Distorted Magazine June 2009

| ISSUE 30 | ISSN 1754-3746 |

PLUS! THe flatliners,

citizen keyne, random hand

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

slave to the hour

I’m exhausted, my eye lids are propped

up with matchsticks, while I find a way to push through the cans of redbull that litter my desk - it’s a struggle right now, but if this was easy then it wouldn’t be half as much fun to do... regardless of my current frame of mind, you should haul ass and check out the features we’ve squeezed onto this digital pages

CONTRIBUTORS_ John Robb, Rupe Rabble Tim Drunk, Curvball, Fungal Punk/ OMD, LibraSnake, Imelda Michalczyk, and the New Years Fairy....

...reviews etc to return very soon (yes, I know I keep saying that, but they’re on their way, just hang in there).

Contact information_ Distorted Magazine 9 Bridle Close, Surbiton Road, Kingston Upon Thames Surrey, KT1 2JW, UK info@distortedmagazine.com www.distortedmagazine.com

Hold your breathe, it’s around the corner, change is in the air.

Distorted Magazine is published by Distorted Ltd. ISSN 1754-3746 All content is copyright protected © 2006 - 2009.

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 - 2009 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.

~ Cerven Cotter

Distorted Editor, & VERY sleep deprived fiend.

ON THE COVER: Street Art, possibly found in Boston.... © Steve Noble

Features Flatliners... 12

NOFX(fat mike)... 16

Dave Hillyard(The Slackers)...44

AntiFlag(Justin Sane... 48 Classics of Love(Jesse Michaels)... 64

Citizen Keyne... 72 Random Hand... 84

REGULARS Editor Notes...... 03 John Robb’s column..... 06 Rupe Rabble’s column....10

Mutiny!

The John Robb Column

‘Selling out or selling out?’

Recently I got embroiled in one of those spurious ‘sell out’ debates on the Internet. Someone emailed and claimed that Goldblade were ripping people off for their own ends. It’s a debate that’s been running since punk started with people believing that musicians have no right to make any money out of playing music. There is some truth in the argument but its got bent so out of shape that it has become nonsensical.

Just because someone is thrilled to be playing music doesn’t mean they can’t earn money to eat and pay the rent but somehow that has become an ugly idea. The same people who hate musicians earning money have no qualms about supporting football teams with multi million pound wage earners or watching TV with its big earners, they expect the bands to play for ‘petrol money’ so that everyone can spend their money on booze further lining a big booze corporations pockets but weirdly somehow that’s ok but if someone in a punk band who tours a lot and can’t have a proper job tries to get some money to get fed and to pay for a rehearsal room and to somehow find the 2 grand to pay for visas to go and play in America and all the other endless boring stuff that bands have to

pay for then that’s a criminal act. And since most music is not bought any more and downloaded for free from the internet its getting tougher and tougher to play music.

Did Miles davies have to put up with this? did Jimi Hendric? did Elvis?

I’m not complaining that’s the deal when you sign up for when you get into a band- you don’t sign up to make money- you sign up for the music but you still gotta eat! but the sell-out clause especially with its shifting focus seems bizarre, surely the selling out should be reserved for the bands making millions not the bands making peanuts and if gigs are just for petrol money who is going pay for the van/ van driver/rehearsal room recording costs/ and someone to do the soundalthough it was pointed out in the debate that getting someone to do the sound was ‘not very punk rock’- like punk is meant to be done as badly as possible to please the self styled purist and how that tallies with people getting their moneysworth is confusing.

I hate all the excess in rock n roll, the too big riders, the inflated prices, the greed but it cuts two ways.

The Clash were perhaps the punk band who got the sell out thing levied at them more than any others and it was a cross that Joe Strummer had to bare to the end of his life. The whole notion of selling out arrived in the late sixties counter culture when the sixties groups paid lip service to the counter culture revolution and then spun off into the elite world of mansions and cosseted lifestyles, somehow this re emerged in punk and was trumped up again by the music press who used it at any opportunity to take pot shots at the bands. The Clash being the most idealistic of the first wave of punk bands were called sell outs at any opportunity but as Mick Jones explained a sell out is when you sell all the tickets for a concert.

I was thinking of the Clash because I recently played the fantastic Strummercamp one of the warmest and friendliest of all the UK festivals that resonates to the spirit of Joe Strummer- the idealistic and impassioned frontman of the band. Along with the Alarm and the Dammed and an unlikely bout of hot weather Strummercamp has that all inclusive, all ages, all styles of music thing that Strummer firmly believed in. It’s great fun and very sociable and in many ways is the perfect way for music to be propagated, there is no element of ‘sell-out’ about the event although I’m sure that

charge can be levelled at it by some.

For many the Clash were the greatest rock n roll band of all time and their memory lives on with these events.

Rancid also have had their fare share of squeals of sell-out from internet misers who have a vague grasp of what the term actually means, like Green Day they are a prime target for the snipers who seem to confuse mainstream success with not being punk forgetting that punk initially and thrilling was a pop music taking the battle to the heart of the mainstream and dealing with the real world instead of cowering away in the bunker. Rancid’s new album is another great set of songs from the band who seem to be able to casually write fantastic tunes endlessly. The new album is a sort of ‘Out Come The Wolves’ part two and a return to that classic album’s relentless song writing genius. Not that the inbetween albums have been a let down but the new album is the most consistent and focused of the releases.

Meanwhile its Green Day who really raise the heckles of the sell-out shriekers, Green Day’s crime has been to write really catchy songs that millions of people like to listen to- understandably this a punk rock conundrum but for me it would be a bigger sell-out if Green Day pretended that they couldn’t write any songs atall and played tune-

Mutiny!

The John Robb Column

less thrash punk just to please the purist. Green Day also manage to take the message to the masses and to the mall rats who would never have heard of punk, they have smart, intelligent songs that have a concise punk rock message that they take way beyond the tightly closeted world of the punk scene. If they were making shit records there would be a case to answer but they are writing great stuff.

On a smaller scale Sonic Boom Six have released a brilliant new album and seem to tour relentlessly, we bump into them at several punk festivals and they are killer live- mashing up loads of style from hip hop to ska to dub to punk rock to dancehall- could they be the best young band in the UK- time they got the breakthrough they deserve.

That’s the problem with punk rockthere is always someone telling you how to behave and what to think, for a musical movement that was meant to be about freedom it quickly became the most rigorous and rule ridden of music scenes, a scene were getting drunk is considered to be more rock n roll than writing a great song, where playing a bad gig for petrol money is more of a sell-out than giving 110 per cent and trying to do something special, where the clothes matter more than the music and it is in danger of becoming oddly conservative at the

edges. Oddly the really idealistic stuff about punk rock and counter culture keeps getting lost in the arguments.

If Goldblade were charging a fortune to get in to the gigs and skulking around backstage sniffing cocaine and treating the audience like shit then the accusations would be cool and its great that this kind of debate goes on with the occaisonal accusation- it keeps you on your toes even if its unjustified.

John Robb is the author of Punk Rock: An Oral History and is the frontman of Goldblade.

WordsAre Ammunition!

The musings of Rupe Rabble Indie - the New Emo? Come one - come all! Alter your appearance and strike a pose - the world is your oyster, the scene your stage and the year 2009; your time to shine… Literally! In lime green Nike boots…

Division is a laughable, yet ultimately heartbreaking aspect of our society. Throughout history it has become more and more apparent that the human-being (however intelligently dominant a species), is easy to manipulate. Through communal separation and fear we gladly step in line and I ask myself, does the rise and fall of fashion play a huge part in this social control?

Do our nightmarish concerns to appear “hip” and “sexy” segregate and alienate the best of us time and time again?

It’s true, your average citizen won’t find the ingenuity to create solidarity with others - unless of course it’s for the sake of style and in which case we are then presented with the

dilemma of a movement’s fashion statement taking the appearance of a ‘uniform’ and so it is; the unit dilutes and it’s on to the next! I guess it is hard to get any real community to stand on it’s own two feet and prove useful then, especially when your average youth won’t find the guts to stand alone in loyalty to, well - anything really! So many of us will “fall off ” or become jaded as soon as our immediate social clique moves on - and again, the unit dilutes…

I’ve always wondered why it is that people find the need to constantly be praised for their bold choices in clothing by their peers. Why time and time again, we are faced with our scenes becoming nothing short of a fad! Yes it seems, that for the fear of looking “uncool” most of us would rather follow the coming of crazes than die for our beliefs and yes, most of us would rather sit outside a café posing in the latest ‘masquerade’ with a fag than fight for a

worthy cause… Sad, isn’t it! What does this say about us? Maybe only time will truly tell what this means for our kind - as only time has told just how cruel and unusual the human psyche can be when push comes to shove and just how many people will willingly alter their wardrobe and musical preference every few years based on what everybody else is doing.

If it is “fear” that keeps us “blind” and “in-line” then is it also that “fear” that keeps us in “style?” Is it that pure dread of being “sociallyunacceptable” that can revert hordes of young people’s dress-senses back to that of the 80’s? The kind of fear that can slap a $400 price tag on a decaying, retro ‘Ghostbusters’ tee?

Yeah, the kind of sheer horror that can casually persuade the masses to accept a full-blown beard and a flannel-shirt as “trendy…” Shit and there’s me thinking that fleuro and tennis sneakers were crushed along with the rise of the metalhead? I’m confused - do these people truly prefer self-indulgent, watered-down synthesizer-wank to some good old three-chord Rock ‘n Roll? I beg to differ, yet here I stand in Auckland City, New Zealand baring witness to our newest ongoing worldwide craze… It’s a bizarre sight out here; the Emo kids are dead and although that’s not my problem (good riddance to bad rubbish), but to replace them? Ar-

mies of ‘Fresh Prince’ wanna-be’s?

V-neck t-shirts and hot pink sunglasses are their weapons, their love for all things retro their rebellion and their apathetic act of being “under the influence” their cause…

Brothers and sisters - hear my plea, I pledge my defiance to these trendtakeover atrocity’s! Let us destroy the idea that in this ghastly era; coffee-house, art-wankers are our idles because if David Hasslehoff is “cool,” then I’m fuckin’ Elton John and if this is what is offered as the next “thing” for the “youth” then let me consider my age…

Yeah, they’ve cut their fringes and grown up a little. Yeah they prefer their bright-colours to black and yeah their smiles now replace the frowns, but as far I’m concerned: Indie - the new emo! Human - the same old sheep!

STAY FREE Rupe Rabble is a vocalist and drummer for The Rabble.

Words by Flat Noble Photos Imelda Michalczyk

persistance

The Flatliners, after their debut release with Fat Wreck chords in 2007 have risen in prominence, and with a bloody minded approach to persistent touring and working their asses off have gained popular approval of fans and bands alike.

We first caught up with the Toronto quartet a few months after “The Great Awake” hit our ears, now some 18 months later, we pinned the guys leading up to their final show supporting NoFX through Europe and the UK at the Shepherds Bush Empire in West London.

Imelda (photographer) and I walked to the top floor of the backstage area at the venue to catch the guys milling about talking shop with a few other “band” people milling about.

We are introduced to Chris, Scott and Jon; Paul is taking it easy talking away with buddies on tour.

Steve: So a few things, since ‘The Great Awake’ was released you have been touring constantly, and I wanted to know if you were tiring a little of the set list and if new material was in the works?

Chris: Yeah well we have a whole new record written and its ready

to go, we normally work on very loose laid plans. We are not really that tight on anything but go with the flow. We will probably just write songs till we record and are in the studio, you know what I mean? We will just get to that point and look at how many songs we got and get rolling Steve: So is there no pressure from the la-

the flatliners

bel or more so from yourselves?

They all chip in but Chris says: Yeah definitely more from ourselves, nobody really gives a shit, they (Fat Wreck) are really cool.

Everyone has treated us really great and they got our backs and they know what they are doing.

They just like working with people they get along with, and we get along with them, and we are the same way, so.

