I recently got a chance to interview Bubblegum Screw who are from London. I hope you enjoy the interview

Interviewees:
Mark Thorn
Rich van Kerr
Tommy Vommit
Zuri Warsaw

Punk Globe: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview.

RvK: No problems. Thanks for interviewing us - we're big fans.

Punk Globe: I really like your band name Bubblegum Screw can you tell us how it came about?

TOMMY: Zuri came up with it i think...

RvK: I found out recently that a Bubblegum Screw was an ice-cream with a ball of bubblegum at the bottom. I always thought it was about a shag!

Punk Globe: You are located in London right? And when did you form the band?

MARK: Yes were London based but our line-up consists of an Australian and a Kiwi, a Polish-German, a Geordie (someone from Newcastle) and a Londoner. The early beginnings of Bubblegum Screw can be traced as far back as late 2006. I knew Zuri from another band which had never gotten off the ground. My current band at the time was dis-integrating so I salvaged the drummer from the shipwreck to join Zuri and the other original member Giankie who went missing in action so we replaced the psychologically unstable with the sexually bewitching Rich van Kerr. ;)

I sacrificed my original lead guitar duties early 2007 to Johnny who eventually was replaced by current axe-slinger Tommy Vommit and the most recent member Dave joined on drums after our original drummer left citing musical differences and us not wanting to approach every song like a hardcore song.

RvK: I knew Zuri from another band I was getting off the ground around the same time as The Screw was getting started. He'd check in with me to see what I was up to every once in a while and asked me to if I'd be interested a couple of times. After the other project died the next time Zuri called, I said yeah lets meet. I listened to some early demos on Myspace, especially a song called 'Love is Inspiration' and I remember thinking that no-one is making music like this nowadays. It got me real interested and it kind of kicked off really quickly.

TOMMY: Well I basically answered an advert in 2007 saying "I think you're looking for me!"

Punk Globe: In a few words how would you describe your music?

MARK: High energy Glam garage punk rock and roll

ZURI: Old-school NYC and Detroit styled 70s glam punk. Here and there influences from other genres such as garage and rockabilly.

TOMMY: Played from the balls, not from the heart.

RvK: A bit of glam, and a bit of punk. Rock n Roll played hard, fast and happy.

Punk Globe: Can you tell us who is in Bubblegum Screw and what they do?

MARK: Mark Thorn sings and fronts the band, Zuri Z is on bass, Tommy on lead guitar and Rich van Kerr on rhythm and last but not least Dave beats the shit out of the drums and breaks more sticks than any drummer known to man or womankind.

ZURI: I play bass and make a living writing music news, mostly about acts such as Madonna and Lady GaGa. When I'm lucky I get to write about Slayer, Guns N' Roses or Iggy Pop.

TOMMY: Tommy Vommit, thoroughly nice chap who plays cheap guitars.

Punk Globe: I know that you are really into that New York City late 70's sound.. Who are some of of your influences?

MARK: Jayne County , Dead Boys, some Aussie garage, 70's glam T.Rex ,Alice , Kiss

RvK: The Saints, Johnny Thunders, Ramones, Link Wray, Iggy, The Runaways, The Dictators, Adam & the Ants, Generation X, Dead Boys, The Scavengers and Thin Lizzy. I'm more into American punk than English, and also into a lot of 60s garage as well.

TOMMY: I like bands like The Stooges, The Doors, New York Dolls, The Heartbreakers, Dead Boys, Blondie, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Slayer. If I could pin point one guitarist, it would be Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy, I actually met him once on the tube, me and my pal Dave were having a routine trip aboard the "circle pub" with a bottle of rum, and we hung out. Nice chap.

ZURI: New York Dolls, the Holy Trinity (Iggy - Lou Reed - Bowie), GG Allin, The Dogs, Dead Boys, Pagans, Saints, Clash, Social Distortion, Turbonegro, Johnny Thunders, Syl Sylvain, Stiv Bators, etc. More recently, I'm also into militant rock and post punk such as CCCP and Grazhdanskaya Oborona, but I'm not sure that influence would gel with our music.

Punk Globe: Have you ever gotten to play with any of your influences?

TOMMY: we got to play with Tracii guns' L.A. Guns, that was cool.

RvK: I agree. Also Adam Ant as well.

MARK: Warrior Soul

ZURI: The closest I personally got so far was TV Smith of The Adverts, but I count Warrior Soul among my influences since I saw them play the night we were opening for them.

Punk Globe: What is your take on the London music scene at present?

MARK: Constipated with rather a lot of Indie turds. I can take it but I'd rather leave it and fearful to be on the same bill as us.

RvK: There's definitely a lot of shit bands out there. And because of that a lot of promoters are fucking lazy and won't do any promo, they expect you to bring everyone so effectively they're scoring money off you. We run a night every once in a while called Rock Action Fest which we put on for free and the bands play for free. Everyone knows where they stand and they just get down to having a good time.

