Pete Doff
The Antibodies
By K.C Slade
(SugarBuzz California)
SugarBuzz Magazine
"The British Invasion: A Killer Talk with Pete Doff”
The Antibodies have been rockin’ from across the pond since 1995. Singer/Guitarist, Pete Doff and Warlok (drums and vocals) joined forces and went through a few lineup changes over the years; but Pete continues to push the band forward with his interpretation of punk. And it interprets well.
At the time, the band consists of Pete Doff, Rory Seminal and Warlock. Rory joined in 1998. They’ve been on many compilations both in the UK and worldwide and played with bands like Anti-Nowhere League, Total Chaos, Contempt, Subhumans, ect.. In 2001 Pete and Warlock recorded an 18 track D.I.Y album (Hey! We’d love to hear that guys!)
Their sound has been compared to Crass and The Sex Pistols and there are reasons for that. Pete grew up immersed in his local punk scene at just the right time, when punk was rearing it’s head in England. I find the band to be more versatile than Crass, not so harsh but still a good time fast old school punk roller coaster ride; so hold on The band sounds tight, yet have that raw, chaotic sound down to a T and singer Pete accentuates that by bringing equally parts rebellion and anarchy together. The result is THE ANTIBODIES! Check them out; it’s worth it. Debut Album coming soon!!
I was lucky enough to be able to pick singer/guitarist Pete Doff’s brain a bit.The following is what Pete had to say and I think this interview really accentuated his good ol’ fashioned British charm and humour. Hehehe. And no, I didn’t pay or bribe him to answer number three. Those are his words; I changed nothing.
K.C SLADE: Hello Pete! Tell everyone who you are and what you do for the band?
Pete Doff: I’m Pete Doff and I shout & strangle me guitar for no apparent reason. This is definite proof that I have at least two brain cells as I can do both roughly at the same time!
KCS: If you weren't in the band, what would you be doing with your time instead?
PD: I think I would be a full time lingerie mechanic, I would own a small workshop on Melrose Avenue and work in speedo’s and charm the clients with me cockney accent!
KCS: You could pass out half off coupons with your speedo clad image on them..
KCS: Describe your dream rock 'n roll girl...
PD: That’s far too easy! Krista look in the mirror!!!! (KCS: PETE!! C’mon now...They'll think I made you say that!)
KCS: What are five garments you wear most on stage and why you love them?
PD: Five garments!!! That would be everything I wear!! I like to wear brothel creepers at a show as they come in very useful when you have to use a venues horrendous toilets as the crepe soles keep you a good few inches off the sea of piss!
KCS: VERY attractive.
KCS: What was the first song you wrote with the Antibodies?
PD: Before I formed the band I use to write & record songs at home on a portastudio so before I met Warlok (drummer) I had already amassed a whole catalogue of songs. Thankfully meeting Warlok weaned me off the portastudio and prevented my untimely death at the hands of my pissed off neighbours. However the first song we tackled from my many demos was Pro-Lies (anti pro-lifer song). In terms of writing together I think Spastikkk (anti racism song). We use to reherse in a scout hut locally before we found a bassist, unfortunately we got kicked out of the scout hut cos the scoutmaster only let Warlok reherse in there as he didn’t really use the electricity…of course I turn up with amps, portastudio, tumble dryer, fridge, washing machine & become a drain on the national grid!
KCS: How is the British music scene compared to the American music scene? Differences? Similarities?
PD: Apart from little cultural differences I don’t think they are that different really. I think pre-internet both our countries developed slightly different. I certainly recall paying over-inflated import prices on American releases but nowadays international scenes are easily accessible. I lived briefly in Arizona & I was always amused by the punk kids there in there leather jackets in that insane heat! Also talking with them was weird for me as they loved Crass, who lived not far from me in my youth & we would often go to there commune to drink tea & get photocopying done for free!
KCS: It's still kind of like that in the punk communities out there..They kinda take you in & show you the ropes on the streets.
KCS: What's the first vinyl you ever bought with your own money, and at what age?
PD: The first vinyl single I bought was Anarchy in the UK, I was lucky to find it in the bargain bin in a local shop as I'm sure they never sold any copies! A bargain at 10 new pence (10 cents). My first vinyl album was Ramones, I think I was 11/12 when I bought these. I can’t overstate how important that first Ramones album was, not so much lyrically but musically it was far more accessible than the Pistols, Clash 
or Damned. One of its great merits was if you selected left or right speaker channel on your stereo you could actually get just the backing track so you could play along with it. Living just outside of London our local record shops didn’t carry that many punk releases at the time.
KCS. You're homeless and broke, what skills do you use to survive?
PD: I can draw monkeys with confidence!
KCS: At what age did you find the punk scene and immerse yourself in it?
PD: I was 11 at the time I first become aware of it, not so much musically but due to seeing the Sex Pistols on TV being interviewed by Bill Grundy. It was kind of a tradition/habit of my family to have our evening family meal with the TV on, either tuned to BBC Nationwide show or ITV’s Today programme. My parents were disgusted which I guess only endeared me to them, I soon after saw a TV documentary called The London Weekend Show which thankfully filled in the blanks in terms of Punk Rock music.
Initially I was happy just to wear a few punk badges (buttons) but I was so smitten I made the big step of going for the punk look…gradually, I started off with a Dee Dee haircut, drainpipe trousers and my own ramshackle DIY tops & jackets. By the time I was 13 I tried to dye my hair with household bleach thankfully my appalled Mum intervened & bleached it for me properly! The end result was nice yellow blonde spikey hair and a Dad who didn’t talk to me for two weeks!
