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Punk in Morocco: New KDViationS Interview

Long time, no update. I'm still in Morocco and still have limited access to collage materials, so there isn't any new work to put up. I don't want to be posting for the sake of posting, but I feel like some sort of update is long overdo.
Firstly, there is a correction I'd like to make as to a previous post. The collage, "the Future is a Machine...", was supposed to be raffled at the Gearhead Records anniversary show, however it seems that the collage never made it to the raffle, so it is still in my possession.
Though, I haven't made a collage in a while, I do have something to show for the last few months. As I have made quite clear, I am living in Morocco, right now. If you don't know where that is, I recommend that you pick up an atlas, because you aren't getting any love from me. Anyway, as a fan of punk, I am a firm believer that in every country, no matter how small and obscure, there exists at least one punk band. Well, it took me a while, but I managed to hunt down arguably the only punk band in Moroccan (I say "arguably" as there are definitely other bands with punk influence. However, I would not define them strictly as punk.). The band is ZWM (Zlak Wlla Moot). I managed to catch a couple of the guys from the band for an interview, which has recently been published in the Winter 2009 issue of KDViationS, a quarterly publication by Davis, California's freeform radio station KDVS, which I used to host a punk show on. If you live in the greater Sacramento region of California, you can easily find a free copy of KDViationS at various local record stores, restaurants and other businesses in the area, as well as various locations throughout the US. If you live in the States and do not have access to any such locations, then you can order a copy for free from the KDVS website, www.kdvs.org where you may also download a pdf copy along with a selection of back issues. You will find the interview on page 34. Aside from the ZWM interview, there is a number of other interviews, articles, music reviews and so on. All of which are worth checking out.
Unfortunately, as there so much to fit into KDViationS, the interview had to be edited down a little bit. While I encourage you to check out the issue of KDViationS in its full glory, here is the original, unedited version of the interview, for your pleasure.

Trotsky: Alright Let’s start this off with introductions. What are you names and what do you play in the band?
Zohair: I am Zohair and I do the vocals in the band, ZWM, and this is...
Simo: Yeah, I am Simo, the bass player.
T: So, there are some other members in the band, too. Right?
S: Yeah, they couldn’t be here.
Z: We have Amine, the lead guitarist, and Taha, the new second guitarist. Before, Taha was Younnes, who had to leave. We have Simo (another Simo), the drummer, and Zakaria doing second vocals.
T: The band’s name is an acronym. What is that short for?
Z: ZWM means Zlak Wlla Moot. It’s written in the occidental alphabet, but the name is actually Arabic... Darija... Moroccan Arabic. “Zlak” means “ride,” “wlla” means “or” and “moot” means “die.” “Zlak Wlla Moot.” “Ride or Die.”
S: We were a group of guys that were all into that kind of...extreme sports, like skateboarding, surfing, all of that. Zohair used to surf and me, I used to skate, the drummer bmx’d, the guitarists skateboarded.
T: How were you guys introduced to punk?
S: Like I said, we were skateboarding and surfing a lot and we were watching a lot of skateboarding videos. All the soundtracks to these videos had punk bands, like Rancid and the Ramones, and we decided to research what this music was and we discovered that punk is the revolution. It’s to be free...to have your own life.
T: So, how did the band form, then?
S: Firstly, we were all friends and we would skate together. Zohair was already doing some music, too.
Z: I had a band called the Flowers. I tried to do some punk songs with them, but things didn’t work out, so I left that band. I went to my group of friend that were all into extreme spor...my group of uh...”extremists.”
S: It was me and Amine. He told us about his new project, which he was calling ZWM, “Ride or Die.” We loved the idea and agreed. We already had a band, called No Name, but we were giving fuck to that band, to join Zohair in ZWM.
T: Your music has been heavily influenced by a lot of American and British punk, but has it at all been effected by Moroccan music?
S: Yeah, we listen to our music, our culture, like gnawa, reggae and ‘izawa.
Z: In some of our songs you can find a little fusion of occidental punk and local styles, like gnawa. Like, we have a song called “Morocco” and you can find in the middle of the song the rhythm of gnawa, “k’tchk k’tchk, k’tchk k’tchk.”
T: What are your songs typically about?
S: We sing about the situation that we live in, in our country and around the world. Like poverty, war, sickness, bad things, dirty people, good things, the government. For example, we have a song, not recorded yet, but we play it live, called “Khalti l’Bitala.” In English it means “Aunt (of the) Unemployed.” It’s about all the people who can’t get a job in order to survive, especially in this country.
Z: Yeah, and you have other songs, like “Morocco” and “Eela l’Hhatgtee l’Wadnik Maniha.” All of the bad things and good things in the world are here in Morocco...wherever.
T: What are your shows usually like?
S: Sometimes we get to play at some big festivals, like Boulevard Des Jeunes Musiciens in Casablanca, and sometimes we do it ourselves. It depends on the situation.
T: So, for setting up your own shows, here, what do you have to go through? Is it difficult?
S: Yeah, it’s difficult to find a place that we can play. The music we play is not like the typical music of our culture, so people often don’t let us use their venues.
T: What are some other bands that you have shared a stage with?
S: We have played with Exploited...
Z: We actually played alongside the Exploited at a show for a little bit.
S: ...Dirty Fonzie, Haousa, Lazy Wall, Gojira, Paradise Lost, Psycup, and a lot more.
T: Do have any favorite shows, in particular that you have played?
S: Yeah. Boulevard, because it’s the only festival in Morocco that takes care of rock and metal bands.
T: What do people, here, typically think of your music?
S: Most people like the idea that we can play punk in Darija. It’s original.
T: Well, then what do your parents think of your music?
S: Some of them are for it and some are against. That’s life.
T: What is it like being a punk in Morocco?
S: Firstly, to have a punk mentality is something that we find great, but here in Morocco, it’s not our culture, so people usually think negatively about you if you look like one. That’s why we try to play punk with a Moroccan touch. Also, there’s a lack of possibilities, here. That’s why can’t go around looking like punks all of the time. That’s the reason we had to give up skating. Here, a skateboard costs enough money for a family to live off of for a month.
Z: We have problems. It’s difficult. Sometimes we can’t go against the system, here. We miss a lot of possibilities for work. This is not an industrial country. You can’t find a job. If you do, they are not going to pay you like a human.
T: Are there any other punk bands in Morocco, besides ZWM?
Z: Yes, but not a lot. Four or five, maybe. We have Haousa, Raining Madness and Fun is Back. That’s all that I know of.
T: So, what is the situation like for metal and hip hop and other... I guess, what would be called “underground music?”
Z: You can find a lot of metal bands, here. More than punk, but it’s still difficult for them, too. For rock and metal, here, things don’t work, but hip hop and fusion music works well.
S: People love commercial music.
T: I understand things were a lot different for punk and metal in Morocco, before around 2003. What was the situation like, then?
Z: Things were boring. There was no punk, no metal, no hip hop, no fusion. There was no scene. There was only Boulevard, one time a year. All the bands were underground and no one cared about them or heard about them.
S: There were no shows, no places to skate (and there still aren’t). We just sat around and got high, because that’s all there was to do.
T: How have things changed since?
Z: We have radio stations playing some local metal and punk, though not a lot. We have some festivals that care about the young musicians and the new wave and we think that this new generation will be famous. This generation refuses the control of the government. They want to do something new. They saw that nothing ever changed when they were little. They want to create the change themselves and have found that the only way to do so is by singing.
T: Alright. Do you guys have any other projects besides ZWM?
Z: We don’t want projects...because we want just ZWM, for life, and we want nothing bad to become of it.
T: So to wrap things up here, what are the band’s goals for the future?
Z: We have our first international concert, in Toulous, France. We are hoping to setup a short tour around Paris, maybe. Also, we are going to be recording our first album soon, insha’Allah.

