| APRIL 2008 | ISSUE 17 | ISSN 1754-3746 |
.ROGER MIRET
.4Ft fingers
.REEL BIG FISH
.THE CUTE LEPERS .THE TOSSERS
RIDDANCE, GOLDFINGER PLUS! GOOD FANDANGLE, BORN TO DESTRUCT and more... WIN TICKETS TO CITY INVASION!
BALD, STRESSED & LATE EDITOR/Co PUBLISHER_ Cerven Cotter editor@distortedmagazine.com
ADVERTISING/Co PUBLISHER_ Nikola Cotter nikola@distortedmagazine.com ART/WEB/LAYOUT_ www.pixeldeath.com
SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR_ Steve ‘I HAVE a real job’ Noble steve@distortedmagazine.com CONTRIBUTORS_ Lola, John Robb, GrillyX, Tim Drunk, Fungal Punk/OMD, CF Bent, my cousin and maybe you in the next issue! Contact information_ Distorted Magazine 9 Bridle Close, Surbiton Road, Kingston Upon Thames Surrey, KT1 2JW, UK info@distortedmagazine.com www.distortedmagazine.com Distorted Magazine is published by Distorted Ltd. ISSN 1754-3746 All content is copyright protected © 2006 - 2008. Distorted is a trademark of Distorted Ltd. Views expressed in the magazine’s content belong to the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers. The contents are believed to be correct at the time of publishing. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors, ommissions or for changes in the details given, © 2006 - 2008 Distorted Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in a whole or in part of this magazine is strictly forbidden without prior written consent of the publishers.
I think an apology is the best place to start for
the April issue of Distorted. So why was this issue late? Do you really want to know? I thought not. Despite being a few days late, I think we’ve included some awesome stories and some eye catching photos in our 17th issue... April is an exciting month for us here at Distorted, we’ve got the City Invasion shows coming up in a few days time (See what Roger Miret has to say in this issue and check out the competition to win some tickets!) and with a lineup consisting of Agnostic Front, the US Bombs, the Restarts, Static Thought and loads more, we know it’s going to be an awesome day out. Hopefully we’ll see you at the London show. Aside from City Invasion, there are some other great bands playing in our backyard including Sick of it All, No Use for a Name and countless others I’ve forgotten about. Note to self, check the diary! We wanted to review the new release from AntiFlag but... it’s on an unplayable CD sitting here on my desk - something The beard. RIP. about being watermarked aka it won’t play on any CD player... think I’ve found my new coaster for my coffee cup. You can’t let good things go to waste now can you? ISSUE 18 will be up on time and it will be jam packed! ~ Cerven Cotter (The now beardless) Editor
ON THE COVER: “A beautiful mess” design by pixeldeath.com.
Features 4ft Fingers... 14
Roger Miret... 18
REEL BIG FISH... 20
The Cute Lepers ...26
The Tossers ...34 Fandangle ...50
REGULARS
Editor Notes...... 03 Headlines...... 06 JOHN’S COLUMN... 08 GOOD RIDDANCE... 10
Visual Aid.... 12 Under the Radar....... 30 Reviews...... 42
HE A DL INES News and other things you need to know
The Latest...
sort of...
Punk at the theatre
‘REALITY CHOKES’ a punk play with live music, written by Al Gregg and David Schaal, which will be performed at the Pentameters Theatre in Hampstead, London, from Tuesday May 13th to Saturday 31st May 2008. Al Gregg is an actor and member of original punk band The Wall (who are about to release a live album from last year’s Rebellion Festival, Blackpool). David Schaal is well known form TV’s The Office and Eastenders. The punk musical play is directed by Chris Jury also well known from TV’s Lovejoy.
Facetomyspaceface
Face to Face have re-launched their official myspace page to coincide with their upcoming reunion. The revised site includes a number of tracks from the band, rehearsal videos, and some interview footage discussing the reunion shows..
Anti-Nowhere League US Tour.
ANWL hit the us in support of ‘Road to Rampton’. You can get all the dates on their site: www.antinowhereleague.com
The Cute Lepers hit the UK in May
Steve E. Nix and the Cute Lepers will be bring their powerpop styles to nearly every corner of the UK. To get all the latest tour details and dates, visit: www. myspace.com/thecutelepers
Sound and Fury Festival
July 25th-27th, 2008. Tickets are now onsale. Loads of bands playing, so if you like it more on the hardcore side of things and will be the US, check it out! www.myspace.com/soundandfuryfestival
Sid on paper(back)
Sid Vicious: No One Is Innocent is issued in paperback by Orion Books on September 5th, the new cover has been designed to look like the Who Killed Nancy? film poster.
NOFX documentary
NOFX will be playing a show at the Knitting Factory in LA on 14th April to mark the screening of their documentary, Backstage Passport. American Steel will be on the bill to.
Another for the bookshelf
A new paperback book Flowers in the Dustbin written by Mick O’Shea & Alan Parker, will be published by Helter Skelter Books in November 2008.
Never mind the gallery
Sid Vicious: No One Is Innocent multi-media exhibition will run from June 4th till August 14th at The Proud Galleries, Camden Market, London. A VIP launch night will take place on June 3rd (which will include Sex Pistols Experience & Steve Diggle Band). The Exhibition will feature the first public showing anywhere in the world of Eileen Polks pictures, along with the work of 8 other major photographers. Screens will provide Sex Pistols interviews and footage. We will also use audio interviews completed by Alan Parker over the years! This is the biggest celebration of Sid’s life anywhere in the world.
worldwide copyright Eileen Polk 2008
Got some interesting news? Send it to: info@distortedmagazine.com | MARCH 2008 | page 05 |
Mutiny! The John Robb Column
Midnight to six man! as someone once sang and those are the kind of hours you gotta operate on in punk rock.
