Steve Hansell – The Disrupters – (Final?) Interview Exclusive 

Written by Matt Phelps
Sunday, 13 November 2011 05:00

Earlier in the year British anarcho punx The Disrupters released their first album of new material for close to a quarter of a century. Titled ‘Generation Retard’ it stands as a savage, angry and brutally direct assault of the corruption, injustice and pure evil that is poisoning the very fabric of our spiralling society. I caught up with frontman and founder member Steve Hansell to talk a little about ‘Generation Retard’, discuss the decline of western civilisation and to get the low-down on the current state of the band. Could this be one of the last ever Disrupters interviews?

Steve, Most people may remember you from the anarcho punk scene from the early to late Eighties but 2011 has seen The Disrupters release their first album of new material since your reformation in 2007. Bringing us up to date quickly could you give us a quick run down of the current line up and how you got to working with those guys?

We’ve had a few line up changes since we reformed in 2007. Initially I teamed up with co band founder Kevin Wymer. We asked Paul Greener and Houghy from the old line up, Paul was adamant he wasn’t doing it and Houghy came down for one rehearsal but decided against it eventually so we got new boys Steve Hardy and Mash in. Kev didn’t last long though, he did the first handful of gigs but left after the Feeding Of The 5000 gig. I think he liked the idea of doing a big venue like Shepherd’s Bush Empire but otherwise he wasn’t interested in the Disrupters anymore or indeed drumming at all as he was struggling with it a bit this time round. In a way it was a shame when he left, he was in it from the start with me and it meant I was the only original member left but to be honest I didn’t lose any sleep over it. I was gonna do it anyway, it always did feel like unfinished business. We replaced him with Rob Hedge, an old fan of the band with plenty of experience, he’d previously drummed for Braindance among others. Ultimately things didn’t work out with Rob (more on that later) and he left shortly after recording ‘Generation Retard’. Mash has also gone now. The current Disrupters line up is myself (vocals), Steve Hardy (guitar), Johnny Scumhater (drums) and Steve Contempt (bass).

 

‘Generation Retard’ was a good few years in the making. How much of a challenging experience was that process? Did you ever feel you wouldn’t reach the finish line?

 

It took about 2 years to write and just over a week to record and mix then there was a delay of a few months before it was released. There were times I thought we’d never finish it. Rob wasn’t always available to rehearse which frustrated the other 2 guys no end who liked a regular once a week practice. We hung in there with Rob though because he worked very well with us musically. He is a shit hot drummer, the best I’ve played with. More often than not when we did rehearse we’d have to spend time running through the live set because we had a gig to play so that slowed things up a lot. However when we did find time to write those new songs they came pretty damn fast. We bounced off each other really well I think and when we got it down it sounded great. We weren’t getting on particularly well though during this period, (usual kind of band squabbles). I’m not laying the blame at anyone’s door cos I’m sure I’m not always the easiest bloke to deal with either and inevitably there was a split in the band. Rob left and then a few months later Mash left too. Goes with the territory unfortunately….

 

Now that it’s all wrapped up and out on the streets how do you feel when you listen back to the finished product?

 

I think ‘Generation Retard’ is a great album, it’s the album I always wanted to make. I don’t want to dismiss the earlier records, I like a lot of that but I find some of our earlier stuff unlistenable now. It ain’t selling particularly well though which is a bit disappointing, the ‘Gas The Punx’ compilation of our ’80s output did better.

 

It has a far more metal edged sound than most of your original work from back in the day. I think you’ve come in for some criticism for that from some quarters but to me it’s of a similar style to what Anti-Nowhere League are doing these days, kinda Motorhead-esque to some extent and I love that. What’s your response to those critics? Many of whom may be long time fans that are disillusioned with the way you have progressed musically?

 

Yeah, it’s had a mixed reaction. some people are stuck in an ’80s anarcho punk timewarp if you ask me. I couldn’t see the point in releasing an album that sounded just like ‘Unrehearsed Wrongs’ which came out in 1983. I wanted to do something different. It was inevitable that is was gonna sound different. Steve Hardy and Mash come from a metal background, Rob and myself are old punks. I quite like some rock/metal music too so I was more than happy to let Steve and Mash bring in a bit of that in. We would have got flak whatever we did, accusations of not progressing etc. You can’t win really, there’s always gonna be someone who doesn’t like what you’re doing I helped make that album for myself as much as anyone else. Hey, I can’t stand Cock Sparrer but they’re huge so what do I know?

 

I guess maybe the change could be due in some part to the fact that you wrote most of the old stuff on your own but these new songs are more of a group effort?

