I think it was around 1997, I sent off for a 7" of the band Spite on BLIND DESTRUCTION RECORDS, Pete who did the label at the time sent me back a list of other bands he released on his label. So I sent off again for The Retarts and a band I hadn't heard of,called Broken. Broken at the time really reminded me of Final Conflict, thought it was great. About a year later I had moved to Dublin and outside a No Means No gig an American girl came up to me and said "wow your the first Irish punk I've seen, have you ever heard of Broken?", to her surprise I said yes I had! She gave me a copy of their split with Boiling Man. After hearing that I was hooked, so sent them an email saying I thought they were great and if they ever wanted a gig in Ireland, to get in touch. The singer Jim Martin got back to me and said they'd be interested in doing it with their mates Aus Rotten. I'm a bit hazy on this but I think Aus Rotten broke up around then so it ended up to be just Broken touring with Coldwar and my old band Stress. A lot of the dates got fucked up and messed about, which would be far too boring to go into. But Broken released an album just for the tour called "Mad As Fuck" on Jim's label Magilla Guerrilla Records. Rich Lard from Dogshit Sandwich organised a UK tour, Andy from the Dangerfields organised the North of Ireland and I organisd the republic of Ireland leg of the tour. Everything was all set to plan, they left the states on September 10, 2001. Needless to say, everyone was still in shock arriving into Ireland. Broken were a great bunch and played some fantastic gigs here. And I've been quite the fan ever since. Their sound has changed a lot since that tour, I think these days they remind more of Poison Idea. Jim Martin lead singer with the band answered these questions, cheers Jim. 1. It's been a long time since you were in Ireland, have you been touring much since then? Jim Martin: No not really. BROKEN had some line up changes after that tour in 2001. Our bassist Wolf went to prison, so he got replaced by Paul Oppel. The following year we kicked out our guitarist Richie for not showing up to gigs, he was replaced by Gerry Stopper. We have been going to Canada frequently. The border is 5 hours drive from where we live in Connecticut. Montreal has one of the best punk scenes in North America at the moment. There are some fantastic bands like AFTER THE BOMBS, INEPSY, BORN DEAD ICONS, and C.C.S.S. They have been very kind to BROKEN. 2. It must have been very strange for you coming over touring the UK and Ireland during september 11th. Did you fly out the same day? You were on the ferry to Ireland when you heard the news, was it? Jim Martin: BROKEN had toured previously in the U.K. back in 1998. We flew out of New York City on the night of September 10, 2001. We landed in Manchester, England on September 11. We took a train to Holyhead to catch a ferry to Dublin for the first part of our tour. We learned of the attacks in the U.S. on the docks at Holyhead. As the ferry departed we could see R.A.F. fighters scrambling down the English coast in anticipation of an attack on Britain. The telephones were down to the U.S.A. We live not far from Manhattan. World War 3 was in my thoughts with a total feeling of uncertainty about my friends and family. It took quite a bit of whisky on the ferry to calm me down. I am in no means a flag waving ugly American. But the sheer horror of that attack shook me to the core. I also feel the U.S.A. had it coming. Our American modern Roman Empire. It is naked arrogance the way my government conducts itself. FUCK THE NEW WORLD ORDER!! I am even a veteran and feel this way. I've been inside the war machine and runs on bullshit! 3. What did you think of the Irish and English scenes? much differant than your own. Is there a big scene where you live? Is it expensive to record there, gig etc? Jim Martin: I have been travelling back and forth from Europe for decades. Europe is where it is at for strong punk scene networks. The U.S. is horrible for that. The U.S. is gigantic and it costs a lot of money to get around. European cities are clustered for easy movement. In the U.S. if you don't get a job it is very difficult to get assisstance from the government. So our schedules are quite hectic. In Europe some people kind of float economically in a socialist system. Northern Ireland was an eye opener for us. The hate there was in the open with their murals, flags, and painted curbs. It reminded me of what I learned about the American segregated south during the civil rights movement in the 1960's. It was ugly and interesting at the same time. The punks we met in Belfast didn't take any shit from