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This week’s interviewee is Tim Whale, who proved to be a truly fascinating subject; I regret post length didn’t permit me to delve deeper. Tim publishes an impressive array of blogs and sites, including: Anarchy in the UK, Random Thoughts of Nowun Till, newonline businessidea.com, and keeps the spirit of John Peel alive at Indie Bands’ Blog. In this interview, Tim shares his thoughts about punk, politics and the music industry, as well as offering a glimpse into a life less ordinary.

1. You’re a prolific blogger covering a range of topics. What brought
you into blogging?

Anger was my initiative.

I bought the domain anarchyintheuk.com in 2003, which has undergone many transitions, as a platform on which to vent my spleen.

I decried the invasion of Iraq and as I saw it and still do, the Bush Oedipus complex, which drove a personal war.

Website ownership at that time in the UK became a viable proposition.

I was fortunate to live in Bromley, which had the option to not be a ‘dial-up’ connection, as prior to that point, connecting on a private line was more annoying than venting.

Prior to purchasing my first domain, I was an IRC advocate.

2. You’re a proud punk, and list England’s Dreaming as one of your
favourite books – what attracted you to punk?

I guess a good education.

I was a boarder at a school which gave me space to construct my own ideas.

I abhored the fees my parents paid to have me educated, but it give me the space to question the world in which I lived.

I was also fortunate that my parents lived in London, so on my breaks could spend time looking outside gated houses.

I was initially an anti-nazi. My first demo, resulted in my first arrest, for knocking a coppers hat off his head, at the Lewisham March in 1977.

It is the ethos of Punk, rather than being a ‘fashion punk’ which still lives in my soul.

Punk to me and I know there are reams of books about what it really means, was an ethos of self responsiblility. No-one owes me and I have choices and can make a change.

I was brought up in an era of anti-communism. The East End and Waterloo still being bomb sites from WWII, yet an attitude that The British Empire still was important. America still decrying Blacks as second class citizens, the Irish provinces, a world in turmoil.

I went to Berlin in 1972, my father, a senior British army officer, driving the only permitted route for him in to Berlin, with The Stazi on tow, made me see the world was a messed up place.

The Baader-Meinhof gang, who were responsible for my first blowing up (one of three), in Hamburg in 1976, didn’t draw resentement towards them, but resentment towards Centralisation and my support for individualism.

There was so much happening and yet so few people took ownership. Betjeman with ‘Come angry bombs and fall on Slough…’ made so much sense.

Punk was an opportunity to say, this is wrong. A space to vocalise an aim to destroy the status quo. Suddenly people were standing out and saying, no.

The late ’70’s, I still believe 30 years on, made England wake up a little. I still think it is slumbering, which is perhaps why I remain the angry person I was all that time ago.

‘England’s Dreaming’ encapsulates many of the band with the same ethos. The people who said no, in a time when being conformist was seen as a badge of honour.

I am saddened that the world has revolved so quickly to conformity once again. Where Celebrity is the new dogma and once again responsibility has become something for any one other than the individual to carry on their shoulders.

3. What do you think about the idea that punk has transformed from a
genre of music into an ideology?

Punk never was a genre of music it always was an ideology. Unfortunately the bands who live in memories such as the commercial Sex Pistols and The Clash have become a face for what was happening at the time.

As you rightly say, I list ‘England’s Dreaming’ as a book on my should read list. The first 553 pages focus on the background and politics of Punk.

Take a look at page 101, you still can’t find this uncensored on the internet easily, imagine back 30 years how much angst that would have caused wearing it on a t-shirt?

I can’t even guess the number of times I was physically attacked for being a ‘punk rocker’ simply because I stood against the status quo. In the late ’70s being a Punk wasn’t a fashion statement it was a way of life that meant aggression, police intervention and media approbation.

It may be looked on historically as a musical movement, but at the time it was far more serious. It was an agenda for change, which did achieve an end, not just in music, but across a far wider spectrum.

Punk always was a political agenda, history has attempted to lock it in boxes.

4. You offer a showcase to independent music acts at Indie Bands’
Blog; how would you describe the current indie market?

Music has moved forward and on the website I do not focus on my politics.

I enjoy writing the blog, in a shallow spirit of John Peel.

