(((O))) Interview: Vicious Bishop

Vicious Bishop mix punk, hardcore, ska, reggae and dub influences to create a timeless merging of sounds and these sounds all come out in their recently released EP Miracle Formula 168, a collection of vibrant songs that features guest appearances from members of Sham 69, Cockney Rejects and Radio Stars. Gavin Brown caught up with the members of Vicious Bishop, drummer Dave Nuttall (ex-Toy Dolls), bassist Adz Woods, and vocalist/guitarist Rich Davenport (ex-Radio Stars) to hear all about Miracle Formula 168 and their recent appearance at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool as well as plenty of punk rock tales for good measure.

E&D: You recently played two sets at the Rebellion Festival. Can you tell us about them and some of your highlights of the weekend?           

Rich: We had an absolute blast! The crowds at both sets were very supportive and seemed to really enjoy it. For me personally, it was amazing to be back on stage with Andy Ellison again. We’ve kept in touch, and we’ve always been great mates, but I hadn’t played a gig with him since I was in Radio Stars and we did the Marquee in 1995 – that was the infamous shawl where Andy fell from the lighting rig, which was really scary. Thankfully, there were no mishaps at Rebellion, and he did a great job. Adz and Dave really enjoyed playing live with him too. We played a mix of Radio Stars songs, the classic John’s Children’s song ‘Desdemona’, which was written by Marc Bolan when he was in JC with Andy, and also ‘She’s So Dissatisfied’ which we wrote with Andy for our debut EP. Playing acoustically was something new for us, but our set on the Almost Acoustic stage was really enjoyable, both for the crowd and for us. We enjoyed it so much that we’re planning to do some Vicious Bishop acoustic gigs, alongside the regular full pelt electric gigs.. Everyone from we spoke to from the audiences after the gigs was really friendly, and it was a great atmosphere, which was a highlight in itself. All the backstage staff, sound crews, and admin team at Rebellion were brilliant and really looked after us.

E&D: Which other bands did you catch at Rebellion and how were they?

Rich: It was pretty full on moving between the two stages at Rebellion, so unfortunately we didn’t get to check out many other bands, but we did catch a bit of Ruts DC, which was fantastic. They’re one of my favorite bands, and one of the first punk bands I remember hearing on the radio as a kid. I also heard some of Rhoda Dakar from the Bodysnatchers’ set, and she sounded amazing – her last album, Version Girl, is brilliant, and she played some tracks from that, including her excellent cover of ‘Stop Your Sobbing’ by the Pretenders/Kinks. I also heard some of the Ramspampits and Miles Hunt’s sets on the Almost Acoustic sets, and they both played a blinder by the sound of it.

E&D: How have the rest of your gigs gone this year?

Rich: Thankfully they’ve gone down well. We try to balance our set list with a mix of faster punk numbers, ska punk, and punky reggae, and so far the audiences seem to have enjoyed the variety and have made us very welcome, which we really appreciate..

E&D: Are you playing more live shows for the rest of the year?

Rich: Yes, We’re playing an annual festival called Punk and Disorderly in Lancaster On Friday the 23rd Of August, then Lancaster Music Festival on October the 12th, And then we’re teaming up with Andy Ellison again for Morecambe Punk Festival on the 16th of November. We’re trying to book as many gigs as possible for next year at the moment, and we’re looking forward to playing Punk Fest 9 at The Boulevard. in Wigan on January 25th next year.

E&D: Your debut EP Miracle Formula 168 has just been released too. What has the reaction to it been like so far?

Rich: Thankfully, it’s been very positive. People who’ve bought it have told us they’ve really enjoyed it, And the reviews have also been very encouraging, none of which we take for granted! It’s fired us up for recording Our debut album later this year. We’re giving away a free song, ‘Magnetic North’, at our website so people can try before they buy! 

E&D: How did the creation of the album go and was it a smooth process?

