FOTN fun

[BillyBadBreaks]

This is taken from an interview I did with Gizz Butt guitarist with English Dogs, Janus Stark, The Prodigy, The More I See, and Steve Ignorant on his last tour. He also played with FOTN and here is his response to my questioning:

I have to ask about your involvement with FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM, how the hell did that happen? I would just never picture a guitarist such as your self being in that band.

Gizz: I was contacted by their manager as they wanted to do a comeback gig after 7 years or so. It was very important to them, it was called “The 24th Moment�. I was on one of those “low ebbs� at the time and so I needed a big gig to get my confidence back. There were auditions for the role and Carl liked what I was doing and the sound I made. We must have rehearsed 24 times for that first gig. I lost my job from taking time off for the rehearsals and got paid a total of £250 for everything!

Shortly afterwards Steve Ignorant asked me to join him so FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM became superfluous to me. Carl had these huge festivals appearances booked , 10,000 capacity shows and he had this huge rehearsal regime which would mean I’d be taking hours off from earning any money and also spending on fuel and travel expenses but he only wanted to pay £200 for each show. I respect Carl and he has created an empire that really works. He’s 100% committed but it isn’t my idea of the ideal gig by a long shot, sorry. It’s was one of those underpaid session gigs.

For me, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM typically had a very slow almost labored sound. Did you have much “room� to express yourself?

Gizz: When we played “The 24th Moment� show it felt exciting and fresh. After that gig the second I tried to put a tiny bit of expression as subtle as the smallest touch of a wah wah pedal and Carl would raise the roof. We got into arguments and so went our separate ways. I was never a fan of the band in the first place so I was reluctant to have this unpaid session musician role so I made an attempt to be his right hand man and for a while I was. Then it turned around and I was another faceless musician.

I heard a rumor that the band members used to cover themselves in flour to give them that dusty, straight off the ranch look. True or false?

Gizz: It’s true all right and don’t forget about the hats and the contact lenses. He (Carl McCoy) forced me to wear hair extensions which his daughter Scarlet fitted and he then got me to pay her for it! McCoy arranged a photo shoot with “The band� and I knew nothing of it. He had arranged for a bunch of unknown guys to attend the shoot as “The Nephilim�. I didn’t f**king like that move. The gigs I played were filmed but I was never allowed to even see the footage; I hate to say it but it reminds me of another lead singer I know! Basically it’s his gig and you (I) are nothing more than commodity.

[markfiend]

Interesting.

it reminds me of another lead singer I know

I wonder who that could be.

[Norman Hunter]

Interesting.

it reminds me of another lead singer I know

I wonder who that could be.

Answers on a postcard. All entries marked with a Stanningley postmark will be discounted.

[Being645]

Interesting read, BillyBadBreaks, thanks for posting .... ...

[Silver_Owl]

Interesting.

it reminds me of another lead singer I know

I wonder who that could be.

Maybe?

[radiojamaica]

Thanx for posting this BBB

Carl's a prima donna, but we all knew that right?
I do think Ben & Chris are better off than these guys...

[Nikolas Vitus Lagartija]

Thanks for sharing, BBB. Sounds very like how treated Patricia. Carl learning from the master again !

[Bartek]

yeah, it does reminds TOTP appearances around Floodland but also famous Peter Pop Show, when it comes to treating people as decoration.

[BillyBadBreaks]

Interesting.

it reminds me of another lead singer I know

I wonder who that could be.

I actually think he may be referring to Steve Ignorant of CRASS:

My interest in your work resurfaced when I saw you play with Steve Ignorant (former CRASS vocalist) on “The Last Supper� tour. How did you end up working with him?

Gizz: Steve was given my number by drummer Vom Richie (DIE TOTENHOSEN) who I became friends with when he got JANUS STARK on a massive Germany/Switzerland tour supporting DIE TOTENHOSEN.
That was fantastic. Vom was a close friend of a guy called Gordon who is in turn a close friend of Steve Ignorant. Gordon helped Steve organise the “Feeding the 5000� shows. Vom passed on my number and suggested I get involved. We’d always said we would get on stage together and Vom made sure it happened. I love that guy, he’s a crazy man.

