The Casualties are coming to Australia... finally!

Forming on the streets of the Lower East side of New York around 1990, The Casualties have since become a synonymous with punk.  Their brand of fast, angry, hardcore punk often attracts kids in their formative punk years and The Casualties become staple listening for many young punks.   ‘It feels great and very odd at times.  I never thought when I joined this band that I would be influencing so many younger punks to pick up an instrument and start whaling away”.  After the shows were intially postponed, The Casualties are heading to Australia for the first time and kicking off the tour in Melbourne on the 10^th November. 

I recently got the chance to speak to Marc ‘Meggers’ about The Casualties and the upcoming Australian tour.

Angie Hurlock

On The Casualties longevity:

We still love what we do and thank our lucky stars that we are able to do what we love and make a living off it.  With that said, we just get by.  Nobody is getting rich off this band.  If we stop touring we will not be able to pay rent.  So many people live pay check to pay check, same thing for us.  We live from tour to tour.  Sorry, derailed there for a minute.  Is it still easy?  Sometimes it is.  When we are on stage doing our thing, giving it our all, it is the greatest feeling.  But then at certain points when I’m in the RV on an all day drive breathing Rick’s farts and Jorge’s foot odor, I miss home, my girlfriend and my bed.  We all do, but would I trade it for a 9-5 job?  No way.  This is what we do.  We live it and we love it, it’s all we know.

On Festivals:

 

We played a festival years ago in Berlin with Cocksparrer.  So amazing.  We just played a fest with Cobra in Japan.  I never thought I’d get the chance to see them, nevertheless play together.  Shared the stage a few times with The Damned, Exploited and GBH.  We have been so lucky to share the stage with so many great bands, too many to mention them all.  And even stranger, to become friends with a lot of our childhood heroes.

On the Australian Tour:

We have been wanting to come over for years, but it has never seemed to pan out.  I’m excited to play and see another part of the world.  We have been to so many places over the years it’s awesome when we hit some uncharted territory for us.  [Australian audiences] should expect high energy, high volume, fun, united shows.  Lots of slam dancing and a lot of beer flying about.  And the day after expect a headache, ringing in your ears and some bumps and bruises.

On the future:

After Australia we are headed to South East Asia which I cannot wait for.  Again it’s more new territory for the band.  Then finally take a break from our tour and start writing new songs for a new record.

Final words:

We are coming, finally.  Can’t wait to play for you lot and hope we all have a great time.  Thanks for being patient.

Make sure you check out The Casualties on one of their upcoming dates!

10th NOVEMBER | MELBOURNE | THE EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB
w/ THE WORST & NO IDEA
Tickets on sale via www.eastbrunswickclub.com and at the box office. (p. 9388 9794)

11th NOVEMBER | SYDNEY | THE MANNING BAR
w/ TOPNOVIL & THE RUMJACKS
Tickets on sale from www.manningbar.com. p. 1300 862 545, www.moshtix.com.au, 1300 GET TIX (438 849), on your mobile www.moshtix.mobi and other moshtix outlets.


13th NOVEMBER | BRISBANE | THE HIFI BAR
w/ THE SCAM & LEOPARD STREET DROOGS
Tickets from www.thehifi.com.au. p. 1300-THEHIFI (8434434), Rocking Horse Records, Butter Beats, Sunflower Pacific Fair, Disasterpiece, Mosh Pit Music, Kill The Music, Gooble Warming, Rockaway Records.

Bizoo Regional Tour!

Bizoo's Best of Retrospective Zine continues its launch throughout Queensland over the next couple of months before taking on the rest of the country next year. 
Not only is the zine getting launched, but free workshops are being held in many regional Queensland towns. 

Check out the dates below and head along!


