Why punks make the greatest parents

Although a lot of my music is very specifically about being a father I don't think I've ever done much more than mention Summer in passing in this blog, but as I've been a punk rock dad in a band for a while now and since many of my friends of a similar age are or are becoming punk rock parents themselves I thought I'd reflect a little on my attitude towards Summer and why I think it is that I, like the other parents I know, am so devoted to my child.

This whole thing is based on my own life experiences and of course is purely opinionated but I think it will ring true for the many of us that joined the Parent 'Hood.. Of course if you wildly disagree then that's fine, why not put your opinions in the comments and we can have a chat about it, but for the sake of writing something here's my two cents:

So I want to start with my own childhood. As is the case with many of my friends I grew up in a slightly dysfunctional family. I never knew my dad. He didn't die, he just didn't give a shit and didn't want to be a dad and had no interest in being a part of his sons life. My mum did, and continues to do the most she possibly can for me but that meant working as hard as she possibly could in order to give us both a reasonable life and that left me without family around the majority of the time. I've always preferred alternative music, initially getting myself into Metallica and Motorhead and anything fast and heavy. When I found Punk in the form of The Offspring, Blink 182, Mxpx and The Ataris (amongst others) I felt I had found my home. Every second of my life since then, no matter how much it spiraled out of control had this one constant. Punk. Tim Armstrong and Mike Herrera became the father figures I never had for long enough growing up and I turned to those people standing on a stage singing of real life to find my path and on occasion put myself back together. Eventually becoming the proper human being I am today.

I am in equal measures completely indifferent and impassioned by the fact I had no father growing up. I don't

blame him for any of the multitude of mistakes I've made and would rather have one parent who loves me with all their heart than have a matching pair and one of them be a tool. Then again if I had the father we all as children deserve then maybe I wouldn't have crept so close to the edge of death and insanity before I found a way to fix myself. Shouldn't all kids have a guiding patriarch that will bring them back to redemption when they've strayed too far down a dark path? I think so yeah, because I have romanticized the idea of what it truly means to be a good father in my head over the 30 odd years I haven't had one.

So anyway enough about me, what about punk rock parents? Well my point is that I know a lot of people in the punk community may not share my dysfunction story but they sure can relate to it or have another story of a troubled or broken home that would fit as easily into this story. The one thing we all have in common is that we never want to be that broken link in the chain, because we've felt the pain that it causes and though we find solace in those who have had similar experiences we would never willingly wish that on anyone. Especially when that person is born of our own DNA! We that have lived through difficult emotional turmoil or worse and are compelled not to let that happen to the offspring we so dearly love. Their circumstance will not be our own and whether we can bestow riches and fortune or not we will always provide love and care and nurturing to the utter limit of our abilities.


To me this means being as hands on as I possibly can, I will answer every question and attend any and all child social functions that are demanded of me. It has meant that I have been able to bath, change, feed and generally care for my daughter since day one. It means I keep another private blog that I write to her in the future so that she will know when she is older that I have always loved her with all my heart. All the parents I know are similarly devoted in their own way and it's my hope that we all raise a generation of humans who have known love all their lives and become excellent people in return. 

I'm not saying broken homes are exclusive to punk and I'm not saying that every punk is a fantastic parent, but what I am saying is that we will always do everything in our power to mitigate the pain of our formative years.

5 things they dont tell you about being a front-man

I was the lead singer, and later lead singer/rhythm guitarist of a punk covers band called The Valves. I was in the band for roughly four years until we separated due to band members leaving the country and in that time I went from a cocky kid with a bit of talent to a functioning, engaging front-man. I was not born excellent (although I was pretty close to be fair) and there were certain hard lessons I had to learn. These I learnt through jeers and shitty feedback and the odd damning conversation with bandmates who did not want my actions to ruin the reasonably large amount of money we pulled in for playing to loud drunk people for 2 hours a go. It is my wish to impart this knowledge in written form so as to benefit all humanity and those few who may nor may not care what it takes to hold a stage.

