Hellbastard

HELLBASTARD is ANTI-INSTITUTIONALISED REPRESSION. Neo Avante-Garde, if you will. Semiotic vandalism in the current climate. An abyss of existencilism, moulded from experience and transformed into a "rock group" (arguably) to further the decaying mangled and disembodied screams of the underdog. Neither "Heavy Metal" nor "Punk Rock",....somewhere inbetween lies the neatly classified, cross-referenced label. (Let's face it,...people NEED a "label" otherwise they get SCARED of what they dont understand) It has been screamed before and we proudly scream it again = "NO GODS, NO MASTERS".
FIRST HELLBASTARD SHOW IN OVER 18 YEARS !! WEYMOUTH TRAWLER RACE DAY - HELLBASTARD ONSTAGE AT 2PM SHARP....PLAYING A SELECTION OF OLD "classics" SUCH AS "Death Camp", "Heading for internal darkness", " Afrikaan Beggar" and newer material -THANKFULLY,only a miniscule amount from the "NATURAL ORDER" LP and more importantly NEWER MATERIAL,...COME ALONG !!! MEET THE LOCALS !!! HAVE SOME FISH AND CHIPS,......(or just chips) have some fine wine, a pint, have ten pints,.have some tabs and some pints,.have tabs , pints and some chips and some WEYMOUTH STICKS OF ROCK....HAVE A GOOD DAY.... AND HAVE A GREAT DAY OUT,..(etc etc)...and besides, the next day is a BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY so you have no excuses....fnnnaaarr fnnaaarr................
GO BELOW TO READ A NEW / FRESH HELLBASTARD INTERVIEW IN THE RESPECTED ONLINE MEDIA FORUM FROM ITALY,....AUDIODROME.
www. audiodrome. it
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NEW REVISED USA/CANADA/MEXICO TOURDATES 2009. (MAY-JULY)
Seattle, WA - May 1st - Friday
Portland, Or - May 2nd - Saturday
Eugene, Or - May 3rd - Sunday
Redding, Ca - May 4th - Monday
Sacramento, Ca- May 7th - Thursday
Berkeley, CA - May 8th - Friday
Oakland, Ca - May 9th - Saturday
Fresno, CA - May 10th - Sunday
Tijuana, MX - May 12th - Tuesday
Mexicali, MX - May 13th - Wednesday
Los Angeles, CA - May 14th - Thursday
Los Angeles, CA - May 15th - Friday
Las Vegas, NV - May 16th - Saturday
Phoenix, AZ - May 18th - Monday
Tucson, AZ - May 19th - Tuesday
El Paso, TX - May 20th - Wednesday
Albuquerque, NM - May 21st - Thursday
Denver, CO - May 22nd - Friday
Lawrence, KS - May 23rd - Saturday
Dallas, TX - May 25th - Monday
Austin, TX - May 26th - Tuesday
San Antonio, TX - May 27th - Wednesday
Houston, TX - May 28th - Thursday
New Orleans, LA - May 29th - Friday
Birmingham, AL - May 30th - Saturday
Atlanta, GA - June 1st - Monday
Jacksonville, FL - June 2nd - Tuesday
Columbia, SC - June 3rd - Wednesday
Charlotte, NC - June 4th - Thursday
Raleigh, NC - June 5th - Friday
Richmond, VA - June 6th - Saturday
Washington, DC - June 8th - Monday
Baltimore, MD - June 10th - Wednesday
Philadelphia, PA - June 11th - Thursday
New York, NY - June 12th - Friday
Providence, RI - June 13th - Saturday
Worcester, MA - June 15th - Monday
Boston, MA - June 16th - Tuesday
Montreal, QC, Canada - June 17th - Wednesday
Ottawa, ON, Canada - June 18th - Thursday
Toronto, QC, Canada - June 19th - Friday
Buffalo, NY - June 20th - Saturday
Rochester, NY - June 21st - Sunday
Cincinatti, (ROCK CITY !!!)..OH - June 22nd - Monday
Detroit, MI - June 23rd - Tuesday
Lansing, MI - June 24th - Wednesday
Grand Rapids, MI - June 25th - Thursday
Chicago, IL - June 26th - Friday
Milwaukee, WI - June 27th - Saturday
Madison, WI - June 29th - Monday
Minneapolis, MN - July 1st - Wednesday
Saint Cloud, MN - July 3rd - Friday
Winnipeg, MB, Canada - July 4th - Saturday
Saskatoon, SK, Canada - July 5th - Sunday
Edmonton, AB, Canada - July 6th - Monday
Calgary, AB,(where's "ARMOROS" these days?) Canada - July 7th - Tuesday
Vancouver, BC, Canada - July 8th - Wednesday
Seattle, WA - July 10th - Friday
HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL HELLBASTARD MYSPACE. THE BAND ARE CURRENTLY IN REHEARSAL FOR A HANDFUL OF UK FESTIVALS AND A USA/CANADA/MEXICO TOUR BEGINNING IN MAY 2009.
Audiodrome, HELLBASTARD INTERVIEW April 2008. Italy.
