ALEX WONK
I've always felt that we have a lot in common, being skaters and songwriters. I once read that you consider yourself to be a skateboarder first and foremost, which I can relate to. When and how did you start skateboarding?
Hey matie. I started skating i reckon about 83/84. I didn’t see a real skateboard though until Bones 1 came out in 84. I dunno if i still consider myself foremost a skater any more. My skateboard mocks me. I love skating so much but I can’t seem to find the energy these days. Ironically, me building my bowl 4 years ago probably is part to blame for this. The Terror has beat me up so bad and really dented my confidence. I’ve broken more bones since building that thing than in previous 35 odd years of rolling. It’s gnarly.
At what point did you begin writing your own songs, and did you find that being a skateboarder somehow lent itself to this process?
Songwriting definitely replaced the void of not skating in the early years of recovery.
I think i first got involved in actually musical composition after the Medallions reformed in about 97 after our tourbus crash (in 95). Me, Christian and Stu were very much seen as “vocalists” and it was becoming increasingly difficult to get the “musicians” to write new material. It seemed like a bit of a constant battle and that we should “know our place”. I don’t mean this in a bitchy way and I understand now the band’s pain having wasted assholes like myself trying to communicate through the drunken fog how we wanted the songs to sound. So i was kinda forced to pick up the bass guitar and write chord progressions myself. This didn’t go down too well so i walked from the Medallions after an Camden Underworld show in 99 where the band refused to play new material. I wanted more from music, i needed it to mean something to me.
Your style of punk is one that I strongly relate to - there's a folk element to it but it's still very pure in form and in spirit. Do you tend to compose on acoustic guitar the most? Is there a time or situation which seems to bring more ideas for songs?
Pretty much everything comes from the acoustic. If it can’t stand up alone as a well written song then it doesn’t get recorded. The songs writing should stand up for itself in it’s purest form, then anything else that goes on top is a bonus. The exception to the rule is Summertime. That’s a straight dance track.
The Wonk Unit collective is remarkable in many ways - including the Wonk Fest. You seem very community-oriented in that respect. Do you see yourself as having a community role beyond just creating your art?
I always saw Wonk as a place where the damned of society would be welcome, a place without judgement (as long as you weren’t a fuckin asshole). I’m extremely aware of what i owe our Wonkfam, the life they have given us as a band so i do hold myself to a standard of how i hold myself. I strongly believe in treating others how you’d wanna be treated. I live by that mantra.
You toured the USA a while back and I recall seeing you at truck stops in places that felt familiar to me but must have been a bit strange to you. How did it feel to be faced with the sort of pervasive Trump-style politics that many Americans hold dear as part of their identity? Do you feel that there are any similarities between the conservative/Republican/
The church doesn’t have a hold in uk politics like in the States but the left/right/centrist thing is the same. Bernie Sanders/Jeremy Corbyn- Trump/ Boris. I think as nations, the UK and the US have shown themselves to be the dumbest in the world, politically speaking.
Something else we have in common is fatherhood. I've listened to your story about having to wait all week to see your daughter and I became emotional thinking about how hard that must have been. My son is 6 and being a father is a very important role that I take seriously. Has it changed you? Has your approach to parenting informed your songwriting somehow?
I have my daughter every other weekend. I moved to the other end of the country to be nearer her. Things are slowly getting better. Aubrey is my EVERYTHING. The 11 days between visits are painful. It is what it is and I’ve found a lot more peace since living nearer her. I’ve processed a lot of anger since Uncle Daddy. That record is extremely personal and an uncomfortable listen in places but it helped me making it. I have hope for the future, something I hadn’t felt for a long time.
Something else apparent in your story is the prevalence of pain and hardship. I tend to believe that creative types like us often come from painful backgrounds. Is there some truth to that in your opinion? Do you feel that the accomplishments you've collected so far in your journey as a musician represent something more due to having experienced very low points in life?
The best art always comes from pain, it’s our way of processing that pain. When you’re happy, art is the last thing on our minds. You gotta enjoy those moments in their purest sense as they don’t come often haha.
I am enjoying writing these questions very much, but must confess that I crave a conversation some day. Your mannerisms and personality are both quite excellent in my opinion. Do you feel that your personality lends itself to the roles you've created for yourself in the world of punk music?
I’m just me, on and off stage. This isn’t a character I’m playing. I love people and contrary to the misery of this interview I actually love life.
I’m always true to myself on stage, you get what you get. I enjoying gigging so much though that even if I’m low, within 10 mins I’ll usually be buzzing. X
"Horses" is a song that I have thought about a lot and find myself revisiting often, as I'm sure many do. There's a certain blend of humor and sadness in much of your writing that really resonates. Do these somewhat opposite emotions combine when you create new songs? There seems to be a bit of magic hidden in the hilarious shirt designs as well.
Yup, folk often miss the sadness in MOST of Wonk’s songs but it’s important we make the most of a bad situation. If you can get a laugh out of something negative then that’s a good way of dealing with it. Is that “pathos”? I dunno, i werent too good at education haha.
I think a certain amount of my stuff has subconscious meanings which I don’t realise until after they are done. Everything i do is so spontaneous that half the time I don’t realise what I’ve created until it’s finished.
I have to now share my favorite British skaters to see how your list compares. In no particular order: Tom Penny, Geoff Rowley, Paul Shier, Carl Shipman, and (if I may take it back further) Don Brown since I'm now a freestyle nut. How about you?
Oh wow so ok, i love all the original Harrow locals, the legends, Roger Harvey, Matt Bain, Mick Foster. I’m obsessed with the Harrow pool and skating in those dark days.
From my generation it was Curtis Mccan, Mike Manzoori, Matt Dawson, Winston Whitter, Tony Lockhurst, Rueben and Lewis Goodyear (basically the class of Southbank 1990-92.
Take care my friend, I appreciate you and feel a kinship. I hope you enjoyed the "Honk If You Wonk" song I did some Christmases ago. Perhaps we'll link up and play some music together some time. And skate!
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