In the late Seventies, Belfast produced some of the best and most enduring punk records. Bandwise, Stiff Little Fingers and the Undertones were destined to have the biggest impact on the mainstream, but just as important were bands like Rudi and The Outcasts who, alongside the Undertones, got their first break on the legendary Good Vibrations label. Following fast on their heels were a band of school kids known as Protex, whose debut single ‘Don’t Ring Me Up’ appeared at the end of 1978 and is rightly considered to be one of the classics of that era. Following good reviews in the music press and radio play courtesy of John Peel and Kid Jensen, the single was reissued as a joint Rough Trade / Good Vibrations release making it much more easily available across the UK. As a result of its’ popularity, the band were approached by Polydor records who signed them to the label before the individual members had even left school ! They released another three great singles over the next 18 months, ‘I Can Only Dream’, ‘I Can’t Cope’ and ‘A Place In Your Heart’ as well as undertaking tours around the UK and playing in America, but although they recorded an album Polydor decided that they were no longer interested in the band and shelved it. (The tapes remained unreleased until American label Sing Sing released them as the ‘Strange Obsessions’ LP in 2010.) Finding themselves without a label, the band played a few final gigs in 1981 before splitting up.
Although the original members didn’t remain involved in music during the following years, the reputation of the band continued to grow and the singles remained highly collectable (even resulting in bootleg compilations of the original releases.) But it wasn’t until after the release of ‘Strange Obsessions’ that original guitarist David McMaster contacted vocalist Aidan Murtagh with a proposal to reform the band. Although hesitant at first, the new line-up came together with new members Norman Boyd and Gordie Walker, playing shows in Belfast and at Rebellion before receiving offers to tour in both Spain and Japan.
Despite being the initial catalyst for the reformation, David McMaster decided after several years and further tours not to continue playing in the band. Fortunately, despite being the only remaining original member, Aidan made the decision to continue and also began to write material for a new album which would eventually be released as the ‘Tightrope’ LP on Bachelor records in early 2017. The set of ten new songs was certainly no disappointment to older fans of the band and, indeed, it also seems that it has also reached out to younger audiences at the same time.
Although the original members didn’t remain involved in music during the following years, the reputation of the band continued to grow and the singles remained highly collectable (even resulting in bootleg compilations of the original releases.) But it wasn’t until after the release of ‘Strange Obsessions’ that original guitarist David McMaster contacted vocalist Aidan Murtagh with a proposal to reform the band. Although hesitant at first, the new line-up came together with new members Norman Boyd and Gordie Walker, playing shows in Belfast and at Rebellion before receiving offers to tour in both Spain and Japan.
Despite being the initial catalyst for the reformation, David McMaster decided after several years and further tours not to continue playing in the band. Fortunately, despite being the only remaining original member, Aidan made the decision to continue and also began to write material for a new album which would eventually be released as the ‘Tightrope’ LP on Bachelor records in early 2017. The set of ten new songs was certainly no disappointment to older fans of the band and, indeed, it also seems that it has also reached out to younger audiences at the same time.
Having been in touch with Aidan since the album was released, it was not until the end of 2017 that the band finally made it back to London and I was able to arrange an interview. They were playing at The Finsbury in Manor House, a venue I hadn’t visited before, but it’s a nice place and, arriving early, I meet-up with Aidan and we do the interview in two parts, either side of his soundchecking duties.
Firstly, I wanted to ask about the kind of music he had been listening to prior to Protex forming. It seems that a lot of the Belfast punk bands had grown up listening to early Seventies Glam Rock…
‘I was a big T Rex fan before Punk came along and I also liked people like Lou Reed and David Bowie, but I also always loved early rock’n’roll stuff. I really loved the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry. I remember seeing the films ‘That’ll Be The Day’ and ‘Stardust’ in the early Seventies, which starred David Essex. They both had a lot of early rock’n’roll stuff that I hadn’t really heard at that time, so I started listening to a lot of it. The films themselves may not have been that great, but the music on the soundtracks was ! There was all the great Glam stuff around the same time, so I was listening to quite a good mix before Punk came along, which really opened the doors and changed music everywhere. I think, in a lot of ways, Punk had the same spirit as the early rock’n’roll stuff, and the better bits from the Glam era. If you take bands like early Roxy Music, they were kind of like Punk in their own way. They had that outsider attitude and Punk was another extension of that. Just before Punk happened, I was also a big fan of the Pub Rock bands and I was lucky enough to see the original Dr Feelgood with Wilko Johnson in Belfast, which just blew my mind. That really lit a spark and energized me, making me realise that I wanted to do something… I actually think that would’ve been a great time to be here in London, just before Punk happened, because there were already some great bands playing but it also seemed like something even better was going to come along. And when it did, it was something that we could all get involved in.’
Firstly, I wanted to ask about the kind of music he had been listening to prior to Protex forming. It seems that a lot of the Belfast punk bands had grown up listening to early Seventies Glam Rock…
‘I was a big T Rex fan before Punk came along and I also liked people like Lou Reed and David Bowie, but I also always loved early rock’n’roll stuff. I really loved the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry. I remember seeing the films ‘That’ll Be The Day’ and ‘Stardust’ in the early Seventies, which starred David Essex. They both had a lot of early rock’n’roll stuff that I hadn’t really heard at that time, so I started listening to a lot of it. The films themselves may not have been that great, but the music on the soundtracks was ! There was all the great Glam stuff around the same time, so I was listening to quite a good mix before Punk came along, which really opened the doors and changed music everywhere. I think, in a lot of ways, Punk had the same spirit as the early rock’n’roll stuff, and the better bits from the Glam era. If you take bands like early Roxy Music, they were kind of like Punk in their own way. They had that outsider attitude and Punk was another extension of that. Just before Punk happened, I was also a big fan of the Pub Rock bands and I was lucky enough to see the original Dr Feelgood with Wilko Johnson in Belfast, which just blew my mind. That really lit a spark and energized me, making me realise that I wanted to do something… I actually think that would’ve been a great time to be here in London, just before Punk happened, because there were already some great bands playing but it also seemed like something even better was going to come along. And when it did, it was something that we could all get involved in.’
