We recently cought up with hardcore Liverpool band Code Break and jotted down their opionions on anything from music to pandemics to crisp flavours.
RBY: So who've we got online, introduce yourselves.
Andy: Andy Higham ‘Tub Thumper’ for Code Break, Occasional ‘wooahs’ and anguished screams from behind the kit.
Garreth: Garreth Hirons, smiling politely - bass.
Karl: I’m Karl - trying to sing but can’t.
Gary: Gary, guitar, mostly showing my back, sometimes vocals.
Karl: I just had my tea... Gareth I saw you got spat at for wearing a mask?
Gareth: Yeah - just in town, like. Spat at my feet and missed. I'm not wearing my glasses because they steam up when I wear a mask, so I can't give a good enough description to report it… "There was this blurry little shit that spat at me”.
RBY: Really someone spat at you for having a mask on?
Gareth: This interview is gold so far!
RBY: Whats the story behind the band then, who formed it when, what was the idea behind it?
Karl: I was looking at old Facebook posts today and realised we started 10 years ago
Andy: Karl is the only original member ?
Andy: You deserve some sort of award Karl for the longevity of Code Break
Gary: 10 year service award... £10 voucher for WH Smith's
Andy: I think I’ve been a member for 5 years now, I’ll get a copy of Classic Rock with that
Karl: So in 2009 I got asked to go to Vulcan and do minor threat songs with a few lads I know. After a few practices we wrote some of our own songs and a few shows later the guitarists back went, Gary joined on guitar. Then the drummer Mike left and Andy joined. Then Ant the bass player unfortunately left. Claire joined but had to leave and then in January Garreth joined.
Gary: Where my £7.50? I joined in late 2012.
Karl: I was always that tit that used to grab the mic at gigs
Gareth: So I'm due about 10p.
Gary: Wait, late 2011 £8.50.
Karl: The band has always been a release from normal life.... a good way to vent and make a racket.
RBY: So as you all came into the band, how did it evolve? Code Break does have a different sound from a lot of other bands and I wouldn't have really detected Minor Threat as an original influence?
Karl: We were talking about this a while ago and we all have different influences but in the praccy room it all seems to fall in place.
Andy: When we started we were a straight up hardcore band but as members left our sound changed a bit. I think Gary was a big part in that
Karl: We have a breather in praccy and talk about obscure bands and talk shit. We’re basically all music nerds (which is great by the way).
Andy: It was very hardcore when I started, pretty chuggy and palm muted power chords, but I could never do that very well, so when I started I told them I couldn't and they were happy to start trying different things, which worked for me.
Gary: We didn’t just want to be a meat and potatoes hardcore band. As Andy said we are nerds when it comes to music.
Karl: Yeah, we all have bands that we all like but our favourites or bands we go back to more are all generally different.
Gary: I honestly wouldn't know what to call the sound - there's all sorts going on. I think what's mainly remained from the pure hardcore days is a sensibility about the songwriting - getting in and getting out, no fuss, get it done!
RBY: What bands would you name check as influences then?
Gary: It’s all pretty eclectic but mostly guitar music...
Andy: When I joined Ant and Karl pointed me in the direction of a band called ‘Fucked Up’ and I suppose we are similar in the fact they don’t follow a certain pattern.
Karl: For me I’m a hardcore guy but the weirder end. I like black flag but the weirder stuff, I like Nomeansno but then I like Sick of it all and then I like Crying which is chip tune music. I like anything that’s having a go.
Andy: I mostly listen to 70s rock and metal at home but I also enjoy loads of punk, hardcore etc
Gary: For me it's bands like Yaphet Kotto, Spy Versus Spy, Minutemen... Fucked Up like
Karl said... I like messier hardcore, like Palatka and Assfactor 4.
Gareth: Personally I like a lot of early British punk - The Damned, Pistols etc - a fair bit of post-punk like Wire, Magazine and Gang of Four, and in terms of playing and writing, I often look to The Jesus Lizard and Girls Against Boys, that mid-nineties Chicago sound, for bass sound, and Billy
Childish as an example of a frugal but effective punk songwriter.
