Still a Dirty Mess: The Stormtrooper Oral History
Before the Sex Pistols swore on television -- or tried to brush it off as "nothing, a rude word" -- and corporate labels commodified safety pins, there was a bar at The Marquee and a damp basement on King's Road. In 1975, Stormtrooper were already cranking the volume and playing rock music like a Molotov threat.
They scraped together cash for one frantic day in a Covent Garden studio, cut a raw four-song demo, and promptly imploded. But you can't kill a good white riot. By 1977, those tapes became the I'm a Mess" 7-inch -- a track so fiercely primitive the UK press (always at its finest) compared it to a commuter being shoved under a subway train. Put on another Floyd record, chump.
The music became a collector's blueprint, and the promotional pin became a global icon worn by Sid Vicious -- though if he was a dishwasher, he would have been aptly named Sid Dishes.
Fifty years later, a new retrospective collection unearths the band's entire chaotic vault. Original masterminds Jeff Piccinini and Nigel Harrison look back at the noise that started it all. Still loud. Still a dirty mess We mean it maaaaaaannnn!
Phase 1: The '75 Covent Garden & Basement Days
Scene Point Blank: Nigel, you’re working the bar at The Marquee, surrounded by the history of The Who and The Stones. Jeff, you and Mike Lee just landed from San Francisco, looking to start a band. When you guys met over that bar in January '75, was there an immediate agreement that rock music needed to get faster and uglier?
Jeff Piccinini: There was the fact that everything musically at that point was basically considered dinosaur rock, and the only way you could do anything was for yourself, since all the major record labels dominated the music industry and making an actual record was a mystery. So the rebellion against this establishment is, in part, what gave birth to the punk rock scene, apart from the economics and boredom in Britain at the time.
Nigel Harrison: There was only a desire to form a band -- the music scene in the UK at that time was in the doldrums, with all the big bands like the Stones, The Who, Led Zep, etc., playing stadiums and larger venues. On the ground in London, the scene was pretty much tepid. But rebellion and anarchy were just around the corner, though!
Scene Point Blank: You end up renting a shabby King's Road basement to rehearse, right next door to Motörhead while they were forming. Was it just a wall of pure noise coming through the drywall, or did you guys actually get along and hang out?
Jeff Piccinini: We never saw them, only heard them during a break in our rehearsals, but they were definitely louder!
Scene Point Blank: You only had one day in a Covent Garden studio because that’s all the cash you could scrape together. Do you think that "one-shot" financial pressure is the exact reason "I’m a Mess" turned out so raw and frantic? Hurry up and let’s get the fuck out!
Jeff Piccinini: Money was an issue, and as it was a 4-song demo, undoubtedly it was raw.
Scene Point Blank: In early '75, the word "punk" wasn't being thrown around in London yet. When you were playing tracks like "It's Not Me" to early crowds, how were people categorizing you? Were they looking at you like you were crazy or did they get it?
Jeff Piccinini: They probably just thought we were extremely loud and only knew the 3-chord cliché for songwriting.
Scene Point Blank: John Pilka’s guitar work on those '75 tracks is incredibly sharp. How did you guys find him, and what did he bring to the rehearsal room that solidified the Stormtrooper sound?
Jeff Piccinini: John Pilka was working as a barman for Nigel at The Marquee, and we heard he could play. So he came along to a rehearsal, and we were amazed at his raw talent. For a 17 year-old lad, that was an understatement, because he was brilliant and fit right in with our "couldn’t give a fuck" attitude.
Phase 2: The '76 Marquee Thunderbolt & The Solent 7"
Scene Point Blank: By the end of 1975, the original lineup had imploded. Jeff went off to Chelsea, and Nigel went back to managing The Marquee. Did you think the band was a dead issue at that point?
Nigel, in early '76, you’re at The Marquee, and you watch the Sex Pistols support Eddie and the Hot Rods -- a night you called a "thunderbolt." Was there a lightbulb moment during that set where you realized the tapes you and Jeff recorded in '75 were exactly what this new crowd was looking for?
Jeff Piccinini: Yes, it seemed like we fit right in with the energy that was brewing in London with so many bands forming and rebelling against the boredom that the mainstream rock scene had become. It’s also worth mentioning that, almost at the same time, a very young, raw Australian outfit called AC/DC played The Marquee to, initially, a small crowd. However, we gave them a residency, and they took off like a rocket.
