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Mike Briguglio comes from a family whose members are often in the public eye. He has been politically active for many years, but is also well known as a drummer playing in a number of bands. Mike has made a name for himself as a drummer with Norm Rejection, Filletti & Friends and Dripht. Dripht and The I Skandal are playing on the Hera yacht, Saturday 4 September and tickets are available from the Music Club, Valletta. 
What inspired you to become a musician and more specifically a drummer?
To begin with, my mother comes from a musical family, the Lucias. I have loved music ever since I was a child. I remember listening to Adam andthe Ants and Shaken Stevens’ when I was about five years old! I then remember hearing Tears for Fears and others, and by the time I was eleven, cyber-punk band Sigue Sigue Sputnik hit me real hard! In the meantime, lots of rock'n'roll used to be played at my parents’ wild parties full of extrovert intellectuals, radicals and other types. As a teenager, I became very much influenced by heavy metal. I became addicted to bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. I also heard drummer Cozy Powell in the classic ‘Rainbow Rising’ album and he immediately became a hero. During that time my sister Marie played the drums. Eventually, I decided to become a drummer and took it very seriously. Later on, I learned that my late grandfather - who died before I was born - used to play the drums at ix-Chalet in Sliema!
You play/have played in several bands what does each one give to you?
Norm Rejection (1994 - ): I am very proud to be a co-founder and lyric-writer of this band, which was one of the first metal bands in Malta to introduce th crossover concept in its style while putting forward a socio-political message of rebellion. I am particularly proud of the band's 2 albums ‘Deconform’ (1998) and ‘0002’ (2000) and of the fact that the band had sizeable audiences in all its live concerts.
Filletti & Friends: I played in this band between 1995 and 2002. Here I had the opportunity to play loud blues music and to improvise and jam while playing live. Apart from the charismatic Ivan Filletti, this band was made up of guitarist Sean Vukovic (of Norm Rejection) and bassist Rex, both of whom have been friends since our teenage years, when we started playing together! Together we recorded the ‘Filletti & Friends’ album, released in 2001.
Dripht: While being broadly defined as a punk band, Dripht fuses various styles, including reggae, hip-hop and metal together with its agit-prop socio-political lyrics. I particularly like playing live with Dripht because of our raw crossover feel and energy and the great feedback especially from punks. Dripht has just released its debut self-titled EP. Besides myself on the drums, Dripht is made up of Nick Morales (Vocals and Guitar), Fre (Bass) and El Flambo (Guitar).
I have also recently joined an as yet-unnamed project with Fre (Dripht Bassist), Patrick (ex-Dripht guitarist) and Zizza (of Totema and Vegetables)
fame. More of this soon!
You are a political person - what messages do you try to convey through your music?
Through our music we aim to raise awareness and inspire activism in favour of global social justice, civil rights, peace, liberation, protection of the environment, radical democracy, and the like.
Which bands have inspired you and continue to do so, why?
My all-time favourite bands include Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rage Against the Machine, The Clash, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Gang of Four,
Faith No More, Dio, AC\DC, Deep Purple, Sly & Robbie, Cozy Powell, The Prodigy and many others. All inspire me for musical reasons. Some have been particularly inspirational for their lyrics, too. In particular, Rage Against the Machine were a major reason why I decided to become a leftist, eventually leading to my activism within Moviment Graffitti as from 1994.
Do you see your bands, or Maltese music in general as being vehicles for social change?
As Bertold Brecht put it, “Art is not a mirror of reality but a hammer with which to shape it.” Art influences our perception of realities and situations. It can be a vehicle for change. In the case of the Malta punk scene, various bands have inspired youth to become socially/politically active. Similarly, other scenes and genres such as 'L-Ghanja tal-Poplu' has produced a lot of inspirational socially-committed songs.
The aesthetic/musical creativity of Maltese bands and musicians is very bland, do you think something is missing from Maltese culture?
I actually think that there are lots of creative styles and genres that are not as exposed to the masses, as say, the Song for Europe festival. Bands such as Forsaken, Beheaded, Beangrowers, Etnika, Lumiere, Slit, Corkskrew and others have made Malta’s underground and alternative scenes proud through their relative successes beyond Malta's shores. Others such as Walter Micallef and Batteries Not Included have been consistently producing top-quality songs for some years now.
Do you see Dripht changing direction...if so in which way?
Dripht is a punky-reggae rock band with a militant attitude and lyrics. At the same there are no musical boundaries. As a band we want to keep growing, but there are some things that we will never compromise. I can’t see us featuring in a McDonald's advert while playing benefit gigs for animal rights!
What do you think can be done by the authorities to improve the popularity of music made by Maltese?
The first thing that should be done is to do away with the elitist attitude of some decision-makers who have an exclusionary and outdated vision of culture and who need to do some serious reading on popular culture. This is evident in music. To give an example, such a vision considers classical music, jazz, band marches and the Song for Europe Festival to form part of culture but considers punk, metal, dance and other styles as being ‘vulgar’ expressions beyond culture. This vision leads to exclusion, where some styles are more equal than others.
Do your bands aim mostly to entertain or is it more an sense of artistic expression which is important?
Dripht gives a lot of importance to artistic expression. We are proud of our identity and are not ready to do away with it to get more exposure. At the same time, we wouldn’t be playing it if we didn’t like it, and it is of major inspiration to see consistent audience participation and energy during our live gigs - especially from the punks!
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