02.05.07
Interview with: GOLDBLADE
By Stacy Sardelli
Editor in Chief

Punk

Goldblade are:
John Robb – vocals & guitar
Keith Curtis – bass & vocals
Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – guitar & vocals
Johny Skullknuckles – guitar & vocals
Rob Haynes – drums & vocals

"Goldblade were formed in 1996 when ex-Membranes front man, journalist, and some time TV pundit John Robb met up with a like minded musician in a local gym. They were joined by ex-Membrane Keith Curtis on Bass, and ex-Hounddog drummer Rob Haynes. The initial line up set about shaking up the then stagnant live music scene.

Signed by Ultimate Records, they released a couple of low key singles before 'Strictly Hardcore' hit the UK national charts in March 1997. 'Hardcore' was taken from the album 'Hometurf', and the Blade set about a relentless and still continuing tour schedule. A follow up single 'Hairstyle' was released which was made Single of The Week on BBC Radio 1, the band were invited, and appeared on Saturday morning TV; A second album 'Drop The Bomb' was also released before the bands label collapsed scuppering any chance of capitalizing on their initial success. A couple of line up changes took place, with Pete GEORGEUS and Johny Skullknuckles being brought in on dual lead guitar.

The band signed to a small Scottish indie, who released a ltd edition single 'AC/DC' as a taster for the follow up album 'Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock 'N' Roll', but once more fate took an unhealthy interest in the Blades activities, as this second label went bankrupt, thereby making 'Do You Believe..' virtually unobtainable.

However, none of this dented the Blades passion for the live spectacle, as they toured the UK, America and Russia, being invited to appear at festivals and the like the world over. At one of these festivals; Wasted, the Blade were seen by the label bosses of Captain Oi! Records. In a break with their usual style of putting out re-issues, they signed Goldblade on the spot. 'Rebel Songs' was released in 2005 to enormous critical acclaim, and basically has not stopped selling since, becoming the bands biggest release. In addition, Goldblade have been signed to SOS Records in the USA, with distribution by Sony, which is helping them gain exposure in the States. 'Rebel Songs' has just been picked up by German label KB-Records, and we are currently negotiating with a number of labels for a Japanese release.

2006 saw Goldblade release their first live DVD 'Testify' (Cherry Red Records) filmed in Blackpool during Christmas 2005, it ideally demonstrated the experience that is Goldblade live, the energy, the chaos, the entire audience on stage!! Goldblade then toured with Stiff Little Fingers, The Misfits and The Damned, in addition to performing all over the UK for their own headline sets.

Due to the unavailability of the three early albums, Captain Oi! took the decision to issue a compilation CD 'Strictly Hardcore' and bundled on a couple of tracks from 'Rebel Songs' - This release has been very well received, though its caused the Blade to be in the enviable position of being forced to make all their albums available as digital downloads in an effort to meet demand!

As the year comes to a close they are writing new material, a few of the songs already making it to the live set, in preparation for a new album in 2007. The album will be supported with a single release and a full UK headline tour, plus a tour of America. Dates are already booked in Holland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, so things are certainly not slowing down for Goldblade, quite the opposite as they are tipped to break through to a much larger audience in the coming 12 months."

Babble & Beat - You are currently working on a new album that should hit stores this summer. John has stated that it will be some of the best Goldblade stuff to date. I don’t know, your 2005 album ‘Rebel Songs’ is pretty friggin' fantastic!

Can you tell us something about this effort that no one knows yet (Album title, influences, guests, first single, album cover,...)?

John Robb – Got a few working titles but not sure what to call it yet. Still working on the artwork, mind you we’ve not even recorded it yet! We got the songs, been playing quite a few of them live and they are rocking the crowd already which is a good start! The influences are the same as ever... everything! We want to keep the songs so they are rabble rousing, sing-along choruses, uplifting punk rock but with a twist to them as well, keep twisting those words - skewering the banal culture that is foisted on us by the slavering corporate monsters. They want to paint the world grey, wanna to splatter it with colour and life. We are punk rock!

We won't be doing a proper single. We will be doing a download one though. It's hard to even get your single distributed these days in the UK; the shops tried to kill the single because they couldn’t make any money out of them. Fuck ‘em - if you want to hear Goldblade go to our myspace page and download our music for nothing. We are Goldblade, we are the soul power army and we will not be defeated!

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – This album was made under the influence of dinosaurs.

Johny Skullknuckles – Ooh it's a secret... the cover is me naked with my 1969 Les Paul custom covering my genitalia whilst wearing a WW2 German Army Helmet with a single red rose between my teeth. It's cool - the photo session was really funny in an old disused butchers shop.

Babble & Beat - Will have to get the poster as well then!

