DISRUPTERS

Disrupters was a really good punkband which quit playing in the 80´s . here have Bangkok Steve answered my questions in beginning of april 2006. Now he´s not playing in a band but he was in a band until some time ago.

Why and why did you start to play?

-I wanted to be in a band as long as I can remember, even as a young kid watching those old glam rock bands on TV I always knew that was what wanted to do. With the advent of punk it opened up all kinds of possibilities, you didn't need to be musically precise to be a musician.

Which was the members from the beginning and did you have many changes

in the lineup?

-It took a while to find the right combination, although Kevin and myself were there at the beginning, but then we had Dave Howard and Gibbon in the band. Dave didn't last long because he dropped me in some trouble with the cops after a train we were on after a gig got wrecked, as for Gibbon we kicked him out just before Young Offender was released although he did get to play guitar on it. To this day I think Gibbon still bears a grudge against me for "nicking his band", this is bollocks of course The

Disrupters never played a gig before me and Kevin joined, he wasn't much of a guitarist anyway, he couldnt even play chords.We replaced him with Paul Greener, a better guitarist and an all round nicer bloke, he was in it for the  duration from then on. Tim Perkins replaced Dave on bass and played on the 1st two singles but abruptly left during a time when we were rehearsing for the debut album, no idea why, and I haven't a clue what happened to him. Steve Hough replaced Tim, at last we had a stable line-up, I regard this last line-up as the definitive one.

When did you split up? And why?

-The band split in late 1988, I'd got a little disillusioned with punk at the time, I hated the thuggish right wing element that came in with Oi,and the anarchist side of things had become far too politically correct for my liking, far too many new rules and snobbery. I announced I was leaving; we played one last gig at that was the end.

How would you describe your music in three words?

-er.....NOT VERY SUBTLE, I don't know really, just punk I guess, we just did our own thing, I don't think musically we tried to copy anyone, a lot of bands were trying to sound like Discharge at the time, we never took that route.

Did you continue to play in other bands after Disrupters?

-Not for years, but I did end up in The New York Scumhaters for a while when they dropped their own songs and began doing Ramones covers. Great fun for 2-3 years, I quit recently but they're still gigging with a different singer.

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

-I suppose it means different things to different people, for me it's a lifestyle choice, fuck I'm too old to change now, I don't know any other way to live.

You had a lot of poems, how come?

-I think we used about half a dozen on our original vinyl releases, I like them I think they're hysterical and add to the overall content of the records.

Who did them?

-Nick Lake (Prem Nick), I first knew Nick at school, he is a bit older than me, everyone called him "Mad Nick" at school, our paths crossed again when punk came out. He's an old mate and a really funny guy, he's got book fulls of poetry that he's written over the years.

I bought the Gas The punx CD, , the "new " songs from 1986 where did

they came from?

-We recorded them at Flying Pig Studio, they were intended for release on a 3rd album that we never got around to finishing, I like the songs and it's cool to finally get them released.

Why don´t you release the whole CD´s of your work, I mean both Unrehearsed wrongs and Playing with fire and fill them with singlesongs?(Is there any chance to get all your songs on CD?

-We thought about it, originally GTA records in the U.S. were going to do just that but they just sat on the masters for over 4 years. When the offer from Overground got put to us, we decided that some tracks hadn't aged particularly well so decided on one CD with highlights from the bands vinyl releases plus the unreleased songs, it's doing well.

Which was your best songs, do you think(I really love Animal Farm)?

-My personal favourites are Gas The Punx, Stonehenge, Rot In Hell and Windscale Cheeseburger.

How was it to be a punkband back then?

-It was great, really exciting, and for the most part a very positive time, inevitably though inter band jealousies, rival factions etc put a damper on things. I have mostly good memories of that time though, we certainly acheived more as a band than I ever expected to. Great Days!!

Do you have any plans to do a reunion? Or do you already have done one?

-Situation is, Kevin and myself have said we would do a reunion, but I don't think Paul and Steve Hough are really into the idea. I suppose I could get a couple of new guys in to play guitar and bass but I don't really want to do that, it wouldn't be the same.

What do you know about Sweden?

-Not a great deal, I've never been to Sweden.

Have you heard any swedish bands worth to mention?

-I love the Backyard Babies, I really like that sleaze rock sound, are The Hellacopters swedish? Like them too.

Are you into punkmusic nowadays?

-Yeah, I never got out of it, my musical tastes are a bit wider these days but I've always been a punk.

Is there any good bands in England right now?

-The Kaotixx, watch this space, they are fairly new, a couple of them used to be in Revulsion, great band, very powerful I think they'll do well. We've still got GBH, UK Subs, Vibrators etc doing the circuit, England hasn't changed much really.

How is it to live in England nowadays and if you compare with the 80´s?

-It hasn't changed that much really, different government but still the same old shit. Fashions come and go you know but nothing really changes does it.

Please rank your five favourite records , five favourite concerts and five most important things in life?

