“In 1981 we (The Rifffs) decided to play the Alhambra with a London band called Urban Dissidence as support and the place was absolutely packed. Stuffed with people. By the time we came on, the whole crowd went completely mental and started to destroy the whole place. I mean ripping the seats out and such. In the end there was over Lm2,000 in damage. It was a great night.”
Welcome to the world of Ray Mercieca. Not only has he had success with one band but with two, namely the pioneering punk band the Rifffs and rock group the Characters. And since the successful reformation of the former band in 2006, the Characters are now back in business with a new single in the offing. But it’s Ray, along with the help of Characters Gino and Adam, who tells me a funny, weird, tragic, almost Spinal Tap-esque piece of Maltese rock history: most importantly, it is all true.
Part One, The Riffs (1978-1980). It’s 1977, and the state of underground music in Malta was undeniably dire. “Most bands played cover versions, originality was scarce and the only way really for a rock band to make a bit of money was to perform at weddings,” Ray says, who bothered by all this, decided to form a band along with a few liked-minded people, who were just as disillusioned.
They had two main aims. One was to just play music for fun. The other, to play strictly original material. As all four were into early punk and heavily into ska, this came out in the music. The Rifffs played fast, hard and loud (something that hasn’t been lost to this very day). Their first concert was held at Caesar’s in Bugibba, where to everyone’s surprise the place was packed. Shortly after the Rifffs recorded a demo that gained support from Radju Malta 1’s deejay Noel Mallia (he was the only person who dared play it), and slowly the cult of the Rifffs is forming.

Gig number two took place in The Ambassador, with another overwhelming response. “Despite the fact that the equipment was borrowed and everything done on the spur of the moment, the whole thing was pulled off and we noticed there was a change on the way,” Ray says. “Loads of other punk bands were forming with the same DIY aesthetic. Something was happening,” and indeed, the gig caught the attention of state TV, with Xandir Malta filming and broadcasting the event. After one last gig at the Savoy (“it was great too”) the band decamped to London to take things further.
Part Two, London and back to Malta (1980-1981). Luck seemed to be on the band’s side: not only did they manage to wrangle a record deal with the now defunct indie label Alternative Music, but they record a few tracks. Dance Music for 80’s Depression was recorded in one take, liked by many… even a certain John Peel who plugged the single quite a bit.
“Unfortunately,” (and this isn’t the first time bad luck rears it’s head), “the distributor, Pinnacle, goes bust, which meant there wasn’t widespread release of the single,” Ray says. “The band returned to Malta, we played the infamous 1981 Alhambra gig and released Dance Music for 80’s Depression, with a dub version of the song as a b-side, which did very well. Although we found ourselves in the absurd position of having our music played in clubs and yet not being allowed to play in them due to their image!”
Soon enough, right in the midst of a punk scene slowly brewing on the island, the Rifffs decided to head off to London again, and record an album. Some band members don’t like the situation and leave. The Rifffs are no longer.
Part Three, The Characters mark 1 (1986). At this time, Ray says, “punk is changing”.
“I had to change my style, so I put down my electric guitar and starting using an acoustic one instead,” and that’s when he met, crucially, Gino Micallef. “So Gino, I and the band were about to play a gig in Kingsway FC, and we don’t have a name. In desperation we ask one of the organisers to give us some ideas. She thinks and says that she thinks that we are a bunch a characters. Instantly I say, ‘that’s right, we are now The Characters and we play the gig’.”
The Characters notch second place in a competition at the Hippodrome, where they are allowed to record a single in King’s Cross Studios, which they brought back to Malta. “So we have a batch of singles and we are really happy and excited and can’t wait to distribute them… and then when we arrive in Malta to find out that the box of singles hadn’t arrived. After some inquiries we find out that they were lost in customs!”
Dark years ensue. Ray says music was changing again and that he couldn’t relate to it. He disbands the Characters, takes a break, and little much happens up until 1992.
Part Four, The Characters mark 2 (1992-1996). The Characters reformed along with Adam Bonello and of Tony Grixti ‘il-Gaggu’; Ray started writing songs again, with a new and larger fan-base. Loads of gigs ensue. One day, producer Leo Bei hears a demo and wants the band to play in Austria and record. Naturally the Characters go for it. “We landed in Austria and Leo told us the first thing he had to do is take a bath as we were stinking, and that’s what we did. As I was sitting in the water, Leo Bei’s girlfriend waltzes in and joins me. It was a surreal moment.”
The group record their debut album Destination Red, released to critical appeal and play huge packed gigs, the most notable being the massive Luxol concert in 1996, which took the Characters themselves by surprise, attracting a crowd of 6,000. It was the year in which the Characters would rise up to their peak and almost instantly descend to the pits when the band lose an important person close to them, their manager Michael Williams, who passes away, creating a second split after the release of their third album, Face to Face.
And for the past years since then, Ray Mercieca has been making music with various bands. His heart isn’t in it but he keeps at it. “Last year, I received a call from an old Rifffs bandmate, Rayvin, asking me if the Rifffs should reunite. I answered positively, but only if we had the magic… There we were in the garage and we start to play and everything comes naturally. It’s like we never even split up. Everything was the same, if not even more energetic.”
Cue two popular reunion gigs at Tattingers and the Beer Festival. They have since released a single, Life of Crime, and it still gets the resistance people showed them back in the 70s. A second single, the mighty fine Jack the Ripper, has been released and an album is on the way.
And it’s also this year that all the members of the Characters are back, feeling that now is the right time to return. They’ve been practicing and plan to release a single, So Alive, soon. “This time around everyone is more mature,” Gino chips in. “Music is our life again and Adam is back (as he was abroad for a while) and Ray is a stronger writer and I hope people will respond positively.”
And that’s a 30-year-old rock story: started by people irritated by the times they lived in and… still irritated by the times they live in. Some things never do change and this is one of them. For a band who are in their forties, they still have the same reasons for making music.

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