- 8 Oct: Bizoo Book Brisbane Launch + Zine Fair + Bands @ 4ZZZfm Car park (Zine Fair 10:30am-2:30pm, Bands 3pm – 6pm)


- 20 Oct: Rockhampton - Song writing and Community workshop @ Walter Reid Centre (6-9pm)

- 22 Oct: Rockhampton – Zine Workshop @ The Regional Library (10am-1pm)

- 24 Oct: Mackay – Zine Fair @ Crossroad Arts (3:30pm-5pm)

- 27 Oct: Palm Island - Zine workshop (invite only)

- 28 Oct: Townsville - Zine workshop (invite only)

- 29 Oct: Cairns - Zine workshop @ Crate59 (10:30-1pm), Music Workshop @ MOFO 3:30-5:30pm + Gig

- 5 Nov: Townsville –Michelle and Natasha’s opening (6pm-9pm) Gig w/ (9pm-10pm) @ Artspaced/Dance North

- 6 Nov: Townsville - Zine workshop & BBQ @ Artspaced/Dance North (12 – 3pm)

- 7 Nov: Mackay – Zine meet up and Gocco printing @ Crossroad Arts (3:30-5pm)

- 8 Nov: Rockhampton – A venue and Bizoo presents a music networking night w/screening of ‘A Piss in the Ocean’ @ Walter Reid Centre (6-9pm)

- 11 Nov: Longreach – Music Workshop @ Youth Club (4-7pm)

- 12 Nov: Longreach – Zine Workshop @ Youth Club 12:30-3pm)

- 13 Nov: Blackall – Music/Zine workshops & BBQ @ Blackall Memorial Hall (12-5pm)

- 16 Nov: Roma – Zine workshop @ Community Hall (4-7pm)

- 17 Nov: Roma – Music workshop @ Community Hall (4-7pm)

- 19 Nov: Dalby – Zine Workshop @ Dalby Regional Gallery (10am-2pm)

Book review: 'Damned' by Chuck Palahniuk

I will always remember how I spent my last day of high school reading 'Haunted' instead of signing yearbooks and saying cheesy goodbyes to people I didn't really know or like anyway. It was my first foray into a Chuck Palahniuk novel and I soon realized this was a foolish choice for someone unaccustomed to his shocking, transgressive style of writing. When I reached the infamously disgusting chapter 'Guts' (rumored to have caused dozens of audience members to faint over the course of his book promotion tour), I screamed and threw the book across my Homeroom. As if this didn't get enough stares, seconds later I eagerly ran to pick it up and immediately continued reading, morbidly fascinated and still queasy. Thus is the addictive lure of Palahniuk gross-out scenes.

After consuming his entire body of work, I now know the rest of his novels are not as graphic, though dark veins of violence and sex acts still pop up throughout them all. For any 'Palahniuk virgins' out there, I can safely say that his latest novel, 'Damned' is an ideal place to start. When I giddily ripped open my package containing an advance copy of 'Damned' (set to go on sale October 18th), a 'letter' from heroine Madison Spencer fell out. On her pink and purple pre-teen stationary, Madison declares Palahniuk a "...Mr. Whorey McWhoreski so-called writer.... Judy Blume, he is not." Could it be that the main character is for once not a terrible person with major psychotic issues that you love to hate and instead a sassy chick-lit referencing chubby thirteen-year-old girl you can actually relate to? I'm sure some Palahniuk readers might initially be turned off by this casting, but I was excited to see how this rare functional character would handle the struggles of a Palahniuk imagined Hell.

Yes, Hell. I forgot to mention our fabulous Madison is dead and condemned because of a supposed marijuana overdose at thirteen. Like a smarter version of Georgia Nicholson, Madison (full name Madison Desert Flower Rosa Parks Coyote Trickster Spencer, thanks to her ridiculous celebrity parents) decides to make the best of her eternal time in the nether world and meet new friends, preferably becoming BFFs with Satan himself. "Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison.... Honestly, I give up on giving up. I'm just not cut out to be some hopeless, disillusioned wretch with no aspirations for the rest of eternity, sprawled catatonic in my own feces on a stone cold floor."

