The Band Who Turned Down Pushead, Earache, Nuclear Blast, and more - The Enduring Legacy of the Skumdribblurz

Scum Dribblers, Scumdribblurs, Skum Dribblerz, Skum Dribbluurrzzz, Skumdribblurz, Skumdribblaaaaarrrghs, we’re not sure. Is it possible for a band to be both legendary, yet completely unknown? Usually I’d say no, but in the case of the Skumdribblurz anything can happen. If you liked a U.K. punk band that was active from ‘83-‘86, there’s a good possibility that Skumdribblurz shared the stage with them. They almost never rehearsed, and never recorded, not even a demo tape! They never made merchandise, and they never got paid, but in 3 years they played almost 100 gigs, exactly 94 gigs as Sned from Flat Earth records tells me, and most people who are still into punk, and were lucky enough to catch them live, have nothing but good things to say.   

They were a classic case of a band being way ahead of their time. By the time they fizzled out, the world was almost ready for the extreme brand of noise they had created. The devoted have spent more than a healthy amount of time tracking down a number of live tapes that are the only legacy left behind by the band. They are surely not for the faint of heart, but those who enjoy the crazed hardcore sounds of bands like Plasmid, Rapt, Asocial, Neos, Cyanamid, or Genocide Association will find themselves right at home. The band held a variety of members over the years, but the backbone which kept them playing so many gigs were Ade Gill (R.I.P.) and Tim Cairns. Original member John “Huggis” Hughes, who played only the band’s first show maintains that Skum Dribblurzzz were “A complete 1-off event that was seminal in all our individual lives that can now, sadly, never be repeated, but to be scrupulously fair I think the whole idea was Tim’s.”  John recalls the origins of the band, and their first gig:

“Scum Dribblers was formed in the summer of 1983 on Pleasley Hill, Mansfield, in Adie Gills bedroom. The band was: Adie Gill, myself and Phillip “Pip” Edge.  I had 2 guitars – a cheap 1st guitar and my then new Vox standard 24.  I swapped the cheap guitar with Adie for some old punk t-shirts, Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols. Pip was living rough at the time and was sleeping over the road in the bicycle shed of the defunct Pleasley Hill School with just an electric guitar for company. Pip had a pair of leather trousers he’d made from an old coat he’d found, but the crotch went nearly to his knees.  He slept in and wore an old sheepskin-type coat the likes of which I’d never seen, and have never seen since!  

Lucky for us I had an amp with 2 inputs, a dirty orange combo with no maker’s name.  It had 2 huge 14″ speakers in it and it took the 3 of us to carry even one yard.  We organized a proper jam session in a small room in the school that was being rented by one of Adie’s mate’s brothers as a workshop or something.  We were joined by a youth, but I can’t remember his name I’m afraid, who lived on Abbots Croft just up the road from me.  I think he was expecting us to start playing like Deep Purple or something…bit of a shock for the poor lad.  I was crap but fast, Pip wasn’t much better but fast and the amp was loud!   

Adie by this time had decided to stick to “vocals??” I remember some lyrics about avoiding dog shit in the park when it’s dark. Sometime after, Adie announced that his mate, who I presume is this Dig fella (of Earache records), had scored us a gig in Nottingham supporting the Subhumans.  Jeez, a couple hours jammin’ thrash and no actual songs, and we’re playing in front of people next week.

Well, some may say that that is or was or was partly the epitome of the whole punk culture but it was a bit scary too.  The night of the gig is indelibly etched upon my brain. It was late September, I caught the 63 to Nottingham in the evening.  Pip was late and I had to go without him. I was getting really nervous by this time ‘cos I thought I was on me own.  However, my being lost in Nottingham gave Pip a chance to catch up.  My mam drove him trying to catch up the bus but ended up taking him all the way to Nottingham. We met up in the square in the middle of Nottingham.

