Brown Inbound Interview #2: Azim Nobeebaccus [TRC, CRIPPLER LBU, FLAWLESS VICTORY]

In contrast to my previous interview, I've decided to undergo questioning of a member of the UK hardcore scene who I've had no previous contact with whatsoever. I can however say that the importance of his bands - most notably TRC - cannot go understated. I think I speak for everyone involved in UKHC when I say that one could not be involved in the genre without some exposure to TRC, either through their eclectic influence pool or just the beautifully hilarious nature of their music videos. I have to respect artists who are so uncompromising with their blend of styles and unwitting bravery to venture outside of the box. Love them or hate them, TRC epitomises this sentiment. I can't tell you the amount of times I've watched the 'Define Cocky' music video on a continuous loop and out of all the insane things going on in that video, the two things that really stuck with me were the fact the guitarist had a 'Boy Better Know' shirt on and one of the four (yes, you heard me, four) singers looked like he might be a member of the brown brigade. I was right, so enough of my waffle and let's get stuck in to Azim's interview...

Hi Azim, thanks for agreeing to do this interview with me. I'm going start with some quick questions about yourself starting with your family background, could you give me a quick history?

Well I was raised in a household with an older brother and both parents. Both my parents were immigrants, my father was Mauritian and my mother is from Pakistan. My father’s family were quite poor and my dad was doing manual labour from a young age. I would consider our household a liberal Muslim one. Pakistani & Mauritians are different in culture if you go by both sides of my family. The Pakistanis are more fiery whilst the Mauritians seem more laid back. Basically, my mum was the boss of the house and the dominant and driving force. Both my parents being nurses, they were hard workers, constantly juggling work and us. They came to this country and worked their socks off to provide for us so they’re was always a strong sense of work ethic. As we were immigrants, the belief was instilled that we had to work extra hard. Racism was and still is present in society, both directly and indirectly.

Did your parents listen to a lot of music growing up at home? What did they listen to and how much of an impact did this have on your development? Any particular records you still stick on from time to time?

Junaid Jamshed and the gang in Vital Signs
'Dil Dil Pakistan' is a CLASSIC.

It was straight up Bollywood most of the time. My mum always had a Bollywood movie on or some low budget Indian film with the bait fighting scenes. If you’ve ever watched a Bollywood movie, music plays a big part of this. Dil Dil Pakistan (listen HERE) by Junaid Jamshed (Vital Signs) was a classic also, I’ve just put it on now! Absolute banger. It’s almost like the Pakistani theme tune, I’m surprised it’s not their national anthem. Maybe it is? My mum also played Qawwali, which was very popular in Pakistan at the time. Qawwali is like an Islamic spiritual music and is very mesmerising. She also played her good share of Cliff Richard, ABBA and her personal favourite was Diana Ross! My dad’s influences were very different and was open to different tastes. Mauritius is an island and is incredibly diverse and is a place where the Indian, African & Chinese cultures meet. Sega is a type of music originating from Mauritius and is a dance as well as a type of music. This wasn’t played at home, but whenever we went to a Mauritian wedding, I’d remember hearing the Sega and seeing the dance, was magnificent. At home however, my dad always had the old school cassettes playing in his Mazda, my memory is hazy on this but I do remember him playing Daydream believer by Anne Murray quite a bit! He loved the old school classics and went out to concerts every now and again.

What was your perception of punk/hardcore if you had any as a child or adolescent before you fell into the subculture? Did you see it a certain way that clash with your identity/place in your community before you came to know more about it?

Well, it was different. I always knew the mainstream crap that was playing on the radio wasn’t for me. This was too ‘normal’. I was straight up against the grain for as long as I can remember. However, I knew I had to deal with the questions, talking behind my back about my alternative music tastes. Yes, it wasn’t culturally accepted, I knew this and that fuelled fire to explore it even more. Punk music, was grouped together with drink & drugs, anti-religion, anti-authority, tattoos and fucking shit up. Although the extended family probably had their reservations, even my parents probably had their own reservations, they backed me as best they could. You gotta think, some of these music genres we are exposed to in the Western world wasn’t exposed to my parents back at home.

What are your biggest musical, aesthetic and cultural influences in your approach to the art you have produced?

London as whole was my biggest influence. London is a harsh place, and as vocalist this was the best way to express this. We used to talk a lot about hate because that’s what we were seeing, that’s what we were experiencing. That all came through our music, and it was clear.

What was your first and/or most memorable experience of racism, if any?

I’ve known racism for as long as I can remember. I remember kids in primary school throwing about words like Nigga & Paki. I remember feeling threatened by these words because really, I was both. There were also a lot of Indians in my area, and they disliked Pakistanis due to the situation over there. All this shit is generational, it’s passed down through families for years and years. Saying that, this wasn’t one sided. The whole Israel Palestine situation and the dismantling of the Middle East has been happening for as long as I can remember. I’ve heard really bad racism coming from my community against Jewish & White people. The Whites had a derogatory term for us ‘Paki’ and we had a derogatory term for them ‘Gora’. It was real sad, straight up ignorant and pathetic and I’m glad I saw it for what it was. Growing up in London, a place which was a melting pot, every now and again it would bubble and spill. That’s when you really saw the racism within people come up. People that I would never have thought, ended up being racist because that is what they were conditioned to be and didn’t have the intelligence to know better.

How did you eventually find out about punk and hardcore and what was the process that eventually got you going to shows and playing in bands?

