Kontakta have a really good name because it´s in
translation to english Contact and that´s really
fun I think…bad humour. Really good hardcore
they play anyway and this interview is done in
april 2020.
Please tell me a little bit history of the
group?
(Ben)
We started around August 2016. The band I was in
with Edd had come to an end about a year before
and I was looking to get something new going.
I’d known Rich just from being at a few of the
same gigs and had heard that the band he was in
had recently finished.
I’ve known Luke for a long time from the
local punk scene in Southampton. Luckily
everyone was up for doing a new band.
Please tell me a little about every member in
the group right now, age, family, work,
interests and something bad about everyone?
Earlier bands? Other bands on the side?
(Ben)
We’ve got Edd on Drums, 40, he lives with his
girlfriend and has 2 young kids. He runs a café,
is a big sci-fi fan, Star Wars, Star Trek, loves
Formula one motor racing. His Jagermeister
consumption is mind blowing! Sometimes by
accident he tells you the plot and ending to a
film / tv show before you’ve seen it. He used to
play in grunge band SHG (sex hungry grannies)
and Chemical Threat.
Luke on Vocals, 34, he lives with his girlfriend
and cats. Works self-employed as carpenter. He
is a highly skilled martial artist in quite a
few different styles, he’s into sci-fi and
Marvel / DC films / shows and football
(Eastleigh and St. Pauli). It’s not a bad thing
really, but Luke always tells it straight, no
feelings spared. At least you know where you
stand, there’s zero bullshit with Luke. He
currently sings for Liberty and was previously
in Social Parasites.
Ben on Guitar, 39, I live with my girlfriend,
teenage stepson and 2 cats. I work self employed
doing interior painting and garden maintenance.
Watching sci films and shows, MotoGP
racing, listening to podcasts about space and
ancient civilizations / megaliths.
I’m a nightmare when we’re working on new songs
because I often re-write riffs / or parts of
songs, it drives Edd and Rich nuts! Used to play
in Chemical Threat and have played briefly in
Haywire.
(Rich)
I pretend to play Bass, 39, I live with
my girlfriend and dog, I read water meters for a
living, it’s shit pay but im outside all day and
no one bothers me. My passions are pubs,
friends, football, and The Simpsons. Im late for
everything.
Previous bands
are Red Carpet Robots and Second-Hand
Citizens. I’ve been trying to start a 90’s emo/post
hardcore band lately but nobody else likes that
shit and my girlfiend doesnt want to be in a
band with me!
I can hear much different influences but mostly
hardcore/anarchopunk from the 80´s? Favorites
from the past?
(Ben)
Personal favourites for me are Totalitar, Doom,
Crucifix, Battle of Disarm, Discharge, Varukers.
(Rich)
My favourite band is Propagandhi, I have quite a
diverse taste throughout most genre’s of punk
though, I love a lot of old school american
hardcore. Luke is well into Conflict, Crass, and
all the angry anarcho bands, where as Ed i think
loves anything heavy with a good drum beat!
Kontakta are you satisfied with the name? How
did it came up? You weren’t afraid that some
other band would be named like this? Which is
the best bandname you know? You know that it
means Contact in Swedish so it got me a little
bit confused?
(Ben)
I think the name is pretty good for us. When we
were starting the band, it was tough to come up
with something in English that hadn’t already
been used.
I’m a big fan of Swedish punk, so thought it
might be cool to try a Swedish word. I was
looking for a one-word name, thought of Contact
and translated it to Swedish. It looked and
sounded pretty good, and the other guys liked
it. Checked on discogs and there was only an
electronica band from the 90’s that had used it,
so we went with it.
Rich’s mate has a band called Fun Crusher.
What´s the best thing with playing live?
(Ben)
The adrenaline rush of playing a good set and
seeing people enjoy it.
(Rich)
I just love to get to play fast angry music, and
have a good scream, its almost like a therapy
session, that said, i love practising as well,
it’s a good way to forget about work and
concentrate on something of our own, im really
missing it now we are in lockdown due to the
virus.
And where is best to play? And the worst place?
(Ben)
Genoa was awesome, such a cool place and nice
people.
The Shooting Star pub in Southampton is
the worst. The sound is shit and we always play
shit. Great pub to drink in, not much fun to
play music in.
