+ How's Andy fitting In?
[ANDY] - It's a style I've wanted to play for a while so it's really good. Together, we've written 14 new songs and they've all got my input in and I'm really happy with it.
[PETE] - It was important for us as well to get Andy's input and Frank's as well. A lot of the stuff we were playing was from before Frank had a chance to put his input in.
[FRANK] - This is all five peoples work.
[ MADS] - It's a step forward for us. We've never wanted to be big time. The big time's nice if you can get it. We're quite grounded. We play purely for our own interest. Its our hobby, we just want to have a bit of fun and play. If we get a few bigger shows and earn a bit of money or whatever then that's fine. But, at the end of the day we're just doing it for ourselves. It's about us, the music we're writing and playing some shows.

+ How did you end up on Golf Records?
[MADS] - Star Wars and porn wasn't it?
[PETE] - Yep, Star Wars and porn. We just kept bribing them with Star Wars lego and porn mags.
[FRANK] - You should have said it was because we were so bloody good they couldn't refuse us. But that was before my time.
[JON] - Well, they did say no and then a few other labels were interested in picking us up and then they said yes.
[MADS] - Well we knew somebody from the Plastic Head team of sorts, Lisa I can't remember how we met her. I think Greg knew her (No, Woolfy); she said if you wanna get in then send this to this person so that's what we did. Then we shopped around and got offered something else from another label. Greg sent a cheeky email back saying we've been offered this, and we got a reply and they came back. Then we realized it was a three album deal and that was really good. But unfortunately as we've learnt they don't really back people up.

+ Do you think that Golf overlook their British bands?
[JON] - Yes definitely. Without wanting to sound really critical. They concentrate on the licensing stuff they get from America. If you ask any of the British bands who are or have been on their label and think they would say that they don't get the backing they would like from a record label when you sign to them.
[MADS] - In fairness though, they've done us no harm. They've done us proud in the sense that they've pushed our name forward. We're thankful for that but that being a small band that can't be out there 24/7 the reality is that we've got to work and earn money to put a roof over your head even if your staying with your parents.
[FRANK] - Even the bigger british bands on the label like 4ft Fingers, Tiny Elvis's and that, they've really made, they're only known in the underground punk scene. If you asked anybody in the high street who they are they wouldn't have a clue.

+ How do you think P-Rock helped up bands profiles whilst it was still going?
[MADS] - It was brilliant. It was for the right sort of people, but unfortunately the financial backing wasn't there and it went under. Now you've got Scuzz which is alternative but hasn't really raised the profile of many UK bands.
[FRANK] - It was good seeing the British bands in with the big American bands. You might see a pennywise video and then have British band and then a Rancid video. People then think that these people are as good as those.
[JON] - It gave the British bands a fair crack at the whip. Like Mike Davis is doing at the moment with The Lock Up he plays a lot of British music. Whereas before that with maybe the exception of Steve Lamacq and John Peel it was never really played. It it's enabled British bands to get their music out there. It enables them to go and play shows 200 miles away or whatever and get a bit of a following.

+ You did a show in Bristol at the Croft for War Child and Amnesty and other charities, do you often do charity shows?
[MADS] - There's never any harm doing a charity show as it's always for a good cause. It does depends what it's for and you have to make sure people are getting the money at the end of the day. Like a local charity show for us is always fine. But a lot of people from all over the country will ask you if could play a charity show and do it for nothing. Which is fine but they have to realize that there are sometimes small travel expenses to be paid.
[ANDY] - I think it's good when so many people come together for something like the tsunami relief. They actually have too much money now, which is brilliant. That's an absolute testament to everybody involved.
[MADS] - It's putting your talent towards raising some money. Not everybody is skilled, not everyone can actually go out there and shift rubble or whatever. It's just a way to do your bit.

