SECRET SEVEN interview 2005

Nice fastcore outta Singapore. Taken from PM#4 from 2005. Interview conducted with Idi Amin (vox) on Oct. ’05.

Perro: I don’t think you are very well known here so could you introduce your band to our readers?

Idi Amin: Hi Raffa and all readers of  Perro Maldito. We're SECRET 7 from Singapore. I'm Idi, one of the vocalists of the band, and I will answer the questions. SECRET 7 have been around for about 4 years and we've gone through line-up changes but as it stands at this moment, it's me, Jali, Shahran on bass, Ato on vocals and Fairus on guitars.We've had several releases which comprises of our demo which was re-released by KIDS FOR LIFE RECS, our debut 7" on 625 FASTCORE and with this line-up, we did a split 7" with the great JAHILIA on THRASH STEADY SYNDICATE(our own label), a split 7" with the awesome FPO on MOO COW RECS and finally our first full length titled "TAKE IT BACK" on THRASH STEADY SYNDICATE.

Perro: What’s the message hidden in the seventh secret? And in the previous six? Seriously, what’s the meaning of your band name?

Idi Amin: We have hidden a secret message on the seventh track of every release. All you have to do is to play them backwards! Now... Before you do anything, I'M JUST JOKING!!!! There is no special meaning when we first pick the name for the band. We got the name for our first show and we got it off the title of a childrens' story book written by ENID BLYTON revolving around a group of 7 kids' adventure on solving mysteries. Our band, is also going through an adventure- a musical adventure. But why "SECRET 7" when there is just 5 of us? The truth is that we were a 7-men unit but as i've said earlier about line-up changes, we're left with 5. However, as time passes, i realised that SECRET 7 is not just the 5 of us rocking on the stage but it's theres 2 other guys that made SECRET 7 whole. They're none other than Rahmat and Normann of THRASH STEADY SYNDICATE who have been behind us all the way. As we rock the stage, these 2 are always behind the scene, manning the distro table, taking photos and countless other things. Together we're SECRET 7.

Perro: To me you sound like a weird mix of Life’s Halt, Fuck on the Beach and Razors Edge. How would you describe your music to the uninitiated?

Idi Amin: We absolutely love those bands but to be described like that is way out of our league! I'll put it simply as fast hardcore but there's many people who have tagged us with several descriptions which is flattering like youthcrew thrash, thrashing fastcore, fast thrashing youthcrew and so on. Its just fast hardcore but it may be differentiated by the fact that all 5 of us have different musical influences like Jali enjoys the Japanese thrash bands, Ato loves the '88 SE HC stuff, Fairus is crazy for STRIFE, Shahran digs the Malay Rock bands and i love rock music and also the youth crew bands. The different influences shows in our music but no matter what it is, we'll stay to keeping our music SHORT, FAST and LOUD!!

Perro: You just released a full length titled “take it back”. Are you happy with the way it comes? I’ve notice some development in the sound and in the songwriting. How would you compare it with your previous releases?

Idi Amin: TAKE IT BACK is certainly our best offering yet and i must say that we have put our most heartfelt effort on the record (by "WE", i mean the band as well as the label). We spent almost 30 hours recording, til ato's voice got hoarse and everyone was pretty much tired but we are very satisfied with the end result. Personally, this release is special in the sense that everyone's voice got heard on this record cos everyone gave his contribute in the song writing and the lyrics. We also have to thank the INDONESIAN KIDS who supported us during our PRE-RELEASE of the record tour which led to the idea of the video. The response is overwhelming and as we speak, we only have less than a hundred of the cds left. Most of the reviews that we got have been very encouraging and we assure u guys that for the next few releases, we will put our undying effort and make each of them better than the last one.

Perro: It’s going to be printed onto vinyl by TVG Records from Germany. How did you get in touch with them?

Idi Amin: Jali got to know TVG when the label released his band, EDORA's split Lp with KENT BROCKMAN. Since then, they've been in contact. TVG will release the George Harrison/Secret 7 split Lp but somehow  we have problems, so looks like this project will be cancel on our side.