-You played in many different bands, so it looks like music always had a huge part in your life: can you remember when all this started? I mean, the first moment you realized music was something with a special impact in your life?
THE BEGINNING : PUNK ROCK IS A LONG SLOW NERVOUS BREAKDOWN........
Well, It was actually EARLIER than I care to admit. Sometime in the mid 1970's,...It was upon first hearing the SEX PISTOLS. Although the FIRST 7" single I bought was "Don't give up on me baby" by David Soul ( I used to watch "Starsky & Hutch", a US cop drama on TV) and I thought it was brilliant. Then the first wave of PUNK ROCK came along and I thought -
"That's for me,...."
Besides,...I was a misfit,..a little rascal,.so yeah,.Punk Rock it was. It all just seemed to fit, really. I was introduced to punk rock by my older brother Nigel,.(Big Toot) he would come back from his travels with all these punk singles and tapes,.......I loved it because back then it was DIFFERENT from the norm....and it had a good message.
At school we had a "music lesson" (if you could call it that). We used to sit in a circle and bang a TRIANGLE. That was it. THAT was REALLY my first "introduction" to MUSIC,... I fucking HATED that. It was complete IDIOCY. We were literally being taught how to become IDIOTS.
-Was this love somehow related with the difficulties you had to face in your childhood? Was the music a sort of way to speak out your inner thoughts and to face your problems? (I don't want to invade your privacy, but I saw you mentioned your childhood also on the myspace bio, so I think it's ok for you to talk about this... let me know if not)
ANGRY YOUNG SPIKY (Long Haired) PUNK ROCKERS.........
DEFINATELY. It was an escape. It was something that I could retreat INTO. (I didn't have any idea that in later life it would actually be something "solid" for me as a way of taking up so much time and -occasionally- making a living from it). I had a good upbringing for a time, then it all went to shit. Basically my Father loved my Mother and vice-versa,.but it all went horrifically wrong. But being ACTIVELY involved with MUSIC came later after my parents died.
-When did you meet the Apostles, were you already playing in some other band? How did you get in touch with them?
PSEUDO-POLITICAL-ART-TERRORISM AND PUNK ROCK AT 15 YRS OLD.........
Becoming a "member" of The Apostles was again because of my Brother. He introduced me to their early 7" singles and demo-tapes. One day he said to me,."The Apostles have put an advert in "SOUNDS" (a UK music magazine) and they are looking for a guitarist....why don't you apply ?.."
Naturally I thought that this was insane, because ;
1) I was still in school. 2) I was living in a Children's Home. ( a state run facility for kids with no parents) 3) I had no money at all. 4) I couldn't "play" the guitar.......... 5) I did HAVE a guitar ( I did a newspaper round and saved the cash to buy a 2nd hand guitar from a friend) but I simply couldn't play it.
Anyway,......I had been corresponding with Andy and Dave from the apostles for some time,...so in one letter I asked about it and I got a reply back quite quickly saying "Yes,....ok you are in",.........It happened really fast. I have to say that Andy Martin showed me my firt valuable CHORDS,...I learnt a LOT from Andy,.and I STILL do. I WAS in a band YEARS before all this though. We were a punk band called "FEEBLE MINDED"....We did some of our own material and we did a few cover songs, Cockney Rejects and old Pistols tunes I seem to remember. Jesus, I was only about ten years old...and there I was,.singing for a band with much older members in it than me,...they used to call me "BABYSHAM",.'cos I was tiny,with orange spiky hair and a real "rascal" attitude to match. And I think they all liked my "THE RUTS" t-shirt as well. Not to mention the fact that I always came across as incredibly confident and loud, (I was always shouting and swearing and being noisy).........
HELLBASTARD FULLY SUPPORTS AND ENDORSES THE "DAY OF KILLING",..PLEASE PERUSE THE DETAILS BELOW.....
-They were always considered as a very original band, with a sound difficult to be labelled or forced into a single scene. What's your point of view about the band from an inside point of view?
BLOW IT UP, BURN IT DOWN, AND TRY TO KICK IT TILL IT BREAKS...................
I always thought Andy and Dave to be nothing short of utterly "genius" in their mature approach to politics, music and art. Andy, in particular has had an incredibly difficult and interesting life. We see eye-to-eye on many subjects, feelings and things.
Actually I was with Andy not too long ago (2008) in a recording studio in London. We were with Ian Bone (founder of the political group "CLASS WAR") and members of Andy's "new" art/music project called "UNIT" and we were recording a DOUBLE ALBUM for release in god knows when. It was extremely funny and creative. Andy was playing tenor sax and it was awesome, there is not stopping the fellow ! I even got to write my own piece of music titled "If you do that again I will put this broken botte into your face", it's like a thrash metal track,.I played drums on it and did the guitars,...need to go back actually to finish the vocals and bass.
People have always said I am quite eccentric and I know for a fact that Andy definately is,.we agree on a lot of things,.......I think we both "gravitate" towards one another as we seem to understand trauma and the realy craziness that life holds. We are both still "active" within music too, so that helps a lot....
-Also, they were linked with the anarcho-punk scene, while being somehow a voice out of the choir. Which are your opinions about the movement started by Crass and the bands involved? Which the most important goals reached and, on the opposite, the limits of this scene?
