FEATURED INTERVIEWS

Goldblade

Dangerous, raw, and unbridled, Goldblade hammers it down.
By: Gian Erguiza - - January 21st, 2008 - 7:49 pm PST

'My Name is Pyscho!" Upon hearing that, I was automatically drawn in. The sound is dangerous, raw and unbridled, punk/rockabilly in true form. We got a chance to talk with the boys from Goldblade about all that is, Goldblade.

For the people that have not heard nor seen Goldblade before, can you guys please give us a history lesson of how Goldblade came about?

JR - Me and Brother Wayne used to train with weights round his flat in the mid nineties. I’m a punk rock veteran – been into this stuff since the seventies and involved on the frontline since then. Brother Wayne lived round the corner from me in this heavily squatted area of Manchester called Hulme which was a wild place to live at that time. We trained hard with the weights and as a sound track we listened to jazz, hip hop like Wutang Clan but above all punk rock and hardcore - inevitably we talked about forming a band and what the perfect band would be; it was our passion, no one else in the UK was making any music like the way we wanted it. We wanted something that was dressed sharp and angular, and sounded anthemic and wild…I think we succeeded!

So I heard from the vine that you guys are currently recording a new record due at the end of the year and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be just fantastic. How’s that coming along and what should we be expecting? Fill us in!

JR - The album is called ‘Mutiny’ and Captain Oi! are going to be putting it out in the summer. The first thing that will come out is a single called ‘Jukebox Generation’ in the spring. Like all bands will tell you this is our best album yet but maybe we should leave that for you to decide when you hear it! That’s because we know it’s a cool album, we spent a lot of time on it and made sure all the songs were as exciting as possible and that they would all be mosh pit classics. You can sing along to them and you can also go crazy to them at gigs. It’s the soundtrack to Parkour as we fire up the anthems and free run across the urban concrete of the city! The songs are stuffed full of lyrics that will make you think, make you laugh and make you want a soul power revolution…The ‘Mutiny’ itself is our mutiny against the boring corporate machine, rise up! We are high decibel pirates raiding the shores and the booty filled ships of slack modern culture!

The album works on both a physical and mental level and will make you feel pretty mental when you have listened to it! Captain Oi! are calling it the best punk album they have heard for 25 years and someone else described it as ‘future punk’. The reactions so far have been amazing and we can’t wait to get it out there…

PG - The new album was completed in October and sounds brilliant- it's definitely a better album than ‘Rebel Songs’, which was the sound of a band finding it's feet. This album is the sound of a band firing on all cylinders.

Now, is it safe to say that there is a good chance that you guys might be going out on the road to support the album when it’s released?

JR - We are going to be touring the UK heavily in the autumn and there is talk of various tours round the world during the year as well; the problem we got is trying to fit all of this in! Hopefully we will get back to America soon - last time we toured down the West Coast with GBH and it went really well; those all ages shows are pretty wild! Playing live is a big deal for us. Its not very English but we are not embarrassed about putting on a show, apart from the fact that it is no ‘put on’ This is one hundred per cent real, walking down the street is putting on a show, 24/7 punk rock is a show, the world is far too dull and we are colouring it in by the way we walk, the way we talk and what we sound like - We are trained like deadly ninja assassins in the art of putting on a show…its one of the five deadly perfumes of the ritual punk rock martial art that I learned in the Shoalin temple when I visited the famous martial arts centre ten years ago and stayed for a couple of months…you can learn so much from the masters and from the east….have you ever seen their show!

PG - Yeh, try and stop us! We'll be touring relentlessly to promote it.

RH - We gig at a pretty constant level throughout the year, regardless of whether we have a new record out or not. So in answer to your question – yes, wherever we can afford to.

Photo Credit: Closet Drummer Photography (Floor & Pmouth)

Where do you guys derive from when songwriting or what is the process or schematic of how you guys write the songs and put it all together?

