Interview with:
 
 
Yes, it's true, after 18 year they are here again with new album! In this interview you can read whether it's true that they were right wing scums, or not. Very interesting.
 
 
Is it true that Chris now has a bar in Thailand? If not, what is he doing now (are you in touch with him)?
JOHN: Yes Chris does live in Thailand, he has lived there for quite a few years now, we don't keep in contact much these days.
What was the main reason for this reunion and new EP?
JIM: Well, there was no one real reason, we just started jamming the old songs, we hadn't played together for a few years, maybe since the UK Subs days, we have been mates for the whole time since Combat split, it started out as a laugh, and now it has developed into this, a bit like the first time around.
JOHN: Yeah, we came up with some new songs and decided to record them, we didn't have any idea that anyone still knew who we were.

You are all loyal supporters. What team do you support and do you really still take part in clashes and rucks with the rival mobs?
JOHN: All the band support different teams, and after the shit the Rejects used to get we keep that to ourselves, as far as still taking part, lets just say we do all still go but thats all, just incase the police see this, ha, ha, ha.

You were labelled as Right wing extremist band. We never had a chance to hear from you about that, so please have YOUR say about that case (your opinion about right wing politics).
JIM: Well I don't think we were labelled as a right wing extremist band as far as I can remember, that has happened since we split, if anyone that can read takes time to have a look at our lyrics they will see we have no extreme right wing stuff in there, that is because the band have always had different political views. I don't know if you have ever seen the 40 minutes documentary we did for the BBC? But Chubby expressed his personal views, but so did Deptford, and if anyone bothered to listen at that time his views were the exact opposite, so anyone who has labelled us a right wing extermist band is either deaf, blind, stupid or all 3, the band's views are individual, I think we have always had a similar outlook on things like Rapists, Muggers and that sort of thing, but surely everyone is against that sort of thing, whatever their politics? If they are not I hope it happens to them, and then we will see where they stand.
JOHN: We have never covered issues we don't all believe in, I think people have a knee jerk reaction when they hear the name Combat 84, but if they bother to listen we stand for law and order, and the working class man, people who complain about that are usually rich kids, who are not working class, we only stand for good positive things, is that right wing? maybe sometimes we have done it in such a way as to purposely upset these wankers but that makes it more fun, these sort of dicks complain about everything, they want to control you and stop your freedom of speech.
JIM: Yeah, there is plenty of things I don't agree with, but I still think these people have a right to their opinions, these small minded tossers just want everyone to think like them, what a bunch of fucking sheep, say what you want, because I do, if you don't like it go back to pretend world where everything is great, go and see Britany Spears or something where everything is always great, sorry, we sing about reality, these things are out there and they happen.
JOHN: I would also like to say that people listen to the songs and say "Oh, all they want to do is have a fight and beat people up", well this is not true, we are singing about real life and what happens, we are not saying go and do this, or we do this, we don't, but you can't ignore that these things do happen, we just sing about what we see on our streets.

Did you get any money from labels putting out your stuff while you were defunct (split combat/last resort on LINK especially)?
JOHN:We have never made a penny out of any of that stuff.

What are your everyday jobs?
JIM: Fucking boring, just like everyone else's jobs, but you have to pay the rent somehow!

How come you had to do the release of new EP by yourself? Is it possible that any other existing oi! label was not interested (captain oi!, GMM, Walzwerk...)?
JOHN: No, we didn't think anyone would want to do it, but since the release we have had loads of offers from other labels to put out our stuff, we are still deciding what to do, putting your own stuff out is a lot of work, we would rather concentrate on the music.

Your top 5 list of people that you'd like to kick the shit out of?
JIM: Garry Bushell, Tony Blair, the milkman that shagged my wife, Tony Benn and that Euro cunt MP Mr. Vas who is trying to sell our country down the river.

What's the best TV comedy series produced in Britain ever and why?
JIM: Fawlty Towers, I have watched it a thousand times and I still laugh every time, Cleese is a fucking God.
JOHN: Only Fools and Horses, well that is supposedly set near Deptford, some of the jokes are spot on, the writing is great, I could watch it all day.

Some wise message for the Serbian audience!
JIM: Yes, I hope they bother to read what we have said in this interview, from some of the questions I think maybe they have the wrong idea about us, and coming from a place that has had a lot of unrest recently I would of thought our positive outlook and stand for law and order would be something they can identify with, I don't know, maybe they want Anarchy? But you have to remember, there is always someone with a bigger gun than you have.Anyway, thanks to you for giving us the chance to put the record straight, I hope you have peace in your country, and remember this is just music, we are not politicians, at the end of the day what we say doesn't make any difference to the world, it's just entertainment.
 JOHN: Thanks for the interest in the band, maybe one day we will get out there and play, who knows? I hope things settle down out there.

 

 

Pictures are stolen from Combat 84 official site -  www.combat 84.com