ZURI: We aren't really part of any scene except our own scene of followers and friends. We're often too rock 'n' roll for orthodox punks and too punk for glam metal types. Then again, we make fans in both camps because there's always people who understand the true spirit of rock 'n' roll, which is is not a conformist one.

TOMMY: There's some pretty good bands out there if you look hard enough.

Punk Globe: What are some of your favorite venues?

ZURI: The ones that are small enough to enable close contact with the audience but have a big enough stage for 5 band members.

MARK: Camden Underworld and the Purple Turtle also Kset in Zagreb was pretty cool.

TOMMY: I like smaller venues like 12 bar, hobgoblin (the dev), Dublin Castle, The Royal George - not really a venue but we have put on our own nights there, always a good turn out. Don't like venues where beer is too expensive.

RvK: Underworld, SCALA,Dublin Castle, The George and Paradise Bar in London and Petnoto in Plovdiv Bulgaria.

Punk Globe: Are you familiar with The Duel and The DeRella's?

MARK: The Duel are friends of ours, in fact Dave Renegade is one of our biggest fans. I've yet to check out The DeRellas but any band that has 5 letters in it's name that make up part of the word umbrella is fine by me.

RvK: Dave from The Duel is a really great guy. Good bloke.

ZURI: We've played with The Duel before and find them to be nice people. DeRella's? Only heard the name.

TOMMY: Yeah, I see Phil of the Duel at a lot of gigs, and met a guy outside the New York Dolls forum gig from The Derellas, he actually gave me a free ticket, but I already had one.

Punk Globe: Do you have releases out?

RvK: We released a 4 track EP in 2007, and last year we recorded our first album 'Rock n Roll Losers', which is due for release soon. If people liked what they heard on the EP they will love this. Sign up at the website or Myspace for further details of the release. Of course Ginger we'll let you know when it is coming out too!

Punk Globe: Have you done any major touring?

MARK: We've toured the Balkans. Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia

TOMMY: toured eastern Europe not too major, but a lot of fun. also where I earned the name Vommit!

RvK: I unfortunately was sharing Tommy's hotel room that morning. We've also done Latvia too. The dream is to tour the States but none of us have sugar mummies to pay for it. Europe is on the cards again though in support of the album.

Punk Globe: Can you give the readers any internet addresses so they can keep up with Bubblegum Screw?

MARK: www.myspace.com/bubblegumscrew, www.bubblegumscrew.com and you can connect with us on Facebook too.

Punk Globe: If you had a chance to play your ultimate show with anyone at any venue. Who would you choose to play with and at what venue?

TOMMY: Would probably have liked to play with The Faces in their heyday, i think they knew how to party, also The Dolls, and it would be at The Astoria (R.I.P.)

RvK: The Astoria would be cool. I'd also love to play at Wild at Heart. Dolls, Stooges and The Hellacopters would be my choice.

MARK: Iggy & The Stooges, New York Dolls at a festival .Somewhere in France or Spain

ZURI: New York Dolls and The Stooges in Hyde Park.

Punk Globe: Any thoughts on Susan Boyle and Amy Winehouse?

TOMMY: I would like to see if I could drink more than Amy Winehouse. Susan Boyle is not to my taste.

ZURI: Susan Boyle and other reality show/casting show contestants have led to a (hopefully temporary) decline of pop music and I'm saying this as someone who appreciates pop. It's karaoke not creativity, songs are pre-selected by philistine judges, you get a token 'outsider' singer here and there, and otherwise it's just a sickening celebration of the idea that once in a while a benign millionaire will lift someone out of poverty as long as that someone is prepared to play by the millionaire's rules.

Amy Winehouse is one of the better mainstream singers of our time, but the British press are not interested in her music as much as in her physical and psychological disintegration.

RvK: Crikey!?! Someone told me there was a SuBo sex tape out there. That would be brave viewing.

Punk Globe: What is in store for Bubblegum Screw in 2010? Any recording or touring plans?

RvK: Releasing the album, some touring and a lot of partying.

MARK: Probably not recording but were completely available for touring. Anywhere and everywhere. Get in contact!

TOMMY: I would hope that our peni (I believe this is the plural form of penis) do not start to shrink, and those liver spots stay away for another year.

RvK: If Tommy's penis starts to shrink any more then he's going to be in real trouble! ;-)

Punk Globe: Any parting last words for Punk Globe readers

MARK: We wanna be your dogs.

ZURI: I like Punk Globe, and I'm proud to be interviewed by you - particularly love that old archive pic of Ginger Coyote with Jello Biafra. Are you still pals with Jello, Ginger?

TOMMY: Wise men once said: be excellent to each other.

RvK: Every winner loses, and every loser wins. And check us out and drop us a line. Thanks Ginger.