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Eight new bands have been added to the Slam Dunk Festival; Mallory Knox, The Story So Far, Set Your Goals, The Starting Line, Zebrahead, Capdown, We Came As Romans and Miss May I. May Sat 28 Leeds City Centre, Slam Dunk Festival North Sun 29 Birmingham, NEC, Slam Dunk Festival Midlands Mon 30 Hatfield, University Of Hertfordshire, Slam Dunk Festival South Despised Icon, Heart Of A Coward, Eskimo Callboy and Hellions are the latest bands to be announced for the Impericon Festival UK. They will join Hatebreed, Northlane, Emmure, Blessthefall, Chelsea Grin and Hundredth for the festival which takes place on the following dates: May 02 Academy 1, Manchester 03 O2 Forum Kentish Town, London The first names for Hevy Fest 2016 have been confirmed. Although the main stage headliners are yet to be announced, the 13 names are led by Refused, While She Sleeps, SikTh and Animals As Leaders. They’re joined by Hacktivist, Gnarwolves, Krokodil, No Consequence, Devil Sold His Soul, Forever Never, Vukovi, Murdock, and When Our Time Comes. Hevy Fest 2016 takes place at Newhaven, Derbyshire on Friday August 19th and Saturday August 20th. Tickets are priced at £79.
Avenged Sevenfold have exercised their right under California law to leave their label - Warner Bros.
Records. The band are utilising the “seven year rule” of the California Labor Code which allows artists the ability to leave personal service contracts under certain circumstances after seven years have passed. However Warner Bros. Records has filed a breach-of-contract suit. The label claims that they’ve invested money in the band’s future, as well as financing a live CD/DVD, so the band’s opt out is unfair and breaches good-faith and fair dealings. In good news, Avenged Sevenfold are currently writing a new album and hope to have it released by the end of 2016.
Explosions in the Sky will release their new album, 'The Wilderness’, on April 1st via Temporary Residence Ltd.
Mogwai have revealed their new album will be titled 'Atomic’ and will be released on April 1st via Rock Action.
Weezer will release 'Weezer’ (“The White Album”) on April 1st. Blood Youth have revealed their sophomore EP, 'Closure’ will be released on March 11th on Rude Records.
HECK are set to release their debut album, 'Instructions’ on March 11th through NPAG Industries. Into It. Over It. has confirmed their new album, 'Standards’ will be released on March 11th via Triple Crown Records.
Los Angeles punk quartet Plague Vendor will return on March 25th with the release of 'Bloodsweat’ via Epitaph Records. Bethlehem, PA indie rockers Slingshot Dakota’s new LP will be titled 'Break’ and will be released on March 11th via Topshelf Records. Indie/punk quartet Young and Heartless have set a release date of March 25th for their new album - 'Stay Away’. The album will be released through Hopeless Records.
Orange County, CA quartet Movements are set to release their debut EP, 'Outgrown Things’ through Fearless Records on March 11th. North Dakota based Glass Houses have signed with InVogue Records. The band is hitting the studio with Josh Schroeder (The Plot In You, The Color Morale, Still Remains) to record their debut full length album which is due out this Autumn.
Three Trapped Tigers will be returning with their first album in five years, 'Silent Earthling’, on April 1st via Superball Music.
Scottish trio Fatherson have set a release date of June 3rd for their new album - 'Open Book’. It will be released through Life/Sony RED. As they put the final touches to their debut album, Zoax have announced a one-off show at The Black Heart in Camden on February 23rd.
One Man Boycott will release their debut album, 'Counting The Seconds’, on March 23rd through Super Sick Records.
A Lot Like Birds vocalist Kurt Travis will be releasing a split EP with singer/songwriter Paul Travis through Kurt’s record label, Esque Records, on February 1st.
Ohio’s Convictions are the latest band to join InVogue Records. They are currently recording their debut full-length with producer Nick Ingram. US “angry pop” quartet ROMP have confirmed their debut full-length, 'Departure From Venus’, will be released on March 4th via Bad Timing Records. Hardcore mob Lock & Key will release their debut full-length, 'Peaceless’, on April 8th via Crooked Noise.
Cherry, the new band from Kite Party’s Russell Edling have joined Lame-O Records. A 7" entitled 'Gloom’ will be released on February 19th.
London, Ontario emo rockers First Ghost are set to release their debut full-length, 'Secret Talk’, on April 1st. Arizonian metallers Incite have confirmed their new album, 'Oppression’ will be released on April 22nd.
Knocked Loose have signed to Pure Noise Records. The band will release their debut full-length later this year.
Hacktivist will release their highly-anticipated debut album 'Outside The Box’ on March 4th via UNFD. Brighton four-piece Verses have announced they’ve split. Swedish five-piece I Love Your Lifestyle will release their debut full-length, 'We Go Way Back’, through Dog Knights Productions on February 26th.
Raging Speedhorn have entered the studio to record a new album. It is their first record with original vocalist Frank Regan since 2005s 'How The Great Have Fallen’, and the first with their new line up.
Noisey Math-rock trio BRITNEY have set a release date of March 11th for their new album - 'BRITN3Y’. Brighton Math-Prog Trio Poly-Math have confirmed details of their new mini-album. 'Melencolia’ will be released on April 8th via Superstar Destroyer Records.
Wednesday 13 will bring his ‘Undead, Unplugged’ tour back to the UK late next month. February Wed 24th Think Tank, Newcastle Thu 25th Waterfront, Norwich Fri 26th Crauford Arms, Milton Keynes Sat 27th Underworld, London Sun 28th Thekla, Bristol March Tue 1st Rescue Rooms, Nottingham Wed 2nd Duchess, York Thu 3rd Oobleck, Birmingham Fri 4th Parish, Huddersfield Sat 5th Satan’s Hollow, Manchester
London-based progressive, psychedelic rockers Messenger have signed to InsideOutMusic for the release of their forthcoming second album ‘Threnodies’ due on the 22nd of April.
COLT 45 have set a release date of April 29th for their new 'Snakes & Ladders’ EP. Trivium have announced a string of UK headline shows. March Sun 20th UEA, Norwich Mon 21st Corn Exchange, Ipswich Tue 22nd Pyramids, Portsmouth Wed 23rd O2 Academy, Bristol Fri 25th O2 Academy, Oxford Sat 26th Engine Shed, Lincoln Sun 27th O2 Academy, Leicester Tue 29th Barbican, York Wed 30th Empire, Middlesbrough Thu 31st Grand Hall, Kilmarnock April Fri 1st Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen
Weezer will play two UK shows in support of their new album. April 03 Academy 1, Manchester 05 O2 Brixton, London Sheffield pop-punkers Fierce Morgan will be playing two UK shows alongside Rotherham skate punks Cast Ashore as part of a bigger European run.
At The Drive In have confirmed shows in Dublin and London as part a set of European shows. March 26 Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland 27 Roundhouse, London Sheffield indie-punks Nai Harvest will be back out on the road in the Spring. February 21st Rough Trade, Nottingham 22nd Start The Bus, Bristol March 25th Leadmill, Sheffield* 26th Brudenell Social Club, Leeds* 27th Think Tank, Newcastle* 29th Deaf Instititue, Manchester* 30th Rainbow Cellar, Birmingham* 31st Hope & Ruin, Brighton* 1st Boston Music Rooms, London* 2nd The Cookie, Leicester* * support from Abattoir Blues
Moose Blood will head out on a UK headline tour in February. April 13 Fleece, Bristol (U16s w/adult) 14 1865, Southampton (16+) 15 Islington Academy, London (14+) 16 Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton (U16s w Adult) 17 Rescue Rooms, Nottingham (14+) 18 Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (14+) 20 Sound Control, Manchester (14+) 21 Academy 2, Newcastle (14+) 22 Mash House, Edinburgh (14+) 23 Arts Club, Liverpool (14+)
Bullet For My Valentine will head out on a UK tour in November. November 24 Centre, Newport 27 Academy, Newcastle 30 Academy, Glasgow December 03 Academy, Manchester 06 Academy, Birmingham 09 Brixton Academy, London
Meet Me in St. Louis will be reuniting for two shows in June. June Fri 17 Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Sat 18 The Dome, London
SikTh have joined Suicidal Tendencies as support for the upcoming Slipknot UK tour. February 8th Arena, Cardiff 9th Alexandra Palace, London 10th Alexandra Palace, London 12th Genting Arena, Birmingham 13th First Direct Arena, Leeds 15th SSE Arena, Belfast
Counterfeit have announced they will be playing London’s Electric Ballroom on 23rd April.
On AlreadyHeard.com Over at Already Heard you will find music news daily, tons of album reviews, live photos, interviews, tour blogs, exclusive streams, acoustic video sessions, features and much more. Alreadyheard.com Facebook.com/alreadyheard Twitter.com/alreadyhearduk @AlreadyHeardUK Youtube.com/user/AlreadyHeardMusic info@alreadyheard.com
Interview with Alex
How did you get to the album title ‘Backbone’ and what does it mean to you? Naming things has always been the hardest part and it’s pretty much always the last thing we do. For us it had to be something that meant something to us and yet a name that would fit perfectly with the songs. It took weeks coming up with it, but we started thinking about what we were trying to do with this album. We felt like we had taken a lot of risks in the directions of sounds and themes we had chosen. So for us it felt like we needed courage to put out an album like this one. Hence the name ‘Backbone’.
With this being your debut album, did you feel any pressure when heading into the studio to put it together? We started writing the album about three months before going into the studio. We felt the pressure as we started off but as the songs were progressing more and more we felt a lot more confident. We were still finishing off ideas in the studio but I don’t think we really felt any pressure in doing so. We decided to come away from the studio partly because we became ill from too many Pot Noodles and also because we didn’t want to rush into completing anything too quickly. We had this time away to really re-think melodies and lyrics and then came back a couple months later to finish the job. In the end I feel like giving ourselves this time to re-think was a crucial part of making the record something we are so proud of today.
How would you say the material on the album compares to anything you have done before? We feel the material is a lot different to what we have done previously. We wanted it to encompass a number of different sounds and become a collection of songs that all sorts of different music fans could enjoy.
Can you tell us about the narrative behind ‘Hopeless Case’ as well as how the music video for it came together? When it came to thinking up ideas for the Hopeless Case video, we realised that we couldn’t think of anything to do in England and so when realising we were touring the USA and playing Las Vegas later that month, we thought this would be the best place to do a music video for it. The song isn’t about gambling but because the words in the chorus are ‘You lose this time’, we felt like we could play on that. We love thinking up ideas for videos and this one worked out so well. We wanted it to seem like a movie, in that we all played very distinguishable characters, with the classic opening credits. We all enter in on a dodgy, back alley poker
How did you end up working with Drew Lawson, and what was he like to work with? We had already worked with Drew Lawson when creating our Viewpoint EP. He worked so hard on it that we went back again with him to do Backbone. Drew would work over twelve hours a day on our record just because he was so passionate about it, which we really loved. He spent a lot of time on everything and really cared about it.
How did you end up working with Matt Wilson for guest vocals on ‘Deadweight’? A guy called Phil Gornell worked on the EP and album with us, and thought it would sound amazing getting Matt Wilson from Set Your Goals on one of the tracks. He knew him personally and asked away, Matt said yes and it sounds great with him on ‘Deadweight’.
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour with Sum 41, and what can attending fans expect? We are very excited to be playing with Sum 41, such an iconic band and a real influence on our musical development. We will be putting on a show, we’re incorporating things we haven’t done in a live setting before which will be fun but kind of nerve-racking at the same time.
Can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road in 2015? Personally a highlight for me was supporting All Time Low in Spain and France. They were big shows and the crowds were amazing. It was also nice playing Spain for the first time as it had been earmarked as a milestone on ROAM’s agenda for quite a while. Another highlight, I would say, was flying over to the United States with the band for the first time.
What else can we expect to see from ROAM in 2016? For 2016 you can expect ROAM to be doing a lot of touring. We want to be bringing this album to as many people and as many countries as possible. You can also expect to see another video or two in 2016.
Interview with Kim
How did My Dear Addiction originally form? Well, it all started a long time ago. I was playing guitar in a death metal band at the moment, when our drummer (Peter Parkeborn) just moved back to our little city of Ă„lmhult. He was a drummer and looking to start a new band in the area. One day he just came knocking on our door, in the middle of a rehearsal and just stood there for a while, (we kept on playing) then he just said: sounds ok... Do you know any guitarist that wants to try out for another band? We didn't hehe.. but he kept on asking and so I finally decided to come along to his rehearsal. We tried just jamming for a while and everything absolutely clicked. On that very day, we formed the foundation of the band. At that time, it was called BLIND. After a couple of different member changes and trying to find our own way in the genre, we decided that we could use a fresh start again, and so we changed our name to My Dear Addiction.
How did you get to the band name My Dear Addiction, and what does it mean to you? I came up with the idea when we were talking about a fresh start. We were like, man.. music is something that we could never live without. It’s always going to be there in some way, it's our addiction. Yeah.. "My Dear Addiction". Through hard times, and through good times.
So, how did you get to the album title Kill the Silence, and what does it mean to you? Basically, we have gone through some hard times with a lot of member changes and the constant feeling of stagnation. Straight after we released our debut album, "New Blood", all the members that were left were Peter and I. And so our search continued. We were back to square one, looking to find members that had the heart and the will to keep on going and pushing the band in the direction that we felt was right. So now, ONLY six years after the release of our debut album, we are back. It's Time to "Kill the Silence" with our new album. Our first thought was to name the album "Six years to kill the silence " but it was too long and we decided to stick with "Kill the Silence" Today, the lineup feels really, really good. We have so much fun at rehearsals. As it should be!
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout Kill the Silence? The biggest influence, is the journey these six years have taken us through. There have been some down periods when we were thinking along the lines of: " F*ck it ", why even bother.. but those thoughts passed our minds just about as quick as they entered. There was always something in the back of our minds that kept on saying: keep on going! And so I must say, almost every song on the album is there to bring out some kind of hope and fighting spirit, and to hopefully give some motivation and inspiration for those who listen to it.
What was the hardest part about putting Kill the Silence together for you guys, and why? Well, to live up to our first album, for sure. If we look at the songs from the last album, they have a pretty equal amount of plays and streams throughout the album. We want to achieve that with this album as well. We want all the songs to be great. (but hey doesn’t every band feel like that?).
What can you tell us about the narrative behind your most recent single Winners? Winners, the short & censured version: well it’s about people who THINK they are much better then everybody else. People who won’t keep their feet on the ground. And while being busy acting like that, they don't see that they have actually become the losers. 'Winners' is a song about the people who have heart and humbleness. Those are the people who will win in the end.
What song are you really enjoying performing live at the moment from Kill the Silence, and why? It’s hard to choose, some of them we have never played live for an audience, but one song that ALWAYS squeezed every little energy drop out of me, is Our Fire Inside. It's a song that is fully dedicated to our fans. It's a great song to "bang your head to ".
How would you say Kill the Silence compares to anything you've done before? I believe that we have have achieved something great with this album and I am proud of the songs that ended up on the album. I really hope that people can feel the heart and soul that was put into it.
How did the album artwork for Kill the Silence come together, and what does it mean to you? We wanted a cover that could create a sense of what we felt inside. A frustration, a longing.. to Kill the Silence
What else can we expect to see from My Dear Addiction in 2016? We kicked of 2016 with a European tour and we are planning more gigs and tours as we speak. We are also looking to start the pre-production of our third album. We are really eager to ignite this spark into a flame.
Interview with Graz
Can you tell us about the formation of Lacey? Three of us met at school and have been playing music together since we were teens, probably for around ten years. We moved to Nottingham for Uni and kept playing together, although this eventually ran its course. Whilst in Nottingham, we had the pleasure of meeting Dave, funnily enough through a 5-a-side football team. He’d also been playing in various bands over the years. After things didn’t work out on the football pitch – we decided we were best suited to being on stage, we booked our first rehearsal and Lacey was formed. We made a conscious effort to pool our experiences from previous bands and to make sure we go about things in the right way. It’s been love ever since.
How did you get to the band name Lacey, and what does it mean to you? We all grew up listening to Brand New – they’re one of our favourite bands of all time and their singer is called Jesse Lacey. It's a little nod to him as being a huge musical influence on us over the years. However it’s a bit more than that. It’s something that connects us all from our young, formative years. Brand New were the soundtrack to that time - it’s something all four of us can relate to and they’re a band we all still listen to and see live to this day.
For those that haven't heard Lacey just yet, then how would you describe your sound? We have our roots firmly planted in the 2001 Long island scene. We grew up listening to bands like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday and I think their influence will always be apparent in our writing. We’re also huge supporters of the current British Rock scene and there’s an obvious Britsh edge to what we play. Generally, we try to fuse pop with rock elements. We tend to keep verses chilled and more mellow - this allows us to explode into big choruses. The best advice I could give to people would be to go listen for yourselves. There’s been countless times where people have picked who they think is influencing us and they’re often bands I wouldn’t have even considered – it’s always a pleasant surprise.
How did you get to the title 'I Don’t Owe The World A Thing' for your upcoming EP? The title loosely represents the way we approached writing the EP, in the sense that we wanted to create something the four of us would be forever proud of, rather than creating something in line with some perceived expectation. We feel it’s a real, defiant statement and one that we hope people listening can apply to their own lives. Be what you want to be, be who you are.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run through 'I Don’t Owe The World A Thing'? It’s certainly a touch more melancholy than we’re perhaps used to and there are some real, dark undertones at times. However, this is married with a real sense of defiance and an unwillingness to accept it. I think it creates a really interesting dynamic to the tracks and the release as a whole. Lyrically, the EP reflects the point in my life where I was when writing the songs, that’s how all Lacey releases are formed. There’s no pre-conceived ideas or themes, it’s pretty much what comes out on the paper is what’s going on in my mind, it’s the best way to write for me and it’s the most honest way.
How did you end up working with Drew Lawson, and what were they like to work with? Funnily enough, Lacey’s first ever show was with Drew’s old band Summerlin. He’s a Nottingham lad so we often bumped into him from time to time after that. We share a lot of musical influences so things blossomed from there. We actually recorded one of the singles form our album at Steel City Studios where Drew is a producer. After working with him for a short time on that track we knew we wanted to record our next release with him. He really bought into what we were going for and helped develop that sound and the results speak for themselves.
What was the hardest part about putting this EP together for you guys, and why? In terms of writing, we could argue that this EP came together easier than other releases. Purely for that fact that we all knew the direction we wanted to go with the tracks and we all agreed to write the way we wanted to write, rather than how we felt we should. From there things just seemed to click as the tracks began to develop and evolve. We’re all extremely pleased with the outcome and put everything into its conception, we feel it’s a true representation of who Lacey are and what we’re about. However, when something’s crafted with such love, you could argue it can have a downside in that you want everything to be perfect and you won’t accept anything less. However hopefully that philosophy has paid off.
How would you say your style has grown/changed since you first started out? Our sound tends to reflect where we are in our lives and who we are as people at that time. Obviously, as the years go by our position and perception will change, themes that ran through previous releases may not hold as much relevance as they did then, however we always seem to, perhaps subconsciously, capture a point in our lives at the time of a release. It’s a great perspective to have when looking back over our material and here’s to looking forward! I’m excited to see where we’ll be when some new material comes around.
How excited are you for your upcoming tour with Bowling For Soup, and what can attending fans expect? It’s Incredibly exciting to be hitting the road with some genuine punk-rock legends. We’ve been fortunate enough to tour with Jaret in his other band and Erik with his solo material, but to head out with the whole gang is unbelievable. They’ve been doing this for 20 years now and I can only dream Lacey will be as fractionally as successful. There’ll certainly be a lot of energy, and some drinking for that matter! I think just generally these shows will have such a great vibe and everyone will leave with a smile on their face. We cannot wait!
What else can we expect to see from Lacey in 2016? First and foremost, 2016 sees the release of our 5 track EP, ‘I Don’t Owe the World a Thing,’ out February 5th. We can’t stress enough how proud we are of this release and how much of ourselves is shown in these songs. After the BFS tour, we’ll be hitting the road ourselves for our own headline tour, dates and cities to be confirmed. After that…the sky’s the limit.
Can you tell us about the formation of 'Like Pacific'? The band started in and around Fall 2010. Jordan and a few kids from the Durham region (40 minutes outside of Toronto) started it up as a for fun thing. I had stopped playing in bands/music for like two years because I was burnt out but had an itch to start playing again, so I threw up an ad on Craigslist and we (LP) both just kind of found eachother from there. We started hopping on any/every show we could and then released a debut EP called "The Worst...", a few short months after the release, the entire band quit on us. So Jordan and I moved the band to Toronto and kept it going from there.
How did you get to the band name 'Like Pacific' and what does it mean to you? Our first guitarist always liked having the words "Like" and "Pacific" in a band name. So he literally just stuck it together and here we are today haha. I honestly wish there was a cooler story behind our name haahaha. We actually thought about changing it after relocating to Toronto but we had started gaining momentum and people were catching on, so we just kept it. In retrospect, I think Like Pacific means passion and goals to me now. Jordan and I have invested the past six years into this band and everything that we've accomplished so far is pretty surreal.
For those that might be unfamiliar with your band, then how would you describe your sound? Melodic, Gritty and Pissed. We thrive on our relatability to our listeners and pretty much "saying" what our listeners have always wanted to, but can't.
How did you get to the album title 'Distant Like You Asked', and what does it mean to you? The title comes from the title track of the album which is "Distant." Being "distant" from someone, no matter what end, can drive anyone insane and can put them in a unsettling place. It's an absolutely shitting feeling and I think we've all been there at one point.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout 'Distant Like You Asked'? Like all of our releases, this album is like a memoir of our singer Jordan's past experiences. We don't like to write songs about things we've never dealt with, it just doesn't feel right.
Interview with Chris
How did the artwork for 'Distant Like You Asked' come together, and what do you want it to mean to your fans? Our old guitarist Dylan Burnett did this one for us. He's such a talented person. The artwork stems from the album opener "Richmond" from the lyrics "my head is an open wound" as well "Distant Like You Asked." Again, being distant from someone can really fuck with your head, to the point where you feel like your heads going to explode.
How did you end up working with Sam Guaiana, and what was he like to work with? We have actually been working with Sam Guaiana for a few years now, and when we were given the option to stay here in Toronto, Canada to do this full length, it was a no brainer to go and work with Sam on this. There isn't anyone else here on the producer side of the industry who fully understands our band the way he does. He really pushed us to our limits on this and really took us out of our comfort zone. He brought out the best in us on this record.
How did the music video for 'Distant' come together, and can you tell us a bit about the narrative behind this track? We have never really done a music video that wasn't just a straight performance, and we knew this was the title track for the album so we wanted to make this as big as possible. It builds off of Jordan's meaning behind the song by showing someone who is stuck in a constant cycle.
How excited are you for your upcoming tour with Neck Deep, State Champs, Knuckle Puck, and what are you guys expecting from this? This tour is huge. It's such a massive opportunity and we are so grateful to be going out with three of the biggest bands in the Pop Punk game right now. It's truly an honour. We've played some big shows in the past but nothing like this tour. We're all Definitely stoked on our music reaching a much larger audience every night. We're going to work hard every night on warming up the crowd and setting the tone for the rest of the evening.
What else can we expect to see from Like Pacific in 2016? Lots and lots of touring in support of our debut full length.
