Introduce yourself…
Hi, I’m Joe fear, the vocalist for Glasgow anarcho band Constant Fear. Also in the band are Watty on guitar, Stoo on bass and Craig on drums.
How did the band start?
The band came about after the previous band I was in split, literally, myself, the bass player and drummer at the time formed Constant Fear, while the others formed another band. We then got Watty to join as guitarist and that was it. This was way back 81 – 82, so we were all still in our teens at the time.
How did you come up with the name?
Im not too sure. I don’t know if it was from the D.I.R.T song, the part that goes “cos down in Hiroshima they live in constant fear” or we got it from somewhere else. Our old bass player Will Free would probably remember.
Who would you say are your influences?
Back then it was bands like Crass, Conflict, all the usual anarcho suspects. Now we all listen to a wide selection of stuff. For me and Watty now I would say bands like Amebix, Behind enemy Lines, Avskum and the like. For big Stoo he is into all types of punk and Craig is ore into metal like Motorhead (which comes through in his drumming style.)
What is the punk scene like in the UK back in 1981?
Back then, the punk scene in Glasgow, was pretty big for what is really a small city, didn’t matter what bands were playing they were always mobbed. Unfortunately the only places that put gigs on were places like The Apollo, Tiffanies and the Venue, all of which had the usual bullyboy bouncers. I think the smaller places that we put gigs on now were too scared of any violence happening and them losing their license.
I suppose it was just like every other town and city at the time, the city centre was just full of punks. We all used to hang out outside the Virgin store which had just opened and drank beer and El Dorado wine.
I think at the time everyone who was a punk back then was also in a band or knew someone in a band (bit like it is now I guess).
How do you feel it has changed?
Well the big change is that the numbers has dropped like a stone, except when folk dig out their old clothes and spike their hair for rebellion. Personally I saw a big drop in folks going to gigs in the early 90’s. I was in a band called Disaffect back then and noticed that a lot of folk who used to come to gigs disappeared, then you would see them on town with their dreads or hair cut and bleached and find out that they are now going to raves cos “the atmosphere is good, you can get stoned and you don’t have to think about anything”. That for me was the death of punk
You now have all the young punks, Goths or whatever the fuck they are calling themselves hanging round town and not going to local gigs, they are only interested in bands that they see on mtv or kerrang tv and play in big corporate venues.
There are folk now getting back into the music and going to gigs again, but when you are playing to 10 or 15 people at gigs its soul destroying.
What is the song writing process?
Well it is me that writes the lyrics to most of the songs now and the others will come to practise sessions with new tunes and it is just a case of fitting the words to music or if they don’t fit then just messing around until we like what we hear.
Back in the '80s you released some demos, tell us about the Demos...
Yeah we did a few demo’s when I was still in the band. I think the first one we did we had two girls doing backing on it and although it sounded good it was hard going trying to get them in on time for each chorus. The next demo we did was just the four of us (joe vox, watty guitar, Willie bass and Blacky drums). We recorded it some place in the west end of Glasgow. Course the first thing we did was find an off licence and bought 8 cans of beer each but no food cos eatins cheatin.
So we did 7 songs in 8 hours, did any add-ons and mixed it. I think the guy was happy to see the back of us cos we were pissed by then. We were on our way home on the bus and Willie showed us his bass stings they were as slack as fuck lol, but the demo still sounded good.
What caused the band to split back then?
We had a falling out over the drummer who got us banned from a venue due to him being an aggressive junky drunk bastard. So after I left they did another demo with Watty singing and Bob on second guitar, which I heard recently and Watty had a great voice. I think the band then split up after that. It was a pity cos if we concentrated more on the band and less on getting pished who knows what could have happened.
What sparked you to get the band back together in 2004?
My parents met Will one day in the local shopping centre and he asked how I was doing and asked if I would be interested in catching up with him and Watty. So we arranged to meet at a local metal pub. Watty had been seriously ill with throat cancer and was still on chemo and had had a serious on his throat. I hadn’t seen either of them for around 20 years and I was telling them about the stuff I did with Disaffect and another cover band called Dis-cover. And Watty said that he would really like to get Constant Fear back together again. So we all said great lets do that. Once Watty got back on his feet again we met at his house and I let they hear the Disaffect CD and also some of the stuff that I was listening to like extinction of mankind, nausea, avskum and we kicked it off from there.
It took awhile to start practicing as we didn’t have a drummer but a guy I used to talk to online knew a drummer who was looking for a band and thats how we got craig on drums.
In 2008, you released your first album, tell us about the album...
Yeah did as kind of self release of the Unforgivable Cd which we recorded over 2 days at a studio in the south side of Glasgow called Maybank Studios. And it turned out really well. Craig knew a girl who could do the artwork for us and she did the front cover and one for each song. We got the booklets printed at small Anarcho / autonomous printers and just ran off copies on my pc and sold them. We then asked Roy at Belfast records if he would be interested in putting it out as proper release which he was more than happy to do but due to circumstances the CD was never officially released.
What else have you released?
The next thing we have in the pipeline is another album called “Whats next”, this one is getting released (fingers crossed) on Active Rebellion records plus a couple of other lables of whom I don’t know who they are yet. The artwork is being down by Nesha at Doomsdaygraphics. We have seen the first sketch of the cover and it is looking amazing. This one has a whole better sound as was recorded and mixed over 5 days at 16Ohm studios in the east end of Glasgow. Those 5 days made all the difference, there was no hurry and no stress.
Hopefully the cd will be out this September.
Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
Oh man, hundereds, where to start?
Conflict, Icons of Filth, Subhumans, Lost Cherrees, Discharge, Broken Bones, Inner Terrestrials, Liberty, Bad Influence, Oi polloi, Amebix, extinction of mankind, Refuse/ all, Droppin bombs, Excuses, Down to kill. Apologies too all the bands I have left out
Do you prefer to do shows at large venues or small clubs?
I prefer the smaller clubs as I think they have a better sound and atmosphere. We have played some big venues and the sound was crap and no one seemed to be interested. Smaller venues more intimate and in your face...lol there is no hiding in a small venue.
Where have you toured?
We have been around Ireland 3 times thanks again to a lot of folk who went out of their ways to make us feel welcomed. We played Belfast, Derry, Sligo, Galway and Dublin quite a few times as well as at both Drumacanoo festivals
We have also played 3 days in Belgium with Bad Influence and T’vettig front. That was a good tour except for our first night at the Vort n Vis in Ieper. We were exhausted after travelling down from Glasgow with a 4 hour stop off in Stoo’s brother flat then on to Belgium. We were just exhausted with 4 hours sleep in 2 days so the gig was not to good. The next night a guy told me that he wasn’t gonna come to the gig because he saw us at Ieper and thought we were shite lol but he then said he was sorry he thought we were shite cos we blew him away lol.
The best night was in Liege at the Carlo Levi Cafe. They went fucken metal in there, a good few folk there that i knew from my Disaffect days.
We are hoping to get a tour sorted for when the new cd comes out but we are always looking for gigs.
Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
I think we have played with a lot of our fav bands but there are bands that I would still wanna do shows with. Behind enemy lines, Appalachian terror unit to name a couple
Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
Liege is a favourite of mine as is the 1 in 12 club in Bradford
What do you see is the future of Constant Fear?
Well hopefully another couple of cd’s and tours of Europe. Would really like to play in Japan and the States before we fall apart from old age.
How can people contact the band?
We have a webpage at constantfear.co.uk but I have not updated it for 2 years. Also on myspace at constantfearuk and you can find us on facebook. There are 2 band pages and I am under Joe Fear.
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