JR - Me and Brother Pete write a lot of tunes and I work the lyrics in there, sometimes it will start from the words sometimes the other way round. I write endless punk rock poems and have endless lyrical ideas. Sometimes it will start with the drums, songs come from everywhere, they are bouncing around the universe and you pluck them out of thin air or they are hiding under a stone and they get trapped between your toes.

PG - There's a couple of ways. One is me and John write a bunch of stuff individually and then get together and thrash it out, the other is me, John and Rob (drummer), get together and kick ideas around.

Out of all the songs that you guys rock out to onstage, which one is a killer, a favorite and the one that stirs the crowd into a frenzy?

JR – ‘Strictly Hardcore’ always brings the house down, and of the newer songs ‘Psycho’ and of the unreleased newer songs ‘Riot’ and ‘Mutiny’ are really tearing it up.

PG – ‘Fighting In The Dancehall’ is a surefire winner, as is’ Do You Believe In The Power of Rock n Roll’. ‘Riot’ off the new album is already in that category too.

After all of the tours, shows and parties, all over the place, are you guys planning to shoot a DVD or Live DVD anytime soon? Bet your fans would love that....

JR - We have got a live DVD ‘Testify’ its available on out website, its from a great gig we played in Blackpool in the UK, you can't even tell where the stage is by the end of the gig there are so many people falling all over the place - just he way a proper punk rock show should be!

PG - We did one called ‘Testify’ that came out last year on Cherry Red DVD's. It's got a whole live show, which is pretty mental, plus loads of videos and a short documentary. It's a great, chaotic representation of the band. It’s on import to the US, but I think it may well now have a full NTSC release.

RH - There’s already been one live DVD, ‘Testify’, that came out a year or so ago, and that’s a pretty definitive statement of our live show.

What are you guys currently listening to and do you guys have any recommends for our readers?

JR - Lots of punk rock, hardcore, still some hip hop and jazz, loads of modern groups- there’s a great new punk rock scene in the UK loads of new bands coming through

PG - I'll always recommend Middle Finger Salute, Eastfield, The Grit and The Liarbilities. We all listen to a varied cross-section of music so we can get pretty eclectic.

"The world is far too dull and we are colouring it in by the way we walk, the way we talk and what we sound like - We are trained like deadly ninja assassins in the art of putting on a show…its one of the five deadly perfumes of the ritual punk rock martial art that I learned in the Shoalin temple when I visited the famous martial arts centre ten years ago"

RH - What I listen to varies dramatically from week to week. For what it’s worth, the four CDs I’ve played most recently are Karma by Pharoah Sanders, Permanent Waves by Rush, Sextant by Herbie Hancock, and Joy Division’s Closer. Nothing there recorded in the last twenty years, I’ve just realized, but that’s just coincidence. This year I’m looking forward to new CDs by Meshuggah, Teasing Lulu, Amplifier and Clutch.

Sometimes crowds tend to be a little, shall we say, harsh. All bands have these “harsh” nights. How do you guys deal with the “harsh” nights and what do you guys do to get over it?

JR - You just play; the crowd can do what they like, if they want to join the party then that’s great if they don’t then that’s not my problem! We’re too busy running the soul power revolution to get upset over a few stone dead fashionistas who will not give their hearts to the Goldblade sound!

PG - It doesn't happen very much and we just do our usual full-on show. Should a few people hate it, there'll also be a few people who love it too, and will come again next time round or maybe buy a CD. We're pretty stubborn too, which helps...

RH - Ideally, you play exactly the same way no matter what the crowd is like. Obviously its better when the crowd are into it, but if they aren’t then you just give it to them as best you can anyway. There’s always someone in the crowd who likes it, so you can’t sulk about the ones who don’t. I have to say we’re pretty lucky though, and we never seem to get hostile crowds, just the occasional indifference

Goldblade, what is not “punk rock?”