The venue was the Ad Lib Club, that later became The Garage, but we didn’t know where it was.  We saw small groups of punks walking around heading in a general direction so we followed them and hey presto, we arrived. We wandered in and Adie was already there with Tim Cairns.  All the punks in Mansfield had planned to see Subhumans in Sheffield but a small group came to Nottingham just to give us support. Shirley Cotterhill, Dave “Slob” Dukes and Tim Cairns.  It was Tim who coined the name Scum Dribblers rejecting my idea of Mutant Veg (fine by me). 

Before I forget… The ethos of the band was simple – to be the worst, most crappest, but fastest and noisiest absolute cliff of white noise band ever, with the worst name too!!! Pip and I stashed our guitars and went outside to get stoned.  Up to this point none of us had given any thought to the fact that we had no drummer!!!!!  Sitting outside was another familiar face from Mansfield – Pommi, Riot Squad’s most excellent drummer.  Pip and I took a managerial decision, and said we would get him in for free if he’d drum for us, “Find me some sticks” he said jumping up.  I was feeling a whole lot better ‘n’ better.  The gig had 6 bands and we were first up.  Pip walked to the far end of the stage and plugged into the guitar amp.  He had loads of trouble with 1 of his effects pedals, and it kept cutting out.  Pommi squeezed in behind the drums and got ready.  Pip was sorted and Adie was looking back wondering when we were going to start.  I had positioned myself behind a large square pillar at the front of the stage because my nerves had returned. My hands were ringing wet – and I couldn’t move my hand on the fretboard!  A guy from another band tapped me on the arm and handed me a bottle of talc which cured the problem.  I played fast thrash non-stop for 20 minutes, Pip played a fast lead riff non-stop for 20 minutes, Adie jumped about, fell on the floor, gyrating and such and making up lyrics on the spot I’m sure, Pommi had to keep stopping ‘cos he’d never had to play so fast before and was knackered. It was a complete anarchic experience – no plan, each of us just went nuts and played what we wanted fast ‘n’ loud.  My nerves were gone after a few minutes and I came out from behind the pillar and had good look at the crowd. 

Absolute calm had come over the crowd.  100 or more folks standing around with their arms folded and grim looks on their faces – what were they expecting? Fucking Deep Purple???  After 20 minutes someone made us stop!  By that time I’d noticed 2 or 3 people tapping their feet.  The performance was supposed to have been taped by the soundman, but he thought it was the sound check!!! Then some other bands played and we went home.  Due to artistic, lifestyle and personal differences Pip and I never played again with Adie, and Pommi carried on as normal with Riot Squad.” 

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After that first gig, the band was invited to play in Leeds, and Ade being the only member who could go, recruited Tim Cairns on guitar, and a new drummer (Fred) and bassist (Jane), which set in motion the rest of their career. Stopping at nothing to play gigs, even when the full band couldn’t make it. Ade has sadly passed some years ago, but Tim is still punk, and busy making music, in the form of Thieving Bastardz, who are sadly no longer active, as well as a solo project in the same vein called Timmy Trampeater. The following interview was conducted bit by bit with Tim by letter mail over a year about his days in Skum Dribblurzzz and beyond.

GS: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got into punk?

Tim: That was a long time ago!! Suppose as a kid, I liked Suzi Quattro, Sweet, Mud, things like that, and used to watch Top Of The Pops. My elder brother used to buy records and I remember my mum’s red furry hat. We used to put it on and be Punk Rockers when Sex Pistols were on Top Of The Pops. Suppose it went from there.

GS: What was the reaction when Skum Dribblurz first started, and what made you want to join the line-up after most of the band left after the first gig?

Tim: The first gig was full like gigs used to be. I joined ‘cos we played Leeds and only Ade was there, so we recruited for our over 36 song set in Leeds right there at the gig, and picked up Fred and Jane, as Phil, Pommi, and Huggis didn’t want to go to Leeds. We kept getting offered gigs and we were all at the gigs anyway, so it was free to get in if we played.

GS: Skum Dribblurz never practiced or recorded any rehearsals or demos if I’ve been told correctly. Was there an ideological reasoning for this? Or just how you preferred the band to be, uninfluenced by rehearsal or musicianship I guess you might say?

