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July 2021




  

Let's Talk Punk
With
Stephen Straughan
of the UK Subs & Hi Fi Spitfires
Interview By: Lisa/PunkrPrincess




Punk Globe: Hi thanks for chatting with us again. Can you tell us a little about your music career? 

Stephen: Hello Lisa I started playing in bands from around 1980. I was the singer in my first punk band. We were called Formal Warning. We just played youth clubs back then with us being so young. I was in other bands later such as The Pits, Red London,  Holy Racket . In later years I joined The Lurkers and Angelic Upstarts.  Today I play for The UK Subs, Loaded 44 and Hi Fi Spitfires.

Punk Globe: Uk Subs has a new album. Can you tell us about the making of it?

Stephen: Yes! The UK Subs have a new album coming out on American label Cleopatra Records. As you will know the UK Subs recorded what we all thought was the last album, Zeizo, just before I joined. It just seemed like bad timing for me joining just after they had completed the full alphabetically ordered albums. Just as they completed and released the letter z  I joined. However I was told there would still be the opportunity of recording the odd single now and again. When we recorded the Double singles and the Screaming Senile 12", we had extra songs that didn't get used. We put some of these songs on the shelf so to speak. As time went by we started writing more songs. When we were approached by the record label to record a new album we all put our songs forward to each other and recorded them. Obviously during these strange times of covid and lock down restrictions, we had to do all of our recordings individually and send each other our songs where we each worked on them and added our bits. The album is called Reverse Engineering.

Punk Globe: What's your favorite track on the new album?

Stephen: It's really difficult for me to say which is my favourite song on the album especially at the moment as we have only just completed the album. I guess when I have that lovely vinyl in front of me on my turntable hearing it in its entirety, I may be able to say what's my favourite song. I can however tell you about the 3 songs I wrote for the album. They are Hoist the Sail, C60 Audio and Night Holds The Key.  The album has so many flavors to it. I can't wait for it to be released.

Punk Globe: When can we get the new album?

Stephen: The album I believe will be out next year as there is a backlog of vinyl to be pressed by the pressing plants due to the pandemic. The record will be available from Cleopatra Records in the USA.


Punk Globe: How have you handled the lock downs?

Stephen: Believe it or not I've handled lock down really well. I totally understand why others haven't and I do sympathize with them.  I've been playing in bands for so many years and never had the chance to be at home with my family. This was an opportunity that gave me back some of that time I've missed. As well as catching up with my family, I've also caught up on so much, like writing songs and playing the guitar at home. I've watched and learned so much tutorial guitar work and loved every minute. It's also given me time to rehearse the material from my other bands I play for. The bad side of it for me is it's hit me and my family so hard financially like many others now not having any income. I haven't got a job outside of the UK Subs.

Punk Globe: Who/what is your inspiration?

Stephen: I'm inspired by good musicians these days, mostly guitarists. There are so many out there in the punk and rock world.  It just pushes me to want to learn more and more.  My son is a drummer and works so hard every day at taking himself to a higher level and that also inspires me.

Punk Globe: Where's your favorite place to travel?

Stephen: I've been blessed to travel to so many places around the world but one of my favourite holidays was in Sorrento on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Just beautiful. Another outstandingly stunning place I loved while on holiday was Dubrovnik in Croatia. It was just breathtaking. I could go on and on with my favourite places.

Punk Globe: Other then UK Subs you have other project can you tell us about them?

Stephen: After the release of both Hi Fi Spitfires albums England screaming and Nightraid we managed to record and release an EP single called Doors to the USA before our long time drummer and good friend Nelly moved to Munich, Germany. This all happened around the time I joined the UK Subs so things obviously slowed down at this point for Hi Fi Spitfires. Brexit has now made things virtually impossible for us to continue with our drummer living in Germany so we now have a new drummer in the UK. Our rehearsals have just started  and it's working so well. We are now writing new material so hopefully there will be some new material released soon.


 

Punk Globe: What's your biggest/weirdest fear?

