The SoDa Poppers Drop New Single “Not Even In Your Wildest (Fuckin’) Dreams”
Johny Skullknuckles (The Kopek Millionaires / The Dead Beats / Goldblade) continues his musical adventures with The SoDa Poppers and their brand new…
2019 Rebellion Festival Preview: UK Subs
Ahead of this year’s Rebellion Festival we’re asking a selection of the band’s who are appearing about what we can expect, and for their advice on surviving the four day festival. In the fourteenth of The Punk Site‘s 2019 Rebellion Festival previews we speak to Steven Straughan from the legendary UK Subs. Formed back in 1976, they are still touring worldwide, maintaining the original spirit of punk rock and continuing to inspire each subsequent generation of fans. With their current line up in place of Charlie Harper, Steve Straughan on guitar, Alvin Gibbs on bass and Jamie Oliver on drums, the UK Subs continue to entertain, enlighten and enthuse with blistering recordings and enthralling live shows. You can read about what to expect from the UK Subs at the Rebellion Festival below.
Is this your first experience of the Rebellion Festival or have you played before?
I’ve been going to Rebellion festival since 1996. As you will know over the years it’s went under different names like Holidays in the sun and Wasted as well as Rebellion. I have been lucky enough to play many times with bands such as Red London, Holy Racket, Loaded 44, Hi Fi Spitfires, The Lurkers and UK Subs. I remember the weekend in 1996 so well when it all started as there was so many bands for me, my wife and friends to see. Bands such as The Stains and Slaughter and the dogs etc. The Stains was one of my mates bands. The singer ,Geordie, or otherwise known as John Codger, comes from the same city as me, Sunderland. I love every band he’s been in. He just seems to be so lucky in forming, or being in, great bands. I was definitely not going to miss them or Slaughter And The Dogs or many of the other great bands playing. On arrival the plan for my mates was to hunt for some cheap digs to stay at. My mates told me about a place they read about that was about 5p a night, I’m exaggerating but only a little. In other words it was a shit hole. Sleeping in a shit hole for them meant more money to spend on drink. That didn’t work for me. I wanted somewhere half decent to sleep at. I found a decent gaff to stay at and decided to find my mates at the dog kennel they had chosen. Me and my Mrs wandered up and down the street looking for this address but couldn’t find it. At that point my mate shouted from a window above. I fell about laughing as their place was above a joke shop. That was so like my mates to get a gaff above a joke shop. When I knocked on the door the hotelier answered and I swear he was the absolute double of Charlie Drake. 1996 was to be the comeback for Slaughter and the dogs so like many other people I wasn’t going to miss it. A short little story about that weekend. Two of the punk rockers I went down there with from Sunderland had a massive list of bands like all of us that they wanted to see. Each morning I would see them for breakfast in a chip shop or somewhere and I would ask them which bands they had managed to see the night before. “None” was the answer, “didn’t get away from the pub I was in”. As the weekend got shorter I would remind them what they were missing and who was left to see. Another day passed and both had missed all the bands. They were furious as they were missing all these great bands they had been waiting years to see. They assured me that they definitely wouldn’t miss the last day as some of their favourites were playing including Slaughter And The Dogs. Well! They managed to leave the pub but on the way to the venue one of them walked in to a moving car and was hit and knocked to the ground. He got up and brushed himself down as if he was indestructible like Captain Scarlet. A few minutes later he wasn’t feeling to good so decided to go back to the hotel for a lie down. When arriving at his hotel he fell asleep missing the entire event. The other lad got to see a band but then was worried about the other and decided to return to the hotel to see how the other was doing. On returning to the hotel he also fell asleep and missed all the bands including Slaughter And The Dogs. I honestly couldn’t believe it when they told me. I got to see everyone I wanted to see as planned but my 2 mates only really got to see the inside of a pub and the bonnet of a car. Crazy! Every year I have really enjoyed Rebellion/ Wasted and Holidays in the sun. Long may it continue.
What can we look forward to from your set?
What is going to be really exciting for the people attending the UK Subs gig at Rebellion this year is that we will be playing all the songs from the Another Kind Of Blues album. It’s obviously a very important album as it was the start of the Subs. As a fan, and a member, it is one of my all time favourite albums, in fact it’s one of my all time favourite albums in my entire record collection. I wouldn’t be able to guess what everyone’s favourite album is from the Subs but I would guess that everyone who loves the Subs absolutely loves the Another Kind Of Blues album. Playing Rebellion is one of the highlights of the year for the Subs as people obviously travel from all around the world to it, so it an absolute pleasure to play to them. We love it.
What makes the Rebellion Festival special for you?
