Twenty One Pilots have revealed details of their first UK headline tour which is set to take place in February. February 17 - Brighton Haunt 18 - Oxford Academy II 19 - Birmingham Library 21 - Manchester Academy III 22 - Leeds Cockpit 23 - Glasgow King Tuts 25 - Bristol Thekla 26 - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms 27 - London Heaven
You Me At Six have confirmed their new album will be called 'Cavalier Youth'. While She Sleeps have announced a homecoming Christmas show which will take place at The Corporation in Sheffield on 20th December. Support comes from Brutality Will Prevail. Cornwell Punk band Bangers have confirmed their new album, 'Crazy Fucking Dream’ will be released on 21st October through Beach Community. Ash Vale four-piece Stallone will release their debut album,'Mire' through Tangled Talk Records and Enjoyment Records on October 7th. Swedish emo punks The Way They Run have confirmed their new EP, 'Safe Haven' will be released on October 18th through Blackstar Foundation.
Los Campesinos! will head out on a UK in December in support of their new album, 'No Blues', which is set for release on October 29th. December 5 Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach 6 Leeds, Cockpit 8 Manchester, Gorilla 9 London, Heaven
Scylla Records will be releasing a Christmas compilation this year to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. The label is currently taking submissions from any bands that want to include a track which will be shortlisted to make a final track-listing. All audio tracks will need to be complete by November 1st. To submit a song for the compilation email rich@scyllarecords.com with the title XMAS COMP and include the following info if you would like to be considered: Band Name: Link to your music: What track would you like to include?:”
Future Of The Left have announced their new album, 'How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident' will be released on October 21st through the bands own label Prescription.
Pierce The Veil and Sights & Sounds will be supporting Bring Me The Horizon on their forthcoming UK tour.
Touché Amoré will be touring the UK in December in support of their new album, 'Is Survived By'. Support comes from Self Defense Family and Dad Punchers. December 04 Bristol The Fleece 05 Leeds Cockpit 2 06 Brighton Audio 07 Norwich Waterfront Studio 08 Nottingham Rock City Basement 10 Glasgow Stereo 11 London Underworld 12 Manchester Roadhouse
Anberlin have announced a new label partnership with Big3 Records, through Sony/RED Distribution. The band will release will release 'Devotion: Vital Special Edition' on October 15th.
Close Your Eyes will be releasing 'Line In The Sand' on October 29th via Victory Records. Perma (Max Bemis of Say Anything and Sherri DuPree-Bemis of Eisley) will be releasing its debut album, 'Two Of A Crime', on October 29th via Equal Vision.
Winds of Plague will release 'Resistance' through Century Media Records on November 4th. Protest The Hero have announced a February 2014 UK tour, which will feature support from Tesseract, The Safety Fireand Intervals. February 01 Brighton @ Concorde 2 02 Birmingham @ O2 Academy2 04 Sheffield @ Corporation 05 Glasgow @ Classic Grand 06 Manchester @ Academy2
Alcoa (Defeater's Derek Archambault) has announced a UK headline tour taking place in January. January 5th The Cricketer’s, Kingston 6th The Fleece, Bristol 7th The Packhorse Leeds 8th Classic Grand, Glasgow 9th Kraak Gallery, Manchester 10th The Cookie Jar, Leicester 11th Sanctuary, Basingstoke 12th The Garage, London
Watch Commander have called it a day. We Are Fiction have confirmed their debut album, 'One for Sorrow' will be released on 18th November through Destroy Everything.
Stagecoach have called time on their 10 years together. The band will be announcing details of a final show soon. Leeds Prog band Humanfly announced that they will be going on an ‘indefinite hiatus’ after their final Leeds show on 31st October at the Brudenell Social Club. Post-hardcore band Hildamay have announced a co-headline UK tour with Belgian sludge mob Steak Number 8. November 1st The Anvil, Bournemouth 2nd The Ivy, Sheerness 3rd Underworld, London 4th Boileroom, Guildford 5th Bodega, Nottingham 6th Classic Grand, Glasgow 7th Zero Alt Club (Kalinka Bar), Middlesborough 8th Underground, Stoke Hildamay will be unveiling a new single titled 'Drag' this month.
