Formed in January 2005, Dead Glamour Girl are influenced by the likes of AFI, Guns N Roses and The Misfits.

First of all, what has the band been up to recently?

MARK - We've been writing new material, rehearsing our live show, booking a UK tour and getting hassle from some very sad, lonely and bitter people.

DAN - There's been a lot of chopping and changing. The last few weeks have been fantastic and its made us re-think a lot of our future plans.

TOBE - We've had to put up with a lot of adversity recently, something usually reserved for bands with a much higher status than our own. We'll defeat it though. On a happier note we're just mainly living it up and working hard on new music. The new stuff sounds phenomenal!

JOHNNY - Mainly we have been looking at our options on world Domination, We know we are good enough, we know we are a lot better then a lot of the UK bands out there, and no matter how much they stand in our way and what they put in front of us, it will make us closer and stronger as a band, Which will always be a good thing.

How would you describe your music?

MARK - I think it's pretty hard to label our music, it seems to appeal to fans of punk, hardcore, metal goth, emo, screamo blah blah blah. I'd like to think of it as just plain old rock n roll.

DAN - I agree. Each member of the band has different influences, however there bands or films or books that influence us all. I think that’s how all our songs can be so diverse but still not sound out of place together.

TOBE - I also agree, we seem to appeal to all sorts of scenes. Our main fan base is the gothic punk scene, but due to all the band member's influences we have a very varied sound incorporating metal, hardcore, punk and even industrial. There are so many genres these days, Kerrang seem to invent a new one each week. I heard Mastodon are now known as 'Whale Core'.

JOHNNY - I always try my best, not to label bands or be labelled. To me we write music that unites people in one Feeling, 'Emotion' we have songs to get drunk to and dance, we have songs to fuck to, songs to fight to, songs to cry to. I think people respect that about us. But like Mark says i see us musically as a Rock n roll band.

The media influencing young people is a big issue at the moment. How much of an influence do you think music has on today's youth? What kind of influence does it have?

MARK - I think music has always played a big part in influencing kids. It did for me and still does. It's a form of expression and any form of expression will provoke an emotion in somebody, whether it's hate, love, disgust, shock, sadness.... Ultimately, whatever influence music has, it boils down to the person reacting. Does a particular song make me go out and do something or was the will to do what I've done always there and the music simply provoked the emotion that was missing? I think it's more of the latter.

TOBE - Its a difficult one to call. I think music's influence on people is obvious since so many fashions are to do with music. If you look in Topshop you'll see the sort of clothes bands like The Killers will wear since that's what's cool at the moment. However, then you have the extreme end of the argument, with bands like Marilyn Manson and Slayer being blamed for murder, that's just ridiculous. I mean sure, both bands have disturbing content and obsessive devotees, but they don't instruct people to kill. The media has a habit of blowing things out of proportion.

JOHNNY - I think music is one of the major influences on Kids around today, It influences people how to act, dress how to wear there hair. The Media can manipulate that and they can stifle individuality. People are always gonna be looking for a role model, and unfortunately the media are going to exploit that.

Do you ever try and get messages across to your fans in your music, or try to persuade them to think a certain way?

MARK - Not at all, I write songs and lyrics that relate to me and me alone, most of the time my lyrics are like a diary for me, except it's a very public and open diary. If people can relate to them then awesome, but I don't expect it. All emotions are relative to the individual, so one persons pain is another persons happiness. I guess I write songs to provoke an emotion from me, maybe a song that makes me want to scream that little bit harder or jump that little bit higher. It's all just therapy for me, very selfish really.

TOBE - I agree with Mark, we've never used our lyrics to influence fans. The finest lyrics we've written stem from emotional times in our lives and everything we write really fills us with enthusiasm. If we were writing to influence rather than feel I don't believe we'd be as passionate.

Have you ever experienced conflict as a result of dressing a certain way/listening to a certain music/being a part of a certain group? If so, what form did this conflict take?