Steve: Ok and this tour,you have supported NOFX before, when was the last time, last year?

(All nodding and smiling mischievously) Chris: Yeah this is the 4th time.

Jon: It’s so awesome!

Steve: Have you got used to the circus on the road?

Chris: You do and you don’t, ya know. You grow more accustomed to it.

Scott: We get days off and we book our own shows.

Steve: Ok and this tour has been Europe and UK; I saw you were at Groezrock- how did you enjoy the festival compared to last year as you played then too?

Scott: It was even better, and we got to see Bane!

Chris: Yeah we knew a lot of bands there which was cool, a lot more than last year. I think we had a little bit of a later slot, it was still early but we were still honoured to play and share the stage with all those bands; NOFX, Rise Against, The Get Up Kids, The Unseen, The Street Dogs, so many great bands to play that one stage.

And then there is another stage!

Scott: And this year they added a 3rd stage (Chris nodding and agreeing)Yeah that’s right it was cool.

Scott continues: That 3rd stage was still pretty big and they had no barricades.

Steve: Yeah they had a constant line of kids ready to stage dive.

Chris: Yeah yeah, I think this year was better than last year (I add it was much bigger) Yeah it was a record high this year.

Steve: So you mentioned you played early on the day, so does that mean the rest of the day was a party day?

Jon: Yeah drinking and watching bands and we keep it going on after that-last year we played at 10?

Chris: Actually last year we started drinking really heavy straight after we played; by like 11:30 we are doing interviews, a few hours later Jon’s walking around with three different drinks in his hand screaming at us across the field “I can’t get drunk, I can’t get

drunk!”- We had so many drink tickets, like so many!

Scott: Yeah it was like 72 tickets, for six of us (they start arguing about numbers, and how many) Chris: Anyway, like half an hour later, Jon is passed out (they all start laughing).

Steve: So how was Groezrock- “oh well like two hours long! (they all crack up again). And last year was the first time you played London?

How did you enjoy that show?

Jon: Oh it was so good!

Chris: yeah we were blown away cos that was the first show we played in England! Kids in the UK would write to us a couple of years ago and asked us to come and play live, and that was before kids in the States and they were so much closer. And we were finally able to make it over here and that Bar Monsta show was nuts!

Steve: I was really impressed. Like you say, a band playing the UK and London for the first time, the crowds are normally reserved.

Chris: Well we were expecting (pauses), well not expecting that.

Kids hanging off rafter, pyramids in the crowd.

Jon: It was awesome-and we went afterwards to a house party!

Chris: Yeah it was personally one of my favourite shows.

the flatliners Steve: And last night you played here supporting NOFX at a much larger venue in Shepherds Bush, how was that?

Chris: Yeah it was a NOFX crowd, like what you were saying with the crowd being very reserved? It started off like that, and also we were dead tired. After a long drive from Cardiff the night before we were all Zombies on stage.

Scott: But the crowd got livelier.

Chris: Yeah yeah yeah, the crowd kind of forced us to rock out which was cool.

Steve: And it’s a good line-up as well?

(All of them at once): Snuff!!

Scott: I have never seen them before and we saw them in Birmingham, and it was fucking amazing.

Steve: And now you have had more of a taste of the UK, have you enjoyed it overall?

Chris: Well yeah we went over to Ireland and Scotland for our first time as well which was awesome.

Steve: Different crowds?

Scott: Yeah we went to Glasgow to do our own show, on a day off, a really really small show packed with people. We played for like an hour to an hour and a half.

Steve: What was the venue?

Chris: 13(something-sorry didn’t quite catch it) It was like a vegetar-

the flatliners ian café bar and they have another downstairs bar and a space for a show. Like on this tourwe have no days off, playing every day.

Steve: You guys not worried about burnout?

Chris: No, it’s better to play every day on tour, it’s so much easier to get your set tight (Scott interrupts) Scott: Yeah but we do get tired.

Chris: Yeah sure, I remember playing Peterborough a couple days ago, a headlining show and we were all like (in zombie mode) “eeegh I could do with a day off right now!”

Scott: But the show was awesome.

Chris: I thinks personally it’s the best headlining show we have done on this tour, It was great.

Jon: I don’t really like days off! (They all add in their agreement) otherwise the next day my fingers hurt!

Steve: No chance for recovery? And tonight is the last night of the tour, are you looking forward to wrapping it all up?

Chris: Not really.

Scott: I like it here!

(All of them):” I don’t want to go home!”

Chris: Especially it’s a bummer if you get to know the bands you are touring with, you know these guys, you genuinely miss these guys after hanging out with them, not just “ok, see you later.”

Steve: But that must be great when you do see each other again?

Scott: Yeah, it sucks every tour when that happens, and you hope to see them again.

Chris: Yeah and these guys we will see on the Warped tour.

Steve: You guys doing all of that this year?

Chris: We are only doing two shows, in Toronto and Montreal; we never do more than that really. It’s such a long way and we tour in a van, so.

Scott: Now warped tour that’s the real circus!

Steve: I haven’t been yet, but I want to go.

Chris: Its good man it’s good, you have to pick a good year to go. It’s definitely a cool experience to go, even if you go a hate it.

Jon: You don’t have to go back!

Steve: You obviously like touring a lot, and the new music we discussed; is the new record coming out this year?

Chris: Yeah there is no real timeline but us and the label are hoping it will be out at the end of the year.

Steve: Now you have two previous albums, and I haven’t listened to your first but I understand it’s more of a ska punk sound? And

I really enjoyed “The Great Awake”; so is there a change in direction on this next album?

Chris: It probably sounds like a copout but I think it’s kind of a mix of the two records. We are not going too far, it’s the little subtle differences that people will notice. It’s not like we are going to write a calypso or shit like that!

Jon: Or a whole Green Day thing or anything like that.

Chris: Like this whole album is going to be about Disney,(a punk rock opera! Somebody adds) Yeah a punk rock Disney opera, that’s what everyone is waiting for.

(All laughing) Chris: We are going to put on this live show, on ice!

(All laughing again) Steve: Man that would be fun, I can imagine the possibilities- all staged in a vegetarian cafeteria!

(As the interview is in danger of going completely off the rails.)

Steve: Ok so in terms of the two albums and the other singles you have had, do you get tired of playing a similar set?

Scott: Nah it’s not like we are NOFX after 25 years of playing ‘Bob’!

Chris: Yeah, well there are certain songs we can’t play live.

the flatliners Steve: And do you always get asked to play those?

Chris: Yeah, we always get asked and we normally just shoot the person down, which makes us feel/ look bad. If we went for it, it would be horrible or we would pull it off and then we would be like, “well maybe we should just play it!”

Steve: So what songs?

Chris: Older songs from our first record, really old stuff we don’t even touch it.

Scott: I don’t think I even know the chorus. It’s all cos of the internet!

Steve: Tell them to wait until the B sides record comes out! Now you have done a couple of videosI hear the concept of the new one was yours?

It’s a good video.

Chris: Yeah it’s a short, quick song . We wanted to make a short video, and we got this director Devon blackwell, from Toronto, and he is really down with getting the concept of the band, which is rad cos you don’t always find that. Like the first video it was the director’s idea.

I don’t want to call him a control freak, cos he wasn’t but he did what he wanted to do. So yeah it was our idea on the video and it turned out a little goofier than we thought which was kind of the point.

Steve: So are you going to be doing another vid-

eo off this record?

Chris: No I don’t think so, two is enough.

Scott: I think it’s the only two songs we could do a video of!

Chris: Making music videos; well if there wasn’t influence from the label, we wouldn’t do them at all.

Steve: So did you choose to do these songs?

Chris: Yeah we chose them, we are not big into videos, Scott: Ours aren’t that good.

Chris: Yeah ours aren’t that good but we will probably have to make more.

Jon: And they will be more ridiculous. (after seeing people dressed as Smurfs entering the club next door) Steve: Yeah you can introduce Smurfs?

(All of them) Yeah we saw them, Scott: What was with that, is it some kind of football match thing in London?

Steve: (As I try and explain it’s an Antipodean thing where loads of them get drunk all day, they start early and well end early the next day.)

Steve: So on to Canada-I’ve spoken to a few bands from there now, what are the crowds like?

Chris: The kids in Canada are so appreciative, more so than in the

US, especially American bands coming through. For some reason it’s much easier for bands to come from here in UK and Europe to go to Canada, than for an American band. And the border is really tough on American bands, and it seems like it should be the other way around?

But they are really tight.

Scott: We know loads of bands that have been denied for the dumbest things.

Chris: They will give you a mountain of shit for maybe a breaking and entering when you were 13 and now like you might be 35, or something else minor from 30 years ago! Like ,get over it.

And the kids are appreciative of that, and ya know there are only certain tours your can take (mentioning the cities) (The conversation wanders off topic talking temperatures, seasons, locations and similarities and their hometown Toronto) Steve: Now you started young as a band have you found significant shift in your tastes in your music. Are you more comfortable as a band?

Chris: Yeah that’s inevitable.

Scott: Yeah I don’t think we were ever uncomfortable, we kind of started just to play weekends .

Steve: So being here in a place

like London must be pretty cool?

Scott: Yeah for sure its fucking awesome.

Chris: Seeing the things we get to see and the bands we get to apply with it’s a mindfuck.

Scott: Yeah we won’t take things for granted. We are young and having fun.

Chris: Yeah and we are coming back here in August too, playing Leeds/Reading and will have a couple of other shows. And the album will come out a couple months later and we will have to come back again! You can only come back here a certain times of year. The kids are appreciative, and it’s just so fucking incredible and to see cool bands and people. We are just excited every time.

Scott: Well I hope we don’t get jaded.

Steve: Any last comments to the fans, Scott: Get our albums- legally or or illegally, make illegal shirts, don’t by ours! I think that’s it, oh and drugs.

Jon: Eat your vegetables.

Scott: Illegally!

Steve: Smoke your vegetables (all laugh and end off)

advantage

Words by Stev.EFX Photos Imelda Michalczyk

on the get I had heard mixed things about NOFX’s FAT MIKE as an interviewee and even about the band but I tried to approach it with an open mind. However the endless waiting and back and forth messaging on the day, milling in the backstage area at Shepherds Bush Empire for the Ok, were getting on my nerves. By the time the manager Kent (made slightly more famous by their Backstage Passport series) called me to say we were good to go, we were shown into Mikes room. He had had a few beverages and seemed slightly uninterested; Erik Melvin apologised for him while he was mixing drinks adding “sorry it takes him a while to get going“but going we did...

Steve: So your new album is out but before we discuss that I how has this tour of the UK been going?

Mike: Yeah both opening bands have been great.

Steve: Have they been support on the whole tour?

Mike: That’s correct (giving short and formal answers)

Steve: Ok, in terms of your new album, which was released in the last week.

Mike: I think it’s ok to call it a new album.

Steve: Pretty reasonable?

Mike: Yeah pretty reasonable.

Steve: Are you happy with the new album?

FAT MIKE

go

Mike: Yeah (reluctant to add more, I knew this was going to be difficult but geez, I maintain my silence and want Mike to expand) Yeah I think it’s in our top six or seven? Top 10 I would say Steve: Even top 12?

Mike: Nah I wouldn’t go that far? But we definitely have some worse records.

Steve: Off the new album there are a couple of songs I do like Mike: (sarcastically) Ooh thank you so much.

Steve: Well ‘My Orphan year’ I really liked.

Mike: Oh yes (maybe surprised by my choice?)

Steve: Yeah, I was hoping you could expand on that?

Mike: Uh, yeah it was actually a really hard song to write, I didn’t want to play it, I didn’t want to sing it. But you know I wanted to write it. It was just, well I procrastinated.

Steve: Is it a song you would play live?

ther and I didn’t feel I owed pauses) I didn’t realise that and I became a father, ya kn posed to take them to the zo to baseball games and stuff good parent, and no; he di of those things. He did a lot he never did any of those th I didn’t he think deserved But then my Mom died a f and she should have had a because I took a month off her and even gnarlier was s me, and she said this in fron friends “I am in a lot of pa don’t want to live anymore, s care of it for me?” “Like, you you?” and she said “Yeah”.

