1. Joey Class ye long haired lout - what a fine band you lead. Tell us about the story of the Senton Bombs so far and a bit about your own musical career?

Well the Bombs story is a long and arduous one so I’ll break it down. We started as The Terrorists then became The Senton Bombs. We lost and replaced members, released 4 EP's and most recently our first full album ‘Sweet Chin Music’ (beautifully reviewed on this here site). Now we continue to gig here, there and everywhere. That’s the break down anyway – I won’t bore you with the fine detail but there are bio’s online that fill in the gaps if you’re interested.

Damien and myself started out in a train-wreck of a band called Reckless Youth when we were 17. Damien has been a Bomb ever since. I spent a year and half in the infamous Blackpool garage band the Sideshow Sirens. We’ve both just turned 26 and we’re the last of the original Bombs.

Mason and Johnny are the ‘musicians’ in the band. Mason’s our whippersnapper, 21 and fresh off his college music course. Johnny is our veteran at 32, he’s done session work and has been playing in bands for over 15 years now.

2. I like the unorthodox style of the SB crew and am curious to know your influences?

The real beauty of the band is that the style is an amalgamation of our influences which has created this bizarre hybrid that people find difficult to place. You can hear in our older stuff that there were different influences in there from previous members and that’s why one of our songs can sound punk, one slightly metallic and another straight up rock 'n' roll.

The current line-up has been tapping into the punk 'n' roll style of bands like the Supersuckers, Backyard Babies, Zeke, Electric Frankenstien, New Bomb Turks etc. But there’s always going to be that undercurrent of punk derived from our love of The Clash, Ramones, Rancid, Bad Religion, NOFX. You’d be surprised (if not shocked) by some of the stuff we dig. All the way from the rock of Aerosmith, to the country of Townes Van Zandt.

If one of us likes something, we throw it into the cauldron and see what the brew tastes like. It’s a mash, a fuckin’ monster mash. We have a real democracy in this band, not a fake one as perpetuated by the leaders of the ‘not so’ United States and Kingdoms.

3. Heroes and zeroes in music and life my man?

A hero is defined as someone of distinguished courage or ability, admired for brave deeds and noble qualities. By that definition I’d say I am surrounded by heroes – from family and friends to a handful of actors, musicians and comedians I can identify these traits in. Take someone like yourself Fungal, You have the courage to say what you truly think regardless of the consequences. You have undeniable literary ability. Your passion and honesty are noble qualities and your brave deed is laying it on the line promoting shows and running this very site. By that rational – You are a hero man! I’m not here to be a kiss-ass, my point being is that people only need to look around them to find someone worth respecting, they don’t necessarily need to be looking to the (Hollywood) stars to discover their heroes! (I should be a politician with question-dodging skills like that)

My Zeroes are the jaded people who are detrimental to the existence of the human race. The ultimate racists. To quote Chris Jericho these people are “Parasitic, gelatinous Tape worms”.

4. Blackpool - the home of the intellect. Now then please answer the following questions - a. Will The Senton Bombs be using tit doorbells as merchandise in the near future b. Would you have sex with Blackpool Tower for a night of passion with Bobby Crush c. Are the rubber king kongs you find in the sea front novelty shops really a way to the 4th dimension and d. Have you ever had a swift, fair wank in Madam Tussauds so as to contact the soul of Charlie Chaplin?

a)       Although the SB Tit Doorbell could double our merch income I am big supporter of the old classic - ‘Knock at the door’. There are plenty of tits in Blackpool but the fewer doorbells the better.

b)       Damien is currently in a relationship with the Blackpool Tower, we thought we heard wedding bells at one point but it was just the donkeys trotting past. I don’t think any of us are interested in Bobby Crush, I hear he’s only got a small pianist.

c)       It’s false. Though the Rubber Kongs do only exist on the fourth coordinate axis orthogonal to the 3D world. This fact is the real mystery.

d)       Blackpool being full of tacky, cheap knock-offs doesn’t have a Madam Tussauds, we have Louis Tussauds. Louis or Madam’s – the answer is no, I wouldn’t consider a ‘swift wank’ the best method of contacting the dead. Though you could slap your dick on a Ouija board and see what happens.