Thirty years in and we are still fighting to make a racket and we are still winning that’s for sure! Punk rock cage fighting, Buddhist monks talking revolution, dogs playing chess and apocalyptic weather…. strange days! strange days. This month my soundtrack has been fucked up. I quite literally mean Fucked Up! The Canadian band who have come to save hardcore. Perhaps scene purists already hate them, They probably do. As soon as you twist things around and get a bit popular people will come and get you but what Fucked Up have done is take the basic rudiments of hardcore and criss crossed them with a neo psychedelic rush and even some twee mid eighties indie anorak UK style and made the whole thing into a monster. Live their wall of sound is drooling. You can feel the floor move, three guitars cranked hard and mean through Marshals is one fuck of a wall of sound. For me it feels like what the Stooges must
have felt like back there in the late sixties when rock n roll was truly dangerous and I like that feeling. And there is something dangerous about a heavyweight frontman who leaps into the crowd. Fucked Up are fucked up and they are going to be massive. It’s also the greatest name ever for a rock n roll band. It is the T-shirt that every mallrat will be wearing and it’s the state of mind that everyone is aspiring to whether they do it by drugs and booze or whether they let the music take them there. They are also suing a cigarette company for using their name without permission in an ad, which is cool by me. Fuck these corporates selling their poison to the people and trying to make it cruel by pretending it’s rock norll. The music is cool not the fucking fags! Even cooler is that they are getting advice from ex Minor Threat Ian Mackaye on how to sue. You don’t fuck with the punks. They come back right at you with
an army. Thinking of Ian Mackaye made me want to listen to Minor Threat and I got a bit lost in their tunesamazing band- my favourite stuff is those demos of the songs they released a couple of years back. Amazing raw energy and so tight. The greatest thing is their vision, they really knew exactly what they wanted and they made incisive thrilling rock music with no guitar solos just straight fast shots of rhythm guitar and righteous vocals…almost perfect. The closest thing to them was late seventies British punk rock band Wire and that’s what I switched to next the first two Wire albums are perfect ins rtpiee down punk rock shots. Stark and grey they managed to be punk and post punk at the same time. I can play their records over and over infact me and my brother used to do that when they came out in the first place. Finally it was good to see the scum that murdered Sophie Lancaster rounded up into court. You may have read the story about the ‘Goth’ girl beaten to death by a gang of thickoes up in Bacup. It’s a dismal tale and one I guess most of the readers have had some lesser experience of. It seems incredible that after all these years the streets can be as dangerous to walk around in as they were in the
punk days. Its seems unbelievable that in then UK in 2008 a gang of kids will kick a girl to death because they don’t like her hair. It’s a story that really moves you when you read it- I’m moved by Sophie’s bravery when faced by human beings who have turned into scum and I’m moved by her pointless death and the fact that she was worth a million of her attackers. All she was doing was looking after her boyfriend who they had already attacked and left for dead. Whether you are a Goth or not this was an attack on all of us so we should never forget Sophie or what happened.
Sophie Lancaster John Robb is the author of Punk Rock: An Oral History and is the frontman of Goldblade.
HE A DL INES News and other things you need to know
10 MINUTES WITH:
Russ Rankin
(Ex Good Riddance) Hey Russ, how are you doing? Doing great - thanks! How does it feel to have the live record out of the last Good Riddance show? Pretty good. I think it came out great - it definitely sounds like a Good Riddance show and the audience that night really came through for us; they sang so loud. Any reasons why it took almost a year for the release to come out? I suppose FAT was preoccupied with releases for bands who were actually still bands. I don’t know. Does listening to that show make you miss Good Riddance? No. It’s cool to reflect on it all and I still think we had alot of really good songs so it’s cool to listen to them all. What have you been upto musically since that final show? Is Only Crime still going? Yes! Only Crime is currently writing new material for what will be our 3rd album. We’re hoping to do some touring this summer as well. I’m also working on some “solo” material so we’ll see where that goes. These days it seems as if so many bands are ‘reforming’ for tours and one off shows, is a reform a possibilty for Good
Riddance in the future? I’m old enough to know that you can never say “never” but I seriously doubt that I would ever participate in anything like that. It’s done - it’s over and it’s time to move on. Looking back at the career of Good Riddance, what are some of your favourite memories? There are way too many to list. Getting the chance to travel and meet so many awesome people and amazing bands are what I’ll remember the most. Anything you’d like to say to all the Good Riddance fans out there? I’d just like to thank all of our amazing fans for all of their support throughout the years. PEACE!
NOTE: Competition only open to SOUTH AFRICAN’s - no flights included, tickets only | MARCH 2008 | page 07 |
VISUA
VISUA
AL AID VISUAL AID Koffin Kats in Europe
AL AID
10ft TALL Words by ET
It seems like 4ft FINGERS broke up - well thats what other the other media said. However this melodic four piece have been lying low and working on a new album. We caught up with bassist doug to chat about the album, the scene and other random things.
Hey Doug, how are things going on your tour? Doing great. We’ve been out for a month now and having a really good response to the new album in particular. We’ve met some real cool people and played with some great bands. The new album, New Beginnings Of Old Stories, is due to drop any day now, how you feeling about it? Do you think the fans are excited? It’s fuckin’ awesome!! But I would say that! It’s definitely the best stuff we’ve done before and is being received really well. We have been able to get about a thousand albums from the record label ahead of the release and have been selling them on the road and we’ve almost run out! Speaking of the new album, there are some really good tracks on there. Care to tell us a little more about the following tracks: “Where did all the legends go?” - “The Tale Of Benjamin Lloyd” - “A place I call home”, they all seem
4ft FINGERS
to have something very personal behind them. Well... “Where Did All the legends go” is about just that. When we were kids we had loads of cool people to look up to and this generation doesn’t have that. They see people enter competitions to become famous! It’s insane! As for “Benjamin Lloyd”. He was a legend himself. He was our merch guy for about 5 years and a great friend. And he likes a smoke too! “A place called home” is generally about Cheltenham and our families and the fact we hardly saw them for a long time. It’s a great place to live and we miss being there when we are touring all the time.
down for a couple of years and then concentrate on writing a great album which we think we did. The scene has changed a lot since we left. It’s full of fuckin’ emo bands now whining about no pocket money! We’ve been quite lucky so for on this tour and have had very few of them support us. We just enjoyed taking some time off to do other things. Where have you drawn your influences from? You don’t come across as a your typical british punk band, you’ve got that catchy US ‘94 sound. Bands liked Consumed and Snuff were a major influence in our style as most other British bands sing like they’re from the Bronx!! We are big fans of a lot of the Fat and Epitaph bands from back then such as NOFX, No Use, Lagwagon, Caddies, Bad Religion. I think when you take that British edge and add it to fast melodic bands like Bad Religion we are somewhere in between. Recently some of us have got into some of the slower more melodic bands like Social Distortion which I think comes through on the record.
“The scene has changed a lot since we left. It’s full of fuckin’ emo bands now whining about no pocket money!” Now 4ft Fingers have been around for quite some time but you’ve been keeping a low profile for some time now. What have you been upto? According to a lot of press, we’ve split up!! We just decided to tone it
What are your plans once the album comes out? Will it be released in the US like your previous records? We’re not sure about the US at the moment. We are talking to labels about licensing it in the US and we
4ft FINGERS have just signed to Pyropit Records in Japan and really looking forward to getting out there to tour early next year. How do you feel about the current punk scene as opposed to when the band was started in 1996? A lot of the bands we’ve played with through the years have split up, which is bad for the scene, but we understand why. Great British bands like Consumed, Capdown, King Prawn, Whitmore, Gash have fallen and been replaced, by some pretty bad ones, but maybe I’m just getting old! You say you went through a few names changes before settling on 4ft Fingers - care to humour us with some of the names that didn’t stick? And why did 4ft Fingers get the nod as the name of the band? I think we started with Subterfudge (which was meant to be subterfuge, but think we were spelling it wrong!!) Then moved to The Droids, but found out that there was another band out there called that. Then one day everyone was just sitting around Rob’s house messing around with an ET figure Rob had and someone said he’s got 10ft fingers like you Rob. And so then it
was just scaled down and the name stuck. Rob’s got massive fingers. But he’s hung like a small child! Anything you want to say to all your fans out there? Thanks you so much for supporting us all these years and for coming out to see us when we’ve played every nook and cranny in this God forsaken country! Buy the new record cause it’s ace and check us out on our new website on www.4ftfingers.com for when we’re next playing near you. You all rule.
