Oi Oi troops!

We recorded a live session in what I think we some kind of old lecture theatre/boardroom at Glasgow University for the good folks at Test Card, the finest DIY punk/hardcore show on Subcity Radio.

Phil Kennedy invited us in to do a session and an interview.

From the website....


Check out the session here - http://www.subcity.org/shows/testcard

I cannot believe that we are one year old already!

Ok, so we formed in August 2008 but we didn't play our first show until November 13th 2008 when we played The 13th Note with Fake Problems. Since then we have worked our collective bollocks off, recorded and released 2 EPs (ok, a demo and an EP!) and played somewhere in the region of 100 shows, including 3 trips to England in 2009. It's pretty crazy to think that we've played quite a lot on the radio too, especially considering the confrontational nature of our tunes. Hearing 'National Insecurities' on  Radio 1 was odd!

It's been hard work, especially considering we all have one or more full-time jobs, other musical endeavours, mini-cowpunks, blah, blah, blah. However, I think I speak for all of us when I say that this has been the most edifying musical experience of my life. We work hard, we play hard, we gig hard and we party hard. Plus, working hard avoids hard work, right?

There are many, many people that have helped us along the way, most specifcally our man Ryan Gallagher, with whom who couldn't live without. He's helped us out in so many ways and is our unofficial 5th member. He is responsible for our artwork, posters, this page and much more. Please check out his blog @ www.rjgallagher.co.uk and his music @ www.myspace.com/pinkpinkpills

Much love also to our friends GFN? Records, The Hijacks, The Emos, Black Rat Death Squad, punknews.org, Fungalpunk, Michael @ The Wrecking Pit, Vic Galloway, Barry The Kidd, Neil Quinney, Kenny @ Kage, Jamie and all the staff @ The Balcony, The Murderburgers, Billy Liar, ICH, Gong Fei, Inches From The Mainland, Torturo Nervosa, The Living Daylights, A War Against Sound, Bruce @ Firestorm, xhardoldshitmanx, Rob in Sheffield, Jacob Blank Head, Zoe and Stiv, Acid Drop, Blackjacket, Fuck Right Off, Taking Chase, Jordy and Sammy's Fatal Mistake, Big Cheese Magazine, Mild Peril fanzine, Override fanzine, Test Card @ Subcity.org, Pippa and The Cut-Ups @ The Cavern, TNS Records, Rising Strike, undergroundscene.co.uk, the Entropy regulars, all our hometown friends, friends we've made along the way, all the bands we've played with and anyone and everyone that has ever paid attention and listened to our band, put us on, given food/a place to crash/money/love.

Without you, we'd be screaming at ourselves in an empty room.

So, to bring our first year as a gigging band to a suitably epic end, we are heading out on our a four-date first birthday tour with our good friends THE CUT-UPS from Exeter. Words cannot describe how stoked I am on this fact.

Not only are these gentlemen four of the finest human beings you are ever likely to meet, it is an added bonus for us all that they play in our the Britain's finest punk rock bands together! Their new album 'The High and Mighty' is out now on Household Name Records and I heartily recommend that ye go and get your hands on a copy. Either that or hold onto your pennies and buy one from them in person at one of the shows!

Please go add them @ www.myspace.com/thecutupsfromexeter

We'll be hitting Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and the whole thing wraps up at BOOK YER ANE FEST 3 at Club Kage in Dundee.

WEDNESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER @ THE 13TH NOTE, GLASGOW
w/ Billy Liar (www.myspace.com/billyliarmusic)
Doors @ 9pm, £3 tax

THURSDAY 26TH NOVEMBER @ CELLAR 35, ABERDEEN
w/ Escape To Victory (www.myspace.com/escapetovictoryuk) + Carson Wells (www.myspace.com/carsonwells)
Doors @ 8pm, £3 tax.

FRIDAY 27TH NOVEMBER @ THE WEE RED BAR, EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART, EDINBURGH
w/ Billy Liar + Dick Dangerous and The Love Bastards (www.myspace.com/thelovebastards)
Doors @ 7pm, £3 tax.