1. You suck dick under the influence

original article

It's the rock and roll mantra that you need to be twatted when you're on stage. The coolest, greatest most legendary players/singers of all time were totally off the planet when they played. Right? No. The fact is that the legends were legends first and could then be forgiven for being fucked a couple of times until people got sick of them puking on stage and forgetting what was happening. Jimmy Hendrix was awful once the acid kicked in and people eventually just went to see him smash another guitar because it wouldn't make the correct noises. Shane McGowan gets towed off stage at pogues concerts and replaced because he can't stand up and no body gives two shits that Shane isn't singing anymore. You may find that alcohol or your good times of choice help you write great music but when you're standing on stage slurring into the mike and forgetting what song you're playing it gets old real quick.

2. You need the rhythm

If you are a lead singer then chances are the majority of the eyes in the room are on you. Sure there's the odd muso checking out the guitarist, and other bass players and drummers maybe checking out their respective counterparts but for those people who don't really care about music you are the centre of attention. That means that the flow and vision of the song needs to be found in the way you move and act on stage. You need to know the momentum of every song and your actions need to convey that to an audience. Simple things like punching the beats or a jump to denote a breakdown/double time event are like an orchestral conductors motions to the people you hope are dancing in front of you. If they can't follow the music then you aren't doing enough to spell it out to them. your third ear should always be with the bass and drums and you should be a conduit for them to let people know what's happening. Standing stock still or being out of time will confuse the people staring at you and they will disengage from all the hard work you and your bandmates have gone through to hold their attention.

3. You need to know what you're saying

Original source

A lot of people seem to think brilliance will spill out their mouth in between songs, or that because they are so awesome at doing the vocal bit in songs that they don't really need to care about the stuff outside of songs. That isn't how the audience see it though. They have come to be entertained for the full thirty/fourty five minutes/two hours you are up on that stage and that means every second that you're stood there not engaging them is a second they don't care about you being there. Some bands will default to another member talking instead of the singer which is totally fine as long as one person is keeping everyones attention, but on the whole that will fall to the front-man. We are not the cream of stand up comedians, we cannot all perfectly read a situation and come out with something funny or astute or deep. Instead preparing what you are going to talk about beforehand is the simple, obvious and most effective solution. Depending on how bad you are with public speaking (and to be fair if the answer is "horrific" then you may want to rethink being the central focus of a band) then you can spend time a few days before going over relevant things to say that will flow well between the songs you are performing. You need to consider the style of your band, the political and/or religious stances you collectively wish to portray as a band and also take into account the likely reactions of the audience to your statements. It's best to work these out along with your band as they can let you know how long it will take to prep for the next song (tuning etc) and also arrange to take a turn at the mic if you yourself need to prepare/take a drink. For audience members who have never seen your band before they will likely remember the words you choose between songs far better than any lyric you utter.

4. You need to cultivate your image

Did you get dressed in the dark before coming on stage? Do you want people to think you got dressed in the dark before coming on stage? Exactly what snap judgement do you want people to make of you based on the t shirt you're wearing? Are you mirroring the people that are watching you?  These questions and more are honestly important ones when you are asking a group of people who haven't met you before to like and associate with you and your bandmates. The tshirt (or other top/no top) you choose alone will convey a thousand messages to the people watching. If you happen to endorse a band or label that they too think of as something linked to their own personality then you instantly have 80% of a fan. If the way you look is the same as the people in the crowd then you are letting people know that you are part of the scene that they have chosen. All of this may sound shallow and superficial - and it is - but expecting a stranger to take the time to get to know you and your stance on life and the messages you wish your band to convey is selfish and egotistical.  If you only have half an hour of distorted noise to show the audience who you are why not put the effort into giving them as many visual clues beforehand as possible. The quicker someone decides they like you the quicker they can start appreciating your music.

