Lone Rider - Skinheads Web Zine
Eric Scott
Wellington Arms,
Brew & Honour zine
Can you introduce your band?
Right now I have two line-ups. One in Chicago and the other in Spain, I have
a 7inch coming out but it's just old material as i haven't had a decent line
up to record anything yet. It's coming out on WAR records (crowbar) in June
or July. The cover is amazing. can't wait for it. As far as history goes
I'll steal from what i said in another interview. Hmm what did i say. Hold
up, Alright, Wellington Arms got it start in June of 2008 but most of the
music was written by myself back from 1998 – 2003. Songs like ‘Boredom’s a
Drag’, “We’re Young”, “Gotta Believe” and “Bringing You Down” were all used
in a previous band that I started back in 2002 Called ‘Violent Retaliation”.
We played a few gigs and we were pretty good but I decided is give it up
cause the other band members wanted to write their own material and it was
stressful. Anyways, those band mates went to start a band that sounded like
Danzig the fifth so you got my point I hope. We broke up that same year and
I never got back on track until 2007. I was much too busy getting crunked
and tooled up with the mob to care about music. Picking up a guitar wasn’t
as nearly as fun as cracking somebody in the jaw with some steel and I don’t
need a rock ‘n’ roll life to hook up with the birds so it was whatever.
I got back into the fold when my friend Lauren said that me and her should
start jamming together. I guess it was all in the works cause my guy Brandon
from Seattle told his friend Kevin, a drummer, that he should hook up with
me in Chicago if he ever visited. And guess what? He moved here and did get
a hold of me and it was perfect timing. I decided to kick my television and
computer outta of the living room and replace the space with band equipment.
Lauren bought over her guitar along with a bass for me and I had a drum set
laying dormant in my closet ever since I borrowed it from Bob One-Legger
back in the day and handed that over to Kevin.
Right off the bat, I noticed that Kevin was a good drummer but he needed to
get back in shape and get into the swing of things cause he almost keeled
over the drum-set after the first song. Hahaha he slumped over his drum
stool and dragged himself over to the window to get some fresh air while he
lit a smoke. The first song that we played together was ‘Boredom’s a drag”
followed by Skrewdriver’s “9-5” and we finished up with “We’re Young”. We
didn’t have much time to practice that day because Almighty Melanie and Rick
showed up and it was time to drink, get rowdy and smash things.
After a month or so of messing around and toying with songs, I called up
Rick (ex-Street Brat and Lauren’s boyfriend) and invited him over to pick up
the bass while I moved over to accompany Lauren on guitar. This particular
line-up lasted a few weeks until we decided that Lauren couldn’t fit into
the mold of the band any more. She was a okay electric guitarist, but lacked
the style that I was looking for, GOOD! So we let her go. However great
acoustic guitarist but I'm not Ian Stuart or Ken the Mac so... During this
line-up we really didn’t have a name, but Lauren thought that ‘The
Northsiders’ would be great. However, once she was dropped, Rick came up to
me and said that we should call ourselves ‘Wellington Arms”. I thought it
sounded too British and had no idea why he thought the name would be cool,
but the more I thought about it, it fitted perfectly cause at that time
every skin and punk rocker that was important on the north side of Chicago
some how managed to live off of Wellington Ave. I figured since we were all
within arms reach to call up each other and swoop down for some aggro or
some kicks I felt that ‘Wellington Arms” had a meaning and maybe a purpose.
Have somebody from your band experiences with playing in some other band?
Yeah I'll write you a list of all the band members and what they have done.
Rick Ivan Bass - Street Brats and Non-Believers
Kev Reed Drums - A bunch of metal bands
Nate Woodell Drums - Old Scars (they suck)
Paul Silian Guitar Old Scars (again they suck)
Carlo Nasco Bass - Voice of a Generation
Vega Bass - Glory Boys and Gol nord
Nester - Drums - Glory Boys
Ryan Palshis - I won't embarrass him.
What bands influence you?
All the bands that speak from the heart. I'd say Ken Mclellans lyrics deal
with my life down to the tee so his material would be influential to how I
go about in life but as far as bands go as writing material I personally
don't think any bands influence me at all. I hardly ever try to learn a
another bands song on my guitar which is probably why I can't play solos so
well but yeah I just get on the bass or guitar and rock the fuck out and
sing until the lyrics come out.
What are your lyrics about?
