S4L Interview: Matt Dangerfield of The Boys Talks China

I'm very excited to once again  have the chance of chatting to Matt Dangerfield (we last spoke with him on his own back in 2013!), Guitarist and Vocalist of one of the most treasured Punk bands The Boys. Earlier this year they found themselves in China of all places and they recorded their latest album 'Undercover - Live in China' there!

We get the lowdown on how that all came about courtesy of Matt and also get a wee update on Honest John Plain after his accident a short while ago.

Also there's a review of the album - I spoil you lot too much! - Doug
 
Note:
All photos of The Boys in China are courtesy of Rachel Gouk and the album cover is designed by Matt Dangerfield.

S4L: The Boys Live in China - it has a nice ring to it doesn't it? How did you come about getting the opportunity to play there?
 

Matt: Some guys from Shanghai contacted us about doing a Chinese tour. At first we didn’t take it too seriously as we get contacted by people from all over the world interested in getting us to their neck of the woods. And when it’s a long-haul destination, flight costs are a major stumbling block so these kind of offers often don’t reach fruition. But we soon realised these guys were seriously committed to getting us there and we were really looking forward to playing to Chinese audiences – we had nine gigs lined up.

S4L: Why did you end up doing a "secret show"?
 
Matt: Because after the Chinese Ministry of Culture cancelled our tour and banned us from playing live anywhere in China, doing a few secret gigs was the only way we would get to play to a Chinese audience. The only reason we were given for the ban was "crowd control and security issues”. Remember, this was in January, just weeks after the Shanghai New Year stampede in which 36 people died. I guess there was a general nervousness amongst officialdom as to who would take the blame for that as well as any further crowd problems, especially involving a foreign ‘punk’ band. Who knows how they think? After our initial disappointment, we decided to make the best of our situation. We had a lot of publicity – it was even announced on the evening TV news etc. - and met a great bunch of people who really helped us out regardless of their own security. In the end we managed to play three secret gigs, make two videos, do lots of TV and press interviews and, of course, record the live album. On top of that we really enjoyed China, the people and their way of life.
 

S4L: The band managed also to get on TV in China, was that an unexpected bonus of being in the country?
 
Matt: A lot of press interviews and promo stuff was set up for us before we arrived but once news of the Ministry of Culture ban broke, we ended up doing a lot more. The Beijing TV thing was originally supposed to be us playing one live number and a short interview but by the time we met up with them in Beijing they had decided to make a one-hour documentary instead.

 
S4L: I guess one question is begging to be asked is how on earth did the music of The Boys find it's way to China in the first place?
 
Matt: I really don’t have a clue. You have to take into account there has only been a Chinese ‘music industry’ for around 15 years, before that there was just Chinese music. So Chinese music fans have being doing a lot of catching up. Thanks to the internet, they have access to decades of music from the past as well as the new stuff they hear on the radio. There’s a vibrant scene in China with clubs that cater for fans of punk, rockabilly, metal, country...you name it. I’m guessing that in any country that stubbornly suppresses freedom of speech, maybe the rebellious, anti-establishment nature of punk appeals.

S4L: Is this the first official live album from The Boys? I recall you had some bits of a show for the BBC In Concert released (though off the top of my head I think it was a split album between you and another Punk band who I cannot recall now!).

Matt: As far as we’re concerned this is our first official live album as we had control of it from start to finish. The BBC In Concert LP you’re referring to had us on one side and The Vibrators on the other as the BBC In Concert programmes were half-an-hour long. The deal you did with any BBC recording gave them 100% ownership of the rights.

S4L: You filmed the show in China, can we expect a Live DVD in the near future?
 
Matt: It’s possible we’ll do something along those lines, but we haven’t made any plans for that yet. 

 
S4L: Any update on how Honest John is doing? We were saddened to hear of his recent accident.
 
Matt: I spoke to him yesterday (thursday). Physically, he’s healing fast but he took a knock on the head in the fall and doctors in London want to monitor him for a while. John told me that he is confident he will be fit to play again in 10-15 days.

S4L: What's the plan for The Boys for the rest of the year?
 
Matt: We have Rebellion in Blackpool early August then we have a bunch of dates in Sweden. We are still considering options for later in the year and 2016 looks like being a great year for us gig-wise.

The Review 

Undercover - Live in China - The Boys

Action Records

Released July 2015

Live albums are usually the kind of thing that happen between Studio albums or are the result of a recent tour or an obligation of contract to a record company. At other times though they can be the result of something so special that there's not a chance in the world that it will ever happen again! Such is 'Undercover - Live in China' by The Boys.

