French Interview

 

  
 

1      Presentation of the band. Brief history

  • We formed in 1976 at the hope and Anchor pub Islington. We played all the punk gigs in London but not too much outside and never in Europe or the USA. We split in 1979 and formed the Aces which played until 1981. We stayed friends as we had been friends at school years before. Morgan died in 1991 may he rest in peace.

  • We re-formed in 1998 for HITS with two old friends John Lacey and Andrew Tweedie. John and Andrew left the band in 2002 although John makes a brief appearance on Rogues Gallery.

2) You have changed the line-up of the band. Why? Why did you choose Oddy particularly?

  • John left due to personal reasons (he got married and moved to the Isle of Man) Andrew’s job meant he had to move to Glasgow which made it very difficult for him to continue with the band. The choice of replacements was easy Uncle Albert and Oddy are great guys great performers and very professional. 

3) How would you define the musical evolution of Menace in more than 20 years now?

  • Next year will be 30 years and the music is now as it always has been working class street punk

4) What made you begin the band? What were your influences?

  • Simple we just love to play. Our influence were the Pistols and The Clash we didn’t meet Jimmy and the lads until our second gig at the Roxey.

5) You've recently played in France, in December 2004, what have you thought of it? Had you ever played in France before?

  • We loved Brittany the audience were excellent and we want to come back

6) What do you know of the French scene?

  • We didn’t know much about the French scene but we know much  more now thanks mainly to Cap’s of Charge 69 who brought us over to Waterlos early in 2004 

7) What are your lyrics about? The main themes?

  • The lyrics are mainly observations of what’s going on in the world  and I guess they have an Irish feel to them I.e. they are generally protesting.

8)You seem to have a pessimistic point of view towards nowadays' world, don't you? Why?

  • Look forward to the best but prepare for the worst that way all the surprises are good. I guess our view comes with age and ann understanding of things the a look at the news. Now it probably no worse to-day but when you are young pussy and beer take up a lot of time.

       9) Who is Oliver Reed? Oliver Reed is an English actor famous for being a rabble          rousers He wrote a book and called himself Mr England.

   10)Could you explain us the song called ''Observing way''            

This song is about a man looking at young women and wondering if it O.K.

11) Please, your discography

The easiest thing to do is check the Web site and look under Recordings www.menace.co.uk  I will try to add the page at the end of the interview.

      12) Which of your albums are you the proudest of?

  • GLC RIP but I also like Alive Alive O! which has got all the three ages of menace live.

13) If you could change something or improve one, which one would it be and how would you do?

  • I would like to play more but it’s impossible because of work

14) If you had to give a definition of punk and oi! musics, what would it be? What is the most important value for you in it?

  • Raw energy, Friendship, No nonsense 

15) How is the scene in England?

  • The scene in the England is ok but I gotta say it better in Europe. I guess there is so many different types of music for the kids they don’t follow punk/Oi the way the do elsewhere

16) After all these years, what makes you going on?

  • The main reason we play is because we want to. It’s a fucking buzz we love it

17) What are your plans now?

  • We plan to continue playing for as long as we can. We have a new DVD coming out on Cherry Red which has got lots of good tracks from 1998 to 2004 so you can see the band with two different singers (interesting).

18) Any final comment? A question you'd like to answer?

  • French punks and skins were great we would love to come back