MENTALT KONGLOMERAT

Indre Krig dukket opp ut av intet med den fullstendig spinnville demotapen sin i april 2021, midt i den verste nedstengingen. DEMO ‘21 var en Atlanterhavskryssende affære, med medlemmer fra både Oslo, Boston og København, som lager så idiotisk fengende riff at man begynner å ane konturene av hva isolasjon og kjedsomhet virkelig er i stand til å gjøre med sentralnervesystemet til rastløse punks.

Den Adult Crash-utgitte oppfølger-EPen Destroyer fra september 2022 gjorde ikke akkurat racet noe enklere for andre band med fengende aspirasjoner, for her går det faen meg unna, pønkegunnar. Spør hvem som helst som har vært så heldige å oppleve dem live på USA-turné, i Barcelona, Leeds, Newcastle, Køben-bastionen K-Town – eller, naturligvis, på Hundre tusen volt i skallen-festivalen som Den bisarre lyd satt opp i februar 2023, der de spilte to sett på både Blitz og Barrikaden. Den moderne hardcore-klassikeren «Claustrophobia» ble jublet frenetisk etter begge gangene. Vi slo over til internasjonal lingo fra morsmålet og tok en kjapp fot i bakken med de Køben-baserte oppviglerne.

You are an Atlantic-transcending crew, representing the, in your own words, «boston\oslo\copenhagen conglomerate». How did you meet and how did Indre Krig come about?

Chloë: I’ve never been in the punk scene before, but when I first moved to Copenhagen I moved in with some cool people in the scene who introduced me to Jonathan, Christina and Erling. I saw one (seated) live show, and then started convincing them to start a band with me. And they did!

Erling: The idea of the band came about when I was tired of not doing anything during lockdown and decided to make a one man project with some riffs I had laying about, but I showed it to Salomon and he wanted to play bass on it, so I threatened Jonathan to join the new band which was good because I suck at drums, and I realised Chloë probably could sing and cajoled her to join, but I don’t think Sal, Jonathan and Chloë ever were at a rehearsal together, and then Sal stopped showing up altogether, so we tried out a few other bassists for like four months worth of practice, recorded a demo where I did both guitar and bass, and eventually Christina came along and nailed the bass role, and here we are.

Jonathan: All true, Norwegian threats are intense.

Quite a ride. You have played in other bands before – Jenkem Warriors, Cesspool and Nonplus, to name a few. How does Indre Krig differ from your previous artistic outlets?

Erling: Not that much for me. Parts of this for me is just a continuation of all the dumb riffs my old band Terrorstat wouldn’t let me play.

Jonathan: I think the biggest difference for me is that the drum kit got an extra cymbal, and getting to experience all of the madness that is Erling’s writing process. True fucking madness. Gets me stoked. And violently confused.

The extraordinarily good demo tape DEMO ‘21 kicks the door in from the get-go with the opening track «Hypocrite». Who are the biggest hypocrites in 2023?

Christina: Politicians claiming to work towards a better future for everyone, while really only working towards fulfilling their own selfish needs and better their position in power. Professional politicians are hypocrites by definition and representative democracy is a joke. Money rules the world at the expense of the people, and the pandemic only underlined the reality of the shit show we’re in.

Chloë: Yeah, I agree that politicians during the pandemic showed us what they really stand for. As the US becomes increasingly authoritarian with every restriction on protest, voting rights, and freedom of expression. I wrote «Hypocrite» when Ruth Bader Ginsburg had just died, and the Republicans’ hypocrisy was so flagrant and unapologetic it defied comprehension. Genuinely astounding. Democrats are a joke. I thought when I left the US it would be better, but European politics are just as xenophobic and racist.

What is the «inner war» the band name refers to?

“Dere er gjerda inn og jeg er gjerda inn sånn inni meg, med snuten og sånne greier” – Pønketormod

Chloë: I think it means something different for each of us individually. For me, it’s about the conflict between trying to make the right choices and be a good person every day, compared to my desires to relax, have fun and consume. I try to speak up for what I believe in, and to practice what I preach - but I also become a hypocrite when I fail to follow through. The price of my individual hypocrisy, or that of individual citizens ignoring the cost of their silence or consumption choices, can’t be compared with that of politicians or powerful corporate leaders – because we have way less power. But it’s still hypocrisy, and our individual choices do matter. So for me the inner war is about fighting myself every day to be the person I want to be.

What are the main obstacles between the world we live in now and a better one?

Christina: That’s a difficult question. Money, greed and power. To sum it up. Personally, I believe in creating free spaces as a means to build resistance to achieve greater goals in unison with likeminded people. Or, spaces that strive towards a better world, at least. The obstacles in the big picture are too numerous to take on as an individual all at once. I choose to spend the resources I have by working at one of our local counter cultural social spaces, hoping it will serve as one of many catalysts for bigger social change.

Plans ahead for the band?

Jonathan: Eating more pastries, skating Hell Curb and hopefully getting Erling back on the board.