| JUNE 2008 | ISSUE 19 | ISSN 1754-3746 |
REBELLION & ACADEMY PHOTOS .
.RANDOM HAND
FLOGGING MOLLY .Big D & Kids Table .cellphish
GLOBAL PARASITE, PHOBIA
PLUS!
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REVIEWED: SS-KALIERT, BAD LUCK CHARMS, LESS THAN JAKE, PAINT IT BLACK, TRASHED IDOLS...
Skank it up! 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’ll get you a job’ Noble steve@distortedmagazine.com CONTRIBUTORS_ John Robb, Willa, Photobret, Tim Drunk, Fungal Punk/OMD, Giles Bidder, the neighbours dog and a ferret called Lucy. 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.
Y
ou don’t get more fresh than this issue of Distorted, only a few hours ago did Steve Noble sit down with Flogging Molly for our cover feature - we locked him in a room and ensured he couldn’t leave ‘til he had the article in the bag... it worked too. May was a good month, myself and the wife headed over to Los Angeles to see what was on offer that side and we were really surprised and had an amazing time... thanks to those who made us feel welcome, we really appreciate it and we hope to see you again soon. The June issue of The Ed getting lucky. Distorted may have a distinct ‘ska’ feel to it, hey, it’s summer and we’re in a good mood and what better way to compliment the atmosphere than with a collection of great ska bands.... and don’t forget the awesome photos by David Brown from Rebellion (Vienna) & Academy shows. July promises to be a HUGE edition as we’ve got a large bunch of articles already lined up... In other good news, distortedmagazine. com will be going through a glorious facelift within the next week or so - it will be more user friendly and you as a reader will have a chance to speak to us more! ~ Cerven Cotter Distorted Editor
ON THE COVER: Flogging Molly. THIS PAGE: Killing California © PhotoBret
Features Cellphish... 14
POINT OF VIEW (photo feature]... 34
Flogging Molly... 26 Big D & Kids Table ...18
Random Hand ...58
ON THE EDGE: SHAI HULUD ...70 REGULARS
Editor Notes...... 03 Headlines...... 06 JOHN’S COLUMN... 08 Nick reid (Skunx Tattoo) ... 10
Support Slot....... 12 Under the Radar....... 54 Reviews...... 62
HE A DL INES News and other things you need to know
The Latest...
sort of...
THE OFFSPRING
After playing a recent festival in Europe, rumour has it The Offspring have found their roots - and the new album is going to be classic Offspring ala ‘Smash’ and ‘Ignition’ albums...
NEW FOUND GLORY TOURS THE UK IN SUPPORT OF NEW EP
New Found Glory’s critically acclaimed new double-disc EP, Tip of the Iceberg, split with their hardcore alter-egos The International Superheroes of Hardcore (Takin’ It Ova) hit the stores in April. To celebrate their fantastic new release, New Found Glory will be crossing the pond this November and heading to the UK to showcase their new material for their British fans. The Tip of the Iceberg EP combines the bands’ hardcore and punk roots, with their infectiously catchy pop-punk vocals to create a masterpiece that is sure to impress!
GOLDBLADE for Eurovision & new SINGLE
Goldblade who have been contacted by the Eurovision people as serious contenders for next year’s Eurovision song contest in an attempt to find a band that can actually appeal across Europe and are serious contenders because of the sheer scale of their success in east Europe have got a new single... The band’s strong fanbase have been pre ordering the single and it looks set to go top 40. Pre ordering on the internet is a new phenonomon and its fraught with difficulties. Itunes won’t let small bands preorder they save that for Madonna etccreating an uneven playing field a bit like the football premiership where the rich get all the advantages and the poor get nothing. Fans have to go to the much smaller 7digital to pre-order Goldblade. The object of this exercise is to show the charts up for what they are and to underline just how pointless the British musical mainstream has become.
No-one cares about the top 40 anymore! apart from Goldblade who look set to get in there when the single comes out on June 14th. The band claim... ‘Send a message (up the charts!) and get Goldblade into the top 40! With 2000 pre-orders we we will have a top 40 hit! All you have to do is go to the following link and pre order ‘Jukebox Generation’ for 79p... Tell yer mates! email everyone you know! bother every message board you can think of!’ http://www.7digital.com/artists/goldblade/jukebox-generation/
TRAP THEM WORKing ON full length DEBUT
© nutterphotog.com
TRAP THEM will be recording their first full-length for Deathwish Inc. They head into GODCITY studios with Kurt Ballou next week. The release will be titled “Seizures in Barren Praise” and will be out this fall. They also got a new drummer! Mike Justian (Unearth, The Red Chord) has joined the band...
THE NEGATIVES GET NEW BOOK AGENTS
THE NEGATIVES have a new booking agency, CityRat-Tour booking, from Germany and it will be on tour during autumm and playing some summer festivals.
DISTORTEDmagazine.com WEBSITE OVERHAUL
Distorted will be having a website overhaul before the new issue is published.
>> Got some interesting news? Send it to: info@distortedmagazine.com | MARCH 2008 | page 05 |
Mutiny! The John Robb Column
We (Goldblade) are
trying to hype our new single ‘Jukebox Generation’ into the top 40.
I’m being pretty brazen about it because that’s how the music biz works. It’s all a big dirty lie. I don’t care about the top 40 but its fainly amusing to fuck it up with a big dirty punk rock anthem. The current way you get your record into the charts is get everyone you know and likes the band to pre-order the single on some obscure download site called 7digital. Itunes won’t let you do it unless you are a big name like Madonna. It’s like a musical reflection of the Premiership big four and their fixing of the odds. The rich get richer and the rest of us can fuck off! Will we get in the charts and more to the point does anyone care anymore? I’ll tell ya next time! I’m just packing my bag and getting ready to fly out to Serbia to play a punk festival in Novi Grad. Should be great. Easyjet and their high altitude gas guzzling pals has made punk rock international. Yeah, yeah I know we are choking the world with aeroplane fumes but we are
also rocking the international punk rock community and doing our bit to join everyone together in a high decibel celebration. Last time I was rocking Serbia was a week before the war broke out a decade ago and oddly you couldn’t feel any tension in the air atall. That was until the last night when we had a run in with the Serbian army but that’s another story. Before the war Serbia had one of the best punk scenes in Europe and a constant has always been this great radio show that plays all things punk rock and leftfield… send your record to freedom@ b92.net. Yesterday I had to film a clip for the local news and had to do it outside the Salford lad Club made famous by the iconic shot of The Smiths. The camera switched on and in full rant mode I noticed all these bricks and stones flying past my head- the Chav army had arrived and were bravely chuck-
ing stones from about 100 yards down the street. Its one of the great British experiences getting stuff lobbed at you because you have a different haircut and it says a lot of things about the country all at once. Reminded me of the time outside a UK Subs show in Manchester when these scum drove past and threw petrol on the punk in the street and tried to throw matches at them- really tough guys! Later on that night after the filming I got the the dreaded midnight special back from Liverpool station when another crew of chavs started the old try and wind up the weirdo routine. That was until one of them realised I was on the TV and then a couple of girls started screaming and singing Goldblade songs, it was a fairly surreal experience and the weirdest thing as how friendly they all go just because they thought I was ‘famous. Tells you something else about our shallow world! Thank fuck for Rebellion festival. A chav free zone for four glorious days. Rebellion has announced its bill for Blackpool from August 7th to 10th. The focal point of the UK and international punk scene has the likes of Cockney rejects, bad manners Cock Sparrer, The Dickies, Conflict, 4 Skins as well as the full original line up of the UK Subs and a special gig by Stiff Little Fingers as well as 150 other bands new school and old school.