Interview with Derya
Can you tell us about the formation of Good Tiger? My previous band, The Safety Fire, had just broken up and I was looking to start a new band as soon as possible. I had known Jo (who also played in TSF wanted to continue playing) so I started to think about other musicians I had met through touring and what not. Elliot was the first person I thought of to sing and asked him pretty casually about starting some kind of project. He was immediately down and things went from there. I had known Morgan for quite sometime, and he was a rather natural choice to ask to play bass and again, when asking Alex if he was interested, he was the first drummer I thought of. Luckily everyone was on board, and as excited about the other people playing in the band as I was.
How did you get to the band name Good Tiger, and what does it mean to you? Coming up with the band name was quite tough, as we had a completely blank slate, and a name can be quite decisive in how they are perceived. We wanted something which didn't give too much away, and also wouldn't potentially scare anyone off as well. There is no real meaning behind it per say, but something we feel comfortable as a label for the band.
You are based in the UK & US so how hard is that for you guys as a band, and what is the writing/recording process like for you overall? So far it has been fairly streamlined. I wrote the majority of the music in the UK with Jo and Morgan, then took the trip over to DC to finish writing vocals and begin the vocal recording with Elliot. Rather uncommonly, we recorded the drums last, and did those at a studio in Devon. A little all over the place, but worked within our schedules.
So, how did you get to the album title 'A Head Full Of Moonlight', and what does it mean to you? The title is taken from a lyric on the album about Latchkey Kids. The track is about someone's ambitions and misplacement of energy and desires.
Can you tell us about some of the main themes and influences that run throughout 'A Head Full Of Moonlight'? Lyrically the album is quite diverse. While Elliot is the main lyricist, the rest of us did contribute to the songs, and in certain instances, write for full songs. I think the common link between them all is the influence from literature, as well as dealing with various other worldly elements.
How did the video idea for 'Where Are The Birds' come about, and can you tell us about the narrative behind the track? We contacted director Kim Taylor, and really let him run wild with it. We gave a few pointers of the direction we wanted the video to go, but he really developed the concept from there. There are definitely influences from the lyrical points of the track, but all the scenes in the desert like abyss is all Kim.
What can you tell us about the recording process for this release? The process was slightly drawn out longer than the usual album recording affair, but worked out rather well. The guitars and bass were recorded first by myself in London. Following that, we recorded the vocals in Washington, DC, and LA with Brandon Paddock. Then drums were recorded in Devon at Pete Miles Studio with Adam 'Nolly' Getgood. I think for the next album if time can allow for it, we will look to have a more standard process!
What made you want to do an indie-go-go campaign to support the release of your debut album, and what was that whole experience like for you as a band? The idea was mainly pushed by our manager who thought we could make more of an impact announcing the band this way, rather than the usual foray. We were all nervous with how it would go, and had no real idea of what to expect. We were completely blown away with the initial response, and it just didn't slow down. It was a very humbling experience.
What else can we expect to see from Good Tiger in 2016? A whole bunch of touring...maybe some new music by the end of the year.
Interview with Luke
Firstly, looking back at 2015, how would you describe the past year for Frameworks? It was our most accomplished, I feel like we did the most things without over extending ourselves on touring, 2014, we might have toured a little too much but 2015 was great. We found the perfect medium between touring and being home.
How difficult is it to get that balance between, as you say, too much and not enough? It's difficult, when you start out as a band, it's very easy to just go out and be on for a really long time but as you get older, things start coming a bit more into your life. Now when I'm home I have to keep a job to pay all my bills and stuff like that so the longer you're in a band, the harder it gets to always be gone. It's always kind of weighing on the other side, it never just stays the same.
You have a two track release out on the 5th of February, what can your followers expect from the two songs? When we wrote Loom, the first full length, it was kind of by design, written in a very narrow amount of time and we took two maybe three months off from writing fully and we immediately started writing those other two songs. So with these two new songs, they fully soaked in, we had time to craft them and refine them, whereas the original LP, was just written and released. So those new songs I feel really great about them, when I listen to them, I don't think about something I would have liked to change. I feel like they really had time to sit.
The song 'Time Spent' I found interesting, there is of course the hardcore all over it but the under laying melodies almost contained a song within a song? Yeah, Corey (guitar) always has an idea of what he wants a song to be. I'm always trying to keep it in the same room as the hardcore feeling and we always seem to meet somewhere in the middle but it's like we're stretching to a different genre. He always seems to lean towards a, not like a rock or alternative side to it, but there always seems to be more melodies to it as we progress. I'm really happy with it.
Is that kind of the process the band has for songwriting? He has this insane process, he doesn't sit down and write a song, he just waits for the idea to come. When we lived together I know he'd be lounging about watching TV or whatever and he'd always have a guitar in his hand, kind of multi tasking and I think he would just play around with something until he liked it and then save it. Then, when it came time to write something he would use that and build off it. It sounds crazy but he was always messing around with something.
A bit of time has passed since you released the full album, Loom, can we expect to see work begin on the follow up? We actually just got the masters back from the new full length, we don't have a name or anything for it but it is recorded. We're just waiting for all that stuff such as pressing stuff, I don't want to say too much about it just yet, but we do have a full length coming out in 2016.
You were in the U.K back in 2014 for a tour, what are your memories from that? It was awesome, it was our first tour and kind of a last minute take on our part going over there with our friends from The Saddest Landscape. They gave us a good amount of time, it wasn't the ideal tour, the guarantees and the money was all great but we shared a van with them for like, nine or ten days. When we got there, we didn't sleep for the first few days and it was awesome! It was like touring in the States where, it's not really, stressful but you're always going and I really liked that experience for our first tour into Europe. It wasn't stressful but it was hard and it was difficult. We had that huge amount of time on the plane where you don't really sleep, but you sort of sleep and we get off and we immediately head to the first show then we stay at where we're staying. Again, we sleep but we don't really sleep, then we get up and start travelling to I think it was Paris, so it was a fairly decent drive but there's eleven of you in the van so again you're not really sleeping. That happened all the way through to the next date until we finally got some sleep!
When a band starts up, there is always the thoughts and aspirations to go over seas and tour, but what is it like when it becomes a reality? It's not as different as I thought it would be, it wasn't really a culture shock but it was slightly altered. When I met people over there, it wasn't really different but it was, we could relate but we're just from a different place. We came from far away from each other but it felt like I have been friends with all these people.
You're preparing to head out on the road again with Donovan Wolfington, what can fans expect from this show? We've been friends with Donovan for a while now, I remember when we had just finished recording Loom, we sent it to one of our friends, Moving Parts and the singer Neil was with Moving Parts when it got sent so he heard it. We always kept in contact with those guys and when we were thinking about who we'd like to go out with in February, they were playing in the same city we were recording the new album, and we went to see one of their shows and I said “hey you guys should come and tour with us in February�. It was the easiest set up for a tour, they were just like cool, we're doing it, there wasn't any setback or anything, we just met, agreed to it and it's awesome!
There has been features on social media again recently about life as a touring musician, how difficult is it to prepare for a tour and make sure that it can work? Yeah, I know the article you're talking about and when I read them, I don't feel embarrassed but I have a negative feeling when I read that guys comments. I don't see our bands in the same genre or category but I think you can't sustain a life the way that he wanted playing music the way he does or the way someone would. I think when you play music for that long you have to expect to live on the frugal side, I think it comes with the nature of the music, there isn't big money in what we do and I doubt there is going to be, I think that's something you just have to accept. It's one or the other.
As you mentioned, you have a job but is it difficult to prepare ahead of a tour to make sure it's viable? It's not really that difficult, if you don't plan on eating full course meals, four time a day, it's pretty easy. At this point with social media it's pretty easy to promote your shows and get enough people out to get the gas money for the next show, if you try I don't think it becomes too much of an issue. As far as food goes, if you save $10-$15 a day, you can make it. It never occurs to me as an issue of making a tour happen, you just get prepared. With a tour coming up in February, right now I'm saving money to account for the bills while I'm gone. Our band has never made money on tour, not a single time so we always expect to save money for if the worst happens. We've had a van totally go out on us and we're like, okay, we have to pay for that now. We just kind of expect to not make money!
As the experiences rack up, has the way you approach making music or touring in general changed at all? It definitely has, I know for our first tours where we'd go to like, Washington D.C, the first thing you wanted to see was the White House but now when we go to D.C, I'd rather just connect with friends rather than the tourist areas. So as we keep touring the experiences keep building, in the States at least, we've seen everything we want to see. The excitement hasn't changed, it's just a new excitement and we meet new people. It's more difficult finding new things to do. It's fun, nothing has changed, it just keeps building.
Interview with Kelly
Touring wise, what did you get up to in 2015, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road? We started in Texas, played the East Coast of the US, then the West Coast, and finished up the year in Southern California and Florida for FEST. Most of the shows were with our buddies Bowling for Soup and overall it was a great year of touring in the USA. Highlights… let’s see… I had my first ever laugh attack on stage. As in uncontrollable laughter that was so bad I couldn’t sing so our driver Mel had to come out on stage and sing half a song for me. That was in Eugene Oregon; there’s something strange about the place and I almost wonder if there were magic mushrooms in my Chinese Takeout or something. In Detroit we found a little Starling next to its dead sibling and decided to take it with us, cue screeching baby bird every 2 hours in the RV. And then add in our toddler. Not a lot of sleep to be had! We also came up with the best/gross late night bus game one night with Bowling for Soup. They had a dirty old kazoo that hung out in a guitar case for 10 years or so and Tony the guitar tech had it in his pocket because it had fallen out or something. We came up with a game where you play a song on the kazoo and everyone guesses. The first person to get it right gets the slobbery spitty kazoo and the chance to stump the bus. Sounds like a great idea right? EWWWW!
You did a PledgeMusic campaign for your 'Family Vacation Live In Los Angeles' release, so how did that idea originally come about, and what was this whole experience like for you as a band? After six studio albums and a year’s worth of touring we decided we finally wanted to do a live album/DVD. We’re in such a sweet spot right now as a successful mid-sized band and Luis and I are new parents together as well. We really wanted to capture the moment not only for us but also for the fans who don’t get to experience our live show in person. We’ve played over a thousand shows in our time together and it’s something we want to share, especially with anyone that’s missed us along the way.
The experience was a little scary to be honest, and probably not in the ways you might expect. It’s our 3rd fan funded project so we were feeling confident that our fans would come through again. The scary part was creating a mini movie AND an album. We’ve gotten pretty good at making records and running our own label but the film stuff is totally foreign to us. We also only had one shot at the show, so whatever happened was it and we had to live with it. Every show is different. Luckily it was a fantastic performance. Had it been a disaster it would’ve still been the DVD. We just kept telling ourselves the point was to capture a moment in time and bring a show to the fans who can’t get to one in real life. Luckily we captured a great one right in our hometown of Los Angeles.
What was the hardest part about putting this release together? Oh man, it’s just a lot to wrangle. We’ve made music videos but releasing & making a DVD is so different. A full camera crew, director, editor, location fees, color correction… all that plus the usual performance, mixing, mastering, artwork and duplication we’d normally need to take care of for an album project. On top of that the day of live recording was also terrifying. The venue didn’t have the set-up we expected for recording the show audio so Luis had to run out and buy thousands of dollars of equipment and set it all up when we were supposed to be soundchecking. So, biggest show of our life with no soundcheck! We had hoped to record all along the tours and take the best pieces but that just wasn't feasible so we decided to record ONE show. And it was the 2nd to last show of the tour so it was do or die. Luckily it all worked out but man we were kind of freaking out behind the scenes.
Your music has been used on a lot of TV Shows and commercials, but for you, which show or ad has been the favorite for you to hear your music being played over? We’ve had a lot of great placements over the years but I think the first time was the most magical. It was the moment we thought we might actually be able to do the band thing full time. The song was “Feed Me, Pet Me” and the placement was a Hewlett Packard commercial that ended up screening before the first Lord Of the Rings movie in theatres everywhere. We re-recorded the song to make it sound more “live” and they filmed us playing the song in a garage up in Northridge, California. It took us a few weeks to get to the movies to see it and when we finally did it was just the two of us alone in a theater watching and hearing ourselves on the big screen. It was really weird, awesome and inspiring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-vffgnPCdM
Looking back on the release of 'Love Songs, Werewolves, & Zombies', how happy are you with this record still, and what do you think it has done for The Dollyrots? That record is the greatest surprise of our career. It came about because with our first fan-funded project we offered up a “we’ll write a song for you” option. 15 people got it. They sent us a little bit about what they would like their song to be about and we got to work. It was SO hard. There was so much pressure within ourselves to not let those people down. And on top of it I was newly pregnant and battling some pretty nasty nausea and sleepiness. But we got through them, one by one and the only way we could really do it was to write and record at the same time. SO long story short Luis had to really learn to record and engineer. We set up a little studio in the corner of our bedroom and once we finished the songs we decided it was so good we had to release it as an album. And since I was pregnant and not touring we felt inspired to record another one. That’s how ‘Barefoot and Pregnant’ happened.
What songs are you really enjoying performing live from 'Love Songs, Werewolves, & Zombies' at the moment, and why? Hahha, none of them! We’ve made so much music in the past few years there just isn’t one on the setlist. We have played a lot of them acoustic during our live/streaming StageIt shows we play monthly. After six albums it’s tough to write a setlist. Especially when you’re on a tour as a support act and have a limited time to play. I love “Rather Be A Zombie” though. That bridge is my favorite ever!
How would you say the sound of The Dollyrots has grown/progressed since you first started out? Musically I think we still have the same influences and style so the progression’s been mostly about expanding our sonic palette. Our most recent album “Barefoot and Pregnant” is a lot like our very first album “Eat My Heart Out” in that it’s rawer, with less pop-sounding elements. This is after adding tons of pop effects like synths, strings, and different types of percussion throughout our self-titled album. At the core of it we just play really catchy, hook-filled, straightforward rock n roll. I do think the spirit of our music has changed though. We’re so much more confident now, as writers and players and just as humans. That means we can be more spontaneous and if we want to try something different we don’t overthink it. And as new parents we’re short on time. We have to make decisions fast otherwise nothing will get done.
What can you tell us about your latest EP ‘Mama’s Gonna Knock You Out’? We were in LA after the concert shoot, just feeling inspired, and thought it was time for some new music. Wrote three songs in two days, recorded them in two days, done. Like I said, we don’t have a ton of time to overthink things and rewrite and all that so a lot of our initial ideas become the final parts in the song. It’s actually quite liberating to not have to second guess every word or chord change. The result feels more spontaneous and confident to me. That EP has just come out!
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour with Bowling For Soup, and what can attending fans expect? SOOOOO EXCITED! We love playing in the UK! It will be our 3rd time back with Bowling for Soup, we love playing with them no matter where but the UK is extra fun. The crowds are awesome and the enthusiasm is always sky-high. The last time we played the UK was October of 2014 supporting Buzzcocks so it’s been a while and we’re so ready to get back!
Interview with Mathias
Do you guys have any plans to do another Millencolin festival, and what was that whole process like for you guys to do? Well, no plans right now...but who knows. It was a quite long process to get all the bands together and also the "gamble" to arrange it ourselves. You never know how many people will attend, but luckily it was all a huge succes!
How come you didn't try and tour it over in different places across the globe? It would be way too much work and also too big of a risk!
You guys do have a UK/European tour coming up, what would you say is different about a UK/European tour compared with say a US tour? We've got a Euro/UK tour coming up in February. No real difference where you play shows over the world, if it's a good crowd it dosen't really matter where you play.
Can you give us a couple of personal highlights from touring Europe over the years? Oh, it's all a blur...but I guess the latest stuff we've done has been awesome. It's always a lot of fun to tour a new album!
How happy have you been with the response to True Brew so far, and what do you think it has done for Millencolin? We're totally stoked on how True Brew has been received, it's been considered a kind of a "come back" for the band which is great. It’s also been getting great reviews and a great response overall on live shows.
What songs are you really enjoying performing live from True Brew at the moment? I must say that "Autopilot mode" is one of my favorites.
How would you say the sound of Millencolin has grown/changed since you first started out? Well when we first started out we didn't really have our own sound like we have these days, nowdays I would think people can hear a special Millencolin sound that has developed over the years!
I notice that you guys don't do VIP packages where fans can pay for extra merch or to meet you backstage before a show. Is this something you'd ever considered or is it just that you don't agree with it? I don't really like the idea of selling VIP packages, it's better to raffle'em out to the real fans!
With all the touring and recording you guys do, do you ever get a chance to skate anymore? I try to skate regularly. Recently they opened a huge concrete park here in Orebro....really nice!!
What else can we expect to see from Millencolin in 2016? We've got a new EP out now, a nice piece with two new songs and some other stuff. There’s also going to be some extensive touring all over the globe. No rest for the wicked!!
The album Human Love has been out for a little while now, how do you feel it has been received since its release? It’s gone down really well yeah, the hardcore fan-base is really happy, which is always kind of the worry because you don't want to lose the people that you've already got. I'm really proud of it as a body of work which is the other thing, you don't want to look back and think, I wish I'd had another week on that one!
Following the departure from Sony, this is your first Independent album, what freedoms did this allow you? Well, we started writing it without a label and then signed to BMG/Chrysalis, it's a different type of deal, it's a label services deal which is like a record deal but the hierarchy is different so it's like, they don't own you and you need their approval for everything. It's kind of the other way round, you kind of work with them.
So it's more power in the artists hands while keeping a label? Yes and it's perfect for someone in my position with an existing fan base unlike a new artist who needs a lot of money to get going. It was a chance to, not start completely again but definitely an opportunity to move closer to where I'd like to be musically, I've always used the same amalgam. I think with the first album, I got into the right room but I might have come in through the wrong door so I got to the right place but I was trying to get out. I think it was partly the Sony deal, they wanted the first album to sound the same over and over again, they just wanted pure pop and that's not what I do. I really like experimenting and doing things that are musically interesting and challenging. That's what I've always done, I released the first record at a point where it happened to be successful but I want to push boundaries. It's always what I've done guitar wise and technology wise, with the fourth album being sung live the entire time was really interesting. I've got some new guitars which are the only ones like them in the world which is brilliant. I don't know if BMG know where I want to be or the kind of artist I actually am where Sony always wanted me to be something else. It's being able to create new music without being made to feel incredibly bad about it which is amazing!
You now have your own studio, what advantages and indeed, disadvantages does this bring? It's a proper double edged sword. On the one hand, you can work whenever you want, you can wake up in the middle of the night, if you can't sleep you can just get up and play guitar in a sound proof room and noone is going to tell you off, which is awesome! On the other hand it's always there in a negative way as well as a positive so if you're chilling out, it's still calling you. I am a bit of a workaholic! What I'm trying to do is gain more mental separation so trying to treat the studio as a separate house that I only go into if I'm going to work. I know a lot of people who have had studios in their house and eventually have another space and go there. It is great, when it's great but you don’t get much done when it's not. For the kind of stuff I do, my favourite thing is capturing that first time you play something as it is completely different to when you've practised it for a really long time, you're always struggling to get back to the way you played it that first time.
Capturing that moment in time kind of thing? Yeah, it's kind of an emotional thing as it is a technical playing thing, there's quite a few tracks on this album that are the demo’s I recorded just after they were written. 'Break', I never thought would be on the record, I basically recorded it so I wouldn't forget it! I'd recorded it so I had it somewhere and then for that to have survived and gone on to the album is amazing because it is completely genuine, especially vocally, straight after you write something you can really feel it as being genuine. That was brilliant that one and the 'Can I be Enough' was probably one of my favourite days on my own ever! I got up at 7am, came into the studio, moved round the guitar, started playing drums and thought drums are really fun, then added the bass with all strange parts. The drums are weird, the bass is really erratic and really just musically interesting, I then sent that loop downstairs and had breakfast listening to the loop writing the verses. My brother got back from whereever he was and helped me finish it. It's an amazing thing to be able to do and that survived, almost untouched from the end of the first day.
You head out to Europe at the end of February before a sizeable UK tour, you seem to be taking in a few places that are often missed by artists on this tour? I can't wait. It is a really fun thing to do because when you go to places that people don't always go, you have a really good time. They're just happy to see you, you can feel it, it's nice to have that kind of energy as opposed to London, where they could be at one of 10,000 events!
Obviously places like London and Birmingham need no explanation but do you find a special kind of energy when hitting towns such as Inverness and Ipswich for example? Yeah definitely. I've had some amazing London shows on the last few, it's weird because they're meant to be the crowd that is slightly harder work but the crowd have just arrived, wanting to have a good time which is amazing. I've done highlands and island tours, I've done Isle of Skye and Lewis, I even saw the Northern Lights on Shetland. That was really lucky! We were just about to go to the restaurant for dinner and the driver who was looking after us said if we drive for twenty minutes we could see the Northern Lights at a certain point, so we bombed it there as quick as we could, incredible!
Going back a little bit to your days at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, how much has the experience of that shaped you as a musician in the years that have followed? I absolutely loved it, I'd actually do it again I loved it so much! There was so much to learn. I'm actually thinking of having piano lessons, I think having lessons in anything is really good for your brain. I love learning stuff, I learned how to use pro tools and then guitar wise I'm still trying to stretch that. This new guitar is kind of like playing a different instrument with a different touch. Piano is something I'd like to spend time with and then in terms of what I learned at ACM, I was really lucky. The tutors were just ridiculous, there was Patrick Govern, who is one of the best players in the U.K, just unbelievable. Obviously Eric Roach had a huge influence on my playing, if you see him playing, you'll see a lot of where I got my inspiration from.
Given the events of the past few weeks with Lemmy, David Bowie and now Glen Frey passing away, what are your thoughts on the legacies they leave behind? They've left a huge, just huge legacy. David Bowie particularly. Just in terms of chord structures and every level, lyrically phenomenal, melodically amazing and then chord wise, just fascinating. If you look at something like Life on Mars, it's really fascinating musically. To be able to do something that is that technically good and something people will shout along with in the car is so hard to do, and he kept doing it as well! Over and over again, incredible.
You have the new album out, touring beginning soon, where does the rest of 2016 take Newton Faulkner? It's just gigs I think for me, loads of them! As soon as I finish the U.K tour it's into festival season, after that I might do some more global stuff, maybe even more Europe I'm not sure but yeah, this is a year of gigs. I'm also secretly writing a new record but don't tell anyone..
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Interview with Danny
How did you end up signing with inVogue Records, and what have they been like to work with so far? On a random night we got an email from inVogue. And from then on we started talking, worked out a deal, and now we couldn't be more excited to be working with such a dope team.
What made you want to have your album be self-titled, and can you tell us a bit about what this means for you as a band? Honestly, it just felt right. This album is about us, our struggles, and our own personal situations, so it just felt right to make it our first self-titled.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout your selftitled album? Nothing comes to mind as far as themes go in its entirety. Each song is about something compeletely different. Like I mentioned before, it's all influenced by different things and situtations we've all been through.
What can you tell us about the recording process for your self-titled album? Cory Brunnemann is the producer we decided to work with this time around, and we couldn't be happier with the work he's done for us. The process has been amazing, and we still have a little to go, but so far, it's been great!
Can you tell us about the narrative that runs throughout your single 'Chronophobia'? Every now and then I get really bad anxiety about the decisions I'm making in life, and most of it deals with time. I feel like time is so short, so I get scared that I'm not making the right decisions in life. That's what "Chronophobia" is about.
How did the artwork come together for 'Chronophobia', and can you tell us a bit about what you want it to mean to your fans? Not everything is as it seems, and there's two sides to every story. I actually created the artwork and that was the basic feeling I was trying to convey.