Between viewings of 'The English Patient,' Hell's torturous film of choice, Madison thinks of her own favourite movie, 'The Breakfast Club' and notices the people surrounding her in perdition resemble the '80s detention room crew. Shallow Babette with obviously fake designer clothes, know-it-all geek Leonard and Patterson the high school football player are among the first citizens of Hell she encounters. Madison deems herself the Ally Sheedy character and the comparison is rounded out by Archer, a blue mohawked punk who springs the gang from their cages with the safety pin that pierces his cheek .

Hell has done it's job breaking billions of it's inhabitants, but our heroes see potential in the land of fire and decide to search for something rather than wasting away in a cell. While crossing terrain made of glass, scabs, and cockroaches, Madison can't help but reflect back on her short bittersweet life on Earth. Raised by famous parents who act like Edina from 'Ab Fab' and go through scores of adopted children faster than Madonna, it's no wonder Madison feels Hell is an improvement. Palahniuk clearly had a lot of fun researching obscure mythology, because most of Leonard's input is namedropping multitudes of ancient demons, demigods, and other deities banished to the Underworld that enjoy chowing down on the humans out of boredom. Several celebrities, artists, and historical figures make cameo appearances as well, since nearly everyone important is put on the down escalator after they die. Madison especially enjoys this perk and keeps an eye out for River Phoenix. "One can't help but picture the lackluster VIP Lounge in Heaven, a kind of nonalcoholic ice-cream social starring Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mahatma Gandhi. Hardly anyone's idea of a 'with-it' social register."

After much difficulty, the Hellfast Club make it to a town where they're allowed to contribute to infernal society. Unfortunately, the only career choices are porn ("You see, Hell is responsible for about 85 percent of the Internet's total smut content.") or conducting pointless phone surveys designed to interrupt the living from enjoying their dinners. Madison becomes a star telemarketer, convincing several of her dying clients to sin it up in their remaining time on Earth so they can join her downstairs once the big day comes. Alternating between memories of her flesh life and spirit life, we slowly learn more about Madison, growing ever fond of her. I can't say I blame the dying folks she recruited, I'd want a friend like Madison to show me the ropes.

The way Palahniuk structures the strict rules of damnation, nearly everyone ends up there even if they were the kindest humanity had to offer. Pee in a pool as a child or curse more than 700 times in your life and Heaven's gates close. "According to Babette, 98.3 percent of lawyers end up in Hell. That's in contrast to the 23 percent of farmers who are eternally damned... Perhaps a trace number of politicians ascend into Heaven, but statistically speaking, 100 percent of them are cast into the fiery pit. As are essentially 100 percent of journalists and redheads." Well, I'm an auburn blogger, so if that counts, guess I'll see you in Hell, Palahniuk. The twists at the end are a tad more predictable and less sociopathic than those in his other books, but overall, 'Damned' is a wonderful novel. It's the only heartwarming story about Hell you'll ever read, an odd sentiment that in itself makes it well worth a try.

Bizoo: The Best, The Worst and The Trash That Never Made It!

Between the years 2001 and 2006 in the small, inland city of Toowoomba, Bizoo Street Zine operated and published a free music and arts street press.  By encompassing all genres and printing everything that was ever submitted, Bizoo helped unite a youth community, put on all ages gigs and inspired kids like myself to get involved.  Five years after the last issue was released and with having had no final issue, the Bizoo crew has formed to produce Bizoo: The Best, The Worst and the Trash That Never Made It, a book containing articles that ran in Bizoo, interviews with those involved and a recount of the events, venues, bands and people that made the Toowoomba scene what it was.  I caught up with Bizoo founder Dr Jerm, to reminisce about Bizoo times and get the low down on what this Best Of is all about.

