Brian James’ Last Interview with GONZALO PEDRAJA

This feature is a contribution from Gonazalo Pedraja and is Brian James’ last ever interview. For me the point of the feature is more than that; because there’s a beautiful but poignant ending, when Gonzalo meets his heroes The Damned playing Uruguay for the first time and gives them something.

In mid-January, I managed to contact Brian James and suggested that, on the occasion of The Damned’s arrival in Uruguay for the first time, I would like to interview him for my column in the magazine.

“Hi. Yes, it will be a pleasure to answer your questions whenever you want. Send me your email and I’ll answer them” (I should clarify that his wife, Minna, managed his social media and acted as his intermediary.) We coordinated, and once I sent the email with the questions, all I had to do was wait for his… I spent days checking both my inbox and my spam folder.

On Saturday, March 1st, I received the email with his answers, and after reading them two or three times, I responded, thanking him for the gesture and telling him that on Monday the 17th, The Damned would be playing in our country and I’d be lucky enough to see them. The next day, I received another email: “Enjoy the show and give my love to the guys!” Brian.

Four days later (yes, just four days after the interview Brian died)… and two days after that, a message from his wife: “You have the last interview. Brian spent a good time answering your questions, hoping they were good”. I hope you understand now that I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I was in shock.

Before introducing the interview, let me introduce Brian James: Born Brian Robertson on February 18, 1955, in Hammersmith, London, he showed a keen interest in music from a young age. He developed an aggressive, raw guitar style that would later become a cornerstone of punk rock.

In his early days, he played in several underground bands in London, including Bastard, a proto-punk band primarily influenced by the MC5 and The Stooges. Later, he joined London SS, a group that was instrumental in shaping the London punk scene, although they never played live. Among those who passed through were future members of The Clash (Mick Jones, Terry Chimes, Paul Simonon) and Generation X (Tony James). Rat Scabies also passed through there, with whom, in 1976, they would form the first UK punk band to release a single (“New Rose”), an album (Damned Damned Damned), and the first band to tour the United States: The Damned (Brian James on guitar, Dave Vanian on vocals, Captain Sensible on bass, and Rat Scabies on drums).

After two albums Damned Damned Damned, produced by Nick Lowe, and Music For Pleasure, produced by Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason), Brian James left the band in 1978. He formed Tanz Der Youth, a short-lived post-punk band and a couple of other bands that never really got off the ground.

In 1981, he joined Stiv Bators (ex-Dead Boys), Dave Tregunna (Sham 69), and Nicky Turner (The Barracudas) to form The Lords of the New Church. A blend of punk, gothic, and glam rock, the band released several highly interesting albums, such as The Lords of the New Church (1982) and Is Nothing Sacred? (1983).

Among other things, he was a member of Iggy Pop’s backing band… He participated in sporadic reunions with The Damned, the last of which was in late 2024, touring the United Kingdom.

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Gonzalo: When you formed The Damned, what motivated you? Did you have any previous bands?

Brian James: I grew up listening to blues artists like the Howling Wolf, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. Plus English bands like the Yardbirds and Pretty Things. Then I discovered The Stooges and MC5 and formed my own band called Bastard. Our singer got offered a job in a Belgian recording studio so Bastard moved to Brussels, which was fun. After a while, I was offered a gig auditioning singers and drummers for a band called London SS back in London. The best drummer to audition was called Rat; he knocked me out. The other two band members called Mick [Jones – later The Clash] and Tony [James – later Chelsea & Generation X] did not like the way Rat dressed, so I and Rat started the Damned.

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Gonzalo: Did you think that punk would have such an influence on music from then on?

Brian James: No. At first we were lucky to find a gig, but after six months when it started to become more of a scene, you got a feeling that it was not going to go away. But its influence to stay 50 years more, no way!

Gonzalo: How was it working with Nick Lowe as producer on Damned Damned Damned?

Brian James: Nick Lowe was a joy to work with. A man with his heart set firmly in rock n roll and who back in the 70’s 80’s was more at home with a pint of cider in his hand in one of his favorite bars, than anywhere. When we first met Jake Riviera and the Stiff records family Nick was sharing a flat with Jake and wanted to produce The Damned so we agreed to record two songs, “New Rose” and “Help” to check everyone out. We all started work on the album two months later. Nick was truly the 5th member of the band on the album Damned Damned Damned.