What was your first introduction to Punk ?
‘I think the first time I became aware of it was when a friend played me the first Clash album and the ‘Anarchy in The UK’ single. Around the same time, I’d started listening to the John Peel show and suddenly a lot of stuff was coming through. I must admit, I wasn’t entirely sure about it at first, but I loved the guitar sounds and once the whole attitude started to come through, I fell in love with it.’
How did Protex actually come together ?
‘Myself and Owen, who was the original drummer, had already been playing in a band where we’d play a lot of Dr Feelgood stuff and Thin Lizzy covers… we were really into Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher and all of that at the time. So we were just playing at youth clubs and anywhere else that would let us. But once we started to hear the Punk and new wave things that were coming through, we wanted to get more into that so basically we brought two new players in, Dave and Paul, who were both schoolmates of Owen. We came together for our first rehearsal at my parents’ house and started by trying to play through a Generation X song, just to see whether it would work. Luckily, it did, so we took it from there…’
You took your name from the Clash song, I believe…
‘Yes, because they came to Belfast in 1977, which is an almost legendary event now. First of all, they weren’t able to play due to insurance reasons, which caused a full scale riot. But then they did come back and play a short while later and Joe Strummer dedicated ‘Protex Blue’ to the Belfast audience. I think it was our original bass player, Paul, who suggested we call ourselves Protex Blue after that… but we dropped the ‘Blue’ bit fairly quickly because local people were thinking that we must be a Blues band !’
The story goes that you decided to use the name before you discovered that it referred to a brand of condoms...
‘I’m afraid that’s unfortunately true ! It’s well-documented and it was absolutely true. We started using the name and when someone told us what it was, we just thought, well, it doesn’t really matter. It wasn’t until people started turning-up at our gigs because they thought we were a Blues band that we thought, maybe we should drop that bit. The funny thing is that now, if you look on the internet, the word ‘protex’ refers to so many different things… it’s the name of an oil, the name of a soap… so it really hasn’t mattered in the long run.’
‘I think the first time I became aware of it was when a friend played me the first Clash album and the ‘Anarchy in The UK’ single. Around the same time, I’d started listening to the John Peel show and suddenly a lot of stuff was coming through. I must admit, I wasn’t entirely sure about it at first, but I loved the guitar sounds and once the whole attitude started to come through, I fell in love with it.’
How did Protex actually come together ?
‘Myself and Owen, who was the original drummer, had already been playing in a band where we’d play a lot of Dr Feelgood stuff and Thin Lizzy covers… we were really into Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher and all of that at the time. So we were just playing at youth clubs and anywhere else that would let us. But once we started to hear the Punk and new wave things that were coming through, we wanted to get more into that so basically we brought two new players in, Dave and Paul, who were both schoolmates of Owen. We came together for our first rehearsal at my parents’ house and started by trying to play through a Generation X song, just to see whether it would work. Luckily, it did, so we took it from there…’
You took your name from the Clash song, I believe…
‘Yes, because they came to Belfast in 1977, which is an almost legendary event now. First of all, they weren’t able to play due to insurance reasons, which caused a full scale riot. But then they did come back and play a short while later and Joe Strummer dedicated ‘Protex Blue’ to the Belfast audience. I think it was our original bass player, Paul, who suggested we call ourselves Protex Blue after that… but we dropped the ‘Blue’ bit fairly quickly because local people were thinking that we must be a Blues band !’
The story goes that you decided to use the name before you discovered that it referred to a brand of condoms...
‘I’m afraid that’s unfortunately true ! It’s well-documented and it was absolutely true. We started using the name and when someone told us what it was, we just thought, well, it doesn’t really matter. It wasn’t until people started turning-up at our gigs because they thought we were a Blues band that we thought, maybe we should drop that bit. The funny thing is that now, if you look on the internet, the word ‘protex’ refers to so many different things… it’s the name of an oil, the name of a soap… so it really hasn’t mattered in the long run.’
The first recordings that the band ever made were actually a session for the Downtown radio station in Belfast, soon after you’d started playing live in 1978. How did that happen so soon after you’d formed ?
‘Well, the guy who did the radio show, Ivan Martin, set-up the session for us. He also ran a record shop in Belfast called Sounds Around which is where we would go to order the latest records that were coming out. You know, if we heard that that there was going to be a limited release by Generation X on red vinyl, we could go in and order it. Once we started playing live, he became interested in the band and offered us an interview and recording session on his show, which of course, we were more than happy to do. I’d love to have a copy of that, by the way. I know there were recordings made of it, but I don’t know where they are now. I don’t think I ever actually had a copy, but I’m sure other people had tapes of it… I’d love to hear it again ! I know we played a few Ramones covers that night… it was very early on for us at that point and we hadn’t been together very long at all. That was one of the strange thing for us, really. Once we came together, everything seemed to happen really fast. We’d only played a few gigs when we got offered a session for the local radio station and there were a lot of other bands that would’ve killed to get that. Especially the non-punk bands… And at our second gig, at the Glen Machan Hotel, the documentary-maker John Davis was there and he captured us for the ‘Shellshock Rock’ film. I think it may also have been at that gig where Terri Hooley saw us and ended-up asking us if we’d record our one-and-only original song we had, at that time, for Good Vibrations… That got a great response and next thing we knew, we were recording our John Peel session and ended-up signed to Polydor, so things really did seem to happen very fast…’
So Terri Hooley came across Protex by chance, rather than by you having sent him demo tapes or anything ?
‘Yeah, but Terri was already doing his own thing by then. You’ve got to remember that the backdrop in Belfast at that time was pretty poor. The Troubles were full-on and everything was being bombed. Terri was an old hippy who decided to open a record shop in Victoria Street and suddenly he was getting all the punk records that you wanted to hear. That was the other place where you went to get the records that you’d heard on the John Peel show and that was how we knew who he was, because we were buying records from him. At the same time, he was really into the whole energy and ethos of the new bands so he was also putting on gigs and asked us to come down and play. We were playing at The Pound or the Harp Bar almost every weekend at the beginning, which was great. He really did a lot for us.’
You were all actually still at school at the time, weren’t you ?
