This interview was done by Graham Finney - the guy who does the Intoxicated Webzine.

Just released on Blackfish Records is a split CD featuring two of the most brutal hardcore bands doing the UK scene - Spine and Primate. Here is XpeetX to tell us all about Primate.

Intoxicated: So Primate, how the hell are you?

Primate: Great thanks. We just got the CD out, which is selling really well and getting killer reviews from everyone. We're just about to head out on tour for 3 weeks with Spine... Couldn't be better!

I: I got your Split CD from Ian (Glasper, SG) but no real info on the band. Could you tell us a bit about Primate?

P: Primate has been together about 2/3 years. I only joined about 2 months ago, replacing original bassist Mat (who played on the CD). The only other line-up change was with drummers: Primate and Underule swapped drummers - Mark used to play for Primate, now for Underule, and vice versa for our drummer Grieg. Primate has put out a couple of self financed CDs before, none of which are available now. Oh, and Fitts has smelly feet...

I: What do you think of Spine?

P: The rest of the band likes them a lot. The CD is cool, but they always seem to need to hit the next gear and never quite make it for me. I don't know, I haven't seen them live yet, so it might click for me then. I tend to prefer more evil, nastier, heavier shit generally, so maybe it's just me.

I: I had a listen to the Primate tracks and did almost shit my pants. What influences you to make such a heavy sound?

P: Me and Fitts tend to like a lot of similar stuff - Arkangel are one of our favourite bands, so that gives you an indication of what kind of sound we like. Alex (guitar) likes heavier old school style stuff, like Rykers, early SOIA and Strife. Grieg listens to all sorts, from At The Gates to Dream Theater.

I: Which singers influence Fitts? He's got such a vicious style to his vocals almost black metal...

P: He'll love to hear you say that! As I said above, he listens to a lot of nasty Belgian shit; Arkangel, Congress, Liar, Length Of Time, etc. Oh, and he smokes too much, so that's why his voice sounds so fucked up!

I: You're about to go on tour with Spine, are you looking forward to it?

P: Yeah totally. It should be good fun. It's nice to have two bands that have totally different sounds as well - it'll be interesting to see who goes down best in different places!

I: This last year has been pretty good for UKHC with bands like Stampin' Ground and labels like Blackfish and Skipworth both really taking off. What do you think of the UK Scene?

P: It's definitely getting better, although there always seems to be a lot of shit-talking going on. More kids from the metal scene seem to be crossing over into HC, which is great. No doubt I'll offend the elitist scenesters by saying that, but what the fuck. The more people that come and enjoy HC the better, as long as they are there for the right reasons (i.e. the music, unity and ethics as oppose to making money, starting fights, etc). All these scenesters are supposed to be in favour of unity, but whenever it comes to bringing more people in, people who aren't cool, or who don't have the right T-shirt on this week, they're all full of shit. HC is for everyone and anyone. It's about education - it's no good trying to educate the same crowd, week in week out, because they know what the deal is. You have to spread the message across a wider audience. I think Earth Crisis have the right attitude - they signed to Roadrunner and got a lot of shit for doing it, but for them it's just about reaching those metal kids that wouldn't have necessarily bought their CD had it come out on Victory. They stuck to their guns and it paid off, because a lot of metal kids I know own that record (Breed The Killers), and it's made (some of them) think about what this HC thing is all about. Sorry, I'm ranting. Getting back to the point, yeah the UKHC scene is getting better - more kids turning up for shows, more kids doing distro, all the usual things, just increasing which is good.

I: Do you think we have the quality to produce a scene as healthy as the US hardcore scene?

P: If some of the influential people in the UKHC scene spent less time talking shit and more on actions, then yeah. It only takes a few people to make things work. I really admire Sheep from Leeds, I mean he organised a great all-dayer last November, got 2 great bands to headline (Liar and Face Down), and probably was the one who cleaned up all the mess the next day. Now that's HC for you! The Tribute To Nothing boys also seem to be creating a cool scene in the Worcester area - we played there at a weeks notice recently and something like 300 kids turned up and went apeshit.

I: How do you spend your time outside the band?

P: I hang out with my girl, (Heather), watch movies and listen to music. I'm getting another side and together at the moment, and trying to organise some shows for the coming months in my area (North Wales/Merseyside). I don't know what the rest of them do really, cause I only tend to see them at rehearsals with living 3 hours away. Fitts has his girl and their baby daughter Kaya, so I guess they are the biggest things in his life.

I: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

P: With Primate, we want to do fucking loads of shows. Playing Evilfest this year is a realistic goal to aim for, I think. We want to create a big buzz over the next month or two to try and get people asking for us to play Evilfest! Ha...Europe towards the end of year would be a cool thing to do. Personally, I want to get my other band off the ground, maybe get a CD out, and play some shows. That shit is gonna tear people's faces off - brutal sXe death metal! I also want to make my girl the happiest person alive cause she's so amazing! I'm soppy...

I: Before we all go and puke, thanks for your time, any final comments?

P: Respect to you Graham, for being so into the UK metal and HC scenes, and giving your time up to promote new bands. Thanks to the other guys in Primate for giving me a chance to do this gig. See y'all on tour, people!

Thanx to Graham Finney, who let me use this interview on the site. This interview cannot be found on his site anymore as he lost it.