Obscene Extreme Festival
I Simply Believe In People

18.06.2018

Those metalheads who are ready and willing to go out to Europe for a few days of their favorite music in the open air, have a lot of events to choose from. There are festivals big and small, specialized and all-genre, newly-established and with a storied past - enough to get lost in the variety of names, titles and travel destinations. However, the event we're talking about here stands out from everything else you'd be able to attend. "Obscene Extreme", which is hosted annually in the Czech town of Trutnow, is not only one of the most extreme metal open airs in the vicinity of Russia music-wise, but also the most "freak friendly" one in terms of the crowd and behavior. This year, "Obscene Extreme" will open its doors, from July 18 to 22, and today, exactly one month before the festival, its head manager and founder Miloslav "Curby" Urbanec tells us in detail about what made him a event organizer 20 years ago, what drives him today, and what his festival has in store for its visitors this time around.

Curby, I'm very glad to greet you on behalf of our website and all Russian metalheads and grinders! First of all I’d like to congratulate you and your brainchild, Obscene Extreme Open Air, on its 20th anniversary. How did you originally come up with the idea to make such a festival? Did you have any experience in organizing rock and metal events before that?

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!!! Well, the original idea was to celebrate my 25th birthday! I just wanted to meet all my pen friends from all around Europe, to meet them in one place and to have fun together. So what can be better than enjoying 40 bands, haha?! It was an absolutely amazing start back in 1999…I really wanted to do just one festival and one birthday party but the fans, the bands, everyone just pushed me to continue because the vibe at the festival was really unique and special!!! So basically OEF is my birthday party, haha!

And before that I just did a few really small club shows but I had many friends as I started as a fanzine / then magazine director, then I began to release bands under my label so I had a quite long history in the underground scene even before…

What music did you listen to those days, back in the 90s? Did you play or sing in a band yourself?

Back then I was really a die-hard grindcore, death metal, thrash metal, hardcore/punk, crust, power violence warrior… of course later on I started dividing the music into good and shitty one…and that's the case up to now! But music is such a big part of my life, some days I listen to it for 10 hours, before the fest when I work hard on my computer it can be even 14-16 hours a day! And of course I mix all styles, I love Johnny Cash for example, ABBA is great, AC/DC are fine, Motorhead of course, then all classic grindcore bands, the first Earache era, Repulsion, I love listening to soundtracks as well, "Django" is the best, also "Pulp Fiction or "Stranger Things", even the "Narcos" soundtrack is fine. Sometimes I listen to old Czech/Slovakian heavy metal/hard rock bands, sometimes Leonard Cohen. I love Insect Warfare, Wormrot (they give me a lot of energy when I need it), Exhumed, Haemorrhage, Napalm Death, Nails and tons of others. Recently I really like Nergal's country project Me And That Man, some songs from that album are real hits!

No, no, I have never been in a band, I have no talent for it… I really wanted but it didn't work. But we had a project with Bilos from Malignant Tumour called vaginal tumour, I have even written some lyrics…but it was in such a bad alcoholic times and we were so terribly lazy that we didn't make anything at all. I remember Bilos sold a bass guitar to me, that bass was safely resting in the corner of my room and then after a few months I badly needed money for booze so I sold it and my rock star career was over haha…

What was your dream line-up when you were putting together the first ever OEF?

I mainly wanted to invite my friends (and actually I follow this approach up to now) and it worked out perfectly! At the first festival we had such great bands as Agathocles, Cripple Bastards or Dead Infection!!!

What are your most vivid memories from the first OEF of 1999? Was it a tough job to manage it, or did it all happen more or less naturally?

Ohoho…yes, it was incredibly difficult! I remember I slept like an hour a day haha! I wasn’t ready for something that huge, I didn’t expect there would be like 1,200 people!!! Everyone wanted something from me, so those were crazy days! But altogether we created really an awesome vibe that has survived till now and it’s great!

For example in the morning before the festival’s start we even didn’t have a stage!!! So then the owner of the festival venue just told me, look there’s a trailer that is sometimes used as a stage during another festival called Trutnov Open Air, grab it and have it haha… All these stories are incredible and I can just laugh about it today!

OEF is known as a "freak-friendly" festival. It allows visitors to have total freedom of action, dress-code and behavior. Someone can be shocked, but many like it, for example, me. Was this "freak-friendly" concept something that you wanted the beginning, or did it appear at some later point ? Could you tell us more about this component of the festival?

I always wanted to do a festival with freedom and respect for every single person… I don't like those huge festivals where I feel like in prison! It's security here, security there, you can't do this, and that and bla bla bla…you know what I mean, right? I simply believe in people, in the better part in everyone of us!!! Everyone is responsible for his/her action and we at OEF pretty much understand this!!!

Actually I didn't have such a plan with OEF, it has just naturally come…and it's great! You know mask is a powerful thing, you are someone else! And you can have fun, others can have fun so where is the problem??? It makes us different, fans started to use masks at other festivals as well so it's a bit trendy now haha…

Which of the previous 19 festivals was the most memorable for you  and why?

EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! I'm not lying! Every festival was important to do the next volume! I was gaining experiences during every festival, especially during our world tour festivals…I feel now I can organize a festival even on Mars haha!

