A week ago, I featured King Prawn as part of the GDAC Playlist. I talked about how their song The Dominant View is a favourite song of my friends and I for many years and generally got nostalgic, as I do. Little did I know that Da Prawn were actually back!
Their drummer, Nikolai, filled me in on their return, shared some
stories and took the English language on a merry dance. He’s quite the
wordsmith!
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| This is the best screengrab I could get from Youtube.. The 2.50 mark of this song is relevant, more on that later.. |
As always, I asked for a Generic Band Biography to start.
We formed initially in the mid 90s. We were the leftovers on the London music scene, the ones that no one wanted, you only had to look at us to see that the industry would take one look at us and say what the fuck am I supposed to do with that? So it was a natural progression that our music would take the same path. It's been a rocky one overgrown with some right cuntish weeds but we armed ourselves with razor sharp musical machetes and got hacking.
We released four LPs in our first incarnation and through sheer bloody mindedness we worked ourselves to a position where we were the king of the freaks and kings of the road.
We've always leapt
through styles in our songs but ever present was the underlying anger and
mistrust of the world in
which we live and those that control it.
So what's it like
being back?
It doesn't feel
much different for me really, just like we took a ten year holiday then eventually
got bored kicking sand around
on the beach and twiddling cocktail umbrellas so went back to work and found
the office space hadn't been filled.
How did the reunion come about? And can you explain the lineup changes
We got regular
annual offers to do shows and have always said no, it's hard to pinpoint what
made this time any different really... fear of a finite existence where the
scythe waits at every street corner? Yeah it was probably that. We have a
new bassist in Zac Chang, he's a big rocksteady bear; solid like granite.
We also have an extended horn section, a couple of guys that we have
collaborated with for years and who featured on past releases. They are
Marvellous Matt Dowse and Mr Alex Gordon. We sound far fatter
than we ever used to, before it was like a street brawler now it's like an army
marching to war.
What has everyone
been up to since we last heard from the band?
Hustling, dodging
gainful employment, dodging each other, driving to distraction, walking the
plank and trying to
stay afloat on a savage turbulent sea.
How has the scene
changed since you've been gone? Ska punk was thriving in the UK in early
noughties with yourselves, Farse, Whitmore, Spunge..It's been, what, ten years?
Even in our own
scene we were never 'in-fitters'. We were always the
minor key minority in a major key majority. I'm not sure
there's going to be any ska in any of our new stuff, there may be, there may not be. To us it's
not a big deal, it doesn't define us. The songs will be
strong, fresh and mint like toothpaste whatever style they're in.
I'm guessing the internet is playing a bigger part in promotion now..
The internet is a
big tool that whilst around when we were has changed the whole ball game
in how bands can
interact and inform. Although at the day's end social media is still
merely
an extension of the
same cliquey competitive willy waving bullshit human condition
and is able to
display the very worst side of our collective soul just as quickly as it
can the best. Come to terms with
that and we're all gravy.
How have your live
shows been going? Is your audience mostly older folks now or are some of the
younger British ska bands brought a new audience for you?
Very well thanks,
we haven't really done enough shows to gauge just what the audience is. Reading and Leeds
seemed younger, like the younger siblings of our crowd back then that were always left at
home sulking when their elders went out and tied one on. To be honest if the
music is good then it transcends generation and reaches to all age groups. I think the nature
of our music and punk in general appeals to the young and the young at heart through the sheer
energy of the music and the passion with which it's delivered.
Da Prawn were
favourites of Kerrang! magazine for a time, and The Dominant View was featured
heavily on p-rock TV, what kind of bands were you touring with at the
height of your initial fame?
Fame eh? Are you
sure you've got the right band here?! That side of our
business always made us feel uncomfortable, but thankfully we never got close to the kind of
scrutiny that tears your life apart and makes daily life unbearable. This was never part
of why we do what we do. We make music, you only have to look at the state of our culture and
it's depressing obsession with idiots that ain't worth a fuck to know that that
way lies
monsterdom... To actually answer your question we played with all
sorts of acts, playing with Madness was a pretty big deal for me as when I
was like ten One Step Beyond was the first LP I ever bought. Gig was a
disaster though, biggest stage we'd ever got on and we had no monitors for half
the set so we were a shambles. Happy days.
More
importantly, you must have some great tour stories! Diss the goss..
They pretty much
all involve outwitting the international plod and border guards all over
Europe.
We made Howard
Marks look like a rank amateur. They might have taken my clothes and
dignity but they'll never take my refer! Anyway If I tell
all this shit now then you won't buy my internationally acclaimed book when it
lands will you? Plus I'm not entirely sure what was real and what was a
dream now.
What bands are you
listening to now, any new stuff you'd recommend?
I don't know about new stuff, some stuff may be 30 years old but maybe it's
new to me. It's a right old
mixed bag of bollocks as you'd expect, at the moment I'm listening to The Sound Defects, Dizraeli and the Young Gods, Bedouin soundclash, Sebastien Tellier, Dangermouse, Friendly Fires, 2nd Class Citizen,
Prince Fatty, Mala, Shaolin Afronauts, Ebo Taylor, Madlib, Fat Thumbs Ronnie (these can't all be real, can they? - Alanso), and lots of King
Prawn demo ideas to see what/how things can be bettered.
So..what the hell is
The Dominant View about anyway?
Dominant View is
essentially about finding a real nice vantage point, like a well worn bench on
a
clifftop on a clear
sunny day and just sitting down and taking it all in, reflecting on the
finer things in life. That's right innit
Al? (he means singerAl Rumjen, not myself - Alanso) ..oh..it's about the perspective and false reality that the marketing
and advertising world portray as a norm, when in actual fact it's so
unattainable it's harming to the self esteem and mental well being of the
easily impressionable.
Was the bridge and
'three snare hit' part at 2.50 or so subconsciously influenced by the bridge in
Bullet In Your Head by Rage Against The Machine by any chance?
I guess so, I mean
we didn't sit around and intentionally say 'right we're lifting that!' But back when we
were starting out we did rinse the shit out of their first LP. After that though
they did stop being too influential on us, I think we lose a little respect for anyone that adheres
to strict rigid formulas when it comes to their art form, it's all a bit one
trick pony.
Speaking of snares,
what gear do you use?
I sold all my kit
after Prawn split back in the day, I sold it instantly, just had had
enough of drumming, didn't even wanna see as much as another stick. I've picked up bits
again over the years playing in Left Step Band but never wanted
the arseache of lugging around another full kit. The set up I use
now is a Pearl sensitone elite bronze phosphor 14 by 6.5 snare. I did a little
research as I wanted to pick up the best mid range price snare going and this kept coming up on
forums. Our soundman loves it, he told me to never ever change it. It's a real beast
of a drum, deep with a crack like lightening. The shells are a DW
birch prototype kit that's about eighteen years old. It's piano black and pretty mean. I picked the
whole lot up on Ebay auctions, stands, cases the works, I just couldn't be dealing with going
to shops and getting overcharged - a geezer drove down from Sheffield with
the shells for me!
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