British punk rockers The Damned Photo: Timo Jäger
Life in a band isn't quite the same these days as when they would set each other on fire, The Damned's frontman says.
Formed in 1976, alongside The Clash and Sex Pistols, British band The Damned were regarded as a seminal force for punk music - with some including Motörhead's Lemmy believing they were "the only real punk band".
Frontman Captain Sensible spoke to Music 101 ahead of the band's tour of New Zealand next month.
Captain Sensible said his name was "quite ironic" and he got it from acting up back in the day.
He said they used to "set each other on fire" with lighter fluid and one incident at a bar saw him lose his eyebrows.
"It's basically punk rock, isn't it?"
Captain Sensible said he still felt like a "juvenile delinquent" and that mentally, you stay the same age that you were when you joined a band.
Although the "carcass" keeps telling him to slow down at the age of 69.
Maybe a blessing in disguise to give his body a rest, Captain Sensible, real name Raymond Burns, said the Covid-19 pandemic was tough.
"The lockdown years were quite tough for me because I've lived in a bubble for the last 40 years.
"I've been on the road and the only world I know really is getting a guitar out of the case and jumping on stage, sound checks, going to the bar, it's just a nocturnal existence. You go to sleep about 4 or 5 in the morning, you get up the next day and do the whole thing again.
"It's just been my life so not being able to do that has been a little bit tough so I'm raring to go actually."
Captain Sensible said the band had performed gigs in Europe and the UK but was now taking it around the world.
"There's no better job in the world than standing on stage with a blisteringly loud amplifier.
"Needless to say I've lost a bit of my hearing and I'm too vain to go out and get a hearing aid so I tend to watch people's lips these days to ascertain what they're actually saying."
The Damned play next Friday, 2 June at the Powerstation in Auckland and Saturday, 3 June at San Fran in Wellington.
Tickets for the Auckland show are still available here