We're on Vacation

Alright, so, in spite of the difficulties finding supplies in Morocco, I have managed to make one collage.
This one is called We're on Vacation. The writing on it says in Arabic, Nahhnu Fii 'Otla, or as some would type it, Na7nu Fii 36la, being that there are no English equivalents for some Arabic letters, certain numbers are used in their place in typing. As you've probably already guessed, it translates into "we're on vacation". My favorite aspect of it is the color scheme. The use of the gradients of green gives it a sickly, clinical feel. Well, that's how I feel, at least.
Due my difficulties finding supplies, I had to make it using glue sticks and a boxcutter. I have not given up my search for rubber cement and a quality x-acto knife, but didn't feel like waiting until I found them. I am definitely surprised at how well it came out, considering that I didn't have those supplies. I still have yet to put any finish on it, however, and am skeptical that I will find anything of the caliber of Mod Podge, here. As for the pictures, I still haven't found a solid used bookstore, where I can get plenty cheap books full of plenty of images. However, I did manage to find a decent used book market in the medina in Casablanca. I took advantage of it for the few days I was there, but, unfortunately HQ is nowhere near Casa, so I am going to have to find an alternative, soon. Anyway, at the market I grabbed a good stack of old Arabic magazines for around 30 dirhams. That's somewhere around being equivalent to $3! Among the magazines, were a couple old Fatah propaganda magazines. I felt bad cutting those ones up, since those were great historical documents, even if it is not considered to be a very positive history. No less, I bit the bullet and took a razor to them. The marching children in the background were actually being trained to become child fighters for Fatah, in the article I took it from. I thought the lady up front was not supposed to be anyone in particular, but was informed by a friend that she is famous Lebanese singer and ex-queen. I find this odd, since I found her picture in an ad for al-'Araqiyya Airlines, an old Iraqi airline. Also, as far as I know there isn't a royal family in Lebanon and hasn't been for a long time. There is, however a queen of the Strawberry Festival in Lebanon, Maine.