-         Angie Hurlock

Back in 2001 Bizoo or Bizo as it was called at the time formed out of a love for music and a lack of live music happening in Toowoomba.  When Frenzal Rhomb and Day of Contempt were heading to town and there were no posters or press for the show, Dr Jerm knew that things had to happen.  “Being someone like myself, who doesn’t like to complain about anything I started my own thing.  I didn’t know how to do it; I didn’t have any skills needed to do something like this.  I just rounded up as many cool people as possible and we just did it.  We had no idea what we were creating and it sort of grew from that, lots of young bands and opportunities to promote regional shows and events and it grew and turned into something national with national bands and international bands and became a massive platform for a lot of people. It became their first opportunity to write something or create anything.  That’s something that I feel most proud about is that it was an opportunity for anyone to express their view and I feel really proud that we printed everything we ever received.  We became the magazine or the zine for the voiceless”.  In 2006, Bizoo put on a festival in Toowoomba to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the zine.  Despite being a great day, with fantastic bands, Bizoo lost a lot of money and the end was in sight.  “With the festival we put on to celebrate the best of Bizoo we lost $30 000 if not more which was obviously a big kick.  But we also did 25 issues and we never really had goals or intentions of doing anything and I guess over time they organically formed and we sort of achieved them.  We were promoting local bands, bands were coming to town and I guess there was nothing else we could really do.  In some ways it felt like it got too big for what we were doing.  We didn’t know how to get marketing or advertising, none of that mattered to us.  And it wasn’t something I enjoyed doing anymore”.

When issue 25 was published in 2006, it was not a final issue, but it did become so with no more issues of Bizoo being made.  The Best of Bizoo not only acts as a document of the events which happened in Toowoomba during a particular time, but finalising the end of Bizoo.  “I guess we are aiming to highlight what we achieved.  Highlighting everything that happened, what everyone wrote, drew or whatever it may be.  Highlighting the fact that a group of young kids that had no idea what they were doing, created the community that formed.  It’s like the analogy, you can find 10 million books on the rise of punk in the U.K or the U.S, but in Australia you’d probably get maybe 2 books.  The music of Toowoomba between 2001 and 2006 would have got lost and I’m really excited about documenting a part of that history.  It’s not necessarily super comprehensive, but it also engages what else was happening in the area.  What really excites me is the opportunity of telling our story to other regional towns and showing that young people can actually do something and create a community of like minded people and build something”.  A sense of community more than anything is what was achieved with Bizoo, but from starting out as kids not knowing how to put together a street press, skills were honed and many of the Bizoo crew have gone on to continue with youth orientated and journalistic ventures.  For Dr Jerm, it awakened a side of him that he was not aware of initially.  “I guess I like promoting gigs, it may not be via a publication, it could be putting on gigs to showcase to other people things they’re not aware of.  But I think Bizoo also provided that platform for, a lot of contributors. Jim Campbell works for the Toowoomba Chronicle and Gede Parma has released two books and won awards.  I guess we have assisted some people along the way and some bands as well that are now growing to be large scale bands.  I think getting down to it, we were assisting a beautiful community in a small town was really cool and I’m really proud of that.  It’s never been anything that I wanted to be thanked for”.

Along with the articles that ran in the actual Bizoo issues, the book will contain the stories of what was happening in the Toowoomba scene at the time including ongoing exchanges between Bizoo and a local band.  “ That argument went on for three or four issues, this band was even writing these satirical fairytales about Bizoo and why it was bad and making posters and stuff like that and.  There were arguments that were ongoing and really funny.  But I think what grew from it were the memories that were run on no money, it didn’t matter what type of show, punk gig, acoustic gig or rock gig, everyone came.  It didn’t matter if you were into punk rock or metal or whatever, everyone was there.  It’s great to look back and see these photos and seeing two or three hundred kids going crazy in these little halls or on The Shack verandah.  There are lots and lots of crazy stories that came from Bizoo and we’re highlighting most of them, if not all of the good ones, all the ones that can be printed at least.  I think its funny looking over this stuff because we did it as a really collaborative process and made sure that everyone who wanted to be involved in that process.  Going through all those articles I can’t believe we printed all that stuff because some of it was pretty risky to print.  I think there could be a little bit of a backlash but that’s half the fun”.

