A little-known part of the music scene will be celebrated next week at Tokyo's Asakusa Kurawood venue, far from the candy-pop quirk of Harajuku. Obscene Extreme Festival (OEF) promises to be confrontational and dark and — yes, the capital letters are insisted upon — "UNLEASH HELL."
The festival was the idea of Curby Extreme (born Miloslav Urbanec), who simply wanted to celebrate his 25th birthday in his native Czech Republic by providing an enormous party for his friends across Europe that took the form of a music festival devoted to extreme underground styles. Naturally, a festival devoted to genres such as thrash, death metal and grindcore — subcultures with a fan base too small to be considered profitable by sponsors for mainstream events — was intended as a one-time affair, as lack of interest and logistical headaches were predicted to be stifling. However, OEF's particular qualities and Curby's determination have seen it last 15 years and spread to four continents.
Writing from his home in the tiny Czech village of Bukova, one hour's drive from the festival's birthplace in Trutnov, Curby talks about nightmarish logistical challenges even after a decade-and-a-half of practice. However, he has overcome bureaucratic apathy in Indonesia, the first stop of OEF Asia, as well as crooked law enforcement and machete-wielding promoters at OEF America's first festival in Mexico.