Duncan Redmonds – Drums and vocals Loz Wong – Guitar and backing vocals Dan Goatham - Bass and backing vocals Oliver Stewart – Trombone Lee Murphy – Keyboards and backing vocals Dave Redmonds – Trombone Flo Redmonds - Saxophone
Past members
Simon Wells – Guitar and vocals Andy Crighton – Bass Lee Batsford/Erinmez – Bass and backing vocals Sarah de Courcy-Aston – Keyboards Terry Edwards – Keyboards and brass Paul Thomson – Guitar and vocals
Snuff are a British punk rock band formed in Hendon in 1986.[1] The original line-up was Duncan Redmonds on drums and vocals, Simon Wells on guitar and vocals and Andy Crighton on bass, with Dave Redmonds being added to the line-up on trombone before the release of Flibbiddydibbiddydob.
During the early 1980s, guitarist Duncan Jones, after having moved to London from Ispwich, and bassist Scruff. Scruff invited Simon Wells to be the band's vocalist, knowing him through school, but Jones did not want Wells to join due to the length of his air being too long. After a few years, Wells cut his hair, joining the band on vocals and guitar and Jones moved to drums. At this time, they covered Government Issue's album Boycott Stabb (1983) and a version of Jimi Hendrix's song "Purple Haze" which featured hardcore-influence drumming.[2]
Years later, in 1986, Wells was a member of indie rock band Jim, Millions Will Die with bassist Andy Crighton, whom Jones filled in on drums for a rehearsal. When Jim, Millions Will Die, and Jones' band Come What May disbanded that year, Jones and Wells formed a new band alongside bassist Neil Brighton, but a short time later Brighton departed, leading to hiring of Crighton. During this time, the band went through a series of names including Tarmac Delight and Zinc Sinks, but settled upon the name Snuff, inspired by slurred the phrase "That's enough" while drunk.[3]
The band live for the first time on 10 March 1987 at New Merlin's Cave in Kings Cross. Their second line performance was over a year later, in May 1988, at Hendon venue LMC, which they began playing monthly at. They began to gain a local following once they played the Sir George Robey on 5 September and they soon began performing frequently across London. On 15 January 1989, they recorded a Peel Session for BBC Radio 1, which gained them national notoriety. They spent the rest of the year on a series of tours across the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as one tour across mainland Europe.[4]
The band signed to the Workers Playtime label and their first release was the Not ListeningEP, which received regular airplay from BBC Radio 1disc jockeyJohn Peel, and reached number nine in the UK Independent Chart.[5] Their first album was named Snuff Said, but the full album name was Snuffsaidbutgorblimeyguvstonemeifhedidn'tthrowawobblerchachachachachachachachachachachayou'regoinghomeinacosmicambience, which started their habit of playing on their supposed Cockney roots. The album peaked at number three on the UK Indie Chart.[5]
Following up from their first album was the 'mini-album' Flibbiddydibbiddydob, featuring mainly cover versions and TV commercial jingles reworked by the band. The release was the subject of a disagreement with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI); Snuff maintained it was an EP, and as such should be eligible for the UK Singles Chart, but the BPI insisted on classifying it as an album because of the large number of tracks.
In 1991, the band entered the studio to record a second album, immediately followed by a tour of mainland Europe. During this recording process Wells became disinterred in playing guitar, and during the tour found himself disillusioned with the band's lack of involvement with the album's mixing, due to their distance. They completed the tour and their additional dates that were already booked, including a tour of Japan. Upon returning home, the band disbanded.[6]
During this period all three members applied to be the bassist for Leatherface. The break-up also spawned Guns n' Wankers and Your Mum in 1993–1994 and whose lineup included Simon Wells, Loz Wong, Rory Blaney, Paul McMahon and Tony Poole.
Reformation
Following a reformation of the original line-up in 1994, along with permanent Hammond and trombone, Simon Wells left the band and was replaced by Loz Wong who had played in Guns n' Wankers with Simon. A while later Andy Crighton was replaced by Lee Erinmez (née Batsford) on bass. They released a Christmas single, the theme to "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?".[1]Steve Lamacq has also featured Snuff on his radio show. Simon Wells has since formed the band Southport, and has played occasionally with Duncan under the name Footballer's Wives.
In 2005, Snuff released a greatest hitsdouble album. Also in 2005, Duncan Redmonds released a self-titled solo project CD, Billy No Mates, and at live shows his solo material is combined with some Snuff and Guns n' Wankers songs. Billy No Mates have two touring bands, one in Japan and one in the UK, and Redmonds has recorded different EP's with each band.