Spy Catcher have announced they have joined Small Town Records, and that their new album, 'Lies' will be released next year. London-based rockers Nightlife have revealed details of their new EP, 'For The Record. The six track EP will be self-released on October 14th. 1. Where I Ought To Be 2. Good Intentions 3. For The Record 4. Wisdom Teeth 5. Remedy 6. Yes Man In support of their new record, 'Dead Language', Torontonian punk rockers The Flatliners will be returning to the UK as part of a European Tour, with Astpai in November. November 26th Newcastle Trillians 27th Glasgow The Audio 28th Manchester Star & Garter 29th Kingston The Peel 30th Brigthon The Hope Essex skate punks Giants will be touring the UK next month for a series of headline shows. October 6th The Old Blue Last, London - Punktastic Free Entry Release Show 22nd Trillians, Newcastle 23rd Southsea Live, Sheffield 24th Shades Club, Bridlington 25th Two Pigs, Cheltenham 26th Static, Swansea
Details of the forthcoming split from Departures and Moose Blood have been announced. The split will be released on November 12th through Fist In The Air and No Sleep Records. Brighton based singer-songwriter, Chas Palmer-Williamshas started work on his debut solo album, ‘The Ballads Of Douglas E. Fairbanks’. The album will be funded by a Pledge Music campaign. Gloom punk/hardcore band Salem Rages have joinedVisible Noise and will digitally re-release their EP trilogy,'Splinters'on 4th November.
We Are The Ocean will release ‘Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow’ (Deluxe Edition) through Hassle Records on 14th October. Details of the debut album from Decade has been announced and will be titled 'Good Luck'. The album will be released on 13th January 2014 via Spinefarm Records. 1. Good Luck 2. Brainfreeze 3. Callous 4. British Weather 5. Woke 6. I Don’t Care 7. Fools Gold 8. Coffin 9. Homebound 10. Fake teeth BONUS TRACKS 11. Thursday (live) 12. Who Knew? (live) ITUNES DELUXE BONUS TRACKS 13. Brainfreeze (acoustic) 14. British Weather (acoustic) The new album from Into It. Over It., 'Intersections' is set to be released in the UK on 28th October through Big Scary Monsters.
Blink-182 are planning to start demoing new music for their new album later this year and begin recording early next year.
Moving Mountains will be going on hiatus after 3 US shows in November. Reggie and The Full Effect has joined up with Pure Noise Records for the release of his new album, 'No Country For Old Musicians', out November 18th. The album features appearances from Frank Iero, Adam Lazzara, Allison Weiss and Sean Ingram. Details of the 'Punk Goes Christmas' compilation has been announced, and will be released through Fearless Records on November 5th. 1. New Found Glory - “Nothing For Christmas” 2. All Time Low - “Fool’s Holiday” 3. Real Friends - “I Had A Heart” 4. Man Overboard - “Father Christmas” 5. The Summer Set - “This Christmas” 6. Crown The Empire - “There Will Be No Christmas” 7. Yellowcard - “Christmas Lights” 8. Issues - “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” 9. Jason Lancaster (of Go Radio) - “All I Can Give You” 10. Set It Off - “This Christmas Day (I’ll Burn It To The Ground)” 11. The Ready Set - “I Don’t Wanna Spend Another Christmas Without You” 12. William Beckett - “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
LostAlone have been announced as support for The Darkness' UK tour this Winter. Former Reuben vocalist Jamie Lenman has revealed details of his debut solo album. 'Muscle Memory’ will be a double album consisting of 11 tracks each and released on 28th October through Xtra Mile Records. The final set of bands for Vans Warped Tour UK have been announced with We Are The Ocean, Attila, The Defiled, The Skints, Love Zombies and Rat Attack joining the line-up. Vans Warped Tour UK will take place on November 16th and 17th and will once again take place at London’s Alexandra Palace.
Anthony Green has announced a UK tour in support of his new album, 'Young Legs' which is set to be released on 17th February through Green’s own newly launched imprintMoshtradamus Records. The tour will be co-headlined by The Dear Hunter. February 24 Bristol Thekla 25 Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach 26 Southampton Joiners 28 Birmingham Academy 2 March 01 Manchester Academy 3 02 Glasgow King Tuts 03 Newcastle University 05 Nottingham Rescue Rooms 06 London Garage Emotional hardcore band Goodtime Boys have announced they will be releasing a split 7” with Self Defense Family on November 11th through Palm Reader Records. Following the release of their latest album ‘Wild Light’ and a sold out performance at the Scala In London, 65daysofstatichave announced a special two set show at the 1500 capacity venue Koko in Camden on 27th March. The first set will see the band marking the 10th anniversary of their debut album, 'The Fall Of Math’ by playing the full record for the first time. The 2nd set will be a normal performance.
