CAPTAIN BUD INTERVIEW
The Pier is definitely going global. Here is its second UK interview and this time it's with reggae punks, Captain Bud. Forming in early 2006, Captain Bud has quickly gained a local following of punks, surfers, stoners, skaters, misfits and anyone else that happen to be passing by. Vocalist/guitarist Simon or Si for short, stopped by The Pier to chat everything British. Well mostly British.
The Pier: So tell us about Captain Bud and how did the band originally get together?
Simon: We had all been in crappy punk bands from the age of 12 or 13. You know, playing at the local youth club with out of tune guitars and broom handle mic stands. It wasn’t until we were about 17 that we put our first real band together. We recorded a three track CD and it sounded shit, but at the time it sounded great to us. We were a four piece back then but it only lasted about six months and then I fell out with the other guitarist.
Adam, Dredge and I stayed friends and a few years later decided to give it another shot as the three piece Captain Bud. Since then we’ve just been having fun and recording music. Our drummer Adam left this year but it was on good terms. Luckily for us another friend of ours, Davs, stepped straight into the hot seat and he’s brought a whole new sound to the band. At this moment in time Captain Bud are sounding better than we’ve ever sounded before.
The Pier: That’s good to hear. What's been some of your musical inspirations?
Simon: For me personally my biggest inspiration is Sublime, that music changed my life in a funny kind of way. Slightly Stoopid are the favorite on the Captain Bud tour bus. But we love all sorts from Motown to Hip Hop. Most of our favorite bands are from the USA like Rancid, The Ramones etc etc. Reggae wise we love roots reggae like Toots and the Maytals, any dub goes down well too. I know that Dredge is big into Ben Harper and Davs loves Bad Religion. Anything with real soul, meaning and culture behind it is cool with us.
The Pier: What's the reggae rock scene like in the UK at the moment? Tippa Irie didn't have many positive things to say about its current state. How do UK audiences react to you guys?
Simon: It’s funny really in the 70’s and 80’s the UK was reggae central, with Bob Marley recording Exodus in London and then bands like The Clash, The Police and UB40 bringing the vibe. Nowadays it’s a different story. Dancehall is probably the biggest reggae scene in the UK, but it’s still very underground. The thing with the UK is we only have one chart and one main radio station that dictates what’s cool and most people buy whatever they say! We usually get one big reggae song in the summer, last year Bedouin Soundclash had a hit song in the UK.
The skate/surf scene is where we have most of our success. The surf towns around the south west are where the scene is the biggest and in the last couple of years bands like Slightly Stoopid, Pepper and The Beautiful Girls have started hitting the UK shores and you can sense something is gonna happen. There are a million ska punk bands in the UK and only a handful of rock/reggae bands, but in the last two years the scene has grown a lot. We get to play on all sorts of shows because people don’t know what kind of genre we are. We get put on punk bills, ska bills and indie shows so when we get on stage the crowd is like “What the fuck is this?” but within two songs the good vibes are flowing, girls are dancing and everyone is having a great time. We’ll just keep on doing what we love, the scene is evolving here in the UK and it can only get bigger.
The Pier: What can you tell us about the area you are from and how that influences your music?
Simon: We are from the South West of England in a little town called Weymouth. The surrounding coastline is beautiful, full of massive cliffs and rolling hills. We are situated two hours south west of London and two hours east of Devon and Cornwall, that’s where the best waves in England can be found. We spend most of our time down that way surfing and we tour down there a lot too. In summer it is one massive beach and party lifestyle and in the winter it’s very cold and gets blasted by big Atlantic storms. I love living here, it’s very inspiring and there’s no other place I would live in the UK.
The Pier: You have put out a few independent releases. What was it like making those albums?
Simon: The first record (Charlie Don't Surf EP) we made was very rushed, I think we made it in two days. It only had six songs on it and we didn’t really know what we were doing. It’s a really fun experience making your first CD but the more you listen the more you realize how rushed it was. The second CD (Wicked Woman) we ran out of money half way through recording it. Again I love being in the studio, but we have learnt that we must take our time when recording. I think all the songs are great on both our releases, but we should have spent a lot more time making them sound perfect.
