EFFIGIES: A FEEBLE EFFORT 1

INTERVIEW

The Effigies are a four-piece skinhead band from Chicago who have been together for two and a half years...Their early gigs were at a bar (pub) called Oz. Oz was one of the few bars that actually played real punk music and its manager was sympathetic towards bands.

At the time we (the Effigies) started gigging, most of the trendies were already into whatever the next big thing was, and as a result we drew a limited crowd. The original following is still with us and hs grown to the point where we now are one of the bigger draws in the city, despite the fact that the local rock press has consistently ignored us in favor of what vocalist John calls the Thin-tie new wave bar bands which this country has a disgusting overabundance of (more on that later).

John goes on to say that as a band we now have our own label "Ruthless Records" which we formed after falling out with autumn Records who pressed the first Effigies EP, Haunted Town, and the Busted at Oz compilation on which we have two tracks. Our forthcoming EP has four tracks and is being distributed by a California company called Enigma Records and ought to be out within one month.

We've been on two tours, on to the west coast and one to the east coast. We plan on returning to the West coast in four weeks. I've been to England twice and would like to go there with the band, but since we self-finance everything we'd either have to do a million gigs or save up our earnings from our regular jobs, and a few of the band members aren't as...uh...disciplined as they ought to be (something about a fool and his money, I think). anyway, I've been a skin (proudly so) for three years and I like: Skrewdriver / Ruts / Upstarts and a few other bands which I won't admit to.

John has also had the experience of meeting uncle Garry Bushell at the Bridgehouse (lucky him) and doesn't take kindly to the music papers. He says of Sounds and NME: Sounds is a piece of shit and the NME I wouldn't wipe my ass with.

As far as the rest of the music scene goes, I guess it's pretty bland. Chicago, despite its size, is a musical void. It's working class, dirty, gritty, hard, and politically corrupt. The age of getting into bars is 21, and unless one has a good fake ID or the bar owners pay off the police, there's usually no chance of getting in unless one's legal. Of the biggest, blandest, and all round shittiest bands in the US, the biggest come from the midwest: Styx / Journey / Bob Seger / etc...The bars in the city are the best as far as we're concerned. We have a reputation of being a rough band and as a result it's hard to get bookings in some clubs, even though we've never had real trouble at our gigs, and we draw a big crowd.

Another thing, a lot of shit is said about the US and its bands. I actually agree with some of it, but a lot of it is rubbish. We hate a lot of bands that call themselves punks or whatever (I hate hate that word).

A lot of hardcore (as it's called) bands sound like shit and we'll be the first to admit to it, that's why we're trying to be a bit different. Anyway, if you would like to contact the band, the address is:

John Kezdy / c/o Ruthless Records / PO Box 1458 / Evanston, Illinois 60204-1458 / USA

From issue 1 A Feeble Effort from January, 1983. What makes this interesting is the fact that the zine was based in Shropshire (or Salop, as the editor calls it), and featured articles/interviews with a number of American bands. Also worth noting is that that this was a few months after Ian Stuart reformed Skrewdriver and about the same time he turned it into a vehicle for his racist viewpoints, though it would be months before word of this would filter into the American underground (MRR even reviewed their reunion single!).

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