Doom | Interview | Anthony “Stick” Dickens

The legends of crust punk, Doom, have been tearing through the underground for decades, leaving a trail of chaos in their wake.

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With Stick on drums, they’ve crafted some of the most brutal crust around, no frills, just power. Since their birth, Doom have embodied the spirit of the streets: dirty, loud, and unapologetically pissed off. They’ve always blurred the lines with a sound that was never about cleaning up, but about tearing everything down. From ‘War Crimes’ to their later releases, Doom’s legacy is one of relentless, ear-splitting aggression that makes your heart race and your ears bleed. This interview gives you an insight into the mind of a drummer who’s seen it all—having played with the likes of Extreme Noise Terror and countless other projects—keeping the beat unforgiving. No gimmicks. No polish. Just pure, unfiltered Doom.

“We became convinced we had our own “doom cloud” that followed us everywhere.”

Would you like to share about your upbringing?

Anthony “Stick” Dickens: I was born in Birmingham and lived in several locations around the city, mainly old, crumbling places with outside toilets and no bathrooms or proper heating. So, when I was about six and the family moved onto a council estate with inside toilets and heating, it felt like luxury. I lived on the Druids Heath estate for quite a few years. Even after moving out of the family home, I moved into a few different tower blocks until I finally left Birmingham to live up north at 36, settling in Bradford for five years. Eventually, I couldn’t stand the place anymore and decided to ditch brick and mortar for a life on the water, living on a canal barge.

Going back to my teenage years, they were spent in the pubs, clubs, and venues of Birmingham city centre. As the second city in the UK, it had a lot going on and was home to a lot of great music and bands, so the problem was having enough time and money to enjoy it all. You have to remember that when I was young and being influenced by what was going on, punk hadn’t happened yet. For me, it wouldn’t be until the early 80s that I became actively interested in punk — and that was more through the crossover period of metal and punk. I was quite happy with the rock scene of the day as a teenager. I know punk came in to wipe away all the bloated dinosaur corporate rock, but I was still into my Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Budgie back then, and punk seemed a bit of a fashion.

Anyway, the teenage me hedonistically carried on enjoying a life of music and drugs while somehow holding down a job working in a factory as an electrician’s mate. I smoked a lot of dope for a few years until I realized how boring it was and how the circle of friends I had were only interested in the pursuit and consumption of dope. A chance encounter with an old friend from the rock venue days changed the trajectory of my life. He had gone punk, and I tagged along with him to some pubs, eventually finding myself in with a different crowd. He turned me on to bands like Disorder, Conflict, and Discharge, and from there, I ended up joining a band.

Like I said, as a teenager, I started going to pubs around the age of 15. There was a great venue/pub called The Railway that had bands on (for free) most nights of the week, so I used to go there with an older friend (who would go to the bar to get served beer). Ironically, it turned out to be the place where, almost ten years later, I played my first gig — and almost my last, as I found the whole thing rather traumatic at the time.

I had a bunch of good friends who I hung out with at the rock pubs in Birmingham. From there, in my early 20s, we discovered The Mermaid pub, which was a short bus ride out of the city centre. The place has since become “legendary,” but back then it was just a shithole with cheap booze where great bands were born and played. Lots of European and American bands would play there. I would go just for the gig but ended up discovering a whole worldwide scene and network from being there.

It was at The Mermaid that I saw a flyer on the wall asking for a “drummer needed” for a band called Doom. My fate was sealed from that moment on. That was a big change in my life, but at the time it was just another drunken night, another meeting, another friendship made — no big deal at the time. But that decision ended up taking me around the world.

If we were to step into your teenage room, what kind of records, fanzines, posters, et cetera would we find there?

My teenage bedroom. I shared a bedroom with my two younger brothers (I also have two younger sisters) until I was 15. The original house on the Druids Heath estate that my family moved into didn’t turn out to be as great as we’d hoped. Over the nine or so years we lived there, it slowly started sinking. It had been built on a drainage ditch from the original field, so as it edged its way underground, the ceiling cracked and the doors and windows wouldn’t open or shut properly. The council would send workers to “plaster over the cracks” and shave inches off the doors, but in the end, they moved us to a bigger house and pulled the other one down.

