Too Old To Punk?

In this episode we sit down with Bry, multi-instrumentalist, gig organiser, record label enthusiast and one of those people who seems to have spent most of his life making things happen in the DIY punk scene.  Growing up in Brigg, discovering punk and skateboarding through Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Keith Flint, Bry takes us back to his early days making a racket upstairs while his mum was trying to watch Coronation Street. We talk about starting bands at 14, his ace mum driving him and his mates to gigs, and the musical journey that eventually took him from small-town punk shows to touring the world.

From Cop Out and Dry Heaves to Rat Cage, where he writes and records every instrument himself, Bry's enthusiasm for making music has never waned. But it's his experiences touring Europe's squats and social centres that helped shape his understanding of what DIY could be, eventually inspiring him and his friends to establish the Lughole in Sheffield. We discuss the collective effort behind creating and sustaining independent spaces, putting on gigs, and building a community around music. Now a dad and working as an electrician, Bry remains as committed as ever, helping organise the brilliant Noise Annoys Fest at the new Lughole. And if dislocating his collarbone while dancing to Larma in Stockholm is anything to go by, his enthusiasm shows no signs of slowing down!

Bry's story is a reminder that "DIY or DIE " is more than an overused slogan,  and about more than playing in bands. It's about friendship, collective action, and making things happen rather than waiting for someone else to do it.

Loads a links (and lincs)..and don't forget the latest ratcage album is out on La Vida Es Un Mus Discos

(photo of Bry by Christina Inferno)

https://www.lughole.org

https://ratcage.bandcamp.com

https://sievehead.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-blue

https://heavysentence.bandcamp.com

https://straybullethc.bandcamp.com

https://youtu.be/pG58AymfD6E?is=j6V-LsJW-IqzratH

https://skiplickers.bandcamp.com/album/mindfucked-ep

In a world where punk sometimes feels like an endless production line of manufactured rage, with bands simply going through the motions, there are still voices that cut through the noise. Voices with a texture and presence that transcend language, grabbing hold of even those of us who don't understand a word of Finnish. Helena is one of those voices. She has what a certain clever French bloke once called the grain of the voice.

Intelligent, humble, idiosyncratic and fiercely enthusiastic, Helena takes us through a life shaped by music, from growing up in small Finnish towns and learning the violin through fear and discipline at music school, to discovering punk and searching for a place within the scene. We talk about struggling to find bands that would accept her, the two punk girls at high school who took her under their wing, and eventually finding her feet in the Finnish hardcore underground. Having played in bands including Kylmä Sota and Selfish, Helena tells us about taking matters into her own hands in 2012, deciding to try singing and forming Kohti Tuhoa with guitarist Ville. We discuss the importance of friendship and trust within a band, the remarkable fact that Kohti Tuhoa have maintained the same line-up since the beginning, and the determination to keep pushing their music forward rather than simply repeating themselves. With a fourth album on the way, that creative restlessness is clearly still alive.

We also explore the less glamorous but equally important realities of playing in bands: being organised, making things happen, balancing touring and creativity with parenthood, and finding ways to keep music an essential part of life as circumstances change. And, as if she wasn't busy enough, Helena has now taken up the drums in black metal band Frigid Winter! From the young outsider searching for a place in the scene to the vocalist who went on to create one of Finnish hardcore's most distinctive bands, Helena's story is one of perseverance, friendship and doing things on your own terms. Helena talks about making space for new, young and upcoming bands on the  Helsinki punk scene, even English pop singer and former glamour model  Sam Fox gets a mention.

