Prap H in Europe: Burke, Dan & Klaus (wearing unusually large pants!)
This looks like a happy version of a black metal promo photo : )

Praparation H are a fine grindcore band from Cincinnati. Klaus is a very good friend of mine and his brother (Dan) is very nice too. I'm sure that Burke is nice too but I've never met him. They have a couple splits out that you should really buy (Vacuum should have them). I stole this from the KDVS web site.

Visit the Prap H web page here. It has more photos, funny tour stories and other junk... Also you can check out the Rhinoworks page. It's the design firm that Dan works for and their page is smooth as heck.

If you feel like getting a hold of Praparation H, email Klaus.

KDVS: Hardly any of our listeners are familiar with Präparation H, so go ahead and describe to them what re leases you have and what you sound like.
Dan: We have a couple of tapessome demos that we've put outwe have a bunch of live tapes through U.S. and European labels, but vinylwise, we first put out a split 7" with Wadge from Canada on RSR Records in Germany. After that we put out a split with the Cripple Bastards on Vicious Interference in Florida, and just recently we put out a split wiht Agathocles from Belgium on Wiggy Records from Massa chusetts. We sound like, uh, that's a tough questiona grindcore punk band, I guess. Fast and loud.

KDVS: So, you originally came to America from Colombia where you were involved in hardcore. We seldom get to hear anything from South America, so what can you tell us about hardcore there, what's going on there, and what the scene is like?
D: The scene in Colombia is much like it is in other South American countries: very underground, but with a ton of active people setting up shows pretty much the same as it is here, I guess. There is a bunch of really good bands from South Americaa lot of really good ones from Brazil, and I know of an incredible amount of bands in Ecuador and Columbia as well. Some of them put out vinyl. There's actually a few people I've met here in the States who collect South American punk, metal, and grind bands. With the label I have just started, Anthropomorhic Records, I would like to put out a compilation on a 7" or a 12" of South American punk bands, because there is an incredible amount of them, and I think a lot of people up here are missing them because they don't have the proper distribution and a lot of people are paying attention to European bands.

KDVS: Can you describe your experience of being a musician in Colombia and how that differs from your experience here?
D: Well, we moved from Colombia when I was still a kid. We had a band, me and my brother, but it was kinda different from Präparation H. Judging from the experience of my friends' bands, things were much different. Things are harder of course; equip ment is much harder to get a hold of and a lot more expensive. Setting up shows is always a big pain because the police will come and shut them down a lot, and the support for the scene is not even half of what it is here. A lot of people here complain that their scene is a bad scene or whatever; over there punk, hardcore, and even metal is very, very, very underground, and there's very few people who even know anything about it. So it's a lot harder for bands to happen, but they still do, and there's plenty of them and a lot of good ones. My two favoritre bands of all time are from Colombia, La Pestilencia, they've put out a couple of LPs and a band called ¡Iá! from Medellín.

KDVS: How long have you been in America now?
D: We've lived here close to six years now.

KDVS: You live in Cincinnati now; what's going on there?
D: The scene here in Cincinnati is getting a lot better than it has been before. It used to be a really separated scene with punk kids hanging out on their own and straight-edge kids hanging out on their own and a lot of hardcore kids hanging out on their own. Lately I mean in the last year or sothere's been a couple of collective started and they've got shows going on with people coming together and hanging out. I've met a lot of kids in the last year who are from all kinds of scenes. We have a couple of labels and a bunch of bands who are really active in all kinds of different styles and stuff. Actually, there's a new compliation of Cincin nati bands coming out on a new label called Zombie Terrorist Records; it has a couple of poppy punk bands and more straightfor ward bands. There's a couple of radio shows, zines, and all kinds of things. It's a really united, strong scene right now, and it's grow ing a lot, so hopefully this summer will be a big summer, and we're gonna start booking a lot of good shows.

KDVS: That's good to hear. So, with your band, what kind of future plans do you have? Do you have any touring plans?
D: Yeah, actually, we just got done touring the East Coast and the Midwest. Right now we're writing new material to record for a couple of possible projects here and there's some comps and things. And in April we are going to Europe; we're going to be there for a couple of months. Hopefully, when we get back from that we'll go back into the studio and record some more, but right now our main fo cus is Europe.

KDVS: I know that touring Europe is a pretty taxing adventure which often causes bands to break up, so what kind of precautions are you making for that?
D: We're only taking people we like. (laughter) We've gotten rid of all the members of the band that we didn't like. No, actually, everybody in the bandwe're all really good friends, we were friends before we were in the band, and we're all hoping for the best. We've talked to a lot of bands who have gone to Europe to get hints from them about what to do and what not to do; but, of course, it's gonna be pretty rough on us for a while, because what can you do when you're stuck in a van with the only people you can talk to becase you're in the middle of Poland and nobody speaks English. It's gonna be really hard, but we're gonna try not to get too much on each other's nerves. We're gonna go out there and have as much fun as we can, I guess.

KDVS: Are you gonna take your own equipment?
D: We're basically only taking our guitars, and I guess our drummer will take his snare drum, and once we're there, we're getting hooked up with another band who we'll be touring with.

KDVS: That should make it a little easier.
D: Yeah, as long as we get along with that band, everything's gonna be okay. But what if we don't like them; I'd hate to get stuck in the van with them.

KDVS: So, with the label that you've begun, do you have any re leases yet?
D: The first release is gonna be a Präparation H/John Bender split. John Bender's a band also from Ohio really, really good crusty grind band. Then I'm gonna wait 'til I'm back from Europe to do a couple of other things. I'm hoping to do a com pilation tape of bands covering South American bands, and then hopefully do that compilation of South American bands on vinyl, and still looking for demos of other bands to press 7"s by, so if anybody's interested.

KDVS: Sure, if you want to give the address for our listneners.
D: The address would be Anthropomorhic Records, c/o Dan, 62 Creekwood Sq., Cincinnati, OH 45246-3811. And that's the same ad dress for Präparation H, so if anybody wants our releases, they can use the exact same address.

KDVS: Well, thanks for leting us talk with you. We wish you the best in Europe and with your releases.
D: Thank you very much, and I wish you good luck with the rest of the marathon. I hope you don't... (gasp) ...die?!?!