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June: There
were a million questions to ask and I didn't really know where to
start - first things first though...did he remember MOI?!
Dee: I think I recognise you from the punk photo you emailed me.
What band did you play in? A lot of what happened is very unclear in
my memory, for the usual reasons. But yeah, I think it might have
been at a Jam or Stranglers gig, I think I only went there twice. I
have some photos somewhere that Ray Stevenson took at the Nashville
where I look about 8 years old, wearing a jacket that I disassembled
and then repaired with silver gaffer tape, the roadies main tool. I
really hated the Jam and the Stranglers, far too musical. I think I
do remember you, I was there with Andy Blade and a few others.
June: What was
life like for you after Eater - after punk?
Dee: I had some problems after that handling the stuff I was exposed
to. Since then, life has gradually calmed down, although I did go to
Art School and got into a few more bands, before becoming involved
in social work. I'm now a manager in a social work department in
rural UK, I'm 40, married with three children.
June: What are your thoughts on the whole punk thang?
Dee: Punk for me was both a positive and negative, I had some great
experiences and some very scary ones, I learnt a lot but screwed up
school as a consequence. I was expelled following prolific truancy
and disruptive behaviour when I was there. I view the whole thing
with a mixture of nostalgia and regret, sometimes wishing it had
never happened and other times regretting I had not continued and
established myself in the history of the scene. I was very young and
was the victim of how the whole scene was manipulated by some of the
key figures. Bands were cleverly nobbled if they got any of the
attention that certain people wanted to reserve for their bands.
I've got theories on this but they are probably libellous. I got
involved in social work through Art by training as an Art Therapist
after I did a Degree in Fine Art Sculpture in London. Social Work
brought me in to contact with young people who like me had suffered
disruption at key points in their lives. I could relate to them and
I was unshockable as there was really nothing they could do that I
had not done myself. Now I am behind the scenes in the strategic
management team of a large social services directorate. I guess I
would qualify as the stereotypical boring bureaucrat. Although, I
like to think that my experiences and my creativity still have an
influence on how I do things. I am actually now thinking of treating
myself to a drum kit and re-teaching myself to play.
June:
What sort of a kid were you?
Dee: School was hard because my mum had always taught us to be
independent and question everything. I was really in trouble before
the band because of my attitude but the truancy began because I was
playing in clubs till 2 am or traveling to Leeds, or Brighton, or
Brussels to play. I had a band called Dirty Works after Eater, with
this guy called Danny who went to, (or claimed to have), gone to
college with John and Sid. That was a mess! By the end I had sold
all my belongings and nearly killed myself. I still painted and made
things while I was in the band and went to the Art School with a
portfolio but no academic qualifications when the band thing failed.
They accepted me but it had to be agreed by the Dean as I didn't
meet the minimum requirements for entry. I spent three years making
sculptures, drawing and painting around themes drawn from childhood
experiences. I had a band at Art School, but we didn't really emerge
from rehearsals, around that time I had some contact with Public
Image LTD, as they, or at least Keith Levine, lived on the top floor
of a friends house. My interest in music has re-emerged more
recently, my brother has a band which is a jazz, new music fusion
kind of thing. I guess I was a better drummer than I let on when I
was in the punk band, you know I was taught drums by Rat Scabies
(Chris Miller) who was/is a very talented musician.
June: I
am not a boring old fart - yet - but I'm ecstatic coz I just had my
garden 'done over' by the TV show 'Groundforce" - are you into
gardening?
Dee: We have a similar show here in the UK, also a show called Home
Front in the Garden, with this garden designer who builds
underground dens or steel and glass summer houses up on legs. He
also puts fibre optic lights into walls, etc. I have a sloping
garden which I have designed myself, with a deck area and terraces.
I have put in japonica fatsia, yukkas, Cordyline, ferns and other
big plants. I plan to make some big sculptures when I get time. I've
just finished a winter duathlon league, that's an off road run,
mountain bike, run totalling 10 miles, with 4 events, I ended up
third in the league. I've just got interested in juicing fruit and
veg, and making smoothies for the health benefits. I know it's
popular there in Australia and I'm actually working on opening up my
own juice bar here. The whole juice bar thing has not really taken
off here, could be the weather and life style. I may team up with a
friend who is a qualified nutritionist and fitness trainer on the
juice bar/health & fitness centre venture.
June: So
you're a fitness fanatic?
