Interview mit Consumed (November 2017)

Hey guys, I hope you’re doing great. First of all I have to say how good it is to have CONSUMED back. What have you been up to during the last decade?

Will: Hi there. We haven’t been up to anything hugely exciting – working, having children, moving house – all the normal stuff.

Steve’s t-shirt printing business seems to have really taken off so that has kept him busy.

Musically, Wes has definitely been the most active. He has played in a whole load of bands in the last ten years or so – ONE CAR PILE-UP, MILLOY, BILLY NO MATES with Duncan from SNUFF…

Many punk rock bands that were (more or less) popular in the late 90’s are currently getting back together. What were the main reasons for reuniting CONSUMED?

Will: We have friends in a band called VANILLA POD who were organising a festival to celebrate 20 years of them being a band. They asked us to get together to play that and we agreed.

To be honest, the idea had floated around for a little while before that, but Steve wasn’t keen. „Podstock“ gave us an excuse to bend his arm a little more and he agreed on the agreement that we would keep it as low stress. One gig turned into two and here we are over two years later.

In your opinion, in what way has the punk scene changed during your hiatus?

Will: I’m not sure you are asking the right person I’m afraid…

Although one thing I have noticed is there seem to be loads of talented young bands who have grown up on bands like STRUNG OUT and PROPAGANDHI, playing super technical punk/metal stuff – bands we have played with like DARKO, ALMEIDA, PMX. All insanely talented musicians.

One thing that has changed for sure is the international political climate. What’s your opinion in regards of strenghtend nationalistic tendencies all over Europe and the US and especially the whole „Brexit“ topic?

Will: This is a difficult one to answer in a band interview as we aren’t a band that has a political position that is shared between all four members or put forward on our records.

That said if you were asking me personally I’d say that I’ve found the last few years to be the scariest I can think of. I am in no way a nationalist and the whole Brexit thing has made me question a lot of what I thought it meant to be British.

I guess a lot of it is down to people who have felt left behind and marginalised and are looking for a change big enough to shake things up. I sympathise with those feelings but I’m saddened by how they have been monopolised by the xenophobes and bigots for political gain.

I don’t think it will last though and I’ve definitely felt a renewed sense of political engagement and activism in the UK, that‘s heartening and stops me from chucking my toaster into my bath.

You recently went on a weekend „world tour“ visiting Germany and Austria. What were your expectations – and how have the audience’s reactions been?

Will: When we got back together we agreed that we would only do gigs that looked like they would be good fun so we were hoping that a weekend in Germany and Austria with our friends would be just that.

All three gigs were great, it‘s the second time we have been to Linz in recent years and the people there are ace. Trier was cool. Joe McMahon played with us and he was fucking brilliant. Düsseldorf was beautiful and a really fun gig. It felt like we were playing to people who really wanted to see us and we don’t take that for granted.

Was it really the first time for you being back in Germany since the ’99 „Fat Package Tour“?

Will: I think so!

Your first EP „Breakfast at Pappa’s“ and your debut full-length „Hit for Six“ were released via Fat Wreck. How came the cooperation with Fat and what were the reasons for releasing the sophomore record „Pistols at Dawn“ via Golf Records?

Will: „Breakfast at Pappa’s“ was originally going to be self released, but a copy found its way to Fat Mike via the chaps in SNUFF. He liked it and called Steve out of the blue to ask if they could release it.

When it came to releasing „Pistols at Dawn“ we recorded a live demo with Andy Sneap and sent it over to Fat. They said they didn’t like it so we had to have a look around to see who else might be interested.

At the time Golf Records had just released SNUFF’s newest album in the UK and they were working with a load of other bands. They were keen to help us put it out and so they paid for the recording and released it.

I think there are three songs that changed from the demo to the final record, we have been talking about maybe trying to release the demo so watch this space.

In 2018 you will actually release a new EP! What can we expect from the new material – and under which label will it be made available?

Will: We have six songs that are all being recorded with Andy again. I think they are fucking great and I’m really looking forward to hearing what other people think of them. Not sure which label yet though, we will probably get it all done and dusted and then send it round and see who wants to release it.

Since I’m torturing the old PS1 every now and then: How did „Heavy Metal Winner“ end up in the video game classic „Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2“?

Will: That was one of the perks of being on Fat. I think Tony Hawk said: „I like that band from Nottingham, I’d like to get rad and gnarly with them sometime.“ His people spoke to our people, our people spoke back to his people and the deal was done. Fucking cool thing to be a part of though.

Do you have further plans (maybe another full-length record or an extended tour) or are you – besides daytime jobs and family lifes – just waiting what the near future will bring for CONSUMED?

Will: There is talk of a small tour of Japan but other than that we will probably continue to play gigs when they look like a good laugh. Maybe we will get a bit busier when the EP comes out and hopefully we will have a few more weekends in Europe. Hopefully the EP will be out early next year and then we will take it from there.

Besides preparing the release of the new EP, what comes next for CONSUMED?

Will: Gigs in Canturbury and London before the New Year, then a gig in Liverpool just after it. We have talked about doing an EP of cover versions but that might amount to nothing. I hope not though.

Any last words you’d like to share?

Will: Thanks for taking an interest in the band! Sorry for being so dull!! Hope to see you again soon!!!

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