the exploited hysteria
Mar
11
1.42pm

THE EXPLOITED // Punk For Life


Punk’s not dead. For true believers such as The Exploited, as well as serving as the title of their influential debut record, is their manifesto.

MORE: KICK OUT THE JAMS With OCEAN GROVE: A Selection Of Oddworld Favourites // THE AMITY AFFLICTION: Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em // POLARIS: Growth, Death & Change REVIEWS: THE AMITY AFFLICTION: Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them // SAVIOUR: The Luna Rose // FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH: F8 // SILVERSTEIN: A Beautiful Place To Drown // MY DYING BRIDE: The Ghost Of Orion

It’s carried these founders of the so-called second wave of UK punk through 40 years of blood, sweat and bruises.

To this day they still play their thrash inflected street punk hard fast and mean, with a serious dose of the pissed-offs courtesy of iconic front man Wattie Buchan, he of the iconic orange mohawk and belligerent, bug eyed presence.


five finger death punch hysteria


On the line with a far from pissed off vocalist Wattie, it turns out the band are primed and ready to unleash a vintage dose of punk rock fury on their upcoming run of Australian shows. Although it may very well be the last time that you’ll get to witness their sonic mayhem live in this country. Says Wattie of the upcoming tour;

“We’re really looking forward to coming over, we’ve always had a lot of messages from Australia asking us to tour. I’m happy that we’ve now got the chance to come back. We got a new guitar player six weeks ago. We tried a German guy but it didn’t work out, so we got a Scottish guy, he’s called Stevie … Stevie fucking Campbell,” he laughs. “He’s fitted in really well. He’s been in a lot of bands, but Scottish bands you’ve never heard, I don’t even know who the fuck they are haha! My brother (Wullie Buchan) plays drums, he’s been in the band for 36 years or something. And there’s (Irish) Rob, the bass player, he’s been in the band 16 years. It’ll probably be our last time over there. I’m looking forward to getting away from fucking Europe, cheering up. Last time we came to Australia we had such a good time. We met a lot of brilliant people and that makes it worthwhile.”

Everything’s a bonus, and I’m glad that I still get to play music. I’m quite lucky, but we’ve worked hard for it. I think you get from life what you put into it, aye. But the last five years have been tough—I shouldn’t be alive, I should be dead. So writing songs hasn’t been on the top of my list
[WATTIE]

While punk may not be dead, life has been particularly challenging for Wattie on the health front over the past six years. A lifetime of no co-compromise gigging and hard living is taking its toll. The most serious of these was in Portugal in 2014 when he had a heart attack on stage.

“I’ve had a few heart attacks ‘ey,” Wattie says. “I’ve had a quad heart bypass. I got a heart pacemaker fitted last year.  And I’m getting some severe fucking dental work done tomorrow. I lost a lot of weight. Last year we did lots of gigs … South America, America, all of Europe. Physically I find it hard. I’m not getting any younger,” he laughs. “Everything’s a bonus, and I’m glad that I still get to play music. I’m quite lucky, but we’ve worked hard for it. I think you get from life what you put into it, aye. But the last five years have been tough—I shouldn’t be alive, I should be dead. So writing songs hasn’t been on the top of my list.”


download hysteria


The band has been radio silent, as no new Exploited material has seen the light of day since 2003’s Fuck The System. There’s been plenty of rumours across the past decade of a new studio album in the works, with Wattie putting things into perspective on where things stand.

“We’ve got a lot of songs written, but I need to put lyrics to them, For me, the issue is that I’ve got to be angry to write lyrics. But for the last six years I’ve had so many health problems that the last thing on my mind has been fucking writing stuff. We do want to put out another album before calling it a day. We’ve never put out an album unless we think it’s 100% really good. If I wanted to put out albums just for the money I could do four albums a year, easy! But I’d never do that. I only do things with The Exploited that’s 100% the best. So when things settle with the guitar player and stop being so busy with gigs, then we can get back into the practice room and start working on some new recordings.”

I tell Wattie to pack his swimming trunks as it’s so humid over here right now. He laughs heartily (and come to think of it, the thought of a pasty white middle aged Scotsman with a bright orange mohawk jumping into the ocean would be quite a comical sight). As the man himself said, this will probably be the last time that the band make it over to our shores. If you’re a dyed-in-the-mohawk punk rocker, be sure to get along to one of their upcoming gigs and pay respects to one of the true pioneers of the hardcore punk genre.

THE EXPLOITED AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2020

GOLD COAST // Wednesday March 18 // Coolangatta Hotel
BRISBANE // Thursday March 19 // The Zoo
SYDNEY // Friday March 20 // The Factory
NARRABEEN // Saturday March 21 // Narrabeen RSL
NEWCASTLE // Sunday March 22 // Small Ballroom
CANBERRA // Wednesday March 25 // The Basement
MELBOURNE // Thursday March 26 // Corner Hotel
GEELONG // Friday March 27 // Barwon Club
ADELAIDE // Saturday March 28 // Enigma Bar
PERTH // Sunday March 29 // The Rosemount

Tickets available here.


my dying bride hysteria




Latest News

MORE MUST READS >