BLOW IT UP, BURN IT DOWN, KICK IT TILL IT BREAKS AGAIN.
The Apostles records were adorned with enough text and graphics to fill a football stadium.I remember the frist time I set eyes upon their 1st EP,.."Blow it up, Burn it down,Kick it till it breaks.." I was gobsmacked. It took a few DAYS to read everything. I knew then that this was THE WAY TO GO. The Apostles took almost the opposite stance to CRASS when it came to beliefs such as PACIFISM and NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION. This, over time caused a "rift" between the apostles/crass camps. Quite childish now looking back and all........but The Apostles were coming from a "REALIST" viewpoint. Q) How are we going to change this SHIT ? A) We are going to ATTACK it, we are going to BREAK it, we are going to physically attempt to STOP this shit (whatever the "shit" was,)...by VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION....(The "voice" out of the choir, so to speak) ?
Unfortunately often labelled as "thugs" and "nazi sympathisers",.I still don't think that the majority of people got "it".
CRASS were (are?) the most hugely influential band to appear within the history of recorded music. Ever, that is. No one can doubt this.
Crass' radicalism and openness towards political agitation and social change in society is, I believe currently unmatched. The Sex Pistols paved the way and CRASS took it one step further by their prolific art/music/and (for want of a better word) angry academic stance.
Millions of kids around the world literally CHANGED their lives because of bands like CRASS, THE APOSTLES etc etc. This can only be a good thing. Instead of hearing utterly banal and weak lyrics they got an assault of coherent contemporary socially justified manifestos. Crass and The Apostles made it possible for kids to actually educate themselves about the words "ANARCHY, PEACE & FREEDOM",.instead of thinking it a "punk" thing to say and a "punk" thing to shout about,.......it made people conscious of something that could be UNDERSTOOD and DIGESTED.
Charity begins at home and on the street, and in the case of "Anarcho-Punk" it hit the "message" home,.....only harder.
Arguably the most "important" thing about the "movement" of anarcho-punk was that people QUESTIONED authority. They began to question their own LIVES. How can anything be "more important" than this ?
Limits ?
The sad fact of all of this is that it held down a truly ONE- WAY -VISIONED approach. It became a commodity that was sold down the river and now it's all "NOSTALGIA this" and "NOSTALGIA that". Don't get me wrong it was a truly GLORIOUS time when you look at the upheavals of society at the time. People were actually FIGHTING BACK.
MINERS STRIKE
POLL TAX RIOTS
STOP THE CITY DEMONSTRATIONS
GREENHAM COMMON DEMOS/ACTIONS
HUNT SABOUTEURING
ANTI-VIVISECTION DEMOS/ACTIONS
CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT DEMOS/ACTIONS
BRIXTON RIOTS.........
..and so on and so on...etc etc. Is it not true to argue that whenever something "forms" within a social circle it ALWAYS ends up becoming a COMMODITY. And in doing so it therefore is its' own worst enemy?
I think this happened with the Anarcho-Punk scene, to a lesser degree.
-Then you started your own band, Hellbastard. Can you tell us something about the early days?
HEADING FOR INTERNAL DARKNESS..........
I started HELLBASTARD with friends because we enjoyed the same kind of music and we wanted to vent our frustrations at the same kind of issues that I was writing about lyrically. There was no great "plan" or anything like that. We DID what we DID and that is the story.
Early days,..huh ? Well,.we were all VERY POOR...(Some of us more than others). Arguably a lot of us came from depression families There were very little JOB PROSPECTS in the North-East of England at this time. Music or Football was the only way out of an otherwise depressing daily struggle of existence.
We never "chose" music or anything like this. We didn't care about "careers" or jobs in particular. (this all came later on when we realised the importance of being able to survive whilst getting older...)
The name "Hellbastard" drew the attentions of people into METAL and PUNK music, this was great, it was what we wanted. The trouble was we found that we were TOO "metal" inspired for the punk rock crowd and too "punk" inspired for the metalheads....we caught a lot of flak for this. But we ignored it all and soldiered on doing what we DID, basically. We used the D.I.Y ethic of self-promotion (this meant we sent demos and newsletters to every radio station and magazine and fanzine that we could get the address of,....eventually we were receiving around a hundred or more letters per week asking for material and I/we simply could not afford to honour these requests, it was incredibly frustrating.)
We travelled to shows on trains,.we used cars (if we could find a willing driver and preferably someone who owned a car.) We did anything to get to a show when someone had booked the band to play,......literally. This was commented on only yesterday when I was interviewed by Ian Glasper for his next book, the 3rd instalment of his literary skills on uk anracho/punk/metal/hardcore etc. He said that bands like Onslaught or whatever would never travel to a show on a train or a bus,....whatever. That is just the way we were. really. We couldn't afford anything else.
-It looks like you named a whole movement, or at least you were the first to use the TERM "crust" ("Ripper Crust" demo 1986). Could you tell us something interesting about the whole story...