Although you brought a fuller guitar sound to the CRASS songs you stuck faithful to the originals. Did Steve say you have to play within certain parameters?

Gizz: Steve really isn’t that musical; I could have played a much lesser standard guitar part and he would have thought that was fine! I guess as long as I didn’t blatantly metal the riffs up he was OK. There was a couple of sound checks when I was blasting out METALLICA “Hit the lights� and that didn’t go down too well! I started to play THE RUTS at virtually every sound check as it was the greatest leveler between everyone involved. There was a mutual appreciation for that band.

What was the last show with Steve like? I am guessing very emotional?

Gizz: It was a mixed bag. It annoyed me that there was a lack of closeness between me and Steve that could have been there. I wish we’d recorded an album together; we could have done that as he had access to the studio at Southern studios and it wouldn’t have cost him a bean. I remember him calling me one day before all the touring began and he said “You’re my right hand man� with a good humoured but never the less proud tone. Where did that go? The pressures of touring got to him I think.

In the dressing room of the last gig we were jamming acoustically, me, Steve, Penny and Eve (all former members of CRASS). That was a beautiful moment. Then there were often these weird moments when he would simply cast away all we’d done and behave like I was a temporary stop gap and it would all soon be over. It was as if there was no love lost! That hurt!

It’s early days to tell but I’m getting that same feeling that he is one of those guys that has a different agenda. It was while touring the USA that I began to have my doubts, I made a comment on his Facebook page about a gig the night before and his comment in reply to mine was “Fuck off Gizz, stick to your own f**king facebook page!!!� then another day later when someone tagged us both in the same photograph and I left a comment he did the same again. I had to ask him why he was doing it and his reply was “It’s just banter mate�. I felt Steve was doing a lot of acting and you were never sure which one you were getting. But I still love him and he is in the awkward position of trying to keep fans of CRASS at ease! For the record I would just like to let everyone know that at this moment in time as far as I know, Steve is definitely not a rich man. CRASS has not made him rich. He has chosen a difficult path there is no doubt about that.

My favourite memories of the gig are of seeing my friends in the crowd. It was the faces of the people that made that gig, the LOVE. When we played “West One (Shine On Me)� (originally recorded by THE RUTS) that was beautiful, but the next morning and a couple of days after which was the final time I heard from Steve I knew once and for all that was it.

CRASS fans are less concerned with the music and more about the ideals and so I knew I had done my bit for the MUSICAL side of the legacy and I was happy to let it go and move forward. Jona and Allison; Peace and love girls!

[Nikolas Vitus Lagartija]

No surprise to learn that Steve Ignorant hasn't made heaps of cash out of Crass as it would go against their ideology. Unless of course he meant it in a "Brutus is an honourable man" kind of way.

[BillyBadBreaks]

No surprise to learn that Steve Ignorant hasn't made heaps of cash out of Crass as it would go against their ideology. Unless of course he meant it in a "Brutus is an honourable man" kind of way.

I vaguely know Steve and he is NOT making money from CRASS or the last tour he did to celebrate their legacy. I know on the US leg of the tour they were struggling to break even

[Nikolas Vitus Lagartija]

Thanks for setting the record straight - my faith in Steve is restored !

[BillyBadBreaks]

Thanks for setting the record straight - my faith in Steve is restored !

He is a really nice guy, he will always be slagged off for making any money off of CRASS, even if it is only a few quid

[weebleswobble]

That's the mutts nuts....

[Quiff Boy]

No surprise to learn that Steve Ignorant hasn't made heaps of cash out of Crass as it would go against their ideology. Unless of course he meant it in a "Brutus is an honourable man" kind of way.

I vaguely know Steve and he is NOT making money from CRASS or the last tour he did to celebrate their legacy. I know on the US leg of the tour they were struggling to break even

yeah, I'm friends with carol (backing singer on that US tour) and she said similar things. afaik she paid her own pay on the tour.

[markfiend]

One thing you can say about Steve Ignorant, he never sold out.

[BillyBadBreaks]

I met Carol as well and she was wonderful. She has an amzing voice, have you heard her solo stuff? Brilliant