Introduce yourself…
Carl: hello im Carl, I play guitar and backing vocals in AFS
Jonny: I’ll be the bloke who sings and nicks Carl’s harmonies !
How did the band start?
Carl: that’s all Jonny’s fault….
Jonny: Sitting outside Bones Skatepark in Stockport in 2004, said I’d always fancied putting a Punk Rock band together, Carl says ‘I play guitar, he’s a bassist,we know a drummer, let’s do it’ so we did
How did you come up with the name?
Carl: Another long story, but we run www.middle-age-shred.com a skateboard site for guys in there 30’s and 40’s that still skate…
Jonny: Sidewalk skateboarding magazine ran an article on the recently born Middle Age Shred, the strapline was ‘Here’s a new website for all you Arthritic Foot Soldiers’ out there, I thought that’s a good name for our band and that was it !
Who would you say are your influences?
Carl: That’s a tough question really, since we have been around in bands, but if I had to pin down bands that have influenced me “The Dickies” and more recently The Decendents
Jonny:70’s Punk Rock, Melodicore bands like Bad Religion,NoFx,The Offspring,70’s Dub,80’s Metal,the list goes on
What is the punk scene like in the UK?
Carl: Vibrant to say the least, in the Northwest area where we are based, there are so many bands and gigs, it’s nice to be part of that and all the people within it are very supportive
Jonny: Well 30 plus years since I stumbled into the scene and I’m still proud to be part of it, so many very good new bands emerging all the time
Describe the song writing process…
Carl:…. It’s either I have a title or a few words, send that to jonny and he sends me the full lyrics, or I get a full set of lyrics and I fit chords to them.
Jonny:Short, sharp and to the point, no dwelling on stuff, I’ll just jot down whatever comes in to my head and usually it works
Your first release was a demo ‘Texas Idiot’, tell us about the demo…
Carl: wrote / recorded / sent out for review in a matter of a few weeks, it was just work as fast as possible and see what we created
Jonny: I nicked the title and chorus for Texas Idiot from the back of a NoFx tshirt ‘ Somewhere in Texas there’s a village without it’s idiot’, the other songs were about stuff that either pissed me off or make me happy
Your first album was ‘Tales of a Drunken Generation’, tell us about the album…
Carl: again wrote really fast, and we re-recorded the “Texas Idiot” demos and again the remaining songs wrote in a matter of a month or so.
Jonny: Love it !, a lasting monument to the tongue in cheek beginnings of AFS
You then released the ‘Only Beer Can Save us Now’ EP, tell us about the EP…
Carl: we had some ideas for songs, so live recordings and we wanted to have a 2nd release very quickly after “tales of a drunken….”
Jonny: Recorded live stuff in Wakefield which was fun and used some of the songs that didn’t make it onto the first album
In 2006, you toured the UK and started working with a US record company, tell us about the tour…
Carl: We have never really toured, just gigged where we could. Which for Jonny being in his first band was interesting to see.
The US label “Turkey Vulture” which I approached to be on there compilation CD’s which started us talking about releasing an album in the US and finally going to the US to record our 3rd album.
Jonny: Jetted off to Fond Du Lac in Wisconsin USA and spent 8 long, hard days recording what was our best work to date, gave us a chance to really bond as a band too
In 2008, you released your second album ‘Delirium Tremors’, how do feel it differed from previous releases?
Carl: We had started to move away from I guess the silly songs and started to process of writing songs that were more personal, sadly it didn’t help that Jonny Mother died in the process, so it did affect us and how we recorded the album.
Jonny: Yeah, a pretty shitty time for me personally, but I was determined to give it my all for Mum and show the punters that we had moved on both lyrically and musically
Your third album was ‘Immature Nobodies’, which was recorded in the US, tell us about the album…
Carl: This was the result of working with Jason Z from Turkey Vulture, and we wrote the whole album in 12 weeks and recorded it in a week in Wisconsin USA which was the best trip and recording we had done. All the guitars / drums / amps we borrowed and so we were 4 unknowns flying to the middle of nowhere to record with someone we had never meet in a studio we didn’t know and equipment we had never played….. but it was just awesome and proved that under pressure we did a great album. Plus the local bar because our home .. and as much beer as you could drink for $7 …. That’s just awesome.
Jonny: A lot more work went into writing these songs, we wanted to again show the doubters that AFS are a force to be reckoned with and that we can turn Punk Rock on it’s head and still produce catchy tunes that people want to sing along to
Your current album is ‘Trash Vegas’, tell us about the album..
Carl: This was written and recorded in 9 weeks back in the UK and we used what we had learned in the US to record our best album yet. Recorded in 4 days, it took 7 months for the producer to sort out what the hell we had recorded. It contains a lot of songs what were written from the heart and I feel it shows in the finished result.
Jonny: A bunch of songs about stuff that still pisses me off about the world we live in and even one mocking my own middle class Punk Rock credentials (Protest Song)
You also a do Sidewalk Skateboarding Magazine, tell us about the magazine…
Jonny: Carl, Me and our producer Tim were the founding fathers of Middle Age Shred which in turn brought us the feature in Sidewalk which in turn gave us the most ridiculous band name we could have wished for, so ridiculous that I have the logo tattooed on my arm for all to see
What else have you released?
Carl: A few vinyl singles, I love coloured vinyl .. it’s retro and great fun to see your music on the turn table
Jonny: More songs than I can possibly remember the lyrics too
Tell us about the current lineup…
Carl: currently we are
Jonny : vocals
Steve : Bass (ex Grover)
Ryland : drums (ex Grover)
Carl : Guitar
Steve : Bass (ex Grover)
Ryland : drums (ex Grover)
Carl : Guitar
Jonny: A lineup change will keep us fresh and on our toes and may yet add another dynamic to our sound, watch this space in 2011
Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
Jonny: UK Subs/999/TV Smith/King Kurt, not that they would remember, but we do !
Do you prefer to do shows at large venues or small clubs?
Carl: small pubs, much more fun
Jonny: Small,stinking,English pubs can’t be beaten
Where have you toured?
Carl: like I said we haven’t really toured, we all have jobs and families and since we are not teenagers we cant just leave work weeks at a time.. sadly
Jonny:To the end of the road and back, although we did drive 250 miles south once to play a gig for some skateboarder chums (at 2am in the morning… a very drunk gig)
Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
Carl:…. That’s a tricky one, the Decendents I would say and maybe the original line up of the dickies
Jonny: The Clash or The Ruts
Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
Carl: it was a very small pub in “Radcliffe” in the north of the UK…. On a Sunday morning, awesome crowd.
Jonny: Got to agree with Carl on this one, The Radcliffe Riot Squad were one of the best crowds we ever played to and the landlord used to give us free beer, what more could we wish for
What do you see is the future of AFS?
Carl: other than filming some new videos for the songs off “Trash Vegas” Jonny and I are working on songs for our acoustic album “note to self” and a new band “Dead End Division”
Jonny: Dead End Division will take me musically in a different direction, but we still hope to include a few AFS songs in our set
How can people contact the band?
Carl: me normally it’s more direct that way carnfield@yahoo.co.uk or via the main site www.afs.me.uk
Jonny:I’m on the dreaded Facebook so people can contact me through there as I post stuff there and also through our blog at http://www.dead-end-division.blogspot.com/
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