THEY are described as the world’s foremost tribute to the Sex Pistols and are back in Uppermill this month for a night of punk nostalgia.
The Sex Pistols Experience – Johnny Rotter, Kid Vicious, Steve Clones and Paul Crook – with support from all female Ramones tribute, the Ramonas, pogo their way into the Civic Hall on Friday, September 13.
The quartet are so authentic in attention to detail even John Lydon hired them to provide the entertainment at The Sex Pistols’ revival tour.
Mike Milenko caught up with drummer, David Twigg, to find out where it all started.
What initially brought you all together?
“I had the idea about 10 or 15 years before it happened. I saw the tribute bands growing and festivals starting to happen.
“There were acts paying tribute to classics such as The Who, The Beatles and ABBA, but nobody ever seriously tried to do one of the most influential and iconic bands of all time which was The Sex Pis-tols.
“There was a local punk cover band looking for a drummer. I got with the guys and started rehearsing.
Were you a part of the original punk scene?
“I was too young in 1977 when the first wave happened. But I knew about it.
“I had seen The Pistols on Top of The Pops but I never heard of them again until around 1982 when The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle came on the telly.”
What makes The Sex Pistols Experience so popular?
“We have paid close attention to detail from day one. We wanted to get it as near to sounding and looking like The Sex Pistols and worked with that aim in mind.
“We have not always got it right. We have had times where things have not gone smoothly.
“But it is all just perseverance. People seem to enjoy coming to watch us and get involved in it.
“It’s really just about having fun, having a great night out and keep-ing the spirit of The Pistols alive.
What are your day jobs?
“This is it. We tried to hold down jobs in the early years and then in 2006 we were playing America a lot. We also had a hundred shows booked around the UK and we just could not hold down jobs any longer.
“We had to make the decision; do we want to do day jobs and slow down the band a bit or shall we go with the flow and grab the oppor-tunity in both hands and run with it? That’s what we all decided to do.”
Where has the Sex Pistols Experience taken you?
“We just thought it might be local pubs and venues around the area. We started off in which was primarily Yorkshire regions but word got out and even before social media we were already performing across Europe. People wanted to see what we were doing.
“Then when America came knocking there seemed to be no limits to what we could achieve if we wanted to.
“We had a checklist of things we wanted to do from day one and we have checked them all off.
“We have done everything we wanted to do. That doesn’t mean it has to come to an end.
“It is just we are very satisfied we don’t have to prove anything to ourselves or anybody else anymore. Our sole ambition now is to just have fun with it.”
• This event is for over 16s only. For tickets visit https://tinyurl.com/y4vzbxen
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