2009.06.16 Burnt Cross Interview
Here is some parts of an interview with Burnt Cross that you'll be able to find in the first issue of Schizofrehn Fanzine. Burnt Cross from England is a great anarcho-punkband... or is it a band?
1. Hello Burnt Cross, you seem to be active both in the music scene and the political scene.
Are Burnt Cross a band or a project? And what's most important, the band or political activism?
Hi, well I’ll take the easy way out and say that they are important as each other, we both have been active on the political scene on and off for 20 years, we have been in many groups but I prefer just to turn up and not join groups anymore cos sometimes there are egos involved and opinions which don’t suit me so I dip in and out cos I don’t get as much time as I used to these days and Paul has 3 kids so cant always make actions, but we do our bit. Burnt Cross is something I had wanted to do for long time, we played in a band called “Active Response” 18 years ago which was similar to Burnt Cross and Paul and I wanted to put something down just for something to actually have on cd so were gonna do it in studio but I saw a cheap 8-tk and done 3 songs on it which was then put on myspace and we got a good response so released a free demo called “Reality of Sacrifice” and its gone on from there. I see Burnt Cross as a band and a project cos the lyrics are important to us
2. Since you just are two members (brothers) in the band can you please
introduce yourself and your thoughts about what punk is for you?
Rob Marriott-All music/recording
Paul Marriott- Vocals
[...] I like punk that is more than mohawks and music , to me someone who is chaining themselves to an arms factory has the spirit of punk in them, not someone who just wants to be drunk and obscene for the fashion of it, but hey each to their own i guess, punk is punk.
3. Your music is really fantastic, tell me about the songs and the lyrics
Well Paul writes about 70% of the lyrics and I like his style, It’s fairly in your face and to the point and the fact that you can hear what he is saying is something people seem to like [...] The lyrics are generally just about things that piss us off, its true that its all been said before (what hasn’t?) but it’s also true that they are more relevant now than ever and there are not many bands doing it in a way like the early days[...] We have the usual suspects in our songs like politicians and cops but also some more personal pagan type ones and one about sexuality-directed at the bigots though of course :)
4. [...] What's your main influences when it comes to the music? You can do some traditional namedropping
[...] I would say that our influences range from the obvious like Conflict, Crass, Flux of Pink Indians etc to more underground bands who we used to get tapes of when I was a teenager, bands like The Apostles, Mans Hate, Statement, really DIY as you can get, also Cress were a big influence on me personally [...]
5. How is the spirit between all punx in England from different genres? "If the kids are united, they will never be divided" Is that just an utopia? (I hate all different genres, it can be a good thing when it comes to reviews but in general I want to call just everything punk or punkrock)
Yeah well I’m not into just punk and don’t see myself as a punk, well maybe in some respects but couldn’t care for genres and I don’t see much unity, its always been the case I think but some really great things come from the punk scene like community spaces, non-profit music, activism, trust etc and then some of it is just shit, so I cant just label myself as a punk cos I don’t like some aspects of it so yeah it is a bit of an utopian idea but some scenes I think pull it off even if you do get the arseholes in there who try to spoil it with childish behaviour, I think sometimes it is split with those who like drunk punk and those who like political punk. Me, I’d rather sit and have a joint in the forest and let them get on with it.
Thanx, that's all for now. Read the whole interview in Schizofrehn #1 that will be out soon
Check out Burnt Cross at: http://www.myspace.com/burntcross or contact Rob at: [email protected]
1. Hello Burnt Cross, you seem to be active both in the music scene and the political scene.
Are Burnt Cross a band or a project? And what's most important, the band or political activism?
Hi, well I’ll take the easy way out and say that they are important as each other, we both have been active on the political scene on and off for 20 years, we have been in many groups but I prefer just to turn up and not join groups anymore cos sometimes there are egos involved and opinions which don’t suit me so I dip in and out cos I don’t get as much time as I used to these days and Paul has 3 kids so cant always make actions, but we do our bit. Burnt Cross is something I had wanted to do for long time, we played in a band called “Active Response” 18 years ago which was similar to Burnt Cross and Paul and I wanted to put something down just for something to actually have on cd so were gonna do it in studio but I saw a cheap 8-tk and done 3 songs on it which was then put on myspace and we got a good response so released a free demo called “Reality of Sacrifice” and its gone on from there. I see Burnt Cross as a band and a project cos the lyrics are important to us
2. Since you just are two members (brothers) in the band can you please
introduce yourself and your thoughts about what punk is for you?
Rob Marriott-All music/recording
Paul Marriott- Vocals
[...] I like punk that is more than mohawks and music , to me someone who is chaining themselves to an arms factory has the spirit of punk in them, not someone who just wants to be drunk and obscene for the fashion of it, but hey each to their own i guess, punk is punk.
3. Your music is really fantastic, tell me about the songs and the lyrics
Well Paul writes about 70% of the lyrics and I like his style, It’s fairly in your face and to the point and the fact that you can hear what he is saying is something people seem to like [...] The lyrics are generally just about things that piss us off, its true that its all been said before (what hasn’t?) but it’s also true that they are more relevant now than ever and there are not many bands doing it in a way like the early days[...] We have the usual suspects in our songs like politicians and cops but also some more personal pagan type ones and one about sexuality-directed at the bigots though of course :)
4. [...] What's your main influences when it comes to the music? You can do some traditional namedropping
[...] I would say that our influences range from the obvious like Conflict, Crass, Flux of Pink Indians etc to more underground bands who we used to get tapes of when I was a teenager, bands like The Apostles, Mans Hate, Statement, really DIY as you can get, also Cress were a big influence on me personally [...]
5. How is the spirit between all punx in England from different genres? "If the kids are united, they will never be divided" Is that just an utopia? (I hate all different genres, it can be a good thing when it comes to reviews but in general I want to call just everything punk or punkrock)
Yeah well I’m not into just punk and don’t see myself as a punk, well maybe in some respects but couldn’t care for genres and I don’t see much unity, its always been the case I think but some really great things come from the punk scene like community spaces, non-profit music, activism, trust etc and then some of it is just shit, so I cant just label myself as a punk cos I don’t like some aspects of it so yeah it is a bit of an utopian idea but some scenes I think pull it off even if you do get the arseholes in there who try to spoil it with childish behaviour, I think sometimes it is split with those who like drunk punk and those who like political punk. Me, I’d rather sit and have a joint in the forest and let them get on with it.
Thanx, that's all for now. Read the whole interview in Schizofrehn #1 that will be out soon
Check out Burnt Cross at: http://www.myspace.com/burntcross or contact Rob at: [email protected]
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