SATURDAY 28TH NOVEMBER - BOOK YER ANE FEST 3 @ CLUB KAGE, DUNDEE
w/ The Hijacks, Escape To Victory, The Emos, Grader, Versaille, Shields Up, Torturo Nervosa, Billy Liar, Friday First, xharoldshitmanx, The Murderburgers, Year At Sea.
Doors @ 1pm, £5 tax.

It's going to be sweaty, it's going to be madness and it's going to be epic. In fact, that pretty much sums up the last year for us. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey so far. We would love for you to come out to one of these shows, party with us and share in our birthday celebrations!

Here's too another year of madness!

Love,
Deeker x

THIS IS YOUR FUTURE has arrived! We now have copies ready to ship out, and have also made the EP available to download digitally for the bargain price of $3 (less than £2!!!!). See the links below to choose either physical or digital. Don't be a scrooge, support DIY punk rock! x



Prices INCLUDE P&P.

Go HERE to get a physical copy! or look below to buy digital...

http://www.punknews.org/article/35178

Hailing from the east coast of Scotland, Joey Terrifying are among a new wave of UK DIY bands flourishing even in the face of perhaps the harshest economic climate since the 1930’s. Whilst the music industry continues to suffer a prolonged panic attack as a result of declining CD sales, DIY remains as vital a tool as ever. Punknews.org’s crackpotdemagogue caught up with Joey Terrifying vocalist/frontman Deeker Johnston to shoot the breeze about punk rock, DIY and Jane Austen.

First off the bat, for those unfamiliar with Joey Terrifying, how would you describe yourselves?

I’d simply say that we’re a punk rock band, but if ye are looking for a more detailed description I’d say we play full-on hardcore ska-punk rock’n’roll, although how we actually like to describe ourselves is ‘anti-punk skunk’n’roll core’, but I do realize just how ridiculous that sounds! Essentially, we are a passionate four-piece punk band from the east coast of Scotland.

You boys have been active on the Scottish scene for over a decade with other bands - some might even describe you as veterans - why did it take you so long to form Joey Terrifying?

Personally speaking, and I don’t mean this to sound disparaging towards any bands I’ve been in before, but Joey Terrifying is pretty much the band I’ve been waiting my whole life to be in. Gain (guitars) and I first started playing and writing songs together almost 13 years ago. Those first endeavors eventually morphed into a high school band that Beans (bass) joined. Our band broke up when the drummer and I both left to go to university.

We were all involved in various bands throughout the years, the most notable of which being Tearjerk, Gain’s hardcore band. I sang with a band called 13 Broken Fingers and later joined The Try Hards, but it wasn’t until I moved to Perth three years ago that Joey T started to take shape, in idea form at least. Even then, though, there were false starts and it seemed the band would never happen. Then, by a twist of fate, I was asked to play a festival solo last summer but decided I needed a band. It was just a one-off. After we played that show, which consisted of covers and full-band versions of my songs, we decided we should stick together, write a brand new set, re-christen ourselves and hit the road. That was how Joey T was born in August of last year. We played our first show with Fake Problems in November in Glasgow.

Collectively speaking, what musical influences drive you as a band?

Like most bands, we have wildly divergent tastes and got into music through different avenues, but I’d say the common touchstones would be the likes of NOFX, Propagandhi, The Specials, Bad Religion, The Clash, Dead Kennedys, etc. Beans has a deep love of 2-tone and northern soul, whereas Gain would probably be classed as ‘the metal guy’ as he grew up with 80s metal and classic rock. Kev is into a lot of skate-punk, hardcore and hip-hop and I’d probably be the ‘obscure band’ guy in the band. Basically, anything that fucking rips and is full off passion and honesty will undoubtedly be of influence us in some way. Somewhere from within that melting pot comes Joey T.

Your lyrics and imagery seem heavily driven by a critical consciousness / political awareness; where do you find inspiration for your lyricism?

