Saturday 3 January 2015
Boots And Braces Interviews: Retaliator Interview
Boots And Braces Interviews: Retaliator Interview: Year 2015 begins with the best interview we have ever done !! The English machine RETALIATOR needs no introduction. Check their facebook pag...
Sunday 13 January 2013
Retaliator in Reflection
Retaliator in Reflection by Pete Roper
Just an Oi! band? No, not really.
Hidden political agenda? No not really.
Are we bovvered? No not really!
Right from the start we made the decision to raise the flag of our nation with pride and rub the lefties up the wrong way! We certainly succeeded in that. We were a bunch of patriotic guys, skinheads, laying out a game plan for the new band we were forming and we were only too aware that the Oi! scene had become very sanitised and sterile and bands were falling over themselves to appear squeaky-clean and distance themselves from anything right of centre. We weren’t gonna do that! Britain was becoming a politically-correct dictatorship and we hated that and were not gonna be part of any of it. We knew this would cause us problems ahead but we had no idea of the degree of hatred we would endure, though if we had of known, we’d have changed nothing!
Our rise through the ranks of Oi! was slow but steady. Our integrity and uncompromising stance seemed to gain us respect among skinheads everywhere but our metal-tinged sound was a tad unpalatable for many purists. We were all fans of Punk and Oi! within the band but we were also all fans of metal and that came across in our sound, but we wanted to be a bit different, not just another two-bob Oi! band and I think we achieved that.
We suffered many line-up changes over the years as many former band members were unable to stay the course, but the heart of Retaliator, me and Ian would stay true, then Mark from Condemned 84 would help to forge a solid core which would help keep a steady ship when guitarists came and went. Through all the troubles and changes we never lost sight of the big picture and what was important to us as a band and as individuals. Our deep friendships stood testament to that and bound us together like brothers in arms.
We did, it must be said, gain a bit of a right-wing following among the regular Punk and Oi! fans who followed us, which I suppose was bound to happen considering our patriotic stance, but they were Retaliator fans and we were not SHAM 69, so our notoriety grew and the bands that had been successful and were making a few quid backed right off, in fact I’d go as far as to say, they blacklisted us. We were increasingly being pushed out of the scene, which did hurt, people we looked up to turned their backs on us, we were out in the cold to coin a phrase. Money will tempt a saint and these people aint no saints!
Our second album Against The Grain was so named because of our plight. We felt the Oi! scene – instead of looking at us as a breath of fresh air – eyed us with suspicion and saw us as a threat to the nice little earner they’d carved out for themselves. We’d long-since gained a following of leftist-fascists who’d made it their mission to hound us on the internet and get as many of our gigs pulled as they could and this only enforced the view of the squeaky clean bands that maintaining a healthy distance from us was the safest way for them to proceed, so we found ourselves well and truly out in the cold but the important people, the paying punters saw all of this, they aint stupid, and our reputation as the real deal grew and grew and with our notoriety came respect and that respect was carrying us ever onwards. We were becoming a bigger band.
As I look back on it all I find I have no regrets whatsoever, I have some anger and some disappointment, disappointment in people I thought were better, stronger than they actually turned out to be, but I am proud of what we achieved as a band and we grew – musically speaking, my own song-writing skills got stronger with every album, we would never be counted among the many bands that incessantly churn out punter-pleasing old-hat formulaic rubbish. Like us or hate us, no one could deny that Retaliator have written and recorded some pretty mighty tunes!
So is this the end I hear you cry? Well I must admit, Lionhearted – our last album – had my hopes nailed well and truly to it’s mast, I believe it’s a country mile the best album Retaliator ever recorded and I wanted Retaliator to bask in the glory of releasing such an album, I wanted accolades and plaudits, I wanted good reviews and begrudging praise from those that like to pretend we don’t exist in as much that Lionhearted was actually a bit of an arse-kicker. Alas it wasn’t to happen. We’ve seen one or two nice reviews, one or two people have bothered to visit our Facebook page to voice their high opinions of it, but our overall impression is one of massive underwhelment! Instead of taking the scene by storm, it seems to have just petered out and this is the one thing I always said would herald the end of the band. We would know when the game was up, when people consider an album mediocre that we consider our strongest. When a band is no longer in step with it’s fans, it’s time to seriously consider chucking the towel in. Of course times are hard and most of us are now struggling financially speaking so gigs for us have been an unrealistic target for the last four years which does lose you some support among the die hards, but we find ourselves caught in a catch 22 situation. We have placed ourselves outside of the Oi! mainstream due to our own stance, and in doing so we will never play big gigs, gigs that could ease the financial kicking the band has endured over the years, so we’ve kind of sealed our own fate.
So? IS this the end then, I hear you cry again! Well, no, not really. Our enemies will not be rid of us that easy. We’ll always be here, lurking in the background, like King Arthur in Avalon, sleeping until the greatest hour of need. In all truth the likelihood of us gigging again anytime soon is slim. Our lives have changed and none of us are getting any younger. The dynamics in the band have altered slightly, there are certain tensions and I for one just can’t afford to lose so much money on something that now gives very little back. Our rehearsal rooms are a hour and a half drive from my home, the rooms are not cheap and diesel is sky high, people don’t factor any of this in, we’d have to get paid pretty damned well just to break even, and that aint gonna happen anytime soon. We aint Condemned 84 and we aint Infa Riot. But never say never. Something might catch our imagination and we might just surprise everyone. We do have further recording plans, but it’s true to say my heart just can’t seem to get into it at the moment, the scene’s luke-warm response to Lionhearted has pretty much done for that. But we’ll see, inspiration may yet assault me one more time, or maybe not. We’ll see.