Tim: We didn’t record ‘cos we were shit, and didn’t feel people should pay for the crap we played. The gigs were all that was needed, and if they wanted a recording, they brought a tape recorded and recorded it. Why have a demo if you didn’t want a record??

GS: You also refused to receive payment for any gigs, what was important about this for you? Was there actually quite a bit of money to be made from D.I.Y. gigs back then?

Tim: It was the same, we hitched to more gigs, so what was to be paid? What is this nonsense about D.I.Y. gigs. Bands get some kit and a little P.A. and play as has always happened. All the venues I go to now have a P.A. at the place, and someone to do the sound. What’s D.I.Y. about that? The bands get fuck all, while the P.A. bloke gets paid.

GS: I guess if you want to get picky, Skum Dribblurz can be credited with the first usage of “Campaign For Musical Destruction” right?

Tim: Campaign for musical destruction came about, ‘cos Disorder had a speaker with peace sign, and “CND” (Cider – N – Drugs) (Editor’s note: A play on “CND” “Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament” a British group, which was also promoted by Conflict and other anarcho punk bands) on it. So we did “CMD” which was “Campaign for Musical Destruction” and “Complete Musical Disasters”. We always scribbled over a music note instead of crossing it out, not like the copy cats in Larm and Napalm Death.

GS: Skum Dribblurz have always had a bit of a sense of humor I think. Was it quite at odds with a lot of the more serious anarcho bands of the day?

Tim: We played gigs with lots of serious bands, but we were just a part of the punk rock thing. I don’t remember any particular bands getting pissed off except a couple who got no gigs ‘cos they were crap wannabees. Nobody gave a toss in those days. Gigs were fun, not a music review like today.

GS: In Raising Hell fanzine done by Ben “Sikowar”, there are a couple interviews with Skum Dribblurz. Afterwards he had tried to be become the only promoter to pay Skum Dribblurz, as described in Ian Glasper’s “Trapped In A Scene” book. Were you both friends, and the whole thing a bit of a joke between you, or was it taken quite seriously?

Tim: Yeah, good mates with Ben at the time. Everyone tried it on, trying to pay us. It may have had something to do with Ade sending a donation to Ben when he put in raising hell “I’d like a million tons of shit to drop on Leeds” Ade posted him some, which he opened while eating his breakfast. He wasn’t amused.

GS: In one of the just mentioned Raising Hell interviews you mention enjoying Chumbawamba. Musically they are probably closer to the complete opposite of Skum Dribblurz? What stuck out about Chumbawumba back then that you enjoyed, and do you still enjoy them?

Tim: Chumbawamba were really good mates, and were a silly old bunch. We did gigs with them ‘cos we did. I’ve not seen ‘em for years, as I was never into their music, but as I said, it was all punk rock, and different bands played together and got on with it.

GS: Did you ever hear the Hassle Bastards demo cassette? Which was made by Chumbawamba members as a Sikowar / Raising Hell piss take very much in the humorous vein of Skum Dribblurz, right down to all the song being under 20-30 seconds. If so can you tell us anything else about it, or whether you found it enjoyable?

Tim: I’ve got a copy of it, but I’m sure it was sent as “Lenniz Kitchens”. You know more than me! It was five tracks and a simple clean thrash sound. 

GS: You said that Skum Dribblurz were offered 4 recording contacts? Do you remember what labels wished to release skum Dribblurz records?

Tim: Pushead asked Digby if we’d record, Digby asked us in the early Earache days, Daz Russel from Birmingham asked us to record, and some bloke from Germany.

Skumdrubblurz at the White Hart in Mansfield (Note the C.M.D. art painted on the guitar head!)

GS: I’ve read more than once that you were very inspired by seeing a live gig of Asylum from Stoke-On-Trent. Can you recant some details about this gig and this band that made the impact on you?

Tim: Asylum did some gigs with Disorder who we were mates with. They rolled around making noise and screaming a lot, which fit well with what we did.

GS: You mentioned most of the songs played in Skum Dribblurz were your own songs, or songs the members were playing in other bands as well. Can you give us a sort of Skum Dribblurz family tree of bands? What other bands were the members playing in?

