Having started performing in the late 1970s after being inspired by the spirit and 'do it yourself' ethos of the punk subculture, particularly The Clash's overtly socialist stance, Baine was briefly bass player in punk bands English Disease and Brighton Riot Squad, and spent some time in 1979 in Brussels playing bass in Belgian band Contingent before going solo. (Contingent have now reformed and still gig from time to time) He did his first gig as Attila the Stockbroker at Bush Fair Playbarn, Harlow, Essex, on 8 September 1980. At first he performed poems and songs in between bands at punk rock concerts, accompanying himself on the phased electric mandolin. After this was smashed over his head by fascists during a fight at a performance in North London in May 1982, he got a mandola (a fifth lower) and has played this ever since. He refers to his mandola as "Nelson", in tribute to Nelson Mandela. He has performed in 24 countries, playing venues ranging from the Oxford Union in England to squatted punk clubs in Germany, and performs between 80 and 100 shows every year, sometimes more. He toured East Germany four times before the Berlin Wall came down, performed in a hotel in Enver Hoxha's Albania and had to turn down the opportunity to perform in North Korea (at the World Festival of Youth & Students in 1989) because he was already booked to tour Canada. He was signed by Cherry Red in 1982 after recording a session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. He recorded a second session for Peel in 1983.