ROGER MIRET
Words by Cerven Cotter
Let the
invasion begin
With City Invasion taking place this month, we caught up with Roger Miret (Agnostic Front) to see why they love playing the UK. Hey Roger, are you looking forward to the City Invasion shows with Agnostic Front? I definitely am! I actually always look forward to my visits in the UK. I have made some real good friends there with my band and also while I lived there shortly. I have met some genuine people there! And lots not forget they great bands there too! You guys really love the UK - you’ll be playing in August again too at Rebellion, do you enjoy the crowds here? Yes we do! We have always enjoyed ourselves there playing and at the local pubs! Can’t wait! Now you’re well known as a ‘tough guy’ in the hardcore scene, but your other band plays more straight up punk rock. Are you looking forward to sharing the stage with the US bombs at City Invasion? We are looking forward to it. We have played numerous times with the Bombs and have toured with them. To me Hardcore is the bastard child of Punk if you know what I mean... it’s uglier and angrier! haha! I like to add that I would like to be known for the genuine person that
I am and anyone that really knows me and has met me knows that I am a perfect gentleman. I live by the code of do on to others as you want done to yourself. So if you treat me with respect, like I generally treat everyone, then I will show you respect but if you disrespect then I will choose how to handle the situation. I am older now and a family man, I would like to think my fighting days are in my past! I want to enjoy life and all my friends worldwide!!! Any other bands you keen to check out while you’re here? I am always keen to check out the bands I perform with. I grew up on English Punk and I like a lot of the UK bands from the Pistols to Knuckledust to Deadline! Anything you want to say to the fans who’ll be coming down to see Agnostic Front play? Thanks for the support and coming down! Always respect each other and enjoy the songs! We come to play for you not against you so I’ll see you in the pit! Get all the details about City Invasion here: myspace.com/cityinvasion
Middle Finge Shaped Clou
er uds
Words by Steve Noble
REEL BIG FISH
On the final date of their most successful European tour to date, Salmon Steve caught up with the renowned adolescent acting ska funsters, REEL BIG FISH, in London. Surrounded by the band in the sweaty manly confines of the band room, they explore the guys touring quirks, life in the indie lane and reel in the future. (Scott and John take control of the question answering while the rest of the guys strum guitars and look on) Steve: This is the end of your European tour, how has it been going so far? Scott: Fantastic actually. For as long as it has been, which is like seven and half weeks? It has been a really fun, and quick seven and half weeks. Steve: Yeah? Your tours always appear to be fun, or that’s how it seems. So has this been better than normal, the same? Scott: For us it has been better than normal. I mean we normal-
we partially live in fantasy worlds that only exist in our own heads ly have a good time no matter what we do. That’s because
Steve: So that’s a good place to be? Scott: Yeah yeah yeah. John: On this UK tour we have played to the most people that this band has ever played on a UK tour. Scott: Well on any European tour. John: Yeah any European tour.
Steve: And tonight’s sold out, and people are saying outside you could have sold out a couple times over. John: Yeah? Steve: It’s crazy outside, so people outside are... Scott: Pissed off? Steve: Yeah! Scott: “Why can’t I get in” (in sobbing voice) Steve: Yeah exactly. Scott: Well we should have played Brixton academy (larger venue), you know what I’m saying!
record label, or I, we would think. We felt we paid our dues. We had shown we can do what needs to be done. But after how many fuckin years as a band and doing well, they would still say “Hey could you do some demos? Could you demo so we can say if that’s the record we want to put out.” And that’s like “Are you fucking joking me?” Like oh- ok, you’re probably right, considering we pull like a 1000 kids a night in the States and do well in Europe and those numbers keep going up and up and up. Your right were probably losing our stride.
Steve: Ok cool, well it’s been a couple of years since you were released from your contract. What are the big plus sides from that. Tonight, and this tour, you have been selling out shows, so you haven’t taken a dent in popularity. Scott: Well the record label; didn’t really have shit to do with the live show you know what I mean? That’s kind of its own thing. Mmm, and so they didn’t come on with anything or really do anything, accept for fork over a little bit of money so we could make a record and then argue with us about it, and then not put it out properly. I mean I’m an artist, I don’t understand the business so much cos they seem insane.
Steve: So do you think there is ever a future with a record label? With the closure of labels and digital taking over?
Steve: So who takes care of business? Scott: Do we do business? Yeah I guess it’s us now. Which is much better cos you know, we have a direction we want to move in. And before with making records, we would have to…well we would prove time and time again we could sell records, we are a viable band, were a valuable commodity to any
I think the record industry as we know it is a fucking dinosaur, ya know. And, there is gonna Scott:
be a whole rethinking of things. There will be more licensing done and bands, or like four guys can get together with like $1000 and buy their own recording system and do something relatively well. Which is also good for them as they will have more hands on ability and you know, do more interesting things with recording? I think that’s what record labels end up being; is more of a licensing and distribution deal more than anything. Spending the hundreds and thousands of dollars and getting a producer and having these microphones and this and that. I mean shit, nobody
REEL BIG FISH knows. Nobody except for the music heads, “Ooh how the first Crosby Stills and Nash record was recorded.” They phased out analogue tapes so people obviously don’t care as much about the warmth and sound quality. Steve: Probably the same question, but a lot of bands have said people will benefit as things will get cheaper, and that means bands will tour more. Do you think that will affect you as a hard touring band? Scott: It seems like. Well bands that really want it are going to have to work for it. There are bands that may have got success but didn’t enjoy touring or things like that. Bands that haven’t had to work for what they got, they don’t fucking appreciate it. They don’t treat their fans with respect, the people that work with them with respect. They are all like “Oh I wrote this song, I have got this talent”. “I got fucking slamming abs and a sweet fucking do, so give me the respect I think I deserve.” A lot of the bands I grew up listening to, like
punk rock bands of the 80s, those were hard working fucking bands. Well like one of my personal favourite bands and a model for this is Fugazi. Respect for the fans, respect for the music and work your ass off.
