What’s up dock? Gdansk81 set sail for bright future with new EP and headline gig

Brett Savage of Inner Space Records, High Street, Uppermill turns the spotlight on Gdansk81 for his latest look at the local music scene

FOR people of a certain age, the name Gdansk81 will perhaps evoke memories of the early Eighties: political rallies in shipyards, Lech Walesa and maybe the mournful World in Action theme winding down in the background.

At the same time, the music of post punk movement seemed to chime along with this febrile moment with its awkward rhythms, claustrophobic sounds and overtly political postures.

Taking in such heady influences as The Wedding Present, Prolapse, The B-52s, The Fall and Wire, Gdansk81 process all of these sounds to concoct a healthy dose of spiky neo-post punk.

After playing a barnstorming gig at Greenfield’s The Railway Inn, Inner Space spoke to Gdansk81 guitarist Steven.

From their humble beginnings as members of a ‘wildly unsuccessful’ Sunday league team (Steven’s words, not mine) getting together to make a racket, Gdansnk81 now have a line-up stretching from Mossley to Liverpool.

So, where does the name come from? “(Vocalist) Macker and (keyboardist) Clair’s hometown, Liverpool, has loads of connections with Gdansk with its industrial roots and political struggles.

“Macker’s dad worked on the docks and was often involved in political and labour disputes.

“Gdansk often supported the Liverpool dockworkers by refusing to unload cargo from the port of Liverpool’.

“It’s clear that those politically charged times provided a backdrop on which the band could paint their urgent post-punk racket.”

The band is rounded out by Claire (guitar and vocals), Aaron (bass) and Martin (drums).

When it comes to song writing, all the band pitch in ideas and then leave it to Macker and Claire to add their own brand of charged lyric.

However, recent restrictions have made it difficult to get together and record new songs.

Steven cheerily reckons that has worked in Gdansk81’s favour as they have managed to ‘fine-tune the songs for an EP-Star of the Sea-recorded at Oxygene Studio, Manchester.

There’s a video for the first track, Hypernormal, to be released soon. So, what else is up on Gdansk81’s schedule?

“We’ve got a good few gigs before the end of the year and a headline show at Jimmy’s, Liverpool on January 8,” added Steven.

“We’re also working hard on getting more gigs throughout the year and hopefully a festival or two during the summer,” continues Steven.