Introduce yourself…
Patriot is- Eddie Oakes-vocals, Erik Morgan-bass guitar and backing vocals, Jeremy Paul-lead guitar, Matt Peagler-rhythm guitar and backing vocals and Bill Nuckols-drums and backing vocals.
How did the band start?
Patriot first formed in October of 1990 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We disbanded in the mid 2000's when everyone went their seperate ways. I (Eddie) reformed the band with new members in 2007 and did our first live show, after many years, at the East Coast Oi! Fest in 2008.We are now currently based out of Wilmington, NC.
When I (Eddie) and the former members started the band we got together and started writing some music just to see how it would go. There was nothing musically for us in our small town so us young skinheads and punks got together with an idea to make something, that we liked and could relate to, happen for ourselves. There seemed to be no shortage of bands making the rounds in other scenes back then but there was no Oi! and Street Punk. Bands like Sham 69, Cock Sparrer and The Business just couldn't be found except for the record shops in larger cities and back then they never toured through so it was up to us to make a scene for ourselves. For me, the greatest times of my life have been playing Oi! music and I wanted to give back to a scene and a way of life that has given me so much.
How did you come up with the name?
Back then we were all much younger and more naive. The name "Patriot" represented for us a basic paradigm of what we believed skinhead ideals and values to be about and here in America it was. We didn't have the more rigid class distinctions that people in England deal with so at that time it was less about class.for us. America is supposedly founded on a melting pot theory that all people regardless of race ethnicity or culture are "created equal", at least that's what we all learned in school so for us patriotism was never about racial superiority or right wing politics. In this country patriotism has a much less controversial meaning. You had Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, and Jewish skinheads that all hung together and shared a sense of patriotism as it pertained to working class as we knew it. We did not understand back then that it's a smaller world than we realized and in a scene as small as the Oi! and Street Punk one that the music we were writing and performing would ever be heard anywhere else but here at home. Nor did we know what a misconception our band name would cause elsewhere where patriotism had a different meaning. In retrospect we might have chosen more wisely our band name to avoid this misunderstanding. We just didn't know that people in other parts of the world would believe it meant we held right wing or racist beliefs. Patriot IS NOT, HAS NEVER BEEN, NOR WILL EVER BE, a racist, fascist or right wing band.
Who would you say are your influences?
We site a lot of different bands as influences and we all have pretty eclectic tastes in music. Of course I can site the obvious ones like I mentioned before and those bands and their like will always be at the heart of what we do. I could name so many bands that the list would go on forever. For me some personal favorites are Angelic Upstarts, Stiff little Fingers and The Jam. The Newtown Nuerotics, The Clash and Rancid too but the list goes on and on. I love Reggae and Ska and am never far from that when I listen to music at home. I listen to a lot of Blues and some metal and rock too. I just can't name it all but Oi! will always be my first true love. I know Jeremy has a real blues sound to a lot of his soloing much like former lead guitarist Gordon King and Bill has sited a lot of older hardcore in how he plays drums. There's just too much there to name it all.
What was the punk scene like in the North Carolina?
When we all were much younger in the early/mid 80's and the punk scene was pretty good but towards the later part of the 80's and into the 90's there wasn't much for us, like I said earlier that had a lot to do with why we formed this band. We were fortunate that there were never too many problems with politics in our area. We had our share of run-ins with the occasional boneheads and of course jocks, cops and college boys but more times than not we came out on top of that. We all stuck together on the streets and always tried to put fun and friendship first in all we did. Our town was small but there was a lot of kids bucking against the norm and rebelling against the status quo so it seemed there were very little dull times. I have so many fond memories. Some of that comes through in our music for sure.
Describe the song writing process...
There is no set formula but I'd say a majority of the songs we've written came about the same way. If I feel strong enough about a given topic and feel compelled to address it in our music then I will write song lyrics and then work on fitting music to those words. That's how most of our music came to be. Usually I will drop the song lyrics on the guys and we will write the music together but once in a while I will write the music as well before turning it over to the rest of the guys to fine tune it. We have written music before first and then arranged words with it but I don't usually like writing that way for some reason. I guess a given sound or melody rarely makes me think of a specific topic lyrically. I try to keep completed song lyrics without the music on hand for the times we feel creative and wanna write new material. All in all there is no set manner in how we write songs. Whatever works works.
What have you released?
We've just signed with Randale Records in Germany for our fourth studio release entitled "The Spirit of Rebellion" but at this time that record is not finished, we are hoping it will be out by the end of the year…. Starting the recording in August. We are very excited about how it will be received when done though. We have three studio albums; "Cadence From The Streets", "Another Dead Generation" and "We The People" all released by GMM Records as well as two live records. "Patriot-Live and Kicking" (live in New York City in 1994) on Sta-Press Records and "Patriot-Live Over Europe" (live in Germany 1997) on Blind Beggar Records. We have also released 5 or 6 ep's and have been featured on numerous compilations.
Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
We've had the fortune to play with a lot of great bands and hope to do more fun shows in the future with many more great bands. We've played with everyone from Agnostic Front and Fear to Sheer Terror, Murphy's Law, The Business, Section 5, Red Alert, The Templars, The Dropkick Murphys, The Toasters, The Anti Heros, Etc… Too many to name them all.
Have you toured?
We have toured somewhat here in The U.S. but never more than out for roughly a week at a time. We prefer to head out for long weekends, two to four shows then back home. It gets grueling the older I get but I always love to travel. We have traveled extensively here in America and performed live in Germany in December of 1997. We hope to be back to Europe soon promoting the new record. We also have a number of shows locally and out of town planned for the rest of the year here at home. With the economy so bad here i'ts more difficult and expensive to srrange out of town gigs but we try to press on as much as we can.
Do you prefer small clubs or large venues?
I like them both for different reasons but I usually prefer smaller, more personal venues. Patriot is just 5 working stiffs that are lucky enough to get out and play some gigs once in a while. I want to be up close and personal with those people kind enough to come out and see the show. I like to meet new people and make new friends so I enjoy being close to the crowd.
Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
Without a doubt I'd love to play with Cock Sparrer! I just finished reading "The Best Seat In The House- The Cock Sparrer Story" and It just made me want to do some gigs with them all the more. Maybe one day. It's the same for us with Rancid. Also a great band, in my opinion ever.
We always have fun with The Templars and look forward to setting something up with them again soon. We also always have a blast doing Anti Heros gigs and any shows with The Traditionals, some of our closest friends band-wise.. always a lot of fun.
Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
Here in town (Wilmington,NC) there's a great local venue called 16 Taps. That place has always been a lot of fun for us and always takes good care of us. I always wanna travel and see something new. 31st Street Pub in Pittsburgh, Pa is a personal favorite. Churchhill's in Miami and The Rat in Boston Too. The Masquerade in Atlanta used to be a blast too.
What do you see is the future of Patriot?
Hopefully we will keep writing, recording and playing music until they throw us in hole and pour the dirt in on us. I'm always trying to write material and already am working on new stuff and our next record hasn't even been recorded yet.
How can people contact the band?
We have a myspace www.myspace.com/patriotoi but really don't check it much with the new myspace format. We have a facebook page www.facebook.com/patriotoi but the best way to set up gigs or buy merch is through our manager Skip at icsproductions@hotmail.com
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