How would you say the sound of Everyone Dies In Utah has grown/progressed since you first started out? All bands have to start somewhere -- we didn't even know what we wanted to sound like when we first started as a band, but one element I think has always been "us" is the electronic sound. We've just learned to use it tastefully throughout the years.
It seems as though Neutral Ground received a mixed reaction from fans and critics, but for you guys, how do you feel when you look back on that album? Looking back, it was a disaster waiting to happen. We were basically thrown into the studio immediately after losing half our band, not having anything writen, and to top it all off we had three weeks to do everything! Not exactly an ideal situation, but we have to just forget the past and look forward to a much better future.
There was a lot of members coming and going between 2013 and 2014, what was that time like for you guys, and do you feel that the current version of Everyone Dies In Utah is the most solid version yet? Over the years I've seen members come and go. Going through the changes was pretty rough, but I can honestly say this is the most solid group of guys I've ever worked with.
What else can we expect to see from Everyone Dies In Utah in 2016? Lots and lots of touring, some new music videos, and new merch! Our team is ready for this year and we're coming at it pretty hard!
How did you get to the album title 'Everything That Got Us Here' and what does it mean to you guys? We've been through a lot as a band over the last five years and this being our 3rd album it just made sense. A lot of the content on the album is written about what we went through to get where we are now.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout 'Everything That Got Us Here'? Love, loss, addiction, self harm, self doubt and the determination to succeed against everything life presents you.
How did you end up working with Andrew Wade & Tom Denney, and what were they like to work with? We have worked with Tom since the band formed and Andrew and Tom have worked together forever. Tom suggested going with him to record my vocals and it turned out to be an amazing decision! Both of them are amazing people and producers.
Interview with Richard
What was the hardest part about putting 'Everything That Got Us Here' together for you guys, and why? For me personally it’s self doubt. I always second guess myself and question if what I'm writing is even good. The songs mean everything to me, but I always wonder what they will mean to our fans. The connection with our fans through our songs has always really driven us.
Looking back on 'Fragile Figures', how happy are you with this record still, and what do you think it has done for Secrets? I love Fragile Figures, but this record is something different for me personally. I had a lot more room to utilize my voice, try new things and say what I needed to say. I believe this record will have a better opportunity to reach more ears.
Also, how would you say the sound of Secrets has grown/progressed since you first started out? We are so much better now. There's always the people that say "aaahh they were so much better on their first record!" Trust me, we were not. We've learned so much and experienced so much life since we started and I believe you can hear it in the album.
Touring wise, what will you be getting up to in 2016, and is there an event/tour that your maybe particularly excited about? We have our first headlining tour coming up in February! We don't plan on stopping after that. We live to play so we are always pushing for more tours.
Interview with Chad, Ted, Chris
So you guys started your own Indiegogo campaign to make your upcoming album Tango Umbrella. You played a zombie themed wedding for one lucky and generous fan! Can you tell us how this campaign idea came about, as well as what it was like for you as a band? Ted: The Indiegogo campaign was exciting and stressful. It came about when Karma texted me one day and said we need to record a new album and asked me to help setup a crowdfunding campaign. I did some research and decided that Indiegogo was the best platform for us to use.
From there, Chad, Karma & I all worked on ideas for the perks, budgets of what it would cost to record, living expenses...etc. Together, we filmed a campaign video in Minneapolis and explained the story of the band and what we were looking to accomplish. We tried to put together a realistic budget that would work for everyone and I remember the night before we launched the campaign, the three of us were on the phone reviewing everything and hoping that it was going to work. It was exciting to see those contributions coming in daily. It met and exceeded our expectations which was awesome. And yes, the zombie wedding was a blast. It was really great of the bride, Stephanie to surprise her husband George by having us perform in their backyard. Their contribution really helped us reach our goal. Karma rented these day of the dead costumes and we all painted our faces to go along with the zombie theme and rocked out at the wedding.
For you what is the plus side of having a self funded album? Ted: It was a huge plus side to see how many people were interested and wanted new material. They were
willing to back us and make it happen. I learned a lot about crowdfunding and it really helped me connect with everyone that contributed. Our family, friends and fans all came together and helped promote it all through social media, it was both humbling and exciting. I got to know a lot of new people on a first name basis and it's been great to meet them at our shows. If it wasn't for everyone believing in us and pre-ordering our new album, we wouldn't have had this opportunity.
Tango Umbrella is due for release shortly? Ted: Yes, it's been a long time coming. We started the crowdfunding campaign process almost two years ago and with our busy touring schedule, it took us a lot longer than expected, but hey, good things come to those who wait, right? We will be releasing Tango Umbrella on Napalm Records, this March 25th. With that, we will begin the touring cycle to start promoting it. Starting off in the UK in March/April with Mushroomhead followed by a soon to be announced US tour. I'm looking forward to getting back out there on the road to support it.
How did you get to the album title Tango Umbrella, and what does it mean to you? Chad: It was just a phrase I came across in some book I was reading in the bathroom. I'm not real big on
some kind of deep "meaning" in the music or lyrics I create; if anything I just liked the way it sounds and the imagery that could accompany it, in addition to the fact that I always feel like this whole thing could go "tits up" (TU/Tango Umbrella/etc) at any moment. I especially like that it doesn't sound like the title of a hard rock/metal album. It's not (ominously) "In The Hands Of The Fallen" or anything asinine and trite like that.
Can you tell us about the recording process for Tango Umbrella? Ted: We started the recording process at Third Sky Studio in Richmond, KY. It was engineered by Richard
Easterling and produced and mixed by Dave Fortman. We rented a house and lived together in Lexington, KY about 30 to 40 minutes from the studio and we would all commute back and forth everyday for two months. We spent about 3 weeks in pre-production for it. All the basic tracking was recorded there, some vocals..etc. Some of the material had been demo'ed years before and some of it was written right there. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and had to head back out on a European tour, so the rest of it was recorded in between the touring schedule. A lot of the vocals were recorded at a studio in Minneapolis, editing was done by Jeremy Parker at another studio in Phoenix, then it was mixed in New Orleans by Dave Fortman and mastered by Gentry Studer at Epicenter Mastering in LA. Karma was also instrumental in making it happen, because he worked with all the different studios and helped bring it all together.
What was the hardest part about putting Tango Umbrella together, and why? Ted: I think the hardest part was not allowing ourselves the time to record it. It would have been nice if we had more time to do pre-production and then more time for tracking. But, we had lined up a European and US tour back to back right out of the studio, then followed up with another US tour. It was a learning lesson for sure, next time I hope that we will have more time to record and give ourselves a little wiggle room in case we need to extend the time needed in the studio.
It's been ten years since your last album The Feeding came out, can you tell us a bit about how the sound of American Head Charge has grown/changed since then? Chad: I think we're always exploring new ideas and styles while still holding onto our base "sound". I
definitely know that we're better songwriters. Very little changed from demo to final product with this new record. In fact, most of the songs are almost exactly the same as the demos. With "The War Of Art" and "The Feeding", the initial arrangements weren't as strong and ended up changing a lot, sometimes drastically, as evidenced by comparing the demos for those records to what actually appears as the final product. Dave (Fortman/producer) listened to all of the demos and nine times out of ten was, like, "Sounds like a record...NEXT!".
In 2009 you guys called it a day and it was RIP American Headcharge, what bought you to that decision? Chad: Justin (Fowler/keys) and I demo'd songs for almost eighteen months before it became painfully
obvious that Cameron wasn't on board mentally and emotionally. It was heartbreaking, but it was a case of "There's nothing to sell, so it's time to close up shop". Once Cam waded through the chemical and mental hell he was going through at the time, he shook it off and got back on board, and we began to move forward again.
Ultimately what made you decide to get back together? Chad: There's certain elements of this band that, without them present, make it seemingly impossible to call this American Head Charge. Cameron is one of those elements. I don't feel like we could pull an Alice In Chains or Nightwish and just toss another singer in there and carry on the name. To me, at that point, it's a different animal. Besides, what else am I gonna do? "Would you like fries with that?".
How hard was it to hear about the passing of Wayne Static just before you were about to head out on tour together, and can you tell us about how much of an influence he was to you guys? Ted: It was very difficult, I was definitely shocked and saddened by it. We had just finished our last show of a
European and UK run with Soil and HedPE and we were all saying our goodbyes and literally getting ready to jump on the buses to head back to Heathrow, when we had heard the news. I met Wayne years ago at a house party in LA and I remember talking to him about his career, he told me how he had lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for years, just trying to make it happen. His dedication was inspiring and I would say that's what influenced me the most about him, his dedication and perseverance. We had a chance to do a couple of shows with him in June of 2014 in Minnesota. He even brought up some shots for all of us on stage during our set, he was a great guy and I'm glad we continued on with that tour in his honor. I'm also saddened to hear of the recent passing of his wife, Tera Wray Static, my thoughts are with their families.
Chris: A friendship developed from playing shows with him over the years. So when the news hit we were all
so gutted over losing him. Halloween night, the last show of the Soil HedPE tour. He was a huge influence, and we could feel that together as a big musical family saying goodbye to everyone at the end of that run. We were all excited to see him. Then out of the blue we found out he was gone. He is missed every day that goes by.
“I really want us to hit as many cities as possible� How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour with Mushroomhead? Ted: I think it'll be a great tour. It's Mushroomhead's first time in the UK in quite a while and it'll be a lot of fun. I'm seeing a lot of our fans posting up their tickets for the shows already on social media and that's very cool. We are direct support for Mushroomhead and we've been talking about set lists. Chad mentioned that he would like to try and touch on material from the past records and include some new songs from Tango Umbrella as well. The fans can definitely expect a lot of energy and excitement, and maybe a new song or two.
Chris: Very excited. Dont want to spoil it. Can you give us a couple of personal highlights from touring the UK over the years? Ted: I really enjoy touring the UK. This will be our fourth time back since reforming and it's always a great time.
Some highlights for me, would be watching people swinging from the rafters and some serious crowd surfing. The Download Festival was an amazing experience, getting to play to that crowd and then enjoying so many other great bands for three days, I won't ever forget it. Also, playing a show in London with Kill Devil Hill and talking to Rex Brown and Johnny Kelly. These were guys whose bands I listened to growing up and I remember talking to Johnny with Justin (Fowler) backstage after our show. We enjoyed the Type O stories.
Chris: Personal highlights, yes, I got to party with some of the greatest people over the years. I loved
hanging out with everyone in Panic Cell back in the day. A favourite highlight was all the late night runs for kababs and a pint with fans after the show. Some of my favourite times were at those clubs jamming metal all night dancing with fans and gettin' steaming drunk.
What else can we expect to see from American Head Charge in 2016? Chris: A new album release, have I mentioned that Tango Umbrella will be released on March 25th, through Napalm Records? And a hell of a lot of touring....we are ready to get out there and hit the road once again to support it. UK tour is up first, followed by a US tour...and from there, we are hoping to branch out into countries we haven't been in a long time. Stay tuned because this is the year of touring for us and I really want us to hit as many cities as possible.
Interview with Josh
What can you tell us about the themes and influences behind your most recent album 'Dormant Heart'? The themes are kind of about people going through the motions in life and not really thinking for themselves or taking a step back to look at the bigger picture. It's easy to get wrapped up in your own world and not consider how your actions affect others. Musically it's a bit more dark and doomy than some of our previous stuff.
What songs have you really been enjoying performing live from 'Dormant Heart', and why? I think Servitude is probably a favourite of mine as it seems to go down well live. It mixes up the set a bit as we're usually playing fast thrashy stuff and this one has a bit more weight to it.
Looking back now, how happy have you been with the response to the record over the last year, and what do you think it has done for Sylosis? Yeah we've had an amazing response to the album. It's just solidified us even more as a band and shows that four albums in we're still pushing ourselves and improving with each release.
For those that might not know, why did Rob Callard decide to part ways with Sylosis? He wanted to study so he's doing open university. Touring all the time can take its toll so his heart just wasn't really in it. We're still really good friends with him though.
Also, how did Ali Richardson end up joining Sylosis, and what has he been like to work with so far? Before we did a tour back in 2014, Rob told us he couldn't get the time off work so Ali was the only person we could think could fill in under such short notice. After that tour Rob left the band and Ali was a really obvious choice to ask seeing as he knew the set.
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour with Decapitated, and what can attending fans expect? We're really excited about that one. We've been huge fans of that band since when Nihility came out, so just getting to see them play will be awesome. It still feels pretty fresh coming off the last tour we did so I think we're feeling pretty confident and in our stride at the moment.
Can you give us a couple of personal highlights from touring the UK since your formation? Wembley arena a few months ago was a big highlight. That wasn't somewhere we thought we would get to play. A lot of the festival appearances at either Sonisphere or Download have been really memorable and have felt like defining moments for us.
How would you say the sound of Sylosis has grown/changed since you first started out? We've got better at writing songs and how to get our ideas across. We're finally at the stage now where we're really doing what we set out to do. The mix of old school thrash stuff but more refined and combining some big epic progressive influences in there.
Touring wise, what did you get up to in 2015, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your timeon the road? We did some great stuff this year. The European festival over summer run was awesome. Getting to play Hellfest mainstage etc. The European headline run was great and went really well. Wembley was probably the highlight though.
What else can we expect to see from Sylosis in 2016? Some new music in some form or another...more on that will be revealed soon. We do intend to start writing our next album and getting stuck into that process really soon.
Interview with Tyler
What made you guys want to release an acoustic EP, and how happy have you been the reception to it so far? It was a long time coming. We had a lot of fans asking us about an unplugged album, so when the label asked we jumped at it. The reception has been overwhelming and considering it was an EP, I think it is easy to say we can do something like that again down the road.
You’ve taken to playing a few of the acoustic tracks at your shows. How have they gone down? It’s nice to change things up a bit since we’ve been playing these songs for years. I think the fans enjoy a different side of our live show and I think it adds to a more dynamic set.
You released the EP only a year or so after 'Savages', was it a case of ‘we can’t wait, this needs to come out now!’? Roadrunner Records were the ones that came to us about it. We were happy to do it. These days, the more material the better, I think. Fans digest that stuff so fast you almost can’t keep up, which is a good thing.
You guys have just finished up a US tour with We Are Harlot, so how was that, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road? Great guys, we had a lot of fun! Their guitar player Jeff George knew how much we loved hockey and he even bought us NHL 16 for our Playstation 3. BOOM!
Looking back on 'Savages', how happy have you been with the response to the record so far, and what do you think it has done for Theory of a Deadman? We were able to dive into some heavier songs on this one, which was a long time coming. The response has been fantastic and just like our other releases, we see our fans gravitating not just to one or two songs but they all have their favourites. For us, every record is a bit of an experiment and gives us some insight in what we want to try on the next one.
What songs are you really enjoying performing live from 'Savages' at the moment, and why? The heavy ones are always fun to play live. I still love kicking into DROWN and PANIC ROOM, and the non stop onslaught of SAVAGES.
Has work on a new album started just yet? If so, can you tell us a bit about how that process is coming along, as well as what fans can expect to hear from it overall? We never really know what to expect until we are deep into the recording process. I usually demo everything at home in my studio and rarely write on the road, so as soon as the UK tour is over, that means let the new record begin!
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect? Some of our fondest memories are touring over there, the fans are the absolute best! They can always expect a show full of high energy and big smiles from us. I just need to remember don’t talk about football on stage and call it soccer.
Can you give us a couple of personal highlights from touring the UK over the years? Playing Wembley Arena…..twice. That was unbelievable for us. First show we ever played over in the UK was in London at Shepherds Bush Empire with 3 Doors Down in 2003. Beautiful venue and great crowd. An amazing introduction to the UK. We were set to go back on this upcoming tour, but now we've had to move our London show to the Electric Ballroom as apparently the Empire is currently closed due to structural damage!!
What else can we expect to see from Theory of a Deadman in 2016? New material! We’ll be hard at work on record number six. Maybe some more acoustic tracks, maybe something special while the fans wait for the next release. You'll have to wait and see!
Can you tell us about the narrative behind your latest track 'New Romantics'? The song is about trying to figure out what parts of you are temporary or passing, and which ones make up who you are. Especially creatively, it's hard to progress while staying true to what got you this far.
So, how did you get to the album title 'Dissonants', and what does it mean to you? The thought of dissonance as an album theme came to mind while touring Unimagine and talking about the idea of duality in that album. Dissonants is a natural progression from that, about coexistence of ideas within ourselves, and of ourselves with the world and people around us. There's a sense of chaos and unbelonging in all of us, but too much order sterilizes our idea of self and of harmony. So it's about celebrating and accepting those 'dissonant streaks' in ourselves and in others.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout 'Dissonants'? The most characteristic new influences for Dissonants would be Don Broco (especially evident in Joel's bass parts), Bring Me The Horizon, Pvris and to be honest a lot of the riff based songs were probably inspired by being on the road with Beartooth! Blended in with our usual influences, it made for hopefully a well rounded, hard hitting and dynamic album.
What was the hardest part about putting together 'Dissonants' for you, and why? The hardest part was having the time and patience to get it right with such a heavy touring schedule, especially reaching the end of our studio time and realising we couldn't finish it without risking compromising the album entirely. Taking that calming breath and committing to getting it right was tough but absolutely worthwhile in retrospect.
Interview with Trenton
How did you end up working with James Paul Wisner again, and what is it you like so much about working with him? After Unimagine we had adjusted well to James' creative process and loved the final result so when we were discussing options for the new album he was always ahead of the pack. He's incredibly focused and has this ability to get the best takes out of us (as soul crushing as it can feel sometimes when you're in the booth haha), and his attention to quality and detail in the mix is why the album is so open and natural while still being polished and dynamic. We're beyond happy!
How did the album artwork for 'Dissonants' come together, and what does it mean to you? The logo came from wanting to combine our HLH ambigram with the 'does not equal' symbol that we were using to represent the theme behind Dissonants. The idea is that our individual dissonance is part of the whole and perspective doesn't change what something is - only how we see it. Beyond that, we just wanted to have something strong and iconic and stood out stylistically from our previous releases.
How would you say 'Dissonants' compares to 'Unimagine'? It's a natural progression - but with a lot more bite. We are trying to develop as songwriters, rather than just as musicians, but having songs that are fun to play live has a big impact, so the heavy edge is key to that.
Also, looking back on 'Unimagine' how happy are you with this record still, and what do you think it has done for 'Hands Like Houses'? It's opened up a global audience for us - we still love it and will be including songs in our sets for a long while. But it's definitely time to refresh our live set and keep riding the vibe!
What else can we expect to see from Hands Like Houses in 2016? We'll be touring the US and UK in mid to late spring and Australia in our winter, as well as hopefully finding some down time to start jamming music without the immediate pressure of writing an album! Can't wait to get Dissonants out and on the road - couldn't be more proud of these songs and excited to rock them out live.
What made you want to release a deluxe edition of 'The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways'? So much has happened to us as a band following The Resistance. We felt it was a good time to experiment and test the waters with a few things first, before we went in to finish our new record. We just wanted to keep fans updated.
Looking back on 'The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways', how happy have you been with the record, and what do you think it has done for Crown The Empire? It’s funny looking back and realizing what an experimental record that was for us. Most bands wait 4-5 records to try something like that, but we learned a lot more about what we as a band sound like from trying out a million different sounds on that record. It will always be remembered to the band as the chapter that allowed us to find ourselves artistically.
Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2015, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road? 2015 was the first time we had breaks from touring. Few months off here or there. Nothing too crazy happened on the road, because at this point we’ve pretty much seen it all, but being at home was definitely a new thing for all of us. We’ve spent most of our time off the road talking about the band and trying to understand what we’re doing as a whole and as individuals, and it’s been a really eye opening process.
How did the front cover for 'The Resistance: Deluxe Edition' come together, and what does it mean to you? One of our managers actually came up with the concept and shot the cover with the help of our good photographer friend Danny Suede. They actually built that whole setup out of supplies from Home Depot. The concept of the cover was to create a memorial of our time as a band spent during the resistance. We wanted it to be real, unlike the painting of the original cover, but we still wanted the iconography of the story to be represented within the photo. The idea was this would act as a memorial to the character of the story after his death.
How did you end up working with Dan Korneff, and what was he like to work with? Uncle Dan was the man, and after cancelling our time with another producer, Dan took us in with only a week’s notice. He was a great producer, and the whole process is kind of a blur as of now, but it was winter in Long Island NY, so you can imagine the vibe that was going on in the studio at the time.
Interview with Andy
What can you tell us about the new tracks that feature on 'The Resistance: Deluxe Edition'? These songs were really crucial to the band finding out its process moving forward when it came to songwriting. These were like our beta tests for what’s to come.
Can you elaborate on the narrative behind 'Prisoners Of War'? We really wanted to have a song that captured where we were as a band at the time, as well as resolving the storyline we’d been a part of since the beginning of The Resistance. The rest is up to the listeners interpretation.
Do these songs indicate the sound that we can expect to hear from Crown The Empire in the future? Not necessarily. For us, they were really about attaining a mindset as a group internally, and what we’ve created after the fact, for the new record, is a sound that I’d say is the genuine “CROWN SOUND”. If people find a similarity to these particular songs, than so be it, but they weren’t the guideline for us moving forward or anything like that.
How would you say the sound of Crown The Empire has grown/changed since you first started out? We’ve always had an inherent emotion and idea within our songs, and I think over the past few years, we’ve never really understood what that was. We were aware of things we liked, but we never understood what made Crown, Crown. With this new record, we feel like we’re closer to where we started than ever, but also light years ahead of where we were. It’s really exciting.
What else can we expect to see from Crown The Empire in 2016? Everything you’ve been waiting for from us.
For those that don't know, how come you guys originally decided to stop touring the UK in 2013? We needed a break. Not just from the UK, but we needed to be home. We had gotten ourselves spread so thin (not literally), that life in Texas was getting a bit rough for a few of us. Especially me. I haven’t made a secret about it…Sh*t was falling apart and I truly didn’t know if I could keep it up, touring wise.
So! How come you decided that you'd like to come back already in 2016 for 'another round’? I think I always knew we would be back. That is why we called the tour “farewell” and not “goodbye.” And we weren’t taking the p*ss at all. I knew that if I could get it together, we would be able to tour again in some capacity. Maybe not every year. But as often as we could make it work. It’s time.
Looking back on 'Lunch. Drunk. Love', how happy are you with this record still, and what do you think it has done for Bowling For Soup? I think it is one of our two best albums…And I think it still holds up…Not a lot of “older” bands can say that and mean it. Unless they are oblivious. The main thing it did for BFS is to show our fans that we were by no means finished. We still have something to say.
What songs are you really enjoying performing live from this record at the moment, and why? “Since We Broke up” is the one we do quite often. Honestly, I don’t think we have done a lot of the others. OH! “Critically Disdained” as well. That’s a good one!
Can you tell us what your side projects have been up to recently? My favorite thing right now is my new weekly podcast, Jaret Goes To The Movies. It is an absolute blast and has really taken off as well. People On Vacation hasn’t been busy for a few months. Both of us have been crazy busy doing other things. Same with Jarinus really.
Are Bowling For Soup working on any new material at the moment? This is something we will be doing as soon as we are back from the UK…The ideas are there, but still need to be made real!
Can you give us a couple of personal highlights from performing in the UK over the years? Any and all of the festivals have been amazing! Especially the last three Downloads we have done. I feel like those all made a splash with the music community as well! I have a feeling that this tour will be something people talk about for a very long time!
