The Faders were a Ballymoney based band, very much caught up in the energy of the Northern Ireland punk movement of the late 70’s. The band were Paul 'Kipper' Dickson (lead vocals), Hugh 'Bamber' McIlfatrick (guitar/vocals), Chris 'Cree' Tweed (guitar/vocals), John Henry (bass) and Willis Beckett (drums). They cut their chops in venues such as Spuds in Portstewart and Kelly’s at Portrush, perfecting their blend of pub rock and new wave. They often shared the stage with other North Coast bands such as Cramp and the Xdreamysts.

The Faders also played once at the infamous Harp Bar in Belfast supported by The Idiots. In attendance at the gig was film maker John T Davis who was scouting for bands for his film 'Shellshock Rock'. Chris Tweed recalls the night in question “The Harp Bar management 'provided' us with a support band called The Idiots and I remember having to tune their instruments for them. What a laugh. I thought we would get lynched because we weren't very punk, though not as hippy-like as the Xdreamysts! Anyway, John T Davis chose the Outcasts over us for the film. He thought we were too middle-class”.

The band's only single 'Cheatin'' surfaced on George Doherty's Rip Off Record label in June 1979 with the excellent punk/powerpop 'Library Book' track on the flip. Both tracks were produced by Doherty at his Hyde Park Studios in Templepatrick. Chris Tweed “Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the original Faders single, and I believe they are fetching a reasonable price on the internet. I probably gave my last copy away trying to impress a girlfriend!”

Five or six tracks were later recorded for a proposed album (including the rip roaring 'In It For The Kicks' which recently surfaced on the 'Rip Off' compilation LP on Sing Sing Records from NYC), followed by a further three with new drummer Joe Flegg. The album was never released as the band split up when Chris Tweed left to go to university. The others continued briefly as The Persuaders with the addition of guitarist Micky McCauley. Chris Tweed “Sadly the album never got released, but there were some great tracks recorded for it at Hydepark Studios by Clive Culbertson. Bamber wrote a song called "Over And Out" which managed to combine reggae and country and sound fantastic. It's a shame we didn't make that album. Four of the tracks recorded for the proposed album have recently been discovered by Cherry Red Records when they bought the entire Rip Off Records back catalogue from George Doherty. These include ‘Over & Out’.

Paul "Kipper" Dickson emigrated to Canada where he runs a very successful shop selling high quality Irish designed and made craft products. Chris "Cree" Tweed resides in Cardiff after spending 15 years as an academic in Queen's University Belfast. He plays dobro in a bluegrass band, Hugh "Bamber" McIlfatrick is now an accomplished artist (of the painting variety) and has exhibited in London. He's still keen on music and writing songs. We have no details on John "Eggs" Henry, or for that matter Willis Beckett who left for the bright lights of London. So if you’re out there fellas, do get in touch.

Chris has the final word “The late 70s and early 80s was a great time for music in NI with lots of high energy punk coming out of Belfast and more melodic stuff from The Undertones and the Tearjerkers, for example. The Faders were always influenced by country rock and the West Coast sound but took on board some of the rawness of punk. There was a really good scene around the North Coast (particularly, Spuds in Portstewart) with excellent bands like the Xdreamysts, The Sweat and Minor Classics playing their own material as well as covers. I don't think that still exists probably because of the wider shift away from live music everywhere. It was a fun time and I made some lifelong friends”