 

In the old days the lyrics were predominantly written by myself with the occasional contribution from Paul. Musically it was Paul Greener’s riffs then Kev and Houghy would work the bass and drums around those riffs so it was joint collabaration. My guitar skills are very limited so I stuck to writing lyrics and left the music to them. Although I should credit our first guitarist Gibbon here who wrote the original riffs in the very early days (‘Young Offender’, ‘Napalm’) he wasn’t in the band very long though. With the new stuff we worked the same way. Steve Hardy’s riffs (except ‘Torture Room’ which is Mash’s tune) then Rob and Mash would add their parts. Lyrics on ‘Generation Retard’ are all mine except ‘Torture Room’, I did one verse on that but it’s mostly from Mash.

 

Lyrically you still have a lot of the same old savage bite. A lot of your lyrics on ‘Generation Retard’ are very direct when it comes to insulting/assaulting your targets. There’s obviously still plenty of venom left in your pen. But would you say you’re any calmer as a person these days when faced with corruption etc than you did in the Eighties or do you feel a higher level of anger now when you see so much injustice on a daily basis?

 

My lyrics are born out of frustration and let’s face it there are many worthy targets out there for directing that anger and frusration at. It’s debatable whether any of this does any good of course. The system is largely bullet proof. It’s carthartic though, and we all need something to help channel that feeling of frustration. For me it’s my lyrics and their delivery for others it might be art or writing. I’m quite a reserved sort of bloke offstage. It is a dark album though. But then with subject matter including religion, child abusers, war etc how could it be anything else? It’s a very dark world sometimes. No, I’m not calmer, I have an anxiety disorder for one thing but that’s another story. But no I get angry at what I see going on in the world, I get angry seeing what happens on my doorstep too. I think the human race is ultimately doomed. It’s easy (and necessary) to vent at the obvious targets, governments, religious organizations etc but at the end of the day the human race is a flawed entity. Sad but true….but let’s not forget there are some truly great people out there too, we all need one another eh?

 

Back in the day you were (in)famously involved in some direct action protests, most notably the Stonehenge episode I believe. How exactly were you and the Disrupters involved that day?

 

No, I wasn’t present at the Battle Of The Beanfield although we did write a song about it. I had intended hitching down there that year as I had in ’83 and ’84 but of course after that all kicked off it was glaringly obvious we’d never see a Stonehenge festival again. But yes I did attend quite a few demos back in the day, most notably the London Stop The City protests, man they were fun!! Some animal rights ones too, they always kicked off nicely. You used to get a very broad spectrum of protesters at the animal ones, I’ve seen little old ladies ripping down fences at vivisection labs. I did a bit of hunt saboteuring too.

 

 

Do you still actively participate in demonstrations these days?

 

Very rarely, I have a bit of history on my criminal record for stuff like this. I’m older now and I have a family, I can’t go getting nicked these days I have to think of them. I still do stuff like benefit gigs though.

 

With a Tory Government grinding the working classes down further each day there’s almost a unending list of things that genuine people could take grievance with. But looking at the way things have gone recently, the London riots for example, what do you think of the “anarchists” (as the media labelled them) involved with the violence, burning people’s homes and livelihoods to the ground. There seems to be no real political agenda or desire for change among many of them, just a bunch of cunts out for a fight and to hurt as many people as possible.

 

I think those recent riots started with a genuine grievance, wasn’t some bloke shot? Of course it quickly descended into something else entirely. I seriously doubt there were many “anarchists” present. It looked more to me like a bunch of chavs out for free phones and plasma TV sets. I agree with you, there was no political agenda here. Completely mindless burning your own neighbourhood down. Although I will say I wasn’t surprised this happened, there is a lot of unrest in this country, people get fleeced in all directions while that privileged, corporate few reside in their fucking ivory towers. You can always rely on a tory government to provoke a few riots, always happens….

 

Talking of cunts. Ian Huntley and the killer of Baby P are both mentioned on ‘Generation Retard’. What changes would you make to the legal system in this country for dealing with scum like that? (Feel free to rant here and use the phrases “length of good rope” and “nearest lamp-post”)

 

People who mess with kids are pure scum, they have no remorse and the majority of them reoffend. I remember when the Baby P thing was in the news my young son was around the same age as that poor lad. It really got under my skin, that poor boy never stood a chance. How I wish I could have 10 minutes in a locked room and a baseball bat with the bloke who did that. As for the legal system it’s so inconsistent. Child abusers get off with suspended sentences all the time but get nicked for tax evasion and you’re looking at a prison sentence. Paedos are well organized, their abuse is very well planned, they shouldn’t be given a second chance. The protection of children should be paramount to everything in this world. Yeah, a length of rope could come in handy….

