If you claim to enjoy punk music and haven’t checked out Barb Wire Dolls then you’ve got some big problems. One of the finest bands around fusing a classic punk rock sound with traditional punk values. The band formed in Greece back in 2008 and have really gone from strength to strength. With an energetic live shows which involves much crowd participation, it’s easy to see why there is such a buzz around Barb Wire Dolls. Fronted by the huge personality that is Isis Queen, a shining example of how a singer should (and shouldn’t!) behave on stage and with a Steve Albini produced album already out, the future is very bright for this lot. I was able to throw some questions over to Isis…
Hey, thanks for chatting with us, first up, how’s the arm now and what actually happened?
The arm and shoulder are fine now. I like to jump into the crowd a lot and someone grabbed me from the stage and couldn’t hold me up and he threw me by accident onto my head on the concrete floor. My collar bone got bent out of shape and I was hurt badly. I was rushed to the hospital but after x-rays they told me that nothing was broken, just out of joint. I played the next night in London in a sling and for a few weeks of shows. I am healed and ready to go again into the pit.
So what’s currently going on at Barb Wire Dolls HQ?
We have been dealing with a lot of big record labels that want to put out our next album and we are looking at all the options right now while we work on the new songs. The new album will be a departure from our debut SLIT that we recorded in two quick nights in Chicago with Steve Albini. The new album is going to take punk finally into the future and destroy what is considered rock and roll today. It’s time for a big takeover and punk has been dead for too long. Punk became safe and it all sounds the same. I am angry and pissed off about it and it disgusts me what has happened to “Punk” the last two decades. There are so many punks out there that “get it” and they all want something new, something to believe in again like we do. It has become boring and meaningless to see over and over again the bands that once were important. It’s just business as usual and there’s no anarchic movement whatsoever. It is time for the revolution to bring about real change and no “has-been” on the current touring punk circuit can do that ever again. Punk needs new blood and new music. Period.
You seem to be out on the road constantly, what’s the most enjoyable and the worst things about touring?
Getting to the people out there that are starving for something new is enjoyable. Knowing there are people who go out of their way to discover new bands are the people I like playing for. The worst things about touring is that there are days off. I want to tour non-stop.
Which countries do you most enjoy playing?
All of them. In The UK you get the vibe of the glory days, you feel the presence of The Sex Pistols and the other greats from that era because you can see it in the faces of the audience there. In New York and L.A. you feel a different vibe. In the Balkans you feel an urgency and a newness that is punk. In Germany and some other countries, you feel the important still of punk and its necessity for change and uprising.
Do you see much differences in the punk scenes across different countries at all?
A lot. Kind of what I said in the last question explains that. In Europe though, the crowds are younger than in the USA. In America the youth have been totally brainwashed and don’t know punk at all except for Warped Tour and the Screamo hipster bands. Only the very few minority there that are young know what’s up. Mainstream rock music is beyond help. Punk is the only answer and the only real music for this new generation of zombies.
For those yet to witness the Barb Wire Dolls live show, how would you describe it?
How would YOU describe it? You came to a show.
I caught you live at The Victoria Inn in Swindon last year, just wondered what you thought of 2 Sick Monkeys who also played that night?
They were simply amazing. And great people too.
You must play with a lot of bands, which ones have really stood out for you and you’d recommend people check out?
We have played over 500 shows now and most shows have at least two support acts so that’s way over 1000 bands we have seen now. And only a handful are worth mentioning. I can’t go into names now.
When I saw you I wasn’t expecting a bass player. Is this now a permanent addition to the Barb Wire Dolls family?
Yes. After playing a few shows with Jello he kept telling us we needed a bass player and we thought he was wrong. We recorded SLIT without one and it sounds great to us, but after touring for about 2 years as a trio, we realized once we were in Europe and didn’t have our own back line that the sound was not powerful enough so we added a bass player primarily for the live show. It feels right now.
The band were born in Greece, what made you move to Los Angeles?
There were no real opportunities to play shows in Greece except once every few months and even then there is no club that really wants punk. We could not even get booked in our own hometown because the club owners were afraid of punk. Greeks “rockers” are more into Metal and Southern Rock/Stoner anyway here. We had to go where punk had a history. It was either London, New York City or Los Angeles and we chose L.A. because a fan offered us a place to stay for a few months until we could get things going. It was a great choice because the scene in L.A. was dead and we got their blood pumping again and so many great bands came out of the garage and onto the Sunset Strip in no time.