Given the age that we are living in, with the constant bombardment of information, imagery, ‘news’, scandals, tabloids, 24-hour digital television, invasive social networking sites, advertising, scaremongering, paranoia and the general clusterfuck of the digital age, it’s not hard to find something that makes the blood boil to write about. My mother was a protest folk singer back in the 70s so I’ve always felt a connection with the protest movement and this was further exacerbated when I was exposed to punk rock at an early age. I find inspiration everywhere in my day-to-day life as well; from characters that I meet at work, my friends, other bands, people in general. People, and the world at large, are an endless source of stories, ideas and struggles, so there is plenty out there to influence you. There are enough songs out there about girls, we try to dig a little deeper and sing about things that are important to us. I guess we try to provoke thought and debate. There is plenty out there to get upset and scream and shout about!

What comes first, lyrics or music?

It very much depends. Sometimes a song will just come from an idea or a lyric; sometimes it will come from something as simple as a song title. I am always writing so there are always words floating about and everybody in the band writes music, together and independently. Everyone brings their own ideas to the table and we’ll jam them out in practice and see what works and what doesn’t. Like I suppose is the case with most bands, it’s not a case of one person writing the songs then bringing it to everyone else, it’s certainly a collaborative process. That said, sometimes one of us will come up with an idea and it’ll just take flight and the song will write itself. I guess that’s when the magic happens. Other times, it can be more of a struggle than that. We are always trying to push ourselves forward and certainly don’t want to repeat ourselves, so we are constantly immersed in the writing process. Personally, I feel it all comes from the same place; the lyrics inform the music and the music informs the lyrics.

There's a great lyric in "Troubled Times" where you sing "Feeling a little bit like Holden Caulfield / Transcending these emotional minefields / If you're taking a trip that goes nowhere / How're you going to know when you've got there?" - you're clearly a fan of J.D. Salinger. Are there any other authors that have influenced other JT songs in direct or indirect ways?

I did my undergraduate degree in English/Religious Studies/Philosophy so my writing is always going to be influenced by literature. I find that I take inspiration as much from the things that I don’t like as I do things that I do. I mean, I’ve pretty much read the entire Jane Austen collection, but I fucking hate Jane Austen with a passion, you know? ‘Troubled Times’ has the only direct reference to any literary figure, but I do strive to write lyrics that are articulate and thought-provoking. Personally, I guess the authors who have influenced me the most would be the likes of Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Bukowski, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Christopher Brookmyre, etc. That said, I also have a deep love for ye olde English classics, poetry, Scots writing, the gothic…I wouldn’t say these are direct influences on Joey T, but they certainly inform how I try to approach lyric-writing and storytelling.

You embarked on your first UK tour earlier this year; what kind of state is the d.i.y scene in at present? What bands have been getting you stoked?

Tour was fucking deece [awesome]. There are a lot of people in the UK who work really hard to keep the DIY punk scene going. It seems there are pockets of people in every city who put on punk gigs and with the UK being so geographically small, after a few years you begin to create networks throughout the country and will always bump into someone that you know pretty much wherever you go. For example, I went to the last day of Rebellion the other week and the first person I bumped into was Bry from Elgin (a bleak Scottish town way up in the north-east) and he was wearing a Joey T shirt. I then met people that I know from all over the UK, so I’d say the DIY scene is in good health. It’ll always be swings and roundabouts, but there are always good people willing to help you out.

Musically, I’ve never seen such a wide range of top quality bands across the board. Personally, I’d recommend that folk go and seek out The Hijacks, Black Rat Death Squad, Gong Fei, Kaddish, Inches From The Mainland, Taking Chase, Billy Liar and Torturo Nervosa from Scotland. We’ve also made great friends of the road with The Emos from Bolton, Blackjacket from Canada, Acid Drop from Leeds and ICH from Colchester. There is plenty of good music going about! There is a wealth of talent in the underground scene.

How does the current economic climate impact upon what you are and aren't able to do as a d.i.y band?