August Burns Red will be returning to the UK early next year for a headline tour. Support comes from Being As An Ocean. January Fri 31 Birmingham Academy 2 February Sat 01 Nottingham Rescue Rooms Sun 02 Leeds Cockpit Tue 04 Newcastle University Wed 05 Aberdeen Tunnels Thu 06 Glasgow Garage Fri 07 Belfast Mandela Hall Sat 08 Dublin Academy Mon 10 Manchester Club Academy Tue 11 Cardiff Solus 2 Wed 12 Bristol The Fleece Thu 13 Portsmouth Wedgwood Rooms Fri 14 London Underworld Sun 16 Colchester Arts Centre
Larry and His Flask will be returning to the UK in December for a headline tour. December 04 London Borderline 05 Middlesbrough Doctor Browns 06 Glasgow Audio 07 Manchester The Star & Garter 08 Brighton The Hope
US industrial/metal band American Head Charge will be touring the UK for the first time in six years in November. Support comes from RSJ and Maplerun. November 13th The Haunt - Brighton 14th The Garage, London 15th Legends - Newcastle 16th Audio - Glasgow 17th Sound Control - Manchester 18th ScholarBar / Academy 2 - Leicester 19th The Fleece - Bristol 20th Bogiez - Cardiff 21st White Rabbit - Plymouth 22nd Crauford Arms - Milton Keynes 23rd Roxx, Southampton 24th The Met - Peterborough
Already Heard have released a free compilation called 'Already Heard Recommends: Volume 1' and is available from alreadyheard.bandcamp.com. 1. Moose Blood - Boston 2. Now, Voyager - Where We’ll Start 3. Hot Damn - Worn Out 4. The First - Take It Back 5. Unifier - Colorado 6. State Lines - Indian Burn 7. Hero - Waterfalls 8. The Winter Passing - Nowhere Still 9. Light You Up - Foxfire 10. Calls Landing - London Gentleman 11. Hindsights - Heavy Hand 12. In Dynamics - I Never Make Sense 13. PaperPlane - Chariot 14. Home Advantage - Barriers 15. Tyler Daniel Bean - Heather Lane 16. Brendan Rivera - Centerfold 17. On My Honor - Time to Heal 18. Cautioners - Staging Area 19. Sleeping Lessons - Winter Mourning 20. Over The Ocean - God In My Own Image 21. The Strong Silent Type - Replenish 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.
Can you tell us a bit about the formation of Now, Voyager? Nabil: Now, Voyager was formed during the month of July, 2010 when I auditioned for the band. Ben (drums), Tony (guitar), Tom (ex-bass), and Martin had been playing together for a few years before then but never found a stable vocalist. I played in a separate band after having moved to Belgium from Chicago, and decided it was time to move on to something else. That's when I accidentally stumbled upon the band and auditioned. The irony was I swore that I was done with metal before I convinced myself to audition. The rest is history!
Is your band name taken from the 1942 film starring Bette Davis or Barry Gibb’s 1984 solo album? Or neither? Martin: Actually neither. It comes from Walt Whitman’s poem entitled The Untold Want, which states: “The untold want, by life and land ne’er granted, Now, Voyager, sail thou forth to seek and find”. When we started this band, we could say we were hoping it would allow us to go abroad and to be confronted to new things. We loved the impression of imminent departure behind those verses, which was something that really suited the band’s mindset. We all felt like those two simple lines perfectly summarized our desires for new adventures and our need to discover the unknown.
You guys originate from Brussels - so can you give us the low down on the alternative Belgian music scene at the moment? Nabil: There's a lot of great bands in Belgium, such as BEAR who just got signed to Basick Records, for example. The sad truth of it all though, is that there's a lot of division within the Belgian scene, and therefore very little support for our own bands. It's hard to gain some kind of steady support when you live in a country divided between French-speakers, Flemish-speakers, and German-speakers. To add to the division, there are various scenes spread out through Belgium, whether it be hardcore/metalcore/or even deathcore, and those scenes generally tend not to mix. So it's hard to have a strong and coherent scene when a lot of people, and even bands, don't want to support each other if the style of music doesn't coincide with their own preferences. It's not an easy place to be, but the only thing you can do is keep steady, play your heart out, and hope that people will give you a chance.
