Broken Heroes are one of the original 90s Jersey Oi bands, dating back to 1993. Their sound is raw, old skool, and their lyrics don’t compromise. They’ve gone through a few personnel changes, but their most recent is an all-star American Oi line-up featuring ex Armed Suspects singer Scotty Violence. In a world where some Oi bands are so watered down their piss is almost transparent, bands like Broken Heroes are perhaps more relevant than ever. Girth asked Scotty a few questions over email, and he was more than happy to oblige. What a pleasant chap!
You’ve been the singer of Broken Heroes since the second album, US of Oi! What’s your involvement with Oi, and how did you get into it?
I got into Oi like most other people; I had friends that turned me onto different bands, and then I sort of ran with it. I used to read the liner notes and see what other bands got mentioned, then go out and buy their albums when I could find them.
I started playing in punk and hardcore bands in high school, most of which never got out of the garage, but after serving in the Marine Corps, I started playing in bands that got some traction within the scene.
Finally, I ended up joining Broken Heroes in 2010. Over my 25+ years in the scene, I’ve made friends from around the globe and had some crazy adventures. At this point, I really don’t know any other way of life, and no matter how far I’ve drifted from the scene throughout the years, I always get drawn back in.
How do you feel about the current Oi scene – particularly the US Oi scene?
My feeling on the Oi scene today is that there are still some good bands and good people, but it’s also attracted a lot of dorks who water it down to be more palatable to those that aren’t “one of us.” They like to dress the part until some shit kicks off, then they scatter like roaches when you turn on the lights. Like most things in life, you have to separate the good from the mediocrity and the shit. We address it in our song “This Ain’t For You” on our latest album Make Oi Great Again on Step-1 Music.
How do you feel about the old US vs. UK Oi comparison?
As for the US vs the UK, I think it’s similar in that you have some good people and bands with a lot of shitty and terrible as well. I think US Oi tends to be a bit more aggressive, while UK and European Oi tends to be a little more melodic, but there are exceptions to that rule.
The feeling in the UK is that the US scene is much more gang orientated?
It varies from city to city, and it’s really no different than different cities in the UK having football firms and hooligans. You have groups of like-minded people with similar interests joining together to protect each other and defend their scene from troublemakers and arrogant outsiders. Sometimes people take that shit too far and someone maybe catches a slap for some shit they didn’t do, but violence is part of our culture and if you want to shy away from it, maybe get into ska or polka or some other shit
Your old band Armed Suspects were fantastic – what happened with them?
Thank you for the kind words.
Armed Suspects sort of ran its course. We had issues keeping a steady drummer, and after one too many cancelled shows and aggravations, we decided to call it quits.
DJ and I still stay in touch and write songs together, and Jay’s busy with his kid and work. We had fun and did our thing, but we had a lot of unfulfilled ambitions and dealing with that over and over again kind of grinds you down after a while.
Broken Heroes is highly influenced by the old UK Oi bands, like Cockney Rejects, Blitz and the Business, and a lot of early punk and hardcore as well. We also incorporate a bunch of different rock influence like AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Chuck Berry, etc. Usually, one of the guys will come in with an idea for a song, and I’ll go through whatever lyrics I’ve written and see what fits.
Sometimes I combine lyrics from two or more different ideas, or I’ll end up rewriting a whole set of lyrics to fit the melody. Sometimes I have lyrics written and I’ll sing how I imagine it would go, and the guys come up with music on the spot, then we work and rework shit until we get it the way we like it, and then we record it.
Outside of the usual punk, Oi, hardcore and ska stuff, I listen to a lot of stuff. Guns & Roses, Motley Crue, Small Faces/Faces, The Cure, The Smiths, Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper, a lot of 80s pop & new wave, some hip hop, gangsta rap, Motown, Stax, soul music, outlaw country, and a bunch of other random shit, like Sinatra, Dean Martin, Buena Vista Social Club, Lucero, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I like stuff with good melodies, interesting lyrics, and strong rhythm sections, so you’re just as likely to catch me listening to Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash as you are to find me blasting Madball or The Ramones.
Who’s in the current Broken Heroes lineup – isn’t it pretty much an all star line up?
The current line up is myself on lead vocals, Tim & Pete on guitar, Andy on bass, & Sweet Stevie Bee the Lady Slayer on drums. Tim also plays in Blanks 77 and has played for a bunch of other bands including Murphy’s Law. Andy’s from Niblick Henbane and Pleased Youth. Pete played in Vibram 94. Steve played in Murphy’s Law for a while with Tim, and had been in some other bands too. I played bass in Armed Suspects as previously discussed.
Do you have any plans to play in Europe?
Europe is definitely on our horizon for upcoming tours, but we all work crazy jobs since Oi don’t pay the bills. As it’ll be our first trip over, it’s likely we’ll be self-financing and ain’t nothing cheap about touring. Hopefully, we’ll get around to it sooner rather than later, as we’d love to play over there.
Whatever happened to Skinflint music – did you have trouble with the owner? I see they seem to have ‘disappeared’…
We’ve been over this a while ago, but Skinflint Music’s owner Dave decided to release a record by a white power band. We don’t associate with that shit, so we decided to sever ties after the dude lied to us about his involvement. I’m not sure what happened to him, but I believe a lot of people made it clear that he shouldn’t show his face anywhere anymore. Other than that, don’t know, don’t care. We’ve moved on.
Are there any bands you’ve played with who you absolutely cannot stand due to them being too arrogant or twats, or any bands you would never play with and why?
Is Oi an old man’s game? What younger bands have you been impressed with? The French scene for example always had a few younger bands coming through.
To paraphrase ODB, Oi is for the children. Older bands seem to do it better, but some of the younger bands are killing it. I like Lion’s Law (and their 700 other bands), and some of the newer US Oi bands as well like Sweet Fuck All and Legion 76 from Philly. It does seem like a lot of younger people aren’t getting as into it as there were when I first got into the scene, but I always see a handful of younger people at our shows. There’s always someone who gets it, and as long as kids feel alienated from the mainstream, they’ll keep Oi and other subcultures alive.
Any final words of wisdom?
Oi has always been about having a laugh and having a say. If you’re easily offended or too uptight to realise when something’s a joke, you can fuck right off outta here. Have a beer, have a laugh, and have a good time. Life’s too short to go about being a cunt.
Creases Like Knives 