STAY SICK,.......An institution.

A couple of guys, one objective!......Stalwarts of the Brighton music scene, Chris & Neil of Stay Sick have been preaching the gospel of primitive Rock 'n' Roll for a good while now, with their gigs and events taking on almost legendary proportions. I found Chris nestled in his mancave located deep in the wilds of the Sussex Downs, after enticing him out with a bucket of raw meat and the promise of copious amounts of free liquor..... here's what he had to say about Stay Sick and their ongoing crusade to keep it real.

Ahhh.....Someone's happy !

The sounds! Sleazy and greasy rock n roll from the fifties & sicksties including Tarantino surf, boppin' rockabilly, girl groups, swingin' rhythm and blues and twistin' tittyshakers for all of ya to go-go, grind, shake, shimmy, watusi and jerk to! Plus 60s primitive garage punk n 70s US/UK punk for all you bone necklaced, brothel creepin', striped t-shirted sicksties cavemen, cavewomen and black leather clad rockers out there. Always vinyl, always rockin’!

The Dynamic Duo ?

How it all started. Way back in 2008, a DJ, a punk and a drunk (all with an unhealthy obsession with the Cramps) met up to to discuss why there weren't any clubs like CBGBs in Brighton. After a few beers, and a few more, we drunkenly decided to put our money where our mouths were and start an underground garage punk night, putting on obscure and unknown bad ass bands from around the world and spinning sleazy scratchy rock 'n' roll records to tipsy dancers. And it worked! We started promoting bigger shows and DJing anywhere you can plug a pair of decks in. To date, we have put on over 150 bands from Billy Childish, Kid Congo from the Cramps, Monotonix, Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster to Thee Oh Sees.

T'was a great night (2013)

Mission statement no less! With bands from Japan, Germany, USA, France and even Croatia (to name but a few), we have made it our mission to track down, kidnap and present you with the best bands from all over the globe!

Dark forces at work!

The Highs! The best gig to date, that's a tricky one. I have loved putting on heroes of mine like Cramps royalty Kid Congo, John Spencer, the 5678's but I think the most fun I've ever had was CBGB's stalwarts the Fleshtones. We were originally worried that these guys may not cut it. Sometimes seeing your favourite band years after their hayday can be sad and disappointing. But the Fleshtones never had a hayday, they are still playing and partying as they did back in the day. I smiled through out their whole gig and danced like a loon. 

Satisfaction guaranteed.

The Lows! The worst experience. Well, almost everyone I have met doing this promoting lark had been lovely, lovely people. A couple have been moody, a couple rude, and a couple arrogant. But the one person that sticks out as being a total arsehole was a tour manager who wanted to argue about the price of everything on the rider and the number of tickets sold (when we had saved the gig after another promoter cancelled a week earlier). After a long time justifying our figures I had missed the band that I had paid to fly half way round the world and play. I literally, caught the "CRANG, CRASH, thank you and good night..." bit.

The Good Man Himself.

Lux Lives!  It was a shock when I heard the news that Lux died (mainly because I thought he was undead). I never got the chance to see them live, Neil, my sick partner in crime, saw and met them a few times as a goth growing up. Every year since we have celebrated the records he, Ivy and the 20 odd other band members gave us on the Feb 4th. We also play records that influenced them (Songs the Cramps Taught Us and Lux and Ivy's Favourites style). We have been thinking of getting a few bands together to do live covers of their favourite Cramps tracks so watch this space. It's amazing to see all the Cramps fans crawl out of the woodwork to worship at the alter of our lord Lux. 

In The Pipeline. It has been a plan for a long time to release a record. As vinyl addicts and lovers of great bands, it seems like a natural progression. We have a few things up our black leather sleeves but at the moment we are just a bit busy. I also work for a German record label, Stag-o-Lee, as a designer so I get my wax fix fulfilled doing the artwork for things like "Beats From Badsville vol 3 - Trash Classics from Lux and Ivy's Vinyl Mountain". double 10" gatefold (drool...).
 
Check out their website for regular upcoming gigs and news (Just hit the STAY SICK link button on the panel) and if you're lucky enough to be in that neck of the woods, at the right time, you're in for a real treat !

Stay Sick People.