STORY
I had not seen my friend Daniel for about two years, then out of the blue he messages me through facebook asking me if i would mind doing him the big favour of coming to his band's base in Bristol to interview them for PUNK GLOBE MAGAZINE.
After some small talk I agreed to do it, as we could catch up and hopefully see more of each other as we both live in the same city, plus I was curious to see what he is up to. Growing up he seemed to turn punk overnight, aged about 13, he came to school with spikey jet black hair, thick black rimmed sunglasses with no lenses! [no sunglasses to be worn in school, so he took the lenses out?] Next thing i knew he had formed a band with some of the best musicians in our school year! He was the bass player and wrote the songs. The band's name 'PLASTIC MONKEY' but he couldn't play a note! He learned as he went... They ended up being really good! They had an album out back then that was a big deal! Supporting 'The Ataris' on their UK tour even! The Ataris were a very popular US punk rock band at the time.
I walk into a room to find two people asleep on a sofa in front of a television showing some obscure documentary about 'the secrets of water and memory' and Daniel sat at a desk in the corner listening to headphones, staring at a computer screen, surrounded by books, guitars, a keyboard and tapping his foot. We exchange pleasantries and he hands me a list of questions to ask him which he insists have been supplied by fellow punk and singer 'Joe Mustanski', 'just in case I couldn't make it! The band's female vocalist "GHOST" is online from Australia for the interview Before i get to ask "why am I hear?" we are into the interview
Punk Globe: Who makes up DSM Collective, what sort of thing do you do / whats the idea behind the band?
Ghost: For me its a banding together - a core - of like minded individuals with mixed anarcho-punk ideologies.
Danny: Well... The core of the band is made up of three of us based here, we always have about five musical ideas kicking around at one time that we like to keep fresh in our minds but fluid as well, there is always room for change! The core of the band is Paul 'PPK' over there Dan nods toward the sofa at a snoring man with a mohawk, GBH t-shirt and a scar across his throat! .. he used to be in 'the pistol shots' now he plays guitar and does some vocals with us 'G' our drummer and myself (Danny Syndrome) I write alot of the songs, sing them and play bass along with bits of synth etc. Our wider collection of members which make this a "Global Collective" consists of many musicians, artists, poets which we have either met in person or become acquainted with either through the music scene, through shared artistic taste or opposite tastes! Either one often spurs conversation... Many get involved through politics and a wish to bring some attention to something happening in their country etc. We encourage and in most cases prefer a poet for instance to perform and record their work in their native or first language, for example, on our 'F.T.W' EP we have a very deep piece of poetry by one of our Italian members performed and recorded in Italian called "Sources" We love including poetry on our records, we simply provide an ambient backing track for the poetry. Our female vocalist 'Ghost' is in Australia and falls between a 'core' member and 'collective' member but only because she lives so far away! Her lyrics are amazing!
Punk Globe: How would you describe your sound and who are your influences?
Danny: Our sound is very eclectic, it has to be!... Because we work with and have members that belong to other genres of music, either as part of other bands or as solo musicians themselves. I describe us as 'SKITZO-PUNK' as i believe the vast spectrum of our sound illustrates the complex, neurotic nature of my mind and my mind is considered by Doctors as 'MENTALLY ILL' We aim to make the music fit the lyrical content in both energy and texture, as most of our songs are politically motivated by our anger at subjects, the music comes out quite angry and a mix of thrash guitar and drums with synth and break-beats! Influences as in music i've grown up listening to? Well, two-tone ska groups were my first love thanks to my sister I used to sneak in her room and listen to 7 inch records by ; THE BEAT, THE SELECTOR, THE SPECIALS, MADNESS, BAD MANNERS and she also went to big 'Rave's' like 'FANTASIA', 'HELTER SKELTER' etc.. So there lies the synth beat influence.. although my parents always had a pet shop boys tape in the car that i liked!.. The bands i love myself are RUDIMENTARY PENI, THE NIPS, THE POGUES, THIS SYSTEM KILLS, BAD SAM, DEAD SUBVERTS and everything on 'PUMPKIN RECORDS' , ANTI-VENOM [Mexico], THE SCALES, PedAgree SKUM, THE ZOUNDZ, INTRO5PECT, BAUHAUS & LEONARD COHEN just to name a few! hahaha!
