The Balefire Blog
Pete: Well
it’s finally out there, the Balefire CD so I’m gonna ask Barry some questions,
just a few things that pop into my head, nothing too heavy, I mean I’m not the
Spanish inquisition or the social or nuffink!
So then,
er, Baz! Bazza! Barrington! Sir Barrington De La Amermy… if you don’t
mind me calling you that, how does it feel after all this time to be putting a
record out again at long last, I mean you’ve certainly kept those punky ole Infa
fans waiting aint ya?
Barry: Yeah!
It’s mad Peteybabes me ole mucker! As ya know I’m a bit of a recording geek. It was the one thing I really enjoyed when I
was in Infa Riot all those years ago. Before
the Infas when I was 14 or so, I virtually lived with the upstarts in Wood Green
and me and a few others were invited to Air Studios in London to do some
backing vocals on the ‘2 Million Voices’ album and I was hooked big time. Incidentally, did ya know the Upstarts song ‘Out
of Control’ was about me?
Pete: Yes!
At least fifty times!
Barry: I
was sitting watching TV with Mensi one day drinking a bottle of vodka, talking
about how shit school was and he said (in his big geordie accent) ‘I’m gonna
write a fucking song about ya!’ The only problem was he could not find a word
that rhymed with vodka so it got changed to gin.
Pete: I
know, you told me ya chimp! You’ve
talked to me a lot about Mensi, seems you had a lot of time for him back in the
day so how come you lost touch? He seems
to have lost the plot a bit over the years and now has an unexplained
pathological hatred for my old band Retaliator, it seems the merest mention of
our name brings on convulsions and frothing at the mouth! I actually thought
the Upstarts were a cracking band, I love their first three albums and have
nothing but respect for the bloke’s early music, oh well you can’t please
everyone can ya!
Barry: I
did like Mensi, he was a real larger than life character, straight to the
point, no bullshit and as funny as hell. We all drifted apart years ago for
whatever reason, ya know how it is. He
once barred me from his house because my hair got too long and he said I looked
like a girl, so I got a number one and every fucker in school thought I had head
lice. It’s a shame he feels the way he
does about Retaliator. He will freak out when he finds out we have been working
together, but I reckon he will like the album.
He was very supportive when I told him I wanted to start a band all
those years ago. If it wasn’t for Mensi; Infa Riot would not have existed! (Not
sure if that’s a good or bad thing!) We
spent a lot of time touring with the Exploited as well and you can imagine what
that was like....Fucking mental! And I was only 17!
Pete: You’ve
told me quite a few Mensi stories and they always make me laugh, it must have
been a mad time for you being so young.
You mention the Exploited who in my opinion are one of the best punk
bands of all time. We gigged with ‘em on
a few occasions and it was fucking brilliant and to hear Wattie dedicate ‘UK82’
to Retaliator made my fucking week! Another larger than life character and a
top geezer if you ask me. Funny enough a mate of mine knows Wattie really well
and tells me Wattie stories just like you tell me Mensi stories and again they
always make me laugh. Seems this scene
has its fair share of madmen and real characters.
So
how was it working with little ole me as opposed to Gods of Oi! Like the Wilson brothers?
Barry: I
loved every minute of it mate! It was heart 'n' soul instead of arse 'n' hole if
ya know what I mean. Ha! Ha! (Sorry boys wherever you are). I want it on record that it was ME who
started Infa Riot even though Lee wilson took over and the Wilsons got all the credit. Me and Floyd were school mates and I knew Lee
from the Lordship pub. Lee couldn’t sing and Floyd couldn’t play a single note
on the bass and to be honest, come the second album not much had changed.
Pete: Tut
tut! Those naughty ole Wilsons! I heard one of ‘em met an untimely end when
he was washed overboard on Tom Hank’s raft in a desperate bit to escape a
desert island they’d been stranded on! A
very sad end to an 80’s icon, I know Tom Hanks was fucking distraught!
Barry: Raft?....
That’s funny I heard it was Tom Hanks shaft.
Pete: So
are you happy with the CD? Do you
actually like the songs or was it just something to do?
Barry: Something
to do? I used to walk a 6 mile round trip a day for this. (Too much alcohol to
drive!) I love these songs and I’m more than happy with the cd.
Pete: Yeah
me to, it’s so different to anything else I’ve done before but I still reckon
it’s got bollocks and passion! People
are really struggling to categorise it which suits me fine. I mean ‘The Pub From Hell’ started out as a
bit of a psychobilly thing and ended up something else entirely, in fact they
all ended up being well different to what was in mind at the beginning, they
kinda evolved into something really different which can only be your
input. I mean had they of gone through
the Retaliator mill, they’d have come out as pure Retaliator songs, but this
stuff goes somewhere completely different and I really like that.