The website aims to find bands around the world, who are not steeped in commercialism and have a value to add to the world of music.

Every generation throws up a new anxiety and I am finding that the most creative bands are doing, as every generation has done, focus on the issues that face them head-long.

Personal relationships seems to be the theme of the current generation, which I find of no great surprise.

There are politically motivated bands coming out from places such as the Far East and South America, where freedom of speech is as relevant now, as it was when I was in a band. In Europe and North America far more, the focus seems to be on a generation who has been brought in to a world in which there is little cohesion, with lyric focussing on these issues.

Indie music thrives and remains ahead of the mainstream, which is heartening, as the experimental musicians move away from guitar and drum to new technologies.

I am lucky to live near Cambridge, where there is a thriving experimental scene, where bands are taking ‘instruments’ such as electro-magnetic conducters and magnets to generate a whole new sound.

Music must evolve, as technology evolves.

5. Do you think mainstream records labels can learn anything from the
way the independent scene has used new technologies?

Yes.

Oh, I was meant to add more…

Mainstream record labels of course will always try to maintain their space and of course as significant Shareholder Businesses they should.

Much as I decry the RIAA approaches to downloads, that is not their business model and of course the mainstream takes time to catch up.

It is when institutions such as the UK Government get involved, while they sit in an eddy behind a rock pool, that my back bristles.

The old ‘mainstream’ will defend the status quo, that is why they are termed mainstream, as a shareholder of a ‘mainstream’ do you really want ‘give music away for free’ as a business model, no of course not.

As a musician do you want to expose yourself to a wider market, for sure and here the boundaries strike fire.

Much of the Brazilian scene has evolved to a superb pivot, whereby music is freely available for download, the revenue is from live events, physical copy releases and merchandising. Slowly it is catching on.

As a model for a major label, that is a massive step change. People such as Cowell, in the UK, have recognised the change and make revenues from completely different avenues.

The question should perhaps be, apologies for my turning the tables Kate. Are major labels fit to serve music?

When Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky etc were composing did they have major record labels?

You kindly mentioned my own website, which is a division of Indie International, that is seeking to take a new step in music financing.

There are a myriad of seed financiers who are unable to connect with musicians and promoters, simply because the industry is still worrying about ‘major record labels’. As long as Governments continue to support their anxiety, the distribution of music will remain locked in to a few players and to clarify my position, itunes is included.

However me ranting against large labels and distributers is futile.

It is the music buyer who decides, but the bands can take control and this is perhaps where I see a strike a completely different stance to many of the bands I showcase on the indie bands blog, where so many remain myopic in their desire to progress to ’striking a record deal’.

It is unfortunate that Google has recently stepped in to the breach with their ‘favouritism’ towards myspace, but that is yet another issue that you didn’t even ask me about.

6. You also blog on political themes; how do you feel about the
political landscape in the UK.

I could respond for an hour or two on this Kate.

In a simplification, I am anarcho-capitalist, who believes in no form of Government, centralised judiciary or policing. I oppose nation states and decry a system which permits elected dictatorships.

To expand a little on the status quo.

We have a system which has become to view its central brief to defend the status quo.

The spy agencies are supposedly protecting British Citizens, and although Binyam Mohamed is not a British National, The UK Government took him under his wing, yet the spy agencies saw torturing him to protect Democracy was more important than protecting an individual they were supposed to protect.

Rendition flights in to UK territory have been permitted to go unpunished, simply because America scares the UK Democratic System. There is far more to say on Diego Garcia, which is a disgusting legacy of British Imperialism.

Elected Governments with less than 27% of the population voting for them have absolutely no mandate.

The next election which may result in a hung parliament, whereby a party supported by perhaps 6% of the voting population can decide on future policies fills me with anger.

I hope that fewer than 40% of the population actually vote and perhaps then a concensus will rise up to change our system of Government. Far better a few BNP get elected and perhaps we will head towards a revolution as the populace realise centralised Democractic Government is a complete fallacy.

I could rant and rave on so much more, but let me finish with Cameron and his Wisteria and Brown and his secrecy covered Sky Sports Channels.

7. Do you agree with claims that people have become apathetic about
the political process? If so, what do you think could be done to
stimulate debate and engagement?