(Rich)
Yea, i’d never played anywhere outside of
England befoer so playing a small day festival
for an animal sanctury in Genoa was fucking
brilliant. Our first proper gig was with
Subhumans in our home town, that was a great
night. Ben is right, we’ve played the Shooting
Star pub in Southampton about 3 times and we
alsways play fucking shit, I dont know if it’s
because we are too drunk, not drunk enough, or
fuck knows, its embarrasing!
How is to play this sort of music in England
right now? Which types of bands do you have
concerts together with?
(Rich)
This kind of music isn't particularly popular in
the UK, the medium sized venues will only book
big names, so now and again there may be a
support slot up for grabs. Places like London
can put on 5 or so bands like us (but better)
that will draw a great crowd, I think a lot of
people will travel to those. In Southampton the
best gigs are DIY, with maybe 30-60 people. We
put on a Christmas gig at the local practice
rooms for 40 people capacity, it was a benefit
for Refugee Community Kitchen and was an
absolutely Great night. Abrazos, and Werecats
also played.
(Ben)
Loose, tight, loud.
What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or
is it a lifestyle?
(Ben)
More of a lifestyle and a mindset. To think for
myself, question things, and try and make good
choices in life. No Gods, No Masters.
(Rich)
for me its a moral position, punk means fighting
authority and looking after your community. i
dont class posers who are all about the image
and don't do politics as punks.
Which song/album or group was it who took you
into punk/hardcore?
(Ben)
I think it was hearing the song No Reason by
Snuff on a BMX video soundtrack when I was about
15.
(Rich)
A mate at school called Jim (who went on to be
the drummer in Ska band Lightyear) made me a
tape, it had Bad Religion - Generator on one
side and Propagandhi - How to Clean Everything
on the other. I think he felt sorry for me
because i had a shit haircut and listened to
Oasis.
What shall a young guy do today to shock their
parents as the way we did when we were young?
They have already seen everything ;-)?
(Ben)
Maybe a true act of rebellion would be to listen
to Coldplay and choose a career as a copper? I
know I’d be seriously pissed off if my stepson
did that!
(Rich)
I think the shock value has all been done
before, But Kids these days are growing up
seriously more switched on than their parents,
To rebel these days is to kick back at the shit
systems they see their parents maintaining. Just
look at Extinction Rebelion - I think they will
rebel by taking a moral standpoint and fixing
this broken world. Dont let me down Kiddoes!
How is it to live in England right now?
Politically? Fascists? Brexit?
(Ben)
It’s not good. We have a conservative government
that has recently been voted back into power,
headed by an ignorant, clueless, mop top, toff
moron. As usual they are doing their best to
break apart and sell off what’s left of the NHS.
Making life hell for disabled and unemployed
people by finding any reason to cut or stop
their benefits. The Universal Credit system is a
clusterfuck putting people deeper into poverty.
The homeless population is growing, more and
more people are having to use food banks to
survive. It goes on and on, and Brexit will
definitely make things a lot worse. Of course,
the fascist idiots use all this as an excuse to
try and incite hatred and turn people against
one another instead of directing the anger
towards the ones at fault: the uncaring,
incompetent government and their mates who run
the big corporations and who love to dodge
paying tax.
(Rich)
Yea, fascism is a serious threat it’s happening
everywhere right?… I’ve not been as active as I
used to be, but this year I even had to stop
going to football after we heard racist chanting
- 2 of us went in and kicked off with about 50
stupid teenagers… I came out of it with a bloody
nose but i was quite pleased we’d made a
challenge. The club did not do anything about it
which really pissed me off and it shows how
normalised it is now. I’m thinking that most of
the youth are a lot more switched on though, so
there is hope for the future. During this
Covid-19 lockdown the far right has seemingly
retreated under its stone, its the working class
people who are organising in their communities,
and doing the jobs that keep society going and
help the rest of us stay alive. Apparently a
survey said only 9% of people want things to
return to normal. hopefully this pandemic has
shown people where the real answers to their
problems lie, and its not about blaming
immigrants, its about supporting each other.
Is there any good bands from England right now?
Is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene big?
How is it in Southampton?
(Ben)
Armoured Flu Unit, Abrazos, Hack Job are awesome
bands from Southampton and surrounding areas. No
doubt there are many more that I don’t know
about, the South Coast punk scene has gotten
bigger and more productive again in the last few
years, it’s great to be a part of it.
