~ Kort om mej~
I read in the booklet of the newly re-released No future years that you consider your gig at Skunx in `82 one of your worst...too bad they made a bootleg of it then isnt it?
You can say that again! The gig was troubled with technical & artistic problems from beginning to end. We had all taken a large cocktail of illegal substances during the course of the day, which isnt conducive with being able to performance well, is it? Yeah, as you can imagine, we arrived at the venue well & truly fucked! The venues PA system also conspired against us. It repeatedly cut out though out our set, so the gigs energy was lost. I struggled to remember the chorus to Live Fast, Die Young. Bad gig, simple as that! I dont know who the fuck was behind the bootleg, which contains Blitzs first demo too, but their only concern was cash. I dont know how many were printed*, but it now goes for ridiculous prices on the internet. So I can only conclude that its a rarity. Bastards!
The bootleg in question.
What gig do you consider to be your best one? And which was the highest point in the bands career?
I dont really know now, but I recall supporting Discharge at The Manchester Funhouse. The crowd went wild as did we. Yeah, that was certainly a memorable one. We did quite a number of gigs with Discharge. We all had a lot of respect for that band. They had great tunes & were good performers. I suppose the highest point in the bands career must be the release of our second single, Summer of 81 & Live Fast, Die Young, cos shortly afterwards Helen & Coley left the band.
Did you have any problems with right-wing following? What did you think of the whole thing with Southall, bands getting banned from playing cause they played Oi and so on...
We didnt personally have any problems from right-wing elements that must have been in our audience. They were a small voice in our audience cos we were never considered an Oi band by anyone. The bands possibly affected by the incident at Southall were the known Oi bands, & the majority of them were not politically right-wing. The mass media (certainly in Britain) is so fucking lazy that it pigeon holes all cultural youth movements. They dont want to tell the truth! To tell that the concept of freedom of thought & diversity of thought exists within the membership of a youth movement is totally beyond their comprehension. As I said, theyre just fuckin lazy!
After Violators split you formed 'Ice the falling rain' but what happened after that? Did you join any other bands?
We did the Ice the Falling Rain single cos of what had happened with the third single. It was our way of telling Chris that he couldnt fuck us about.We spent a bucket load of cash on it in the full knowledge that he did not have a clue about how to go about selling it. I dont think he even bothered releasing it in the end. He must have been very pissed off, but that reflected our anarchistic temperament as a band. After that we had no desire to be involved in that industry. We all thought we had been messed about enough by various people in the business & it was time to leave it behind, & anyway, we had fulfilled what we had initially set out to do with the Violators: write a few classic punk tracks. I moved to London to studied European cultural history & sociology at university, leaving the movement to take care of its self. The others moved on too.
Are you involved in the punkscene today?
Im not as active as I was in my youth, but I still listen to & enjoy old skool punk, both first & second wave, & I try to keep up with the contemporary bands that are emerging.
A lot of the old punkbands have reformed the last couple of years and played at Wasted and likewise....have you gotten any offers to reform? Or have you thought about it yourself? Do you have any contact with the old bandmembers today?
Im still in contact with Matchi, Helen & Lou-sadly, Ajax didnt make it!** We meet up for a laugh over a few pints from time to time, but we have never discussed reforming the band. Last December, however, I was approached by Mark of Captain Oi records to record some new material for the Violators discography that he was planning to reissue. I thought, yeah, fuck it, why not! One of these tracks, Everything`s in a State of Decay, features on the discography. What we tried to do was to blend 60s garage with hardcore punk, & we have done a great fucking job of it too. Were getting lots of positive feedback from it. People seem to like it a lot. The rest of the new material were planning to release on an ep, All Too Human, in the near future. So I suppose, purely by accident, Ive reformed a version of the Violators. Ive also recently been in contact with Nidge out of the Blitz who has been writing new material for a new ep too. He`s asked me to do the vocals on it & wants me to do some European gigs with him. Obviously, I am seriously considering his offer.
Thanks again for letting me do this interview.It means a lot for a longtime fan of the band.... -Any closing comments?
Thats ok, mate, anytime. Closing comments? Yeah, check out the new track, Everythings in a State of Decay. It has a strong 60s feel, but its still punk. Could be a classic, ya never know?
Helen Hill on a Hill with the boys.
* 500 ex were pressed ** "Ajax" died in 1985. Out of the web 2005-06-01. A lot of thank you`s to Peter "Nihilism on the prowl" http://members.tripod.com/nihilismontheprowl/