This is the religious zealot argument which permitted the dunking of witches, the Spanish inquisition, The Crusades and The American Christian Fundamentalist war against Islam, led by the Bush, Oedipus Complex.

I am not convinced ‘apathy’ is an issue. I am hugely politically active but have never voted and never will.

The argument put forward by Democrats, is that if you don’t vote you are apathetic.

There is another position.

Many people do not support the Democratic system.

8. Also on your favourite books list are Animal Farm and 1984; if
Orwell were resurrected in 2010 Britain, do you think he would see
similarities to his creations?

I would hope so.

We have revisionist Government.

Just to take some examples of where I think Orwell may have a smile.

Apparently all MPs were against their claiming obscence allowances. Funny, I recall they voted against disclosure and it was a leaked Daily Telegraph story. Yet still they claim the need that you and I pay for second homes and they take the profit. Hind leg pigs come to mind.

Icleand was deemed a terrorist state because their banks failed, but the British Tax-payer owed it to British banks to bail them out.

Anti-terrorims laws are used to permit Local Councils to look in dustbins, on the grounds that the wrong litter may be in the wrong bin.

The rise of the unaccountable Quango. Listen to politicians explaining why they can’t actually be accountable…. ‘…We fund it but no-one who can be called to account owns it…’

It is illegal to protest outside the Houses of Parliament without permission.

The G20 summit, protestors were not allowed within 1/2 a mile of the main building, yet the state sponsored media focussed on the City of London.

Peers appointed by Blair and Brown questioning Blair and Brown on their culpability in an invasion.

CCTV

I could go on a few more lines and then head in to the wider world

9. Finally, the obligatory meme-type question. You know the amusing
conspiracy that says Elvis didn’t die? Imagine for a moment it was
true; what did he do next?

You mean Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?

Either of them I don’t care.

If they got fed up with the limelight so what? If they died, so what?

It happens and the world evolves.

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The poor old list post has come in for some stick recently through no fault of it’s own.  Once the hottest post in Blogtown, it’s now belittled and besmirched.

A year ago list posts were all the rage, and many pixels were devoted to urging newbie bloggers to exploit them at every available opportunity. Unfortunately, that is exactly what many did, and now list posts are seen as, well, not quite nice; at best unimaginative, and at worst, extremely spammy. I think that’s a shame because, used properly, a list post can be the best, most concise way of sharing information. In an attempt to revitalise them, here are my tips for list post redemption - displayed in the form of a list post, of course.

1) Be brief! If your list burgeons into double figures, break it into two lists. I recently saw a list entitled 150 Top WordPress Plugins – who on earth would have time to read that? It’s just a complete waste of pixels. Aim for quality, not quantity.

2) Keep it relevant! If you are listing WordPress plugins for example, choose a handful of the most useful, don’t list every single one that might possibly be related to the topic. If you are writing about a huge topic like plugins, create several lists covering different categories – not only is this more useful for your readers, but it means you have multiple posts from one idea, rather than just one.

3) Be original! Don’t just list all the same sites that appear in almost every other list post on any given topic. Try to find something new to share with your readers. It might take a bit longer, but they will thank you for it. Aping what everyone else has done will not impress anyone.

Still on the plugins theme: I’ve seen lists of useful plugins for cartoonists, scrapbookers, readers and genealogists. Try to think of a new angle, and try to offer your readers something they won’t find in 500 other places.

4) Be descriptive! Tell your readers why the sites you’ve linked to are so good, give them some idea of what they will gain if they use a plugin you suggest. Use your own words, don’t copy the blurb from the original site; they don’t care how well the copywriter described it, they want to know why you like it.

5) Be genuine! I often see list posts which purport to list useful resources, but which are actually a flimsy excuse to link to A’list bloggers*. Don’t do this. It’s unlikely to convince an A’list blogger to be your friend - in fact, it will probably have the opposite effect – and you are not giving anything of value to your readers. If you link to other sites and blogs, do so because you genuinely believe they are useful, interesting or downright amusing.

*If you want to connect with A’list bloggers try speaking to them on Twitter or via their blog. Surprisingly, they are human beings not cyborgs manufactured in a secret programme funded by Stephen Fry, and as such respond to normal human communication.

