Hellblazer, the start was pure coincidence

HELLBLAZER were formed in August 2000 during a MACABRE-show, but that does not necessarily indicate the musical direction we’re heading into.

We played our first show in May 2001 to see how we’d be doing and if it might be a smart choice to hide in our wrecking room for another few months or not. Gladly, we seemed to to pretty well, thus we’re trying to play as much as possible since then and annoy people with our tunes!

The first demo tape “Knives, Forks, Scissors and deadly hot Pokers“ was recorded in September 2002 in the aforementioned wrecking room and spread around as good as possible. Reactions from fans, fellow musicians and the press were mostly very good and encouraged us to carry on. It would’ve been easier to sell a CD(-R), but in our opinion a demo is a demo and a demo is a tape - period.

5 further songs for two upcoming split Eps and a compilation were recorded in April/May 2002 and these tunes also get spread around to labels, radio and promoters (and some friends) as a Promo-CD (hear ye, hear ye!), but this item won’t be sold since all the stuff on it will be released “officially” sooner or later! The demo tape will soon be rereleased as a special asian edition with four bonus live tracks and a different cover in Malaysia.

Concerning shows, we played a number of them including various fests (Obscene Extreme, Morbid Records Festival,....) and two short tours with DRILLER KILLER and TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION that went really well.

Not much more to talk about except for the music... If you consider that we listen to nearly anything from asian pop music to harsh noise it is not too surprising that all kinds of influences can be found in our music, mainly grind, metal and crust. We have our musical roots in grindcore, but we let everything else that is fun and makes sense to us flow into the songs. We dubbed the result Seppuku-Grind!

interview with Olli on 09-01-2003

Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
Well, I'm Olli, singer in Hellblazer and also a student. Besides this, I'm doing graphics stuff, mostly lay out and design, some drawings here and there. Right now I'm enjoyin' a day off answering your questions and maybe I'll go to see Necrophobic tonight. ...unless they ask too much money at the door that is! ...and they probably will!!!

Why don't you wear shoes in the picture?
I do, my custom made skin tone tighties. Don't they look cute on me?

You were formed during a Macabre gig. Why? Thought it could be better then them?
We didn't think so, we knew! Seriously, it was pure coincidence. I had played in a band with our bassist before and we were both musically unemployed at that point, so I thought about asking him to start a new project. Also, I got to know our guitarist a few months before that and although he was playing in a band already I also had him in mind for this. Before I could ask the guys, our guitarist approached us with the same idea at the aforementioned Macabre show and also suggested a drummer, so you could say the provisions were good! Anyway, we all like Macabre and I think they are brilliant musicians.

Did you start working on own material from the beginning? Or doing covers?
We agreed that'd it'd be a good idea to do some covers first in order to get to play together more easily. In the end, we did only one cover (Autopsy - Ridden with disease) and we're still playing it live sometimes. We actually worked on some further covers (Brutal Truth, Naked City), but we never really played or finished them.

How nervous were you for the first gig? Can you remember your emotions?
All of us have played shows in other bands before, so we knew more or less what we were in for, but it's still a first show and that's always something different and special. We played our first show with Groinchurn, Viu Drakh and Dogma IVS. It was really good, I think we did pretty well and that's also what a lot of people told us. Mark of Groinchurn liked it so much he immediately agreed to doing a split 7’. I remember I was afraid that my voice might fail me or something. I had never played a full show as a singer before so everything that might possibly go wrong comes to your mind at this very moment.

Do you still feel something special when you have a gig? Think that will ever go away?
Nowadays I feel pretty confident that we'll play well most of the time. I'm still a little nervous before shows and I hope this'll never go away, because I think it is a pretty healthy thing. I prevents you from becoming too careless or appearing too self confident or even arrogant.

How easy is it to get a gig? Do you ask for it yourself or some booker?
I do all the booking stuff for us. Sometimes it is a bit hard if you need a show in a certain area on a certain date, i.e. when you're booking a tour or just a weekend of shows. Also, you need to be patient and figure out how often you can bother somebody until they let you play without totally annoying them! We played a decent number of shows for an unsigned band I think and I wanna do even more in 2003. I like it the way it is, we keep control over what we're doing and until somebody I'd entrust with this completely steps into our life I certainly wanna keep it this way. Also, it enables us to tour with bands of our choice, bands we like musically and personally which is very important I think.

