So how long has the band been together and how did you get together in the
first place? Who is in the band?
The band was started in 1996 by widge and rob (who were
both previously in braindance). There have been a few line up changes over
the years but were pretty settled now with: widge - vocals; rob - drums /
vocals; scrawny - guitar / backing vocals; dug - bass / backing vocals. This
has been the line up for about three and a half years now.
What releases have you had so far and what is your favourite
track you have recorded?
So far we have released a self titled ep and a full length
album - " straight razors and strange souvenirs". We also have
a new album recorded (we just need someone to release it!). My favourite
track we've recorded is " adrenaline" (from the new album).
What is the punk scene like in your area?
Norwich has a reasonably good scene for such a small city.
There's some good bands kicking about, a fair few gigs and people are generally
quite genuine and friendly. We do desperately need a decent, regular venue
though.
What are the main themes to the lyrics and what inspires them?
There isn't really a main theme to our lyrics but they
tend to be quite angry (although we have got one or two more light-hearted
songs). Inspiraton comes from personal lives and anything else that pisses
us off. The only real criterea for a semtex song is it must be as fast and
tight as possible!!
What track goes down best live, and do you do any covers?
We do quite a few covers including; "what's my name" -
clash; "blitzkrieg bop" - ramones; "protest and survive" -
discharge; "sonic reducer" - dead boys; "emotional blackmail" -
UK subs. We normally stick one or two in the set. Of our own material i'd
say "adrenaline" or "all time low" go down the best.
What is the favourite song (and what band is it by) of each
member of the band?
Widge - "Never Again" - Discharge
Rob - I've
Got So Many It'll Have To Be Favourite Song This Week Which Is "You'll
Never Get To Me" - Killing Joke
Scrawny - "I've Got A Gun" -
English Dogs
Dug - Either "Clean Sheets" - Descendents Or "Alan's
On Fire" - Poison Idea
What other bands would you recommend checking out?
Our good friends TCR (terminal city ricochet), an excellent
anarcho band from Norwich featuring Sue, previously of PMT fame.
If Semtex were a type of alcohol, what drink would they be
and why?
I thought it would be best to ask someone outside the
band to answer this one. The response i got was "tennants super coz
it's hard and it makes you sick". Bloody charming!!
Plans, gigs and releases planned for 2004.
We've supposed to have been going and playing a few gigs
in europe for a couple of years now so hopefully that'll get sorted. Other
than that doing as many uk gigs as possible and getting the album out (and
watching the mighty norwich city set the premiership on fire next season!!).
We've got gigs with the varukers and discharge coming up which should be
good.
Any final comments?
Thanks for the interview. We're always looking for gigs
so if you wanna put us on e-mail dugsemtex@hotmail.com. Same applies if you
wanna buy a cd, want more info etc. Also we should have a new website up
and running soon so keep an eye out for that.
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