Have your musical preferences changed over the past 20 years? What music do you still enjoy as much as you did 20 years ago? What are your latest discoveries in the world of music?

Yes, sure but not so dramatically! I still love music I was enjoying as a teenager!!! I love German thrash like Sodom, old Kreator, Assassin, old Destruction etc. And then of course the first grindcore bands like Repulsion, Napalm Death, Terrorizer etc.! Those gems will stay with me till my last day!!!

The latest good albums for me are: GRUESOME – Twisted Prayers, ME AND THAT MAN – Songs of Love And Death, LEONARD COHEN – You Want It Darker, NAPALM DEATH - Coded Smears And More Uncommon Slurs, CANNIBAL CORPSE - Red Before Black…

Let's move from food for the ears to food for the stomach. I know you have been vegan for many years. How did you embrace this idea?  Was there any specific event or person that drove you to abandon meat?

Well, I'm from a small village in the middle of the Czech Republic so you can imagine my family was about meat/eggs/milk… But I had questions all the time in my head… I really didn't like slaughtering a pig which used to be kind of a family party in the past. I didn't like it, I didn't want to kill anything. I could see it stressed the animal to death, and that was hidden in me for quite a long time. Then I turned 18 and a friend of mine gave me some video tape about slaughterhouses and animal abuse. I also followed my big musical idols such as Barney of Napalm Death or Jeff Walker of Carcass (they have been vegetarians and promoted this idea for a long time) so I can say music changed my life completely… One night I was thinking so much that I couldn't sleep at all, I woke up and I told my parents, "Listen, I'll never ever eat meat and kill anything, anymore"... They laughed and didn't believe me but it's now almost 26 years and sometimes I remind my parents of it haha…I was one year vegetarian then I turned to be vegan, and believe me that decision was the best decision I have made in my whole life! Since I feel great that I have no blood on my lips and I live with peace in my heart!

I don't think all festival visitors share your views on giving up meat. There are still many meat-eaters among the metalheads. Have you ever received requests or even demands to include pork or chicken in the festival cuisine, and if yes, how do you react?

Sure! Mainly in the beginning it was really hard…I told everyone, if you don't want to respect such a simple rule then stay home and watch TV! Now it's much easier to have good vegan cuisine and even true to the bone meat eaters realized that vegan food is tasty and really good! And why not to try to be vegan/vegetarian for a few days? Some of my friends (meat eaters! Yes I have meat eating friends haha!!!) go vegans/vegetarians during the OEF week just for the respect to me and it makes me incredibly happy! I do not judge anyone! I just can't support this bloody business, even it surely could be more profitable for the whole festival!!! So I want to thank to every open minded person who respects this rule and to the others I can say, there's hundreds of other festivals to go…

And, as I understand it, OEF will support vegetarian and vegan lifestyles as long as it exists, am I right?

Absolutely yes! I want to die as a vegan! Animal/human rights are united so since I'm a vegan I really think I'm a better person… I care more about mother Earth, supporting all eco friendly things, recycling etc. etc.

I can just guess how much time and effort it takes to put together each festival, and running it over four days is a resource-intensive undertaking as well. But what do you do in life apart from  Obscene Extreme? I mean a day job, hobbies, family...

Believe me or not, but it takes the whole year round!!! Seriously, I have been already working on 2019 for a few months, haha! It may look like an easy thing, but there's so many details that we have to take care of! In August I have a little break but then I start to work from a few hours till 16 hours per day like 2 months before the fest, it's already way too crazy…

My daily job is Obscene mailorder, I've been running it like 25 years or so! Plus I love traveling and football! And all sports! But football is Number 1, I watch it, follow it and play it almost every day! I love Argentina (Kempes, Maradona, Messi, Riquelme, Dybala etc. etc.)  so I'm preparing myself for a month of madness during the World Cup in Russia! Actually I have bought tickets and will fly over to your country as well!

And I have already mentioned my family, I have three sons and two daughters and it's heaps of fun with them as well! We travel a lot like a family as well!

OEF can also be called a kids-friendly festival. Could you share with us a bit what activities you arrange for kids while their parents go crazy to metal music?

Yes! We have many kids so we had to react somehow! And believe me, the kids love it at OEF! The Kinder Grinder corner is free of charge again (sponsored by OEF ha!) and you can leave your kids there for most of the day and be sure they will find new friends there and will also try some special things such as water battles, tattoo workshop, stage diving workshop etc. etc.! Plenty of things to do at OEF with your kids!

Thank you very much, Curby, for taking your time and answering these questions. Could you say a few final words to our readers, especially to those who are still unsure what event to visit this summer?

Thank you Elina! I really appreciate your support! If you want to experience something very special and unique come to Obscene Extreme!!!

This year's OEF will feature performances by Napalm Death, Suffocation, Asphyx, Grave, Exhumed, Gruesome, Haemorrhage and dozens of other extreme metal bands. You can learn more about the event and buy tickets at the Obscene Extreme Festival official website at http://www.obsceneextreme.cz/en

Interview by Lina Fe
Photos courtesy of Curby / OEF
June 11, 2018
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