Steve: What about comeback bands: a lot that were around in the late 70s and 80s. Some are seen as a nostalgic act, some as a commodity. Do you think
anyone has a right to speculate if its only for money or not? Scott: I mean you can’t say to a certain extent. Not all of it is about money I mean we all have mortgages to pay. So to a certain extent we work as hard as we do; A) Cos we love music, and B) We love our fans and C) We like to pay our mortgage on time, which doesn’t always happen. Steve: OK and from a band perspective, you’re not fresh in the sense that you have just started; you have been going a while. Band members have come and gone. Self produced albums, labels, live show DVDs. What next in store for Reel Big Fish? Scott: Lots of the same. If it’s not broke don’t fix it. I mean unless we have a brilliant brainstorm, John: Like RBF, the strip club! Scott: Yeah, I mean something we learned early on when we signed our record contract, with Mojo. This ugly word showed up, and it’s only ugly due to the connotations they use it in. A word called ‘exploit’. And it’s not a bad word, ya know. It says we have the right to exploit the image and sound and name as much as we possibly can. And
“I’m being used”, and part of that turns me on, but um. Ya know. Most of the its feels so deadly like
time it’s with my clothes on so it’s not as nice… But ya know any way we can take what we have and make it bigger, we are going to take those opportunities. It’s difficult to find something that not
cliché. Like we had an opportunity with this thing called “The Farm”, which is a website for Camel Cigarettes. It’s part of their promo, and we sat and talked and thought about it for a while, cos exposure would be great, and I’m the only smoker in the band, and since I was 14 have been smoking Camel almost religiously. We had to really think about it, the kids, the fans, are mostly young people and we didn’t want to be part of that.
tivity or fun, not like you are going to be all serious now.
Steve: Was the appeal purely money? Scott: There would have been money involved, and there would have been a lot of promotion. Which as part of being an indie band, you have to find promo free and as responsibly as you can, so we decided against it in the end. We don’t have, well we have personally strict morals, and a as band we didn’t want to. We felt it was pushing the realms of it.
being away from family and friends. Or warm showers, a wide variety of clothing to wear. A fresh set of jammies or a towel (or robe I mean). We have a lot of fun, if we didn’t I don’t think we would do this. We have been out seven and half weeks and if you’re not having fun, well personally speaking if I wasn’t having fun, these guys would be dead. Steve: Which is comforting to know? John: Yeah.
Steve: That’s something I was going to ask. The band is seen as a fun band, that might be your legacy, but behind the scene I don’t know how much fans care, you have members come and go, some for their own reasons, some fired, some to spend time with the family. What are things like now? Scott: Great! John: Yeah you would have to ask Scott or Dan who have been in the band pretty much since the beginning. Derrick, Ryland and I are the new guys. But as far as I understand this is the best the band has gotten along together and the best the band has ever sounded. The finest musicianship the band has ever seen. Steve: So there has been no loss of crea-
we take our fun very seriously. It’s important we have fun on stage. There are a lot of elements of this that aren’t always fun. Like Scott: No,
Steve: Who is always first in queue for the shower? Scott: I’m one of the early ones. I just started showering lately, like maybe the last year and a half. Two years ago? Steve: I’m sure everyone appreciates that. Scott: They do! Steve: In terms of after your tour. Do you feel like you need a break after these seven weeks, or are you ready to get into the next one straight away? (Aaron is creaking the door on purpose by know distracting the guys.) John: Yeah we have like seven days off after this. You can’t be together all the
REEL BIG FISH time every day for years and years and years. You would go crazy. Anybody, anybody even your wife would get on your nerves. So it’s nice to have some downtime and recharge. Scott: Like I was saying a couple weeks back, I can’t wait to miss you, cos when we see each other again at the airport were like “Hey!” I think a lot of it is down to private time. We all go home and those that are married see their wives, like I know I will be home on Monday and Tuesday is all about me. By myself, won’t leave the house, give the brain sometime to organise itself. Steve: Something that resurfaces a lot, the mid 90s Third wave ska, and now a resurgence of old skool sounding bands. Where do you think ska will go, do you think it matters? Scott: I kind of think it doesn’t matter? To a certain extent. The guys in Streetlight Manifesto are kind of the next way of where bands are going. Or bands like the Aggrolites or Westbound Train, I love those guys with all my heart.. In my personal opinion one of the finest ska bands, in terms of Traditional sounds right now. I was chatting to them and they want to incorporate more boogie woogy in the next
That’s fucking like wow! Sky is the limit with ska music. record.
Steve: And in terms of the crowd, the make-up of the crowd. Does that sur-
prise you? Scott: We don’t really allow people with make up in, that’s not our thing, that’s more like Insane Clown Posse. Kids, moms, dads, college kids, and prison wardens they are cool. Johnny: One of the coolest things is we played Rock AM ring (Germany) and we played the metal stage, total hardcore, thrash metal bands, and were in the middle of all this black death metal. And all the kids out there, well we went on and they went crazy, wild. Sometimes we are that little ray of sunshine. Scott: Were kind of like a middle finger shaped cloud. You look up at the sky, a sunshiny day in Hyde park
and then all of a sudden (impression of a passing middle finger cloud) floating by, with teddy bears and a horsey. It’s Reel Big Fish...
(The conversation turns to upcoming bands to watch out for, hot tips include the Beatles and a guy called Stravinsky who is doing some stuff.)
Words by Tim Drunk
STICKS & STONES Steve E. Nix has got himself a new band, the Cute Lepers. You may know his other band (The Briefs). But what you don’t know is that the Cute Lepers aren’t a side project and it’s a band intended to annoy ‘heavy metal’ people. So what does Steve have to say about all of this? Whoah Steve! New band!? What happened to the Briefs? Why you guys taking a break? Well... there is no plans for the Briefs. I did the Briefs for a long time and currently I’d just rather spend my time doing something else, that’s what the Cute Lepers is. Okay enough about that ‘other’ band how are things going with the Cute Lepers so far? Whats the response been like to the album? Things are going fantastic with the band. We just finished a six week tour across the U.S. and that’s given us a chance to really tighten up and work out some kinks with the live show. I don’t know, we’re still new and have a long ways to go towards feeling accomplished... but I think we’re moving along in the right direction. We’re having fun and playing off of each other much more now. Response has been very very good so far with singles from the album. We’ll see what people think when
the album is officially released. I’m guessing that the more hardcore punk fans may not care for it, and the fans of power-pop and mod-revival stuff will enjoy it. I hope so. I like it! I hope heavy metal people hate it. This project really seems like a fun thing - just reading your description of the band on your myspace page is enough to make anybody laugh. Are you being afforded the freedom to explore these new fun aspects with this band? The direct musical influences are pretty firm in that I like traditional first wave punk rock, rock n’roll bands like the Stones, and I like pop songs with hooks y’know? It’s not gonna stray from that too much. But within that framework I feel really free to write as creatively as I care to. The majority of my songs are crap and they never see the light of day... but a few of the keepers which ended up on the album are probably more creative than anything I’ve recorded before. It’s just
THE CUTE LEPERS
“I hope heavy metal people hate it”
fucking rock or pop or punk or whatever you care to call it music though. No one is exploring too deeply! I like to think of the Cute Lepers as a kind of hybrid of punk, powerpop, mod-revival stuff and Johnny Thunders. Which is your favourite track off the album? Why? “It’s Summertime, baby”, I like the way the vocal breakdown/bridge thing turned out... makes me happy. Do you recommend more serious bands start fun side projects? Just for the record, The Cute Lepers are not a side project. As far as serious bands go, I don’t care what they do. What would you say has had the biggest influences over the song writing for the Cute Lepers? I guess my absolute passion for pop/rock/punk songs in general. I’d love to be able to write a song that makes someone else feel the way I feel when I hear ‘Dream Police’ by Cheap Trick or ‘Get Off the Phone’ by the Heartbreakers. I know, that’s aiming pretty high and it sounds kind of flowery and stuff... but that’s what I’m drawn to, and that’s why I try to write songs. To contribute, y’know? To bring something to the table.
