This is an interview that Oliver Long sent us, it's for a zine he's doing. Good shit. (J) is Joe, (D) is Dan.
The wardogs demo is for me one of my favourite UK releases this year. It popped out at just the right time with all these new american ‘youth crew’ hardcore bands like Free Spirit, Stick Together, Disengage and United Youth. Did any of these bands influence you guys into starting Wardogs or was this a band you guys have all wanted to start for a while?
(J) Thanks for the kind words, It’s pretty awesome and seriously mind blowing how much attention we’ve gotten since we dropped the demo back in late September. Wardogs started in December 09 as more of a part time band as everyone other than myself were in other projects at the time and we just wanted to do something new that we were into, we weren’t really influenced by any bands to start Wardogs, it was all a case of having a good time and having something to do on the weekend. The latest Free Spirit record is so good tho, I’m all over that Straight Ahead vibe and United Youth are fucking insane, I don’t know any sixteen year olds writing jams that good.
What older bands are you guys into, what would you say influences Wardogs the most? be it music or something else?
(D) I’d say the main older influences that we all share in the band are Outburst, Breakdown, Straight Ahead, Brotherhood, Warzone, The Way It Is compilation along with a load of others. Another thing that influences Wardogs the most is doing the band the way we know it should be done, no one runs this band, it belongs to all of us, no bigheads or dictators allowed haha.
What are some of your favourite current non-hardcore bands?
(J) I think Basement are killing it, they’re getting a shit load of attention which only means more attention for other bands over here and that’s seriously cool. We all love early Mobb Deep and good Hip Hop, that’s all that matters!
Are you pleased with the reactions at all the shows you’ve played so far? Are there any upcoming shows you’re particularily stoked to play?
(D) Been more than pleased so far. We’ve only played three shows at this point. The first was the BWP record release with Dead Swans, Basement and Almost Home. Shit was nuts, kids went off and Joe got his nose bust, great night. We played a midnight show with Trash Talk which was fun. CTW Fest was amazing, got a great reaction, even had people singing along, which at this point is pretty surreal to me.
(J) I think CTW Fest was a perfect example of just how good we have it in the UK, awesome bands from all over the UK played and kids went crazy for them. As for shows we’re excited to play, we’re all really pumped on playing Ireland with our boys in Ironclad, the Irish are the best people ever.
What sort of issues are dealt with (lyrically) on the tracks on the demo? are any of the tracks particurarily important to you?
(J) I wrote all the lyrics for the demo about a week before we recorded, I really can’t stand the whole current trend of songs about Lucifer and fucking a pig with a virgins head, When I listen to hardcore I want to listen to songs about real shit, stuff I can relate to. The demo is all about the hardcore scene and things concerning it that I’m not happy about, for all the good that comes out of this music there’s also a whole lot of bullshit and people who will always drag it down. I’d say Self Righteous and Don’t Come Back are the songs that meant the most to me, the first being about the people who do nothing but bitch and yet they never look in the mirror and realise how fake they are, the latter being about the kids who are happy enough to run their mouths on the internet and act the big guy but when it comes to supporting their friends and improving the way things are, they’re nowhere to be seen.
CCHC seems to be one of the busiest scenes in the UK at the moment, I myself have never had the pleasure of going to a CCHC show. how and why do you think that CCHC has become so well known within the UK?
(D): First of all I think it became so well known because of it’s honesty and that the bands that were playing around here in 2007/08 (Human Race, Freeze Up, Ironclad, Harbour) were doing what they wanted and not what was popular in the UK, it was sort of inspiring seeing it and gave you a sense of pride for the area because it felt like it didn’t matter what was cool anywhere else, the real shit was happening right here. That has had a knock on effect with Wardogs I think.
Up until recently it was really good, there was more people at shows and a sense of unity, that’s kind of died out a bit now though. I know that’s not the answer some people will want to read but that’s how I see it, Alex did manage to book Supertouch for January though so that’s all I really care about haha.
I lost my Wardogs tape after Carry The Weight Fest the other week. I think it fell out of my bag on the way to college the next day. How stoked do you reckon the person who found it was? I’d like to think it’s made it’s way into the hands of a caring owner. haha.
(J) We’ll hook you up with a new tape as soon as we get some made! It was crazy how quickly we sold all our stuff at CTW, it’s the best feeling knowing that we impressed that many people that they wanted to spend their money on something of ours. I really hope some old lady picked up your tape, shaved her head and is now moshing the shit out of her cats whilst listening to us.
You guys were real sick at that show can’t wait for more stuff. What do you guys have in store for twentyeleven?
(D) Thanks man, it means a lot. We’ve started writing for a 7 inch which will come out early-ish 2011. We just want to play a lot of shows, hang out with our friends around the country, make new ones, go to Ireland, hopefully hit Europe in the summer. Make the most of it, basically just have fun. It’s really exciting for us because when we first started jamming, it wasn’t meant to even be a real band, just something that we were going to do if we were ever all in the same place, it’s become more of a priority now though.
(J) We also have a split coming out in the next few weeks with Bang Bros from Ireland which we’re stoked on, pick that shit up.
Are there any bands you wanna ‘big up’?
(J) Harbour, buy their new record as they’re one of the best bands going right now, let alone in the UK. Ironclad, Bang Bros, Abolition, Cornered, Wayfarer, Freeze Up forever and always, Frustration, Tremors and all our friends who are playing solid jams and keeping it real. Mad Love to Pat and Tomas CTW, The CCHC and the kids who travel to shows every single week.
