Twisting Narratives: Deconstructors

Every now and then, a new band seems to just appear at the forefront of a scene - unconnected, unheard of, yet undeniably brilliant.  With songs that buzz around the consciousness like an angry wasp trapped on the wrong side of a window, electrifying live performances and a gig history that lists everywhere from the most glacial of electro clubs to the most sweaty of rock venues, Liverpool’s Deconstructors right now are that band.  

But BBC radio airplay, appearances on compilations and a trail of conquered audiences are barely a chapter in the story of the band so far. Gigwise arrives in Phil ‘Phillipe’ Gofton’s city centre student flat to meet Dave Graham (vocals and guitar), Ian Hall (bass), Phil Morton (drums) and the Gallic-looking guitarist himself to delve deeper. So then – surely things are happening a little too easily for what is admittedly Dave and Phil’s first band? "Not at all", Dave counters. "Me and Phil started it ages ago, pretty much crafting all the tunes.  We didn’t get people in as soon as we’d have wanted – it really was a case of sticking it out when most people expected us to give up.  It was just us two in a praccy room for a year – that’s not even a band is it!  We had crap guitars, crap amps; nothing seemed to be going right."

"We went through a few members, until we stumbled across Ian. Not literally – I didn’t trip over him as he was lying there!  But things got more professional from then on, getting more anal over guitar leads and stuff," Phil smiles. "And when we met Phil (Morton), he had an instant feel for the music. I thought, ‘yes – we’ve got a band here’." Gigwise stands corrected: maybe this has been much more of a slog than we’ve given them credit for. Regardless of how much work the boys put in behind the scenes, it’s still remarkable how quickly they’ve emerged to be one of the brightest hopes on the Liverpool scene. Has the decline of the ‘cosmic scouse’ albatross that hung over bands from the city been a help? "We’re not part of any movement, there’s nothing I’ve heard that’s similar to us," Dave affirms. "In one sense that’s a good thing.  The scene a few years ago – all those bands hung around together, but now it’s more fragmented, with people doing their own thing. I don’t feel that we’re part of any one thing – we like listening to all of it."    

That said, the pre-Deconstructors Dave and Phil were not always so inspired by the bands they saw on their local gig circuit.  As Phil explains, they knew from an early stage that they had to do something different: "Me and Dave were big Nirvana fans, and when we started the band, we started looking at other bands that were playing and it just seemed that there was no energy.  We’re a punk band in that we love the ethos of punk.  We wanna make people sit up and think, ‘****ing hell, this is a sonic assault!’  We can’t be doing with standing there like waxwork models. How many bands do you see coming offstage these days that are dripping with sweat?" Good question.