Ha, well the most recent song that I wrote is about one of my good friend
that will go unnamed. It's called international lover because this guy has
like five girl-friends from all around the world. The first verse goes like
this: "He's got his baby from Sweden, she's down for the meeting, downtown
in London town, he's the kind of man that loves messing around - cause he's
the international lover". The second verse goes: "He's got his baby from
Finland, she just loves the filling, got a baby in Germany, Aussie, France
and Italy cause he's the International lover. I tend to humm my lyrics to
get the flow of things. Most of my songs are about girls I'd say. Ha,
wellington Arms is a rock band after all. I can't wait to record cause I'm
sure alot of people would love my material as my lyrics deal with what most
of us are thinking. Hell, I'm sure there will be some people that will think
I'm nutz with the sort of songs I write. It's all up tempo as I hate slow
drawn out songs. Songs that are slow are good, but If there's no live energy
behind it then I won't bother going any further writing them when they come
around. I'm writing this song called 'Valencia" right now, the chorus goes
like this: "Oh Oh Valencia! Oh oh Valencia! Oh Valencia! Come and have a
drink and lets rock 'n' roll yeah! FIRST VERSE: So many beautiful babes,
brown eyes and amazing legs, great smile and lovely kisses, O my fucking god
man it all fucking fits yeah"!!! Ha, that's all I have for now. Like I said
hopefully we record as soon as possible. Maybe this weekend.
How many concerts and with which bands did you play?
I've played like 5 gigs so far, Valencia, Spain, being the most recent one
where about 200 proper skinheads showed up and rocked it out. It was an
amazing time. I played punk stock back in 09' which was cool but I had a
miserable time as it was outdoors. The bugs were fucking biting like crazy.
That was also the day that i found out that Boddingtons was only 4.5.
percent by volume so I don't know why the Macc Lads were fucking fat chicks.
No excuse guys haha. I've played with Vanguard also. We really don't have a
track record but when we play it's good.
What was your best and worst gig? How was your first concert?
The first concert W.A. played was on Oct 9th with Glory boys back in 08'. Ha
it was a great night. Me and Vega saw somebody fall down the stairs or
something. It was a blast but it's hard to remember too much cause we were
drinking some heavy Polish lager. Let me see - I remember loading up the
equipment and heading to the gig with my band mates Rick and Kev. I met up
with all the girls outside the venue to get them as they were under age.
Hey, I'm not playing a gig unless there's girls in the audience haha. I met
the glory boys soon after that. Fucking great bunch of guys. They make up
there coolness for what they don't have in size. haha, naw were all about 5
foot 7 inches so who I'm I to talk haha.
Can you say something about scene in your area? Can you recommend us
some bands a labels ?
There is a bunch of 77 type style bands that are popping off at the moment.
The Chicago punk and skinhead scene with my friends is amazing. If there's a
half decent gig we can at least get 200 proper skinheads, punk rockers and
punk chicks all together out to the gig. The majority being punk. The punk
scene here is NOT crustie what-so ever. Hell, you'll hardly see them with
mohawks. I would say they are a mix of 76-79 punk styles kids with a
skinhead mentality . Like think of bands like cockney rejects. Those are the
kinds of punks we have here. Like I said the scene here is amazing but
that's just with my social group. Chicago is also filled with posers that
try to take a piss on us cause were patriotic, self-aware and for the most
part - proud of our ethnic backgrounds which is European (white). The
left-wing and Anti-racist action have a real hook in the Anti-racist scene
and have led them to believe that were are racists that need to be kicked
out. Why? Cause I love my land. heritage, and subculture. That bothers alot
of people which is fucking disappointing. To be a Skinhead you have to be
patriotic and truly believe in this from the start - that simple. There is
only one type of skinhead and they have nothing to do with us so why do they
bother to claim that they are and we are not. They have it all wrong and
that ideology needs to be smashed. I can't go anywhere without getting into
a fight with these bastards because I'm accused of being a nazi, fence
walker or white pride sympathizer. It's sicking. It's about time that the
real skinheads like us get our heads together and tell it how it really is
without holding back or falling into political schemes by the extreme
parties. We need to get the movement back in force by networking and setting
up more gigs, and parties. We need to make a statement again because I feel
were all smart and powerful enough to do it. It all comes down to knowing
that we all love our country, heritage and subculture - this is the way of
life that binds us so lets get out there and really drive it to the masses
and have a fun time doing it. This is what Wellington Arms is all about and
my music tells the story my life among others that live in it as well. I'd
love to come to your country to hear your story as and I love for you to
come visit to mine. Think about it?
Can you say something more about a) Brassic b) Fear City c) Major
Disappointment d) Vanguard e) Stormwatch?
Vanguard rocks!!! The lead singer blows fire from his breath on stage.
That's the kind of oi bands I like. Vanguard is a great band but not my
style but they have great lyrics and that's good enough for me and I support
them. Brassic is going to be playing a gig in Sweden soon from what I heard
and the talk around town, good guys as well. Fear City is on the other side
of the city here in Chicago and they are not my cup of tea either as they
sound like a tenth generation Patriot just like the other bands in America.
People like them thou. Never heard of Major disappointment. who are they?
