Vicious Circle

Vicious Circle are Australia's premier Hardcore band. Their truimphant return to the scene provides a new generation of music fans with the opportunity to witness their awesome power. Quite frankly they leave most "hard" bands for dead. This is an interview with their lead vocalist Paul ...

Agnostic Front were one of the bands you played with when you toured the USA in the eighties - Did you catch Agnostic Front when they came out recently ?

I caught both shows in Melbourne at the Corner Hotel, we played main support to them on the second night, which was a Thursday. It was pretty funny talking to Vinnie, fuck I couldn't stop laughing. It was great talking to Roger and Jimmy, it's kind of weird you know … a strange sense of haven't we done this before … cos we played with Agnostic Front in Texas about 10 years ago … also with G.B.H. and Life Sentence on the same bill. The venue was like a huge barn in the middle of nowhere.

What were some of the other bands Vicious Circle played with during that US tour ?

I'll have to stir my grey matter - Agnostic Front, G.B.H., Life Sentence, M.I.A., Capital Punishment, Christ on Parade, Final Conflict, Attitude Adjustment, Nation On Fire, Test Subjects, U.P.S., Pig Children, Zero Reaction, M.D.C., Crucifucks … it's so long ago. I remember Final Conflict, Agnostic Front, and Attitude Adjustment being awesome live - really powerful. Agnostic sounded more metal during that period.

Who is in the current Vicious Circle line-up ?

Paul - Vocals, Lyrics, Caber Tosser

Les - Guitar, A.F.X. racing set

Gary - Guitar, Warhammer

Chris - Bass, Dr at large

Mad Dog - Drums, Non stop pizza

When did Vicious Circle reform ? Was it 1995 ? How did it come about ?

It was actually in 94 but we didn't play until 95 … we did things at our own pace. I guess I and Les both just said lets do it and here we are now a few years down the track. I kind of always knew it would happen as Les and myself had so much material and ideas that only really suited Vicious Circle, the feel that goes with what Vicious Circle basically about. Self Determination that was at the start, now as a band we write more collectively. Everyone has different ideas and styles but it blends well to create our overall sound. I mainly write the lyrics, but its been that way from the start its pretty natural.

What has been your most memorable gig since then ?

With me its pretty much always the last time we played live, our last show was at the Arthouse - a club in Melbourne which is a Mecca for hardcore punk and underground style music. The owners care about the bands and it make a real difference. Shit I've got of the track a bit haven't I … I think you've got to have your mindset on putting on a great show even if there's twenty people or 1,000 in the room, that's the test of a committed band, just get up and fuckin' do it - cut the mustard.

Has any new Vicious Circle material has been recorded since you've reformed ?

The 3 discs available are …

Reactivate (remastered and unreleased material) on Def thru Shock.

Fixated CD EP (4 Tracks) on Spent

Internal Head Strength - 12 track CD on Spent

And a split should have come out with Stalins Organ if Dave from Spent had got his arse into gear. Slack Bastard.

A new long play will be recorded later this year.

There must be a wealth of material that was done on Reactor Records. Is anyone still running that ? Is any of that stuff still available ? Have you heard of any plans to re-release any of that material on CD ?

On the odd occasion I run into Phil McDougal from the now defunct Reactor Records. That label wound down around 89/90 I think ! After Vicious Circle released material on Waterfront in Sydney. You can still find some releases but its pretty rare now. With plans to re-release the material - I haven't heard anything. Vicious Circle own all the material we released on that label as well as everything else we've done since. I have had offers to re-release old Vicious Circle stuff but I'm more into putting out new material … maybe in the future … further down the track it'll make it to CD or vinyl again. I'm more concerned with here and now.

What do the Vicious Circle members do when they aren't playing music ?

I guess we all work to get money to do what we love, playing loud noisy friggen music. Seriously we all collect things - you know, Warhammar - Gary paints them until his eyes pop out. Les is a mad keen slot car man - fuck he has a whole room full of the shit. I collect figures and weird toys, cards, bizarre fun stuff. Chris is flat out at University studying for a degree. We all listen to so much different stuff musically - Hardcore, Blues, Reggae, Ska etc. All of us have heaps of different interests. Shit ! Mad Dog collects pizza boxes underneath his bed.. smelly bastard!

Thanks to Paul for this Interview

Discography

Search for the Solution 7" (Reactor)

Hidden Supervision 7" (Reactor)

Hope and Wait 12" (Reactor)

Vicious Circle/Youth Brigade Split 12" (Reactor)

Vicious Circle/Split LP (Flipside - USA)

Rhythm with Reason LP (Manic Ears - Europe)

Reflections LP (Reactor also on Bone Records - USA)

The Price of Progress LP (Reactor also on Core Records - Europe)

Into the Void LP (Waterfront)

Reactivate LP (Def)

Fixated EP (Spent)

Internal Headstrength LP (Spent)

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