 After five years it can become hard to motivate people, but Dr Jerm has been overwhelmed by the overall response to the launching of the book.  “I think the Bizoo crew that were involved with it in the later years are totally on board.  We’re going to launch it in July 2011, exactly a decade since we launched the first issue.   The first issue was June/July 2001 so a lot of the crew that started it off no longer has any interest in being involved on any level.  I think it’s going to open a lot of people’s eyes, but there has been a pretty good response, like when we actually updated the website after 5 years of nothing on there, people came out of the woodworks and it was really exciting”.  Amongst these people who came out in support of the publication of the book was Russell Southwood from the National Hotel in Toowoomba.  “Russell surfaced and wrote this massive story and we’ve done an interview with him for the book.  He was such a crucial member of the community that assisted us because there was no one putting original live music on at the time and I dare say they advertised in every issue that we released.  I remember fond memories of interviewing every band that played there because there were no bands in town so we had to interview the 3 bands that played that night and maybe even Saturday and Friday night”.

Since the end of Bizoo in 2006 and with many people crucial in the scene moving away, the dynamics of the youth community in Toowoomba has changed, but the city remains close to the hearts of those involved.  “I moved out of Toowoomba nearly three years ago now and I still am an ambassador of Toowoomba in many ways.  If I’m anywhere I make sure to mention I’m from Toowoomba originally and if there are opportunities for things to be brought to town and shown there I make sure I lock them in. Cooky who was running Bon Amici’s for a long time was putting a lot of shows on, now he’s doing stuff at the spotted cow and Arthur terrace and the new noise crew were always bringing stuff to town”.  The scene may have changed in Toowoomba, but it is far from being merely a distant memory.  “I think it [Toowoomba’s youth scene] comes in waves like any scene or community.  Things there seem pretty healthy right now.  They’ve got the Summer Riot festival which replaced Eidecan, which seems like its pretty successful and the zine shop.  ‘Smells like Zines’ is the only zine shop in Queensland.  There’s the postbox zine publication that comes out and is very similar to what Bizoo was doing in the early days”. 

The launching of the Best Of begins in Toowoomba on the 23^rd July and will be launched nationwide in the months following.  “We’re going to make the launch a little exclusive event happening in Toowoomba, where Toowoomba is actually going to get the book a month before the rest of the state.  It would be great for Toowoomba to receive something so exclusive and something they can feel proud of.  Some people probably won’t be, because it’s not all positive and there’s some stupid shit in there”.  What Bizoo has always been about is reaching youth in regional areas where a local music or arts culture in non-existent and this will play an integral role in the launching of the book as well.  “With Brisbane for example we may be doing ten different launches in because Brisbane is so huge.  We want to go to the ‘burbs where the young kids are bored out of their minds.  We want to go out to the ‘burbs and engage with those communities”.

The launch of the Best Of will also bring with it a regional tour of workshops to encourage and inspire youth create their own arts community.  “With these workshops that we want to do, we want to tell the Bizoo story.  We want to have Bizoo crew on the road that were there and did the work.    We want to do grassroots workshops that provide the skills to maybe put on an art show, a gig, make a little street press or put a blog online.  Ideally what we’re hoping to do if we get enough funds is that we could actually go into these small towns, motivate these communities and even provide a bit of financial support to get things up and running which would be amazing to see.  Its not just something we want to do in Queensland, we want to do this nationally”.

