Interview with 13th Chime

RUSSIAN VERSION HERE
RJ_Sh1kima
Hi Mick!
Can you recall why the group dispersed, and why have you decided to reunite now?

Mick
Hello!
We played our last gig in 1984 at strawberry fair in Cambridge .I left the band just shortly after that gig and went travelling around the world.  .I was not happy where the direction of the music was going and preferred the older sound,I guess we had just come to our end. The other guys were also thinking of going there own way and sadly that was the end. Reforming, just happened without much thought. I decided to re-invent the band last year and here we are again…

RJ_Sh1kima
Our country had the honor to accept your first concert after the reunion outside England. What do you expect from that performance and what do the fans have to expect remembering and loving your old songs?

Mick
Coming to Russia is an honor for us and we are excited to come to St Petersburg .We hope to make it a great night .The sound is of old and has a early chime sound to it so lets make the house rock.

RJ_Sh1kima
When I became acquainted with your work , then I was not familiar with many bands of the early 80's, I somehow stumbled upon such tracks : Fire and Sally Ditch.
I was impressed with the bass, these vigorous games I have not heard. I wonder whether you will overwrite these and other old tracks? On one hand the old sound has a certain charm, but on the other hand it would be interesting to listen to them in a new interpretation, or at least recorded in a different quality , using new recording technologies .

Mick
Fire and sally ditch were tracks that came later in the Chimes history..We have reinvented  them and they have a more powerful sound,in fact all our  tracks sound more powerful now.We have made some new songs and they fit in with the old sound really well.We hope to re record our songs in the near future and will keep everyone informed.

RJ_Sh1kima
What plans are you building for the future? Where are you planning to play in the near future in addition to Russia? when can we expect a new album?

Mick
For the future we intend to release new material and to play around Europe and further a field ,so for our fans the future will be interesting….

RJ_Sh1kima
What do you think of the current post-punk / goth-punk scene? How much has the scene changed since the days of your youth?

Mick
The present goth scene for me is a new Experience that i wish to explore. From what i have heard there is some interesting bands out there. I have been recently introduced to Silent Scream and i really like them and there energy I also like Elvira & The Bats and there sound but need to look into there catalog ,there sound is cool.I loved Bauhaus ,banshees killing joke,the  cure ,the pistols ,PIL, Damned and many more, Back in the day and  i was very lucky to see them all play in the very early day of the punk scene . those days can’t compare to today's scene because then it was all new and exciting,not to take anything away from today's scene but it was a special time...We were influenced by a lot of these bands and it helped our direction. We have been told that the Chime were one of the first goth bands on the scene ,we didn’t realise  this at the time ,we were just making tracks that were evolving and fitted into the scene.

RJ_Sh1kima
With which famous bands of the 80'shave you shared the stage? Did you play in the batcave?

Mick
We played with lots of bands i.e. the Dead Kennedys. They contacted us to play with them which we did ,there was a riot that night ,but there was lots of riots at many of our gigs if i remember ,the southern death cult was another band we played with.Theatre of hate were friends of ours and we played with them many times as well as the Meteors .Hawkwind liked us as a band and we were involved with them as well .New Model Army, Spear of Destiny, Vibrators, Chelsea. The Addicts and The Enid.were other bands we played with also. In my opinion our best gigs were the small intimate gigs in Cambridge the house used to rock   I have some great memories and the scars to prove it. They were great gigs..One of my favorite concerts was at a festival called Rougham tree fair which was organised by friends of the earth .It was in an amazing setting in a forest .we played on a pyramid stage, there was people in the trees watching us..I always remember that night…there was thousands of people there.We did play in the bat cave but i have cloudy memories of that night..We had so many gigs its difficult to remember them all..

RJ_Sh1kima
I would like to ask a personal question : do the band members have families? How do they perceive that their husbands / fathers are quite well-known musicians among the post-punk scene? And not being young deciding to return to the previous occupation?

Mick
Finally our friend and family are pleased and some bewildered that we have reformed and some excited that we are playing again .I just hope that they and all our friends  and fans enjoy the New 13th chime and all i can say is that the world is a better place with us in it ....Punks not dead...

RJ_Sh1kima
Mike, thank you for answering our questions! I hope you enjoy performing in Russia and it will not be the last concert in our country!