Rob Haynes – It’s all still in the writing and planning stages, but musically it’s taking us further along the path of 'Rebel Songs', as you’d expect. We want every song to be something that the audience can join in on and sing along with from the first time they hear it. The songs we’ve been playing live ('Riot! Riot!', 'Jukebox Generation', 'Outer Space Girl') have had exactly that effect so far.

The rest of the details are to be decided - one of the titles we had for the album was ‘Chinese Democracy’, but apparently that’s been taken.

Babble & Beat – Back to ‘Rebel Songs’ for a moment... I absolutely love the cd! It’s a REALLY tough decision to make, but my favorite song off of it is probably 'Fighting In The Dancehall'.

What is your personal favorite, and least favorite, song on ‘Rebel Songs’ and why?

John Robb – Thanks mate, that’s my favourite as well - along with ‘Black Sheep Radical’ and ‘All We Got Is Rebel Songs’. I think ‘Dancehall’ has a great rousing chorus, it's great playing it live when everyone sings along, a real community feel. ‘Black Sheep Radical’ - again I really like the chorus and I really like the words as well, same with ‘Cops And Robbers’ which sounds like a rousing slab of filthy electricity; don’t really have a least favourite.

I wish we hadn’t run out of time and got a proper mix of ‘Out Of Control’, it was such a great song live but came out a bit tin-pot on the album, but we only had half an hour to mix it. That is the curse of not being a big bucks band.

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – 'Dancehall' I like because I get to do a homage to Greg Ginn, 'Psycho' because it sounds like a bunch of deranged pirates and 'Sick World' because it sounds like the Leningrad Cowboys on better drugs.

Johny Skullknuckles – '(War) Not In My Name' is my fave cos it rocks – ‘Stereo Gangsta’ is my least favourite.

Rob Haynes – It’s odd, once an album comes out, it may be new to people buying it but in our heads it already feels like old material, so I’m thinking more of the new record. But my personal favourites tend be songs that we don’t play that often, so still feel fresh – which for me are ‘Everything Is Porn’ and ‘Stereo Gangsta’. I don’t really have a least favourite – if anyone has a major problem with a song it tends not to get recorded.

Babble & Beat – We understand you are planning a thorough U.S. tour this year! Yeah!!!

How many tours, as Goldblade, have you done in the U.S.? Are any particular venues or cities a favorite of yours?

John Robb – We’ve done three tours so far, the best one was going out with GBH, really good crowds and great wild pits every night, had a real blast. GBH were great people to tour, really top blokes, made sure we were looked after. In fact, they took it a step further when our drummer had to fly home after three gigs because his father was ill; GBH’s drummer stepped in and played drums for us for the rest of the tour. He learned our set from an iPod driving up to the gig and played without rehearsing - what a fucking hero! It was great touring up and down the West Coast just driving through the desert looking at the cactus! All very exotic, especially if you are from England.

I like all different parts of America for lots of different reasons... I've always loved New York because of its amazing buzz, the way everything is squashed into Manhattan. I been there so many times. I love Chicago because of the way there are so many different cultures there. I love LA because of the weather and it is the punk rock capital of the world; but there’s loads of other cool cites... Albuquerque, Seattle, San Francisco – America believes in rock ‘n’ roll, it's part of the culture of the country. England has never been that comfortable with sweaty music and can get very fashion obsessed but at the same time there are fierce isolated pockets of true believers.

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – Three so far and I've not yet been anywhere I don't like. Had special fun in Portland, and New York and San Francisco are always a pleasure to visit.

Johny Skullknuckles – This will be our 4th US tour - the first one was an adventure. The second one was shit, and I would not have lost a nights sleep if I had never seen certain members of Goldblade ever again in my life. The third tour was brilliant!! - The best. Fave towns being Sacramento / LA and Vegas - but all the gigs were GREAT!!! I love New York, but the New York gigs were not so great; apart from CBGB's.

Rob Haynes – My feeling on US gigs is the same as anywhere else – it’s all about the crowd. Some of my favourite gigs haven’t been then ones with most people, but ones with a really good crowd or just an overall good feeling – Mac’s in East Lansing and Creepy Crawl in St. Louis were good ones on our first tour.

Babble & Beat - In what ways have you noticed that your American audience is different from your other audiences?

John Robb – We are not as known yet in America but the audiences are really open. The punk scene seems to be bigger in America, the kids wear old school early eighties British studded leather jacket gear which is really cool when you’re out in the desert! It's amazing to see a Rudimentary Peni t-shirt on the beach in LA, you never see them at all in the UK. Saying that though, we have built up a big live crowd in the UK, we are getting a good head of steam over here, down to playing a lot of gigs I suppose.

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – American audiences are less reserved, and less style-led than at home, so for this I thank you.

