9. How did playing in Oi Polloi compare to being an Apostle?

Deek's parents were friends with my parents, and we'd known each other since we were really young. Whenever Oi Polloi were without a drummer and had a record or gigs coming up I'd help out. The first record I recorded with them was the Unite And Win album, which I was credited on as Skullheid! That was a tongue-in-cheek joke as in reality I had my hair down to my arse and was running Acid House clubs; about as far removed from being a skinhead as you could get! I also drummed on the “Punk Aid” single and a few other studio tracks. I played on their first European tour which was a brilliant laugh and a highly 'memorable' time. I suppose the main difference was that Oi Polloi were a punk band with a capital ‘P’, which The Apostles certainly were not. Also, Oi Polloi played gigs which The Apostles didn't apart from weird one off “musique concrete” type events where they'd play amplified  tapes of  printing presses and stuff with feedback and tape cut-ups over the top. So, there was a much more “social” aspect to Oi Polloi which I enjoyed, particularly on tour.

10. I understand you got into DJing and club prompting within the Rave/Techno scene in the late 1980s. Would you say there was a connection within the punk and electronic music techno scene and how "natural" was the transition from one to the other? 

CL: I think similarly to a lot of people who had been involved with the anarcho scene since it first emerged. By 1984, it seemed like the anarcho scene had lost a lot of the aspects which made it initially so engaging and appealing. The early days were characterized by a wide diversity of  musical approaches and then had developed into something quite generic. One can almost trace this decline through the styles displayed on the three Bullshit Detector albums where the contributions become less experimental and adventurous and more 'punk by numbers'. The fact that there are many now who deride these records as "unlistenable" only illustrates to me how the entire point and purpose of anarcho-punk was evidently lost on a lot of people. Also, things did seem to become rather dogmatic. Not in the way right-wing wankers bang on about when they talk shite about the "punk police”, but a rather sanctimonious ‘more DIY than thou' attitude that seemed to be very insular and self-regarding and was more about people's credibility within the scene than the communication of ideas outside it. As I said before, even by the time I joined The Apostles, I was moving on from punk music (though of course continued to follow the more interesting acts) and getting more into electronic music, whether experimental or New York electro and  hip hop which led me into Chicago house and Detroit techno when that started to emerge. I spent the best part of the 1990s running 'rave' clubs and DJing over the world, playing at clubs from America to Japan. I think there are actually a lot of misunderstandings regarding the 'connection' between punk and the techno music scene. While there undoubtedly were a lot of people involved who came from the punk scene, it's a completely false narrative that portrays it as having any overtly political dimension. In ten years of DJing and club running,  I think I only ever went to one 'free party' type rave, which I found very elitist in a rather hippyish way. It really wasn't the sort of music or people I felt anything in common with. The revisionist historicism of rave culture now reads that everyone was embracing New Age type ideas and dancing to sound systems in squats and fields. The reality is they were mostly people who'd be working 9-5 during the week, then enjoying the release from the monotony of their working week by dropping a couple of ecstasy tabs and dancing for hours in existing clubs and music venues. What I would personally contend made this "revolutionary”, and perhaps impossible to view through an orthodox sociological lens, was precisely that it WAS an unpoliticized hedonism. This allowed people to, perhaps for the first time ever, to realize there wasn't anything intrinsically wrong in enjoying themselves without a care for what conservative society might think. As a result, this broke down existing barriers and prejudice in terms of sexism, racism, and homophobia. As Emma Goldman said in the 1860s: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution”, and what can be more revolutionary than that? 

11 Are you still in touch with anyone from any of the bands you played with?

CL: I am happy to say that I am still in touch with members of all the bands I have been in, to varying degrees. There are hundreds of others from my anarcho-punk past who I've had the immense pleasure in regaining contact with via social media. It's great to find out what some amazing and inspirational people I was corresponding with, in some cases forty or so years ago, are doing now, and I am pleased to say most are doing pretty well and are still every bit as genuine, nonconformist and critical of the injustices of society and the capitalist system now as they were then.

28 minutes of shit-licking crasher mangel discore

The latest Doomed To Extinction Records release is a 5 band compilation cassette representing a thriving hardcore punk scene in Yugoslavia circa 1980's. Here we have bands that did not come out of major cities (“Punk was all over smaller cities and towns, even villages. I remember seeing punk graffiti in places such as Visoko. Fanzines were coming out of places like Sisak, Subotica, and Slavonska Požega”- Boris of Doboj's hardcore band Fuck The Army).While most of the bands on the tape had their music on various Yugoslav compilations back in the 1980's, this release is especially interesting. It contains only bands from Socialist Federal Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to Ženevski Dekret's Golub, “The idea of releasing only current hardcore bands from Bosnia/Herzegovina was great, and the name of the release was quite prophetic knowing what happened a few years later”.

The bands represented here are: WSW, A.W.O.L., and Terminatori (all from Banja Luka), Dissidents (from Prijedor), and Ženevski Dekret (from Mostar). 

All songs were recorded in 1986. Ženevski Dekret recorded in Ljubljana at Borut Činč's studio, known for recording many punk bands at the time. The lineup was: Kokić- vocals, Kuzma- guitar, Golub- bass, Toča- drums. The remaining bands all recorded at WSW practice room during a show held there. Late Dražen Zarić of WSW was one of the driving forces of the regional punk scene at the time. He did a zine called “Istočna Fronta”, and also ran a distro. His band WSW formed in 1984. One of their songs from the compilation was recorded live in Ljubljana at the hardcore fešta Ni starhu. Later a VHS of the same name was released, as well as a compilation cassette tape “Čudesa ne bo”. For some mysterious reason, the WSW set did not get put on either of the releases. “They were not any better nor worse than any other bands that played that night” (ie Tožibabe, III Kategorija, Patareni, SOR...)- Golub, Ženevski Dekret.
Dissidents formed in Prijedor in 1986. Their songs on here were taken from their first demo. They did 3 demos total. “About 80% of my fanzines, records, demos, and tapes were destroyed, lost, or stolen during the war”- Samir/ Sexy, Dissidents). Lineup: Eka- drums, Dušan (Dule Kengur)- guitar, Amir/Serđo- bass, Samir- vocals.

Unfortunately, most recordings, poster, flyers, and zines documenting the scene were lost or destroyed during the 90s wartime. During the process of putting the tape out, it was a big challenge tracking down members of the bands. Only 2 of them still live back in Bosnia and Croatia. The remaining ones are scattered within the UK to Sweden, from Germany to Australia, and the US... clear proof of what ethnic cleansing, hatred, and war bring upon people. 

This is a testament of a time. 30 minutes of raw, unpolished, noise drenched punk.
The story is not over. Digging and researching continues. Soon more on the Yugoslavian hardcore scene including texts on punk zines, fests, demos, anti-war, and anti-nationalism.

January 2022.

FLEX! Part 1- 1975-1986 $40
FLEX! Part 2- 1987-1992 $40
General Speech No. 10 Zine $6

Now you can order ATF long sleeves from DTE Records
Shirts come in size S, M, L
Front design by 072 of Disturd
Sleeves design by Riki ATF