Rich: It went well, and everything ran quite smoothly in the studio. We recorded at a place called Stonegate Studios near High Bentham in Yorkshire, and the producer/ engineer, Sam Parkinson, did an amazing job for us. We had to be careful in planning the recording, because we didn’t have a big budget, so we’d rehearsed quite a lot before we went into the studio. Sam is a punk fan, and he’s familiar with old school punk, as well later bands like Rancid, so he knew the kind of sound we were going for. He did a great job helping us get the sound we wanted, and also mixing in the guest guitar solos and vocals. We booked in from Monday to Friday, actually ended up finishing everything by dinner time on the Thursday, so we had time to record four more backing tracks, which we’ll be finishing off in October when we do the album.

E&D: The EP features guest appearances from Micky Geggus from Cockney Rejects, Dave Parsons from Sham 69 and Andy Ellison. How was the experience of working with them on the songs they appear on?

Rich: It was brilliant. We were blown away and honoured that they were happy to guest with us. Dave and Andy both recorded their parts at home, and Micky did his solo in a studio near where he lives. Hearing the finished tracks with their parts mixed in was a huge buzz! Sixteen year old me would never believe that they’ve ended upon our EP! That’s what I love about the punk scene, people are so approachable and friendly. I’ve known Mick and Dave since 1992, and they’re both amazing guitarists. The track Andy sings on. Is one we wrote back when I was in Radio Stars. I rewrote the music with Adz and Dave and we gave it a punky, reggae feel on the verses. Andy’s lyrics and vocal melody really give this song a lot of atmosphere.

E&D: What have been the biggest influence on the sound of Miracle Formula 168?

Rich: The three of us have a lot of different influences, but generally we’re influenced by bands like the Clash, the Ruts, Stiff Little Fingers, the Ramones, Husker Du, Rancid and 2 Tone. Dave really likes the hardcore / crossover side of punk, and outside of punk, Adz loves funk. There’s a song on the EP called ‘Shouting Down the Sewer’ which has a bit of that hardcore, faster influence in there. One of my fave bands is Dag Nasty, who were melodic hardcore, and I also love Bad Religion, so I was leaning towards that for the guitar parts. I also love ska, rocksteady, and reggae, and a lot of the punky reggae crossover bands from the original era, So you can definitely hear that influence on the EP.

E&D: What does the title of the EP refer to?

Rich: It’s a reference to the average speed of our songs, which is 168 beats per minute. Before we went into the studio, we had to work out the speed of each song with a metronome, saw that Sam could set the click track in the studio, and nearly every song we did was exactly 168 beats per minute! We were laughing about it by the end of the end of the rehearsal, It just seems to be our natural speed, and I made a joke about it, “Miracle Formula 168”, which sounds to me like something from one of those cheesy TV adverts for Grecian 2000 or Plantur 39. That’s the idea behind the cover – the bloke is spraying himself with a can of Miracle Formula 168 and giving the thumbs up. Hopefully the music will have the same effect when people listen to the EP! The cover is by an amazing artist called Paul Raggity, he did a brilliant job.

E&D: Have you got plans for a full length album and when could we expect that to be out?

Rich: Yes, we’re back in the studio in October. Hopefully it’ll be out around March or April next year.

E&D: How did Vicious Bishop start as a band?

Rich: Dave and I have played in bands together for years, but we formed Vicious Bishop in 2021. Adz came on board last year, just before we started gigging, as our old bassist Nick had to take a break. In the end he had to bow out, but we’re still good mates, and Adz already knew the songs, so it’s been full steam ahead since he joined permanently.

E&D: What have been some of the highlights in your other bands Toy Dolls, The Convulsions and Radio Stars?

