Chemical Threat is a really good d

Chemical Threat is a really good d-beat/crust band from England which I really liked a lot when I first heard them so I took the chance to interview them ….december 2014

Please tell me a little bit history of the group?

-(BEN , guitar) We started in August 2009. Me and bruce used to play in Union-X together, Edd played in SHG (sex hungry grannies), and John played in Thirst in the 90’s. Union-X had just split up. Me and Bruce still enjoyed jamming together and wanted to do another band. We had a guy called Smooth Mike (Union-X) on drums and then John joined on vocals. This line up lasted 2 years, we did 3 or 4 demo releases and our first album ‘They Don’t Care’. Mike quit and Edd joined on drums. It was natural really because Edd ran the place we practiced at, we were mates anyway, plus he’s an ace drummer!

(EDD, Drums )I used to run a recording studio/practise space above my family's cafe and that's where I met what is now Chemical Threat.

Pintsize and Bruce were in a band called Union X along with there drummer Smooth Mike and singer Conrad, they were regulars at my rehearsal studio.

To be honest, they were one of my favourite regular bookings at the rehearsal room. For a bunch of scruffy looking punks, they were always kind and polite and always respected the place and my equipment!

Things didn't work out with their singer so he left the band and that's when I introduced them to my brother Jonny Fry(The Rev) who took over singing duties. With a new bloke on vocals and with all new material, a new name was required - Chemical Threat.

A year or so later Smooth Mike decided to leave and so I (Edd) took over drumming duties.

Please tell me a little about every member in the group right now, age, family, work, interests and something bad about everyone?

-Ben ( pintsize ), I’m 33, I live with my girlfriend, our son, plus our cats. I work self employed doing garden maintainence, painting and decorating. Love DIY punk, also watching / Investigating underground media on you tube to keep up with what’s going on in the world, 80’s films, Spongebob, Trailer Park Boys. I’m not a morning person, I’m miserable to be around when I get out of bed.

Bruce ( Bass ) : old ,been around the block a few times clocked up a lot of mileage and "out there" on vinyl,cassette and cd ,no wife or kids (at the moment) no job ,no anything!
Edd : Peckham III I'm 35 and recently became a dad. Work as a chef at a cafe I run with my father. Massive sci-fi geek. My house is filled with model starships from Star Trek and Star Wars.

Chemical Threat? A wonderful punkbandname? Was there any other names that you was thinking of? Which is the best bandname you know?

-Ben: I can’t remember any other decent ones really. Chemical Threat came up, it fit us well and we liked it, so we went with it. There’s a band from Basingstoke called Shithouse, that’s a great punk band name!

Edd: Before I joined the Threat, I was in a grunge band called Sex Hungry Grannies. We were billed as "Southampton's premier cross-dressing grunge act".

Your influences goes way back in time, am I right? Varukers, Discharge?

-Ben : Yeah for me it’s Discharge, Varukers, Totalitar, Crucifix, Doom, Framtid, Black Flag, Agnostic Front, Motorhead

Edd: I remember we once talked about how cool it would be to get to play at a Discharge gig. I'd been in the band for about 18 months and we actually got to, it was awsome! Played with them a couple of times now.

What´s the best thing with playing live?

-Ben : Getting to play guitar fucking loud, haha., and when you see people lose it to the music. its a pure adrenaline release.

Bruce: Playing live is the best "buzz" i can't get enough ,it's what being in a band is all about .

Edd: It's always great, the drug like buzz you get from it and the reaction from the crowd. It's just a damn shame it's over so quickly!

And where is best to play?

-Bruce : I’ve played tiny venues and huge ones over the years and if the crowd is on your side there is no difference my only complaint is venues up or down stairs when your exhausted from travelling to the gig and after playing it's a killer unless you have a road crew !!

Ben: Anywhere that’ll take us and let us make noise!

Edd: It seems like anywhere else but our home town. Southampton has gone downhill on the punk front. We'll put on DIY shows and we cant seem to get people to turn up. Any other city it's fine. Sometimes we feel like we're the only punks left in Southampton!

How is it to play this sort of music in England?

-Ben: Within the DIY punk scene its ok. Some good scenes, bands and people. It can be a problem sometimes for bands to get their transport expenses covered, but that depends on the promoter and how well organised the gig is. I hear stories from other bands that have played in Europe, about how well your treated, with food, a place to stay, beer, fuel money etc. Sadly that isn’t always the case in England.