‘Oh, yeah. In the Sixth Form I think, but still at school. We were all very young, only 16 or early 17… I think we actually signed to Polydor before any of us had reached 18…’
‘Well, the guy who did the radio show, Ivan Martin, set-up the session for us. He also ran a record shop in Belfast called Sounds Around which is where we would go to order the latest records that were coming out. You know, if we heard that that there was going to be a limited release by Generation X on red vinyl, we could go in and order it. Once we started playing live, he became interested in the band and offered us an interview and recording session on his show, which of course, we were more than happy to do. I’d love to have a copy of that, by the way. I know there were recordings made of it, but I don’t know where they are now. I don’t think I ever actually had a copy, but I’m sure other people had tapes of it… I’d love to hear it again ! I know we played a few Ramones covers that night… it was very early on for us at that point and we hadn’t been together very long at all. That was one of the strange thing for us, really. Once we came together, everything seemed to happen really fast. We’d only played a few gigs when we got offered a session for the local radio station and there were a lot of other bands that would’ve killed to get that. Especially the non-punk bands… And at our second gig, at the Glen Machan Hotel, the documentary-maker John Davis was there and he captured us for the ‘Shellshock Rock’ film. I think it may also have been at that gig where Terri Hooley saw us and ended-up asking us if we’d record our one-and-only original song we had, at that time, for Good Vibrations… That got a great response and next thing we knew, we were recording our John Peel session and ended-up signed to Polydor, so things really did seem to happen very fast…’
So Terri Hooley came across Protex by chance, rather than by you having sent him demo tapes or anything ?
‘Yeah, but Terri was already doing his own thing by then. You’ve got to remember that the backdrop in Belfast at that time was pretty poor. The Troubles were full-on and everything was being bombed. Terri was an old hippy who decided to open a record shop in Victoria Street and suddenly he was getting all the punk records that you wanted to hear. That was the other place where you went to get the records that you’d heard on the John Peel show and that was how we knew who he was, because we were buying records from him. At the same time, he was really into the whole energy and ethos of the new bands so he was also putting on gigs and asked us to come down and play. We were playing at The Pound or the Harp Bar almost every weekend at the beginning, which was great. He really did a lot for us.’
You were all actually still at school at the time, weren’t you ?
‘Oh, yeah. In the Sixth Form I think, but still at school. We were all very young, only 16 or early 17… I think we actually signed to Polydor before any of us had reached 18…’
Good Vibrations licensed the ‘Don’t Ring Me Up’ single to Rough Trade for better distribution in the UK…
‘That was all down to Terri. All that we knew was that we had a single out and that we were getting offers for gigs, which was great. We had interest from journalists and we were getting airplay on Radio One… We also had a big buzz in Belfast, so it seemed great for us. There was a bit of a focus on Belfast at the time and we were part of it as we were one of the new bands so I suppose there was a wee bit of being in the right place at the right time. But there was also the thing that Punk was right for Belfast at that time so it wasn’t just a fashion thing, you know ?’
In the true, contrary spirit of Punk, very few of the Belfast bands actually referenced the Troubles in their songs…
‘I think we made a conscious effort not to do that, first of all because we were seeing the results of the Troubles every day, either living through them or seeing them on TV, so on a sub-conscious level the music was an escapist thing. Stiff Little Fingers had been writing about that stuff and were doing it very well, even though they had a journalist involved with their lyrics. But that wasn’t ever the thing for us, we were a rock’n’roll punk band and our lives were all about escaping from all the stuff that surrounded us every day. We wanted to go out and get girlfriends ! That’s what it was all about for us !’
How well did you get along with the other Belfast punk bands during that time ?
‘We got on okay with all of them I think, but as things developed and moved-on I think there was a wee bit of teenage jealousy that crept-in. I mean, especially since the ‘Good Vibrations’ film came out, there’s been a lot of things written about that time and I don’t think it really reflects the memories I have of those days. I’m talking about the period between ’78 and late ’79, when we went to England… I remember Stiff Little Fingers and the Undertones, obviously, and also the likes of Rudi, The Outcasts, Shock Treatment, Rhesus Negative… That was really the beginning of it. Later on, there were other bands on Good Vibrations like the Bank Robbers, but that was another generation of bands really and as we’d gone across to England by then, we didn’t really know them. Now, it seems that all those bands get included in articles about the early Belfast punk thing, but I really can’t remember some of them at all… But we got on very well with everybody we played with and just got on doing our own thing. When we started to get coverage in the music papers and eventually got signed, I think there may have been a bit of jealousy from some of the other bands but, you know, we were all still very young so it was nothing you wouldn’t expect. We were aware of it, but we just carried on and I don’t think it affected us too much. I don’t think a bit of rivalry is such a bad thing, really. And at the same time, there was also a lot of support for each other. The Undertones let us support them a few times, just around the time that they were getting signed. Stiff Little Fingers were really good to us, and so were Rudi… There were some really good times… Innocent times, in front of a backdrop that was really pretty horrific.’
‘That was all down to Terri. All that we knew was that we had a single out and that we were getting offers for gigs, which was great. We had interest from journalists and we were getting airplay on Radio One… We also had a big buzz in Belfast, so it seemed great for us. There was a bit of a focus on Belfast at the time and we were part of it as we were one of the new bands so I suppose there was a wee bit of being in the right place at the right time. But there was also the thing that Punk was right for Belfast at that time so it wasn’t just a fashion thing, you know ?’
In the true, contrary spirit of Punk, very few of the Belfast bands actually referenced the Troubles in their songs…
‘I think we made a conscious effort not to do that, first of all because we were seeing the results of the Troubles every day, either living through them or seeing them on TV, so on a sub-conscious level the music was an escapist thing. Stiff Little Fingers had been writing about that stuff and were doing it very well, even though they had a journalist involved with their lyrics. But that wasn’t ever the thing for us, we were a rock’n’roll punk band and our lives were all about escaping from all the stuff that surrounded us every day. We wanted to go out and get girlfriends ! That’s what it was all about for us !’
How well did you get along with the other Belfast punk bands during that time ?