We are off into the Studio in February to make our third release, this time we will take as long as it takes. The songs we’ve written to go on it are the best we’ve ever written and the new Captain Bud line-up is the best it’s ever been. This record is gonna blow the other two out of the water.
The Pier: Well we can't wait to hear it. So how would you describe a Captain Bud show and what has been your most memorable one to date?
Simon: Captain Bud shows are the most fun you can have without a surfboard or being naked! We played a sell-out show in a town called Newquay last summer. Like I said earlier the scene is strongest down in the south west. We played a cover of Badfish and the place went fuckin’ mental, 300 people all singing Sublime as loud as we could, awesome.
Also we played a party a couple of years ago, there were 200 people in evening dresses and expensive suits. By the end of the night we had a mosh pit full of expensive looking suits and the place was trashed, tables, blood and glass everywhere that’s was pretty insane. Overall most our shows are fun, good vibes, ganja and reggae music you can’t beat it.
(Dredge and Simon blazin')
The Pier: Can you share with us what has been the craziest experience you have had since being in this band?
Simon: This is not a story about being on stage but it’s quite a good tale of a night me and Dredge had in London with BBC Punk show legend Mike Davies. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin...
Me and Dredge got some free VIP tickets to a punk show in London that was hosted by Mike Davies and some guy from Capdown, we didn’t have a place to stay but we got on a train anyway and went along to the show. We got so wasted and had a great time. By the end of the night we could hardly stand and we found ourselves outside the Islington Academy at three in the morning smoking a J with nowhere to go.
Anyways we started chatting to some girls and managed to get an invite back to their place. We got on the bus with them not knowing where we were going but happy enough. About 20 minutes into the journey across London I started feeling really ill and sick. I told Dredge “I got to get off the bus!” He laughed so I told him again. He stood up and we started walking downstairs to the exit, I followed behind very slowly barely able to walk. By the time I made it downstairs he was already off the bus and just as I got to the exit the door slammed shut in my face and the bus drove off with me still onboard and Dredge running behind the bus screaming!! I told the driver to stop but he ignored me and drove for another 10 minutes, by this point I had no idea where I was or where Dredge was.
When I got off the bus I walked for about five minutes and found myself in Piccadilly Circus with a bunch of drunks, tramps and freaks. I rang Dredge and told him to find me while I went to be sick round the corner, half an hour later after being asked for sex no less than three times each Dredge appeared across the road, spliff in hand. We both laughed for a few minutes then hailed down one of those Indian taxi things with the guy riding a bike and a big chariot on the back. We sat in the back and paid him to take us across the river to Waterloo Train Station. When we arrived at Waterloo we settled down to sleep outside the Phone Shop only to be woken at 7am by 500 commuters rushing to work. It was quite a crazy experience but I guess you had to be there.
The Pier: Yeah sounds like quite the adventure. Who would you like to play a show with if given the chance?
Simon: At the moment we are trying so hard to get a UK show going with Slightly Stoopid, hopefully we can share the stage with those guys this year. Also I would like to get something going with The King Blues and Billy Bragg as he lives just down the road from us. If we could choose anyone dead or alive it would be Joey Ramone, Joe Strummer and Brad Nowell.
The Pier: What have you got coming up in the near future?
Simon: After Christmas we have a one of show in our home town then after New Year we are having a little break. I am heading off to California for three weeks surfing. But when I get back we are straight in the studio to work on the new record that should be released in the spring time. Then we are on the road doing a mini UK tour through April and May and I can’t wait.
The Pier: Standard last question for The Pier. What’s a fun place to hang out in the summertime in England?
Simon: If you’re in England in the summer time make sure you hit the South West. You got to go to Cornwall and try some surfing. Surf all day and party all night. It’s the closest thing we got to Southern California, just a bit colder.
Thanks to Simon for spilling these Captain Bud tales. Make sure to check out some Captain Bud goodness here: