INTERVIEW BETWEEN ALEX OGG & BRETT ASCOTT OF THE MEAT, JUNE 2006
You formed in Orpington, was that in a punk band, or were you active in some earlier form?
No, we were definitely a punk band from day one. I’d only played in a band with people from school before that, doing things like Mountain or Peter Frampton. This was a complete change of direction.
Were any of the other members involved in bands?
Probably Mick English would have been, he was an accomplished musician. Probably the best musician in the band – maybe the only musician in the band! But I don’t remember which band he came from.
And that was the summer of 77?
Yes.
So it was all kicking off in the press at that point?
I remember what did it for me was watching the Pistols on the London Weekend Show, one Sunday lunchtime. It was the first time since I’d seen footage of the Who in the sixties that I’d seen such aggression, and a threat, not just to the audience – the whole thing just had a threatening atmosphere, and it just appealed to me.
Did you see any of the bands?
The first punk band I would have gone to see was the Jam at Bromley College, which was 77. Do you remember the May 77 Rainbow gig, with the Clash, Jam, Buzzcocks, Subway Sect and Prefects?
That was the one where the seats got ripped out?
I was upstairs and I was responsible for a whole row of those seats going over! I think it was shortly after that I joined the Meat.
Your first gig was at the Orpington Civic Hall with Penetration?
I’d have to dig my diaries out, but we did do Orpington Civic Hall a couple of times. The most memorable time was supporting Penetration, because we all had the hots for Pauline Murray, as you do. Memories of those times are pretty vague! It’s a long time ago, and there’s been a lot of bands since! But we played the Civic Hall twice or three times. There was nearly always a fight, but then there was at most gigs then.
Were there any other bands in Orpington, in terms of local competition?
There was a band called the Mistakes - that’s the only one I can think of off the top of my head.
By the time you were playing with Penetration, you’d written a whole set of originals.
Yeah, the only two covers we used to do were ‘All Day And All Of The Night’, and I think we tried to do ‘I Gotta Move’, the Kinks song, but we couldn’t do that either cos it was too difficult. Like I say, we weren’t very accomplished musicians.
Your originals were stuff like ‘Meet The Meat’, ‘Sulphate City’ etc.
Mick Wayland wrote the lyrics, and Mick English wrote most of the music if I remember.
But none of those were ever recorded?
All we’ve got is two four-song demos. One was recorded in a crappy little eight-track studio in Crystal Palace, the other one I can’t remember. But I’ve got copies of those. They are very rough and ready!
No barrier to my listening pleasure!
But I wouldn’t want it to see the light of day!
Ah, that’s your prerogative.
(We then have a meandering chat about Hip Hop, Pimp My Ride, Alan Sugar, the Streets, Tim Westwood, Racism, and Brett’s current occupation, “selling gaffer tape to Morrissey”)
Do they need a lot of gaffer tape?
Yeah. We don’t just sell gaffer tape. But that’s what I always say, cos it sounds the most glamorous thing!
That’s for live work?
Keeps food on the table.
Of course.
Oh, we also got banned from the Roxy. We played there twice. I have very, very vague memories of that time, a lot of drink and drugs going round. But we got banned from there, so we must have done something pretty good!
Did you know about all the dodgy stuff surrounding Kevin St John?
No, I didn’t.
In the summer of ’78 you added Kevin Peters?
Yeah, he came from a band called the Heroes. They were from Dartford way. He played rhythm and lead guitar.
So you had a two-guitar line-up?
We did for a brief while, then Mick English left, then he came back again, and then he left, and he joined Splogenessabounds. I remember seeing him on Top Of The Pops wearing tights! Cos Max Splodge is from Orpington.
Then you became Nada. Was after Mick English coming and going?
No, I would say – we changed that name and went to Paris. We got marooned there. We put all our stuff into the back of a van, went across the Channel, and were on our way to Hamburg. We did one gig at the Gibus Club in Paris. And the first night, there was a riot, Mick jumped into the crowd, someone pulled a knife, they destroyed all the equipment, and Lenny our manager, who is also dead, he was one evil bastard, nasty piece of work. Lenny reckoned he’d had his passport stolen that night. So we couldn’t go any further. So we did a three-night residency at the Gibus Club, and got stranded in Paris for six weeks with no money or food. We were going to baker’s, running in and stuffing our coats with bread and chocolate and running out again. It was a terrible time. I got caught stealing from a supermarket.
Oh, no. French cells are not very alluring places?
The good thing I was rescued by this old boy, he was in the French Resistance. He managed to talk the manager out of calling the police. Otherwise I might still be banged up!
Was this all because Lenny hadn’t sorted it out properly?
Yeah, it was all done on the hoof. He was trying to pry Mick Wayland away. I don’t think he liked the rest of us, I think we were too much of a handful for him. So he wanted to concentrate on Mick Wayland as a solo punk star. I still see Mick occasionally, every couple of years.
Is he still in Kent?
Yeah, I think so, he still goes to the Charlton, so I still see him there occasionally!
So the Gibus stuff, that was Nada?
We changed the name from the Meat to Nada, then did a few gigs as the Bombshells, supporting the Tourists at the Music Machine, and then Wayne County at the Moonlight Club in West Hampstead. He scared the hell out of me!
And after that you joined the Chords.
I’d had enough. It was a bit shambolic and amateur. So I saw an advert for the Chords in January 1979 in Melody Maker, and that’s where I went.
Did you hear what happened to the other members?
I haven’t seen Mick English for 15 years. Brian joined another band that I saw at Dartford Zen’s. Nice bloke, Brian, always reminded me of Brian Glover. When he played the character in Porridge who says, ‘I read a book once. It had a green cover!’ A gentle soul, nice bloke. Also, in that Paris thing, we did an open air festival in front of 15,000 people, and the stage was invaded, and I got tear-gassed.
Yeah?
That was a night to remember.
That was separate from the Gibus Club?
Yeah, that was probably about two weeks later, we got booked on to this free open air festival, run by Liberation, the left-wing newspaper. We were supposed to go on about two in the afternoon. But they delayed it. We’d taken some speed, so we took some more speed. We were supposed to go on at six, then they delayed it again, so we took some more speed. We ended up going on about midnight.
By which time you must have been like clockwork mice.
Absolutely! Frothing at the mouth.
Finished the set in three minutes?
If you see the photos, the stage is surrounded by hell’s angels and teddy boys. Someone threw a bottle, and Lenny made the mistake of throwing it back. Within five minutes, the whole stage was covered in people fighting, and I was fighting people with cymbals etc. And this hand appeared through the crowd holding a spray and I got tear-gassed. So that was fun (!)
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