1. Impact have blown my mind with the incredible live shows and yet it seems little is known and appreciated about this band. Tell us were it all started and give a brief history and also adding why you think it is such a struggle to get gigs?

In late 2003 I bumped into Rob lad.  We had been in 2 punk bands before for many years but had gone separate ways and found ourselves chatting how we (Destination Venus) got on so well and that the other bands weren’t the same, laugh wise and musically. Rob, Stu,  Crab and myself knew each other inside out, so we set up a jam session after a few months but we still had no singer, then Stu told us he was moving to sunnier climates (Nottingham) so we asked our old singer (Crab) if he fancied coming in on bass, and we set about with the new songs. Rob had been doing the vocals and it stayed that way for 6 months then we asked Lee Bop to join us on lead guitar to help Rob as he was busy with vocals.  Crab now sings several songs in the set  which I feel is great having 2 vocalists.

As for gigs, we can play Stoke any time, it’s outside that’s a problem.  We can’t get on any of the festivals and it’s just hard tracking people down to actually say they’ll give you a gig.

2. Is the current scene too segregated and do you come across many 'cliques' on your travels.

Mmmm I think its a lot healthier now than 10 years ago, but yeah there ae still cliques (names won’t be mentioned).  We played up Halifax recently and it was a cracking night, everybody made us feel welcome, everybody chatted to us, bands and the paying public, which is great, some places you go and the bands don’t speak, the public don’t speak etc.

3. Describe your fellow band members in five degrading words apiece one of which must be related to a kitchen implement?

Lol - cutlery

4. What is your local scene like - faces, places and bands?

Its great at the moment as there are loads of young kids into proper punk all forming bands as well as us old farts, and there is a couple of venues here that put punk bands on, the best boozer being The Glebe.  Jo and Simi are great, they put all the major bands on, as well as bands like us, they really are up for proper live music.

5. After the recent gig you played for me at the Dog and Partridge in Bolton I was followed home by a gang of spoons and brutally raped. It was a terrifying experience and i blame the cutlery liberation front for allowing these eating implements on the streets. Have you ever been assaulted by an eating implement and is swivel chair porn the only way forward for polish sausage makers?

I’ll have a pint of what you been drinking Dave lol

6. Best impact gigs to date please - and worst ha, ha.

Best mmm, probably the 1st back together with Broken Bones in Stoke.  Nerve wracking having a new set but it was a great night for us, there have been others too.

7. Tell us a little about your personal punk history - where it all started, best bands seen, etc.

It all started in my mums kitchen, eating beans on toast listening to the top 20 as it was then, and I heard the intro to ‘Into The Valley’ by the Skids.  That was it - hooked on punk ever since!  I was that bowled over by that song my bloody beans went cold, and my mum smacked me round the head, thought I was trying get out of eating my tea.  As for bands GBH, Exploited, ANWL, Dead Kennedy’s, Blitz, Chaotic Dischord, Deadline,  Goldblade, SLF,  Dickies,  Riot Squad, Varukers etc. etc.

8. Tell us about the best and worst CD's in your collection and would you peel the skin off Barry Manilow and make a kite just for the sake of being awkward?

Best CD at the moment is probably The Exploiteds ‘Fuck The System’ but then again I am hooked on the GBH CD at the moment, some great tunes on that.
Fuck Barry Manilow, I am jealous though as his hooter is bigger than mine.

9. Chuckle chufflington has had his penis removed and replaced with a wheely bin. As he gets rid of rubbish from his arsehole he neatly deposits it in his penile bin and waits for the refuse collectors. His sex life however is crap. The question is - would you marry a wheely bin and have you ever had voices in your head telling you to imitate a bin man and speak in a mongolian accent?

No to the marriage of a wheelie bin, a bottle of JD perhaps,
always got voices in my head (watch out) lol

10. Impacts best song - who wrote it, what's it about and what makes it so special?

Mmm that’s a hard one, I can’t pick one single song, in my eyes this is the best stuff we have written, but for me personally I wrote the lyrics to ‘Seed Of Hate’ after watching the news one night and gave them to Rob and he came back with the tune to it, and that sticks in my head.  I am proud of those lyrics, because it is a true story of what happened over in Ireland about 6 years ago about a bunch of school kids being taken to school and the streets were lined with adults swearing and spitting on these young kids (around 6/7 yrs of age) just because of their religion, these kids were petrified and in tears, and like one of the kids said ‘we just want to go to school and play’.   Fucking sums it up don’t it.

11. Heroes and zeroes in life and music please.

My daughter, Impact members, Brett, Jock n Carol, real people, as for zeroes mmmm could name a few who shouldn’t be on this planet.

12. And finally - push the band for all its worth and convince anyone reading this that Impact are the band to see.

We are really sexy, lol, nah come and have a listen, if you like us, come back again, if not, we try our best to entertain with what we are doing.

 

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