Anger Management

I have a quick chat with Bradford Punk/Ska band, Random Hand,  before they teach the occupants of yet another venue how to move themselves - fast.

Interview with: Joe Tilston (Bass, Vocals) and Robin Leitch (Lead Vocals, Trombone)

The UK has seen another recession; student fees have nearly tripled and the coalition have set its sights on the benefit system. The blood of all those feeling the pressure is turned up from simmer to boil, and as usual, the forever immortal medium of music gives voice to the masses.

The UK’s Punk scene first reared it misshapen safety pin ridden head during the social strife of the 70’s and 80’s. It acted as a group therapy for every angry thought dwelling at the back of your mind, and for every drop of poison on the tip of your tongue.

Equally Ska prevailed as a happy endorphin replacement to coincide with the anger management of Punk. As the gyrating spit spewing faces of the ‘pogo’ appeared atop the crowds of punk gigs, so did the knees to elbows of ‘skanking’, accompanied by up-strumming bar chords and a reggae bass line.

Over the last few years we have seen the rise and fall of the King Blues and their anthems of revolution such as “Whose Streets” and “Lets Hang the Landlord”. As well as witnessing the growth of fusion bands utilising the stage platform to combine contemporary music styles with an old school Punk ideology such as Sonic Boom Six. We now have such a blossoming variety of music not so closely associated to a rigid genre but instead in its own field, where the gleaming idea uniting them is their ability to care about what is happening to them; and care enough to shout about it.

This brings me to the single most exciting band I have experienced in some time. A group of lads from Bradford, West Yorkshire, known to all of those screaming back their lyrics amidst an array of sweat and elbows, as Random Hand.

Ten years after “our first gig in our mate’s cellar” Joe Tilston (Bass, Vocals) and Robin Leitch (Lead Vocals, Trombone) sit for a chat before their set. The Maze is an intimate venue a five minute walk from Nottingham city centre. I arrive to find an atmosphere recognisable only to patrons who like to attend shows where moving your feet is happily compulsory.

After touring and playing with bands such as: Real Big Fish, The King Blues, The Skints and Sonic Boom Six, Random Hand have rubbed shoulders with bands on all fronts of the contemporary Punk scene. Despite their association with a genre known for breeding strong political views and brutal commitment to ideology, Joe and Robin remain true to their agenda, of no agenda.

Robin: “I have no interest in preaching to people at all... I don’t get on stage to go, ‘you should think this way’. It’s quite simply not our place to do that”.

Joe: “In any band having any content of a vaguely political nature, people attach to that what they want…they just assume that what our message is, is a strong one…it’s just us writing about our lives, we come from a working class town, we are affected by these things.”

It is clear as the conversation progresses that their Punk and Ska labels are happily accepted but not essential to their success, as they seem to have mastered the balance between the expressions of themselves and that of their audience. In return their fans seem to latch on to their passion (shared with other bands previously mentioned) rather than the greater collective of Punk and Ska as genres.

They discuss their ethics regarding lyrics and band influences, constantly enforcing an unchanging ideal to portray themselves as they are, as well as being unforced or false.

Robin: “…the only thing we make sure we do, is make sure we’re honest....as long as I'm putting a genuine feel down on the song and not just sort of going into territories that I know nothing about or just inventing things to feel…”

Joe: “I wouldn’t want to go on stage in this band and write about robins failed love interests and things like that. Not that he has failed love interest” (both laugh) “that’s not what we are about; we’re not that group of people so that’s why you get us being angry about the political situations in our town.”

As we continue to talk about their move to Bomber Music and the Release of their third album “Seething is Believing” in 2011 and the loss of founding member Matthew Crosher in April, it’s clear that this is a tight band that has taken each step forward for the last ten years holding on to their values. And I honestly don’t believe they would have been interested in having it any other way.

When all of Robins peanuts are gone and I have thanked them over and over for their time (one chance to look cool in front of one of your favourite bands – pathetic!) and they head off to get ready.

Stage lights up, the trombone leans out across the heads of the crowd. There was sweat, there were elbows but much to the satisfaction of the shameless grin on my face, there was Random Hand.