This move meant I finally got my own room, and it was the best thing that had happened in my life up to that point. Living with six other people and finally having a private space — a door to lock out the world — was amazing. If you’d seen the room, you’d think it was a cupboard for brooms and mops. You could fit a single bed and a cheap wardrobe, and just about walk around it. But I had my record player, and the walls were covered in Motörhead pictures, Budgie, Judas Priest, and so on. You have to remember, as a teenager, I wasn’t involved in the punk scene.

A friend at the factory where I worked (he worked alongside my father) was a punk in ’76 and used to tell me about punks and teddy boys fighting in the city centre, but that wasn’t something I was interested in doing. I used to listen to the music he had, and the only one I really liked back then was Killing Joke. So if you’re looking for my “punk roots” and teenage room, you’d have to wait a few more years until I had my own concrete cube in a tower block of flats.

That’s where the walls were covered in gig flyers from The Mermaid and European gigs I’d traded for or been sent in the days when we communicated by post, and new music came through the door on a C-90 cassette.

Were you involved with any other bands before Doom? If so, tell us about them.

The first band I was in was a band called Annihilator (not to be confused with the band from Canada). It was formed by a bunch of my drinking friends. We were sat in a pub sometime in the mid-’80s, and the conversation turned to, “We should form a band.” So, we went around the table, and people started saying what they would play. When it got to me, I said, “I’ll play drums.” Everyone looked at me and asked if I could actually play drums. I was drunk and said, “Yeah.”

The truth was, I’d never been in a band before, so I wasn’t really sure if I could do it, but I thought, “Fuck it! I’ll give it a go.” I’d always fancied being a drummer but could never afford a kit. One of my brothers actually bought one, though, and that’s how I learned. My parents let us smash hell out of it until 7:30 pm, then it was time to shut up. I’m glad they did, but it must have been hell for them.

So now I’m in this band. We rehearsed in Birmingham at a few different rehearsal spaces since we didn’t have our own equipment. You could hire these crappy amps and kits for a few hours. Back then, the licensing laws for pubs meant they had to close from 3 pm to 6 pm, so we’d use that time to head to the rehearsal room with some booze and wait for opening time again.

At first, we did covers of GBH, English Dogs, The Clash, and a few others. But eventually, we started writing our own stuff, which was influenced by the thrash metal that was coming out at the time. We were inspired by it, but it ended up sounding more punk, mostly because we were never the most technically skilled musicians.

We eventually started gigging, playing mainly around Birmingham, though we did manage to play in London with Sacrilege (who were our friends at the time — Frank, our guitarist, even ended up joining them). We were pretty chaotic, and booze was both an influence and a drawback. Once, we booked a recording studio for a night but just ended up partying and didn’t record a single song.

Eventually, the band split. Half of us wanted to lean more into metal, and the other half wanted to stay punk. Guess which half I was in… Next stop: Doom.

How did you originally meet the members, and what led you to join them? When was this?

I basically saw a flyer on the wall in the Mermaid pub (I still have it… the flyer, not the wall) and grabbed it. I started asking around to find out who this “Bri” guy was. He was duly identified, and I drunkenly told him I’d do it. He said they’d already said yes to another guy, but I didn’t take no for an answer and hassled Bri [Brian Talbot] until he finally gave in and said, “Alright, you can do it.”

That’s how I got introduced to John Pickering and Pete Nash. We arranged a practice session in a makeshift rehearsal space — someone’s shed or garage that had been converted into a little practice room. I think we wrote three songs during that first session. One of them was ‘Dream to Come True,’ which ended up being in almost every set we ever played. So, from day one, we knew we had a winning combination.

We did a few more rehearsals, and every single time we met up, it rained. We became convinced we had our own “doom cloud” that followed us everywhere. We even wrote a song about it, but it never made it past the rehearsal room.