Everyone can remember their First Time and I'm certain that the fans who showed up for this gig will have it written on their hearts for decades to come...."late nights spent kicking round the football, we carved our initials on the school wall, remember those Brickfield nights...!"

This 13 song set is a great reminder of The Boys Past and an introduction to The Boys Present. Four tracks from their latest album 'Punk Rock Menopause' are here (1976, I'm a Believer, Punk Rock Girl and Global Warming) and sit well with classics like TCP, Terminal Love, I Don't Care, Brickfield Nights, First Time, and Sick on You.


As a kid I had the opportunity of seeing The Boys many times but here they are in 2015 sounding as fresh as ever. The earlier songs, drawn from each of their albums released between 1977-81, come across just as vital as they were back when they were first recorded and there's not even a hint of rock posturing on the recording it's just straight forward rock and roll at its finest - exactly as it should be!

All in all it's a great edition to the canon of The Boys musical legacy and a declaration that The Boys are still a force to be reckoned with!

 

You can get it from here!

For more information on The Boys check out their Facebook Page.

And not forgetting The Boys Official Website.

 

Punk Rock Menopause - The Boys (June 2014)

News from The Boys:
The Boys - Back with a Bang
On June 20 2014 THE BOYS release their long-requested first new studio album since 1981 on Wolverine Records. Featuring the original founder members and creative core of Matt Dangerfield, Casino Steel and Honest John Plain, the new album “Punk Rock Menopause” is packed with 13 iconic new songs bearing the band’s classic trademark blistering guitars, hard-edged melodies, killer hooks and layered harmonies.

The album can be pre-ordered from Wolverine Records. It will be available on Vinyl and CD (which I'm informed comes with a bonus track).

Teaser Clip at Soundcloud.

The Band recently played their first Stateside show for six years and some kindly soul captured them in all their rock and roll glory. The sound's a bit rough but it does capture the energy of the show.

Friday 16th May

HoZac Blackout Festival, Chicago

TCP/See You Later/Terminal Love.

USI/Cast of Thousands/Kamikaze.

Soda Pressing/I Don't Care.

No Money/I Hate My.....Job.

First Time/Living in the City.

Box Number/Sick On You.

They also completed last month a 9 date tour in Germany.

For more information about The Boys - Click Here.

Remember Those Brickfield Nights...The Matt Dangerfield Interview

A while back I posted an interview with Honest John Plain, guitarist, songwriter and vocalist of The Boys, and now I'm really pleased to get the opportunity to chat with the "Quietest" Frontman of The Boys - Matt Dangerfield - Guitar, Vocalist, Songwriter and Producer.

S4L: The Boys have a good legacy, having formed around the time of the growing Punk  movement in the late 1970's and born out of The Hollywood Brats and London SS,  was that a really good time to be starting a band, especially as there were so  many bands that were exploding onto the scene around the same time?

Matt: It was certainly a brilliant time to be starting a punk band if not a great time to be starting any other kind of band because almost overnight everything else became unfashionable. After the Bill Grundy show it was like a cultural atom bomb had been dropped on the UK and also a rare occasion when the music business was turned on its head. The early punk bands had the upper hand because although they didn’t understand what was going on, every record company was suddenly desperate to sign a punk band and there weren’t that many of us to begin with. And it wasn’t just the bands who benefited because the media from all over the world was beating a path to London – I remember punk friends charging foreign photographers fifty pounds a go to photograph them on the Kings Road and at the Roxy. 

S4L: The Boys live debut was in 1976 at the famous Hope and Anchor in Islington, do  you have any memories of that night and what you were thinking and feeling  prior to hitting the stage? Since then of course you have played loads of  shows and even today are still performing concerts. Does it give you a sense  of satisfaction that all these years down the road that the music that you put  out 35 years ago is still loved?

Matt: I remember it well. I don’t remember being particularly nervous, just relieved that we were finally getting to play our first gig after months of songwriting and rehearsing. From that point on we were constantly honing our set and continually adding the new songs that Cas and myself were writing on an almost daily basis. Within a few months we’d gone from being told by venues that we were the worst band that they had ever booked, to having the same venues desperate to have us back.
It does please me a lot that the music we made still resounds with those who heard it the first time around but even more so when it’s younger fans who weren’t even born at the time that are picking up on it. The fact is that worldwide there are infinitely more punk fans and bands today and a much bigger market for the music than there was in the seventies and that pleases me too.

S4L:   Mentioning the the first album and it's age, you've just recently reissued  that and Alternative Chartbusters. Are you excitited to seem them available  again, especially with some of the great bonus material on each set? There's  so many great songs on each of the albums, were you frustrated that because of  your label NEMS that you didn't get the chance to get your music more widely  heard?

