Posted on June 7, 2010 - by Kim Ford

The Filaments: Resurrected (again)

Jonny One Lung © Kim Ford

When they disbanded in 2006, Chelmsford ’s The Filaments were widely hailed as one of the U.K’s premier punk acts. After a serious amount of last ever shows, they’ve “given up on giving up” and are back together for good, with talk of a new album in the pipeline. Distorted caught up with singer Jonny One Lung to see what the story is and what fans can expect from The Filaments and his other projects as well as delving into his time in the US and studying to be a nurse.

Jim: So, you guys have done a serious amount of “last ever shows”, what’s that all about?

Jonny: Yes, we certainly did do a lot of ‘last ever shows!’  It’s a bit embarrassing really as I know it’s such a joke to so many people, and we certainly got a lot of stick along the way for it, but each time we played those shows, we genuinely thought we would never be playing again.  When we split up, we had been working so hard and playing so much that playing once or twice a year never even seemed like an option to us, it didn’t even cross our minds. So when I moved to America we started other projects and thought that was that as far as The Filaments went.  Each year when I came back to England to visit, we were getting gig offers, and good shows at that with friend’s bands. So we jumped at the opportunity, just for a piss up and a laugh more than anything else.  Anyway, this happened for a few years, and we were playing brilliantly fun shows, but getting more and more embarrassed each time about it.  Now that I’ve moved back to England, all the lads are bored of not playing, so it just makes sense for us to give up on the trying to give up front and just start playing again. When we first broke up, we had tired ourselves out so we didn’t feel the urge to play particularly, but after a four or five year break, we want to do it again. So why not?

Jim: So are you back living in the UK for good now then?

Jonny: Yes, I had a good time in America, but I also grew really home sick and missed my family and friends a lot.  I missed English culture and felt a bit alienated and lonely in America after being there about three years.   I think I’m much more of a home-body than I thought, cause when I left the UK, I was the first to go on about how rubbish it is over here, only to find out that I actually love a lot about where I grew up.  I found a cultural identity that I overlooked in myself a lot which was good from the point of personal growth.  I’d still move abroad again, perhaps for work, but probably only for six months to a year at a time.

Jim: What did you miss in particular?

Jonny: Little things like the way people interact with each other and the sense of humour are really different in America.  On the surface the culture is really similar between us and America, but when you dig a little deeper, its not.  I think self deprecation is important over here, where as the opposite seems true in the States.  Little home comforts like not being able to get a decent cooked breakfast anywhere also took their toll, and I also just became homesick for all my old stomping grounds.

Jim: By your Spurs (Tottenham Hotspurs for you non-football fans) t-shirt I can see you’re a bit of a Tottenham fan – did you get to watch many games over there? I guess the football/pub culture must differ quite a bit in America? Was that something you missed too?

Jonny: I actually rediscovered my love for football when I was in America.  I was a massive Tottenham fan until about the age of 13, when I found other interests like music really took over.  While I was feeling homesick in New York, my friend Brendan took me out to the New York Spurs club in Manhattan to watch a game, and that was it, I was hooked again.  I went down every week for the last couple of seasons, down the pub at eight am most games cause of the time difference.  Very good times!  And yes, there is certainly a difference between American bars and English pubs, and I think our pubs and drinking culture are something we should value, it’s a fantastic social institution, the subtleties of which I took for granted until I was forced to go without.

Jim: So, why did you go to America to train to become a nurse? Couldn’t you have done this in England? And are you a fully qualified punk rock nurse now you’re back then?

Jonny: Yes I could have trained as a nurse in England, and my mum told me to do this till she was blue in the face.  I went to America as my girlfriend at the time was American, and it seemed like a good opportunity to see a bit of the world and see where things went.  It’s a financial regret of mine as I paid tens of thousands of pounds to do the degree over there when I would have been paid to do it here, but not a life regret as I made so many friends, made a record with some of my favourite musicians (241ers – Murderers), and had so many good experiences.  I also felt like doing nursing in England, I would have always had the distraction of music in the background, and who knows if that would have had a disastrous effect on my learning.  I completed my training and became a registered nurse in the state of Pennsylvania, but when I got back to England, I didn’t have enough clinical hours to register here, so sadly for me, I’m redoing my degree at the moment which is a massive frustration.

Jim: So you’re doing a degree you’ve already done?

Jonny: Yep! I met a girl on my course from Nepal who is in the same situation – a registered nurse from another country doing a nursing degree as they couldn’t cut through the red tape. Nightmare!

