BATTALION OF SAINTS
from Ripper #8, 1983Interview and photos by Tim Tonooka
This San Diego band has been together over two years now, playing their explosive brand of punk-metal. A lot of their songs are anti-war, and about how the government fucks with peoples lives.Last March they put out one hell of an impressive 12" debut EP, "Fighting Boys," which I'm sure you've heard by now. They did some rip-roaring gigs up here in the Bay Area, like at the Eastern Front in Berkeley on July 31, and at both Berkeley Square and the On Broadway in S.F. on August 4th.
Their gig at the On Broadway on August 25th was the start of a Battalion of Saints/Agression tour throughout the United States and Canada. They stopped in Salt Lake City, Lincoln Nebraska, Lawrence Kansas and Tulsa Oklahoma before te tour was cut short because the school bus they were travelling in was breaking down constantly.
Battalion of Saints consists of Geroge Anthony, singer; Ted Olson, drums; and Chris Smith, guitar. Their bass player, Dennis Frame, left the band after the tour because he felt he really didn't fit in with their image. He has been replaced by Travis Davidson, 17, who previously played bass with another San Diego band called Catch 22. A new Battalion of Saints album with about 18 songs will be out soon, and a national tour is planned for spring.
The "Bats" strongly recommend handling all aspects of the band yourself, to stay on top of things and prevent being screwed over. They formed their own record label, Nutrons Records, and did all the work and production on their EP themselves. The Bats also appear on the "Meathouse" compilation cassette from Version Sound in Ohio, and on an upcoming San Diego compilation. Another record they'll be on is the Mystic Studios compilation of California bands.
The Bats have worked with a number of record distributors for their EP, of which they found Important, Greenworld, and Rough Trade to be very good to deal with. They were not pleased with Bomp, Faulty, and especially Skydisc.
The following interview was done August 25th before their tour.
TELL US ABOUT SAN DIEGO.
DENNIS: San Diego's got it's own scene. It's not as big as L.A. or San Francisco, but it's a nice family.
IS IT REALLY TRUE THERE'S A LOT OF MODS DOWN THERE?
GEORGE: Yeah. 60's clothes and motorscooters with little raccoon tails hanging off the antennas. They come putting up on Mod Night at the King's Road.
DENNIS: God! You get down there and there's 200 of them strong.
WHY DO THEY HAVE MODS THERE AND NOT HERE?
DENNIS: Because San Diego's a real conservative town, and mod is like the halfway point between new wave and hardcore. So that's their big step.
GEORGE: Then they got a bunch of poserbilly, or rockabilly, or whatever.
DENNIS: But San Diego's a real conservative place. You can't walk anywhere without getting hassled or getting stuff thrown at you by cowboys or people in dune buggies trying to run you over.
GEORGE: It's definitely a San Diego syndrome. Go on unemployment and kick back - the easy life. San Diego's a prime example of Southern California living.
DENNIS: Some of our songs are about how they glorify killers and maniacs and turn them into big TV stars, instead of giving them their just reward. These two sheriffs down there got in a fight with a couple of truckers at a taco stand and wound up firing seven shots at them, which would be considered attempted murder in any other city, but because they were off duty deputy sherifs they got a light slap on the han and a three month sentence and work furlough probation. I had a felony drunk driving, and I got five months in jail. So that's San Diego.
CHRIS: San Diego shows some support to local bands, but not the dedication and love that they show ot out-of-towners like L.A. bands.
TED: We wish people in San diego would open up their minds a little bit and be willing to accept new things.
CHRIS: They've got a lot of good new things in their own backyard and they don't even realize it. I'm not just speaking for us, I'm speaking for a lot of other bands that have come out of San diego. They've fizzled out because there just wasn't the response down there. And that's very discouraging.
DENNIS: 5051 is probably the only other band that's got to the point where they've put stuff on vinyl. district Tradition got on Charred Remains, plus they're puttin gout their own material.
CHRIS: People say to us, "Well are you gonna move to L.A. now that you've got a record?" And I say, "No, fuck that." We really fuckin' like San Diego, and we're proud that we're from San Diego.
DO THEY HAVE REGULAR SHOWS DOWN THERE?
DENNIS: Dead Or Alive Productions does the shows down there. Fr awhile they were having them once a week and now it's interspersed.
CHRIS: Everybody picks on those guys and complains like hell, but they aren't making any money.
GEORGE: Those guys lose hundreds.
YOU GUYS KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PUNK IN MEXICO?
CHRIS: There's Los Negativos and Los Paranoias or something.
GEORGE: These Mexican guys sneak across the border and come up to San Diego to see the shows, it's great. They're pretty cool.
DENNIS: They've more or less borrowed the same trends and style from Americans.
ANYTHING ELSE?
DENNIS: We're not putting down anybody that does drugs, but we've all made an attempt to straighten up our lives ina lot of ways. We've all gave up drinking and hard drugs pretty much. We're not saying it's wrong, only when you overdo it. People that come to all the shows slobbering drunk aren't really having any fun. I know when I was doint it, I wasn't havin any fun. I wound up going to jail, losing a job, all because I drank and just drank and drank and I'd get on the road. I'm surprised I'm not dead. Once in awhile if we do have a beer it's no big deal -
CHRIS: It's how much it controls your life. Cuz now that we're doing so much shit with the band it's like -
GEORGE: You can't think clear and do a good job on anyting if you're all a mess.
TED: We want to say thanks to Marc Rude (former manager) for his great artwork he's helped us with, and also for all the work he did to help us get going. He really helped us a lot.
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