How would you say the alternative rock scene has changed/progressed? Well, I hate to say that we don’t see the support for it we once did in the US. The UK has definitely done wonders for a LOT of bands, including us! That said, I like the fact that the lines are blurry now and there are less rules. And I don’t mean for me. We do what we do. But, as a fan, it is cool to see bands with the freedom to do whatever they want!
Interview with Jaret
Interview with Justin
So for those that don't know, can you tell us about how you originally become a part of Bloc Party? I was approached by Kele back in October of 2014, as well as a bit before that I met the guys in Bloc Party when my band in opened some shows for them on a US tour in 2009. We did a short tour on the West coast, and stayed in casual contact. Kele emailed saying that him and Rusell were working on demos for a new record, and that Matt and Gordon were no longer in the band, and they needed a bass player & a drummer. They asked if I was interested in working on some demos, and it all kind of grew from there.
What was it like to be in the recording studio for the first time with everyone, and what do you remember the most from this? Any pressure? It was actually a very smooth/seemless process. I had a lot of time with the demos before hand, sending material back over from the US via the internet. Before we went into the studio, we had three weeks to rehearse in London, getting them to a point where we could play them pretty flawlessly. So yeah it was a smooth recording process, which isn't what I was used to in the past years of recording, very refreshining.
You guys live pretty far away from each other? So, what was that like when trying to rehearse before you did start to record? I have a good home studio in Portland, so it was pretty easy for me to lay down ideas, and send them back to the UK. We did that for a bit, and then I came over to London for about a month and a half last Spring, for rehearsal and recording, and I got all of my parts recorded. It was easier than I thought it would be, being 7,000 miles away!
Kele said that your new record Hymns is about faith and devotion, but he also said it isn't. So can you elaborate on some of the main themes and influences that run throughout Hymns? What I gather from it is that it's faith and devotion to all things that aren't essentially religious, it's more about faith and devotion to loved ones and family, the things that are important to you, whether that be religious or otherwise. That's kind of where Kele is coming from thematically. Musically I know they wanted to make something that was very different to before. Something that was very sparse, and spacious.
How did you get to the album title Hymns, and what does it mean to you? I remember one of our first conversations together, they said we have a vague idea of the feeling of the album, and they had the title already, which I understand they had never done before, starting with the title. To me, I grew up in the church, so it's a spiritual piece of music, something that's devotional in nature, but the idea for Kele was to have a Hymn taken out of its context, a hymn can be interrupted in its own way.
How did you end up working with Tim Bran and Roy Kerr and what did they bring to the whole process? Kele and Russell did a couple of demo songs to try them out, and they liked them. My time with them was all about the foundation parts of the album. When I was there, I noticed that Tim had a very keen sense of rhythm, he is like a human beat detector, so if the bass wasn't on beat with the drums, or vice versa, he would point out each spot, and work out how to do it over again. So he had a pretty good ear.
There are a lot of great effects and cool song structures going on throughout Hymns, so for you, when you look at the record, what song would you say was the most challenging to put together, and why? One of the more challenging songs was one of the bonus tracks ‘Evening Song’, just because it went through numerous different interpretations, and about four or five different arrangements, which is probably why it didn't end up on the main track listing, but I really like that song. The rest of them were pretty fluid, for me personally one of the harder songs to get the right feel, and still play accurately was Virtue.
Each Bloc Party record stands alone with its own unique sound, which has again been achieved on Hymns. When you look at this record, how would you compare it to anything Bloc Party have done before? My first impression was that it was very different to anything they've done before, but on the same side of that coin, each record has been different to its predecessor. I guess you could argue, that the first two were probably more in line with each other, compared to the other two that followed. Die hard Bloc Party fans are going to be derailed a little bit by it, and think like what is this? But if you look at the progression with this album, then it's certainly there. There's always been a synthetic element to all of their songs, there's synth in a lot of songs, as well as what Russell has been doing over the years guitar wise with effects and manipulation, and it's led to the point where on this album he is continuing to work on effects. There's this view that it's all synth, but it's all guitar and maybe some low end bass, so yeah the stuff that sounds like synthesizer is not at all, it's all guitar. That acknowledgement will come when we play live, until you see us live you'd think that it's all synth. It's not a natural fifth record for Bloc Party, but I certainly think it fits in their overall catalogue, I think it will be looked back on as a very important piece in that catalogue as it shows their ability, and desire to not to repeat themselves. It shows a good evolution. We've been writing a lot of new stuff as of late, and if it goes at this rate I can already see that the next record won't sound like this record. At the end of the day you have do what's true to you.
And finally, how excited are you for your upcoming UK tour? Very excited, I'm excited to be playing more of the new songs in addition to the older songs. Fans can expect a healthy mix of new and old. I mean they could certainly expect a new rhythm section! I think musically it's all been good.
Interview with Whakaio
What made you want to release 'Human Interaction' first, and can you tell us a bit about the narrative behind the track? Human Interaction was the first song that really made sense to us in the studio. I remember sitting in the control room and listening to Jenna finish the "I will Be Better” line and feeling something really special. Human was also the first song that got mixed and hearing it all come together with all the emotion that we put into it it seemed like a no brainer. We had to start off the cycle with that song.
So, how did you get to the album title 'Limitless', and what does it mean to you? The title of Limitless came about in a van when we were touring Japan. Jen turned to me and said “..I think the album should be called Limitless” and that was that. We always want our songs to be interpreted by the listener in whatever way is needed. We want our listeners to feel empowered, inspired and know that they can do anything they set their mind to. Limitless for me is about being ok to fail. As long as you stand back up and try again. When you have that mentality you can accomplish anything. Knowing you have the freedom to be yourself and embrace whatever you want to do without fear of judgement. Feel free and feel Limitless.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout 'Limitless’? Control is a huge part in each of our lives. Everyday we strive to be our own person, to think for ourselves and to be happy within ourselves. Freedom is a huge theme running through most of these songs. Happiness should never be a goal, but it should be a by product of your journey. If you’re not happy in a relationship or your job or your living situation - change it. No matter how hard. We are really practicing what we preach with this new album. We are ready to embrace this Journey of Limitless and see where it takes us.
What was the hardest part about putting together 'Limitless' for you, and why? The hardest part of Limitless was the constant self reflection. Saying "I’m not good enough, I need to improve”. I think it’s one of the hardest things to accept that your best isn’t good enough. But we took it on the chin and pushed past it and made our best something that we were proud of. Writing wise we worked everyday. On the road and when we got home from tour. In the studio we worked 14 hour days to get the best take and get the best out of ourselves. David Bendeth was really good at getting that out of ourselves. Sometimes we had to hit rock bottom to rise from the ashes.
How did the album cover for 'Limitless' come together, and what does it mean to you? When we started forming the ideas for the album artwork, we went in recognising that art will always be interpreted a different way depending on the viewer. The purest 'meaning' of the artwork for Limitless is not to answer questions but to pose them. To provoke that human need and yearning for a greater understanding of life, the earth and the universe. Writing Limitless as a record really pushed us to discover and live by what we believe to be our purpose in life so we wanted to share that feeling with the viewer.
You've stated that "Limitless is a record that is just as much about redefining boundaries as it is about challenging the illusory concept of boundaries itself", so with that, can you tell us a bit about the writing and recording process for this release, as well as how it compares to how you worked on your past albums? Writing was different this time around. We wanted to learn and become better writers and we couldn’t do that by ourselves. We did a lot of writing sessions (most of which we didn’t use) until we found the core couple of people that we really felt got us and what we were trying to do. One writer that we worked with on three of the tracks was David Hodges. He taught us more in three days then we could have learned in a year by ourselves. We then took away what we learnt and applied it when just Jen and I wrote. And out of that came my favourite track “Oxygen”. That song was a real game changer for me. We wrote that just before we went overseas to start the recording process. It was kind of the staple song that I based most of the instrumentation for the rest of the album off. So, in answering your question the process was extremely different. Jen and I really went on a two year journey to get the songs we have today. Some of the hardest times in our lives but made it all so worth it when we listened to them all compete.
How did you end up working with David Bendeth, and what was he like to work with? We had heard a lot about David before meeting him. We knew that this was going to be more then just plugging in and recording. He looks at the process holistically. Really gets into what makes you tick. So we first met up with him on a writing trip just before Reading and Leeds and pretty much knew instantly that he was the guy. He saw what we were fighting to see and always had an end goal. We all look really fondly on him now but the process was incredibly difficult. A couple of times people would storm from rooms, go home in the car completely silent or feel like we weren’t good enough. But we are the type of people that keep pushing until it’s right and that worked really well with David’s style. The album wouldn’t be what it was without him. Not even close.
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect? Incredibly excited! It’s been over a year since we’ve been there. We’ve played some of the best shows in our career in the UK so everyone is so pumped to get back!!
Can you give us a couple of personal highlights from performing in the UK over the years? A big highlight for us was the two Koko shows. One of those shows we played “The Other Side” from front to back. It was an extremely emotional time and really felt like we could close a lid on that album. Another would be Reading And Leeds. We had never really been apart of something that massive before and were very honoured to be playing on the main stage. It’s hard for us to get nervous before a show these days but I can tell you there were a few trips to the toilet prior to the show on those two days!
What else can we expect to see from Tonight Alive in 2016? You can expect to see us a lot! The album comes out March 4th and we plan to tour and get to every corner of the world before the cycle is done. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, see you at a show!!
Interview with Pierre
So how did you get to the album title ‘Taking One for the Team’ and what does it mean to you? It’s always really hard to describe so much work and so much effort as one short title, as well as what represents exactly what that means or what that represents for us, and it’s always the last thing that we do when we create a record. I think this one really fits the band well, as ‘Taking One for the Team’ obviously can be spun in a comical way, but to be honest I think that being in a band, you have to ‘Take One for the Team’ a lot. I think whether that’s being voted out on a decision that we all have to take or, not feeling like going out and playing a show but you’ve got four other guys that are there and your fans, so basically you have a bigger cause yourself to support, you gotta ‘Take One for the Team’. We’ve been a band for about 17 years and I think the reason why we are still hear and why we’re still going strong and why we have a good fan base is because of the general attitude of the five guys in the band. We’re all prepared to ‘Take One for the Team’ and fight for the greater good and so on. It’s a great way to describe our attitudes towards the band.
You guys have had the same members since your formation which by today’s standards is amazing. So what’s the key to sticking together for so long? Being in a band is very comparable to being in a marriage or a relationship except you do it with four other people and there’s no sex... When there’s a fight you don’t get make up sex, unless you’re in a homosexual band which would maybe be a lot easier or harder I’m not sure! The reason why we’re still here is because we’ve been able to look at the big picture and a lot of the times put our egos aside. A lot of bands sometimes get caught up in a hype but for us being a band means you need to make sacrifices and put like I said, your ego on the back shelf. Some guys aren’t prepared to do that, and some people feel like, ‘wait a minute I’ve got something to say’ and ‘I feel like these guys are holding me back’, but for us we’ve always seen the band as being the strongest part of us. We’re stronger as a unit and we’re not letting ourselves get caught up in that, and those thoughts of like ‘hey what if I could do whatever I want?’. There’s always going to be someone who you’re going to have to answer to whether it’s a record label or it’s a fan base, but we are able to keep our eyes straight forward and realise how lucky we are to have what we have. Also we’re pretty good at communicating, as things are going to happen and there’s going to be some issues, there’s going to be some slippery moments where people annoy other people in the band.-
-There’s one way to deal with that which would be to just shut down and flip each other off and then request separate dressing rooms or separate hotels and all that rubbish, but for us we would rather just get together and say like ‘hey what’s the problem?’ and ‘let’s sort this out’. That’s been the philosophy of the band from the beginning. From the early start of the band when we used to practice in Chuck’s parents basement, we would have these massive fights and we would spend hours and hours arguing and then we wouldn’t let it go until it was sorted. That’s kind of been the way that we’ve done things for the last seventeen years, and because we’ve gotten so good at dealing with our problems there’s actually less of them now. We all have the same vision of where we want to go as a band, and that makes it easier.
Looking at it from that perspective, what was the hardest part about putting this album together? That was actually fairly easy this time around, the hardest part of making this record was having our ideas come to completion, we went to Howard Benson to make this album, as he was the best suitor for the job at the time. While we made the record, we had a lot of disagreements and we had a lot of expectations that maybe didn’t happen as easily as we thought they would. We’ve been playing music together for a long-time, and even individually for a long-time, and we’re pretty well accomplished writers, producers and we understand how to complete an album and how to push an idea as far as we can. So a lot of times making the record was Howard and his team, there was a lot of disagreements on where it was going or how much more work was needed, all those sort of details and that was the hard part, to come to terms with the fact that okay this is finished and we took it where we wanted to take it. We had to push a lot and we had to really rely on ourselves to make those ideas come to fruition and come to completion and then be really satisfied in our own heads. A lot of bands go into the studio and sort of all individually play their parts and don’t really care about the big picture of what it’s going to sound like or what it’s going to represent, and our band is quite the opposite. Everybody is super involved and cares more than any producer has ever cared for us and more than any record label or management company. We are the ones that are driving this force and we are the ones that have the ideas and see the vision we want to take. We were really solid, I think it was sort of like, more of an attitude of us against the producer and the engineers and all that, trying to make sure that our vision and our direction was done the way we wanted it to be done.
You mentioned working with Howard Benson, how did that come about? Was there other work that he’s produced that you thought ‘yeah, I like that, that sounds good for the next steps’? For sure, that was a tough decision for us. in the world of music these days you look at the top of the charts and you look at where music is going and everyone seems to be. Producing is taking a different shape, you look at the Max Martins of the world and you look at the Dr Lukes and the other sort of styles of pop that you know, people are going to different producers for different songs and it’s now how records were made back when we started, and even before that which was basically our inspiration. So when we look for a producer we need to find someone that is sure to push the band into something a little more, maybe, cutting edge or something that’s a little more current, but at the same time we really have to find someone that understands what it is to record a band, who can make a drum sound good and can make guitars sound good, and can get that energy that is not just that cookie cutter pop sound, that is clean. After looking around for a bunch of people and seeing who was available and who was up for the challenge, Howard for us seemed to be the best guy because he’s got a good team of people, he’s got a few programmers that are doing some cool stuff but at the same time he’s got a great studio, he’s got some engineers that have recorded some great tones and that have produced some great records. The first My Chemical Romance record is a great example of sort of raw energy and not keeping it too clean and sort of going with the vibe. There’s other stuff like All American Rejects, Move Along which was a massive hit and has incredible sonic qualities to it that just feel like that sort of blend between something that could be a big pop hit whilst at the same time having the energy of a rock band. We went with him and the experience, I don’t think it was exactly what we expected. I feel like on this album the band really had to step up and sort of push our own vision, Howard likes to capture the energy of the moment and sort of kind of move on where we get a little bit caught up in the detail. So there was a little bit of pull and push and sort of, and a lot of arguments but at the end of the day that sort of energy and all of the disagreements/tension probably added to that sort of raw approach in the record. So it ended up being really good.
On ‘I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed’ you worked with Nelly, which for some may seem like a strange move for Simple Plan, so can you tell us how that idea came around? The philosophy of every album that we make is to give the fans two things. Give them what they want and give them what we like, and I like pop-punk music and I like the energy that gives me when I’m playing live shows. I like cranking it up in my ears when I’m frustrated or whatever and being able to escape when I hear that kind of music, but at the same time we also want to surprise people, we’ve been playing music for a longtime and I don’t really want to make the same music over and over again. I do wan’t to make similar things on one end but on the other end I want to also challenge myself and surprise people, and just go for something that’s a little bit more daring. One could argue it as not necessarily the smartest thing to do because maybe some fans would get upset with the fact that we’re doing something that’s so left of centre for a band like us but I think that’s a risk that we’re willing to take and that keeps it interesting for ourselves. If the song does well then great, and if the fans react well to it that’s an awesome bonus. If they don’t you know, it’s just music and like I said the whole record has got so much to offer for any Simple Plan fan that’s been following us for a long-time. The funny thing is that kind of brings me to the reason why that song came about, like when we get together to write music and we’ll sit in a room in my back yard, I’ve got a studio in the back, or we go to Chuck’s house he’s got another place there, it’s not like we necessarily know what the outcome is going to be and sometimes you get inspired by an idea and it kind of sounds a certain way and you don’t really know why it went that direction. That was sort of what happened with ‘I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed’, we came up with this chorus in just a few minutes and it was like, whoa that’s kind of an interesting different sound for us and we sort of put it aside for a long time, we recorded a quick demo of it and then didn’t really talk about it for a month and a half or two. One day we were doing another writing session and we kept going back to the idea because we played it for everyone and everyone kept saying like, man that sounds like a hit to me, that sounds like it’s got potential to be a song that really would get people talking. So because of that reason we kept going back to it, it never got dumped in the trash. After a while we were like ‘hey, why is this song still a subject of conversation, why are we still talking about this song, why do we keep going back to it?’. And from those conversations we thought, why should we stop ourselves from releasing a song just because it doesn’t sound exactly like what people would expect, and in a way I guess that’s our defiant attitude that we’ve always had, that we want to just do whatever we feel like doing and we don’t care if it’s going to upset somebody. If we have a gut feeling and we feel like ‘hey this is kind of cool’ for whatever reason, maybe we’re wrong, maybe we’re right, but time will tell you know, and whether the song does well or doesn’t do well or whether the fans like it or don’t like it, it’s all just temporary. You’ve got to follow your gut feeling when you do something like music, and that’s what we’re doing.
Did you sit down and discuss who would be good on it and then the idea of Nelly came about or was it a completely different thing like maybe it was a suggestion from the producer? It was actually purely our idea, as soon as the song was sort of taking shape and we kind of felt like because it sounded so different we should kind of throw it off to someone else for the bridge and do something way out there. With Nelly, we were talking about possibly having a rapper or something that was a different sound because when you sing an entire song and then someone else comes in on another part and just keeps singing it makes it a little bit redundant and boring. We wanted to have someone who was a little bit more of kind of on the rap side or the urban side that would be able to take it away from what it sounds like so that we could bring it back and freshen it up for the last chorus. We immediately thought of Nelly purely because of the sound of his voice and the type of things that he’s done in the past, he’s very rhythmic but at the same time he is singing, he sings harmonies and he’s very melodic and not just spitting out words, and that was important for us, because we grew up on stuff like Nelly. Nelly was a huge hit when we first started coming out as a band and he’s still an icon. So we thought it was cool, daring and different, and I think that his voice really suited the song. We just went for it and reached out to him and his management company, they were all excited about the idea and the loved the song. The rest is history.
And how was he to work with? He was really cool, he came to the studio and he wrote his parts right on the spot, and he wanted to make sure that we liked what he was doing. He would go in the booth, brainstorm ideas and throw them down and say like ‘do you guys like that?’ and we’re like ‘yeah that’s good’ and he really let us collaborate with him. He’d say ‘do you want something quicker at the end?’ or this or that, are the lyrics okay and everything? He was very accommodating and I thought it was really cool that he didn’t just show up and be like, blah, there you go, I’m out of here. He made us feel like he cared about the song and wanted to make it good, and that was important. He really left with a good vibe and it’s cool to know that a guy that has been so huge can still be a nice guy that cares about other people.
That’s awesome, the video for ‘I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed’ is like, Baywatch inspired, so how did that come about? Because the song is a little bit more serious so to speak, it doesn’t have the same kind of energy that we usually have, we felt like we needed to make the video sort of comical because in a way for Simple Plan to come out with a song like that is in its own way a little bit funny. We wanted to run with that and make a video that was clearly meant to be funny, and yeah, it’s meant to be a little bit of a joke. We thought of a few concepts that could accommodate that sort of comedy that we were looking for, and making fun of ourselves is something that we’ve been good at for the last fifteen years. So we figured, hey what the hell let’s get in little lifeguard uniforms and make fools of ourselves on the beach with some beautiful women. We thought of the idea of doing the Baywatch spoof and luckily when we shot the idea round, I don’t know if you’re aware, but when you do those kind of things you need to clear the rights because they’re going to sue you for copying Baywatch. So we had to go to the Baywatch people and get them to agree for us to use them and they were very accommodating due to the fact that David Hasslehoff and his manager really liked the song, and they were like ‘this is cool, yeah, we definitely want to get involved in this’. So they helped us clear the rights and then we had it, we had the concept of a Baywatch video and David Hasslehoff in it kind of went full circle with that. It turned out to be great. I think to me it enhances the song, it makes it okay that a band like Simple Plan is doing a song that sounds so foreign.
For the music video to ‘Boom’, you got loads of bands together, so how did that come about? We were lucky enough to be on the Warped Tour last Summer and there was the Alternative Press Awards that were coming up while we were making this video for ‘Boom’, so we thought ‘hey this is a perfect opportunity for us to do it’. So many people from the scene, the pop punk scene, and the Warped Tour scene were there all at the same time and we figured, let’s use this opportunity to ask, because over the course of time that we were on the Warped Tour we realised a lot of these bands sort of were fans of us when they were growing up. Some of them weren’t, but they all sort of knew who we were and they all kind of respected us for being around for this long. So we figured hey if they all enjoy hanging out with us and we’re all becoming friends let’s see if they want to be in the video. So we just asked anyone that would be interested, all of the people that we respected, who would be interested in being in the video and you know about 90% of them were like yeah I’ll come by and do it, so we set up this little shooting booth and it was awesome. What’s cool is for fans of ours or fans of other bands that are also fans of ours and all that sort of scene, it’s just cool for them to see. Like when I was growing up if I saw all of my favourite bands in one video I would be stoked, so that was the idea behind it, to get people excited and get people talking about the video, and also for us to sort of get a stamp of approval from all these bands that are from the younger generation coming behind us.
You guys are coming out on tour and coming back to the UK, how excited are you to come back to our shores? Super excited, we’ve had some great shows there and what I love about the UK is that for the longest time we didn’t have barely any support from the mainstream radio and TV, but no matter what we always had good shows, we sold out the Astoria for two nights. We’ve created a really good relationship with the fans there and the area so it’s cool to go back and rekindle that friendship and that energy with our fans that have been waiting for so long. The UK is a big supporter of rock music and bands that have a lot of energy, so we’re grateful for that and we’re super excited about heading back there.
So you say you’ve sold out the Astoria twice, can you give us another couple of highlights of coming to the UK over the years? I would have to say the Indian food, you guys have such great Indian food there! I love hanging out there, there’s always that same shopping street in every town, a pedestrian street that you can go to with all the shops and get what you need, and just walk round and get some good food. It’s that and the the fact that the fans are, well we tour the world and a lot of places that we go to, English isn’t the first language of the fan base you know so it’s fun to go to the UK where we can communicate with fans and really get to know them more. But yeah the highlights I would say is the energy from the crowds and the Indian food! I’m going to go ahead and say it, it’s just great!