Barry: I
think people will have trouble trying to pigeon hole this album. I see it as a mix of a lot of things. Someone
told me it reminded them of early blockheads, another said On ‘Senlac Hill’
sounded like it could be a Metallica song.
I like that kind of feedback. A young lad I know who loves his R&B
and rap told me ‘The Pub from Hell’ and ‘Headfuck’ are "wicked"
tunes.
Pete: Metallica? Can’t really see that myself but it’s a good
complement all the same and that’s the important thing. I REALLY want people to
like this album, it’s real important to me, it’s like starting over again from
scratch, forget twelve years in Retaliator, four albums etc, this is sink or
swim time, redemption or condemnation! I
just hope people are open minded enough to give this album a few spins before
judging it out of hand as being too different.
I think it’s a cracking little album and I’ll always be proud of it. It
was certainly a bit different for me though, not the normal process of
recording. This was really quite
technical stuff, I mean drumming overdubs etc make the drum lines sound fuller,
keyboards and harmony vocals for fuck’s sake! What’s it all about? I certainly
learned a lot of shit working with you!
…I’ve already forgotten most of it but hey ho!
Barry: As
ya know mate I’ve had a lot of musical instruments and equipment for years and I’ve
learned a lot. But this album is the first thing I’ve done with full-on drums,
guitar, bass, vocals ect...since Infa Riot. Just you wait for our next album; I’m
gonna blow ya Matalan socks off!
Pete: Yeah
I’m certainly warming to the idea of a full-length album, I just hope the
punters will be!
Barry: I
think so mate, cos we aint trying to copy anyone else.
Pete: No
we certainly aint! Do you think enough
alcohol was consumed whilst working on this cd or did the music get in the way
a bit?
Barry: I can’t
remember I was too pissed at the time.
Pete: Weren’t
you nearly on Top of the Pops back in the day or was that just a vicious
rumour?
Barry: Yeah!
This is true, we were only a couple of thousand away from joining the ranks of
the Upstarts and the Exploited.
I
remember Lee Wilson getting his eyebrows plucked and fake tan for the big day, but
it never happened.
Pete: Now
that IS a real shame, when we did it the crowd went crazy ape bonkers and
smashed the place up, but it was agreed that it wasn’t our fault for being so
great so we all went down the pub and Holly Willerby got completely wankered
and puked all over Ian!
Barry: Ahh!
the georgeous Holly, I would use her shit for toothpaste. Tell Ian I wanna lick
his T-shirt.
Pete: I’ll
mention it to him but I can’t really see him being overly happy about it mate!
Hang
about! It might have been Wally Hillerby
now ya mention it! Or was it Willy
Hollerby? Hilly Wallerby?
Do
you have a favourite song on the album?
Barry: No!
I have three! ‘On Senlac Hill’,
Headfuck, and ‘A Hard Rain’ in that order!
Pete: Yeah
I love ‘On Senlac Hill’, incidentally I meant to dedicate it to the ‘1066
Saxons’ (local scooter club of my adopted new home town Hastings) along with
King Harold, but being a useless twat I forgot!
Sorry chaps if any of you are reading this!
So
how does this stuff compare to the Infa Riot stuff in your opinion?
Barry: This
is what I wanted Infa Riot to sound like. I’m more proud of this than anything
I ever did with them. I Wish I was sixteen
again. (Ya know my eldest son Andrew is
older now than I was when I was in the Infas) Fuck! I’m old!
Pete: You
certainly are!
Barry: Just
like to point out here that we are the same age mate. Thank you very much!
Pete: Pah!
Do you
reckon you’d ever get Infa Riot off the ground again?
Barry: Big
no no! The Wilsons are/were big money boys now (good
luck to ‘em.) Floyd has a big building company and as far as I know lee is
still in antiques. Aint seen or spoke to them for years. But there’s one thing
I wanna know.....Is the rumour true that Lee came home early one day from work
and caught Floyd shagging his missus??? Answers
on a postcard and all that!
Pete: Ah
so no third album then! But just say there was gonna be a new album, what name would
you do it under…Infa Riot? The Infa’s or
just plane ole ‘Inf?’ Just a thought.
Barry: Definitely
Infa Riot, we never changed the name of the band it was all down to our record
company following the trouble at Acklam Hall ect... I think we all knew it was the end of the
line for us when they insisted we call ourselves the Infas (this was Mensi's
nickname for us) for the second album.
Pete: Ok,
Well that just about wraps that up. We’ve talked enough bollocks for one blog!
I’ll see you up the bar for a daiquiri old bean! Toodle pip and all that old caper!
Barry: Ok Sir
Pete, over and out!
Pete: Excellent! Job done, all you need to do now is pass me
my little rucksack, I’m off to Paul’s to do a poo!
Barry: Ok
mate I’m off to Holly's with me toothbrush!
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