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You seemed to undergo both an image and sound transformation. Were
you pressurized to do this or was it a conscious decision to get out
of punk the sinking ship.
DS: Looking back over the photos I have of us I can see that our
look and image was always changing. We went from 60’s suits to
paint splattered clothes and then to a mixture of individual
styles. Jeremy the singer would often wear a flight suit and a Ford
factory worker donkey jacket, and the rest of us wore homemade
t-shirts or things picked up the Oxfam shop. Mike the guitarist took
to wearing a raincoat on stage with a suit underneath,
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Nick normally wore something stylish like string vest that would not
hinder his incredible stage moves and Dexter and I would paint our
own t-shirts. We were all school kids and did not have the
money for clothing from the Kings Road boutiques so we had to be
creative with what we had. By the middle of 1977 we had
streamlined our look to simpler black and white shirts and jeans,
and from the autumn into 1978 we got more colourful as we attempted
a more melodic direction with our music.
NS: The whole scene
got boring and stale. We had to try and find a way out. I think we
figured out what we should do, and were right in our direction.
However, no one around us understood what we were trying to do, and
we were too young to articulate our ideas sufficiently. CBS signed a
“Punk” band – not The
Cortinas.
How did you think punk had changed?
DS: By the end of 1977 it felt like the
whole scene had giant hangover and there was a feeling of “what are
we going to do now.” New bands were emerging not quite so shackled
to the punk tag. We were also more in the presence of the rock
establishment which seemed to delight in the fact that things had
hit a tipping point and we would all be struggling for relevance.
We were not one of those bands that could have morphed into an Oi
band or a hardcore band. We hit a juncture and had to find a new
direction. The euphoria of the punk movement felt like it was gone
and it just felt like we were back to the same old music business
again. Had we known that punk would
become a profitable genre of music (for some) rather than an agent
for change, we may have stuck with it. However, you have to
understand there was a lot of pressure at that time for bands to
develop beyond the initial eruption of punk. If you play the flip
side of Defiant Pose, Independence, you can see where we were
heading at the end of 1977.
NS: Punk became Sham ‘69
How was reaction to you from audiences after
you
changed?
DS: We probably started introducing some of the songs that ended up
on the album during our tour with the Kursal Flyers in October
1977. However, there was no definable point where the band
“changed” we just tweaked our set list and slowly developed our
look. I remember that we continued to go down well as a live band.
NS: I remember some kids at the
Nashville asking me why I was wearing bright blue pegs instead of
leather strides. I remember Miles asking me the same thing. As Dan
says, we gradually evolved as a band, and had we made a good album,
that evolution would have made sense. Kim Turner, who basically
produced the Defiant Pose single, had a good understanding of what
we could do, and would have also been a useful person to have
around, but he was working with Mark P by then. He ended up working
for the Police.
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Best experiences/worst experiences times question in the Cortinas?
DS: I remember in June 1977 we had our first headlining show at the
Marquee Club. Other than the Roxy and some opening shows, this was
our first time in a legitimate London rock club. After soundcheck
we came back to the club to find a long line of people waiting to
get in. We could not believe it. A whole load of our friends from
Bristol had hired a coach and driven up that day to see us. That
was a very enjoyable show.
NS: I remember a great night at The
Roxy after we had finished recording Fascist Dictator. A brilliant
week in Paris playing at Gibus Nightclub. Staying at some weird guys
house in Leeds a couple of times and getting incredibly stoned. We
had a great time pretty much all of the time. I feel very lucky to
have been part of the whole Punk experience. I still draw on it …
DS: I can think of some bad experiences, getting beaten up, spat on,
all sorts of objects and fluids thrown at the stage, being put down
by other musicians. However, when I look back at the photographs I
have of us at that time, we just looked like we were having the time
or our lives.
NS: Breaking up was
pretty crap; it was sad to realize that some of us had lost belief
in the band. Rehearsing for the two shows we did to support the
albums release was also pretty depressing, although the shows I
remember as really good!
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Ashton Court
Festival 1977 |
How did it all end for the Cortinas?
DS: We broke up in June 1978 for reasons listed above.
Looking back how do you rate the Cortinas contribution to what
became known as punk rock?
DS: Mojo Magazine did a countdown of British punk singles from the
late 70’s a few years ago and they put Fascist Dictator at 64th.
We make into some retrospective books on that era and not others. I
like to think that the Bristol music scene improved a lot after we
did our thing and people saw what was possible. All of our friends
started up groups because of punk rock and some of those groups were
really good. Things only got more interesting in Bristol during the
post punk period. It’s hard to gauge what our contribution was. I
hope that our unlikely successes in 1977 were an inspiration to
some.
NS: Well obviously we are directly
responsible for the whole Trip Hop/Bristol scene! Word! Seriously,
we were the first of many bands to come out of Bristol, and I think
being first counts for something – it proved it could be done.
Are you still involved in music?
DS: Yes. I left Bristol a few years after the Cortinas split and
after living in some far flung places I came to San Francisco where
I eventually ended up playing in the indie pop group the
Sneetches who released records in England on the Creation Label.
I ended up working as an assistant at a small management firm in the
San Francisco bay area who handled Green Day (during the
initial part of their major label success) and also did work for
the Muffs, Rancid, Offspring and Jawbreaker. I
never thought I have anything to do with a punk scene again, but
there I was! I now run a music booking agency and still play drums
in bands here and there.
NS: Yes – I think most of my moves are
fairly well documented. I moved to Australia in ’94 and kept playing
over here. I also DJ (doesn’t everyone?). I recently arranged the
music for “Gabba Gabba Hey” a musical using Ramones songs, and
played in the band for the performances in Perth.
Nick in some little
known band that I can't remember |