PAWEL / FILTH OF MANKIND: Our main (no, not the original, as we had other bassist and vocalist at the beginning) line up was: Tomek - vocals, Milosz - guitar, Pawel - guitar, Michal - bass and Balon - drums. This is the line up present on all our recordings to date. Then Milosz (whom we still consider a band member) moved to the US, so we were trying to find a replacement for him, we changed a couple of guitarists (that period was a pain in the ass for us, as we had to teach the guy songs, then played a couple of gigs and then were looking for another one only to repeat the whole sequence) just to finally come up with idea of Michal switching over to guitar and we found a new bassplayer, who seems to be the guy we were looking for. His name is Ciapa. As for the bands biography - we started in 1996 and released only two things so far - 4-song 7" EP called „Czas Konca Wieku” (which translates to „The End Of Century”) on my Scream Records label, and a full length CD, entitled „The Final Chapter”, which was put out by HG Fact label from Japan, as well as on the tape format on Scream Records (in cooperation with two other labels, including Tomek’s Devil Machine). We still want to release it on vinyl as well, and finally it seems to come true soon.

2. CHAOTIC NOISE: What are your influences for what you do?

F.O.M.: There are plenty of things that influence us, I guess life in general would be the best answer to your question, but OK, I will try to be a little more specific - the music we love and all the fucked up things surrounding us that we hate, like human greed and ignorance leading us towards destruction of this planet (or self-destruction at least), the arrogance of powers that be, all the kinds of prejudice, and on, and on... But as I said - also many things that are not directly reflected in our music and lyrics can be a major influence - like books, movies, friends or places we visit, etc..

3. CHAOTIC NOISE: Tell us a bit about the scene in Poland. Is there a lot of activity in the DIY movement there?

F.O.M.: Yeah, definitely. There are plenty of bands, zines, labels, etc. The weakest aspect of Polish DIY scene is the lack of punk-run places. There are a few squats in some cities like Wroclaw, Poznan, Bialystok, Bialystok, Gliwice, Warsaw, etc. or punk owned pubs (well, I know just one in Torun), but most often we have to rent places like pubs, clubs or youth - centers, which usually charge a lot of money, so it doesn’t leave much for the bands. But I think this situation is getting better in recent years - maybe slowly, but surely. And there are also many non-musical groups / activities going on, including anarchist, animal rights, ecological, feminist, etc.

4. CHAOTIC NOISE: Here in the US I’m not quite sure if there is a big awareness of the Polish scene. Is there any active bands and labels you would like to mentioned for those interested in your scene?

F.O.M.: My favourite Polish bands playing nowadays include: INFEKCJA (great Scandinavian-influenced hardcore punk - furious, full on speed, yet complexed and sometimes even melodic, they have two tapes and a few EPs out), ANTICHRIST (heavy, distorted and brutal Rorschach-style hardcore, full length LP/CD and a bunch of EPs out, the last one released in the US on Dissonant Sound Industries), POST REGIMENT (well, judging by the amount of their patches or T-shirts I saw in the US, I don’t think they’re unknown there, so I just have a good news for all of you - something like two years after their decision of calling its quit, they just started to play again!), SILENCE ( I just saw them live for the first time and I’m still fucking impressed - totally heavy hardcore, definitely influenced by HHIG / Tragedy, but focused mainly on slow / mid tempo, words amazing and powerful still sound like the understatements, they’ve just released their debut 5-song EP), LOST (quite new band formed by Agnes who used to sing for one of the best known Polish bands - Homomilitia. I guess that Lost’s biggest influences are sludge bands like 13, Grief or Eyehategod, but they keep their songs shorter and more interesting, with more crust punk edge. They have a 7" out and just recorded for the full length LP/CD), SUNRISE (melodic „Swedish” death metal, often compared to At The Gates, with vegan straight edge message, 10”/CD and mCD out - actually they have one more full length CD out, called „Generation Of Sleepwalkers”, but it’s not as good in my opinion, as they used to play more generic, Carcass-influenced death at that time), EVIL (brutal, Bolt Thrower-style crust / metal with Infekcja’s singer), ZLODZIEJE ROWEROW (melodic, yet energetic emo-core with excellent, „personally political” lyrics, a couple of tapes/CDs out) and DISGUSTING LIES (Hiatus-style crust punk, their early releases were pretty bad, but the recent 10’ on Italian label Agipunk is a really good slab-o-plastic). Well, these are just my favourites, there are plenty of other good bands as well. Besides that, the records of now defunct, but classic Polish bands, like Homomilitia, Sanctus Iuda, Enough! or Pieklo Kobiet are mostly still available, so I strongly encourage checking them out, in case you’re still unfamiliar with them. Homomilitia’s second album is still waiting to be released (two and a half year after being recorded!) as they’re still working on the artwork, it’s not gonna be as much of a killer as their earlier stuff in my opinion, but still good enough to give it a try. You should definitely get it when it’s out. As for the labels, I would suggest you to check out Trujaca Fala, Nikt Nic Nie Wie and Malarie (which is actually based in czech Republic, but since Martin used to live almost at the Polish border and then even moved to Poland for a couple of years, he puts out many Polish bands). And as I’ve already said, I also run a small label with releases (mostly 7"s) from bands like Homomilitia, Disclose, Hiatus, Fleas And Lies, Sanctus Iuda, Sarcasm, Warcollapse, F.O.M., etc.

