Introduce yourself…
I'm Beki, lead singer/songwriter/guitarist in Vice Squad
How did the band start?
I saw an advert in Revolver Records store in Bristol for a singer and went to meet Dave Bateman, the original guitarist who sadly died in December 2007. He already had a drummer, Shane Baldwin, and they told me that I had a good voice and image and I was in. Mark Hambly then joined as bassist and we began rehearsing in his parent's garage. and we began to do gigs in and around the Bristol area, mostly booked by Dave.
How did you guys come up with the name?
I came up with the name 'Vice Squad' because it had a hint of sleaze and the 'Squad' part made me think of a small army of Punks. The rest of the band liked it stuck.
Who are your influences?
I like Joe Strummer, Little Richard, Janis Joplin and Angus Young, and I love Bruce Lee. Obviously he has no musical influence but his fighting spirit has always been an inspiration.
The band started in 1978, what was the punk scene like back then?
We didn't really get going till the 80s by which time a lot of people were into the Mod revival, but we used to go to a pub called the Crown in Bristol which had a Punk jukebox and tolerated underage drinkers. The song 'Sniffing Glue' on our 'London Underground' album is all about growing up in Bristol as a junior Punk Rocker and experimenting with drugs and using coke can ring pulls as engagement rings. We used to go to illegal drinking dens called 'Blues' run by Jamaicans and listen to dub reggae.The sad truth is that not everyone involved with that scene has survived to tell the tale.
How has it changed?
Punk is now a world wide movement and it's cultural impact is huge. Punk's influence can be seen everywhere, in music, fashion and art. In the 80s I made my own clothes or bought them from the few boutiques selling punk clothing. Now you can buy punk-influenced clothing from dedicated online shops and chain stores in the high street. We used to get threatened and beaten up for our hair and how we dressed, now you see gelled, spiky hair everywhere and ripped t-shirts. Punk bands were often banned from playing at all, now you see a sanitized version of punk in the charts.This has caused a new generation to listen to the original bands and enabled these bands to keep playing and releasing albums. Every day kids all over the world pick up guitars because of Punk, and most importantly they question the world around them rather than being apathetic. Punk is more open-minded today than it was in the 80s when it was far more elitist.
Tell about the Riot City record label…
We met a guy called Simon Edwards who owned a little Independent label called 'Heartbeat'. We borrowed some money and paid to make our first EP, 'Last Rockers' and Simon agreed to put it out on his label. The Bristol riots had recently happened so I suggested we call the label 'Riot City Records'. Simon later released other band's records on this label.
Your first album was ‘No Cause for Concern’, can you tell us about the album?
We all hated it as it was done in such a rush, but I'm now told it paved the way for Thrash metal!!!
What was the song writing process back then?
I'd write lyrics in my school exercise books and give them to Dave Bateman (the original VS guitarist who died in 2007) and he'd put some chords around them, we'd rehearse in a Church Hall and then play them live and/or record them.
How has that changed?
We write the tune first, then put words to the music, though sometimes I'll just pick lines from stuff I've already written as I often put my thoughts on paper. 'You can't buy back the dead' was written like that, I already had the words and they fitted the tune perfectly.
Many people consider that bands official brake up was when Beki left the band, what caused that?
There were many reasons, one being the manager ( who later joined the band as lead guitarist when I left ) driving me past a slaughter house so he could wave at his mates working inside. I was in effect paying his wages and just because I was a girl and younger than him it didn't give him the right to mock my principles. He'd already started involving himself in the musical side of the band and when I heard the demos they were obviously trying to be Rock as opposed to Punk. I think that incarnation of Vice Squad had probably gone as far as it could by then.The management were more concerned about me keeping them on as managers than they were about me leaving the band, I wanted to break from them so that didn't go down very well. I was very, very naive and basically gave away my EMI advance. I would say in retrospect I was virtually clueless about human nature and ended up with nothing from years of being gobbed on, but I suppose it must have made me stronger in the end as I'm still here and I never gave up music no matter how hard things got.
Why did you decide to reform in 1997?
People kept asking me to play the old Vice Squad songs (I was in another band at the time) and we were asked to play a one off gig at 'Holidays in the Sun'. At the time we had a broken down transit van that needed a lot of repairs. We used the van to get to gigs and if we didn't gig I didn't eat so I said yes to the 'Holidays' gig as the fee they offered was enough to repair the van. I'd been writing songs on my own and sent the demo to PHD/Rythm Vicar who offered us a licensing deal so we released 'Get A Life'. After 'Holidays' we were invited to play a gig in Ljubjana which was brilliant, the audience were fantastic and for me they represented the true spirit of Punk, so we decided to tour Europe. After that we played the Social Chaos tour in the USA in 1999 and we've been touring and releasing albums ever since.
Why did you decide not to release ‘Fairground for the Demented’?
We weren't entirely happy with it so we just scrapped it and started on a new album. After a few months we listened to 'Fairground' again and decided it had some good tracks so we made it available on itunes and as a very limited edition CD for fans and changed it's name to 'Unreleased'.
Tell us about the ‘London Underground’ album?
We wrote and recorded ‘London Underground’ under very bad circumstances. It's fair to say that most bands would have just given up, but the songs came to us really quickly and the album sounded better than anything we had recorded before.
We write and record every song ourselves in our home studio and want control over what is released so it seemed logical to start our own label, 'Last Rockers Records'.
We had the help of an amazing artist called Landon Armstrong who drew the cover art and equally amazing sleeve designer Barry Kade, so we managed to get the complete package to sound and look as good as possible whilst still being completely DIY.
We have no record company to help us, but that means no-one tells us how we should sound or what we should sing about, so our material is pure punk, completely DIY from start to finish.
How does that differ from the previous albums?
It's our first entirely DIY album as it's on our own label. Since 1997 all our albums have been recorded at home and produced by us and then licensed for a few years to other labels like EMI, Sudden Death/Muck and SOS.
Tell us about ‘Santa Claws is Coming to Town’?
We wanted to do something that was just fun and light hearted as a lot of our songs are serious and political. We had a laugh recording it and it certainly livened up some people's celebrations.
Are there plans for another album and tour?
We've virtually finished our new album, we're going to record one more song then we'll pick the best from twenty new tracks.
You have toured the U.K., the U.S. and Canada, where else have you toured?
We've toured/played Italy, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Slovenjia, and Czech Republic.
Is there a favorite place you like to play shows at?
There are too many good ones to have only one favourite, but I like The Key Club in Hollywood, The Gaff in London and I enjoy the bigger outdoor gigs like Pod Parou in Czech republic.
You have done shows with a lot of great bands, is there a favorite band you like doing shows with?
Not really, any band that's friendly and fun to play with is good.
What would say is your favorite song you like to perform live?
I love playing 'Defiant', 'Old Skool' and 'Sniffing Glue', and out of the old songs I like singing 'Out of Reach' and 'Scarred for life'.
What do you see is the future of the Vice Squad?
I don't take anything for granted but I see us playing more shows and releasing a new album this year and gaining new fans as the Punk movement grows ever stronger.
I think that as the recession causes more and more people to lose their jobs and suffer the injustices that go with poverty Punk will become more and more popular.
We'd also like to produce other bands and put some of our hard won experience to good use.
How can people contact the band?
Beki is one of a handful of artistes who has remained true to herself to this day. Ive been fortunate to have met her socially and she's a diamond a true gem.
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