Just an Oi! band? No, not really.
Hidden political agenda? No not really.
Are we bovvered? No not really!
Right from the start we made the decision to raise the flag of our nation with pride and rub the lefties up the wrong way! We certainly succeeded in that. We were a bunch of patriotic guys, skinheads, laying out a game plan for the new band we were forming and we were only too aware that the Oi! scene had become very sanitised and sterile and bands were falling over themselves to appear squeaky-clean and distance themselves from anything right of centre. We weren’t gonna do that! Britain was becoming a politically-correct dictatorship and we hated that and were not gonna be part of any of it. We knew this would cause us problems ahead but we had no idea of the degree of hatred we would endure, though if we had of known, we’d have changed nothing!
Our rise through the ranks of Oi! was slow but steady. Our integrity and uncompromising stance seemed to gain us respect among skinheads everywhere but our metal-tinged sound was a tad unpalatable for many purists. We were all fans of Punk and Oi! within the band but we were also all fans of metal and that came across in our sound, but we wanted to be a bit different, not just another two-bob Oi! band and I think we achieved that.
We suffered many line-up changes over the years as many former band members were unable to stay the course, but the heart of Retaliator, me and Ian would stay true, then Mark from Condemned 84 would help to forge a solid core which would help keep a steady ship when guitarists came and went. Through all the troubles and changes we never lost sight of the big picture and what was important to us as a band and as individuals. Our deep friendships stood testament to that and bound us together like brothers in arms.
We did, it must be said, gain a bit of a right-wing following among the regular Punk and Oi! fans who followed us, which I suppose was bound to happen considering our patriotic stance, but they were Retaliator fans and we were not SHAM 69, so our notoriety grew and the bands that had been successful and were making a few quid backed right off, in fact I’d go as far as to say, they blacklisted us. We were increasingly being pushed out of the scene, which did hurt, people we looked up to turned their backs on us, we were out in the cold to coin a phrase. Money will tempt a saint and these people aint no saints!
Our second album Against The Grain was so named because of our plight. We felt the Oi! scene – instead of looking at us as a breath of fresh air – eyed us with suspicion and saw us as a threat to the nice little earner they’d carved out for themselves. We’d long-since gained a following of leftist-fascists who’d made it their mission to hound us on the internet and get as many of our gigs pulled as they could and this only enforced the view of the squeaky clean bands that maintaining a healthy distance from us was the safest way for them to proceed, so we found ourselves well and truly out in the cold but the important people, the paying punters saw all of this, they aint stupid, and our reputation as the real deal grew and grew and with our notoriety came respect and that respect was carrying us ever onwards. We were becoming a bigger band.
As I look back on it all I find I have no regrets whatsoever, I have some anger and some disappointment, disappointment in people I thought were better, stronger than they actually turned out to be, but I am proud of what we achieved as a band and we grew – musically speaking, my own song-writing skills got stronger with every album, we would never be counted among the many bands that incessantly churn out punter-pleasing old-hat formulaic rubbish. Like us or hate us, no one could deny that Retaliator have written and recorded some pretty mighty tunes!
So is this the end I hear you cry? Well I must admit, Lionhearted – our last album – had my hopes nailed well and truly to it’s mast, I believe it’s a country mile the best album Retaliator ever recorded and I wanted Retaliator to bask in the glory of releasing such an album, I wanted accolades and plaudits, I wanted good reviews and begrudging praise from those that like to pretend we don’t exist in as much that Lionhearted was actually a bit of an arse-kicker. Alas it wasn’t to happen. We’ve seen one or two nice reviews, one or two people have bothered to visit our Facebook page to voice their high opinions of it, but our overall impression is one of massive underwhelment! Instead of taking the scene by storm, it seems to have just petered out and this is the one thing I always said would herald the end of the band. We would know when the game was up, when people consider an album mediocre that we consider our strongest. When a band is no longer in step with it’s fans, it’s time to seriously consider chucking the towel in. Of course times are hard and most of us are now struggling financially speaking so gigs for us have been an unrealistic target for the last four years which does lose you some support among the die hards, but we find ourselves caught in a catch 22 situation. We have placed ourselves outside of the Oi! mainstream due to our own stance, and in doing so we will never play big gigs, gigs that could ease the financial kicking the band has endured over the years, so we’ve kind of sealed our own fate.
So? IS this the end then, I hear you cry again! Well, no, not really. Our enemies will not be rid of us that easy. We’ll always be here, lurking in the background, like King Arthur in Avalon, sleeping until the greatest hour of need. In all truth the likelihood of us gigging again anytime soon is slim. Our lives have changed and none of us are getting any younger. The dynamics in the band have altered slightly, there are certain tensions and I for one just can’t afford to lose so much money on something that now gives very little back. Our rehearsal rooms are a hour and a half drive from my home, the rooms are not cheap and diesel is sky high, people don’t factor any of this in, we’d have to get paid pretty damned well just to break even, and that aint gonna happen anytime soon. We aint Condemned 84 and we aint Infa Riot. But never say never. Something might catch our imagination and we might just surprise everyone. We do have further recording plans, but it’s true to say my heart just can’t seem to get into it at the moment, the scene’s luke-warm response to Lionhearted has pretty much done for that. But we’ll see, inspiration may yet assault me one more time, or maybe not. We’ll see.
The TouTube Retaliator Channel
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)