5. CHAOTIC NOISE: Where have you been as far as tours concerned? What have been your favourite places to play?

F.O.M.: We played in quite many European countries - Germany, Sweden, Denmark, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Slovenia. My fave places to play (or just visit) surely include Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, Zoro in Leipzig, Germany, MKNZ in Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenia, Eldslandet in Jonkoping, Sweden, a bunch of squats in Berlin - Subversiv, Rigaerstrasse or Kopi, as well as a couple of places in Poland - Pilon in Torun, De Centrum in Bialystok or c-4 in Lodz. And speaking of countries we’ve played in - in January’2002 we were supposed to play (with another Polish and two local bands) in Grodno, Belarus (one of the ex-Soviet Union republics). The borderline took us five hours of dealing with the most bureaucratic crap I’ve ever experienced at any border, then we made it to the venue only to find out that the show had just finished due to electricity being cut off during first band’s set. The promoters told us that electric company had been told to do so by the secret service who consider punk shows to be serious „political opposition meetings” which are - of course - not allowed in that fucking country. People told us also that a year before they organized a show in a garage (unlike our gig which was to take place in a legal venue, sort of a disco club) and the cops not being able to cut off the power just in that garage, decided to cut it off in the whole neighborhood! That was a strong reminder that there are still countries where situation doesn’t really differ much from Poland ca. 1982. And just to make the story complete - we spent the whole night (about nine hours!) freezing in a van waiting in a damn line to cross the fucking border on our way back!

6. CHAOTIC NOISE: In your e-mail when you first got in contact, you mentioned some of your lyrics are about issues such as Homophobia, Sexism, and Police Brutality. Are these big issues where you come from?

F.O.M.: Well, as much as everywhere else I guess, though situation with crap like sexism and homophobia might be worse in Poland than it is in Western Europe and the US, due to big popularity of the Catholic Church. This situation is surely improving, but it is a really slow process and I am sure that living in Poland must be a hell for most of homosexual people. Most people on the streets (what you’d call Joes and Janes Average, I guess) are so fucking unused to deal with anything / anyone different, that they hurt people often without even noticing it. And speaking of the cops (funny thing, by the way - in English you call them pigs, in German they’re bulls and in Polish - dogs, what other animals are they called in other languages?) - they are almost never there to protect or help you out, but often they show up to fuck with you – is it arresting people at peaceful demonstrations, provoking riots at the shows or harassing the squaters, and not to mention more serious stuff they (almost always) get away with - like cops killing people and getting their sentences only on probation (which means not spending a single day in jail!). And just to straighten things up - the subjects mentioned in this question are just a small fraction of our songs, we sing also about other stuff, like destroying the nature, wage slavery, political swindles, animal rights and most of all - inevitable apocalypse that mankind is sailing towards.

7. CHAOTIC NOISE: Are any of you involved in other bands or side projects?

F.O.M.: Not at the moment. Some of us used to play in various bands like Enough!, Money Drug, Stench Of Death, Belfast, Noise Grass, Yuppie Scum, Protest And Survive, etc., but now we play only in F.O.M. But our aforementioned ex-guitar-player, Milosz has just formed a new band with his friends in Boston, MA. I don’t know their name yet, but heard that some of them play/ed in bands like Apolitical, Balance Of Terror, Melee, etc. Hopefully we’ll hear them soon.

8. CHAOTIC NOISE: What do you do outside of music? Any hobbies / interests? Are any of you politically active?

F.O.M.: Some of us work or study (or both), Tomek owns a screenprinting facility, so he prints many punk T-shirts, patches, etc. as a part of his job and he runs a really small tape label. I run aforementioned label / distro called Scream Records. As far as hobbies go - well, we listen to music, watch movies, read books, etc. We also like to play football (or should I say soccer for you ignorant Americans who use the word football to name the game which is mostly about using hands!), Tomek even used to train in a real club for a couple of years. I really like to travel, although it’s mostly connected with punk - visiting friends or touring with bands, etc. None of us is a member of any political organization (well, I’m in a local ecological group), but we try to attend demos or protests, I am also working for the local Food Not Bombs. And most of all - I consider the way we live, things we buy or boycott, eat or avoid, to be of definitely political meaning.

