This is an interview from 'New Mania' no. 6. (1982)

It's mid-afternoon and The Exploited and some of their friends wander aimlessly around the ZigZag Club in West London. This is one of the last dates on the band's "Troops Of Tomorrow" tour, to promote the new LP of the same name. Whenever anyone wants to interview The Exploited they always collar Wattie Buchan, so for a change I decided to plump for Big John, the guitarist. I was hoping for a long meaningful conversation with the man but after a while we were completly drowned out by the 'sound' (I certainly wouldn't call it music) coming from the, mainly electronic, video. Anyway, this is the result. I know it's not a very long one so perhaps I'll do a proper one in No. 7.

How have the gigs been going on this tour?

There's been pretty good crowds and good reactions, although the worst crowd is always in London. They are mostly interested in beeing seen at the gig rather than going to see the bands.

So the reaction you get from crowds are better up north?

The reason it's better up north is because there aren't as many bands to go and see. So when a band does come they react better.

Your following seems to have grown since you were on Top Of The Pops.

It's not really because we done "Top Of The Pops" that the following has got bigger. It's just because we've been gigging a lot and most people like us and come and see us.

You seem to be drawing a younger audience all the time.

That's right. It's just more and more kids with nothing to do.

What do you see as the main difference between the "Punk's Not Dead" and "Troops Of Tomorrow" LP's?

It's the same ideas but musically it's better. We had more time to work on it than we did the first LP. Better conditions to record it in. Like, the first LP we done in three and a half days and it cost six hundred pounds. It wasn't very good.

The sound of the new LP seems a lot heavier. Is this a heavy metal influence creeping in?

It's not so much an influence of groups. That sound is caused by my guitar and it's just the way I like to play. My own style is coming through more on the new LP. The production on this new LP is really good.

Yes, I was going to say about the poor sound on your first few records.

The guy who produced the first two singles was the same guy that done the first album. After we done "Punk's Not Dead", we were relatively pleased with it and he took the master tapes and remixed it himself. When we heard it again we weren't very pleased with it.

Would you say that some of your newer songs seem to have a more drum-based sound?

There's more accentuation on the drums now and the guitar is a lot heavier.

Are The Exploited playing the same venues as before?

Basically the same but there's a couple of new places, like Nottingham Boat Club.

You've played a lot of foreign gigs, haven't you?

Yes, Holland, Germany, Finland, Denmark and Sweden.

How do foreign gigs compare with those in Britain?

There's not really much difference. The only difference is that they speak different languages. They know the words to all songs and they jump about. The audinces in Europe aren't as young as they are over here because most of the places we played had bars in them so younger people couldn't get in. We are planning to go to America sometime. It's been set up three times and we've been given the dates but each time it's fallen through.

You don't play in Scotland much, do you?

No. When we done the "Gathering Of The Clans" at Glasgow Apollo it was our first Scottish gig for a year. We'd like to play gigs in Dundee, Aberdeen etc, but we can't get gigs there. The promotors won't have us.

Why do you think that is? I couldn't tell you. All our fans in Scotland realise the problems we have getting gigs up there. It's not our fault. We are trying hard to get gigs but it's proving difficult.

Is this just for The Exploited or for punk bands in general?

It's like this. I've only lived in Edinburgh for two and a half years and when I moved there was for punk venues. Now there's not even one. They've all turned into futurist venues.

Do you feel any responsibility now when you are regarded by many as the top punk band?

Personally, I don't think we're any different from a lot of groups. It's just that more people like us and we're playing bigger halls. That's all.

What do you see happening to The Exploited when the punk revival dies down?

We won't change musically. The Exploited will always be the The Exploited. We're not going to move off in a another direction of music. As it dies down the band will probably split up and everybody will go their own way.

By sticking rigidly to the same formula don't you think you are in danger of repeating yourself? (Editor's note: This was the point where the loud music drowned us out and the most important question remained unanswered. Woe is life...)