Steve: That must have been t

Mike: Yeah she wanted to O I want you to do it for me”, a was one of the best and hard did. She brought me in to brought her out. I don’t be fucking doctor Hippocratic mean euthanasia is so obvio

Steve: In what way do you m

Steve: How did it go down, well?

Mike: (slightly annoyed) W in a lot of pain you don’t le until they die? It’s just ridic tries have that fucking law?

Mike: Yeah-no tears.( before sipping another mouthful and maybe relaxing) Yeah it was a weird song to write ya know. My dad kept trying to call me on his deathbed and I kept saying no and uh, well he was a crappy fa-

Steve: Yeah I agree ( we talk a lar situations of that have b like that but I steer the inter record.) “So I’m not going favourite NOFX album but

Mike: We played it last night.

d him shit. (Long until I had a kid, now. You are supoo and take them ff like that to be a idn’t ever do any t of partying and hings with me so? a song about it. few months later a song about her ff to take care of she finally said to nt of some of her ain. I am done. I so could you take u want me to kill

tough?

OD. She said “And and I did. And it dest things I ever this world and I elieve any of that c oath bullshit, I ous.

mean?

Well if someone is et them sit there culous how coun-

about some simibeen in situations rview back to the to say this is my I do like it, per-

FAT MIKE

FAT MIKE sonally “Punk in Drublic is still my best” Mike: Well I think “So long and thanks for all the shoes” is still the best” (something he re-affirms in the show that night).

Steve: Yeah I think for some reason the serious subject matter songs are ones I am more drawn to.

Mike: Yeah well those songs are more pertinent, like all the “Hey, let’s go have a beer- whoohoo” –those songs dont stick with you.

So ya know, I could have written more about it(referring back to ‘My Orphan Year’) but I didn’t want to, I mean a 12 minute song who would want a 12 minute song!

Steve: Or even 17 minutes? (we talk about some mutual friends from bands and from South Africa, and fetish clubs, which is the party he was having the night before and why he got home at 9 in the morning! He lifts up his shirt and shows me where his nipples were pierced.)

Steve: So anyways with 25 years of NOFX passing by and your backstage Passport DVD focusing on your world tour.

Mike: Yeah have you watched that yet?

Steve: I have seen some but not all of it. But besides that you have done split albums, best of ’s b-sides.

Mike: (interrupts and seemingly annoyed again) Yeah I see where you are going, why don’t we just quit?

Steve: Exactly [Mike laughing) but what is stopping you from dropping this and walking out the door?

Mike: Dude why do you do what you do?

Steve: Well it’s not quite the same thing (thinking I don’t have a label and/or money to sit on- ok assuming he does) Mike: No but for a living what do you do?

Steve: Write about music?

Mike: Why don’t you quit and become a grocer or something?

Steve: I could.

Mike: No you wouldn’t- first of all it is the best job in the world.

I speak to people and there isn’t a better job? Really, you work an hour and a half a day and you are encouraged to drink and do drugs. You surround yourself with good people, which is what we do, you travel the world with your best friends, working an hour and a half a day, and only three months a year! So yeah why don’t we just quit now?

So yeah that was 88’ and we were terrible.

Steve: But what about the touring side of things, you have families, doesn’t it take a toll?

Steve: Would you like to play smaller shows like that?

Mike: Well the touring, well like this is only two weeks long. And yeah tonight is our last show and I’m fucking dead. And I have to drink lots of vodka before I go onstage, and I think I will do some ecstasy before I go onstage too.

Steve: Why not?

Mike: (Shouting) Why not! Exactly. So yeah I don’t see any stopping for us.

Steve: So 20 years on?

Mike: So 21 years later I think we found our niche. And you know all of our shows are sold out every night. It’s not like we are going down to 300 seaters and “ughhh.”

Mike: Hey San Francisco, we just played five shows and one of them was in a 200 seater, that was pretty cool.

Steve: How did that go? I personally prefer smaller venues.

Mike: Yeah we could do smaller shows and charge £100 for people to get in, but I don’t think people will appreciate that. Actually there are enough people paying for £75 for a seat so who knows?

Steve: And you have had no doubts?

Steve: Ok back to your round the world touring, are there places you still want to add to the list?

Mike: No in 88’ I had doubts, cos on our 1st European tour no-one liked us and we had people throwing stuff at us and had people turning power off, the opening band started headlining cos everyone like them more.

Mike: Yeah, a few. Peru we would like to play again. We tried to play there but it got cancelled.

You should watch the show, it’s a good show dude. I know what you mean by most of it; you looked at the package and was like egh.

FAT MIKE Steve: No I have watched most of it, I went to the Israel, SA stuff.

we can’t get paid cos he says there were counterfeiters. But what are you going to do?

Mike: Oh I see, straight to where you are from and not Peru, which is the most fun part.

(Mike gets up and looks for a place to take a leak, finds a sink, and says “keep going dude” to some good background noise)

Steve: Haha yeah, well. Where were you mean to play, in Lima? I have been there and it would be a rad different place?

Steve: With regards to Fat Wreck you recently announce all albums will be under $10 is that right?

Mike: Yeah not Machu Pichu.

But yeah there a lot of countries still, like Costa Rica, Thailand.

But now we know some countries we will go back to, like Korea and Taiwan, maybe even Singapore, cos there are good drugs there.

(Smiling) But definitely not China, I don’t know, we got ripped off there –we sold out the club at $15 a head and it totally sold out and we got paid zero (putting up his hand to sign “zero”).

Steve: Nothing, just zilch?

Mike: ZERO. Steve: Was it a dodgy club owner?

Mike: Yeah we found out later the promoter owned the club too so he just fucked us all the way around. We had to buy our own plane tickets and hotel. For days it was like, “but it sold out!” but

Mike: That’s correct. Mostly under $8.

Steve: And what about outside the US? Mike: They are all going to be reasonably priced as well. In South Arica I think they will be 10 000 Reals. (getting his currency and number purposely incorrect) Steve: Well that’s perfectly realistic. What’s driven that, what’s the reason?

Mike: Cos we are cool. “No that was sarcasm, we are not cool” he whispers. Well when we started; you sold records for $4.25 cos that’s what they cost. And I would rather see a band sell twice as many records and make the same amount of money, than the other way around which is what happens, it’s not right?

We are not making money in

the music business anymore, it’s just not happening. But you still make money playing live. So the more people buy your record, and you know once you buy a bands record you feel more of a connection than if you steal it online and “oh yeah I kind of like this band”.

If you actually buy a record and read the lyrics and “Oh I like this band, I’m going to go see them.”

That’s what punk rock is about.

It’s a fan based music, it’s not like dance music, “oh I like the beat”, this is real music. That’s why we try sell records, you can get a free LP off Fat when you buy a CD, and then you start a record collection and you know what it feels like to care about music.

Steve: Do you still get the chance to go out and watch bands?

Mike: Yeah I go out still.

Steve: Do you go as a fan or looking to sign?

Mike: Well there a few bands that I won’t miss ya know.

Steve: Like who?

Mike: Like Bad Religion or the The Spits. I just saw Thorns of Life with Blake from Jawbreaker, and they were fucking cool. But you know, Green Day played a bunch of shows in San Fran; club shows, and I just couldn’t bring myself to go. I mean seriously they have

so many great old songs and my friend went and saw them and was like “It was a really great show”, and I was like “Well what did they play?”,”They played their new album in its entirety and their last album in its entirety and played like four old songs, and they made each of those 4 old songs like 12 minutes.” (all in a sarcastic tone) I’m not interested in that. I mean even when we started playing The Decline; that gets fucking boring.

Steve: Do you still play that live?

Mike: We will play it in a city we have played before, you can’t go to a place like Durban (South Africa) and play that for 18 minutes, people will get bored.

Steve: Are there songs off your back-catalogue you struggle to remember or play live? Like if you took requests and someone says a song, and you have to be like “ooh I wish I could but I can’t remember that one.”

Mike: Well we have about 80-90 songs on our list from which we choose our set list songs.

Steve: And you rotate those?

Mike: Yup, so we do know a lot of songs.

(We talk about the previous night being different and Imelda who has been sitting nearby listening

FAT MIKE

mentions the previous night; she was keeping an ear out for the first three songs, photographers are asked to leave the photo pit after the first three songs. The previous night those three in total were like two minutes long, not ideal when taking photos!

Mike: (armed with knowledge) Ooooooh, well now it’s like 12 second songs. I like to do the wrong thing for no reason and now I have a reason.

(Mike mentions he wants to get down and catch the support

bands play so to wrap things up- I ask if they are coming back again to UK.) Mike: No, NOFX as a rule will play every major city once in maybe every three years, that’s it.

The exception is like London, LA and San Francisco.

Steve: Any favourites besides those three?

Mike: Tokyo; I love Japan. Every town there and I love to get whipped.

words by Steve Steady, pics by Imelda Michalczyk

ho

The Slacker two decade varied music saxophonist tour. Dave h The Rockste ers his core treasure of wi

The Slackers

old steady

rs are a mainstay of the American and global ska scene over the past es or so. Made up of talented musicians, most of whom are involved in cal projects, we managed to steal some valuable & insightful time from st Dave Hillyard as the band stopped on their London leg of their current himself has quite the musical resume, with Hepcat, Stubborn All Stars, eady Seven and currently (and for some time now truthfully) The Slacke band. Dave has never shied away from expressing his opinions and is a f musical knowledge so we thought who better to discuss ska and music ith?

After some confusing text messages between myself and the tour manager for The Slackers; trying to find their elusive 20 meter white bus outside The Underworld, I finally find Jens and we head through the cavernous backdoor passageways of the Camden underworld to find Dave Hillyard taking a much needed shower. Once dressed and ready to talk, we make our way onto the afore mentioned bus and are instantly hit with that man-sweat smell that touring bands leave so effortlessly on all touring busses. Dave describes the bus as a German bus, almost like a U-Boat on wheels.

To be honest I was struggling a bit with deciding on what to talk about as there is so much. Dave is the bands avid web person, updating his own and The Slackers websites, his blog entries etc. So I thought we would play off some of those as well as the music of course. We start off with the current tour, not exactly their first time in Europe and the UK! Dave: Yeah this tour has actually been going really really well. We are really happy. We had four shows and they were all packed so that’s nice. Like last night in Bristol was packed! And tonight it’s a Tuesday and we have already sold over 300 tickets

so it’s going to be good.

Steve: I know you have expressed some views on your blog about the atmosphere of crowds generally- slam dancing and grooving away etc. So have the nights gone so far?

Dave: Yeah really good, people seem to have been happy and dancing. Ya know I think in the States we developed our own crowd that isn’t really part of the ska or the punk scene. Sometimes people pass through those things, like the odd punk kid. But for the most part the crowd is mixed and enjoy the show; they don’t go up and down with trends- we are on our own trajectory. And I have noticed that coming here too.

Steve: So a bit of a niche crowd?

Dave (smiling): Yeah well we are a cult band you know. And we are here to try and convert new members to the cult (laughing).

Steve: Well this is what 18 years now of the Slackers?

Dave: Something like that, I don’t know; Marcus and Vic always seem to push that date. I think in reality it’s around 17-18 years so yeah.

Marcus Geard (Bass) and Vic Ruggiero (Keyboards

& vocals) are a core part of the band and Vic, like Dave, is involved with several projects outside of The Slackers, although for both this is their main band. So in terms of recording, I asked Dave about his prolific output and touring and what was planned for 2009.

Dave: Well we (The Slackers) are probably going to do a smaller release. Basically when we did the ‘Boss Harmony Sessions’ and ‘Self Medication’ we recorded about 50 tracks over three sessions, and those are the things that became the two albums from that. So we have a whole bunch of stuff we haven’t used; so we are finishing some of the best of those tracks and we also finally got access to all our old tape archives from our first five albums .