Dave: Favourite memories of gigging with the Toy Dolls would be hanging out with the fans after every show. We would always come out after gigs to sign things for fans, but I would stay out and chat and get to know people and their cultures across Europe. Favourite / most memorable gigs would be one in Spain and the Hungarian Sziget festival. At Sziget we were first band on Mainstage that day… the crowd was massive and knew our songs and totally interacted. No other band got as big a crowd that day apart from the headline band. Plus we had assistants looking after the bands backstage: who all wore T-shirts with “babysitter” written on them! The gig in Spain was crazy hot, and temperature on stage during the show was 55°C! The atmosphere was so damp from the hot sweaty fans, that everything was covered in moisture, to the point where it made the lights cut out and we played 3 songs with just the guitar tech shining a mag light on Olga’s fretboard: no other lights on in the venue! But we still finished the show (some lights did come back on).

Adz: I think the best memory was the whole of the Costa Rica tour but especially just staying in the penthouse suite with the band hanging out in the hot tub/sauna ordering room service. We felt like rockstars until they moved us into normal rooms haha..

Rich: Playing the Chelsea Bridge Reunion in 1995 was great, it was my first gig with Radio Stars, and my first time witnessing Andy in full flight onstage! He was up the lighting rig like a shot, and full of energy. I also played with original Radio Stars bassist Martin Gordon’s solo band at th Blow Up Club in London in 2008, which I really enjoyed cos we opened for the original line up of Radio Stars and I got to watch them.

E&D: What punk albums had the biggest influence on you?

Dave: I tend to listen to more hardcore and ska-punk, so my favourites would include Let’s Face It by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Quickness by Bad Brains, Just Look Around by Sick Of It All and MxPx – Slowly Going The Way Of The Buffalo. 

Adz: I say I don’t really like Blink 182 but I am rather fond of their self-titled album and Take Off Your Pants And Jacket. Also I know it’s a compilation album but Reel Big Fish Favourite Noise is also a great album. Infectious Grooves’ GROOVE FAMILY CYCO and Mas Borracho are belters.

Rich: Too many to name, but the Ruts’ The Crack, SLF’s Inflammable Material, the Clash’s first 3 albums and Story Of The Clash compilation, Dag Nasty’s Can I Say, Sham 69’s That’s Life, All – All (self-titled compilation), Buzzcocks’ Singles Going Steady, Hüsker Dü’s Candy Apple Grey. Not punk, but the Selecter’s Too Much Pressure is another big one for me.

E&D: How did you discover punk in the first place?

Rich: I was 6 years old in 1978, but I suddenly noticed that the music on the radio in my dad’s car had got more exciting! I liked a lot of songs without even knowing what punk was – the Rezillos’ ‘Top Of The Pops’, the Ruts’ ‘Babylon’s Burning’, Sham’s ‘Questions & Answers’. I also remember seeing Sham on Top of the Pops doing ‘Mister You’re A Better Man Than I’. When I hit my teens in the mid 80s, everyone at school still knew about the Sex Pistols, and a friend of mine who was a year older lent me Never Mind The Bollocks. I’d mainly been into metal, but a lot of the thrash metal bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth always talked about punk bands in interviews and covered punk songs, so that led me to check out bands they covered and recommended, like the Misfits and the Dead Kennedys. I got more into punk than anything else, and along with a couple of mates started buying second hand vinyl from X Records in Bolton. The owner of the shop, Ste, had been a punk in the 70s, and used to recommend albums to check out. We’re still good friends now, and he’s Put out the EP on his X Records label for us, which brings it full circle!

E&D: What are some of the greatest punk gigs you have ever seen?

Rich: I saw Sham quite a few times in the early 90s and they were great. The Sex Pistols at Finsbury Park in 1996 was amazing, I bumped into Paco, the drummer from Conflict, who I’d only met once before completely by chance, in a pub near where he lived, and he welcomed me like an old friend, which was great because I was there on my own. We went down the front together for the Buzzcocks, and also bumped into Charlie Harper from the UK Subs who was just wandering around the site chatting with everyone. SLF played earlier in the afternoon and they were amazing. When the Pistols came on, the whole field full of people surged forward, and then started pogoing, you couldn’t stand still if you wanted to because everyone was so close together. Ruts DC in Preston around 2012 was also great, they had a guy doing live dub mixing while they played which sounded fantastic.