Tim: Me and Ade did Tim From Mansfield Band, and also Skreechy Skroochers. I was in Nightmare Of Noyze, Funeral Celebration, and did the Genocide Association gig, which also featured Digby. Pommi has played in loads of bands, Riot Squad onwards. Rich Collins played in Intense Degree with Frank who played drums as a stand in.

GS:  In an issue of Final Curtain fanzine Phil from Dirge mentions that Skum Dribblurz and Amebix were into skate boarding. I can’t really imagine the Amebix wearing kneepads and skateboarding gear, but this brings to mind, with many people living is squats, and high unemployment in those days, what was the Skum Dribblurz free time generally consumed by?

Tim: Knee pads and gear!! You’re kidding! You scrounged a skateboard off a rich kid, and went down hills. Everyone was unemployed and got pissed. Some lived in squats, Amebix lived in a flat I seem to remember. We used to hitch hike round the country seeing bands, and blagging in free.

GS: Your dad wrote “I was born”. Was he quite supportive of the Skum Dribblurz activities, gigs, squatting, hitch hiking, etc?

Tim: My dad was an alcoholic! He said here’s a song for you, and I only know the first line “I was born in a lunatic asylum” and we added “aaaargh”. We ignored the rest of the song he gave us. He wasn’t really bothered, and I never gave him a choice. I just did what I wanted to do.

GS: Beagles Mutilated By Boots The Chemist I believe was a Skum Dribblurz song that was covered by Genocide Association about a Nottingham vivisectionist? Can you tell us a bit about that song, was boots a real guy that punks confronted?

Tim: Wow! What a statement. “Beagles Mutilated By Boots The Chemist”. It was off the first bogus Genocide Association demo. An absolute classic! Boots The Chemist is a big company from Nottingham, and the anti-vivisectionists used to hand out leaflets. One said “Beagles Mutilated By Boots The Chemist” about how medicines were tested on dogs. Skum Dribblurz covered this, not vice versa. Boots is one of the biggest companies in the U.K.

GS: Can you tell us about the Total Crap Festival? And a bit about bands like Skreechy Skroochers, Nightmare of Noyze, and Utterly Bum?

Tim: The one and only, as the venue didn’t want us to do another as bad. Utterly Bum were brilliant. They were Will Twix's band and featured a sax player who had a metal skateboard. Bassist singer with a Scottish accent. Rubbish. Skreechy Skroochers, I don’t remember us playing, but if you say so. Every demo we did got destroyed/taped over.

GS: When I heard Skreechy Skroochers I couldn't believe it. I thought it was quite great, but I can't imagine many others having the same opinion.  What prompted you to do this project, and what was recording it like? Was there a decent amount of interest in those tapes back then? I think one of the tapes I heard was labeled as demo tape No. 8!?

Tim: Skeechy Skroochers was a thing me and Ade used to do at the end of peoples tapes to piss ‘em off. It was the most successful rubbish we ever made. Nobody liked it. However “Chuff Chuff Chuff Here Comes The Train” I do now, and they like it now. 

GS: What can you tell me about Nightmare of Noyze?

Tim: Nightmare of Noyze played nice thrash. We practiced 6 times, did a gig, then stopped as we had a song called “1st Gig”. It went “This is our first gig, it probably our last so we’re gonna be noisy and gonna be fast, aaaaarrgh x4” I was their drummer. Good, young and enthusiastic. Most of us over here are in our 40’s and 50’s now and have discovered comfort and laziness so gigs that manic are a bit of a rarity but they still happen.

GS: Do you have a couple favorite memories from Skum Dribblurz gigs?

Tim: Once we played a gig and had to stop as the original Napalm Death singer was dancing and singing along. Ade said “What are you doing?” The reply was “Singing along”, and Ade said “How can you be, when I don’t even know the words”. Also the look on Daz Russell’s face when he tried to pay us. Ade threw the money away leaving Daz groveling about trying to find it all on the floor in the dark.

GS: How long was Skum Dribblurz active for, and why did it finally come to a close?

Tim: Three years. It stopped being fun. People trying to pay us, or make us record stuff.

