Jamie Reid: Punk's High Priest Prepares To Head For The Hills

"There are massive climate changes, solar activities have increased and all sorts of things are happening. You always assume that these major disasters happen in different ages but the last time when there were catastrophic changes, it happened very quickly."

Ever since his agit-pop art defined punk's cut and paste image through the Sex Pistols, Jamie Reid has remained at the cutting edge of alternative culture, from lending his art to the Criminal Justice Bill to creating sleeve artwork for E-Zee Posse's Everything Starts With an E.

But 25 years after anarchy posed a societal threat, the infamous graphic artist and 3rd generation Druid perceives a far greater danger; the imminent end of the Earth. Jonty Adderley caught up with him in his Liverpool home just before Jubilee Weekend.


Skrufff (Jonty Adderley): I understand you're excited about Planet X, what's that about-

Jamie Reid: "I'm not excited but it's fucking interesting. It's the 12th planet and there's loads of information about it on the web. It's basically a brown dwarf planet, it's massive and it comes into the Earth's orbit every 3,600 years. The last time was when all the great floods happened and it's due next May. It could be a catastrophe, a rebirth of the planet. There are loads of conspiracy theories about it; apparently, lots of rich Americans are building Dome houses up in the Rockies. It passes between Jupiter and Mars and I believe may be visible in the Autumn. It's ingrained in both Mayan culture and aboriginal culture."

Skrufff: Some conspiracy theories suggest the authorities are trying to suppress this information, why would they do that and who are "they"-

Jamie Reid: "I'm almost on a David Icke tip, I think there's always been a very dark, corporate elite who actually run things."

Skrufff: What's your take on the state of today's dance culture-

Jamie Reid: "I did a big exhibition at a new space in Liverpool called Jump Ship Rat and there were loads of events and bands that performed there, with no funding and doing it themselves. They're not going in that direction of opening a club then thinking they've got to get a licence and alcohol, it's done in a very small way without licences. I find that kind of thing really vibrant. Lots of people are doing stuff but on smaller levels, as opposed to at big events with thousands. I find the dance scene more vibrant than it's ever been on that level."

Skrufff: There seems to be a certain apathy with corporate values dominating more than ever, is it more the lull before the storm-

Jamie Reid: "There's a lot of that and things are really galvanising. You've almost got a split culture; the worldwide anti-capitalist movement is phenomenal. There have been massive anti-war protests all over Europe and America but they're not getting recognition in the mainstream media. Loads of things are happening, they're just not getting mainstream publicity."

Skrufff: Punk was a key catalyst in shaking things up and bringing people today, where do you see electronic music today-

Jamie Reid: "I think it's going to get more experimental, and working on much smaller levels. There's also more diversity now than ever before and less mainstream focus, but that's because of corporate control. When I was a teenager, I loved the jazz scene of that time with people like John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders and Charlie Mingus and they're now getting more airplay and accolades than they probably ever had in their lifetime. That's just one little field. I know through The Afro Celt thing that the world festival scene is very vibrant, there's enormous amounts of people who play on that circuit, who produce their own CDs and are quite self sufficient. More and more people aren't using record companies."

Skrufff: You recently did a flyer for Voodoo, what do you see your work fitting in-

Jamie Reid: "That was just an immediate response, it was done as a favour to people in Liverpool. What I'm trying< Tags

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