Rat Scabies & Nick Lowe – Photo credit Vincent McEvoy

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Gonzalo: What do you remember about The Damned’s first tour in the United States?

Brian James: We flew from London into New York, the band, Jake and various Stiff record personnel, Nick Lowe, and some press. We flew on Air India, which was fun, seeing no band member had ever been on a plane before! We played three nights with the Dead Boys, both bands playing two sets each night. When we finished the last night we were nine brothers. CBGB’s was a perfect rock ‘n’ roll meeting joint. This was the beginning of Lords of The New Church for me and Stiv. The other cities, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles, were boring and like blasts from the hippie age.

Gonzalo: What was the creative dynamic of the band like?

Brian James: We were intense, very high energy and loving every second. Unfortunately, not a lot of spare time for writing new songs, but a few got through.

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Gonzalo: You were ahead of the Sex Pistols and The Clash in releasing a single and an album… did you see it as competition?

Brian James: No, not by members of the Damned or Pistols. We left that silliness to the managers.

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Gonzalo: What led you to leave The Damned and join The Lords of the New Church?

Brian James: Over Christmas of ’77 I made a tough decision. Rat had left the band, the replacement was not right and my new songs were not Damned; they were more Syd Barrett influenced. Captain and Dave were not happy. Everybody started new bands. Mine was called Tanz Der Youth. We split within a year. Iggy Pop invited me to play guitar on his next tour. The Damned reformed with Captain on guitar, I released two solo singles with Stewart Copeland on drums. Stiv Bators and I started looking for a bass player and drummer for the Lords of the New Church.

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Gonzalo: You have worked with musicians like Iggy Pop and Stiv Bators: what did they bring to Brian James as a musician?

Brian James: Every time I play with a new player I get turned on. The last being sax player Mike Smith who jammed with the Damned during the reunion shows in late 2022. He was special and knew how to let his guard down. As regards Iggy and Stiv, they were similar yet a million miles different. I didn’t really learn much from Bators because it was like being in a gang. Being stupid, hanging out with a fellow Stooges fan, my inspiration from Stiv came from his amazing lyrics. I gave him a word, the next day he returned with ream after ream after ream with ideas. That was the start of the collaboration. That was neat.

With Iggy I played with my hero. There was no gang, apart from on stage. He was boss. He had David Bowie’s organization. Iggy took the stage so I and the band took it under his leadership. He knew how to get the best out of his players. Some might say manipulate, I’d say he loved mind games. When I started rehearsals, Iggy was my hero. When I started my next project, Iggy was still my hero, but in a whole new way. Big thanks to all musicians who inspired me.

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Gonzalo: Any musician you would have liked to work with?

Brian James: My favorite English blues singer has always been Eric Burdon from Newcastle band the Animals. I met him once in New York City.

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Gonzalo: Do you think that the spirit of punk is still alive in today’s music?

Brian James: I’d say that the spirit of punk has changed from decade to decade, but as long as the restlessness of agitation leads into attitude, be it physically or subversive and that little devil pokes through it’s going to be a fun gig.

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Gonzalo: What current bands do you find interesting or that maintain the punk spirit?

Brian James: Small Town Tigers a fun rock ‘n’ roll band from Italy. They sure maintain the punk spirit.

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Gonzalo: Nowadays, with your life and musical experiences, if you were facing Brian James in his early days, what would you say to him, what advice would you give him?

Brian James: I’d tell him what I’d tell any young player: just hang in there, stick to your guns, don’t let anyone sideline you, and write your own songs, no matter how long it takes, you get there and be proud you haven’t sold out.

Gonzalo Pedraja

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Post interview – The Damned play Uruguay

At the appointed place and time, there he was… and one by one they appeared: Monty, then Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian, Paul Gray, and finally (I imagined) Captain Sensible. I finally had the chance to tell them one by one about the interview (I brought a copy of the article and the email exchange to each of them), and I’ll hardly forget Rat Scabies’ face when I showed him the messages (you can see them at the end of the interview), how surprised and moved he was (“So sad… so sad,” he repeated very quietly), and Dave Vanian telling me how incredibly they enjoyed the audience.

Without exception, everyone thanked me for bringing them the article and promised to read it. “Enjoy the show and give my love to the guys,” was the last message I received from Brian James … and so I did. (Mission accomplished, Brian :))

Adios Brian James!

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