BASTARDS ON PARADE - Interview

At last! I’m sorry for the delay, I posted this interview on the Spanish version of the blogzine in April and I should have translated it then.

The band tells everything about its first European tour and their forthcoming debut album.

Hi, Bastards. Thank you for the interview and your support. Let’s talk about your February tour. The starting point was Sestao, near Bilbao (Spain). The gig took place in a small venue on a Wednesday, but maybe it was the right place for a warm-up gig. Which were your feelings then?

Well, we were eager to start the tour. We thought that maybe it would be a quiet show, it was not a weekend show and we have never played there, but it turned out to be a f*cking great show, it was a big surprise and we are looking forward to playing there again in the near future.

The next two gigs took place in the Maisuenea Gaztetxea (a kind of squat) in Olazti and in a venue in Mondragón. What do you think about the venues and the audience there?

In both places the treatment was high class; the shows were awesome and the people who arranged the gigs treated us very well if we take into account that we are a bunch of bastards hahaha.

The great leap forwards, the fourth show was abroad, in Bordeaux (France). Did you notice a big difference regarding the organization and the audience there?

Maybe it was the dirtiest gig of the tour, but not in a bad sense hahaha. It was a small venue and the sound was not very good, but it was full of people that were dancing and pogoing from the beginning of the show, people falling down on stage, the microphone hitting on the mouth, sweat, blood … really f*cking good! Hahaha

You told me in Sestao that you have to drive a big distance from Sestao to the Netherlands, since the next show was at 15h00 on Sunday. Did you arrive on time or something happened? By the way, what do you think about an early show like this?

Pfff… it was really crazy. As soon as we ended up in Bordeaux at 2h00 in the morning we hade to drive to Hengelo. We arrived at 16h00 in the afternoon. All along the way we collected some anecdotes: we were stopped at the Belgian border, because they wanted to have a look at our van, we had to pay 50 cents at the gas stations when we wanted to go to the toilet… but everything went OK, hahaha.

I feel that The Netherlands have a big Celtic punk fan base, this kind of music is quite popular there. Did you notice it?

To tell you the truth, this was the weakest date of the tour, we thought that there were no people in the Netherlands, hahaha. Not too many people at the gig and the sound was very bad.

And the other band, 5 Shots of Whiskey, what do you think about them?

Not so bad, punk’n’roll or whatever you call it. Definitely, not so bad.

The next shows were scheduled in Germany. This is the paradise for any Celtic punk band, this style has a big following there from the early days (The Pogues). You were in the middle of the tour and you had already played a couple of gigs abroad. Were you a little bit nervous or were you ready to feel a new experience on stage?

I guess that both of them, maybe we were a little bit impressed, we had always dreamt to play in Germany, but at the same time we were eager to play like madmen. Germany is the key! hahaha

And the Day arrived, your first show in Germany at the Tobis Irish Pub in Emden. Was everything OK?

The place was really cool, it was the Irish pub that you would like to have near your home to spend the whole day there, hahaha. And Tobi and his family were really nice. The show was very good and the people were happy. Even if it was a Tuesday, there were a lot of people and all of us went drunk after the show, hahaha.

The next show took place at the Drücklufthaus in Oberhausen. What can you tell us about this gig?

We really liked that venue. We played with a band called Ausgelebt, which was quite good. The show was also very good, the audience began to dance little by little and finally it turned out to be a great party.

Third gig in Germany, at Subway to Peter in Chemnitz. I guess that you have then a lot of beers and a lot of motorway in your bodies. Maybe you were a little bit tired, but I guess that you were looking forward to playing more shows there …

Yeah, we were ready to play a great show, unfortunately the tour was coming to its end and we wanted to play more gigs. You are right, maybe we were a little bit tired because of the booze and driving too much. But when we were on stage we forgot it and we feel that the gig was really funny. The fans told us that it was great and that they have enjoyed it. So it was great, hahaha.

If you have a look to the pictures that were taken that night, you will notice that we look a litlle bit "tired". Besides, we drank the special Subway to Peter garlic liquor, that really kills you, hahaha.

The last show was at K19 in Kassel, together with Kings and Boozers (former Lady Godiva) and Dominator. Have you ever met Kings and Boozers?

Finally they didn’t play, as far as we remember one of them had heart problems. It was really a shame, we were eager to play with them. But Dominator was a big surprise. They really rock and their show was awesome

The place was amazing, a very good sound, a fridge full of beers for the bands ...The organization and the audience treated us very well. K 19 RULES!

By the way, David was interviewed by Sören (wittmaso) for the netzine www.celtic-rock.de …

We would like to thank Sören very much for coming, he had to drive 4 hours back home, although we tried to get him drunk, hahaha

And the highest moment of the tour arrived, the long-awaited Circle J “Weekend Warriors” release party in Utrecht. I guess that you can tell us a lot of things about that gig. When did you met Circle J? Did Circle J drink all the bottles of patxaran (tradicional liquor from Navarre) that night or did they keep them for other day?

