Back To The Planet

Back To The Planet

Back To The Planet are a London dub-punk band formed in Peckham in 1989, while the members are squatting together. The group develops a following through the early 1990s and plays a series of free festivals, including the Deptford Urban Free Festival and Castlemorton Common Festival in 1992. They also play four consecutive Glastonbury festivals.

Style and politics

Their music combines ska, dub, punk and dance music. The band is also outspoken in its opposition to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which shapes their place in the anarcho-punk and free festival scene.

Releases

Their first album, Warning the Public, appears on their own Arthur Mix Records label, based in Hither Green. In 1993 they sign to Parallel Records and release a run of singles. Other albums include Earzone Friendly, Mind and Soul Collaborators, A Potted History, and Messages After the Bleep. Their singles include Revolution of Thought, Please Don't Fight, Teenage Turtles, Daydream and A Small Nuclear Device.

Line-up

Members include Fil Walters, also known as Fil Planet, on vocals; Guy McAfffer on keyboards; Carl Hendricke, also known as Carlos Fandango, on bass; Fraggle, also known as David Fletcher, on guitar; Henry Cullen, also known as D.A.V.E. the Drummer, on drums; Alex Hore on guitar; Marshall Penn on guitar; and Amir Mojarrad on drums.

Later activity

The band splits after the release of Messages After the Bleep in 1995, with the members going on to pursue individual music projects. They later perform a reunion gig at the Red Star bar in Camberwell in December 2006.