Oh, by the way, are you guys going to be loosing some limbs soon? ...heard leprosy isn’t a good thing for musicians ;) Maybe for this UK tour we’ll just stick to the definition of Leper which Webster Dictionary defines as: “social outcast”. Less messy that way and trust me, Zache Actually (our mustachioed and quaintly tanned guitarist) is bound to be cast out of some social settings on this tour! Speaking of loosing limbs - if you had to make the choice, which of your limbs would you loose, your legs or your arms? Why? If I lost my arms then I wouldn’t be able to throw rocks at heavy metal bands... but if I lost my legs I wouldn’t be able to run away, that’s a tough one! I guess legs. Expanding on the last question - would you rather be blind or deaf? Blind. Blind guys always know how to play the blues well. Enough with the silliness - what are the future plans for the Cute Lepers? Tour, tour, tour, baby! Oh yeah, we’re playing a killer powerpop festival in Texas this summer with a bunch of our favorites like The Boys
THE CUTE LEPERS
and The Pointed Sticks. I’m really looking forward to that one. The Boys haven’t been over for like twenty five years, and I’ve never seen them. Anything else you’d like to add? Please come see our show(s) near you in the UK this spring. We’re selling our belongings to afford the tickets to come over, and the shows are going to fucking rip... I promise. We’ll need all the support we can get... and you know it’s just plain more fun to be involved in a concert if there’s a lot of bodies there. Come out to the show! If you can’t make it, our debut LP “Can’t Stand Modern Music” will be available at all the quality shops which carry records by the Damaged Goods label. If you buy a record, Ian may become convinced that he isn’t wasting his time with us!
Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD.
Born to Destruct ‘4 people having fun’ is how Born to Destruct describe themselves and what a refreshing change it makes. Unaffected music with a unique touch BTD are out there offering a new sound for the punks to savour and talk about. Their first album for me is a minor success and a nice stepping stone on which to build. As you are about to find out the band is a curious mix with many flavours thrown into the melting pot and it will be interesting to see how far they can go in this over-critical scene!
Fungal: Born To Destruct - inform us about the band and its members, releases to date, and most memorable moments so far! Woodstock - Born to Destruct was formed in July 2007. I proposed the idea of getting a band going over a few Pints with Jonny at Viva la Punk club. Stuart was recruited the next week by myself from a chance meeting. A true punk rehearsal in Stu’s dining room followed that weekend banging out Blitzkrieg Bop and some self-penned song ideas that left us buzzing and eager for more, so the following week auditions for singers were set up with no success It seemed finding a singer that could SING melodically over the simple punk tunes was harder than first thought so it was suggested after that rehearsal by myself that a girl called Kat should be asked if she wanted to try out the following week We thought she would laugh but… the rest is as they say is history! Stuart - Jonny is the quiet thoughtful one who is always thinking and quite often adds the little touch’s that just finish things nicely, Woodstock is the powerhouse of the band with the vision and drive to keep us on the crazy fun punk path and Kat is the youngest and once she arrived I could finally see the idea come to life as she just shines. As for me, I spent 7 years at University listening to thrash metal, American punk and getting a PhD in Artificial Intelligence all of which helps me do my part in BTD Jonny - In the beginning I borrowed a bass from a friend as I wasn’t sure it would work out, having not played bass before, but now I am more competent and confident and loving re-energizing my spirit of Punk. Kat - As for memorable moments - eve-
rything so far - the gigs, recording, the people we have met, all of it is one big memorable moment. Woodstock In true punk style 6 weeks after our first practice we did our first gig and 5 weeks after that recorded our 10 track CD-First Steps to Destruction (available from us for £5) at Madhouse Studios in Crewe (Hi Mr Fish!!) Having recently reviewed your latest album I was taken aback by the abstract mix of young vocals and the grindy backdrop. A planned or chance occurrence and how is the sound being received by the punters. Woodstock - I always knew what I wanted it to sound like and musically it is how I pictured it. Simple punk tunes, melodic vocals sung over the top but until Kat sang at that first practice we hadn’t thought of a female vocalist, mainly because they’re so hard to find. Kats voice is so pure almost angelic, it makes the songs very unexpected and that’s what we wanted. Stuart - How are people receiving it? Very well, we’re out there having fun together and that comes across so people enjoy it too, we have had a lot of positive reaction and very little negative. Where do you draw your influences from as regards song writing and does having such a varied age range in the band help when composing new ditties? Jonny - I trawl up my inspiration from the darkest recesses of my twisted mind… and Jerry Only! a constant inspiration too me. Kat - My song writing comes from the world around me, it can be specific people or just general emotion, singing to
Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD. me is about expressing myself, my feelings and opinions, so I write songs from my heart. Stuart - I write about what’s on my mind at the time, issues that annoy or inspire me. Woodstock - My inspiration is life. I like humour and the unexpected, so usually
Stuart - I sort of parachuted into the scene from a chance encounter with Woodstock, before that I was just skirting the edge rather than being directly involved, but what I see is on the whole healthy and were having fun with it. Kat - I respect any band who loves what they do and play for the love of it, not like those bands who are in it for the money and seem to believe they’re above everyone else…where would they be without the fans. Woodstock - Mostly I think the scene is healthy, there are some problems the main one being those that are in it for financial gain making it harder for those who do it for the love of it. Promoters struggle because of this blinkered view some people have that a gig is only good if it has big name bands on the bill. There are so many bands out there that are giving it their all but some people just won’t give them a chance. Support the whole scene not just a small corner”
“Keep playing, drinking Guiness and going to venues across the UK” my songs are upbeat even if the subject is not. ‘Born To Destruct’ a quite strong statement for a band name - where was it borne and can we read anything into it that gives an insight into the bands plans? Jonny - Woodstock came up with the name. It was a name he had for a long time, he asked what I thought before we even had a drummer, I liked it. As for reading anything into it I leave that to you” What are your views on the current scene and who are the bands and peddlers of punk rock you most respect and disrespect? Jonny - I’m anti establishment in my views and don’t like the way some bands seem to believe its about money and that in order to respect them and where they’re from you should pay heavily, punk isn’t about that.
What are your main plans for 2008 and any links regarding info about the band we should know about? Jonny - Keep playing, drinking Guinness (or cider if I need vitamin c) and going to new venues all over the UK. Kat - We want to play a lot more gigs, we love playing in different venues and meeting new and old friends, having fun and putting a smile on your face. Woodstock - We would also like to go back into the studio at the end of 2008 to record another CD and if we can arrange it a few dates in Europe. So never fear if it’s quiet…WE BRING THE NOISE….. Check us out at http://www.myspace. com/borntodestructbtd
BANJO’s & WHISKE Words by Ressot Noble
EY
THE TOSSERS
Chicago’s long standing Irish punksters have just left the shores of Europe after their first tour across the pond and on the back of their first live record, “Gloatin and Showboatin”. They aren’t showing signs of hanging up the banjo’s or whiskey bottles just yet.
