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Feature on Intensified with guitarist Steve Harrington by Glen Smyth from Issue #4 of the Skammunicator fanzine There has always been a connection between the UK and Australia for the obvious reasons and ska is no different, with 2-tone and early Jamaican/UK ska sounds such as The Specials and Laurel Aitken influencing every Australian ska band. The connection doesn't end there however. Intensified played their first gig with Aussie band The Allsorts when they toured England in late 1990, but who are Intensified you ask. Intensified's guitarist and founder Steve Harrington informs, "We're an english ska/rocksteady/reggae band, who have been playing now for 10 years, across the UK and Europe, with 4 lp's available on Grover Records of Germany. We are all followers/collectors of old Jamaican music and we love what we do." Few bands can stick together for ten years, the key to doing it being the band is usually good and Intensified is definitely that, but it's more than that. "I suppose it's because we all have the same agenda, we are all really laid back so no one is too pushy, we are all mates, and we don't take ourselves too seriously. On top of that, we are not playing a pop style that you grow out of, we are playing in the original style which is timeless, and we always have new challenges and sounds within that style to try." This original style may have been overshadowed of late by the many ska-punk bands that seem to be popping up in Britain such as [Spunge], Shootin' Goon and Uncle Brian. Overshadowed perhaps, but the love for the traditional style Intensified play is still there. "Yeah, you have to remember that in the sixties both the mod and then skinhead movements were BIG, with both Ska and then reggae played a lot in the clubs. Most people my parents age were involved in the scene, knew people that were or heard the smattering of tunes that broke big into the charts. Add to that the sizeable jamaican population in Britain, and you have a large base following for the original sound. Ska punk over the last two years has become a real big underground movement for teenagers,and it's nice to see them have something better to get into than all the chart fodder they are fed. 'Trad' sounds are followed by the ska punk crowd, which is great, it's good exposure for the music and education for the younger crowd. One thing I must stress here is that I hate the idea of people thinking so called trad bands are snobby or elitist, as we are all out for a party, always watch the support bands,have a good dance after the show and mingle, and are out to prove that the original style is great fun." A party seems the perfect way to describe it. Like any band I'm sure there are the hard times, but after ten years and the impression you get from Intensified through their music, the band and Steve have their fair share of antics and memories to speak of (and probably as many they'd rather not speal of). "Hundreds of great memories....Rico playing with us, and Lee Thompson (!!), getting guitar lessons from Aaron of Hepcat, queing for breakfast in a hotel behind the Skatalites, Jimmy Cliff, Steel Pulse, Dennis Brown and other Jamaican greats, Paul being so pissed we found him having a dump in a Belgium town square, driving home from East Germany in thick snow with the wipers stuck to the windscreen, getting our van kicked to bits as we sped off from nazi bouncers in Turin, all taking it in turns to run off stage in Milan because the promoters dodgy food gave us the instant shits, playing for 3 hours at our 10th birthday, touring with the Hot Knives and trying to get to the venues first to eat all the food, touring a brewery in belgium, getting our new vocalist Kathy so pissed she fell down the stairs, Djing at the Potsdam festival in Berlin, chatting to the Pioneers for ages about the old tunes and their old outfits! etc etc !! Could go on forever!" Many of Intensified's memories come from European countries and not just their own. This is partly because they are signed to renowned German label Grover, also home to the Hotknives, The Toasters and many other great ska acts. Europeans seem to love their ska, and can appreciate Intensified's sound. "We are lucky because we seem to go down well anywhere!! Belgium, although fairly small venues and crowds, are really mad for us, and we always have a real party with longer nights and more beer than anywhere else! Germany is well organised, some great venues and always good responsive crowds, the Swiss seem to have a good time,so do the French, Spanish, Italians, British etc !! Intensified have released three studio albums, but their latest offering offering is a double CD titled Cut 'n' Shut, a combination of live and unreleased recordings. "It has 15 tracks live (I think!), including some not on any albums, and a good atmosphere. It was recorded in Folkestone, our birthplace, at our 10th birthday bash. It's not our best performance but it has our typical live spirit! The second cd is 9 tracks of previously unreleased studio work." The artwork of the LPs reinforce the fact Intensified's music comes from a love of late fifties, sixties and early seventies ska, reggae and rocksteady. Steve is one of three founding members and his passion for Jamaican music was and still is one of the main factors of Intensified's sound. "Originally I used to write all the tunes, present them at practise. Now everyone is writing. Tunes are tried out and built on, normally very quickly. Inspiration for me personally is the old stuff, as I listen to it every day." Intensified are not the only artists playing traditional Jamaican music well, but unlike some bands and artists they aren't faced with the sometimes debatable topic of the fake Jamaican accent that King Django and Dr. Ring Ding have to face. Steve still has high regard for these artists however, "Well, they do it fine and know and play the music superbly so I suppose it sits okay. Ring Ding even speaks like that offstage most of the time which is odd, but the jamaicans seem to be cool with it." To my knowledge Grover doesn't have distribution in Australia, but you can buy Intensified's CDs online through pulped.com where George Marshall seems to enjoy Intensified as much as I do. "I've known George since the mid 80's when he wrote a small ska zine called Zoot, which grew massive.....he's since done loads for the street music scene and deserves respect for that alone." Thanks to Steve Harrington for the interview and also Pete McLaren Intensified
Official Site - www.intensified.net |
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