Shots from the Delta of Venus show

It's been quite a while since I've updated this thing. Hopefully people haven't forgotten about it. I haven't been doing too much collaging, lately. I had a pretty busy/lazy summer and didn't get much done and have been living in Morocco for the last few months. I'm going to school there in a small town between Fes and Meknes and won't be back in the States until late spring. It's fairly difficult finding a steady stream of used books and other necessary collaging supplies, so I have managed to continue to maintain my state of relative inactivity in this arena, but am trying hard to resolve it. There is one nearly finished piece waiting to be completed, back home. Possibly, the most sacrilegious one yet, but it will have to keep waiting until I get back.
All that aside, the collage showing at the Delta of Venus in Davis this summer went well. I had plenty of positve feedback from it, though didn't manage to sell any of them. I suppose that would be my own fault for not pricing them, but, nonetheless, it went well. As you can see, above are some long overdue pictures of the show. My collages are mixed amongst the works of the other artists there, but are easy to spot as they are the ones precariously mounted on whatever flat surfaces I could find.
In other news, in spite of being on another continent, I have recently agreed to have "the Future is a Machine..." raffled off at the Gearhead Records 1 year anniversary show in Woodland, Ca. Gearhead is a punk rock record label that has been around for about 8 years now, possibly most well known for putting out such bands as, the Hives, the Hellacopters, New Bomb Turks, the Rock N Roll Soldiers and Riverboat Gamblers, but has plenty of other great bands worth checking out as well. They have also opened up their first record store in the fine city of Woodland about a year ago, which is what the festival was celebrating. Unfortunately the festival already passed (Nov. 8th) and I apologize for not informing people sooner, but if you are a resident of the greater Sacramento area and are tired of the lack of good punk record stores, I strongly recommend stopping by the store sometime. The people are friendly and helpful and the shop could always use your support to keep running. As if supporting Gearhead, itself, wasn't already reason enough for the donation of my collage, all the benefits from the auction went to the Woodland Sexual and Domestic Violence Center . Certainly a worthy cause.

Enraptured

Wow, three entries in a period of 24 hours. Not too bad if I say so myself.
Here's my latest work. I named it "Enraptured", because as you can see the central figure of the image is being raptured away or at least that appears to be what is happening. Actually, the girl being engulfed in the green flames came from a collage I made a while agao. I was quite dissatisfied with it. In fact, that was the only collage I've tossed, yet, however I found the raptured girl to be too rad to toss, so I saved it and it is now on this collage. The girl came from the cover of an issue of Slug N Lettuce and the flame is composed of various green images out of a Home and Garden magazine. It is hard to tell in this image of the collage (my camera only takes blurry, grainy pictures and I don't have a scanner.), but in the upper right hand corner is a bunch of mischievous angels blocking out the sun and in the lower left hand corner is my favorite part of the collage:

This image is even more grainy, but what's going on is the pope, with a rad little devil hovering above him, is dragging (or maybe even eating) a dude that is severed in two, possibly by the pope himself. Blood is spilling everywhere and two doves are drowning in it. I think this should be the focal point of the collage, but the raptured girl is hogging the spotlight.

Little Collages

Here are some more collages I gave away on my fundraiser show a few weeks ago. I intended on posting them earlier, but didn't scan them until minutes before the show itself. These are smaller ones that I made quite a while ago, actually. I made them over stickers with the original intent of sticking then around town, but I found myself in need of more collages for the fundraiser, so I stuck them to some cardboard and put a mean coat of finish over them. The finish I used for them was Mod Podge glossy, which I have heard about, but had never used until then and I will say that I am quite impressed. That stuff can make anything look beautiful.

My First Art Show!

It's been a couple weeks since I last posted anything here. I'll try not to let that happen too much, so as not to let the blog stagnate. However, I do have a good reason for my absence and it is because I have been busy. "Busy with what?" you may ask. Well, I have been busy with many things, but in particular I have been getting ready for my first showing. That's right, a bunch of my collages are up on display for the internet free public to observe. They are up on display at a local restaurant called the Delta of Venus , which has always been supportive art and music in Davis. Along with my collages, there also collages by a couple artists from Santa Cruz, whose names I cannot remember, and another local collager named Pxl. They will be up for about a month, so if you are around Davis, California within the next month, I recommend you stop by the Delta and take a look and if you make it there in the morning, definitely order a breakfast there. I've found that the best cure for a hangover is vomiting, biking in the rain in a t-shirt and getting a Delta of Venus breakfast. It works everytime. We may also be hosting some sort of dance party near the end of the showing. I'll post more info on that, later, along with some pictures of the showing.
As for my portion of the showing, I have put seven of my collages up there (Infanticide, EXTERMINATIONTHRUPROCREATION, the Brutal Death art, CEREBRALCIRCUMCISIONINCISION, UC Daeefus, Do Cavemen Dream of Electric Sheep? and the Future is a Machine). With the exception of "the Future is a Machine" and the Brutal Death artwork, they are all for sale at negotiable prices. I put a lot of effort into mounting them in the most precarious fashions possible. I acquired various cutting boards, paintings, clipboards and planks, which I have painted over and glued my collages on top. Since the collages are themselves made precariously on the backs of cardboard boxes, getting oll of them to stay flat was a challenge, with any amount of glue. For the few that I couldn't get to stay flat, I utilized the help of a staplegun, so the collages are not all in mint form anymore, but I personally like the touch the staples add to them.