Its where the punk scene comes to party and comes to celebrate and fits perfectly in the faded grandeur of the Winter gardens www. rebellionfestivals.com Arturo Basic the man who carries the banner for The Lurkers has written a great book about his punk rock life called ’Fat Bloke, Thin Book’. The book tells it like it is from the rock n roll frontline with tales of those endless nights in sticky carpet pubs and clubs, the hope and despair of playing punk rock for thirty years to a world that generally wont listen! Arturo, though, is one of the scene’s characters and everyone knows him all over the world and its great to have his life story written down. Anyone who has ever played in a band will be able to relate to this tale and will guffaw along with spiky sense of humour underlined by its pithy subtitle ‘My life of total glamour and untold riches in the entertainment industry’ which sarcastically captures his battle for recognition. Buy this book now! 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:
NICK REID
(SKUNX TATTOO) that so many tattoo shops across the world have been infected with in recent years. People want to be met with a smile and to be told that they can have what they want. Enter Skunx! It has been little over a month now since Skunx Tattoo opened it’s doors. How have things been going? Very, very, very well! The people here in Angel have been a real surprise. There is a genuine community here and a buzz in the whole area. We couldn’t be happier with the way things have been and we’re lookin’ forward to the summer! Where did the idea for Skunx Tattoo come from? After tattooing for over 20 years and working in central London for the past 3, there seemed space in the tattooing world for an old school flash shop and to remove the arrogance
Now many a punk knows what SKUNX is, how does that fit in with the shop? Are you involved with the group? After knowing Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) for a number of years, he asked me to start the SKUNX London crew which has been going for a year now. We were on the phone and he came up with the idea of a tattoo shop dedicated to the ideals of SKUNX (honesty and truth). The name of the shop is simply a dedication to this. Why should somebody come and visit you and your staff at Skunx Tattoo? No pretentious pricks here! As we mentioned before, we wanted a studio that would work with
the customer to make sure that they got what they wanted. A lot of studios these days are happy to talk a customer out of getting what they actually want if the artist themselves don’t like the idea. If a design doesn’t work too well as a tattoo because of the natural limitations, the customer is explained ways in which simple changes can be made to make that tattoo works and to make sure they are getting what they wanted instead of talking them into something else! We are here to help and not to talk down to people. What kind of work do you offer? Skunx Tattoo does offer piercing, doesn’t it? Well, as we’ve already explained we will do anything. The imagination is often the limit with tattoos these days and were more than happy to take on a challenge. Otherwise, we cover all of the usual bases. I specialise in portraits and realistic styles and
my good friend Steve specialises in Old school and Japanese work but loves to do anything that walks through the door! We do offer piercing of all kinds by our helpful and friendly female piercer Niki who works from a private and discreet area of the shop. It’s also worth mentioning that a private area for tattooing is also available! Where is your shop and where can people go to see more our your work and get more details on Skunx Tattoo? You can check us out on our website www.skunxtattoo.com or alternatively, just pop into the shop for a chat! All our address details are on the website. We’re open 11am-7pm Tuesday till Sunday and work by appointment only on Mondays. Look forward to seeing you soon. Be Lucky!
| MARCH 2008 | page 07 |
SUPPORT SLOT
with...
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Can you tell us about how Global Parasite was formed? Global Parasite was formed from the ashes of other bands in early 2007. As three already good friends with shared beliefs and agendas, we started writing and rehearsing and with a few false starts due to broken bones and the like, we finally got gigging in April 2007.
What encouraged you to start the band in the beginning and were there any notable influences? The main reason for starting was boredom really and the need to just get out there and scream at people about our beliefs and just enjoy ourselves. Before GP Dave was so bored he even joined an indie band for something to do, but
now we can gladly say the boredom has ended! What motivates you to keep going? Some of the fucked up goings on in this world is a lot of motivation to get out there and scream! We just fucking love the scene too, to be honest. We love playing in this band and being good friends doing something we buzz off is just the motivation you need. We put on our own gigs and we never seem to be short of gigs for us to play either. What current releases do you have out? Tell us about them. At the moment we have self-released a 5-track EP titled “Feed Us War” which was recorded live at our practice room and the vocals were dropped in after. We released that in April 2007 on Pigtown Records. In Autum 2007 the now extinct label Complete Control Music picked us up and they released a white 7” vinyl split single of Smash The NWO, which is off our forthcoming album.
a transport or driving licence! Who are your favourite bands at the moment? In terms of the underground got to give Stuntface a mention, their last album is so fucking good! Ram-Man, Power Corrupts, we’ve seen them recently and they’ve blown us away. Listening to alot of Dub/punk bands and hardcore bands. Any favourite up and coming bands? Definitely got to say the Deadittes from Sheffield. Anti-Virus from Colwyn Bay are worth checking out, not particularly straight up punk more like grunge with hint of Dead Kennedys, there’s a lot of
“We’ve been gigging for just over a year now and we have somehow done 40-ish gigs in that time, all without a transport or driving licence!”
Has 2008 been a busy year for Global Parasite? So far it’s being very busy we’ve played a fair few gigs and been doing a lot of song writing and planning future ventures along with trying to get ourselves a decent backline and driving licence so we can do more gigs, we are totally restricted because of not having a driving licence. We’ve been gigging for just over a year now and we have somehow done 40-ish gigs in that time, all without
passion and they’re well worth checking out, were taking them with us down south on tour. The Autonomads from Manchester are sounding pretty good too. Best venue you have ever played at? Star & Garter in Manchester for sure, wicked onstage sound and a great crowd, Gloucester Guild Hall was pretty scary...a big stage suited for the likes of bloody Bon Jovi and the likes haha, we felt like fish out of water but we enjoyed it, we like playing small dark venues where people fall into you and stuff!
Horns of Power
Words by Tim Drunk Photos by PhotoBret
The idea of adding horns to punk rock is not a new thing, however getting the mix right is where the real skills come in. Many bands add horns because it is ‘cool’ and others do it because their influences did it. Every so often there is a band that comes onto the scene and they redefine the use of horns within their lineup. CELLPHISH don’t just have horn section, they’re a six piece punk rock machine hailing from Los Angeles. Frontman, Jesse, talked to Distorted about the horns, the city and trying to get out to the UK and Europe.
Hey Jesse, how are things going? Not many people seem to know about Cellphish this side of the world. Could you fill in the blanks - where you’re from, how long you been going etc
Things have been going real good for this band in the past year. New record out, bigger shows, supporting bigger acts and a new publisher that works hard for us, “Make them stop music (BMI).” The band has been steadily working since 2003. Band members live thru out Los Angeles, from North Hollywood to the great beaches of southern California. Long Beach to be exact.
Cellphish is best described as a punk band
with horns - do you think that is pretty accurate?
This is the one question we have a hard time with. Only because we do not want to miss direct readers. My opinion would be “Punk/Rock driven with Horns” or “Punk and Roll”. The rest of the guys in the band have there own opinion.
How was the band formed? Who’s crazy idea was it?
How we came together was kind of funny. We all came from other bands that fell apart at the beginning of 2000. We’re all good friends from playing shows together thru the end of the 90’s and stayed good friends. As far as the idea, you mean bringing in the horns? Ah, I just asked the guys to show up during the record-
CELLPHISH
“I tend to forget where I’m at after the first song. All I hear is the wall of music and I just want to go off. I leave wanting more, and I’m in the band!”
ing of our 2004 record and that was it. There was no talk of “Hey, do you want to jam out or be in my band”. They just showed up and never left.
Your current release is titled Destruct/Rebuild - is there any significance behind the title?
Phil Lara our T-bone player came up with the idea of the name and cover art for the new release. I think it’s self explanatory, everyone I’m sure has gone through something in there everyday lives where they feel like they have to take a step back in order to move forward. And that was/is us on this new record.
What other releases have you guys put out. What is your favourite?
We have three other releases. Two EP’s and a full length. The first two EP’s we recorded were to test the waters, to
see what kind of reaction/response we would get from record labels, clubs and our fans from our past bands. I don’t have a favourite record, more like favourite song or songs from each record. I know Bob our bass player loves the first EP “BLUE” and was just talking about how come we don’t play any of those songs. Coddie our drummer, likes the song “RESET” from our EP “BLACK” and I like “Last time” from our full length “Suicide Kings”.
Do you have any motivation behind the songs you write, for instance, politics? What kind of themes do you address in your music?
I tend to stay away from writing political songs. Only because we would never get around to playing the song if it was ever written. I know we would be to busy punching the crap out of each other since we have such strong points of views on global politics in general.
CELLPHISH
As far as writing songs, I have plenty to write about rite here in my back yard. Kids dying at a young age from drug abuse and gangs, police beatings, this beautiful city Los Angeles... all the way down to the songs that hit home, broken hearts. We’ve all had our fair share.
Rumour has it you want to venture out to Europe and the UK? When could we expect you and why has it taken so long for you to get over here?
The plan was to go out last year, but we tend to find “A promoter or so called promoters” who get us all worked up only to let us down. We don’t know who to talk to anymore. We’re not giving up by any means, we just have to find a band out there who want to team up with us.
What is a Cellphish live show experience like?
I wish the other guys could answer this one. Well, when I’m up on stage with the guys, I tend to forget where I’m at after the first song. All I hear is the wall of music and I just want to go off. I leave wanting more, and I’m in the band! I have had some people come up to me all amped up, with that devil stare in their eyes. “Play it again!” “Never knew a band could be that aggressive, with horns” “Punk rocks best kept secret from the major record labels,” are just some of the things they say.
Anything else you’d like to add?
First off, thank you so much for making it out to the show. That was bad ass!!! Next time we see each other, drink s are on me. Thank you again for this interview. With out magazines, we would never know who else is out there. Anyone interested in re-releasing us out in the UK? On this last note. You can pick up a copy of our latest release and last release on interpunk.com under Cellphish.
Not a S
BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE
pam BanD Words by Steve Noble
A harder working band you will unlikely find, and one that has earned its skanking stripes over the course of more than 10 years of touring touring touring. David McWarne and Sean P Rogan of Big D and the Kids Table sat down with us on their London stop of their UK tour to offer insiders on the survival game of DIY, their love of their latest record and we talk Discovery Channel analogies of ska!