How does it compare to what you've experienced in the UK? Martin: It is completely different, and (even if I shouldn’t say this) I really prefer playing in the UK. Everywhere in England, you can feel that this is the land that gave birth to rock’n’roll. It doesn’t matter which musical genre you choose to play. People in UK pay a lot more attention to the level of passion and honesty a band will show on stage - whatever their style may be – than, for instance, the clothes the band decides to wear. In my opinion, people in the UK have a keener ability to judge and appreciate what a genuine rock band is, because rock music is rooted in the culture. That’s why every time we come to England, we are stunned about how open-minded people are towards rock music in general. Here it’s all about being honest with the audience, and not faking anything, and trying to look like any other random famous band (… which happens sometimes too much in Belgium, I think).
So, how would you say your summer has gone so far as a band compared to last years? Nabil: Our summer's been really busy! We just finished our third tour recently. We were fortunate enough that the boys in Shadows Chasing Ghosts took us out on their UK farewell tour, and we also had the pleasure of having Palm Reader on board. That was a really fun tour. Ever since we got back, we've been preparing for our EP release show in London, which we're very excited for! At the same time, there's a lot of preparations going on for some new stuff, and we're slowly getting into the mindset to write some new tunes again. It's a very exciting time for us.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run through ‘Tell-Tale Hearts’? Martin: “Tell-Tale Hearts” forms a short poem in four lines that depicts the inner travel of a decision going from the brain (where everything is cold, rational and mechanical) to the heart (represented by a warm, organic and optimistic universe). Before deciding whether or not to go back to the studio to record 'Tell-Tale Hearts', everyone in the band was stuck at a crossroad. We were all done with school, and faced with a question: were we going to follow our heart and keep the band alive, or were we about to leave our dreams behind, to stick to our conscience and to choose a professional and secure life? For the universe of the brain, we used a lot of metal influences, with bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan and The End for the crazy scales and tonalities, The Bled or Oh, Sleeper for the rhythms, Nine Inch Nails or Daughter for the samples and mechanical noises. The influences for the heart were more into post and indie rock, with artists like Mono, Envy, Arcade Fire, Caspian, Joasihno, etc. The point was to create something oneiric, dreamlike, mesmerizing, simple and positive at the same time, with a strong and clear message, where, in opposition, the universe of the brain was willingly confusing and complex. “Tell-Tale Hearts” mangles a lot of different influences, and it is meant to present four completely different tracks that depict a transition. The listener begins with a metal-“math-like”-hardcore song followed by a brutal but still more rock tune, then goes into a straightforward structured rock song before being confronted with a post-rock and atmospheric final track.
How would you say the record compares to 2011’s ‘Seas’ EP? Martin: “Tell-Tale Hearts” has a concept and everything on this record has been written from scratch, where 'Seas' has two old songs on it, and two songs that were written for the EP. I will sound ridiculously cliché by saying this, but I think it is a more “adult” version of “Seas”.
How did you end up signing to DSTRY EVRYTHNG, and what have they been like to work with so far? Nabil: The guys at DE have been nothing short of amazing to us since our very first meeting with them. They're very easy to work and communicate with, they support and believe in our music, and respect the band the way it is. I think that's all any band could ask for when signing with a label. They actually approached us during our EU/UK tour earlier this year with Violet and expressed an interest in the band. They won us over when we saw just how involved they are with the bands they work with, and to be honest, we felt it was a massive compliment to be approached by a label with bands as great as Black Dogs, or We Are Fiction, to name a few... Needless to say, we're very happy with the decision we made, and are very much looking forward to seeing our relationship develop over time.
You guys are no strangers to playing in the UK. So can you give us a couple of highlights from touring here? Martin: I’ll keep it simple: English breakfasts all the way; meeting great bands and passionate people that grew up to the sound of rock; the exemplary open-mindedness of audiences (which we are not always used to); the professionalism at the venues; and a patient and friendly stage manager; … And oh yeah, the UK is the land of Led Zeppelin, which makes it by default one of the coolest countries in the world.