Jim: How have the NHS reacted to your tattoos? Don’t you have some quite offensive ones?

Jonny: The NHS have not got a policy as far as I am aware of on tattoos.  I receive more positive and curious comments

Jonny One Lung © Kim Ford

than I do negative ones.  I think at the end of the day if you are good at your job, they can’t say anything.  There is a ban on wearing sleeves in clinical setting as an infection control measure so my arms are always on show; skulls, bombs, spider webs, daggers and everything!  It’s a bit embarrassing for me being the only one that really looks like this, but so far I haven’t been told I can’t do my job because of them. I read an article about this subject in a nursing journal which was against nurses having tattoos, but I think you have to respect peoples culture, and I consider tattoos a cultural issue, so if its not putting the patient at risk or having a negative effect on their care in anyway, this should be respected.

Jim: Even your skull tattoo saying ‘God Save The Sin’ and the bombs saying ‘Fuck The World’?

Jonny: Well… fair point haha. I probably do need to get a little bit of cover up work done!

Jim: Your nickname is Jonny One Lung due to the horrible incident of your lung collapsing whilst playing a show with The Filaments at the Army And Navy. Was this what prompted you to become a nurse or is this something you’ve always wanted to do?

Jonny: That event didn’t really have an effect on my career aspirations.  I was still of the opinion back then that I could tour all the time, have no stability or money and still be happy.  I was only ever going to be in a punk band.  I’m not of that opinion any more, so perhaps it would have had more of an impact on me if my head wasn’t quite so much in the clouds.  I always thought I would end up working the care homes one day as a carer, and nursing was just the same sort of work, but with more career options and better pay.

Jim: Onto the band then, Herve (Laurent) from Deadline has been filling in on bass for your last two live shows, is this a permanent set up? Have there been any other lineup changes?

Jonny: Herve is hopefully a permanent addition to the band.  He put out our first record, took us on some of our first European tours and has always been a good friend to us.  Having him in the band really feels right for us, as he fits in on both a musical and personal level.  Plus he makes us feel a lot tougher as well!

Jim: Haha and I hear you may be playing guitar for Deadline this summer – is it a case of he scratches your back, you scratch his?

Jonny: I’m just helping Deadline out for a few shows as their guitarist can’t play with them.  It gives me a chance to play which is something I will always jump at, and I love the guys and gal in that band so it’s a win-win for me.

Jim: Fair dues. So, there’s talk of a new album in the pipeline. What can we expect from the new material? Are you guys still politically charged and angry at the world?

Jonny: Yes and no.  I think one of my main motivations for wanting to get the band back together was that I wanted to make a slightly more mature album with this band. The last stuff we put out was written when I was an angry 18 year old who thought he had all the answers. The subject matters of our songs read like a tick list of ‘must sing about’ punk rock subjects, and though they always came from the heart, I wonder if the lyrics were a result of being too submerged within the cliques and scenes of punk rock.  The new songs I think are more interesting lyrically, and yes most of the songs still contain some sort of social commentary.  There’s stuff about the employment rights of temporary workers, Christian fundamentalist zeal, the digital economy act and Ian Tomlinson’s murder on there, but at the same time, I’m wise enough to recognise that I don’t have much to add to any of these debates, and so I will always also have some songs on any record about the one thing I do know about… going down the boozer with the lads!

Jim: Any songs about Essex or skinhead characters?

Jonny: No skinhead characters on this record… we have a tune called ‘Tears of Essex’ though which is about Nick Griffin (BNP) running for election in our beloved county.

Jim: Do you still see Trevor about in Essex (Subject of the bands oi-stomper song ’Trevor’)? Is it true he has a Filaments back tattoo in homage to the song?

Jonny One Lung © Kim Ford

Jonny: Haven’t seen Trevor in a long time, he was never of sound mental health and the last I heard he was struggling with that sadly.  The Filaments back piece is actually sported by Liot who is Trevor’s nephew that used to come to all the shows with him. Liot can be seen bouncing (security) for various nightclubs around Chelmsford these days.

Jim: With the band back together are there any new influences musically? What is currently on The Filaments stereo?

Jonny: I would say most of the old influences to our music have remained, but they may have branched out a little further.  At the moment I’m really into country, by people like Merle Haggard, David Allan Coe (and yes I’m aware of the fact that he is a terrible human being) and Dale Watson, and I also love dancehall reggae.  I’m also just as likely to be playing Chas and Dave as I am the Clash, so hopefully some of that feel good factor will brush off on us!