Dee: I don't know about fitness fanatic but I'm running the London
Marathon this year for the 7th time, I guess I'll do it every year
now as I get an automatic place as I am classified as fast for my
age. Last year I raised money to buy a speech communicator for a
local girl with Cerebral Palsy, and in past years I have raised for
a local animal sanctuary and other causes. After that I am doing a
series of 4 Adventure Races where you run for 5 hours, mountain bike
for 5 hours, night run for 1 and a half hours, kayak for 7 miles
followed by a 10 mile trail run in forests and on mountains across
the UK. I did it last year and came 9th overall, with hundreds of
competitors coming from all across the World. By the way - 'fast for
age' means as a forty year old I am classified as a veteran in road
running, the ages are even younger in triathlon. To qualify as fast
for age I have to run 26.2 miles in under 3 hrs 15mins, and I run it
in 2 hrs 46mins. This year I have had to hold back on my training as
all my target races are in the summer with the adventure racing and
duathlon season and later with quadrathons in the autumn. So I am
not race fit yet, I like to do the London Marathon as its such a
great event, with 40 thousand runners and over a million spectators
on the course.
June:
Okay - let's not talk about exercise anymore...I'm feeling
queasy.....do you still own a drum kit?
Dee: Lucy, my partner, bought me this electronic drum kit, it's a
series of pads with over 400 drum sounds. It's great because I can
stick the head phones on and all the family can hear is me tapping
away with the sticks. I soon got back into it and really enjoy
making a noise again. We have a good venue in Northampton 'The
Roadmender', The Damned played there last year, I was tempted to go
and renew my friendship with Rat, but thought better of it.
June:
What were your favourite times and worst times with Eater?
Dee: The best times were when we went on the road, a bunch of 14 &
15 year olds, we all behaved like we were the class from hell on a
school trip. The London Clubs were good fun but we always suffered a
bit from the fan snobbery in London. We had some pretty loyal fans
but most thought we were a bit of a joke. The worst times were when
the band was being sabotaged and the rest were being encouraged by
the management to sack me. Good decision, it worked out well for
them, didn't it!
June:
Which track was the best in your opinion?
Dee: There were all pretty bad, Andy was wasted, his lyrics needed a
more creative band.
June: How
did you get to meet up with Rat Scabies?
Dee: Rat lived near us and used to come to our house to get a meal
and do his washing, my mum had an open door policy and loads of
people used to hang about. Rat started giving me a few lessons as I
had drums and a school boy band. He introduced me to Eater, through
the music journalist John Ingham. They immediately sacked their
drummer and I joined.
June:
Who's idea was it for the giant Ant on the album cover?
Dee: Don't know, it was all done without me being involved, I got
sacked while we were making the album. I think the replacement 'no
charisma' drummer even played on some of the tracks.
June: Who
were best punks who you met up with?
Dee: I met lots of people, I liked John and Sid but they didn't like
us much. We sent them copies of our first single. Then I saw it at
Nora's melted into a make shift ash tray. I thought that was
hilarious. I met up with John later in the early days of PIL, and we
got on. I really liked Don Letts, he used to give me clothes and
stuff. Most of the bands thought we were a joke, I can see their
point, now. But we were having great fun, then the other people in
Eater seemed to get all serious and wanted to be more musical. I
missed some gigs, because I forgot. Next thing I know I am at a club
and the band on stage are shouting has any one seen our drummer then
I realise it's my band. Next day they sacked me. I had more contacts
and managed to get it in NME that I had left. They hated that!
June: Who
held the best parties?
Dee: There were some big parties at Track Records just before they
went down the pan. Lee Black Childers, the Heartbreakers manager
organised them, and some other good ones at his house in Islington.
June:
What were you doing while Eater carried on with a new drummer?
Dee: I got involved with a band and we managed to spend a whole year
rehearsing one song, then one day we discovered that we had sold all
our instruments and invested the money into the pharmaceutical
industry.
June: Did
you still go to all the gigs, when did you drift off the punk scene?
Dee: I stopped going to gigs because I couldn't get in free anymore.
People stopped putting me on the guest list. I drifted away when the
realisation sank in that I might end up dead if I didn't calm down a
bit. Our house got attacked with bricks and paint after an article
about me in 'The News of the World' and I had started rattling like
a medicine bottle.
J: What
did your mates at school think of you being in a punk band?
Dee: They split into two groups those who wanted to get involved and
those who wanted to beat me up.
June: Any
sleazy characters waiting to take advantage?
Dee: Yeah, loads but we were very street wise and turned it all to
our advantage, I never did anything I didn't want to do. I had some
great friends as well.
June: Did
you have trouble getting into gigs being as you were so young?
Dee: The Police raided the Hope & Anchor one night, because we were
reported as being under age, and someone hid me under their coat.
Unbelievable, two pairs of legs sticking out from under this huge
old trench coat and they didn't see. Clubs Like the Roxy were
alright as they were very private.
June: Are
you proud of your punk past or was it just a teenage phase?
Dee: I am not proud of it, there is no sense of achievement, as the
music (ours particularly) was rubbish. But I am glad I did it, I had
a great time and experienced a life time of risk and excitement in
the space of 18 months. It did take a toll and I suppose my life
would have been very different, but maybe not better, if it had not
happened.
