For folks who read CVLT Nation, I don’t think there is much need for an introduction to Antisect. But briefly they, as we all know had their roots in anarcho-punk squatter scene, then evolved into a heavy eerie mid-tempo dirge. Always keeping the dark political overtones.
In the eighties there were many punks who used to hitchhike around the UK and follow Antisect from gig to gig. Much like others did for Crass or New Model Army, thus giving them a cult like status. The chant of the lyrics “War is oblivion and the ghost of mankind” might be a frightening echo from the past. But it still reigns true as we still live with wars, propaganda, surveillance and repressive governments. Unlike other acts who reform they have not toned down or are not just going through the motions. They are still as relevant and as powerful as ever.
So I suppose the oblivious question why/how did you decide to get back together after 24 years and how is it going so far, hopefully positive? How have the
gigs gone so far?
Why? Various members had been asked over and over again down through the years, but the circumstances were never right. People had life situations that simply weren’t compatible with being in the band and all that it entails. Some of us have families now and it was just not feasible to disappear on tour for weeks on end. It’s still not something that we envisage doing, to be honest. From late 2010 we had a series of communication from Timmy Hefner (chaos in Tejas) asking us if we would consider reforming to play the festival, and though we were pretty reluctant for quite a while, we eventually decided to meet up early last year, basically to see how we got along and to find out what chemistry might be there between us. Tim and Laurence had not been in the band at the same time that Pete had, for instance, and Laurence and Pete had never actually met before.
We talked and drank and talked and drank and drank some more and talked some more and by 6.00am came to conclusion that yes, We had enough common ground between us to possibly do something that we would value. So we
drank some more and finally crashed out as the sun rose over a spring Northampton morning. There were plenty differences of opinion that night. Plenty occasions where we decided to agree to disagree, but overall we came away feeling that there was enough in common to see where we might be able to take it. I’m not sure we actually discussed the music at any point, but we did decide to book ourselves into a studio to see what would come out.
A month or so later we found ourselves in a studio in Bedfordshire plugging in for the first time in how ever many years, and although it wasn’t the tightest we’ve
ever been, what came out was enough of a reminder of what we sound like to tick the box that made us decide to go for it. We didn’t make it for Chaos in Tejas
in the end. Too much to do and too little time to do it, but hopefully we’ll make up for it in 2012.
As soon as we announced we’d reformed, we began to get offers in from various places and the one that caught our attention above the others was Puntala-Rock. For those that don’t know, it’s a long running, totally DIY festival in the heart of Finland. The time-scale was just about doable and it seemed like exactly the right
type of place for us to start, so we said yes. Performance wise it was a bit rusty, but it turned out to be a genuinely great weekend. We met and spoke with a lot of people that had come from all over Europe and came away having had a really positive experience. We’ve done a few more since then, as you know, and so far,
as far as we’re aware, the response has been pretty positive. It’s still early days though and and this point there is still an element of feeling our way back in, but things are definitely starting to move in interesting directions. We have no idea where we might take it. No idea how long it might last, but we are pretty clear that we do still want to make a difference. It’s pretty much an open road right now.
I see at your gig in London the movie ‘Zeitgeist’ was played, do you think our world is truly fucked and has turned into George Orwell’s ‘1984’? You used to have TV’s on the stage showing animal abuse etc in the eighties didn’t you?
No. We don’t think our world is truly fucked. If we thought that, there would be no point to any of this. Central to any libertarian standpoint has to be the belief that people are basically good. Circumstances may influence us to behave in ways that we feel may offer the best chance of self preservation, and this may not
always be for the greater good, but we must understand the reasons why, before we can hope to find any clear solutions or possible ways forward.
It’s not 1984, but it is 2012 and things are a lot more subtle in this version. Modern technologies make the potential for control ever greater, but access to
technology also throws up possibilities for greater organisation for those with the will for change. The internet, for example, cannot be censored. Sure, ways will be found to restrict it’s use, but for the most part, it’s out there now and it will be nigh on impossible to turn back the clock. Unpredictable? Yes. A lot of unsavoury shit? Yes. But right now, this is an inevitability, as for the most part, all the good and the
bad that’s out there can only represent a mirror to our society with all that that entails. Access to communication though, is a valuable thing and cannot be
underestimated.
We used to show various films, etc. Not specifically only centred around animal abuse, though that was a part of it. Music and images when set together can have an uncanny knack of presenting something more than the sum of their parts, and this is definitely something that we will still explore.
What was it like going into studio to record after all these years recording the tour 10″. Are there any plans to record any new stuff at any point?
It was kinda strange on some levels. The fact that none of us ever really envisaged that it might happen again for one. In some ways it was an experiment to see what stuff might sound like without the restraints we had back then. Not wanting to produce a polished, clean version of what we’d previously recorded, but more wanting to redefine to ourselves what we actually sounded like in 2011 and see how some of the older material would translate, and we do think what’s been put down is a reasonable representation of what we sound like live.