Steve: You released your album “Agony” this time last year and have seen the release of your first live record this past month, recorded Live on St Patrick’s day (2007). Why did it take so long for the live record to come out? And what was the reasoning to put out a live record? Mike P: The show was filmed and we were in the middle of touring on the Valley of the Shadow of Death record and were pretty busy. After the touring was done we went right into the studio to work on “Agony” and we worked that record all year so I guess when we caught our breath, Victory brought it up and we thought it was a great idea to get it out. Steve: Were you happy with the results? Mike P: Yeah, it’s great. Metro (venue) is a big deal to us. This was the first show that we had ever sold out there. I suppose we wish we could have put more new material on it but we managed to get some on it. Steve: There are obviously a few classic traditional songs on display too. Which is your favourite and which would you like to cover that you haven’t already done? Mike P: That’s tough. I like doing ‘Tell Me Ma’ the best I guess. I have probably played that song at every show we have ever played and I still like it. I guess if there was one that I would like to do it would probably be ‘The Mero’. I know it from the Dubliners. Steve: Seven (band members) seem to be a steady number for bands these days! Who is the brains, who is the nag and who is the control freak? How would you describe the atmosphere when
you’re all together and onstage? Mike P: Now, I can’t tip all of my cards. My band members would kill me. Generally we all get along real well. The current line-up has been together for 7 years so we have shared a lot. Onstage, you’ll usually catch us laughing or smiling with each other on occasion due to some inside joke. Steve: Is it a case of ‘sibling rivalry” or all paradise for the tour manager on the road? Mike P: I think that we’re pretty easy. We generally don’t get lost, fight, or any of that stuff. I guess the biggest aggravation would be that we drink a little and when alcohol gets into the picture, everything is a little harder to manage. Steve: And you recently completed your first stint in Europe is that right? For a band that’s been going near 20 years? What was the hold-up with getting over there, the French don’t stink that bad? Mike P: We’re closer to 15 years, but who’s counting? We tried to get over there about 8 years ago and it fell through. About four years
THE TOSSERS
“I guess the biggest aggravation would be that we drink a little and when alcohol gets into the picture, everything is a little harder to manage.�
ago we decided we were going to focus on the States and just work our asses off. Finally we decided it was about time and we were really pleased with the results. It was great. Steve: What was the highlight of the tour for you? Any regrets? Mike P: The tour was filled with highlights but I guess maybe the last show in Dublin. I think that we played one of our best shows in all of the 10 years that I have been in this band. It was great and the perfect way to end a tour. Steve: Any memorable quips from the band on the road? Mike P: We watched ‘Glengary Glenross’ in the first week out and the tour was peppered with Al Pacino impressions. Steve: Last month you gave some input to our Celtic feature on the rise of popularity of Celtic influenced punk bands, who would win in a good ol’ drinking game of all the “Irish” bands you know? Who would be the worst? Mike P: Again, you’re gonna get me in trouble. Okay, I would say that the Pogues may lose now because almost the entire band is sober, but I’m sure that they would have licked anyone in their day. Other than that, who knows? Maybe you can arrange a drink off. Steve: I understand the bands roots lie in metal and punk rock with a healthy dose of Irish folk. How has the sound of the band fused/changed over the years if any? Mike P: I think the sound has changed with the line-up changes mostly. Aside
from that, we’ve definitely matured with our sense of production and instrumentation. Steve: “playing anywhere, anytime, for anybody, with anybody” said banjo player Clay Hansen. So how’s next weekend, say Bagdad, for Bush, with Hanson? Mike P: Well, we can’t. We’re playing in DC tomorrow. Did I mention we’re playing in Chicago tonight? Steve: Cop-out. With so many bands in the sub genre and you can outdate most.
THE TOSSERS What makes The Tossers stick its head above the Guinness level if ya catch my drift. Mike P: Maybe it’s just that, we out-date so many. I think that we’ve been around long enough to be known and that we have gotten better at what we do. Steve: You have played with a huge assortment of bands; rockabilly, punk, ska etc. do you like the variety on tour? Who chooses the bands? Mike P: A lot of times our booking agent will float an idea past us, other times we will have friends in the band and will
be asked. It varies. The variety is very good. It’s a challenge to go out and play for a crowd that you may not have come across before. We have had success with all types of bands so we’re happy to play with anyone. Steve: Finally, what lies ahead for the band? Mike P: We’ll probably take a few weeks off and then start thinking about recording the next record. Thanks for listening. We hope to make it back over soon. Thanks.
REVIEWS copy of Hello Destiny as soon as it comes out.
this is a feel good record! – Steve
– Tim Drunk
Hello Destiny GoldFinger
(SideOne Dummy)
Goldfinger are one of this bands we’re either going to love or hate. I really enjoyed their self-titled release, Goldfinger and since then I’ve filed them under my maybe pile. However when Hello Destiny landed on my desk, I had to give it a listen and well… it’s a GoldFinger album you’re going to love. Yes, it’s that good. John Fieldman’s rather percular voice back with amazing guitar hooks will have you humming along to the melodies on your second listen. Stand out tracks for me include opener, ‘One More Time’, ‘War’ and the so well named ‘Handjobs for Jesus’. If you like your punk melodic but with some great lyrics and serious undertones, grab a
The Feel Good Record of the Year
No Use For A Name (Fat Wreck)
Progressive and probably most coherent and complete album form the veteran’s hook laden So Cal punk laden pop melody kings. Filled with oddities in track order, they embrace the folk and heartfelt songs but don’t lose catchy guitar work nor their trademark vocals and great song writing. It’s the best produced and most mature output, and with age have lost some of that angsty-aggressive hit something quick stuff. That said, look to the tin and the cover don’t lie-
We Are Not Alone The Black Halos (People Like You)
From opener “Disbelief ” to final cut “Download”, The Black Halos’ latest release, We Are Not Alone will have you hooked and humming along to superbly crafted Anthemic rock tracks. The Four piece from Vancouver, Canada, consisting of members: Billy Hopeless on Vox, Rob Zgaljic on Drums, Adam Becvare and Johnny Stewart on Guitars and rounded off by Jahmeel “J.R.” Russell on Bass, slam out 12 powerful tracks, with polished yet still gritty lead and rhythm guitar tunes and vocals reminiscent of The Ramones, New York Dolls
> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS
and Iggy and the Stooges. The album is well worth your time and money, as even those who may not enjoy the Old School sound, could still enjoy this check it out.
