The Templars, a prolific NYC Skinhead Oi! band. After acquiring numerous 7" releases I felt the need to know more about the band. In an era of a lot of stale and generic Oi! and Streetrock music being released, the Templars are a refreshing change of pace. With a vocal style reminiscent of 'Voice Of A Generation' era Blitz, and a guitar sound that the Jam would be proud to belong to, the Templars music just oozes that indefinable 'sussed' sound.
This interview was conducted in November '98.
Boring stuff to start off with… who does what, and how long have you been around for?
Carl: We started in April 1991, but Phil and I had been playing cover songs in my garage for sometime before that. The original line-up was Phil - drums, Don - bass and Carl -vocals and guitar. We have since replaced Don with Perry.
Perry: Carl-guitar/vocals, Perry-Bass, Phil-Drums
Carl & Phil started playing together in 1991 and got Don to play bass soon after. I first met these guys in 1992 and replaced Don towards the end of ‘95.
The double 7" Clockwork Orange Horrorshow EP is one of the best packaged records I’ve ever seen… brilliant artwork courtesy of Alteau, colour photos, coloured vinyl (well mine anyway). Who financed that little project and how did it come about?
Carl:
The double 7" was the work of John from Vulture Rock. He really went all out with it. He contacted Alteau about drawing a cover for the release and he did it.Perry: Vulture rock financed it, you’ll have to ask Phil how the idea came about.
It seems like your main influences are pre Oi! streetrock and first wave Oi bands, are these be your favourite styles of music to listen to?
Carl:
I really into old obscure 77 punk stuff. I also listen to a lot of British Rock stuff like the Animals, Stones, Who, Kinks, etc. I also listen to a lot of folk music.Perry: Yes, I mostly listen to late 70’s punk & original Oi! Not much of today’s music excites me. Besides that I’ll listen to anything from Black Sabbath to Joy Division.
The mod ‘target’ seems to associated with skin culture in America, how did that come about?
Carl:
The mod target was Vulture Rock’s idea. We would have preferred that it was not put on the records sleeve. American skins don’t use the mod target, at least not from what I’ve seen.Perry: The mod target isn’t associated with skin culture in the U.S. John at Vulturerock is a mod freak, that’s all.
The ‘la noche de los gaviotas’ ep:-
Carl:
The cover pic is from a movie called la noche de los gaviotas, which is a Spanish horror movie about zombie Templars.Carl: It means Night of the Seagulls.
Carl: I’m well aware of that fact. I made a typo when I wrote it on our merch page.
Perry: I don’t like the cover of that record or the packaging, but Headache isn’t known for spending much time or money on packaging. That’s what’s good about Vulturerock, the sleeves of his records really catch your eye. I wish he’d put a lyric sheet in "Phase Two", but oh well...
You’ve probably been asked this a thousand times, but where does your interest in the Templars stem from?
Carl:
Phil came up with the name. We’re both into medieval history.It’s become a theme for us.
Perry: I didn’t know anything about the Templar Knights till I joined the band, you’ll have to ask Phil. He’s the Templar historian.
What would your top five records of all time be?
Carl:
I hate these kind of questions because my answer changes all the time. But here’s my opinion for today:Perry: Impossible to narrow it down to just 5, so much good stuff has come out through the years, but here’s a few: Strength Thru Oi! LP, Comdemned 84 "Battle Scarred" Lp, Indecent Exposure "Reveal All" LP, Criminal Class "Fighting the System"7", Slaughter & the Dogs "Do It Dog Style" LP, and many many more.
Can you tell us a little about the skinhead and streetrock scenes in New York?
Carl:
Maybe I’ll let Phil answer that because I’ve been living in Seattle for a while.Perry: Great bands, cool clued up people, but no gigs. The punk "Oi" bands get gigs, but the skin bands like us, Oxblood, & First Strike? Forget it! Sad thing is alot of it is our own fault, too much violence at gigs in the past, and now it’s come back to haunt us.
What is the furthest that the Templars have traveled to play a show?
Carl:
The furthest we’ve gone so far has been Phoenix, Arizona. He hope to play San Fransisco this January and Europe this spring.Perry: Do to us being basically banned from playing anywhere in N.Y., we’ve been playing a lot out of town. So far, the furthest we’ve travelled is Phoenix, AZ. However, we’re playing out in California in January and maybe/hopefully in Europe in the spring.
Can you tell us a bit about Acre studios where you record?
Carl:
Acre Studios is just an 8-track in my garage. It is sort of hit or miss when we record, but it is so much cheaper than going to a real studio.Perry: Acre Studios was an 8-Track machine in Carl’s parents garage.
What bands around today inspire you the most?
Carl:
Too many bands to list.Perry: The Straw Dogs! Especially fashion wise, those guys are sussed as hell. The bands that have inspired me most through the years are the Oppressed & the Angelic Upstarts.
You have a fairly comprehensive website. How do you think the rise of the
internet has affected the skinhead/streetrock scene.
Carl:
It’s going to turn us all into computer geeks. Actually, it’s a great way to pass along information and make contacts around the world. It’s making the scene more international than it already was.Perry: Alot of the skinhead stuff I’ve seen on the web is nonsense, but It gives kids something to do I guess. I really don’t know how it’s affected the scene.
Got any funny band stories to tell?
Carl:
None that I would dare tell.Perry: Many, but I’ll leave that alone so I won’t incriminate myself.
I’m out of questions now... anything more to say?
Carl:
Cheers for the interview, good luck with the zine. Thanks to all of our supporters.Perry: Thanks for the interview. Greetings to all Templar fanatics "down under".