What do you prefer: to go on a tour or play stand alone gigs? Why?
A tour is a lot of fun and you get to play in places that you couldn't play without going on tour. I don't mind being away from home for weeks, I enjoy traveling and seeing distant places, meeting people I've been writing to etc. Then again, a single gig might be better than any gig on a tour. You never know, so I'd rather judge any show on it's own. I simply prefer playing to not playing and I'd cancel nearly anything for a show! If you need a band on short notice, try us!

Do you know my t-shirt seize is XL?
No, really? C'mon man, this can't be true! Gimme a break, you must be fucking kidding me!!! XL? No way! Mmmmph, XL - can't believe it! You're trying to pull my leg, arent't you???

What is the story behind the re-release of the tape in Asia? Are the live songs done in Asia?
Sure, we recorded them at our famed and highly critically acclaimed three night stint at Budokan! During one of our numberless asian tours! The story is that we simply sent a tape to the label and he approached us with the offer. The live tracks include the aforementioned Autopsy-cover by the way!

You will release some 7’. Are you fan of vinyl stuff? How did you succeed in doing it with the other bands?
Yesss, we are vinyl fans! It was our plan or rather hope to do some EPs after the tape and hopefully lots more in the future. I already told the Groinchurn story, the Exhumed story is basically the same. Also, Deathpile agreed immediately, so it was all very easy.

Are you in contact with other bands? On what base? To see for cooperation? Admire them?
We simply like to be in touch with like minded people and of course bands we enjoy to exchange thoughts, trade music and sometimes play together. Also for cooperation concerning gigs and whatever, of course. Any band may get in touch and we'll see what happens...

Choose between:
*drinking beer or selling woman underwear - I'd go for buyin' beer with the money I made from selling women's underwear or actually selling mine pretending it was worn by a woman!

*eating bratwurst or BigMac - Why isn't there a vegan option???

*visiting the dentist or shopping with your mother - While you have to be masochistic up to a certain degree to run an UG band nowadays, I'd still prefer the company of my mother anytime although I'm not really scared of dentists anyway. Also, I didn't receive any presents from a dentist yet.

*having sex or having more sex - For starters, let's try it once, okay sweetheart?

*shave you eyebrows or citting your toenails - Am I not bald enough already??? I prefer chewing off my toenails though, it keeps me in shape physically and is good for the teeth, too!

How do you see the future for the band? What were your goals when you started?
Our goals were to have fun, play as often as possible and get some decent releases out. So far, it has worked out fine for us and I hope it'll stay that way or improve. We hope to be able to record a full length this year that'll be out on CD and LP. Also, we would really like to play all over Europe and beyond! As long as it is fun and we get along well, I wanna keep it going!

How much time and money do you put in the band? Do you ask that for every bandmember?
Would be nice, but after a while you realize what each other does best and it results in some members having more work than others, but that's okay. That's the same in nearly every band I guess. We try to cover our expenses from the 'band money' and when it doesn't work, we just split them, so no problem 'bout that.

How democratic is the band? Do you have a veto right?
Everybody can voice his opinion anytime and if someone is strictly against something for some personal reason we'll most probably not do it. Then again, the ones who do the most work automatically make the most decisions, because you can't discuss every single bit without losing a lot of time. Any important decision is made democratically though.

Do you give money to homeless begging people on the streets?
If they have nice dogs sitting besides them... I'm not exactly rich myself, so I hardly do it. You gotta consider that 99% of them would get money from the state if they applied for it. If somebody doesn't want to work or get help from the state, more power to them, but I'm not sure if begging money from taxpayers is the proper way of protest!?

Do you think you passed the test and so your intie will be online?
Since you probably ARE begging in the street and thus are now pretty much pissed off: I guess not!!!

Last rites?
You were kidding about XL, weren't you?