GS: Did you do anything musically in between the end of Skum Dribblurz and starting Thieving Bastardz?

Tim: No, nobody would agree to do anything with us except bullshitters who were all talk.

GS: So how did Thieving Bastardz come about?

Tim: Bene was stupid enough to give me a guitar, and agree to do some jamming. Gigs were around then, so we played a few.

GS: How were they?

Tim: They stopped just as we were improving. We got started doing old covers, but soon got about 30 songs together.

GS: What made you decide to actually record and agree to release a record with Thieving Bastardz?

Tim: It’s a different band, so why not. Skum dribblurz is in the past. It was more than 30 years ago. If someone wants this stuff, they’re welcome to it. Digby changed things by releasing Napalm Death. They were shit, and copied everyone. They were like Crass when we first saw them. Suddenly every load of crap band released some rubbish, and people bought it. Anyone can be rubbish, but unless it’s done with some style, then it sounds like every other band.

GS: What changed with Napalm Death? Do you mean as in the scene? Music in general? D.I.Y.?

Tim: It’s a completely different band now with no original members. The first album was just a bit like a Skum Dribblurz live tape, and was after they were sounding just like Crass and Disorder. But they seem to be just themselves now so all’s good. Gigs these days seem to be a bit like that, bands sounding all the same, and a bad thing in my view. There’s a thing off guitarists from punk bands learning to play properly, and playing folk music at gigs. I recently saw Kev from 7 Seconds, a great band, playing folk. It was shit!!! Anyway punk was about trying to be different and even though most stuff I’ve done is rubbish i tried to do it in a unique style and a fun way as if I’m not enjoying it why should anyone else.

GS: You mentioned a solo project you are soon as well? What sort of sound will it have?

Tim: I hadn’t done any gigs since 2013, which were with some chap where I live. We were at an open mic night and he said we should play. I called his bluff, and wrote 3 songs, and 15 minutes later we played. He’s bullshitted about more gigs ever since. He also offered Skum Dribblurz a CD with his record company, which he’s talked about for years. If i want gigs I’ll have to do it on my own. It’ll sound like singing and playing a guitar!

GS: What keeps you wanting to keep playing after all these years? What inspires you to keep writing lyrics?

Tim: Doing the solo stuff, it’s easier than trying to get a band together and practice. All that takes up time which I could use better. Also a lot of bands now have members scattered all over the place whereas it used to be a few mates who live close by. I tend to spend a lot of time on a different planet from other people with a different view on life, so while they’re changing the world drinking, smoking and shouting in bands, I drift along doing bits of work, rock climbing, foraging and wandering about. I’m a bit of a dreamer so when I think of something silly, I make a note, then go off and do it rather than talking about doing it. Thus when a daft song comes into my head I write it down and my guitar playing is OK enough to do a tune. I don’t give a second thought to whether people like it or not, but it’s for my amusement. However it’s a shame to not to play this stuff to others. If it makes people happy then all the better. A lot of bands are still way too serious. 

Skumdribblurz at the Bierkeller in Mansfield

GS: You told me about a sort of slogan of yours "Any Rubbish Will Do" how did you come up with it, and what does it mean to you?

Tim: Any rubbish will do came off a dog poo sticker which I cut up. It said “Any Rubbish Bin Will Do”. I just took the bin bit out, and stuck the rest to my guitar. I suppose a continuation of the C.M.D. stuff that the Dribblurrzzz came up with years ago. 

GS: Any last words, life advice, or statements you’d like to say to the readers?

Tim: Yeah! Life is what you make it! Don’t live off what other people have done. If you want to do something, do it and if nobody will do it with you, fuck it, do it yourself. Anyone can sit in the pub and plan. Stop worrying about what people think.

If you’d like to read more about the Skum Dribblurzzz, or hear some of their live recordings, you can visit http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/ which has also published John Hughes writing on their origins, in slightly different detail, as well as a live recording available for download. More words from Tim about the band can be found in Ian Glasper’s excellent book “Trapped In A Scene” on the mid to late 80’s U.K. hardcore punk scene.