Runt
"Southern Cross", "Energetic
Krusher", "Hellbastard", "Whatever", "The Rubbers", "The Almighty" and
now "RUNT"... These are the bands that have occupied the notorious guitar
expert that hears in the name Nick Parsons, ever since he got interested
in this music...and all we have to say is...so far...so good... Let's hear
him out!
1.HELLO MR. PARSONS! CAN YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF
AND GIVE A SHORT HISTORY OF YOUR MUSICAL CAREER TO DATE AND ALSO LET THE
GREEK/WORLDWIDE READERS KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY LEADING UP TO THE FORMATION
OF RUNT, YOUR PRESENT MIGHTY ROCKING TRIO…?
Hello all you Greek people…and BEHIND THE
VEIL. My name is Nick and I am the singer/guitarist with RUNT. Musical
History in brief eh?? FUCK! Ok…I started playing the guitar when was 13…formed
my first band “Southern Cross” aged 16 years old. Joined a South Shields
band called “Energetic Krusher” aged 17 years old and recorded some demos
and an album with them, did a fair few shows with E.K. , did loads of shows
with “Hellbastard”…(still love that name) then I joined “Hellbastard” and
did a ton of shows… the most memorable being a tour in Italy with “Hellbastard”
and “Napalm Death” abd sine cool shows with “Hellbastard” and “Carcass”
in Europe. Then I formed my own band “Whatever”, recorded lots of demos
and 2 albums…did shitloads of shows, then split up. Formed a punk band
called “The Rubbers”, which never really got off the ground…Joined “The
Almighty”, did 2 albums with them and lots of tours…split up and then I
formed RUNT…and so far…so good.
2.NICK, YOU WERE ONCE A MEMBER OF “THE ALMIGHTY”,
QUITE A BIG NAME IN THE ROCK/METAL WORLD. WHAT WAS YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE(S)
AND WORST (IF ANY) WHILST BEING IN THAT BAND?
The Almighty experience was all pretty good
I suppose. The most memorable for me was going down to London for the audition
and getting the job, then going to Japan. What a fucking weird place that
was…imagine landing on the moon abd you are there!! Hahaha. (note from
Scruff: I HAVE been to Japan…LOVED it! Got a lot of cool mates there and
stuff. Love the respect the politeness of the people and their eagerness
to understand the British culture of music,etc). Anyway as far as bad experiences…there
are not that many really… the usual bad huffs etc. Oh yeah…Opening for
Slayer and Iron Maiden in Paris (France) was good!
3.THE FIRST THING THAT STRUCK ME ABOUT RUNT WAS
THE W H O L E SOUND, PRO-WRITING AND EXECUTION OF THE SONGS, THEN I THOUGHT…”SOUNDS
LIKE A -MAJOR LABEL STATUS- BAND”… BUT OF COURSE, THAT WAS MERELY A “DEMO”
I WAS LISTENING TO!!! AND IT WAS RECORDED (AS YOU SAY…) “IN A MATE’S HOUSE
IN THE ATTIC”…NO LESS!! TELL US ALL SOMETHING ABOUT THIS…VERY PRO-SOUND!
“A very PRO sound” eh??? Thanks a lot man,
scruff. It all comes down to KNOWING how I want to hear the band…big FUCK
OFF guitars and distorted vocals…BIG bass and DRUMS and also the privilege
of having a good mate with a studio where you can take the time to GET
INTO IT. I think that’s all it boils down to… knowing what you want to
hear and knowing how to get it. Use your ears!!!
4.ANY STRONG POLITICAL VIEWS HELD BY ANY RUNT
MEMBER?
WE are NOT politically motivated and we certainly
don’t claim to be. We all have our own views on stuff and that’s all they
are. VIEWS. NOT our music.
5.YOUR OPINION ON “NU-METAL”?
When did METAL become “NU”…I keep trying to
remember but for some reason I can’t. I took too much acid that day. I
don’t know. Metal is still metal to me… it has been for the past 30 years,
from Maiden to Metallica to Slayer to Slipknot it all rocks, grinds and
punches you in the fucking throat. Adding “NU” to the front of it doesn’t
make it different or “NU”…it also doesn’t make it all GOOD either. Some
of it is WANK, too many talentless CUNTS jumping on the bandwagon that
they can’t drive. Don’t worry though… sooner or later they are all gonna
CRASHHHHHH. Hahahahaha.
6.IF YOU WEREN’T THE FUCKING GENIUS THAT YOU ARE
ON GUITAR AND VOCALS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’D BE DOING NOW?? SERIAL KILLING?
MURDER?
By Scruff lad…you’re very complimentary in
this interview. “Genius” I don’t feel like a genius… but I like the title.
I don’t know. Perhaps a career in death… what a job eh?? Where do you apply???
I sell guitars and stuff for a living…not a bad job for a guitarist eh??
BUT “MUSO’S” Are all CUNTS.
7.TELL US ALL SOMETHING ABOUT THE OTHER TWO MEMBERS
OF RUNT…ANYTHING!
