Punktuation-What is the name of your band and how would you describe yourselves?

We are Dawncore from Budapest, Hungary and we've played for ages. Originally we started to play in 1994 but just for fun. We lived in the same district and we hung out together. We were simple grind/hc/trash skate kids -it was different per person. I was the last one who joined the band and I became the singer cause I had talent to nothing and I was to lazy to practice. How can I describe ourselves? We rock....

P-Who are the members of the band and what does each person play?

D-We don't like to enumerate our names because they sound weird and no one can note them, but here we go: I am Kevin (in Hungarian it is Balazs) - I scream, we have Roland on bass, Zsolt on drums, and Sabi on guitars. We are still looking for a new guitar player so he is anonymous (as of) yet.

P-Where does the band reside and what is it like there in comparison with the rest of the world?

D-The whole band hails from Budapest from the capital of Hungary, exactly from Budapest. Budapest is seperated by the river Danube. In comparison to other cities (I've been in almost every European country), Budapest is more adventurous and interesting I think. Such a huge scumbag, (but) I love to live here. A perfect mix of the mess of the Mediterranean and the east, and the commercialized west.

P-What is your outlook on the music scene today? What about specifically the hardcore punk scene?

D-We do not care that what kind of hardcore we are (is) metal or chaos or what(ever) else. Fuck that, we do not care at all. If someone will say we are assholes and we are not hardcore, we do not care either. If hardcore is not about building walls we are hardcore, if it is about labels and back stabbing, we are not. I see the biggest problem in the music scene is that the basic talent is not appreciated. The main problem is that wrong people sit in inportant chairs. We just faced this fact a couple of weeks before when we tried to push Dawncore into some bigger shows...read what happened on our website.

P-Do you think kids nowadays have a greater appreciation towards the style of hardcore punk rock than in times past?

D-I dont think so, it just goes on the same way, it is a spiral. Sometimes it's more popular, sometimes it is not. It is changing year by year. But in genre, the guitar played rock music just comes back I think.

P-What is the scene like where you're from?

D-I think it is healthy but still does not move as much people as, for example, in (the) Czech (Republic). There are bands I like, definatelly the biggest hardcore band in hungary is NEWBORN, they are awesome, I love them. I still love, for example, FALCONGATE, FALLEN INTO ASHES or THE TAKTIKA, I have to say, but most of the bands are not mature musically to play, or maybe I am wrong, that I can not enjoy their sets, I do not know. The typical accident: hard conviction and message but no musical and live performance inspiration. We all have these cliques here too-what is not that bad I think till everybody is doing his thing first.. Anyway we do not play that much in Hungary - because of the lack of people- and we take efforts to play bigger shows with metal bands. Of course we got the sell out and rock star labels from some guy, but it is unescapable...no one could be loved by everyone.

P-What sorts of things happen there that differentiate it from other parts of the world?

D-Hmmm, weird question.....I think just the same shit is goin on here than everywhere else in Europe. The differences are maybe that Hungary is as other middle European countries-a bit poorer than the rest of western Europe. But this is not that striking.

P-Of the cities and countries you've travelled to, where are some of the places that stick out in your mind?

D-If the people are nice, I love to be everywhere. it is really important to a touring band how the promoters handle the band. Tons of times it happened that the city we played was beautiful but we just felt ourselves unnecesary. I just dont understand sometimes why the hell a club books a band if they dont want them to play there..but Spain is definately one of the coolest place I've ever been. In general, I am just more than happy that I can play and I can hang out at places I've only dreamt of. A US tour would be cool, but we heard from everyone how hard is to tour there-no food, no place to sleep.

P-How would you describe your style of music to somebody who has never heard you before?

D-ROCK...it is hard to say or draft but, I am pretty sure that Dawncore is not the band who wants or can change the world, cause the people in Dawncore are real mortals who want to see themselves clear first. But what is important is that we are hardly trying to keep the moral clearness, the moral attitude. I think this is the main difference between a band from the punk rock scene and a band from the metal scene. This is the main (part)-not how you sound. We are playing heavy music from the start. First we played cause we could not play any another way, later cause we loved to use our knowledge the way that people do not like, I think we really like to play music that makes people indignant.

P-How did it come about that you did a split EP with Darkest Hour?

D-We supported them on their European tour and JTTP just came up with the idea. We love Darkest Hour, so we we're happy with it. The Darkest Hour dudes fuckin rock and they are really cool dudes, we love them. Except that fuckin Ryan Parrish whose hobby is to get naked before public.

P-Who are some of your influences? Favorite bands?

D-Initial influences are...hmmm...hard to say cause it is really different. But bands like Converge, Deadguy, Today is the day, or Coalesce are loved by all of us cause they were able to re-draft the topic of playin hard if you know what I mean. That is why they are awesome, cause they rock hard on their own way. What we listened to at the real beginning...hm....let me see, I think from Slayer to Repulsion through Cromags or Metallica or D.R.I. But it was 6 or 8 years before. We changed and learned a lot since then. I would be sad if we would not (have). I think nowdays it is really not typical - especially for Sabi - that they collect or listen to noise hardcore records but it is not my deal at all. It still makes me sweat when I am on my own at home with the new Neurosis or with an AFI, for example. In my bag...

P-What bands do you think we should keep our eyes out for in the future?

D-Fuckin Newborn. They are probably the best hardcore band in Europe right now I think. I love Strike Anywhere too, I don't know how big they are in the States but I love them. I don't know too much to mention...

P-How did it come about that you joined Join The Team Player Records?

D-They were our friends before and they work as maniacs. And we love them cause Ivonne is pretty and Marco is stylish as fuck.

P-What has it been like ever since that?

D-Since then, things just work as they have to. Expect that we have to find a new guitar player again. That is pretty sucky. Of course, I know they are not a big label but dedication and sincerity means a lot to us.

P-What releases have you guys put out and of all of them, which are your favorites?

D-Well ...we had a couple of demo tapes but the first release that is worthy of mention is a split 7" with Burning Inside. Since then unfortunately they broke up. We have a CD out on Trottel Records called "Obediance Is A Slower Form Of Death" (the 10" version is still available on SHING records...http://www.shingrecords.com" target="newframe">www.shingrecords.com). After that we had a 7" called "We Are Young So We Scream To Feel Alive" on Burning Season Records (the repress was done by Capeet Records) and we have "Entertainment For The Rest", and the split with Darkest Hour on JTTP.

P-If you could play with any four bands, who would they be?

D-Who would we like to tour with? Let's see...who can pay the most :) Seriously, I would be really happy if we ever would be able to tour with any bigger metal band, for example, with In Flames or soilworks or Entombed, or Hatebreed. We would reach tons of new kids I think. The most useful doesnt mean that you can tour with your favourite band.

P-What are your plans for the future?

D-Well we have to see clearly what we still want to reach with the band, which path we want to walk on. Maybe we have to find motivation and ambition to make these motivations real. And of course it is a must to make a concrete lineup again. Expectations are high cause our old bass and guitar player were geniuses.