Ghost: There is no set process and the benefits have been many; primarily working with people from all over the globe.
Punk Globe: You're a very DIY band, How important is DIY music and why do people do it?
Danny: DIY is important because it not only gets your unfiltered message and sound to the audience but it shows the impressionable members of your audience that they can do it too! and so the cycle continues..
Ghost: DIY exposes ideas that could otherwise remain hidden.
Punk Globe: You collaborate with alot of different artists from around the world what are some of the more interesting people you have worked with?
Danny: Anti-Venom from Mexico was a great collaboration, listening to their records from their first to most recent, you can hear the progression of their sound Their most recent work is a favorite of ours to listen to. Also the New York punk band 'The Scales'. We wanted to do a song about Police brutality and it was (still is) a big story internationally but at the time in America it was also a race issue, so it was great to work with 'H.L' their singer and guitarist to get his input on the track as he is an African American punk.. They have a great album out called 'All for Bad' I believe.
Ghost: One of the highlights was hearing the sound of the collective work of DSM for the first time, it was a real buzz, Negative - When Commie (Dan) told me this was due on the 19th!
Danny: Hahaha. Sorry Ghost! Yeah Ghost calls me 'commie' because of my Marxist leanings and me being from UK .. Auzzie's call us Pommies so i'm 'commie' haha ,Punk Globe: What excites you about punk today? What do you think it means to be punk in 2017 and what can it offer today?
Ghost: It's an attitude, its a way of life - its vital that we remain outspoken.
Danny: It is great that every generation of 'punk' seem's to embrace the best bands from the 70's up to the present day! and often the more obscure the better for the fans, for me this is part of the reason that the present punk bands span such a diverse range of sub-genres.. You have riot-step bands like from cradle to the rave mixing drum and bass with punk.. and it sounds kick ass!.. if you told me that in the 90's i would have been unsure but it makes sense really. It is a natural progression from bands like killing joke and Therapy?
To be punk in 2017 can mean many things. Each individual would have to be examined upon their own rhyme and reason. Hahaha (he laughs at himself, as though he has noticed a deeper mode of thinking escape his subconscious and clumsily fall from his mouth He takes a large gulp from a can of cider and recomposes himself) Punk can be and for me personally is a lifestyle, but do not confuse lifestyle with money! or for that matter. lack of money. Punk has always been the romantic notion of Robin Hood, Charles Bukowski, Hunter Thompson, Leadbelly, Karl Marx! Che Guevara! I have opened the floodgates now haven't I? [he says, seeming to be truly upset] Let's get back on topic, To be punk is to do what you love and be passionate about it especially when going against the grain, being the anti-hero's of your own story, and it shall always be that way! Embracing your individuality and not giving in to the pressures that society puts on us to conform.To love yourself with confidence, whether you are in fashion, design, music, art, poetry, writing, acting, you name it!.. Be yourself and if you come up against resistance, be true to yourself and never concede your truth. To do that is what selling out means! Signing to a large record label is not selling out! Selling out is putting a price on your beliefs and offering them to the highest bidder!
Cheers Comrades! - Danny Syndrome (vocals/bass guitar - DSM Global Collective).Ghost: I need a coffee NOW!.
Danny: Bless her! the time difference is not our friend. i think i have alot of making up to do! Sorry Ghost! - Everyone in the band are from all corners of the globe! That's what we really wanted! to get a global band/collective going! No one would have more to say about the planet; emotionally or politically than a group who live all over! The point is we are all connected by the music. A friend of mine once was so excited about using mathematics to bring the world together, he said maths was the only international connection. But i don't like maths, I found it hard in school, i really did feel physically sick if i had maths next lesson. I really began to 'HATE' (and i dont say that lightly) hate mathematics. I got a 'C' in G.C.S.E. and have thought that i have stayed away from it since. music has similarities and elements of maths but i enjoy the end result (and the work) far more. Music is a far more expressive international language.

Milestones
2017
NEW RECORD!