+ It definitely says a lot for working class people showing solidarity like that. We're constantly told that people are selfish and they only care about themselves.
[JON] - People who have less normally give more

+ Yeah, the US government only gave the equivalent to one and half days spending in Iraq, their spending more on creating suffering as opposed to relieving it. It shows where their priorities lie.
[JON] - Ah Mr. William Gates. He gave 750 million to aids charities in Africa. But I think it's just a big tax write off. I mean Bill Gates shits more than that doesn't he to be quite honest!? Of course it's going to the right place, but he's doing it just to better himself. When you get people like that going, 'here I am at a big press conference, its William Gates giving 750 million dollars!' It's all a bit, 'look at me, look at me!'
[MADS] - Yeah and there's not even a new windows out yet!
[FRANK] - They haven't even worked out the bugs on the last one yet.

+ They put bugs in them on purpose!

+ Anyway, how easy is it for bands from the south west to get their music out there?
[JON] - Well I suppose where we are we're quite accessible because of where we live. We live on the M5 corridor so for us going North, South, East or West is pretty easy.
[MADS] - But for bands like No Comply in Plymouth it's pretty hard.
[JON] - I suppose we're quite lucky living in the Northern part of the South West, but if you come from Devon, Cornwall, Bournemouth or wherever it can be quite difficult to get out there.
[PETE] - At least where we are we have a huge radius where we can start small and work your way out. To get a certain fan base sorted. That's what we did to begin with.

+ How did you start out as a band?
[JON] - Well it was in 1962, we were originally called The Children of Flowers. No we were 16, it was 1993, and we'd just finished our G.C.S.E's and we thought it would be a laugh to start a band and we did. We just played gigs in schools and youth clubs, then we went to Bristol and played punk venues like the Ropewalk and The Croft and places like that. We just carried on doing that, and just ended up playing further and further afield. Then you'd end up playing Glasgow or Scunthorpe or somewhere like that. We just went anywhere it would take us.

+ Did you try hard to promote yourselves?
[JON] - Well it's easier to promote yourselves when you're playing locally. We can take responsibility for flyering. We come from the old school before the internet.
[MADS] - We used to take names and addresses and mail people stuff.
[PETE] - Now we sound really old!

+ Do you guys skateboard? I'm always quite interested in the relationship between punk and hardcore and skateboarding, back in the day skateboarding was punk.
[MADS] -. Well for us, skateboarding is just like the music you play. You do it because you enjoy it, for yourself and no one else. No fashion or none of that bollocks. Then there comes the showing off part and all of that. But that's our background and where we all come from. Thrasher, RAD, Sidey wasn''t it?
[FRANK] - Yeah and skate vids. You'd hear one song from a band on a skate vid then go to a record store and buy all the albums.
[JON] - And they used to do punk compilations for like £2.50 from Burning Heart or wherever. And there would be one every month with eight or nine bands. Now compilations cost so much more.

+ I prefer buying stuff from British labels like Household Name and Dead and Gone they tend to be much cheaper.
[FRANK] - The good thing about Household Name is it's run by Lil. If you actually sit and chat with Lil you know where he's coming from. For him it started as his hobby and he's passionate about it. You talk to someone at Golf Records it's a business. He's got a little record shop in Camden

+ How has your last guitarists departure affected the band?
[MADS] - I wouldn't says it's affected us at all he met a young lady and he felt it was time to move on. She does live in another country so
[PETE] - Band practice would be hard!
[MADS] - It was pretty much for that reason, we split quite happily. It was a learning curve for us in the sense that it brought the rest of us together. We had to find a new guitarist, not in a personal sense but we needed to bring someone in to fatten up the guitars. Then we found Andy and he's a good guy. He stands for everything we stand for. You know we interviewed guys in full leather, they just wanted to be in a band on a record label and that's not what we stand for. We needed someone local to us who's gonna hang out with us.

+ Last question, was your last guitarist into all the Black Metal?
[MADS] - No that was our old bass player; he's now in a full on Gore Metal band called Amputated now, and their doing all right. They're into Gore and shock with all the blood and stuff.

+ Haha like Gwar!