‘We got on okay with all of them I think, but as things developed and moved-on I think there was a wee bit of teenage jealousy that crept-in. I mean, especially since the ‘Good Vibrations’ film came out, there’s been a lot of things written about that time and I don’t think it really reflects the memories I have of those days. I’m talking about the period between ’78 and late ’79, when we went to England… I remember Stiff Little Fingers and the Undertones, obviously, and also the likes of Rudi, The Outcasts, Shock Treatment, Rhesus Negative… That was really the beginning of it. Later on, there were other bands on Good Vibrations like the Bank Robbers, but that was another generation of bands really and as we’d gone across to England by then, we didn’t really know them. Now, it seems that all those bands get included in articles about the early Belfast punk thing, but I really can’t remember some of them at all… But we got on very well with everybody we played with and just got on doing our own thing. When we started to get coverage in the music papers and eventually got signed, I think there may have been a bit of jealousy from some of the other bands but, you know, we were all still very young so it was nothing you wouldn’t expect. We were aware of it, but we just carried on and I don’t think it affected us too much. I don’t think a bit of rivalry is such a bad thing, really. And at the same time, there was also a lot of support for each other. The Undertones let us support them a few times, just around the time that they were getting signed. Stiff Little Fingers were really good to us, and so were Rudi… There were some really good times… Innocent times, in front of a backdrop that was really pretty horrific.’
You ended-up signing to Polydor pretty soon after Good Vibrations had released your first single. Do you think now that you were pretty naïve about what you were getting involved in with such a big label ?
‘We were very naïve, of course we were. And there weren’t even any other bands around at that time who we could go to for advice. Stiff Little Fingers were away from Belfast by then and The Undertones had just been signed by Sire and were away on tour, so there wasn’t anybody who we could ask for advice. But it was what it was and we threw everything into it. We were 17 or 18 year olds and this was what we thought we wanted to be doing. On reflection, of course, we probably should have done things differently and going straight onto a major label was probably not what we should have done. We ended-up supporting other bands that probably weren’t such a great choice for us, and we became involved with managers that came up with these suggestions rather than steering us towards supporting bands like the Buzzcocks, who probably would have been a much better match. But we ended up touring with the Boomtown Rats and didn’t really go down so well with their audiences, even though it was a good experience and we had a great time. In terms of progressing the band and getting from A to B, we really should have done things differently, but I’m sure every band can say that.’
You also ended-up supporting Adam & The Ants on some tour dates, prior to their chart-success. Again, it wasn’t really an ideal musical match…
‘Yeah, it was before all the Top of The Pops stuff that they did later on. We just did a few dates with them in the Midlands. They were still a Punk band at the time and had a very good following of their own, but it just wasn’t for us. It certainly wasn’t the kind of audience who were going to get into us, so it was a real mismatch. I think we only played five or six gigs with the but, to be honest, I don’t really remember much about those dates…’
‘We were very naïve, of course we were. And there weren’t even any other bands around at that time who we could go to for advice. Stiff Little Fingers were away from Belfast by then and The Undertones had just been signed by Sire and were away on tour, so there wasn’t anybody who we could ask for advice. But it was what it was and we threw everything into it. We were 17 or 18 year olds and this was what we thought we wanted to be doing. On reflection, of course, we probably should have done things differently and going straight onto a major label was probably not what we should have done. We ended-up supporting other bands that probably weren’t such a great choice for us, and we became involved with managers that came up with these suggestions rather than steering us towards supporting bands like the Buzzcocks, who probably would have been a much better match. But we ended up touring with the Boomtown Rats and didn’t really go down so well with their audiences, even though it was a good experience and we had a great time. In terms of progressing the band and getting from A to B, we really should have done things differently, but I’m sure every band can say that.’
You also ended-up supporting Adam & The Ants on some tour dates, prior to their chart-success. Again, it wasn’t really an ideal musical match…
‘Yeah, it was before all the Top of The Pops stuff that they did later on. We just did a few dates with them in the Midlands. They were still a Punk band at the time and had a very good following of their own, but it just wasn’t for us. It certainly wasn’t the kind of audience who were going to get into us, so it was a real mismatch. I think we only played five or six gigs with the but, to be honest, I don’t really remember much about those dates…’
Do you think that Polydor lived up to your expectations in the way they supported and promoted the band ?
‘Well, they were good in that they gave us an advance which enabled us to come over to England and go on tour. They set us up that way and also financed our studio time. They also had a marketing department, so when the singles came out we didn’t have to pay for any advertising in NME or Sounds, which was the way it was done in those days… But after that, they did absolutely frig-all to help us develop. I think if we had signed to a smaller label we would have had more actual support as a band because we would’ve been working for each other. But on Polydor, we were just another one of the many acts that they had. I ended up with the impression that they signed-us because there had been a bit of a buzz behind the Good Vibrations single, but then they were just happy to sit-back and see if we’d become successful on our own. If we were they’d be happy, but if we didn’t they’d just drop us after the first album. I think that’s probably the way it worked with a lot of the bigger labels. Perhaps if we had been on a smaller label, they would have been more behind us because they actually believed in the music. I tend to think that’s the big difference with smaller labels.’
As you said, the band all moved over to London in late 1979…
‘We all had to wait to finish our A-levels, but then we moved to London in late ’79, around the same time that we played those gigs with Adam & The Ants. We went straight into a studio to record the next single and also played a lot of club gigs. It was really fantastic to
Suddenly be living in London as it was so different to Belfast. There was a whole sense of freedom because we were there just to do our music. We were young and we were living away from home for the first time, so there was all that kind of thing. There were so many places to see, so many venues and so many bands to see… I think we made the most of it.’
And it was at the end of 1979 that you went on tour with Boomtown Rats…
‘Yeah, which was our first really long tour. It was a good experience because it was the first time we were playing on big stages and, of course, they were at the peak of their popularity as they’d only recently been at Number One with ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’. It gave us a chance to see the business side of things, which was a real eye-opener and let us suss things out for ourselves.
The good thing was that even as the support band, we got some really great reviews in the music press, which were very important back then. It was a good experience for us to be playing every night for such a long tour and playing with the Rats was fun, even though we weren’t fans of their music particularly. But we got to meet a lot of other musicians and a few celebrities, which was great for a bunch of 18 year olds.’