I’d say it’s more the economics of time that poses us problems, rather than financial constraints. We never got involved with this shit for monetary gain in any way and have always harboured the expectation that it’d be a loss-making exercise. It’s a labour of love and a privilege to be able to go on tour and share our music with people across the country. We were absolutely gobsmacked when we got back from our 2-week and had pretty much broken even. We are lucky also insofar as we have a practice space at my work. Scotland is such a small country that there is no place you can’t reach on one tank of diesel and most people will always ensure that this is covered for you. Obviously, we’d love to be able to take off and tour constantly, but we’ve all got jobs and responsibilities so it’s just not that easy. As long as people can access our music and see us perform, that’s the most important thing. We also do ‘subbies’ every week, putting a fiver each into the fund, so that helps pay for everything that needs paid for. We also have a friend who does us top quality merch for cheapness! I think we’re lucky in that we are a self-contained unit and have the support of our friends. I’d say the biggest knock-on effect of the economic situation is that less people are going out, so that effects the number of people who consistently come out to shows.

So far you've only recorded a three-track demo, but your live set consists of over an album's worth of material - when do you plan to hit the studio again?

It’s very frustrating that we’ve only got the first demo done thus far. We aim to head into the studio in early September to record some of the new songs. Like everyone else, we are all incredibly busy. I work 3 jobs, Beans has 2, Gain has just become a father for the first time and Kev lives in the middle of nowhere, works and plays in Sunset Squad, so just getting the four of us together can be a struggle sometimes! Our next batch of recordings should be available soon. We’ll be putting the CD out ourselves on Make-That-A-Take and will be available at shows and online. You can download ‘The First Demo’ for free if you follow the link from our mypuss page.

What’s next on the horizon for Joey T?

We’ve got a load of shows booked for the rest of the year. We’re heading down south for a long weekender from Sept 17-20th and will be playing our first headlining shows in Durham, Peterborough, London and Brighton. I cannot wait to get out there and rip it up again. We’re playing with North Lincoln in October and then will be spending another weekend in the north-west of England with The Emos. To round off the year, and to celebrate our first birthday as a gigging band, we’ll be touring with The Cut Ups around Scotland in November. Then I think we’ll play a Christmas show at our punk club in Dundee, then hole up, record all the new shit and come out swinging sometime in March.

Any last words?

Thanks very much for the interview. I think we’ve done quite a lot over the past year and would like to thank everybody who has helped us out and been so accommodating of us thus far. Keep fighting the fight and express yourself clearly! Up the scuts!

The First Demo can be downloaded for free from this link

- Link is on the front page!

We have just finished recording our new CD!

'THIS IS YOUR FUTURE' was recorded and mixed by Graeme Watt in 6 hours over 2 days (6th/7th September). The EP will be available at all upcoming shows and will be available digitally next month.

In the meantime, we've added 'What Treachery Is This?' to the mypuss player. Please listen, absorb and enjoy. Feel free to let us know what ye think.

---

What Treachery Is This?

A wise man once told me;

It pays to pay attention.

Your very worst experience

Yields invaluable lessons

So son, don’t be afraid

Ever.

I just want to protect you.

I used to have a dream

Just another nightmare

Had a chance to change

All I did was stand there

And watch the house of cards come falling down

Every chance you take is a step towards perfection

Every heart you break is another hard-earned lesson

If you don’t have to strength to be yourself

I can’t do it for you.

Let me introduce another fabulous disaster

Another mercy-kill at the beginning of the chapter

Sometime heroes have to die

You can’t rewrite the script

It’s not your story to be altered

Every time you fight

Pick yourself up when you falter

If you don’t have the strength to fight for yourself

I can’t do it for you

What good would that do?

None.

Tell me

What treachery is this?

This ain’t the future we promised

The case has been dismissed

Hope is gone.

I know it may look bad

But it’s a thankless situation

I’ve done a lot of things

That I’d rather not mention

The past is past

So let it be

But it chips away at you each day

Like the lies and propaganda

You hope it all fades away

But still you never understand

Don’t live your life by their demands

What have they done for you?

Nothing.

Tell me

What treachery is this?

This ain’t the future we were promised

The case has been dismissed

The hope is gone.

