Formed back in 1982, Self Abuse released a couple of E.P’s, one of which was the well received "(I didn’t wanna be a) Soldier", before they called it a day only 2 years later. On 29th December 1984 they played to a packed out Pembroke Arms in Bournemouth only for the group to split up before 1985 had even started.
Twenty years later Andy (Nazer - Vocals/Bass), Dave (Brown - Guitar/Vocals), Roger 'Jarvis' (Smale - Guitar) & Steve (Ridgeway - Drums) got back together for what was to be a one off gig at Mr Smiths in Bournemouth but they started writing new material and just kept on going.
With Dom Webb (from Demonic Upchucks) taking over on drums, the band released their 'Celebrity Death Squad' EP in 2009 but took another break for 2011. There have been a couple of gigs by the band in 2012 and hopefully there will be a few more to come.
The following interview with Andy Nazer was first published on my previous Taped site sometime in 2010.
What do you remember about recording your early demos back in ‘82 & ‘83?
Well…blimey! It was a long time ago! Our very first demo, ‘State of Mind’ was recorded in Oct. ’82 at Studio 95 which was situated 4 floors up above a camera shop in Old Christchurch Rd…the studio was a small 8 track affair and run by a couple called Claudette and Chaz. We did attempt a second demo there the following December, but the songs weren’t ready and nor were we. We consciously decided not to go into a studio until we were ready, so we held back March 1983 when we recorded the ‘Teenage’ demo at Arny’s Shack in Penn Hill, which was a bigger and better equipped 24 track studio. And of course Andy Summers and Robert Fripp had recorded there so I think we were slightly impressed, in a sort of punk non-impressed way!
How did you feel when your 1st E.P got released?
Really chuffed, but it took ages for it to come out…about a year. We had to buy our ‘proper’ copies because we only received 4 white label copies with no covers.
(I didn’t wanna be a) Soldier was played by John Peel & did well in the indie charts. Did you get any offers of a record deal after that (and were you surprised Radical Change didn’t release another record)?
There was no surprise Radical Change didn’t release another record, we sort of fell out with them a bit, we were also advised not to sign the contract in the first place because it signed us for life! But we were young and daft and wanted a record out. Xntric Noise Records put 2 tracks from our third demo on a 12" punk compilation in 1984, so I guess if we hadn’t imploded we may have put a record out with them.
Why didn’t you tour after releasing the Soldier EP, especially with the good press you were getting then?
Haha! What good press?! No, seriously, we were getting a bit messy by then…If the EP had come out earlier than it did we may have been more on top of the situation and played more gigs off the back of the EP.
You split up at the end of ‘84. Were there any real attempts to reform before you actually did in 2004, and if there were, why didn’t they work?
We did actually have a rehearsal back in 1992 with a view to playing a 10th anniversary gig, but I don’t think any of us were really serious about it. In any case the scene wasn’t really there and it took until the 2000’s for it to pick up again in Bournemouth with the likes of the Demonic Upchucks and Spitroast coming along, with a new generation of punks springing up.
What were the initial meetings/rehearsals like when you got back together?
It was all absolutely fine and dandy, we still all got along great, we went for a few drinks with each other after rehearsal. We never really fell out or anything. Steve had a long way to come as he lives in Derby these days though. Rehearsal wise it just took a little while to brush the rust off the wheels and give the bearings some grease as it were. We wrote 2 new songs straight away so we didn’t just have to play the oldies.
What did the band get up between the re-union and the release of the 'Celebrity Deathsquad' EP in 2009?
We supported Stiff Little Fingers and Subhumans a couple of times, as well as playing other sporadic gigs. Steve left in 2006 as he was fed up with the journey to and from Derby, so we got Dom in from the Upchucks.
What have been your favourite gigs you’ve played since you have got back together?
SLF and Subhumans gigs in Bournemouth and Bristol…the boat gigs around Poole Harbour was quite memorable too. And of course our initial comeback gig in 2004 at Mr Smiths was fantastic. Apart from that it’s a bit of a blur.
Are you planning on releasing any more Self Abuse material? Maybe re-recording some of your older stuff or putting out some new tunes?
All our early 1982-84 demos and the Soldier ep were released as a full album called ‘[I didn’t wanna be a] Soldier’ on cd by Grand Theft Audio records [GTA] who are based in the USA. Its still available. Although we have done, I personally I don’t really like re-recording old stuff. I prefer leaving songs as snap-shots in time. How many times do you need to polish a turd even if it’s a great turd?! Hopefully we’ll gather together all our more recent recordings at some point, and include some out-takes for an album sometime in the near future.