The other 2 members of the band are Ronnie
(Drums) and GAV (Bass)…Ronnie – son of a farmer who smokes loads of hash…likes
South Shields Stripper-Bars…very laid back, nice geezer. Gav is a South
Shields stripper (Joking, man!!). Gav is laid back and drinks a lot, especially
“Strungy”…that is Strongbow Cider to you folks… he also rocks on his four-string…and
they are as important to RUNT as I am.
8.WHAT IS THE SONG “HELLO THE SICKNESS” ABOUT…AND
“WHINGER”? WHAT ARE THEY AIMED AT?
Well…what ARE the songs about eh??? “Hello
The Sickness” – showing one face and hiding another, be it in whatever
walk of life that you are in, everyone has a secret, a lie, a façade,
but sometimes the mask we wear cracks and we are shown something we don’t
like…HELLO THE SICKNESS.
“Whinger” – in this business you meet
a lot of assholes…on the long winding road to nowhere… (sorry – I mean
“Stardom”…haha DO I?) Whinger is dedicated to all of them affected wankers
that whine and moan about what they have aspired to, or not, as in so many
cases…delusions of grandeur me thinks.
9.WOULD ANY OF RUNT DIE FOR THEIR “ART”?
Dying for art is easy. Dying for a cause is
real. Dying for attention is just SAD. I think we are all pretty strong
characters, I can not see any one of us thinking that way these days.
10.WHAT’S THE MOST PECULIAR THING THAT HAS HAPPENED
TO RUNT THUS FAR? EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR BETWEEN THE 3 OF YOU? LET ME TELL
YOU, WEIRD SHIT HAPPENS TO ME EVERYDAY – SO BY THOSE ODDS, SOME WEIRD STUFF
MUST HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU THREE.
Weird shit eh??? We played in this “Metal”
pub here in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne…”TRILLIANS”…and we were on our second last
song and this kid decided to take a flying run and jump into Ronnie’s drumkit…with
dire consequences I MUST add. Ronnie just punched the FUCK out of him and
then threw him off the stage, to a HUGE crowd applause
RUNT – LIVE AND
VIOLENT!!! Anyway, we carried on playing and that was that. Rock ‘n’ roll
eh?
11.DO RUNT ACCEPT THAT POLTERGEIST ACTIVITY DOES
HAPPEN?…OR?
More weird shit. Ghosts, poltergeists…Aliens.
I used to be a big believer in all that kind of stuff, but as I have gotten
older I have become more sceptical. But I still believe to this day I was
beamed up by aliens in a place called CROYDON WOODS (Believe me it was
real…and nothing to do with the Micro-Dots…I SWEAR).
12.ROCK ‘N’ ROLL IS MEANT TO BE UNSAFE AND ANGRY
IN MY EYES. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SAFE, NAMBY- PAMBY, LITTLE COLLEGE
BANDS THAT WANT TO BE “FAMOUS” CAUSE THEY THINK THAT IS THE WAY TO GO??
Everybody wants to be famous. Be it a rock
star, TV star, football player… and the easiest way to do it is PLAY THE
GAME and usually playing the game means playing it SAFE. If you want to
be famous, if you want to be DANGEROUS, just do what you do. I do.
13.HAVE ANY MEMBERS OF RUNT EVER THOUGHT ABOUT
SUICIDE? SPILL THE BEANS, LIKE.
I think everyone has their downer times. Some
people just get on and cope and some don’t. Personally, I think I had some
kind of breakdown when I was in “whatever”…(note: Hahaha!!! Me too…with
“Nero Circus”). Too many drugs, too much bullshit and I think at that point…the
LOWEST point it crossed my mind. BUT that’s all it did…it was a passing
thought in time…in my tortured mind… AT THAT TIME. As far as the other
two go, I don’t know…it isn’t something we’ve ever discussed.
14.PLEASE TELL THE WORLDWIDE READERS HOW THEY
CAN OBTAIN ONE OF THE GENIUS AUDIO RECORDINGS OF THE MONSTER THAT IS RUNT??
WEBSITE?? EMAIL??
How do “YOU, THE READERS” get a copy of our
cd eh???? Well…send me a S.A.E and £5.00 (Euros make it 8) and I
will send you a disc…that simple.
15.ANY LAST WORDS? COME ON… THANKS FOR YOUR TIME
AND PATIENCE IN ANSWERING MY SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL QUESTIONS?
Well, Mr. Lewty once again it has been a pleasure
to answer your questions (probing as they are!) only kidding man, scruff!!!
This being the SECOND RUNT INTERVIEW ever I hope I have given you all some
INSIGHT into the mad dark world of RUNT. Thanks a lot!
Contact RUNT:
NICK PARSONS
9 WESTMINSTER STREET
GATESHEAD
TYNE AND WEAR
NE8 4QE
UK
EMAIL: [email protected]
SITE: http://www.r-u-n-t.co.uk
Malcolm “Scruff”
Lewty
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