Hacker are one of the best Australian hardcore bands right now. With a demo, LP and 7" under their belt, they are finally making it to Nambour and Brisbane, joining Italian punx Golpe for part of their Australian tour. Check them out on Sunday 19 Jan at the Black Box in Nambour from 6pm.

This interview was done a day after local friend and pillar of the local DIY community passed away. There were a million thoughts going through my head about him, which comes out in this interview. RIP Eccles.

Photos by Nicole Goodman and LM

BAD HABIT: Hello Nellie. Before we start, I just want to say a good friend of mine died yesterday, and I'm pretty flat and just dazed. So apologies if this interview gets morbid or goes into odd territory.

Death of someone close is hard, but I find myself having just a sense of emptiness more than any really intense emotions. Does age "flatten" people? Has age levelled you out? Do older people lose some sort of dynamic that is vital for younger punk? Can aging add some different depth to hardcore?

Nellie: Hi Borg. Before I start I want to say I'm really sorry for the loss of your friend. I hope you've had lots of hugs from your family and friends and that you have an opportunity to gather with people and share memories.

You've come to the right person to be morbid and odd with though, that's my shit. As someone who turns 40 this year and has friends of many different ages, the whole "ageing in punk" thing has been on my mind too.

I don't know if age flattens people unless they let it, but I've certainly levelled out (relatively) as I've gotten older. The absolute best thing about getting older is stopping caring what other people think. I would say that can come from having a wider scope, different priorities, or just no longer giving a fuck (for me, all three).

Age is a physically disabling event for most people, and I think the physical part of punk/hardcore can be a big drawcard for young folks. I've also seen many younger people turned away from punk by getting manhandled by some fuckwit at their first punk show, so it might just be a self-fulfilling prophecy too. 

For me, punk is propelled by anger. I've only gotten more furious as I've got older, but the rage has deepened and become more focused. Perhaps it's now a tool rather than a weapon. "Anger is an energy", as some idiot once said. 

BH: One really nice thing about the passing of my friend (nice is the wrong word, but you you know what I mean) is the coming together of the local community, to grieve and support the family. It makes me cherish my punk community and feel proud of it. I wanted to ask how Hacker fits into your local community. There's often tension between the idea of community in punk and the tendency towards obnoxious individualism. Tbh, I sometimes romanticise this side of things, and it is such a big part of punk history. Do you have any thoughts on this matter? 

N: I have had MANY thoughts on this matter Borg, and I don't know if I have one single answer. Community fluctuates, and is only as good as the work put it into it. As someone who's mostly sat closer to Ian on the Ian McKaye <- - - > G.G. Allin spectrum*, I've been beating my head against the wall for decades advocating for what I considered to be inclusivity, but at the moment I am tired and just want to play music and see friends. There's a romance to that obnoxious individualist character type, especially from far away. Like it's such a fuckin wild story that Sakevi took a flamethrower to the front row of the audience during a GISM set, but fuck being in that room! No way. I maintain that if punk needs to be a threat it should be a threat to the status quo, not to each other. Which includes not fucking up the few venues that might put your show on. 

I think when I started being in bands, for ages I felt I was trying to establish myself (my bands, not as an Individual) within The One Scene. I think it's far more productive to just DIY; do your own thing and let people who vibe you come to you. So I guess that's where Hacker fits. There's many overlapping communities, and communities within communities, at least down in Narrm, and it's less stressful to just not worry too much about how other people act. That being said, we as a band have some fairly set and shared values, and we don't fuck with dickheads.

*Thanks to Dan Fraser for this phraser

BH: All right, I think that's enough gloom and death chat. Let's move onto more light hearted topics, such as the tech-no-logic-kill, algorithmic hellscape that is the modern world. Is there any way out? Secretly, sometimes, I have some totally cynically nihilistic world view where the only solution is horrible leaders, leading us to our doom. Vote LNP/Trump for the end of the world, then rebuild from smouldering ashes? And the other options will still lead to the same place but take longer and be more polite and say all the right things, but it's still just crushing the poor and the environment to make lizard people more powerful. Do you have any hope in your heart? That's the question here. Where do you draw your hope from?

N: You ask me where my hope is after the year 2024 just dragged us all through the seven pits of hell? 

I also don't particularly have faith that leaders have all the power. Most political structures are increasingly corrupt, and in the case of the USA, their government has functioned as a corporation for some time. People like Trump are a symptom, a raging pimple from the face of power, and despite the chaos he's already caused, if he turns septic he too will be squeezed by whatever is lurking above him in the shadows. This could also be a horrendously bad take, I hate thinking about him. But propaganda spam has been flooding the internet for over a decade, and populaces are increasingly divided and cultified, at least from what one sees online (which could be propaganda spam in itself. WHAT IS REAL?). 

I have been struggling against Big Doom most of my life, and particularly in the past year, as I think many people have. Late stage disaster capitalism, the constriction of daily life due to cost of living and increasingly algorithmised/appified everything, while witnessing a genocide live to screen that many people feel powerless about. I've also started working in a sector which both fuels and channels my rage against #system, so I use most of my manufactured hope for that.

I'm kind of a miserable shit, so I practice some kind of doublethink; yeah there's probably no hope, but that's what they WANT you to think, and I'd still rather navigate my own life aligned with the values I think are right. I think entrenched individualism and capitalism play a large part in that feeling of hopelessness too. No one person can change things most of the time, but everyone can do their bit. The BDS (Boycott Divest Sanction) movement is an example of this. Use capitalism against itself. Also everyone should read Naomi Klein!

BH: Man, this interview isn't a great time is it? One thing that gives me hope is punk. Specifically punk shows. More specifically, Hacker playing the Black Box in Nambour.

What should the people expect of the Hacker? What are you hoping to get out of your time up here? Have you heard about Bli Bli Castle? or The Town Of Seaside? Both oddball local curiosities. If you have time you should check them out.

N: What should people expect? Five nerds on stage being loud. I am terrible at promo and hate music writing (there should be a licensing system) so instead I'll just say please come. Please. Please come to our show. I actually failed my first driving license test in Nambour so let's have a do-over.

I have heard of Bli Bli Castle but not Town of Seaside. Please elaborate. Despite my parents having lived further up the Sunny Coast for 20 years, I've not seen much of the good/weird shit around, so thank you for the prompt. When Hacker went to Perth, Cairo took a few of us to the suburban Museum of Natural History (aka Academy of Taxidermy). It is a room full of taxidermied animals in various states and it is a delightful shambly time. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Black Box and getting to play there! and visit Bad Habit of course. I really like playing places I haven't played before, and really value people turning up to a silly little travelling band, so I'm hoping for a Good Time. You get out of it what you put into it too. 

This interview HAS been a great time! I'm just glad you didn't ask me what makes me happy. Now there's the shit you REALLY don't want to know. 

SEE YOU SOON!

Get Tickets For the Nambour Show here- https://events.humanitix.com/golpe-italy?hxchl=mkt-loc&hxref=australia%2Fnambour

Get the Hacker "Psy -Wi-Fi" 7" here- https://badhabitrecords.square.site/product/hacker-psy-wi-fi-7-/6961?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true

Hacker "Pick Your Path" Lp - https://badhabitrecords.square.site/product/hacker-pick-your-path-lp/1146?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true