5. You are not the band, but you are their monkey

Original source

God I love the gig nutter. That one guy who was in a band/roadied/babysat Sid Vicious who now spends his time hanging out proving to people that he is indeed the drunkest person in the bar. He(she) probably fell over your monitor or into your mic stand and likely spilled beer on something expensive. Well guess what it that guy/girl wants to be your bestest friend in the whole world and as the front-man it is your job to be that friend/son to them. The guitarist and bassist will be busy talking to real musicians and the drummer will be busy with merch and the promoter so that leaves you as the spokes person to all the very drunk people who want a signed copy of the album they just bought. They will have advice for you and tales a plenty and your reputation as a band all rests on your reaction to them. If they find your endearing then you will have one of the staunchest supporters of your band around, if you piss them off or act like a douche then you may as well forget playing that venue again because your name will be shit to all within that guys exceedingly loud vocal range. Remember that to others you are the poster boy for why people should give a shit about your band over every other million bands out there and it's your job post show to persuade people to your cause. I can't tell you the amount of times I'd had the same goddamned conversation about what a 20 something kid was doing playing punk music with a bunch of 40 something original punkers but by the end of every conversation I was slapped on the back given all the anecdotes and demanded to return as soon as possible. 

p.s. A couple of pre-emptive apologies here: 

- I realise I have written this article mainly in the masculine but that's because I'm talking from specific examples in my own experience. Please feel free to swap the word front-man with whichever gender neutral term who wish.

- I make a few casual joke about drummers and bass players in this article. I would like to assure you that I am not prejudiced towards bass players and drummers and fully appreciate them as the foundations of any group without whom everything would sound terrible.

- Whenever I have made light of the weight lead persons within a band hold I am speaking of my experience as someone who auditioned to join a group where my only creative input to start with was to stand on stage and sing. If you write the music and lyrics and the band was yours to start with of course all these things make your role within the group more important, but no less replaceable.

More Awesome than your mums macaroni cheese!

A lot of people think I have really narrow taste in music, and to be fair if you look through my music library it's about 95% blisteringly fast punk rock. But that doesn't mean I hate other music and it certainly doesn't mean that I can't be totally blown away seeing one of the most unique and totally off the scale shows I've seen outside of that narrow genre.

I'm talking about Eat The Evidence, who I saw (for free no less) take the roof off Bar Solo in Camden last night. It's easy for me to be biased about them, most of them have been friends of mine for well over 10 years and drummer Mike also plays in The Apostates, whom I also like a hell of a lot and he records my EPs. But I'll try to remain as objective as possible for the sake of hopefully making sure you all take notice of them as your eardums deserve.

I say totally unique because I've yet to hear an  accordion  driven, streets inspired, ska/two tone/heavy rock/reggae band in my life. That may sound like an odd and bitter mix if you're trying to imagine it from nothing but trust me when I say it works. I remember when rum lemonade and pineapple juice sounded disgusting by I sure showed someone that time when there was nothing left at 8am after a house party the night before!!

Everything works so well because each and every member of the band is a veteran of at least a decade of bands. that's around 50 years gigging experience between them all and it comes across in spades when they play. Frontman Tom is as  charismatic, charming and energetic as any lead could possibly hope to be. Wrapping a packed room of people round his little finger all whilst firing off lyrics which swing from politically volatile to toilet humour at breakneck speeds whilst swinging from the rafters. Never missing a beat in between. He is backed up by, and shares vocal  contributions from a set of musicians who with every note let you know that they are as talented as they come with nary a shred of ego about it. The music is deep and multi layered and you would have to spend a week with each song to pick up on every clever lick and nuance. Jack, Toms brother in particular is more talented than I have ever seen and the chemistry between the two brothers sparks and sells their set even more.

I find it a crying shame that they aren't massive and bigger than any middle of the road shite that might win a Brit award or have a video on MTV Rocks. I hope they blow up soon because I feel that it's not fair that only the room full people packed in to see them get to hear them and not the rest of the world.