Dub Pistols Interview
Alex Beahan caught up with Dub Pistols front man Barry Ashworth just before the headed on stage in Brixton. She talked pre-gig rituals, rum and coke and the Dub Pistols fans with the legend of West London.
So Barry, firstly how are you feeling about tonight, are you looking forward to it?
I’m always looking forward to coming and doing a show in my home town, you know what I mean. I’m also actually very nervous, because it is in my hometown and you know full well that the most critique you’re going to get is in London town right. But because of that we’ve thrown everything at it. You know if you were a General that you could have all your weapons at your disposal. I’ve got every single piece of artillery that I could possible have, Rodney P, Lindy Layton, MC Surreal, I’ve brought up every single gun that I can so I can come to the front line and just bomb the fuckers.
So do you have any sort of pre-gig rituals that you like to do before hand?
Yeah, two bottles of vodka, a bottle of Jack Daniels, just anything I can possibly get my hands on! People still think after as much time as we’ve been on stage that you don’t get nervous, course you do. We are the Dub Pistols you know full well the catchphrase what could possibly go wrong is there for a reason ‘coz everything goes fucking wrong. So we basically get over our nerves by drinking as heavily and doing as much of the rider and then complaining about the rider not be as substantial as it should be for a band at our level.
How are things for the Dub Pistols at the moment?
I think everything is a rollercoster if you're a band. Dub Pistols have got to a level now where we’ve been going long enough that every high, every low, everything is OK. We’ve gone from the million dollar deals to the bottom. We’ve been the NME single of the week to the sound of Norman’s sweaty jockstrap. Coming down to being excepted for what we are and what we do and to be somewhere in your mind where you’re comfortable with, do you know what I mean. And we just go out and this is what we are, we just do the Dub Pistols thing. Which is why you know we get invited to every festival, because you know what you’re going to get is a show, here we come, here we fucking are, this is the Dub Pistols no bollocks, straight up that’s it, what you see is what you get. No pretence, no hype, no fucking anything. In your face it’s Dub Pistols. And in answer to your question yeah very good! Just about to finish a new album. I think we’ve gone back to square one, to what we are. Because it’s not about record sales anymore so the new album is more about live, its more about energy. We’ve gone more underground than I think we’ve ever been on the new album, but we seem more happier than we’ve ever been.
Your last album was called ‘Rum and Coke’, is rum and coke your favourite drink then?
No it’s called rum and coke because that’s the favourite drink of the Barbados. But it’s the rum and the coke which is so fucking cheap. Do you know what destroyed the Happy Mondays was Barbados and that nearly destroyed us. The cheap rum and cheap coke, half the band and two weeks cheap holiday. We got impounded, we got in prison we had people trying to take our equipment off us because we knocked up bills with everybody, you know I’m not going to lie to you, that’s what happened. That’s why it was called ‘Rum and Coke’. That’s why its rum and coke with the cross bones, and I’m going back again!
What are the Dub Pistols fans like?
You know...patient. Because you know from the whole thing from what could possibly go wrong and the thing that constantly amazes me about people that are in to the Dub Pistols is their patience. 9 times out of 10 will put on a wicked show. And then what you got to remember 9/10 ain't a great statistic, 10% we will fuck up big time. The wheels will come off, because we are who we are and we do what we do. That their loyalty, actually people get disappointed when we don’t fuck it all up for them. And so for me, amazing, I’m just amazed that anyone likes anything you do but like I say to you because we live so close to the edge and because we don't have a safety net and because we openly hand on heart know that 9/10 are great shows but we will fuck up and it will fall apart and it will go disastrously wrong and we will get banned from places but people stick with us.
Everyone says that your a bit of a character, are you a cheeky cockney lad?!
You know the best review I ever had was the NME once called me ‘a football hooligan at a disco in hell with a mob like demeanor of the Happy Mondays only infinitely more wired but it holds carcases stampeding all over the stage.’ My band were really upset with it and I said that’s the best review you will ever get and it’s true. It’s like yes I am but I’m honest babe, I don’t take shit from people. All I’ve ever done throughout my life is just be honest, be real, what you see is what you get. Yes I’m a loud mouth little cocky cunt, but live with it.
So the future for Dub Pistols?
Stay alive.
