Pink Punk, in their own words “met through the world of handshakes and smiles.” Originally consisting of Yap and Donna Williams on vocals, and with Massy working the guitar, and John Hendicott twiddling the knobs, there is even room for a little bit of poetry on the side, courtesy of Mocha, who steps in during the Pink Punk live shows.

We chat to Yap about Pink Punk’s future, his views on success, and those Bill Hicks’ samples.

Where's your head at the moment, and what are you planning?

At the moment I am staying at a friend’s house as I’m homeless – another statistic in the capitalist hat bag. I dropped out of it all, and so here I am now trying to cut down the tree that holds the apple, rather than take another bite of it.

Tell us about the single, Rockstars.

Rockstars has to be considered in relation to the whole. Our album Zombie God Delicious is a theme; a holistic perspective; a kick in the face. Rockstars is just a link in the chain of flow. I suppose in its own right it’s an attack on everything small; Bono and pope alike. Vote for monkey A, vote for monkey B.

Your MySpace urges people to get Rockstars into the charts. Would that mean success for you?

Success is such a small boring word used in that context. If I say I’d like the track to chart then the question above strangles my integrity and leaves me in a state of contradiction. I’m not after fake fame anymore. I want to be heard as a public speaker, so whatever it takes, but by degree. Incidentally the only people really concerned with the word ‘winner’ are losers.

It was a stroke of genius with the Bill Hicks sample on the album. How did you get the Foundation to grant you permission?

From the beginning I had planned to incorporate Bill Hicks onto the album. In fact Advertising, the track I chose to use him on, is actually the crux of the album. I’m obviously glad we were given permission to use him, which when you think about it undermines everything beautiful about the man himself.

Your songs are all very different. Do different members lead on certain tracks, and is this difference intentional or incidental?

Our influences are very eclectic. Myself and John Hendicott are the driving force behind the sounds. I’m lyrics, John’s the beats and notes, although Donna did write the words and melody for Freedom, which is a kick ass track. There’s no boss. It’s like the person who throws the party is not the party. There’s no one way to go about it; tea, spliff, biscuits, beats, album.

No-one has the final say?

There is no final say. It just sounds good enough and instinct kind of tells us to leave it well enough alone.

What are your plans to promote your work?

Plans to tour are in the bag, but there’s no money in the purse, so what can we do? I’m not out to roll again from bottom. I’m not afraid to play to only ten people. If we get the dollars we’ll put on a killer live show, and it will be different than everything else out there.

Is London big enough for you?
 
London’s big enough to hold everything. New York sounds good too, and Japan. Nobody’s ever ready for new stuff, so we’ll see what doors open for us. This time there’s a real punk behind the wheel, and not one that will be selling butter in a few years.

Where do you see Pink Punk in five years time?

Pink Punk from the outset was an organic idea in that the members are going to keep changing. I just want the name to keep going. It’s about the idea behind it. I envision poets from all over the world walking on stage under its banner to talk the talk. The essence of word, music and politics proper.

words: Clarence Allen