'Westminster Fascism'

Interviews

Potential Threat are from Blackburn (and other places) and have released a single "Whats so great Britain" with 5 tracks and the initial pressing of 1000 has almost sold out.

The interview was conducted in Fos and Pauline's home. Marc wasn't present, as he still lives in Brighton during the week, and only comes to Blackburn at the weekends.

AOD: How long has Potential Threat been going?

Fos: About 18 months, and up to now we're on our third guitarist, third drummer, and second singer. All the previous members were really terrible.

AOD: Which bands would you say influence you, if any?

Pauline: Discharge, if anybody, because I'm really into fast songs.

Fos: I like to think that, although our songs are really fast, that they have good tunes and also we have got just the right balance with a few slow songs, and quite a few medium paced ones. Influences? No one, really, although musically speaking, I am pretty keen on Discharge and GBH, but then again, I also like a lot of the Ramones songs. The UK Subs used to be alright, at well.

Rat: My real influences at the beginning were the Pistols, the Clash, and the Damned, but I would rather play fast music with a bit more power to it. We've got a good blend of fast but tuneful music.

AOD: Why have not really been heard of, anywhere?

Pauline: Well, the first single had no advertising whatso-ever, because it took us 800 pounds to get the single out, and that to us is an absolute fortune. So, when it was released, we couldn't afford to spread the word about it, because just to put a small ad in Sounds for one week costs 150 pounds, and that was beyond us, completely.

Fos: Also, we haven't done many gigs, because up to now, we've spent an awful amount of time teaching the songs to the new members, only to have something fuck it up, and then we've had to start all over again. But with the new single, Protest, out in January, we seem to have a good, steady line-up. What has happened, up to now, is that we would learn about twenty songs, play a couple of gigs, and then something would go wrong. But that is all behind us not, and the last gig we did was a real stormer.

AOD: What are your lyrics about, and what are your beliefs?

Fos: The lyrics are very, very much in favour of the people getting a fair deal for a change, and not being threatened by war and nuclear weapons. As for beliefs, we are a punk band who sees punk as a way of life. We are also pacifists who believe very strongly that violence can benefit nobody. We want world peace, and who in their right mind doesn't! We want peace and friendship throughout the world. We want to live in a perfect world. A world based upon trust and friendship. A world completely free from violence. A world where there is no threat to anybody's well-being. Where no one is used or abused. Where no one, young or old, is exploited to boost someone's bank balance.

Pauline: Yeah, where the "man at the top" no longer gets ten times the wage that the man/woman doing all the work gets.

Fos: A world where people show more respect for each other, instead of just showing an obsessive greed for what they can get for themselves. Where everybody gets ample food and shelter, instead of the countless millions who are starving to death, without shelter of any description, whilst wrongly appointed leaders spend billions on weapons of mass destruction that can better no one.

AOD: What's the title of the next single, and how many tracks are on it?

Rat: The single's called "Protest!", and has three tracks on it. We kept it down to three tracks to ensure a good quality record, because the first single with five tracks on it was shit, quality-wise, even though the songs themselves were good.

AOD: What do you feel about the state of punk in 1982/1983?

Fos: It's doing fine. There's some shit, but then again, there is with every type of music.

Rat: It's doing okay, but I don't like all the bands that sing about anarchy and peace, and then go and get pissed and kick someone's head it. In other words, practice what you preach.

Fos: One thing I can't tolerate is all the poseurs. You know, weekend punks, because I firmly believe in punk as a way of life, and not a passing fashion. But then again, punk is, and always will be, up to the individual, and not like the mass who blindly conform to what a punk should look like, because that certainly isn't punk.

Pauline: Yes, we all share the same views on that score, but I would like to see a change in the way the same bands always get most of the publicity (GBH, Vice Squad, Exploited). I think its time the other, more varied punk bands were given a break.

Rat: I don't like the way a lot of punks worship the major bands and blindly believe their every word. Bands like the Exploited singing "I Believe in Anarchy", and then playing Top of the Pops, and also singing songs in favour of violence, such as "Fuck a Mod". And I don't like the way a lot of punks complete with each other, like who's got the biggest mohican, and who's got the most studs on their leather.

Pauline: That is really stupid, because punks aren't meant to compete with each other. Just remember that everybody's equal. We're all the same.

AOD: Do you have any fears about making records you can't reproduce equally well, live?

Pauline: None whatsoever. I'm much more concerned with getting the power of a live gig onto a record. That is what we are ultimately aiming for - a really powerful sound with lots of energy.

AOD: What do you feel about the probability that the media will pick up Pauline as a sort of sex symbol, and possibly totally exclude the rest of the band from everything?

Pauline: Fuck that. Its either all of us, or not at all. I'm not another Beki Bondage. I think a band is a combined unit, because everybody is needed. Everybody is equally important. Nobody has preference over anybody else in this band. We each represent an equal quarter of Potential Threat.

AOD: What are the plans for the future?

Rat: Well, the next single should be out about January, and then we start a year of constant gigging.

Fos: As constant as we can possibly make it, and the album should be out in October, which will be a real scorcher.

Pauline: Also, as soon as we establish ourselves next year, we want to help as we can, because at the moment, not too many people are doing that sort of thing.

Discography