The Collective

Introducing the revolutionary reprobates responsible for the organised chaos found around these parts...

The Old Punk

For someone born in '65, punk came along at just the right point. You know, that time in your life when you're all raging hormones and in-yer-face lairyness, a desperate urge to set yourself apart from both the kids in the school playground and the adults who were always telling you how to behave. It was the perfect attitude and soundtrack for a working class kid from a council estate and it helped, and continues to help, make me the man I am today, make of that what you will. I should point out that I no longer feel the need to dress in black rags, drink copious amounts of scrumpy and remain unwashed for large amounts of the year. It was fun then, but not very dignified when you're more than halfway to the grave.

Punk has made me ask questions, of myself and the world around me. It's also given me some answers, solutions to the problems I've found. I've not been able to put all of them into practice yet – the global proletarian revolution still needs to be ticked off the list along with a few others. But I've done many, many things that have made me a better human being and the world a better place to be in. That's a pretty good result to come from listening to something that essentially goes 'Crash! Thrash! Arghhhh! Fuck the system!'

I’ve always had a very catholic view of what punk is (and a very small list of what it definitely isn't!), and my musical tastes also range far and wide. So I could be movin' and groovin' to Antisect one minute and Johnny Cash the next, or spazzin' out to a full-on psytrance session followed immediately by a damned good skank to some classic Studio One ska. I'm very much a man of the moment when it comes to the noise around me.

I also read a decent amount too and again I don't follow any particular rules about style or subject matter, as long as what's been written has been written well. You’ll find Calvin and Hobbes nestling quite happily alongside Kropotkin on my shelves.

In fact, I'm reasonably well cultured all round, which isn't bad for someone who once considered Special Brew and amphetamine the pre-requisites for a jolly good night out. Nowadays, it’s more likely to be a fine Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and a lovely organic spliff lubricating me before I head out into the urban jungle of delights (although old habits die hard, and I still like getting messy on cider once in a while).

It would be fair to say that I'm just an ordinary bloke who's trying to live up to his potential and have a good time doing it. Which, at the end of the day, is what punk is really all about.

Ernest Embryo

Well I'm another old punk though not quite as old as The Old Punk, born in '68. Basically I'm a music lover, not just punk but something from pretty much every genre you could think of. I play bass, drums or guitar and I've also written tunes on my computer so I like to think I'm pretty broad minded when it comes to music.

I got into the first wave of punk probably because of my mum and my two older brothers. My mum was a massive fan of X-Ray Spex and Ian Dury and she took us to see bands like Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Damned, Stiff Little Fingers and the like. I was only 10 or 11 at the time and seeing some of these bands was an experience I'll never forget. As that first wave of bands started to die out I still found the punk DIY ethos exciting and, as the next generation of bands started to emerge, one of my brothers and I got more heavily involved in the 'scene'. I definitely preferred the anarcho bands though that doesn't mean I wasn't happy jumping around to GBH, although I would say that a lot of my morals and beliefs are because of listening to bands like Crass, Flux and Conflict.

As the years rolled on I got involved in the rave/free-party scene and I DJ'd with a fair few sound systems (Spiral Tribe, Asylum, Nysa). There was a two-year period where some friends and I would set-up as many free parties as we could and we only stopped when they started to get too big for us to handle… and of course the obvious presence of lots of undercover police trying to buy drugs from us.

These days I'm still playing instruments but the band I was in had to split so I'm currently just jamming with friends until something more permanent comes along. I also have a music blog that runs on similar principles to this site. I tend not to post up new albums but if there's a band that I think people should hear I will post a sampler of their stuff. It covers lots and lots of genres from hardcore punk to drum and bass DJ mixes, via 60s psychedelia and stoner rock so there should be something for everyone Check it out at http://ernestembryo.blogspot.com

Alex Distroy

I am lot more of a young punk than an old punk, but nothing wrong with a bit of young blood to give a different perspective. I am from the north-west of Ireland so hope to add a bit of a difference to 'Old Punks Never Die!'. I have a very strong D.I.Y. ethos and I run a small D.I.Y. label and distro called Distro-y. I put on the odd gig as well as book tours for bands wanting to come to Ireland. I produce a zine/webzine called D-Beat Beater and have just started a new blog on punk news in terms of what's happening, releases, band announcements etc. You can check it out here.

I mainly indulge in Anarcho/Crust and D-Beat as you will see over time from the content I will post. I also have an interest in climate change / global warming so expect content in the line of that. I am always more than willing to give a hand with anyone needing help or aid in any such way - if you have any punk-orientated projects that you need a hand with, just ask!