How was that debut U.S. show for you when you sold out The Roxy Theatre?
A big surprise. Having the legend that is Rodney Bingenheimer announce us at that show was surreal to say the least. He opened the door for all the most important punk bands from The Ramones right on up to The Pistols by playing them first on his KROQ radio show “Rodney On The Roq”. And thanks to Rodney for inviting us to play in L.A. and also to start playing our demo CD non-stop on the radio, that show opened the doors for us to get booked in the OC – where the last punk movement happened – and it steamrolled from there.
Your latest LP, SLIT is out now, can you tell us a bit about it please? What could a first time listener expect to hear?
SLIT is like nothing you have heard before. It’s a hard pill to swallow at first because it is raw, abrasive, honest, and to the point. If this isn’t rock and roll, then I don’t know what else could it be. It is a masterpiece in my mind, from the lyrics to the way we recorded it – which was live and in one take – to the sound Albini got on it. It’s a concept album and it pays respect to the human will and the calling of one’s destiny.
How was it working with the legend that is Steve Albini?
Mind blowing. He is everything you have heard him to be and more. He is a genius who has shaped the world of rock and roll and will be remembered as the greatest artist behind the soundboard.
How did you hook up with Wolverine Records?
I can’t remember. But they are great. They are one of the many cool record labels that are releasing SLIT on CD and Vinyl LP as limited edition copies. STP is also going to be releasing the album in the UK and Cecek is Czech Republic and Slovakia. There are a few other labels with limited edition 7″ singles coming out too. One’s another split and one is just us.
Was it quite important for you as a band that SLIT came out on vinyl?
Of course. SLIT was recorded on analog tape and also mastered on analog equipment. It never saw any digital or Pro-Tools trickery. That is why it sounds best on vinyl and has the energy spectrum that only vinyl can provide.
Where do you draw your lyrical inspiration from?
From living in this world. Seeing the people out there slaving away and shopping and watching television and being absolutely stupid and in denial of themselves. I can’t help but want to scream as loud as I can and shake everyone up from their slumber! Wake up you zombies and feel the blood rushing through you!
What inspired you to form Barb Wire Dolls in the first place and which artists have been huge influences on both your sound and stage presence?
I was living at The Ikarus artist commune in Crete, Greece and Pyn (Barb Wire Dolls guitarist) had a band that I really could get into. I didn’t know I wanted to sing yet, but one night we watched “The Song Remains The Same”, the Led Zeppelin concert film and after making him watch it three times in a row, I told him that I wanted to sing and if he could write me some songs. We started the band right then and recorded our first songs a few days later. That was the summer of 2008. We started Barb Wire Dolls because Pyn, who is a real punk from back in the day, was sick of the punk scene and how it was boring and old. He lived in the USA before and toured with lots of great punk bands and has a big punk history of his own. So at that time I was learning more and more about punk and all the great bands that started the whole movement and I was especially blown away by The Sex Pistols. The more early punk I discovered like The Germs, Black Flag, and The Clash, the more I wanted our band to be dangerous and have meaning. I could not understand, and still don’t, what happened to punk. Where did all the rebellion go? Where is the fury and anger? Look at this world we live in, how disgusting society has become. The world is full of slaves bowing down to corporations who force feed us to consume and obey and only punk can change that. There needs to be a big uprising and a voice to take command and charge into the future with a vengeance. Barb Wire Dolls are one of the bands that has the guts to stand up and say “Fuck You!” to all the corporations, to all the bankers, to all the authorities that pull down the human spirit. And our band is also a big fuck you to the current state of music. Even the punk world became bubble gum and soft. We need change and we are the change.
Was it exciting to release a split 7” with OFF! ?
For sure. Keith Morris is a living legend and I am a big fan of OFF! Keith was the first singer of Black Flag and Circle Jerks and he is still out there making vital music unlike most of the early punk bands that are still playing the “Glory Day” reunion tours and festivals. He and Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedy’s) and a few others keep punk alive by creating new music that stands up to the first stuff they did back in the early days. We are also releasing a new limited edition 7″ single through Ghost Highway Recordings out of Spain this month. It will feature “Devil’s Full Moon” from SLIT and a live recording of “World On Fire” from our first show in France at Mondo Bizarro.