Rebellion is so special for me for so many reasons. Firstly it brings so many good bands together for one weekend. It also brings so many people from different countries together which doesn’t happen every day. When anyone asks me about it who is thinking of going for the first time I normally tell them how different it is from other festivals. The fact that it has a cinema, a stage for spoken words, an interview stage, a art exhibition with arts and crafts for sale and much more. For example, I remember many years ago, my ears being bombed out with a full weekend of fast, hard loud punk rock which was great, and then half accidentally wandering into one of the many venues and having my ears blessed with the sound of Pauline Black from The Selector. It was such a contrast and brilliant to have such a wide choice of music to experience and explore. Over the years I’ve obviously been like the many punters and watched most of the big headliner bands but over the years been blown away by some of the smaller bands. It’s been great to see them grow and end up also playing some of the larger stages.
Will you have the chance to catch anyone else whilst you’re there and is there anyone else on the bill you’d recommend people go and see?
While at Rebellion I always like to watch many of the bands playing. Unfortunately this year I’m only there Friday and Saturday. On Friday ,I’m hoping to see The Stranglers, Ruts DC, TV Smith And The Bored Teenagers and Johnny Moped. On the Saturday I’m hoping to see Guida, 999, The Outcasts, Alvin Gibbs and the Disobedient Servants and Walter Lure’s LAMF. Last year on the introducing stage I saw a great band from Japan called Vibrate Two Fingers. They are playing one of the main stages this year so I would recommend you all seeing them. Unfortunately I won’t see them on that stage as I am not there that day however I have been told they are playing an aftershow party at a pub on the Friday so I will definitely be there.
If you could pick one band to appear at the Rebellion Festival who would it be?
If I ever had a chance of putting some bands forward to Rebellion I would definitely put forward a great band from Baltimore, USA called The Ravagers. They supported the UK subs in Baltimore a couple of years ago. I was well impressed with them. Young and full of attitude . Also great players with great songs. I get to see some good bands being in the Subs but these took it to another level. I remember sitting on a bar stool with my back to them while ordering a drink in a really small bar. I thought they were just about to do a soundcheck. They instantly got my attention and off my stool. I was hooked. They got me and I became a fan. I’ve since bought a lot of stuff from them like records and t shirts. I would also like to see the Generators play again. If there was any kind of Justice in punk rock the Generators would be much further up the ladder and playing big stages and getting good money like other bands that are half as good as them. They put some serious work in and deliver the goods. If it was possible I would love to see District get back together to play Rebellion. Their album has been played in my house more than Never Mind The Bollocks and that’s saying something.
Do you have a favourite memory from a previous Rebellion Festival?
To answer the question about having a favourite memory from a previous Rebellion. That is really difficult to answer as I always enjoy myself and have lots of great memories. If I would choose one it would be seeing Slaughter And The Dogs in 1996 when they got back together and played Holidays In The Sun as it was known then
Are you currently on tour if so where else are you playing this year?
The Subs have had a little bit time off from touring but Alvin and Jamie took advantage of that and toured with Alvin’s band (Alvin Gibbs And The Disobedient Servants). Charlie has also been doing some acoustic gigs. After Rebellion we have a few festivals in countries like CZ Republic, Germany, Madrid, Barcelona then in October we play some gigs in Hong Kong and somewhere else but I can’t mention that till it’s been announced. In November we start the UK tour which takes us up to around the 8th December. Shortly after that we start the 4 week European tour.
What can we look forward to from you in the next twelve months?
I’m hoping to be recording some new Hi Fi Spitfires material soon and to get them back on the runway. That would be cool to do that.
Do you have any festival survival tips?
Off the top of my head I only have a gig survival tip. It’s not really needed for me while playing gigs with the subs because the sleeping accommodations are good but when I bounce back to smaller bands like Hi Fi Spitfires this one is always useful as beforehand I learned the hard way. Many years ago I was in a band called Holy Racket. We played a gig in a venue in a place called Torgau . It was an old prison. The venue is close to a bridge that has some very historical value. It’s where the Russians and Americans met for I believe the first time during ww2. Anyway, the venue probably hadn’t been touched since ww2. No toilets, no nothing. We found ourselves sleeping in this downstairs room. It was like a store cupboard with just any old shit chucked in. There was nowhere to actually lie down so we kind of just lounged about on things like tables or benches. I managed to fall asleep but woke suddenly with something in my mouth. I couldn’t stop coughing and couldn’t see what was in my mouth as it was so dark. It could have been a spider or beetle or moth or maybe a small mouse. It was horrible. I told my Mrs when I got back home about what had happened and asked if there was anything I could do in the future to prevent this happening. She suggested cutting the thigh piece from a pair of women’s stockings and putting them over my head when sleeping in barns, broom cupboards, sheds and shitholes. You don’t have to look like a bank robber from the Sweeney as you just need enough to cover you mouth and nose. Believe me, it works. That’s my favourite tour tip.
Is there anything else in Blackpool you’d recommend people experience whilst they’re in the town?
Places to recommend at Blackpool other than the Rebellion festival. There’s so many to mention but if I had to recommend one it would be Blind Billy’s tattoo shop next to the Stagger Inn public house. He does a very good but very grim reaper.
Finally when and where are you appearing?
The UK subs will be onstage at 9.30pm in the empress ballroom on Friday 2nd August.
Thanks for taking the time to speak to us, we’ll see you down the front