Karl: I think that Fucked up is an influence maybe subconsciously. People say we sound like Fugazi... I guess that’s an influence.
RBY: What about musicians you've influenced by, when growing up as it were and still have something of them in your style?
Gareth: I’m also a massive Britpop fan but I doubt you'll hear that filter through to the band!
Andy: You promised you wouldn’t say that. I’m listening to AC/DC’s High Voltage as we text.
Gary: I think it comes from the same place as them rather than directly, like making big, dynamic sounds with a shout vocals.
Karl: Henry Rollins I guess but I only went the gym once and didn’t like it.
Gareth: The first band I was massively into was Nirvana, they definitely inspired me to be in a band, but have you heard what Krist Novoselic can do on the bass? He should be embarrassed if I name him as an influence, I can't come close!
Karl: I think that pop punk 1994 thing was big for me. That was kind of a gateway to alternative music. That and going to gigs in town at Guineans and the slaughterhouse.
Karl: I came in at the tail end but the first DIY punk high I saw was there.
Gary: Same as Karl for me... It all really started with Green Day and NOFX and because of that I went to see Pansy Division in Guinans and saw Dropout and Underclass and it blew my mind. I didn't move to Liverpool until 2003, so I missed some of the glory days of the local scene by the sound of it. Caught a few gigs at the Slaughterhouse, Heaven and Hell and later Roadkill, definitely convinced me I could get something going here. And then 17 years later I joined Code Break
Karl: I saw Oi Scally...
RBY: Didn’t Mark Magill promote those gigs (Pansy Division etc)?
Andy: Yeh think so
Gary: He promoted a lot and he was in Dropout. Seeing a local band play that style opened my world up so much
Karl: Yeah we are all Marko fans. He’s done a lot for Liverpool’s punk scene
RBY: I’ve not seen this lineup yet but despite previous personnel changes the band seems to have remained consistent in how it sounds?
Karl: You didn’t see the first gigs.... we had a 20 second song about a Brookside character.
Gary: Yeah, I think we've found our groove really since Andy started... He's so technically good that we didn't have to hide by just going fast at the end.
RBY: Which character? More importantly, why?
Karl? The pizza legend Mick Johnson Why? I used to see him in Asda buying pizzas. So we wrote a song called “Pizza Legend”...... yeah I’m a bit weird.
Andy: We wrote a lot of songs since I joined and we try to change the set around and keep the songs we like. Sometimes digging up an old one to bring back.
Gareth: Yeah, I think we've found our groove really since Andy started... He's so technically good that we didn't have to hide by just going fast at the end.
Gareth: We do have some new stuff to come in soon as well, although lockdown's slowed us down a bit. Before all this kicked off we were planning to record in late summer, I would imagine that's off the table, but knowing that's in the near future is great impetus to get as much material ready as possible.
Karl: I think we found a sound when Andy joined and have been exploring that. I know that as a vocalist I’ve become more confident in trying new things
RBY: There seems an intensity when you’re watching in the audience, the songs come across as serious if in their own micro-verse. Are you serious about a 'message' at all, or is it more observational subject matter?
Andy: In my opinion when Karl is singing about something he’s passionate about it inspires me to go shit crazy on the drums. Doesn’t take much like.
Karl: In terms of the lyrics yeah they are serious and I think I’ve become more serious as the bands gone on. I try to be funny to keep it a bit more light hearted but ultimately I’m a bad moody goth. I think the whole thing for me is about feeling trapped, living up to expectations and trying to break out of what’s expected
Karl: I just react to the music and the vibe going on... I’m the same in the practice room.
Andy: Yeh I’d say we’re as intense rehearsing as playing a gig. Everyone gives it 100 percent.
Karl: But yeah I’m serious, I’ve written a lot while we’ve been in lockdown. I’d have gone madder if I hadn’t... and I’m pretty mad.
RBY: Yet the vocals ride on-top of this sometimes almost unchanging musical pattern, you stick to your guns more than most bands, almost like you keep your nerve longer? (musically that is)?
