The Duel are well known and respected in the punk world. An innovative band that deserved to be more widely recognised. Then things went quiet for a while. Gary Trueman chatted to singer Tara Rez about being back at Rebellion, DIY ethics and why things unfolded the way they did
It must be good to be back at Rebellion isn’t it?
“Oh it’s great to be back at Rebellion. It’s such an excellent atmosphere. Love it.”
The festival has changed a lot in recent years hasn’t it? It’s a broader church now, reflecting the music being made and fans listening choices.
“True. I think what happened is a lot of other scenes at the time, the rock scene and indie scene, they kind of shrunk as there wasn’t the opportunity to play. But the punk scene has been thriving and getting bigger. You have people coming to the punk scene. Suddenly everyone is punk but that’s great because they’re taking on the punk attitude which is refreshing because it’s non commercial.”
Making music has changed too hasn’t it?
“It’s easier now to make music than it ever has been. If you want a song in a certain style you can just get that loop and off you go. It’s digital. In my day it was all hard drives and racks. That was harder, haha.”
Your music is enduring well. You were a part of that next wave that came through and you’re still pushing and progressing.
“Thank you. We felt when we first started that we were doing something new. People said they didn’t know how to box us. Like many artists we ended up playing to our audience so we moved away from the more innovative bits, to try to fit in somewhere. With the music industry in our era not signing people there was nowhere for us to go really. But we are back on that bandwagon now because we’re finding stuff that we did 20 years ago, and it’s sounding new.”
Music is quite cyclical too isn’t it? So maybe you’re finding an audience that was there, went away, and has come back again?
“Yeah, I think the kids are old enough to go, this is what I love.”
You had a single out last year. What are your plans for the future in terms of more releases?
“My plan is to release as much of our music as I possibly can that’s already written. We had a little bit of a break after the last time we played here. After the last time we played here the band split up quite dramatically. I hadn’t wiped the sweat off my face before there was a comment on Facebook saying the band is over. My band mate Andy got extremely sick and as time unfolded it transpired he had MS that was undiagnosed for years. We had a very difficult ride in music, as well as good things. But we wrote so much. I don’t think we appreciated what we wrote at the time. We just wrote, got angry, and carried on. And now I’m finding CDs and DATs, I’m finding incredible songs. What is kind of beautiful is that Andy is unfortunately very progressed in his MS, but hearing the songs that we made is making him happy. They haven’t been lost. So I’m going to continue to show him the music we’ve made, and also write new songs too. When we started the road for the DIY artist wasn’t paved, you had to scratch it out yourselves. Now there’s a way, this is how you release music. So all the tunes, I’m going to put them through that system that’s perfectly laid out now.”
The DIY ethic is very prevalent now. Do you think that a lot of bands are finding that that is the route to go with even quite big bands now are operating a DIY policy? They’re finding they have more control.
“You’d be surprised to hear there’s not that much money in music. I was talking to someone who manages bands and he said that artists that regularly play to 1000 people are having to hold down another source of income. They’re having to work even though they’re getting that level of audience. Getting signed is a different road and it’s a lot easier doing it yourself. Ultimately if you are going to have a manager they’ve got to love you as much as you do. So you are going to be your best manager really.”
You command a lot of respect within the scene and are viewed as such by a lot of younger artists coming through, does that surprise you? Even a bit of a role model, particularly with women.
“Err yes, I didn’t know that. That’s brilliant. My role model in the DIY sense has got to be Charlie Harper. I’m honoured if women see me like that, I didn’t expect that at all.”
And this festival is very supportive of female artists too, it even has a Loud Women day on Sunday.
“That’s amazing and that’s the good thing about the festival organisers Darren and Jennie, they want to make sure it’s inclusive for all women. They don’t want people to feel that it’s male dominated and they are pushing boundaries. What’s wonderful is that they started Rebellion out of a desire to hear music that they love and not what was being thrown at them by the media. They did it on their terms. They’re seeing success and continue to do things on their terms. And ultimately it benefits everyone. So major respect.”
If you could go back in time and give a 16 year old Tara one piece of advice what would you say to her?
“I love you. If you knew my back story I think self love is very important. I didn’t really have parents. I was born in Iran. My mum was a communist and my father became a heroin addict, and I went into care. So self love is an important thing for all of us. From there you can gain the respect to follow your dreams and have a better effect on everyone you meet.”
Have you got anything you’d like to say to fans both old and new?
“I’m really grateful that people are interested in what I’m doing. I finally feel like I’m doing this on my terms and if I can get people to feel like they’re doing things on their terms then good, that’s my message.
Interview And Photos By Gary Trueman