More Punk Than You Zine:Hello, can you tell me a little about Goldblade?

John Robb - Lead vocals/Guitar:Goldblade are a British punk rock band specialising in punk rock hooligan blues, we tear it up live, we hit the stage running and try and get the venue into meltdown. We have released four albums, and the latest 'Rebel Songs' has sold really well, its our best selling album so far. We have supported The Damned, Rancid, The Stranglers, Stiff Little Fingers and The Offspring and headlined all over the world; we believe in punk rock...it's about great songs with sing-along choruses, playing wild gigs and treating people with respect.
Peter Brychmore - Guitar/Vocals:Goldblade is a five-piece Punk Rock band from the North of England.
Initially formed in about 1994 the band had a line-up shake up about 2000/2001 and have slowly but surely built up a sizeable British, European,and American fan-base. Much of the band's success is down to great stage shows and hugely memorable tunes, as well matinee idol good looks, (assuming your matinee idols are all villains).
Brother Johny Skullknuckles - Guitar & Backing vocals:Goldbade are the elder statesmen of Manchester Punk Rock, flying the flag for all that is great about punk and rock'n'roll - Leaping like young gazelles, their stage shows are now legendary for their energy and sheer entertainment. They are = "The Middle Aged Busted"
Rob Haynes – Drums and backing vocals:We’ve been going for about 13 years – there’s five of us, although we like to get as many people from the crowd as possible on stage with us when we play. We play punk rock that is about unity, energy and a sense of enjoyment.

If i'm not mistaking, you have 4 albums. The latest one is "Rebel Songs" can you tell me anything about it?

J.Robb:'Rebel Songs' is our punk rock statement for 2006, punk rock is about rebel songs, its about saying no, the songs are about the state of the punk rock nation in the new century, its anti war and pro people, its about the world, its about everything and it has killer tunes, we want songs that people can sing along to, we want songs that get the moshpit going, we want songs that make everyone get up onstage...we are that sort of band!
R.Haynes:Yes, we’ve released four studio albums, and Rebel Songs is the closest thing we have recorded so far to how we want to sound – each record has been faster and louder than the one before it. We’re writing the new album at the moment and hopefully that will be louder and faster than Rebel Songs.
Johny Skullknuckles:It is Goldblades most consistent and best album so far and goes further then previous records to represent some of the power and excitement of Goldblades live sound.
P.Brychmore-'Rebel Songs' is about two years old now and is the most cohesive set of songs yet, both musically and lyrically. I'm very proud of it.

After this album, do you have any future plans?

J.Robb:We have written loads of new songs, some which we are playing live already and some which are just about ready to go, we are really excited about the new batch of tunes, we cant wait top record them, they should be out next summer, new songs like 'Mutiny!', 'Jukebox' Generation'' 'Where Have All The Punk Rockers Gone', 'Outer Space Girl' are anthems, we would love to come to Rumania to play them for you...and hang out with you guys!
R.Haynes:Gold Blade’s plan is always to keep touring.
Johny Skullknuckles:Currently we are writing new material for the next album for release in the first quarter of 2007, this will be back with a tour of as many continents as we can reasonably get to.
P.Brychmore:Yeh, we're in the process of writing the next one which may be out next Autumn. It's sounding great already. We're also gonna tour as relentlessly as possible - UK, Europe, US etc etc We hate being idle and live to perform.

So how is the UK punk scene today? considering that it's where it all started from?

J.Robb:The scene is at its best for years and years; we are in the middle of the third wave of British punk, the second wave was 25 years ago with the UK Subs etc, now its the third wave with bands like us, Argy Bargy, Deadline, Strawberry Blondes, Outl4w, The Rejects...its about big punk festivals, a real sense of camaraderie, the youth are into punk rock big style, things are really happening over here!
R.Haynes:The UK scene is very healthy. It doesn’t get much attention in the press because it isn’t fashionable, but there are hundreds of punk bands, and lots of them are really young, so the scene will be there for years to come. As well as all the classic bands, who are mostly still active and still putting out great records, check out Drongos for Europe , Holy Racket, Crashed Out, Outlaw, Hacksaw, Deadline, Middle Finger Salute, and so many others…
Johny Skullknuckles:Punk music is alive and well in the UK with a plethora of great bands both old and new playing some very exciting music - the socio-political climate is quite different in the UK from when punk started so environment from which punk was born no longer exists but the music is as strong and vital as it ever was.
P.Brychmore:It's there, it thrives and it's nearly all underground. The British (London based) press think it's a bit of a sad embarrassment and ignore it completely except for endless pieces about The Clash, great band but anyone would think it's the only Brit punk band. Bands still organise themselves, the gigs thrive and the original Punks now bring their kids so we have a totally new generation of fans, which is brilliant.

You've been around since 1994. You've been on lots of tours but where did you like it best?

J.Robb:It was great playing in Russia, we played in huge stadiums and the audiences were wild, massive and crazy, but to tell you the truth its great playing everywhere, to be on stage is so fucking exciting, the music gives you such an adrenaline rush, and we have met so many great people all over the world from America to the UK to Europe, its all amazing...
R.Haynes:Anywhere where the crowd want to go wild, because a good crowd means a good concert. Russia is always incredible, Macedonia was amazing when we played back in the 90s, a lot of the British punk crowds can be pretty crazy.
Johny Skullknuckles:Personally the most fun for me has been in Russia and America, they are both great places to tour for very different reasons, but I have to say that the last few UK tours we have done have been immense fun for all sorts of reasons.
P.Brychmore:I love Russia, I'd live there if I could. I haven't been anywhere which I don't like in some way or other, possibly with the exception of Burnley and that was the promoter's fault!

