Doing the Facebook page and running this website introduced me to a lot of new people. One of those people includes Ian who plays guitar in the band Never Wrong. I got asked to post about his band, which led to a review of the demo and eventually to the interview you are about to read.

 

Never Wrong is founded in 2012, so not much history yet I guess. Can you tell a bit on how the band got together, shows you played so far etc…
Sparks and Ian had wanted to form an Oi band in richmond for years. At first it was Sparks, Ian, Andy Brown, and Sam. Andy played bass for about 6 months then lost his shit and had to leave. Matt was helping us do the first recording of ACAB, then he stepped in on bass.

We've played several shows so far here in Richmond, VA. Played with the Casualties in Roanoke, VA which pretty much sucked for several fucked up reasons. In the future, we're really excited to play some shows up north like DC, Baltimore, Philly, New York and NJ. So if anyone wants to book us let us know!

Is this the first band you guys are in, or have you been together in bands before? Tell us something about previous bands, releases etc…
Ian and Sparks played in a street punk band in high school which was short lived, called Devoid Youth.Matt sang for a street punk band called No Way Out and briefly played bass in the Social Dropouts back in the golden days of that scene here in Richmond... and then played guitar for the UK82-inspired noise punk band Mega Minge (which was a joke band, but the crusties didn't know it). Sam played in a few small punk bands that never made it Sam played in a few small punk bands that never made it out of the garage in the late 80's. Also, was the drummer for NYC Oi! Band, Urban Riot for its entire run from 1995-2007, (he's a crotchety old fuck)

Recently your first demo got released, tell us about it! How are the reactions so far?
Not to sound cocky, but we think the demo is badass! We recorded it right here in Richmond, in a friend's studio, in one night. We got everything within a few takes! The reaction to the demo has been great so far! People seem to really like it, which is great because we put a lot of hard work in. There have been several reviews so far and they all end with "We hope they make a full release soon!", or something like that. We're all working class guys with a lot going on but we all definitely take the band seriously. So it's great to see people appreciating that.

It’s a digital release, are there any plans on releasing it on cd or vinyl? Any labels who showed interest so far?
Well, the demo wasn't JUST a digital release -- we've also been making shitty burned CD's of it, available through the band or at shows. We just made a decision to put it out for free digitally too, since there's no better way to get heard in the present time, people workin dont have money to pay for that shit! We'll probably always put up a few songs for free any time we go in the studio. Since there have been so many requests for a vinyl we're currently working on getting it pressed before the end of summer. It's actually going to be a two-continent release! Stratum Records, out of the Netherlands are pressing it in conjunction with Matt's label Garde Bien Records, whose pilot effort is the American pressing! It's going to be a very limited release for the first pressing at least, in two different colors -- so make sure you don't sleep on it! Almost guaranteed it will sell out.

 

Yeah that’s pretty cool! Stratum Records is rather new but already has some nice releases under it’s belt. How did you got in touch with Frank who runs it?
Stratum Records is doing an awesome job of picking the cream of the crop new Oi! bands and giving them a shot. Shortly after creating the Never Wrong reverbnation I received an email from Frank about his interest in a never wrong 7"

It will also be Matt’s first release for his own label Garde Bien Records right? Is the label started to co-release your vinyl debut or are there more releases planned for the future?
I can't speak for Matt but I know that it has been a goal of his for years now and we would really love to see it take off and put out up and coming skinhead bands!
Matt- Garde Bien Records has been a dream of mine for a long time. Ever since I was a young punk rocker, getting a label off the ground one day has been a goal. The name comes from the clan crest of the Scottish Montgomery Clan -- and is medieval French for "Watch Well". Aside from being a badass name and logo, it's also a tribute to all the great French (and French-name) labels of the past... Force Majeure, Rebelles Europeens, Bords de Seine... I could keep going. The 7" was actually not the first planned release, but is going to end up being the first one. From there all proceeds will go directly into further releases. I hope for GBR to be a force in the skinhead / Oi! scene for a long time to come.

What’s your opinion on the current American Oi! scene? A lot of new, and good, bands got formed in the recent years. What are your favorite bands out there these days?
We really hate this whole finger pointing witch hunt bullshit, getting fests shut down and all that. Whatever happened to skinheads just being skinheads ya know? We have a lot of respect for these bands out here now who put their national pride out there without having to go the radical racial route.

I personally don't get a chance to check out a lot of new music but among the new guys I really dig Offensive Weapon, Legitime Violence, The Damn Garrison and The Wolverines. We would love to share a stage with some of these guys one day soon! Richmond ain't that far!

Okay this is it, if you have anything to add, feel free to do so!
One thing we want to say about ourselves as a band is this... We are a skinhead band playing hardcore skin head rock for skinheads. We don't play the political game, it's not what Never Wrong is about, and mostly, we just don't give a fuck about that. We love our country, beer, and rock and fucking roll, and we want to play for you!