Nigel Harrison: I saw a lot of bands at The Marquee -- 2 a night for 11 years -- and I’m often asked who was your favourite. Well, that's an unanswerable question, as there were so many. But in my book that I seem to have been writing for years, I think seeing the whole punk thing explode, and the reverberations that caused... even today, the ripples are still being felt. Here’s a couple: AC/DC, Sex Pistols, Motörhead, Genesis, The Police, ZZ Top, Twisted Sister (I had to put them up at my house once) and more and more….
Any press is good press. Worked for The Sex Pistols...
Scene Point Blank: Seeing that shift in the London clubs inspired you and Jeff to get back together and put out "I’m a Mess" on Solent Records. Was it tough to resurrect a band that had already broken up, or did the energy of '76 make it feel effortless?
Nigel Harrison: We were motivated by the fact that the "Mess" single was selling fast, and with Jeff’s new song “I’m On Fire,” this was intended as our follow-up single -- although we never released the song.
Scene Point Blank: You hand-delivered those original Solent 7"s to record shops all over London. Do you remember the first shop owner who actually put the needle down, listened to it, and agreed it was a “ripper"?
Jeff Piccinini: Actually, it was HMV on Oxford Street who took the first 25 copies. The store manager listened to it and said we sounded like The Who, which was quite a compliment for us. The fact that HMV was keen to take a chance on our debut record gave us a lot of encouragement.
Scene Point Blank: When you dropped "I'm a Mess" on the Solent label, the press hit you with some incredibly sharp, hostile reviews, comparing the sound to a “commuter being shoved under a tube train in the rush hour.” Did that initial media rejection fuel the band's defiance, and how sweet did it feel decades later when the industry completely flipped and used your track as the title for the definitive Soul Jazz historical punk compilation?
Nigel Harrison: As they say in the entertainment business... any press is good press. Worked for The Sex Pistols...
Jeff Piccinini: Actually, Rave Up Records in Italy were the first ones who realized the value of the music of Stormtrooper and were the first to release a full-length album of our music.
Phase 3: The Iconography & Sid Vicious
Scene Point Blank: To help push the single, you gave away the free "I’m a Mess" badge. Jeff, when you personally handed that pin to Sid Vicious at The Marquee, did he have any clue who Stormtrooper was, or did he just grab it because the slogan fit his state of mind? I also heard an alternate story that Sid actually stole it off the 7".
That '70s pinback became a global punk icon, worn by Sid on major tours and Wreckless Eric on his guitar strap. Did it ever frustrate you that the badge became a household item while the actual music remained a collector's secret?
Nigel Harrison: I believe Sid was given the badge by a US fan somewhere in the States when they were on their ill-fated tour. In hindsight, we should have trademarked the badge design -- we believe they sell for a good price on the internet these days. This is the same tour that Bob Gruen, the famous American photographer, was on, where he took the pictures of Sid and the boys. The most iconic of which is where Sid stuffs a hot dog in his own face. Bob later told me that this, along with his famous shot of John Lennon on top of a New York skyscraper, was his favourite pic of all time.
Jeff Piccinini: Yes, we should have trademarked the design as it is everywhere now! A missed opportunity, for sure.
Scene Point Blank: The original single sold around 3,000 copies, which was a lot for a DIY release back then. Where was that demand coming from? Was it mostly kids from The Marquee and the Wardour Street circuit buying it up?
Jeff Piccinini: We had a regular weekly routine of going to all the various independent record outlets like Beggars Banquet and Albatross Records, but the largest quantity was bought by Miles Copeland (The Police and Chelsea manager) at Step Forward Records.
Phase 4: The 1978 Vault & The 2003 Supergroup
Scene Point Blank: In 1978, you went back into the studio and brought in Maurice Bacon from Love Affair on drums. He came from a massive 1960s pop background -- did he try to clean up your sound on "Coming My Way," or did he embrace the grit?
Jeff Piccinini: Maurice Bacon kept the gritty essence of the song but with a more powerful, focused drive. Paul Lilley (of John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett) produced the session, which was done in one day at Riverside Studios in Chiswick. Yes, we were on a budget again.