We’ll face the future alone.

The best is already gone.

---

It would seem as though this is the end of the first chapter in the Joey Terrifying story. We started playing together in September 2008 after forming hypothetically in August. We played our first show at the 13th Note in November. Since then we have played 39 shows, recorded and released our first demo, completed our first UK tour, played with some amazing bands and met some great new friends. To me, this is what being involved in the DIY punk scene is all about.

Joey Terrifying has undoubtedly been the single most positive band experience that I've ever had. We are not going to be playing any shows over the next 2 months as the Papa is going to become the Daddy and we'll be welcoming a new life into the cowpunk family. We shall be writing, rehearsing, recording and learning to change nappies, but will be back to bring ye the anti-punk skunk'n'roll-core at Whatever-The-Second-Fest-Is-Going-To-Be-Called on June 6th in Perth and with New Bruises on June 8th in Dundee.

We take what we do seriously, but we don't take ourselves too seriously. All four of us graft our bollocks off in life and we graft our bollocks off for our bands also. We also run the collective and like to think that we do what we can to help out other bands from our area, as well as bringing some cool bands to town that wouldn't normally play in Dundee or Perth. There are other people out there doing the same thing as us, at least spiritually, and to these people I give the utmost respect and gratitude. There are, unfortunately, those out there that are simply taking the piss when it comes to the underground scene - chancers looking for a pay-day by exploiting DIY-friendly venues and image-conscious bands acting like rock stars with ideas above their station. That's before ye get to the liars, bull-shit artists, part-timers and piss-takers.

Maybe it's just me, but I thought being in a band and making music was about communicating, about exchanging ideas and trying to make the world a more positive place to be. There have been a few instances recently where I've felt that some bands/people have just been utterly taking the piss, paying lip-service to passions felt whilst simultaneously burning the bridges that they've built. Keep the bullshit out of the scene please. I was in high school ten years ago and I wasn't that keen on it back then. Fuck the playground politics and have some strength in your convictions. If you're going to spoon-feed us a line of bullshit, at least have the decency to get your stories straight!

From a personal point of view, here are some basic things to keep in mind:

The Balcony/Muckys/insert-venue-here is not fucking Knebworth.
Your band is not Guns'N'Roses.
Don't be so precious with your music. Put a full fucking song on your player!
Speak to those putting on the gigs - always bring at least heads and breakables.
Play the fucking shows that you book!

Personally, I'd like to say thanks and give much love to Gain, Beans and The Plumber for joining forces on this mad mission. I literally don't know what I'm going to do with myself over the next couple of months! It's been emotional...

Much love also to RD, GFN? Records, The Hijacks, Fudge Fanzine, www.undergroundscene.co.uk, Kenny Kage, Jamie @ The Balcony, Merlin @ Muckys, Inches From The Mainland, Black Rat Death Squad, The Murderburgers, Michael @ The Wrecking Pit, Splat, Stiv and Acid Drop, House of Crust, Blackjacket, Drouthy Neebors, Eilidh, Clare, Dolly, Rosie, The Emos, The Cut-Ups, Dave Fungalpunk, Matt PMX, MAFAFI, Birmingslam Hardcore Collective, Rob @ Mosh'n'Go, The Doctor and anyone else that has helped us out along the way!

We will be touring the UK again in September, by which point we will have our new EP ready for your consumption. There will be shows over the summer, the full details of which will emerge with the fullness of time

Keep your ears peeled for new songs. They will be online as soon as they are recorded!

It doesn't matter if it's the Balcony or the Barras, ten or ten-thousand people, shows are shows and you've gotta give it your all, all the time.

Peace.
Deeker x

So tour is over and it's back to the daily grind. Joy of all joys! However, this will merely inspire us further and we are desperately keen to get back out on tour and destroy the rest of the UK, Europe and the whole world! I thought about doing the traditional blow-by-blow tour blog, but as I know how boring that would be for me to write, I can only imagine how dull it would be for you, dear reader. We ain't Motley Crue and there ain't no tales of decadance to impart, merely tales of pure Scottish anti-punk skunk'n'roll destroying venues across the land!