So how’s the tour been going so far? David: Dangerously smooth, which is worrying! We don’t trust it. You waiting for something to go wrong? Well I hope it’s not tonight! Ok so there are a few core things I want to talk to you guys about, I know your last record “Strictly Rude” has been out for about a year now, and I know you worked with Joe Gittleman, a Mighty Bosstones member, so now that you have had a hindsight period, how do you feel about the album, still positive? David and Sean : Yeah, yeah, (nodding in agreement) Sean: I mean, I think after a year it still holds up for us, it’s still good, I think? (Looking to David for confirmation) David: I’m pretty proud of it, I think one of our great things was “How it Goes” was 20 songs, but “Strictly Rude “ was 14 (checks with Sean) which is really good for us, it’s hard for us. But in hindsight I would probably make it 12 songs long. Twelve? David : Yeah 12. There are a couple songs, well the big problem is, we will just write so many songs we will fall in love with them, which is called getting married to a song- where you can’t let it go. I think later, when you see people actually buy the CD, we don’t think about the people taking the album home, we think ah, ok. And how much does it help to
have an outsider have a listen and go, “Yeah you know that’s not right or good” David: Yeah that’s what Joe did. I would say Joe was like, you know, when you’re in a band and you take your demo to your best friend or a girlfriend and you’re like “I’m so far into the song I don’t know what to say anymore”, and they go, “Well its crap”. Steve: And not taking it in a bad way? David: Yeah Joe was like a friend, you know. Sean: And we have never had a producer before so, we thought maybe Prince was going to come in and go- “Your all shit”. But it wasn’t like that; the main thing he did with us was go like, “You guys don’t need to play like 46 bars.” Steve: Aim for 44? David: Yeah and we’re like, “But we want to play 46 bars.” So he said stuff that made sense, and we’re like “Ok.” (In his child-sad voice) There are a couple more things with the album; it’s obviously more dub and reggae influenced, not to pigeonhole you, a lot of bands that have gone back to that style and sound. Is that something that came about from a natural progression or an outside influence? Sean: Well I think as people get older, you listen to different things and the group evolves together ya know. And you also go back to different things. And we have definite challenges for ourselves based on the music we listen to and try and write. I think that came across on “Strictly Rude”. Even the
BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE songs that maybe we should have cut, they are still things we are interested in. We think they are really cool, whether anyone else does, that’s up to them. (The conversation turns to the change in direction of sound) David: I think we fell in love with ska punk bands like Operation ivy and Suicide Machines, but then it just- like everyone would say, “In the 90s a lot of California bands just truly ruined it” to a point where , we had to go back to a failsafe, like code red. Drawing it all back and start with the beginning for everybody. Like let’s start with ska, and start over. If we were going to release something, we didn’t want to keep feeding into this not-going -well ska punk scene- like start it over. So I think that was the conscious thing in our heads. Do you think that’s what happened to a lot of bands, they got caught up in that late 90’s momentum? Sean: Yeah it got ruined then. I don’t know how many times you guys have been to the UK, but I feel that ska here is taken more seriously, closer to heart. So in terms of being on the road, do you feel there are places you will go down better, in the States or elsewhere? Sean: I think we’re just way more welcome in the UK than the States. I think it’s just this vibe like. (Interrupted by David) David: You mean outside the ska scene? Sean: Nah even in the ska scene.
David: You think we are? Sean: Yeah, well there isn’t a ska scene in the States? Is that because of the size of the country? Sean: Yeah I think everybody is spread out and put in their place. David: I think you just tuned me into something I didn’t think about (looking quite contemplative) Sean: We don’t feel any pain or ashamed of being a ska band, over here. (David nods in agreement) Sean: We are a ska band- we love the Specials, the 2-Tone, Trojans. Ya know. We get a very solid reception. David: Yeah its very funny when you go on something like the Warped Tour, or any get together festival. What happens, is when certain guitar players from some popular bands, they are like from ex-ska bands, and when they get drunk they all tell you that, which is weird “I used to be in a ska band, I love that stuff ” (In mimicked drunk voice) It’s also good to see that things have come full circle, with ska, in terms of popularity stakes, in Europe and UK more ska bands playing old school, getting back to their roots and maturing even a at a young age. It’s also bringing some respectability to ska. (Both David and Sean agree and sip at their bourbons) David: I feel that “Strictly Rude” was almost our first record for us. I think it’s the first time we actually wrote songs.
The getting older thing I embrace so much cos there is something with skapunk, like when you watch Animal Planet, you see all the tiger-cubs running around going crazy. That’s awesome, that energy is awesome. I think we are getting more like that older lion that goes around and wants to kill. (We all grin and start laughing at that analogy) But even with bands like Operation Ivy that you mentioned, they tied that energy with seriousness in what they were saying, do you have issues in your music that you want to confront, in terms of what you write,
do you get concerned with what you say in your music. David: We don’t write for the fans and what they hope for on the next record. It’s more about the progression of what we are going to do next. We could take the time to write the record and write the record that we know the kids would love, but we can’t be honest to that. We have to write for ourselves. Like if we went to the lab and wrote a whole record of fast stuff, it could be better for the band, but it would be taking advantage of the fans. Like we know what they like- lets write this! So even if it’s to our demise we write what we want to write. Isn’t that the best way to ap-
proach it? David: Yeah yeah. I mean fans might not at first accept it, and I will be like, “dude I can write the songs you want to hear but I don’t want to do that to you”, you know what I mean? Sean: Plus I think its fun when you are a fan of a band early on, and you latch on and get to grow with them. And with where they are going. With some bands they were the coolest bands ever and they took a turn, but it’s all good with what they do, and they are talented and you get where they are coming from. That’s cool. David: Take bands like Clutch and Melt Banana. What so great is you get fans and different people who have different favourite records rather than a punk band who has that best record. And you get fans who say “they will never be the same as blahblah” record. With these other fans everyone has a different favourite record. I think we have fallen into that “weirdo band”, and we like those bands-like The Flaming Lips, whose first record is nothing like their last record. Let’s change the focus to touring, you guys are on the road here in the UK, and from what I hear you don’t often headline tours, so with this tour you are on the road with two UK bands. David: We are not headlining though? Steve: You’re not? Sean: I think we are co-headlining (pauses) Well? (Looking unsure) Ok, so when you do headline tours, do you guys pick bands
BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE
to tour with you? David: When we headline, that’s a huge deal for us. We want to make sure it’s a night, like a show. Imagine like when you take your girl and there are three or four bands that are all completely different rather than “Its ska night at the Apollo” (both crack up laughing) Sean: That would be hilarious (both of them cracking up again) Sean: We really enjoy it too. We have had like one and a half chances to do it. In the States we had a headlining tour, and it’s like “Man, oh man”. We can do anything, create our own setup, and create the vibe, taking the bands we are going to take out. With this tour we kind of collectively liked each other, got in touch and decided let’s do t together. David: its interesting cos we had like really eight or nine years of touring, meaning no-one wanting to take us on tour. Then around the 10th year, after ‘LAX’ and ‘Little bitch’ came out, bigger bands were like “Maybe we should take Big D and we can get a extra couple hundred kids in.” We became the opening up bitch for like three years and now finally we are like- “No!” Trying to get out of big brother’s shadow. For years we were getting paid like a hundred bucks to open up everyone’s tour, and its kind of like, ok we’re the napkin on the table! But you guys must have supported some good bands on the way. David: Yeah it was cool, “Oh why do we have to play with Rancid?”(pretendsobbing and laughing) Sean: But you have to prove yourself all of a sudden, cos now there are like 3000
people and who don’t care, or don’t know you at all. And they are saying “Give me everything you got”, so that’s kind of fun. David: And when we started to get asked to play for ska bands, I started liking more the not-ska shows. It was kind of like when you are 16 starting out and having to prove to everyone. Steve: And you played with a host of good bands recently, like Anti Flag? David: And Dropkicks, and it makes everyone come together as a band, like let’s do it, it’s us versus the crowd. It’s a more enjoyable show, knowing you will walk out and even if you throw up, everyone will be like-“That was awesome!” In terms of the DIY ethic approach you have always taken, and the current buzz word of digital media, is it going to affect you? Sean: Are you saying like versus selling records? Yeah? Sean: I don’t think either way, I mean we are fully for the digital download and burn it. Unless you’re Justin Timberlake you’re not going to see much from the record sales. David: The DIY has definitely changed. Whereas it used be pieces of paper and getting out there with your flyers and sticking them up, now its sitting in your room with your MySpace friends. The DIY is, well it’s changed. I think we are less accustomed to being a digital DIY band. We do the whole MySpace thing, and we do our online tour updates cos we love our video. But I think its warmer, the old style. And yes, we won’t keep
up as much or have the coolest MySpace page or website. It’s not our generation and we have tried it and done it, but our generation is more human interactive. Maybe we do DIY less cos we aren’t as much part of the computer generation? But then again the last Warped tour we were the band everyday putting flyers up and rumours has it that’s why they wanted us on SideOne Dummy (records) There must be a feel good factor for that though? Both: Ah yeah! Sean: With a MySpace bulletin, that’s easy, I still like getting out and being on top of it. David: We still sticker and (interrupted) Sean: And that stuff is hard work! David: We are not a spam band, we are contributing to the downfall of capitalism! So you enjoy the human interaction, and not only speak to people behind a glass screen where you can’t see them? Both: Yeah! David: That’s why I like the video tour updates, it’s still human. Sean: And I think at Warped tour and stuff, fans see that work and are surprised we are handing out stickers and flyers for which stage we are playing on, and they are like “Wow, its Dave or Paul or who ever.” And can have a word with the guys. Davs: And some bands caught on, cos we were doing good work, so bands were having their assistants do it. Which is like?