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Just popping in to let you know I’ve added a comment policy to the blog. It wasn’t something I felt I needed to do in the past because, well, I knew most of the people who left comments, but now the readership has grown, it seemed like a good idea to give people an idea of what is and isn’t acceptable. It’s not overly strict, in fact, compared to many comment policies it’s pretty laid back; a bit like the Jeff Bridges of comment policies.

This move was also motivated by a glut of spam today – not the automatically posted type, Akismet always deals with that – this was the sort posted by real people. At first, it almost seemed genuine, and I only realised it was bogus because the comments were all along the lines of ‘Great article, good advice’, which sounds like a compliment until you realise that was left under a Whatever Will They Type Next post, which is not an article and doesn’t contain any advice. Also, the names were a little suspicious. Maybe I’m wrong and there is a couple called Viagra who named their first-born Buy, but I’m dubious about the possibility.

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I haven’t posted an interview this week because I haven’t had chance to send any questionnaires out, so look out for another one next week. Instead, because I haven’t published a history themed post here for a while, here’s one I made earlier.

In the 20th century it became commonplace to romanticise the Anglo-Saxons, and demonise the Normans. One group, we are told, were delightful, jolly peasants who lived in peace and harmony despite drinking copious quantities of mead; a bit like hobbits, but taller. The other were something akin to Nazis with pudding-bowl haircuts and a habit of talking like pantomime bad guys. However, as is usually the case, that isn’t quite true*.

It is true that English society changed dramatically in the years after the Conquest, but not always for the worse. There were many great things about the Saxons**, but they had a dark side. Conversely, the Normans could be extremely brutal, but ironically tempered this with a degree of enlightenment. So to even up things up a bit, here are a few things the Normans did that were actually pretty good.

Abolition of slavery: Anglo-Saxon England was a slave owning society. This was abolished very soon after the Conquest. Admittedly this was for financial reasons – if you owned a slave they might work for nothing, but you have to factor in the costs of purchase, food and accommodation. It’s much cheaper to pay someone who lives elsewhere to work for you. But, whatever the motivation, I would imagine the slaves were pretty keen on it.

Stone buildings: The Anglo-Saxons tended to build in wood. This made sense: there was a lot of it, it was easily to obtain, and it didn’t take long to construct a wooden building. Unfortunately, as a result of this, Saxon buildings were both vulnerable, and biodegradable – the latter is a good thing, but not if it’s your house.

The Normans were big fans of stone, it was like the new black to them. They used it, a lot, which is why we now get to visit pretty churches and impressive castles at weekends. Back in those days, it played a big part in the repelling of those pesky Vikings (who were still labouring under the delusion that this was a warm country), and later, the French (who were still labouring under the delusion this could become a wine producing country. *gallic shrug*).

Culture: Considering their reputation as blood thirsty brutes, the Normans were a cultured bunch – they commemorated the Conquest with a tapestry! That’s very telling.

And when I say culture, I don’t just mean hagiographies, some of it was good. For example: Chaucer, Norman England’s answer to Terry Pratchett; both funny and profound.

Technological advances led to more books being in circulation, and Norman England embraced that in much the same way we took to the internet. While literacy was still a very long way from being 100% – even amongst the wealthy – it was at far higher levels than ever before.

The legal system: Prior to 1066 the legal system in England was a bit odd; it included something called the blood feud. In simple terms: if you killed me, my relatives could kill you, but then, your relatives could kill my relatives, and … well, I’m sure you can see where that could lead; pretty soon, you’d run out of people.

The Normans replaced this with a system which revolved not around vengeance, but impartial justice in the form of such measures as the Charter of Liberties and Magna Carta. Our modern legal system may not appear immediately similar, but it evolved out of, and is still influenced by, the Norman one.

There you are: some good stuff the Normans did when they weren’t dragging peasants from their land; having family feuds that ended in civil war; or being really mean to that nice Maid Marion.

* To be fair, it is true about the hair; they did have terrible haircuts. In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion there were no barbers in those days; if a chap wanted a haircut his mother would pop a bowl on his head and trim round it.

** The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; Beowulf; celebrity cake-burner, King Alfred, who founded the Royal Navy amongst other cool things.

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