5. The best and worst gigs you have played and tell us a bit about thy local area?

They’re all a blur to me. Headlining the Summer Daze Festival was a memorable one. The Blasted and Darwen festivals were also cool days out. SAS goes without saying. The old Poulton Royal Oak gigs. The early Jenx gigs. Supporting the Epoxies and the Real McKenzies.

We love the road trips so a lot of the best gigs, in my mind, revolve around the journey’s which always turn out to be awesome adventures.

The worst gigs – Always seem to fall after great ones. For instance we recently supported GMT at the Yardbirds in Grimsby which was fantastic. The following week we were last slot on an All-dayer at Connellys Bar in Blackpool. The sound sucked and although the turnout was good – it was just a poor gig venue. The come-down between the two really affects the enjoyability factor.

Our local area happens to be a place where everybody has been many times. That seedy little getaway on the West Coast AKA the Vegas of the UK (Even though it didn’t get the casinos it wanted), where you can walk through the town centre at noon on a Saturday and see a group of pissed-up doctors shout obscenities at a bunch of slutty nurses who’s breasts are on clear view. All this as families with young children engage in commerce.

Punks will probably look on it fondly for the annual Rebellion (FKA Wasted) Festivals (A festival we can’t get on despite being one of the towns only punk-ish bands) for which it is the perfect location.

For Rockers all year round it’s a different story - There’s one god-awful rock club that I don’t even want to name out of my hatred of the place. Live rock venues seem to fall by the wayside each and every year. Only the Blue Room and The West Coast Rock Café remain as Stalwarts.

For all it’s shortcomings I’ve grown to like Blackpool more in recent years, especially the part I live in… ‘Bispham’ which is the heaven on the outskirts, opposed to the hell of the town centre.

When all is said and done… Roller coasters, Sandcastles and plastic arses – What’s not to love?

6. What are your delights and downers about the current scene?

The delight is that it’s still alive. It’s been on life support since the internet got into full force and transformed the industry. A lot of venues gave up on live music and a lot of punters were content getting their fix via downloads and Youtube, saving their cash for when a ‘big’ band reformed or rolled into town.

Fortunately there are still enough promoters, venue owners, young and old bands who still drive the scene for the people who thrive off of live music. We subscribe to a simple philosophy ‘Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t expect anything’. Sometimes gigs are packed, sometimes they’re not, but most of the time they’re somewhere in the middle. The moment you expect it to be something spectacular is the moment you’re setting yourself up for a fall.

This mentality leaves me with little in the way of ‘downers’, bar the obvious that it just isn’t what it used to be. I’m an eternal optimist though and the day that all-consuming net-virus destroys the web or it turns and goes all Cyber-net on us… that will be a good day. Like the late great George Carlin, when it comes to the internet – I become a fan of entropy.

7. Jeremiah 'The Juice' Jalloppy the naked human car tyre has just recently broken the world record for eating piers. He says he would like to eat Blackpool north pier but only if heavily salted and served with a side dish of dodgem cars. Would you eat a dodgem car and would you have your bell-end removed and replaced with a roller coaster. I need elaborate answers please so as to satisfy my fun fair fetish?

Your insanity flows deep my Fungal friend, I will attempt to satisfy. I would not eat a dodgem because the name reminds me of jammy dodgers and, although I enjoy the jam, I don’t like the biscuit. However I would like to eat the colourful horses off a carousel providing they were melted down and baked into a dodgem shaped cake. The Dodgem cake would have to be numbered and that number would have to match the number of characters in this paragraph.

I would love to have a roller coaster in place of my bell end. That would be instant fame and I could have numerous hot women ride me at the same time.

8. The good, the bad and the ugly in thy CD, film and book collections?

I have one of the largest DVD collections outside Blockbusters which consists of TV series, movies, comedy, Music and documentaries. The Good covers 90% - series like the Wire, Deadwood, Shield, Sopranos, Brotherhood, Twin Peaks, Battlestar (This could go on forever). The bad and ugly belong to my girlfriend (honestly they do) – Jennifer Aniston movies and Hanson Live DVD’s. She sucks (But she does it well).

CD/Vinyl – Again, I’ve gathered quite the collection. Most recent additions have been Neil Young’s back catalogue, Steve Earle’s ‘Townes’ album and ‘The Best of Dick Dale & The Deltones’. I like to think there isn’t much bad and ugly but glancing over some old White Zombie and Ice Cube records I’d have to nominate those.