Like cheating? David: Yeah, it’s almost like you’re going to a party of people that are not in your class? Like different bands are like “I saw you putting up flyers and stickers?” and there is this air of –“Don’t you have someone to do that for you?” And you get a little humbled, like-“No?” Steve: Like getting respect? David: Well I think from some bands its like, “but you’re not that big”? Sean: We would get up early to do the flyers and that, like at ten AM? And you go out and the place is covered with flyers. Cos the drum techs and merch guys have to be up at like seven, they have to do that, its part of their job. We get up and do it as a band and you can see where they have put it up, and it’s not been done with any care. David: You can tell the way they have stickered. How can you tell? David: Ah, the shoddiness! The way the tape has gone on or. That’s a documentary waiting to happen! David: Hah, well actually we have a new DVD “Built up from nothing”. The first act is the history of us- Ten years done in 30 minutes, and the rest is a DIY handbook for young bands, the best way to do merch, best prices, best way to book a tour, everything we learned. I mean my dream is to have some 14-15 year-old kid just jot down all the stuff you have to go through, and you don’t have to go through everything. You have to go THROUGH some of it though?
BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE
David : Yeah, but tips like; bringing in the petty cash inside from the van when drunk, it can save a band.
So looking at the crystal ball, where do you plan for the future, records, tours etc? Sean: Well I think we are pretty ambitious with the next record; we have been talking about it a lot. That’s pretty much all we worry about. Tours keep popping up. But we still do love the new record and projects. David: Us the artist, or rather musicians, we don’t let our thoughts trail too far from the next record. I think writing the record and making the next head lining tour work is as far as we think. Sean: And it takes so much time and is so fun. David: And to be honest we don’t have much opportunity to brainstorm the possibilities, really it’s writing a record and book a tour. Sean: Everything is scheduled; we have to schedule a time to write record, time to record it. David: We are still the empty-bowl kid in line with the big bands- Like “please sir can we go on tour with you?” But I know the new record will be awesome and the new headlining tour we are planning will be awesome. Sean: We got a late start with it because we have been touring so much. David: Any band knows you can write on tour but its different writing on tour? The real potatoes is writing at home. Sean: So I reckon a year from now the record will drop and we will tour 2 years and be late with the next record!
Words by Steve Noble
F
COVER FEATURE: FLOGGING MOLLY
Float like a butterfly, sting like a Molly? Flogging Molly’s fourth
record, “Float” has seen impressive reviews and been exceptionally well received. Their continuing sell-out tour schedule is a small testament to the success of the record and the band in reaching their audience.
The content of Dave King’s music in particular is so personal and heart on sleeve, exposed for all to see, that fans have found this folksy “Trad” Irish rock shares a common ground, personal experiences and pain and joy as a collective mass.
As I waited for Dave to finish the sound check at the Astoria, the
first time they have sold out the venue, the sound is awesome, the band looking relaxed and me with a perma-smile at what my mind conjures to be a very private show for me. With their final checks done, Dave comes over to apologise for the delays in his none-faded Irish accent, shakes my hand and suggests we walk back to his hotel nearby and walk and talk as his wife (band member) Bridget has been waiting on supplies, of food and medicine I assume. On the small jaunt we catch up on the current tour, they had played the previous day in Holland at Pinkpop, and his aching head at the after effects of too many wines from the night before. A few moments later we manage to steal some time in the rather posh lobby of his London residence for the night. your love for Ireland has been well documented and that this record was written and recorded in Ireland, why did you decide to do that?
Well myself and Bridget moved back to Ireland about two and a half years ago and there’s lots of reasons for why did that. We don’t necessarily agree with the American policies and we can’t vote over there so we decided to vote with our feet and went back to Ireland. And, um, another big reason is that we wanted to be somewhere quiet when we weren’t on the road, that’s the main reason really. And the band wanted to record outside of America and we said “Well why not come to Ireland?” We found a studio, well I was given this brochure for a studio in Ireland years ago and we bought it up, things came about and the next thing you know we ware writing and recording in Ireland.
How do you think that helped the outcome of the album itself, more roots and folksy, was it embraced by all in the band?
Yeah it naturally came around ya know. Moving back to Ireland, I thought that was something that would never happen, and I was very aware of that and it was great going to back to a country that healed itself in a lot of ways and moved on. It was great to see that, and a lot of energy came from that too. Plus we live in the country(side) ya know and it was very comforting.
Many people, from your fans point of view, say your music can be therapeutic, in terms of what you sing about, was that the case on this album for you?
Maybe yeah, with songs like ‘Float’, yeah. Very therapeutic. Like we did 360
COVER FEATURE: FLOGGING MOLLY degrees?
You talked about Ireland, and the rifts that have hopefully now been sealed up. In terms of daily news and politics there are many regional areas experiencing problems, you have been verbal on Iraq and Palestine, do you let those issues get to you? I do. It’s that I travel so much around the world and instead of trying to change someone’s culture, how about we embrace it. When I go to France I don’t want to drink Guinness I want to drink wine and eat French food, no matter where ya know, I love the culture. I just think what America did in Iraq was well, ya know. (shaking his head) Even the Palestinian situation, I think like, if we can have peace in Ireland then, all those people who helped bring peace to Ireland could go there and bring about peace? There has to be a way of doing this. Not everyone is going to be happy, that’s not going to happen, but at least, ya know, the majority will be. Ya know what I’m saying? It’s just sad.
Yeah I know what you mean. We mentioned on the walk over about growing up and maturity as a band. Do you take to heart criticisms or
the plaudits people give you?
Ya know, first of all I’m fan of this band and I love what we do. And the fact that it touches people in so many ways is an extension, like an extra added bonus, like “Oh my God!” People come and say this song or that song, at the end of the day I didn’t write it for them. But there is a communication, translated through music. And yeah, there are people that will criticise certain things but there is one thing with this band, we are not trying to be anything else but ourselves, and along the line that might piss people off.
But in your live shows there is a unity?
Yeah definitely, a camaraderie.
Ok, in terms of where you have come from, do you sometimes shake your head in disbelief?
Well we always believed in what we were doing. We hit a nerve when we started playing together; admittedly it took seven of us to do that. We hit a nerve ya know and there was an atmosphere like I’ve never experienced before. There was that energy there. Looking back, I mean Christ; never in a million years did I think we would still be here. But that’s why the album is called “Float”, we’re still here, we’re still floating. If we can do it, anybody can do it.
In terms of labels, being placed in neat box-
“...it was our own pub for 3 weeks, so an incredible amount of kegs of Guinness were drunk there. It was a great experience doing this album.”
COVER FEATURE: FLOGGING MOLLY es, people need labels as a point of reference. Yourselves, Dropkick Murphy’s and the Pogues are seen as this trinity of ‘Trad’ Irish music that infuses rock and punk but there is a broad base beneath that.
No matter the type of music you play, you have your influences and they are hugely important. In the beginnings and the roots of the band but you got to take that and take the chances to do your own things and take it somewhere else. Of course we have a kinship with the bands you have mentioned, but like I was saying, we played Pinkpop yesterday sharing the main stage with Metallica and Incubus. We were the three acts on the mains stage. For us to be on a set like that, I dunno, we’re very eclectic for some reason. That’s cos we do what we want to do. But yeah the Pogues for example are a huge influence on us, the way the Dubliners are, a real ‘trad’ folk band but then again you got the Clash, and Bob Marley. There are so many things going on to be influenced by.
Yeah for sure. Let’s talk about your record again. The album by en large has been received well. Every two years you seem to have re-
leased an album on the dot, is this a trend or something that has happened by accident?
It all depends on what the touring is like. Like before the last one we had basically been touring for like four years and no time off, well you don’t get time off. Everything is dictated by that, if you look at the cover of the album we all look pretty relaxed there, and we’re all like “Phew!” (of relief). Sitting down and having a pint in the studio.
Another thing I found interesting with your album covers. The first two had a figure walking way or not recognisable, the third your childhood photo and now- all of you on there.
Well on this one there is relevance. We have been together for 10 years now and we have never had a cover with all of us. And we were like “what the hell, let’s take a picture of us in the pub with all of us in our natural surroundings.”
Was this taken in Ireland?
Yeah this was taken in the pub in the studio, just besides the recording booth; it was our own pub for 3 weeks, so an incredible amount of kegs of Guinness were drunk there. It was a great experience doing this album.
Is that something you think was a once off, or would you do it again?
Ah no, we got to do it again; once we have done it like that we could not do it any other way. We had dinner together and everything and there was a good atmosphere.
In terms of your band, there are seven of you. So do you enjoy the moments apart when not on tour, your space?
(Nodding the whole time) – Of course of course. Even when we are on the road together, we give each other space. Everyone has their own thing ya know. We all do our own thing and respect each other in the sense that we like to do these different things.
Do you enjoy that aspect of being on the road so much?
