Interview: Astpai

Following their incredible set at this year's Groezrock, we caught up with Zock from Austrian punks Astpai...

The Punk Archive: Give us a brief history of Astpai's career?
Zock: A brief history of ten years? That's a tough one, especially since the very first Astpai show took place almost 13 years ago. I guess the story goes like this: we practiced loads, we played more and more shows every year, slept on more floors than beds, smoked a lot, drank even more, found some time in-between to write and put out five full lengths and kissed all conventional social habits such as working a regular job, paying rent, starting families, and so on goodbye.

The Punk Archive: You've shared stages with some hugely influential bands. How has this been for you over the years?
Zock: Getting the chance to play with some of your most favourite bands, musicians and people you look up to is the best fucking thing in the world.

The Punk Archive: You're an exceptionally hard working band. What is it about being on tour you guys love so much, and how do you keep your energy and enthusiasm up?
Zock: That's pretty simple: being able to tour and play our songs live was the main reason to start the band in the first place. As long as people wanna hear our shit and they make it out to the shows, we'll keep adding dates to our calendars. At best, you shouldn't have to worry about your enthusiasm, because being on the road is what you chose to do with your time and it's a fucking joyride most of the time anyway. Of course there are some days where you just wanna stop at the next airport and fly straight to wherever your makeshift 'home' is at the moment, but those moments pass fairly quickly. Keeping the energy up can get tough sometimes, especially when you're feeling ill or hungover or lonely on tour. All that can eat up a lot of energy and motivation. However, playing your show at the end of a tough day always makes up for any emotional or health-bound crisis.

The Punk Archive: Burden Calls is going to be your fifth full length. How has your sound changed over the five albums?
Zock: Well, if you compare our upcoming record Burden Calls with our first release, you'll hear that we're not the dorky bunch of teenagers anymore that just picked up their instruments for the first time, not having a clue what the fuck life is all about. I guess with every record, you can realize a big step up both musically and lyrically. Sound wise, we've definitely moved from what could be considered hardcore punk to solid, rock-based punk rock.

The Punk Archive: Can you give us any insight into the new record? Are there any surprises in store?
Zock: I'd say Burden Calls is full of surprises: at least I hope that's how people are gonna feel while listening to it. Once more, we've worked our asses off to record the best album possible at the time. The major difference on Burden Calls is that the lyrics are all connected and tell one story of a fictional character. That was a very exciting and new approach for me. Compared to Efforts And Means, we went back to writing slightly shorter songs with more chorus-parts, which, however, will not make it easier for us to choose songs for a live show. It's already so freaking hard to fit more than nine songs in the average punk-show-set.

The Punk Archive: You recently played Groezrock Festival; how was that for you?
Zock: Groezrock was absolutely unreal. We had a total blast! In a hundred years, we would have never ever expected that many people to show up and if we only could, we'd thank each and every single person that got up early and made it into the main stage tent. You all made us so incredibly happy, you got no idea.

The Punk Archive: What is the Austrian punk scene like? Are there any bands we should be looking out for?
Zock: To be honest, we're not spending too much time in Austria anymore, but whenever we're there, it seems like the punk scene is alive and well. There's quite a few amazing bands such as Ants!, Deadends, The Forum Walters, The Liberation Service, Small Hours, BHF, Sex Jams, James Choice, and many more.

The Punk Archive: What does the rest of 2014 hold for Astpai?
Zock: We're just finishing our six-week tour with The Smith Street Band and Restorations. After that, we'll be playing a short run of shows between Austria, Italy and Slovenia in June. Then in July, we're taking off with Only Crime, which will be a freaking blast! There will also be a few festivals here and there and in September we'll start touring the new record as much as possible, so keep an eye out!


Astpai release their fifth full-length, Burden Calls, on 22nd August 2014 (UK and Europe) and 22nd September 2014 in the USA.