That date was one of the best, as it was expected. Circle J are a great band and their live show was excellent. Moreover, they are very nice people, hahaha. The venue was also comfortable, full of people and the party was unbelievable.

We met Circle J when we arranged a gig in La Coruña for them and Skontra and we became close friends with both of them. We brought hem eight bottles of patxaran from Navarre and they drank all of them very fast. They drank a little bit every time they sold a CD, and they sold a hell of a lot of CDs… It was really the perfect closing date for the tour.

I guess that you didn’t have enough time to enjoy the night life in Bordeaux and Hengelo, but maybe you could do it in Germany and Utrecht. What about the fans, the beers, the pubs…?

We stayed in the same venues in which we have played. The beers were very good and the fans were better. We went to some pubs in Amsterdam, it was the day-off and we should have taken a rest. However, it turned out to be a big party. Taking into account that we were in Amsterdam, I guess that it is normal that it happened there.

What about the CD sales alter the shows? Did you sell more T-Shirts than expected?

That was a pleasant surprise, we sold a lot of CDs and T-shirts. We run out of the L, XL and XXl sizes too soon, the people there are taller than in our country. We are grateful to everybody for their support at every show.


Apart from Sören, did someone else make you an interview for a radio or fanzine?

Unfortunately not.

Now that the tour is over, which are the positive things that you have learnt? And which are the differences that you have found regarding the venues, organization, equipment, etc in comparison with the ones that you normally find in our country?

Positive, everything. We feel that we should come back soon (in fact we are already working on a next tour in November/December). Everywhere the people have treated us very good. They know that we come from a different country and they do their best to make us feel comfortable (the booze helps, of course). The organization was perfect in every venue we played. Here, in Spain,the level is improving, but we must admit that they are doing it better abroad.

Talking about new friends, did you meet other bands apart from the ones you shared the stage with?

Yes, the people from Barroom Heroes, they are great mates and we drank together at the Tobi’s Irish Pub. And the Dutch Irish Bastard, a real crack guy, we become friends quickly and we are going to work together very soon.

By the way, you have already shared the stage with Sambre, Skontra, Circle J, The Real McKenzies, The Mahones, The Dreadnoughts, The Booze, Brutus’ Daughters ….any other band you would like to play in the same bill?

With any other band you enjoy! Top bands such as The Pogues or Dropkick Murphys, but also new bands that are going to play their first show. Every band is very interesting and we can learn a lot from them. Sometimes we play with a band we have never heard before and we find that they are very good on stage.

You have been interviewed by www.celtic-rock.de, three songs from your last EP have got airplay on their Internet radio Station, “Captain’s Dargle” has also been broadcasted at Paddyrock Radio Station, “Death Shore Pirates” and "Saint Patrick's Day" have been included in the Shite’n’Onions Podcast no. 18, “Norfolk Street”was also featured in our own January sampler, you are also featured on the “Tribute to The Mahones Album” that is going to be released soon, you have shared the stage with all the bands that have been mentioned above … Is the Spanish music market small for you?

This is something we are thinking over. We feel that if we were based in another country such as Germany, in which the musical taste is more rock/punk oriented, we could get more shows and we could improve as a band. Remember that we are living at the left corner of Europe, faraway from many places, hahaha

I feel that this is the year of Bastards on Parade. In a two years period you have released three EPs and “Death Shore Pirates” is your master piece. I was wondering if you have been contacted by some labels.

No, but we are working on that, we are going to forward our stuff to a lot of labels and we expect that some of them could be interested in Bastards on Parade.

Remark for all the punk/Celtic punk labels in Europe: What are you waiting for? Sign a deal with these guys, they are at the forefront of the new wave of European Celtic punk bands!!!

So, which are your plans for the near future?

We are trying to play a lot of shows and we intend to release our debut soon. After that, a new Euro Tour in November and we hope that everything will go fine, hahaha

Let’s imagine that you are contacted by another band in order to release a Split CD. Would you accept or do you think that the next step is to release the debut album?

We can do both things for sure. We are open to any project, we feel that it is good for us.

As far as the debut album is concerned, will all the tracks from the previous EP be included? Will the tracklist be totally new?

Maybe we will include a couple of them, but basically the tracklist will be new, with some interesting guests.

Is there a release date for the album?

We intend to release it at the beginning of the Summer, if we are lucky. If this is not possible, it will be available at the end of the Summer.

OK. That’s all. Do you want to add anything more …

We feel that the interview has covered everything, hahaha. We would like to suggest to other bands that they should play abroad, it’s a “religious” experience, hahaha. Thanks to all the promoters, bands and fans that went to our shows and, of course, thank you Waldo. Thanks for your support to this bunch of drunkards.

See ya in the Pub!