MARK - I get it everyday, I have done all my life. It's unfortunate but nothing is ever going to stop that. Conflict ranges from mind numbingly boring verbal abuse to elitism within "scenes". To be honest I've never been one to care what other people think. If someone thinks I can't listen to Alkaline Trio if I like Mastodon or thinks I can't wear nail varnish if I'm a guy then so be it, if it helps them feel secure in their own existence then who am I to try and stop that.

DAN - People don't like using this word, but what it comes down to is prejudice. Unfortunately it does exist in all walks of life, and punk/hardcore is no different. What’s the difference in someone laughing at someone who is wearing bling and no shirt than someone wearing eyeliner? It exists and that is sad but I think in a way we are all guilty. This said I would never insult anybody for there music taste or their life choices.

TOBE - You just have to grin and bear it. There's no way you can fit in to all scenes so why bother. I just dress how I like, and if someone has an opinion on it then that's their business, I'm quite happy. Real men wear pink!

JOHNNY - The punk and hardcore scene is full of elitism, and that’s what is killing the unity of it, when I grew up and especially in school, listening to music that wasn’t exactly norm was like a brotherhood, you wouldn’t know their name but because they wore a pantera shirt, you felt like you wanted to talk to them because it broke the monotony of what you were listening to in say clubs and the charts. But now that’s all changed you look everywhere and you will see a rock band t shirt on a majority of people, the media has marketed the music and sold out all the integrity the music ever had. And that is where the 'Elitism' comes from, the old school cant bear that there music has been sold to the masses, i must admit i am a snob when it comes to music, but in no ways am i elitist. You face prejudice everyday, when you walk down the street, because you are white, because you are black, because you wear your hair in a particular way. No matter what you follow, what you say you are going to face Prejudice its a way of life.

Have you ever been to a show/gig (either one of your own or someone else’s) where violence has broken out? Why do you think this violence starts?

MARK - Yeah, happens all the time. It all comes down to what emotions are being provoked. Can you blame music, not really, if someone's gonna be violent then they're gonna be violent. What I find ironic is how violent Straight Edge shows get. That whole movement came from a guy (Ian MacKaye from Minor Threat) that was tired of seeing people get drunk and violent at DC shows, so the song "Straight Edge" was about NOT getting drunk and violent and enjoying the show. All of sudden the Straight Edge movement is born, and people decide drink and drugs are bad, amongst other things that have been thrown into that pot recently. So you'd expect to go to a Straight Edge show, enjoy the band and live to tell the tale. WRONG, SE shows are the most violent shows I've ever been to. And I know certain "Edgers" that show no prejudice, I've seen 25 year old guys grab 15 year old girls and kick them square in the face. What they gonna do? Blame the music, cos they sure as hell can't blame the beer. Maybe it's because they're just violent people. Personally if I saw that kind of behaviour at one of our shows then I'd have a problem with that.

TOBE - There's no way we would stand for that. There's nothing I hate more at shows than when someone has their night ruined by someone showing off. Countless times I've seen people bleeding, collapsing, being knocked over etc. There isn't a lot you can do about it, but it happens, and its sad to see kids get hurt.

JOHNNY - You don’t have to go far to see some twat get pissed up and start getting messy, what annoys me when people start pits on the side o pits, WHATS THE FUCKING POINT! you either get in the pit and do all your MACHO bullshit and beat your fucking skulls together, or you just enjoy the show like everyone else. I hate people who think they are the only ones who can possibly enjoy the show because they were cracking there skulls together. FUCKING DOLTS!

People are represented / stereotyped in a certain way for the way they dress. Does this 'labelling' also happen to people for the kind of music they listen to? What are your opinions on this?

MARK - Yeah it does happen a lot but then it all ties in with image too. At the end of the day people need to use labels to make themselves feel secure. People get anxious and nervous if they can't instantly label something or someone. If i go up to a guy in a Manowar t-shirt and start talking about The Cure he's pretty much gonna think I'm a fag, regardless of what shirt I'm wearing. If that helps him sleep at night then I'll be the fag for him.

