Cast: John (Vocals and Guitar), JP (Guitar), Dave (Bass), Gaz/Wills (Drums), RBY (Last Stops Sounds).
I’ve interviewed bands before, yeah even the most chaotic of bands can provide enough structured material for a decent page of scribble. I mean it goes wrong when its not got a bit of anarchy in the process, I remember interviewing Hum in Leeds years back and we sat around and sipped tea whilst they described their love of music in sentences like ‘er, yeah, we love music, its darn great’. Great band, really dull interview.
But how much anarchy can you get by using messenger text service as a group. I mean its just words, written down, what can go wrong. I suppose that depends on if the band are The Dry Retch.
I type ‘Evening’ and it begins, or doesn’t, not all the Retch are quite ready, slowly I start to realise that the physical separation and remoteness induced by texting means that each member of the band is ‘living’ in their own world, overlapping slightly, occasionally with each other but, well, here’s how it pans out. Gaz the drummer is on his way to Lidl for supplies. Much of his part in the interview involves asking what the rest of the band want him to pick up and photos he posts of his progress down roads towards the shop and then in the shop picking up items and heading to the till.
Somehow a very entertaining hour or so is spent and I am frequently laughing out loud at the comments and the banter but it is surreal. ‘Pizza anyone?’.
I thought, gentle start, the obvious history of the band question, over an hour later we are still going through iterations of the lineup, albums and gigs filtered through the hazy memory of four musicians who aren’t actually sure what happened and when. So when does it all start.
John: Formed very late 90's as a fairly informal thing, given impetus by a Bangtwister gig, if I remember right.
JP: After the death of Burning Eyes. Johns band had been usurped from under him by going instrumental ha ha ha ha ha.
John: The Bastards.
John: They were from Glasgow, and very good.
JP: Yeah I think you're right - Slaughterhouse or Guinans?
Dave: I remember Bangtwister, the name, but don't recall ever seeing them live.
John: Slaughterhouse.
JP: Subtle way of getting John out.
John: Cheek.
Gaz: I never knew that! Well I never.
JP: come on John, theres a public interest story here, the fans will want to know.
Dave: No take no notice of that gobshite.
John: Language! This is a serious interview
John: Fans?
Already there are multiple conversations taking place at the same time, interweaving with each other, overlapping each other, its hard to keep track of, nuggets of information are being tweaked out of the band members and there’s a lot of insults confusion and swearing.
Gaz has now pulled in a lay-by to allow a tractor to pass. We have the photo of the tractor, he can’t be far off Lidl now.
There are many members of the early late 1990s Dry Retch, some sound exotic like Tiger Si who apparently found fame in a Nu Metal band and so is branded (humorously I think…) a traitor. Some I know of like Alex, erstwhile Cubic Jinx bass player of whom (John) says ‘We emancipated from techo rock’. JP appears to be there from the start, but the names and lineups are flying around thick and fast now so its hard to tell. Then they mention the comic, there’s a Dry Retch comic. Photographic evidence is supplied (it’ll be in the photos below the article if you doubt).
Gaz, who is by now in the story in the band (circa 2000) has arrived at Lidl. John wants four cans of beer, Dave requires pizza, I’m opting for Buckfast as I’m starting to need a drink that makes you hallucinate (we all have our coping mechanisms).
In the history of the band John goes back home to Australia, doesn’t like it, returns to the UK, all around 2002 as best I can figure. At which point after many more lineups JP retires from Rock n Roll as fatherhood beckons. The Retch continue, more lineup changes. Now we aren’t sure who left first JP or Gaz?
Dave: ‘Cos Liam switched to drums then I came in on bass about 2010.
John: So Jem just like JP had fucking kids!!! And he called time.
JP: Blighters.
John: Blighters indeed.
Dave: You have kids John? Admittedly grown up ones.
JP: He never quit punk for them. He’s too punk for that. But I was always a bit prog rock.
John: You were always a wanker is what you're trying to say.
Dave: Is this still question one? (we are nearly an hour in now).
RBY: Yup. (Looks around for alcohol, any alcohol…).
