On File have been playing full on Oi! since 1997, out of Dundee, Scotland. They still gig frequently and continue to put out new material, here's an interview with guitarist Blair.
1. When and where did On File form?
On File started in 1997, by Hedgy and the first 7" was released in 1998.
2. What's your discography to date? Does your writing style tend to differ from release to release?
Discography consists of 9 releases:
Monday thru Friday 7" - 1998
Ejected from the Premises album - 1998
Another day in Paradise E.P. - 2000
The Real McOi! album - 2001
Birds Don't like the Skinheads E.P. - 2002
(in 2006 both albums were re-released with the singles as bonus tracks)
Breaking Rules album - 2010
Hopefully there will be something new out this year too, we'll have to wait and see how that comes on.
So far the band has put out releases over 10 years but the writing process has stayed the same, and I think the releases speak for themselves. Over time it's easy to hear where each different member of the band has made their mark on the sound, but the main difference is the quality of recordings.
3.What bands influence you musically? Has it changed at all over the years?
We've all got our guilty pleasures but really, we're all big supporters of music and especially 70's and 80's punk and Oi! All the classics and anything new that's coming out of the scene, we'll give it a listen. It's good to hear of decent bands starting up now that are still playing proper punk and Oi!
4. How is the Oi! scene in Scotland? Is there a big difference between the Scottish and English scene?
The Scottish Oi! scene is pretty limited, there's only really a handful of bands playing Oi! and there's just as few decent Oi! gigs up this way. It doesn't help the scene either that some of the bands who get the big support slots aren't even a part of the scene and either buy their way on to gigs or kiss ass for it. Oi! gigs up this way have become more frequent though, so it might be time for Scottish Oi! to make a comeback.
As far as we've seen the English scene is abit bigger, but that's to be expected. The number of cities and venues are higher so there's more opportunity to get bands going and gigs set up. We're playing The Main Event (www.maineventuk.co.uk) is July down in Peterborough so that'll be a good idea of how they're getting on down there!
5. Are there any new bands that your particularly fond of? What are some of the regular groups that you gig with?
There aren't any bands we play with too regulary, it's good if we can get mixed support at gigs and check out new bands or catch up with mates we've not seen for a while. Rotten Apples from Dundee are mates of ours and they've only recently managed to get an album together, we played down in England recently with Citizen Keyne and Black Marias, both of them were excellent and definatley worth checking out!
6. What region do you play most regularly? Is there much of a difference in terms of crowd participation in Europe compared to the UK?
We're pretty much happy to play anywhere and try to get to new places when we can. It's definately different in Europe compared to the UK. Last year we did a run of three English dates with Citizen Keyne and Black Marias, then a pair of Scottish dates with Old Firm Casuals, Crashed Out and Control. Before that we had some gigs in Czech Republic, Belgium, Sweden, and Italy. Out in Europe the crowd seem to be more willing to travel for gigs and make the most of bands who have ventured out to play. At home it sometimes feels like either the crowd just isn't as big as it used to be or they aren't as interested in the scene and gigs as they used to be.
7. What are your best recieved songs at gigs? Are you throwing in any covers these days?
The last lot of gigs have been pretty cool to see the crowd getting into the songs off the new record and sing along, but the older songs are definately the best known and go down the best....Another Day In Paradise, Birds Don't Like the Skinheads, Used To Be a Bootboy, Down The Bingo, etc. It's tough though because we want to make sure we're well rehearsed for every gig, so that everyone there gets to see us at our best. There's always though, for songs we haven't played in ages so we'll try out best for the next one to get as many of those songs ready to play as possible.
Recently we haven't played any covers, the last ones were So What by Anti Nowhere League and Gang Warfair by The Strike. We might add something new in for gigs later this year.
8. Any final comments?
Just a thanks to anyone who is making it out to gigs in the scene, putting on gigs or supporting bands howeveer they can. Check out the Main Event all dayer (www.maineventuk.co.uk) later this year and our new shirts available at Machete (www.machetemfg.com/on-file-boots-tshirt.aspx). Cheers!
On File site: www.facebook.com/OnFile.Scotland
Have a listen: www.facebook.com/OnFile.Scotland?sk=app_2405167945
All enquiries regarding booking On File or merchandise orders should be e-mailed to: hedgy99@hotmail.com
