I SUPPOSE THE FIRST QUESTION HAS TO BE HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE DAMNED?
Alan: How did I get involved with the Damned...blimey, that`s going back a bit! Well I knew Brian James very well for many years, working with him on and off, for about 13-14 years or something. When he left the Damned I started working with him, going right through to his solo album. I knew him right through the period when the Lords Of The New Church broke up, and we just got together and I worked with him on songs, jamming, that sort of thing, and previous to the Lords I was in bands with him, and it just happened that we decided to an album on New Rose records. Previous to that I was working with Rat, Brian and Raven from Killing Joke, with the idea of putting a band together. That didn`t happen, so I just went off with Brian, did the solo album, and then we did a movie soundtrack, we appeared in this movie in French, made over in Europe. Then Brian moved to France, and I stayed in England. I`ve always been reasonably friendly with Rat, and I just contacted him, and he was putting the Damned together, looking for a guitarist, so here I am basically!
SO AT WHAT POINT DID IT ACTUALLY BECOME THE DAMNED AGAIN, RATHER THAN JUST WRITING SONGS WITH RAT AND BRIAN?
Alan: Well, the Damned came together with Moose and Dolly and Rat getting together, about a year and a half ago, and they were putting the band together, looking for some material, and I just got involved with that basically.
DO YOU FIND IT A BIT STRANGE BEING PART OF THE DAMNED, AFTER THEM HAVING SUCH A LONG AND CHECKERED CAREER...?
Alan : Not really, `cos I`ve known Brian over the years, y`know, the original line-up, first LP, and I`ve kind of kept contact in a certain way, although the middle period of the Damned I don`t know that much about, although I knew of the existence of the group, but I was friendly with Brian and there wasn`t a lot of contact during the Captain or the Roman Jugg period, I`ve just been more involved with that since I`ve been brought into it now. I mean it`s fine, I always liked the Damned, Rats drumming...he`s a great drummer, and the whole attitude of the Damned...they`ve a very sort of MC5 attitude about them, very powerful, very upfront, very attacking...though that`s more the kinda earlier period of the Damned, although it did go into Machine Gun Etiquette.
IN A LOT OF WAYS THE SOUND OF THE DAMNED NOW IS CLOSER  TO THE FIRST ALBUM THAN A LOT OF THE STUFF IN-BETWEEN...
Alan : Yeah, I think so yeah, that`s the way it`s gone, because there`s the two guitars and it`s more guitar orientated, and Moose is a very powerful bass player. The songs have also been interpreted in a way that is closer to the early period of the Damned. Its not that kind of thing...with keyboards...
YEAH, I WAS GONNA SAY ABOUT THE LACK OF KEYBOARDS...
Alan : It`s not quite so poppy as the later periods, or the goth period. It`s more straight-forward, in-your-face sort of stuff really.
SOME OF THE STUFF NOW I THINK IS AS GOOD AS ANYTHING THE DAMNED HAVE EVER DONE...
Alan : Thanks a lot!
...WHICH IS QUITE SOMETHING, CONSIDERING SOME OF THE AMAZING STUFF THAT`S COME OUT AND THE VARIETY OF STYLES OVER THE LAST 18 YEARS! IT`S GOOD THAT THE BAND KEEPS CHANGING...
Alan : Well that`s what change is all about...with change comes new things. If you don`t change you become stuck in the same situation and become stagnant, I think it`s important not to do that.
SO WHAT HAS THE REACTION BEEN TO THIS "NEW" DAMNED?
Alan : Well the reaction to the new songs has been great, it`s taken me aback, `cos it`s a difficult situation `cos the band hasn`t put out new material for about seven years or something now, and it was a case of "what`s the reaction going to be like", but the songs have gone down really well, and fitted in with the old material, y`know, it has gone down well. We`re very chuffed about that situation. So we recorded what we considered to be the album, eleven songs, all new stuff, and we just really want to get the new album out.
SO HOW DID THE ALBUM GO? DID IT COME TOGETHER WELL?
Alan : Yeah, we were putting various bits and pieces together, recording bits with Dave, demoing, and then we did the final kind of serious demos in Cologne in June, and since then we`ve been going in with a producer called Dave Allen and finishing them off and finally got some, what we consider to be good mixes about two or three weeks ago, and now obviously we`re looking for a deal.
RAT WAS SAYING YOU RECORDED A LOT OF IT LIVE...
Alan : Yeah, initially, the backing tracks are done live, basically, we all play together, and then overdubs are added. But initially all the songs are done live.