CRUST BY CIRCUMSTANCE :TEN YEARS AFTER THE PUNK ROCK FIRST WAVE
,....It was an AWFULLY shitty GREY RAINY sunday afternoon above a pub in central GATESHEAD and me and phil and scotty were rehearsing early HELLBASTARD songs for the imminent recording of our first demo tape "RIPPER CRUST",........I had this guitar effects pedal made by the company "BOSS" and it used to literally drain the battery power really quickly,.........we were just about to start playing a song and the SOUND was,.well,......I described it as being really "CRUSTY",.cos the sound was DRY and awful (all the "MEAT" and "CHUNK" had gone from the sound because the battery in my pedal had died) and all I said was something like,...."THIS SOUNDS REALLY CRUSTY" or whatever..............
That was it. Then all of a sudden after we released the "RIPPER CRUST" demo it was tape traded by a BILLION people all over the world and "CRUST" was born,........I believe the band "TROUBLE" from Chicago had the same thing happen to them,........they had this sound ..."Gunk! " ,...."Gunk!" ............. and they loved it,.but I guess "GUNK" never caught on like the "CRUST" thing did. Yes, I believe the hype. We were indirectly responsible for unlesashing a whole new GENRE of music to the world. Thats fine to be quoted with that, quite an honour to be known like that, really.
I was visited by a huge gang of Americans known locally (and later, internationally) as the "LONG BEACH CRUST CORE CREW". from California........this descriptive term even appeared on a teenage newstand publication called "SMASH HITS",.(ho ho) They had a sheet of stickers on the front of one of their issues of this TEENY-BOP-POP magazine,.one of the stickers said..."NO CRUSTIES ALLOWED",....... HAHAHAHHA, We knew then that we had done our job,.... Nice to get up the noses of the TEENAGE POP MUSIC ESTABLISHMENT'S bullshit magazine monopolists.
-Hellbastard are considered as one of the most influential names in the crust and stench-core scene, is this something you can relate to? Were you trying to start something new or was it more of a natural result?
MY PERSONAL IDEA OF HELL IS TO HAVE TO SIT IN A VENUE AND LISTEN TO NOISY BANDS THAT SHOUT THEIR MOUTHS OFF ABOUT HOW UNJUST SOCIETY IS.........
I simply cannot relate to this. We wore clothes that were worn and torn (like our predecessors from the punk rock explosion ten years (or less) previous.......We were the way we looked out of circumstance and nothing else, really. We never set out to "start something new" at all,...........we were MATES in a band with each other,......that is that,....simple. Just because we LOOKED "scruffy" it doesn't mean that we were........ Sure, we were UNTIDY and MESSY LOOKING but most of us had a particular way of wearing clothes. I think it is daft to put so much emphasis on the way someone wears clothes,...it seems counter-productive to the more "real" reason why HELLBASTARD existed in the first place,.namely,.lyrics........
We were trying to examine the GREENER side of life whilst living in a concrete shit hole. One look at the first TWO hellbastard records and you can see there are LEAVES, NATURE, ENVIRONMENTAL "SIGNS"....a definate THEME going on. No one hardly ever picked up on this. How annoying ! I LOVE nature, I love being in a forest, in some woods,...by a river,.mountains, hills,..amongst the grass,.blue skies,.clean air. That is the point.
Ideally I bet some of these new "crust" bands (so called) come from a wealthy background,...I did say SOME,.not all. Whoever is wearing dirty clothes just because they think it is "cool" or "trendy" is a fucking idiot. There are people on the poverty line who cannot afford to buy NEW clothes,.......who cannot afford to SHOP in SECOND HAND SHOPS either. The fact that I personally have ALWAYS shopped in SECOND-HAND SHOPS is neither here nor there. That is what I do,.because it is cheaper and some good clothes can be found there. I also believe in recycling,.....actually, I believe it should be enforced here in the uk but that is another story.I always will do this, as I dont wanna give my cash to clothes stores because lets face it, most of them suck ass....period.
It is a wierd world we live in,.....so what the hell,.wear dirty clothes if you want,.see if I care. I personally couldnt give a fuck what someone looks like anyway, I always try to judge people on their merits, unless of course it is glaringly OBVIOUS that they are IDIOTS then I'll just walk away.
Around 99 per cent of what we did was natural. The rest was just bullshit. Either that or accidental....
-Hellbastard used to mix different elements to create a new sound: anarcho punk, metal, hardcore, what else? Which were your influences back in the days?
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN : TRYING NOT TO BE CROSS-REFERENCED, CROSS-INDEXED, DECOMPARTMENTALISED & CATEGORISED AND STORED IN A NEAT LITTLE FOLDER SO THAT YOU HAVE A DESCRIPTION IS A SURE BET THAT SOME FUCKER SOMEWHERE IS SCARED OF YOU.
We never owned our own equipment until about one year before the band broke up. Like I said, we were very poor. So really, we never got the full chance to experiment with different sounds and different ideas. Everything was always on a tight budget. We practically rushed everything.
We never set out to be "different", we were simply perceived to be slightly "different" by the media and our "fan" base,..........whatever.