Steve: Was there a reason you couldn’t access that before?

Dave: Because we don’t have a two- track tape machine, but now its digital. So we have been kind of finding tracks we didn’t release before, and the project is called “lost and found”; the working title for it now. So a rarities album; kind of like ‘Boss Harmonies’ or ‘Slackers and Friends’, sort of similar. We will start recording later this year for a new original album too, and that will come out next year?

The Slackers Steve: So busy as always!

Dave: Yeah we try and make sure we take some breaks, like August is definitely off, we are going to have like a six week break over Summer which is nice. Right now I’m doing some Rocksteady Seven stuff straight after this tour and then head to California, so I’m basically doing five weeks, like 32 gigs in 35 days. Right now the European tour is 24 gigs in 24 days.

to The Slackers. Do you ever find it difficult to balance the work?

Dave: Well, this is basically my full time job. We do about 100 gigs a year with The Slackers, and around, I don’t know, 20-30 with Rocksteady and about 20with my Jazz band and occasionally someone will call me up to do something else.

Steve: Pretty heavy going?

Dave: Yeah well we usually just get drunk and run around like maniacs on our off days so. We don’t usually get much rest!

Steve: So your time in August is that going to be off-time and relaxing?

Dave: Yeeeah well I’m thinking I’m going to book some jazz band tours & play some local gigs. I play a few local places in New York with my other bands and experiment.

Steve: So you mentioned you are doing some Rocksteady Seven tours after, in Spain? Have you ever done that in the UK? Dave: No I have never done it in the UK yet?

Steve: Ok well I wanted to discuss some things you have mentioned on your blogs etc.

Dave: Oh no-Some of these I wrote when I was drunk (trying to defend himself before we start).

Steve: Is that something you plan on doing?

Dave: Egh someday, some- day. (grinning)

Steve: Haha well some of the best writing is done when drunk. In terms of the ska revival you have mentioned bands like The Aggrolites and Westbound Train.

Dave: Yeah well it seems like right now there is another movement of bands. Those bands you mentioned and ourselves have been around for a little while now. It seems there is a groundswell of bands again. Basically from 1998- til three years ago

Steve: Add it to the things to do list?

Dave: Exactly, you hit the nail on the head.(breaks into a broad grin) Steve: Ok in terms of other projects you have been involved with a few things and bands prior

there was a(pausing) Steve: The Bad years?

Dave: Haha yeah. Well it wasn’t really for us cos we were never famous in the first place. But there were times we very lonely so now there are a lot more bands doing parallel stuff to us. In the States you also have more regional bands like Deals Gone Bad the Green Room Rockers, some of the Cali bands are showing signs of life again. Some of the bands that were in Hepcats wake or fell off are resurfacing again.

Steve: Why do you think that is happening?

Dave: (sarcastically) Well you know it’s the 90’s revival around the corner. As much as it’s going to be a drag, with No Doubt and the Bosstones are going to get dragged across the States. Well The Bosstones are cool, I consider them, well I don’t know them very well but I know a couple of them. And so the corny “do you remember 1995, put on your suit and go skanking”, Ah go fuck yourself.

Steve: Followed with the new compilation of Ska is Alive Volume 7.

Dave: Yeah exactly. And all the bands are going to benefit from that, that have been working and doing their day jobs, biding their time until the revival happens. So you are going to see a lot of that shit

happen. “Oh I was always very into this”, it’s kind of like with The Specials. It’s like I was a real 2 Tone maniac, I was like 15-16 years old and really into it. Just all the shit talking with Terry Hall and Lynval (Golding) and Neville (Staples), and the interview they were giving, dissing ska and “oh I was never into it, it just kind of happened. But what I’m really not is this Northern acoustic thing, that’s the record I’m making,.” Which Is possibly true and Jerry Dammers just wanted to be in Echo and The Bunnymen or something which is fine. But then when the paycheque is waving, they all come running back. But if he was really into the Echo and the Bunnymen he should have stuck with that and tried to tell us how wonderful it is and get the 100 kids or so to go to the shows.

Steve: Well yeah, with The Specials doing their 30th anniversary tour, I went to go see them this last weekend which was great as I wasn’t living in the UK when 2 Tone happened and I’m not old enough to have experienced them the 1st time around. But I know what you are saying, Dave: Yeah I have seen them do a reunion show. Well one of their half reunions; they toured the States as The Specials, but without Terry Hall and without the drummer

The Slackers

John Bradbury. I think they had the drummer form The Selecta, so they were missing a couple of guys. They were ok, but I’m suspecting they are more pumped up now.

Steve: Yeah I was impressed by their energy. I know that a few of the have been involved in projects like Roddy Radiation and Neville Staples.

Dave: Like Roddy Radiation has been plugging away and I respect that. Doing his ska rockabilly thing and he has always seemed happy as long as he has a gig. It’s cool. But at the same time like Lynval and Neville and Terry, those guys (holding himself back).

Steve: You have been upfront with your views, suggesting Jerry was the puppeteer really.

Dave: Well I would say that is was his concept, but they all added something; Neville was the reggae voice and Terry was the punk voice; like the snotty John Lydon sounding guys ya know. So it worked and we were watching ‘Dance Craze’, and we were watching it on the bus, we have the videotape, we were just checking it out cos they used to show it at theatres in the States and people would dance in front of the theatres and complete mayhem!

These double things like ‘The Decline of Western Civilization’, the punk one and Dance Craze. It was

great; through these big speakers and I thought that would be as close as I would get to see those guys.

Steve: So when are you getting to see them on this tour?

Dave: Um in Leeds, this weekend, so it will be interesting. They are all my first models. Like I wanted to be like Saxa from The Beat for years, my saxophone sound owes a lot to him and Lee Thompson from Madness. It’s interesting. The Madness guys I have seen them on the ‘Mad not Mad’ tour, towards the end. I saw the Beat with Special Beat service. I think all those guys were shell shocked by it all, and the violence and the chaos. It was such a different life to what I have had, they were all rockstars by the age of 18. I’m still doing this and plugging away after 20 years, touring and in a cult band. And I know it’s kind of like comparing apples and oranges I guess.

Steve: The one big change with The Specials show was the crowd, it was completely different to any show I have seen in London in the six years I have been here. Old Mods and skinheads with dusted off jackets.

Dave: Yeah you know what happened is that bands like Reel Big Fish drove those guys away. Cos they sort of wandered around the

The Slackers first few ska bands, American ska bands were late coming here. Like I was playing with Stubborn All Stars supporting Rancid and it was not the right time to be doing that.

It was 1995 and we got no love from the audience. We got spit on, firecrackers and coins thrown at us, good times. It toughened us up.

Steve: Haha well tough love can be the best.

Dave: Yeah they seemed to be enjoying themselves, when they hit me with a coin.(smiling wryly) Steve: But Rancid themselves were they supportive?

Dave: Yeah they were behind us but the ska and punk scene wasn’t really connecting in the early 90’s.

It was like in early 2001/2, the American 3rd wave ska bands like Reel Big fish and Less Than Jake became really big in the UK and there was a generational split so a lot of bands came up with that style in the UK and the older Two Tone guys were like “what the fuck is this shit?”. They didn’t get it they didn’t like it, so they basically boycotted.

And it was a drag for us for when we came over. I remember specifically this show in Leeds there was a older skinhead guy hanging out at the back having a pint and he was probably dragged there by somebody and did not look happy. The opening bands were atrocious; he looked like he wanted to get out of there. And we started playing and

he looked like his eyes got bigger and a little smile came out.

Steve: It’s pretty cool you can pick things like that up in the crowd.

Dave: Yeah well you watch people; sometimes people’s faces stick out. But yeah those guys, we got a handful of the older generation and people who realise we are closer in spirit to what they liked but for most of them they just assumed we sounded like Less Than Jake and they didn’t want to hear that shit.

Steve: Ok so 3rd wave came and went, but a lot of kids would have got into bands those guys listened to and asked why did they play what they did and get into other stuff.

Dave: Now for people that are 1819 in the States it’s become such a influence to what they are doing, they will grab that influence for a song or two and its almost unremarked upon and no-one notices it, and I’m just like “well there is that sound”. And these record people are like there is no ways we can have a hit, there it is- there is the hit. But like most record company people they don’t know anything about music they are all business majors. But not like old school guys who have hung around clubs listening to music.

Steve: Ok so that period of music

has its detractors but what are the main reason you really don’t like it.

Dave: It just really didn’t do it for me at the end of the day. Ya know I have a lot of respect for Fishbone and I think they did some great songs. And they really created the outlines for what the next stage of American ska was going to be.

And No Doubt is basically Fishbone with a chick. Reel Big Fish is a goofy friendlier Fishbone. And Fishbone didn’t have the hits they should have had cos they are a bunch of psychopaths!

Steve: But if you mention their name people still know them and love them.

Dave: Yeah sure but they never had a top 40 hit; the commercial success they could have had, because they are too weird, too quirky and too protaganistic. They would diss the ska kids that showed up; so they have a lot of reasons. They didn’t make you feel comfortable. They didn’t want to be categorised and as a result they ended up alienating a lot of people too.

Steve: But it’s natural for most people in bands to be anti the genre they have been clumped with to escape a tag.

Dave: Yeah totally. Like with uswe love ska but most people don’t even know what ska is. They assume its one thing when we play

something completely different. I don’t feel like most 3rd wave bands were, well their songs were about shit. Musically it was goofy ass music you can jump around to, almost like minstrel music? You take all of the soul out of it. Cos Jamaican ska bands were politically important and socially conscious, and the American bands were about escapism. Also you are not going to hear The Slackers going “yah man” (Jamaican impersonation) unless its sarcastic. That’s one of the things when I first joined the band, Vic sounded English and I was like “sing like you speak.”

Steve: Haha, where did he pick that up from?

Dave: Well he was listening to 2 Tone records. We used to joke about the Bronx Cockney. He was listening to all this English Punk and rock ‘n roll records cos that was his influence. It was just like all the English guys that tried to sound American. That was one of the things with Madness though, they were so fucking English- there is nowhere else they could come from.

Steve: So why did you start writing your chapters on the American History of ska?

Dave: (laughing and grinning)You mean my rant? I just feel like; I hate the whole wave theory, it never applied to me. Some of the bands I

The Slackers was in, like my first big shows with The Donkey Show we played to over a thousand people in California, regularly. And this was in the 80’s. It was so underground and out of sight out of mind. It didn’t really register in people’s minds, and conventional ska history has ska started in the 80s and then the Bosstones come along and No Doubt comes along and it’s big in the mid 90’s and it crashes. And for me that’s the opposite of my experience. Like I have heard comments that America never really had its punk time.

And it’s like “yes we did!” There were lots of bands in the 80’s that were underground, there was a lot of stuff happening in the 80’s that was underground and that’s where I come out of, very cultish. Doesn’t get radio airplay, doesn’t get pressvery self contained word-of-mouth kind of shit. So I just felt like the American bands in the 80’s were forgotten about because the stuff in the 90’s were so much bigger so I wanted to point out that the 80s laid the foundation for the 90’s.

The 90’s whether it was Nirvana or The Bosstones was really stuff that had been percolating in the 80’s for some time, or even Rancid for that matter. And those were the bands happened to be in the right place at the right time when the sounds came up.

Steve:Do you get a lot of feedback from people?

Dave: Yeah sometimes and mostly of it’s actually quite positive which

I’m surprised about. I thought more people would take me to task about it and call me a pompous old arsehole. (Laughing). It’s quite funny cos Vic is like “Ya know Dave we want people to like this music”.

Steve: Yeah you could argue you are a bit cynical/ opinionated/negative?

Dave: Yeah I’m a little bit jaded (still laughing). I’m from California but I’m defiantly a cynical person.

Steve: Ok so in terms of your Rocksteady band you have something new recorded for that too?