Matt: I’m mostly pleased that both albums have now been properly remastered and sound as good, if not better, than the original vinyl releases. They have been released on CD in the past but I personally can’t listen to those because they usually sound so awful – so over compressed they’ve had all the dynamics sucked out of them. We were cheesed off with NEMS at the time, but to their credit they did eventually let us go, which they didn’t have to if they’d really wanted to be difficult. Looking back I think they meant well but were just unprepared and incompetent and they lost out as much as we did.

S4L:   Besides the albums you actually released a cracking bunch of singles as well.  What ones stand out for you? I personally love 'Brickfield Nights', it was a  record that seemed to sum up the life that me and my friends were having at  the time and I love the fact that when I hear that opening drumbeat that I am  transported back almost to my teens. Do you think a lot of modern music has  lost that ability to connect with its listeners in that kind of way and  therefore is actually quite disposable? When you were writing them did you  have a sense that they would breed such a connection or were they written  primarily as an extension of what was going on in your own lives at the  time?

Matt: I’m sure modern music connects with it’s target audience. It just disappoints me that kids today are generally so un-rebellious and willingly buy into whatever big business tells them is ‘cool’. In the seventies young people just laughed at any advertising that tried to engage them, now they swallow it whole. Speaking for myself, I think most of the songs I’ve written and still write are based on my own experiences and what appeals to or concerns me at the moment. If it resonates with other people, that’s a bonus.

S4L:   On June 22nd you've got a big reissues launch show at The Borderline in  London, do you have a lot of preparation for a show like that? Do you as a  band collectively come up with the set you play that night? Will it be a  combination of both albums?

Matt: We are geographically all over the place these days so there’s little possibility for preparation. We generally only have an acoustic run through before the gig to remind us of the arrangements etc. and that will be the same for the Borderline show. We are currently discussing the idea of doing a special set for that gig that includes only songs from the first two albums, which I think will probably happen. There will no doubt be a few cock-ups doing stuff we haven’t played for years but it will be fun.

S4L:   All of you have been involved in projects other than The Boys down through the  years, whether it be solo or side bands, do you think that has helped keep The  Boys sharp and helped you create new music - I believe there is a new album on  the way at some point?
 
Matt: Yes a brand new Boys album is close to completion. We’ve been recording it in France a few songs at a time over the last year, as we needed to fit it in between our individual commitments but it’s coming along very nicely. We’ve all moved in slightly different musical directions over the years but when we got together on this project it immediately started sounding exactly like The Boys of old, which we’re pleased about. We’ll be finishing it over the summer and hope to release it later this year. 

S4L:   Who inspired you, Matt Dangerfield to get into music in the first place? Could  you ever have imagined that you'd still be playing and singing all these years  down the road with great musicians and songwriters like Casino and Honest  John? Any wisdom you can impart to any youngsters who are starting up bands  today that you picked up on your own musical journey?

Matt: I grew up in the sixties, when there was such a fantastic explosion of new music constantly going in new directions, and just about all those bands were a huge influence. From about the age of 13 my ambition was to be in a band and make music so I’m enormously grateful that I was given the privilege to do that. My only advice to would-be musicians is stick to your guns, stay true to what inspired you in the first place and try to find your own direction rather than follow someone else’s. 

S4L:  One of the things it's nice to discover is what music has been a part of your  own musical journey and still today forms part of your soundtrack4life, so  could you name half a dozen albums, singles or songs that you feel have  somehow shaped you into the musician and person you are today?

Matt: Half a dozen is not nearly enough but the albums I will never tire of listening to:  

“Highway 61 Revisited” - Bob Dylan 

“Revolver” - The Beatles 

 “Otis Blue” - Otis Redding

“Velvet Underground & Nico”- Velvet Underground 

“SF Sorrow” - The Pretty Things

"Hunky Dory" - David Bowie

S4L: Many  thanks for your time Matt, it's much appreciated. Wish you well for future  days and very excited at the prospect of a new Boys album. Take care.

Matt: Thanks Doug, the pleasure is all mine.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BOYS CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE AND THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE.
 

To celebrate the definitive re-releases of The Boys’ first two albums – "The Boys" and "Alternative Chartbusters", featuring previously unreleased bonus recordings, track notes by singer/guitarist Matt Dangerfield and sleeve notes by Mojo’s Dave Henderson – THE BOYS will play a one-off gig at The Borderline in London on Saturday 22 June 2013.

 

LINKS:
To buy tickets for THE BOYS DELUXE REISSUES LAUNCH PARTY click
Join the event on Facebook

 
Full details on Deluxe reissues go to  and click on FIRE REISSUES