SENSELESS formed in the year 2000 in Stoke On Trent, England by Gaz, Moz and Fieldsy. The band released ‘My friend’ in 2001 on a Gag records compilation from Nottingham England and gained numerous support slots to old school punk bands such as Uk Subs, Sham 69 and Stiff little Fingers.
The band signed to German Label City Rat Records in 2002 and recorded their first album in 2003 titled ‘One for the Road’ which gained good reviews in Kerrang (3/5) and Rock Sound (8/10).
In 2003 Leon (the pig farmer) joined the band on rhythm guitars which resulted in a mini tour of Germany and supported TSOL and the Bouncing Souls. In 2005 the band disbanded and cancelled their second German tour. Senseless reformed in 2010 to record 3 more songs which were produced and mixed by Fish (Skeptix, ex Discharge , Ex Business). Fish also played guitars for Senseless a short while.
The band then went on to play Rebellion Festival in Blackpool England in 2012 playing the arena stage. Senseless continued to play various punk festivals through out the Country and Europe.
This year they are back with an excellent new oi punk / street punk delivery called ‘Senselesspunx’, a mixutre of old and new recordings re-mastered in 2021.
Punk has made a massive resurgence over the last few years, but you’ve been causing Anarchy since 2000, haven’t you ?
Yes, Senseless formed in 1999 in Stoke on Trent, but we started to gig in year 2000. We were 19 years old at the time and back in the 90s and early 2000 music was booming, gigs every week and bands playing everywhere. We regularly played the Sugarmill and Talbot Inn in Stoke on Trent. I remember also playing to a sell out gig at Keel University supporting Stiff little Fingers in 2003 and playing the Hope and Anchor in London.
In 2003 we released our first ep on a German label and we did our first mini tour Germany for a week supporting the Bouncing Souls and TSOL, the Bouncing Souls had just come off the Green Day tour so was great to hear thier stories of the tour . That year Stoke City football Team released our music for their end of season VHS video’s. The days before DVD’s and youtube. We gained good reviews in Kerrang and Rock Sound in 2003, Kerrang gave us 3/5 stars for our ep ‘One for the Road’, The same issue, Kerrang gave ‘The Darkness’ 1 star for their single release which we were really chuffed about. lol
Do you all live close by to each other ?
Yes, were all from stoke On Trent and live close bye. Burslem, Norton and Meir Hay.
How did the band begin ?
Peter- and Moz met at Chico’s in 1999. we stuck an advert out for a drummer and Gaz replied. We then started to practice on a weekly basis. Leon joined on guitars between 2003 and 2005 for the German Tour and uk gigs. Senseless also have had line up changes between 2005 and 2012. Senseless though are now back to the original three piece line up.
What was the Punk scene like back in the naughties ?
Booming, in the 90s was the height of the 90s USA punk movement with bands like Blink 182. |Green Day, Offspring . The UK had a pretty decent punk scene also. Alot of the old school bands were still touring and then there was the 90s Brit pop and Brit rock scene, so Gigs were everywhere and Senseless was part of that. You can go watch a band every day of the week. We used to play the Talbott Inn on a monthly basis. One quiet Sunday night at the Talbott, we played with a USA band called ‘nerf herder’, back in the 90’s, they did the theme tune for the TV show ‘Buffy the vampire’. There was also P rock on Sky tv, they played punk videos 24 hours a day , 7 days a week. We played with so many bands, Uk subs, sham 69. Vice squad, 90s punk bands- Light year, Phineus gage.
Can you introduce the band members and what they do / play in the band ?
Peter- bass and vocals, Moz -Guitars and vocals, Gaz- Drummer
I understand you have reformed for the new album and gigs?
It has been a number of years since we have played together as an original line up , we decided to reform for a 20 year anniversary but we couldn’t do it in 2020 due to COVID and we decided to go for 2022 and reformed this Summer to play some gigs. Senseless’s songs have never really been played on radio , so we experimented with sending tracks into some radio stations , just test the reaction really and what we got was some great responses. Between March and July this year we gained 233 plays on Amazing radio and had plays on a number of stations in the Uk and USA , So we decided to go ahead with an album release.
We have a physical release of the senseless new album coming on cassette tape in Indonesia and a Vinyl album release coming up in Germany this autumn. Weve also been working with a USA label in USA who releases songs for charity organisations.
We have recently played the white star in Stoke, July for an all day Chairty event and in November Senseless will play the Underground supporting a Punk band called ‘Conflict’.
You’ve recently been signed by an Indonesian record label! How did that happen?
Senseless’s music has never really been online , as Social Media didn’t exist in the 90’s and early 2000. so only recently has our music been out on Spotify , Instagram and tik tok. We were approached by an Indonesian label called Realino Records who were following us on Instagram. Realino wanted to release our album on cassette’s in Indonesia and have created an official senseless merchandise licence agreement in Indonesia for the release of shirts and clothing. The Album will also be released in Germany on a label called Laketown Records. So were looking forward to hear our music on vinyl and cassette. Weve also been working with an album designer in America who has designed the front cover for the new album.
You have just released a new single called “Your Sincerely” which has already been played on BBC Shropshire . Can you tell us more about the song and release plans?
‘Yours sincerely’ was originally recorded in 2003 and was digitally unreleased. This year we have re mastered ‘Yours Sincerely’ and a number of other songs for the album release. ‘Yours Sincerely’ is a single from the album. We sent it into BBC Shropshire and they played it. The song is a cross between rock and punk. It was never played on radio until 2022. The song is about a person’s understanding of their life and what they plan for their future.
I see you have received acclaim from Kerrang Magazine. Can you tell us about that please?
In 2003 we had two reviews of our ep ‘One for the road ‘from the largest rock magazine’s at the time Kerrang and Rock Sound.
“One excellent album of catchy, timeless punk-rock. 8/10″ – Rocksound on the album One For The Road;
“Songs about punk, fighting and drinking, Punk the way momma use to make it! 3/5” – Kerrang! Magazine.
Songs from that Ep will also be on the new album.
Are there quite a few Punk festivals around these days?
The Uk punk scene continues to grow, the largest festival being Rebellion festival in Blackpool. The festival has grown in popularity s over years and is much bigger than when Senseless played in 2012. This year they had a number of outdoor stages and more acts. Over 300 acts perform at Rebellion festival. Slam Dunk festival has also grown bigger. New punk festivals and events are popping up everywhere.
If you could support any Punk band, who would it be?
I think the clash would have been a great band to support. Energetic band with revolutionary anthems. It would have been great to have met Joe Strummer.
So regarding the songwriting process how do you start to wrote a song?
The song writing process is pretty much 50/ 50 between Peter and Moz. Moz will write a melody, Peter will then write the riff. After a few practices the song writing will develop between Peter and Moz. And lyrics will then start to form. Gaz will add the beats and contribute towards the guitar riff. After a month or two of practice and song development, the track will be ready to be recorded.
Any song you wish you’d written?
There is no particular song I wish we had written, but we would like to start to cover more songs as part of the set. ‘Warhead’ by the UK subs seems relevant for today with the current climate of Russia and the Ukraine War.
What sort of message to you want to put out in your music ?
A song about life experience and positivity. Keep it real as we have difficulties in life, but with the right help we can over come difficulties. Impressions of life, life aint what it seems, shine your light on me, in my darkest dreams.
Favourite gig you have played?
Hope and Anchor Islington, London. The pub has a great history with the punk scene The stranglers recorded their live set there and other bands that have played were the jam , the clash, the police and the Ramones. It was great to play there and soak in the punk history.
Ok, so lastly where can we see you next?
November 19th at the Underground, Stoke on Trent.
