Lightyear provide punk, ska and a little bit of reggae at Brighton's Haunt

Rated one of the best live bands in the UK, Lightyear are back together for their 20th anniversary with a tour taking in The Haunt, Brighton, on October 28 (7pm, £12).
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Oct 2017, 17:22 GMT
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 05:17 GMT
LightyearLightyear
Lightyear

Frontman Chas Palmer-Williams recalls: “We were just mates really, and it was by accident that we got together as a band. We are all from Derby, and it just happened that we all ended up getting into the same music, like punk and ska and a bit of reggae and stuff. We just all liked that music and got a garage and played together – and it was terrible, but we thought it was much better than it was. And we booked our first tour after that.

“I just wanted to go out there and do it. When someone says to me ‘you can’t’, it just makes me want to do it all the more. I remember saying to someone: ‘We are thinking of doing a tour’. They just laughed and said: ‘You will never get out of Derby!’

“I thought: ‘That’s it! We are doing it!’

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    “I just called up all the venues and said: ‘We are a band. We would like to go on.’ And they took us. We were terrible, but we were fun. Right from the beginning we were doing Name That Tune and giving away free things, just to hide how bad we were.

    “But we are actually a really good live band with a lot of folklore! The music is like punk, but not the Sex Pistols punk. More like the west-coast American-type punk. And there are political overtones mixed with ska and a little bit of reggae. We have also been influenced by a little bit of hiphop – also all a bit political.

    “But I think to have an impact with politics, you have to be liked.

    “People have to like you first. I wouldn’t say that we are a comedy band, but we have that element. We make people laugh and then we come out with a political comment.

    “We are quite left-wing, quite liberal.”

    Visit www.thehauntbrighton.co.uk to find out more.

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