Perro: You have two songs, “salutation” and “basicore”, about Minor Threat and their influence is pretty evident. You are such a fans that you don’t even want to deconsacrate one of their songs by covering it. But if you would cover one of M.T.’s tune, which one will you choose? Which one is your fave M.T. song?

Idi Amin: I'll coax the guys to do a freaking awesome medley starting with "betray", followed by a blistering version of "seeing red" and we'll end it with a fun and moshy version of "sometimes good guys don't wear white"!!!! MY personal favourite is "out of step".

Perro: Totally agree with the lyrics of “Nippon e ai wo komete”. But have you ever visited japan to see their awesome bands on stage? Ever toured over there?

Idi Amin: Only Jali have been to THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN with his then band DEMISOR. But hearing stories from bands who've been there and watching bands from there, like VIVISICK,
UNHOLY GRAVE and FUCK ON THE BEACH who played freaking awesome shows here, we
definitely must take a trip there and experience the scene ourselves.

Perro: All your lyrics have a very positive feeling on them. Could we consider Secret Seven a posicore band?

Idi Amin: Everyone needs a drive to carry on slogging in this dog eat dog world and for me to be able to do that, i cannot afford to be negative and pessimistic about the future cos we know that the future is unknown and surprises pop out like a jack in the box. One way to do it is to take everything coming your way as a challenge. About the band being posi, yeah...another tag to add to our long band description!

Perro: Being a guy that usually spit a lot, I’d like to know more details about the song titled “my spit”…

Idi Amin: I wrote my spit after watching a show on the discovery channel about how body fluids can help heal poisons and stuff. It backdates to ancient times. Its funny how spit is considered dirty and worse still, spitting in SINGAPORE will get your ass slapped with afine! To me, spitting is natural and i'm convinced that spitting is a natural reaction for some people when they get angry. So in the song, i'm unravelling my distaste for some issue and that i'll spit on them to show my retaliation.

Perro: Recently I’ve noticed that tons of great thrashcore bands are arriving from SE Asia: Domestik Doktrin, Last Warning, Edora, Secret Seven and tons more. Are you trying to steal to japan the flag of the kings of fastcore? Any other bands worth to keep an eye on?

Idi Amin: Stealing the flag would be tough but we'll give them a tough battle! ha ha..

Perro: Your local scene seems to be heavily influenced by the 625 thrashcore sound and there’s even a SE Asia comp. 7” coming out soon…

Idi Amin: Yeah... 625 have been a great help with the spreading of our music from our shores to the west.

Perro: I read somewhere Singapore is a very small, overcrowded and over polluted state. How’s life there in general?

Idi Amin: I think, life is the same everywhere- uncertain. In this country, life is fast paced and some days, you'll be left far behind. Meritocracy is just a word, the same goes with free speech. Paper qualification is the new religion. To sum it up, Life is definitely hard.

Perro: Going back to the past, when the first punk/ hardcore wave happened in SE Asia? Could you name us some seminal local bands?

Idi Amin: I guess i'm too young to know the right answer to that question. But for me, i'd like to see where punk will get me in the future unlike those who kept glorifying their punk past that got them nowhere.
From our scene, i would recommend UNDERATTACK. They play fast, thrashy old school and they
never fail to get me going. Another one would be YOGJAKARTA, whose live sets have been a blast since their change in line up. The fact is that their new vocals is one that speaks his mind and he is comfortable with his sexuality and he cross dresses, which stirred a few sparks in the scene but to me, that is what the scene needs, a wake up call! Being punk is to challenge mindsets.

Perro: Some years ago there has been a polemic when a US band that toured SE Asia polemized about girls with chador at hardcore gigs over there. What’s your opinion about such a controversial issue?

Idi Amin: To me there’s no issue cos that’s our eastern culture where people are tied close to their religion and i'm used to seeing it. I would love to hear an outsider from about their opinions cos i believed it would be a culture shock for them compared to us.

Perro: Plans for the future? Releases, tours etc….

