Andy interviewed Capdown’s Robin “Boob” Goold before their last ever Brighton show at the weekend.
PT: So welcome back to Brighton. It’s your last ever tour – how’s it all been going?
Boob: It’s been really good, it’s been emotional in places but it’s been happy days, and we’ve had a lot of friends out to see us around the country so it’s been good fun.
PT: Have there been any points over the last 2 weeks where you’ve thought ‘maybe we shouldn’t stop doing this’?
Boob: There have been a couple of moments, but I think everything happens for a reason. Things have run its course, and however nostalgic and sentimental you feel, and however much you miss people and certain things by being the band, there are things you don’t miss as well.
PT: With a career spanning a decade, countless gigs and tours, what have been the highest and lowest points of your time in Capdown?
Boob: High points – Japan. Reading & Leeds festivals, this one year we did the Radio 1 stage when it was bigger than it is now, and that was just insane. Low points – our van blowing up multiple times. There’s been loads of scary times on tour when really serious things happen in people’s personal lives and that, and you just have to pull together. There was a time before Jake’s son was born and we thought everything had gone horribly wrong, and it was just gnarly days on tour and we wanted to get the fuck home.
PT: You’ve played with hundreds of bands over the years; many of them acclaimed UK acts. Who have been the best for you to tour with?
Boob: There are two or three things when you play with a band you need to remember. There’s how much you like their music when you play with them, and how nice they are as people, and whether they’re arsey towards you or whatever.
There are a lot of British bands that we’ve got close long-lasting friendships with and that reminds you why you’re doing it. Douglas from back in the day, Fiveknuckle and the Adequate 7 boys.
PT: No mention of The King Blues?
Boob: Ah, The King Blues – passing the torch. We played Brighton about 8 months ago and the King Blues played before us, and Keith and me were just like ‘Oh, shit the bed. They’re a really good band, that’s what I used to feel, and that’s what I used to love’. They’re the first band in a long time that has played before us where we’ve thought we had to lift our own game! They’re a band that can do it as good, if not better than us.
PT: You’ve often been regarded as a ‘gateway’ band. You’re seen as the defining band of the skacore genre. Is that something you agree with?
Boob: We’ve always taken a lot of flack, and we’ve always wanted to do the things the way we wanted. Sam from Get Cape said to us that he saw what we do and thought ‘if those guys can go and play gigs to people, then why can’t I?’ He started getting on the train and getting on the buses and just playing his stuff, and look where he is now. That’s almost nicer than someone saying ‘I play music because I love your band’ or ‘you guys were the soundtrack to my teens’. It means more when people say ‘you’ve gave us the belief to go and tackle stuff. One thing we’ve always done is we’ve always had a go.
PT: Over the years, the ska scene has wavered in popularity as more popular and fashionable music scenes have over taken it. How did that affect the way you approached your band?
Boob: Haha, I bet there’s a summer of ska next year now we’ve broken up! No, we’ve never thought about jacking stuff in because of money or scenes, or fads, it just seems like the right time now. We’re all going through different stages of our life and everyone wants to do different things. Carrying on now would always be a compromise for someone. When you write your music bearing in mind that you’ve already got an audience, it’s a strange thing that not a lot people go through. It’s nice to write music and think I don’t care if anyone likes this.
PT: Your final show will be in your hometown of Milton Keynes on the 9th. Have you got anything special planned?
Boob: The aftershow! The gig’s less of a focus haha. It’ll be amazing to play because there’ll be all our close friends there. The Milton Keynes show is a purely selfish thing to finish up the tour. Because we’ve always played outside of Milton Keynes, we’ve got so many close friends around the country, so we thought we’d go see those people again, and go see the country again, and play some old thrash shit we haven’t played for years and not worry about how it’s perceived. The last show is all about getting our boys together and getting really hammered! I don’t think there’s any shame in that!
PT: So what happens now? What does the future hold for you guys? Will you still be involved in the music industry after the demise of Capdown?
Boob: I think we all want to keep doing music, whether we’ll do it together or not. Tim has started writing and jamming with Simon, the original Snuff guitar player. Simon’s playing keys, which he can’t play and that’s fucking hilarious! I really want to do something else, something I can get my teeth into, definitely. There are so many things about being in a band that you enjoy, and one of them for me is the drive to accomplish something. It’s great to be part of something where you can say ‘WE did this’, not ‘I did this’. I didn’t do any of that shit [in Capdown], WE did.
PT: Well it’s been great having you guys in our lives for the last decade. Any final words?
Boob: Capdown has been such a massive part of our lives and we’re all so proud of it. Just thanks for giving us the support to carry on. It’s never been a financial thing for us; it’s been a case of ‘oh my god people like what we do, that’s amazing’.
Andy R