I WAS THINKING THAT WITH THE SOUND OF THE NEW SONGS, DOING IT LIVE WILL CAPTURE A LOT OF THE ENERGY...
Alan : Yeah, sure, it does capture that well.
SO ABOUT THE NEW DEAL...IS THERE ANY NEWS ON THAT?
Alan : Well, we`ve approached EMI Japan, it`s quite public knowledge that they are interested. As yet, they`ve only just received the tapes in the past few days, so depending on what the deal is, whether they want it, it could happen, but from then on, other companies will be approached, so we`re looking for a release next year.
DO YOU THINK THERE`S A DANGER OF THE DAMNED GETTING LUMPED IN WITH THE PUNK NOSTALGIA SORT OF THING?
Alan : Well unfortunately it is to an extent. The new material will stand or fall, or in fact the whole band will stand or fall in terms of credibility in a contemporary situation, on the album, whether it`s accepted or whatever, but yes, we are a punk band, and we`re never gonna get away from the likes of New Rose, Neat Neat Neat and all those songs. Unless of course the new album does very well, and new material keeps coming up, more new material, more new albums...we`ll never surpass New Rose, it`s stamped in stone in some respect, because it was the first punk record.
WELL IT`S HAD 18 YEARS OF BEING A CLASSIC...QUITE A LONG TIME!
Alan : Exactly, and it`s very difficult to get away from that, and I don`t think we ever will, but if new material and new albums come out, and they are strong, and they get into the public psyche, the record buying public, then the band can have a new hiatus, can become more successful. I don`t know how you can compare it to, but there are bands from the past that are still very successful and they`re successful on their current material, and their back catalogue is still there. There are solo performers and bands that can still keep contemporary. It`s all down to what you can do now, what`s new.
I THINK THE RE-UNION/FAREWELL YEARS DID A LOT OF DAMAGE IN AS MUCH AS THE BAND WAS PRESENTED AS NOTHING MORE THAN NOSTALGIA, WHEREAS NOW I THINK IT`S GOOD THAT YOU`RE PLAYING DIFFERENT PLACES AND ACTUALLY WINNING BACK A LOT OF THE FANS...SHOWING THAT YOU`RE STILL MOVING FORWARD...
Alan : As I say, until the new album comes out, you`re not going to get a new fan-base, a fresh interest. Just in terms of radio, I mean we`re playing this tour now and none of the radio stations as far as I know are playing any material, but if there`s a new album out, they will, `cos there`s a tie-in there, and once new materials out there`ll be fans out there that would`ve never have dreamt of coming to a Damned concert, but are simply coming `cos they heard it on the radio, and have heard our new material. And that`ll bring in new fans, and give the band a new lease of life hopefully.
I THINK THERE`S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT PROBABLY DON`T EVEN REALISE THE DAMNED ARE DOING ANYTHING NEW...
Alan : Well yes, that`s a true thing as well, `cos obviously you see the name around, and to a lot of people they might feel "oh the Damned again...New Rose, Neat Neat Neat" and that`s it.
ONE PROBLEM I THOUGHT THE BAND MIGHT HAVE IS THAT THEY WERE ONLY GONNA GET THE "PLAY NEW ROSE" TYPE PEOPLE, `COS WITH THE FAREWELL TYPE STUFF, THAT`S ALL IT WAS, MEANING THAT THE REAL FANS WHO WANTED NEW STUFF AS WELL AS OLD JUST GOT PISSED OFF WITH IT ALL AND DRIFTED AWAY...
Alan : Well yeah, those gigs were all the old hits...
IT MAKES IT EVEN BETTER TO SEE THINGS HAPPENING AGAIN AFTER THINGS LOOKING SO SHAKY (COVERS OF "GREEN DOOR" ETC) FOR A WHILE...
Alan : Yeah, Shakin` Stevens!!
SO HOW ARE THE SONGS WRITTEN THESE DAYS...IS IT A BAND EFFORT?
Alan : No, I write all the songs. What happens is I go to Rats with idea, I work with him at his place and we both work on the arrangements and he says "I like this and that, maybe we should do this" or whatever, but I initially arrive with the songs and then he`ll put the drums on. Then we`ll bring in Moose or Dolly to put in their input, Dolly with his lead playing and what have you, and Moose will play bass, and finally Dave will come and sing. That`s how the songs are built up.
DOES DAVE WRITE HIS OWN LYRICS?
