
Everyone has their price. Myself too, I have no illusions about that. But there’s a…’But’… I’m working on turning ‘D.S.’ into a not-for-profit organisation. Or rather: I’m setting up a not-for-profit organisation where ‘D.S.’ may function as a moneylender. The intention will be to raise money for various charities, especially regarding animal-liberation and everything related to it. That way (hopefully) I won’t not be hassled about taxes and such, and I can also remain credible to myself. If it ever happened that ‘D.S.’ would be so profitable that I could live on it – which I actually dream of – then I could work as an employee of the not-for-profit organisation!
SO YOU STAND FIRMLY BEHIND ANIMAL PROTECTION?!
I once said: “People have rights ánd obligations. Animals only have rights. Mankind will therefore remain beastly until it will fulfill its duties towards the animals.”, or something like that. I’m bad with quotes, even my own, but I still stand by that!
AS A VEGETARIAN?
Yes, because consistency is necessary and often far from desired, even with so-called animal-protectors. In my opinion, as an animal-lover you’re a vegetarian and if not you’re a hypocrite! Someone once told me he loved animals. I said: “Ah, you’re a vegetarian?!”. He said no and that he just loved animals. I said: “But if you were really hungry, you’ld eat your dog, wouldn’t you?”. He was shocked. “These are the cows and other animals that are killed in slaughterhouses every day.”, I said. He took off and mumbled something about that it wasn’t the same. I shouted that in China and in the Philippines, dogs were a delicacy. He shrugged but never said another word about his so-called love of animals in my presence. That proves that many more people actually have remorse about slaughtering animals for human consumption, but they are either too lazy or too afraid to become vegetarians. ‘Eating meat is normal, being a vegetarian is abnormal!’ And you know the people…
I HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT AT THE END OF THIS CONVERSATION, THERE MUST BE SOME THINGS YOU’LD RATHER NOT BE WILLING TO ANSWER.
That’s true. There are at least 10 more things that you could ask and that might make me blush. It’s up to the media to try and reveal these; so I’m not gonna do that!
SO FANZINES: JUST WRITE!?
True and veritable!
YOU REMAIN A CHAMPION IN PROMOTING YOURSELF.
(blushing) Uh, do you think???…
Brob Tilt's Belgian zines 