Eighties Revival

After five years in the wilderness, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster return this month. They explain to Jessica Hazel how they came back from the brink…

The Shady souls that are The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster are as much a part of the furniture of Brighton as the ruined West Pier or the pokey alleyways of The Lanes. Trouble has never been far behind founding members Sym Gharial and Guy McKnight and a string of events which included losing their record deal, management, publishers and their slippery grip on sobriety almost finished them o_ completely. Against all odds, though, Eighties Matchbox have risen, phoenix-like, from the grubby ashes with a brilliant new album, ‘Blood & Fire’. Frontman Guy McKnight is eating pasta and looking at some books when The Fly catches up with him, a serene scene which is reflective of the band’s current state of mind. The last five years have been a test… a voyage”, he states. “It feels really good to be putting something out which is a testament to persevering.” At the end of 2004, mere days after the release of second album ‘The Royal Society’, Eighties were dropped from Island. “It would be so easy, as a young person in a band, who has just been dropped by a record label, to feel like it’s the end, or somehow you have failed,” he states. “But when we first got signed I was in such a negative state of mind. I wasn’t turning up for rehearsals and my musical output was sporadic.” The next five years saw the band release their own EP, ‘In The Garden’, and subsequently lose the plot completely – bassist Sym ended up in rehab, guitarist Rich Fownes left the band to join Nine Inch Nails and Guy went o_ to Russia and the Azore islands to pursue his acting career. I think loads of people doubted that we would go on to do anything else,” says Guy. “I didn’t doubt that we had the potential to continue, I just got so fed up with the struggle that I felt like giving up, but there was an unspoken and inherent belief that we hadn’t finished the mission.” The Eighties then got invited to tour with friends Queens Of The Stone Age and System Of A Down, squirrelling away the money earned from the shows and putting it aside to make a new record with. It was also at this time they met Tristan McLenahan and Dom Knight – both potential replacements for Rich. “We chose Tristan in the end as he was an incredible player and we were able to record the album at his Dad’s studio in the South of France. But I was really puzzled as to why we had met Dom as I felt such a life to life connection with him; he’s got such a unique and striking presence.” Then, at the beginning of this year guitarist Marc Norris suddenly upped and left and Dom found his rightful place in the band. “Dom and Tristan have brought all the enthusiasm and vigour of youth to the band. Tristan wrote the album track ‘Never Be The Same’ and re-wrote a lot of the guitar bits that I wasn’t happy with.” The band returned from their French studio with ‘Blood & Fire’ in the bag and presented it to a few handpicked individuals at a label showcase at the 100 Club. Black Records were in the audience and soon snapped it up, recognising it as the most thrilling Eighties Matchbox release to date. “There are songs on there which are in the same vein as the first two albums,” states Guy. “But then there is stuff on there which we just couldn’t have written before as it comes with ageing, like an old wine or a fine prune.” The songs are as visceral and gothic as ever but with a new coherence; such as forthcoming single ‘Loves Turn To Hate’ and a morose Nick Cave-esque ballad in the form of ‘So Long, Goodnight’, a definite first for the Eighties. The band are now preparing for a mammoth UK tour throughout May, with Sym attempting to stay on the straight and narrow – Guy states it’s like “walking a tightrope”. “People come to see us twenty, thirty, forty times in a row,” muses Guy, “there are a lot of sick people out there. Apparently we appeal to them.” The doubters silenced, Eighties Matchbox are well and truly back from the dead and nothing, not even plagues of frogs or locusts can keep these seadogs down. Long may the Disaster continue.

‘Blood & Fire’ is released on Black Records on May 31st. Eighties Matchbox play The Great Escape this month.