Earlier this week, The Ignorant Youth conducted an interview with KNUCKLEDUST drummer Ray Bussey.
After touring the U.K recently and putting on a intense performance at Outbreak Fest how do you feel the reaction has been to the new record. Both positive and negative?
Its all been very positive and we’re really happy with the reactions. We worked hard on it for around 2 years so we couldn’t ask for more really. I haven’t seen anything negative other than a couple of comments on the ‘Bluffs, Lies & Alibis’ video we did on Youtube but that was always gonna happen. You can’t please everyone!
If you had to pick a favourite place/town/city/country/venue to play where would it be? And what makes it so good to play there?
That’s a tough one to answer because we’ve played so many cool places over the years but I’d say my favourite city is Berlin as we have so many friends there but my favourite place in the world to play is a pick between the 12 Bar Club in London because the vibe is so awesome in that place or The Underworld in London because the sound in there is the best in the world I believe (for a club that size).
On your recent U.K dates which one was the best and why?
Outbreak Fest in Leeds because we honestly thought everyone would go home before we played and we were pleasantly surprised. The guys who booked it (Jordan & Lee and the crew) did a great job and got lots of undeserved stick online because of bands pulling out and matters out of their control. They should be proud of their efforts as it was by far, the best show of our tour.
In your history of being a band which show was the worst and what made it shit?
Some shows are better than others but I couldn’t tell you which show was worst for fear of offending someone but we’ve played some fucking dives and some real shit organised shows in the past. All I’ll say is, if you book a show dont depend on it being full up if you dont put the work into promotion.
After releasing Bluffs, Lies & Alibis do you feel it is the best album you have released?
Without a shadow of doubt! We had Igor Wouters from Backfire!, Born From Pain & Madball producing it and we’d demo’d it previous to going in the studio so we knew exactly what to record and what we had to do. We wasn’t very happy with ‘Promises Comfort Fools’ (the album before Bluffs…) and didnt want to be rushed into making this album. Its been 5 years between these 2 and you can see the difference and time/ effort that has gone into Bluffs. We could play any of the songs on that album live.
What would be the best / worst thing to ever happen to you on tour or at a show?
Its happened already probably! Best is meeting new people or playing and meeting bands that are heroes. We’ve been fortunate to play with The Misfits, Madball, Sick Of It All, Ignite, Suicidal Tendencies, Bulldoze to name but a few and there is nothing better! The worst thing is being on tour and being sick! We’ve had wisdom teeth decide to come through on tour causing serious infections, stitches on tours being sewn up by doctors that look like children in other countries and loads of good old fashioned food poisoning! We’ve shit, puked and pissed all at the same time on many occasions!
In a whole how has the last U.K tour compared to some previous ones?
Its been awesome but a bit strange. HC in the UK has been run by major labels, energy drink companies and shitty half arsed porn models for a while now and seems to have lost its integrity. Part of the reason we decided to tour was to spread a message of what the HC movement means to us and to get back to concentrating on what is real. If your not happy with any of the festivals in the UK then organise your own one! If you dont like any of the online fanzines or ezines – write your own! If your band cant get on a record label – start your own (we did!!!) and if your band cant get booked on any shows or bills then organise your own shows and people will return the favour. Its all about DIY. We’re working hard to try to change peoples views of having to dress a certain way or dance a certain way to be hardcore. HC shows are supposed to represent a group of people that believe different things but respect the fact that we are all part of the same movement and the fight is with the outside world that brings us all down. This cannot be supported by major labels or corporate companies as they are part of the problem, not the solution! Ask yourself this ‘what are you going to do to make HC amazing again in your town?’ You can wait for someone else to do it or get off your arse and do it yourself! LETS GO!