There is always a mixed feeling; there were times on the road we wish we are in the studio and times in the studio wishing we were playing live. Ya know it’s, well rock ‘n roll is much more about routine these days that it used to be, we try and make it not like that, our schedule is so crazy. But we respect what we do and every album we put out. So if it says Flogging Molly on the top, it must have come through all of us.
You do have a hectic touring schedule, are there places you look forward to, like Dub-
COVER FEATURE: FLOGGING MOLLY lin for example?
(Shooting in) Dublin makes me nervous, ya know. That’s a different kettle of fish for me and Bridget. For example we’re playing Dublin and the whole village we live in are coming to the show, and the show has sold out and we have to try and get them in.
How many?
Like 50 at least! And you also have places like Japan, where we have always had great kinship
And you guys got married in Japan?
We got married cos of that, a whole Shinto wedding. But yeah I love that place. I would love to go to more places, like your country (South Africa) and even go to the world cup (Football) there!
One other aspect with this album was Matt Hensley leaving the band and coming back. What effect did that have on the band? Was it a shock or could you move on quite easily?
No it was a shock. I mean we understood it. And we had a couple of replacements and great people with us. But ya know it was weird and then he called to say he was coming back and it was like “Oh wow”, and the minute we got together again. (smiling and nodding proudly) We knew.
And do you still have digs at him about that?
Oh yeah yeah, all the time. It’s amazing
the things you miss in a person, I know besides his playing. I remember the one time we were playing and he started to laugh and Bridget turned around to me and said”God ya know, I missed that laugh.” Things like that, we missed him terribly and happy he is back now.
I caught you guys doing your sound check, and you all seemed very relaxed, are you what you appear?
I get really bad (nervous) I have a routine, I get a bit dodgy.
Is that because you expect the worst?
Yeah, ya know, you expect these things to go wrong. And stuff like that.
And after the show?
Relief. Ya know, and a sense of celebration. It’s always good to have the gig over, if all went well. Like tonight I’m nervous cos we have never sold out the Astoria before, so I’m nervous yeah, but hope it will all go well! On that note I left Dave to relax and prepare for the show, while I went and prepared for this article. Flogging Molly, one big happy family, not just floating but sailing on the back of hard work, terrific songs and an unbelievable stage presence.
poin
photos from Rebellio
point of view
nt of view
on (Vienna) & Academy in the UK (Birmingham)
All photos Š David Brown
drongos FOR EUROPE
BUZZCOCKS
point of view
GBH
point of view
MAD SIN
point of view
THE DAMNED
UK SUBS
point of view
DRAGSTER
point of view
THE VENUE - REBELLION
point of view
SS-KALIERT
TEXAS TERRI BOMB
point of view
FUNERAL DRESS
point of view
ARGY BARGY
THE AGITATORS
point of view
DEMOB
Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD.
PHOBIA
Originally from the mid 80’s and influenced by the pioneers of the apocalyptic punk assault, Discharge and others such as GBH, The Exploited, Anti-Sect and Crass, the twin attack vocals spit venom at the injustices and horror of war and animal abuse - this is Phobia. Their energetic music and socially aware lyrics set them apart from some of today’s bubblegum pop punk being peddled. This is heartfelt gritty angry music. At a time when they were ready to leave the safety net of the local scene and fulfil their ambitions as young punk musicians the band split at the end of 86. Recently reformed after a 20 year absence. The lads are back and still standing out from the crowd. Despite the anger in the music and lyrics the lads are an approachable bunch and their attitude wins them friends wherever they play. The band is made up of Davvy and Ratty on twin vocal assault. Warby on Guitar, Col on Bass and Bob on the drums.
Tell us a little bit about the band from a ‘now and then’ perspective. Also tell us about what you ‘erberts were up to in the bands lengthy interim. Bob - I cannot believe we are back together after so long, watching people pogo to songs we wrote over 20 years ago. But now it is about feeling good. And it is. (Feeling good). Back then I was serious and ambitious. This was the first time I played in a pub. The first time I played to a large audience. The first time I recorded songs in a studio etc... I was sad when it all fell apart. I’ve always been in a band, and was, before Phobia, but only played youth clubs. After Phobia, Col (Bass) Joined P.M.T. I joined soon after. They went further than Phobia. We split in 91 and I went from band to band. About 2000 I gave up playing original material in favour of covers and in 2005 I gave up altogether but from a long time ago I promised to play the Aug 07 (Anniversary / reunion) gig. So here we are. Col- I played with Bolton band PMT after leaving Phobia then had a break of a few years until I got asked to join Blood Sucking Freaks. When Denis (guitarist) moved to Sweden I joined Anarchy Spanky which was originally supposed to be an all female band. I was trying to teach the original line-up to play whilst I had one hand in a plaster cast as I’d cut some tendons at work. Then as I was the only one who could actually play something I got asked to join. When Anarchy Spanky disbanded
two of the members formed Forced Entry and I joined after a couple of months. We have had a lot of band members come and go but we keep going to this day. That’s a scary thought, after our Drummer Cooney goes off to Sweden there won’t be any original members left. Ratty - No difference musically but getting older, heavier, balder and greyer but wiser. In the lengthy interim have done too much to remember - loads has gone on in my life, kids, grandkid, music, tons of jobs, tons of redundancies! Nothin’ changed there then. I played bass in TVOD and then bass in PMT, after that it all went quiet and we all went our separate ways... until……… Warby - Up to now we have been re-learning and gigging what we did the last time round so it is much the same as it was in the 80’s but without the Mohawks. There is not much hair left in the band. I finished with Phobia and have not played guitar seriously in any band since then. Like most of us, I spent the interim period getting on with family life, but never stopped enjoying the music. The anarcho/anti-governement/ anti-war stance and delivery was thriving in the early 80’s as you well know and several bands are still dishing out this style besides yourselves. How have your tracks and model of outburst been received by the 21st Century punkers? Warby – I don’t think the attitude ever goes away for the kind of people we are playing to. There’s always
Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD. a mistrust of the governing bodies and a general hatred of war. Some of the lyrics might be dated but the messages are still relevant Bob – Good. I don’t think we’ve had a bad reaction yet. Col - Most of the songs we did then are still relevant and the ones I wrote still have a lot of meaning to me. Animal abuse is still going on, we might not have Thatcherism in name anymore but the underlying problems that it brought are still there. We still have the threat of nuclear war and there are conventional wars going on. I do think the majority of people are used to the dangers and they aren’t taken as seriously as in the past. Do people actually listen to the lyrics anymore? I do think that some of the songs we do should be re-written to deal with the current establishment rather than how it was 20 odd years ago. One of my sons plays in a metal band and their lyrics are very much out of the same background as a lot of the 80s punk bands. They have had some shit for being too political; do people expect them to sing shitty love songs? Ratty - Mixed reviews. There’s still interest from the older punks and also from the younger ones. Like anything else things move on but I don’t think there’s as much in the anti war/ govt stance. Shame really cos these are still real issues, but not quite thatcherism though! The duo singing is a great aspect of your band. Was this a pre-conceived
idea or a chance occurrence? Bob – Pure chance. I can’t remember another band like it at the time. Ratty - I joined when this concept had already occurred, previous to that in the very early eighties I played in 4 piece bands - Intensive Care ON vocals and Mentally Disturbed on bass so this was a new concept for me, a good way of being aggressive with to the point vocals bouncing messages off each other Warby – We started off with just Davvy on vocal duties but Davvy liked the way Anti-Sect sounded, and he thought they had two singers. (Did they? I don’t know). So we got Paul Makin, also from Bolton, in as the second vocalist. Paul’s vocals were higher than Davvy’s and they worked in a different way to the classic Davvy / Ratty assault. We did a few gigs with Paul but that came to an end and Ratty joined about 3 days before our next gig at the Bolton Institute and he did the gig with the lyric book in his hand. They are similar in delivery but I think it works well. How do you feel about some bands that have reformed lately and are over-pricing their value and basically taking the piss-on name alone. Also how do you feel you can compete in today’s ‘big band mentality’ scene? Bob – Big bands are always going to charge more. You wouldn’t expect to see the Sex Pistols for a fiver to-
day. As for competing we don’t. We just do things our way. Col - A lot of people complain about HITS or whatever it’s called now (Rebellion?). I went to the first one in Blackpool and enjoyed it but didn’t go back due to the number of Nazis that were there. I got told it was different now and went for a day last year and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I don’t think it’s too expensive when you consider the number of bands you get to see, most of which are still relevant. I must say that I enjoyed The Beat more than most of the “punk” bands though. Ratty - Give it up for the underdogs. I don’t want to compete in the big band mentality scene. Tell us what would be your idea of the ideal Phobia gig - venue, bands, door price etc. Col - For me it would be something like Leeds, Derby or Nottingham Punx Picnic. Playing in the open air to people who appreciate the fact that you have made the effort to turn up and everybody helps with the setting up, building the stage, running the genny etc. Really nice people who put the effort in to make sure that everything is organised, bands treated with respect and no-one has the piss taken out of them. Other bands would have to include Oi Polloi, Kismet HC oh and of course Forced Entry! Ratty - Free gig, open air, something like the gigs we did at The Castle and Quarry. FUCK (fun under crisis karnival) in Queen’s park in Bolton. Warby - I went back recently to the
“Like anything else things move on but I don’t think there’s as much in the anti war/ govt stance. Shame really cos these are still real issues, but not quite thatcherism though!” site that we played a (not quite legal) gig in an old quarry near Bolton. That is an awesome site and would love to play in there again if it was possible. I had not been there in 20 years since we did that gig with some other local bands. We actually got stopped by the police in the middle of our set, but we started up again and I think the police decided there were too many people there to handle so left us to get on with it. I would like it to be an all day mixed bag of Punk, Metal, ska, and other stuff and for me, the headliner would have to be Discharge. Ideally it would be free entry so anyone and everyone could come, but realistically we’d have to pay bands so a small charge just to cover that. Bob - No rules or restrictions. Ideal gig would be where everybody has enjoyed it and are happy. www.myspace.com/phobia86
Words by Sir Ska
“England is Tiny!” With their first US tour under expanding belts, a unrelenting work ethic, and a growing fan base in the UK, Random Hand are making a few waves on both sides of the pond. We had caught up with the guys a couple days before their first US stint and a few days after. The same merry crew of, Joe, Joe, Matt and Robin that released their debut record “Change of Plan” last year have had a bit of time to reflect on the album and all really pleased with the way it was received, all proud of it. Tilston adding that if it wasn’t made when it was and didn’t come out as well as it had, he was certain everything would be very different now. “It gave us a really good platform to grow from and represents us really well.” We also asked Tilston about the bands lyrical output before pinning them down on tour questions. They have been associated with certain pockets of left-wing politics and we wanted to gauge their reasons“Robin’s lyrics are mainly a social commentary, about the place we live in and the experiences we encoun-
ter. That place being Keighley, a bursting hotpot for racial abuse and hate, some of what he writes about is bound to be about racism and us all being of a left-wing persuasion it going to be about how stupid we think it is. We’re not however what I’d call a political band, we don’t go out on that stage with the intention of changing people’s views, but we hope it would make any one who disagrees with what we say think and if it pisses of a few racists along the way then bonus.” One country that has seen its share of racial tension is the big ol’ US of A. The following are extracts of the pre and post expectations and feelings of their tour: to see if their expectations were met and what surprises if any came up!
