Dub Pistols mark 25th anniversary with busy year of gigs and releases

They have been going for near on 25 years, but the Dub Pistols are showing no signs of slowing down just yet.
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In fact the venerable electronic/dub icons are mapping out a chaotic 2020 and preparing to get stuck into a series of UK shows loaded with the promise of some new material too.

An upcoming 11-date UK tour gets them going and will see them stop off in Leeds with a gig at the Brudenell next month (Friday, March 27).

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Tickets for the gig can be found at http://gigs.gigatools.com/user/DUBPISTOLSDubbed ‘the hardest working man in showbiz’ by music industry peers, Barry Ashworth has worked in music all his adult life. An Ibiza original who had his life changed by acid house, he started running club nights in London and had soon formed a band, Deja Vu, who arrived during the Flowered Up/Happy Mondays ‘baggy’ era.

Leeds gig: Dub Pistols. Picture: Chris DavisonLeeds gig: Dub Pistols. Picture: Chris Davison
Leeds gig: Dub Pistols. Picture: Chris Davison

When Deja Vu split, Barry started DJing and the Dub Pistols formed out of some of these madcap DJ sessions.

Releasing the first Dub Pistols album, ‘Point Blank’ in 1998, the last two decades have been a riot of storming shows, missed opportunities, big bad basslines, calamities and triumphs — with scarcely a dull moment in between.

Fast forward to 2020, and Barry's merry gang of outlaw reprobates are busier than ever and remain an unstoppable force in the UK’s alternative music scene. With a new album ‘Addict’ slated for release in the autumn (on Sunday Best), the premiere of a brand new band documentary and much more, 2020 promises to be off the chain for the Dub Pistols.

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‘Addict’ — named after a soon-to-be-released new track ‘Addicted To The Bassline’ (featuring Cheshire Cat) - is the name of what we will soon know as the eighth Dub Pistols album with the record promising a melting pot of dubwise sensibility, junglist rhythms and feelgood party anthems.

Following directly-on from their Official UK Top 40 chart and UK Independent chart top five album ‘Crazy Diamonds’, the Pistols’ upcoming LP will feature mic skills from 2-Tone heroine Rhoda Dakar, stalwart MC Navigator, long-term collaborator Lindy Layton, and foundation MCs the Ragga Twins, as well as permanent live vocalist of the past few years, Mr Seanie T. As Barry confidently confirms: “I think it’s the best album we’ve ever done."

While the record is guaranteed to be an electrifying, good-time listening experience; it has not arrived without its personal difficulties. During the recording process, the Dub Pistols tragically lost one of their most prominent members, Will Hensel. While nothing will replace Will’s energy and influence, the album will aim to pay fitting tribute to the dearly departed Dub Pistol. “[Losing Will] was a real down-point” says Barry, “but we want to celebrate him in this album.”

Ahead of the new album, The Pistoleros will also premiere a music documentary that is set to put a spotlight on the band’s extraordinary career to date: ‘WCPGW?’. Standby for further details about the film’s release in due course.

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Barry and crew are now preparing to debut their much anticipated new material at UK venues on their upcoming ‘Addict Tour’, before sizing-up a series major festival appearances across the globe such as Snowbombing (Austria), Tribal Gathering (Panama), Splore Festival (New Zealand), Electric Castle (Romania), plus UK stalwarts like Camp Bestival, Boomtown and more.

And as if there wasn’t enough on their plates already, the band will also be hosting their own: Mucky Weekender festival at a “Secret Location” in Sussex on September 11-12. So-named after one of their most popular live tracks, the festival is returning for the second time after a roaring sold out success in 2019 and will boast a hand-picked bill of their favourite DJs and performers including: Justin Robertson, A-Skillz, Uncle Dugs, Jon Carter, Too Many T’s, Don Letts, Doorly and many more; alongside a headline performance from Dub Pistols themselves.

Full line up and details of the Mucky Weekender can be found at https://mucky-weekender.co.uk

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