Bruce: you don't get much respect here, i've gigged abroad quite a bit in my dark ,sinister past and you get treated so much better.

How would you describe your music in three words?

-Edd: Pissed off punk!

Ben: Raw, Direct, Spiteful.

Bruce: BLOODY AWFUL RACKET!! no it's ,loud, nasty punk.

What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or is it a lifestyle?

-Edd: It's more like having an attitude towards someone or something and we like to express it through music.

Ben: To question and follow your instincts. More than a word or lifestyle, it’s a way of thinking.

How do you see on downloading, mp3 and that stuff?

-Ben: I think mp3’s can sound like shit! Downloading is cool to check stuff out. If you really like what a band is doing you’ll want to help them out and pick up their release anyway. Having a physical representation of the bands music puts you closer to what a band is artistically trying to put across. It stands the test of time. A touch of a button and an mp3 no longer exists.

How is it to live in England now? Politically?

-Ben: It’s probably similar to a lot of countries at the moment. It’s shit. The cost of living has gotten a lot more expensive, wages rarely go up and its very tough to get a job. Social security is being drastically cut, and now they are gradually privatising the NHS for profit at the expense of patient care. The classic symptoms of a corrupt, broken and failing capitalist system. Politics in England are a complete load of bullshit. Constant media propaganda pushing lies and fear, trying to turn people against each other.. The pointless tennis match of left and right. The political parties are bought and paid for by scumbag corporations / business elite and they don’t give a fuck about people.

Bruce: England used to be a cool place but now it's awful ( that could be that I’m getting old and old people complain all the time!)

Is there any good bands from England now? Is the punkscene big?? How is it in Southampton?

-Ben: I think the DIY punk scene is still going strong, lots of DIY gigs and bands, but it’s a bit separated into different groups depending on styles and sound. A bit more unity and open mindedness would help a lot. I don’t know how big the general punk scene is, but it seems like there’s plenty going on. There are quite a few big commercial punk festivals on each year in England, they are mostly headlined by faded, cash cow reformed older bands. Alongside this are great DIY fests like Bristol Punx Picinic and Means to an End Fest. Southampton had a great DIY scene in the 90’s and early 2000’s, but it was very quiet when we started in 2009. It seems to be picking up now though. A few bands that I know and like but there are certainly loads more. Violent Arrest, Constant State of Terror, Endless Grinning Skulls, Shithouse, The Shorts, Radioactive Bones

What do you know about Sweden?

-Ben :Being honest, not a lot! It’s cold? And you produce killer hardcore punk bands!

Edd: I've never been to Sweden but it's a place I've always wanted to visit. All I know is, it's got cold weather and hot women! I hear you have a massive metal scene there too. Also I know Micky Dee from Motorhead is Swedish!

Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?

-Ben: One of my favourite bands ever, Totalitär are from Sweden. I also love Anti Cimex, Mob 47, Institution, Wolf Brigade.

Bruce : Met a Swedish band while on a 6 week tour of Germany (1992) called John Whiteleather and the King rats became friends ,they did a rap version of johnny B goode!!

Edd: I've heard some Swedish metal bands but I can't pronounce their names!

Your lyrics, who does them and what influences you?

-Ben: Me and Bruce wrote most of them for Vicious and System Error. John wrote more of our earlier stuff. We tend to write about local and worldwide issues that make our blood boil.

Is there any subject that you never will write anything about?

-Edd: No I don't think so, although we haven't done a love song yet!

Ben: I doubt we’ll ever do a song praising capitalism!

Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?

-Edd: I wouldn't say it goes hand in hand but as long as politicians carry on doing shitty things like starting wars, raising taxes and generally ripping people off and putting people down, there will always be people songs write songs about it.

Ben: Yes and no. I think it depends on what you want from music. If you just want to rock and be entertained then probably not. If you take notice of bullshit going on in the world and get pissed off about it. Then probably it does.

Bruce : As soon as people started singing/making music some of them were writing protest songs about the tribe leader /king so it's nothing new and bands in some ways are "political" you all have a say and debate band matters.

Best political band/artist?

-Ben: Discharge

Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can change anyones life, I mean people who listens to music?