For how long did you stay with the band? On what recordings did you appear?

I joined Doom in 1987 as the last member of what became the ‘War Crimes’ lineup — Bri, John, Pete, and me. This lineup stayed together until around 1989, when Bri left. He had plans to move to America but only got as far as Bradford. The three of us carried on as a trio, with John taking on guitar and vocals. Sometimes we had a second guitarist join us, and we started writing new material. We even caught the interest of Swordfish, a Birmingham label that had released the first Godflesh LP. But I wasn’t happy with the musical direction things were heading, so I left in 1990.

Not long after, I joined Excrement of War, which had more of a straightforward Swedish-style hardcore approach. I was also already playing with Extreme Noise Terror by then, having joined them in 1988.

In 1991, I was on tour in Japan with ENT. It was organized by Tets, who ran the Vinyl Japan label and shops. One night, while drunk at his house, I spotted a Total Doom CD and jokingly called it crap. Tets defended it, saying it was good. I told him I played on it, just messing around, and as a joke, I said, “You should book a Doom tour in Japan.” Then I passed out.

The next morning, Tets took me seriously. He said, “Yes, let’s do a tour for Doom.”

When I got back to the UK, I phoned everyone to see if they’d be up for reforming for the tour. Everyone agreed, and part of the deal was that we’d release a 12-inch for the Vinyl Japan label. That became ‘The Greatest Invention’ 12″. We played a few UK concerts, but tensions started to rise. When we got back from Japan, we faced a decision — split up or change the lineup.

Bri and I wanted to keep going, so Tom and Mal from Excrement of War joined on bass and vocals. But Mal didn’t enjoy touring, so he was replaced by Sned, and eventually by Scoot. This lineup lasted until around 1994.

We were offered a tour of Scandinavia with Totalitär, so we started making plans. We bought a van and began writing songs for the Monarchy Zoo 7″, which we were set to record at Sunlight Studios in Sweden. Everything was lined up, but then Tom and Scoot both left, leaving Bri and me in a mess.

We’d recently seen Blood Sucking Freaks play live and had become friends with them, so we asked Wayne and Denis from the band if they’d help us out for the tour. They did. After the tour, Denis stayed on as a second guitarist, and Chris from Health Hazard joined on bass. This lineup carried on until around 2000.

At that point, Denis’s girlfriend Sandra (who was from Sweden) stepped in to replace Wayne. But almost immediately, she became pregnant, and she and Denis moved to Sweden. We’d already written and recorded the music for the ‘World of Shit’ LP, but we didn’t have any vocals recorded. I asked Tom as a favor to lay down the vocal tracks, which he did. The LP came out, but by then, the band wasn’t really a band anymore.

About a year later, Andy Irvine (from Disaffect and Scatha) asked if I wanted to start a band with him. That became The Devils. We did some UK concerts and recorded an LP, but it didn’t feel like it was really working. Interestingly, that lineup had me, Bri, and Wayne — three ex-Doom members. So, Andy switched to bass, and essentially, we had another Doom lineup. We played three gigs, but sadly, Wayne, who suffered from epilepsy, died from a seizure. After that, Doom was abandoned again.

From there, I stayed busy. I formed Ruin with Andy. I also joined Dirt back in 1992 and played with them intermittently, doing concerts, tours, and recordings. I played drums for Zounds and was the drummer for The Varukers from 2010 to 2018. There were various other bands and projects along the way too.

