'BUTTFUCK' ZINE Nr.5 / Sept 1993 (GREECE)
	*Interview by R.F.

-B.F.: 'Please, give us a brief biography of the band. What does this band mean for you and what kind of difficulties have you faced through the years?'

 -DESP.: 'Athens DESPISE were formed in the end of '86. With a line up of Makis (guitar/vocals), Maria (bass) and Johnny (drums), DESPISE have been together since mid '89. With this line up we have played live in various clubs and also opened D.R.I.'s live in Athens in April '90. Our debut release, available only on tape, under the title "State of Brutality", features 4 songs. Our musical style is based on American Thrash. This band has meant a lot of sacrifices on our behalf, lots of hard work, but it has given us a great deal of satisfaction, because we manage to do something that pleases us, by allowing us to express ourselves and communicate with other people through our music. This is very important to us. We have encountered several difficulties over the years. The biggest hurdles that held us back and which didn't allow us to do many gigs was the compulsory military service of two of our members, also the difficulty in finding talented musicians that would suit our style of playing, some problems with our studio and the extremely high cost of the necessary equipment, as we wanted to be 100% independent, as far as rehearsals, lives and recording are concerned.'

-B.F.: 'Who is responsible for the music and the lyrics?'

-DESP.: 'DESPISE's music and lyrics are composed/written by Makis and Maria, but also Johnny fills some drum parts and makes a general contribution.'

-B.F.: 'it can be easily heard that your sound strongly resembles SLAYER. I suppose they have been your major influence. Tell if I am right and also if you have any other influences and bands that you like.'

-DESP.: 'We listen to what we consider to be good American Thrash bands, which were also our main influences, since all of us have lived with Thrash since its very beginning. However, the first song title of the demo, "State of Brutality", was composed before '86, despite the fact that it was only recorded in '93, because of the reasons mentioned above.As for SLAYER, we all know that they are one of the most original Thrash bands, that's why we show some preference to this playing style. Yes, you 're right...'

-B.F.: 'Tell us a few words about the content of your lyrics. Where do you get ideas and inspiration for them?'

-DESP.: 'Our main source of inspiration is life itself. We turn our views, feelings and images of "good" and "evil" into lyrics, sometimes directly, sometimes metaphorically.We prefer writing raw lyrics because it expresses the cruelty of life and combines well with the aggressive style of our music and therefore with our characters.'

-B.F. : 'Do you listen to other kinds of music?'

-DESP.: 'We listen to almost all kinds of music and very few of them don't affect us at all. We think they ALL have something to offer, according to different people and individual characters, regardless if they 're considered to be widely accepted or not, commercial or underground etc. As musicians we try to be open-minded to all kinds of music, but our obsession is Thrash. This is why our style has remained consistent throughout the years.'

-B.F. : 'What is your opinion on Black Metal and lyrics that deal with the occult and the black arts?'

-DESP.: 'Everybody is entitled to their views as long as they really believe in them and are not only commercially motivated. Personally, we prefer not to pass on such messages through our lyrics.'

-B.F.: 'Death Metal is very popular nowadays but it also seems that it has become a big trend for a vast majority of fans. Do you agree?'

-DESP.: 'We agree. Death Metal has a certain atmosphere and feeling that understandably may please some people, as we mentioned above, but our opinion is that as well as it may be played it can't be compared to Thrash, either in quality or in power.'

-B.F. : 'Now, let 's talk about the underground scene in Greece. I can see that there are many bands and releases today. However, I am sceptical about the real value of all these. Do you think that we now have a strong and healthy scene or the true ones are the few old ones who have been into it for several years?'

 -DESP.: 'The Greek underground scene never had much to offer and still doesn't, with few exceptions, despite the increasing number of bands and releases. When a band is in the scene for several years, they obviously have more experience, without necessarily meaning that they will be any better.'

-B.F.: 'Also how do you judge the spirit and the support from the fans, especially the young ones? There are quite a few fanzines and fans, but do they really care about the good local bands?'

-DESP.: 'It's easy to see that there's a great deal of prejudice against Greek bands, which isn't entirely unjustified. However, the really good ones are easy to spot and are therefore eagerly supported by the fans (regardless of age) and fanzines.'

-B.F.: 'After a really long period of silence you have at last released your debut demo. Are you satisfied with it? How was the reaction from the people and the press, and the sales like, so far?'

-DESP.: ' "State of Brutality" was finally released, having faced and solved most of the problems mentioned earlier and we ARE satisfied, as we succeeded in not involving anyone except ourselves in composing, recording and producing our music. The people's and Press's reaction till now has been very positive and taking into consideration the length of time it has been released, sales are booming!'

-B.F.: 'What are your future plans now? Do you feel ready for a record? Are there any labels showing interest? Also, do you have in mind any concerts?'

-DESP.: 'At present, we plan to support our demo with a few local gigs. We don't intend to make a record with any label for the time being, but we are considering co-operating with a company for widespread distribution of our demo.'

-B.F.: 'Any last comments, please?'

 -DESP.: 'A big thanks to everybody who helped us till now with the distribution and also our fans and the metal press and radio stations who supported our efforts with enthusiasm. Lastly, thanks to BUTTFUCK zine for the interview.'