How did you guys end up getting involved with the music for Scooby Doo, and what has that whole experience been like for you as a band? It actually all started because back when our first album was just coming out, I guess Scooby Doo was looking for a band to play the theme song from the cartoon, it’s ‘What’s New Scooby Doo?’ the newer cartoon now. At that point our band were on the up and coming and we had an opportunity to record the song so we did it, and from there I guess the people that take care of the Scooby Doo brand really enjoyed the sound and thought it fit the style of the cartoon, and from this other opportunities came about. We did songs in two of the movies and we did a video that was inspired by the Scooby Doo movie which had the Mystery Machine in it, so we did a whole bunch of stuff with Scooby Doo. The higlight for me was doing the voiceover for the animated cartoon that they did in a Scooby Doo episode called ‘Simple Plan and the Invisible Mad Man’ which is kind of cool to say that you’ve been animated into a cartoon, especially one as classic as Scooby Doo. It’s great and it’s funny because still today when I meet some people that have never heard of my band, and we go round and sometimes they have younger kids and I’m like ‘you know that song Scooby Doo, well that’s me singing it’ and they’re like ‘what?!’. I know that my neighbours across the street that’s like the biggest thing for them, they don’t really care that I’m the guy in Simple Plan, but I’m the guy that sings the Scooby Doo song, that’s a bigger deal for them, so that’s pretty interesting.
The Simple Plan Foundation sounds like a brilliant idea, for an absolutely awesome cause. Are you guys still heavily involved in that or is that left to other people now? No we keep pushing it every year, we have a foundation that is purely non-profit, we don’t have any employees, we don’t have anything that we have to pay for. Chuck, our drummer’s parents are basically the main people on the board that sort of help us with the management of it and we still donate one dollar or equivalent of every ticket we sell on the road towards that and every year we put together an event for the foundation and so far we’ve raised and donated over 1.7 million dollars, so it’s been really great, and it’s very fulfilling. We’ve had a lot of cool events that have come about for it, we’ve met a lot of cool people and have made a difference in a lot of peoples lives, especially in the Montreal region where the band is from. We kind of focus our energy on that since we don’t have tens and hundreds and millions of dollars to donate we like to focus on stuff that’s a little more concrete and that we can really make a difference on. We’ve helped build some entertainment rooms in various hospitals for kids that are sick and that makes their hospital stay a little more interesting. I know that because my brother had cancer and he was living in a hospital for a month and every little thing that you can have whether it’s WiFi or video games or something to keep your mind off the fact that you’re in a really bad place is appreciated so we’ve done that. We’ve helped build some schools in different areas in Africa through the organization called War Child. We’ve helped various things around like youth groups, and stuff to do with helping kids coming out of the closet with homosexuality or various other things like addiction. So we’ve done a lot of really cool things and cool projects with people over the last seven to eight years, we’ve been doing this and we’re still going strong. Every year we are able to put together and we usually raise and donate about 250 to 350 thousand dollars a year so it’s pretty awesome. It’s nice that we get to do something and give back after all the things that have been given to us.
Alright, last question, what else can we expect from Simple Plan in 2016? A lot of touring, we’ve been sort of cooped up and making this album for about two years, and it’s time for us to go out there and play it for the world. We’ve been off the road for a long-time and a lot of fans have been waiting for us. We’re excited to go out there and play some new songs and I think that the new album is exceptionally rock and especially high energy, so we’re looking forward to playing all those fun songs and getting the crowds going. We’ll be hitting the road and doing the European tour in February and March and then going to Japan. Then we are going to be doing North America and South America, plus we’ll probably do it all over again and go back to Europe again, hopefully some festivals in the Summer. We’re excited about the new singles that are coming out and I just can’t wait for people to hear the record. I think it’s going to be well received, so I’m excited.
Have you got any UK festivals planned at the moment or is that all under wraps? We don’t have any concrete details that I can talk about just yet but I’m sure we’ll be heading there, there are so many great festivals that are in the area so for sure. People can definitely expect a second European run, I’m guessing either at the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017 once the record is within more of a full cycle. We’ll be having fun!
When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer?? I always wrote, from when I was very young – little scenes of comic characters, descriptions of action, fights and chases – and what I wrote got longer (and better) as I got older. I wrote my first novel (which was never published) when I was at university. So it wasn’t really about realizing that I wanted to be a writer: it was more about realizing that it might actually be something that was possible. And that took a long time – I grew up in the north east, a long way away from any publishing companies, and I didn’t have the faintest idea how books arrived on the shelves of libraries and shops.
What did you do before you were a full time writer?? When I left university, I worked in publishing for six years, almost by accident. It was there that I understood that writers aren’t all geniuses, or tortured artists: that they were (mostly) just normal people, which demystified the whole thing and made me feel like it was something I could try to do. Before that I worked in a cinema, and in various bookshops and bars.
How did you get to the book title Department 19, and what did it mean for you at the time, when you created it?? It would be great if I had an interesting and meaningful story about the title of the book (and series) but I’m afraid I don’t: it just sounded cool. It was called something else while I was writing it, until it turned out there was going to be a video game with the same name, and my editor and agent and I had to come up with something else in a hurry.
For those that might be unaware, can you tell us about the main narrative behind the Department 19 series?? It’s the story of a teenage boy called Jamie Carpenter, who gets dragged into a secretive world that his (deceased) father was a part of, a world in which a classified branch of the British Government polices the supernatural,and keeps them a secret. It sprawls across four centuries and most of the seven continents, and it’s full of real people from history and characters from the great gothic horror stories, and it’s about good and evil and all the grey in between. But maybe the best, and shortest, description of the series came from a teenage boy at a school I visited, who called it Call Of Duty: Vampires.
What do you enjoy the most about writing for this world?? It took six years to write the five Department 19 novels, and in that time I got to know the characters like they were old friends. So the best bit about sitting down to write each novel was picking them up and finding their voices again.
Can you tell us about one of your other recent titles: Three Memories of Death?? Three Memories of Death is a (long) short story that was published in a collection of stories about mummies called The Book of the Dead. It’s set in Egypt and is about a priest in the Temple of Osiris and his relationship with the Pharaoh Ramesses II, from when they’re both young boys through to the last days of their lives. It’s about duty and grief and tradition and loss, and it’s one of the things I’ve written that I’m most proud of.
What is the hardest part about being an author?? There are days when the words just will not come, no matter how long you stare at the screen or the sheet of paper. And if you write full-time, like I do, it can be a pretty isolated way to live. You can get a bit starved of human contact.
Alternatively, what's the most rewarding part about being an author?? When it goes well, when your imagination is firing on all cylinders and the right words are appearing like magic, it’s the greatest job in the world.
For someone out there, looking to do what you do for a living, then what advice would you give to them?? There is a load of business and publishing advice information that you need to research and understand (most particularly the role of agents and how to get yourself one) but the priority should always be the words on the page. If you’re trying to get published, they are how you can make that happen, and if you manage to find a publisher, they are the only thing you can really control. And ultimately, they’re really the only things that matter.
What else can we expect to see from you in 2016?? The paperback of Darkest Night just came out, and my new novel (which I can’t say anything about because it hasn’t been announced yet!) will be published next spring. Between now and then I’ll be working on some screenplays, and writing a novel that’s nothing like anything I’ve done before. Which is always a weird prospect – there’s nothing more exciting (and terrifying) than having a story take shape in your head and blank pages that need filling…
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When did you first realize that art/illustration was what you wanted to do with your life? From an early age my mum used to buy me and my brother a comic each every week. I got a ‘baby’ one called Jack and Jill but I used to love reading his more though, which was an anarchic humour comic called the Sparky. I was introduced to Marvel comics when I was about 5 by a friend in primary school and from that point on I was hooked - Asterix, 2000AD, Metal Hurlant, sci-fi paperback covers, albums covers, Star Wars and Gerry Anderson all had a big influence on me. I used to copy Marvel characters, make up my own, create Thunderbirds-type vehicles etc. Comics had no legitimacy though and I wasn’t great at ‘real’ art, so I never did any art exams and ended up doing a degree in Engineering instead. I realised pretty quickly that wasn’t for me, so after finishing I concentrated on teaching myself as much as possible about drawing comics (not easy with the lack of information available) until I felt good enough to start contributing to fanzines that were being published.
What was your first major project, and what was that like for you at the time? I'd done quite a few bits and pieces for fanzines such as 'Killing Stroke' and others, but my first 'major' project was producing a regular strip for the Harrier Comics anthology 'Avalon', a kitchen sink superhero strip called 'Three Way Split' which I wrote and drew. It was my first experience of producing work to a deadline, so taught me a lot about working professionally. The quality of my work also improved exponentially as a result so that by the end of the run I was producing a halfway decent looking strip (although I'd rather it never saw the light of day again)!
What was it like to work with 2000AD, and what did you enjoy the most about working with them? I'd wanted to work for 2000AD almost since I'd started reading it from the first issue (I still own every single issue). Artists like Mike McMahon, Carlos Ezquerra and Massimo Belardinelli were a huge influence on me at the time and still are. After a couple of years producing work for fanzines, I first submitted some artwork of my own characters to 2000AD and got a rejection pretty much straight away. After I'd nursed my wounds for a while, I took a more targeted approach and produced three comic strip pages each featuring different 2000AD characters - Dredd, Durham Red and Robusters. I didn't hear anything back and had pretty much given up hope when I got a call from then editor Richard Burton asking me if I would like to draw a Future Shock written by Steve Dillon. It turned out they'd put the artwork I'd sent in up on the office wall and Steve had seen it when he brought the script in and suggested they use me. I was elated and terrified at the same time, but managed to produce artwork that was good enough to get me a couple more Future Shocks, one of which was written by Hilary Robinson, with whom I did my first full series - Medivac 318.
It was a steep learning curve as it featured a lot of female characters and wasn't your typical shoot-em-up 2000AD sort of strip. I was also working to very tight deadlines as they were short of material at the time, which was probably a good thing as it meant I just had to conquer my nerves and get on with it. Even so, I managed to draw the first five pages in the wrong proportion (2000AD had recently switched the paper size on which it was printed)! They also had to break the series in the middle to allow me time to catch up. My only moment of real crisis came when I was asked to do a colour pin-up to go with the series. I'd never done any colour work before and couldn't picture how the characters would look in colour. I ended up literally punching the wall at two in the morning in frustration. I had to tell Richard the next day that I couldn't do it. I thought I’d get the sack but he was fine about it. A couple more series followed and I did eventually move into colour work. I got to work on Strontium Dogs and one of my favourite characters ever - The Gronk. I took so long on the first series though, I almost got the sack. I still love the character and am currently finishing the art on a four page Gronk strip for the Strontium Dog fanzine Dogbreath. Apart from the fanboy thrill of working on a character I grew up reading, my favourite aspect of working on 2000AD was the opportunity for 'world building' - creating all the visual elements of a strip from characters and settings to costume and hardware. Even on the strips that weren't terribly popular or successful I'm still proud of that aspect of them.
Following on from this, you worked on the Sonic the Comic, what was it like to create this iconic character whilst making sure that it had your own style? I wasn’t particularly familiar with Sonic when I started doing the comic and had never heard of the character that I was drawing, Knuckles. I really approached it in the way I approached any other comic strip, just trying to tell a good story with the characters. We were provided with ‘style sheets’ for the characters, so there wasn’t a lot a room for interpretation and I stuck pretty closely to the look we were given. There was more fun to be had in creating supporting characters, environments etc. It was also a much more collaborative experience than working on 2000AD where I would be presented with a finished script to work on. I’d known the writer Nigel Kitching for many years before starting on Sonic, so we would often discuss plot and character ideas before he wrote the scripts. Another favourite aspect of my time on Sonic was doing colouring for other artists - ironic, considering my moment of of colouring crisis at 2000AD! My favourite artist to work with was Roberto Corona, who had a fluid cartooning style of which I was very jealous. We worked very well together and I’m still proud of the work I did with him. I’m very judgemental of my own work and often see the worst in it when I look back but colouring someone else’s takes away a lot of that responsibility and becomes a pleasure. As a friend once said of me to his wife: ‘Did you hear this? He gets PAID for COLOURING IN!’. We had little idea at the time what sort of impact the comic was having on readers, but in recent years I’ve met hundreds of now grown-up fans and comic creators who said that it was a huge influence on them, which is wonderful to know.
You went on to work on Mr.Bean! What was that like, and how rewarding was it to create the comic version of this legendary character? It was quite a technical challenge. I did a lot of ‘licensed character’ work after Sonic. Each character requires an adaptation of style. The look of a licensed character depends as much on line weight, colouring style etc as on the physical shape of the character. In the case of Mr. Bean, there is a very precise way in which the thick and thin linework relates to each other, so it took a bit of learning. Unfortunately, the first thing I was asked to do was a spot-the-difference Mr. Bean version of the Bayeux Tapestry. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end! By the time I’d finished that, I’d pretty much figured out how the style worked. They were nice characters to work on - nicely designed and expressive. Some are harder to ‘act’ than others. i did a series of Gogo Crazy Bones strips a few years ago - little collectible plastic figures, many of which don’t even have faces or arms - so trying to interpret them in comic strips was quite difficult. I ended up buying the whole set of them (80 figures in total), photographing them and inking straight from the photos. Unfortunately, one of our cats took to stealing them off my desk and I would hear Gogos bouncing down the stairs in the morning, sometimes never to be found again.
What was it like to work on Digimon, and how did it compare to anything you'd done before? As I say, I worked on a lot of different licensed character properties, from Power Rangers to Angelina Ballerina and My Little Pony, so Digimon was really just another of those. It was only my second time working with an American publisher (Dark Horse - I’d produced three issues of Judge Dredd for DC when working at 2000AD) and it felt rather more high pressure than working for most UK publishers. I was asked to produce 20 pages of inked work in a week at first. It was based on the first season of the Digimon animation, so I would get sent a huge package of screen captures (physical in those days, not digital!) which I would reinterpret into comic strip format. As a result it was pretty quick work, but 20 pages was still a struggle. I really liked the characters though - lovely design and great fun to draw. I ended up coming back to them a few times over the years - covers for a Panini reprint series and then samples for a new Titan series last year which sadly didn’t come to anything.
You are currently working on a new comic strip for the Beano, so how is that coming along, and what can fans expect? The Beano strip was Billy the Cat which actually stopped a few years ago. I quit after all the artwork for the last annual it appeared in was stretched to accommodate a new paper size they’d switched to which made my artwork look hideous. I figured if the publishers didn’t care about their product to that extent, I didn’t want to work for them any more. As it was, I enjoyed creating Billy so much I actually re-approached them a couple of years later with a new script (which would have been set round the Teesside steel and chemical plants near where I live), but by that time they’d decided to concentrate on just humour strips. I was also approached by a comic called Strip to redevelop the characters (they had acquired the rights to redevelop a number of old D. C. Thomson ‘action’ characters) and produced new updated designs for the characters of Billy and his cousin Katie, as well as a synopsis for a new story relocated to London which was a sort of ‘origin’ story for the characters. Sadly the comic was dogged by production and publishing mishaps and it never saw the light of day.
What else have you been working on most recently? The bulk of my work nowadays is educational book illustration through my agent, but as far as comic strips are concerned, I did the art for a graphic novel which was published by Walker Books last year, the third in a series of adaptations of books by Anthony Horowitz, called ‘Nightrise’. I was hoping to do more, but they don’t seem to have been successful enough to warrant any more volumes. I also worked on a couple of Shakespeare adaptations with Jon Haward for Classical Comics, doing colour and letters over Jon’s linework and did colouring and letters on a graphic novel published by Markosia called The Chili. I also did the artwork for a strip in Redan’s girls’ comic ‘Sparkle World’ called Goblin Princess!
What's the hardest part about what you do? Self-motivation is always difficult. I procrastinate endlessly and only seem to get work finished when I have a fixed deadline to meet. Personal projects tend to get put on the back burner either through lack of faith in them or through the necessity of having to earn a living! From that standpoint, there is always the unpredictability of the workflow that I have and the living that I earn. When I first started working for 2000AD, they were my only employer and time management was a lot easier. Now, I tend to be working for many different employers and publishers at the same time, so it’s always a bit of a balancing act. I try to balance time and finances out, but you’re sometimes left wondering when (or if) you’re going to get paid for a job you’ve done and sometimes working flat out with nothing in the bank to show for it, which can be frustrating.
Alternatively, what's the most rewarding part about what you do? I’m always very self critical of my own work, so I find it hard to be satisfied with anything I’ve done, but it’s always a pleasure to discover that something I’ve drawn or written has had an impact on someone’s life. It can take a long time to filter through to you, but when it does (as in the case of readers of Sonic the Comic) it’s very gratifying.
For someone reading this, looking for a career in art/illustration, then what advice would you give to them? Learn to draw as many things as possible. For comic strips in particular, once you start telling a story you quickly realise how many gaps there are in your knowledge. A good working knowledge of anatomy (both human and animal), perspective, vehicle design, landscape and lighting are all essential. It’s great to draw a really cool monster or robot, but once you start trying to tell a story with them, you realise you have to know how the character acts, how they interact with their environment etc. A comic artist has to be actor, set designer, costumier, lighting director and director all rolled into one! As far as general art and illustration is concerned, I’ve found that versatility has always served me well. I produce comic strips, technical illustration, graphic design, educational illustration - a wide range. At the moment I’m even doing pages for ‘zen’ colouring books, which I’ve never done before and am finding surprisingly enjoyable.
What else can we expect to see from you in 2016? I’m currently finishing off the art for a four page Gronk strip for Dogbreth fanzine. I’m about two thirds of the way through finishing the art for a strip for the digital comics anthology Aces Weekly which I hope to get completed in the next couple of months. I’m working with an Australian writer and publisher on the first issue of a science fiction comic strip called “The Adventures of Naut”. I also have a couple of personal self-published projects to complete - one a collection of comic strips, art and poems about teddy bears that have died in different ways, called ‘RejecTeds’ and another aimed at children about British minibeasts. Whether they will get finished this year is anyone’s guess!
When did you first realize that you wanted to be an actor? At 14 I was a member of the local Air Training Corps and every year we did a 'Gang' show at Christmas. Nothing heavy or dramatic, it was just a collection of Monty Python sketches and comedy scenes. Once I stepped on the stage I realised that all I ever wanted was to be an actor.
What was your first major project, and what was that like for you at the time? My First major project..? That is a hard one, I guess my first major Stage project was being a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I was 21 years old and shitting myself to be acting next to such great figures as John Woodvine. I just sucked up my courage and got stuck in. My first major TV role was 'Soldier Soldier' and I had not even left Drama School..so it was very much the same. I had to pretend to be more experienced and pretend to have a lot more confidence than I actually had!
What was it like to be Lord of Bones on one of the most iconic Game of Thrones episode yet Hardhome? I was over the moon when I got offered the role of 'Rattleshirt' on Game of Thrones but really disappointed that he got killed off so quickly. It is the biggest worldwide show and an honour to be asked to do anything on it....but I still wanted more...mwaahhhhhhhh!
How did you get the part of Locke on The Bastard Executioner, and what was it like to work with Kurt Sutter? As well as being an actor I am also a bit of a History Geek! I am the historical advisor to a re-created Medieval Village in South Wales called Cosmeston Medieval Village. Kurt Sutter came to do a location check in April of 2014, he had not quite started writing the tv series and was just checking out ideas. I met him at the medieval village that I was working at and I made an impression on him.
What was it like to be Commander Quattrone on Da Vinci's Demons, and how does it compare to anything you've done before? I loved the role of Commander Quattrone, it was great fun for me as I made some really good friends and enjoyed working on a project in my homeland of Wales. It was also my first long running TV role so gave me plenty of chance to flex my acting muscles. I grew a bread for the role and have never shaved it of since..so I guess you could say it has changed my life!
What was it like to be involved with Extinction, and how fun were these prehistoric sets to work on? A friend of mine called Ben Lloyd Holmes Newman was producing that film and he asked me to come and play a small role. I was on film location for only a day so I never even got to see a dinosaur!!! Gutted!!!!
What was it like to work with Kenneth Branagh & Stanley Tucci on Conspiracy? Stanley Tucci is an amazing actor and was a complete gentleman on set, I was a young actor only about 25 and he really impressed me that he took time to chat with me and find out about me. He is a living legend! My biggest memory of the piece is a silly one.... my jacket had to brought in special because I am not a normal build, (too many years of gym work) The jacket that they brought in was an ss soldiers jacket that had been used in the film 'Escape to Victory'..it said inside on the label..' Costume for Mr Stallone'.
How does TV compare overall to working on films? Each project has its own merits..I like TV work as you get a chance to settle in with the cast. You can be working with the same people for years at a time and it is nice to become really relaxed with your fellow actors. It makes for a better project.
What's the most rewarding part about being an actor? Escapism.... you get to be who ever you want for however you long you can! When the world around you is shit, you can lose yourself in your job and suddenly pretend to be a space marine... or a medieval warrior!
For someone reading looking to become an actor for a living, then what advice would you give to them? To get themselves to drama school or to enrole in a series of acting classes held by an actor. It is important to get your training from someone in the business and not an old failed teacher. Acting changes all the time and students need to learn from current actors who are engaged in the process of acting for a business.
What can you tell us about your upcoming film War Dogs? Again this is a Ben Lloyd Holmes Newman project.. at the moment top secret and I can't say too much. Sorry!
Also, without giving anything away, what can you tell us about your most recent work with The Musketeers, and what do you enjoy the most about working on that show? The Musketeers is a good show, strong cast with good storylines. I was very pleased to be asked to work on it. You will see me being....and doing what I do best, violence! I can't say much more than that at this moment.
What else can we expect to see from you in 2016? The Bastard Executioner was going to be a long term plan for me but unfortunately the show was cancelled after just one season... so alongside all the other actors in the world I will be out there looking for the next job. Wish me luck!
When did you first realize that acting was what you wanted to do with your life? I don't think it was ever a decision I consciously made. As a kid I appeared in community theatre and drifted toward studying acting in university. I think what appealed to me was the ability to be different people in different stations of life both on screen and on stage. Eventually I started getting paid for it, which was like an added bonus. I got to do what I enjoy and got paid for it. Not enough though. I had odd jobs to support myself along the way, but it wasn't until I was laid off from one particular day job and the employer offered me an "employee counselling" package (which I took him up on) that I realized acting is something I'm going to focus on come hell or high water. That was 20 yrs ago. Both hell and high water have happened. I'm still an actor.
What was your first major project, and what was that like for you at the time? I guess it depends on what you mean by major - I took on a challenging role in Waiting for Godot which toured to eastern Europe just out of university. That was pretty big.
How did you originally end up working on Stargate, and what was it like to work in this sci-fi world throughout Stargate: Atlantis? I auditioned for stargate as many of my colleagues have here in Vancouver. At first it was another day job on a tv series, but I think I was lucky in that I came into the show early on and the producers were looking for an eastern european scientist. So it ended up being a few episodes and eventually it turned into a supporting role. I was never optioned as an actor, meaning they never told me I'd be staying on longer than the episode I was hired for. It ended up being a five year day job.
Looking back on Atlantis, can you give us a couple of scenes that you just really enjoyed filming? I enjoyed my scenes with David Hewlett and I enjoyed doing the outer space EVA walk in "Adrift" with Joe Flanigan. The effects in that scene were fun to do. Honestly, I enjoyed being on set all the time.
What was it like to work on Fringe (The Abducted), and what did you enjoy the most about being on this show? Fringe was great - great actors to work with on that show. It was fun to play a not-necessarily good guy and get my creep on.
What was it like to work on Tomorrowland, and also how do movies compare to working on TV? Tomorrowland was my first experience with top secret, don't tell anybody or we're going to kill you type of security on a major motion picture. My scene is very brief so I was hoping to find out more about the project when I went in for my wardrobe fitting. I came to the production office and after signing a non-disclosure agreement I was ushered into a room with a production assistant sitting by a vault. She reached into the vault and removed a single sheet of red paper (red so it couldn't be photocopied) with my name watermarked across it. It was the same scene I had done at the audition. So I was none the wiser and asked to read the script. That was not going to happen. Even the crew working on the script had to read it in that one room and never remove it. I was surprised that even the people working on the show were not able to find out what it was about. The filming was fine - easy peasy, I saw Brad Bird briefly and then was sent home. It wasn't until several months later when I saw the movie that I found out what it was I was working on. Weird.