I’ve played on all the Doom recordings. Some of these have been re-released on various compilations, but the original releases are as follows:

Studio Albums & EPs
‘War Crimes’ (1988, LP)
‘Bury the Debt, Not the Dead’ (Split with No Security, 1989)
‘Police Bastard’ (1989, 7”)
Doom/Selfish (Split LP, 1991)
Hiatus/Doom (Split, 1993)
‘Fuck Peaceville’ (1995, Double LP)
‘Greatest Invention’ (1997, 12”)
‘Monarchy Zoo’ (1996, 7”)
Other Contributions
‘Rush Hour of the Gods’ (1996, LP)
‘World of Shit’ (1999, LP)
Split with Electro Zombies (2000, 7”)
‘Corrupt Fucking System’ (2013, LP)
Other Contributions

Live Albums
‘Live in Japan’ (1992, 7”)

Compilations & Demos
‘A Vile Peace’ (1987, Various Artists Comp)
‘Doomed from the Start’ (1992, LP of demo recordings)
‘Doomed Again’ (1994, Double LP of compilation tracks and 7”s)

Splits & Collaborations
Split with EOM (1995, 7”)
Split with Cress (1998, 10”)

Tour Singles & Miscellaneous Releases
2011 Tour 7” (2011)
‘Consumed to Death’ (2015, 7”)

“We developed our own sound, but originally we were inspired by bands like Discard (demos) and the Swedish bands that took their inspiration from Discharge.”

Where did you have rehearsal space, and what would you say was the overall vision of the band back then at the beginning?

Rehearsal spaces have varied over the years. In Birmingham, it was spaces where we could hire the equipment. In Bradford, it was mainly the 1 in 12 Club (I helped build a studio/rehearsal space there when I worked for five years). The overall idea was to play what we referred to back then as Swedish hardcore. We developed our own sound, but originally we were inspired by bands like Discard (demos) and the Swedish bands that took their inspiration from Discharge. I suppose the ethos of the band was always about the music and message, and keeping true to the DIY scene.

What influenced the Doom sound?

Discard. When we went into Rich Bitch’s 8-track studio to record ‘War Crimes,’ I took a Rattus 7” and said, “That’s what we want to sound like.” It didn’t work.

It goes back to the days of tape trading. We would send out tapes literally all around the world, filled with stuff you played on or bands you’d just been sent. Pre-internet, no Google, just people communicating via post. Sounds archaic now, but you would get excited by the rattle of the letterbox (now it just seems to be bills).

The Discard demo I mean is the one that got pressed into the Death from Above 7”. There were a few other tracks floating around too.

How do you recall working on your demo tape, ‘The War Is Big Business?’ Tell us about those tracks.

It was a cheap studio, as we had no money. I remember hearing it on the studio speakers and thinking it sounded epic, but then I heard the finished version in my Walkman outside and wondered why it sounded so “muddy.” In the early days, recording studios were usually very expensive to use, and the studio guy would always bullshit you about what they could do. It was never what we wanted, but usually, we ran out of money, so we couldn’t get it how we wanted. We did two Peel sessions, and that’s how it all should have sounded. (Oh yeah, the Peel Sessions 12”).

Can you elaborate on how Peaceville Records got in touch with the band?

John and Bri were doing a band called Sore Throat just before Doom, and the singer, Rich, knew Hammy, who was just about to do his first vinyl release (instead of tapes), and suggested we should be included. So, we hurriedly recorded our first 3-track demo, and two songs appeared on the ‘A Vile Peace’ comp. The problem was that Pete had broken his wrist just before the recording, so Jim (from ND/Ripcord/Filthkick) stepped in.

Hammy was so impressed by our demo that he asked us to do a full-length LP for Peaceville, so the seeds were sown.

As a side note, I also played with Jim in Squandered, Filthkick, and Legless.

So, this leads us to ‘War Crimes: Inhuman Beings.’ Tell us what you recall from working on it.

So, Hammy has said he wants us on his label but has other bands in front of us and doesn’t have the funds for us to go into the studio. We don’t want to wait around, so I loan £150 off my grandmother so we can go back to Rich Bitch. They are about to remodel the 8-track studio (rip it out), so we got it cheap. We spent 3 days and did 21 songs (I think of ‘War Crimes’ as a double LP on one disc). We were all totally inexperienced and let the producer talk us into all sorts of shit ideas, but we did stop him when he wanted to play solos on our songs (?). I had to use an old-fashioned Simmons pad for a snare. It is a big ON/OFF switch and was a fucking nightmare to master how to play it.