‘Well, they were good in that they gave us an advance which enabled us to come over to England and go on tour. They set us up that way and also financed our studio time. They also had a marketing department, so when the singles came out we didn’t have to pay for any advertising in NME or Sounds, which was the way it was done in those days… But after that, they did absolutely frig-all to help us develop. I think if we had signed to a smaller label we would have had more actual support as a band because we would’ve been working for each other. But on Polydor, we were just another one of the many acts that they had. I ended up with the impression that they signed-us because there had been a bit of a buzz behind the Good Vibrations single, but then they were just happy to sit-back and see if we’d become successful on our own. If we were they’d be happy, but if we didn’t they’d just drop us after the first album. I think that’s probably the way it worked with a lot of the bigger labels. Perhaps if we had been on a smaller label, they would have been more behind us because they actually believed in the music. I tend to think that’s the big difference with smaller labels.’
As you said, the band all moved over to London in late 1979…
‘We all had to wait to finish our A-levels, but then we moved to London in late ’79, around the same time that we played those gigs with Adam & The Ants. We went straight into a studio to record the next single and also played a lot of club gigs. It was really fantastic to
Suddenly be living in London as it was so different to Belfast. There was a whole sense of freedom because we were there just to do our music. We were young and we were living away from home for the first time, so there was all that kind of thing. There were so many places to see, so many venues and so many bands to see… I think we made the most of it.’
And it was at the end of 1979 that you went on tour with Boomtown Rats…
‘Yeah, which was our first really long tour. It was a good experience because it was the first time we were playing on big stages and, of course, they were at the peak of their popularity as they’d only recently been at Number One with ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’. It gave us a chance to see the business side of things, which was a real eye-opener and let us suss things out for ourselves.
The good thing was that even as the support band, we got some really great reviews in the music press, which were very important back then. It was a good experience for us to be playing every night for such a long tour and playing with the Rats was fun, even though we weren’t fans of their music particularly. But we got to meet a lot of other musicians and a few celebrities, which was great for a bunch of 18 year olds.’
Did you go abroad with them as well ?
‘No, we were originally supposed to go with them but for some reason it didn’t happen. But we did get over to America twice in 1980, which was where that footage you can see on youtube comes from. It was filmed by John Davis again, at Hurrah’s in New York. I think that little bit of footage has done a lot for us over the years and it still scores a lot of hits ! The first time we went over there, we were invited by the manager at Hurrah’s to come and play on St Patricks Day, because he was a fan of the band. So that was just a one-off, but then we went over again later in the year and did a lot of gigs. There were so many clubs in New York alone that we were able to play quite a few just there, but we also played some dates in Canada, Philadelphia and Boston. We got a really good reaction from the audiences over there, which we really appreciated because it all seemed to be fading out for us back in London by then. The New Romantic thing was coming through and the music press were becoming less interested in bands like us. But in America, people liked us not so much because of the punk thing but because they could hear the rock’n’roll thing that we had in our songs. It was the right time for us to be playing over there and we had a great time, but when we came back to London it started to seem that nothing was happening for us anymore.’
What happened with the album you were recording for Polydor ? Obviously, the recordings eventually surfaced on the ‘Strange Obsessions’ album released by Sing Sing Records in 2010, but why was it not released back at the time ?
‘We weren’t happy with the way it had come out and Polydor didn’t seem to be happy with it either. Things had changed and I don’t think they wanted to put any more money into promoting something they had already decided wasn’t going to be successful. The whole musical landscape had changed so much since they had signed us and they were looking at it purely from a business point of view, so they just decided to shelve it. We weren’t happy with the album at the time, because we thought we could have done it a lot better. But when it was finally released in 2010, I don’t think any of us were as unhappy with the way it actually sounded as we had been back in the day. It is what it is, which was the way that Protex sounded when we recorded it. I’m sure there probably were better performances that could have been captured, but for whatever reason, it never happened.’
‘No, we were originally supposed to go with them but for some reason it didn’t happen. But we did get over to America twice in 1980, which was where that footage you can see on youtube comes from. It was filmed by John Davis again, at Hurrah’s in New York. I think that little bit of footage has done a lot for us over the years and it still scores a lot of hits ! The first time we went over there, we were invited by the manager at Hurrah’s to come and play on St Patricks Day, because he was a fan of the band. So that was just a one-off, but then we went over again later in the year and did a lot of gigs. There were so many clubs in New York alone that we were able to play quite a few just there, but we also played some dates in Canada, Philadelphia and Boston. We got a really good reaction from the audiences over there, which we really appreciated because it all seemed to be fading out for us back in London by then. The New Romantic thing was coming through and the music press were becoming less interested in bands like us. But in America, people liked us not so much because of the punk thing but because they could hear the rock’n’roll thing that we had in our songs. It was the right time for us to be playing over there and we had a great time, but when we came back to London it started to seem that nothing was happening for us anymore.’
What happened with the album you were recording for Polydor ? Obviously, the recordings eventually surfaced on the ‘Strange Obsessions’ album released by Sing Sing Records in 2010, but why was it not released back at the time ?
‘We weren’t happy with the way it had come out and Polydor didn’t seem to be happy with it either. Things had changed and I don’t think they wanted to put any more money into promoting something they had already decided wasn’t going to be successful. The whole musical landscape had changed so much since they had signed us and they were looking at it purely from a business point of view, so they just decided to shelve it. We weren’t happy with the album at the time, because we thought we could have done it a lot better. But when it was finally released in 2010, I don’t think any of us were as unhappy with the way it actually sounded as we had been back in the day. It is what it is, which was the way that Protex sounded when we recorded it. I’m sure there probably were better performances that could have been captured, but for whatever reason, it never happened.’