Please tell me what bands you usually listen to or your top five favourite bands.

J.Robb:
1. Rancid
2. The Stranglers
3. Clash
4. Stooges
5. Buzzcocks
R.Haynes:There are so many fantastic bands out there that my favourite changes from week to week. My favourite band of all time are The Stranglers, but lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Clutch, Opeth, Killing Joke and Magma. Ask me again in a month and the answer will be different.
Johny Skullknuckles:That's a tough question - which of my 15 children do I love the best? Mmm - Well, Early David Bowie is always a winner with Hunky Dory being the peak of my love for Bowie. Hanoi Rocks (Finnish / Swedish glam punks) are definitely in my top 5 favourite bands. Slobberbone (Alt country) were a fantastic band that sang tragic songs of love, heartache, death and dysfunction. Rush (Canadian Heavy Prog Rockers) were for a long time my all time favourite band from the 3rd album through to Signals - Great! and probably LA Guns (US 80's dirty glam rock), the first three albums are just great, after that, well, they went off the boil.
P.Brychmore:My favourite band ever is The Saints but I have eclectic tastes- The Raspberries, Roy Wood,
Beefheart, Stackridge, Kevin Coyne, Rancid blah blah blah

What band did you listen to last?

J.Robb:This afternoon it was Rammstein
R.Haynes:The last band I saw live was Opeth. The last music I listened to at home was The Damned.
Johny Skullknuckles:The Riverboat Gamblers, then The GC5
P.Brychmore:Just been playing The Drones excellent album Further Temptations - (Manchester punk legends not the Australian band with the same name)

Besides GoldBlade, do any of you have any side projects?

J.Robb:I've not got enough time, since we are on the road all the time, got loads of musical ideas though, they are always bubbling up, the last side project I did was singing vocals for The Masons, the new punk supergroup put together by Steve Whale from The Business and produced by Lars from Rancid...Lars was brilliant to work with - that guy is buzzing all the time, The Masons album is out next year... I also wrote a book about punk rock - 'Punk Rock- An Oral History' which interviewed everybody from the 1977 punk explosion, its done really well. Fuck; it took a lot of work!
R.Haynes:Yes, I play in a band called There’ll Always Be Diseases (TAB-D). We don’t play live very often as I’m usually busy with Gold Blade, but we have recorded an album’s worth of material and we may tour in 2007. To hear some of our songs go to www.myspace.com/tabde
Johny Skullknuckles:This year I have played guitar in Texas Terri Bomb in the Uk with my good friends Zat and Kev from a great UK band Holy Racket - Texas Terri is cool, she ROCKS!! - Those shows were a whole world of fun and right in the middle of some very strange times for me - Good fun. I am also in the writing stages of a project for 2007 working with Danny McCormack from the Wildhearts / Yoyo's - this will be an interesting record which we hopefully will be touring with as well in 2007.
P.Brychmore:I front my own band GORGEOUS who have a coule of albums out and I sometimes play guitar for UK SUBS. I spent an eternity playing in THE NIGHTINGALES but packed them in this year- amicably -and I suspect not for the last time.

Have you ever heard of Romania? Do you know anything about it?

J.Robb:I'm into my history/geography etc so I know a lot about Romania, I'm fascinated by the place...apparently its a remnant of the Roman Empire, the language is some sort of Latin surrounded by Slavic countries, the original Dracula was a Romanian king called Vlad The Impaler who impaled his enemies; I remember watching Ceascescu get overthrown on TV in 1990 and the country also produces some great footballers...it's also got a building with the longest corridor in the world...it's also got the 7th largest population in the EU, and next year Rumanians will be able to come and work in the UK which some people over here moan about but I'm looking forward to it, its great to have loads of different people here, at the punk gigs there are already loads of Polish people turning up - so I'm looking forward to seeing a few Rumanian faces in the crowd as well.
R.Haynes:Yes, I’ve certainly heard of Romania, but your country gets very little news coverage in England – our media are more bothered about America and Iraq and tell us very little about eastern Europe. But I know about your famous Olympic gymnasts, your mountains, forests, and bears, your football team and Hagi, and your famous villains, like Ceausescu and of course Dracula!
Johny Skullknuckles:Romania is in Southeastern Europe.It borders Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south. Romania has a stretch of sea coast along the Black Sea, and the eastern and southern Carpathian mountains run through its centre.
Historic Bucharest is the country's capital and largest city. Romania has been an active member of NATO since 2004, and is also an acceding country to the European Union. The EU Accession Treaty was signed in early 2005, and Romania is due to join the European Union on January 1, 2007. Starting on January 1, 2007, Romania will have the seventh largest population and the ninth largest territory in the EU.
P.Brychmore:Yeh course! Bucharest is the capitol, Ceaucescau was your despot leader in the 80's, and I understand there's a lot of poverty there. I've also got recordings of Romanian folk music-it's fuckin mental!! Hora Batuta - now there's a tune!!

Thanks for the interview. We hope we can someday see you in Romania. Anything to add?

J.Robb:We would love to come and play Rumania...It loks like a fascinating country, we want to hear your bands as well...visit our websites...
R.Haynes:We would love to play Romania . If anyone wants to contact us about playing or if you just want to talk, you can reach us on www.goldblade.com or www.myspace.com/goldblade
Johny Skullknuckles:You should never hide your Rock'n'Roll Pride"
P.Brychmore:Love to come to Romania, Hi to all the Romanian Punks, Keep the faith brothers and sisters!!

thanks to Goldblade and Phil Newall

Interview by:Mircea