Stormwatch rocks to an extent but you have to keep in mind with these
skinheads bands is I've been hearing them since 94' so I'm worn out. When I
go out, I'll rock out (listen) with the boys to the good old skinhead rock
cause it just fits but if I'm at home or working, I listen to rock such as
Bruce Springsteen (downbound train is an amazing song), Rolling stones, Iron
Maiden, I love that stuff. Hmmm Skrewdriver and Brutal Attack are the only
bands I can listen to sober and bored over and over and over. American bands
that are worth listening too these days are, Offensive weapon from NYC.
Fuck! I can't think of anything right now.
Do you know something about Czech scene?
NO! I wish I did. So whats up with the Czech scene? How many bands, girls,
shops, what kind of food ya have? If I played a gig out there who would I
play with? Do you prefer ale or pilner. ha, the only thing I know is the
beer in the Czech cause I'm a complete drunk.
I know, that you make zine Brew & Honour, can you say something about
it?
Yeah, I have a online site up and running right now at
Brewandhonour.webs.com (not up at the moment) It's fucking cool looking but
it's not dedicated at 100 percent like the paper fanzine was. My best
interviews are my most recent ones as I learned how to interview. I just did
an interview with Dave Mcgannon from London and it's amazing. I'm just
waiting on the edits before I put it up. The zine started up in 2008 with
Mel and I at the helm. Great fucking times but it all came to a halt in
March of 09'. Lost my job and had no more funds to support it. Ha, the money
that I did get i just put into the bars and liquor stores. I got fed up with
life and just lived it up for two years unemployed. I got into over a 150
fights I'd say during that period. Almost lost my front teeth because of
this Puerto rican fuck. I got him first but I didn't notice him come back
and I got sucked punched in the middle of a crowd outside a bar. Haha it was
funny. One of them almost fell out but I pushed it back into the gum as hard
as I could and went to sleep a few hours after that. Hey it healed. One of
my FB friends called my smile, the mouth of Sauron referring to lord of the
rings. I finally got my life back into order but not really. Summers coming
up and once again I'm unemployed. This summer is going to be good but also
filled with blood I'm sure because violence has been striking from all sides
this spring, and its just creeping closer and closer my way. We all hitting
up the beach tomorrow so lets see what happens.
You have a lot of tattooes. How many themes do you have?
Naw, I have no themes but I'll tell ya what i have. My throat tattoo is the
Chicago flag and it says "Chi-town" underneath it. The blue stripe at the
top represents the North river of Chicago. I don't have the bottom blue
stripe thou. I have a blue sex panther, some brunette chick, an owl,
skrewdriver fist, skulls, roses and dragons, a flying shark, iron cross,
knights and my knuckles say 'Mjollnir' Oh and a kick ass Skinhead monkey
wearing a crombie with a bottle ready to smash in somebodies face, its my
fav, looks like me. I'm going to get a skinhead girl next to him or
something. I think it look like my ex-GF cause she was nutz and happened to
have some monkey features to her as well. Haha what a tribute.
Do you have some favorite films and books?
Flims!!! Naw, I just read or watch the history channel. One of the recent
books that I'm reading is the Atlas of the vikings, along with this serial
killer profile book. Both are amazing. Hex magazine is also a good read.
Don't worry friends I wont be writing Nordic songs haha. I'll leave that up
to Ultima Thule or those other type songs. I just saw an Motorhead
documentary and that was cool Me and Vega watched that in Spain after a hard
night of drinking. It was worth it.
Do you have some hobbies beside music?
History! History! History! I love drinking and going out to eat healthy
food. I love reading about European cultures and their customs. I can't draw
so I photo edit stuff. Love photography. Man there's a tons of stuff I like
to do. Haha traveling. Last year I went to Salt lake city and had a great
time with my friends Royce and Luke. We put some straight terror into that
city. I remember one the crazier things we did is when we unloaded into the
street after a gig. I guess I went up to some brown gang banger and smacked
him in the face. His friends weren't to happy about it and that's all I
remember. Me, Royce, and Luke all woke up on the street laughing are asses
off. None of us remember falling or fighting. We weren't hurt and we came to
the conclusion that we all just fell when we swung punches. After that I
stopped some chick driving in the middle of street, opened up her car door,
threw her twenty bucks and told her to drive. She was kinda of freaked out
but not really cause we are all charming. She was like what the fuck and I
was like 'Are you single' ? she laughed and drove us home haha. Didn't get
her number thou. She wasn't that nice.
Some future plans?
Get a 5 day a week job and work on getting my band W.A. on a working basis.
I want to import European bands here to Chicago as well. Hmmm get a car, an
apartment, a girl-friend. Maybe not but I'm bored with all these random
girls so I'd like to find a cute chick to kick it with. There's plenty
around here but we are all nutz and unstable with dating. It's hard to find
somebody that can be more then a friend that you fuck. Love is a simple
thing but there's no cupid up in this city haha.