After the launch of Best Of and the following regional tours, Dr Jerm intends on providing more opportunities for the arts community to stay alive.  “After this we are starting up something new and exciting which I’ve been doing for the last five years after Bizoo, I guess by researching avenues and a new model of publishing and working as a collective where people see how it operates from the outside and inside.  Ideally it would be nice to start paying people and that, people are frowned upon in the arts sometimes when people start making money and people say you’re a ‘sellout’ and stuff like that but you know a piece of art won’t pay the rent or buy a carton of beer.  So it would be great to start paying people”.  With the release of the Bizoo: Best of, Worst of and the Trash that didn’t make it; it is sure to inspire people to get involved and become a part of the community either for the first time or reignite a passion they once had.  “Inspiring people would actually quantify success.  What this Best of is all about is not about selling anything or reaching any numbers.  If we inspire or motivate someone to put a show on or something like that, it would definitely make my day”.

Hannibal Buress interview

Hannibal Buress reads aloud from an article written about his act in a college newspaper, skewering it mercilessly. Granted, the author mentioned how much Buress was being paid for the gig and other journalistic faux pas, but I can’t help but worry what Hannibal thinks of the interview I conducted with him only an hour before. Buress displays a clever showmanship mixing energetic wit and a storyteller’s delivery, interspersing his classic bits with new material ranging from Odd Future concerts to passport photos. He admits to the packed audience that his show that night was taking a darker turn than usual, adding with a smile, “but I kind of like it.” Buress brings up how ridiculous it is when he’s asked about the recent Tracy Morgan scandal. I cringe, knowing all too well I brought up that very topic during our chat. Fortunately, he tells the audience the same thing he said to me (see interview below) and I am spared a Jack Donaghy-esque quip from the former '30 Rock' writer.

Here is my conversation with Hannibal Buress on the second night of his three day stop in Philly at Helium Comedy Club. Yes, that's The BeeGees and Fall Out Boy playing in the background. I apologize, we had no control of the piped in music and thought it was pretty weird too.

Hannibal Buress interview by TakeAimZine

Candy Town

Imagine a group of clowns leading you away, to some far, far away place that everyone has been to but has never gone back to. They’re a traveling show, and you’re not so much their audience as you are their subject. They sweetly swoon you into fantasies of running away with them. Their band is called Candy Town.

After sitting down to an interview with Sean Guinan, front man of Candy Town, I attempted to explore the mastermind behind the group and see what makes it tick. The interview was deep, meandering, and incredibly all-comprehensive, so for purposes of not flooding the entire page, I’m going to paraphrase and condense this information.

First, some history: Candy Town began not so much as a musical project, but as an aesthetic in Guinan’s films. The central matter in them is the dichotomy between fantasy and reality. Guinan represented elements of his inner-person and imagination as clown figures. By whitening their faces, clowns remove specific details that make them an individual, and thus, make themselves a representation of some sort of aspect of the human condition and everything they do, a metaphor. They are humans abstracted and placed into a heightened reality where things can become incredibly unpredictable and exciting.

Guinan always wanted to create a band called Candy Town and in fact, began a TV series with the same name. This show played upon the idea of a place called Candy Town, where we all grew up with characters from fairy tales and elements of fantasy, but it is also a place left behind by adults who have moved on past such things. It is a place where we’d like to indulge in, yet are constantly pulled back by the forces of adulthood.

As time went on, prospects of starting such a band with this theme became more and more realized. Musically, Guinan was raised on a somewhat less than typical musical background. He grew up listening to 20’s and 30’s Jazz. At the time, Guinan wasn’t really conscious of rock and roll and what was popular on the radio. As time went on, he did become more familiar with and enjoyed rock groups such as the Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground, yet his pop culture continued to revolve around figures such as Louie Armstrong and Charlie Chaplin. Ultimately, Guinan wasn’t interested in mimicking music from this period, as much as he was interested in borrowing elements and aesthetics.

What really influenced Guinan the most was a group he simply ran into one day at a festival called Maestro Subgum & The Whole. He was just in high school at the time and never saw the likes of them before. The band was dressed very eclectically, with a raspy front man and operatic female backup singers. There were no guitars, just an electric bass, keyboard, and horn section. They seemed to have this infectious air of intrigue about them. It was as if they were a traveling band of Gypsies and Guinan, dazed by a romantic sense of escapism, wanted to travel away with them. This is what he wanted to capture, that enticing feeling of leaving everything behind to follow a circus that has offered a passage into a world once inhabited only by your juvenile mind.