RANDOM HAND
[Pre Tour] Who else will you be playing with?
Tilston: We will also be joined by Mustard Plug on a few of the shows and we’ll be sharing a van with a band called Knockout. They haven’t been to England yet but you should check them out. I’d like to add that plenty of American bands throw around comments like “you should come over, we’ll help you out.” It’s happened enough for us to not really get ahead of ourselves when these things are said, however the Voodoos kept their word! The last tour with the Voodoo’s was also
with a band called Left Alone, and they were very good at getting the best out of all of us... we got in to Jack Daniels in a big way on that tour. I have a feeling this habit will only grow Stateside.
[Pre Tour] What are you expecting from the US tour?
Tilston: We got lots of nice advice off the Sub humans about not upsetting immigration officers and plenty of advice about the best places to eat from everyone else. The plan is to just enjoy it. It’s not common for bands from our scene to get over to the States, never
NEW ALBUM UPDATE “We have been so busy its felt like our feet haven’t touched the ground even after a month off! But yes we have been working on a few new ideas. We managed to a get a few tracks written and demoed after our January tour, which we have been playing live over the last few months, and they have been going down well. We intend to get most of a new album written in June, I can tell you now it feels odd having to write for a new album, the last one was a collection of works that we had spent some time making and creating. The difference with now is we can afford to be a bit more relaxed, we’re not racing to get our debut out. However it is really weird approaching a second album. As the first one was created over our entire career to date, we wrote the songs over years, now we’re starting from scratch, it’s a totally different dynamic. However the writing is proving fun, I doubt we’re going to alienate anyone who already likes us with the next piece of work. People can just expect us to push the boundaries of the way we mix things up a lot more, The Metal will be more Metal, the Ska will be more Ska, as will the reggae, punk and anything else we throw in to it.” - Tilston
mind supporting the bands that we are. So we’re going to go over there to play the way we always do and if they like it then Jackpot, if they don’t well, we got to go see lots of new places in the world doing what we love.
[Post Tour] What were the bands highlights of the tour in the US?
Tilston: Playing to people who had never heard us before was really refreshing. In England 90% of the shows we do, the audience has an idea what to expect from us. They have either seen us before or have heard about us. None of these audiences had a clue what was about to happen on stage so that made it very rewarding when the crowd went crazy for it.
[Pre Tour] Any must do’s while your State side?
Tilston: We’ve been making a list, number one is Taco Bell and lots of it, closely followed by going to a party with a kegar and people drinking out of those red paper cups like you see in every teen movie ever made. If there is any possible chance we’re going to try go to the grand canyon, but I think it may be a bit out of the way. Finally we want to get a picture of Robin (lead singer) in his green fleece on Venice Beach, Yorkshire as Fuck!
[Post Tour] Any funny stories from the road?
Tilston: We played this old Cinema in San Diego and it was insane! There was about 600 kids there when we went on stage and they were going crazy, so Robin took this opportunity to get a massive “Mexican” wave... it turns out that they just call it a wave near Mexico, so
BIG HAND
when Robin laid down the command we were met with a sea of blank expressions and silence for about four seconds then hysterics from ourselves as we realised what had happened. We still managed to get one form the front to the back though, but I think Robin learnt a valuable lesson in researching things before attempting them on stage.
to have a good time, but they hadn’t expected us to go down as well as we did. It was an awesome feeling being supported by a band that has been doing skacore since I was three.
[Post Tour] How do you feel the band was received?
Tilston: England is tiny!
Tilston: People got it and showed a lot of appreciation, we were overwhelmed with how quickly we sold out of CD’s, as where the Voodoo’s, they expected us
[Post Tour] What’s the biggest thing you learned from this tour?
REVIEWS New Lexicon Paint it Black (Reflection)
Perhaps this release as been out for awhile but it recently landed on our desk, so we decided, we’d give it a review. The band member credentials look great on paper (ex members of None More Black, Kid Dynamite, Modern Life is War) but does it translate? I’m going to yell a resounding ‘HELL YEAH!’. Paint it Black have created an album that takes the listener on a journey centered around hardcore, some creative production and pop punk sensibilities. I’m sure that has you confused, but do yourself a favour and take a listen - this is different but not different enough to alienate punks everywhere. – Tim Drunk
Addiction SS-Kaliert (Razorblade)
Hawks and studs all round, this is Germany’s premiere rising street punk band and this 2nd full length showcases ex-
actly why they are gaining a solid reputation across the globe. Fast, straight to the point street punk. Some of their songs are in english with majority of them in their native tong. Strangely enough this doesn’t detract from the record - it just shows that they’re proud of who they are and aren’t about to conform to the ‘We need to be American’ mantra that many non-English bands suffer from. – Tim Drunk
GNV FLA
Less Than Jake (Cooking Vinyl)
The first record off the bands newly formed label and venture into DIY territory. After some dubious output, the bands fan base has not diminished but this is a thankful return to a more stripped down rootsy return for the band. The lyrical and song content is more, well mature, with an insightful magnifying eye placed on their hometown of Gainesville, Florida, but offering a overview of social concerns as a whole. It still
maintains some catchy horn and guitar driven melodies and of course the dual vocal trademark of LTJ. It’s a solid output that encapsulates the best of what the band has to offer. – Steve
Bad Luck Charms Bad Luck Charms (I Scream)
Oh yeah, some awesome sleazy punk rock inspired rock n roll. The brain child of Bad Luck Charms is none other than Kerry Martinez (US Bombs) now I’m sure you’re getting the idea behind their sound. You can hear the New York Dolls within the sound, with hints of the Rolling Stones and even a glimpse of the Dead Boys. If you like your rock ‘n rool as sleazy as possible, you need to take a listen to this debut release, it’s awesome. Now go work on that swagger. – Tim Drunk
Under the Fog King Blues (Field)
This re-issue is a testament
> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS
that the debut full length album from the social fighting reggae, folk stalwarts was a absolute gem of a record. It carries with it a heavy burden of trying to match what the guys do so magically brilliant live and that said; punch you in the brain with their lyrical content, fresh approach and social anti establishment messages. The King Blues are a saviour of a punk spirit that occasionally threatens to fade, through an eclectic mix of uplifting and seemingly spontaneous gifted music. – Steve
It’s Gonna Get Dirty
Dirty Revolution (Do the Dog)
Social commentary through this sweetly female fronted Welsh band, with elements of roots, ska and reggae. This EP is a nice appetiser for undoubtedly good things to come, as their ironic lyrics and anti establishment rhetoric takes front stage with a little gem of a release.. – Steve
Strength through Pain Monster Squad (Reflection)
When Monster Squad played London I really wanted to grab their debut release as their current album just blew me away - and as my luck would have it, Strength through Pain has just been re-released in Europe through the nice guys at Reflection Records. If you’ve only heard Fire the Faith, please add this to your collection, you won’t be disappointed. – Tim Drunk
Strong
No Turning Back (Reflection)
Do you like your hardcore straight up with no frills and to the point? Stronger is a record you will need to add to your collection. Even the cover art is pretty cool. Standout tracks on this release include the title track and ‘Do you care?’ - the way it build you up and then when the verse kicks in it sucks you in, and before you know
it you’re lost in a swirling circle pit. If theis album is an indication, a No Turning Back live show must be one awesome hardcore storm of fun. – Tim Drunk
We Are
Cloak & Dagger (Reflection)
Folk oi! Folk oi!. No this isn’t an Oi! sounding record by any means. it’s a great stripped down sounding fast paced punk with some great folky elements thrown in. it’s packed with a enormous amounts of energy and only 30 seconds into the first track and you’ll be wanting to bounce of the nearest wall. It reminds me of early Against Me! but more raw, more urgent, maybe just plain more punk rock all round. if you like it bare and exposed, Cloak and Dagger will suit your needs perfectly - let’s hope they don’t get sucked into the mainstream and loose their integrity... – Tim Drunk
R EV IEWS Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!