The tendency of people here in the uk is like this,.: They LIKE what they LIKE. I have had experience to prove that this is not the case in Europe and America...basically anywhere other than the uk. It is such a pathetic dying whore, this england. We are so brainwashed into dividing and segragating everything by CLASS. We all liked different music, but in all honesty we played what we played. Our great joys of listening to music lay in the sub-genres of PUNK ROCK and METAL music,....
-Coming to the attitude of the band, were you trying to spread a specific message? Were you trying to fight back the general lack of attitude punk and metal scenes were facing in that period?
WE KNEW WE COULDN'T POSSIBLY CHANGE THE WORLD, SO WE CARRIED ON DOING WHAT WE DID ANYWAY..........
No, we were not out to PREACH and say "LISTEN !. WE ARE RIGHT,...EVERYTHING ELSE IS WRONG..." We just did what we did,.if someone opened their ears and listened then great.
-You became quite an influential name and Hellbastard were in touch with biggest bands and musicians around, so what happened then and why you decided to call the quits?
FAME AND NOTORIETY MEANT NOTHING TO US AT ALL THEN and IT STILL MEANS NOTHING TO US NOW............
It was pathetic to carry on without the line up we had at the time. We did try and it was to no avail,.I got extremely BORED very VERY quickly and moved very far away and formed another band...............
-What are the most important memories of the Hellbastard days you still hold and would you like to share any with us ?
RISE OF CRUST........
Sitting down and mixing the "RIPPER CRUST" demo was a breath of fresh air, it seemed so important to us because, at the time we thought, ;
"Man, this demo sounds really really great,..." and we really were very proud of it you know.
Me and a friend walked into a fast food joint on GATESHEAD HIGH STREET to get some chips and it was very late at night and we were quite angry and a little drunk and there we were blasting out of the radio in the shop,.on Radio 1. That was quite an experience.
Playing in front of a decent crowd who understand why we were doing what we were doing,.that was always a good thing to happen.
-After Hellbastard you formed a new band called Nero Circus. Can you tell us something about this experience and the way your music evolved?
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR (QUITE LITERALLY)
Nero Circus was actually formed BEFORE I left Gateshead (tyne and wear) North East of the UK. I was rehearsing with NERO CIRCUS and still living hundreds of miles away in the north...........
The members of Nero Circus were really into what we were doing and we really gelled well and it was a great experience for a time. I got an ex member of HELLBASTARD involved and it went to shit,.again. Should have learned the first time,.........naive bastard that I am.
-Beside these names you were also involved in many other bands/projects like SIDEWINDER, KING FUEL, HEAVY WATER, DISCHARGERS, MOODHOOVER... Can you give us a quick description of every band and the period you were involved in?
REMAIN UNCATEGORISED IF YOU CAN, YOU'LL LAST A LOT LONGER.
I am sorry Michelle, I cannot describe each of these bands for you. It is very difficult,.......
- It looks like you were never concentrated on a sole specific style, preferring a dynamic approach to the music, a sort of neverending journey into sound. Is there something you would like to change about your past experiences or you would have liked to do in a different way?
TRIAL AND ERROR, WE LEARN BY OUR MISTAKES,...OR SO THEY SAY
It is always too late to "cry over spilt milk",.....we live and learn,...or so they say,.....
-Recently you reformed Hellbastard and are going to tour Europe and USA. What bring this idea to your mind and how did this turn into reality?
DISGRACE TO THE CORPSE OF CRUST............
That's a good question ! If truth were to prevail I would say that I am in a daily job that is pure undiluted hell,........I found out that HELLBASTARD has many people still paying attention to the band after all these years........... The way we set up the USA tour was down to finding the right promoter to work with,.we did. Fortunately he is a really cool guy and has done all the slavework already. I found an awesome line-up for the band and everything so far in the early rehearsal stages has went magnificently. The current line up (2008) is ;
Scruff - Guitars/Vocals Ashley - Bass/B Vocals Eric Thompson - Guitars Stephen "joint" Lea - Drums/Percussion
-Are there Italian dates already booked ?
BACK TO GOOD OLD ITALY,........HURRAH !
We are playing in Italy as from March 2009. It will be the third or fourth time we have been there as a band. I personally try to go to Italy every few years as I have some good friends there and it is lovely to be there for me,.I really enjoy the culture,language,scenery etc.
The dates have yet to be set but I'm in touch with a very good promoter who knows his job. He is called "Koppa" (Sandro) and he is a very nice guy,.it is HE who will be setting up the European Tour 2009.
-Have you got many feedbacks from old fans or new ones? What about people's reactions to this upcoming tour?
HELLBASTARD - BACK IN DEMAND MORE THAN EVER, IT SEEMS.........
Everyone so far has been really supportive and cannot wait to see hellbastard play live again. The only negativity has came from a rather odd phone call I had recently from an ex member of HELLBASTARD. But that is to be expected I guess. SOMETHING good is happening, word gets out and people get "funny" or jealous. Tough shit, I worked hard for this so why should I let someone dictate to me? What a load of crap.
-Is there anything else in the program for Hellbastard, any recording on the way?
NEW EP ON ANIMOSITY RECORDS 2009
We will be recording in a very good studio with a very good produer in late july this year,.we hope to record a few new tracks and some older numbers also.........Other than this we are playing THREE UK festivals this year,........that is it. Please see HELLBASTARD MYSPACE PAGE for details..........
