Interview by: Mark Lacey
The arrival of the early-nineties saw sleaze rock’s appeal under multiple threats, leading to the genre all but disappearing into the underground. On one side, grunge brought a more down to Earth image that resonated with fans, and become more identifiable compared to the glamour and pomposity that hair metal had become. On the other side, bands like the Wildhearts had taken the blues-based foundations of sleaze rock, added a punk edge, and a much heavier groove.
Bands that had once reigned supreme found themselves out of sorts, and many disappeared, despite their quality, as the tide moved them on. That junction also saw Bolton-based ‘Smashed’ press the pause button … only to resurface almost 30 years later.
MyGlobalMind.com sat down with Minz (guitar), Chuff (vocal), Matt (bass), and Skid (drums) to discuss their re-union, and second wind.
MGM: Back in your glorious heyday, you guys were based out of the North West. Is that still the case?
Chuff: No, we’re all over the place now. That’s where we started. Continental. Yeah. We’re scattered across Gloucester, Kent, Stafford and London.
MGM: It’s quite an honour to be invited to open up the 2024 HRH Sleaze Festival. How did that come about?
Skid: It was a couple of years ago; HRH put out a vote for fans to request their favourite bands. We had a bunch of people that all voted for us, but we just missed out, but as a result of that support we got invited back this year’s festival.
Chuff: Yeah. Hopefully people will remember us from back in the day.
MGM: So, you just alluded to the reunion. You guys started out in the early nineties, and performed alongside bands like Silverheart and Gunfire Dance, and then took an extended break. Remind us of the history of the band and what happened to bring you back together?
Skid: Minz & Chuff started the band in about 1989, and then I joined in 1990, just as things were taking off. We had a demo tape. We did quite well out of it. We got played on local radio in Manchester.
Minz: It was being sold at an independent record shop in Manchester called Rhythm Trance. And it outsold any other records that they were selling.
Chuff: Yeah, Guns N Roses, everybody.
Minz: Chris Tetley, was a local rock DJ, and also did a column in the Sunday Sport, and we ended up being a number one in this rock chart.
Chuff: It went on for weeks and weeks and weeks. I think one of our best reviews was “if Hanoi Rocks came from Manchester, they’d be the second-best sleaze band”. Terry Christian said that.
Skid: We did really well for a couple of years on the local scene, but I think we were just in the wrong place.
MGM: Back in the nineties it seemed like London, and its venues, like the Marquee was where it was all happening. But that trend seems to have shifted, and places like Leicester, Manchester, South Wales, and the Midlands are now the epicentres for rock music.
Chuff: We played the Star & Garter in Manchester the other week. It’s a nice proper venue, and people seemed to appreciate what we do.
Skid: We had a big break for quite a while, and then we got asked to play a festival in Staffordshire. So, we got back together and we’ve been doing it on and off ever since.
Chuff: It’s hard work. All travelling down to London, practising and stuff. But it’s worth it.
MGM: You’ve got your ‘Happy but Dead’ demos at the merch desk today. That’s a memory!
Chuff: That’s the original. I’ve got about 20 left, something like I brought 10.
MGM: So, were all four of you in that original line-up? Including you, Matt?
Matt: Yeah, I was there. I was in the band from about… ’93. I was a fan first, and then became a member. I saw the guys in the Daily Sport, and the number one thing. And then the band happened to be playing at a local venue to me. I was like, oh, I’ll go check them out.
Chuff: We signed a management deal. Never had a record deal. We all moved over to Herne Bay, near Canterbury, and we lived in a house. We were like the Beatles. When I say the Beatles, it was more like the Monkees. And we just based ourselves there for 10 months.
MGM: How long did that first chapter of the band exist for? Obviously, a lot of music changed in the early nineties, and fashions drifted away from that sleaze rock sound.
Skid: I think the sleaze rock thing and the glam rock thing carried on. It never really stopped. Obviously, the whole grunge thing changed the climate for a lot of people, but the glam sleaze thing carried on. For us, the biggest game changer for us was the Wildhearts more than anybody, because it was a blend of all the things we all liked at the time. So, it got a little bit dirtier because of them more than because of Nirvana.
Chuff: We supported the Wildhearts at the Tivoli in Buckley, didn’t we? In 1843 ha ha! We did fine. The only thing that broke the camel’s back for us was when we had to return from Herne Bay. We were doing eight gigs a week for 10 months, and we went back to Manchester to do some gigs, and the van brought down. We walked up to Minz’s grandma’s place, which was nearest. But when we went back, all our gear had been nicked from out of the back of the van. Trying to replace it, and get back on the road was really hard, but that was it, really.
MGM: You parted company, but you’ve reformed in the last couple of years. How much of the set now is from those earlier days?
Matt: Most of it. But there’s some new tracks being banged around at the minute, which are just in the writing stage. We’ve got three tracks that we’re currently working on to bring out. And then there’s new stuff, which is still in the writing process.
MGM: You have an album available today. Is that your original material from your first iteration, or new material recorded since you reformed?
Chuff: Initially, when we first started, we were a five-piece. We had another singer. He lasted a couple of years and that was it. But we had obligations. When we recorded a single, I had to go sing it. But I wrote the songs for him, so my voice wasn’t necessarily suited to them.
Minz: So, we’ve been re-adapting the original stuff to Chuff.
MGM: Did it not feel slightly strange going back and revisiting material that’s 30 years old with a fresh pair of ears?
Skid: A little bit, but we had a big enough break in between for it to still feel fresh. Nothing that we went through really felt dated.
Matt: One of the biggest things that I think got us back together was that the songs were great. Really good, well written songs. We said, we’ve got to play them again and see if they still sound good. And to us, they sounded great.
Minz: It was just supposed to be a bit of fun between us. Then we got invited to a festival and then one thing led to another. Here we are, I’m fucking loving it.
MGM: What’s up next for you guys?
Chuff: Recording next; definitely. We’ve got the old stuff. It’s time we put some new stuff in. So, Minz wrote a couple. I’ve got a couple. Everyone is contributing.
Minz: It’s an ongoing concern.
Chuff: We’re hoping to get some more gigs off the back of this as well. If we can, that’d be great.
Minz: That’s why we did it. We’re just trying to remind people that we’re here.
Chuff: We used to be as tight as tight can be, because we were doing eight nights a week back in the day.
MGM: This is your second incarnation of the band, and you all seem to have a renewed optimism. Where can you take it this time?
Chuff: It’s just a continuation, really.
Skid: If we can put some music out, get some more gigs, and play more festivals, we could do this all day long, really.
Chuff: Not all day long. I’m knackered! We used to live in each other’s pockets for a long time. And now we got back together again, and it’s still nice.
To hear more from Smashed:
www.facebook.com/smashedreunion
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