Johny Skullknuckles – They all appear to be American or Mexican - strange!! - The girls have larger breasts.

Babble & Beat - Laughs. Yes, ample breasts are VERY important to Americans.

Rob Haynes – Circle pits are quite rare in the UK but seem the norm for America. There’s that, and also the fact that really young kids have t-shirts of the most obscure British punk bands. It’s great to see Rudimentary Peni are so popular with people who weren’t born when 'Death Church' came out.

Babble & Beat - Just when I think I know a bit about music I am reminded that there's a lot I've missed. I have never even heard of Rudimentary Peni - which I will be looking into stat.

Please name something you love, and something you dislike, about touring the United States.

John Robb – I love the endless miles, I love switching off and day dreaming looking at the amazing scenery. I love the people, the variation of people you meet, and how friendly everyone is. You can always hang out with people wherever you are in America.

I hate the classic rock radio stations, some of the stuff they play is cool but hearing the Eagles 20 times a day doesn’t do anyone any good! It's great getting to America, and to tour the cities that most people don’t even ever get to go to - like Salt Lake City, etc. What you find out is that maybe the country is run by George Bush and his cronies, but the people, the real Americans are very, very different.

Babble & Beat - Yes, he is NOT the voice of the vast majority of Americans. So happy to hear when people notice that!!!

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – Love traveling; Mexican supermarkets and the desert. Hate the lack of good food at truck stops - I’m a vegetarian and there are only so many times you can eat at Subway or shove a pizza.

Johny Skullknuckles – I love America - so touring there is great; but I dislike sitting in a van for hours and hours and hours - next time I will drink more Jägermeister!!

Rob Haynes – I’m fascinated by America – the scale and variety of it. American culture has been so widespread for decades in the UK that visiting the US is strange, like seeing something you have never seen before yet are still familiar with. I love traveling there. There’s no special downside, just the same as anywhere in the world – being away from family, lack of sleep and personal space. But the gigs make it all worthwhile.

Babble & Beat – We’ve been informed that you have recently been featured on a film soundtrack! What film... and did you write a new song specifically for it? Will you be doing a video now for this song?

John Robb – We are writing the soundtrack for a pirate film set in Newcastle in the UK. Some of the songs may end up on our new album. We will be doing videos for some of the songs on the album; it’s something cool to out on the website, we’ve got a mate who makes great videos and it will be good to bring him in to film them.

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – Dave Courtney's bio-pic - Not seen it and don't know what it's called but would like to put this right. The song is 'Psycho' and pretty apt for the subject matter.

Babble & Beat - What else do you wish to see happening for Goldblade in 2007?

John Robb – Plenty of touring, getting round the world and getting the album out in the autumn.

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – New album, continued touring, more of our own headline shows, less crisps on the rider, better heater in the van.

Johny Skullknuckles – More and more and more gigs!!! - And then some more gigs.

Rob Haynes – More of the same – touring, a new record, new places to see, new band in-jokes, new people to meet, old friends to catch up with. We did lots of support tours last year and I’m looking forward to playing our own shows again in smaller venues. I hope the gigs keep getting wilder and wilder. That’s something we want to encourage.

Babble & Beat - Are any of you currently working on music-related side projects?

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – I sometimes play guitar for the UK Subs, and I front my own band GORGEOUS (www.myspace.com/wearegorgeous) who have a couple of albums out. Our bass player is a punk legend because he was in The Prefects.

Johny Skullknuckles – Yes, I have a side project in the writing stages with Danny from The Wildhearts (if he stays off the drugs) - also I have a bunch of Psychobilly songs written that I might record and put out as a solo project if I get time and get better at the double bass.

Rob Haynes – I have a band called There’ll Always Be Diseases (TAB-D) that I play drums in with a couple of old friends from years back. We’ve been together for about eight years now, and we’ve gradually recorded an album’s worth of songs. Now we’re just deciding what to do with them. We have a Myspace page at (www.myspace.com/tabde).

Babble & Beat - Can you share with us any words of wisdom, any specific things you’ve learned in the industry over the years that might aid other musicians?

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – “Don't waste yer arrows.”

Johny Skullknuckles – Yeah, this is my advice - F.T.W. - "Be your own hero" - "You should never hide your Rock 'n' Roll pride" and try not to fall in love (it always ends in tears – hahahaha).

Rob Haynes – I think the most important quality of being in a band is patience. Don’t expect great success; don’t get carried away by promises. If you’re doing it for any other reason than the music then you’ll likely be disappointed.

Juicy Tidbits Section

This is where we ask personal questions for the fans. Yeah, they're often stupid questions. We like reading the answers though!

Babble & Beat - You’ve toured with some great bands recently! Tell us something you learned on tour, and that we probably didn’t already know, about The Misfits, The Damned, and/or Stiff Little Fingers.

