Duncan Reid - Intervju

Här kommer en intervju med Duncan Reid (Ex The Boys) om då och nu med anledningen att han har släppt ett soloalbum. 

First, please introduce yourself to the people reading this. What's your musical background?

How far do you want to go back? I found an old bass guitar in my father's cupboard when I was at school which he was trying to keep out of sight. He'd been playing in blues groups around clubs in London when the Stones were doing the same thing. He didn't have the same success at it! ;)

I taught myself to play the bass which came in handy when I met the rest of The Boys and joined them in 1976. The Boys were one of the first wave of punk bands to come out of London in 76/77 and I was with them until just over a year ago as bass player and one of the lead singers. I left to make my own record and follow my own path which I've been doing with the release of my album Little Big Head and gigs with my new band The Big Heads.

As you were present when the whole punk thing started, do you want to share your thoughts about punk in general with us? The often called second wave of punk was at it's peak when The Boys stopped playing 1981. What did you think about the second wave of punk in the UK back then?

Back in 76/77 punk was a very tiny and original band of people who reacted to dinasoar groups at the time by picking up guitars and playing short, fast songs with short hair. It was shocking and was meant to be. It was such an exciting teenage rebellion that it exploded in England and was suddenly all over the country although quite difficult to get people to pick up on in Europe and the States. For me, it burnt out in 1980 and I lost touch. I didn't follow punk until I came across it again much later on when The Boys reformed in the late 90's. At that time it seemed it had settled on being more of a standard look and less about originality although it was still great fun and a good antidote to all the musical rubbish going on all around.

 

When The Boys reformed in 1999, you played with them for a couple of years and then quit, why was that?

Well actually I was with that The Boys after we reformed for another 13 or 14 years until late 2011 and there you have one of the reasons. No job should be for life, should it? There were many, many reasons why I parted company with the band, some personal and some musical. I think my leaving upset a lot of people. I can only apologise for that and the fact that I'm so happy doing what I'm doing now, promoting my record and playing gigs with a great bunch of people. I can say though that my new career is also making a lot of people very happy and, so I'm told, carries on the spirit of The Boys, so that's good.

With The Boys, you didn't write that many songs if I'm not mistaking. What songs did you write and how did you get the idea of start writing now and release a solo album?

There were some b sides and a couple of tracks on Alternative Chartbusters and To Hell With The Boys but you are right. I was a late developer when it comes to songwriting. It's something that I suddenly found easy and enjoyable to do when I got older. I think I needed to live a little to get the alchemy that's required for songwriting.

My main contribution to The Boys, apart from singing and playing bass, was Live where I was the one in the middle, bouncing away bringing a lot of energy, generally being the front man. I think that's why people say my new shows have a Boys spirit because that energy is still there.

How would you describe your new music? Is it something for old fans of The Boys or is it a whole new thing? Maybe something in between? What was your inspiration when you were writing the songs for your own album?

I write what comes out and that reflects my favourite music which I believe is pop punk! For me that was typified by The Ramones, Buzzcocks and, of course, The Boys. So, yes, I'm sure Little Big Head is an album which Boys fans will love because so many of them have told me they do already. Lyrically many of the songs reflect my life and episodes from it. There's even one song which tries to tell my whole life story!

You've released one album so far, Little Big Head. Who was playing with you on that album?

I played nearly everything. My friend Vom Ritchie from the German band Die Toten Hosen played drums and there are guest appearances from Nigel Banks who plays some lovely pedal steel type guitar and James Stevenson from Chelsea/Generation X/Gene Loves Jezebel.

A huge contributor was Tony Barber who produced the album in his shed. Tony has played with everyone including Kurt Cobain and The Buzzcocks.

Is the album released as a Cd or Lp? Where can people from Sweden buy it?

It's out on cd so far. It's just been released in the whole of Scandanavia on Sound Pollution which is very exciting so hopefully it will be in all the good shops as well as digital sites.

What's the plan for this project? Are you going to record some more or are you focused on playing live?

Both. We've got a whole program of gigs for the year, hopefully adding some Swedish gigs soon. I've written about 13 songs so far for the next album and we are starting recordings at the end of the month. A new record won't be ready till next year though.

Do you consider yourself a part of the punk scene still? Do you know of any good punk rock bands that's playing today (except from The Boys)?

Yes, I consider myself part of the punk scene. A large part of the punk scene will consider me too poppy but its a broad church and there's room for all sorts there. Vom Ritchie's band Cryssis are worth checking out. 

För den som blev nyfiken på Duncan Reids nya grejer, kolla in bloggen här och youtube här.