Nabil: I agree with Martin. English breakfasts, all the way! Going to Glasgow and having a BBQ by the loch, getting drunk half-naked on the highway and getting towed to a show, meeting tons of incredible people... it's all been amazing experiences really, and we are just really grateful to have had the opportunity to go through all of that. The best part is, it's not over yet, and there's definitely plenty more to come!
For those that haven’t seen you play before, can you please describe the Now, Voyager live show? Martin: We do not claim to have something more than any other live band. Let’s just say we play the exact same show with the same amount of passion whether it is in front of 500 or 5 people, simply because we love being on stage and to share our music. Moreover, we are always trying to be as genuine as possible; to be as honest as we can and not to look or to act like anyone else, other than who we are. We are extremely grateful to the people who take the time to come out to our shows, and so the least we can do is to stay truthful to them, and to ourselves.
What else can we expect to see from you in 2013? Martin: Probably more silliness from Nabil and more falls on stage from Tony. And incidentally more songs. Thank you so much for this interview and your interest in our band.
Nabil : Yeah, more silliness from me, that's a given. More falls from Tony, though hopefully caught on camera at some point. New tunes, new ways for us to convey our music to people, new tours, and some other bits and bobs that we'll just have to wait and see about. Thank you guys very much for taking the time to interview us!
So how happy have you been with the response to 'The Burning Sons' so far, and what do you feel it has done for the representation or 'status' of Feed The Rhino? We are all really happy with the response to The Burning Sons. It moved away from our first album Mr Redeye quite a bit, but it seems everyone got where we were trying to take it musically. It's hard to say what it has done to the status of the band, but we keep playing as many shows as possible and write the best songs we can, and it's all going well!
You guys are currently working on your follow up to 'The Burning Sons' so can you tell us a bit about how this is coming along, as well as, how you think it compares to what you've done already as Feed The Rhino? It's early days yet, but I can happily say it's the best stuff we've ever written. Like the jump from Mr Redeye to The Burning Sons, there is some difference musically, but it's still very FTR.
What themes and influences can we expect to hear on your next album? We are playing with a few different themes and concepts for the album lyrically at the moment, but it's probably too early to say exactly what's going to say. However, we are hinting at some of the ideas on the intro to the set we are playing over the coming months, so come see us live to get a sneak peak!
How would you say you have grown as musicians since Feed The Rhino formed? It's fair to say we have all grown a hell of a lot as musicians over the last four years. Partially on a technical side, but more in terms of song writing as a team, and how to put on the best show we can.
Do you prefer playing on large or smaller stages? I think everyone in the band have different opinions on this. Personally, it doesn't get better for me than a massive outdoor stage. It's the best fun live for me; more room to throw my bass across the stage, and less chance of it hitting other band members! However, there's a lot to be said for playing smaller sweaty shows where the crowd and band blur together too!
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour with Bury Tomorrow, and what should attending fans expect? We are so excited to get back out on the road with our good friends in Bury Tomorrow. The line up for the tour is incredible, so we are sure it's going to be a memorable tour! Fans can expect a whole new set, new songs and watching us try to destroy ourselves, our instruments and the venues every night.
So far, what has been your stand out memory of performing live this year, and why? We've had an incredible year so far, so it's really tough to pick out one moment. We had our first headline tour, toured with Bring Me The Horizon and While She Sleeps and played tons of amazing shows and festivals. Thinking through them, I'd probably pick our show at The Borderline on the headline tour in February. That was probably the most crazy show we've played. To the point where we were barely able to play the songs from all the stage invaders!
What else can we expect to see from Feed The Rhino in 2013? Loads of insane shows, and possibly some new music!
Can you tell us a bit about the formation of Night Verses? The 3 instrumentalists of the group (Aric, Reilly, and myself) had been playing together for years before collaborating with Douglas on vocals. We played a lot of instrumental shows in hopes of finding a singer, while also recording instrumental demos for people to audition over. We met Douglas through a mutual friend who happened to suggest he make it to one of our instrumental sets. He liked it so much we ended up jamming at our practice space that night. We exchanged demos and ideas over the next year before making things official in early 2012.
What can you tell us about you guys as a band, for people who maybe haven’t heard of you before? We are huge fans of music and love spending our time creating our interpretation of it. We draw influences from multiple genres and styles, but I would say that any fan of heavy, progressive, energetic music, should be able to find something to like in us.