-And beside Hellbastard, what are you planning for the next future?
THE APOSTLES/UNIT REVISITED.......
I have to go bck to London and finish the recording with ex APOSTLES member Andy Martin and his band UNIT and that is all really. Other than rehearsing with HELLBASTARD and enjoying the process,......that is it. I am still currently writing my book which is due out in 2009,....whether or not it will ever be finished is another thing, but I try to dedicate time to it every which way possible.
-Thanx a million for your time, anything you would like to add?
Thankyou for the time and questions, it was a pleasure michele.
Sincerely,........Scruff/Hellbastard 2008
Warlord Clothing, Active Rebellion and Guttershock all carry HELLBASTARD merchandise. In particular WARLORD will be carrying OFFICIAL HELLBASTARD USA TOUR SHIRTS,.....Please contact these awesome companies if your interested in any HB merchandise......thankyou.
We are hereby VERY pleased to announce the arrival of the NEW HELLBASTARD sticksman,.......his name is joint. He cannot be tamed, he is the ruler of the sticks and the skins,....HAIL THE JOINT !!!!!!
" I am fucking sick of fakes, I am fucking sick of all the endless droning tired and weak bullshit surrounding MUSICK,......Hellbastard is the epitome of the anti-culture surrounding any "scene",.......you wanna be a part of a "scene" then fuckoff back to your local rock club where everyone drinks beer and talks shit and gets nothing done apart from getting laid and wondering what the fuck their life is / was about,..."
ALSO CONFIRMED FOR UK DATES THIS YEAR ARE THE "WEYMOUTH TRAWLER RACE"..., (where HB will take the stage at 2pm and have a right HOOT at the audiences expense)... "MELTDOWN" FESTIVAL AND "SCUMFEST" FESTIVAL. MORE DETAILS WILL APPEAR SOON.
THIS SITE WAS/IS HOSTED BY VICENTE WARLORD.LOS ANGELES.
Please check out this HELLBASTARD COVERSONG from the texan band DISSENT,......WE FUCKING LOVE IT !!!!! WHAT AN HONOUR !
HEADING FOR INTERNAL DARKNESS 2008
There are also various companies printing NEW designs of HELLBASTARD MERCHANDISE.
This has all came about because of DEMAND from people wanting "new" stuff !!!!!!!!!
We would like to say how "chuffed" we are that,.for a band that started almost 25 years ago,.to have people STILL wanting MORE,.then ...well....its an HONOUR isn't it !!!!
Watch this space for NEWS on the aforementioned releases and of course new SHIRT designs etc etc.....
Cheers and now on with the bio..............
"Hello folks,....this is scruff (ex hellbastard) here. I formed the band in 1984/5 when I was fed up of traveling to London to partake in activities of the band I was in at the time (art terrorists THE APOSTLES). Those guys (Andy & Dave apostle...now UNIT) taught me a lot,....and I have never looked back since. Besides, I was in a children's home and still at school and the whole thing SUCKED. My dad had died in 1977 and my mother committed suicide in 1981,...the children's home was a place I never wanted to be,.but there was no one else to look after me,.so..I HAD to be there.
The very first HELLBASTARD line up was :
Scruff - Guitars/Vocals
Simo - Bass
Phil -Drums
Our first show was in a place called Scunthorpe,...it was awful. All I remember from this show was,.on the WAY there,.simo broke his bass in the van,.snapped the neck of it,.our "support" band "10,00 species of moss and 10,00 species of catfish in the amazon,...ok" played for too long and we never got to play!. I was HEADBUTTED whilst standing in the street and the rest is a blur. I was not on alcohol or drugs or anything,..it was just an awful situation and an awful time.The guy who headbutted me in the face was just plain fucking RUDE. I didn't even see it coming.I never even had a chance to defend myself,.I woke up lying in the gutter, as he had knocked me out. Ok,....the rest is bullshit,.and its an awfully long story. Jump ahead some years and we must remember SIMO who died a few years back,..simo wasn't meant for this world/life. May he rest in peace.
The next line up we recruited SCOTTY on bass,...and we really got going. We recorded the infamous "RIPPER CRUST" demo for a total cost of 25.00 in a small 4 track studio in Alnwick, Northumberland (nr Scotland). After that we just kept on playing,.getting shows and playing anywhere and everywhere we could. I would spend every night copying demo tapes and cutting out photocopied demo sleeves and making a "presentable" demo presentation and sending them out to ANY magazine I could find the address of,.radio stations all over the world,.everywhere. I wrote to everyone,.everyone. worldwide. All of a sudden it was 1987, I was long gone from the children's home by this time,.left that place in 1984 I think. and we went back to the same studio in alnwick to record an album for PEACEVILLE RECORDS which turned out to be our 2nd demo tape "HATE MILITIA". Peaceville were kind enough to feature a track on a compilation LP called "A Vile Peace",..it also had the likes of Chumbawamba, Deviated Instinct, Doom etc etc on there. We were quite proud of our 16-track studio recording. We never even mixed it ourselves,.we all went to the pub and left the engineer to do it himself,.bad idea,.it turned out shit and too bassy and "muddy" and cost a whole lot more than the previous demo which sounded much better by far !!!
