KERMITZ MIDDLE FINGER
(by John Togher, Bang Your 'Ead 'Ere (issue 3), July 2002
)Kermitz Middle Finger
KMF formed around '97 with 5 members but after a disastrous first gig at the Beer Engine, 2 members left and the band found itself without a singer or rhythm guitarist. Neil Gibbins (drums), Gareth Butcher (bass) and Brian Robinson (ex Lead Guitarist) put an advert in a local music shop to fill the vacant spaces. There must have been some sort of mix up as the now lead singer John Parry applied for the band as a guitarist but found himself fronting a punk/metal/rock band. "When I turned up for the first rehearsal and was asked for a microphone - I Shit One!"
With the new line up came a renewed sense of purpose & desire, they joined the Collective and since have played all over the North West, namely Liverpool, Manchester, Wigan and Warrington. They've also released three CDs to date. Their first album 'Hey up your ass' having 11 songs in 23 minutes, this band doesn't waste time in the studio, they captured their raw sound straight away. The last single 'Are you sitting comfortably?' was released two months ago.
They set themselves small targets to reach, helping them towards the kind of standard or notoriety that Moco currently hold. "When we started out we just wanted to play a gig - Our first one with GP Plot at the old collective and I thinks it was one of the busiest nights the collectives ever had! After that we wanted to play out local - The Tudor, which we did and do every Christmas now! Then to play Manchester. Done that! To achieve something like MOCO are doing would be fantastic, so I suppose that is something we want to achieve!"
I asked John to describe some of their influences "We have many different influences, most not apparent in our music, but important in the make up of the band! I listen to cheesy 80's metal, Skid Row, Warrant, Wasp and guitar gods like Malmsteen, Vai, Zakk Wylde. I also listen to lots of punk from all years and type from hardcore to emo!
Our bass player listens to Alice In Chains, Faith No More, Metallica, Pixies and the Drummer is into Nu metal pioneers like Korn and Machine Head and fast melodic punk like the Vandals."
And how would you describe your own sound?
"We play a sort of Punk Rock that isn't melodic pop punk but it is loud and fast! Like modern day punk, played by the sex pistols!!! Its difficult because very few of our songs can be classed as the same genre! Our last CD for instance had a Punk track, a metal one and a rockabilly one too!"
Are their any issues you feel strongly about with regards to politics or society tied in with the kind of music you play or listen to?
"Everyman and his dog has got a view on Politics and the Government, usually how they could do a better job, but few ever actually do anything about it! I have my views, a few are expressed in songs, others are best kept to myself. One of my favourite songs I've written is 'MY TOWN'. It's just about living in a small town, that has all its own problems, yet it could be anywhere because of the subjects - Teenage pregnancy, underage drinking on bus stops, drugs.
Another view that I have which I think is important, is the whole "Swedy"/"Mosher" Vs "Trendy"/"Towny" thing - Punk & Metal type music is getting more and more popular these days, so wearing big jeans and hoodys and having a skateboard is Ok. now, but it never used to be! I used to get beat up at school for being a "Mosher" and listening to Greenday, now you get picked on for listening to happy hardcore! I think people should just leave it alone, they may not dress like you or listen to the same music as you, that doesn’t make them an less of a person than you! I think its important because I don’t want to listen to the next 15-20 young punk bands singing songs about "trendys" being wankers!"
And there you have them, punk Jedi's with twists a plenty. Any last words on KMF?
"
We like to old songs and cover them in a more Punk/Humorous way, Watch out for an old Wigan favourite at Mesnes park!"[
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