We had a blast melting faces all across the country and to say that we are stoked with our first six months as a band would be an understatement. When we first spoke about the birth of Joey Terrifying in the dying light of last summer, I would never have imagined that we'd have done as much as we have by now. I sense, however, that this is merely the beginning.

There are many people to whom we owe sincere thanks and debts of gratitude, not least our comrades in The Hijacks for entrusting their trusty tour Transit 'Barry' to our care. Thanks so much, without your faith we'd have fallen at the very first hurdle. Thanks also to Garrick for sorting us out with the show in South Shields. This was the first time that Tragical History Tour has opened for Joey T! Cheers also to Myklon B for the Axis album that scared the shit out of us at 4am!

Thanks to Kev Chin for letting us wash in Crewe and helping us realise the best place there is the road out ;-) Much love also to our boys in The Emos for sorting us out in Bolton and for just being generally exemplary hosts. Colwyn Bay was madness so thanks to all the nutters who came out to see us and to Ste and Zoe for sorting us out. Big love to our favourite psychobilly in Sheffield (Rob) for treating us like we were an actual band and being a thoroughly awesome dude.

Big, big thanks to Stiv from Acid Drop and Alex from Skank Agenda for letting usa grace the stage of the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds at such short notice and mad love to DJ Joey Saint and Sarah for letting us stay and use their facilities. It would be a disservice not to also thank Bill Lloyd for the magnificent banter and showing us the insides of the greatest tour bus we have ever clapped eyes on.

Thanks to The Black Market Venue and Satan's Mineons for being sound to us in Warsop and to MC for going above and beyond the call of duty to show us his support. We must extend sincere and humbled thanks also to Pippa and all the staff at The Cavern in Exeter for showing such hospitality and care to a bunch of Scottish punks and to Jon from the Cut-Ups for making the whole thing possible. Props to the boys of the Birmingslam Hardcore Collective for putting us on and to the crazy bar owner for letting us loose in his venue, although I personally have never been so keen to sleep in the van!

Cheers to Dave Fungalpunk for putting us on and the boys in Rising Strike for checking us out for a second time in Bradford. Love also to the House of Crust and The Wrecking Pit for sorting us out with Scottish dates with our new best friends Blackjacket. Much, much love to all the troops in Blackjacket, our paths will most certainly cross again!

The tour was a most eye-opening and enlightening experience and one which we are desperatly keen to repeat. Thanks to everybody who came out to a show, bought a CD or a shirt, watched our band, said hello, offered us food/drinks/floors to crash on  and even to the folk who thought we sucked. We have never given so much of ourselves night after night and it is gratifying to think that people may have understood where we are coming from and taken something positive from the whole experience.

We most certainly have.

See ye back on the road later in the year.

Much love and respect,
Joey Terrifying

We are heading out on our FIRST EVER UK TOUR kicking off this Thursday!

We are still looking to fill a couple of dates (13th and 17th) so if ye can help us out in any way, please give us a shout.

We shall have CDs and shirts with us, so please come say and buy some stuff to help us got to the next show.

We are very excited about this trip!

Catch us at the following;

..................................

Thursday 12th – The Douglas Vaults, ..South
Shields..

Friday 13th – ANYWHERE! Book Us Please!

Saturday 14th – The Dog and Partridge, ..Bolton..

Sunday 15th – Prince Madocs, ....Colwyn.. ..Bay....,
Wales

Monday 16th – The Redhouse, ..Sheffield..

Tuesday 17th – ANYWHERE! Book Us Please!

Wednesday 18th – The Black Market, Warsop

Thursday 19th – The Cavern, ....Exeter....

Friday 20th – The GO! Club @ The ..Old..
..Wharf.., ....Birmingham....

Saturday 21st – Mannville Arms, ..Bradford..

Sunday 22nd – Henry’s Cellar Bar, ....Edinburgh....

Monday 23rd – The 13^th Note, ....Glasgow....

Tuesday 24th – Drouthy Neebors, ..Dundee..