Karl: I think we like building tension.
Gareth: The intensity level usually starts out pretty high and ends very high! But I love building to a crescendo, and we seem to be very good at that, so it suits me down to the ground. Someone (I forget her name) once described watching us as joyous. We loved that and named the EP after it.
Karl: I think it just comes out that way. We don’t really discuss like let’s make this one build here... it’s just organic I suppose.
Gary: Yeah, that's what I like about it too... It's something that I always tend to look at doing and I think over the years Karl has really got an ear for how to use the vocals to build it all up.
Andy: Fuck ! I miss playing.
RBY: The lockdown situation has changed things in the music scene but what do you do as a band, to cope with it then?
Gareth: Zoom calls. Tons and tons of Zoom calls. Oh, and Album Club!
Karl: We’ve been doing album reviews on YouTube. As previously said we are music nerds so we review albums we pick as a band
Andy: I’ve been writing down all the things I’m pissed off or angry with. I find it helps get it off your chest (Code Break lyrics incoming).
Karl: Social ones, we talked about practicing via zoom but I don’t think my neighbours would be happy with me screaming in my box room.... I did that when I was 14 and it was boss though
Gareth: Yeah, so recording our Zoom discussions about them, then making Gary edit it into something coherent (sorry Gary, that's a fair bit of work for him!). It was fun as I'd not been in the band very long so it was a good way of swapping influences with the others and getting up to speed on what makes each other tick as musicians.
Karl: Yeah check out the album club (links are on Facebook)
Gareth: I tried doing music stuff over Zoom right at the start but it's not great for that - always had a delay. A shame as I'd love to do something more collaborative. I've been writing some basslines but it's weird to do that in isolation.
Gary: Yeah, it's been fun... I get very particular about editing out “‘erm's."
Andy: Erm, sorry about that
Karl: I’ve made some stickers.... and we’ve looked at t shirts for the band.
Andy: Oh and I’ve bought loads of tapes of obscure metal bands and drank way too much beer
Gary: I’ve bought a lot of vinyl...
Gareth: Yeah, there's been a LOT of drinking. But it's all craft beer which means it's not technically binge drinking, it's tasting
RBY: What do you think will happen in the music scene over the coming months or even years?
Andy: Hopefully the little venues such as Outpost survive and we’ve still got somewhere to play
Gary: I think the landscape will be very different at the other end... I think social distancing will be in effect for the next 18 months, places will close. It could be more small gigs
Karl: It’s hard to say... I’m working from home with my job at the minute and I’ve gone nuts a few times thinking about how mad the pandemics is. Hopefully the venues can start to do stuff soon. Let’s be honest I think we all need a big of loud music in our lives
Gareth: Yeah, Outpost is a great place to play - and hang out for that matter. We were due to play there just after lockdown was declared and I can't wait to play there again.
Andy: Before the virus we were planning on venturing further afield to play some gigs, so hopefully we can catch up with that sometime
Gareth: (And those Burton's Fish'N'Chip snacks that I love).
Karl: Yeah I hate it when places close... we wrote a song about it called “the hole” but I didn’t think a virus would close places down this time.
Gareth: I wonder whether there'll be more outdoor gigs, we were discussing that the other day. If there's space for them they'd make a lot of sense in the current climate.
RBY: Do you have any favourite venues in or out of Liverpool?
Gary: We’re all fans of Outpost. I loved Mello Mello when it was open... We played a place in Bolton that had a stage bigger than the spectator space, which was fun (Editor: The Alma in Bolton).
Obviously Outpost/Maguires as they are our mates. We played a place in Salford which the lads from AVAS sorted but I can’t remember what it was called.
Garreth: Outpost, first and foremost... I'm not really sure where else there is now, sadly... I really like The Deaf Institute in Manchester, (at Karl) Is that where we saw Bis? If so, that one. Not sure if it's still open but the Garage in Highbury was always really good. And if I might mention my old local, I wouldn't be here and playing without Esquires in Bedford - in the nineties I caught a ton of great up and coming acts there, I'd love to play there again.
