On MRR Radio a few weeks back I played a pathetically miniscule Greek punk set with a plea for some word about some Greek punk past and present. Well, the call has been answered and generous punks Lydia Athanasopoulou (Athens punk, show thrower, and creator of a new zine N o w h e r e, whose input you can read HERE) and Panos Andrianos (Mountza zine and ANTIMOB — see his contribution below) have sent the following information about killer Greek punk! Explore it and enjoy it. I guarantee no matter what sort of punk or HC you are into, you will find something you like here…
By Panos Andrianos:
Back in the mid-’80s/early ’90s, most Western punks didn’t even know where Greece was on the map. Many thought that Greece was all about feta cheese, ouzo, bouzouki, islands and traditionally dressed old ladies. During the last couple of years, things changed. Nowadays, Greece is well known internationally as the first eurozone country, which pretty much went bankrupt.
However, most punks worldwide still know nothing about the well hidden Greek do it yourself punk/crust movement of the mid ’80s and early ’90s, a movement which was authentic, had character and managed to influence deeply the majority of the local punks.
What follows, is a number of hard to find videos (mostly live sets) that were recently uploaded on Youtube. This is just to give you a short picture of what was going on in the early days of the Greek punk scene, which in my opinion was way better than the current one.
I am not giving any details about the bands performing in these videos. Check the upcoming Mountza issue (a fanzine I am doing with two friends) for an extended coverage of this scene. Bear in mind that back then 95% of the live performances took place in squats or open sites (city squares and parks) and were run in an 100% diy way. None of the following bands accepted ever to play at commercial rock clubs with high entrance fees while most of them released their records themselves.
ANTI (1980 to 1990)
(Unofficial video clip, unknown date)
FORGOTTEN PROPHECY (Ξεχασμένη Προφητεία, 1989 to 1991)
(Athens, Villa Amalias Squat 1990)
(Athens, An Club 1990)
Oh yes, there’s lots more… Read the rest of this entry »