What was it like to be a part of Supernatural as Lester Morris, and what do you remember the most from working on those sets? Awesome, awesome time. Great to work with Jared and Jensen both. I loved that character. Such a loser. We filmed in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Vancouver and there were groups of people hanging around the set at 1:00 in the morning. I thought they were extras. Turns out they were fans hoping to catch a glimpse. Go home - go to bed people!
Most recently you've been working on Arrow as Anatoly Knyazev, so how has that been, and how does this role compare to anything you've done before? Challenging. The Arrow set is a top notch production. It's like filming a movie every week. It was great to see some of my Stargate friends - like Bam Bam the stunt coordinator - on set there. I enjoy the character and working with Stephen Amell and Caty Lotz.
You are also known for your theatre work, what have you been up to most recently in that field? Not much honestly. I've left theatre behind a little bit as I've gotten more work in other media. The right project would have me back I'm sure!
How does it compare to working on TV/films? Theatre is much more direct and much more athletic than film/TV. It happens all at once without a safety net or the ability to re-shoot scenes. You have rehearsals and a longer prep time to get ready and develop a character. And you work in a community with others - which isn't always the case when you are preparing a scene for TV on your own. The process is time consuming but very rewarding.
What else can we expect to see from you in 2016? I've just finished a nice role on a series called "Motive", and have some work overseas lined up next month. Hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more of me in the coming years...
When did you first realize that art was what you wanted to do with your life? I came to a bit of a cross roads when I was deciding where to go to University and what to do. I was taking English Literature and Art beforehand at school and enjoyed both just as much. So for a small amount of time i very nearly went to do English Literature. I can’t remember the exact reason I decided go with Art, but I ended up taking a foundation course at Camberwell in London, which enabled me to try my hand at all sort of Art disciplines including Sculpture, Film, Painting and drawing.
What was your first major project, and what was that like for you at the time? It was undoubtedly the Gallows project. Gallows released their debut album Orchestra of Wolves in 2006, and I worked on that with a fellow artist Alex White. Then Gallows got picked up by Warner Brothers and they asked me to work on the artwork and layout for the re-release of that debut album. It was a huge project and big undertaking, but it definitely gave me a kickstart to my career as I was in my third year of university at the time. It was a great project to work on, it really made me understand how to work with clients and juggle projects on a deadline.
How did you end up working with Bring Me The Horizon, and what were they like to work with? After working with Gallows and other bands I started to get quite a bit more work with bands of a similar genre, It’s basically where I got my beginning, working with bands in the alternative scene, which was really nice as that’s what I grew up with, playing in bands. I think Olly approached me fairly early on with his clothing brand Drop Dead when they were about a year in, after working on a couple of designs for him I think I then did one for BMTH.
What was the Iron Maiden Ghost of the Navigator print like to work on, and what do you remember the most from putting this piece together? That was really fun as the overall brief for the piece was to simply do something based around the song. There were no real limitations on the artwork as nothing existed for it other than the album cover, but as this was just the one song, i just had to work off of the lyrics and try and visualise them. Of course I had to get Eddie in there too, and that was really fun trying to get him in there without taking over the piece. It also has a big element from the cover of the Album that the song comes from ‘Brave New World’ with the Eddie face in the sky looming over.
How did you end up doing prints for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and what did you enjoy the most about creating in this iconic sci-fi world? Working with the Star Wars world and being able to visualise that world in my own style was a lot of fun, it’s a bit of a dream job. There’s so much lore and history to that world that drawing an X-Wing or a Star Destroyer holds so much weight, it was a real honour.
Your 'Crimson Peak' Little White Lies front cover was really cool, can you tell us about how it come together, as well as what it was like to work in this gothic/horror atmosphere? I worked on that with the Creative Director of LWL Timba Smitts. He had a rough idea mapped out and we worked together on some sketches till it captured the gothic nature of the film suitably and then we went from there. I’m pretty comfortable working in a gothic style, I used to be known to mainly work in a horror style, so it was somewhat going back to my roots!
What was it like to work on that exclusive print for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and how did you go about showing these legendary characters in their own way, whilst also giving it your own style? Well it wasn’t exclusive as such, but it was a licensed art show put on by Hero Complex Gallery. I just wanted to show the classic heroes coming together as a team. The arc of those films is generally that when they get together as team, they are awesome..so I wanted to show them in my own way being exactly that! It’s quite a dark image with a bit of menace, but it’s my own spin on the team.
What was it like to work on the 'opacities' cover by Sikth? Also, with bands, do they give you the full idea of what they want, or can it just be different every time? Each band is different. A lot of the time they might have no real idea other than a motif or vibe, but with Sikth they had a strong idea of what they wanted to depict. I’ve known the guys in the band for a long time as I grew up in Watford playing in bands alongside them, so it was a lot of fun to be able to do something for them now I have the ability to do so. They were the cool older guys in the most insanely awesome band when I was younger, so it’s really nice to be working with them now that they are active again. It’s good to have them back.
So, what does a typical day involve for you? Generally it will start at getting into the studio around 10am….then Emails for an hour, procrastinating for half an hour, and then non stop drawing until 6-7pm, with a break for lunch in there somewhere. I stick to a fairly solid work routine, and I try not to go in at weekends. I’ve found that by sticking to that routine it means I don’t get stuck working bad hours or stay up working too late, I treat it like a regular desk job, which works really well for me. I used to work from home…and I just got nothing done comfortably, so this works well now!
As an artist, can you tell us a bit about the equipment you use? I work mainly digitally now. So i just have a fairly standard set up of an iMac with the Adobe CC suite, mainly photoshop gets used, and to draw I use a Wacom Cintiq and Intuous. I do everything from sketching to final artwork with this set up, it’s a pretty smooth process.
What's been the hardest project that you've worked on, and why? It depends how you define Hard. If you mean most overwhelming, then probably working on the two shows I did last year. The Both Sides show at gallery 1988 took a few months to pull together, and then the Wonders show at Galerie F was created in mainly one month. So I pulled some pretty long hours working on those.
What's the most rewarding part about being an artist, and why? Well, carrying on that theme, seeing the two shows last year come together was extremely rewarding, It’s the first time I had been able to pull a collection together like that, and I couldn’t have done either of them without those Galleries, they were a huge support. Apart from that it’s seeing people enjoy my work and framing it to go on their walls, it’s a real humbling thing to see.
For someone looking to do what you do for a living, then what advice would you give to them? Work hard, be yourself and try not to emulate anyone else. You need to find a voice for yourself, do that and you will stick out in the crowd! It’s hard to do, but when you manage to do so it really shows.
The best film of 2015 was…? Mad Max; Fury Road. Outstanding film, as close to a perfect film as you can get. Incredible visuals, amazing soundtrack with a really strong yet very subtle narrative, culminating in an amazing experience.
What else can we expect to see from you in 2016? A ton more prints and more gallery shows..at least that’s the plan so far!
Bad Pollyanna - The Broken Toys Bad Pollyanna is an interesting alt rock band from West Yorkshire, UK. Their name is oxymoronic, suggesting beauty and darkness, just as their sound does. They proudly support the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and sponsor makeup brand Illamasqua. They released a charity single called, ‘Invinicible Girl’ for the cause, which promotes being who you want to be and tolerating alternative subcultures. This album has a strong sense of identity, being the main theme and it was successfully fan funded through Pledge music. Opening song, ‘Define Me’ is eerie, enthralling and very catchy, possessing one of the best choruses, and takes its firm grasp on you immediately, leaving you eager to hear more! ‘Bionic Heart’ clangs into action, using strong electronic elements fittingly, creating a brilliant sound that is more positive than the opener. Again we have clever well written lyrics and Olivia gets to show her impressive vocals further. ‘Pull The Trigger’ has extremely melodic bouncy riffs, with the verses being more isolated, before the guitars fully kick in, with a far reaching ambiance and demanding vocals. ‘Ugly Love’ starts of as an edgy acoustic with dazzling verses aided by the vocals and effects, before the electric guitars creep in to create another cracker of a song. ‘Blood And Rust’ slows things down, in an emotive passionate sombre affair, which is powerful, and Oliva gets to show her vocals at her best, with effective sounds that add to the dismal feel. The title track sounds very creepy from the off, especially through the dysfunctional sounds used, and the lyrics. It boasts a huge chorus, and has a gothic anthem vibe – this is the perfect representation of the album. The end is in the form of a beautiful acoustic number. ‘I See You’, which is soothing and pleasing vocally and instrumentally, with catchy chords to accompany. I didn’t expect it to end on a soft note, but this actually works really well to close this deliciously dark offering. This is one band that you seriously need to listen to and keep an eye on! From the first song you will be hooked and won’t be able to resist their gothic shimmering intelligent sounds. There is a superb balance of fragility and roughness in their style, in keeping with their name. CL
Secrets - Everything That Got Us Here Secrets are Post Hardcore/Rock band from San Diego. Their third studio album, is the first to feature new unclean vocalist, Wade Walters. The thirty second accapella prologue is a bit odd and cheesy, yet effective and catchy, before bursting into, the first proper song, ‘Rise Up’, which is a riled up motiving anthem, with a great mix of clean pleasing vocals and angry shouts from new screamer, Wade – you won’t be able to get this song out of your head! ‘Left Behind’ sounds more pissed than before, being rather pessimistic, with captivating melodic vocals and ambience, before the brutality kicks in again, working in a brilliant contrast throughout the song and the rest of the album. ‘Learn To Love’ sounds more upbeat, although lyrically context may not be. ‘Half Alive’ is a must hear, with a feisty chorus and effective chants, again making it a great anthem. Richard gets to show off his full vocal abilities, attitude packed to serene and blissful. ‘For What Its Worth’ sees a softer more fun side, with the main focus on clean vocals and very catchy beats and riffs that complement each other well. ‘Turn The Page’ is a fast paced highly melodic song, with effective use of vocal variations and atmosphere, giving it a huge surrounding sound!
‘In Loving Memory’ is a charged energetic emotive song, the aggressive paired with heavy melodies, makes for a powerful one! Closing song, ‘The One With No One’ is a delightful sounding acoustic, which highlights Richard’s impressive pleasing vocals in this regretful sad number. There is no shortage of catchy anthemic songs here, and with some slower softer sunrises thrown in the mix also to keep the album varied. It feels as though the clean vocals are the main focus on the album, however new vocalist, Wade does a good job of asserting his fierce screamed vocals when needed. This should appease existing fans, as well as gain them some new ones! CL
Outright Resistance - Poveglia (EP) This groove metal act from Stevenage UK have an interesting EP concept. The EP title refers to a small island located between Venice and Lido, northern Italy, which has a colourful and dark history, ranging from refuge from barbarians to a quarantine station for the mentally ill, and subsequently earning a fearsome reputation of hauntings, which I think the cover art, helps portray well. We open with, ‘Our Last Stand’ which wastes no time, blasting into slushy chugging and belligerent vocals, in a heavy melodic backdrop. The breakdown does the job, with fierce fast guitars and crashing drums to aid the deep screams, with technical licks giving it an extra edge and depth, to take its firm deadly grip on you straight off! ‘Wasteland’ opens on fearful screams to help with the context of the song – this highlights their fast paced groove ridden metal wonderfully, and features some crazy appreciated guitar work. ‘Vultures’ keeps up the high speed momentum, and even takes it up a notch! The guitars and rhythms hit hard and are relentless, matching the guttural shouts. This is one of the catchiest offerings, so sink your teeth into this one! ‘We Are Here’ jumps right into mosh mode – and again is very melodic yet brutal, the dark riffs bounce around wonderfully, and the effective use of gang vocals helps to give this an anthemic status, that would be extremely fun to witness live! To end this EP, we have the bold and brash, ‘The Bollocks’ which has an air of insanity about it and possesses many head bang worthy riffs! This EP has an interesting and dark rich historical theme behind it, which they pull off well and helps create more sustenance. All the songs are heavy as hell, but never lose their melodic groove, something which can be hard to achieve, and they do it effortlessly, and obviously have a lot of fun along the way! This will be a very welcome addition to any metal heads collection of lose your shit metal antics! CL
Perfect Hero - Passion of My Life (EP) Perfect Hero is a symphonic rock project founded in Austin Texas by composer/guitarist, Cory Linn. Who enlists the help of talented vocalists in this highly anticipated symphonic rock EP. To start we have the title track, which initially opens on a positive triumphant sound, then moves towards a more sinister and sorrowful vibe, with passionate strong vocals along the way. The chorus is powerful and strikes hard and makes for a good way to start things off. ‘Here We Are’ hits hard with stabbing riffs and rhythms, and here we see a new female vocalist take charge, creating a beautiful far reaching rock number with soaring guitar work to further fuel this. ‘Rise’ is rather dramatic and sombre sounding before striking guitars take over. This is a delightful powerful duet, and both vocals complement each other well. Not to mention the brilliant production and professionalism, and impressive guitar work as you come to expect from Cory.
‘All Around You’ opens on a nice piano intro, and has a slightly gothic doom feel at times, paired with resonant hopeful sounds. To this diverse array of songs, we have, ‘Different Side Of Me’, which has another brilliant guest vocalist, this song keeps up the optimistic feel with soothing smooth vocals and memorable guitar riffs and licks that create a massive presence. This EP consists of a powerful collection of brilliant musicianship and composition. Each song is striking and features a massive presence, as symphonic rock should, and does so with glorious style and demeanour – all offering something different but remaining cohesive as a package, helped especially through the use of various skilled vocalists and mood changes in instrumentation. CL
Twitching Tongues – Disharmony Hardcore/Metal act from LA release third album, which is their first release through Metal Blade Records. We open on the title track, which sounds like the build-up of a horror scene, with its highly creepy presence, creating atmosphere before diving into the heavy assault. We are greeted with melodic strong dual vocals, resonant distorted guitars and stomping chugging. This is a variable track that keeps you guessing. It also highlights an insane guitar solo and pounding drums, making this perhaps their best offering that is a wise choice for the embodiment of the album. ‘Insincerely Yours’ (Tears & Blood) follows with soaring demanding vocals and epic melodies. Next we enter the ‘Asylum Avenue’, which certainly embraces the context of the song, with desperate angry distant vocals and haunting chants, paired with doomy instruments, making for a stand out song. To change things up, we have the well placed, ‘Love Conquers None’, this is an effective powerful stripped back song, that is a bleak and emotive passionate ballad-esque masterpiece, that is slow paced for the most part, with fast bursts that aid the depth and power of track. ‘Sacrifice Me’ is another worthy highlight, particularly for its progressive tense changeable drums, and intense crooning to booming vocals, as well as crushing chorus that charges along with fast striking riffs. To follow, we have the roughed up gem, ‘Arrival’ which has a dark eerie presence, heightened by beautiful piano and soaring charming vocals, which fit like a glove in line with the structure and instruments. This is a delightful change that is welcomed, and a contender for the best song featured. This is a commendable effort at experimental adventurous metal, that is good at testing their limits and pushing the boundaries rather than playing it safe – and this risk fully pays off in my opinion, dabbling in cross genre shifts effectively for the most part, and managing to sound like a horror movie soundtrack. I think they could push further, however there are certainly some songs that really shine through and make them stand out. The impressive and mighty vocals add a further depth and give them a more unique sound also. CL
Ice Nine Kills - Every Trick In The Book Taking the theatrics of heavy music to another level, Boston boys Ice Nine Kills bring an album that is interesting on various levels that takes in numerous takes on metals ever expanding genre list. They also blow the idea of the concept album wide open with the fine idea of basing each song on a different piece of literature, what a great idea made even better by the simplicity of it and it laregly works very well and the works suit the theatrical nature of the band. The opening, 'The Nature of the Beast' which takes inspiration from Animal Farm has a very Lloyd Webber type feel at its opening which is instantly a hook with how unexpected it is, it soon descends into a growling metalcore sound but still inter cuts with the “musical” sound. The atmosphere built around it simply works, perhaps it shouldn't but it does and it does perfectly.
The likes of 'Bloodbath and Beyond' (Dracula) and 'Me, Myself and Hyde' (The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde) create a fine narrative to their subject matter, the latter taking the soft and launching the menace and lunacy and making something that does great justice to the source material. Perhaps the most striking song, lyrically at least, comes in the form of 'The People in the Attic' based on the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. It is a brave one to tackle and many perhaps would have avoided it but they do an admirable job, respectful and in parts eerie. The album constantly moves between styles, it has fantastic vocal performances throughout and top class musicianship, it is an over the top record but utterly brilliant. AN
Sikth - Opacities (EP) Following on from the triumphant return at Donnington in 2014 and the success of the subsequeant live shows, after nearly ten years, one of the innovators of progressive metal have a new, crowd funded release to sink our teeth into. It is a strong return with everything you would expect from Sikth, their signature progressive sound continues to evolve yet always have that classic sound that has made them so influential in modern metal. 'Behind the Doors' starts in a typically aggressive fashion, thundering and melodic with multitude of different vocals style ranging from reggae to raw aggressive metal and melodic. It is a crushing start that isn't slowed up in 'Philistine Philosophies'. While still as aggressive in nature, the melody is allowed to control the song among the chaos, at times it is sitting low but is always there even if it is kept subtle at times which gives it a bigger impact when it fires back to the fore. The spoken word 'Tokyo Lights' is a superb middle point, a fast and menacing poem, that adds that extra something different that has long been a great part of the Sikth model. The closing 'Days Are Dreamed' wouldn't have been out of place on a David Bowie record, both in terms of delivery and in method of storytelling. It is a complete change in approach from the raw power of the rest of the album and just turning it on its head. It is dark and brooding and simply brilliant on a welcome return from Sikth, it is the perfect comeback release and solidifies their legacy and creates a need for more new music and hopefully in less time than it has taken for Opacities to hit our stereos. AN
Simple Plan - Taking One For The Team Five albums in with the same line-up, and still as strong and as ever, Simple Plan are back with an album title that perfectly sums up the key to how they've had such a rewarding career so far 'Taking One For The Team'. "Opinion Overload" is a very strong opener, and make sure you have your speakers on loud because you'll be head bopping as soon it kicks in with its jumpy riff. The line that follows is just as sweet "So well you think you got me figured out, then why don't you tell me what I'm all about", which can be linked to many things in someones life, but my interpenetration is that this could be aimed at someone who thinks they are better than you. For a band that has been around since 1999, they are doing an incredible job at keeping up with the times, as the song sounds like a brilliant fusion between A Day To Remember, Set Your Goals and of course that trademark Simple Plan sound. "Boom" is the second promotional single for this release, and it's no wonder why, as it's melodic style chorus acts very well alongside the chunky verses, and I have no doubt that you'll have this song stuck in your head after you hear it just once. With a bass line and beat that reminds me of 'Town Called Malice' combined with an alternative rock topping, then 'Kiss Me Like Nobody's Watching' will have you at least tapping your feet from the moment it starts playing. With its pop rock style plus vocals from Jordan Pundik (New Found Glory) then 'Farewell' is an absolute treat for any listener, and for me, it's probably one of my personal favorites from the album. "Singing In The Rain" is a reggae fueled jam that will instantly capture your attention, and it's also a reminder as to how many different styles the band have captured on this record, which will certainly go on to satisfy their huge fan base, as there's truly something for everyone. To keep the momentum at a high "I Refuse" jumps between big crowd sing along "woahs" and a fast paced pop rock style, and on a live basis, this would definitely create circle pits as soon as it kicks in. "I Don't Wanna Go To Bed" is the most pop sounding song on the album, but with any band, it's important to experiment and try something different with every album. Featuring "Nelly" the band provide us a funky summer vibe filled track, that will go on to win a lot of new fans for Simple Plan, whilst satisfying their older fans with something that's a bit different, in a good way. We jump straight back into the bands pop rock style with "Nostalgic", with its instantly memorable chorus line "it's making me sick, feeling nostalgic" combined with its faced paced guitar picking, then this is an absolute must listen. Simple Plan are known for creating extremely catchy lyrics, and on their acoustic number "Perfectly Perfect" they've done it again as you can imagine how well it wil work in the middle of a live set. "I Don't Wanna Be Sad" is an uplifting track that shows how Simple Plan can pretty much put a great twist on any style they choose to do. As the record concludes with the anthem "Problem Child" and the echoing "I Dream About You" (featuring Juliet Simms), then it's clear to see that they have pulled out all the stops to make sure that this is nothing short of a standout album for the act. This is an extremely diverse album, and with such a mix of styles on display combined with that Simple Plan sound we've grown to love, then this record will easily win over new fans whilst satisfying long time fans of the band. Surprisingly Simple Plan have only put together five albums, but with each release they have displayed a natural progression which has gone on to earn themselves a place as one of the most defining pop punk/alternative rock bands there is. If you don't believe that statement, then check out the video for "Boom" as you'll see many well known artists that have looked up to the band over the years. AD
One Man Boycott - Counting The Seconds Pop punk rockers, One Man Boycott release their debut album amidst an atmosphere of much promise and expectation and bring with them a solid set of songs that do credit to the expectations. 'Sunshine Pizza Friends' is a big opener that blends the melodic side and the big punk rock chorus that is built to with nice vocal melodies and time. They take their time getting to the bigger moments rather than rushing them and making them less memorable. 'Fingers Crossed' has a slightly folk edge on its intro which makes for a nice touch and it grooves the song along at a good pace into the verses, it is one of the simpler riffs on the album but makes it one of the most memorable and provides a superb hook on a stand out song all around, vocally and instrumentally. It isn't followed quite as strongly with 'Monument' which dampens the pace a little bit, a slower more ballad type song. It isn't a bad song but the placement between 'Fingers Crossed' and 'Liar!' somehow doesn't feel right especially with 'Liar!' being of a similar nature, if not in sound. The change in style from the first three songs moving into the rest of the album is striking, a diverse sound is great but things seem to make a massive change. Vocally there isn't much change and is kept fairly consistent throughout but the musical tones are like an E.P with the rest of an album attached. One Man Boycott have very strong songs on this debut, the only thing that lets it down is that it sounds like a collection of separate E.Ps put together to make an album but that shouldn't cloud what is a fine set of songs!