I think the band broke-up soon after Polydor decided not to release the album…
‘Yeah, we were dropped by them and we split-up after playing a few final gigs in March 1981. Me, Dave and Owen all went back to Belfast while Paul, the bass player, decided to stay in England. Myself, I did nothing for about two years and I found it quite hard to adjust to being back in Belfast again. I didn’t really play music again for a good few years, maybe ten years or so. But eventually someone asked if I’d be interested in playing some of the Dr Feelgood-type stuff again and I started playing in different R’nB bands again, just playing in small bars or whatever, occasionally playing the odd Clash cover. It was very enjoyable but then I stopped playing again, for various reasons, and didn’t really do anything else for a long time. I didn’t even think about it until Dave, our old guitarist, phoned me one day, some time in 2012 I think, and asked if I would be interested in playing again as Protex ? Initially, I said ‘No’ but after thinking about it for a while, I thought, Yeah, let’s give it a go ! So we rented a rehearsal room, found two new guys who hadn’t been around in the old days, got together and it was really great fun. Then we were asked to play at the release night of the ‘Good Vibrations’ film and that was a lot of fun, even though we didn’t play a particularly great gig. After we played that gig we were asked to play at Rebellion and we also supported Stiff Little Fingers at a big gig back in Belfast before we were asked to go and play in Japan. We never thought we’d get to play in Japan, but we did that and the gig in Tokyo was recorded and released on CD. I think that was when we realised that we could carry-on doing this for fun and still keep our jobs so we could have a comfortable lifestyle at home. But the problem was that Dave decided, after we played some gigs in Germany, that he didn’t want to carry on with it. He was the one who had got us back together but I think, after a few years, he’d got all that he’d wanted out of it and decided to give it up again. To be honest, I felt really gutted when he told me and I really had to think hard about whether I should carry on with someone else in his place. What would that be like ? I was sure that it just wouldn’t work, but in the end I convinced myself that I ought to give it a go and the thing that I found out was that there was still a lot of interest in the band. Maybe not in Belfast and not even the UK, particularly, but we were getting emails asking if we’d go out to places like Germany and Spain and then the big thing was when we were asked to play at South By South West in Austin. Usually you have to apply to play there, but they actually contacted us to ask if we would do it ! We got such a great response when we played there, so we’ve been back again twice since then. This last time, we also arranged to play about another ten dates all around and it was really great so, why would we want to stop ? We’re doing it because we enjoy doing it. There’s no pressure on us because we’re not getting stressed about our records not getting into the charts or stuff like that so we can just enjoy it. I’m really grateful that there are still people out there who want to come and see us and I think we ought to make the most of it. It’s so great that people take the time to come and see us or listen to us and it’s really important that we don’t take it for granted.’
‘Yeah, we were dropped by them and we split-up after playing a few final gigs in March 1981. Me, Dave and Owen all went back to Belfast while Paul, the bass player, decided to stay in England. Myself, I did nothing for about two years and I found it quite hard to adjust to being back in Belfast again. I didn’t really play music again for a good few years, maybe ten years or so. But eventually someone asked if I’d be interested in playing some of the Dr Feelgood-type stuff again and I started playing in different R’nB bands again, just playing in small bars or whatever, occasionally playing the odd Clash cover. It was very enjoyable but then I stopped playing again, for various reasons, and didn’t really do anything else for a long time. I didn’t even think about it until Dave, our old guitarist, phoned me one day, some time in 2012 I think, and asked if I would be interested in playing again as Protex ? Initially, I said ‘No’ but after thinking about it for a while, I thought, Yeah, let’s give it a go ! So we rented a rehearsal room, found two new guys who hadn’t been around in the old days, got together and it was really great fun. Then we were asked to play at the release night of the ‘Good Vibrations’ film and that was a lot of fun, even though we didn’t play a particularly great gig. After we played that gig we were asked to play at Rebellion and we also supported Stiff Little Fingers at a big gig back in Belfast before we were asked to go and play in Japan. We never thought we’d get to play in Japan, but we did that and the gig in Tokyo was recorded and released on CD. I think that was when we realised that we could carry-on doing this for fun and still keep our jobs so we could have a comfortable lifestyle at home. But the problem was that Dave decided, after we played some gigs in Germany, that he didn’t want to carry on with it. He was the one who had got us back together but I think, after a few years, he’d got all that he’d wanted out of it and decided to give it up again. To be honest, I felt really gutted when he told me and I really had to think hard about whether I should carry on with someone else in his place. What would that be like ? I was sure that it just wouldn’t work, but in the end I convinced myself that I ought to give it a go and the thing that I found out was that there was still a lot of interest in the band. Maybe not in Belfast and not even the UK, particularly, but we were getting emails asking if we’d go out to places like Germany and Spain and then the big thing was when we were asked to play at South By South West in Austin. Usually you have to apply to play there, but they actually contacted us to ask if we would do it ! We got such a great response when we played there, so we’ve been back again twice since then. This last time, we also arranged to play about another ten dates all around and it was really great so, why would we want to stop ? We’re doing it because we enjoy doing it. There’s no pressure on us because we’re not getting stressed about our records not getting into the charts or stuff like that so we can just enjoy it. I’m really grateful that there are still people out there who want to come and see us and I think we ought to make the most of it. It’s so great that people take the time to come and see us or listen to us and it’s really important that we don’t take it for granted.’
The album that you originally recorded for Polydor, ‘Strange Obsessions’, was eventually released by the American label Sing Sing Records in 2010, but was only made available in limited amounts and has since become very difficult to find. How did that all come about ?
‘I always used to get emails and enquiries from people asking about the album and if they could release it, but I’d always left it as there was a wee bit of disagreement about it and one of the old band members really didn’t want it to come out. Not one of the songwriters, I’ll add, but there was a wee bit of that bubbling about. Anyway, Sing Sing eventually put it all together and released it, but after the initial run decided that they didn’t want to do it anymore… I think there may also have been some difficulties with the rights to the material, so it was the label that decided to do it that way. But just a few weeks ago, I got an email from them saying that a Distributor in Japan had asked them to print another batch of CD’s, so would I be in agreement for them to do that ? I agreed to it so I think it’s about to happen. Maybe this will lead to further printing and better availability, but I don’t know. I’d like to have it out there so that people can hear it, but at the moment, I’m more concerned with our new stuff. ‘
Obviously, the release of the ‘Good Vibrations’ film in 2013 rekindled interest in the original Belfast Punk scene, but what was your opinion of the film itself ?