Alan : No, I write the lyrics...I mean he`ll do it whatever way he sings it, but generally it`s more or less the way I envisage it. I mean that`s how it`s evolved so far, it may change with the next album, but that`s how it is at the moment.
I KNEW YOU WERE THE MAJOR SONGWRITER, BUT I DIDN`T REALISE YOU WERE THE MAN BEHIND THEM ALL!
Alan : Well, all of them so far!
IT`S GOOD THAT THE LAST FEW TIMES I`VE SEEN THE BAND THERE`S BEEN MORE NEW SONGS EACH TIME...I`VE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!
Alan : Well, there`s one "new" new one tonight, which is Tailspin, which starts slowly, but has a sort of power middle section, slow again, and then builds up again...a kind of dramatic approach, not like something like "Need A Life" which is full on. We have a different intro to that now...a few things have changed, but not that much since the last time you saw us.
AS I SAY, IT`S GREAT TO HEAR NEW MATERIAL...IT`S BEEN EIGHT YEARS SINCE I`VE HEARD ANY!
Alan : Well hopefully there`ll be more, I`m certainly up for writing lots of stuff. I`m already wanting to write for the next album after this one. I`m just constantly writing...I mean how it evolves from there I don`t know. It depends a lot on the album, if it does well then we`ll continue.
WHAT HAVE YOU MADE OF THE LAST FEW TOURS, HAVE THEY GONE WELL?
Alan : They`ve been going really well. There are some nights that are really good, some nights that are not quite so good, but there`s never anything that`s really bad. It`s a good band, a really tight band. As I say, with the new guys like myself and Dolly and Moose, I think we`d like to see our input, y`know the new album or whatever actually out there.
FINALLY THEN, WHAT ARE THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE PLANS OTHER THAN THE NEW ALBUM?
Alan : There`s an idea of a tour beginning in February `95, in the south of England. Apparently we`re doing the Powerhaus in London, we`re closing that down! It`s closing down and they want us to play there, a kinda one-off night, it`s only a very small venue. The main thing is to get the album out though. We`re doing a lot of work here...I mean this is like a two week tour, and previous to that we went to Ireland, and previous to that we were up in Scotland again. It`s a lot of work, but it`s getting this new album out, that`s going to really move things along. We did a radio show about a year ago, we did Testify, I Need A Life and Never Believe, and you see some of the audience trying to sing the words, and it`s great, a real buzz to see them really into it, but it`d be great if they could have a new album, to get into all the material. Although it`s gone down really well, it could`ve fallen flat on its face, `cos Damned audiences are very discerning...
DISCERNING MUSIC LOVERS!
Alan : Yeah, they know what they want, and it would be nice to know that the record is out, and that they could be familiar with it, before coming to the gig. They wouldn`t have to keep coming two or three times before they...or get a bootleg or something. It`s good knowing the crowd are familiar with the material, you can enjoy it more, get into the hooks, the words and what have you. Things are just going really well, I`m in a real writing mode, I`ve got so many other songs that I want to do...
IS IT NOT DIFFICULT FINDING THE TIME TO WRITE WHEN YOUR ON TOUR SO MUCH?
Alan : Well what I do is that I get ideas when I`m on tour, I don`t really write on tour, but I get ideas when I`m playing live, and do the writing at home, work away at it etc. There`s a lot of work behind the scenes, `cos a lot of the songs I work on with Rat don`t actually get into being recorded. I`ve done loads of stuff that hasn`t actually got to the point of being in the Damned catalogue. There`s so much more stuff out there.
ITS A GOOD POSITION TO BE IN THOUGH, BEING ABLE TO PICK THE BEST OF THE BEST...
Alan : Well, I work closely with Rat on that. It`s really just Rat that I worked with on the songs.
THE NEW ONES FIT WELL INTO THE SET, IT`S NOT LIKE IT`S OBVIOUSLY A NEW SONG, THEN AN OLD ONE...
Alan : Yeah, they all kind of sit nicely. Rat has said that I have the sort of feel for writing songs for the Damned. It`s not just something that I`ve pulled out the air, I mean we have similar sort of backgrounds. My musical background is very similar to Brians, `cos I knew in `77 he was very much into the Stooges, MC5, Iggy and whatever, and I grew up on the same sort of thing. Rat is the same, so it`s not unusual that things are working out in that respect...

AND THERE WE HAVE IT. THANKS TO ALAN FOR BEING SUCH A GENT.

Photos by Liz Thompson (1,3 and 5), Sylvia Schultz (2 and 4)