The Instigators appear to
have had the unfortunate luck of being a punk band during the ‘80s in England
when their peers inadvertently cast quite the shadow over them. Periodically,
they’re on the same musical map as Subhumans, Flux of Pink Indians, Conflict,
and other politically minded/aware punk bands. Before the bandanas and baseball
boots there was the first incarnation of the Instigators: spikes, slogans and
army surplus. Similar to other anarcho punk bands of this period ‘the message’
took precedence over the music, but at the same time the Instigators managed to
play it faster and punchier than their peers. Like a northern version of what
the Subhumans were doing down south. On May 15th, 1983, The
Instigators played a gig with the Subhumans which was organised and ran by punk
poet Nick Toczek. Dick Lucas of the Subhumans liked the band's performance so
much that he released it as a live tape on his Bluurg label. He then let the
band record their first single the following year called 'The Blood Is On Your
Hands'. During January of 1985, Dick
Lucas helped the band release their first album called 'Nobody ListensAnymore'. The album was finished and released during the Summer of that same
year. This album proved to be their finest work and it appeared in the top 5 on
the Melody Makers Indie Charts.
The Instigators were a
brilliant band that were at their strongest during their first five years
before changing into just another energetic 'Rock' band in the mid-eighties
with almost an entirely new line-up. In 1980, two school friends from Thornhill
High named Paul 'Hammy' Halmshaw and Simon Mooney began The Instigators. Hammy
played drums; Simon took up the guitar. Soon after they were joined by Simon
'Semi' Bridgewater on vocals and Nicky Djorjevic on bass. They began by
practicing in Semi's parent's garage, until they were kicked out and got a much
better practicing spot at the Thornhill Youth Club. At every practice they had
an audience, and soon enough they were known by everyone in Dewsbury. This is
when they came up with their name the Instigators, and a certain friend of
theirs named Ritchie 'Perv' Calvert tagged the band’s name all over town. Their
debut gig had been planned for their school's 1981 Christmas dance but it was
ultimately cancelled due to bad weather, so the band's first gig was at the
Morley Youth Club during the middle of 1982. Unfortunately, bassist Nicky was
then replaced by 'Tompo' for being a drug addict, and that line-up went on to
record the band's first demo. Afterwards, the band began buying anything
associated with Crass and got into all the other anarchist bands. They noted
Flux of Pink Indians as a big influence, who's 'New Smell' E.P. turned all of
the band members except for Tab into veggies. They sent their first demo out
everywhere and eventually got a call from Colin, the vocalist of Flux of Pink
Indians, to come down and open for them and The System. The band then recorded
two more demos, and released all three of their demos together as the 'Demos
81-83' tape on Hammy's own Peaceville label.
A1 - The Church Says
A2 - Ignorance Is Bliss
B1 - Ugly People
B2 - All Creatures