‘I think it’s a good film, as a piece of artwork or whatever, but it did employ a degree of artistic license. It’s not a documentary by any means, but it is very entertaining. Some of the characters are very good… I think the guy who played Terri Hooley did a terrific job. But as for the facts, some of it is true and a lot of it is story-telling, you know ? It’s very-much Terri Hooley’s version of events but once you realise that, it’s a good film and it’s a very good reflection of both what we grew up with and Terri’s attitude towards the bands and the music.’
You were saying that, after Protex originally broke-up, you weren’t really interested in playing music for a very long time. But during those years, the interest in Protex never died away and there’s always been a considerable amount of collectability in your original records. Did it surprise you when you found out that there were still a lot of fans out there ?
‘Oh, very much. But I think, in recent years at least, a lot of it is down to the internet. People have put stuff on there and that’s really been keeping it alive. Obviously, we had no internet when the original band were together but as time has gone by, there’s more and more stuff that people can find now. And the nice thing that seems to have come from it is that a lot of people who come to see us now aren’t of our age. We first really noticed it when we were in America, where the average age seemed to be between 25 and 40. I’d be talking to some of these people and when I asked them how they had got to hear about us, they’d say that they were listening to someone like The Rubinoos on youtube and something came up that told them, ‘if you like this, you might also like Protex…’ That’s actually very similar to how I used to find out about bands when I was growing up. So we’re now getting a younger audience than we expected and it was them that started asking, what about some new stuff? That became a whole new challenge, so that it didn’t just became a nostalgia thing. Getting the ‘Tightrope’ album written and recorded was a response to all these people asking about new material, and I’m so glad that we did it.’
‘I always used to get emails and enquiries from people asking about the album and if they could release it, but I’d always left it as there was a wee bit of disagreement about it and one of the old band members really didn’t want it to come out. Not one of the songwriters, I’ll add, but there was a wee bit of that bubbling about. Anyway, Sing Sing eventually put it all together and released it, but after the initial run decided that they didn’t want to do it anymore… I think there may also have been some difficulties with the rights to the material, so it was the label that decided to do it that way. But just a few weeks ago, I got an email from them saying that a Distributor in Japan had asked them to print another batch of CD’s, so would I be in agreement for them to do that ? I agreed to it so I think it’s about to happen. Maybe this will lead to further printing and better availability, but I don’t know. I’d like to have it out there so that people can hear it, but at the moment, I’m more concerned with our new stuff. ‘
Obviously, the release of the ‘Good Vibrations’ film in 2013 rekindled interest in the original Belfast Punk scene, but what was your opinion of the film itself ?
‘I think it’s a good film, as a piece of artwork or whatever, but it did employ a degree of artistic license. It’s not a documentary by any means, but it is very entertaining. Some of the characters are very good… I think the guy who played Terri Hooley did a terrific job. But as for the facts, some of it is true and a lot of it is story-telling, you know ? It’s very-much Terri Hooley’s version of events but once you realise that, it’s a good film and it’s a very good reflection of both what we grew up with and Terri’s attitude towards the bands and the music.’
You were saying that, after Protex originally broke-up, you weren’t really interested in playing music for a very long time. But during those years, the interest in Protex never died away and there’s always been a considerable amount of collectability in your original records. Did it surprise you when you found out that there were still a lot of fans out there ?
‘Oh, very much. But I think, in recent years at least, a lot of it is down to the internet. People have put stuff on there and that’s really been keeping it alive. Obviously, we had no internet when the original band were together but as time has gone by, there’s more and more stuff that people can find now. And the nice thing that seems to have come from it is that a lot of people who come to see us now aren’t of our age. We first really noticed it when we were in America, where the average age seemed to be between 25 and 40. I’d be talking to some of these people and when I asked them how they had got to hear about us, they’d say that they were listening to someone like The Rubinoos on youtube and something came up that told them, ‘if you like this, you might also like Protex…’ That’s actually very similar to how I used to find out about bands when I was growing up. So we’re now getting a younger audience than we expected and it was them that started asking, what about some new stuff? That became a whole new challenge, so that it didn’t just became a nostalgia thing. Getting the ‘Tightrope’ album written and recorded was a response to all these people asking about new material, and I’m so glad that we did it.’
As this was the first time that you’d written new Protex songs for some thirty years, how long did it take for you to put the new material together ?
‘Well, the songs didn’t actually take that long, maybe just a few months. But the album itself took a lot longer to record because we were all still working and I also had a death in the family during that time. So it took a lot longer than it should have, probably around ten months or so. But we’ve already got a lot of new songs ready and we really want to make another record now. I think we’d like to do it as soon as we can, because you never know if there’ll still be the interest in another years’ time…’
Did you find it difficult to start writing songs in the ‘Protex’ style again ?
‘I think that, as I’m now the only original member left in Protex, I had to be careful not to change the style of the songs too much. Obviously, different influences are bound to creep in, but at the same time I wanted to make it sound like a Protex record. Fortunately, the reaction to the new album has been very positive, the reviews have been lovely and the sales have been pretty good so I think we must have been doing it right. It’s certainly been a lot of fun doing it.’
As you were originally unhappy with the way the ‘Strange Obsessions’ album came-out, have you been happier with the results on ‘Tightrope’ ?
‘Yeah, and I think the label, Bachelor Records, did a really good job too. They had a great attitude, were very professional and very supportive. They made sure it had a good distribution and they did a really good job for us. There were a few things about the production that could have been a bit better… a few people said that the vocals should have been a wee bit louder and others said that the guitar didn’t sound as ballsy as it did on the earlier records. But I was using a Gretsch guitar when we recorded the album, while now I’ve got a Les Paul, so I think that may have been a factor. It wasn’t meant to sound ‘cleaner’, but it was just the way it came out.’
This gig is just a one-off in London, but what other plans do you have at the moment ?
