Posted on April 11, 2010 - by Editor

Punk 4 The Homeless

Punk 4 The Homeless

One aspect of punk rock and the culture that appealed to me was a general social and political consciousness which prevailed and I felt should be engrained in the music and the fabled “scene”. From benefit shows and albums, movements for change and anti racism campaigns various bands and people within punk do take a stand and try and make a positive change. Earlier this year Punk 4 The Homeless (P4TH) came to Distorted’s attention so we decided to talk to its founder Gary “Eagle” Eggling to hear what it’s all about.

Steve: So tell us a little about yourself?

Eagle: My name is Gary Eagling but I am known to the world (except my mum) as Eagle. I got into punk approximately 34 years ago (old punks never die, they just shop at Evans) after seeing the Stranglers on Top Of The Pops, which just blew me away. Shortly after this I went to see Sham 69 at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, although this was a blood bath (it was in the days when merely going to a punk gig could win you a bravery award) and getting arrested (sitting in a cell for something I didn’t do) it was a great gig and I never looked back. At the moment I have been long term ill for five years plus, which gives me sometime to run Punk 4 The Homeless, do my acoustic busking punk stuff as half of Creepy Cool and Eagle Spits, do my Industrial Punk poetry ,as half of EAGLESPITSHEX. As well as help at the soup kitchen which is based at Centenary Methodist Church, which is where I put P4TH gigs on in Boston (UK), and yes I have broke punk rock rules (this is not fight club); I am a Christian, who attends a Methodist church.

Steve: How long have you been involved with assisting the homeless or other projects? Why do you do it?

Eagle: I have been putting gigs on for years; benefits are the only ones I have not lost loads of money on. Until 2004 I was running the Doin It For The Kids punk festival annually, but I was taken out of action for a long time due to illness. The festival used to raise money for Casa Alianza (the street children charity-stopping cops killing kids is punk rock), which is where the money (if we ever make any) goes from P4TH shows. The first time I put on a homeless benefit was for Shelter circa 92’, Blaggers ITA, headlined and it was at an open air swimming pool; we had to employ life guards for the evening. The local police were looking for ways to arrest me for weeks prior due to putting on an anti fascist band. I guess I also do it because I believe I should love others as myself, if I was in a mess I would want someone to help me.

Steve: How did Punk 4 The Homeless came about & how long has it been running?

Eagle: This is probably going to sound insane but here goes. I was late for church one Sunday morning after a late Saturday night. When I got there they had just started singing the hymn “Lord of Sea and Sky”I thought I know this, and then it dawned on me that The Vandals do it on “Oi to the World”. During this hymn I got the conviction that I should start putting punk gigs on again. This lead to Punk 4 The Homeless. I often say to my mates in the pub, (I do have a warped sense of humour, I was a mental health nurse for years) that, ”George Bush said God told him to bomb Iran, He told me to put punk gigs on to help street children, one of us is lying” It has been running for about five months, with the third gig being on May 1^st,but with other people organising gigs around the world, and a compilation CD coming out soon as well as a free P4TH download album, put out by Stone Age Records from Indonesia.

Steve: Where is it based and who can use it?

Eagle: It is based in Boston, Lincolnshire, operations run from a council flat and P4TH gigs are put on in a big hall within a Methodist church. The gigs are all age and we basically charge whatever people can afford. Probably 50% of our audiences are homeless people who come in from being at the soup kitchen, so they get a good feed and an evening of the finest punk rock. The punk scene was a bit dead in Boston which is a real pity because it was buzzing a few years ago (The Indian Queen is still a good venue but gigs are quiet, as far as I am told-I got banned a couple of years ago). It is hoped that all age gigs will bring some young blood into the scene).

Steve: What are the main goals of the project and what obstacles does it face?

Eagle: The main goals are to save lives and relieve suffering. Without sounding too political I think one of the main difficulties is that governments are very good at dividing and ruling and I think that the coming together of punk and church could have a very strong role in changing society for the better. Traditionally Christians have worked together with others to effect change with amazing results. i.e. The Anti Slavery movement (Wilberforce) The American civil rights movement (Rev Martin Luther King), The RSPCA, as well as Christian anarchists like Tolstoy helping other anarchists to get published. As far as I am concerned on this one, it doesn’t matter what inspires the ambulance driver to drive the ambulance just as long as he drives the ambulance, but obviously suspicions and paranoia have to be overcome.

Steve: How do you raise proceeds? Are there events and how often are they?

Eagle: Gigs every two months. The next being 1^st May and featuring Septic Psychos, OIz 11 Men, Apocalypse Babies, Born To Destruct and Senseless.

Compilation CD’s, T-shirts as well as encouraging donations to Casa Alianza UK and encouraging people to get involved with Casa Alianza’s letter writing campaigns, etc to bring about justice and change.

Steve: What is the connection between this project and punk rock, and how can people involved in punk rock help?

Eagle: Punk 4 The Homeless obviously has a love for punk music, its attitudes and loads of other stuff. People can get involved in a number of ways (feel free to contact us through MySpace or garyeagling777@btinternet.com) They can play one of our gigs, come to one of our gigs, help advertise, donate tracks for comps, help get out comps etc. do magazine, radio features, interviews. Basically anything creative, we are open to ideas. Stoneage Records helped put the MySpace site together and John Dean designed our shirts; just an example of how people can help.

Steve: What services does it offer and who benefits?

Eagle: We definitely are aiming to help street children at the moment but also a lot of homeless people come to our gigs. We do not offer the amount of support we would like to offer because of finances, but it is early stages. The last Doin it For The Kids fest was two days and we raised £1700 in those two days, which is an awful lot of 8 pence breakfasts for a child in Guatemala city, but people cannot eat past glories.

Steve: How have you seen the recession effecting people?

Eagle: It is always the poorest to suffer worst in a recession and these kids are no exception. So maybe if someone could think aye up, ”if I drink one less pint I could give someone a meal and maybe save myself a cleaning bill” then P4TH would have been worth it. The irony was lost on me at the time but I always used to slag off rich people whilst sitting in a pub all night drinking approx 300 kids’ breakfasts. These things are worth thinking about because people are suffering and dying unnecessarily.

Steve: What response have you seen from people in the community?

Eagle: I guess that would mean what community? With the exception of the odd PC Anarcho Facist, the punk community has been amazingly supportive, internationally, if not 100% locally with yourselves, Punk Globe, Stu Taylor, Tara Rezz, Stone Age Records to name a few being great and going the extra mile with us.(a big thank you to you all, and others, I do not have time to mention you all)

The Christian community (not so bemused as I probably expected) being great, it’s funny to see punk posters in church notice boards around the town; using their time and facilities for nothing.

The local homeless people plugging and coming to our gigs and dragging others with them.

But then there is the segment of the community which sees the homeless as an eyesore and go along with what one of the local papers said, that there is only one homeless person in Boston. I wonder what they would say about the holocaust.

Steve: Any final words?

Eagle: “Either this wallpaper goes or I do” (Oscar Wilde)