9. CHAOTIC NOISE: Do problems there exist with racist punks or skins?

F.O.M.: Not with the racist punks (isn’t it an oxymoron?), but yes, we have nazi skins in Poland and especially here, in Gdansk area. There aren’t anyproblems with them in everyday life, but they try (and unfortunately sometimes succeed) to ruin our shows or places. I must say Gdansk is probably the last big city in Poland where they still are the threat for the punk shows. A pretty sad fact is that we had almost no problems with them since 1993 (when they smashed the venue during Hiatus / Fleas And Lies gig) until ca. 2000, when the new wave of those baldheaded assholes started to fuck with us. Last April they even arsoned the club where we were supposed to play with From Ashes Rise (good thing about that is that we had to change the venue a couple of days before it happened anyway!). And most of the times they don’t dare to come straight to the show, but search for lone (or small group of) punks somewhere near in the neighborhood. But we are definitely not going to give in, those bastards must be confronted!

10. CHAOTIC NOISE: What lies in store for the near future of F.O.M.?

F.O.M.: Well, we just woke up from 6-7 months of hibernation (as me and Ciapa were workin abroad and Michal had his arm broken), so hopefully we’ll be ready to play gigs in a week or two and then we’ll be able to work on new songs. As I already said „The Final Chapter” should be finally out on vinyl soon. We also have two other songs recorded, which should appear on a split 7inch (hopefully with Born Dead Icons).

11. CHAOTIC NOISE: Has the US’s „War On Terrorism” had an effect in Poland? What are your views on the whole issue?

F.O.M.: Well, it probably hasn’t really affected our personal, everyday lives, but on the other hand it’s something that we hear about all the time - all the media talk endlessly about Muslim terrorism, war of civilizations, etc., etc. Personally I think that September 11 was the long time earned pay for the US’s arrogant way of acting as the world’s self-acclaimed policeman. Besides that, with all the compassion for the victims, I must admit that I felt happy watching those two symbols of capitalist world collapsing and the always arrogant (and so eager to drop the bombs to kill people in other countries) US feeling at least for this one moment weak and defenseless. But getting back to your question - I think that your government is using the „terrorist threat” as an excuse for further limiting of civil rights and gaining even more control over people’s lives. Besides that, they steal even more control over other countries, using the aforementioned excuse to dictate other governments what to do. And most of the world blindly accepts it just in the name of peace and „war on terrorism” (and condemning those who oppose strangely leads to another war). What a bullshit, considering that the world’s biggest terrorist is no one else, but the US government itself... Other aspect of the „war on terrorism” is that after S 11 Russia used it as the (very needed) excuse for its bloody war in Chechnya. And strange enough it fucking worked - voices of protest, presented often before S 11, are heard much more rare, almost never after that. It’s just disgusting...

12. CHAOTIC NOISE: What has been spinning on your record player recently?

F.O.M.: Of course (as always!) some classic records - „Monolith” and „Arise!” by Amebix, Antisect, Crucifix, Raw Power’s „Scream From The Gutter”, 1st Deviated Instinct LP, Reagan Youth, Axegrinder, Rudi Peni, Ripcord, New Model Army and early E.N.T., as well as some newer stuff - Tragedy, From Ashes Rise, new 7inches by Antichrist and Silence, The Awakening, Nigel Pepper Cock, Born Dead Icons, Catharsis, Harum Scarum, Zeroid, Scholastic Deth, Crow, Sol Invictus, Dumbstruck, No Parade, Orchid, Born Dead, Tarantula Hawk, Misery, Damad, Antischism, Voorhees, Skitsystem, Vitamin X... Of course it’s not even 1 percent of the bands that I love, just what I listened to recently...

13. CHAOTIC NOISE: I think that about covers it for now. Thanks a ton for doing the interview! Any last words for the readers out there?

F.O.M.: Thank you very much for interviewing us, as well as for including us on your comp. For those who want to get our stuff - here is a price list: 7" - 5 USD, CD - 10, tape - 5, T-shirt (double-sided white print on black shirt) - 11 and long sleeve (with additional sleeve prints) - 15 USD. All prices postpaid, airmail. If you want to ask anything about F.O.M. or the Polish scene in general, feel free to write. If you do a zine or compilation - we’d be more than happy to be a part of it. We’ve also just started to work on the F.O.M. website, I don’t know the server it will be on yet, so please just e-mail me to ask about it, it’s surely going to be ready soon (by the time you read this interview). Realize that the world we live in is nothing but hell, but there’s no one but ourselves to change it towards something we’d like to be surrounded by. Stay punk! F.O.M., January 2003