There are a lot of old popular bands coming to the end of their life right now. The big question is who will take over from them? The pace of change on the scene has been profound in the last couple of decades too with music becoming so easy to find and stream. One of a new crop forging ahead are the The Bar Stool Preachers who have a foundation built on punk but who also encompass a much wider range in their sound. Rebellion seemed like to perfect place for Gary Trueman to catch up with the band. Up for discussion was news of a new album, inclusivity and why diversity is vital for music to survive.
You’ve just played Rebellion again. How was it on the Casbah stage for you this year?
“It was unbelievable. What a reception. The crowd at Rebellion are always second to none. This is the best festival in the UK. The reaction of the people just puts smiles on our faces.”
Do you find that you get this thing at Rebellion where you’re recognised in the street where that might not happen so much away from the spotlight. Does that give you a bit of a buzz?
“It definitely does. At this point though it’s more like seeing friends and family. Even if people come up to us and say good set and stuff it’s people we already know. So it doesn’t necessarily feel like a recognition moment, it feels more like seeing old friends.”
The Bar Stool Preachers are sort of representative of a the way punk music is progressing and Rebellion is progressing with it by diversifying more. Would you agree with that?
“It’s more inclusive than it ever has been. It could still be slightly more inclusive. That’s an overall picture of society and the punk scene in general. We’re stronger when we add people to us so it makes no sense for people to gatekeep. It makes no sense for people to not want other people to be a part of this incredible community. We’re seeing lots of new exciting bands coming through, and we wouldn’t have seen them if it wasn’t for Rebellion.”
It’s people’s understanding of what punk is and what it represents isn’t it?
“Punk used to be shock and awe. It used to be a way to make mainstream culture take notice that things weren’t going well. There’s never been a better time to remember what punk is about. It’s about unity, it’s about inclusion, it’s about having a stronger voice. It’s about making sure the things in society we don’t agree with are confronted and challenged. Be it through music, a protest or a picket. Right now everyone is still a little bit scared. The national and global psyche is fragile, so there’s never been a better time to be a part of something bigger than yourself. It brings you comfort and positivity. It’s a place where you can go and just be yourself and be fully accepted.”
That’s right across the whole alternative spectrum too isn’t it? Not just punk.
“Ah man! We love metal crowds and the amount of passion they have for the bands they love. That’s a really strong scene and from our knowledge of it a really inclusive one. There’s still room from growth in that scene though. There’s room for more women. When we go to a metal show it’s mainly white males on stage, there’s more room for inclusivity. And in the punk scene too. It’s great that there are more female bands here (Rebellion), probably more so now than ever before.”
Fifty per cent of the population is female so surely naturally fifty per cent of representation at an event should be near enough the same?
“You’d hope so but it’s never that way. One of the things we need to do as a band of guys is make sure we make space for other people. We need to make sure we practice what we preach and actually bring people in. You look at metal and punk festivals, they’re not going to survive when the old bands are gone. They need the fresh blood and the inclusivity to survive. It’s like when bands like Cock Sparrer and Metallica bow out, who are the next ones that’ll be headlining? That’s why festivals like Rebellion are so important. There’s so much family and community about this place. People bring little kids along and they see all these bands and that influences some of them to pick up a guitar. Then you have a whole new sound and a whole new generation coming up. We toured with a band from Bristol recently called IDestroy and they smashed it earlier here. We were playing in New Cross with them and there was a couple of 8 year old girls down the front just staring at them and headbanging and getting into it. They could see themselves on stage. That’s why that representation is really good to bring in the new generation. Rebellion is really good with what they do with the introducing stage. You have a lot of radical and different new bands coming through.”
Talking a bit about your music and the fact that the word progressive gets attached to a certain type of music and a certain style expectation. But you’re a very progressive punk band with the way you write and style your songs. Was that something that was a very conscious thing for you?
“We consciously made the decision not to pigeon hole ourselves. We consciously made the decision not to let genre definitions box us in. We decide on the music we create. We’re very lucky that in this band there are some incredibly talented song writers. Everybody in this band can write. And we’re all influenced by different things. One of the worst things you can do as a creative type is ignore the new. If you want to write something then you need to get it out. If it’s not a big hit then it’s a part of the process. We’re not afraid to express ourselves in any way that feels right to us. And nobody else should be either. The worst thing in the world is to watch 15 bands and they all play exactly the same stuff. That’s not who we are. We’re defined as a collective by incredibly different and diverse traits. Everyone in this band is so good at what they do because we’ve all done the work. We’ve travelled across the world. We’ve gone in a van and played hundreds of shows to earn our stripes. Now we’re in a position where we’re writing better songs than ever and we’re more cohesive than we’ve ever been.”
Do you think that the technical level of bands and musicians is higher these days even at grass roots level than it was say 30 or 40 years ago?
“Yes it is. You go on YouTube and you want to learn a song and there’s a 12 year old playing it better than you. If you ever want to feel depressed find Stairway To Heaven on YouTube and see a six year old play it when you can’t play it after two months. When we were coming up and learning our craft we didn’t have the internet at our disposal, not at first anyway. We can remember going on the tab sites and looking at American Idiot. Now you can look something up on a website and get all of the chords written out then and there and get it played back to them as they play along.”
Technology has played a big part in that awakening of talent then?
“Hugely so. Technology has played a huge part in the evolution of all parts of our society in the last 20 to 30 years. It’s the information revolution. Bands that shy away from that and industries and genres that shy away from that, they’re going to get left behind. You have to embrace it. With the ability to learn all this stuff, it’s great for people to have it all at their finger tips but you don’t need to be the most technically gifted musician to write the best song in the world. You can write the simplest song that has the most heartfelt message. Music is just a vehicle for emotion.”
You have a single out. Tell us a bit about that and what else you have planned.
“We have our single just out called ‘Call Me On The Way Home’. It was out on August 3rd. It was the first single released on our brand new record label Pure Noise Records who we’ve just been signed to. It’s one of our dream labels who work with some of the best bands in the world like Less Than Jake. We’re really proud and pleased to be working with them. We have a new album coming out at the beginning of next year. There’ll be three or four singles dropping from that from around Christmas time. When the album comes out we’ll be everywhere, all around the world in a way we’ve never done before. We’ll be putting stickers in lots of pub toilets haha.”
The Bar Stool Preachers – Facebook
Interview and photos by Gary Trueman