Rest in power, rest in punk, Colin!
On 2nd June 2025, Colin Jerwood passed away at 63 years of age. He was the singer (often one of two singers) of Conflict from the founding of the band in 1981 until their recent album ‘This Much Remains’, and the only remaining member of the original line-up.
This is such a sad loss for his family, his bandmates Fiona Jayne Friel (vocals), Stuart Meadows (drums), Gav King (guitar, melodica and Hammond), Fran Fearon (bass), his many friends, and the worldwide punk community. Also a sudden loss, comparable with other recent losses; Syama de Jong, first Dutch punk and Lou’s drummer, and Tony Leeuwenburgh of the Amsterdam Nitwitz who both died after long term health problems. The fact that Fiona has been the only Conflict singer during gigs since March 2025 might have sounded alarm bells, but people expected this to be temporary..
Now that Colin has left us, many voices, in many countries, have taken to the internet to say what a big influence he was on their lives. For instance, hearing Conflict as their first punk band, making them aware of cruelty to animals, of opposing fascism, of the plight of political prisoners, and many other social issues; leading them to become vegetarian or vegan, and to protest against injustice and hate.
In a tribute, Pete Fender, formerly of ‘Fatal’ Microbes and Poison Girls wrote: “We didn’t keep in touch in later years, but we shared many stages and studio sessions back in the early days. Countless wild and crazy times in fact, on tour with Rubella Ballet, Conflict and Omega Tribe, and many other bands too, of course. At Colin’s request, I recorded Conflict Live at the Centro Iberico in 1982, and together we helped to put Hagar the Womb on the map through Colin’s label Mortarhate Records.”
Pete continues “I always thought that one of his oddest traits was his apparent attraction to a bit of argy-bargy. He loved a ruck. ‘Get amongst it!’ he would yell as he leapt into the fray. A lot of those gigs were pretty hairy, and I didn’t share his enthusiasm. But whenever the threat of violence reared, I always knew that Colin had my back. He was that sort of bloke.
He went out with my sister [Rubella Ballet bassist Gem Stone] for a year or two. I knew he fell hard for her, and he held my mother [Poison Girls singer/guitarist Vi Subversa] in great regard too. At one point, it seemed that we might have become in-laws. Professionally, we had our ups and downs, didn’t always see eye to eye. My abiding memory is that I never really knew if he was telling me the truth. I think many of those that knew him would probably say the same.
The last time I saw Colin was in 2015, at [former Conflict drummer] Paco’s memorial gig at the 100 Club. He was grieving hard. I gave him a hug. He gave me a cuddle and told me that he loved me. He was that sort of bloke too.”
In their tribute, the band Hagar the Womb said: “The unexpected passing of Colin Jerwood made us think back to the early 80s when we toured with Conflict and became Mort 2, the second release on Mortarhate Records following Conflict’s blistering ‘The Serenade is Dead’ 7″. [Mortarhate would later also feature other bands, like Icons of Filth, Lost Cherrees, and The Apostles]
Colin approached us one Sunday evening at Wapping Autonomy Centre and asked us if we’d record for Mortarhate. Our immediate response was: “Do we get badges”? We’d been putting sticky labels with our name on them over other bands’ badges, but as much as we embraced DIY, we wanted proper badges.
Colin looked a bit bemused (safe to say he never got that response again) but simply said “yes” and so ‘The Word of the Womb‘ was born. Colin was with us throughout the recording. It was one-take territory, terrifying if you’re a bit inept.
At one point, Ruth and Karen weren’t ready to sing ‘Dressed to Kill‘ but their panicked pleas of “No…no…stop! If you put that on the record, I’ll kill you” were swept aside and they had to join in anyway. Colin insisted on keeping those pleas on the recording and they seem as loved as the song itself. He even joined us mid-song with his trademark “come on then!” roar.
People see him as the Conflict hardman – all energy and rage. He was so different with us, I guess we allowed his soft side to come out. He always had a lot of female interest at gigs and we used to follow him around singing: “he’s got the whole world in his pants” to embarrass him – until we realised he loved it, so we shut up.
Those Conflict gigs were some of the most memorable, hilarious and hair-raising gigs we’ve ever played. We were reunited on stage for Paco’s memorial gig at the 100 Club in 2015, and a sustaining thought now is that Colin is reunited with his beloved Pax and Kev. RIP it up there boys “
Colin said, when interviewed about becoming famous: “No obvious reason. We were just at the right place at the right time. There are so many good bands, if you search beneath the crap of big labels and big radio stations.”
