Argy Bargy formed in 1992, for those who dont know the story, what was the reason/inspiration behind you starting the band?
Well, the inspiration was was Punk and Oi! music. The reason for doing it was simple. If there are no bands then it follows that there is no scene. This music and the culture that surrounds it has been my way of life since I was ten years old and I basically wanted to kick start the scene again and keep it going.

There has been a few line-up changes over the years, who was then and who is now?
The original line up was Dustin - drums, Stuart and Kev - guitars and Karl on bass. After a while Stu, Karl and Kev left due to personal reasons so we roped in Daryl Smith to play guitar and a bloke called Mark Hatton to play bass. That line up was together for a while until Mark left after a riot at one of our gigs. He wasn't really into riots. We then asked Lol Proctor to play bass which he did for years until last year when he moved to America. The line up now is: "Watford" Jon Richards - vocals, Dustin Burgess - drums, Daryl Smith - guitar and Herve Laurent- bass. Herve also plays for Deadline.

What else do you guys do apart from Argy Bargy, are there any other bands you guys are involved with?
I work at Captain Oi! Records full time. Daryl plays guitar for Cock Sparrer and The Crack and plays keyboards in a Ska band called Mistakes. Dustin plays drums for Mistakes and Herve is the driving force behind Deadline.

Your first gig in 1993 was almost your last, what was the story behind this performance?
You're right, it was nearly our last. It was a friends party in a pub in East London which was run by Steve Bruce from Cock Sparrer. She asked us to play at her party and naturally we agreed. Only me and Dustin had ever been on stage before so the other three were shitting themselves. To conquer their fear they all got absolutely paralytic so when they came to play they were fuckin' useless. In the end I cut the set short, apologised to our mate and the rest of the party and walked off. The place was heaving too so everyone that was on the scene back then saw us make complete fools of ourselves. I was fuckin' furious and very nearly battered all three of 'em! The thing was, we had a gig the following Saturday which was supposed to be our first "proper" gig and I didn't want to let the promoter down so we said we'd do that gig and see how things go. No one touched a drop of booze before the gig and we tore the house down. After that we had a chat and decided that we could really start the scene up again if carried on so that's what we did. Funnily enough about two months later they all buggered off to Scotland! That's when we got Daryl and Mark in.

What was your most memorable gig you have played?
Probably Holidays In The Smoke a couple of years ago. We had a good slot, fourth from the top and we had the place rocking from the front of the stage to the back of the hall. You can't explain the buzz you get when you see a mass of people going mad and singing along to songs that I wrote. It's a great feeling. That said I remember all the gigs and I love doing them all.

What do you think of the Oi!/Streetpunk scene today?
I think the scene today is quite healthy still. I don't think it's as strong as it was a few years back but there are some great bands out there all over the world, and lots of new bands coming through too which can only be a good thing.

Whats your discography to date?
We've released two albums. "Drink Drugs and Football Thugs" came out in 1995 and "Songs From The Streets" came out last year. We've released a split single with Beerzone and we've been on numerous compilations and a couple of videos too. We'll be releasing a split album with Discipline in the summer and we're also going to be releasing a split single with Agnostic Front later in the year.

How would you describe the Argy Bargy sound?
Oi!, Punk, Streetpunk, Thug Rock. We've been called all those things, and a few more besides! Thug Rock has a nice ring to it but at the end of the day it's all Punk really.

Do you have a favourite Argy Bargy song, or do you love them all equally?
I really like "Saturdays Glory" and "Natural Born Loser" but as soon as we write a new one that becomes my favourite! We wrote a new one last night actually called "One More Drink." I love it!

Whats playing on your stereo the most at the moment?
I've been listening to Millencolin and Pennywise a lot recently, but the new Discipline album is never far away. Deadline are releasing their new CD in March and it's superb. In my car though, I'm playing what I always play: Rose Tattoo. They are my all time favourite band and one of the main reasons I started a band. I've even got a Rose Tattoo tattoo!

Any plans for any international tours to Australia for example?
We recently did a short tour throughout Germany and Belgium and we may go to Finland in the summer. We even got asked to play in Malaysia last week but I don't know if we'll go. I'd love to play in Australia. It has long been an ambition of mine to go to Australia and hopefully one day I will.

Anything else I have forgot to ask you which I maybe should have?
Yes, you should've asked for the address to send the flight tickets for Australia to....

Anything else you want to add?
I just want to say thank you very much for the interview Fiona and wish you all the very best with Aussie Skins. I'd also like to thank anyone that has supported Argy Bargy in any way over the years. It's much appreciated.

Take care, mine's a lager!