Combat 84

1.Pissed And Proud webzine are proud and honoured to get in contact with the old oi-heroes from Combat 84, tell me are things going well with the band now years down the road?

Jim: Yes, as far as the band goes we are having fun, but we have had other outside personal shit going on so the band has had to take a back seat for a few weeks, but in general we are having fun.

2.What is the current line-up? What happened to other members I´ve heard something about a bar in Korea? True? And where did you find Cj, the new drummer?

Deptford: I am on vocals, Jim is still on Guitar from the original band, we have F.T. on Bass and Suds on drums, C.J decided to leave the band, I think maybe he thought we were going to be big stars and make loads of money or something, when he realised that there is no money and we don't like stars he lost interest, but we are still friends.

Jim: Chubby has a bar in Thailand called the Dogs Bollocks, so if you are ever out that way check it out, he lives out there now and so it is a bit far for him to come just for this, I am in contact with him, we are still mates, the band didn't split because of us not getting on, it was outside forces that did it.

3.Why did you decide to get together and play again? Any particular reasons?

Jim: We just wanted to do it, and it seemed like it might be fun after all this time, we still like the same sort of music and if it ever gets boring we will do something else, we had some songs so we put them out.

4.Combat 84, is as we all know, old legends in the oi! and punk scene and have been there almost from the start. What would you consider to be the BEST Oi! music/band from the 80´s?

Deptford: The Rejects, Sham, Pistols, they were the bands we loved and tried to be like when we started.

5.How many of the old "heroes" of oi! is still in the scene, roi pierce for example? Garry Bushell? Are any of them good friend to you?

Jim: Deptford still sees Roi at football, but Bushell always hated us, and he is no fucking hero believe me. We do still talk to some of our old mates, and the crew who used to follow us, even more since we started the band again, but they are spread out all over the world, but yes we do try to keep in contact.

6.What do you think Oi! is all about now years after it´s creation?

Deptford: It is still great, the best thing is that all the bands that try to go metal or stray from real Oi! are forgotten about, I think that is why people still like us because we never sold out. It is still honest music, but maybe some of the newer bands could be a bit more original and try to advance it instead of living in someone else's past.

7.Have you noticed any great changes in the Oi! scene today compared to what it was? Are they good, are they bad?

Jim: There seems to be a lot more bands about, and you can get better gigs abroad, when we started no one would ever put us on abroad, and we always had to play the worst shithole gigs, it seems a bit bigger and respectable than before.

8.Any favourite bands from today's Oi! scene?

Jim: Retaliator
Deptford: Oxymoron.

9.Did you even think that Oi! would exist in 2001 when you were around the first time?

Jim: It was fucking hard to even get gigs, I would never have dreamed that it would have made a comeback, we didn't even know what the scene was like when we reformed, it has all been a bit of a surprise.

10.What is your best work (cd´s/lp´s) according to you?

Jim: The first 2 eps and the new Tooled Up ep are the best things we have ever done. Deptford: Yes I agree.

11.Any new influences in the new material? Are you going to do like so much other punk bands to have more "metal" in the music?

Jim: No we are not going metal, we can play a bit better after all this time, but why change, if we go metal we would call it something else, but there is no chance of that, we don't want to be a shit metal band, we would rather be a half-decent oi! band, that is what we grew up with, and what we are, our influences are still the same.

12.How would you describe the new sound and material? And are you pleased with the new material?

Deptford: We are very pleased with it, we sound a lot more fresh and modern now, it is always hard to live up to what you did before because people grow up with it and love the old stuff. We think the new ep is 90s Oi!, it is hard and fucking raw, more than we were before, the old stuff is good, but this is just as good as anything we have ever done.

13.Any future releases planned?

Jim: We have an album and video, but as I said there has been some personal problems outside the band that have held all that up, we are planning a joint record with the American band Iron Cross, who we have known for over 17 years, I toured with them back in 1984, we have a tour with them lined up as well.

14.Is it easier being a pure Oi! band now then before, or are you guys still having problems getting booked?

Deptford: We are getting a lot of bomb and death threats about our gigs, but at least we are being offered gigs, in the old days we had to beg for everything we did, because of the trouble we used to get. It seems easier now.

15.Are you having any problems with being labelled as RAC?

Jim: We have never labelled ourselves as anything, we are not part of any movement, especially political ones, and we never were, people try to associate us with this and that, but we are just a band, who write about their lives and what they see around them, nothing more.

16.Any opinions about RAC?

Deptford: We believe in free speech, you don't have it in England anymore, but people should be allowed to say what they want, we don't support any movement as Jim said, but RAC should be given an equal platform as anything else.

17.Are you going to visit us and have any tours in scandinavia/sweden in the future?

Jim: As we mentioned earlier, we have had some personal problems outside the band, but there has been talk of us touring with Kev from condemned singing, which would be fucking great, so hopefully.

18.Condemned 84 was here (Denmark actually) some time ago and a minor riot exploded between nazi and anti-nazi skinheads, what is your opinion about this. Have this ever happened to you?

Deptford: People all like the same music, but have different political views, they should leave their shit at the door and be grown up enough to watch the gig without problems, let everyone enjoy it, if they want a fight they should go somewhere else.

Jim: We have had political problems at our gigs, this is because we have different political views within the band, and people can't handle that, we don't stand with any one view and this seemed to confuse some of the less clever people in the old days.

19.What were your best gig from the old days until now? Is it still fun to play gigs?

Jim: I think the old 100 club gigs were the best, and we did one with Screwdriver that was pretty amazing when they first reformed. I personally love doing gigs, I have done hundreds with other bands as well as Combat over the years.

20.What do you want to say to all the people involved and around the oi! scene today?

Deptford: Thanks for keeping the scene going all this time, and lets try and stick together, at least at the gigs, otherwise the same thing will happen that happened to us years ago, we couldn't get any gigs and the scene died in England.

Jim: Thanks for buying the CD if you did, if you didn't it's your loss, seriously, I am just glad it is still going, I mean there has never been anything better and more honest, so lets stick together and keep it going.

21.Anything to say about Pissed And Proud webzine?

Jim: Thanks for the interview, it is people like you who keep the Oi! scene alive, without you we are nothing, cheers.

22.Any last words?

Deptford: If you want to know what we are up to check out www.combat84.co.uk thanks.