FUNGALPUNK INTERVIEWS

Mike of

Big Mo

 

1. Big Mo - a brief history please?

Gimpy Mike was our drummer Alexs' best friend and Alex was our singer Riks brother so they all new each other. Gimp was into metal and a few punk bands and Alex was into ska punk like Less Than Jake 'n' all that and Rik was into everything. I on the other hand was completely unknown to these guys and we met at this thing where they help you meet up with people into your sort of music and wanting to start a band. I wanted to start a ska punk band when I met these guys and we also had a second guitarist who liked stuff like the Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis 'n' that! 

The reason we started the band was because we all knew/watched a band called Clown Shoes a couple of times and they really inspired us to try and meet other people and get a band like that going. Weirdly enough when we saw this band play I didn't know them. To me I think that's really cool wanting to start a band coz you are inspired by someone else. Joe Strummer decided he wanted to be in a band one day after he saw the Pistols lol. Anyway look at our myspace at the early pics and then look at us now its so fuckin surreal how much we've changed musicwise from ska punk to being the band we are today and also in looks and thoughts (apart from Alex)

2. Describe your fellow band members in 5 slanderous words a piece?

Rik- size 17 feet bucket of arse (the number 17 isnt a word)
Gimp- Gimp gimp gimp gimp gimp (what more can I say)
Alex- evil mechanic bike crashing chav (lol)
Me- small as fuck fit bastard

3. Ovulating Eddie - the she man of Sunderland is currently making a film with Bolton Bum Boy Charles Vase about the life cycle of a door. Fascinating stuff and I found out that doors actually communicate via their hinges and that there is political unrest amongst revolving doors. Are you a door man and other than tit doorbells what other vulgar accessories could we add to a rectangle of entrance?

Yes I would consider myself a door man....The letter box could be like a fake vagina or something you know so whilst your locked outside and they're not letting you in...(ok a bit sick I know)
Also I think they should have like a boxing glove sealed in them so whilst someones stood at the door waiting the door beats the crap out of them (not vulgar but I like it especially considering the amount of cunts that come to my house).
I reckon when you put your hand on the door nob it senses it and all the shit and piss from the sewage drops on them. Anyway movin on...(I actually feel like a well sick bastard after the first idea errrrr)

4. Best Big Mo song - why and where was it born?

Hmmmm.....I like 'Rage' and that was born after listening to loads of Rage Against The Machine and we thought the chorus sounded like them and that's why we named it rage.

I also like some new one called 'Unite'. That is actually a song that is about 5-6 months old that we've put off for ages. It used to sound like the Exploited meets The Specials with loads of slow ska/raggae breakdowns. Now it just sounds like The Exploited. Shows how much we're kickin ska outta the band lol. Yeh I think nearly all our new stuff now is sounding a bit like The Exploited.

5. Tell us about your local punk scene - the gripes and joys therein - the good guys and the bandits?

I don't know many actual punks in Manchester but I know the bands and I go to watch them. The best bands in the manc punk are way good though, Clown Shoes, Kamikaze Sperm, Roughneck Riot, Mis-Hap, Roadkill, Section 47, The Rot, Stand Out Riot, 3CR and of course Sonic Boom Six! I love all of them bands and I also used to go see Social Explosion and Temporal Distortion when they were around coz I knew Matt (the old singer of Social Explosion). I know of the punks in Manchester 'the manc punks' and that and I know a couple of em' and a couple from Stockport but other then that I just tend to be myself. My mates aren't punk but they are punk in spirit lol. Basically we just drink alot and get wrecked and get chased by chavs and police...its what its all about rite? I wouldn't mind a few punk mates tho u know? Its just where I live its chavs and my mates and then there's me. I have to dress down a lot so I don't get my head kicked in - its shit.

6. Heroes and zeroes in life and music please?

Heroes....erm....My hero is probably Wattie (Exploited) he's a fuckin legend if me n Rik could meet him and have a drink on a park bench I think Rik would die and I'd get too excited and scare him off. I think he's the most true punk ever you can just tell he doesn't give a shit about anything.

