Interview with Gav, Bass player of Face Up!
I’m Gav, Bass player from the Hardcore Punk five piece Face Up!
Face Up! are loud, fast and angry. We show up, tear the place apart, drink all the beer and then leave…
FACE UP! OR FUCK OFF!
1. First Punk Rock band you ever saw Live?
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I believe it was Less Than Jake around 2001/2002 with Reggie & The Full Effect & Send More Paramedics supporting at the old Carling Academy Birmingham.
My first show without adult supervision, first pit, first crowd surf (got dropped on the 1st attempt), first circle pit and the first time I got bit by the live music bug.
2. First Punk Rock Record you bought? What made you buy it?
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Blink 182 – Whats my age again? was the first single I ever bought with my own money, but I cant be 100% on album for some reason.
The Offspring – Conspiracy of One keeps coming to mind so I’ll say that was. Original Prankster & Want You Bad were released as singles and they were everywhere, so when the album dropped I had to get it and I wasn’t disappointed with tracks like Million Miles Away, Come Out Swinging and my favourite track One Fine Day, it cemented itself as my favourite ever Offspring album.
3. Favourite Venue to play in? UK or abroad
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The Waterloo in Blackpool, Ian is someone a lot of owners can learn from. From the moment you arrive he makes you feel at home and with an endless supply of beer!
He has put us up a few times and leaves us with a key.
The stage is very spacious which is great for a band like Face Up! as we are constantly on the move.
The sound for the crowd is amazing but on stage it’s just as good. The crowd are right up at the stage and the local support in Blackpool is one of the best in the country.
4. Influences?
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So, when it comes to Bass Playing Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) is the main man, he is the reason I play with my fingers. But then not far behind would be Roger Lima (Less Than Jake), Chris #2 (Anti – Flag). When it comes to the band and writing The Exploited are the kings in my eyes followed by GBH, Discharge, The Casualties, Starving Wolves and Sick Of It All.
5. Any new bands impressed you and worth a shout out?
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Suckerpunch I’ll always mention them first!
Their front man Neil fills in for us and I fill in for them.
We play with them a lot and hands down my favourite band to hit the road with.
Angry Itch are a killer three piece,
Informal Society from LA, I have so much time for them boys and The Mistakes, I seriously believe they’re going to be the next big thing. One of the best live bands ever with catchy songs and very clever lyrics.
6. What’s the future look like for?
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Face Up! have been recording our second album at Abatis Studios with Jon Priestley.
Well, the best we can during the pandemic which unfortunately, like many other bands, means we’ve had to push it all back to probably release the new album early next year.
I also want to mention a podcast I started with Neil (Suckerpunch) & John (Angry Itch) at the start of lockdown called “Mediocre Punx Podcast”, on all the usual streaming platforms! We’ve had on so far; The Exploited, Cocksparer, The Suicide Machines, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Casualties and have a bunch of big guests for the future.
7. Where does the name come from?
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Face Up! Came from a Rancid track called Face Up! from the album Honour is all we know, that’s it!
8. What is the craziest, most memorable thing which happened on Tour?
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For me personally it would have to be HRH Metal Birmingham or Cologne Germany... Germany they were trying to get Roxy to crowd surf, she didn’t want to so I put myself forward.
I got up on the crowd our first ever night abroad and while still playing I’m crowd surfing the whole place, to be put straight back onstage.
HRH Metal we played a festival full of metal bands, they asked us to play last minute, we said yes. Academy 3, full room,
the silence in the last song we play, before I bring the song back in I got in the crowd. As I start the song the crowd started a circle pit around me. We were told after we played that we would never play HRH Metal again as we showed up the metal bands.
9. Horror Movies or Science Fiction?
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Neither hahaha…
Interviewed in November 2020
10. What do you dislike?
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Liverpool FC, Drummers, Bass players who use picks, cheese, The Misfits.
11. Guilty pleasure?
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It aint no guilty pleasure to me but 90s pop music is probably my favourite type of music.
​12. Is Punk Rock Dead?
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Is it fuck!!!! What I will say is that the New bands need to be given more opportunities.
Its always the same old boys and they wont be around much longer.
The punk bands of today need to be pushed more because
it’s the healthiest scene in a long time.