New stuff? Well I can’t say we haven’t talked about it, but as we’ve probably said elsewhere, it’s still pretty early days with the whole thing and we are pretty much
making it up as we go along. Though if it feels right, we’ll do it.
There is a big difference between ‘ Out from the Void’ and ‘In Darkness There is No Choice’, is it awkward to divide them up in the live set? Are you playing any songs that would have been on unreleased “Welcome to the New Dark Ages’ ? Were you conscious of the style you were developing between both those records?
We don’t really think there actually is too much of a difference. Bear in mind that there’s something like 3 years between those recordings and the live set had
developed along those lines by then, so as it was, “Out From The Void” is a pretty accurate representation of where we were at the time. People say it leans more
towards a metallic style or whatever, but we’d been into that kinda thing for a fair while by that point. There were after all some pretty strong hints at it on “In
Darkness…”
It’s was interesting seeing what might work and what might not when we were putting the set for 2011/2012 together. Some stuff seems to sit quite easily together
and some not so, but we think we’ve found a pretty good way of marrying the material plus there are a couple of new bits and pieces added towards the second half of the set which might offer a hint of what may come. The most
important thing for us though is that we really enjoy playing it all.
I know Pete has been producing a lot of great punk stuff throughout the years from Coitus and many more. Are there any other members who still go to the odd DIY punk gigs or are still involved with music?
The intervening years have sent all of us off in some pretty diverse directions and it would probably be fair to say that at the point when we originally split, some
of us had simply had enough of what had gradually become a pretty insular and nihilistic scene to the extent that we simply wanted to put some distance between where we had been and where we were going. I found myself getting more and more involved with music production. First in live sound, then as a commercial studio engineer/producer. Laurence studied music and did some music/sound design for art installations and films. He has spent the last few years running an independent film company who’ve most recently produced the Andrew Logan
documentary “The British Guide To Showing Off”. We’ve pretty much all attended the odd thing here and there that’s interested us along the way.
Do you think the whole DIY underground punk scene effected your views on the world or jobs etc?
Bear in mind that we were in there from the very start, it all pretty much developed as we were going along. Our view has always been to be as independent as we can, so that whole ethic sits naturally with that. It has it’s
problems and shortcomings, but then everything has. It’s great for instance to play at collectively run spaces and for us it’s important that we support that culture,
though the downside is that it can be a little inward looking and insular. We do want to get out there in the big wide world and bring our ideas to people that perhaps haven’t been so much exposed to an alternative view, and to do that inevitably means stepping outside of diy venues. It’s a simple equation – If we want
to communicate our ideas to the world, then we must engage with the world and not simply the counter culture. Sure, it’s great to celebrate who we are, but surely if we want to build a greater momentum for change, it’s more beneficial in the long run to aim outside of the comfort zone.
There has been a lot of Antisect bootlegs throughout the years. Have many folks contacted you in the past about live releases, or is it mainly bootlegs. The recent Antisociety Records Antisect releases are all approved by the band aren’t they? What’s the most expensive Antisect merchandise you’ve seen?
Most of the stuff that we know of so far has been sanctioned one way or another by the band. Though, obviously, there was a long period where the band
wasn’t in existence, so inevitably one or two things have slipped through the net. the downside of live releases from back in the day are that, more often than not, the sound quality is so poor, often from 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation masters that they don’t really constitute something that we feel has a genuine value. Sure they document a time and a place, which itself might be important, but invariably we’d probably be hard pushed to say that we were entirely happy with anything that’s been put out there to date.
Merchandise is a strange situation. There do seem to be one or two people out there who seemingly have no qualms about generating income for themselves out of bands like ourselves and others and though we’ve been in touch with various manufacturers and sellers in the past few months, the response has been, shall we say, mixed. Obviously, the fact that until recently we haven’t had a point of contact, has muddied the waters a bit, but from now on at least, it really shouldn’t be beyond the means of most to track us down and at least have some dialogue
about it. Most expensive merchandise? To be honest, it’s not been something we’ve ever really kept track of, and though We accept that there are those out there who will exploit the wants of others in this sense, it’s not something we’re ever likely to have any great control over.
Had you any idea of the cult like following you have in the last 24 years. Even though in saying that, you had a really loyal following when gigging in the past too, as I’ve met a few different people who said they used to follow yous around the UK, when you were playing?
We’ve become more aware of it as time goes on. Though what appeals is the possibility of introducing new people into the fold. Although what we did back in
the day, was to an extent, of it’s time, there are huge elements that mean as much to us today as they ever did, and if today we can have anywhere near like kind of influence on the way one or two people might perceive things as we seemingly did back then, we’ll more than be happy.
Yourselves and Amebix were into the whole motorbike scene too, are any of you still into bikes?
Yep. Pete Lyons is very much still into bikes and can often be seen terrorizing the UK’s south east on a butchered up old Harley Superglide. Once you get into it,
it’s very difficult to get out of it. Tim though, has managed to get out of it (Pun definitely intended)
Is there anything you want to add about Antisect?
Let’s see what happens. Watch this space –
www.AntisectOfficial.com
New Comments