Disrupters myspace
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The Disrupters
The Disrupters were a band who had their roots in 1977 but became an established act once they had become absorbed by the anarcho punk of the 1980s. Their music collects together some early punk style riffs and other touches as well as some more typical anarcho type ranting. Overground Records has released a retrospective CD of their old recordings, plus a good selection of stuff from the era that never previously made it to release stage. No Class talks to vocalist 'Bangkok' Steve Hansell .......
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July 06
1. What's your favourite punk rock song?
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker by The Ramones. I'm a big Ramones fan and this song is timeless for me. Love the studio version but also there's a really good live version on the It's Alive album. I used to do vocals for Ramones covers band The New York Scumhaters so I really liked singing it too.
2. Which three well known people would you invite for tea?
Ideally it would be Joey Ramone, my all time hero. Writer and full time drunk Charles Bukowski: getting pissed up with him would be very memorable, and Joan Jett. Unfortunately Bukowski and Joey are dead so it would have to be a cosy night with myself and Joan but I could live with that......
3. What did your family think of you as a full time punk?
They weren't too impressed initially and during my teens when I still lived at home we certainly clashed over the issue. They got used to the idea though.
4. What do you do for a living? Has any musician made a living from anarcho punk?
I work as a cook / trainer in a crisp factory. Dreadful place but I'm a mortgage slave these days. How unpunk is that? I guess a few people made a living from the anarcho scene back then but probably only the bigger bands like Crass. I know we didn't. I was claiming benefit the entire time the Disrupters were together. Very lean times: that didn't seem a problem though.
It was a compulsion for me being involved in all that at the time. No matter how hard things got I felt I really had to do it.
5. Which new bands do you listen to?
My musical tastes are a mixture these days but mostly rock or punk. I really like the Distillers, The Misfits, Backyard Babies and some of the newer metal bands like Rammstein.
6. 1977 was The Disrupters' roots: do you see 1977 as a separate entity to anarcho punk?
Not really. The anarchist side of things were a natural progression for me. There became far too many divisions within punk. I always thought it was OK to appreciate all aspects of it. But having said that I should add I fucking hated Oi !
7. Did you play outside the UK?
Apart from the UK we played Belgium. I always regret not touring more abroad but we never got our act together.
8. Where do you go for a day at the coast?
For all night beach parties: Waxham. If we're taking the kids, then it's usually Great Yarmouth. Mind you my favourite beaches are in Thailand.
9. Were there others running Radical Change Records?
Backs Records put up the money and distributed Radical Change Records, but the groundwork was done by myself and Kevin Wymer, the Disrupters' drummer.
10. How many copies of Gas the Punx has Overground pressed?
Not sure to be honest. It went for repressing recently though. It seems to be selling OK. John Esplen at Overground told me sales were "steady" and he was pleased. Reviews have been good, so has the feedback from fans. It's really cool that new people are buying it who weren't around in the '80s. Overground haven't bought rights to our entire catalogue. We felt some of our stuff hadn't aged well, so we opted for one CD with highlights and some previously unheard tracks.
Initially GTA in the States were going to release us. What a waste of time they turned out to be: they sat on the masters for over four years and released nothing. Glad that we're with Overground though: definitely worth the wait.
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