RBY: I went to see you at the Alma, got there and saw Andy drinking a beer looking like you'd already played, which you had
Karl: We played a gig on Smithdown road at an Italian restaurant... that was funny
Andy: Yeh it’s really small that place
RBY: How did that go?
Gary: Badly…
Karl: The Italian Restaurant gig? (Editor: The Secret Place wine bar on Smithdown) It was funny.... we got told to turn it down... also they put a “wet surface” sign up on the floor when we playing which I slipped on
Gareth: Yeah, it's a definite strike against it. But the upstairs gig space is great, surprisingly good sound. I'd say the Ritz as well but I basically just see wrestling there! Restaurant went badly... We got asked to play quieter so we just played one more at the same volume.
Andy: Yeh that was part of the Smithdown festival and they still had couples eating a romantic meal together with Code Break and other bands blasting away. I think the owner got told it was only acoustic acts…
Karl: Yeah it was a weird gig... Wanweird and The DSM IV played it....
Andy: I think i went and watched Iron witch in craft
RBY: Got to ask though, the bands name, where does that come from?
Karl: Ha ha.... it was the original guitarist Ste’s. I wanted it to be “Codes” but he wanted it to be a bit more hardcore so I think we come up with Code Break.... it was meant to be about breaking out of the same old same I guess.... it sounds like a boy bands name
Gary: We considered changing it just to Codes at one point but lost our bottle
Karl: People think it’s a wrestling move... but it’s not.
Andy: It should be.
Gareth: I was working as coder just before lockdown... And I wasn't much cop, so it definitely broke. It all makes sense now!
Gary: I’m an auditor and trainer for an NHS function called clinical coding so I felt it was kismet that I joined.
Karl: Code broken.
Karl: My lyrics have payroll themes. I could write a concept record on tax codes.
RBY: What would you ask yourselves if you were in my shoes
Andy: Karl how many caps do you own?
Karl: Fucking loads, Steph, my wife, bought me a hat holder for my birthday
Gareth: A hat holder? Jesus. That's a habit, not a collection!
Gareth; Code Break, you seem to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?
Andy: Gary do you boil your guitar strings like Eddie Van Halen?
Gary: I barely change my strings... My question for myself is 'Gary, why don't you ever look after your equipment so it works properly?' Answer = laziness.
Karl: Chips or crisps... discuss?
Gareth: Is this a USA v UK thing or what’s your favourite crisps or chips ?
Garreth: That’s a hell of a choice. Chip shop chips take the crown for me, but Monster Munch provides the sternest of challenges.
RBY: The pickled onion flavour?
Andy: Chippy chips
Garreth: Roast beef of the current ones, though it wouldn't be me if I didn't mention the long-gone Sizzlin' Bacon flavour. If I mention it enough they might bring it back!
RBY: I feel life the universe and everything chips is being explained here ^^ Gary: Chips
Andy: Garreth Hirons before a code break gig do you dress up as Lemmy and play air bass in front of the mirror to ace of spades?
Garreth: Obviously yes! I have experimented with having my mike at his usual angle but at my age it plays havoc with my neck.
Karl: I’d ask myself why I hadn’t started a band sooner and why have I had a cough since I was 8 years old.
Karl: Andy how much denim do you own
Andy: Shit loads mate
Karl: Gary why do you support Everton?
Gary: I ask myself this every year... Still maintain that supporting Everton is more punk than LFC for Premier League.
Karl: Football isn’t punk.... unless you support West Ham and that’s even worse than being a punk.
Garreth: I’m never blowing bubbles.
Karl: Garreth who’s your favourite wrestler?
Garreth: Of all time: Shawn Michaels. Still active: Session Moth Martina, but a special shout out to Rhia O'Reilly.
RBY: Cheers guys, see you soon in a bar with loud music I hope, g’night.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CodeBreak138/
Bandcamp: https://codebreak.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codebreakband1/
Words and photos: RBY.
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