Dave: Yeah it’s called “Get back up” –The Spanish people are busy pressing away, they should have it and be at my first gig when I show up there I hope; next week. I need to call them today. We are doing a ’45 and album like this jazz reggae thing I have been fascinated with for some time. The model for it is kind of like the soul jazz compilations from the 70’s, like a lost, weird eclectic and strange mix. We will see if people like it or not, I don’t even know anymore. You got to do what you got to do and it’s the record I had to make.

(We talk about a garage rock scene in San Diego in the 80’s, and the bands/ scene dying out, another possible topic for a rant blog from Dave) Also on San Diego Dave adds ’It’s

sunny and beautiful but a lot of people don’t go out once they pass 30, and so all these bands stop recruiting fans and die out.’)

Dave: I found it good to give a voice to the voiceless and although it’s my view. Bands like The Toasters are good at mythologizing themselves.

Buck has been mythologizing himself since he started doing his thing so his version of history is that everything started around him and we are all influenced by him which is bullshit. So for me it’s definitely not true that New York was the centre of the ska scene.

I asked Dave about Hepcat and if he still keeps in touch with the guys, especially after the tragic death of Dave Fuentes last year.

Dave: They say they are doing a album in his honour- those guys are in the day job mode. Unless someone waved huge amounts of money in their face ya know (grinning).

I’m sure the ska revival will help them out, And it’s weird cos they are sort of a nostalgia band now. In LA people come back to remember a certain point in time when they see Hepcat. But I’m coming to terms with that with The Slackers too. I know people want to hear the old stuff but you can’t succumb to that otherwise you become a trib-

ute band.

Steve: Well after this much time I would hope you could read each other! On nostalgia, when you first started playing the sax 20 years ago could you have foreseen where you are today?

Dave: I didn’t take this seriously for the longest time. I never thought I would be doing this and got really lucky. My first band The Donkey Show tapped into something a long time ago. I got to meet the Bad Manners guys, and with Hepcat I got to meet The Skatalites and we were on tour for a couple weeks.

And to meet Roland (Alphonso) and Tommy (McCook) was so nice and they would teach me and tohave someone to tell you, you were fucking up was great.

Steve: Especially someone you respect like that.

Dave: Yeah and even with The Slackers he would whisper in my ear, he gives me a pat on the back and whispers in my ear “push it man push it”, cos I was flat.

Steve: Constant tutelage.

Dave: You got to love the guy. And I appreciate he gave a shit about me and what I was doing. He told me to get my shit together.

Steve: And you have a

The Slackers song (Cooking For Tommy) about Tommy which is quite sad.

Dave: Yeah Epitaph forget to send him the song, they sent him an empty case; I couldn’t believe that shit. I talked to him on the phone right before he passed away trying to figure out how to get him a copy.

It wasn’t a tribute song it was a get well song. Ya know “feel better!”

Steve: Yeah I remember reading that and thinking wow someone fucked up big time.

Dave: Yeah you know, some intern

smoking some pot.

We leave the interview at that because we could talk music for hours and well we don’t have hours. We go outside to take some photos and talk travel and afterwards Dave heads off to recharge for the show by grabbing some food (another passion of his) and I head of for a beer. Dave Hillyard is broody, sarcastic and opinionated, and a class musician. He has been in this business for over 20 years and I for one hope he doesn’t stop sharing his Hillyard history of music with us all, drunken or not.

words by Anti Noble, pics by Imelda Michalczyk

On a beautiful sunny Bank holiday weekend Anti Flag are playing a matinee over 16 show in Kingston at the rather odd choice of McCluskeys, a dance/nightclub (local nickname McSlutskeys- enough said?). This is their only South England show of the current tour and singer and co founder Justin Sane, was kind enough to take in some sunny rays and punk rock questions outside the venue before their set.

With the pending debut release of “The People or the Gun� on new home SideOneDummy and a variety of worldly social causes to discuss we got stuck in...

I fought the & I still figh

law, ht!

JUSTIN SANE

Steve: So on this tour, there is a lot of transatlantic flying going on, how did that come about?

Justin: Yeah well there just seemed to be a need for us, or very little choice. The events that are taking place have kind of shaped where we need to be and you deal with it.

Steve: Ok and you have some big things lined up for the Summer too. Warped Tour and the Reading/Leeds festivals to name a few.

Justin: Yeah I mean that should be awesome. There are certainly a lot festivals and special shows we are doing. We are actually looking at doing some Clash Cover shows somewhere too.

Steve: You did that recently at Bamboozle didn’t you?

Justin: Yeah that’s right. About a month ago. It was amazing, much better than I thought it would be. And what we were thinking is that that it would be fun to do is start showing up places as a Clash cover band and not even telling people we were going to do it. There are a couple of small show we were thinking of sneaking in possibly on our next UK tour, if we do, we will announce them.

Steve: Yeah that would be pretty cool. Was it a no brain-

er to choose The Clash as the band to cover?

Justin: Yeah it was pretty much a no-brainer. They are pretty much the favourite band for everybody in the band so yeah it was a band we all agreed on.

Steve: Ok with the new album, I think “The People or the Gun” is only due for release early June, but we have had a listen and I do like it. I think, not in a bad way, it’s more of the same from you. Short and sweet too. So with the change of labels, had things run its natural course with RCA?

Justin: Well, before we started with the major we had to see how the major label game was. We were very careful not to get locked into a long term deal. We felt like signing to a major was an incredible opportunity to inject our voice into a mainstream media that didn’t have a voce like ours in it, but we also knew it was a place we didn’t want to live for the rest of our lives. So we fought very hard to keep a short term deal, which was perfect. And you know they were very ready for us to go, and we were definitely ready to be gone. It was a good experiment.

Steve: So it wasn’t a bad departure.

Justin: No it was fine. And the

JUSTIN SANE other thing and part of the reason we wanted to keep it short term is with the majors people come and go very quickly, there are people there when you sign or might even be the reason that you sign, because you thought they were cool or were good at their job or smart or they get your band. We understood that those people come and go very quickly, and that actually happened to us. The last record they didn’t work it at all, it was all new people.

Steve: Well I suppose if you don’t know or trust the people you are working with it’s not much of a relationship?

Justin: Yeah exactly and with an indie, most of the people that are there are going to be there for a long time. So I think one of the pre conceived notions I had of a major is that everybody is evil. But what I found as we were interviewing with majors and talking about possibly working with them is there are a lot of good people at the label and I think that up in the top offices its probably all profit margins and all margin of profit and loss. But the worker bees so to speak are actually some really great people. And if you think about it, it makes sense, cos who is interested in music? Pretty cool people; so that was a big part of what won us over and maybe we could make this work and take this experiment with a major label and see where it went. So that said we also understand that a lot of people

that made us interested and learn with them we knew they might not be there in a year or two and that’s what happened. Most of them left; they did a great job the 1st record, the 2nd record they had new people in, hardly knew who we were and so we were ready to go, and I don’t think they cared if we stayed or went.

Steve: So was it a natural choice to go with SideOneDummy as they have built up a nice roster over the years.

Justin: Well it has and the last six years or so, every US tour we have done has been with a Sideonedummy band; Gorgol Bordello, The Briggs, Flogging Molly, The Casualties, you name it we have played with them. And those bands became our friends and through them we got to know the people at Sideone better and better and by the time we were looking for a new label; the guys at Sideone were like “if you are ready let us know?” So when that time came we sat down, they were “do you guys want to do it- yeah” and “You guys?- Yeah” so it was hassle free.

Steve: And you will maintain control of the input and the release etc.

Justin: Yeah of course, that’s something we have always retained and is very important. The music, the content, the artwork, lyrics it’s all something we have to stay free to

JUSTIN SANE express what we choose, otherwise we wouldn’t work with someone.

Steve: So in terms of the new album, you have recently posted the first video too, ‘When all the lights go out’, in terms of the concept who comes up with that?

Justin: Well it’s really quite often a lot of brainstorming, someone kicks it off with an idea and it goes from there. Like with the Roller Derby video, I’m not sure if you ever saw that? That was my idea but by the end everyone had input. This video was #2’s idea, of having a bonfire and it really was going to be having a fire with a camera focusing on that and us in the background blurred out and then throwing things on the fire and making a statement of “we are leaving these things behind”. So then of course it progressed with other characters and live shots of us and it changed over time. But usually there is a main idea and we go from there.

Steve: The series of statements that are projected on the video; burning of the books, not carrying the burden of your predecessors etc. Obviously you are a band associated with carrying a cause and a number of them, is that ever a burden in itself? Do you ever find yourself get-

ting depressed by reading further into the issues and just shrug your shoulders at it all?

Justin: Well there are a number of times I catch myself just saying ”this is fucking hopeless” or “Jesus, I can’t believe people can be this horrible, ya know” But on the other hand you play a show, you volunteer for a day somewhere, you get a letter and it comes from somebody who was inspired by your music or whose life was affected by something that you did and all of a sudden you realise that maybe the thing that you are doing will maybe have an opportunity to make an impact positively on the world. I mean I will give you a small example; when I was a kid I was really poor right. I didn’t have a winter jacket so where I lived it gold cold, it snowed and its rough, I used to wait out in the snow with this little sweater and I would freeze every morning waiting for the bus and if just some stranger had come along and given me a winter coat it would have just meant the world to me. Doesn’t seem like a big thing but to me as me as a young kid, and someone who didn’t have any way to fend for himself it would have meant a lot. So one of the things we do quite often; when we tour cold places is do a signing or a meet and greet or something and we will say to get in you have to bring a winter jacket or some food and I have had people to say to me, does it really make a difference? Like collecting jackets but the reality is growing up

that way; one person doing a very small act of charity of kindness to another person can make all the difference in that person’s life. So from my own personal experience I’m very aware that every little bit can help, it’s the many small acts of kindness that add up together to make an impact. So certainly there are times I feel discouraged but the thing is; we are not alone in the way we feel and there are other people that see the world from the same point of view as we see it. And we shouldn’t give up cos there are others who care and fighting and trying to make a difference. When I feel discouraged ya know, usually what happens is at a show I get a letter from somebody that encourages us to keep on doing what we are doing and that inspired me through those times when I feel defeatist or giving up.

Steve: Do you rely on people around you, friends and people in the band to help at those pick me up times as well?

Justin: Yeah and I would say in all honesty for me it really comes from people that listen to our music and give us feedback to our music. I talked to somebody at a show that wasn’t sure if there was a place for him in this world and felt like killing himself and the band gave him hope to carry on. Now that seems almost impossible to believe, I never thought that when we started this band it would have such an

impact on someone’s life to give them a reason to be alive. But on the other hand I think back to my own experiences and I mean there have been times in my life when the only thing I had was music. The only thing that got me through the shitty days I had to live through was a Clash record or a Generation X record, or just something that made me feel like I’m not alone in this. There is somebody out there that is feeling kind of the same pain or struggle I’m feeling. And that kind of reminds me that my music can maybe do that for someone and that’s so special. It’s more incredible than I could have imagined for the band.

Steve: And it’s been a long road now, what nearly 20 years?

Justin: No, (laughing sheepishly)It’s really like 13-14 years. We started out when we were teenagers and took a long break, I consider it didn’t start until 1994.

Steve: Ok just picking up on some of those causes; with this album I think portion of the proceeds are going to Amnesty International, and I think there is a song you recorded about Africa that’s not on this record. So for me personally some of the issues are important like Africa. So I have a cynical

JUSTIN SANE view on how people see Africa and lump it together as one place. How did you get involved in that cause if you will.