-Records....IT'S ALIVE/The Ramones, NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS/The Sex Pistols, STRAIGHT/The Dogs Damour, SO ALONE/Johnny Thunders, WALK AMONG US/The Misfits.

Gigs....THE RAMONES (not easy to pick out one in particular because I saw them so many times but I'll go with the one at Norwich UEA on the End Of The Century tour, RAMMSTEIN/Manchester last year, huge gig, big show, CRASS at Norwich Gala at the height of their fame, the gig was heaving, very memorable night, MISFITS at the Astoria London when they first reformed without Danzig, very intense, was fucking great hearing those old songs live, HANOI ROCKS at West Runton Pavilion, I'm a sucker for this type of rock and they were shit hot this particular night.

Important things....hhmm.......never really thought about it but I suppose first and foremost you need to live life on your own terms as much as you can, secondly I think I should say my current girlfriend, we all need someone special in our lives, thirdly we all need something we are passionate about, for me it's music, fourth? Having a few true friends is important and lastly........well getting laid and drinking alcohol is  always good for the soul.

First, last and most expensive record ever bought?

-First....SCHOOL'S OUT/Alice Cooper (I was 10)

Last....BEST OF/ The Professionals

Most expensive....probably a couple of Ramones bootlegs I have

Most embarrassing record in your collection?

-I have a Macc Lads album hidden away somehere, I know plenty of people think they're hilarious but I think it's a bit stupid and I cringe if I hear it now.

Politics and music, does it goes hand in hand?

-It doesn't have to, but it can. It depends really, there's nothing wrong with music that isn't political I remember Jake Burns from SLF saying " wanted to start using my guitar as an instrument instead of a weapon", I think there's a place for both.

Did your music was too political?

-No I don't think so, we were intentionally political, we were on a mission at the time. Have to say though we always tried to keep a sense of humour in our songs, although back then it was overlooked a lot of the time.

We were never the type of band that couldn't switch off from the politics, we enjoyed the rock n roll aspect of punk too, it was never about preaching all the time, the anarchist scene could get way too po faced and puritan.

The best political bands/artist through all times?

-Crass definitely, awesome band. They were often dismissed as stuck up hippies, which I don't believe is true. I met Steve and Penny on a couple of occasions, they struck me as very down to earth, intelligent and friendly guys. Crass had their vision and they always strived to live their ideals. Mind you being as opinionated as they were they were bound to make some enemies, although I'm sure they learned to live with that.

What about all the terrorist things which goes around in the world? What shall we do about it?

-If some guy decides to detonate a bag full of explosives on a tube train what can any of us do? The thing is terrorists believe they are fighting a war, and at the end of the day are they doing anything different to the world's superpowers? Terrorists don't have the monopoly on committing abhorrent acts of murder, it's just not state sanctioned. This is a hard one and I don't have the answers, this Islamic fundamentalism is scary though, and I don't suppose any of these suicide bombers have for one moment considered that their religion is in all probability completely untrue.

How about racism in England nowadays?

-It's really the same as it always was, no better, no worse. The Muslim community does seem to be the butt of a backlash at the moment in this country, however they are also guilty of racism too. Racism is not necessarily always instigated by the white population of this country.

Disrupters, where did the name come from and where did your name

Bangkok Steve came from?

-There was a few suggestions regarding a band name going around in the early days, The Disrupters was the best at the time so we went with that. Bangkok Steve....haha....that's a piece of nonsense really, a few years back I was backpacking in Thailand and took to calling my mate Bangkok Benny, he then started calling me Bangkok Steve. Then when I joined the New York Scumhaters they all had band nicknames (Reid E Ramone, A Jay Ramone etc) and I became Bangkok Steve Ramone, all a bit silly I know but the name stuck.

Please tell me a little about the members which have gone through the

band, what they do now, family, age ,interests and so on?

-We are all old cunts in our 40s now, but we ain't dead yet. Kevin gave up drums and took to singing, he has a new band called Saigon Kiss the play a hybrid punk/metal crossover sound. As I mentioned earlier I was in the NY Scumhaters for a while. Paul and Steve haven't been in any bands since he Disrupters split but they're still around, Nick still does his poetry. As for the earlier members I don't really know, last time I bumped into  Gibbon he blanked me....heehee, don't know what happened to Tim Perkins he dissapeared from the scene completely and rumour has it Dave Howard moved out of Norwich to become a student.

Futureplans for you?

-Well I'm currently without a band so I'm up for any good offers, because I miss doing it. There might be a live Disrupters CD at some point, we have some old gig recordings. Won't be for a while though, Gas The Punx is stil doing well.

Wisdomsword?

-Don't let those muthafuckas grind ya down!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something to add?

-Just thanks to everyone who still think the Disrupters were a worthwhile band, it's been great recieving feedback so long after we split. We were never perfect individuals and musically we were never everyone's cup of tea, but it was always done in good spirit and honesty. Thanks dudes!!

Hope that was OK Peter, if you want anything more don't hesitate to mail me back........