Bands:

Transkaakko (Violin)
Khatarina (bass)
Kylmä sota (bass)
Stumm (bass)
Palace Beautiful (guitar)
Selfish (bass)
Kohti Tuhoa (vocals)
Frigid Winter (drums)

This is first episode we recorded, so it's more of chat between old mates, really setting the tone for the whole d.i.y unprofessional project. Although he was originally meant to be our first 'guest', it's somehow fitting that Gareth "Gaz" Smith closes the season. Musician, writer, coffee drinker, devotee of fika, picker of wild blueberries, and lifelong participant in heavy music, Gaz reflects on a life shaped by class, love of heavy music, becoming a dad, and punk rock.
From growing up in the working-class steel town of Corby to playing in bands including Raging Speedhorn, Victims, Diagnosis? Bastard! and Alarm!, we talk about discovering heavy music through bands like Iron Monkey, finding politics through punk, touring, writing, moving to Sweden, and the experiences that took him from major labels and tour buses back to the DIY underground. Having experienced both worlds, Gaz explains why he ultimately chose community over industry, and why the DIY ethos continues to shape the way he lives, creates and relates to others.

Thoughtful, self-deprecating and full of stories, Gaz reminds us that punk isn't something you grow out of: it's something that grows with you.  

Watch out for next season starting sometime in september!!

ALARM!:

https://alarmhardcore.bandcamp.com/

Victims:

https://victims.bandcamp.com/

Diagnosis? Bastard!:

https://diagnosisbastard.bandcamp.com/

Nubenegra:

https://wearenubenegra.bandcamp.com/

A\\VOID:

https://avoid2.bandcamp.com/

Raging Speedhorn:

https://ragingspeedhorn.bandcamp.com/music/

Battle of Santiago:

https://battleofsantiago1.bandcamp.com/album/a-lamp-of-hope/

This episode features our good friend Darren "Tadpole" Bourne. For more than three decades, Darren has been one of the quiet forces behind the Brihton/UK DIY punk and hardcore scene,through Tadpole Records, Tadpole Fanzine, the Just One Life Collective, Rigsby Zine, and countless gigs where he's usually found at the front with a camera rather than on the stage.

We talk about growing up working class on the south coast, discovering heavy metal through the back of an older kid's denim jacket, skateboarding as an escape, and finding a home in hardcore through its politics, friendships and sense of community. Darren reflects on singing in Ättestor, running a DIY record label, becoming a father, and why he ultimately realised he enjoyed supporting bands more than being in one himself.

At a time when so many people look backwards, Darren remains driven by curiosity. He's still discovering new bands, filming gigs, sharing music, and championing the next generation with the same enthusiasm he had as a teenager. Humble, generous and completely unpretentious, Darren is one of the unspoken heroes who remind us that punk has always been about far more than music, it's about community, commitment and showing up for the people around you.

 

Ättestor 
https://youtu.be/t9RiGlZOmzM?is=e_8BiuwrctamTy6K/

 

System Defector 
https://youtu.be/INo2swO4yL8?is=tgu-8yjvS9YA_nW2/

 

Unslug
https://youtu.be/iGxUB_GfBSo?is=SQZH-CdXzuVUhtJ4

Tadpole Records Bandcamp

https://tadpolerecords.bandcamp.com/music/

 

Tadpole Records YouTube 

https://youtube.com/@tadpolerecords?si=HtuK1VuU-8fl2771/ 

 

Tadpole Records 

https://tadpolerecords.blogspot.com/2012/04/tadpole-records.html?m=1/

Born in Venezuela and raised in Chile, Eva LeBlanc is the frontwoman of the hardcore punk band Traidora, as well as a multidisciplinary artist, musician and writer based in the UK. Eva's upbringing was a restless one, and she started her first band as a young teenager. After a life-changing visit to the legendary Dial House, she knew she had found a home—both in a new country and within punk.

In this episode, Eva discusses her pathway into punk and how its intensity, its rage, joy and uncompromising spirit, has translated into a way of living, creating and resisting. Alongside Traidora, Eva has also collaborated with Eve Libertine of CRASS and continues to be an active presence in the UK's DIY punk scene.

 

https://traidorapunx.bandcamp.com/

 

https://www.lavidaesunmus.com/product/una-mujer-trans-sin-pais/

 

https://www.instagram.com/traidorapunk/

 

https://deadnamepunx.bandcamp.com/

 

https://www.instagram.com/disforiapunx/

 

https://www.instagram.com/lavidaesunmus/

 

https://calibansounds.bandcamp.com/