DAN - Labelling and stereotype is such a dark area. You can't make a comment about either without being hypocritical. For one idiot in each scene that says something stupid they'll be ten who are great people. Its just you only remember the dick.

TOBE - There's always going to be small minded types. I know people who are reluctant to listen to Trivium because Matt Heafy has such a clean melodic voice, they just say 'I liked the verse, but that chorus is gay emo'. Stereotyping will always be there, I just try to listen to what I like and ignore the abuse.

JOHNNY - oh definitely, it stems from ignorance, i mean just cause i listen to heavy music doesn’t mean im a devil worshipper, or like Mark says because i listen to the cure people are gonna think im Gay. FUCK IT, its time people stopped thinking what the person next them is thinking and just get on with their own life.

What kind of music are you into at the moment? Any favourite bands?

MARK - I have so many play lists on my PC, it's hard to say. I'm loving the new Alkaline Trio album (Crimson) and the new Nine Inch Nails (With Teeth), I've got advance copies and I've been listening to them a lot. I'm really into the Trivium album too and Wake The Dead by Comeback Kid. To be fair though when I'm writing stuff for Dead Glamour Girl i tend to listen to a lot of older stuff, music that I grew up with, gives me more influence to be honest. Stuff like Joy Division, The Cure, Guns N Roses, 80's new wave music and Kiss.

DAN - Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance, The Used, Comeback Kid and a band called Ambry - I got one of there songs off of myspace and its really good.

TOBE - We all love Comeback Kid here, 'Wake The Dead' is excellent. I'm also loving Remembering Never, Trivium, From First To Last and 'Vanity' era Eighteen Visions. Also heard new Avenged Sevenfold recently, and although they're one of my biggest influences I'm feeling a little confused about it!

JOHNNY - WOW! where do i start? Music always has cycles of what i call coolness. a band will start or resurrect a sound that people will love and then other bands will be born out of that scene, as this tech hardcore scene is dying a more dark, sinister age for music is being Born and that excites me at the moment, So im listening to bands like 18v, MCR, Atreyu, loving Trivium who are taking there sounds and style from Bands i grew up listening to, Ive always been big into the New Romantic era of the 80's so i draw a lot of my influence and style from that, But my number one love has got to be Kiss, there’s always time for kiss in my life.

What has the band got planned next?

MARK - We're booking a UK tour at the moment, so that's the immediate future planned out. We're looking at recording and doing a video too but we'll take it day by day. We just want as many people to listen to us as possible and then either embrace us or go tell us to fuck off and die.

DAN - The more people we can expose to our music the better. Whether that’s promotion, playing gigs or whatever, that’s important to me. I'm really looking forward to getting back out there and playing shows again.

TOBE - We're just promoting our asses off. The response online has been overwhelming and we're so grateful to everyone who's left us such kind comments. We're just itching to get touring and to finish more songs. I also agree with Dan in that I really hope people will keep up the good work and spread the word.

JOHNNY - To get the Dead Glamour Girl Roadshow to as many people as possible, music isn’t a Privelidge, its a right!

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add or promote?

MARK - Yeah...... US!! Go listen to our music for free on myspace and then leave Tobe an abusive comment about his emo-sweep hair cut!!

DAN - Yeah he gets far too many girlies after him. Go get!

TOBE - www.myspace.com/deadglamourgirl, Johnny and I thank the beautiful DGG fans for their kind (and somewhat ego-boosting) comments. Keep 'em coming and get those miserable cunts more jealous!

JOHNNY - Yeah people have been awesome so far, not just for individuals but for the band as a whole. So yeh check us out, tell your friends, come to a show, say hello and buy me a beer. And leave Tobe a comment for his awesome EMO sweep.

Thanks to all the bands and promoters who have taken part in our 'Punk and Politics' Feature!