Interview by Dave Winders
The recording of A Punk Oddity’s new album Into the Mouth of Whoredom was by all accounts eventful. After an unprecedented delay, alcohol fueled recording sessions and multiple packets of Golden Virginia, Dom Lyne talks to us about the recording of Into the Mouth of Whoredom, and our “rhubarb and custard” haired friend isn’t holding back on any of the details.
A Punk Oddity’s sound on Into the Mouth of Whoredom has changed quite a bit since A Punk Oddity. Was that an intentional step?
Well in a way it was, and in another it was more a natural progression. When M** started writing their material for Whoredom, the tracks were slightly different in style to A Punk Oddity; so as I wrote the lyrics, I aimed to change the vocal style accordingly. By the end of our writing period, we’d both brought forward a weird collection of tracks – some were pretty soft with a heavy chorus; some rock all the way through; and well ‘Dom’s Power Ballad’ is just plain pop! But at the end of the day they all kick some serious ass.
You and M** kick out new songs at a pretty quick rate, did that make the recording any easier?
We actually had all the material written before we even started recording; yeah, some lyrics were written as we were recording but everything else was pretty much all planned out beforehand. The only song that was written during recording was ‘Hecate_X’, that was just a weird idea I’d had about using my voice as the instrumental hook, that sample in the track is actually me humming down a mic.
So Into the Mouth of Whoredom didn’t offer any problems in recording?
No, far from it, there were loads! To start with our recording equipment was fucked so we had to send off for some new stuff, but due to our budget we could only afford a six track, which took nearly six weeks to arrive and in the end turned out to be nothing more than a glorified four track! So we weren’t impressed by that, but we managed to get by on it. It allowed us to get a pretty raw sound to the record.
Following that, the microphones decided to blow on us, which meant we were held back a few more days whilst we sorted those buggers out. Then worst of all I got a sore fucking throat, which I ignored. I had to do all my vocal tracks at night because in the mornings I just couldn’t speak properly. Yes it was painful, but we just couldn’t waste any more time.
From a look at some of the track titles, it’s pretty clear what they’re about, but is ‘Summer Bay’ really about what I think it is?
[Laughs] What? Home and Away? Fuck yeah, it’s the best soap on TV. It’s like the only one I watch. The cast in Home and Away is way better looking than that of Neighbours; and fuck, it must be fun to live in Summer Bay! I mean I couldn’t write a track about Eastenders, that would be depressing! M** just brought me the track and after a listen I said, “It’s going to be about Home and Away.” They listened to what I’d come up with and was like “Okay.”
Not all the subjects of the songs lyrics were created by me. With ‘Ten-Tonne Tessie’, M** wanted me to write lyrics about this bitch they knew, and since I had a good idea about their feelings for her, the lyrics came easily. I mean I’ve never met this woman, but she’s got a song about her now.
It would seem that so have quite a few others.
There are a few personal tracks where I talk about some people I know, but I try to keep their lyrical style humorous. ‘Rosemary’s Song’ is about still fancying my ex in an alternative universe, given away by the opening lyrics – “In this fucked up world, where 2 is 3…”; but then you get songs like ‘Anti-Helen’ and ‘Cocaine Bitch’ that are about people I know that have pissed me off. ‘Cocaine Bitch’ is a pretty old song, I wrote those lyrics back in 2000 when one of my ‘friends’ told me this big pile of bullshit, so I turned it into a joke and stuck it in a song.
That’s not the only thing you stuck in a song though is it?
What? [Dom thinks and looks puzzled for a moment. Then giggles.] You’re talking about ‘Porn Star’ aren’t you? Yeah, before you ask, that is real sex you hear, and it came straight from my bedroom. Now that was a funny tale. You see the lyrics of the song are actually about how I got the samples.
Do you not feel that it is a bit controversial?
This is Punk Rock; it’s meant to push the boundaries.
So you’ve finished the album, what now?
Well my aim is to start gigging it at some point in the future. We need to put together a new live band, and once that’s done we can get down to business so to speak.
The new style A Punk Oddity is a lot more accessible without losing our rawness, so I’m hoping to get it heard by a greater audience.
As for the future, you know, M** has already brought me four new tracks, and I’ve got a few nearly finished. We’re definitely taking a break from recording for a while, but we’re always working on new material.
You never know, a new album might emerge in 2004.
Sex, Soaps and Punk Rock – Enter the Mouth of Whoredom appeared in the October 2003 edition of Discharge Zine, a DIY Punk zine based in the North West of England. The copyright in this interview belongs to the zine’s writers/publishers.