Interviews

"Watch out Huddersfield!"

It's nearly thirty years since Chris, Chris, Seppi and Poss put out their first album and these four Huddersfield lads (as they were then!) could be seen playing alongside such big names in the Punk scene as The Damned, Adam and the Ants, Penetration, The Fall and Generation X. Then they seemed to fade away. But, after a long gap they're back together - with just one complication: one of the band members now lives in Atlanta! It hasn't stopped 'em however and fresh from recording their new album, Re-Released, and following a lightning-quick visit to the States supporting Punk stalwarts The Vibrators, we've caught up with them for a quick chat!

What are your memories of the time when Punk/New Wave was at its height?

Led Zeppelin: Dinosaurs in '77

MARK: I literally felt that I was swept up by the New Wave! I know that sounds like a very romantic notion but things really did move so fast! The whole scene was suddenly filled with new venues, mainly corners of bars in pubs, and lots of bands appearing all over the place! It was a very exciting time! I remember realising that I suddenly had the freedom to play whatever I wanted to play without having to sound like Led Zeppelin or whoever! That was such a welcome relief. It was so good to create our own unique sound which seemed so fresh compared to the music from the early seventies.

Was it as exciting as we've been lead to believe?!

MARK: It really was! There were so many bands around and the Yorkshire area was alive with touring bands virtually every night.
POSS: We could barely wait for the New Musical Express and Sounds to arrive in the local newsagent each week so we could see who the upcoming New Wave bands were and if they'd be playing nearby. We had Talking Heads play at the Polytechnic, all the way from New York to Huddersfield...Yes, a VERY exciting time!!!
CHRIS: It was exciting but scary at times too, local people seemed to take a dislike to us because we wore 'Punk' clothing...It was really just ripped jeans and safety pins and maybe a little makeup! We were chased around the town sometimes by people our own age and also by their parents! The song on our album called Boy in a Village is about feeling misunderstood and about attempting to be an individual and expressing that individuality through clothing and attitude

Punk very much started off as a London thing, or at least that's how the accepted history goes, so how did you get to know about it up here in West Yorkshire?

MARK: We were all very close to the music scene anyway, playing in other bands. Watching the press very closely (oh, to have the Internet would've been wonderful!), it was really late '76/early '77 when we became aware of 'Punk' and it was such an electric and exciting movement.
POSS: We had a very good Entertainments Steward at the local Polytechnic who really had his finger on the pulse of the New Wave! He booked a lot of bands direct from London and America who were relatively unknown up in Yorkshire. We supported Generation X in Huddersfield and that was the weekend after they'd released their debut single! We also supported the Nosebleeds from Manchester, they played a Town Centre pub one Tuesday night, they had a singer called Stephen Morrissey. We found out later that he formed a little band called...The Smiths!
CHRIS: It seemed to happen in London on a Wednesday and then Huddersfield the next weekend!

So what finally made you form Prisoners?

MARK: We'd been playing in other bands and when Punk came around, it was hypnotic; bands like The Saints, MC5, Ramones and so on, emerged and it kind of set us free. Prisoners was born!
POSS: I had watched all sorts of bands throughout my early teens and it looked so exciting to be up on the stage...I'd always dreamt of doing that and the 'have a go' attitude of the Punk bands gave me the confidence to do it! I think I thought that I'd be the Punk version of my hero, David Bowie!
CHRIS: We were, and still are, creative types. The New Wave movement meant that we could truly express ourselves and doing that through our music seemed like the most natural way.

How were you received in Huddersfield and West Yorkshire? How far was there a taste for Punk in the 'provinces'?

MARK: We were very well received, we packed out local bars and clubs at every gig and were very well liked by the local press.
POSS: We soon gathered a loyal local following. It felt great to see people turn up week after week to see us. When we played out of Huddersfield, a coach load of Punks would show up and invade the venue! We once nearly caused a riot when two coaches showed up at a working men's club in South Yorkshire, Punks in gas masks and safety pins doing the pogo and knocking over people's dominos!

What was it like playing with such big names as Adam and the Ants and The Fall?

MARK: At the time, it was just another gig but, when I think back, I suppose it was larger than life and it wasn't until it was over that I realised it.
POSS: We loved it! We got to use their PA systems and equipment sometimes! I remember thinking at the time...how special it all was playing to big crowds! Most of the bands we played with were really cool. They chatted with us, shared their beer and talked about the scene.

Your influences, then and now, are listed as Wire, Bowie, Television etc...very much the 'arty' side of things. How do you think that's reflected in your music and lyrics (if at all!)?

CHRIS: Those bands and artists were considered as arty types I suppose but I think we admired the way that they were more experimental with songs. I mean Wire's debut album had over 30 tracks on it, some of which were less than a minute long. I think, if anything, we were inspired to structure our songs a little differently, leaving space in them and unexpected rhythmical changes and so on. A lot of the lyrics at the time were about life as a teenager and how difficult it can seem to be an individual and make a statement. Some of the earliest songs were also about how the politics of the day affected our lives.
POSS: Yes, if you look at the lyrics to Blackshirts, an early Prisoners song which we re-recorded for the new album, well that's about the Rock Against Racism Movement/Anti Nazi League which we supported. There was quite a lot of racial tension about back then and we reflected that in the lyric.