After flirting with the Fest organizers for the last couple of years, Hard Skin is finally here! One of my personal favorites… if this isn't on your must-see Fest list then you’re just not paying attention. With tongue-in-cheek jams like “Oi Not Jobs”, “Make My Tea” and “Boys In Blue,” their set promises to be a certain highlight...

Hailing from the streets of Sarf London, Hard Skin brings their brand of classic oi to this year’s Fest. Since leading the new wave of close shave in the late 90's, Hard Skin have continued to bring their raucous take on working class anthems, akin to Sham 69, Cock Sparrer, Angelic Upstarts and more… shit, even the guys in Blitz think they do Blitz songs better then the originals. Check it out in their own words...

REAX: Gipsy Hill vs. Hackney?
Hard Skin: GIPSY HILL is fucking skill. Hackney is known as smackney, as it's full of smackheads. Know wot I mean?
 
REAX: Fred Perry or Ben Sherman?
HS: Fred Perry - Pucka you fucka.

REAX: Oi or Street Punk?
HS: Oi! - street punk is for fucking bands on Hellcat and other bands who wanna sell their music in McDonalds. Oi! is real, street punk is fake.

REAX: Beer or Cider?
HS: Glue.

REAX: "Fight To Live" or "Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight"
HS: Johnny Takeaway met the bassist of Blitz a year ago at a party. He sent him our version of “New Age” and he said it woz better than theirs. This is the truth. However, that is not answering the question. Whatever.

REAX: Is it true that Hard Skin inspired the entire Chinese Oi! scene?
HS: That my man is a Fackin FACT. A band called the Anarchy Jerks covered my “One Skin”, and we were the band that inspired this club called the Anarchy Club or something or other.

REAX: How close are you guys to finishing the new record? Is it still called “10 Birds 20 Tits”? I understand there are some special guests on the recording - can you elaborate?
HS: None of your business.

REAX: We haven't heard much from the other close shavers in awhile… what’s up with Oiasis, Union Jock, Oi Division and the rest?
HS: They iz all over - kaput. Know what I mean?? But there's other young bands coming up the rear. The 4 Skints, Cocky Rejects… the movement is still strong and anyone who says not - is a cunt.

REAX: Why is that people in America can't really use the word cunt and only hippies drink tea on this side of the pond?
HS: CUNT is a proper word. It's on Wikipedia, on something called the internet. I've just been sent this by someone brainy:

Cunt (pronounced KANT) is a vulgarism, generally referring to the female genitalia, specifically the vulva, and including the cleft of Venus. The earliest citation of this usage in the 1972 Oxford English Dictionary, c 1230, refers to the London street known as Gropecunt Lane. Scholar Germaine Greer has said that "it is one of the few remaining words in the English language with a genuine power to shock. The word "cunt" is generally regarded in English-speaking countries as unsuitable in normal public discourse. It has been described as "the most heavily tabooed word of all English words.

REAX: Do you prefer the chelsea over the Mohawk, or is it all punks and skins when it comes to birds?
HS: I like all birds - ones with tits and ones with feathers. What does this question mean you daft cunt - see above.

REAX: So I hear that Margaret Thatcher is still a member of the House of Lords… I thought we were rid of her… are you guys still fighting her or what?
HS: Maggie Maggie Maggie, Out Out Out
We said it 20 years ago and we say it today. She invented war with the 'Falklands' and that's why we don't like her. She is a fucking cow.