A lot of people love this album, but for me, it sounds terrible. I can’t really play very well, and the drums have that horrible sampled sound. I didn’t realize how badly I played until we decided to re-record everything for ‘Fuck Peaceville,’ and I couldn’t do the drums as badly as on ‘War Crimes.’

We did the album layout ourselves and got it as “pay no more,” but later Hammy wanted to go more commercial, and that’s when the cracks started to appear in our relationship. We agreed to do the ‘Bury the Debt’ split LP and go our separate ways, rather than become contracted to his label.

What about the ‘Police Bastard’ EP?

This came about because a friend of the band, Andy Joy, wanted to start a record label (Discarded Records), so he knew we were going into the studio to record our side of the split with No Security. He asked if he could put some money in, and we could record a few extra songs. We had some extra songs, but ‘Means to an End’ was written and jammed in the studio, and John and I wrote the lyrics afterward.

Bri found the picture for the cover in a library book about the Miners’ strike. The first two pressings were on Andy’s label, and the profit went to the Hunt Sabs in the UK.

In about ’88–’89, I was talking with Dan from Profane Existence (“talking” meaning sending letters), and he said he would release it. I said sure, maybe donate anything made to an animal charity, but he said he would give the band $1 for each copy sold… hmmm! I think they did like 10 pressings. The actual pressing plates wore out, and on the last press, they had to remake them.

Then there’s a split with No Security, ‘Bury the Debt (Not the Dead).’

It was recorded at a place where a few bands did recordings, called Birdsong Studios. I also recorded ‘A Holocaust in Your Head’ there with ENT (I had one rehearsal the day before). I don’t really remember much about the place, though.

What do you recall from working on ‘The Greatest Invention’…?

We made a demo of the songs in a little studio in Bradford (it got released as a 7” in the ‘Pretentious Arseholes’ box set). The majority of the songs were great, but we did the final recording at a place called The Icehouse, a converted abattoir or something, and the final mix was shit—too much reverb. Several songs over the years got re-recorded and sounded so much better.

What are some of the bands you shared stages with and remember the most?

I toured with ENT in Japan with Lipcream, and that was special. Also, I did another tour of Japan, but this time with The Varukers and The Slang. Doom did a UK tour with Meanwhile, who were amazing. The Scandinavian tour with Totalitär was brilliant after so much stress and setbacks.

There’s been lots of other bands over the last almost 40 years I’ve been playing that have blown my mind, but there’s also a lot I think I will never get that time back I wasted seeing.

What would be the craziest gig you ever did and why?

I’ve enjoyed certain gigs because of the locations, not because they were huge, but because they were different. One that always jumps to mind is playing on a boat in Texas, using a dustbin as a bass drum.

 

There were several lineup changes. What was happening at the time Pickering formed Cain and you joined Extreme Noise Terror along with Pete Nash?

Pete wasn’t in ENT for long. I don’t really remember much about what went on around then.

Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band? Which songs are you most proud of? Where and when was your most memorable gig?

I suppose you start off by making a recording, and you’re excited by it. Then you hear people say nice things about it, and soon people start asking you to do a show, then a tour…

I never really went into doing music for fame and fortune, just to play music I like, maybe make a few friends, and have a laugh in places I haven’t been before (though that list is getting shorter).

I don’t listen to a lot of Doom, usually only for a reason, like when it’s getting re-released or something, so picking songs isn’t something I do. I used to love going on tours in a van around Europe, different places, different faces every day. Those are highlights to me.

Tell us about your time with Extreme Noise Terror. How would you compare the two bands?

Why would I compare them? Different people (mostly).

I was a fan of the band when I heard the ‘Radioactive’ Split, then they got Mick on drums, and to me, it changed. I went on tour with Deviated Instinct in 1987, as their drummer left just before a Euro tour supporting Extreme Noise Terror. I got on with the ENT guys, and they weren’t getting on with Mick, so by the end of the tour, they decided to get me on drums.

