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The
SWELLBELLYS
come from Scotland.
They have numerous releases
on vinyl and CD, they
play fast hardcore with
punk and even some Oi
! influences. You'd
better check their releases
out before it's gone
!!
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1.
So how long are you guys playing
together now ? Did you annoy people
already with any previous bands
?
We have been together as a band since 1997. We all have played in other
bands before swellbellys. But the past is the past. ha ha.
2.
Why would someone's belly swell
? Are you forced to have a fish
& chips & beer diet or what
?? Or maybe I didn't get the name
correctly ?
In Scotland the term swellbellys was used as a piss take of thin people
in the early eighties, seemed like a good name for us fat bastards ha ha.
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3.
How is it to play Hardcore
/ Punk in England today
? Is this still as difficult
as it was before to
get at least gas money
& food at shows
?
The scene in the UK is crap compared to mainland Europe. People go and
see the big touring bands but shy away from the smaller bands. Not good .
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4.
On the other hand it seems that
there are a lot of labels and active
bands lately in the D.I.Y. scene.
How did you team up with labels
like Peter Bower and Intimidation
Rds ? Are you involved in one of
these ?
We have done numerous releases on both Peter Bower records and
Intimidation records. Both good DIY labels. Our next album will be on Peter Bower records. Both labels are run by punks who support the UK scene. It is a
pleasure working with them.
5.
Do you realize that with a 10"
record (on Peter Bower Rds) limited
and hand numbered to 666 copies,
you might have to play in Hell for
the whole eternity ? and for nuts,
cos the Devil is supposed to be
as generous as a banker. SO - if
you have to play for free down there,
what cover would you pick up ? Highway
to Hell by AC/.DC ? Hell
on Earth by Discharge ? All
Hell breaks loose by the Misfits
? Come on, don't let me trying to
be amusing, give us your major musical
influences !
Hell aint a bad place to be, AC/DC. ha ha.
We have very varried influences
ranging from reggae dub, punk obviously. metal hardcore. bands for us though
are Agnostic Front, GBH, Anticlockwise, Bacchus Temple Addicts, Black Flag ,
god there is just to many to mention.
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6.
We're used now to the
old english punk bands
reforming. Apart those
whose ¾ members
are already dead, we
could expect almost
everything. When that
comes to bands with
a stronger "political"
background, though,
is this the same ? What
do you think of big
names like DISCHARGE
or the DEAD KENNEDYS,
for example, comin back
? Who's sincere, who's
not ?
No comment ha ha. Anyone for karaoke ha ha.
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7.
Did you enjoy playing the HITS fest
and what were the good / bad points
to it ?
Yeah, hits was good to play.
Although we are against the cash side of the
festival. Too many has beens.
8.
Help me out with your discography.
A lot of your releases are in very
limited quantity. Are you guys into
collecting vinyl ? Is this a good
thing or an evil habit ? (Well if
you don't want your old collection
anymore I'm OK to help you getting
rid of it eheh)
Too many releases to remember. But we love doing small number releases.
Makes the whole thing more cult.
9.
Who's the Charles Bronson credited
on your 10" ?
Charlie is a man in the uk who has been in prison for 27 years. And been
kept in diabolical conditions and treated like an animal. He is now a friend
of the Swellbellys and we support the campaign to have him released from
prison now....
10.
Why is he in jail ? How did you catch up with him ?
Our singer needles read a book about Charlie Bronson and we wrote
a song about him. We were then approached to record a video of the song for
a Bronson video, which then got banned by the british government. Charlie
commited an armed robbery in the mid 70`s. He has struggled against the
prison system ever since he was jailed. you can check out his web site at
http://www.bronsonmania.com
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11.
The singer, Needles,
sports a lot of tattoos
(and I think he works
in a tattoo shop). So
what's his fave one
? is there any that
he regrets to have on
his body ? What's the
ugliest you ve seen
on somebody else (and
we all know that there
are LOTS of it :) ?
We love all our tattoos. And you are right, Needles is a tattoo artist.
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12.
How did you like touring France
? What places did you play ? Do
you think you'll be back soon ?
We love playing in France, we have played in Marseille, Toulouse,
Bordeaux. Our fave gigs on the last tour were Bordeaux and we did a show at Le Wagon in
St Brieuc. We set off on tour with Montpellier punks' ANTI CLOCKWISE from
october 10th untill november 10th. Playing shows in Scotland, England,
Ireland, France, Swiss, Italy. Hope to see you on the road somewhere !
Daz
McSwell.
SWELLBELLYS SITE :
http://www.swellbellys.net/
SWELLBELLYS DISCOGRAPHY :
Swellbellys
"Shut up and listen" CD
(Punk Rock Scotland 2001)
Swellbellys
"Self destruct" 7"
(Intimidation)
Swellbellys
/ Assert split 7" (Intimidation)
Swellbellys
/ Assailants split 7" (Initimidation)
Swellbellys
10" (Peter Bower)
Swellbellys
/ Freaks Union split 7" (Peter
Bower)
Swellbellys
"Never give up" pic disc
7"
"Taking Care of Business"
CD (Town Clock Rds)
Live @
Local, LP recorded in Bordeaux,
France (200 copies, Peter Bower
Rds)
SWELLBELLYS SINGLES
Stranded Records in Scotland have just released the Swellbellys 'Singles 2001-2005' collection on a handy CD. Which is available via
www.myspace.com/thesquarepeg
www.strandedrecords-scotland.co.uk
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