the cops that's for sure. We got caught in the middle of a punk vs. police street fight outside The Warzone Collective. I was impressed how The Warzone was well prepared and organized for such an occurance. New York City is the closest large city to us. The scene is kind of waning at the moment. CBGB's is due to close at any moment. New York will find it's feet again. There is a lot of things to angry about in N.Y.C. Corruption, transit strikes, police brutality, the sheer cost of living there, etc. The kids will need to vent their hostilities creatively once again. The youth marketing execs on Madison Avenue are counting on it!! Like I mentioned earlier Montreal, Canada is cold but fucking cool at the moment. Loads of punk run bars and venues. Look it up cyber kids. Pol le vous francais? Ack!! I can't spell in french!! Recording here is not so expensive. Now that everyone has a computer with a pro-tools program for recording. No more tape, it's all hard drive!! 4. You've a lot of history Jim in the punk scene, any silly touring stories from your time roadie'ing with Nausea, Aus Rotten and gigging with Broken? Jim Martin: I've found if you hang out long enough in the punk scene everyone knows who you are. By the way in an up coming issue of Profane Existence Magazine I submitted my complete Nausea tour diary. I was with Nausea in Poland after the wall came down. Somebody told us if you're driving through the Polish countryside and a Polish soldier tries to stop you, don't stop, keep going because they will rob you at gunpoint. The Polish Army hadn't been paid in a while. The next day I was driving Nausea to the next gig through the Polish countryside. I saw a Polish soldier jump out of the brush with a machine gun pointed at us. He waved at us to stop. I put the pedal to the metal and yelled for every one to duck. I thought he was going to shoot at us when we drove by. I could see the soldier jumping up and down in the rearview mirror. That was a good nervous laugh! With Aus Rotten in some off time in East Germany we were exploring and abandoned Soviet Army base. There was this safety tape up everywhere that said verboten, which is Geman for forbidden. Corey the bass player wandered past the the tape to get a closer look at a tank range. The rest of us thought it was a mine field they hadn't cleaned out yet. We all yelled at him to come the exact way he walked in. He made it back without getting blown up. He was angry at us for scaring the shit out him. Broken toured across the U.S. with Aus Rotten in 2000. We played this gig in San Antonio, Texas that was filled with ultra-violent Mexican Chaos Punks. After an insane Broken set. I met this giant Mexican Punk named Santos. He told me he liked Broken. Then he told me he was going to shoot Aus Rotten for being too leftist. He then showed me his pistol. Man did I do a lot of fast talking to change this guy's mind. " If you like me and my band, please don't shoot Aus Rotten, they are my friends." I introduced him to Corey and Eric from Aus Rotten and gave him a beer and got him some Aus Rotten merchandise. That pacified him and he went away. Whew!! 5. How do you find the time to release records, tour etc with normal life and work? Do you find it gets tougher to do as time goes by? Yes, I find it tougher as time goes by. But I play in bands for the sake of passion and communication not riches. I suppose the day I stop playing music I'll go back to art. I do own a house and I have a truck and a motorcycle, it is a financial balancing act. I've just completed a course in Emergency Medicine, driving ambulances, keep people breathing, stopping the bleeding. Idle hands are the devil's play things! Some days I do want to run off to South America and get drunk for the rest of my life. But I've got some more productive years in me. Charlie Harper of the U.K. Subs and Lemmy of Motorhead are inpirations to me. They'll stop when they're dead! 6. Are you or any of the other guys still involved in other bands outside of Broken? I've started a side project with some former members and mebers of React, Behind Enemy Lines, and A.O.S. We don't have a nme yet. Ken Cushen our drummer also plays in Hymen Holocaust down in New York. 7. So whats next on the cards for the band? Broken is currently working on a new 4 song 7" EP. It should be out in the spring of 2006. We have a tour offer for Japan. I'm trying to work out the details. That has always been a goal of mine with Broken. I'm looking for a sugar daddy in the Yakuza to finance us to go to Japan. It won't be easy. We're pretty ugly. It will probably be a Sumo wrestling gig!! Thanks for the interview Sean. http://www.broken-online.com