There were some amazing times and tours (some nightmares… Basque region… some great gigs, terrible organization). The whole KLF experience was surreal but sowed the seeds for certain members wanting to get bigger and more commercial, and that’s where we disagreed, which led to me leaving.

Tell us how the band Dirt came along?

I love the ‘Just an Error’ LP. When Doom reformed in 1992, Dirt had recently started up again, and Dirt/Hellkrusher and Doom played a gig together, so I met up with Gary and the gang. He told me their drummer was quitting and asked if I would like to help out, so I was in (along with about 4-5 other bands around then). They toured all the time, so sometimes I couldn’t do it as other bands needed me too. I went on a lot of European tours and even a pretty disastrous US tour. I recorded a couple of EPs with them and also a live album. Also, when Dirt split and Gary did Stratford Mercenaries, I helped out on drums for a tour there.

What about a project called Slaktmask?

That was when Janne from Warcollapse came to stay with me in the UK for 3 months. We got a project together for a bit of fun with Tom (EoW/Doom/GD) and Ste (EoM). Janne borrowed a bass, and we realized at the end of the recording that it slowly went out of tune as the songs progressed. It was something to do for a day or two. One song got re-recorded for one of Janne’s other bands.

You also played with Zounds?

I did. When I was working at the 1 in 12 Club, Protag asked Steve Lake to play a solo gig (as Zounds had split) at the club. I had done a little project with Protag and a few other club members (can’t remember what it was called… one demo called ‘Kids & Dogs’???). Anyway, Steve said yes to the gig but only if Protag would help out on bass, so then he asked if I would do some drums… Zounds were back. I did a few tours in Europe and gigs in the UK. We recorded an album, but the recording wasn’t the greatest, and it never got released (a couple of songs ended up on a tour CD).

What about Ruin?

Andy was getting a band together with some of his Scottish mates (he was living in Bradford at this time). They wanted a Scottish drummer but asked if I would help out until they found one. I think in the end, they were happy having a Sassenach behind the kit. It was one of my favourite bands to play in, but the punk/HC scene had died a bit of a death, and the lack of gigs and long drives to Scotland to rehearse sort of killed it off. We wrote some killer tunes though.

Then there’s Excrement Of War. Did I miss any of the projects you were involved with? Stuff like Blood Sucking Freaks… would love to more how involved were you with that.

Phew! A few. Not all recorded, some only did live gigs, but here goes:

Annihilator – a few demos
Doom
Extreme Noise Terror
Deviated Instinct – tour
Excrement of War
Filthkick – 3 gigs
Visions of War – 2x tours
Legless – recording on PND
Squandered – all songs are on a 12”
Ruin
Blood Sucking Freaks – a few gigs & a record
Varukers – 8 years of gigs
Sense Yuma – 1 gig
Slaktmask – 7”
Dirt
Stratford Mercenaries – tour
Zounds
Presently doing a band called Kläpträp. Check out the 3 demos on Bandcamp.

There’s probably a few I’ve forgotten.

Tell us some drummers that inspired your the most?

I like Jallo for d-beat stuff, but I suppose I admire people like John Bonham and Ian Paice. I don’t really have an influence; I just like it when I hear a drummer play something I haven’t thought of. The Ruts’ drummer really made me think differently, and also Pil from Lipcream introduced a different approach.

What currently occupies your life?

I live on a canal with my partner and my cat. I work with a guy doing plastering (contact here for a quote). I’m also in a band in Germany with my old mate Stef from Visions of War called Kläpträp. We’re sorting out a full LP as I type.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favorite albums. Have you found something new lately that you would like to recommend to our readers?

Hmm, new… not lately. I still love a lot of my old rock faves like SAHB, AC/DC, Sabbath, ‘The Crack’ by The Ruts, and I’m re-listening to a few Entombed albums at the moment, but it changes all the time. That said, Motörhead is never out of fashion for long.

Thank you for taking your time. The last word is yours.

Check out Kläpträp and don’t be a cunt.

Klemen Breznikar

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Headline photo: Anthony “Stick” Dickens

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