JP: ha ha ha ha ha love Prog. I think i'm sneakily progging the Retch but you haven't noticed yet. Funnily enough John, theres a fella with a vintage Korg might want to Jam with us…..
And its about 2010, or maybe 2009, Dave joins the band, the current lineup have by this time all been members of the band, if not necessarily are in it at that moment in time.
Gaz is in the queue at the till in Lidl, his photo shows he likes Quavers a real lot.
So sometime around 2012 The Dry Retch slide to a halt, bands like The Sonic Rednecks are formed, various members of the Retch are doing other things. I ask ‘what got it all going again’. Now we start hitting some real deep information.
John: The Gulags Project.
This is the album mainly consisting of covers of rare Stooges tracks. So I ask about musical influences.
Dave: I think collectively we all bring our own musical influences to the band. We're all from different musical backgrounds and it just seems to gel but we do also like similar stuff.
JP: DRs influences are the sum of their band members parts to some small extent, but
John is very much the creative director who provided the Stooges/garage punk direction at the outset and without being a suckarse is the arbiter of direction.
Gaz: Took the words right out of my mouth. I drum therefore I am. That's my only influence really. I love playing loud dirty music when given the chance.
JP: I hadn't really got onto any punk stuff pre retch other than the Ramones. I had dismissed British punk due to its hyper-blown imagery and I hated Mclaren. So when John starts introducing you to 1969 and all that. Its fucking mind bogglingly brilliant and a massive two fingers to the idea that the only thing going on (in the 60s) was the Shitles and the hippy thing.
Gaz: Always takes a recording before I actually hear what John's singing.
John: And by then it's too late.
Gaz: Got to be honest the Stooges influences of the Retch really appeal to me more so than 76-79 punk
RBY: From the outside watching/listening, its a big sledgehammer of music, its soul seems to be the Stooges but you can hear all kinds of other stuff going on, if volume is an instrument you lot play it and the drums underpin it all mightily.
JP: Same here, but now at 45 I'm having a little back listen via the miracle of apple. I'm warming to The Clash and early Damned.
Dave: Thing is with UK82 punk, anybody and everybody were getting records out and there was some shite out there (but some great bands also) late 70's punk is far more musical and just a lot more pleasing and interesting on the ear. Volume is deffo an instrument.
RBY: Whats next for the Retch then? Any upcoming plans (Virus malarkey aside)?
Dave: We’ve got a few more tracks we're working on in lockdown
John: The Gulags Project, ie the Stooges 1971 stuff, had been on my mind for decades, I'd even once asked Ron (Asheton of the Stooges) to play on it with us! So around early 2017 I approached the ladies to see if they were in, and they all said yes. Which was nice ‘cos if any one of them said no, that would've been the death of it, cos it takes a certain approach to do justice to that stuff and bring it to life. Anyone can play the notes, but not everyone can play the groove. And once that was done, it just flowed to carry on. The Stooges are a band that dripped with soul, not the northern soul pigswill you understand, nothing formulaic you see, you can't manufacture that feel. They are the quintessential band. I remember at Download when they played a few years back, some girl said to her friend 'they haven’t even got a backdrop', to which I said 'everyone else has a backdrop because they’re not the fucking Stooges'. You see.
I do see.
JP: 2020 was meant to be great, Covid-19 fucked us good style. We had gigs in London, Newcastle, Birmingham….shame like, but we're writing a lot.
RBY: Does politics have any place in your music?
JP: Tricky that. We are as individuals political and pretty much on a similar page going further and further to the left with John, and again, its his band ultimately so his Politics tend to add a hint of Camp Communism which we can on the one hand support and represent but also not take it too seriously as to get people walking out within the intro music. Which was South Yemen last time and a work of genius.
Gaz: Got it in one.
John: Political lyrics done well ie the clash are an exception, and then when a band does clever political lyrics, ie Crass' Bloody Revolutions, it's disappointing when your disagree profoundly. So we don't do any politics in our lyrics, and as JP said we have the camp communism visual thing, which is humorous more than any political statement. Although politically we're all left of centre, some more than others.
Gaz has now made it home, with his shopping. He’s drunk my Buckfast though.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDryRetch/
Bandcamp: https://thedryretch.bandcamp.com/
Words RBY