Gigslutz Interview: Dub Sex

Last week Dub Sex made their live return with a storming show on home turf at Manchester’s Sound Control. It was their first gig in 25 years and marked the beginning of a new chapter for the cult band. Gigslutz caught up with lead vocalist Mark Hoyle to find out more about the reunion, what they’re listening to and plans for new releases…. 

Firstly, thanks for talking to us! Where can we find you today answering these questions?

Well. I’m in Hulme. Manchester, South Central. Round the corner from where Friedrich Engles used to live with Mary Burns. I love Manchester, and I’ve always been drawn to the Central part of it. Where I live, you’re only yards from Eygptian mummies and dinosaurs in one direction,and the new Graphene Institute in the other. Futures and Pasts.

It’s not just that kind of ghost that haunts round here, though. The centre of my city has always been the centre of real musical culture in this country. Take any era in history and brilliant music from Manchester is part of it’s soundtrack. Anthony Burgess (whose father used to accompany silent films in Monsall and Moss Side) writes movingly about the Halle Orchestra in the 30’s and 40’s, and all through the rock and roll boom in the 50’s, and right through the beat groups of the 60’s, punk,  rave, all of it hovers and flavours the place. And this is the musical landscape we sprung from. Lucky or what?

Very much so. So after being away for 25 years your back together, how did that all come about?

We were asked to donate ‘Swerve’ to an compilation album called ‘Distant Drums’, to raise money for St.Mary’s Baby Unit in Manchester. Chris was a good friend of Si, the mercurial Paris Angels drummer, who sadly passed away at a heartbreakingly early age some time ago, and the album was dedicated to him. This served at the catalyst to get us playing together again, and it just felt so right we kept going. We did a cheeky benefit appearance last Halloween, and it sounded so great, and felt so good that, well, no brainer, really…

That album hasn’t solved the problem, by the way. Poorly kids still need quids, so buy it ,or if you already have, buy it again. Cheers Ears.

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Consider that done on our part. You’ve got a few line up changes. Can you talk us through them? 

Yeah, exciting stuff. Two new members, and two fantastic non-playing additions to our unit. I speak of Philip James, all round nice guy, and tireless champion of the underdog, who has been assisting us with the management side of things, and Lewis Brookes, a brilliant musician himself, providing technical support of all kinds. We are blessed to also have Rat Akadave mixing our live sound, he’s been close to this band since the start, way he before he became one of the most respected live sound engineers in the UK. He’s blown minds from the Bridgewater hall to the Crimea (Yes, really), and back again.

The other additions are just as exciting. Kevin Clark has brought something unbelievable to our lives, although still in his early twenties, he has a wealth of experience, and it’s obvious that he was probably drumming on his Mother’s ribcage before he was born. No other way could he be so skillful. It’s a joy to play with him, because he’s just one of these people with music running through every cell of his body, and we’ve all been fired up by his enthusiasm and musicality. The thought of Kev driving  our new material makes me skip from foot to foot with happiness! haha!

New member number two is my son Stefan Hoyle, again in his early twenties, and again marinated in music since birth, or slightly earlier(!)  His love of music is all-encompassing,his taste informed by his deep and real feeling for reggae and dub music. His place at the heart of today’s Sound System culture has parallels with the journey myself and Chris took in the early days of the band-soaking up the optimistic free party scene at places like The Kitchen and the massive post-Hacienda raves, while, at the same time producing the angular, guitar-driven music we love so much. People sometimes get confused by our ‘duality’, but it’s always seemed totally natural to us.

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Has this impacted on the sound we are likely to hear? 

The impact has been enormous. Kevin and Cathy bonded straight away, and to have the priviledge of being able to play with such an amazing rythmn section is not something I take lightly. We all raise our game in the presence of such brilliance, and it’s made me want to sing better, just to impress everybody else. Guitar-wise we have a mixture of experience and absolute freshness, and this will weld into a brand new animal. Can’t wait for the next phase, writing and recording new material with these fine people, that I respect so much. Bring it!!

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You were a big part of the scene in the late 80’s when the Mondays and Roses et al were coming through. You must have some great times back then. What was your particular highlight / good memory? 

