Interview - THE AGITATOR

The Agitator launched a protest campaign based around the simple idea "No- ism " Just say NO ! 

But , fortunately they said  YES for answering our questions.

Many thanks to Derek for the interest he showed to this interview.

1) Where did you first meet?

I first met Robert Dylan Thomas in Newcastle when my old band, Eastern Lane, supported his old band, The Maccabees. A couple of years later, I moved to Brighton and we had both left our previous band's so that was when we hooked up for, The Agitator. After we had written the songs and gigged a little, we decided we needed a second drummer and so enrolled, T-Train. He is a mutual friend of ours in Brighton.

2) Where the name of the band come from ?

I took the name from a book called, The Speakers by Heathcote Williams. It is a great novel based on real characters who used to orate at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, London during the late 50's/early 60's. It was a great tradition then for people to stand on top of a soapbox and speak about whatever they wanted. This would often be ideas of political movements, religious groups or quite often just madness. One of the characters in the book called himself, The Agitator and so I stole the name from there.

3) What inspires you musically speaking ?

Rhythm, primarily. I like the idea of being able to make a song out of a rhythm and little else. A strong beat and a loud message are the most important things in our music and I believe they are the two most primal elements of music.

4) Who write the songs ?

Robert and I wrote the songs together. I came up with the lyrics, melody and a rough beat, then Rob takes it and moulds it into something stronger and more coherent.

5) Why did you choose "Get Ready" to be your first single ? 

We chose that song as it seemed to most convey our message. Its a bit like a mission statement for, The Agitator. And, it also features the line which best sums up what we're getting at; 'we can't afford to hesitate, now is the time to agitate'.

6) What's your best memory on tour ? 

There have been loads, its hard to chose! Maybe meeting, Rodriguez, after his show at Transmusicales last year. I'm a big fan of his music and think him really under-rated. I spoke to him and asked if we could cover a song of his and he answered, 'you can take my all of my songs if you swap it for some your young blood; I'm getting old, man'! That was funny. Also, we got to support, KRS One, a while back who is another musical hero of mine, that was a pretty good experience too! 

7) How do you feel about your very first gig? what memories do you have ?

Our first gig as, The Agitator, was in a tiny basement bar in Soho. We played completely acoustically in front of about 40 people who seemed to really love. Afterwards we looked at each other and thought, 'well, that worked'. Up until then, we'd been experimenting with it, so, it was great to actually get to play it to some people.

8) Do you have plans for other european gigs ? a tour ? a date in Paris ?

As yet, we haven't got any booked but I know our agent is working on it. I'd love to go back to France, we had such a great time last year when we toured there. If you want to keep an eye on our site www.nowisthetimetoagitate.com all the dates will be up on there as soon as we book them.

10) What's the first gig you went ?

The first gig I went to properly was, T in the Park festival in Scotland near to where I grew up. I saw loads of bands and I think that help concrete the idea in my head that music was what I wanted to do. 

11) What was the first single/album you bought?

I didn't buy it, but I got given a copy of 'Johnny Cash; live at Folsom Prison' when I was about 12 and fell immediately in love with it. I used to listen to it so much that I even knew all the talking parts between the songs! It still amazes me now when I listen to it.

12) What music/musician had the biggest influence on you as a teenager?

Apart from Mr Cash, I was hugely into The Fall, Leadbelly, Devo, Pere Ubu and lots of other post-punk stuff. I developed more of a taste for Hip-Hop and other things a bit later but it was mainly post-punk when I was a teenager.

13) What's your favourite album ?

Very hard to say! I think it should be allowed to change quite regularly, so, I'll say, at the moment it is 'I'm New Here' by Gil Scott Heron.

14) Have you got one song / album in your Ipod that you'd be ashamed to tell about ?

I don't have an Ipod! I'm a bit old fashioned and only have CD's but I don't actually have any that I'm ashamed of I don't think, I probably got rid of them when I started to feel ashamed of them!

15) Can you tell us more about the "No Campaign" ? Who had the idea for the screenplay of the video "Say No !" ?

The No campaign, as a whole, was a simple way of showing our discontent with many injustices in the world. I wanted a strong and bold figure we could use to show people our intent because I believe before we can change something for the better, we must show that we disagree with it; by saying, 'NO!' to it. We've started a group on Facebook trying to get people to send in photos of themselves next to signs saying, 'NO!" and tag themselves in them, if anyone wants to get involved, come join in!

The video idea was from the guys who directed it, Shimmer Films. They're great. We just got filmed in front of a green screen then they showed us the finished thing and it was a definite 'wow!' moment.

16) What's next for 2011 ?

We've got loads of shows coming up, Camden Crawl, one with Billy Bragg, which should be great and then a big tour with, Gentleman's Dub Club. So, we'll be busy on the live front. Then, we're hoping to get another single out soon followed, at some point by the album. So, basically, more AGITATION!

Marion G

Mars 2011