Can you remember what the first concert you went to was and how was it?
I can’t even remember because it must have made no impression on me. I had wanted to go see The Sex Pistols when they came to Greece a few years ago, but I had no money for the ticket.
If Barb Wire Dolls could share a stage with any one band from history, who would it be and why?
I would have enjoyed being on the bill with any of the early punk band I mentioned before that inspired me the most. I would have liked to have been at The 100 Club in London in 1977 playing a show with The Pistols, Clash, Damned, and others. And I would have loved to play with The Ramones at CBGB’s back in the day. And lastly, it would have been magical to play with The Germs at The Whiskey in Los Angeles. Having toured across the USA five times in a dirty van, I did feel like what it must have been like to tour with Black Flag. We played a lot of underground punk shows that were wild, dirty, and full of sweat filled chaos. It felt like being in Black Flag, except for them there were mostly angry young boys in their audience and it became more about violence but in our shows there are always a lot of girls, so it becomes a lot more about sex too!
Are there any plans for another new album in the pipeline? And if so, when can we expect to see it released?
Like I said before, we are writing, rehearsing and doing pre-production right now for the next album. We have about 15 songs to choose from and we already started some of the recording process. We are working this time with a legendary Greek record producer named Niko Kefaloyanis who is already getting sounds out of us that I could never have imagined. We wanted to “keep it local” as us surfers say, and Niko has the goods for this more “grand” style album. There are no plans for the release of the album yet as we still have a long way to go on it. We haven’t decided if we are going to sign with a record label or not either.
So what’s next for the band? Anymore tours coming up soon? More importantly, when do we get to see you back here in the UK?
In late April and early May we will take time off from recording to play a Spring European tour and maybe we will make it back to the UK. I don’t know. It’s up to the promoters to book us. I certainly want to come back to the UK, and we will as soon as we can.
What advice would you give to people in bands out there reading this?
Don’t think that you cannot do anything that you put your mind to. You can. If you want to change your life and follow your dream, then put in the time and effort. Any punk band can tour non-stop if they choose to. There are punks all over the world offering DIY house gigs and a bed to crash on. We sold everything we owned to get the money to move to Los Angeles and to start touring. We did it and we survived by the grace and generosity of punks. We have no financial backer or record company funding us, we did it the punk way and if we could do it, then anyone can. There is no room for excuses, it is entirely up to each person to make their destiny come true. Action makes things happen.
And one final question for you, we’re on a night out, it’s my turn to get the drinks in, what’s your poison?
Warm Cretan raki with honey and spices. But as they say, “When in Rome…”
BARB WIRE DOLLS
Official: www.barbwiredolls.com
FB: www.facebook.com/barbwiredolls
Email: barbwiredolls@yahoo.com
Barb Wire Dolls – “Revolution” [Official Video]:
http://youtu.be/zey9-h5PYfk
Barb Wire Dolls – “L.A.” [Official Video]:…
http://youtu.be/yYXw2A6MsEM
Barb Wire Dolls – “Teenage Crisis” [Official Video]:
http://youtu.be/pisnCpDftRc
Barb Wire Dolls – “Devil’s Full Moon” [Official Video]:
http://youtu.be/HeLsxY_63e8
Barb Wire Dolls – “Your Escape” [Official Video]:
http://youtu.be/8zzYoiEfgyo
Barb Wire Dolls – “Shut Up Slut” [Official Video]:
http://youtu.be/qFM4b-oJNQ4
Barb Wire Dolls – “Destroyer Boy” [Official Video]:
http://youtu.be/yO7cqoMM3UE
Barb Wire Dolls – “Devil’s Full Moon” [Music Video]:
http://youtu.be/WK-wc1Gg01k
Barb Wire Dolls – [Promo Video]:
http://youtu.be/53LSv7A-ywI
Huge thanks to Isis and Pyn.
Mr. T – Feb 2014
All photos used by kind permission of Barb Wire Dolls and remain the copyright of the photographer credited on them.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.© Lights Go Out – A punk fanzine from the UK. All rights reserved. RSS Feed | Best viewed in Mozilla Firefox
site by ledbyexample | admin