-Ben: It’s possible yes, because punk taught me to think for myself and always question things. It’s a lesson I can use everyday.

I think you can see at once that you´re playing the music you do, I think that is a good thing that the record sleeve shows us what you play? Was that the meaning or how did you thought about that?

-Ben: The title song Vicious is questioning how people in the various police and army forces around the world can allow themselves to be so brainwashed. These people injure and kill innocent human beings because they are told to and it’s their job. How desensitised and fucked up must they be as people? We used an image that is a dark and sinister representation of that. Souless and robotic. Our friend Alan did the defend free speech artwork on the inner sleeve and it in perfectly.

Some of you´re up in age. Whats´the difference of being a punk now if you compare when you were a teenage punk (if you was)?

-Ben : The teenage me could recover way quicker from getting wasted!

Bruce : although I was playing in bands in the 70's did'nt get into a punk band til 82 the scene was friendlier no back stabbing ..And it was about bands getting an opportunity to earn money when there were no jobs ..now it seems you have to be rich to play !

Please tell me a funny thing which have happened during your career and under some gig?

-Ben: One of our first gigs was supporting The Vibrators. I’d painted our name on the top of my amp on the day of the gig. Me and john were out the front having a smoke while were loading the gear in. My amp was on the pavement. One of the guys from the Vibrators sat on it and started chatting away. After a while he got up, only to find Chemical Threat imprinted in reverse across his arse. White paint stands out good on black punk trousers, haha! He was pretty pissed, and started moaning about how they were new trousers and he’d only brought one pair with him from London! Poor bloke.

It can get a bit spinal tap with us sometimes. At the merch table once, we took the backdrop out to hang behind it. After a while, we all said what’s that fucking smell? It turned out that one of Edd’s cats had pissed on it. Big yellow stain, it reeked! So we sprayed it with brut and it really smelled bad. Cat piss and brut deodorant is not a good mix. No one bought much that day funnily enough.

How does your audience look like? Which people do you miss on your concerts?

-Ben: Most people we play to are punks. But I’d like to play to some really straight normal sheeple and blow their fucking ears off with noise! haha

Please rank your five favoriterecords, five favoriteconcerts and five most important things in life?

-Ben: Very tough question!

Discharge – WHY?
Agnostic Front – Victim in Pain
Totalitar – Sin Egen Motstandare
Black Flag – Nervous Breakdown
Motorhead – Overkill

Gigs
Violent Arrest

Agnostic Front

Constant State of Terror

Sick of it All

Discharge

Family

Caring about animals

Punk

Think for myself

Be creative

Is it boring with interviews? Which is the most stupid question you ever

have got??

-Ben: I don’t think their boring but then this is our first one!

Do you understand that reviewers always compare bands to other bands? Is that disturbing when you try to something own?

-Ben: I enjoy reading reviews of music. I think its cool to put some comparisons in just so people can get a rough idea whether it’s their thing or not. I don’t find it disturbing, I guess that’s what reviewers have to do.

Edd: MRR gave us a review comparing us to Rancid... I mean what the fuck?! Rancid?! Really?! I doubt the bitch that reviewed it had even listened to it, I reckon she just looked at the cover picture and judged us by that.

Futureplans for the band?

-Ben: Over winter we’ll be writing some new songs for an ep. There’s certainly plenty of shit going on that we need to shout about. Hopefully a small UK tour next year, if we can get our shit together!

Edd: Who knows? It would be good to get playing outside of the UK. The trouble is having "Chemical Threat" printed all over our gear, we'd probably get stopped by customs and arrested or sent to Guantanomo Bay! There are some fucked up anti-terror laws out there, we could be held in custudy indefinately... plenty on time for us to write a new album!

For yourself?

-Ben: Keep playing hardcore punk

Bruce: No plans.. if i make plans they don't happen so just get 2014 out of the way next year (hopefully better)

Wisdomword?

-Ben : No Gods, no masters

Bruce : MR GRIMSDALE!!!!!

Something to add?

-Bruce: Big HI to all in Sweden ,and S'PUNK ROCK INNIT?

Ben: Thanks a lot for the interview, really cool questions, and sorry it took so long! Hopefully we might get to play in Sweden someday!

Chemicalthreat.bandcamp.com