What do you know about Sweden? Have you been
here sometime?
(Ben)
I’m sorry but I don’t know much about Sweden,
other than it produces some of the greatest
d-beat punk in the world!
I have never been but hope to one day.
(Rich)
I went to Copenhagan once and saw Sweden in the
distance! I also had a snowball fight
with a coach load of elderly swedish
tourists which was fun, i think they were as
drunk as I was!
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
(Ben)
Totalitar, Mob 47, Asocial, Anti Cimex,
Expolator, Institution, Wolfbrigade
Your lyrics, who does them and what influences
you?
(Ben)
Luke writes all the lyrics so I can’t speak for
him on what his influences are. What I do know
is that he is a very angry guy that hates
injustice against animals and people.
(Rich)
Yea Luke has been into animal rights stuff for
years so a lot of it comes from that.
Is there any subject that you never will write
anything about?
(Ben)
That question would be for Luke to answer.
(Rich)
I can´t
see him ever writing a love song!
Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?
Which is your most political song? Is it
important to get out your opinions in music?
(Ben) I
think
they don’t necessarily have to go together.
An emotional or story-based song can have
political meaning / protest in its own way.
Through the artists reaction to an event, or the
way society / the world has made them feel. When
it comes to fast and raw punk music, for me
personally, this music style and politics go
hand in hand as a voice of protest.
(Rich)
Yeah, they totally don't have to go together, i
like loads of stuff that isn't political, but
the bands that are really important to me are
political. All of our songs are political, i
guess its our way of coping with the way things
are. We recorded our song Tory Cunt as a one off
digital release in the run up to the last
elections, and our friend Iain from Armoured Flu
Unit made a video for it…. we were well aware
that it was never going to make any difference
in the grand scheme of things, but it was our
way of feeling like we could do something,
however small, to put our anger into music.
Needless to say the Tories (Conservative party)
got in again anyway.
Best political band/artist?
(Ben)
Doom.
(Rich)
Propagandhi, Conflict.
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can
change anyones life, I mean people who listens
to music?
(Ben)
I think so, if a person hears the right song at
the right time in their life, it can have a
profound impact.
(Rich)
Yea absolutely, or a collection of songs, back
when i was 20 i’d never even thought about what
i was eating, and i didnt know any other punks
or anarchists, propagandhi made me think about
stuff differently, and ive been vegan for 20
years as a consequence!
Your favorite recordcover alltime? Who does
your recordcovers? And do you have any
good recordstores in your hometown?
(Ben)
Totalitar / Disclose split. A comic book artist
based in New York called Soussherpa did the
cover art for the ep. We gave him the concept
and were blown away by what he came up with.
Sadly, I don’t think there are any decent record
stores left in Southampton anymore.
(Rich)
Yea theres fuck all record stores, there is one
in Southampton but its more for Indie fans and
hipsters, It doesnt matter though because Theres
usually distro’s at the gigs where you can pick
up what you need, I love that fact that people
will take boxes of records along to a gig
knowing that they might only sell a few, they do
it for the love of punk. Fuck going shopping
haha.
Is it important to get out physical records of
your stuff? Why or why not? Vinyl, CD, cassette,
what do you prefer if you could choose whatever
?
(Ben)
It’s very important to us. Downloads, Spotify,
Mp3s etc are good, but still nothing can beat
having the physical release of a bands work. You
feel more of a connection to the band. Listening
to the music, taking in the artwork, reading the
lyrics, it’s like a ritual. Vinyl, cassette, CD,
Digital, they’re all good formats. I think vinyl
looks the coolest though. Also, what happens if
you only keep your music collection digitally,
for some reason your computer dies, and your
back up hard drive is corrupted? You’ve got fuck
all to listen too!
(Rich)
Whilst i agree with everything Ben says, there
is a big part of me that just thinks we should
only release stuff digitally so we cut down on
what will one day become waste, I like getting
records, and putting cd’s in my work van, but i
cant help but think its all a bit unnecessary to
satisfy our desire to own things…. maybe thats
just me though.
Please tell me a funny thing which have happened
during your career and under some gig?