AN
My Dear Addiction - Kill The Silence Sweden's My Dear Addiction roar back to life with a new album that finds them bringing their synth fused metalcore style to the fore again with a new record full of massive riffs and choruses. The albums title track opens the album in an impressive fashion and the energy is continued without missing a beat with 'A Promise'. It is a very strong opening salvo and one that grips the listener straight away, in among the metalcore signature are moments of strong melody that provide fine backgrounds to the whirl of riffs surrounding them. 'Winners' continues the tone with some thundering bass lines and the bouncing synthesised backing. That synthesised sound is something that is used, too much at times on the album. In some cases it builds extra atmosphere but it is used in such a way that it is sometimes distracting. Synth in this style of metal doesn't really do much for me unless it is used in certain ways, it is so high in the mix that it does take away at times from other things going on. That said, if you can get past it, as I have for the most part, then this is an enjoyable album! There is something that seems to be in the DNA of Scandinavia that allows for metal music to flow and there is very little slow down on show, it is well worth taking in. AN
Waterparks - Cluster EP This is one pop punk trio with a difference and a hell of a hype! ‘Cluster’ is their debut EP, and impressively is produced by the likes of, Benji Madden (The Good Charlotte) and Courtney Ballard (All Time Low). So no big deal right?!... Opening song, ‘Crave’ is super catchy and bizarre, in a good sense, rather than just being straight up fun punk pop, they have injected some weird electro memorable sounds that adds another level of enjoyment! A great dazzling start to the Texas act’s debut! ‘Territory’ has a more rock pop edge, especially in the striking catchy chorus with upbeat shiny instruments; they certainly make their mark and leave a big impact doing so. ‘Mad All The Time’ has a different feel to it, being more mature this is a relatable well written punk anthem, potentially making this the best song so far, although standards are high! It also has an interesting electro breakdown, and the whole package is very well produced. As you may expect from pop punk experts! ‘Pink’ opens on solid hard hitting riffs and groovy bass lines which last throughout, and with dominant pleasing vocals and again good use of electronic effects to make this one sugar coated pop punk track that will go down a treat! To close this energetic fun fest, is ‘No Capes’ which keeps the pace and theme up, ending things on a high and very enjoyable note! Waterparks will make a massive ‘splash’ in the pop punk genre, as they have a great formula and have livened the genre up even more, with a young fresh revitalised energy, by adding in electro sounds, resulting in a highly fun release that you won’t be able to resist! CL
Last Chance City - A New Beginning This electro alternative rock quartet from Isle Of Wight, UK experiment with different rock elements in their third EP offering… To open we have an atmospheric ‘prelude’ track to help set the scene for the EP, which holds your interest enough to keep listening, taking us into the first song, ‘Life and Love’, which starts off dramatically, with a tense build up that progresses, before the distinctive drawn out vocals kick in from vocalist, Max Cowley, and an expected impressive memorable guitar solo keeps the track blazing and solid until the end, making this a strong start! ‘Rising Flames’ keeps up their power, and possesses a great ambiance and mood that sounds distant, with a striking chorus and compelling different vocals, such as chants and talking sections, keeping it varied. ‘Fire Your Guns’ takes a different slower approach, but there is no holding out on the chorus, as again the chorus has the biggest impact, something they seem to have mastered! Closing song, ‘Behind The Hidden Sky” opens on a complex fun fast intro, then Max sounds a bit on edge with his interesting but effective vocal delivery and diversity. This also has unusual rhythms and great melodies instrumentally, making this a memorable one to end on, that highlights the band at their prime. If you are looking for something a bit different and fresh, then this is a rock band you need to check out. This is an experimental EP that offers lots of genres and potential, and keeps things exciting and strange, in a good sense. They have great talent and musicianship, and it will be great to see where this leads them, especially in terms of refining their sound and ideas more going forward. CL
Bloc Party - Hymns If a band can make each release sound unique in its own way then they are onto something good. As much as people always want bands to go back to an older sound and repeat that, that's actually not really the best approach, as the same people will turn around and then say it sounds the same as the old stuff! So what I'm saying here, is that it's very important for a band to progress naturally, Thrice did it, Brand New did it, and right now Bloc Party are continuing to do that. With the news that Gordon (bass) & Matt (drums) were exiting the band, fans and even the remaining members found themselves concerned about the future for Bloc Party. However, a key thing to remember here is that Kele & Russell actually started this band, so as they're still in it, then essentially the heart of Bloc Party is still there. Found via the power of YouTube they brought in 21 year old Louise Bartle on drums, and then after keeping in contact from touring years ago in the states, they recruited Justin Harris on bass, and with this, the band have now put together their most recent album 'Hymns'.
Kele has confirmed that this record isn't so much about religion, but more about religion around us in everyday life, like friends, family, relationships, and with this record they've done a great job at exploring such themes. 'The Love Within' mixes up the synth sound that Bloc Party have always had in a bigger way, whilst returning to a chorus that personally reminds me of 'A Weekend In The City'. The album continues in a stripped down fashion on 'Only He Can Heal Me' which is an minimalist/atmospheric track that will keep you coming back. 'The Good News' is a slow builder that will certainly be great to watch live, it combines well with chilled out verses, and a punchy chorus to firmly indicate the new style that Bloc Party have created. 'Different Drugs' displays how well Russell has been experimenting with his effects over the years, and the song acts a brilliant listen that has a really great chilled out vibe to it. 'Into The Earth' has a catchy guitar backing to it, whilst Kele creates a fantastic vocal melody to work over the top, for me this is one of my favorite tracks on the new album, and when it comes to the record, it's an attribute to the structure overall. For me 'Virtue' displays the coolest effects on the record, it has a great building effect throughout the song, which just goes so flawlessly with the rest of the music and rhythm of the track. The album closer 'Living Lux' is one of those songs that you think is going to kick in, and never does, but with that attitude and somewhat eerie progression it actually works well, because as it ends, it leaves the listener simply wanting more in a positive way. Like I said, Bloc Party are known for always doing something refreshingly different with each output, and with Hymns they have achieved it once more. With its mix of effects, important lyrics, and two new musicians to bring in even more ideas, then this is certainly worth checking out for any indie rock fan. AD
Skunk Anansie - Anarchytecture Skunk Anansie who first emerged during the Britpop scene, with their unique sound, return with their sixth album; they have been gracing the alt rock/indie scene for twenty years, with a few reforms here and there, so what have they got to offer now in this latest resurface... The start of the album has an edgy pop dance electro vibe, for the first song, ‘Love Someone Else’, whereas ‘Victim’ which follows, has a more sombre sound; they are both equally atmospheric and enthralling, especially through the flawless demanding vocals from Skin and slick instruments. And then we get to ‘Beauty Is Your Curse’, which is more of a rock number, and has a bit more drama and angst to it, with clanging loud groovy instruments. This is a stand out one that could be a new fan favourite. ‘Death To The Lovers’ tones things down again, with soulful fragile vocals from Skin and chilled out ambient instruments, which works wonderfully. ‘In The Back Room’ grabs you immediately, being a more heavier song than so far, that you come to crave, which is very melodic and features some great guitar work, making it a must hear..‘Bullets’ follows on well, having a big presence and darker ominous feel also, with extremely catchy stand out vocal chants. It seems the second half of the album is the broodier attitude packed side of Skunk Anansie; and the all moody instrumental melodic ‘Suckers!’ demonstrates this well. The albums ends on a beautiful pessimistic song, ‘I’ll Let You Down’ where Skin shows off her impressive vocals, with delicate guitars and moving effects that add to this emotive final offering. This album is not as angsty as you may initially expect, but is very varied and diverse, ranging from a great moody atmosphere to heartfelt upbeat numbers, but even in the more fragile moments, Skin manages to heat things up, with her fierce yet beautiful delivery, adding to the powerful blaze that trails throughout. The change in style in the tracks, makes it easily accessible for the masses to revel in, and that they will. The band show that even after all this time, they aren’t out of new ideas, and can still make their distinct mark in the rock genre, as well as adding in other elements, that only Skunk Anansie can pull off, with such power and dominance! It is safe to say that no one else sounds like they do, and that alone is reason enough to delve into Anarchytecture, which by the way is a clever and brilliant title. CL
We The Kings - Strange Love We the Kings blend of pop rock has seen them go from tiny venues to flying across the world. Their support has grown since their humble beginnings in 2007 and they’re no strangers to hit singles; so it would only make sense that their new album Strange Love would be a blast of fun and catchy songs to continue with tradition. Love Again is the lead track on this album, it has the same essence you would feel when switching on Radio One. That new dance number from that popular artist that you’re told ‘everyone loves’ but there’s something different about We the Kings. Perhaps the added guitars and fast paced percussion work but it’s better than your average radio fodder. This album stretches off into many different directions, Howl at the Moon could definitely be classed as a rock ballad, the steady bass guitar in accompaniment to the unique vocal work from Travis Clark sets this song apart from a lot of the album. Whereas Heaven So Close is quite resonate to a Killers track that was never written, even the vocals seem to mimic that of Brandon Flowers, not to say it’s a rip off, it merely displays this bands ability to change their sound so easily to create amazing music. The album takes a break from dance and pop for a brief moment in between to give us Jenny’s Song an acoustic number written about the lead singer’s wife. It’s beautiful to listen to and doesn’t sound like it’s got any production behind it which just adds to the authenticity of the track. The album ends on Runaway a brilliant piano ballad that picks up in the middle slowly with some hard hitting drums and it seems as if it will turn into a huge rock anthem. Alas it dies down and there’s a certain feeling of loss as the song could have been bigger and better than what it is. We the Kings new album Strange Love is a happy go lucky pop sensation that a lot of music fans would not enjoy. This is music for the masses, music for the radio, the hardcore metal heads or rap fans probably wouldn’t appreciate it but in the music industry it’s hard to please everyone. If you’re a fan of happy music that you can dance along to then I suggest you listen to We the Kings. RO
Basement – Promise Everything Basement are back with their 3rd full length album ‘Promise Everything’, fans wouldn’t have imagined they’d be back after announcing a hiatus in 2012 but it’s great to see them release a new album after the highly successful ‘I Wish I Could Stay Here’ and their sophomore record ‘Colourmeinkindness’. The album begins with ‘Brothers Keeper’ which is your typical Basement track, with its several changes in pace and easy relaxed vocals, the album starts much more upbeat than I expected which is encouraging. ‘Hanging Around’ has a nice flowing riff and a simple verse, the arrangement is particularly plausible with a superb deep toned bass line, the vocals do seem a little more conservative than on previous works. ‘Lose Your Grip’ starts with that At The Drive-In style powerful introduction, the whispered vocals halfway through this track remind me a little of Brand New, the ending is particularly gripping with a more aggressive vocal burst which made Basement’s first album so enjoyable. ‘Aquasun’ reminds me of a heavier Tigers Jaw, very early 2000’s emo in style with a wonderfully melodious chorus and repeated ‘Dive into me’ makes it a very pleasant track. ‘Submission’ draws you into the bands grunge influences with its pounding introduction, the ‘ooh, ooh’ in the background remind me of Sunny Day Real Estate, the conclusion of the track features more grizzly riffs and extra effort vocals. ‘Oversized’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album, although I prefer their older sound, the band deliver a clean beautiful track here with it’s simple instrumental and poetic lyrics.
‘Blinded Eye’ announces itself with a heavy riff but again is complimented with a softer vocal style, the band appear to be searching for the right balance of influences on this record, the dragged out vocals are so very typical of the emo/grunge style in the 1990’s. The riffs get more experimental and jagged in ‘For You the Moon’ again the band are delivering a more compelling sound with clear emotive verses, the guitar feedback is also insane. The title penultimate track reminds me a lot of their second album with a much faster fluid instrumental and angsty vocals, it’s definitely one of the top songs on the record and gives you a reminder of their heavier influences. The album concludes with the uneventful ‘Halo’ which is a bit dull compared to the liveliness of the rest of the album, overall this is an enjoyable effort from the band who are preparing to tour the new album for the whole of 2016, there are definitely some tracks that will translate nicely on the live stage! JP
The Starting Line - Anyways (single review) It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for The Starting Line fans, they’ve been together and apart and kind of back together and apart again and finally back together yay! It’s kind of like the will they won’t they of all American sitcoms only to a lot of fans it’s a lot more important, but I digress. The Starting Line announced a new EP Anyways and the first single released is the titular title. What is it like? It’s like a pop punk song for the fans that have grown up. The vocals are clear cut, the guitar work is complex and more than anything it’s just a decent rock song from a good band. The end feels abrupt and the song almost feels like it isn’t finished but I think it’s more of a tease from this very smart band to wet the appetites of fans and new listeners alike. Unfortunately this is all The Starting Line are offering us right now. The new EP Anyways has been confirmed to be coming out soon but that’s always the way with exciting times…coming soon. RO
Hands Like Houses - Dissonants Hands like Houses have had enough momentum behind them to release three albums and disappointingly I’d never heard of them, with metal breakdowns combined with a brilliant array of vocal work this band have earned the title of my old new favourite band. The intense guitar riffs combined with the pop punk/nu metal vocals introduced on I Am really paves the way for this album. The single that was released in the run up to this album was Colourblind and it’s obvious to see why, it begins with a slow keyboard backdrop before the clear less intense vocals are introduced. However it’s not long before the regular raw vocals are back. Because of the plucky guitar playing and memorable build to the chorus with the lyrics of ‘we are, we are’ this is perfect for the radiowaves. Although Colourblind is the single it’s certainly a set apart from the rest of the album. New Romantics begins with a heavy breakdown that would have A Day to Remember quaking in their boots and climaxes with an almost Linkin Park vibe. But it’s not just the incredible musical work that make Hands Like Houses great, it’s the vocals. If you’ve ever thought to yourself that you’d love to hear a band that has the music of Rise Against but the vocals of Fall Out Boy (I know I have) then look no further. The vocals are quality and their concise lead singer Trenton Woodley seems to have found a balance between raw rock vocals, pop punk and intense screaming. Although I’m a huge fan of metal breakdowns in the middle of songs I find that the most enjoyable songs on this album were the ones that branched out. Momentary has an amazing poppy intro and builds on it assisted by fast paced drumming and a smooth slow electric guitar as it culminates into a brilliant anthem. This Australian Metalcore/pop punk outfit are just what the world of rock wants right now, Hands Like Houses third album Dissonants is a well thought out and well produced work of brilliance. RO
Panic! at the Disco - Death of a Bachelor When I read that Spencer Smith (drummer) had left the group and left it with only one founding member I wasn’t worried, if anyone could keep Panic! Going it would be Brendan and I was right. Poised against the background of the aftermath of a crazy party Don’t Threaten Me With A Good time is the second track on the album and there’s a subtle brilliance to it. The start has the protaganist remembering the night before while raindrop piano keys are dropped displaying the quiet of the hangover morning, before the loud chorus kicks in to narrate the antics of the evening before. I’m sure fans have already heard Emperor’s New Clothes and Hallelujah, if not they were perfect teasers for the album and compliment it very well. The one thing about Brendan is that he has a very unique voice, you only have to listen to But It’s Better If You Do to know that, he can bring on that classic style if he wants to. Well Death of a Bachelor does just that, with a very Frank Sinatra feel to it this song while slower than the rest of the album is a brilliant addition and allows fans to appreciate how diverse he is. I find that when reviewing there can’t be a lot of bias but for me Crazy = Genius is probably the best song on this album. This jazzy number makes it feel like you’re in an old dancing club complete with trumpets and a steady drum beat, the real clincher for this song is the catchy chorus ‘if crazy equals genius, then I’m a fucking arsonist, I’m a rocket scientist’. If you have to judge the album by one song I suggest that it’s this one. LA Devotee was released shortly before the album’s release and it was only when I listened to it with the rest of the album that I truly appreciated it. Lyrically it’s fantastic and accompanied with the upbeat tempo it is definitely a grower rather than a show-er. Living up to the name Golden Days has a very discoteque vibe to it at the beginning and builds to a high that is hard to come down from. This anthem comes very unexpectedly but in the end proves to be an excellent addition to the album. It’s difficult to gauge the energy of House of Memories, while it is definitely one of the slower ones on the album I can’t help but feel there’s so much more to this anthem. It’s a song that is so complex and original and bouncy that it just gets stuck in your head. Much like a lot of rock albums today this album finishes with a slow ballad, the piano playing is precise and elegant and with the assistance of the lead’s soothing unique voice it proves to be a beautiful piece of music that would be beloved by a lot of people. With Brendan now fully in control it’s safe to say that this was not a sinking ship but merely a boat in need of some sails. The lead singer has played almost every instrument on this album and provided incredible vocals too. If A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out is my favourite Panic! Album then this is definitely a close second. It seems quite fitting that the first lines heard on Death of a Bachelor are ‘Tonight we are victorious’ this feels more like a personal statement rather than just lyrics. Single handedly with the name of Panic! At The Disco resting heavily on his shoulders Brendan Urie has saved the band after all other members have abandoned ship.RO
His Dream of Lions - Self titled (EP) Though His Dream of Lions are relatively new to the game they seem to building their towers to the top of the game and not looking back. Their self titled EP holds four songs but this is all that’s needed to propel this group even further. With a sound that seems very reminiscent of Motion City Soundtrack with an upbeat piano beat combined with unique vocals Cradle kicks off this EP in incredible fashion. Lead singer Seth Coggeshall shows off the range he has in a 3 minute song, stretching from raw rock singing to low tempo melodic vocals. Danger Close is a slower more pop than rock track but compliments the album well and demonstrates that this band are extremely diverse in what they create. By the time the end of the track rolls around it’s become infectious and you’ll find yourself singing ‘na na na na na’ like a lot of other songs. A catchy guitar riff kicks off He Was A Gentleman and it seems as if it’s going to be a very hard rock song but sadly it dies down and it’s all too familiar to what’s already been heard. However that’s not a negative thing, if you’re good at something why not do it as much as you can? Ultimately this band are about catchy rock songs and that’s what they do all through this EP. A dark brooding song ends this EP, this feels like the first time that something real and emotional is being heard. The guitars are slow, the drums are complex and even the vocals seem darker. This gang of musical misfits are going up and up and it’s going to take a lot to stop the speed they are going at. RO
Dongmyo Police Box - Dreams With a name that sounds like a japanese stripclub Dongmyo Police Box are a four piece band from well, all over the place. With footprints in Canada, Korea and England these guys have bought individual sounds together to create rock and roll guitar music that any music fan would love. It’s clear that the music they play is largely influenced by English rock and roll, whether it be the Ordinary Boys’ sounding Fight or Die or the new style Arctic Monkeys melody ONS. However there are points where it’s very noticable that Kings of Leon are in their roster of influences. That being said the tracks like Vices and Hello Yankee seem to have personalities of their own. A culmination of individual music tastes bought together to create original sounding tracks. I will say this for Dongmyo Police Box, there are not many bands these days who will attempt to take on the Elvis Presley route of music. The low tempo attitude that is taken on in the finale of the album is truly a brilliant piece of original music and one to be loved. It can be hard to find influence from mostly indie rock and roll and not just copy bands outright. This four piece band have managed to do a bit of both, there are songs on this album that have been obviously influenced by various artists, however there are also a lot of times where the band have truly taken on an identity of their own and this makes them a great act. RO
Newton Faulkner - Human Love It certainly is a bold move to open an album with a cover of a well known song, however this is Surrey’s own Newton Faulkner so strange moves are his fortee. Human Love is the fifth studio album from this one man and a guitar super combo and it’s everything you want and more. It’s easy to get lost in the music of Newton, it’s not in your face and demanding attention, rather it’s like a television show. Can be on in the background to watch if you wish but you won’t be forced to pay attention. The cover of Major Lazer’s Get Free is mellow and slimmed down compared to the original and surprisingly it works out well. The album is a strong effort from the dreadlock wonder and isn’t devoid of brilliant tracks that are different each in their own way. Passing Planes is a melodic piece of music and really tugs at the heart strings and with the help of rising star Tessa Rose Jackson, Stay and Take becomes a pop ballad fit for the radio waves. On The Way Down has an upbeat chorus and differentiates itself from the rest of the album entirely. The acoustic guitar is accompanied by excellent vocal work and a rhythmic drum foundation to create a brilliant song to compliment the album wonderfully. This eleven track album is a nod to British music as a whole, as a country we are becoming more and more prosperous with the talent we are producing and Newton Faulkner is one of the top dogs in his field. Much like Ed Sheeran Newton Faulkner proves that acoustic guitar music is still cool and has so much life left to give. It’s easy to see why he has been so successful for as long as he has. This is an extremely talented man who makes excellent feel good music. RO
Hypergear - I Am The Dead (single review) Remember when you watched the Inbetweeners and a really awesome indie song would come on at the end and you’d think ‘this is awesome!’ well I Am The Dead has that same likability. One band I have always enjoyed listening to is New Yorkites Interpol, the bassline running through most of their songs are incredible and catchy. That is exactly why I have fallen in love with this song, the bassline is similair to that of the aforementioned. The accompanying guitar work takes this song from good to great. The vocals are clearly influenced heavily by indie heavyweights, it’s easy to hear parts of Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys in the lyrics and the voice. Hypegear have what it takes to succeed in the ever changing world of music and it seems as if it’s a completely effortless task. RO
Skyline Hotel - Sparks of Light (EP) From the very start of Make Me Sway it feels as if time travel is possible! The funky jazzy electronica sound is reminiscent of an old cop film from the 80s/90s, it has that beautiful keyboard sound to it that was only good to use back in a simpler time. Produced by two brothers this is the sound of Skyline Hotel and already I’m a huge fan. Carrying on into Winter’s Warmth and it sounds like a completely different band, this is the cool and breezy song you listen to in the summer, most likely an ironic title. You can almost see a cheesy meadow love scene between two randomers from the music that’s being played. It is an incredibly brilliant piece. The next song Oh My Dear begins as a lovely acoustic piece and becomes more of a fighter of a track when the accompanying drums join the already melodic vocals that are being presented. This culminates in a anthem like track that could be played on any radio station across the world. It is no understatement to say that Skyline Hotel are the most original brothers since Mario and Luigi, they came in and changed the game completely and so have Jon and Lee. This four track EP ends with A Love I Won’t Mind and it is a great way to end. It is always amazing finding such original music and with Skyline Hotel I think there’s a big future in store. Whether it’s electronica, acoustic or as proved with the last song blasting out a guitar solo they can do it. The future is bright for these two brothers. RO
The Prophets - Waiting For The End (EP) Although this EP is only four songs long it proves to be a step in the right direction for this alternative rock/pop punk outfit. Opening with a very strong instrumental section Closest Thing is a pure storm of noise and emotion as lead singer Kate blasts out her incredible and resonant harmonies. In the hopes of proving this isn’t just another pop punk group, this is a very powerful introduction. Take It Or Leave It starts with an incredibly catchy guitar riff and only manages to go higher from the elevated start it has been given. The last bridge features some brilliant guitar work that feels quite similar to that of Muse, not a lot of bands can take on that challenge and come out alive. These guys (and girl) have managed it just fine. Waiting For The End has a brilliantly choreographed pop punk guitar rhythm backing it up, accompanied by the awesome drums this song is a definite stand out on what is unfortunately a very short EP. Once again the guitar skills that are displayed at the end of this song are just brilliant and on the next level. Beginning with an acoustic guitar and the soothing vocals from the leading lady, Your Name begins as a loving slow tribute to a loved one but gradually pounding drums are phased In and before long it erupts into a massive rock anthem. Last year Prophets supported the likes of Neck Deep and even Tonight Alive as well as playing main stage at Coventry’s Godiva Festival. The end of the year saw their EP launch and it was an intense show! This year they’re set to take the UK by storm…followed by the world. RO
ROAM - Backbone I absolutely love that this album starts with a radio broadcast ending with ‘okay, you asked for it ROAM’ this just shows how excited this band were to even get on radio let alone release a full blown album. In just a few words the next half hour is a storm of pop punk teenage angst that any young rock enthusiast will fall in love with instantly. The upbeat tempo of every song is infectious and the lead singer’s vocals are perfectly matched for every chord that’s struck. The first track feels like an ultimate pop punk anthem, fit for the world of rock today. The catchy guitar rhythms would have anyone bouncing around crazily given the right atmosphere, which is pretty much anywhere and the angsty loud vocals are a perfect match for fast paced instrument work. As a change of pace the album does slow down halfway through with the beautiful slow sonnet of Tracks, which just feature the lead singer and an acoustic. Though this is a cliché move as every single band does this it’s nice to see this band are interchangeable and not all just about the fast paced rock music. Much like Trash Boat and Neck Deep these guys are ready to bring back the pioneering sound of pop punk to the UK. The vocals are clear to hear, the rhythms are catchy and the lyrics more than anything just have the power to relate to the younger generation.