You’ve just released your debut album ‘Lift Your Existence’, so how happy are you with the record, and what can we can expect from it? The band and I are very proud of this record. We spent a lot of time writing these songs and it's great to finally have them released to the world. The influences found on this record are a fusion of everything we've grown up listening to, from Fiona Apple to Opeth, spread across 15 songs.
What's the feedback been like from your fan base so far? The feedback has been awesome so far. People seem to really get what we were going for with this record, and we couldn't be more happy about that. Can't wait for everyone to experience it with us live.
So as a debut album, did you feel any added pressure when entering the studio, and how did the experience as a whole go for you? I don't think we felt any added pressure. We knew these songs were still in the vibe we created on the Out of the Sky EP, and I think that was the biggest concern for most of our audience. We're also fortunate enough to be able to do our own pre-production at home, which makes writing and recording a lot easier and allows us to be as prepared as possible before entering the studio. We were able to send our producer Kris Crummett a demo of every song we wanted to use, and he was able to give us his thoughts before recording a single note. It was a smooth process.
What was the weirdest/funniest thing to happen in the recording process? We became weirdly obsessed with this movie called "Beyond the Black Rainbow". We would watch it night after night between recording sessions. We got so into the movie that we felt it slightly shaped the tone of the album, and it seemed as though it put us in a hypnotic state every time we watched it. The movie only has about 5 pages of dialogue but it feels like a 2 hour Tool video. Which, in retrospect, makes sense as to why we were so intrigued by it.
As this is your debut album, what do you want it can do for the representation/'status' of Night Verses? The response we've received so far has already begun to put us on the path toward the sort of recognition we'd like to achieve. We listen to bands with long records, who have the ability to take you on a journey through their music, and then when it translates into a live show, it's a whole new experience. We put a lot of work and effort into our craft and it’s very satisfying as an artist to find people are relating to us that way as well.
How did you end up signing to Southworld and what have they been like to work with so far? Plastic Head became big fans of our Out of the Sky EP and caught wind that we were looking for a label partner in the UK for Lift Your Existence and reached out to us. They were aggressive and passionate about us, which we loved, and could line up a proper release quicker than some of the other labels we were in discussions with. They back what we do 100%, allow us full creative freedom, and give us all the business support we need in order to progress as a band. We're looking forward to representing them in Europe/UK on this summer tour with letlive.
Would you say that your label/s let you pretty much do your own thing when recording, or did they want you to do things a certain way? Our labels couldn't be more supportive when it comes to letting us have our creative freedom. We write our music with no limitations in mind, and it's awesome to know that we have the support to do so.
How excited are you for your upcoming tour with Letlive in the UK, and what should attending fans expect? We are really excited to come back to the UK with our good friends in letlive. We have both just released new records, and are looking forward to performing the new material in a live setting for the first time. Audiences can expect to see a group of musicians that genuinely love and believe in what they are doing. Each show will be a unique experience for all those attending.
Have you seen many differences between the reaction to your music back home and the reaction from places like here or in mainland Europe? So far, we’ve had a bigger critical response in the UK than in the US, but all of our fans, domestic and abroad, have gotten involved and appreciate what we do in similar fashions.
How did your recent tour go with Social Distortion, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from the tour? It was an honor to be out on tour with Social D, I've been a fan of their music for so long, so it was a surreal experience to be asked by some of your heroes to come out on tour. One of the highlights was playing the Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, it's a giant outdoor venue that holds around 5,000 people, and a bit of a hometown show for me. (New Jersey is very close to Philadelphia.) To top it off they had Hot Water Music on the bill that day, so it was a pretty amazing day of music and friends.
What can you tell us about your upcoming album Devour? It's a dark record. The major theme is essentially coming to grips with your appetite, and how that appetite can sometimes consume everything in your path. It's an inherently American thing, to always want more, to have nothing ever be enough, but ultimately the older I get the more I see that when that appetite is uncurbed it can really lead to unhappiness and a lack of balance. I wanted to trace where that came from in my life, where it’s taken me, and ultimately where to go from there.