One unexpected result of the Punk look was I didn’t get the amount of bullying at school as my fellow class mates, I guess they must of thought I was insane! A lot of violence was attracted to this look which I didn’t expect, hence I received my fair share of good kickings as well as police interest! By now I was brave enough to venture into London to hot the punk shops, sadly when I think back now the best of times was when we made our own clothes as opposed to buying stuff off the peg.
KCS: I hear you on that, I got a lot until people thought I was a flat out anarchist/anti-christ/junkie being the only punk at my school too around the same age, althought I was not all those things. People fear what they don’t know. Mum's are great for helping too, mine took me and a carload of friends to my first show before I was a teenager. They're brave too.
KCS: It’s tacky, but I must ask, Are you a T man or an A man?
PD: I’m a Mr. T man!! I like girls with peglegs!
KCS: If you could put on a show and choose the lineup, no matter who they are, dead or alive, who would be on your bill?
It would have to be…
James Brown circa 1968
Small Faces circa 1966
Gene Vincent circa 1957
The Clash circa 1977
Motorhead circa 1980
Dead Kennedys circa 1981
Sex Pistols circa 1976
Generation X circa 1977
Jimmy Cliff circa 1972
KCS: Wow, you did your homework. I’d go to see that in a heartbeat!
KCS: Who or what was your earliest influence?
PD: I am the youngest of four siblings so I got everybody’s tastes blasted at me, my Dad liked Rolling Stones (60s era), my Mum liked Country (eeeew), my oldest sister liked 60s pop (Small Faces, Kinks, Who), Ska and glam, my brother liked The Faces, ELO & my younger sister liked all the top 20 stuff.
I liked a lot of the 50s rock n roll, 60s beat, ska, glam like Bolan, Sweet etc. It wasn’t till punk arrived that it felt like I had MY music, I never really had much interest in music prior to Punk. As I mentioned Ramones was the musical influence but the Pistols & Clash were the lyrical influence. Locally there was a band called The Epileptics who were my big inspiration.
KCS: What equipment do you prefer to use while playing? which brand or model do you prefer over others?
PD: My original equipment comprised of an old H/H 100 watt combo & a Telecaster, sadly I killed the H/H a few years back and I now use a Randall combo & an Epiphone SG as its more noisy than the Tele.
KCS: How did your first show go?
PD: My first ever show was with my first punk band Obscene Toys in December 1981, I was drunk, chaotic, shambolic and lots of fun so much so that we got banned from the venue. The first Antibodies gig, ironically was at the same venue in December 1995. We had only been together a few months and our bassist, Si, was only with us a matter of weeks so we only performed four songs. Warlok & I were shitting ourselves pre-gig as he had never played live before and I had never sung in public.
KCS: What’s been your craziest fan encounter? Any nuts?
PD: Me!!! Changing the subject slightly I was in Virgin Mega-store, in Oxford Street, one Saturday afternoon with me mates & whilst I was hanging by the escalators waiting for them I saw Mick Jones (Clash) on the floor below me! I couldn’t believe my luck and went looking for me mates so we could go chat with him. Unfortunately when I told my mates they all looked over the balcony & shouted WANKER! Thus ruining my chances of talking to him.
KCS: Some Friends! I’ve heard he’s a very nice guy.
KCS: So, What's the weirdest job you've ever held before the band?
PD: I was a grave digger when I was 17, when the local paper interviewed Obscene Toys the article started…”grave digger by day guitarist by night”
KCS: Oh that’s awesome..what a life! I'm part of the Graveyard alumni myself being at a pet cemetery for a good while. I bet you have some weird stories from there. We’ll revisit those sometime. Moving on…
KCS: This may sound morbid; you know you're going to die in a day; what do you do to go out with a bang and rip it up?
PD: I would break into Buckingham Palace & gather the royals together and take them with me!!!!!!
KCS: You’re wicked!! Make sure you get Camilla though.
KCS: If you could join any band, past or present, and take any position in the band, what band would it be?
PD: I would have liked to have been in The Beatles so I could of shot them all!!!!
KCS: Oh psh, they helped shape rock ‘n roll in their own way and opened gates for other bands to gather inspiration and still do! But you’re still a-okay with me. They did start getting full of themselves. That could spark a whole debate, so let me continue exploring the mind and music of Pete Doff.
KCS: What are your five favorite albums of all time?
PD: Mikey Dread-World War 3 , The Clash, Sex Pistols-Never mind the Bollocks, Small Faces, Dead Kennedys-Plastic Surgery Disasters
KCS: Nice mix, you've got everything covered from early pop rock to classic punk..great choices! One more and I’ll wrap this up..
KCS: Where do you see the Antibodies going in the future?
PD: Into a huge iceberg in the mid-atlantic!
KCS: Nice Pete! Always aim high You crack me up. But I don’t think the Antibodies are going down like the Titantic… Readers..see for yourself and check out ‘ I Ruin Everything,' or 'Assassinate me.' Lovers of Vintage UK punk will really enjoy this band.
That’s him ladies and gents, Pete Doff, nothing less, nothing more. I hope you found some joy or entertainment in this article and check out the Antibodies music! Many thanks to Pete for sitting down and working with me and to SugarBuzz Magazine for giving me the opportunity to share what I love doing.