12 Inches Of Hard Flesh

As the capital’s punk-heavy indie scene gathered strength and New Zealand’s punk rock community raised its head in the provinces the raw rocking quartet of Eugene Pope (guitar), Brent Jenkins (drums), Gerald Dwyer (vocals) and Richard Watts then Dwayne Yule (bass) remained active central figures, both live and on record.

Flesh D-Vice formed in 1982 and quickly gained themselves a large following in the punk and boot-boy scene. The band's hard-edged attitude made no concessions to the arty post-punk sound which had characterised the Wellington scene only a few years earlier. “We are the fastest rock and roll band in the land. Our mission is to keep rock and roll alive. We operate without restraint. We don't appeal to the mainstream but we aren't going to compromise to get popular.” (Truth, December 24, 1984) Fronted by the charismatic vocalist Gerald Dwyer, Flesh D-Vice quickly became a central band in the Wellington scene. In 1983 the band organised the Easter weekend punk festival Golden Showers at the Newtown Community Hall and accompanied this with the release of their first LP '12 Inches of Hard Flesh'.

The band's music and imagery drew heavily on the schlock horror genre within popular culture in a way that openly courted accusations of sexism and the glorification of violence.

Songs like “Kill That Girl” and “Friday Nights (are for fighting)” became anthems within the new Wellington Oi scene and sit some distance away from the politicized anarcho-punk that was emerging in the mid-80s from bands like Compos Mentis. The 'Fleshies' heavy boot-boy following often led to violence at gigs with the band gaining a reputation that had them banned from a number of local venues.

Releasing a further 3 albums along with a number of singles and EPs during the 1980s and into 1991 the always resourceful Dwyer set up his own record label called Hardedge Records to promote “certain bands with a certain approach to their music... basically wild, wild rock.”(Dwyer, Submission zine, 1985). In 1985 the new label released the compilation “The Harder The Edge The Rocker The Roll” which featuring Dwyers pick of the best thrash, metal, punk and rock in New Zealand at the time. Gerald Dwyer later became manager and mentor for a number of new up and coming bands, most notably Shihad and Head Like A Hole, until his death in 1996. The band has since reformed sporadically with Vas Deferens lead singer Steve Andrews on vocal duties.