John Robb – There can’t be much left that you don’t already know about those bands! The Misfits were really nice blokes; it was great to be on stage with Black Flag’s rhythm section. The Damned are cool as well; Captain Sensible is a really good laugh.

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – Misfits are great blokes as are the Damned. SLF seem like nice blokes but are very, very quiet - nice to see Ali McMordie back with them, makes all the difference.

Johny Skullknuckles – Jerry Only has a hand-washing obsession and Dave Vanian wears bad trousers.

Rob Haynes – The Misfits were really, really nice people. They came over and chatted with us most days, stayed behind after shows and talked to their fans for as long as it took. I got to meet Robo, who played drums on Black Flag’s 'Damaged' – one of the best records of all time, and The Damned - half of The Damned are serious train spotters, but you probably knew that. Also, Captain Sensible was determined that we change our new song 'Riot Riot' into 'Quiet Riot' and have us whisper the chorus. As much as we respect him, we carried on playing it our way, i.e. lots of yobbish yelling, with no quiet bits at all.

Babble & Beat - Have any preferred kind of boots or shoes to wear (Type, designer, color, material,...)?

John Robb – I like Doc Martens, they are both classic and are really comfortable, and they look great, shoes you can rock a stage. On a different tack I hate baseball caps, they may look OK in America but they look crap on an Englishman!

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – Black ‘Underground’ Creepers, black Engineer boots and black Doc Marten boots. There are no other items of footwear I wanna be seen dead in.

Johny Skullknuckles – Engineer boots are the only acceptable footwear for a Rocker - Creepers on stage - so Engineer boots and Creepers.

Rob Haynes – Black Doc Martens.

Babble & Beat - What did your parents want you to be when you grew up? Were they supportive of your interest in music?

John Robb – My parents never put that kind of pressure on me, one day I will grow up and find out!

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – They wanted me to be a teacher like them, and were particularly unsupportive of the music. First time I was on TV my Dad left the room. They've gotten used to it now and seem vaguely interested.

Johny Skullknuckles – My mother tried to get me into her protection racket business - she ran a small crew that used to "service" a couple of local night clubs and gaming houses, but that was not for me. My mum was very supportive and is pretty happy for me as long as I am not killing children or doing drugs, or killing drug dealers and doing children - I don't, my girlfriend is of legal age.

Babble & Beat - I like how you put that!

Rob Haynes – They just wanted me to be happy with whatever I chose. They’ve been totally supportive of the music thing even though it hasn’t made me (or them) rich.

Babble & Beat - Name the very first album or two you bought that helped shape who you are today.

John Robb – Mott The Hoople was always a big influence in the early seventies. I also love all that glam rock stuff like Bowie, T-Rex, Slade as well as the Beatles and the Stones. When punk came along I was completely suckered by it, it and everything that I wanted in music and it totally related to my generation; we really did believe that we could change the world with a bunch of seven inch singles - I think maybe we still can!

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. – ‘The Slider’ by T-Rex and ‘Ark 2’ by Flaming Youth were the first two albums I ever owned. T-Rex gave me eccentricity and the sound of the Gibson Les Paul and Flaming Youth taught me melody and hatred of flared trousers. However, seeing Wilko Johnson outta Dr. Feelgood made me wanna learn guitar and was my biggest role model as a kid.

Johny Skullknuckles – ‘Aladdin Sane’ - David Bowie and ‘Self Destruction Blues’ - Hanoi Rocks.

Rob Haynes – ‘Black and White’ by The Stranglers was the first album I ever owned and it remains one of my favourite pieces of music to this day. I was (and am) stunned by the artwork, the music, the attitude, the image, the ambition, the intelligence... and good god almighty, that bass!

Babble & Beat - What is your dream car? If no dream car, what is one luxury item you’d enjoy having?

John Robb – I can’t drive and I am not that interested in cars. They take up too much space, I live in the centre of Manchester so get everywhere on my pushbike! Saying that I’ve always fancied doing a tour on a tour bus; it would be great to wake up in the morning in the city that you were going to play in that evening. Not arsed with luxury stuff. I'm happy with what I've got.

Pete G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. - I have them, 75 VW Beetle (Bug to you) and 74 VW Camper van. Not really into the idea of luxury items, though you can't beat a lie in your own bath and a shit on your own bog (that's toilet to you guys).

Johny Skullknuckles – 57 Chevrolet Belair or a T bucket Hot Rod in matte black primer.

Rob Haynes – I don’t drive and have no interest in cars. My luxury item would be time. Or a big book on dinosaurs.

In Closing

Thank you so much, guys! We really appreciate this opportunity and we can't wait to see you in the states later this year!!!

Links:
Official site
Official MySpace - music clips!