Jump ahead to 1988 and we recorded our debut LP for a local label called "meantime Recs". Vinyl only. It was later released on CD by "Silent Scream" records in NEW YORK. Jeff Walker (carcass) called me and said he had a copy of the album on cd,...and I thought "No fucking way,....we only released it on vinyl...." anyway,.he got me a copy and it made me mad. I wrote to meantime and there was something about meantime selling the rights of the LP to the American label for 20,000. Naturally,.we never saw a penny."
A german label called "temple Of Love Records" run by a cool guy released the "THEY BROUGHT DEATH" session on a LIMITED EDITION COLOURED VINYL 7",..we recorded it in LEEDS where we recorded the 1st LP. During all this time we were inundated with offers to go and play shows everywhere and anywhere,.Greece, China, Japan, USA, All throughout Europe and as far as the eye can see. The sole management for the band up until this point was myself,.and of course some friends across tthe world and assorted hoodlums who really appreciated the band for all the right reasons,.........which caused major problems because I couldn't operate on a scale of professionalism that I would have liked for the band. This was to inevitably cause the break up of HELLBASTARD in 1992 because we couldn't go any further after our ill-fated contract with Earache Records. But for now back to the mid 80's.......................
The early line ups of HELLBASTARD gelled really well with each other. We all listened to the same kind of music,.bands like Antisect, Amebix, Discharge, Crass, Hellhammer, Venom, Slayer, Crucifix, all the 80s Anarcho-Punk bands were our favorites, that is basically what we all grew up with. The punk rock explosion of the 70s had us all transfixed with something REAL, we were young kids who knew that it was FOR us. Arguably , the finest line-up of HELLBASTARD (up until these current times - 2008 -) was Scotty-BASS/ Bry- DRUMS/ and myself on Guitar & Vocals.
The whole beauty of D.I.Y punk/metal/hardcore was the fact that it held no secrets from anyone,..the rock stars of the past had us all believe they were something special and seemingly untouchable in the fact that what THEY do, is special,..and they got to that position because they were special, this is the message they gave out, anyway. Then punk rock came along and BANG !!! The message changed,..it was now: Hey,you !!! YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!!!! You don't have to come from some ultra-conservative smug clammy handed middle/upper class family to form a great band and make albums and go on tour and realize your OWN creative potential.
Arguably that same tired old fucking message is still prevalent within rock music in general. What a load of bullshit. Punk came along and knocked these assholes on their arses, they got scared because their power-base was threatened by something that was REAL and HONEST.
Throughout every single HELLBASTARD release I was the only one living alone and making sure the bills were paid and the rent was paid to keep a roof over my head, every other member lived with their parents, which made it a damn sight easier for them not to worry about food or starving. I would regularly actively seek employment (whilst accepting benefit to live on) but the band was taking up so much time and effort I did actually STARVE on a number of occasions. I used to borrow potatoes and bread from friends, I used to go out late at night and see if there were any cigarette ends that I could pick up and make a fresh rolled-up cigarette from. Those were heavy days, and not just musically either.
I used to do 99% of the HELLBASTARD mail that came in from magazines, radio-stations, fans and tape traders etc etc, often the European & Foreign mail would include IRC coupons which could be exchanged for either stamps or cash at the local post office, I used to regularly save these up, cash them in for sterling and use them at the end of the week to buy food, having already replied to the mail and used my own money to post a reply out first. Letters started coming in at over 100 per week, and I would pride my responses to this worldwide mail with my photocopied hand made letterheads, and info/biography sheets about the band. I remember after recording the first HELLBASTARD Ripper Crust demo-tape in 1986 I went out and spent ALL money I had on cassettes and photocopying,so I could mail EVERYONE a demo tape! Scotty (bless the lad) did his fair share too, of course,..these demos came complete with their own D.I.Y home made sleeve which included lyrics, pics and general info. We did exactly the same with 1987s Hate Militia demo, too.
After appearing on stage practically everywhere in the UK and Europe we were offered a contract by VINYL SOLUTION records,who had already signed and released the Grim Reality LP by Chicago's finest, MACABRE. Being HUGE fans of Macabre, we thought this would be cool,but instead we stayed off, offered the deal instead to our friends band ENERGETIC KRUSHER,. and subsequently their "Path To Oblivion" album was recorded and released that same year.
Jeff and Bill from Carcass had an offshoot label from EARACHE records called Necrosis and they had re-released the REPULSION Horrified LP, which we thought was quite cool, but not cool enough.,.they offered us a deal and we turned it down only to end up on Earache Records anyway. Big mistake.