Being at the right place at the right time included meeting Crass shortly after being founded. The first Conflict record, the ‘The House That Man Built’ EP, came out in June 1982 on Crass Records. They played in many places in the UK, such as on 27th July 1982: Rubella Ballet and Conflict, at the 100 Club, London.
Conflict played in the Netherlands on 2nd October 1982, at LVC Leiden together with Omega Tribe and The Hague band Hollands Glorie. Then, on 7th October 1982, at Vera in Groningen, also with Omega Tribe and Hollands Glorie. On 10th October 1982: in Bilzen, in Belgium, with Omega Tribe, Null & Void, the Mob, and Belgian band Siglo XX.
Bands like Crass, Poison Girls, Zounds, get labeled as anarcho-punk. As Steve Lake of Zounds remarked at an Anarcho Punk Panel at the Blackpool Rebellion festival, the bands themselves did not invent that label; it came years after their foundation. Colin was also sceptical about the term. Compared with Crass, Conflict became less focused on non-violence and more on animal rights.
In 1984, Crass disbanded. That meant that Conflict became more prominent in the ‘anarcho-punk’ scene. This was also because Crass singer Steve Ignorant joined them as co-vocalist, and Crass songs were added to the Conflict set.
From 8th to 12th August 1985, Colin and his band toured for the first time in the USA. Especially in Los Angeles, they won many fans. In August 1986, they released the album ‘The Ungovernable Force’; which according to Louder Than War in 2021 is “still one of the best punk rock albums of all time.”
On 28th November 1986, Conflict played the Bat Cave in Tilburg, at the start of a tour in the Netherlands, which ended on 7th December at the Parkhof in Alkmaar. They continued that tour in Germany until 15th December.
On 18th April 1987, Conflict played at the Brixton Academy in London for a benefit event,”The Gathering of the 5000″. A live recording of that concert, where they also played Crass songs, became their double LP ‘Turning Rebellion into Money’; a title from a line in the Clash song ‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais’. The poet Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023) also performed with them there.
Police attacked fans leaving the concert. 52 people were arrested. Many venues in the UK banned Conflict for years. From 2004 till 2024, they released no new records.
However, they played often at the annual Rebellion festival in Blackpool. This is a video of Rebellion in 2023:
In 2007, they played not only in Blackpool, but at the Amsterdam festival also called Rebellion too; the Ruhrpott festival in Gelsenkirchen in Germany, and in Montréal in Canada.
In 2019, Colin was interviewed after a tour in Mexico which he enjoyed. He said that he wanted no more tours of over two weeks.
This is the video of Conflict’s newest single, ‘Cut The Crap’ (title from a line by Benjamin Zephaniah), a track on their latest album ‘This Much Remains’. The music is reggae-influenced punk. Benjamin voicing his lyrics is on the track and in the video. Conflict vocalist Fiona Friel wrote and sings the other lyrics:
‘This Much Remains’ was Conflict’s first studio album in 22 years. The title track ‘This Much Remains’ is a duet by Colin and Fiona; with Fiona in the role of the government, Colin in an anarchist role.
Colin sang in ‘The Collusion Exclusion’: “It’s the same old system and the same old song, 40 years later and they’ve still got it wrong.” A system in which the powerful divide the lower classes and so they can maintain control.
Cruelty to animals is the subject of ‘A Mother’s Milk’ and ‘Shut The Fuck Up’. While ‘Masters Of The Race’ opposes governments and ‘profit over people’ billionaires, like Trump, Musk and Bezos. ‘When the Lights Go Out’ is about the threat of environmental disaster.
The subject of the reggae-influenced ‘Statement Of Intent’ is weaponization of water supply. In ‘Inferno’, the penultimate song, another Colin and Fi duet calls out the ruling classes and their failure to act now to save our planet from climate change. Fittingly, the final track is ‘Concluded’.
Zillah Minx of Rubella Ballet knew Colin already before Conflict started. When Rubella Ballet played at Rebellion in 2024, they played the song ‘Tube Disaster’, originally by Flux Of Pink Indians. Colin came with them onstage to sing along. A very moving moment for him, for Rubella Ballet, and for the audience:
The next day at Rebellion was my final event of the festival: the Anarcho Punk Panel – part II, a lively discussion, including Colin behind the table. Afterwards, Colin and I did a fist bump goodbye greeting, then Rebellion 2024 was over for me. When my band co-founder Terry and I said goodbye to Syama de Jong at her door, all three of us expected to meet again. When Tony Leeuwenburgh of Nitwitz sent me a message in his series about wanting to play onstage without having to travel and making his solo record, I did not know that would be his last message.
Though individual punks like Colin, Syama and Tony pass away, others will continue where they left off, never forgetting the good memories of their predecessors!
Main Photo Credit: SIMON BALAAM
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