(Ben)
Rich got given a knackered looking old Peavey
bass head. Tested it at practice the week before
a gig, worked fine, sounded awesome. We turned
up to play a local gig with a couple of metal
bands who had all this flash gear. Electronic
trigger drums, a guitar with no headstock etc,
each to their own I guess. Anyway, we go on to
sound check, Rich turns this piece of shit bass
head on, and POP!!!……………. The old thing was so
fucked that it managed to trip out all the power
circuits on the stage. The poor sound guy nearly
had a heart attack! It took him 30mins to get
the power going again and we think he lost all
his sound pre-sets from the other bands
soundchecks. To us it doesn’t matter, a sound
check is nice, but we’re equally happy to just
plug in and thrash, but metal bands tend to like
their sound a bit more professional. He made
Rich swear to condemn the amp as a death trap
and never turn it on again. The other bands
thought we were complete morons but were cool
enough (or took pity enough) to let Rich run
through one of their bass heads. I’ll never
forget the look on the sound guys face when that
amp blew, absolutely priceless!
(Rich)
yea that was fucked, i tried the amp out at
practice, i thought it was just the fan that was
knackered as it kept over heating, so i was just
spinning it around with my finger in between
each song, haha. i’ve actually bought my first
proper Bass amp head recently, after about 15
years of borrowing from people at gigs!
How does your audience look like? Which people
do you miss on your concerts? Which is the
biggest band you ever have played together with?
(Ben)
It’s a mixture of people. Some a bit older, some
younger. Mainly punks, but not always. It would
be good to see some more young people at gigs
and in the scene, they’ve got more energy! We’ve
played with Anti-System. Killer band, great
people.
(Rich)
It seems a lot of people at our gigs are losing
their hair! We’ve played with Subhumans as well,
and Sham 69, but i prefer playing with bands
more our style like Armoured Flu Unit or Active
Slaughter.
Please rank your five favoriterecords, five
favoriteconcerts and five most important things
in life?
(Ben)
Totalitar – Sin Egen Motstandare, Discharge –
WHY?,
Varukers – Another Religion, Another War,
Framtid – Defeat of Civilization, Black
Flag – First Four Years
Live : Violent Arrest, Discharge, Anti-System,
Armoured Flu Unit, Clutch
Family, Health, Animals, Friends, Music
First, last and most expensive record ever
bought?
(Ben)
The
first was a Punk o rama compilation, I think.
Last was Asocial – För alltid Underground. I
can’t afford expensive records!
(Rich)
My first record was the 7” Bart Simpson - Do The
Bart Man. My last one was Jodie Faster - Blame
Yourself.
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews?
(Ben)
I like doing interviews and I think we’ve done
couple since we started.
(Rich)
its nice that people might want to hear from us,
but theres something about interviews that are
limiting, you cant really get the answers across
in a short answer, especially with questions
about politics, i could moan for hours about
that!
Do you care about reviews? Which is the most
peculiar you ever had, with this band or any
other band you have been to?
(Ben)
It’s always cool to get a good review, and you
can learn things from a bad review. It’s best to
remember that it’s just one persons’ opinion.
Everyone has a different view point and can hear
different things in the music. I have a lot of
respect for anyone who does music zines, blogs,
podcasts, radio shows etc. It’s a massively
important part of the scene, giving bands
exposure, and listeners the chance to find new
music to their taste.
Someone said in a review that they thought that
our lyrics about animal testing were cliched and
30 years out of date due to the laws being
changed to stop it. I don’t agree with this.
Things may have gotten slightly better over the
years, and there is more awareness of the issue.
But animal abuse is still perpetrated by
corporations in the pursuit of profit, and it’s
still disgusting.
(Rich)
Yea pretty much every review we've had for the
last release has been super positive, so i’d by
lying if i said i wasn't surprised and really
happy about it! its so nice for good reviews to
come from places such as MMR that you've always
looked too growing up, and then to hear that
people in different parts of the world are
getting what you do, its really humbling!
Which bands do people compare you to, is it
boring that people compare you to other bands or
is it understandable?
(Ben)
We’ve been compared to a few different bands, as
I said, everyone can hear different things in
music. Personally, I don’t mind if people
compare us to other bands, it gives a frame of
reference for people that haven’t heard us
before.