As is usual with bands that LOVE the music and just wanna rock out,.we went ahead and signed the contract,..on a polecat hutch in the drummers garden in Alnwick, Northumberland. It was 1989 and we were very excited,Thrash Metal was BIG and we loved to thrash ! We loved it so much we didn't even really care what we were signing. We had no idea that the publishing part meant that Earache OWNED all our songs and that we didn't. Digby and Earache treat us fairly well,.they put us on tours and our records were EVERYWHERE in the WORLD. It was a far cry from the first album being available in a few small unknown parts of the globe. They got us interviews with magazines that I had been getting the band small bits of coverage in anyway,.but It was to no end, really. After more ill-fated tours and recordings we eventually split for good. Our drummer Bry Newton moved to Italy after meeting a girl there when we toured the country previously. That was the biggest blow to the band, Bry was by far THE drummer for Hellbastard, and without him we went on a downward spiral quite quickly. Things change , though,...and now there is THE JOINT! Not just a good drummer, but a very creative and AWESOME drummer ! (NOTE ++++ A BAND IS ONLY AS "good" AS THEIR DRUMMER ! GUITARISTS AND VOCALISTS TAKE NOTE !!! YOU KNOW DEEP DOWN THAT WITHOUT YOUR RYTHMN ALLIANCE YOU CANNOT DO SHIT,....THE DRUMMER AND BASSIST ARE THE BACKBONE TO EVERYTHING YOU CAN WRITE, PERFORM OR PLAY...GET USED TO IT ++++)
That was the end of 1990. We carried on with a new drummer and it really did'nt work out. The music had changed and we had changed,everything changed and I got fucked off with the whole thing and left too. I moved hundreds of miles away and formed a band called NERO CIRCUS. It was 1993 and things were looking good !! Nero Circus got Bry to move BACK to the UK and join the band,..but again, that wasn't to be. We went through more members coming and going whilst the stable end was myself, Big Phil the bass player and Sean Marshall the vocalist. Then, after playing many shows and releasing a few albums, (Namely "NAILED HARDER" for the American WILD RAGS label..and "HUMAN PIGS-THE HARDLINE ACCORDING TO,...." for the Italian label Godhead/Flying Records and recording 4 or 5 demo tapes it all went wrong. I formed a band called SIDEWINDER (with ex members of Nero Circus, Big Phil and Sean Marshall) and we released a great album,. "LIES, HALF-TRUTHS, MISINFORMATION AND COVERT OPERATIONS" for the BOMB FACTORY UK label only for that to crumble, too. Then I formed a band called KING FUEL with 2 ex HELLBASTARD members no less. That was just too much work,.traveling hours and hours on a train from the South of Britain to the North,.then traveling BACK again in time to get to work at 4am on the Monday morning after a weekend. That was just pure hell. Having to get up at 4 am and go into work on a Saturday and then travel ,.rehearse and leave again on the Sunday,.it was impossible to fit it all in,the distance was incredible,after 5 or 6 trips like that I was just too damned tired to continue. The train would often take anything up to 8 hours to get THERE and maybe even more to get back again. Fuck that.
Not being one to give up I formed a band called HEAVY WATER and we recorded a couple of albums,..The self-titled "ANGRY BALLERINA" and the current "SIMPLE SONGS FOR COMPLICATED MINDS" out now on Fury 76 Records. Not a bad album, seeing as it was mainly myself and a drummer and some special guests helping out.
Now its 2006 and THE DISCHARGERS album,.."Theres No Place Like Hell" has been released on FURY 76 RECORDS, the band features myself on vocals,.a good friend of 16 years from Belgium, DAVID (Brain Detzer) on bass and his other Belgian mafioso STEF on guitar and ZEN on drums. We are about to tour the UK (May 2006) in support of this album with FURY76 label mates RUNT,.who feature none other than EX-HELLBASTARD guitarist NICK PARSONS, who took HELLBASTARD in a real extreme thrash direction in the late 90s. The Dischargers album gave me a real BUZZ because it felt like I was 15 again and just about to leave school and enter the world for the first time. Although it must be stressed that the cd has that familiar D-BEAT Dis-core style,.it is not merely a discharge-copy!!!!!!!! Far from it,..we covered TWO Discharge songs for good measure though,.an old early 7 track but after the gig and the massive wall-of-guitars-powerful-as-fuck A HELL ON EARTH from their Hear Nothing LP. They are included in the bonus track section of the album. Sadly, after the MAY tour,.David has to leave DISCHARGERS to continue work for his own band ,.the awesome HELLSONICS. And the future of DISCHARGERS is as yet unwritten. After DISCHARGERS Scruff formed the band "MOODHOOVER", which led a very short existence with one mini album,."EDUCATING THE POOR WILL ONLY MAKE THEM RIOT..." available from FURY76 RECORDS and most good stores......
So,..a NEW HELLBASTARD album in 2008? (2009!) We'll see. IT IS ON THE CARDS SO BE WARNED, FOLKS......
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official t shirt manufacturers of HELLBASTARD,.although there are MORE companies printing up shirts for 2007 guttershock are among the finest,. Guttershock will be releasing an upcoming Hellbastard re-issue
WARLORD CLOTHING is now printing fine Hellbastard shirts so go here and buy one or two! just click on the banner to go to the webpage
..FOR ALL YOU VINYL-FREAKS out there THREAT FROM THE PAST RECORDS will be releasing a DOUBLE SIDED GATEFOLD LP of HELLBASTARD material with BONUS never-before-heard-tracks Entitled, "Eco War"
CD version will be releases shortly after..
I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4