A Country Fit For Heroes

IAN GLASPER HAS BEEN WRITING ABOUT PUNK SINCE 1986, WHEN HE FIRST STARTED HIS OWN FANZINE, 'LITTLE THINGS PLEASE LITTLE MINDS'. ALTHOUGH IT ONLY RAN FOR FIVE ISSUES, IT HELPED HIM REALISE THAT HE COULD INDEED STRING A FEW WORDS TOGETHER, AND GAVE HIM THE CONFIDENCE - IN THE EARLY NINETIES - TO START WRITING REVIEWS FOR RECORD COLLECTOR, AND A HARDCORE PUNK COLUMN FOR TERRORIZER, THE EXTREME MUSIC MAGAZINE THAT HE CONTRIBUTED TO FOR THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS. IN 2003, HE GOT FED UP OF REVIEWING BOOKS ABOUT THE SEX PISTOLS AND THE CLASH, AND DECIDED TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT THE PARTICULAR ERA OF THE UK PUNK SCENE THAT WAS CLOSEST TO HIS OWN HEART, THE SECOND WAVE OF PUNK DURING THE EARLY EIGHTIES - OR UK82, AS IT BECAME MORE AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN. THE RESULTANT 'BURNING BRITAIN' TOME, PUBLISHED BY CHERRY RED IN 2003 TO MUCH CRITICAL ACCLAIM, FLEW OFF THE SHELVES AND IS NOW WIDELY REGARDED AS THE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENT ON THAT PERIOD. IT WAS FOLLOWED BY 'THE DAY THE COUNTRY DIED: A HISTORY OF ANARCHO PUNK 1980 - 1984' (2006), 'TRAPPED IN A SCENE: UK HARDCORE 1985 - 1989' (2009) AND 'ARMED WITH ANGER: HOW UK PUNK SURVIVED THE NINETIES' (2012). AFTER THEN COVERING THE LAST FORTY YEARS OF UK THRASH METAL WITH 'CONTRACT IN BLOOD: A HISTORY OF UK THRASH METAL' (2018), GLASPER JOINED THE EARTH ISLAND BOOKS FAMILY AND GAVE US 2020'S CELEBRATED 'THE SCENE THAT WOULD NOT DIE: TWENTY YEARS OF POST-MILLENNIAL PUNK IN THE UK' AND THE EPIC SUBHUMANS BIOGRAPHY, 'SILENCE IS NO REACTION: FORTY YEARS OF SUBHUMANS' (2023). DURING THE WHOLE OF THIS TIME, GLASPER HAS ALSO BEEN BUSY WRITING, RECORDING AND TOURING WITH HIS OWN PUNK AND HARDCORE BANDS, KEEPING HIS FINGER FIRMLY ON THE PULSE AND STAYING IN TOUCH WITH THE GRASS ROOTS DIY ELEMENT OF THE PUNK SCENE THAT SO DREW HIM TO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. SINCE 1983, HE HAS PLAYED BASS FOR AMMONIA 77, DECADENCE WITHIN, BURNSIDE, STAMPIN' GROUND, HUMAN ERROR, SUICIDE WATCH, FLUX OF PINK INDIANS, FREEBASE, BETRAYED BY MANY, THIRTY SIX STRATEGIES, WARWOUND AND SUN OF THE ENDLESS NIGHT, AND HE CURRENTLY PLAYS WITH BRISTOL-BASED ANARCHO PUNKS ZERO AGAIN, WHO RELEASED THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, 'A DEEP APPRECIATION OF SUFFERING', IN 2023. A FATHER OF TWO, AND A LIFELONG VEGETARIAN/VEGAN, HE CLAIMS TO HAVE A FEW MORE BOOKS ABOUT UK PUNK IN HIM BEFORE HE KICKS THE PROVERBIAL BUCKET.