Interviews index.                   The Gangsters.
 

Ireland's Finest Skanksters, The Gangsters returned to the ska scene a year ago with a better sound, more members, a record deal and 14 top 2-tone-ish brass laden tunes.

Way back in '92 The Gansters kicked off their ska ride and quickly became one of the favourites on the ska scene, playing over 160 gigs before splitting in 1996.

Last year the band returned with a record deal with USA's Beatsville Records (home of ) the Gangster laid down 14 tracks in one weekend and then got Jim Fox to mixing the LP back in the USA.
'A new beginning' sold over 1,000 copies in its first week and finally came out in Europe on CRS in April. (Reviewed in ska-face #4) The band have since knocked up live appearances in the UK and Ireland, supporting Bad Manners and The Dropkick Murphys as well as appearing live on Irish TV's 'open House.' Plus the bands album is in the top 5 of Pulped Street Music charts. So I thought it was well worth contacting sax man Ronan to tell us more about Gangsterska.

What are the bands main influences?

On listening to our CD its quite clear that 2-tone is a big influence on our sound. That's what most of us grew up listening to but with 11 members in the band there's obviously a wide range of other influences.... from Jazz to Armenian folk music!

Why did the band split in '96?

As you can imagine its not easy keeping such a big band together. It wasn't the first time we split. Our original line up split in mid 1993, which was a shame as we'd begun to get some worthwhile media attention here in Ireland at the time. We then returned with a new line up at the end of '95 for a busy 8 months gigging sprees but went about it the wrong way and in some ways seemed to be going backwards. There's no doubt that this is our strongest line up yet, its allot more professional overall and that's being recoginised. We're now offered some top gigs while a new beginning has been getting some national radio airplay plus TV coverage so were doing something right. Lets hope we keep it together this time for a change!

How did a deal with beatville Records come About?

Its a bit of a story but basically I had kept in touch with James McDonald, drummer with Washington DC band, The skunks, from my "Work Rest and Play" days. His new band had just released their debut album on Beatville records and through him they heard one of our demos and offered us a deal. What really impressed me about the label was they seemed committed to releasing quality and not quantity plus there were linked to top reggae label, RAS records who had just won a grammy so I felt safe it would get proper backing. It was released in September last year in the states and sold over 1,000 in the first week alone, but then unfortunately it hit some distribution problems while the ska bubble burst somewhat in America as well. It came out through CRS in Europe in March with hopefully Australia and Japan next.

What next for Gangsters?

We've been on a bit of a roll lately we'll have to keep it going with gigs, gigs and more gigs. We've been gradually introducing new material to the set with the view to maybe getting a single out here sometime. I was told you only have to sell about 400 singles here a week to get into Irelands top 40 so if we got a good single out I'm pretty sure we'd get the airplay and then who knows?!!

You used to edit "Work, ret and Play". Was that a total madness zine and what happened to it?

It covered the whole ska scene and made issue 4 in 1992. I then started playing ska instead a set about becoming a rock superstar though it hasn't quite worked out that way! I know only too well how much time and effort goes into putting together a fanzine with little or no rewards so respect to ye all!!!

What future gigs have you got lined up?

We had a busy September with 8 gigs lined up so far including appearances in Belfast and Limerick. We've also arranged for the Xplosions from London to come over for 3 gigs with us plus were playing with the Dropkick Murphys which should be interesting. We plan to continue covering a lot more of Ireland and Hopefully make it across to the UK for some more dates. We filled in a the last minute for Too Many Crooks at the ska and Reggae festival in Kent in June. Our UK debut at long last. Our European label also tell us that there's an agency interested in booking us for a European tour so that's a possibility.

What have been your best so far or the best band you've played with?

Most of our recent gigs have been great, we've played  a lot of the summer festivals around the Country. However there has been the odd strange one as well like playing along a main road outside a country pub a few weeks back! Luckily the following night it was back to normal with a great gig with Bad Manners here in Dublin. Highlights from before included playing a 3 hour set on the back of a 40 foot lorry at a bike rally in the early hours of the morning and the very first gig where the audience almost literally stomped their way through the floor to the pub below!

Do you have any covers in your live set?

We throw a couple of old skatalites numbers and usually "special brew" as Coco our singer is a Buster Bloodvessel clone though he claims to be a few pounds lighter. In fact he was mistaken for him more than once at the recent gig with Bad Manners which Was funny. I think we should enter him for "stars in your eyes".

How can people get hold of your album and how much is it?

It should be available in all 'leading' record chains like Tower, HMV and Virgin. At least it is here and in most of the UK. The price vary from £12 to £16 or something crazy like that though of course its worth every penny! If you can no longer find it there or in the bargain basement your best bet is to either contact ourselves or the likes of pulped where they sell it for a bargain £7.99 to subscribers!

It fact its number 5 in the current Pulped sales chart only behind the likes of the Specials, Madness and the Dropkick Murphys!