And so, Guinan took the bull by the horns and with a strong will, made Candy Town his project. He long admired the brilliant works of artists such as Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, and David Lynch, who completely controlled their projects, no matter how many were involved, in order to ensure that their vision was realized. Powerful works of art never came from committees, but of the solitary artist, like a philosopher, who delves deep into the self, trying to understand what makes them tick. Made up entirely of complete strangers on a new page without previous baggage, Guinan made sure everyone knew he would be directing Candy Town.

While not a band mimicking music from the 20’s and 30’s, Guinan wanted to utilize the iconography from this era. While first impressions may give way to this era being sweet and nostalgic, the truth was it was downright bold, sexy, and musically, very daring and edgy. This was not some dreamy marking strategy, as much as a spirited platform for what would become in itself, a bold musical project.

And so, the band dons vintage-style clothing from this era, yet wears face paint like mimes. Two female backup singers are scantily clad and the band as a whole use elements to further suggest something more motley, much like their music, borrowing from many directions, from rock to ragtime. Guinan’s aim was to wed the visuals with the sound into something more daring; learning from his disappointment from groups like Marilyn Manson, Kiss, and The Dresden Dolls, who all struck up something new and exciting with their imagery, but failed to deliver the same through their music.

The band tosses away common preconceptions of reality and norms, delving into the surreal through their performance; they truly take the audience for a ride. Rather than spare the lines that divide childish from mature, Candy Town pulls your wits from the stasis of a comfortable routine life into a challenge to live a life of an unknown tomorrow. To manifest your childhood’s greatest expectations of your own self, making a bold effort to become the person you thought you would. It’s the exciting prospect that anything really is possible, so long as you’re not afraid.

In the end, what is reality? What makes the surreal anything unreal? We’re all just dreams and vapor. Humanity often feels the test of truth is time, but time doesn’t bear anything when reality is really our conception. As Orson Welles said in F Is For Fake, “Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing.” No matter how we reconcile our outer-lives with our inner-lives, Candy Town wants to take you to a place you probably haven’t been to in a long time. You can’t run away with them, but you can always run away with your own wildest dreams.

"If Lady Gaga is meant to be the new punk then I don’t think very much of it"

Forming during the peak of punk in the late 1970’s, Crass brought a new concept  to punk, one that did not just speak of shaking up society, but in fact acted in a subversive manner and in doing so Crass became the pioneers of anarcho-punk.  I was fortunate enough to sit down with Crass singer, Steve Ignorant ahead of his first Australian show on the Last Supper tour. 

By: Angie Hurlock

You're about to embark on an Australian tour where you will be playing Crass songs for the last time, what is the significance of this?

Because there’s been so many bands before like Jimmy Pursey and all this kind of thing, they say it’s the last tour and they come back and do it again or they say it’s the last tour and it goes on for 10 years.  And I just wanted people to know that I really mean it that this will be the last time I will be playing crass songs live on stage.  It doesn’t mean I’m going to stop performing.  I’m just not going to do Crass songs live and I just wanted everyone to know and I’ve made this promise and I’m going to stick to it.  The last ever time I play Crass songs will be on November 19^th this year.  That’s going to be weird, but I know that the week after that I’m going to get a bloody invite to do a fucking festival that’s going to pay me thousands of dollars or something and I won’t be able to do it, but that’s the commitment I’ve made.

What are you hoping Australian audiences takes away from these shows?

I’m really hoping that it’s a celebration of those great songs.  My dream would be that some young punk is in the audience and they get inspired to start their own band and it becomes as good and does as good as Crass did.  That would be the perfect thing.

