Interview with Control

CONTROL is a street punk band from Britain that has just released what I believe is the one of the greatest debut albums in their genre. It was my pleasure to catch up with singer/songwriter Iain….

I was lucky enough to hear the demos for this record over a year ago, in which time you have taken the songs to a whole new level. At what point did you realize you were onto something amazing?
Iain – Mighty praise indeed, thanks for your kind words. To be honest with you, we are just pleased that the album seems to be striking the right chords with people in the scene. We are all pretty happy with how it came out, but there are bits we would already change on it and that has to be healthy as it means we can use these ideas on the follow up.

The lyrics are quite obviously an attack on the British government and general national apathy. What made you feel so angry?
Iain – I am only writing about the things that are affecting our daily lives. I wouldn’t write so many songs about the current rabble in power, if they were not making such a mess of the country I live in. They are without doubt, the worst in living history and continue to dumbfound us with the endless conveyor belt of absolute nonsensical rules and decisions that they bring out. The real problem is these politicians do not live in the real world. They live in their country estates, behind barbed wire fences at the weekend and during the week they live in penthouse flats and never mix with the real people on the street. If they did, they may start realizing just what a mess they are making and perhaps then try do something about it.

You obviously have an axe to grind with ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair. Has Gordon Brown won you over?
Iain – Tony B Liar is a two faced, self-serving pig who had absolutely no interest in the people of the country he was in charge of. He is a career politician who signed the Human Rights Act, without discussing it with his cabinet or putting it to the public, to ensure that his wife, who was a leading Human Right Lawyer, became a multi millionaire. The Human Rights Acts, which should not really be allowed to be called that, is one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation in history. It was not written to help the poor or helpless, otherwise I would back it unequivocally, it was written to ensure fat cat lawyers made mountains of money by being able to manipulate the legal system. Gordon Brown is just as bad, he is officially the worst Chancellor in the UK’s history and is now the un-elected Prime Minister, as Tony B Liar left mid term as he realized he did not have a hope in hell of being re-elected and left everyone else to sort his mess out.

Will the songs translate well to an American audience?
Iain – The songs are full of passion, power, melody and hooks, and I am sure the Americans can translate the feelings in the songs to former rulers of your great country.

What has the reaction been to “Hooligan Rock ‘n’ Roll”?
Iain – It is only early days but in general the reviews have been awesome. I am told by several different internet punk stores that is has regularly topped their sales charts, which is amazing for a new band who has not had any advertising placed in any major publications. We played the famous Rebellion Festival this weekend, for the first time, and we completely sold out of all the CDs and merchandise we took with us. The response to the band was amazing; we were told by so many people that we were the highlight of the weekend. I do not think we were the best act, not by a mile as there were some legendary acts on the bill, including Agnostic Front, The Adicts, Exploited, Flogging Molly, H20 and many more, but it shows the impression that we made. It was better than we could ever have expected and to be honest, it makes us feel weird as those bands are light years better than us, so to be mentioned in the same breath as them is amazing.

It brings to mind bands like THE BUSINESS, COCKNEY REJECTS, THE BLITZ etc. How does it feel to be in such illustrious company?
Iain – It is an honor to be told we sound like any of these bands and one interesting thing is that the Business approached us asking if they could record one of our old songs, and it has now come out as a split single, with Control and The Business on People Like You Records!

Are you planning to come to the USA to promote the record?
Iain – Absolutely, we fully intend to come to the states and tour, the sooner the better, so hopefully if there is a decent interest in the band and the CD starts to sell we can start to approach some agents in the states. I love the USA, I really do, it is an amazing country, and can’t wait to come back over.

What label is it on over here? How can people get hold of it?
Iain – It is on Step1 Records and people in the States can get hold of it through Interpunk or Amazon as well as other smaller outlets. You can also get it from our site at www.controlrocknroll.com or through Step1 at www.step1records.com, but as we are in the UK, Interpunk or Amazon would probably be easiest. In November it is coming out on vinyl on Longshot Records, SF, too.

If you had to sum up your message in what statement, what would it be?
Iain – Be true to yourself and never be afraid to stand up for what you think is right.