Jim: Will the new album be released on Household Name Records? Or are you guys looking into other labels?

Jonny: It’s a bit early to comment on that.  Lil and Kafren (House Hold Name Records) have always been great to us at Household Name, but I haven’t spoken to them about any potential deal, and probably wont until the album is well under way.

Jim: You guys no longer embrace the tartan trousers, Mohawks and piercings you famously once did, which some argue isn’t very punk any more. Have you had any bad reactions in the punk scene because of the image change?

Jonny: Haha, yeah we don’t look quite as punk any more.  Truth is, I would think it would be unusual if we were still dressing the same as we did when we were 16 now that we are pushing 30.  I love punk style, but my life is different and I certainly feel a lot less rock and roll to how I felt back then. I’m a nurse these days; piercings, charged hair and everything else doesn’t really wash in that game! Some people have had a problem with us not dressing overtly punk these days, but I would say most people have the brains to realise that of all the many positive things to take out of punk rock, clothing is perhaps the least important.

Jim: Pete (Hudson) looks pretty buff now. Is he really a wrestler?

Jonny: Pete is a bloody sexy man these days.  How else do you get a physique like that if it’s not wrestling?

Jim: Haha exactly and Al Gunby was The King Blues drummer for some time; did the fallout of The King Blues help with the reforming of The Filaments? What are your thoughts on The King Blues success and this opening more doors for UK punk bands to gain commercial success – do you hope for The Filaments to have a slice of this?

Jonny: Well obviously now Al is not drumming with the King Blues, its better for us as we don’t have to share him as

The Filaments © Kim Ford

much.  They have obviously gone far further than any band from our scene ever has which is a big achievement for them.  As for opening doors for other bands to the mainstream though I don’t really agree with you.  Their success is down to a combination of Itch (The King Blues) being one of the best front men I have ever seen, the bands reputation as a terrific live act, but perhaps most importantly the cash injection that was put into them by Island/Field.  I think getting a band to that next level is nearly always a case of just needing good marketing and money behind you.  The Filaments are not only totally un-investable, but we don’t have anyone that can sing in the band, and we write songs that make us feel like we are playing in Rancid, so not exactly contemporary trend setters!  Definitely no mainstream success for us, but if one band were to follow in The King Blues footsteps, I would have a punt on The Skints.

Jim: You have been involved with a couple other bands yourself. What’s happening with  Suicide Bid and Babylon Whackers?

Jonny: Trouble in paradise sadly for Suicide Bid as some people now refuse to work with other people, which I suppose frees up my time a little bit for a potential follow up record with the Babylon Whackers!  No, not really sure what will happen with either of those outfits sadly.

Jim: Really? So will there be no more Suicide Bid albums?

Jonny: Well actually we are halfway through a recording; I just don’t know what will happen with it due to the politics of the situation at hand, sadly.

Jim: Sad news indeed. You’ve also been doing a fair few solo acoustic shows with Dancehall artist Majah Tunder, who also appears on the Babylon Whackers album and appeared on stage at The Garage last year with Suicide Bid. How did this collaboration come about? And do you plan to do more work together in the future?

Jonny: Tunder is a genius and I love working with him.  I was fond of his work that I had heard online and asked him if he would be up for a collaboration and thankfully he said yes.  It’s good to work with someone with a genuine understanding of reggae, who can give our music something that us as punk rock background emulators can’t achieve – a certain authenticity.  Before he worked with us, Tunder thought the punk scene was racist, so it’s been eye opening for him to see the love he gets when he performs with us!  I hope to do as much work with him as I am able to convince him to do and people should keep an eye out for his stuff.

Jim: And now that you’re back living in the UK and with The Filaments reforming, does this mean the end of The 241ers (half of which is based in the US)?

Jonny: I would love to record some more 241ers stuff, and we have a load of stuff written.   I was visiting the guys in NYC last month though, and Joe (Piglet-bass) was not into the idea of doing the band unless we were regularly playing together, so sadly, it doesn’t look like we will be doing anything anytime soon.

Jim: Finally what are your future plans with The Filaments recording new album aside? Can we expect a headlining tour to accompany the new album?

Jonny: All we want to do is play the odd show, put out the odd record, and drink the odd beer together.  Hopefully people will be able to enjoy all these things with us and getting back together won’t have been the worst idea we ever had!