DHR INTERVIEW FROM JAPANESE WAX MAGAZINE, issue 5/95.

WAX: When and how started DHR?

DHR (J.Amaretto): We (that's Pete Lawton in London, Alec Empire and me in Berlin) started in January '94. we took the advence for an aborted album of Atari Teenage Riot (Alec Empire band with Carl Crack and Hanin Elias) off the british major company Phonogram. that was the first step of our masterplan:

To steal the money from a major company and then release our material on our own label, where no boring A&R fart can limit us. Atari Teenage Riot never released this record on Phonogram UK, because it was to hard, extreme and noisy for them. As they signed the band they thought ATR are the Hard-Eurodance-Version of 2 Unlimited or Prodigy. But that was their fault, not ours.

WAX: It seems that DHR is specialized in Hardcore Breakbeat. How is your relationship with Jungle?

DHR (J.Amaretto): DHR is not a pure Hardcore Breakbeat label. In the beginning we use on our first releases breakbeats only, because unlike to Great Britain the breakbeats in this piece of land were understood and used politically. While the House Nation demonstrated for "Peace! Happiness! Pancake!" in the Love Parade (No Joke!) and ignoring everything else. Alec Empire took a clear stand, shortly after the first neonazi murders of foreigners and people who thought differently to themselves with the track "Hetzjagd Auf Nazis" (engl. "Hunt the Nazis down!") on the "SuEcide Pt.2 E.P." on Force Inc. At that time (end of '92) the acts on Force Inc. were the only ones in the german underground who withstood the oncoming commercialisation of Techno through Mayday, Hardtrance and press hypes like Neodisco. Their incredible energy alone was an opposition to the narcotic, assonance aligned techno sludge. Now DHR-acts like Ec8or (aka E-de Cologne), Atari Teenage Riot and Sonic Subjunkies use also straight bassdrums, because it's not a politically thing any longer. We think that this new and young hardcore generation shows more than enough that not all electronic music is Techno or House. We liked jungle in the past, bacause in the beginning this kind of music was extremelly loud, primitive and nerves-steeling. Now most of the jungle productions are nothing more than 90ies soul for unwordly disco lovers and fashion suckers. They were only a few records in the last six months we can accept.

WAX: Do you organize raves or techno club events?

DHR (J.Amaretto): We're not interested in this techno-club-rave-thing. About parties and raves in this old-fashioned context want that the people feel happy and forget their everyday's life. We don't differentiate between work and leisure. That would mean that we're free only a few parts of our life, the rest of our time we're slaves. That's not what we want. We organize riots with our acts, where the people get the energy to fight every day for their freedom. Kids dance Pogo to our music.

WAX: Are there any other acts, producers or labels you like?

DHR (J.Amaretto): They're a lot of fresh and new hardcore labels we respect:

Gangster Toons Industries in Paris, Praxis in London, Cross Fade Enter Tainment in Hamburg, Drop Bass Network in the States and Bloody Fist in Australia. Sometimes we'll get some cool stuff from labels and acts like Mille Plateaux and Riot Beats in Frankfurt, DJ Davyd and Napalm if it's extreme enough. They're some good records from british guitarbands lige Huggy Bear, Bikini Kill or Pussycat Trash. Skaterpunk, Death/Speedmetal and japanese mangas are also a big influence for us.

WAX: How do you see the future for Hardtechno?

DHR (J.Amaretto): I don't know what you mean with the specification "Hardtechno". We don't use the term "Techno" for our material. We think that the development of Techno has stopped last year. Techno is dead! Everyone who's making dance records is making disco records. I remember that we were listening as teens to industrial punk in the 80ies cause we hated the disco stuff. We're not with that, this can't be the future. So we hate today this happy hardcore stuff from labels like Shockwave or Mokum. This is dance music for people whose are interested in blind fun only. The music from acts and labels i named you is reflecting the feelings that kids have today much much more than any other music at the moment. It doesn't deal with some cosmic things somewhere up in the sky open your mind shit. These records deal with problems we all can identify with. This is the future, even if the system is trying to fight it down.

WAX: Discribe the Digital Hardcore scene in your town!

DHR (J.Amaretto): The crowd who supports the Digital Hardnoize/Hardcore scene in Berlin is getting bigger and bigger. Producers like Ec8or or Moonraker came from Cologne to Berlin and they're more and more bands in this town who are very influenced by Atari Teenage Riot. Our last event with 600 guests at the Eimer - the "Festival of Digital Hardcore Superstars" with Atari Teenage Riot, Sonic Subjunkies, Ec8or, Captain Spacesex, Sex-X-Groupies, Joystick Wankerz and DJ Moonraker was sold out within 90 minutes. It's not easy to find locations for events like that in Berlin, because the government fights hard against illegal events in squatts or warehouses.

WAX: Do you have a message to your japanese fans?

DHR: (J.Amaretto): "Riot sound produce riots and the change will come, you'll see!" and "The government wants us to take drugs like ecstasy and to feel happy at a rave...never forget that!"

WAX: Thank you!