Stalingrad were spawned @1992 in a dirty cellar in Great Horton, Bradford UK, the original line up consisting of Mik on Drums, Rich - vocal shredding, Justin on Bass, and Russ - guitar. After a few months practising we played our first gig at the 1in12 club Bradford [where we had been practising regularly] to a fairly indifferent audience and some dogs. We then secured a gig in Birmingham with our mates KITCHENER which met a mixed response - however we did manage to piss off some twat from the NME so we decided we were doing something right....Slowly and steadily we carried on, practising and doing gigs, mostly out of Bradford cos we hated the fuckin place and no one there seemed to like us at the time cos we didn't sound like Headache. We actually started building up a bit of a reputation mainly cos Rich used to go 'into the zone' when we played live and we got a bit of a rowdy following in places like Bristol, Leeds, Middlesborough and London. We recorded a demo at Pots 'n'Pans studio in Bradford which went down pretty well and got some good reviews in several zines.
This led to our first big break, when Jase Kilvo asked us to record for a split EP with VOORHEES [apparently Lecky their singer couldn't believe that a bunch of smelly crusties could play music influenced by Acme and Integrity!]. This came out on Caught offside records and pretty much sold out - [I hear this is a bit of a collectors item now haha!]
We started hooking up gigs with, and for other punk and HC bands in the North like Extinction of mankind, Underclass, Marker, Pigpile, Health hazard, Kito, Baby harp seal, Voorhees, Revolt, Manfat, Hard to swallow, Tribute, Substandard...and like a huge dirty mudslide the Stalingrad monster truck motored on.
Our first gig in Europe happened [after a lot of asskissing] in Ypres and was a bit of a let down to be honest - we played with Defiance [who were crap and about a million miles away from us on practically everything] and got too wankered on strong Belgian beer and schnapps. Undaunted we persevered and booked a DIY Euro tour in 96 or 97 with our mates UNDERCLASS from Liverpool on the back of a split EP. This worked really well and was the start of some friendships that have lasted till the present day!
Around this time Bradford HC label Armed with Anger records approached us to record a 7" - this was recorded at Inner city studios by karl Stipetic. We were really pleased with this and it was released as a picture disc. This sold out really quickly and gigs were coming on thick and fast....we donated stuff for various compilations and played a lot of benefit gigs [attracting the unwanted attentions of Combat 18 and Redwatch]. One gig at the Star and garter in Manchester eneded up in a mass brawl with some seig heiling nazi thugs getting a 'good hiding' to put it mildly courtesy of Ste from EOM and various members of the crowd!
Around this time Mik left the band for reasons unknown - and we roped in Bri Doom who had driven us on tour, had helped inthe studio and was a mate of the band. He fitted in pretty quickly and added a new dimension of heaviness. Rich started live experimenting with analogue synths as he was really getting into power electronics. We found ourselves playing shows with touring bands like Los Crudos, Drop dead, Code 13, Dystopia and ABC diablo and we again toured Europe in 1998 - culminating in us playing a mental show in London the day of Lady Diana 's funeral!!
Armed with Anger were keen for us to record an LP - we went into Inner city again but the stresses and strains were beginning to show....Russ had serious health and personal problems and there was a lot of rancour between band members.
However the LP was released to rave reviews - even some of the Bradford crusties started to like us! The band toured France and Spain in 1999 - however Bri's van blew up in the Pyrenees and the whole thing ended in acrimony and violence at some kids house in France. Russ decided to leave the band due to 'personal differences' after the last show of the tour, and eventually moved to Leeds. The band carried on for a while recruiting Andy Irvine [Scatha, Disaffect] on guitar and releasing a 10" on Scene police records.
Stalingrad soon called it a day and some members went on to form THE DEVILS [who are another story altogether!]. Bri concentrated on stoner rock band Khang and and is now in Lazarus Blackstar. Rich went on to form noise project UNICORN LOVE and concentrate on his job as a webdesigner. Russ now works PA at various DIY gigs in Leeds and Bradford and works in Mental health. Justin moved to Brighton and is still involved in music.Sadly Mik was found dead in 2000 in suspicious circumstances and Wayne Southworth, a good friend of the band who had done guest vocals on the LP, died after and eplileptic seizure in March 2005.make
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MySpace Editor Rasheed Richmond