For the Win Drewvis
(Do the Dog)
On a solo (well duo now with a permanent bassist) mission to conquer our minds and soul with this infectious disease called ska. This is a wonderfully light summer time companion, around the campfire, mood setting album. Acoustic, roots-vibe drenched uplifting songs. – Steve
Jimmy The Squirrel
Jimmy The Squirrel (Do the Dog)
Tis’ the year of great EP’s. This Nottingham based five piece deliver some terrific songs, barred knuckle raw and rocksteady ska and reggae hinged by keyboards and sweet-lick guitars. The vocals don’t hurt at all either. Uplifting and catchy, another fine example of UK’s expanding ska scene. – Steve
Destruct/Rebuild Cellphish
Sometimes when I hear
a punk band with horns I get bummed, the horns seem to take away the aggressive edge and you are left with a half arsed bunch of songs on a record that could have been brilliant... Enter Destrcu/Build by Cellphish. it’s got all the power, speed and aggresion you need from a great punk band and they make use of horns! The horns actually add to everything they do. Do yourself a favour and be sure to listen to ‘Choppers Eye’ - it is a killer! For fans of bands like the Voodoo Glow Skulls and maybe even the Mighty Mighty Boss Tones... maybe... – Tim Drunk
You’re asking for it...
The Misconducters The first impressions of this four track EP is... very cool. Some interesting guitar work - and I like the vocals. Raw enough to be stay off the airwaves but clean enough for you to hear the message. The artwork depicts a flock of ‘censored’ sheep on the
cover, with that image alone it ins’t very difficult to understand where this three piece is coming from. There are some rockabilly influences within their songs but just enough to add some dimension to what is a great full speed punk rock EP. – Tim Drunk
Live & Rockin’ Demented Are Go (CherryRed)
Any DAG fan already has this in their collection and if they don’t they can’t be a true fan, right? Right. 14 tracks of pure psychobilly madness on one release including ‘Busted Hymen’, ‘Human Slug’, ‘PVC Chair’ and ‘Rubber Rock’. Go get demented, go get your psycho on - just go do something else, like reading the rest of this issue. – Tim Drunk
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BOOKS
ONLINE VIDEOS
Shock Doctrine
by Naomi Klein While Michael Moore shines in the limelight as the large anti- hero figure threatening to tear down the establishment and government that seems to be in place to put us all down , through their spying, cheating and lying. Naomi Klein is the more intellectual, matured veil of truth that covers over the spotlighthunting activists to put forward passionate, but thorough and dynamic researched material. Ever since her ‘No Logo’ was released and thrust her into the front line of socially consciousness journalists, Klein has been a active intellectual behemoth trying to shed light on wrongs in a more accepted but not elitist or dumbed down manner. Her latest offering, is the kind of book I pray will be part of any academic curriculum, as it delves into decades of Capitalist and government brotherhood -purposeful, strategic and devastating to the wider social structure as a whole and corrupt to the core. This is not another, “let’s have a go at the Man books”. Much like her previous offerings, it’s in depth, thorough and a genuine piece of journalist integrity which removes the shine of corporate and capitalist involvement, presiding over decades of natural and manmade disasters, resulting in the general suffering of the majority of citizens and assisting in the rich further enriching themselves. It is what the title says, a shock that’s shakes the mental disbelief that so much of what has gone wrong over the past 50-60 years has largely been planned, cold and deliberate. If you do read one book this, read this one. – Steve
AFS - HAPPY PEOPLE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdx6PfBvaFo)
The peephole pervert goes punk here as this keyhole video footage gives an orbicular insight into the energy and beligerence that is AFS. Delightfully disorientating and with a damn fine tune the coming together of both sight and sound works well and although the vid may suffer if you have a wank server it is still obvious we have a fine effort on our beer drenched mitts. Shot at The Snooty Fox in Wakefield, a gaff renowned for its video packages, this is the first one that actually flits about so much from many obscure angles. In fact the swaying motion adds to the general energy and it is also good to see band members get equal footage rather than focus on the singer (which happens all too much on more processed bilge). A treat for the Arthritic Foot Soldier fan club and how many watching this video actually thought (and hoped ha, ha) that the guitarists heads was at some stage going to completely detached from the body. – FungalPunk
R EV IEWS Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!
SHOWS & GIGS through some classic, and then showcased a handful of new songs. I’m still not convinced it was the best venue but either way, the Duel reached some new ears and hopefully opened a few closed minds. Looking forward to getting the album - send it our way! - Tim Drunk
THE Loved Ones Barfly, London, UK 8 May 2008
The Duel © Tim Drunk
THE DUEL
PUNK, London, UK 31 April 2008
You’d think a place that is known as PUNK wouldn’t be some pretentious shithole - well, the Duel opted to play a great set at this somewhat stuck up venue. The occasion, the release of their latest album. A few shitty indie bands played thier sets while the punters pointed and remarked at the gathering punk contingent complete in leather jackets and even a few ‘hawks. Needless to say the bouncers were not impressed... fast forward to the Duel and they impressed. it seemed as if most of the venue were there to see the band and Tara and co. didn’t dissapoint. They rolled
Ah the sweet signs of Summer in London. Flesh exposed, cold perspiring lagers, and sweaty confined intimate gigs, hello good times! And with The Loved Ones choosing one of the smaller well known venues in the city, The Barfly; offered the perfect stage for the Summer entrée band with the heartfelt , well meaning and genuine persona and music. Having previously seen a run through the UK supporting labels monsters NOFX. This more subdued tour was more about their fans, and they did not disappoint, showing up mid-week night to cram the small confines of the upstairs North London venue. It was all good vibes and smiles from the crowd, mid-set performing human pyramids, enjoying the banter with the guys on the thankfully low un-security barred stage. You could see the band was enjoying this too though, the love was flowing both ways from fans to band and vice versa, and as cheesy as it all sounds, the night was one of relaxed fun. The band was at ease
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with these surroundings and the crowd appreciative of their genuine heartfelt performance. - Steve
The FLATLINERS / RENT TO KILL Bar Monsta, London UK 6 APRIL
Monday night, post band-filled weekend in London and the Canadian youngsters still are greeted by a packed out Bar Monsta. Despite my late arrival I catch the tail end of Rent to Kill, who were pretty frigin good. The venue is cramped while the bands play, but in between, everyone seeks the refuge of fresh air to take in their dose of nicotine or run to the bar for their next drink. Their set
The Flatliners © Willa
kicks off and the sound is pretty damn good, and the energy eclectic as they tear into their songs from their release “Great Awake” which has obviously bought in the bulk of this crowd. It takes no time for the guys up front to start the crashing, falling, laughing and picking up of new found friends in the pit. In between new classics the band plays a number of their more skanking songs, which do nothing to dent the frenzy that is the small dance floor. The band are nearly shocked by the unbelievable frenzied reaction, and the night is already gearing up to be one to the best small venue gigs of the year. You can see the pure excitement from the band on stage reflected by the fans in hearing them, for the most, their first time live. As the set-list gets torn through, the minor gulf between band and fans is eradicated and the circle pit moves to circumnavigate the single pillar in the middle of the room; the band is blown away again by the show. Near the end as the sweated
RE V IEW S Don’t take our word for it, make up your own mind!
