Interview by Tayyaba

Arvin Bancil is the bassist in London-based ska/punk/dub/reggae band Popes Of Chillitown. WEIRDO Collective member and Manchester Punk Festival superfan, Tayyaba, caught up with bassist Arvin Bancil on Saturday 30 March ahead of the band’s headline slot at Gorilla for Manchester Punk Festival 2024. Arvin chats to us all about Manchester Punk Festival, becoming a bassist, and how his friends from Southall, West London reacted to seeing his band live.

Tayyaba: What is your favourite thing about Manchester Punk Festival?

Arvin: We've played probably two or three times now so it's always been something on our radar. I enjoy the selection of bands, so much variety in one place in a small radius. The other thing is the slick organisation. The thing that I take back the most is how much exposure MPF has given us as a band, especially for this particular region. We're seeing familiar faces from MPF at other shows when we come up this way now. I also don't know Manchester very well, so it's a good chance to get around and sort of explore – explore different venues.

Tayyaba: As you said you’ve played a few times now, do you have any favourite memories from the past few years?

Arvin: My favourite would probably be playing at The Union last time we played – the set on the whole was great, but also playing ‘Wisdom Teeth’ was especially memorable, the crowd was amazing.

Tayyaba: Which bands are/were you most excited to see this year?

Arvin: Annoyingly we're not going to be able to stick around too long this year so we're going to try and check out all the other bands playing at Gorilla today. I'm really looking forward to seeing Catbite. They’ve come all the way over from the States and are touring at the moment. I've seen them once before at New Cross Inn in London and they blew my head off. There’s also Planet Smashers as well, they’re always enjoyable! 

If we were able to stick around I would have liked to see Riskee and The Ridicule again, they've been friends of ours for years, it's amazing seeing them doing what they're doing now and smashing it and getting what they deserve. Then there’s Random Hand, who we’ve also known for a long time, we’re all from the same family. And then there’s obviously King Prawn who has been a big influence on all of us. They’re all playing tomorrow (Sunday) so we won’t get a chance to see them unfortunately.

what made me fall in love with bass was the ethos behind it, and being able to step away from the rock culture side of things

Tayyaba: Why and when did you decide to learn bass? 

Arvin: Now that’s an interesting story. As a kid I took up the guitar as my instrument and that was it, my only thing, well into my teens. Then there was an audition for a band in London and I happened to have a bass guitar lying around in my house, so I thought I'd just give it a crack, I completely underestimated the art of bass at the time. I had this attitude of “I can play the guitar, therefore I can play the bass.” I went to this audition and somehow they took me on, I think they weren’t massively experienced themselves so I’d just blagged my way in as a bass player, but thankfully they did because what I learned through the whole process was the art of playing bass. I got to meet other musicians and other bass players and they gave me a lot of tips and inspiration. 

Prior to taking up bass, I was really only into alternative and guitar-based music, but when I started playing the bass guitar, I very much got into rave culture and dance music and things like UK garage and speed garage. I'd say a lot of my influences came probably more from that than live music and bands. I think what made me fall in love with bass was the ethos behind it, and being able to step away from the rock culture side of things. We live in a world that's so damn divided at the moment so even if people are coming together just for music and having a good time just vibing, then great. I love playing the bass because I want to see people dance and heal, using things like repetitive grooves and hooks you find in dance music and then finding ways to merge that into the sound we have as a band. 

Tayyaba: And how did you wind up being in Popes?

Arvin: I joined the band in 2007, they were friends of mine and I was in another band at the time, more trip-hop influenced, but Popes needed a bass player so I stepped in to help out and then ended up staying.

I got friends of mine from Southall in West London years ago to come to a gig. They were like, “Oh, what is it going to be like, all like head banging and shit?”… they fucking loved it

Tayyaba: How would you describe Popes Of Chillitown to someone who doesn’t know who you are? 

Arvin: That's a good question. A lot of my friends go out to live gigs a lot and they know how varied it can be at punk shows, but it's when I’m trying to describe it to people who don’t go to these things a lot like my other Asian friends I have to tell them “just come to a gig.” 

I remember I got some friends of mine from Southall in West London years ago to come to a gig. They were like, “Oh, what is it going to be like, all like head banging and shit?” And then they came along and they fucking loved it, you know? 

I guess I’d describe it as music that has a really mixed influence, a mix of reggae, metal, ska, punk, drum and bass, a strong baseline influence for sure. There’s also a little hip hop with that and fast flows… it all usually means nothing until someone actually comes to a show and experiences it! 

Tayyaba: What three words would you use to describe the UK Ska Punk scene?

Arvin: Oh that’s really hard. The scene has so much cultural influence, you can stem it back to early ska and punk bands like The Specials and The Clash, but on the whole now its a grittier sound, a bit darker. It’s a bit more brutal and angry but it also really absorbs what's going on around it so society really influences it

Three words… I guess – “gritty”, “phat” and... I don’t want to say “diverse” because that just sounds like a corporate buzzword, so maybe “culturally-reflective.”

Tayyaba: I know what you mean so I’ll let you have that haha.

Check out Pope Of Chillitown’s website for upcoming shows, music links and more.

About Tayyaba

Tayyaba is an avid ska-core fan with a love for smaller grass-roots venues and the DIY ska-punk scene in the UK. Born and bred in London/Essex, she now lives in Bradford with her husband and cat (who both enjoy doom and black metal, so the ska brings a bit of pep to the household!)