Justin: it’s a long story but to keep it short, there are a number of people I have met from the African continent that have explained to me how Africa is changing. And also if you just look at places like Darfur or the genocide like Rwanda. Africa as a resource with coal and diamonds and oil, all these resources that the West have been stealing from Africa and in the process ruining many African lives; it’s something I have been reading about and been aware of for a long time. And most people in the West don’t understand that cell phones, computers and gadgets that make our lives so much easier; one could argue make our lives better and possibly insane, but a lot of these things come as a result of western corporations basically raping and pillaging Africa. So it was an issue we wanted to bring more light to and make people aware of; where these good come from and how it affects people’s lives. African Well Fund was a program a friend of ours bought to our attention, it was run very well, made a tangible difference to people lives, for a very small amount of money we could have a impact on an entire village and give people a basic necessity which is water and for enough people in a village that didn’t have it before.

Steve: Have you been to Africa yourself?

Justin: I have not been to Africa.

Steve: Is that something that’s on the cards?

Justin: Yes and no. More so now than ever. I have had a lot of health problems up until the last few years, as my health gets better and better; Africa becomes something more and more on the table for me.

Steve: And most recently with the health side, you did your shoulder in last time on tour in the UK? Justin: (laughing)- Yeah it wasn’t really health problems, more moronic. There was someone in the audience that was causing trouble.

The punk rock scene that we grew up in, we were always acting to make things happen; there was nowhere to do shows, we made shows happen. In the basement or renting a hall or whatever. It was pretty much the drummer and I; we sort of made a lot of things in our small punk rocks scene happen. As a result of putting on the show, you have to patrol the show; if there is a fight you got to break it up, if someone is trashing the hall and wrecking it, you got to stop them cos if you don’t the hall won’t let you play again. So we have this automatic response that if something is going wrong it’s our job to address it and confront it. I guess at this point in my life I should probably need to

let other people do that for me.

Steve: Self police in a way?

Justin: Yeah. But this time I saw something happen and I went automatically into action and dove off the stage and broke my shoulder.

It was really stupid. I got the guy though (laughing out again). In a funny side story- and his name was James- we bought him onstage and were like “hey man what are you doing?” we had a little talk about it.

Steve: Group therapy.

Justin. Yeah and we said “hey this isn’t cool, it’s not what this is about.”

Rather than throw someone out I think it’s better to drag the person in front of everybody and talk about why this is taking place. Maybe it won’t happen again maybe it will change something for someone.

But we had our talk and said “Ok James you are forgiven, but by the way I broke my fucking shoulder going after you and the show is over goodbye. “I left him onstage and the audience jeering and booing at him. So what happened the other night we were playing in Russia, walking down the street and #2 taps me on the shoulder and says “dude check out that kids shirt”.

Some kids made a homemade A-F shirt and on it was the cover from our last record, and a word bubble with “Fuck You James”, and I thought that was so cool, the story came all the way from the UK to

Russia. And I went over to talk to him, his name was Dmitri and I signed and traded shirts with him.

Steve: I know this is something you talked about recently as you are prolific with your output and the reason for that; do you foresee this happening throughout the future.

Justin: It’s something we could easily do; I always tell people if A-F was a band that no-one knew about and cared about we would still be a band and play in our basement cos we just love to play. We did like six Clash songs at sound check cos its fun. Now we have built our own studio which is cheap to do these days with the technology being so cheap. And we recorded and engineered this record ourselves and I think its sounds damn good and I was really happy & proud of it.

Steve: Was there extra pressure with that?

Justin: In the beginning , but then it was going so well. I think we have just garnered so much experience in the past 10 years and have worked with some very good sharp people. After our recording I started recording solo stuff. I have a book full of solo songs.

Steve: You were going to do that a while back but you broke a finger or something?

JUSTIN SANE Justin: Yeah , that’s right I broke thing finger. (Showing it me) So after this tour I’m going to try and go back and record an EP split with a friend of mine. And then maybe record a full record and tour extensively on it. I’m really gearing up for that. So yeah recording is something we can do and it will depend on the burning desire we have. After September 11th I sat down and wrote 9/11 for Peace and we recorded that in a week. Just because we felt at the time there was a need for something different; cos everyone at the time was saying bomb, bomb, bomb and we were like let’s take a look at why this happened. So I think anytime there is that world event and something of that scale we might record a song and release it.

Steve: Well that makes sense for a band like yourself, as there is a lot of world and social commentary you make, and even look at the past six months and how much has happened. Economic meltdowns and Pakistan being increasingly dragged into the war etc.

Justin: There are so many times where we wish we had that ability just to walk in and record in a studio. Sometime it is a curse though cos I love to record. And I get a call at four in the morning and “Dude are you ever going to leave

there, you have been there for like 16 hours!” So I’m like yeah I guess I should leave, go see my Mom or something.

Steve: Where is it, not at your house otherwise that will be dangerous.

Justin: (laughing) Yeah right, well its right near where we grew up, right down the street from my parents, still fucking totally dangerous.

We bid adieu, but as Justin so kindly has told us, they will be back later in the year, and you can catch them either as A-F or a Clash Cover act, either way you are getting a quality show as they played through “London Burning”, “Should I Stay Or Should I go?” and “Career Opportunities” as the encore that day, and it went down a treat!

words by Steve Channel

Words by Noble Ivy Photos Imelda Michalczyk

jesse michaels

Operation

Love

I have to admit I was slightly nervous to meet Jesse Michaels. Operation Ivy as his most notable band shook things up in punk rock on levels I don’t think he quite comprehends. I for one was and am a massive fan. With his new band Classics Of Love touring through the UK, their first full tour anywhere, I was keen to see what Jesse had in store with the band and if this was a return to the fore for one of the humblest men in puck rock.

Classics Of Love are in tour with Mike Park, he of Asian Man Records and touring on trains. Jesse meets me as the first band of the night start up their set and as Jesse grabs some earplugs we watch a song or two and head to the band room in the near-attic of the small London Barfly. Jesse tells me a little about the tour to date and the bands that have impressed upon him. (This is his first venture to Europe as a musician)Also how the night before had been the most uncomfortable sleep yet, before sharing our agreed opinions on hardcore music (not so flattering)...

I asked him to confirm the background to Classics as himself and the three M’s; Mike, Morgan and Max complete the band. The three others are in another unit called The Hard Girls.

Jesse: Yeah that’s right. They are still in that band. Well I was making some demo’s, and Mike Park knew I was writing and wanting to record some stuff with other people. So I asked him if they (Asian Man) Knew of any bands I could sort of hijack and they said The Hard Girls, and I listened to them and they are really good. And so I was sold immediately and like “Man, I hope these guys will play with me!” cos you never know because it’s a new generation and maybe they didn’t give a shit. It turns out they were interested in the old stuff I did and it worked out really well.

Steve: How different was there musical style to Classics of Love, I haven’t heard them play as The Hard Girls.

Jesse: Well, pretty different. I would say they play music inspired by bands like the Mountain Goats, Leatherface, maybe Jawbreaker, a lot quieter sound, so more steering towards the indie side but I don’t want to pigeonhole them. So very different actually but they took to what I was doing very well.

Steve: And location -wise in the States, are you all in the same area?

Jesse: I’m about two hours away, so yeah I drive two hours to get to practise. Well actually one hour there and hour back. It’s a sacrifice but I’m willing to make it. I feel very lucky to be able to play with people that are cool and more or less of like mind, that’s a rarity of mine, so I’m very grateful and would drive further if I had to.

Steve: Was there an instant gelling process?

Jesse: Instant (pauses). I bought in a song and the very first time we played it, not even the second time; it was meant to be. And I don’t mean to be over profound by that, it just clicked, which was great.

STEVE: Classics Of Love have already recorded a EP called “Walking in Shadows” back in February. Mike (Park) is helping by putting it out on Asian Man and is one of their biggest fans. You tend to sit up and listen to a man that has helped bands such as Alkaline Trio through their infancy. By all accounts the EP is out in June but it was on sale at the show and on tour. I was interested to discuss the content of the EP and the

jesse michaels title of it.

Jesse: Well there is a song, and it’s the best song on the record (It is, believe me) and it’s called that an based on a dream I had. Kind of like a tourist cavern that you have in the States. I’m not sure if you would have them here? But you would see a sign by the road say “mystery cavern” and you go into some cave they have dug out and made into some tourist trap. So in the dream I’m walking through the cavern and there are a lot of symbols and I wrote about that dream and it came out really strong, and we decided to use that as the title.

Basically what the song is about, is looking for freedom from conditioning if you will. All the ideas from society looking for some kind of freedom from it and being lost in that.

yeah I used a lot of that type of material. There is another song called ‘Countdown’ which is very much influenced by Rites of Spring. It’s kind of ultra personal.

Steve: And there are six songs in total on the EP is that right? So the variety of subject matter on the EP is that varied?

Jesse: Well this record I went towards more of a political vent, kind of going back to what I used to when I was younger. It’s not overtly political it’s just that I find the best art in music is with the social political messages in it. So I’m not trying to create a cause or trying to create dogma, but what rocks to me is when there is that element of speaking about the world and what’s going on in the world. So

Steve: Ok, so you talked briefly earlier about the rise of UK bands coming through, how different have your found touring the UK culturally for example?

Jesse: Well I have always really liked people from the UK. Without stereotyping or simplifying everything, a lot of them have good manners and they are smart and their sense of humour is more subtle. And I appreciate that (smiling broadly). So I love it, we have had very good experiences with the people we have met; I have never experienced such

Steve: Ok so with the EP coming out now; or soon with wider release, have you thought ahead to a full length record?

Jesse: As soon as we get back we are going to start writing and working on a new record. We want to do it but the song writing process takes a while and we want to make a really good one.

Absolutely. Playing the material in front of people and seeing what works and getting the energy and inspiration from the young people is a big push for the creative process.

generosity in my life. So it’s been really nice.

Steve: Mike Park, when I spoke to him last year, talked about how he likes “training” whilst touring unlike most bands.

Jesse: (A little hesitant) Oh training. Yeah I haven’t heard that used as a verb. I have enjoyed it. There are advantages and disadvantages.

You get to do a lot of walking, the train breaks down, sometimes you have to change three times in a day which can be a big pain in the ass.

But overall I really have liked it. I’m a person that really needs space.

And it’s not easy to get space at a club; there is always noise or something. On a train you can get away from it for a while so it’s been really nice for me. Everybody in the band has really liked it actually.

(The drummer walks in, says hello, apologises for interrupting and doesn’t want to stay despite the invite- Jesse mentioned that the band doesn’t really enjoy the interview side of things) Steve: Ok so tonight is the last night of the tour, and you are hoping to get back and write more material for a record. So are you planning more shows in the States first?

Jesse: Yeah we are going to gig all Summer, not every weekend but keep gigging as I believe that’s really important for writing. But we will keep playing around the Bay (San Francisco) area.

Steve: Ok, cos this is the first full tour you have had as a band is that right? So why did you choose the UK and not locally?

Jesse: Yes, well that was something that was logistical. Mike has done it before and it’s something he knows and has it down and he loves it. So he was like lets do the UK! And we were like “Yeah why not?”

Steve: And this is part of the Plea for Peace tour?

Jesse: Right, yeah he created the tour concept and can use it as an umbrella for anything he wants. He hangs up the banner (literally) and its basically just says there is more to it than music, more raising of money or attention for the needs to change the world, in particular for young people. So it’s not a big campaign but he throws the banner up and we rest under that.

Steve: So in terms of a band as its stands, this has been your first intense period together, touring together and getting to know each other?

jesse michaels Jesse: (nodding and listening intently) It’s been very good. Ya know any band or four individuals will have points of contention and different ways of doing things. But I have to say of the bands I have been in this has been the best situation I have been in. And I have been in pretty good situations, that’s not to say the other ones were bad at all but we really get along very well.

Steve: Aside from music, you have an active interest in art and your wife is involved in film I believe? So have you had an opportunity to take that in while on the road or not really?

Jesse: Well in a sense I have cos I started doing drawings to sell as merch so I did a lot of drawings and in some ways more prolific artistically than I have been in years before. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to go to museums. But I would like to some back sometime just to go to museums, cos I love seeing modern art and contemporary art, but that’s another chapter. It’s unbelievable; I would literally like to come back here and just go to museums next time.