Send us your gig reviews! info@distortedmagazine.com
bodies hang ,monkey-like from the light rigs on stage, and the floor and stage are swallowed in bodies, and broken glass, the night ends in a seemingly sudden fashion. By far one of the best small town gigs in a while. – Steve
STRIKE ANYWHERE / ANTI-FLAG (Give it a name) Earls Court, London UK 11 May 2008
So mid day of a pretty dreary band line-up, filled with what I call media punk bands, Strike Anywhere took to the main stage full of teenage emo-ridden kids (feel the old age coming through?) They played a energetic set but I still feel the environment is not the right one for them. They had a good sound, and played a tight set, full of politicised tough-stanced lyrical content amongst the Mickey Mouse stuff of so many bands on the day. Thank you for something different! As a special mention to the other punk band of the night, Anti Flag, literally blew away everyone else, inducing a massive circle pit, all of this from the smaller stage, and their energy, crowd reaction, determined political content and output adds some respectability to the line-up. – Emo Soldier
SONIC BOOM SIX / BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE / RANDOM HAND Camden Underworld, London UK 23 May 2008
Even on a sunny Friday evening, I haven’t seen such a good turnout for an opening band since the smoking ban came into action. So for Yorkshire ska-core band RANDOM HAND to receive an array of applause upon the arrival onto the stage surely only suggests something positive about the UK punk scene. Their set immediately exploded, arms flailing and fingers pointing across the sea of heads on the dance floor, and as the quintet stormed through a number of songs, they maintained their buzz of energy throughout. Coming as a surprise to most, BIG D AND THE KIDS TABLE were next on. Despite the disappointment of this, songs from the more traditional ska sounding record ‘Strictly Rude’, and ‘older and faster’ tracks such as ‘LAX’ and ‘My Girlfriend’s On Drugs’ were greatly received. The excuse that they’re practising a few songs for ‘a friend’s wedding’ also spurred a number of covers including Sham 69’s ‘Hurry Up Harry’, and more unsurprisingly The Specials’ ‘Little Bitch’. As the crowd thinned out, SONIC BOOM SIX played a well received set despite the crappy sound levels. Set as the next UK band to ‘make it’, I’m still not convinced; although in theory (1. They’re tight 2. They’re energetic) they’re a good band, they just don’t hit the right sonic boom spot for me to get excited about.. – Giles Bidder
> ALBUMS > EPs > BOOKS > GIGS Trashed Idols © Photobret
CELLPHISH / TRASHED IDOLS / KILLING CALIFORNIA Alex’s Bar, Long Beach, CA 15 May 2008
Arriving at this awesome venue I was keen to see Trashed Idols but before they even got to the stage, Cellphish had already blown me away... was this evening going to get better? Trashed Idols stepped up and played a belter of a set which included one of their best trakcs, Alexa Artiste (thanks for the dedication guys, ha ha). This show also marked the start of Trashed Idols tour, and they made sure they warmed up good and proper - their set was spot on and theyre a band worth watching again. Up next was Killing California - hard, fast new school slapped with a dose of hardcore, they do provide a unique sound for tonight. We only managed to sneak in four songs before our ride back to LA needed to go - however on the ride back to the city, I could clearly recall nearly every song each band played on that night, my only question was, where the fuck was everybody that night!? Awesome bands, amazing songs but no people... – Tim Drunk
ON THE EDGE:
Words & Photos by Willa
SHAI HULUD FOR MORE THAN A DECADE SHAI HULUD HAS SEEN THE CHANGES IN THE METAL AND HARDCORE SCENES. BASSIST MATTHEW FLETCHER AND ON/OFF GUITARIST GREG THOMAS LIVED TO TELL THE TALE
THERE’S A RUMOUR THAT AT ONE POINT THE BAND WERE GOING TO RENAME THEMSELVES ‘THE WARMTH OF RED BLOOD.’ WHAT HAPPPENED WITH THAT?
FLETCHER: That was verrrrry temporary. The reason for that was after we parted ways with Geert, we didn’t know how people would react to us having our 4,000th singer, and Matt and I said
‘Shai Hulud is not going to break up, and there’s no reason to stop playing songs that we wrote and maybe there’s a way to keep playing those same songs but move forward.’ So we chose a line from the song ‘Scornful: The motives and virtues of others’ and it says ‘the warmth of red blood/how I miss the warmth of red blood.’ We thought it sounded like a cool name for a band and everybody else hated. There’s plenty of ‘blood’ bands as it is,
but as soon as we renamed ourselves that it seemed like there was a flood of two thousand others that just popped up for a month here and there. And then one day someone just said ‘keep the name Shai Hulud’ and it made more sense. With a lot of hardcore there’s a turnover rate of kids that won’t even know…two years later they’ll be gone anyway and to the new kids Shai Hulud will be a new band. There’s also some die hulud- hold on, die hard…die hulud shai hard fans! (laughs) They’ll definitely like it regardless as long as we keep of putting out stuff that sucks. So we kept the name. It’s a cool name. A nerdy name. We named it after the giant sandworms in Dune…
WHAT WAS THE MOVE AS A BAND FROM FLORIDA TO POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK LIKE? DID THE CHANGE IN SCENERY AFFECT YOUR ATTITUDE OR INFLUENCES?
we’d have five days in a row that we’d play shows then we’d go home for two days and go play two shows the next week…we did a couple sporadic shows, enough to keep food on the table and pay rent so it made sense strategically. It’s like ‘why Poughkeepsie? Where the hell is that?” It’s three hours away from every major city in that area, like Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Albany, everywhere in Jersey… GREG: Unlike Southern Florida, where it’s a seven hour drive just to get outta there.
“I think Bad Religion had a song called ‘The Positive Aspect of Negative Thinking.’ That’s us.”
FLETCHER: The main reason that move got made was we were looking for a drummer and every single person who contacted us lived in either New York or New Jersey. We were talking to one guy and he asked ‘well, where are you best shows?’ and we said ‘New York and New Jersey.’ So it was like, why were we going to make him move to Florida? At that point in the band we had one guy who was from the Netherlands, two guys from Oklahoma and a guy from Florida so it didn’t really matter, there was only one of us that had to ‘pick up and move’ in the sense of leaving his family and such. Also, the way stuff was spread out and the way that we played shows it made so much more sense to be on the East Coast because at that point we didn’t have these solid tours, but
SHAI HULUD SEEMS A BAND VERY MUCH RIFF-BASED AS IT IS LYRIC BASED….DO YOU GUYS WORK ON THE MUSIC OR THE WORDS FIRST?
FLETCHER: Usually the music is written before the lyrics. Or sometimes Matt will have lyrics that he’s written and will say ‘well I want this line to be over that part’ but overall the music is done way before the lyrics. During the recording of the new album, with our drummer Andrewwho we’ve played with on and off for years- we had a huge discussion over what constitutes as a riff versus a guitar part. As far as he was concerned he was happy to see that there were quote unquote ‘riffs’ on the new Shai Hulud record. So…um,
Greg? GREG: It’s not any simpler, the guitar parts are still just as busy but there are a lot more riffs on the new stuff then chord progressions.
YOU HAVE SOME FANS WHO ARE PRETTY COMMITTED TO YOUR OLDER ALBUMS. HOW DO YOU THINK THE NEW ALBUM IS GOING TO GO DOWN?
FLETCHER: Well there has been a huge wait for the record, so I don’t know what to expect. I think there’s plenty of hardcore kids who couldn’t care less what we do at this point. I read something on Lambgoat. com where somebody said ‘I hope this band dies in a plane crash, they should have quit when Chad left’ (laughs). Who wants a band to quit that much? Especially if you used to like them. Even if they don’t put out albums that you like anymore, who has that kind of time to wish that a band would quit? If you don’t like Metallica’s new album then listen to ‘Master of Puppets’ and just enjoy it. Like I said earlier, there’s a very large turnover rate with a lot of these kids and a lot of kids that we saw in ’99 and 2000- I don’t even see them at shows anymore. And when you talk to them now they’re all into electronica and jazz-funk-fusion and
they’ve got dumb glasses and dumb hair and hip cigarettes. I think anybody who likes Shai Hulud and just want to hear more of the music, then they’re going to love the new record. It’s melodic and it’s pissed off. And that’s how Shai Hulud’s musical has always been. Maybe it’s more technical and maybe it’s more metal. It has fast parts just like the old stuff, and it has metal and crunchy parts like the old stuff, and guitar melodies and yelling vocals. We don’t try to sing or do anything like that. As far as expectations go…it’s coming out on Metalblade Records, and
it’s coming out at a time when these more metal-styled hardcore bands and doing their thing and there’s all these younger kids whose first hardcore band is Unearth. They don’t know who Shai Hulud is. GREG: For a lot of kids this might be their first Shai Hulud record.
WHAT’S IT LIKE HITTING A DECADE AS A BAND?
FLETCHER: Very depressing. That’s another Fox question because he’s the only guy that’s been in it since the beginning. As far as changes the band would have made? I think Shai Hulud really is a band that did everything you could possibly do wrong. They recorded EPs when they should have recorded albums, they switched singers, they didn’t break up, they switches names…we did all kinds of things that when you look back it’s like ‘why would we even have considered that?’ But we’re still here.
YOU GET A BIG NEGATIVE/ POSITIVE SPLIT SOMETIMES THESE DAYS.
GREG: That’s Shai Hulud- ‘pissed with a positive message’. FLETCHER: I think Bad Religion had a song called ‘The Positive Aspect of Negative Thinking.’ That’s us. As much as the lyrics in Shai Hulud have a lot of hatred in them there’s a reason for it. It’s a frustration
with people who don’t know how to treat other people, ranging from common courtesy to genocide. Sometimes kids get the wrong message, they’ll come up to you and be all ‘yeah mean, I love it when you say ‘I hate you’ in that song! Fuck the world!’ and it’s like, you don’t really get it what Shai Hulud are trying to say. GREG: It’s about using this frustration to try and be a good person in a bad world. SHAI HULUD’S NEW ALBUM ‘MISANTHROPY PURE’ IS OUT NOW. THEY ARE CURRENTLY TOURING EUROPE AND WILL BE HITTING THE UK IN JULY.