JR - Prog rock, boring guitar solos, stuff that meanders and has no point…hard drugs, primadonnas…

PG - Anything that doesn't think for itself, anything that shuns received wisdom, anything without compassion or tolerance, anything without a soul. That's what isn't 'Punk Rock'.

RH - I’m not sure what the answer to that is. Punk rock was about doing things your own way and not caring about rules, and I hate it when people get bogged down in things like are Green Day ‘punk’ or not. There are too many other things in the world to worry about than definitions. Anything which inspires people to think or act is fine by me.

Alright Goldblade, if my associates and I were to come up to your neck of the woods, where would you guys take us for some good times? We like to drink and smoke, just to throw that out there....

JR - I like to think and joke so we can go anywhere and have a good time! Thank fuck they banned smoking in the bars was getting sick of losing my voice! There’s some cool bars in town but the best bars are when you are touring, other cities always seem to be more fun!

PG - My neck of the woods is Birmingham so we'd hit some punk shows at The Market Tavern then a late drink in The Rainbow for a different kind of mayhem.

RH - I don’t like to drink or smoke, so I’d take you to Manchester Museum to look at the Tyrannosaurus skeleton and the poisonous frog collection.

Album sales have just dropped and digital sales have gone up. What are your thoughts on the current war between digital downloading vs. physical purchase and what are you guys doing to stay on top of everything?

JR - Well being pirates you can’t begrudge anyone grabbing their own swag, free downloads are a great idea because they mean that anyone can investigate your music; they are also a disaster because no-one is paying for the recording of records any more! At the moment it’s an in-between stage and we are all surviving - fuck knows what’s going to happen in the end! The music industry as we know it is doomed and that’s not a bad thing, if all the major labels collapsed tomorrow that would be a cool thing - that would leave the music to the people who love it. The freeloaders and corporate hogs can go back to working in banks. Music has always changed from sheet music to from wax 78’s to vinyl to CD’s to downloading. Whatever the medium is we will triumph!

PG - Yeh, the artist seems far more in control now, heh heh. You can download our stuff from iTunes, some free from our Myspace or buy the physical product. A lot of people seem to both download and buy the CD. Some talk of a limited edition vinyl picture-disc of the new album. Our label in Germany KB did a red vinyl edition of Rebel Songs that really rocks. As I see it, as long as the music is available then I don't care what format people use.

So far, what is the best or coolest thing about being in Goldblade?

JR - We play great live gigs. We give it everything and we got the energy, no-one has this kind of energy. This is an insane energy- a wild, hungry and crazy energy. When you get on stage you get lost, the adrenalin kicks in and you don’t know what’s going to happen next. It goes all wild and feral and a bit crazy. Sometimes I’m a bit surprised by where it’s going! We are also an entertainment machine with 100 per cent commitment to the cause. We give it everything we got and people appreciate that. We also don’t do any rock star bullshit and we hang out with people. We have got to know everyone on the scene; punk rock is one big family and an international revolutionary social…

PG - Travelling, hearing the audiences singing along with songs you wrote, meeting very cool people and having a good laugh.

RH - The best things are the gigs, the travel, and the people you meet. That’s a Miss World answer, but a true one.

Goldblade, what is the secret to your success?

JR - A whirlwind live show, passion and believing in the power of rock n roll that’s what has made us successful.

PG - I'll let you know....!

RH - Success? Ahem. Well, we’ve got where we are by a combination or being good at what we do, hard work, and patience. But mostly patience, I think.

Any additional comments?

JR - Go to our myspace and be our friend!

PG - Thanks for being interested, hopefully get up to your neck of the woods this year-where will you take us for some good times??!!

RH - Hope we can get out to America soon. We tour where we can, but it depends on cost. We have no financial backing, so don’t feel neglected if haven’t been to your neck of the woods for a while (or at all), we’re just saving up our pennies

Thanks Guys and PG, that last sentiment is dully noted! Bottoms Up!

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