touch down in Canada
by More Betty
UK crust punks make their way to Canada for the first time. With Stick on drums and Bri Doom on guitar, both have been the nucleus of every DOOM line up since 1987. Scoot who played bass fifteen-sixteen years ago is back and Denis is onboard on vocals. "We've all had a long stint in the family," explains Stick.
2010 saw a return of Doom, which started with Bri and Scoot talking. “Scoot was a bit pissed off about a lot of bands reforming just to cash in or for the wrong reasons, we knew people were still interested in the band’s legacy from people we'd meet, as we never 'retired' we just changed the emphasis to play with other bands," he says and, "I was a bit reluctant that even though I knew what our intentions were and are [that] we would get tarred with the same brush as the bandwagon jumpers, but we were welcomed back with more enthusiasm than I would have dreamt of.”
At the time of this interview they were writing and recording a new album and modern communication played a huge role. Three of the members were living within a five mile radius in Halifax UK while Denis had moved to Sweden when his girlfriend got pregnant with Embla thirteen years ago. “It was a big decision to get him back in the band as we were worried that the distance would be a problem,” he says and, "everything has worked out better than I could have hoped." This can be attributed to the Internet and technological changes from twenty-five years ago. The three wrote songs in the UK and within ten minutes they were emailed to Denis in Sweden. “Twenty-five years ago it would have [meant] sending a cassette through the post,” says Stick and adds "Tho, I still don't think you can’t beat a bit of face time at a pub!"
Long before the Internet, UK's John Peel was an influential force in introducing people to good music. "We were gobsmacked when we were asked to do a Peel session …. we were a bunch of blokes on the dole," recalls Stick and "we couldn't afford big fancy studios, so getting paid to record in one of the top studios in the UK was a big thing …. Basically, you got four goes to record a track, so as long as we didn't have a break we could link songs together, he explains and "the two Peel sessions basically formed an album. Got to admit I shed a tear at the news of 'Peelys' death, a great, genuine bloke, still missed"
Some of the early albums were recently reissued in 2012. "Total Doom was through Peaceville, licensing it to Svart, when they got in touch I helped out with liner notes, they made a beautiful job of it," says Stick. Doomed Again was out on Agipunk. “Something I'd been trying to sort out for years. I'd taken all the old DAT recordings of the 7-inch/comps etc and put them on a CD for myself and just wanted to put all the rare stuff in one place so it makes it available," he says and, “our records have become 'rare' due to labels usually running out of cash to repress." Also, Antisociety has just re-released the World Of Shit first pressings and a live LP recorded from last Euro tour, also included on the CD version.
There is a story behind the hand illustrated artwork in the albums, "I did a lot of the drawings on War Crimes," says Stick and "the crusty guy with the cloud was based on all the band members of that era and …. every-time we went to the rehearsal rooms, it rained, so we had a theory that there was a 'doom cloud' following us around …. the other drawings were based on lyrics. We've since had a few help out with art: Magnus, Dennis and Skinny, who has recently been back in touch." And is responsible for the new LP cover, and the front of the tour shirt.
So to bring things full circle, when asked if Swedish d-beat and hardcore still rules? "Swedish d-beat filtered through a couple of 'Brummies' still rules!"
DOOM lands at The Astoria with CHRISTDRIVER/RAPID LOSS/KOSZMAR/E.O.P. on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013