Obviously lyrically Crass were influenced by current affairs and politics, but what were your musical influences?

That was all different.  I mean, people ask me why the sound of Crass was so different and first you had me and I came up through ska music, Motown, David Bowie and all this kind of stuff and they’re my influences and of course punk.  Then you have Penny Rimbaud and his influences were Elvis Presley, classical and avant garde jazz.  Then you had people like Pete the bass payer, he came up through Frank Zappa and folk music and stuff.  So, you had all these different influences and none of us were musicians and so that’s why it was such a cranky sound.  And that’s why (at this point Steve is distracted by laughter coming from drummer Spike T Smith) and that’s why it’s so hard for him (pointing at Spike) to do the drumming. (Spike comes over to introduce himself, “I always love that story… not musicians).  We weren’t musicians and the way we used to do a song would be I would write something and I’d say to Pete it goes like this (mimics music).  We’d try to make the music more of an atmosphere than something you could sing along too

Crass are considered the pioneers of the anarcho-punk movement.  When you started out did you ever imagine that you would have such impact on an entire genre of music?

No, because we were just doing it.  We didn’t have any idea.  We knew the Sex Pistols didn’t mean it when they said, ‘I am an anarchist’.  And we thought, ‘well right, we’ll try to people what anarchism could be and should be. And then we got into hot water because the proper anarchists didn’t like us you know.  I’ve never read any anarchist literature, I started to read a book by Malatesta I got four pages into it, I got so bored that I put the bloody thing down and read the paper instead.  No, we didn’t have any idea, I think what we did was to make ideas like anarchism and pacifism and self sufficiency, I think what we did really was not influence people, but inspired them to start thinking for themselves and then they’d go out and start bands for themselves, I think that’s where it’s successful.

Do see music as a perfect vehicle for expressing political ideas and creating social awareness?

I don’t know if it’s the perfect way, I think it’s a way of doing it.  I’ve seen black and white films from the sixties that wouldn’t make sense to maybe an 18 year old person now.  But really moved me and made me think.  I’m very much a book person, so I think that’s the perfect way to sort of do it, because I’ve been moved by words.

Which bands/artists, if any do you admire for their mix of political awareness and music?

No, because I don’t know any.  I’m doing a typical middle aged thing where, because I was in punk and all that sort of stuff and it was the type of music I liked and then when I hit about the age of 45 or something and I stopped listening to new music and I started going back.  Like now, I’m listening to bands like The Who again and the small face and sixties stuff and getting back into listening to ska.  It’s really odd, I’m sort of going backwards rather than, but no, now I'm appreciating how good that music was and how it moved me.  If Lady Gaga is meant to be the new punk then I don’t think very much of it.  And you know, someone like Justin Bieber, I mean, if that’s all there is then I feel sorry for the young people and they really should be out there starting their own bands and having riots.

What are you looking forward to most during the upcoming Australian tour?

A bit of sleep and get this first gig out of the way because we’re all a bit jet lagged and nervous.  But once we get this first show out of the way, we’ll be a lot better.  We got in yesterday morning and we haven’t stopped really. The flight was 24 hours or something stupid like that, but we’ll be alright, we’ll get through it.

After this Last Supper tour wraps up, what are your plans for the future?

I’m going to take a year and a half to two years off and knuckle down on some new material.  I’ve already got it in my head, what I want to do is a spoken word thing, but its  not going to be like Henry Rollins standing up on stage.  I want it to be almost like you’re going to watch a play or something, so there would be very simple stage props, some visuals, keyboards and bass, just background music.  And I’d just talk about me and what I've done, if anyone’s interested.  I’ll be talking about crass and then in the second half I will open up to a question and answer sort of thing.  Because I know there are thousands of people out there that want to talk to me about crass.  Part of the reason why I’ve called it the last supper and what I want people to know that this is the last time I will be playing Crass songs live, so people don’t come to my new thing expecting to hear crass songs, because I’m not doing it.