A drunken bar room brawl

You guys started in 1982 and disband in 1985,can you tell us a little bit what occurred during this time leading up to your resurrection in 2005 to present day?

The band in the early years were very much a full on Punk band, much as Onslaught were when they first started out and we had some very good shows in that time touring and supporting bands like GBH, Discharge, Anti Nowhere League, UK Subs, The Exploited and a whole host of other bands from that era.
We released a couple of EP’s including ‘Bloody Road To Death’ which was very much a crossover album with punk vocals and lyrics with metal riffs and solo’s and that was our style before the band split up in 1985.
The band were resurrected in 2005 and since then we have never really looked back, we have toured throughout Europe and the West Coast of America, released two studio albums ‘Vision Of Hell & Revival Of Species’ and it seemed that people couldn’t get enough of us, so we just continued, playing shows and festivals around the world.
At this moment in time we are about to release our third Studio album ‘Critical Response’ which in our opinion is by far the best album we have recorded.

You are described as being a Crossover Hardcore Punk band,how do you feel about this label? do you see yourselves being more of mix of other Genres as well?

At the end of the day it’s the people out there that listen, and buy our music that will decide what genre of music we are, we can’t change that perception of how people see the band.
That said and done, Crossover, Hardcore, Metal is maybe a true evaluation of how the bands new sound is evolving, it is now definitely more Metal than Punk.

Can you tell us a little bit about the band members and their roles within the creative process

There are two surviving original members from the band from the 80’s which are, Rob Moore – Rhythm Guitar and Lead Vocals and Tim Whitfield on Bass Guitar, and they are joined by Anth ‘Patty’ Pattinson – Lead Guitar and Kev Bambra – Drums.
Regarding the creative process of the band it is normally down to Rob and Patty who do the main writing, Riffs, Bridges, Solo’s, Lyrics, Arrangements etc, after they have come up with an idea they record their guitar tracks, which are then played back to the other guys who will then put their ideas into the tracks.

I understand you guys are amazing live,how does recording an album and the creative process translate to a live show?

We do try to put a lot into our live shows and give the fans value for money and entertainment and this is one aspect of the band we have tried to work on and improve over the last six months.
We try to encapsulate the same sound live as we have from any recording that we have made to ensure the fans know that they are at a Dogsflesh show and they  are under no illusions as to what we are going to sound like!

How do you prepare for each show any superstitions or routine rituals?

We don’t really have any rituals or superstitions, or none that I know of!
We normally have a couple of beers to lighten up before we go on stage then play a kick ass show and then enjoy ourselves once the show has ended.

Can you tell us what we can expect in the future from Dogsflesh,New songs,new album,etc?

We are currently in negotiations with a new record label in the UK who are interested in releasing the new album ‘Critical Response’ for us which is positive news for us as a band, especially with the distribution network that they have, it will mean our music will be far more accessible to people.
We have already recorded 6 of the new tracks for the album and we will be recording the final seven hopefully in March time which should give a release date of April time.

Can you tell us where we can catch a live show in 2016?

Until the album is finished we haven’t focused on booking shows as the main priority is to get the album finished and out there, then to promote it, so up to now we have show’s confirmed in Athens, Berlin and some UK dates and are looking at the possibility of a return to the USA, if we can find a suitable booking agent!

What bands can you say have had the most influence on your style and sound?

In the beginning it was definitely The Exploited, Discharge, GBH and The English Dogs, but as the music has evolved, so have the influences in the new sound due to the bands that each of the members listen to, but a good quote from one review was quoted as saying that the best was to describe the sound of the new Dogsflesh is to imagine a drunken bar room brawl between early Iron Maiden, Metallica, Motorhead and Discharge!
That said there is a track on the new album that is also very reminiscent of WASP as well, so were mixing things up a bit!

When creating new songs/music how hard is to integrate them into your live show?will you still play a mix of old and new within your 2016 touring?

That is a very good question and the honest answer is very difficult, as you will always get people asking for songs that they remembered and liked from the 80’s, but they are no longer a part of the current Dogsflesh set and if we ever will resurrect any of them remains to be seen, but there are no intentions at present as the music has evolved and moved on.
In the 2016 set we will be mainly playing tracks from the latest album ‘Critical Response’ however there will still be quite a few from the previous two albums, like Sleazebag, Watch Me Bleed, Remembrance Day, Next Of Kin Informed and City Of Dust thrown in as well to keep people happy.

Any last words to our readers and fans all over the world?

I would just like to thank everyone for their support over the years, for buying the albums, Merchandise, following us on the social media sites and attending the shows, without you guys there would be no Dogsflesh and we really appreciate that and hope you will enjoy the new album when released around April 2016.