Idi Amin: Right now, we're starting to get back to our feet after a rest of a few months since Fairus got married. We're preparing for a show opening for VITAMIN X when they come over for their asian tour in November. We're also writing new materials.

Perro: Thanks a lot for your time. Feel free to conclude in the way you prefer!!

Idi Amin: Thanxx RAFFA for this interview /space in your zine and i hope that you readers enjoy reading this. PEACE! Write us for communication!!

Crustdust

The number of new releases that I usually buy decreases dramatically every year. I find it hard to keep up with the outrageous number of records that came out these days and a very few of them grab my attention. That being said, being a sucker when it comes to clevo hc, the news of a new full length by Inmates on Painkiller Records definitely had my attention. It took forever to came out and my expectations were pretty high, even if their last ep wasn't that great after all. Well, after a few spins I can affirm that, after a 20 years long career, Inmates are still at their peak. It doesn't matter that their last album came out 12 years, this gets back exactly where "assholes unanimous" left: Lipcream/Systematic Death influences filtered via the unique hardcore that has been slowly but constantly coming outta Cleveland since the early 90s'. All drenched by some of the smartest, funniest & most provocative lyrics ever written. The intro of "crustdust" itself makes this record worth owning. There's also a The Guns cover to make this even more interesting. I'd love to get the orange wax but, you know, overseas shipping is something crazy these days. If you're disappointed by this record, it's safe to say that you did everything wrong in your life.

Slave

The first time I've ever heard the word "powerviolence" was back in 1996. The first issue of my very first zine just came out. Giulio the Bastard was one of those extremely rare honest people that, instead of just being another ass kisser, wrote me in depth & constructive critics about what I did wrong. One that I clearly remember was about the review of the Brutal Truth/Spazz split ep where I tagged Spazz as a boring crust/grind band. He schooled me on a sub-genre that I hadn't heard 'till that day, powerviolence. Lesson learnt, I started doing my homework. Thru tape trading I slowly started to learn about powerviolence and felt in love with it. Over the years I managed to get all the powerviolence classics except for one that kept eluding me. An OG Off The Disk press of Infest debut lp "slave". I've almost scored one circa 10 years ago from a local guy that suddenly changed his mind last minute. In the meantime, prices kept getting crazier every year and these became even more rare. That recent bootleg was very tempting but thanx god I kept waiting until I'll found the real deal.

Last month I sold a bunch of stuff on discogs for some good money. While looking on a way to spend them, I've stumbled upon this. It was listed for a very good price. I was tempted also by a copy of Kuro's "who the helpless" 8" but I went for this since it has been on my wantlist forever. There are quite a few variations of it. This is second press on blue wax, limited to 450 copies. Cover shows some aging but it's still in excellent conditions. While I think the front artwork is too cheesy, I do love the "the kids will have their say" rip off back cover. Nothing more to be said since we're talking about one of those few classics that everyone, from sXe boyscouts to crusty cunts dressed only of patches, seems to agree about it's importance and greatness.

Jeesus Perkele

Svart Records delivers again with a long due reissue of another uberclassic finnish hardcore record: Terveet Kädet "s/t" lp. Originally issued by Propaganda Records back in 1983, this is probably the only record from the early days of the "empty hands" that hasn't got the reissue treatment yet. Of course they did again an excellent job. A perfect reproduction of the original that also comes with a fat booklet with tons of articles (and this time a few of them are in english, too) and pics. I'm a firm believer that this band reached its peak with the "Ääretön Joulu" ep. This lp indeed lacks the same pierced vocals and guitars of the aforementioned ep. That being said, this is still a very solid release that should be owned by anyone who claim to be a finnish hardcore worshipper. And considering the crazy prices the original press reaches in these days, I'm glad that Svart allowed us to own it on vinyl. 

For an extra buck I got the limited coloured edition. They called this colour grey but to me it looks bloody brown. Ain't it? Not sure why people don't call things with their proper name. Am I the only one sick of gold vinyls that actually look orange?