(Simha) Franklin Rhi

W 1994 roku 108 przylecial na trase do starego kontynentu po raz pierwszy a ta trasa byla dla mnie czyms bardzo wyjatkowym. Dla dzieciaka takiego jak ja, spedzenie 4 dni w towarzystwie kumpli z Respect i Amerykanow, Szwedow oraz bhaktow Sankirtana bylo nie lada gratka. Spalismy na podlogach tu i tam, bylo chlodno ale nikt z nas nie narzekal ani przez moment. Zaciera mi sie z czasem caly ten wyjazd i mam dziury w pamieci ale dla Franklina Rhi cala ta historia jest o dziwo caly czas swieza. Pamieta rzeczy na ktore ja nawet nie zwrocilbym wtedy uwagi. Teraz, po latach, potrafie chyba zrozumiec co Nowojorczyk taki jak on mogl czuc jezdzac z miasta do miasta wschodniej Europy.
Poprosilem go, zeby napisal dla mnie co pamieta z tego wyjazdu, zeby podzielil sie tym, co wtedy przezywal grajac te koncerty. Jego wrazenia, jak zobaczysz ponizej sam, troche mnie zaskakuja. Nie mialem pojecia, ze jego oczy widza to wszystko w takich kolorach a odbior naszej rzeczywistosci jest tak skrajny.

“I wanna spread NYHC throughout the world”…that was what I said in the summer of 1990 after seeing Killing Time, Supertouch, Burn and Dmize at CB’s. I loved NYHC. I cared about nothing else.

Fast forward to 1994, I’m told by Rob and Vic that 108 is going to Europe and if I can go during September through October. “Of course, hell yeah!” I said. We just toured the states and I was ready for more. I dropped out of school for the tour and haven’t looked back or regretted it since.

My first stop in Europe was a week in Berlin. Since our drummer couldn’t make it to the tour, we had our tour manager David from M.A.D. filling in on drums for us. We spent the week rehearsing and getting acquainted with Berlin. Immediately, I loved the city. It felt like NYC with all the grit. At the time, hardcore in the states was starting to get a bit more “emo-ish” and experimental, but in Berlin, it was like the old school style. So right off the bat, Europe and I hit it off. Since Berlin was part of former East Germany, I saw the remnants of communism in the streets and architecture. They greyness, the drabness and the run down conditions of the apartment complexes. It was definitely a new sight for me and was a taste of things to come.

The tour had now officially started and Refused were the openers. It was going to be a great tour. The first show we/I ever played in Europe was in Prague. Damn, it was all a shock. I never realized the poverty and hell people had to go through just to live. It was miserable. Grey, concrete, radiation, pollution, rubble, just a mess. East Germany, same thing. We play in Chemnitz and the venue was in front of a river that had nuclear reactors. Years, later I played there again and saw two old men fishing on the banks of that river. I was reliving my first memories of touring Europe.

After that first week of shows we entered into Poland. Life there was hard and the short time we spent there was hard. It was cold, muggy, wet, but exciting. So far the shows were great, but Poland to this day stands out to me. The shows were intense. Full of angst and alienation. The opening band for all our Poland dates was a band called Respect. I became friends with the drummer, Andy. I still remember the chorus to one of their songs. “Respect, human or animal!!” The conditions were rough. The whole band and everyone else, sleeping on floors in cold rooms, freezing, broke and hungry. We didn’t even take showers. We had to clean ourselves by pouring cold water over our bodies. At the same time, I was having the time of my life. I was never so excited to be playing shows and at the same time having my dreams come true. I also got really sick in Poland, which is why it stands out. Since the economy sucked, water was kind of scarce. All they had was warm seltzer water and really thick, sweet juice concentrate that we couldn’t really drink. And being told not to drink the tap water, I basically dehydrated and got really sick. We had no money. It didn’t even register; it was about spreading hardcore and playing shows.

After the shows, we would talk to the kids that came and they would tell me that the tickets were really expensive for them and they only made equivalent to $200USD if they were lucky. As I started to see, hear and experience everything, my whole perception of life and the world and my place in it started to change. I thought I knew it all. Most of us NYHC kids do come from the “hood” or the streets and yes, we had it rough, but it was all cake compared to the rest of the world. At this point, I started to keep to myself and tried to handle the new sensory overload my mind was exposed to. I just had no idea what to make of all this. I never realized how much we took for granted and how spoiled America was. I was feeling pretty small. Then we left Poland for Sweden. As soon as we passed the border, I begged the road manager for enough change to buy some water. I bought a one gallon jug of water and guzzled it. I didn’t even have to go to the bathroom. I was still thirsty and still sick as hell. And, to this day, I am very paranoid about daily water consumption quota!

On the other end of the spectrum was Scandinavia. Sweden in particular. Now this country made the U.S.A. look like an underdeveloped dump. It was clean, no homeless people, everything was new and shiny. When the guys in Refused told me that a lot of shows were government sponsored, I was pretty astonished. Italy was great, as well as the food. One of my favorite tour/life memories took place in Milan. One cold cloudy morning, Rob and I are walking the streets. Broke, hungry, tired and nowhere to go. It was pretty early so the city was pretty quiet. Then we see a pizza stand up the block. We stand in front of this place and look at the prices. We dip into our pockets and scrounge enough change for a small slice of pizza. Now, how are we going to eat this thing hygienically? We walk into an alley and set the paper plate on a brick. Rob gets a coin from his pocket and somehow cuts the pizza in half. Whatever, man. We ate in silence. We definitely paid dues on that tour.

The tour made me want to re-think life. I left 108, I left Crown of Thornz and just laid low. I was still feeling the effects on my mind. Words can’t really explain what I was experiencing. It was an extreme mix of everything. The people, the scenery, the scenes, the lifestyles, all at once.

Overall, being in Europe was the greatest thing to happen in my life and was a taste of things to come for the next 10+ years. That first tour always remains vivid in my head. When most people go to Europe, it’s about the weed, the beer, the chicks, etc. But for some reason, I picked up on the darkness that was life behind the Wall. Don’t ask me why, that’s just how it happened. But I loved every second of it. I made a lot of friends that I still keep in touch with and went back several times on tour having the time of my life. You can’t buy these kinds of things with money.

Franklin jest od wielu, wielu lat czescia tego co nazywamy potocznie scena. Gral w bardzo istotnych nowojorskich kapelach zaczynajac od Discipline, przez Ocean Of Mercy, Crown Of Thronz, Shelter do 108. Byl w pierwszym skladzie Bloodclot i okazyjnie gra ze Skarhead, przewinal sie przez Strife i inne hordy. Do tego wszystkiego jest super milym i skromnym gosciem.

Foty moje robione we Walbrzychu i Kluczborka. Holdery u gory naleza do Franklina.

Sankirtan - nauczanie o Swiadomosci Kryszny poprzez spiewanie Maha Mantry lub dystrybucje literatury poswieconej Bogu rozpowszechnione przez tradycje Waisznawa.