There has always been a lot of attention paid to a certain type of music coming from Manchester at the same time as us, but this can lead to a bit of an oversimplification sometimes. We were part of a huge surge of popular music and culture, and played with The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and 808 State and The Inspirals and people  like that, but we also struck a chord with other audiences, on the way to finding our own. We were on the Blast Hard agency for example, and were (still are!) loved by a wider audience outside the UK. Americans were especially receptive,and we nearly signed to Sub Pop, which I would’ve loved. Wire were very important to me as a puppy, and it was rewarding to play with them and gain their respect in the early days and playing with the Butthole Surfers and other strange bunnies cemented us as being outside any commercially driven, money driven mainstream, whilst at the same time, retaining a beauty and musicality all of our own.

What do you make of the music industry these days? It’s obviously changed a lot since you started out with the internet changing all dynamics. Do you think it’s been for the better or worse?

Yeah, the internet rules, if, like us, you’ve tried to reach people in the bad old days of yore. What I like best is the eradication of the Middleman, the erasing of that artifical barrier between us and the people we’re reaching. If someone wants to know something, they can just click and reach us, directly, and we’ll reply. That was always next to impossible in the past.

It’s great to be able to sort things out really fast online. Great things come our way, we’re really loved by some people, really really loved,and now when we get asked to do something special, we can get on it straight away now, which is ace.

Are there any bands you are particularly into at the moment and what do you make of the bands coming out from Manchester at the minute?

Loads!! We’re all huge music lovers, and you’re going to get a spread of different answers from each of us. Gotta lot of time for reggae-based music, suppose it’s where I grew up, and our great friend Kwasi Asante is ripping things up good and proper with Mungo’s Hi Fi, and Soom T amongst others in that area. Been enjoying St.Vincent a bit, she’s really charismatic, and had the good taste to cover the Pop Group’s masterpiece, ‘She is Beyond Good and Evil’ on mainstream US TV. She’s working with David Byrne too, which is nice for her. Closer to home, I was exposed to all that SPK/Ministry/Test Department/Neubaten thing and it’s modern distillation is AAAK. It’s always funny when people are lovely as pie in life, and then go and make such an uncompromising noise. But they’ve nailed that ‘Industrial’ thing to the wall. Ding,from AAAK has a Tardis of a studio, and the vibes are mighty. Strong candidate for the new Dub Sex recordings, I reckon.

Keep eyes, ears and minds open for Mary Joanna and the Southern Electikk, at the start of their journey, they’re full of music lovers, and like us cross all barriers of age. They’ll entice you in with beautiful tuneful music,but it lies on a bedrock of true grit and rebellion, informed by Krautrock and the spirit of the Crass collective. Topness.

I understand you are going to be releasing a new track for Record Store Day on Tim Burgess’s O Genesis label, is this a new track, or one from the back catalogue? 

Chris Bridgett the guitarist in the band, his friend Nick Fraser, who runs O Genesis with Tim Burgess, heard that we had an un-released, un-heard track from 1989 produced by Martin Hannett. He phoned Tim and within 24 hours Tim had listened, loved it and said he wanted to release it! It’s good when things work so smoothly and quickly. The A side is a song called Over and Over that we never released back in 1989, but it’s a gem, it shows clearly the direction the band was heading in before we split.

What are your thoughts on Record Store day generally? 

Yeah, we’re right behind World Record Store Day, O Genesis are huge music lovers of course, and Tim’s contribution to World History is known to all. His colleague, Nik has collaborated with Chris and Cosey, from the Psychic TV/Coum/Throbbing Gristle axis, which greatly impressed me, and Coil, with the greatly missed Jhonn Balance. We had some material recorded with Martin Hannett that nobody had heard and as soon as they heard it they knew it was something they wanted to bring out.

Whats next in the immediate future for Dub Sex? Do you have any more live dates lined up?  

The future’s bright for us, and people everywhere have reacted brilliantly to our return to action. We’re playing a series of bespoke, tailored shows, like our recent triumphant Sound Control show, but we’ll also be playing at some cool festivals. Strummercamp and Kendal Calling first, with more to follow.

Having whetted our whistle with that we intend to knuckle down to our next phase, the making of a brand spanking new Dub Sex record. New songs,new vibe but with all the edge and intensity that we’re known for. It’s gonna be principled, inspiring and beautiful. Now music. Now music by us.

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