We've read that 'belief in yourself' is one of the themes on the record, so for you, what would you like the listener to really take from listening to Devour? That's always a tough question. I appreciate sometimes just wanting to have a record that sounds good when you’re out for a run or a drive, which if we get that far, great. Beyond that I just hope the listener hears the lyrics and it makes them think a little bit about where we are as a culture and what we value, and perhaps takes comfort in knowing that there are others of us out there who feel the same way...
So how would you say Devour compares to Resolutions? Devour is different from my first record, entitled "Resolutions" in a few ways: The main one is that the songs for Resolutions sort of came together accidentally, I was writing songs and still spending most of my time in The Loved Ones, and ended up with a bunch of songs that didn't fit within that paradigm. With Devour, which started out with the intention of being the third Loved Ones record, I made the decision to make my entire focus musically as a solo artist, and wanted to make a pretty big and broad statement with this record. It’s more focused, more introspective, darker and was actually a lot more painful and cathartic to write than Resolutions.
How did you end up working with Andrew Alekel and Mitchell Townsend, and how would you say they pushed you as a musician? Mitchell is an old friend who's opinion I really trust, and he suggested that we get Andrew Alekel on board to engineer and co produce. They were incredible. They pushed everyone to get the best takes but more than anything, they knew I had a very specific vision for the record that I wanted to see through, so they guided the entire process in that direction and made sure we didn't get off track. I owe those guys big for the amount of hard work they put into this thing.
There's guest appearances from Scott Hutchison, The Watson Twins, Matt Skiba and a couple more, so could you please tell us how these collaborations came about, as well as what it's been like to work with these musicians for the recording process of Devour? Scott and I became friends when he came out to a show that I played with Franz Nicolay in Scotland in January of 2011. We stayed in touch and I started to listen to his band, and when Frighted Rabbit put out their newest record I was floored. It's still my favorite record of the year. They were playing a show down the street at the Fonda in LA and Scott walked over and laid down the vocals in a few takes. It was super fun and easy. The Watson Twins I was a fan of and Mitch Townsend played guitar for them, so he called them up and they graciously cruised in and made everything they sang on sound better. They're an incredible talent. I've never heard of Matt Skiba. Just kidding, Matt and I have been dear friends for years and he actually was my landlord for the duration of the record, letting me stay with him at his place in west Hollywood while I was recording. On one of our many hungover days he came in and put his beautiful vocal down on The Shine and Benediction. Love that guy and owe him big.
What would you say was the most challenging part behind creating Devour for you, and why? The biggest challenge was to write my way through to the end of the record in a hopeful way. I knew I had really strong content for the top of the record, but it is heavy and dark. I am a huge fan of some super dark records, but how often can you put In Utero or The Downward Spiral and not get sucked down into a dark place? Once I wrote the Shine I knew I had a way out, and then putting together Bricks and Benediction at the end gave the record its lift and catharsis. It took awhile, but I'm glad I waited.
You've done a couple of tours in the UK now, so can you give us a couple of your best memories from performing here over the years? I think headlining shows always are the most gratifying. I played sold out headliners at Barfly and The Black Heart, which were incredible experiences. I also got to play Brixton Academy two nights in a row supporting Gaslight Anthem, and the beautiful Shepherd's Bush Empire with The Revival Tour. Playing with Billy Bragg though at the Barfly was one of those nights where I scratched my head and wondered how the hell I ended up where I was, I was blown away.
What else can we expect to see from Dave Hause in 2013? The record comes out in October and I'll do some promotional stuff on the coasts of the states in order to let people know the record is out, and then I'll do a full headline tour of the U.K. and Europe, which I'm super excited about. I'll take a week or two off for the holidays and then I'm going to headline a full North American run the first part of 2014. I can't wait to get back out on tour so I can start playing these songs for people.
So what made you want to do a Kickstarter campaign, and how was this whole process for you? I'd flirted with the idea of utilizing Kickstarter or something like it on and off for about two years. For what felt like a million reasons, each of which I discussed exhaustively (maybe TOO exhaustively, depending on the reader's tastes) in the essay accompanying the campaign. I waffled back and forth on doing it for that entire time. What ultimately got me off the fence was the realization that my misgivings about the methodology and what I perceived to be the pitfalls and practical misapplications of that methodology didn't need to dictate the way I personally would and could utilize it as a way to fund my music and relate to my audience. One day, all the things I was fearful about instead became, like, a road map detailing how I could do it differently. So far, the whole process has been incredibly gratifying - it feels like we have a lot more control over every aspect of the roll out, which also means it's a lot more labor intensive - which is a welcome shift, it feels like all the work is very direct and worthwhile.