Steve: Beyond recording and the tours in the Summer, not to sound negative about the band, but do you see this as a long term project or are you

playing it by ear?

Jesse: I see this as a long term project but really I don’t try and project anything on it, I see it as an open canvas, it certainly doesn’t have any terms of limitations. It’s going well now and if it keeps on going like this, who knows? But I see it as a long term things. For example in Common Rider, the last band I was in, everybody loved the band but we lived in different places and I kind of knew that only could go for so long with limitations. In this case we see each other every week, we are developing chemistry, and we are getting used to each other.

So it’s got a very strong foundation and could go on for quite a while.

Steve: So did Common Rider just run its natural course?

Jesse: Well Common Rider, in a way it was a very unnatural way to run a band, but I love those guys and wanted to make it work. But we all lived very far away an eventually that’s stopped working. You can be good in a certain way but to get that soul you have to but in so many hours and that was impossible to do. But I love those guys and I hope to get to pay with them again sometime.

Steve: Do you find personally, is it difficult to shrug off the tags from previous bands? Common Rider and more so Opera-

tion ivy.

Jesse: Well there is so much competition these days and much more so for a band with a 40 year old singer (smiling broadly) so I’m very grateful and I will take what I can get (beaming again). And also it’s been nice, well Op Ivy was never a big band at the time and I meet all these people that are really into it and care about and of course it’s encouraging. It helps me feel like the stuff has been worth it, so actually it’s been great. And if people shout the songs, usually I have ear plugs in anyways so I can’t hear them (laughing).

Steve: So two things off the web I wanted to clarify; one is your disagreement with the label punk rock. Is that true or where does that stem from?

Jesse: It’s a mixed bag. I don’t personally like the label “punk rock” cos I don’t like to become a member of something cos it excludes something else. I don’t want to say I’m a member of this club so I can’t like this person or that person. But at the same time, I also think it’s got a bit tacky by now, come on! But at the same time I am one whether I like it or not. So at the same time I chafe against the label I haven’t gotten away from it. And I have made effort to try and be more in the mainstream of life if you will.

But the truth is I always come back to

jesse michaels

it. I love it and I love the music and the people.

Steve: Ok the second thing I read is that you don’t enjoy doing interviews, you mentioned earlier the other guys don’t like to either. Is this is true?

Jesse: Well let’s see, the things on my pages, like my personal network, and sites where I say “I don’t like to do interviews” were put up before I was in a active band. I don’t like doing interviews where I don’t have anything to talk about. Cos then people want me to talk about my life, and really my life has been quite a mess most of the time. So when it’s like “what have you done for the past 20 years? “ I’m not quite sure? Once I have something going its far more rewarding, the truth is I just get out of habit and get a bit reclusive at times. But now that I’m back into it I’m having fun doing interviews when I get the chance.

Steve: Yeah I think there will be fans from even back in Op Ivy might have wandered what has happened over the past 10-15 years. So what do you do to keep yourself busy?

Jesse: Oh and the interview thing, not everyone interviews a well as you, I often get the same questions over and over again. So that’s part of it!

So back to the question, what I have been doing is working; I cook breakfast I get up at 3:30 in the morning and work till 10AM. Work later and then I come home and write music. And I try and get out to do some exercise, and play gigs so that’s my life right now. And in general along with the music, I do quite a bit of art and writing but I haven’t had a chance to put any of that stuff out. But I’m trying to get something out later this year.

Steve: Yeah I did read about that. I couldn’t find much online which actively traces that.

And with music do you go out much to see bands?

Jesse: Not really I don’t go to many gigs.

Steve: Is there a reason for that?

Jesse: Not really? I don’t generally speaking like to be in loud environments, which I know is ironic. After 30 years I’m done with it. But let me qualify that-now being on tour I have been pushed in the door I have really enjoyed seeing bands.

But generally I like to do quieter stuff.

----As we were all anxious to see Mike Park’s set downstairs we ended the interview there. I can say that Jesse is incredibly polite & humble and on the evidence of

jesse michaels his show at the end of the night with Classics Of Love, his energy and enthusiasm onstage are near unparalleled. I think people may always tie Jesse Michaels with Op Ivy, but this is a band despite its early days with huge potential

and a re-invigorated and intelligent songwriter & vocalist. The door has been reopened and the world is their oyster.

Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD.

Citizen Keyne For sheer belief and unpretentious pride you will go a long, long way to find it more obvious than it is in the band Citizen Keyne. The attitude is bang on and they have the mouths and music to back it. No bullshitting here just some honest geezers ploughing their way through the murky punk mire trying to make a mark. With one classic album under their belts we are promised another one on the way. A much appreciated chance to review this new CD in advance of its release has reinforced my belief that we have one of the best underdog bands around who are ready to make a major move. Who needs the shame old shit when we have the stature of new punk bands like this? The following interview I hope highlights the passion behind this excellent outfit.

1.

Introduce us to the band and tell us a bit about each of your musical backgrounds!

2. Tell us about your releases to date and what inspires you to write a song?

John – Vocals. Co-founder of CK in 2004. Before that was briefly singer for local Punk/Metal outfit Metal Mode!

A few poorly recorded demos were followed with CK’s first major release ‘Ungreat Britain’, which was incredibly well received across the country and got the band some much needed recognition. It was self financed and released on our own DRB label.

Floyd – Guitar & backing vocals.

Floyd has an extensive Punk music background as both a drummer & guitarist. He has been in many Punk bands since 1979, was recently drummer for Dun 2 Def (on the Every Weekend CD) before joining CK on guitar a few years ago. Is currently also playing guitar for Bedford based band The Tendons.

Darren – Backing vocals. Co-founder of CK, originally played bass (badly!) until finding his niche as the energetic backing midget!

Tim – Bass. Has done various music ventures, but none as entertaining as CK and none in the Punk field. Being ginger has held him back though.

Kev – Drums. Plays with some other crap bands, including lame covers bands and some Hippy who’s name eludes me, but thinks he’s some kinda music celeb.

At the time of writing this interview, Kev has decided to turn his back on CK to pursue his other pointless ventures and let us down on a load of booked gigs, so will not be included in the remainder of this interview.

The second release, to be titled ‘Stand Proud’, has been started and should be ready for release very soon. Both albums were recorded by Keith (AC1 Studios in Milton Keynes), formerly of Capdown – a top guy and a brilliant engineer.

Songs can be about anything and everything from politics to drinking lager. It just really depends what kinda mood we’re in at the time of writing.

Everyone in the band contributes to song writing, hence the varied subject matter.

Although CK has a few messages to put across, we try and do it in a more subtle and fun way, rather than screaming the point in your face. The seriousness of certain subject matter is countered by something more jovial. We want people to enjoy our songs, not leave the room wanting to slit their wrists!

3. I know the feedback from your album was primarily good but one website in particular seemed to miss the whole point and really got your backs up. Having seen the on-line

Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD. debate I was quite impressed by your self-belief and determination to get your point across. Would any of your care to elaborate on this!

Can we mention the site in question?

It was Punktastic…a site claiming to be all about and supporting Punk music. What a joke! These clowns had no idea what Punk was or is all about.

Written by talentless morons whose idea of Punk is Sum 41 and Green Day. Apparently their main writer supposedly writes for Big Cheese… which is a real shame if they need blinkered idiots like this on their staff.

Basically the “review” (if you can call it that) was just one great mocking session due to their complete lack of knowledge of Punk and what it represents. This got our backs up, not because we can’t take a bad review (bad reviews are helpful to us cos we can feed off them as long as they are constructive). This “review” had none of that. They just thought they would be clever and controversial by slagging off what they blatantly knew nothing about and the fact we didn’t sound like all the other 1000’s of sad American soundalikes/Punk wannabes.

So we decided to put our point across, which like the review, was completely devoid of any kind of coherent return argument. It was basically “you’re shit, you’re songs are shit and we will do out best to mock you… then come back when you wear your jeans hanging off your arse, own a skateboard

and have a long piece of chain dangling down from your pocket to your knees and sound like Busted, THEN we’ll take you seriously on our “Punk” site!” Clueless wankers!

Thankfully this site has now gone so good riddance to this bunch of prepubescent, uneducated morons. UK Punk Rock is well rid of these kinds of idiots.

4. The show you played for me at the SAS 3 dayer was a barnstormer and the feedback was immense. Do you work on your on stage presence and what are the main things you try and remember when delivering a ‘live’ show?

We really do nothing to prepare for a show other than rehearse once a fortnight! I think if it comes across that the show is lively and exciting and it looks like we’re all totally into what we’re doing, then that’s because we are - it’s just the way it is! We totally believe in this band and obviously the way the band is projected shines through. We all just love playing live and playing Punk music. It’s that simple.

The only thing I would say we do to help a performance is to have a no drinking ban before we play. We’ve learned a few lessons from very poor drunken shows, so the no alcohol till we start playing seems to work well

for all of us. Doesn’t sound very Punk does it? But fuck it!!

5. I particularly remember on the night of the gig that you made a point of saying that everyone who has a skinhead ain’t a Nazi. It’s crazy that we need to keep re-emphasising this fact but I fully understand why! Can you tell us about any misjudgements that have been made about the band and its members in the past and what are the main political standpoints of the band?

It’s kinda been hinted behind our backs that we were some kinda Nazi band! Never to our faces though. We can only assume that this is because of the fact 3 of us have shaved heads in the band and we kinda “look” like skinheads. And also the fact we have played gigs with the likes of Condemned 84...another band desperately trying to shake a ludicrous Nazi band tag (you couldn’t meet a nicer, down to Earth bunch of genuine guys). Just cos Condemend 84 sing a few patriotic songs…so what? Since when has it been a crime to sing that you’re proud of your Country (although that’s getting harder by the day because of the way Labour are setting out to destroy it)? Well, it’s not a crime yet, but if Labour have their way I’m sure it will be…every other scrap of British identity is slowly being erased so it’s just a matter of time I guess. It’s all very sad to see.

The fact is, just cos you put this kind of

point across it DOESN’T make you a Nazi, a racist or whatever other kind of stupid tag you wanna throw at someone and just because you have a skinhead, same rules apply. None of our songs have any kind of Nazi implications so how the hell can we get tagged with it? So we look like we could be Nazi’s. Ok, that’s how it works is it?

Pathetic.

The people you have to keep putting this point across to are the stupid and ignorant ones…we’re happy knowing who we are and what we’re about but can they say the same about themselves? Seemingly not, as they’re way too busy pointing an ever accusing and unsubstantiated finger towards those who don’t conform to their ideal.

Politically we just hate Politicians and what they stand for. They are all liars, get paid WAY too much and are completely out of touch with the reality of what a shit hole this country is becoming, due largely to their spineless treatment of criminals and their overall useless and unethical policies. We hate with a passion Politicians like Gordon Brown and Tony Blair…the worst this country has ever seen. We don’t really care who gets into power in the next election as long as it isn’t Labour.

6. Tell us your individual fave songs of all time as well as your favourite Citizen Keyne song?

John – All time: ‘My Way’ by Sid Vicious. This song just summed the

Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD. guy up…a true Punk who lived and died by doing everything in the true Punk way.

Citizen Keyne: ‘Bollox’. One of the simplest CK songs, but simplicity is effective and it works at getting a simple message across!

Floyd – All time: ‘No Feelings’ by Sex Pistols. A pioneering band and one of their most under-rated songs.

An absolute classic!

Citizen Keyne: ‘Stand Proud’. When I needed to write the new Ungreat Britain’ for the next album, I was struggling. Then all of a sudden this gem just appeared from nowhere!

And what a song it’s become!

Darren – All time: ‘Paranoid’ by Black Sabbath. The first single I bought.

Citizen Keyne: ‘Bootsale Tales’. Just a great CK song.

Tim – All time: ‘In a Rut’ by The Ruts. The whole of the first Ruts album is genius but this song just stands out as a brilliant debut.

Citizen Keyne: ‘Ungreat Britain’.