In 2006 a new band called Pot Kettle Black formed. This featured Redmonds on drums, Wells on guitar, and Wes Wasley completing the trio on bass. The line-up played a mixture of old Snuff songs (generally up until Demmamussabebonk) and new material in the same vein. The project was pronounced 'dead' by Redmonds on the 10past12 Records website guestbook in August 2007. Since then, Redmonds has played a series of gigs in Japan with Duncan's Divas, and embarked on solo acoustic gigs in the UK.
In 2008, a brief tour of Japan was announced, featuring gigs in Tokyo.[7] Following this, the band continued to gig in 2009, supporting NOFX in Birmingham and London on their UK tour, and played both the Reading and Leeds Festivals.
Bubble and Squeak
In 2009, Duncan Redmonds released Bubble and Squeak.[8] The album featured collaborations with numerous members of bands on similar labels or tours, including Fat Mike from NOFX, Frankie Stubbs from Leatherface and Ken Yokoyama from the Japanese punk band Hi-Standard, as well as former and current members of Snuff, Billy No Mates and Pot Kettle Black. Notably, the album also included a new track recorded by Guns n' Wankers, the first since bassist Jools Parkin suffered a brain haemorrhage.
Don't Wake Up the Kids
In March 2010, an album titled Don't Wake Up The Kids, which featured acoustic tracks recorded by Duncan Redmonds, Joey Cape of Lagwagon and Ken Yokoyama of Hi-Standard, was released on Inyaface Records. To coincide with the release of the album, Duncan Redmonds and Joey Cape toured Japan, playing a series of acoustic shows.[9]
2011 to present
The band undertook another short tour of Japan in 2011, as well as the recording and release of a tour EP, entitled 5-4-3-2-1 Ding-a-Ling Yahon, which consisted of new songs and Japanese covers.
In spring 2012, the band took to the road for a 10-date UK tour, with Oliver Stewart taking over trombone duties from Dave Redmonds. Shows included The Borderline, London, and Trillians, Newcastle.[10] Snuff also appeared at the 2012 Rebellion festival, in Blackpool, alongside bands such as Rancid and SNFU, as well as being lead support for the summer 2012 NOFX UK tour.[citation needed]
In 2012, Snuff recorded their first full-length album since 2003's Disposable Income. The album, titled 5-4-3-2-1 Perhaps?, contains 12 new tracks and was released on 8 January 2013. The vinyl was released in black vinyl, limited edition purple vinyl with green haze (407 copies) and even more limited green vinyl with Fat Record Store labels (100 copies). The album also came as a CD version along with a Japanese issue with exclusive artwork.[citation needed]
In August 2015, Snuff completed a full UK tour supporting Bad Religion. In February 2016, they celebrated '30 Years of Snuff' with a full UK tour.[citation needed]
In September 2019, Snuff released a new album, There's A Lot of It About, on Fat Wreck Chords, recorded in 2018. Lee Erinmez left the band shortly after the recording and was replaced by Dan Goatham. In May 2020, Snuff released a new EP, The Wrath of Thoth.[citation needed]
In 2021, Snuff began recording a brand new album with a small run of UK dates. This marks the return of Dave Redmonds on trombone, with his daughter Flo Redmonds adding saxophone and giving the band a three-part brass section.[citation needed]
In 2022, Snuff announced a new 10-track album, Crepuscolo dorato della bruschetta borsetta calzetta cacchetta trombetta lambretta giallo ossido, ooooooh cosi magnifico![11]
12Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN1-84195-335-0, p. 511
↑Glasper, Ian (2010). TRAPPED IN A SCENE: UK HARDCORE 1985-1989. London: Cherry Red Books. p.411. ISBN1901447618. 'Duncan [Redmonds, the drummer] had moved to London from Ipswich, or thereabouts, when he was sixteen, and my old schoolmate, a punk called Scruff (now sadly deceased) met him on a bus in Cricklewood. They wanted to do a band and they had Duncan on guitar, Scruff on bass and a guy called Graham on drums. Scruff invited me round to Duncan's bed-sit one day where they were gonna rehearse. Scruff wanted me to do vocals, but Duncan didn't want me in the band 'cos my hair was too long... had a trim around the ears, I started hanging out regularly round the bed-sit. It was a few years later though, when Dunc had a go on the drums while me and Andy were on guitar and bass that it clicked - I had learnt "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix from a book, and Dunc started playing thrash drums to it, and that was that. It was around the time "Boycott Stabb" by Government Issue had come out -and we used to play along to it'
↑Glasper, Ian (2010). TRAPPED IN A SCENE: UK HARDCORE 1985-1989. London: Cherry Red Books. p.411. ISBN1901447618. 'I first met Andy some time around '84, whilst I was in Come What May"... elaborates Duncan... "Simon and Andy had been in bands together before, and were now in But Jim, Millions Will Die... One day in early '86, the But Jim, Millions Will Die drummer, Graham, couldn't make a rehearsal, so I stood in. We ran through their songs... But Jim... was more of an indie band, so I kept thrashing the songs up, and to me that was the first seed of Snuff. A short time later, both bands called it a day; me and Si used to hang out, and decided to get a new band going. First, we got Neil Brighton in on bass, and we would rehearse Friday nights after work, but after a while his girlfriend told him, "It's me or the band..." He chose her, so we looked around for a new bassist, and Si suggested his old mate, Andy... In he came, and Snuff was truly born in 1986. After rehearsing and writing for the best part of a year, Snuff (so-named when Andy drunkenly slurred, 'That's enuff!' after a whole evening spent debating hundreds of potential names for the band... thankfully the Zinc Sinks and Tarmac Delight never made it off the starting blocks!)
