THE
BASICS
Name : Knox
Band : The Vibrators
Job In Band : vocals / guitar
Website Address : www.thevibrators.com
HOME
Hometown : London
Hometown is best known for : A world capital
Best venue in your hometown : For us it's the Underworld
in Camden Town.
THE BAND
How long has the band been going? Since 1976, so 34 years.
Many lineup changes along the way? Tons, it's what
happens when you go so long, people fall by the wayside or want to
do different things, or earn money!!
How would you describe your sound to the average person on
the street? Melodic punk, a bit like the Ramones if they
know them.
What's your most recent release? Tell us a little about it...
We had two albums out last year. The first was called GARAGE PUNK
and was old mainly '77 style garage covers, things like the Sonics,
etc. The second album was a new studio album called UNDER THE RADAR
which we think's pretty good and got good reviews. We do a few songs
off that album in the set. My favorite live is "We're The Dead",
a sort of Zombie song.
Got a favourite track that you have released so far?
"We're The Dead" and "Under The Radar" and "Everything
I Do Is Wrong" are all equal to me at the moment.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously
about playing it? Hearing the first electric guitar stuff.
I come from a world before rock'n'roll, a place you can't imagine,
and suddenly there's the electric guitar!
What was your first band name, and what style did you play?
The first band I was in was possibly in m1959 called The Renegades,
black shirts and sunglasses. We played a lot of instrumentals I think,
we were just kids. Things like "Apache", Tequilla",
"Walk Don't Run".
The
thing you most look forward to just before a tour is
- being out on tour, it's sort of always good fun.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is
- all the running around and packing before you go, always a terrible
last minute rush.
When you're not doing band related stuff, what are you usually
found doing? I do demo's, painting, writing, looking at friend's
bands, all the usual stuff I suppose. Also at the end of each day
wondering where the time went.
ON THE STAGE / ROAD
Best rider item you've ever received without requesting it?
- Bottle of Champagne from Jake Burns for Stiff Little Fingers calling
their band after one of our songs.
Favourite place (city/town/country) you’ve toured…
and why? I like Canada and the USA as the roads are easy
to drive and they speak English there so it's a little less hard work.
Most memorable show you've played? and why? Probably
three shows we played at the Marquee in London when we were in our
hay day and had more pople in than Jimi Hendrix, and it was very very
hot!
Worst 'guilty pleasure' artist / song you've come across on
a bandmates iPod? I never really listen to other pepole's
iPod's but Nicky Garrett from the UK Subs has tons of what you'd think
was weird shit on his, but he's a thinking guy.
Who in your group has the worst “bad habit” on
tour, and what is it? They're all OK, you couldn't do it
year in year out with total weirdos!
RIGHT NOW
Where are you? In Internet Cafe as my computer needs fixing.
What's the last song you listened to? A new one of
mine I played the other night called "Loose Change", I played
acoustic in a club, and it's unreleased. But I do have a few bits
and pieces I was checking on my iPod, backstage stuff from the recent
European tour with the UK Subs, I've got Nicky Garrett paying with
Jamie (their drummer) some jazz stuff as I was thinking oif releasing
a Vibrators/UK Subs 'Backstage' album to get some money for Battersea
Dog's Home here in London.
Which band or album is currently rockin' your world?
I like our album UNDER THE RADAR, I find it quite liberating, and
you need to listen to your own stuff a bit to sort out what to do
next.
Tell us a band we should all go and listen to right now?
Tom Waits, stuff like "God's Awy on Business", probably
not everyone's cup of tea but he's a thinking clever man and the video
of this on YouTube is really eccentric..
IF
ONLY...
If you could pick any one album to cover from start to finish, what
would it be and why?
I don't think it's possible to do this anymore as listening to too
much stuff I like (Stooges/ Velvet Underground) has sort of ruined
it for me.
If you could pick any one band / artist to cover one of your
albums from start to finish, what would it be, and why? Possibly
if I had to it wuld be either The Stooges or The Velvet Underground,
but I'd worry I couldn't carry it off.
If
you could pick one band to re-unite so you could play a one-off show
with, who would it be, and why?
The Ramones as we never met or palyed with them. You always think
you'll meet them and play with them then they're dead!
One
big tour, you can take two currently active bands to support you,
who would you choose, and why?
Rolling Stones and someone like Elton John or Eric Clapton, to show
them punk's better and more fun!! |
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::: INTERACT :::