gers. If you like your punk melodic, this is a must for your collection. – Tim Drunk
– CF Bent
and fantastic for that, the Swedish four piece have out done themselves with this one, go get it, I have no doubt your reaction will be similar to mine, “FUCK this is good!” – CF Bent
Machine 15 Millencolin
(Burning Heart)
New Beginnings of Old Stories 4ft FINGERS
(Not on your Radio)
I’ll be honest, I know their name but I’ve never actually heard them before ‘til this album. It’s catchy, hook laden and a disc full of good times. It’s feel good punk rock at its SoCal best. Granted they’re from the UK, their sound places them in the US. Perhaps the beauty of this release is that each song sounds unique but they all contain common thread that is uniquely 4ft Fin-
“No one ever thought that I invented the wheel, all I ever went through was something real.” I got my first Millencolin album, Pennybridge Pioneers, when I was 18, and I could relate then, just as I can now, Nikola, Mathias, Erik and Fredrik have brought out another cracker of an album with Machine 15. Essentially its Millencolin, only 15 years down the line the guys have matured and it shows in their music and lyrics though their sound is still the same, in a good way. The songs are honest and to the point
Reason to Believe Pennywise (Myspace)
‘About Time’ maybe one of the finest modern punk rock albums, but with this new release from Pennywise, I’m starting to rethink that. Despire the bands’ move from long time label, Epitaph for this release, Reason to Believe is their best work since Unknown Road. I guess the album title speaks for it’s self. I’m sure there are many Pennywise fans out there that found the band
R EV IEWS Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!
‘slipping away’ but rest assured, this new record will restore your faith in one of the most important new school punk bands. What’s the best part you ask? Download it for free off myspace. What you waiting for? – Tim Drunk
Jennifer’s vocals compliment each other spectacularly backed by some really great tunes creating a gritty and powerful rock machine, keep an eye on these guys, I can see them blowing up massively in future. – CF Bent
lidelphia, do have a very different sound though and they have come up with foot tappingly good tracks. Any self respecting Rockabilly/Psychobilly fan should definitely The Young Werewolves out, this is a good album, and so should fans of anything else rock or punk, you might just like it,. – CF Bent
Rock And Awe
Young Heart Attack (Not on your Radio)
So take and diva and add distorted guitars and you have Rock and Roll right? Bullshit, divas belong in R&B and Pop, Young Heart Attack though, now that is what Rock and Roll with a female vocalist should sound like! Young Heart Attack hail from Austin, Texas conjures up memories of Joan Jett and the like from the late 70’s and early 80’s. Chris and
Cheat the Devil
The Young Werewolves I’m actually very unsure of this review, The Young Werewolves have really thrown me a curveball with this one, but the best description I can come up with is Monster Rockabilly; think The Misfits meets Tiger Army? The Young Werewolves; Jonny Wolf – Vocals/Drums, Shewolf Dana Kain – Vocals/Bass, Wolfman Nick Falcon – Vocals/Guitar; from Phi-
Can’t Stand Modern Music
The Cute Lepers Sumer time is right around the corner and this is a great album to put on while you host a drunken BBQ in your backyard. It’s fun, poppy and best of all, it something a little different. This record is highly recommened - please get a copy so your summer will be a good one. – Tim Drunk
R EV IEWS Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!
SHOWS & GIGS TOTAL CHAOS / CERTIFIED / Left for dead / antibodies BridgeHouse 2, London UK 29 February 2008
Well, when I finally managed to find the Bridgehouse after driving around an industrial estate with three punk passengers playing “make the driver crash”, I quickly downed a few and walked in just as the antibodies struck their first note. The lads played a rad set with their up beat fast sound as front man Pete Doff spat sarcastic lyrics most defiantly
© LibraSnake aimed towards the government. As more and more familiar and unfamiliar faces turned up, they got the mood going and the night off to a promising start. Left for dead took to the stage. They’ve got a really melodic and steady, but at the same time, fast and up beat sound, which is complimented well by Shane’s raw but tuneful vocals. This all makes for good listening.
© LibraSnake
> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS
Next up, Certified, straight out’a Nottingham, I’d heard these lads before and was looking forward to their set. They didn’t disappoint. They roared up the crowd with their fast and furious noise and I, amongst a few others, got straight to the point and set about battering each other in front of the stage. The band’s got a lot of energy and has a way for unsettling the crowd, in a good way! Total Chaos headlined, all the way from America. I for one was pretty impressed with their travelling, I mean, you know a band means it when they travel over seas to play. The band done well on themselves, they put on a good show with a steady and fast punk style which has a knarly shredding, almost thrash influence to it which most defiantly gets you moving and creates a voice in your head telling you to trash the place. All in a all, pretty good night I think, cheers Clive! - Luke Puke
Tossers
Islington Academy, London UK 1 March 2008
A relatively low key profile show, but one that is pretty important for the band and fans of the popular growing genre. The Tossers, have been at, it pre-dating Flogging Molly, the Dropkicks and a host of other acts who have risen to the top of the Guinness popularity Irish punk stakes. Which is why this show carries
some significance, as its Chicago’s-finest first stop in Londontown. The event takes place at the smaller of the Islington Academy venues, which is fine as it adds to the charm and intensity of the night. A gradually increasing audience stumbles in half way through the support act (I’m sorry guys didn’t catch your name) and they play a fun drinking set, jumping through their numbers drinks in close attendance. And despite the gulf between them and the crowd, liven the place up nicely. The Tossers, in all their experienced, inebriated professionalism quickly have the crowd close the gap, and get the swing arms dancing and smiles spreading through the floor for fans patient enough to wait more than a decade to see the guys on these shores. The band doesn’t disappoint, running through a great selection of personal favourites and classic Traditional Irish numbers. With front man Tony rendering classic solo renditions despite his non-sober state with sincerity and Green Irish pride on his upturned sleeves. It was a wait well worth being patient for. The Tossers I’m sure will be back, and hopefully on their return will have more adoring fans waiting to see one of the modern founders of the Irish interpretation of punk and rock n roll.
– Steve Noble
RE V IEW S Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!