The first albums title track and just a brilliant, well constructed Punk song. As one review stated…’a classic in the making’!

7.

Influences please in both life and music?

John – Life: Simple really…ciggies, lager and laughter. It’s all you need!

Music: Sid Vicious and anyone willing to get up there and give it a go Floyd – Life: Myself really, as pretentious as it sounds! I’ve always done what I’ve decided as the best option, right or wrong and regardless of what others try to tell me!

Music: The Exploited, Sex Pistols, UK Subs…and way too many more to mention. Influences come from so many different sources.

Darren – Life: Beer, ciggies and beer.

Did I mention beer?

Music: Just Punk music in general.

The greatest thing to happen to music in any time period.

Tim – Life: Charles Darwin (it’s at this point that the band would like to say that Tim is a nob and takes this kinda thing way too seriously!)

Music: Buddy Holly, Elvis. The Ruts (CK - Tim just saved himself with that last one!)

8.

How do you see the scene of today compared to when you were younger and what, if anything, do you see as the greatest hindrance to a bands momentum?

It’s WAY quieter than it was at the start of the 80’s…much harder to fill gigs and basically to get punters out of the house! Gigs at the start of the Punk scene and for many years after were ALWAYS rammed. No matter who

you were or how good/bad you were.

Now, only a handful of acts can continually fill moderately sized venues.

It’s the norm now to get 50 in and feel you’ve done really well. It’s a shame really, cos the Punks and Skins are still there, but apathy has taken control. I think beer prices and smoking bans have killed a lot of it too.

The biggest hindrances are the huge ‘only-doing-it-for-money’ festivals.

These events have absolutely no interest in putting on any bands that they feel won’t make them money and those that do get on are paid fuck all cos the greedy “name” bands have charged extortionate sums of money to play. The plethora of excellent underdog Punk bands in the UK are all but being ignored in favour of the

same tired old crap, heard a million times already and played with the enthusiasm of camping out on a rainy day. What these festivals don’t realise is by shunning the underdog, you are cutting your own throats cos the name acts will pack it up sooner than later and then whose gonna play? The bands you’ve shunned would hopefully tell you to shove it, if they have any pride. The Punk ethic is lost in these huge events in favour of cash.

Another hindrance is the tossers you e-mail etc for gigs and they don’t even have the decency to give an answer either way. Arrogant wankers who will go the same way as the money grabbing festival organisers.

Also old Punk bands who have reformed just to cash in…what a waste

Under the radar with FungalPunk OMD. of time. Where have they been supporting the cause for the past 20 years? Nowhere! But they think they can reform using very few original members and instantly command £25 a ticket to play some shit hole and flog t-shirts at £17 a pop. Oh, how very Punk that is. Wankers! I think it’s sad for any true Punk to support these bands. We personally don’t have no time for them regardless of who they once were or thought they were.

9. What’s been the highlight for the band so far and what are your major targets for this year?

Quite seriously and without sounding like a bunch of arse kissers, it was this years SAS Spit & Sawdust 3 day Festival in Stockport. Not only was it an honour to be asked to play this but to be given a headline Saturday night slot when Fungalpunk Dave only had 1 CD release of the band to go on, was for him a bit of a gamble! But we were totally chuffed.

We also arrived well early on the Saturday to support all the other bands… which for us was tough because of our no drinking rule (9 hours without beer!!!!). But it was a brilliant day, despite the mediocre attendance…and thankfully we played a blinder (not our words!), so any of Dave’s worries about us being able to pull it off were soon dismissed. Brilliant reaction from the crowd to every song and we even managed to get 19 on stage for

a mass rendition of ‘Bollox’!! We also played for over an hour, so most likely outstayed our welcome, but fuck it… we were having a blast!

In 2009 we want to get a new drummer on board…someone dedicated as much as the rest of us, get the new CD released and just keep gigging more and more. Hopefully we’ll also gain some of the recognition we all feel the band deserves…but obviously keep our feet firmly in the underground Punk scene. We’d also like to see Darren report back having had sex with someone that actually looks female and for Tim to realise that Ginger is NOT Strawberry Blonde 10. How do you find touring and getting to and from gigs? Do you all enjoy the mooching around or do you get on each others tits? A few anecdotes would be grand too?

As we haven’t actually toured as such yet (we had a tour lined up in August 09 with American band Screaming Banshees, but we pulled out due to the fact we were set to lose way too much money on expenses), but gigs are generally ok to get to but ultimately costly due to petrol prices. We don’t yet own a van so tend to go in 2 cars and just hope our expenses and merch sales from gigs will cover fuel costs!

We always scout out the local Subway on the way to a venue…cos those

Meatball Marinara’s don’t consume themselves!

and contact points as well as highlighting any forthcoming shows.

I wouldn’t say we ever really get on each others tits at all although no-one ever wants to go in the car with Tim if he’s driving cos he drives like an old lady on Prozac!

Most of our gigs these days are way out of our native Milton Keynes, so driving and expenses is just part and parcel of the band.

Ok, our Myspace site is www.myspace. com/citizenkeyne where you can check out all dates for upcoming shows and listen to songs, read reviews (live and recorded) and buy merch.

11. Do any of you have any hobbies outside the band and what are your occupations?

John – Hobbies: Up and coming tattoo artist. CFC, Horror movies and abusing Chavs.

Occupation: Mundane office worker Floyd – Hobbies: Golf (yeah, I know!), collecting & watching Horror dvd’s (have way too many) and spending way too much time playing PS3.

Occupation: currently between jobs having been laid off just before Xmas 08 Darren – Hobbies: Motor racing, drinking, music and fishing Occupation: Hiring out plant machinery Tim – Hobbies: Films, walking, karate (teaching) & HUFC Occupation: Teacher 12. Finally push your merch, sounds

Merch wise we have ‘Ungreat Britain’ CD’s, ‘Ungreat Britain’ T-shirts, Citizen Keyne logo T-shirts and badges.

The new CD ‘STAND PROUD’ will be completed in the next few weeks and we hope to have this out in April.

Anyone interested in drumming for CK can contact us through Myspace or email us direct at citizenkeynepunx@ hotmail.co.uk

Words by Steve Hetfield Photos Imelda Michalczyk

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random hand

It’s been a short while since we caught up with SkaCore heavyweights Random Hand. They have stepped things up with the release of their second album ‘Inhale/Exhale’ and are gaining momentum throughout the UK punk scene. We managed to catch drummer Joe Dimuantes to discuss the new release and life in the up ‘n up lane.

Steve: Hi, so the new album has dropped and caused some tsunami sized ripples! How happy have you been with the feedback/comments?

Joe: Hello! Yes the album has dropped; we like to think it’s making waves of some kind at least! So far we’ve had a really good response which is nice to know. There was always that

worry when doing the second album that people wouldn’t take to a set of completely new material as well as they had the previous stuff, or that we wouldn’t be able to top what we did before - I think we’ve managed that and then some, we’re still finding out which of the new songs are getting the best live responses and it’s been quite surprising how much people have taken it on

board.

Steve: Tell us about the recording process on ‘Inhale/Exhale’ compared to ‘Change Of Plan’- what were the biggest things you had learned going into the studio this time round?

Joe: The process was very different across the board really. The writing process for the first album was very usual, lots of songs written over a long time and refined over lots and lots of playing - with the new one we were very crammed in to a short space for writing and had very limited time. I don’t think this was detrimental as it could have been, instead I think the album has a kind of synergy because of it. As for the actual recording, the first album was a bit of a cram job to get it done within the short time frame, this time we gave ourselves much more time and took it easier, no stress. I think on the first album we learned a lot about the ‘cabin fever’ effect that can sometimes arise from recording (mainly from one person having to do all their parts at once), so we took a different approach on ‘Inhale/Exhale’ and did stuff in batches. It really helped, no one got bored and no one went mental! Well, not much :D Steve: When we last spoke Joe Tilston (singer) said (about writing for the second record) “Peo-

ple 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.” Does this all apply to the end product?

Joe: Yeah, we had a pretty experimental time in the studio. Lots of messing with sounds and ideas and trying out lots of options for stuff. The musical advances for us were pretty inherent in the writing as well, we’ve been listening to a lot of different stuff all across the board recently and that definitely came across. Ideas in general came across with a lot more clarity; we knew what we were wanting to do with the songs and were all pretty much on the same page as we wrote.

Steve: What were the intentions of the band on the new album, and do you think you succeeded?

Joe: We just needed to build on what we had already laid down in the run up to the new album - I think ‘Change of Plan’ was a solid foundation to work from but we had (and have) a lot more in us, so we needed to get all that out and begin to move onwards. It didn’t take long before we started to feel that the first album didn’t really represent us as much anymore, so it’s nice to be getting something

random hand new out there and ‘updating’ us, so to speak. We also wanted to up the ante and make something intense, a logical next step for us, and we all agree that we’ve managed that - the album is where we’re at now and more, so hopefully we can now start to build on that and raise the bar for us again on album three!

Steve: Tell us about some of your favourite tracks on the album.

Which have been the most fun to play live?

Joe: It’s hard to pick really, I could name them all for different reasons! ‘For Roni’ has been a bit of a hit live; it’s very danceable and has a nice ‘woah-oh’ and possibly our first proper foray into ‘real’ harmonies, so it’s been satisfying playing that and pulling it off. It’s one of the hardest songs to play that we’ve written in a while, and it’s always nice having a challenge! ‘Anger Management’ has also been a lot of fun, it’s a nice groove to hold out for a bit, and kicking into the heavy bit always gets people going.

And now the album’s been out for a while, people know the chorus a lot - and it’s great to hear everyone singing when it all drops out, that stuff never gets old. We just made a video for that track, which we should be seeing very soon.

Steve: What have you been doing in support of the new album? What

tours do you have lined up?

Joe: The day the album hit the shops we set off on tour with Reel Big Fish and Suburban Legends which was phenomenal. Those guys are all awesome and made us feel very at home! We sold a bucketload of albums and I think we made a great impression on the crowds, hopefully a lasting one. We just made a video for upcoming single ‘Anger Management’ which’ll be out soon, and now we’re out on tour for all of May with Sonic Boom Six who have just released their third album (which is amazing). In July we’re heading out with those loveable rudies The Skints for a bunch of dates in the UK, and we’ve got more lined up for the future but you’ll have to wait and see!

Steve: What were the reasons you decided to go with Rebel Alliance Recordings to release the album?

Joe: Apart from being really good friends with Sonic Boom Six and feeling very much like we could put our trust in them, they were really enthusiastic about the album and really wanted to put it out. We have a huge amount of respect for them and everything they’re doing, so to have them be excited about something we’re doing is really great.

We have a lot of confidence in what they are and what they will be as well. Back in the day, there were a couple of bigger labels that had all

random hand

the big bands and were a bit of a cornerstone for UK punk, and as all the bands on their rosters split up, the gap never quite healed and things weren’t really the same, or at least that’s how it appears to me. The big hole left by bands like Howard’s Alias, Capdown, King Prawn, Adequate Seven, No Comply, The Filaments etc never quite got filled, and still hasn’t really. I really think Rebel Alliance is gonna be the new ‘label to be on’ in the scene. The bands already on the roster are great (not blowing our own trumpet, I mean everyone else :D), and from what I can tell it’s only gonna get better - with the right support there’s no reason that UK punk could be what it was again, and I think RAR will be right there pushing everything along.

Steve: Have you yet to reach that “pinch yourself ” moment as Ran-

dom Hand have seen a meteoric rise in the past 12-18 months.

Joe: I don’t think we’ve had time!

We’ve had a lot of fun over the past few months and done a lot of stuff that we’re very proud of, and it’ll be nice to see what comes of it. A lot of nice stuff keeps happening so long may it continue.

Steve: Any other comments about the album?

Joe: Buy it! If you haven’t already.

We’re really proud of it and we think there’s something for everyone on there, so please listen to it and let us know what you think! And come to some gigs