Breaking Out Of A Fragmented Scene: An Interview With The UK’s Alsatian Eyes

By Staff | June 1, 2026

Alsatian Eyes, a UK post‑punk band, forge their corroded, theatrical sound not from the odd contrast of a teenage angel‑voiced frontwoman and a 46‑year‑old bassist with a broken back, but from the raw experience of surviving pain, addiction, and mental illness. Their creative energy emerges through collective collaboration, where every member adds what they call “greasy acidic fingerprints” to steep the music into a beautiful, corroded patina. Onstage, they reject mundane pub gigs in favor of liberating fuckery, wanting audiences and venues alike to feel, if only for a moment, the freedom to live as they choose. Ultimately, the band’s post‑punk pulse comes from endurance and mutual respect, not demographic gimmicks, proving that tension arises from life’s hardships, not from who stands next to whom.

How does the dynamic between a teenage angel-voiced frontwoman and a 46-year-old bassist with a broken back shape the creative tension and raw energy of Alsatian Eyes’ post-punk sound?

I don't think that particular peculiarity shapes our creativity at all. Lily is as good and close a friend as anyone could wish to have. She's a talent and a sweetheart and I love her dearly. The tension in our music comes from the experience gained enduring life. Pain, addiction and mental health all impact every corner of my life, but they don't define me or my art. I use them as points of reflection in order to conjure imagery through words. The music then wraps itself around those words, or vice versa, and a merry ditty pops into existence. I'll then take that to the band and ask them for input and allow it to steep in our collective juices. I think post-punk particularly is a collaborative form and the more you allow other people to apply their greasy acidic fingerprints to it, the more beautiful, corroded patina you get.

Given your love for theatrical arts and punk, how do you translate that brand of fuckery into a live show that’s different from just another band playing a pub?

Have you seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Jesus, that whole thing's a pub gig that got a bit big for its britches. There's room in every band for a bit more performative license. Add a bit of lipstick and a short skirt to any humdrum act and they'll appear instantly more interesting. What we attempt to do, however, is to appear how we want to appear, in a way that we wish the world would see as mundane almost, then let the energy of that feeling propel us into raucous state that can permeate through the crowd and into the bricks and mortar of the establishment. We want the venue, the gawping gazers, the throbbing dancing masses and even the bar staff to feel that, just for a moment, they got to live as they choose and free themselves. Give in to who you want to be and fuck what the arsehole next to you thinks.

Dan, you only started drumming a year ago — what is it about your playing that made the band realize you were the one to smash it behind the kit?

Desperation? Stupidity? Nah man, I put down entirely to my fundamental passion and understanding of punk. I know good music and I know what I want our music to sound like. If that means knuckling down for a year, sweating my tits off for 5 hours a day to master the fundamentals and start to articulate that understanding into a groove, then that's what I'm gonna do. I also like to think a bring a nice cosy queer aesthetic to the rhythm section. Matt could scare the skin off rice pudding, flouncing around with his hair, beards and makeup, so I'm here to champion the less flamboyant and keep you dancing.

You’ve described yourselves as badass insatiable performing machines. What’s the most extreme or unlikely place you’d want to test that claim live?

Unlikely? Mabuhay Gardens before it became whatever it is today. Like pre 1987 closure Mabuhay, sharing the bill with DEVO, The Dead Kennedys and Primus. Wait, perhaps not Primus because I'd get shown up by Mr Claypool.

Extreme? Is that ship from Fitzcarraldo still marooned in the middle of the Amazon? A free festival played from the wheelhouse sponsored by OFF! and Imodium. I wonder if Herzog is free that week? We could get him to shoot the backstage interviews.

With your bassist using music to manage bipolarism, ADHD, and a broken back, how does that personal history of recovery directly influence the lyrics and atmosphere of your songs?

Every lyricist includes their life experiences in their songs. I'd be willing to bet whoever penned Twinkle Twinkle had seen a nighttime or two. The fact that those are my personal tribulations determines that these words have to spill out into what I scribble down at three in the morning in my pants. What you don't see through the darker lyrics, however, is how much that helps me get through the next day. Having an outlet to pour your frustrations and misery into is such an important recovery and coping mechanism that I'm not (in a purely selfish way) that arsed how they're even interpreted. That's what I needed to say at the time to survive another day. It worked, I'm still here and I'm grateful for that even if my ex-wife isn't!

You’re playing a proper punk grime house in London (The Beehive) and an album launch at Propaganda Studio — what makes those specific venues feel like the right battlefields for your next moves?

Any venue with real punk credence has to inspire bands floating around this murky water. We want to play every stage that has the sweat, blood and drool of all the greats, mashed into it with ill-fitting Dr Martins and worn-out Converse, then swept clean with the trailing trodden-on fraying hem of ancient jeans. That said, we are angrily excited to get out into the new wave of venues that are pioneering this grand resurgence of punk and punk adjacent music. Why these specifically? They offered and we need the money. Times are hard man!

You've mentioned that you want to rule the world. What’s the first small, concrete thing you’d change about the UK punk scene to make that happen?

I'd reanimate the corpse of John Peele and force him back into the BBC studios. Well not exactly that, but metaphorically certainly. The scene is fragmented across the internet and streaming services and diluted through the myriad digital radio stations and Instagram channels and whatever the fuck else constitutes distribution media nowadays (God I really am old... I sound like my dad... Hiya Bob). What we need is a mainstream champion to coalesce around and bring all punk and post-punk, fuck it, all alternative music, back into the country's collective consciousness. Not a radio station or a return to labels and AnR men, but a platform we can all call home that has the clout to reach the audience this genre deserves.

Jamie, you work in audio-visual creation at the Royal Court Liverpool — how do those theatre tech skills sneak into your live show or recordings in ways audiences might not notice?

That's up to the audience to work out.

Thanks for that Jamie. You know this is supposed to be a written piece to fill column inches, right? I'll tell you what I think then: He adds a flavour that I would have never thought of adding. You know those people who are making breakfast in a shared kitchen and make toast with a knife that has been used three times already that morning to slice bananas, apply peanut butter to crumpets and then smear Marmite on toast? It sounds like it shouldn't work, but he comes along, tastes that knife, adds a drizzle of honey and creates the greatest sandwich known to man.

Anyone you'd like to thank for their support?

Ab, Felix Hagan, Lewis, Ding and all our families. They all know why. We'd also like to say hi to someone, but we don't know who yet, so we'll let you know if/when they stop pissing us off or present themselves. Oh, that's our answer, not a request to extend the deadline or add a bit later. Love always from Alsatian Eyes. Xxx