Books – In the last year I’ve read all sorts but the main fiction has been George P. Pelecanos, the superb Washington Crime-writer and Dean Koontz, heir to the throne of King (but my preference of the two). At present I am reading Bill Bryson’s ‘A Brief History of Everything’. Can’t say I’ve got any bad books, you’d probably consider wrestlers auto-biographies as such.

9. Wrestling - WTF - why the link - and is Mick McManus really a hermaphrodite?

Well, believe it or not I was once the Lancashire Amateur Wrestling Champion (in my weight category of course). I also competed in international tournaments. I was obsessed with professional wrestling from a young age and that was my dream, I thought starting at amateur level was how you learnt the ropes, I soon discovered that there were no ropes in amateur. This shit was real.

I stuck with it for a few years but when my friends were going out with girls on a Friday night and I was rolling around with other dudes on a mat dressed in a leotard, I made the logical yet painful decision to give up my dream.

When I discovered my new love of playing music I thought ‘why not combine the two’. It’s a unique enough gimmick, I could only think of Dick Manitoba of the Dictators who did the wrestling/band thing, so ‘Wrestle Rock’ was born.

So that’s the link – Me and my old dream. Damien used to watch it with me when we were younger but he grew out of it (Like I should have, you’re thinking), I’ve recently got Mason into it quite a bit but Johnny flat out hates it. I get the shit I’ve come to expect and enjoy somewhat.

McManus only has a dick as far as I’m aware. I hear he used to piss on crowds from the top rope – You’d be best asking them.

10. You have a 10 band gig to organise - where is it at, who is on it and anyone on the guest list?

I take it this isn’t a fantasy 10-band gig where I can book the likes of the original Misfits, The Sonics and the MC5 to play Elland Road (It’s all about the mighty Leeds).

In a ‘Reality’ situation I would use the Blue Room pub in Blackpool because it’s nearly always busy, it’s right below our jam room and we can rock it all day. In short, Convenience.

Guest list would be Tim ‘Punk4Life’, Moose Man and yourself cause you’re all up for beers and a good day. You’re also the only guys who’d review or take photo’s of bands for me.

Now for the 10 bands – I’d start with my favourite local acts: Rock 'n' Roll legends UFX, Garage-horror sleaze merchants The Dropout Wives and Thrash metal-heads CSOD.  Throw-in Cambridge’s finest The Buffalo Club and Born to Destruct. Also from the SAS crew I’d have the ever reliable Rising Strike and the Distrakted, who I really enjoyed at the recent Stockport show. I’d get my hip-hopping amigos Amos & 2 Complex to change the landscape (and also boost the crowd with their entourages). Then to top the day off, I’d splash the cash and ship the Dropkick Murphys over from Boston. Then we can drink ourselves sick on Guinness whilst singing along arm-in-arm to their wonderful Irish-party Anthems.

11. Jelly telephones - a messy idea or the only way to order a freshly burnt Jack Russell.

A terribly messy idea, but the only way to order a scolded English wicketkeeper or an irritating yapping dog.

12. And lastly - the whore of punk rock has removed her knickers ready to be shafted by the member of apathy and commercialisation - her buttocks are bared and spread - you have a tattoo gun - you can deter the penis of lethargy by scrawling a message over the wanton posterior - go for it and whilst your gun buzzes push the SB cause.

I’d ring my mates Deano (Dabs Tattoo’s, Southport) and Kat (The Tattooed Lady, South Shore, Blackpool) as they’re both awesome tattooist’s and would definitely do a better job than I (Blatant plug – if you’re after some ink-work these two have talent to spare).

I’d then instruct them to write the word ‘UNITY’, in caps, in Monotype Corsiva, In the spirit of Operation Ivy “As One Stand Together”. Then I’d tell them to stab that gun in the whores skin to get that bitch bleeding, kicking and screaming again!!!

For all Bombs news, live dates, music, reviews, merch, Class Blogs etc. stop by www.myspace.com/thesentonbombs OR www.thesentonbombs.webs.com OR somewhere on Facebook, Twitter and all the rest of theses monotonous networking sites. We’re on ‘em all I think.

Sweet Chin Music still only £5 via Paypal!!!

Cheers for the questions Fungal. Keep the faith!

 

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