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Why do you think Crass was successful at the time?
Because we meant what we were saying...
We lived that truth.
We lived what we were talking about.
It was self evident that we did.
People could come here and are welcome to come here, as it always has been,
and they could see that we didn't make anything.
We had lots of money at some time-
lots of the time - but it went to other projects.
The fact that Crass had money, money made no difference at all to this place.
We still had no money, we still have no money...
because any money we do have,
just goes straight into some sort of creative or social project.
We financed an anarchist centre in London.
That's the most obvious thing we did.
Probably it was one of the most costly things we did.
Every gig that we did,
any money that we made went into some local organization,
like *** crisis centre, maybe some kid who wanted to make a fanzine.
Some band needed a speaker,
or the Youth club needed a ping pong table,
something
We took what we needed, which was enough to pay the petrol, have some food.
We never stayed in hotels or anything like that
We just asked people whether they got somewhere we could stay.
We always used to come back devastatingly broke.
Although, a lot of money had been made.
Jimmy Pursey from Sham69
was working with...
Polydor, and there was this thing he was gonna do called Pursey's package
So we'd already decided "*** You, we re doing alright on our own"
"Crass records, everything, we’re doing fine thanks.. "
The guys shows us into his office, of course there's
the guy sitting behind a desk with a bowl of flowers..
- "Drinks?" ... and drinks arrive. "Wow!"..
And he goes "I can market your revolution. "
" I Can get you into property. You'll have so much money. "
And i was like: "Fanta... Nooo, *** it!"
- What did you say to him? - Thanks, but no thanks.
We were polite.
Just weren't interested.
How could we do it?
Till this day I still can't do these things where i might feel i'm selling out..
not selling out, but my conscience pricks me..
It's a pretty good thing to have,
because hopefully I'll never sell out, if that's still relevant..
# Yes, that's right, punk is dead #
# It's just another cheap product for the consumers head #
# Bubblegum rock on plastic transistors #
# Schoolboy sedition backed by big time promoters #
# CBS promote the Clash #
# Ain't for revolution, it's just for cash #
# Punk became a fashion just like hippy used to be #
# Ain't got a thing to do with you or me #
# Movements are systems and systems kill #
# Movements are expressions of the public will #
# Punk became a movement because we all felt lost #
# Leaders sold out and now we all pay the cost #
# Punk narcissism was a social *** #
# Steve Jones started doing real harm #
# Preaching revolution, anarchy and change #
# Sucked from the system, that had given him his name #
Oh, that's beautiful...
Ignorant and Gee.
Romantic theme.
Look, the mast's still up.
That's Joy, Ron, me...
That doesn't seem so long ago, strange isn't it?
It doesn't look like you at all...
How did the Crass end?
I think there was a schism developing.
I don't think, I know there was.
We did a tour in 1983, i think it was, and i wrote an...
article questioning the honesty of pacifism...
in a sense that it is very easy to preach it but...
can you follow it through?
It was becoming obvious then, there was a very distinct separation going on...
it wasn't just the activist/pacifist thing, it was the security/not security thing,
the spiritual/materialist thing, all sorts of different things, there were...
schisms appearing, and so, it's a simple thing - it's quite important...
because other people....
they sort of look at it as a livelihood, and I don't get that.
I don't understand livelihood.
I understand Life.
I don't understand livelihood.
I think it's a sort of absurdity.
We're not prostitutes. I'm not a ***.
I was actually quite ill, physically ill.
I kind of wore myself out.
For me...
it was continual.
The band rehearsed...
did the gigs, and I would be there doing the films, operating a lot of the stuff...
but when I got back, i would have to start a new cover.
So, it was quite an intense 8-9 years.
When we stopped, we knew we were gonna stop then anyway,
we always said 1984 or so...
When Andy left...
in 1983 or beginning of 84, we knew that was a natural ending anyway,
there was no way we would replace him,
he just wanted to go back to
what he really wanted to do was painting and stuff like that.
I think he was worn out, everybody was worn out honestly!
Also, the way we were put on a pedestal,
the way people waiting for Crass - what should we do next?
That wasn't what we were there for. That was to empower people.
Not to empower people to say "- What do we do now?"
"Where do we go next?"
That wasn't our role.
We were just trying to share an insight, the experiences that we had.
In the very beginning, 1984 was the cutoff time,
if we couldn't say what we wanted to say in that time,
there was no point in going on...
- It would be an institution. - Yeah, exactly.
And that's when it was becoming and we weren't interested in.
7 years away from your own being was a long time.
- And we all were. - Is that what it felt like?
Yeah, we were living a theatre, day and night.
I remember once making love with Eve and thinking...
Wow, I'm making love to Eve Libertine,
not making love to Bron Jones, who's my girlfriend...
I'm making love to a sort of idea.
That sort of thing.
I started to realise that actually, in 7 years you can become quite an idea of yourself.
Not yourself.
Because you've forgotten who yourself was.
Because, all day, every *** moment,
it's either in the studio, writing a song,
doing an interview, being this-being that.
You didn't have time to know who you were.
And that's why it was so painful for us when the band stopped.
Because we'd be sitting at breakfast and there'd be someone sitting there and
we'd be "who the *** are you?"
because we hadn't got a common connection anymore.
# I'm alone. #
# I don't know about you. #
# And I'm the nomad. #
# And I am the grease #
# And this is my time. #
# And this is my place. #
# I won't accept no sorry apology #
# No pale reflection of possibility #
# There is no force but my own #
In a way, when we were writing stuff, or when i was writing stuff for Crass
I was defining a way of living.
Especially, there is no authority but yourself.
Basically, because Gee and myself have stayed here...
we've had to try and live up to that.
All the time, we've been like you-you've come here because of that...
Basically to see if we were doing it.
That's true, isn't it?
In a way, to what extent did that dream work?
That's a question we both ask ourselves all the time.
To what extent does the dream work?
How can we make it work better?
Commodity culture has got such a strangle hold,
and it seems to be an increasing strangle hold in the pockets of resistance...
We might be becoming very isolated.
Where are the angry young men and women of today?
You might see a punk rock band in a pub somewhere...
But where are these people in the establishment,
or in the established pop world or the music industry,
who are saying: "This is *** wrong,
*** You!", stand up, you know, what happened to that voice?
It's all gone.
# We will have failed in our responsibility to life itself. #
# It has happened before That the powerless have risen against the oppressor #
# Only to be beaten back. #
# But there have been cases where they have succeeded. #
# Ours is a just cause #
# It is up to each one of us, alone, to do our best. #
# We must learn to overcome our fears. #
# We must realise that the strength that they have #
# Is the strength that we give them. #
# It is you, the passive observer #
# who has given them this power. #
# You are being used and abused #
# And will be discarded as soon as they've bled what they want from you. #
# You must learn to live with your own conscience, your own morality, #
# Your own decision, your own self #
# You alone can do it #
# There is no authority but yourself. #