Anti-racist skinhead punk band Oily Rag aims to ignite local scene

Members of Oily Rag sit during a technical malfunction at their debut show in Phillies Basement, July 15. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

By Jon Dunbar

When introducing himself to this reporter, the lead singer of the new punk band, Oily Rag, threw himself down on the pavement for pictures, then leapt up, burned the back of his hand with a lit cigarette and then flipped off the camera, in what he described as a ritual learned from his time in the Japanese skinhead scene.

Korea's punk scene has been a lot more lively, entertaining and friendly ever since the arrival of this young British skinhead, who goes by the nickname "Bovver," a British-accented way of saying "bother," meaning rowdiness, troublemaking or "aggro" (a British term meaning aggression).

"Everyone called me Bovver because I was always up for a bit of the old aggro on a Friday night," he told The Korea Times. "In most countries people can't pronounce their v's either, so I might as well be 'Boba Tea' when I'm abroad."

All this may seem like a horrifying introduction for those unfamiliar with skinheads, or those who learned about the 50-year-old counterculture through mainstream movies or white supremacist propaganda. But outside of mainstream discourse, as well as white supremacist propaganda, skinheads are known within underground culture as baldheaded music enthusiasts who want to buy you a drink, discuss their reggae vinyl collection or invite you to see their band. And they range from being sickened by racism to violently opposing it.

Bovver aligns with the latter, identifying with Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP), and talks about fighting racists back home in the U.K. as well as in Spain before Brexit made him leave. And then he moved to Asia, where, like Europe, almost every country has had its own skinhead scene, including Korea.

"You know, skinheads always get a bad rep. As long as I remember there were always boneheads (neo-nazi skinheads) around, but we had skins too. Back in the day we used to go around bashing the fash (fascists) on Friday nights," he said.

Bovver says he's a "Towner," born and bred in Canning Town in the London Borough of Newham, East London. He also spent a lot of his youth in Brixton, and two years of his youth living in a Jamaican household. As the skinhead counterculture arose out of the mixing of youth cultures amid a wave of Jamaican immigration to the U.K. beginning in the mid-1960s, he said, "I think it's only natural that I turned into a skin."

Bovver, right, butts heads with a friend during a show at Club SHARP, June 18. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Since moving to this side of the world, he's continued to encounter racism, and different ways of combating it. While living in Osaka, he became wary of Skinhead Samurai Spirit, a local Japanese supremacist movement aligned with overseas neo-nazi movements.

"Out here in East Asia, it's different. Physical fighting just ain't as common. There are RAC (Rock Against Communism, an anti-anti-racist response to the Rock Against Racism movement) bands like Sledgehammer out here though, so we've gotta stop them with some real SHARP ― oi!" he said. "That's what our new band ― Oily Rag ― is about, I reckon, having fun, drinking a shit ton, watching the footie and stopping fascism."

The band had its debut show on July 15, which was heavily attended, maybe mainly because the opening act was the all-girl punk band, Rumkicks. From there, the band has been actively seeking out as many shows as possible.

Oily Rag is slang for a cigarette, he explains.

"If you ever worked an industrial job before, you'd know," Bovver said. "Every fag (cigarette) I ever rolled up when I used to work at the old routemaster bus garage would be covered in thick black oil. It's a bit of an outdated slang now days but you'd hear it every other blue moon."

Since nearly the beginning, Bovver has been talking up the band's seven-song debut album, which is now set for release this Saturday at Phillies Basement in central Seoul's Haebangchon. An advance recording contains a mix of popular covers, such as Cock Sparrer's "England Belongs to Me," Sham 69's "If the Kids Are United" and Los Fastidios' "Antifa Hooligans." It also features originals with provocative titles like "We'll Fucking Get You," dedicated to fans of Tottenham Hotspur, the rivals of his favorite football team, West Ham United. The album is demo quality but helpful for anyone who wants to learn how to sing along to all the infectious songs.

In an early poster for the event, Bovver also promised free English lessons, in which he would teach vocabulary like "Stella," "footie" and "oi, u got a loicense for that, m8."

Compared to other cities he's lived in, Bovver sees Seoul as still lacking, at least scene-wise.

"I'll tell you what, I'm bloody glad that I like music. If you ain't got no hobbies, you're absolutely buggered when it comes to making mates here. Besides that I love it. Good food, busy atmosphere, everything is proper cheap and most people here understand hard work," he said.

But he added, "I haven't been sober one weekend here, so I'd say that it's been a great choice."

The release show starts this Saturday at 5 p.m. at Phillies Basement. Other bands include Absolute Monsters, hardcore band Get to the Point, southern metal band Incestrul Lust, Singularity and Reasco. Entry costs 20,000 won and includes a free Oily Rag EP.

Visit instagram.com/oilyrag.official for more information about the band and the show.