It’s clear to see that these new kids on the block are influenced by some of the greats Deadweight begins with a very old style metal guitar solo before loud shouting vocals are displayed, almost mimicking Sum 41. But who doesn’t want that? ROAM are clearly going places, their debut album Backbone is an absolute whirlwind and next month they’re supporting the mighty Sum 41! You won’t want to miss a chance to see these up an comers. RO
Ignite - A War Against You Orange County has never been a place that struggles for top bands, every genre, from hardcore to metal seems to always produce quality bands and Ignite are no different. I have, I must say, missed a lot of Ignites work over the years. They somehow seem to have passed me by and with A War Against You, I have found a band that will need more digging into. They manage to fluently go through various styles, the opener has a very European metal feel at times. Vocally and musically, it is a thundering start that makes this a very easy album to get into. The hardcore influence is all over this album but the way the riffs and Zoli Teglas powers the music with his voice there is something bordering on radio friendly at times about it but keeping it heavy enough to keep their signature touch along with some very rock n roll style riffs. They have never been a band to keep their feelings to themselves and this record is no exception as they continue to throw out message after message such as the togetherness of a home town with 'Where I'm From' and that it made them who they are and a nod to Zoli's history. This is a powerful album, heavy and melodic with well worked passages and themes, if like me you have managed to miss Ignite somehow then it is a perfect jump on record. I'm now away to find the rest of their material! AN
Spyder Byte - Addictive Not quite metal, not quite sleaze is the first way I'd describe Spyder Byte's new album, Addiction. Straight up heavy, dirty rock n roll is perhaps the best way to describe it. Packed full of raw energy and riffs, it has everything that a band in this style need, the vocals are powerful, the guitar work energetic and teeming with the sounds of 80's glam metal at a time when there is a gap for it. There is so much repetitive sounding music at times today, it is nice to hear something different and these boys are out of the blocks and firing straight from the opening, 'Infestation', taking no prisoners as 'Heartbreak Babe' continues the assault. The songs are a good length, they never over do it and it shows they know just how much to give you, keeping it just enough to satisfy and in places just snatch it away leaving you needing just that little bit more. There is an obvious feeling of a band that know each other well, there isn't often bands that go without member changes but Spyder Byte have managed it and it shows. With a number of E.Ps behind them they have cut their teeth well, now with Addictive out for consumption there is a chance to grow if they can keep up the standard they've set. AN
Undercover Devil - Burn It Black Bringing the southern grooves and riffs comes Undercover Devil from Malvern AR and the grooves are plenty with a foot tapping infectiousness that makes this a good pick for any fans of anything from Black Label Society to Clutch to Muddy Waters. Opening and continuing as they mean to go on, Adverse Affection is a mighty start and 'The Beginning of the End' turns the tone to a more thrash style, slicing melodies in among the far heavier vibe the song takes. The differing styles all fit well together, songs such as 'Obey' and 'Supernatural' are fast and furious while keeping the southern feel while the title track forms a bass and drum heavy backbone with some nice sweeping, melodic riffs. The most interesting song comes in 'The Offering' which brings an Eastern flavour with it and something a bit different to the rest of the album. Despite the slower tempo at moments they keep the groove strong and it works very well. This is a very accomplished debut from a band with a well defined sound, they offer something extra and are well worth checking out. AN
Alternative Rock/PopPunk/Rock
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When we think of Lemmy Kilmister, we may think of the high placed microphone, Rickenbacker bass and gravelly, grizzly bear like vocals. Perhaps even the man parked in front of a one armed bandit, a Jack n Coke and a fag in hand or even his legendary beard. Whichever one of the many ways he is remembered by each person, be their friend, family, acquaintance or fan alike in the coming months and years, he will take his well earned place among the musical greats, perhaps even higher than many due to his long career and ability to stay alive where many, unfortunately, didn't.
Many legacies were assured despite their passing at such young ages, Lemmy lived life no slower than them but somehow managed to pile on the years with a lifestyle that would have, and has, floored many. If the likes of his heroes, Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cochran signalled the beginning of rock n roll, the passing of Lemmy brings with it a full stop and it will never be quite the same again. So few of Musics legendary figures have made it anywhere near 70 years of age, for that fact alone Lemmy is truly unique. The fact he made it by living that same lifestyle is even more incredible. He lived fast but was always too busy for that dying young bit, he may have died old in body but died young and pure at heart. For me there is only one way to sum up Lemmy and it is this; while Elvis was undoubtedly the King of Rock n Roll but Lemmy IS rock n roll.
This man has epitomised the pure, decadent spirit of rock n roll like no one else ever has and he lived to tell the tale far longer than the rules have ever allowed. Ian Fraser Kilmister was born on Christmas Eve 1945, just a shade under four months after the end of the Second World War. The Second World War, think about that for a moment, an event that lives on in black and white videos and pictures which, since its end, has seen so much change, so quickly, that it would baffle most of us today. A time before rock n roll and all the numerous styles of music and the way of life we take for granted in the internet age of today, the world is a very different place to then. The musical world we know now has been formed by mammoth contributions from many, with Lemmy making his own mighty and herculean imprint on it. The length of his career is hard to fathom, just taking into account Motörhead, he has had 40 years and there is much to dig into pre-Motörhead with the likes of Hawkwind and the lesser known, (until now perhaps) The Rockin' Vickers among the notable works. Lemmy knew what he wanted to do and he did it, he lived the ethos of the rock n roll lifestyle to the full, cutting schedules that would break most people. There was no, “show postponed due to exhaustion” or any of that kind of cop-out crap, he got on with his job whatever happened. That is until the last few years when his health issues began to dictate things far more but for what, 36? 37 years with Motörhead alone, this guy did not do missing shows. Over the years, an air of invincibility has surrounded Lemmy, that he really would live forever, that there was nothing that could stop him and he would swipe death aside with a sneer and tell him to fuck off. However, time catches up with everyone eventually and as it turns out, Lemmy wasn't immune to it after all, but when his time came, he accepted it and it was peaceful. We are now living in a post Lemmy world and it feels a sadder place with no more Motörhead tours to look forward to, no new albums, no seeing Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee up there with him again but he will never be forgotten. Through that, he becomes immortal and best of all, he did it his way. The quote at the top of the page from Animal, of the Anti-Nowhere League, tells you all you need to know in four sentences about Ian Kilmister, all that is left to do now, as I, like many, many others, look across at never to be used tickets for Motörhead this month, is to raise a glass, crank up Motörhead or Hawkwind or The Headcat and say thank you, Lemmy. For the music, for the memories and for being the man that taught us that you are only too old for rock n roll, if you think you are. AN
It’s hard to believe that The Used released their self-titled debut album fourteen years ago now, in 2002. To set the scene, leading upto the release, and to give some more context, the emo style of rock initially originated in the 1980s but only broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s. The Used unleashed their sound at the right time and done the genre proud, but also brought a more aggressive side, known at the time as screamo. The album impressively is still timeless, and had a massive impact, probably more-so than the band expected. It put them at the forefront of the emo and screamo genres, with the album being at the pinnacle of those scenes, and showcasing these genres at their prime. The frenzied manic vocals from emotive frontman, Bert McCracken paired with mainstream rock moments and striking heavy instruments, earned them their signature ‘Used’ sound. It included single, ‘The Taste Of Ink’, which is safe to say went on to become a classic song for the band that all fans of rock will note with significance. It is evident that the album played a major landmark for the alternative rock genres, as many modern rock bands since have listed the album as having a big influence on their sound and material, such as Escape The Fate and Crown The Empire. If you want to look back at the credible history of emocore and screamo, this is a good place to start. But without tight casting the album too much, it goes behind these genres too, it was something completely different that we hadn’t heard before, with their insane delivery creating something exciting and infectious. The album has since been certified gold in the US, highlighting its praise and popularity even now, and still trumps the list of must hear emo albums to listen to. Its legacy is strong. CL
The Used had a hard act to follow, with the highly influential and successful release of their first debut album. The band didn’t leave eager fans waiting too long, as it followed two years later. Now established as champions of emo/screamo styles the foundations were built for them and anticipation was running high. Luckily the band managed to make their second release just as renowned, if not even more. It went on to be gold certified in the US also, matching their debut. The title and references behind this album are formed of tragedy surrounding frontman, Bert, most prominently the loss of his girlfriend, who sadly during the production of the release died whilst pregnant with his child, making this the most fragile honest emotional offering, consisting of depressing songs self-abuse and suicidal thoughts. Fans couldn’t get enough of their brutal honesty, making it acclaimed by all, quite rightly. Its popularity is evident, as it had songs featured on a movie soundtrack for, Saw III and Saints Row 2 game soundtrack, which is quite an accolade for any band. This and their debut album are still considered their best work yet. At the time there were many on the emo scene, but no one can quite compare and match the deranged charged brutal to glimmering emotional roller coaster that The Used took us on. The early Used albums take us on a brilliant nostalgic path. CL
A lot has changed over the years in music, you see bands go from the top of the highest towers to the lowest pits, it’s hard not to feel sad at some of the great bands who have been forgotten. Sum 41 was one of those bands, the group became jaded and lost but now they’ve returned, hopefully better than ever. To truly appreciate their return I thought I’d go back and have a listen to my favourite album by the Canadian pop punk maniacs, Does This Look Infected. Of course their big album was All Killer, No Filler and how could it not be, with the classic hits of Fat Lip and In Too Deep; songs that can still create a huge uproar in any club now. Not to mention Motivation and Nothing on my Back. However with this album the boys hit the big time and the next step was releasing a bigger effort. I think that’s why DTLI is my favourite Sum 41 album because they’re one of those bands that went the extra mile and did as good an album as their first. At the time pop punk was all the rage but it wasn’t All Time Low and You Me at Six it was the classics, Blink 182, Green Day, The Offspring but none of them for me had what Sum 41 had. It felt like the Canadian band had passion and raw energy that couldn’t be matched, the screaming vocals from Deryk Whibley were and still are amazing. You only had to listen to the opening tracks of Hell Song and Over My Head (Better Off Dead) to feel the energy being thrown into every lyric belted and every riff shredded. I personally believe that they were a leading band in the metal/pop punk scene, they didn’t take it to the extremes like other bands but they certainly incorporated it in their music. Billy Spleen and Thanks for Nothing are clear evidence of this. This album only continued to get amazing as it got into the incredible and catchy single Still Waiting and the fast paced song A.N.I.C about someone being ‘an asshole’ and ‘a dick’. It was nice to see that after All Killer they didn’t grow up too quick. It’s true to say that Sum 41’s fate was up in the air for a while, there were health issues and a difference in musical opinion and creation which meant the band temporarily were on hiatus with band members leaving to take on different paths. With the news of Sum 41s amazing return from the edge of nowhere there’s also better news, they’re bringing a new album out! Yes fans can rejoice as the pop punk heroes are heading back to the studio to give us some more amazing music. Good to have Sum 41 back better than ever! I also suggest grabbing yourself a ticket to their upcoming headline tour to check out the triumphant return as it will be a spectacle to behold. RO
All Time Low are creative masterminds, they keep it tight knit with their formula, simple chord progressions and chorusing keep it punchy with these guys. Combine this with lead singer Alex Gaskarth’s obviously recognisable voice and you get some really catchy and honestly brilliant pop-punk tracks. Currently All Time Low are dominating their field of choice, pretty much everyone versed in the genre knows who this band are. All Time Low nail the formula drawing you in with huge singalongs and soaring rhythms, enough so that their records have seen them play headline slots for Warped Tour even in their early years. As bands like Paramore and Fall Out Boy went on to another plane of fame, All Time Low weren't too far behind with the release of their acclaimed record “So Wrong, It’s Right” an album that would cement itself into pop-punk history and onto Buzzfeed’s “6 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F——ing Die" list, pretty pop-punk right? “This Is How We Do” serves as a near perfect introduction to the album, showing their fun loving Blink-182 influence. As the album blasts through tracks like “Holly (Would You Turn Me On)” and “Shameless” it shows that they have a tenacity for catchy pop anthems with a punk influence. Lyrically All Time Low don’t excel by any means, but they do capture what it was like to be in the band at that time, at times the lyrics do take a dip into the incredibly cheesy end, but the be all and end all is that the songwriting here is powerful for the time and no doubt will see these tracks stuck in your head for days. Fan favourite “Dear Maria, Count Me In” shows what All Time Low are all about, it’s strongly composed and refreshingly free of all the “boy band” (dare I say) gimmicks. It’s catchy as hell and is full of all the much needed pop-punk goodness. The track was certified Platinum in 2015, despite never having radio airplay. At this point All Time Low weren’t even on the cusp of what they could achieve, and this milestone solidifies this record into the pop-punk greats. “Six Feet Under The Stars” and “The Beach” kick in with stellar melodies, building up with huge singalongs, nothing new to the genre, but their wonderful production is what makes this band stand amongst the crowd. It’s a fun record and at the pace it moves you begin to follow the band’s journey through their equally as fun touring lives. “So Wrong, It’s Right” is a significant record in the history of All Time Low, musically it is their most consistent within the pop-punk genre, equally moving between fast-paced punk to poppy choruses, full of unavoidable vibrancy and brilliant hooks. It’s tight in production and captures the essence of pop-punk perfectly. Not bad coming from a Blink-182 covers band. Although All Time Low have gone far beyond this, there’s no denying that “So Wrong, It’s Right” is a fantastic album. GD
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Bring Me The Horizon - Cardiff Motorpoint Arena - 27/11/15 There was a huge expectation for this show as the future poster boys of metal Bring Me The Horizon brought their sold out That’s the Spirit tour to the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. It was cold and wet outside so queuing was tedious as ever. After a good half hour of waiting I finally got into the already packed venue.
PVRIS were already a couple of songs in by the time I grabbed a beer at the bar and got a decent standing
place.They powered through half an hour of synth heavy pop rock from their debut album “White Noise”. Songs like "Fire" and "St Patrick” were well received and fans were going crazy. As they started their last song “My House”, the sound was cut to the annoyance of the audience (I thought it was that they overplayed but apparently there was an accident in the crowd). After five minutes they were finally allowed back on stage to finish their set and they nailed it despite losing momentum. Wales’ own Neck Deep take to the stage. I had high expectations for this band due to their track record and are quickly becoming pop punk’s rising stars. Playing song after song of cheesy yet catchy pop tunes to a choir of fans singing, this was an obvious milestone for the band to play the arena. “Losing Teeth” and “Serpents” were highlights of the set but there was something missing. I am personally not a fan of Neck Deep but the reactions of the crowd really showed a lot of potential in this band for the future. Now I wait for Bring Me The Horizon. The atmosphere was already electric, Ive been to shows before where everyone seems pumped but this one was on another level. The usual negative points were people pushing past constantly to get to the pit, couples engaging in soppy behaviour and the standard group of tall people that stand dead in front of you but that’s expected at every gig! So we get close to 10 past 9 and still no BMTH. Everyone was still pumped but getting slightly restless. Finally the lights go out and an extended intro for “Doomed” opens the show. More screaming from the crowd as Oliver Sykes and co walk on stage. After the opener we were greeted with “S-P-I-R-I-T, SPIRIT, LET’S HEAR IT” over the speakers before kicking into “Happy Song”. Confetti and smoke cannons filled the arena to the screams of girls and a 27 year old, bearded ginger guy (myself)! The production was brilliant from start to finish. The whole backdrop was a huge LED screen and there was plenty of pyro throughout. Churning through “Go to Hell, for Heavens sake” and “The House of Wolves” the party really started when they played “Chelsea Smile”. The guitars sounded huge, the sound in general was immense for the Motorpoint Arena and BMTH were tighter than ever. This show was the only Arena gig of the tour and truly proved that BMTH were born to play huge shows. So after more hits including “Throne” and the now legendary “Shadow Moses” it seemed that the set was heavily created with the That’s the Spirit and Sempiternal albums (with exclusion of Chelsea Smile and Born with a Curse). That’s not a bad thing really. The last two albums were huge; The main set ended with “Antivist” and after a couple of minutes of banging and chanting the band returned to perform “Blessed with a curse” and finished with a spectacular rendition of “Drown”. The gig was one of the best shows I’ve seen in that venue for a very long time. Despite BMTH only playing a short set, I’m sure we will see a lot of great things from them in 2016. With a full arena tour just announced for November I would highly recommend you get a ticket. LB
Mayday Parade - 02 Academy Bristol - January 27th This is the second show ever in the UK for Have Mercy, and thy’re opening up for Mayday Parade & The Maine, not a bad start to getting European people into their music then! They are actually a lot different to the bands they are opening for, but this is always a great thing as it helps viewers discover new genres and be more open about music in general. With a sound that combined Manchester Orchestra, Biffy Clryo & Twin Atlantic these guys really made for an exciting support act, and I strongly recommend that you check out the track 'Let's Talk About Your Hair'. Right now they are on the road promoting their brilliant new album 'American Candy', a release that for me perfectly encompasses what The Maine are all about. Their frontman John O'Callaghan, does a great job at keeping crowd interaction to a high tonight, and by doing so they receive a highly positive response throughout their set. They provide a perfect dose of alternative American rock, and stand out tracks would include 'Like We Did (Windows Down)' & 'Another Night on Mars'!. Emo rock is not dead, Mayday Parade are proof of that. Kicking straight into 'One of Them Will Destroy the Other' I kind of felt like I was watching Taking Back Sunday in 2005 again, as Mayday Parade present their own and somewhat similar approach to this, which is really cool to watch. Throughout the evening the crowd are treated to more songs from their latest album 'Black Lines' including 'Let's Be Honest', 'Letting Go', 'Hollow' which all get an exceptional reaction whilst proving just how well their latest output has gone down with their fans. This wouldn't be a Mayday Parade concert, without the performance of 'Jamie All Over', 'Black Cat' & their encore 'Jersey', which all have the crowd singing along to every word, whilst showing that the band have built a very impressive set list to say the least. AD
LIVE REVIEW Lower Than Atlantis - 02 Academy Bristol - December 11th Currently making waves throughout the indie rock scene with their debut album 'I'll Keep You in Mind, From Time to Time', Moose Blood take to the stage. I first saw these guys play an early slot at Hevy Fest, and since this point, and judging by the packed crowd tonight, then it's plain to see that a lot has changed for Moose Blood in a short amount of time. Also with Brand New not putting out any new records in what seems like forever, then these guys are doing a perfectly good job at giving fans of that style something to listen to. Personal highlights would include 'I Hope You're Missing Me' & 'Boston' which are both just electric to watch live. This band are only just getting started, and judging by their performance tonight then it looks like they are going to do great things for British rock music. After receiving the best album run response yet with the release of their selftitled album, Lower Than Atlantis are now promoting the deluxe edition of the record with a huge UK headline tour. Opening with their new track 'Get Over It' they get an incredible response and instantly show that if this in anything to go by for the next output, then the future of the band is going to continue to be as healthy as it already has been. Tracks like 'Stays the Same', '(motor) Way of Life', 'Love Someone Else' go down a storm and show how diverse the set list for the band is becoming. As the audience lights up with mobile phone screens, and lighters whilst singing in unison, then we can of course only be watching 'Another Sad Song', which unsurprisingly gets a brilliant reaction. 'Words Don't Come So Easily' is a catchy foot stamper, and acts as the perfect song to play before the band take a break (now known as an encore in this day and age!). They finish with two songs from their self-titled album 'Here We Go' & 'English Kids In America' which again emphasize just how well their most recent album did, and from the performance they put on to end the set tonight, then you should expect these two tracks to remain in their set list for the unforeseeable future. AD
Nearly 40 years since Stallone's first outing as Balboa, he's back once more and in one of the best performances he's given since the original Rocky back in 1976. We start in 1998, a young Adonis Creed is in juvenile detention once again for fighting. This young tearaway has found himself pin balling between juve' and foster homes all his life, having his mother and father both passing away. Here he is introduced to Mary Anne Creed, widow of the late Apollo Creed, Adonis' boxing champion of a father. Although not being Adonis' mother however (Apollo had an affair with his mother), she takes him in as her own and raises him as if he was. We skip to present day and Adonis has now settled into full-time employment in LA and has begun fighting on his own. Wanting to stake his claim in the boxing world though, he quits his job, leaves Mary Anne and heads out in search of his father's greatest opponent, Rocky Balboa. Adonis tracks down a now older and somewhat wiser Rocky, and attempts to persuade him to train the young Creed. After some initial scepticism, Rocky agrees, and the two begin together on the road to boxing greatness. This film isn't solely about boxing, but its greatest scenes are those of when Adonis is either fighting, or training with Rocky. The chemistry between the two is one of contrast and intrigue, an impatient youth and an experienced fighter. It wouldn't be a good boxing film without a few well placed training montages of course, and these come with some fantastic moments as well as some cheesy yet inspirational backing tracks. Adonis' is reluctant to use his father's name to help him along the way to stardom, and him and Rocky attempt to keep his name under wraps for as long as possible. Like Adonis, this movie heads out to make a claim of its own, without falling back on the success of its predecessors. And even though it follows the same methodical route that origin boxing movies take, it does this well. It's worked before, and with some good acting, it has done it again.
Along the way Adonis falls in love with a young singer, Bianca (Tessa Thompson). The story between them is good, but doesn't appear to change the direction of the story, it only reinforces the emotional ties in the plot, and gives Adonis something else to fight for. The cinematography in this movie is fantastic. Adonis' first professional fight with Rocky in his corner is just as good, if not better than the film's finale bout. Some of the fighting scenes appear to have been filmed in one shot, with the camera panning around from fighter to fighter as they exchange blows and dodge counters. It's great to watch and places the viewer closer to the action than ever before, it's immersive, and adds fantastic tension. The final fight is the climax of the film, which catches the audience rooting for the honest underdog against a cocky proven fighter. The boxing in these scenes don't quite match the intensity and raw nature of the first, but the stakes for Adonis' will to win have increased, and give a very emotional feel to it as a whole. Being Michael B Jordan's first attempt at a protagonist role, he's remarkable. Not only winning the hearts of the viewer with some strong line delivery, he's also clearly worked extremely hard to perfect his boxing. As mentioned before, the greatest moments in this Rocky installment are when he's staking his claim in the ring. With Jordan giving an incredible performance as young Creed, Stallone doesn't for one minute let him steal all the plaudits. His character has naturally progressed into a more mature and wise Balboa, and Stallone delivers this well. The movie gives as much as Rocky's original did back in '76. Michael B Jordan is great and it wouldn't be a surprise or an upset to see him take on his role as Creed again. The story follows the same route as previous boxing origins, but this isn't a bad thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Dying Coast
Dying Coast is a band from the United Kingdom, who play in a metalcore style and who have members from different countries around the world. Dying Coast was formed in 2013 and in our journey we have already recorded an EP album called “The Promise”, which was released in the summer of 2014 and a new full album called “The Next Chapter” which was released on the 28th of November 2015. What we are doing is finding something different for the music industry with our songs, making them meaningful not only to us, but meaningful for our fans and we put our souls into the music that we create. We are planning to have a UK tour and then a Europe tour in 2016. We have had some bad times, but we have had a lot of good times and we enjoy playing and making music, because music brought us together. Facebook.com/DyingCoast