Trying to determine just when and how Demented Are Go started is not an exact science as the band members themselves admit that their memories are not all that good, but we do know that by 1982 the band were up and running. Guitarist Dick Thomas (no relation to Ant) helped pull the whole thing together, having been in a lot of bands before Demented he knew how to get things moving. Demented Are Go had their first release on the 1984 Nervous records compilation Lp 'Hells Bent On Rockin' but it was not until about 18 months later that their album 'In Sickness And In Health' was released on ID Records. A few years on the band members could be found all living in the same squat in London with no electricity - this would have been around '87-88-ish. They started writing songs acousticly, by candle light. These songs surfaced - again on ID - as the album 'Kicked Out Of Hell'. Tours of Germany and mainland Europe followed and Demented found themselves playing at punk gigs as well psycho events. Spark started living at various big organised squats and existing on diet of drugs and alcohol.
Ant recalls: "Spark was going more and more off his head. Graeme and Lex both left the band at the same time and nothing really happened for a few months. Then out of blue Spark appeared on my doorstep with the bass player called Billy and a guitarist called Mike saying that we were booked for a studio that same day! We had no songs but we went and wrote them in the studio. The whole thing took 3 days from start to finish. This ended up on Link Records as a mini album 'The Days The Earth Spat Blood'. It's a good album, but not classic Demented - it got a mixed reception. Not long after we sacked Mike and got Lex back again."Demented hit the road again in 1991, travelling all over Europe. They also wrote and recorded 'Orgasmic Nightmare' which was released on Fury Records. The album was well received and the band got a lot of work as a result. Over the next two years the band toured constantly, during which time Billy eventually moved to America and Graeme returned on bass.
A second album for Fury was recorded in 1993 titled 'Tangenital Madness'. Again the album was well received and the growing army of Demented Are Go fans lapped it up. 1993 saw the band travel to Japan for the first time. The 3 weeks tour was a huge success, with Spark even appearing on stage naked at times! The following year Demented returned to Japan for another sell-out tour. Whilst touring Germany in the spring of 1995 Demented split for a while. We ask Ant to explain.. "Yeah Spark just went mental...!!" The split was thankfully short lived and in 1996 the band released a 10"EP called 'I Wanna See You Bleed' for Pin Up. 1997 saw the band tour the west coast of America and the departure of Lex - who was swiftly replaced by Stan The Man. All the stories of drugs, rubber fish(!), nudity and on-stage sex with vaccum cleaners, just seem to fan the flames of forest fire that has become Demented's fast spreading popularity.
Not long after the lineup changed yet again with the introduction of Choppy on bass who was later replaced by Eddie from the Klingonz. In 1999 the band brought out the lp "Hellucifernation" (temporarily halted when Ant broke his back!) and caused general mayhem touring around Europe. But, true to form Spark started losing his mind again. He became so psychotic that they had to cut short a European tour and return to the UK without him. After a few months the rest of the band decided they would give Spark one more chance when they were offered a headline gig in New Jersey (USA). All Spark had to do was keep his head together..... On arrival Spark caused loads of trouble both inside and outside the hotel and at the venue he managed to set fire to the surrounding woodland. After their soundcheck they went to a nearby shopping mall where Spark was arrested for pinching a girls ass. It turned out that she was only sixteen so he was charged with molesting a minor. High on drugs, wearing a silver dress, purple cowboy boots and a pink tiara they threw him in jail. Unable to pay the $60,000 bail the rest of the band were forced to leave him behind and return home.
After a month in jail and a $100 fine Spark was out and on the loose again. He managed to reform DAG with old guitarist Lex Luther, psychotic drug fiend Choppy and best friend Criss Damage. Choppy didn't last long and was replaced by the brilliant old shool bassist that is Kelvin Klump. With this lineup they have gone from strength to strength proving that Demented Are Go are still the deadliest rockin' band on the circuit.
Kelvin and Lex left the band in the summer of 2003 after a period of near-stability for DAG! They played over 50 shows in a year including 2 US tours during which the album '...live at the Galaxy' {on Crazy Love Records} was recorded. After managing to overcome various disasters and incidents on the road {Sparky was arrested a couple of times!!} DAG found themselves with a line-up crisis once more. With a new record deal with 'People Like You Records' (germany) and a month long european tour booked, DAG turned to 2 old stalwarts of the scene: Doyle & Strangy of Klingonz/Celtic Bones fame, had both at various times filled in for the odd gig in the past and now with them on board DAG prepare to face the unknown once again...
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