Twenty years later Andy (Nazer - Vocals/Bass), Dave (Brown - Guitar/Vocals), Roger 'Jarvis' (Smale - Guitar) & Steve (Ridgeway - Drums) got back together for what was to be a one off gig at Mr Smiths in Bournemouth but they started writing new material and just kept on going.
With Dom Webb (from Demonic Upchucks) taking over on drums, the band released their 'Celebrity Death Squad' EP in 2009 but took another break for 2011. There have been a couple of gigs by the band in 2012 and hopefully there will be a few more to come.
The following interview with Andy Nazer was first published on my previous Taped site sometime in 2010.
What do you remember about recording your early demos back in ‘82 & ‘83?
Well…blimey! It was a long time ago! Our very first demo, ‘State of Mind’ was recorded in Oct. ’82 at Studio 95 which was situated 4 floors up above a camera shop in Old Christchurch Rd…the studio was a small 8 track affair and run by a couple called Claudette and Chaz. We did attempt a second demo there the following December, but the songs weren’t ready and nor were we. We consciously decided not to go into a studio until we were ready, so we held back March 1983 when we recorded the ‘Teenage’ demo at Arny’s Shack in Penn Hill, which was a bigger and better equipped 24 track studio. And of course Andy Summers and Robert Fripp had recorded there so I think we were slightly impressed, in a sort of punk non-impressed way!
How did you feel when your 1st E.P got released?
Really chuffed, but it took ages for it to come out…about a year. We had to buy our ‘proper’ copies because we only received 4 white label copies with no covers.
(I didn’t wanna be a) Soldier was played by John Peel & did well in the indie charts. Did you get any offers of a record deal after that (and were you surprised Radical Change didn’t release another record)?
There was no surprise Radical Change didn’t release another record, we sort of fell out with them a bit, we were also advised not to sign the contract in the first place because it signed us for life! But we were young and daft and wanted a record out. Xntric Noise Records put 2 tracks from our third demo on a 12" punk compilation in 1984, so I guess if we hadn’t imploded we may have put a record out with them.
Why didn’t you tour after releasing the Soldier EP, especially with the good press you were getting then?
Haha! What good press?! No, seriously, we were getting a bit messy by then…If the EP had come out earlier than it did we may have been more on top of the situation and played more gigs off the back of the EP.
You split up at the end of ‘84. Were there any real attempts to reform before you actually did in 2004, and if there were, why didn’t they work?
We did actually have a rehearsal back in 1992 with a view to playing a 10th anniversary gig, but I don’t think any of us were really serious about it. In any case the scene wasn’t really there and it took until the 2000’s for it to pick up again in Bournemouth with the likes of the Demonic Upchucks and Spitroast coming along, with a new generation of punks springing up.
What were the initial meetings/rehearsals like when you got back together?
It was all absolutely fine and dandy, we still all got along great, we went for a few drinks with each other after rehearsal. We never really fell out or anything. Steve had a long way to come as he lives in Derby these days though. Rehearsal wise it just took a little while to brush the rust off the wheels and give the bearings some grease as it were. We wrote 2 new songs straight away so we didn’t just have to play the oldies.
What did the band get up between the re-union and the release of the 'Celebrity Deathsquad' EP in 2009?
We supported Stiff Little Fingers and Subhumans a couple of times, as well as playing other sporadic gigs. Steve left in 2006 as he was fed up with the journey to and from Derby, so we got Dom in from the Upchucks.
What have been your favourite gigs you’ve played since you have got back together?
SLF and Subhumans gigs in Bournemouth and Bristol…the boat gigs around Poole Harbour was quite memorable too. And of course our initial comeback gig in 2004 at Mr Smiths was fantastic. Apart from that it’s a bit of a blur.
Are you planning on releasing any more Self Abuse material? Maybe re-recording some of your older stuff or putting out some new tunes?
All our early 1982-84 demos and the Soldier ep were released as a full album called ‘[I didn’t wanna be a] Soldier’ on cd by Grand Theft Audio records [GTA] who are based in the USA. Its still available. Although we have done, I personally I don’t really like re-recording old stuff. I prefer leaving songs as snap-shots in time. How many times do you need to polish a turd even if it’s a great turd?! Hopefully we’ll gather together all our more recent recordings at some point, and include some out-takes for an album sometime in the near future.
Teenage. Filmed at Champions, Bournemouth 12/11/2009 supporting The Vibrators.
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Trash City Burning & Another Nightmare. Filmed at Champions, Bournemouth 17/02/2012
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