Send us your gig reviews! info@distortedmagazine.com
Reel Big Fish / Streetlight Manifesto / Sonic Boom 6 Astoria, London UK 2 March 2008
The return of the ‘Fish’ to the capital of one of their biggest supporting nations was obviously hotly anticipated, with the Astoria show selling out a long time before the date itself. I missed the first support, Sonic Boom Six, but was glad to make it back to watch Streetlight Manifesto. I was always a huge fan of Catch 22 and was almost wetting myself in anticipation to see this offshoot of arguably the better half of that band! Streetlight had massive support, with the crowd knowing most of the songs word for fantastic word, and the heaving Astoria was buckling at the seams in the skanking en mass-singing crowd. The guys play a blistering show, and have turned up the notch of anticipation for a new record, despite releasing their last only last year! They also thankfully turn in a number of Catch 22 classics and in doing so are in danger of outshining the main act of the night. Reel Big Fish saunter in with their usual comic mockery, and fly in to a set now jam packed with favourites and with a expanding catalogue of fun skanking songs. In terms of crowd banter, unfortunately the act is getting thin, as it’s largely similar to that of their previous couple of ventures to the city. Same punch lines and comments aside, they don’t fail on stage to get the heaving masses to sway in their beautifully sweaty selves to the undeniably fun night of good time music. – Steve (I go to all the ska shows) Noble
> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS KOFFIN KATS / CELTIC BONES Bullet Bar, London UK 15 March 2008
A small venue rammed to the rafters with eager punters? Yes, this was the final show of the Koffin Kats European tour and joining them were the Celtic Bones. The Bones hit the stage first and set the scene for the evening - rockabilly punked up hystery. Beautiful, pit smashing mayhem. They ran through a great set that the crowd lapped up at each chord change. By now, the Koffin Kats are well accustomed to the European market and seemed to have found a secret formula because from the second they start till the final chord, this US trio insight a pit. One fan take a nasty bump on the head (see the photo!) but overall not too many injuries just countless numerous smiles as the Koffin Kats demolished their setlist. Party tricks are always good and instrument swapping is always cool, especially if it’s done mid song - it was mid song wasn’t it? The evening slowly came to an end as girls danced the night away to some awesome tunes provided by the DJ. Aside from the rain that evening, it was an almost flawless night out! - Tim Drunk
Celtic Bones © LibraSnake Monster Squad © Tim Drunk
ALL A B OA RD Words by Steve Noble
After a long delay on their debut full length album, “…Fly Away”, due to a host of circumstances, Fandangle are hitting the UK on a comprehensive tour in support of the record “Fly Away”. We caught up with Tom pre-departure to spill the beans on the patient wait... Typical of a ska band, there are a lot of you! Tell us a little about each if you could? And what is a Fandangle? I’ll start off with the word Fandangle. Well there are tonnes of different meanings, one which a lot of skaters will know is that it’s a skate board trick, we didn’t know this when the band started though, another one is that it’s a nugget of human excrement hanging from an anal beard and believe me that’s the only one I can really say! It just sounded right when someone came up with it so we kept it with no idea of the meaning; there are a lot of people who use it for different situations though! Adam is initially from New York, his family moved over here when he was young; he now runs a label and is very driven. Jack is from Farnham and has played drums for years, he loves drawing and graffiti. Ed has grown up in Frimley and has played trumpet for years from orchestras to bands; he likes the pub and works a lot. Andy runs a studio in Somerset; he is a sun/sea guy who loves the surf and especially Croyde. I (Tom) was born in he midlands and then I moved down to a small town called Yateley, I’ve played guitar for 13 years and I love composing, at the moment I’m starting my own business and working to get
cash for tour. Drew was a snowboard instructor in Canada, unfortunately he hurt his knee quite badly so now we are blessed with his presence on keyboards and trumpet plus some cool vocals. Last but not least is Josh our tech, Josh is an awesome guy who helps us out so much, he is from Farnham and loves the drink and party’s (just like all of us I might add.) For those that haven’t seen or heard of Fandangle how would you describe the band and the sound? Ska/punk with an edge of different influences, all in all I would describe it as incredibly energetic with infectious/ catchy melodies laminated with happiness and a load of party atmosphere thrown in there. It’s the kind of music that would put you in a good mood. What makes you the self proclaimed hardest working DIY punk band in the UK? I’d have to say that it’s because we work extremely hard in this band, we tour non stop and when we aren’t touring we are planning and promoting tours. We love playing so we keep going. With 6 EPs released, the full length
FANDANGLE
“we work extremely hard in this band, we tour non stop and when we aren’t touring we are planning and promoting tours.”
has been a long time coming! “Fly Away” was recorded a year ago in LA, why has it taken so long to get the record out there? The post isn’t that bad! Well I’m happy you have asked that question because there is a reason! And no the post isn’t that bad, granted bad but never that bad. When we recorded in LA it was all going to plan, we had an amazing time out there and found that the atmosphere was perfect for us to work. We stayed there a month and recorded most of the album apart from the small over dubs and percussion, these tracks were then put onto a hard drive for us to bring back to the UK and work on in London, so far so good, however after we started recording the rest, the hard drive with the important files on corrupted! This meant that we had to find a way of pulling off the correct files which in all honesty set us back, so we had to start some of the songs again. This took a while, then we had to mix the album which went well, when we went to get it mastered it took a while as it was done in the States, this
to be featuring on the album, how did that come about and who cameos? We have Aaron Barret from Reel Big Fish, Ryland Steen from Reel Big Fish, Greg Bergdorf from Zebrahead and Jason Freese - session for Greenday and many other bands. We have a great relationship with RBF and Zebrahead and they were more than happy to be on the album, we basically just asked if they would like to sing/play and they said yes and came to the studio, Greg sorted out Jason for us as he is good friends with him, we needed piano and some organ and he was perfect for the job. Why did you choose to record in LA? And who produced the record? Fandangle and Greg from Zebrahead produced the record, Greg offered us a studio in LA and after chats we decided it would be a great experience, we play so much in the UK that we thought it would be a great break and the perfect environment as it is about as far away as you can get from home, all we could do out there is focus on our record which is all you need.
“we like to create that fun/party atmosphere” took a few attempts as well. So, album was done. After all the technical issues we managed to get it to the print, this album was meant to have a much earlier release date but the problems spiralled out of our hands. Anyways, it’s out now!! And we are happy with it. You have a host of artists rumoured
You started young as band and a lot of your shows are all ages or reasonable age limits. Is that important for you as a band? Yeah I guess so, all ages or 14+ shows are fantastic as everyone can attend, our music fits into many generations and it’s good to get every one out. We have had many issues where 17 year olds were getting turned away which in my opinion is harsh, especially if they just want to watch bands!
THE CUTE LEPERS Is hard work enough? What will make you last in this cut throat business and scene? We will keep pumping out the tunes, keep pushing and never go unnoticed; we aren’t the type of people to stop when an obstacle gets in the way. In fact we love the obstacles it makes you think and learn. Hard work will keep you up there but the material needs to be on top form to progress! Do you worry about the tags and labels as a fun ska band? Or comparisons to other well established bands? No not really, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, its part of life, what I will say is that you have to watch a band before you compare or label! Many bands come across on CD as something different to their live performance. “fun Ska Band” Ey? All in all I’d agree with that label as we like to create that fun/party atmosphere. Third wave seems like it’s on the way down with so many more Traditional influenced bands and dub coming through? What do you think? I don’t believe this type of music is on the way down at all but I do think music is becoming more ska/Dub influenced, you can hear it in the commercial music, however its taking a long long time for ska/ dub to fully hit the market with full force, but that’s why bands like Fandangle are here, we want to push it into the light, and get people to notice it. You’re involved in a band, management, recording, very DIY. Are there days if you think it’s worth all the
effort, not easier to pack it in get a desk job? Why can’t you do both!? There is no reason to why you can’t, it’s a lot of work, a ton of effort and yeah you have no spare time but if it’s your dream and you have the drive you’ve got to keep going, and what’s more its incredible fun and very enjoyable. If you need a job done properly why not do it yourself, through experience being let down stalls the band and can lower esteem. Doing it DIY is so rewarding and to see your hard work pay off at gigs and see the fans loving it is all you need to keep you going. Any parting shots? Huh?! I’ll have a sambuca!