June:
What do you think when you see punks today, do any new punk bands
get you excited?
Dee: I don't and none do.
June: So,
what do you listen to these days?
Dee: Leftfield, Faithless, Dusted, Orbital, Rapresent, Radio Head,
Dread Zone, Chemical Brothers.
June: Who
were the best punk bands from that original era and why?
Dee: Early Buzzcocks (with Howard Devoto) because they made some
unique sounds. The Adverts because the lyrics were about more than
the usual punk preoccupations. The Pistols because they started it
and really were it, everyone else just (with the above exceptions)
was just dragged in their slip stream. The Clash were too macho, but
the guitarist, Mick Jones, without Strummer, when he was in Big
Audio Dynamite with Don Letts was better. I think PIL, the first and
second album, were good. They used synthesisers and studios to make
a proper noise. The combination of Keith and John was great.
June:
Regarding the documentary with footage of you talking to Janet
Street Porter in your mum's house and your Grandad (who was a really
great character) stole the show. What did your family think about
all the punk focus?
Dee: My Grandad was a profound influence on me, my Dad left home
when I was 5 and I never saw him again until now. My Grandad lived
with us for 20 years right up until he died at 97 years old, I guess
he was the only male figure in my life who I respected. He really
had a unique view of life and he cared about us all despite our
excesses. He valued difference and non conformity and was really
outrageous all the time, but he was also a deep and intelligent man.
He would support us, even if he felt we were wrong, I think he felt
we had the right to make mistakes, it was all about learning things
for yourself. The rest of the family got involved in the Punk thing,
I guess my mum got her 5 mins of fame also.
June:
Where did the name Dee Generate come from?
Dee: The name came from a conversation with Rat Scabies, at the time
the pop names were all very 'up beat', Gary Glitter, Alvin Stardust,
etc, and the other Punk names were all to do with peoples
characteristics. Johnny Rotten, (John had green teeth), Sid Vicious
(he was always trying to beat people up), Rat Scabies (Chris looked
like a Rat and had scabies from not washing enough). I did not want
to end up being called Sid Short Arse, so I tried to think of
something different. I wanted a name that reflected a complete
reversal of normal aspirations, a child of the 70's, no morals, no
ideals, no hope, just cynicism and distrust. The degenerate, a
mirror image of social deterioration. Sounds deep, but in retrospect
I think it was about saying 'this (me) is what you (adult world)
have made me'. I tried to live the image. Plus I was really into the
Ramones and wanted to be like Dee Dee.
June:
What was the most incredible thing that happened to you in the punk
days?
Dee: Well, it was all very unusual. I was only 14 years old when I
joined the band. I used to bunk off school in the afternoon, go to
the train station in South London, change out of school uniform in
the toilet and skip the fare on a train up to town. The night would
finish about 2am, we might have played in a club, if I could get
home I would go to school if not I would end up wherever. By the
time I was 16, I had done a lot of things most people will never get
the chance to do. I had been on TV, in National newspapers and
played all over the country and abroad.
June: And
the worst?
Dee: I suppose the worst thing was how it all ended. I was being
managed out of existence and this band of no hopers were provided
for me to get me out of the way. Its only now that I really believe
how manipulated the scene was by the key management figures, not the
bands. And then the scene was getting very ugly anyway with all the
violence. When we got our windows put through at home, it turned out
to be a neighbour, and around that time people would just walk up to
you in the street and smack you one. Punk bashing became a national
past time. We had a gig at the Roxy where the whole place was
trashed by Millwall FC fans and my step dad got bottled tying to
help us escape. Then suddenly all the lads started coming to the
gigs, with bands like Sham 69 providing the more intellectual
content they craved "Hurry up Harry" and dross like that. That was a
strong signal that it was all coming to an end, the mainstream
thought they had sussed it all out, "its all about violence" which
it was definitely not. They had missed the point, Punk was over, the
New Wave was even worse, Punks that could play, more boring Rock
Music.
June:
Didn't you become a bit of a punk popstar?
Dee: Yeah - I was getting a lot of attention because of my age. We
(Eater) had become involved with a publicist who'd managed to get
our photos into these teen girl mags, Pink and Oh Boy.
June:
Okay - thanks for that - it was great to catch up and reminisce. I
can't bloody wait to get back to England and have a soy banana
smoothie at your Juice Bar. And...err...naturally I expect a freebie
for an old punk pal!.......THE END
Copyright: June Bird -2002
Any questions, comments, compliments or large cheques for Dee
Generate/Roger Bullen can be sent
c/- June Bird, icon@zip.com.au TO BOX 1179, MAROUBRA NSW 2035
AUSTRALIA
Borrowed from
the excellent punk site
Nihilism
On The Prowl
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