↑Glasper, Ian (2010). TRAPPED IN A SCENE: UK HARDCORE 1985-1989. London: Cherry Red Books. p.412. ISBN1901447618. played their first gig at the New Merlin's Cave, Kings Cross, on 10th March 1987. Snuff didn't play live again until May 1988, when they pretty much landed themselves a monthly residency at the LMC in Hendon; they then did a show at the Sir George Robey on 5th September, which definitely saw their popularity spike - by the end of '88 they had played 30 more gigs around London, including four more at the Robey! They recorded their first Peel session on 15th January 1989... That year saw them tour the UK and Ireland several times (not to mention play a staggering 48 shows in London!), spend a month touring in Europe
12Lazell, Barry (1998) Indie Hits 1980-1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN0-9517206-9-4, p. 211
↑Glasper, Ian (2010). TRAPPED IN A SCENE: UK HARDCORE 1985-1989. London: Cherry Red Books. p.416. ISBN1901447618. it all went pear-shaped in Europe about that time,' agrees Duncan. 'Stresses and strains had piled up, and it was all too much for Andy, who bailed out and the band basically unravelled. The tour manager from Konkurrel persuaded us to finish the tour over there, and we then played all the gigs we had booked, including another trip to Japan, and ended with a second gig at the National in Kilburn...' 'My guitar was knackered, with a dodgy neck, we were running out of time as we had to go on tour round Europe, and it ended up with the record being mixed while we were away... 'By that time, Si had little or no inclination to pick up a guitar, reckons Duncan. 'He played very little part in the writing of the album, and in the studio was only interested in playing pool with the Senseless Things upstairs.
↑M, B (February 2002). "Southpaw - "Trajectories" CD". Maximum Rocknroll (249): 361. A band with a SNUFF connection I believe (former member?) These UK folks do the emo pop punk rock thing. Guitars like LEATHERFACE and SNUFF.
↑Glasper, Ian (2010). TRAPPED IN A SCENE: UK HARDCORE 1985-1989. London: Cherry Red Books. p.428. ISBN1901447618. 'My main influences at that time were a mixture of punk, ska, metal and soul, adds Duncan. 'There was all sorts of music being played when we were together: punk from '76 onwards, the Clash, Damned, Buzzcocks and the second wave, including the likes of Discharge, Exploited, and, for me particularly, GBH; then newer American punk bands like Scream, Government Issue, Minor Threat and Bad Brains...and at the same time as all that, some indie, old reggae, ska, northern soul and motown, including Booker T and the MGs, the Meters, Dexys Midnight Runners, Madness, the Specials, and old mod stuff like the Small Faces, the Who, the Action, and the '79 wave of mod like the Chords and Purple Hearts...'My old band-mate Paul from Come What May would come round, bringing the latest punk records. One big favourite was Hüsker Dü. At first I didn't like it too much, but the more melodic songs really grew on me, and that became a major influence.
↑GreenPea, Jeff. "Samiam". Retrieved 27 October 2025.
↑"Stop Making Sense". Sounds: 10. 5 August 1989. I can draw a lot of strength off Wiz and the rest of Mega City Four, and Snuff as well
↑Glasper, Ian (2013). ARMED WITH ANGER: HOW UK PUNK SURVIVED THE NINETIES (Kindleed.). London: Cherry Red Books. p.907. ISBN1901447723. Off the top of my head, I remember we would listen to Big Black, The Membranes, Captain Beefheart, Sonic Youth, Minor Threat, Funkadelic, Die Kreuzen, Operation Ivy, Squirrel Bait, Snuff...
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