‘I think we’re going to be quiet for a while, because I’ve got a lot going on in my job… I work in Hospitality, running hotels. One of them has a sixty bedroom extension being built, so I have to be around for that. But we’re looking at setting-up another American tour for next September and if we get any offers in between, hopefully we’ll be able to do them as well. The other thing we’re all keen to do is to start rehearsing and recording the new stuff, so that’s what we’ll be doing. Hopefully, we’ll stay with Bachelor Records for the next album, because they’ve been really good with this one and I would think they’d be interested in continuing to work with us. We recorded the ‘Tightrope’ album ourselves and then sent copies out to a lot of different labels to see who might be interested in releasing it. Some got back to us to say they’d like to release it but they had ridiculous terms that I really didn’t want to go with. Bachelor Records were a lot more fair with us and really seemed to be into it, so we decided to go with them and it’s been great. So I’m hoping that we can get the new album done and have it released next year. That’s the plan, although I just don’t know for sure. But it’s definitely something that I’d like to do with the band and I’ll be doing my best to make it happen as soon as we can.’
‘Well, the songs didn’t actually take that long, maybe just a few months. But the album itself took a lot longer to record because we were all still working and I also had a death in the family during that time. So it took a lot longer than it should have, probably around ten months or so. But we’ve already got a lot of new songs ready and we really want to make another record now. I think we’d like to do it as soon as we can, because you never know if there’ll still be the interest in another years’ time…’
Did you find it difficult to start writing songs in the ‘Protex’ style again ?
‘I think that, as I’m now the only original member left in Protex, I had to be careful not to change the style of the songs too much. Obviously, different influences are bound to creep in, but at the same time I wanted to make it sound like a Protex record. Fortunately, the reaction to the new album has been very positive, the reviews have been lovely and the sales have been pretty good so I think we must have been doing it right. It’s certainly been a lot of fun doing it.’
As you were originally unhappy with the way the ‘Strange Obsessions’ album came-out, have you been happier with the results on ‘Tightrope’ ?
‘Yeah, and I think the label, Bachelor Records, did a really good job too. They had a great attitude, were very professional and very supportive. They made sure it had a good distribution and they did a really good job for us. There were a few things about the production that could have been a bit better… a few people said that the vocals should have been a wee bit louder and others said that the guitar didn’t sound as ballsy as it did on the earlier records. But I was using a Gretsch guitar when we recorded the album, while now I’ve got a Les Paul, so I think that may have been a factor. It wasn’t meant to sound ‘cleaner’, but it was just the way it came out.’
This gig is just a one-off in London, but what other plans do you have at the moment ?
‘I think we’re going to be quiet for a while, because I’ve got a lot going on in my job… I work in Hospitality, running hotels. One of them has a sixty bedroom extension being built, so I have to be around for that. But we’re looking at setting-up another American tour for next September and if we get any offers in between, hopefully we’ll be able to do them as well. The other thing we’re all keen to do is to start rehearsing and recording the new stuff, so that’s what we’ll be doing. Hopefully, we’ll stay with Bachelor Records for the next album, because they’ve been really good with this one and I would think they’d be interested in continuing to work with us. We recorded the ‘Tightrope’ album ourselves and then sent copies out to a lot of different labels to see who might be interested in releasing it. Some got back to us to say they’d like to release it but they had ridiculous terms that I really didn’t want to go with. Bachelor Records were a lot more fair with us and really seemed to be into it, so we decided to go with them and it’s been great. So I’m hoping that we can get the new album done and have it released next year. That’s the plan, although I just don’t know for sure. But it’s definitely something that I’d like to do with the band and I’ll be doing my best to make it happen as soon as we can.’
The venue is starting to get busy by this point and the gig is already underway so we end the interview here and go off to find our different friends. I end up missing the first band altogether as a result, but I do catch some of the set from the main support, a Spanish band called Biznaga. They start-off pretty well, playing a frantic style of garage punk but after a while it starts to get a bit too repetitive and I start to lose interest. Perhaps if I could have understood the lyrics it would have made a difference to the proceedings, but as it was, I didn’t think they were bad and they certainly had a lot of energy, but not enough catchy tunes to keep me on the spot.
Protex, however, are totally enjoyable from start to finish. The new songs sound even better played live than they do on the album, with a bigger guitar sound to really put them across. Similarly, the tracks from ‘Strange Obsessions’ prove themselves with no difficulties and it’s several songs into the set before they play one of the tracks from their better-known singles, ‘I Can’t Cope’. It gets a big cheer, of course, but by this point so are all of the songs. ‘Tightrope’ goes down just as well as ‘A Place In Your Heart’ while ‘Shining Star’ is as equally well-received as ‘Heartache’. ‘Strange Obsessions’ and ‘I Can Only Dream’ bring the set to a fitting end, before an encore takes things even further, featuring ‘Don’t Ring Me Up’, covers of ‘Jeepster’ and ‘Let’s Dance’, and finally closing with an exceptional version of ‘Listening In’. As it turns out, the gig had over-run and I ended up having to catch a night-bus home from Brixton, but in the circumstances, I don’t think that was such a bad deal. As Aidan commented during the interview, it seems that Protex haven’t received as much interest around the UK since their reformation as other bands from the same era, but surely this needs to be rectified soon ? They’ve released a fine new album and are now playing excellent gigs. See them as soon as you can – you’ll appreciate it !
Protex, however, are totally enjoyable from start to finish. The new songs sound even better played live than they do on the album, with a bigger guitar sound to really put them across. Similarly, the tracks from ‘Strange Obsessions’ prove themselves with no difficulties and it’s several songs into the set before they play one of the tracks from their better-known singles, ‘I Can’t Cope’. It gets a big cheer, of course, but by this point so are all of the songs. ‘Tightrope’ goes down just as well as ‘A Place In Your Heart’ while ‘Shining Star’ is as equally well-received as ‘Heartache’. ‘Strange Obsessions’ and ‘I Can Only Dream’ bring the set to a fitting end, before an encore takes things even further, featuring ‘Don’t Ring Me Up’, covers of ‘Jeepster’ and ‘Let’s Dance’, and finally closing with an exceptional version of ‘Listening In’. As it turns out, the gig had over-run and I ended up having to catch a night-bus home from Brixton, but in the circumstances, I don’t think that was such a bad deal. As Aidan commented during the interview, it seems that Protex haven’t received as much interest around the UK since their reformation as other bands from the same era, but surely this needs to be rectified soon ? They’ve released a fine new album and are now playing excellent gigs. See them as soon as you can – you’ll appreciate it !