(Rich)
Again, its so humbling to be compared to bands
that we look up too, although sometimes i don't
really get the reference, we've been compared to
Poison Idea, Conflict, Oi Polloi, and Doom… just
to be mentioned in the same sentence as those
bands is something i could never have dreamed
of. .. so perhaps its a bit self indulgent, but
if i'm honest it really makes me smile, im
showing my partner, like “Look.. they say we
sound like Conflict, how cool is that? !” and
shes like, “yes, thats very nice for you” ha.
If you could choose five bands from the past and
the history and nowadays and both dead and
living bands to have a concert together with
your band. Which five have you been chosen?
(Ben)
Totalitär, Crucifix, Battle of Disarm, Asocial,
Motorhead
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music?
(Ben)
Absolutely. It just about keeps me sane.
(Rich)
not sure it keeps us nice people, but 100% it
blows out the cobwebs and acts as a pressure
release valve.
Which is the most odd question you ever have got
in an interview?
(Ben)
I remember in an old Chemical Threat interview
they asked some weird question about insect
porn!?? I had no answer. Is that even a thing?
Mental!
(Rich)
I
imagine they heard a rumor that Ed was into it.
some of those locusts are pretty sexy.
Which is the question you want to have but you
never get. Please ask it and answer it?
(Ben)
What has been the most embarrassing moment when
playing live?
At the Shooting Star pub supporting Grand
Collapse. We’d played a good set up until 2
songs from the end. Then one of the guys running
the gig decided that Rich’s bass sound wasn’t
loud enough, so he turned it up. What we didn’t
know until we started the next song was that
he’d turned it up so fucking loud that none of
us could hear what the other was playing.
Obviously, the next song
went to complete shit. We stopped playing
and started having a big public slanging match
blaming each other for fucking up. This went on
for a bit until Luke said ‘Fuck this, that’s
your lot’ into the mic, and walked off. I’d like
to add that this was all being filmed for
posterity. We then carried on arguing in the
garden at the back of the pub while a lot of
people were out there after our set. We looked
like complete twats, but in hindsight, why did
the prick wait until 2 songs from the end to
decide the bass wasn’t fucking loud enough! So
since then, no one touches the amps apart from
the person playing through it. Fucking hell that
was a shit gig.
(Rich)
Yea that was an excruciating moment, for about
an hour afterwards i didnt want to be in a band
anymore! We agreed pretty quickly to never play
the Star again, we always fuck up when we play
there! Later on that night some arsehole threw a
drink over our female friend who was celebrating
her birthday, all hell broke loose, there was a
guy with his shirt off swinging a pool cue
around, it was apparently his first night out of
prison. Luckily he got thrown out before Luke
got hold of him, Luke is like a black belt
ninja, the guy would have really regretted his
actions. hahaha.
Futureplans for the band?
(Ben)
We’re currently writing songs for the next EP.
Hopefully it’ll be out late this year or
sometime next year.
(Rich)
yea, and we got a few great older songs that i’d
still love to record, maybe as one off digital
releases
For yourself?
(Ben)
To try and be positive in life and keep to
making / playing music.
Wisdomword?
(Ben)
Always take more than one guitar pick with you
to a gig (looks at Rich)
😊
(Rich)
Its ok, I have 3 now!
Something to add?
-(Ben)
Big thanks for the interview Peter and massive
respect to all your work on the long running
Skrutt Zine. The review and interview database
are incredible. It’s an awesome resource for
music fans.
And a last one. Do you like football? If you do
answer this question. How is it possible to play
2-2 against my team Arsenal away when you lose
0-9 at home to Leicester? I have tattooed one
Swedish team and Arsenal on my arm and both is
shit….why do we bother about football you think?
(Ben)
This ones for rich
(Rich)
Ha ha, well actually non of us are Southampton
FC fans. Luke and me used to go and watch the
smaller local team Eastliegh FC (it feels less
like cheating on me childhood team Derby
County), but we’ve stopped going for the time
being after the event I mentioned earlier. We
also try to go to St Pauli games, we have a St
Pauli supporters group in Southampton, Luke gets
to about two games a year in Hamburg and I go to
one per season if I can, but my liver does not
thank me. That night when Southampton got beaten
9-0 we were practicing around the corner from
the stadium.. at half time loads of people were
leaving the stadium looking sad so we looked up
the score, it was fucking hilarious. Im afraid I
can't tell you why Arsenal are Shit though
hahaha!