"They cut the red light area in Amsterdam by half…"

MARK FOGGO makes fast, loud and high energy feel-good music and is one of the planet's best known names in ska music.
If you enjoy live performances MARK FOGGO is special to watch.В The fast, catchy songs and electrifying energy grab the attention of everyone at any given venue. The in your face attitude and showmanship on stage are well received by audiences all over the world. Mindblowing live performances turn the place upside down.

MARK FOGGO was born in Liverpool (UK) butВ  transplanted via London to Holland in the early 80's.

Spring 2009: A NEW FULL-LENGTH CD will be released!

An interview conducted by Nasso Ruskov

WERE YOU DOING ANYTHING SPECIAL PRIOR TO THIS INTERVIEW?
I was just taking my boy to his sports training. He plays hockey. You see, that’s the thing – they’re very keen on hockey here in Holland. If I had it my way I’d rather have him become a football star.

SO, LET’S GO BACK TO THE LATE 1970’S WHEN YOU WERE IN THE UK PLAYING PUNK. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN HIP TO TALK ABOUT THIS WHOLE PUNK ROCK THING, BUT UN RECENT YEARS THERE’S BEEN A SERIES OF DOCUMENTARIES AND IT'S  BECOME EVEN MORE ICONIC. SO – WHAT WAS IT LIKE? BECAUSE YOU WERE ACTUALLY THERE, UNLIKE MOST OF US.
It was fantastic. Such a brilliant time, a good period for music. Everything was new, everything was exciting – you could basically do what you like. The rules were gone. I remember bands like Chelsea – they were my favourite at the time. There were so many, it was great. You could meet punk bands all the time.

YOU GUYS ARE PROBABLY ONE OF OUR FAVOURITE SKA BANDS. SPEAKING OF SKA, THERE'S IS GOING TO BE A NEW MADNESS RECORD, WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THESE 2 TONE/STIFF RECORDS BACK IN THE LATE 70s/EARLY 80s?
I was a huge fan of 2 tone. I was playing punk music and then I heard The Specials play and I was like ‘well, here’s a rhythm I hadn’t heard before’. And then I dove back into the Jamaican reggae and I thought there’s good rhythms and stuff here that I had never worked with before. I kind of moved into punk from rhythm and blues, and then I started to use a few ska rhythms and my music kind of evolved from punk form that period – circa 1979-80 – and it became completely ska in 84. It took me 5 years to make the transition.

YOU SORT OF DID WHAT THE CLASH DID BEFORE THEY WERE THE CLASH – GOING FROM RHYTHM AND BLUES TO PUNK?
Yeah, that’s right. We’re pretty much the same age. But I didn’t wear flares in my early days.

THERE’S A WEIRD PHENOMENON HERE IN EASTERN EUROPE – AT SKA SHOWS THERE’S USUALLY SOME CONFUSED PEOPLE, NOT THE WHOLE AUDIENCE OBVIOUSLY, BUT A FEW SKINHEADS COMING AND SIEG HEILING AND SHIT. DO YOU STILL GET THAT AT YOUR OTHER GIGS?
Well long ago we did get people like that, but very rare. Nothing like that anymore, though.

WE HEAR THAT THERE’S LIKE A CURSE OVER THE BAND EVERY TIME YOU GO TO PLAY IN THE UK.
Yeah. On the last trip we seemed to have our problems. I’ll tell you what it is – as soon as I go home I get e problem.

IS IT TRUE YOU GOT STUCK ON A FERRY ONCE FOR 15 HOURS OR SOMETHING?
It is true. We had just finished a tour. We did like 22 gigs. And after the last one we were thinking we’d catch the ferry and travel back home during the night. When we got there were wondering whether or not to do it, because there was a storm, but we finally did. So then we were on the boat, in the Channel, and it was rough. I mean ROUGH. We were stuck there all night until mid-day the next day or something.

DID YOU THROW UP ALL OVER THE BOAT?
No. Actually no one from my band did. There were food and drinks on the ship, so we made use of that. At one point the captain announced that he'd have to turn the ship around and as he did so,В  everything inside went flying.

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM YOUR FIRST GIG HERE IN BULGARIA? IT WAS QUITE A TRIUMPH.
I remember everything about it because I had such a good time here. That’s why I’ve been so keen to come back. The audience went completely crazy, it was awesome! Great people.

RUMOR HAS IT THAT AFTER YOU PLAY THIS GIG NOW, YOU’RE GOING TO BE RECORDING SOME NEW MUSIC....
That’s right. We just started to work on it a couple of weeks ago – did some arrangements and stuff. We’re working on a new CD as we speak.

ANY MELODIES YOU CAN HUM TO US?
I guess so. Well… I’m totally confused now, ha-ha.
‘Swing ‘em to the left, swing ‘em to the right,
Knock ‘em on the ground with all your might
Then go, go, go – Punch!’

SO, LAST TIME YOU PROMISED TO BRING US SOMETHING FROM AMSTERDAM. DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT?
I think I have an idea. It's a green leaf of some kind, isn’t it?

THIS SHOW RIGHT NOW IS CALLED ‘MOTEL HENTAI’. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HENTAI?
That’s something Japanese, isn’t it?

YEAH, A SORT OF JAPANESE ANIMATED PORN.
Oh. I should have known that.

HOW HAS AMSTERDAM CHANGED OVER THE YEARS? IS IT STILL AN ABSOLUTE MECCA OF SEX, DRUGS AND ALL THAT STUFF?
They cut back a lot. They cut the red light area by half…

OH, NO!
And they’re a lot more difficult about the green leaf as well. They have a bit of a purge on it and a lot of the coffee shops have been closed down. It's been a bit of a bad time lately.

OBVIOUSLY THERE’S A LOT OF BRITISH TOURISTS COMING OVER FOR THE WEEKEND AND HAVING LIVED AWAY FROM THE UK FOR QUITE A LONG TIME, HOW DO YOU SEE THEM NOW? CAUSE YOU’RE BASICALLY A LOCAL  NOW.
I’m tired of all these bloody tourists everywhere haha.

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