Stephen: Once while on tour and sleeping in a storage room in a venue that was once an old prison in Germany something crawled in my mouth. It woke me up and I couldn't stop coughing. I'm not actually sure if it came out or stayed in me. It was horrendous. For a long time after I used to wrap a scarf around my mouth before sleeping to prevent anything crawling in my mouth. I also have a fear of heights. I don't really get the fear when flying now as I'm so used to it but the fear of heights  does kick in when I'm at the top of high buildings. I'm not the best at standing close to the edge of high buildings. I could never parachute out of an airplane or go on fairground rides.

Punk Globe: Do you see any tours in the future?

Stephen: I do see tours happening in the future however I don't see covid being the biggest problem for me and other musicians. I think we will overcome that problem . I think the problem for us in the UK will be Brexit but that's another story.

Punk Globe: Where is your favorite place to tour?

Stephen: Now that is a difficult question to answer.  Germany is one of my favourite countries to play because it just seems to be so welcoming towards punk rock and has so many venues that accommodates punk rock. Mind after saying that, I've lost count of how many one-off festivals we have flown out to and I've absolutely loved them and their beautiful locations. I've also loved my times in the USA and would love to tour there again.

Punk Globe: Favorite tour snack?

Stephen: My favourite tour snacks change from time to time but while in the UK I love Vegan steak bakes.  They are still quite new.


Punk Globe: Who are some of your favorite bands to listen to?

Stephen: When I'm on tour I get to catch up on listening to a lot of music as I haven't really got time to  listen to much at home as I'm always playing the guitar.  I do however listen to music all the time while driving my car. I buy vinyl while home off tour and it sometimes sits on my shelf for 6 months before I get to play it. Because we spend so much time in the van on tour I can just put my headphones on and  listen to music for hours and hours. These days I love listening to the likes of The Generators and the Ravagers both from the USA. I tend to have my MP3 player set to shuffle so i get to hear absolutely everything in my punk rock collection while on tour  I started a music page on facebook a few years ago where lots of old and obscure 77 style punk gets posted on there. I have a list of over 600 bands that have been posted on there or ones I've discovered while searching YouTube. Most of us have never heard of 95% of those bands. It's nice to discover new bands but it's equally mind blowing to find bands that existed a long time ago who were also brilliant.

Punk Globe: Can you tell us something about yourself that most people don't know?

Stephen: Here's a few things about me that most people won't know. When most people are tucked up in bed and probably fast asleep, I'm sitting in my guitar room learning a piece of music on the guitar. I'm kind of in my own world, just me, not disturbing anyone and not being disturbed. Something just draws me in during those early hours. I have this certain light that when I turn on it just pulls me into that room. I sometimes sit till 3 or 4 in the morning going through guitar riffs and leads.  I just seem to get much more done during the early hours than I can get done during the day. I've even written a song about it which is on the new UK Subs album. It's called Night holds the key. I also love animals and the countryside. I like old vintage motorcycles despite not having one. I love a lot of punk rock. I like ww2 films and documentaries. I love toys from the 60's and 70's, mostly vehicles from  Sci-Fi  programs. I love classy old style hats. I love good jackets and coats . I hated school. One of my only accomplishments from school was getting an award for drawing a picture for an anti litter campaign. Most of the time I really don't think I belong here and I'm quite sure one day I will be airlifted out . I hated a lot of 80's music and in particular New Romantic.  I absolutely hate people who hurt animals and justify their evil actions by calling it tradition or sport, when really it's because they are evil and have a sick twisted perversion. I also ignore every phone call to my land line.


Punk Globe: Other than making great music, what are some other hobbies you have?

Stephen: I love going to gigs in my area and supporting the local punk scene. I love playing and learning new things on the guitar.

Punk Globe: What would be a good theme song for your life?

Stephen: The best theme song or songs to describe my life ironically would be ones I've written. Firstly "Brick walls and barricades"," Last Gang", "Don't take my heart" , "57th zone" and "Battlefield of dreams".

Punk Globe: Any shout-outs?

Stephen: The list could be endless regarding shout outs but here's a few. Hi Fi Spitfires, Loaded 44, Chaos 8, First Wave,  The Generators and the Ravagers and my Facebook music page "Gonna hit you like a Comet on a wave of northern Vomit".

Punk Globe: Where can we find your projects?

Stephen: Various links

Punk Globe: Thanks for the chat and thanks to all the readers.


Beam me up Punk Globe!
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Greg Antista and the Lonely Streets