This is an interview for Flea's great little cut and past Melbourne punk zine called Hairstyles of the Poor and Contagious. You can visit her at www.myspace.com/fleacrackwhore. She also plays in Crackwhore and works for PBS. What a champ!
- Doug, what made you decide to re-form Bulldog Spirit? Would you call it a reformation, as you are the only original member, or would it be more of a new band with the old name?
Well I moved to Melbourne from Canberra and I wanted to get back into doing something. I made a few good friends here that I could really see myself doing something with musically. I always liked Phils style in Marching Orders and I used to nag him all the time to do a band with me, but he kept barring me. Then one time I texted him and said what about doing Bulldog Spirit down here? and he was real keen so we had a bit of a chat about it.
Joel was real keen to play in a band again and had been buying new drum stuff and I was always a big fan of his drumming in GGF, so we approached him and he was keen. Phil suggested asking Ben who also plays guitar in Marching Orders if he wanted to play bass, and he signed up and the rest is history!
I dont know if youd call it a reformation as really Im the only original member, I guess its more of a new band with the old name. I felt a bit egotistical about doing it and asked around to see if anyone thought I was being a turkey, but mostly people thought it was a pretty cool idea. Fiona from Aussieskins calls it the Bulldog Spirit covers band though.
- How long has it been since Bulldog Spirit played (ie, how big is the gap?)
The gaps probably been about three years Im guessing. Its funny though, the CD is still filtering its way around the globe and its still getting reviews and stuff. It took a while for the distro to get to America, so its still fairly current there.
- How many of the old Bulldog Spirit songs are being brought into the new band, and who is the main songwriter?
Well at the moment we are just doing the songs we like off the CD with a couple of different covers. Once we are comfortable with that and get a coupla shows under our belt, well start writing some new stuff. Dont know who the main songwriter is going to be yet! Im hella keen to see what kind of stuff comes out though.
- Will the new members (from Marching Orders and ex G.G.F) will bring a different sound to the old songs?
Yeah they have already. Joels drumming is a lot more intense. He really smashes into them. Hes more of a machine, and is experimenting with the double kick a bit more too.
Phils approach on guitar is probably a little less soloey and more rhythmic. Already one song has changed from having a solo to a breakdown!
This is Bens first excursion into the world of bass, but hes got a pretty competent guitar background from Marching Orders and hes doing real well. I reckon well see him let loose more as he gets more comfortable with it.
- Do you think your new songs will sound dramatically different to the old Bulldog Spirit songs and do you think it makes a difference?
Theyll sound different, but I dont think theyll sound dramatically different. The main influences on the band are still the same. Joel has a strong Oi! background and is really starting to get into hardcore, Phil gets into a lot of Oi! and hardcore, Ben listens to a lot Oi! and punk and hardcore, and of course, Im still the same old fella.
So I think what you are going to hear is more of the same kind of aggressive Oi/hardcore crossover mix with singalong choruses and stuff.
- Tell me a little about Bulldog Spirit, who is in the band and who does what, what are you guys about, what do you have to say, what are your songs about generally?
Doug the singer
Phil the guitarist
Ben the bass player
Joel the drummer
This is probably going to sound like a cliché in an interview with a punk band, but you know, the every day experiences of life. Ranging from the personal like being betrayed by friends to the social like taking a look at the fucked up things that happen in the world.
Some people might look at us and think oh theres skinheads in the band, they must have some kind of political agenda, but yeahhhh nup. Just four blokes trying to get through life, same as all the other people reading this fanzine.
I guess one thing I try to promote though, is a sense of community at a Bulldog Spirit show. I dont care if you are a skinhead, a punk, a hardcore kid, straight edge, some guy who dropped by after work, whatever. If you like it, you like it. Fuck, there was a bunch of mods at our last show for gods sake. People are there because they feel at home standing apart with a bunch of bastards like us, rather than being at nightclub or something, and Id rather be with those people as a whole rather than any one particular group.
Im not screaming empty slogans of unity and trying to get people to hug each other, its just that theres a world outside of whatever subculture you might happen to identify with and its that mix of people relating to our music and what weve got to say that makes a Bulldog Spirit show a great event for me.
- When is your next gig, who are you playing with, where is it etc
Ahh nothing immediately comes to mind. Just talking about playing with Angelic Upstarts and Peter and the Test Tube Babies in Sydney in September or something and Anti Nowhere League in Sydney in November.
In the process of putting together our proper first show in Melbourne at the moment!
- What is your website/myspace?
No website, but we have www.myspace.com/pridestrengthhonour. Its pretty basic right now, but well try and make it jazzy so we can compete with U2 and stuff. Its got the essentials though, a coupla songs, a couple of pics, a little bio etc.
- Do you have any merch. or recordings? Where can the kids go to get it?
Yah we have a CD out through an Italian label called Brutus Records which has been licensed on vinyl in Germany. But do you think I can get my hands on any in Australia? Not fucking likely. We are in this ridiculous situation of playing shows where people want to buy CDs but we have to tell them to buy them from Italy if they want to get them. And of course who can be fucked doing that, and who the fuck is going to give these kids and scumbags a credit card anyway half the time. Nuts!