 

Getting back to a slightly lighter topic, I believe you had a slot at the Rebellion festival this year. How did that go for you?

 

Yeah it was fun. I’d played at Wasted Fest in Morecambe some years back with the New York Scumhaters so I knew a bit of what to expect but Rebellion in Blackpool is much bigger. Glad we did it. We had weekend passes so I went down early and stayed for 3 days. Rebellion gets a lot of stick for being “corporate”. It’s a rock ‘n’ roll weekend, nothing more nothing less. And I think it’s quite reasonably priced. Very professionally handled unlike some of the DIY gigs we do. Was a bit weird being in the backstage area. I’ve met many people from bands over the years but it’s odd seeing so many of them together getting pissed in the backstage bar. I got some food backstage at some point and looked around and there Captain Sensible on the next table eating his falafel and chips and Glen Matlock a bit further down with a cheeseburger. All a bit surreal really, the novelty soon wears off though haha. But yeah, we did OK, half killed me though cos I’d been on the piss for 3 days and I ain’t getting any younger.

 

Although the punk scene has never been dead in the water it has had a real resurgence over the last few years again with many bands reforming and perhaps finding a larger audience than they ever had originally. Why do you think that is?

 

I think some people just wanna have another shot at it. Not just bands but punters too. They’ve probably been bringing up their kids for the past 20 years and when they leave home it’s a case of “what do we do now? Oh yeah we used to do punk, let’s try that again”. I think some bands can pull it off while others can’t. There are a few doing the circuit that don’t even contain any original members anymore. It’s very much a split crowd nowadays in regards to age. Old fuckers like me mixed with young kids who missed out on some of these bands first time around.

 

And going back to the original scene, what got you involved with the punk movement? Was it political leanings that inspired you to to put pen to paper and use the stage as a highway to get your views heard or did you just love the music?

I grew up watching people like Alice Cooper, Marc Bolan and (dare I admit this?) Gary Glitter on TOTP every week. I thought they were the tits. Of course when I got to hear The Ramones and The Sex Pistols that blew all that out of the water. I went to my first punk gig when I was 15 in late 1977. As well as the music I was also attracted to the nihilistic behaviour particularly exhibited by the Pistols at the time. The Pistols turned into a bit of a cartoon though unfortunately. Then I bought the Feeding Of The 5000 by Crass, it had a big impact on me. The anarchist sentiments made perfect sense to me and Crass more than anyone else made me want to start a band….

 

 

What do The Disrupters have planned for the rest of the year?

 

Ireland at the end of the month, the nice Peter Jones from Paranoid Visions has invited us over to Dublin. We’ll be playing The Gypsy Rose on November 26th. The Disrupters will be sadly calling it a day after that one though. Band members have other commitments and it’s been hard holding it together this past year. Been worth doing though and I think we’ve left a great album behind.

 

Finally could you give us a bit of a “top ten” album list. 5 classic or maybe overlooked punk gems from back in the day and 5 of your favourite more recent punk releases that you would advise people to check out.

 

Here goes….

 

IT’S ALIVE/THE RAMONES quite simply the greatest live album of all time. I miss the Ramones.

 

NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS/THE SEX PISTOLS this was like a battle cry to my young teenage ears.

 

THE FEEDING OF THE 5000/CRASS although we never knew it then it was the start of the whole “anarcho punk” thing. Don’t remember that term being used much back in the day though.

 

THE CLASH (1st album) more specifically the US import with the early singles included (White Man, Complete Control etc) it oozes class, timeless!!

 

PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTERS/THE DEAD KENNEDYS thin line between them but I think this is better than Fresh Fruit.. the DKs at the top of their game.

As for recent stuff….

 

SENSORY OVERDRIVE/MICHAEL MONROE some may scoff but Mike has always had a strong Stooges, NY Dolls, UK Subs influence and this is the best album I’ve heard in a long time.

 

THE AUDACITY OF HYPE/JELLO BIAFRA AND THE GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Jello on great form with a new band.

 

CORAL FANG/THE DISTILLERS bit of a change of style but I think it’s their best.

 

DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME/JOEY RAMONE not as good as the Ramone classics but still a cool album. RIP JOEY.

 

GENERATION RETARD/THE DISRUPTERS hey go buy it, you might even like it 😉

 

 

Many thanks to Steve for a great interview. Sad to see the Disrupters calling it a day so make sure you get along to that Dublin show if you can and at least send them off with a blast.