Fave bands are like The Exploited, The Unseen, Rancid, Operation Ivy, The Casualties, The Suicide Machines, Choking Victim, The Virus, Sonic Boom Six that sorta stuff.

7. Frank Tree loves making plastic Arthur Scargill look-alikes and attaching them from the door handles of pie shops. He says its the only way to communicate with the dead. Is Mr Tree unhinged and would you kick Russel Grant in the testicles for 3 English pounds?

Yes Mr Tree is unhinged definitely as all pie shops are sacred in my eyes

I'd kick him in the testicles for free! I dont need to be paid for doing something fun like that although 3 quid would be nice.

8. Tell us about your CD collection - the good, the bad, the ugly and the embarrassing?

Oh dear lol. well I've got bare Rancid and Exploited and Unseen and the Virus albums. Also got quite a lot of old ska and ska punk and bands like Sublime and Bob Marley and that. I have a fuck load of Nirvana too - they used to be my favorite band up until I was 11-12. I used to own the Jackson 5, ABC (fuckin hell) and Will Smith (Willenium lol) but I stashed them in my brothers room somewhere sometime around the age of 10. Loads of Blink 182 and Green Day as well but I'm planning on selling them on E-bay or some shit. Loads of rock stuff as well like AC/DC and such.

9. Best gig Big Mo have played to date. Who with, where and what made it so special?

Either one of the gigs in Sale was fuckin immense - the pits were amazing.
The personal favorite is when we played Academy 3 (sellouts eh?)
with Clown Shoes and all the Cheadle Boys came down and that was just the best ever. Plus it weren't bad having a few quid for once although it all went on booze and weed and pizza in about 2 days.

10. Best and worst things about being a punk in todays world?

The way other people treat you. Don't get me wrong I love coming back from town in the evening on a Saturday and some woman tells her child not to look at me coz of the way I dress even tho I'm only small. Its funny as hell but its the other people just like Adam from section47 said. People who say things like 'you don't see them a lot anymore', 'I think thats a bit before his time' or 'Doc Martens are a bit outta fashion now mate'. I love having chats with ex-punks and people at train stations about their memories 'n' that - its well good. Chavs are bell-ends too. I hate having to tone down what I wear before I go to places they're such dicks. They dress like my gran does when she goes jogging.

11. Peter Pasty has removed his skin and replaced with a flaky pastry that allegedly taste just great. His lover Gutso Fatpig is now 55 stone and obsessed with lard. Is pastry style skin hazardous to health and should fat people be used to flatten roads and thin people used as corner flags at naked La Crosse matches?

Hahahahaha!
Well it's hazardous to health if its that pastry I like. Its like puff or summit (I'm not a puff) coz I will eat him! His lover sounds like the patron saint of our band: Her Majesty BiG MO and yes I think the fat people idea is good. The thin people not so good as I would fall into that category and do not fancy being a corner flag at a La Crosse match.

12. Push Big Mo for all they are worth - tell us why we should check them out?

Because were a fuckin laff coz punks not about being serious all the time. We have a message but if you don't like it or get it then get pissed and enjoy the tunes anyway. We don't really take ourselves seriously no matter how hard we try and neither can the majority of our 'fans' (term used loosely) although we are starting to act like a bit more like a band now instead of a few guys writing songs, pissin' about, playin' the occasional bar sorta thing (which we still do :S lol). We don't give a shit. We just wrote a song about a guy I know. He is safe 'n' all but is a wanker coz of his political views as they're completely fucked up and out of order and tbh I feel now as though we need to express our opinion on that even if he hates me after. We like to get pissed. We play fast aggresive punk music with none of the bullshit thrown in and you should check us out. If you wnna hear one of our newest songs 'RAGE' head to www.myspace.com/bigmohammed (<--like what I did there?) otherwise its our normal myspace but please ignore all the songs on that myspace as we don't play 2 or three of them except 'Behind The Lies' Ii think and I find them embarrasing. www.myspace.com/bigmorox

Cheers for reading this Mini Mike