Certainly before my time but the Punk-O-Rama
comps were a massive gateway for many UK heads

It started with Metal and Punk in high school. I remember when one of the Punk-O-Rama’s came out, number 4 or 5. They had the tune by The Misfits - Dust to Dust & Pennywise - My Own Country. We had a little boombox, used to make a mixtape and take it down whilst we were skateboarding. Then I went to a Deconstruction tour in East London, I must have been like 16, well before they tightened restrictions on ID. Anyways after Pennywise played, I showed the lead singer my tattoo by the front barrier and he pulled me and 2 friends backstage. So, there we were, just like that hanging out with Pennywise. At the end of the show we stood in the massive empty arena, just us and them chatting away smoking a spliff. Then I remember seeing bands like Agnostic Front, Sick of it all and thought what is this?? One of the first hardcore shows I remember going to was when BDF played with CryforSilence at the Underworld, I already knew Cryforsilence through friends. This is when I first heard ‘beatdown’, not only beatdown, ‘London beatdown’. It’s a unique style and no other style worldwide compares. Knuckledust, Ninebar, 50 Caliber, straight up London sound and style.

Which types of people did you gravitate towards when you began going to shows? Did the social aspect of it affect how you experienced the scene?

To start with it was just me and my friend going to shows. I was there to listen to the music, that was always the foundation. The music bought people together, and still does. This is a common trend in any genre of music. Race, colour, religion, that shit didn’t seem to matter at all, especially at London shows. Unless, you were a Nazi, then you didn’t last long….

The first TRC record is entitled ‘North West Kings’ and from my experience, North West London is a multicultural hotbed harbouring primarily strong Caribbean, Arab and Irish communities. North and North West London also helped to shape early incarnations of grime through garage groups like Heartless Crew with the region still continuing to be a key player in UK hip hop with artists like Nines, Fredo etc. Would it be fair to say TRC was a product of everything going on in the early 00s in NW and how much did this influence the band’s approach?

TRC was a fusion of everything going on. Every member in TRC at the time had a different spin. As a group, the different cultures were blatantly noticeable in the music. It’s going back, but we just played what we wanted, no limits. Yes, we were hardcore, we played hardcore show but we also rapped. There was no pretending to be American like a lot of bands were doing and are still doing. That just never made any sense. We weren’t biting styles, we were creating our own. It was a new wave of music, it was new and fresh. That’s why they called us along with Prowler and other new bands at the time, New Blood. That’s why people loved it, it was ruthless, to the point and unfiltered.

‘Destroy and Rebuild’ also features a UK hip-hop track, ‘Dark Days’, how did this come happen and who features on this track? Does this song reflect the band’s wide-ranging links to non-hardcore genres that influenced you?

AC was on this track with one of his friends (can’t remember his name). But yes, as mentioned earlier just because bands are doing it a certain way, it didn’t mean we had to. If we were into rap or hip hop than why would that not come through in the music?

Crippler LBU has a strong graffiti aesthetic running throughout. Graffiti culture shares an inseparable link with hardcore music for decades and this was no exception for LBU. What elements of graffiti culture influenced you on your artistic journey?

LBU has had strong graff links since its inception
Ninebar being one of the key players

Graffiti is street expression, so is hardcore. This is why they gel together, like hip hop too. Any urban music coming out of the UK, be it Grime, Drum n Bass has an inseparable attachment to Graffiti. Street kids, like street vibes, simple as that. Graffiti was part of my life before hardcore so that defiantly had an influence. When I came across Ninebar with their tune Fuck BTP (listen HERE) I couldn’t believe it. So many prolific writers have been involved in hardcore.

Tell me about the sketchiest/wildest gig you've been to that comes to mind.

There’d be too many to talk about. Ieperfest about 8 years ago? or something was pretty mad, we came straight out a rave in Kings Cross the night before. A few hours later we were a ferry on the way to Belgium. It was proper messy, me and Flawless were on one and pulling up in this was in the summer so it was baking. Bun Dem Out were playing, outdoor stage type thing. Proper heavy.

Favourite bands with ethnic members and why are they important to you?

My favourite bands in hardcore with ethnic members have been and still are Madball, BDF Knuckledust and Prowler to name a few. I don't really consider bands by ethnic background but by the music they play. Hey, what even constitutes an ethnic anyway? Non-white? Hard question to answer actually, Oh and Ignite from California, always loved Ignite!

And lastly, how have things changed for the ethnic involvement in punk and hardcore since you started going to gigs? Is there a noticeable difference, have things got better or worse? This question is a little different to my last interview as I believe you have a few kids of your own! Once your kids reach their teens, would the scene as it is be a place you would want them to be? Could it be made safer? does it need to be?

I’m certainly not as active as I once was due to commitments. However, when it comes to ethnic involvement, not much has changed. Maybe at bigger shows this will be different, but at LBU shows, Rucktion shows, good people run this. I was welcomed into the scene as my kids will be too. It doesn’t need to be made safer in my opinion. The reality of the world is harsh, and that reflects in every scene. What I love about hardcore is that it is not polished, its gutter, its grimy. I’d take my kids to a hardcore show now if I could, the music is for everyone to enjoy.

 Can we look forward to Crippler playing some shows post-lockdown?

I certainly hope so! We haven’t done anything for years and we were supposed to play this April gone, but obviously that has been put on hold. We’ve all got busy lives but I’m keen to get something going for sure. I’d be keen to get Flawless Victory doing something but doubt that will happen. FV was just straight grimy [Listen HERE].

Any last words or anything you want to air, please do!

All the bands I been in come to think of it always had a diversity of culture. Why would it be any other way, it’s a representation of London, a mash up of different people. If people don’t like that well I don’t see why they’d even come to a HC show in the first place. Punk I guess will be different and racism will be more prevalent.