Oi!Vision interview: Oi!Vision is a very cool site that promotes bands from a wide range of music genres, though it's emphasis is on punk, hardcore ska and Oi! There are alot of other things there also, though. Alot of record reviews & some interviews as well. We were lucky enough to get an interview with Sebastian Kuboth, reviewer and co-founder of Oi!Vision & I want to thank him very much for taking the time to do this interview! As this interview was done in German (thank you Arndt for your help with my questions!!), there will be two pages, one in English and one in German. That will probably be very helpful to the Oi! Vision fans, I think :) -Mikki 1/07

AUF DEUTSCH

Sebastian: From the beginning Marcus and I were with this. We knew one another online since the end of 1999 because, since the 90's, we operated Böhsen Onkelz fansites, Marcus with 3tioz.de and I with bofan.de. Early on we started working together and, after the first meeting in person, a friendship developed. It was quickly apparent that neither of us only liked listening to the Böhsen Onkelz but bands such as SpringtOifel and the Broilers as well.

In the spring of 2001, Marcus told me, during a phone conversation, of his idea to start a music magazine which would have an emphasis on punk, hardcore ska and Oi!. As a name he also suggested "Oi!Vision". I was totally excited by the plan, although, at the time, I didn't know everything that would have to be done for such a project. On March, 2001, Oi!Vision went online at www.oivision.de. Over the course of the year some reviewers and programmers joined. For example, Olaf from SpringtOifel wrote record reviews at times for Oi! Vision. The site, at the time, was already well structured and the start was also very successful, as we very quickly had a considerable number of visitors. Unfortunately, many lacked the time to extensively apply to such a project and many reviewers and programmers came and went over the course of time. At the beginning, I also found it hard to write record reviews as I had never done so in the past. In time it became easier for me and is now alot of fun. In 2003, Marcus, in collaboration with Dennis Suckau, brought the current design and programming online.

DML: You have several interviews on your site. Some of these seem like they would be hard to get - J.B.O. and Spider Murphy Gang for instance. How did you manage these?

Sebastian: Either we have an invitation to a concert - sometimes with an offer to do an interview with the band or we ask ourselves. With Spider Murphy Gang and J.B.O. the question came from me because they are a personal interest of mine.

DML: Some of the bands on your site, as well as some of the CD's reviewed (Peter Frampton???) don't seem to quite fit into the category of "Hardcore, Ska, Punkrock und Oi!". How do you explain that?

Sebastian: We are not fixated solely on those named musical areas. In the head graphic of our webzine it says, for example, "Alternative, Punkrock, Hardcore and Oi! music". The term "alternative" provides a bit of freedom. Music is a very complex subject. There are hardly any musical styles that are not in some way related to others. I have, for example, written reviews for Ted Herold and Spider Murphy Gang simply for the reason that they play classic rock 'n' roll as well as rockabilly. These music styles are the roots of those we have named. With ska it is a little different. But the roots of ska lie in rhythm and blues which is, on the other hand, the root of rock 'n' roll. Peter Frampton also has his roots in that and from there I find that nothing is unsuitable or absolutely fitting for Oi!Vision. I also want to stand out from the other music magazines and reviewers in that I want to bring to light this way of seeing things. I am very concerned with not only criticizing or simply, uncaringly, typing out a few lines about a certain product which an artist has put their entire heart into. To me it is important to bring the complexities and the beauty in the music as well as everything else that goes with it close to the people.

DML: You have, to date, 543 CD reviews on your page. Where did all these CD's come from? Bands, record labels, or did you actually pay $10,000 for them? ;)

Sebastian: Naturally a portion of the albums were purchased on our own but the majority we've received from labels, promotion companies and the bands. If it were not as such, there'd be no way we could exist in this form.

DML: Are there any bands that you think we should keep a particularly close eye on because they're especially good?

Sebastian: Naturally there are many. As a music reviewer one finds many bands that are impressive. In the last months for me, for example, there was Chumbawamba or Taxgas. Chumbawamba gripped me with their unplugged program. Otherwise, it's really a matter of taste. As for German bands, I would definately say that there are lots of big things yet to come for the Broilers. Frau Doktor, a ska band from Wiesbaden, are also fantastic in their sphere. Also, the last 4 Promille album knocked my socks off. Taxgas, who I mentioned earlier, are a small band from München who have definate potential. It just depends what will come of it in the future.

DML: You have a yearly pin-up contest? Please tell us more about that and how did you get involved in it?

Sebastian: If the pin-up contest follows through yearly is still in the stars. I think that we let it run out the two years that it took place. This year is the first time that we are seeing it through. Marcus and I are again behind it. How the idea came about, I can no longer quite say. In any case, the idea originated in one of our conversations and Marcus had then changed the idea again, if I remember correctly. We made the contest because we wanted to offer our visitors something more than the standard contents which one normally finds on webzines. We liked the idea and the pin-up theme was just the thing. The fact that we won the aid of the print fanzine, "Moloko Plus" and the well-known photographer, Dirk Behlau, was a development that we very much welcomed. We still have a few small things up our sleeves that need polishing up. Everything else is shown.

DML: What cool and exciting experiences have you had while working on Oi! Vision?

Sebastian: The best part is when one gets to know a band through records and concerts which enthuses one with their music. If one then, accordingly, writes something positive about the band and then one receives appreciation by the artist through e-mail or a later meeting, that is a wonderful thing. It is just as great when one personally gets to know an artist whose music has accompanied one their entire life (as was the case with Spider Murphy Gang).

DML: What interesting things do you have planned for the near and/or far future of the site?

Sebastian: At the moment, the entire focus of Oi!Vision is to bring new content on a regular basis (which actually is not easy. Volker and Andi, who have recently joined on, help with that alot. It is, unfortunately, not easy to find good reviewers.). Furthermore, we are also very busy with the pin-up contest that will begin in two weeks. A continuation of the very successful Christmas contest is planned for Easter and a few small restructurings within the site are on the agenda. In 2007, we want to tackle the themes of Tour, Events and Band Support.

DML: I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview, the site is great!!! Is there anything you'd like to add?

Sebastian: Thank you very much for your interest. Keep up the work with Deutschmusikland (I have been an enthusiastic visitor for some years). Cheers!

More at:

• Oi!Vision
• Oi!Vision on MySpace