The Subdominants

Subdominants
Subdominants
	Will They Ever Play Sober
Background information
Origin	Department of Labour
Genres	Oi Punk
Years active	1987-1988
Associated acts	Flesh D-Vice, Vas Deferens
Past members	Allana Woodford (bass/ vocals), Graham (guitar/ vocals), Neil (drums)

About

Straight Outta Twizel

Jennie and Allana 1986

Allana Woodford’s first memory of punk came from a subversive science teacher back in her home town of Twizel who, as a fan of Radio With Pictures host Barry Jenkin AKA Dr. Rock, took it upon himself to play the Sex Pistol’s in the classroom, “It was the first thing I’d ever felt passionate about. I thought “this is so me! This is such good shit!”

In 1982 Allana and her sister Jennie escaped the clutches of Twizel armed with a copy of UK magazine “Punk Lives!” and made their way to Wellington, at the time widely viewed as a grey shithole riven with the tribal factions of a post-punk scene living in the shadow of 1981’s Springbok Tour protests.

The two sisters quickly fell in with a hard rocking crew, members of which would form the influential punk rock band Flesh D-Vice. As Allana describes it there was a lot of random violence. “The skinhead scene was pretty full on then as well. It started off as a punks against skins thing. I was right in the thick of it. A lot of my good friends then were hard skinheads, but I was a complete mohican punk through and through.”

The Sub-Dominants

Sometime in 1987, Allana found herself on a then Department of Labour scheme aimed at getting people off the dole, or at least focussing their attention somewhere constructive between benefit days. Allana: “We were given three choices gardening, art or music. We thought music would be the soft option.”

Choosing to thrash chords over slashing gorse Allana picked up a bass and started playing with Graham on guitar and Neil on drums. After a few months graft they emerged as The Sub-Dominants; a three piece, three chord punk band whose songs were bleak odes to insanity, domestic abuse and alcoholism. Their first ever gig, organised by the good folk at the DOL had them playing to a school hall full of primary aged children. Many danced, some wondered around confused, a few burst into tears.

First gig rage

A rough first gig, but the DOL and Government T.A.P scheme also ponied up for some recording time at Writhe Studios and a 12” vinyl compilation with Madness To Mana being the result. Put together with the help of Morehu Social Services it features cover art, by Steve Andrews, vocalist for local band Vas Deferens, with a rasta and a punk sharing a joint while a Department of Labour office burns behind them.

The Sub-Dominants soon found themselves opening for Flesh D-Vice on the Hellfire and Damnation tour: Allana: “Gerald made us play at a halloween gig where he hung pigs heads around the stage. We had to play with these pigs heads and there were flies and it was really gross.”

In 1988 The Sub-Dominants members called last sup. A year spent jamming and playing in a punk band as part of a government dole scheme had come to an end.