Scene Point Blank: Those '78 tracks ended up sitting on ice, but Jeff took "I’m on Fire" over to Chelsea, where it became one of their staples. Nigel, what was it like watching another band turn your unreleased track into a live favourite?
Jeff Piccinini: Good question. I never really asked how Nigel felt, apart from the fact that he thought our version of “I’m On Fire” was better than Chelsea’s, which I am inclined to agree with, albeit more poppy.
Nigel Harrison: I think they both have their place. Chelsea’s version was always one of their fans' favourites out of their set.
We embraced keeping the spirit of the song but with more bollocks.
Scene Point Blank: Jump ahead to 2003. Jeff, you cut a fresh version of "I'm a Mess" with Nicky Garratt (UK Subs) and Bryan "Brain" Mantia (Guns N' Roses/Primus). How did that lineup come together, and what did Brain’s massive, heavy drumming style do to a song you wrote back in ’73?
Jeff Piccinini: Nigel was coming over to visit me as I had returned to San Francisco to live, and we discussed doing an updated version of “I’m A Mess.” I had recently been filming a documentary out at Skywalker Sound for solo artist Vanessa Carlton’s second album, produced by Stephan Jenkins from Third Eye Blind, where I befriended Blighty (Sean Beresford), the session engineer. He mentioned he had a small studio space and if I ever needed to record, to get in touch -- so we did.
Blighty knew Brain well, and I knew Nicky, who also lived in San Francisco, and they both seemed keen to do the recording. One day in the studio and a half day to do the vocals and backing -- still on a budget! Interesting that, in that session, we also recorded Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want to Be with You” with 3 different vocal variations by Nigel. Bryan and Nicky were phenomenal to play with in the studio -- real pro musicians. This 2003 version of “I’m A Mess” is how we currently play the song.
Scene Point Blank: Did the 2003 session feel like a way to finally give the song the big studio production it never got in Covent Garden, or were you strictly trying to capture the original basement noise, or a combination of both?
Jeff Piccinini: We embraced keeping the spirit of the song but with more bollocks, and we were really pleased with the results. To say we were fortunate is an understatement because we were in good hands with Blighty, Nicky, and Brain -- real rockers!
Phase 5: Ride the Sky
Scene Point Blank: In 2015, Nigel was moving back to England, having lived in Australia for about 10 years. He suggested that you do a new recording of "Ride the Sky," which was one of your early songs that only existed on a rehearsal tape. How did that project come together, and what did it feel like to dust off a track that had been locked away for so long?
Jeff Piccinini: Those tracks were all released on a limited edition CD by Cleopatra Records with a replica 7” vinyl version of “I’m A Mess” b/w “It’s Not Me.” I rehearsed the song with my band members Chris Carpiniello (drums), Damon LeGall (guitar), and Klara Lux (guitar and former member of Milan’s first all-female punk band called Clito). We recorded at Laughing Tiger Studios, just north of San Francisco, with Blighty at the controls once again. For a laugh, we also did another recording of “I’m A Mess,” but it did not surpass the 2003 recording with Nicky and Brain. “Ride the Sky” turned out to be a really great version and one of the highlights of our current show.
Phase 6: The 2026 Reunion & The 50th Anniversary
Scene Point Blank: This upcoming limited edition CD pulls together the '75 demos, the unreleased '78 Maurice Bacon tracks, and the 2003 Nicky Garratt sessions, plus “Ride The Sky” from 2015. How does it feel to see four completely different decades of your lives sitting on one piece of plastic?
Jeff Piccinini: We think it is pretty amazing and draws a line on the past as we move to writing a brand new album, still with the fire and spirit.
Scene Point Blank: If a major label had walked into that Covent Garden studio in 1975 and offered you a massive deal on the condition that you clean up the vocals and turn down the guitars, would you have taken it? Or was the "mess" always the whole point?
Jeff Piccinini: Signing a massive deal doesn’t mean success, so in some ways having control over our music and doing it the way we did off our own backs was the right thing at the time, since in 1975 the record labels really had not been visionaries as to what was coming when punk rock hit the world.
Phase 7: The Legacy of the Mess
Scene Point Blank: When you look back at that slogan "I'm a Mess" in 2026, what does that state of mind mean to you now compared to when you were writing these tracks fifty years ago?
Jeff Piccinini: We’re still a dirty mess, but all fired up to crank out the sound of Stormtrooper.
