NYC Oi ! Hey Phil, give us a brief history of the band. Phil: Formed by Carl and I in 1990... started playing shows in 1992, changed our bassist in 1995 and then again in 2004, added a second guitarist in 2000. Line up - ages - jobs - hobbies. Phil (immortal), porn star / world traveller / vice-president of ISP, hobbies are music and film Carl (31), mass murderer / 21st century viking warlord, hobbies are carnage and world war 2 Chet (29), vinyl junkie / punk rock legend, hobbies are women and his son Matt (a baby), student / bass master / philosopher, hobbies arebooks, literature and music How did you get into the Oi/skinhead scene? When did you first turn out skin? Phil: I was 16 years old, in high school... a good friend named Pete made me see the light, that was 1985 Your main influences? Is there a band that had/has a particular impact on your sound? Phil: we get our influences from British Oi!, late 70's punk, French Oi / punk rock, 60's British Rock and Roll... specific bands like Rolling Stones, the Who, Animals, Small Faces, Angelic Upstarts, Last Resort, 4-Skins, Indecent Exposure, Skinkorps, Komintern Sect, the Jam, Little Bob Story, Clash, the Boys, Skrew 77, Johnny Moped, Motorhead, Trotskids, Slade, Vortex, Crux etc etc etc... A lot of people compare the Templars' sound to early Skrewdriver - what do you think of it? How would you describe your sound? Phil: I'd say we like a lot of groups on Chiswick and Raw records... Little Bob Story, the 101'ers, Count Bishops, the Damned, Riff Raff along with early Skrewdriver... not just Skrewdriver, maybe people should expand their record collections and listen to more music than just Skrewdriver Everybody knows you're from NYC. NYC used to have a lot of Oi bands (Oxblood / First Strike / Bottom of the Barrel / Battle Cry...) in the early/mid 90's. How's the scene there now? Phil: Pretty quiet... there are some bands still around and some new bands popping up... bands like Skin Disorder, Urban Riot are still playing shows along with other punk bands like the Krays, the NY-Relix... punk and Oi! is still alive here!! As I said, you've been there since the early 90's, have you seen a lot of changes? (scene in general) Phil: Yup... I see a lot of people come and go, bands form and break up. How many gigs (approximately)? Best and worst? Phil: a number... a lot... worst in 1993 in Boston just before we recorded our first EP, the best... hmmm, we've had a lot of best shows... Barcelona 2003, Atlanta 1998, San Francisco 1999, Holidays in the Sun 2002 in New Jersey, Portland 2004 Some troubles sometimes or are your gigs (generally) trouble free? Phil: we used to have trouble all the time... nowadays only once in a while, nothing too crazy because it gets stopped I know you have played several countries outside the US. Which is the best country you had the pleasure to play? Phil: Spain, France and Germany... Some differences between the US and European audience? Phil: the women are prettier overseas, hahaha... the promoters usual have a better sense of what they are doing in Europe, they treat the bands better as well. There are a lot of so-called promoters in the US that are fucking idiots!! Where does your passion for the Templars come from? Phil: from childhood, I've been obsessed with the crusades and middle ages. Perry doesn't play with the Templars anymore. What's the story behind this departure? Phil: he became a punk rocker, got some young punk girl pregnant and moved to Florida. Your favorite Templars' song(s)? Phil: all of them, ahahah... Night Of the Seagulls, These 4 Walls, My Revenge, Bovver Boy, Glory It Once Was, The City, No Future No Escape, you decide... Is it easy to find venues in NYC and the NY area? No problems with the fact that you're a skinhead band? Phil: now it's ok because people know us... back then it was impossible to get shows because they knew there would be trouble. Are you into a crew or something like that? What about the ISP? What does it stand for? Phil: nope... being in NYC is enough... ISP is a secret society, only select members are invited. Best and worst memories with the band? Phil: line-up changes are the worst... best times are when we get together with friends. Give us a top 10: American bands and European bands Phil : (American bands) - Oxblood / Best Defense / Reducers SF / Moloko Men / First Strike / The Antiheros (first record) / 90 Proof / Niblick Henbane / Youth Defense League / The Rogues (first record) (European bands, non-British) - Bohse Onkelz (first 2 records) / Snix / Nabat / Polska / Skinkorps / Decibelios / Agent Bulldogg / L'Infanterie Sauvage / NV Le Anderen / Tolbiac's Toads. Where were you during the 09/11 attacks, and does it still have an impact on your everyday life? Phil: I was very very close and saw things I didn't have to see... that day will have an impact on me for the rest of my life... Do you plan to record a song on that topic? Phil: most likely... Future plans for the band? Phil: play more shows in Europe for our friends, get rich, eat good and drink a lot and live to be old men with a lot of kids and grandkids to keep the Templar empire living forever. Final comments. Phil: to all our friends hello and we'll see you in your town or ours for a good time, to all our enemies and backstabbers and people who make stories about us without knowing us... fuck yourself and get AIDS!   WWW.THETEMPLARS.COM and on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thetemplars Oi! En France 2003