Smeg, he’s the lead singer of the psychobilly band King Kurt, has big hair and a big grin and we’d describe Smegs style as Lee Marvin meets Gene Vincent, Smeg knows his kit. Smeg and Dave have been friends since the early 80s, the first time they met Smeg was wearing a McLaren Westwood ‘F*** Your Mother’ Seditionaries T-shirt.
Questions by Bridget Veal Carroll
Q. Leather and rock’n’roll, they go hand in hand, do you have any leather wearing rock’n’ rollers you consider a style icon? And why?
A. As you’ve already mentioned, Gene Vincent is surely the best leather clad icon, he had it all, style, the voice, the moves. But, also The Sex Pistols influenced me greatly in my teens and I always wanted the same leather strides, I bought a pair at age 60! Too old? Never for leather.
Q. You were a punk rocker before becoming one of the pioneers of the Psychobilly genre in the early 80s. How would you articulate the transition from Punk Rock to Psychobilly?
A. The Cramps, The Cramps were the transition. For me at the time I was into Rock’a’Billy and into Punk Rock, I was wearing Seditionaries bondage trousers but with 1950s jackets and a bright red flat top (hair style). And the Cramps, they summed up everything in their song Garbage Man ‘One half hillbilly and one half punk’ this made perfect sense to me, this was Psychobilly.
Q. In 2010 you invited Dave and I down to a King Kurt gig in Islington, my first time experiencing King Kurt. Pre-show people kept rolling their eyes at me, saying ‘ooh, you shouldn’t have worn that/ those shoes are going to get ruined/ do you not know what goes on at a King Kurt show’! For anyone that doesn’t know who King Kurt are, how do you describe the band to them?
A. You should’ve seen the mess in the 80s, we were banned from everywhere! Our music is good time Rhythm & Blues/ Rock’n’Roll/ Country/ Punk with its feet in the dirt (literally, in those days). We f***ed ourselves in the a*se though with the ‘highbrow’ music press for not having a political agenda. Our aim was and still is to have a good night out.
Q. Many people know King Kurt for your performance of ‘Destination Zulu Land’ on the British television show Top Of The Pops in 1983. How was this experience for you?
A. TOTP was a dream come true, it was the biggest music show for everyone of my generation. We were there from 8am doing what we did best, getting wasted! We hung out with UB40 for a bit (I still had one!) and I managed to upset one of the presenters -DLT a very rude, humorless twat. Like most ‘funny’ people he didn’t like being on the receiving end of a joke. We signed our contract with Stiff Records that day in the studio, then hopped on a train to Leeds for a gig. A good day out.
Q. Yours and Dave’s friendship covers many mutual interests from clothing to motorcycles, bully breed dogs to music. Do you remember the earlier years of how you met? Any fond memories?
A. Some memories are best left in the haze of history! But I can say we’ve done some crazy sh*t together over the years!
Q. There’s a legendary story I’ve heard of you going into Seditionaries and Jordan dressing you. How did this come about?
A. I was 16 and just got my first pay cheque, so went to Seditionaries to spend it. Jordan (Mooney aka Pamela Rooke) and I used to have a mutual friend who would pass messages to her from me and on this occasion Vivienne (Westwood) and Jordan were in the shop, they got me dressed in a full outfit and I stood in front of the mirror and declared ‘you’d f*** me!’ whilst fake masturbating. They were in stitches (laughing) and people were being brought in off the street to witness the spectacle! Vivienne gave me a parachute shirt, I was over the moon. Years later, I lent it to someone and never saw it again. But, I used to save up and buy loads of the stuff and had quite a bit in the end, sadly all was lost in a house fire during the 1984 Riots in Brixton.
(Left) Smeg wears Sir Tom Baker Sequined Tux Jacket with The London Leatherman 1976 Leather Jeans and Pistols Belt. (Middle) Smeg in the 80s with his exaggerated Psychobilly quiff, photo by Patrick Gilbert. (Right) Smeg wearing his The London Leatherman Leather Jeans styled with Pistols Belt, Lewis Leathers Jacket & Burberry Coat.
Q. A couple of years back you self-styled a The London Leatherman look fused with the legendary tailoring of Sir Tom Baker. How would you describe this look?
A. I’ve paired my The London Leatherman 1976 Leather Jeans with Tom’s Sequined Tux Jacket, a frock coat he made for me and what is called The Gutter To Gala Suit which is a kind of punk rock/ The Sex Pistols/ Johnny Rotten inspired thing.
Tom loves punk rock too.
Q. Do you have any favourite The London Leatherman pieces?
A. I love my leather jeans. But, the LV4 Jeans Style Jacket is one of my faves, I love my Pistols Belt too, the leather jeans are never worn without it!
Q. Are you working on any projects for 2023 you can disclose/ talk about?
A. I’ve got a new suit on the bubble with Tom and with the band we’re rehearsing regularly with a view of producing something new. Shows start in mid-May in Lewes and there’s a London show on June 23rd at The Underworld in Camden.