The Legionnaire sails to China, Legionnaires and Point Blank

I wish I can say this was an interview about two new bands for me/you can catch them at a live show in the future, but the sad truth is these two bands are long gone.  Great bands that lived for a short time, one from USA and the other from China. Josh who was kind enough to be part of this interview and who was in both bands.  It realy BUGS ME when great bands don’t get the recognition they deserve especially when the music is so true and 100% skinhead.  Remember these two names, The Legionnaires and Point Blank, THIS IS Oi!!!!

THE LEGIONNAIRES

NBOS:  In my opinion you were in the best Oi band from California, if not the best, The Legionnaires were deff up there.  Can we go back from the start? when, where and with who did The Legionnaires form?

Josh: Johnny and I formed the band in 1999-2000.  Eventually we needed to change drummers and we recruited Adam from Counterattack.

NBOS: You guys had a different sound, deff not that typical tough guy fast paste oi/hc mix sound that you hear a lot in the US.  What bands influenced the sound?

Josh: We were influenced by The Templars, Snix, and any other band that we liked at the time.

NBOS: In 2002 "Rising from the Ruins" 7" ep (first line up with Shaun on Drums) was out with only 600 hand numbered  copies released by Crucified Records who also ran "Bovver.net"  How did the skins in San Diego react to the release?

Josh: There are not too many skins in San Diego but every one of them liked The Legionnaires.

NBOS: The year after "Life in the Legion" was released (second line up Adam on drums who also was in COUNTERATTACK) by well known UK label Step-1 Music.  How did the US band and UK label connect?

Josh: We mailed out our demo 7” to many labels around the world. Step 1 was one of them.

NBOS: Having two releases backing u up, did it help the band play more shows outside of CA and did you guys get the chance to play Europe or outside the US?

Josh: We didn’t get any offers to play outside California and I was going to college at the time so a tour was out of the question.

NBOS: It seemed like you guys were heading up there and become a legendary band, you guys had that unique Oi sound and were in a label that was not new to the skinhead subculture.  What happend that made the band call it quits?

We decided to quit the band because shows were very rare and our drummer lived in Washington DC so it was difficult to get together and practice or write new songs so we decided to end the band.

NBOS: Besides you, did the rest of the band still keep playing music after The Legionnaires?

Adam, the drummer continued with Counterattack. Johnny, the guitarist did not.




POINT BLANK

NBOS: I didnt know you were in this band from Beijing, Point Blank.  Three Chinese, a American and a French made Point Blank, how did this happen? what did you play in the band?

Josh: I met Thomas, the singer at a punk show and he wanted to start a band and asked me to help him. We had a mutual friend, Wang Xu from Life For Drinking, help us recruit other member.

I played rhythm guitar.

NBOS: Can you tell us a bit about the skincult in Beijing?

Josh: It is roughly the same as anywhere else I have been but there are not nearly as many fights.

NBOS: Point Blank did a self release ep "Right here, Right now" in 2007 and later on that year great Label from France Bords De Seine released album "Made in China", which rules!!!  What made the band sing the songs in English, and not in Chinese or in French since Thomas the vox was from France?

Josh: Thomas speaks English very well and in China a band has a better shot at gaining a bit of fame if they sing in English. Therefore we decided to sing all our songs in English except one the bass player sang in Mandarin.

NBOS: Did the band get to play out of China like the US or France where some of you are from?

Josh: The band never left China and the other members are all from Beijing so we stuck to Beijing for the most part. A friend from Tianjin had a birthday party with bands and we went to that and played with Misandao.

NBOS: After "MADE IN CHINA" the band has not released anything, when did the band decide to stop playing?

Josh: I moved to Southern China for work and we just made a mutual decision to call it quits for the band.

NBOS: Are you making music at this time? If not why not? you make some real good sounding Oi

Josh: I still play my guitar often but I do not have a band. No real reason. I just do not have a band set up.

NBOS: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, realy means a lot!! any last words for the readers?

Josh: You’re welcome very much for the interview and I don’t have any last words for the readers.