You did a record with Rob Schnapf and you also did a record with Jesse Lacey, so with this in mind, what made you want to put out two records at the same time, and can you also tell us a bit about the contrast between these two records? The idea of two-records-released-at-once, recorded in different places with different players and producers, had been in my head as far back as Between The Concrete & Clouds. In early 2011, prior to making that album in Connecticut with the core members of the Goddamn Band, I recorded two songs with Schnapf in LA where Ben Homola from Bad Books played drums and I kinda acted like the rest of a band over top. I loved it, the contrast, and we discussed potentially fleshing those two songs out into another record; while that didn't take at the time, it circled back around when I was trying to justify the Kickstarter idea to myself. I felt like asking people to financially support producing two albums felt better, and felt different and more exciting and challenging than just making one. It also gave me the opportunity to stretch myself as a writer and arranger, and to work with Rob again, which is always expansive for me, and Jesse in this capacity for the first time, which is something we'd kicked around for probably 7, 8 years. Short and imperfect answer to the stylistic contrast is Bubblegum is a noisier, punkier, more jagged & adrenalized version of what we do, and Bulldozer is a subtler, more electric folk-rock, power-pop kinda record, with some quieter & more atmospheric moments.
There's one song on 'Bubblegum' entitled ‘Private First Class’ about Bradley Manning for leaking classified documents in Iraq, so how did this theme come about, and what else can you tell us about the song? I just have been following Manning's story throughout, kinda swooping and diving in and out with more focus now and again. I just think it's an incredibly tragic and unjust example of power going to all ends to protect itself, a situation with far-ranging ramifications for future whistleblowers/truth-tellers/journalists/people willing to stare empire in its eyes and speak truth to power, and on a human and emotional level, I found it a very compelling subject to write about. The song is simple in its construction musically, hard-charging, kinda riffrock, built on repetition. Kind of meant to grab people with its immediacy first before imparting its message second.
Also, on 'Bulldozer' there's a song entitled ‘From Here’ which is about when you volunteered at Staten Island after Hurricane Sandy, so what was that whole experience like for you, and how interesting was it to then channel this experience into a song? 'From Here' is a reaction to two friends' situations after Sandy, on Staten Island and in Long Beach, people who lost a lot, and what I saw in those communities in the immediate aftermath. Writing a song like that, or like "For Eugene" or "Private First Class," can be tricky, because there's part of you that feels like it's almost sacrilegious and presumptuous to write from that perspective. You want to be delicate and respectful. I was personally very lucky during the storm, the area where I live was not affected directly.
We've read that these records are going to be 'different sounding albums', so with this in mind, can you tell us a bit about how these records compare overall to what you've done previously in your career? Again, a short and imperfect answer might be that each are streamlined improvements (I hope) on themes I've developed throughout my career. Bubblegum is a more focused version of our live full band show since 2009, in particular of the rockier bits of records like Brother's Blood or Split The Country, Split The Street or Between The Concrete & Clouds. Bubblegum is a more developed articulation of ideas explored on records like Put Your Ghost To Rest and some of the more spacious parts of the last record. I think each one also stakes out some new territory, goes beyond how it's been exercised in the past.
So how did you get to the album titles 'Bulldozer' and 'Bubblegum' and what do they mean to you? I tend to be wordy; I like that the album titles weren't. Bubblegum came from the song, and from an e-mail exchange between myself and the band, where I offered up about 30 potential names and they reacted best to that one, for its simplicity and the tonal dissonance of pairing that name with the sound of the record and, in particular, the cover image. It did something jarring. Bulldozer for me came from a similar space; you expect a record with that name to be much blunter & harder than the sound of this record, and I always like contrasts like that. It does, however, act as a metaphor for the process of writing and recording it, how all systems go that was, and Rob and I liked that, liked the sound of it. They both seem to fit and play well off one another.
Can you tell us a bit about who came up with the artwork for 'Bubblegum' as well as what it means to you? My friend Valerie Hegarty, a painter in Brooklyn, made that. She showed me her work about two years ago, and since, I've had some postcards of it up in my workspace at home. I think it's subtly disruptive and layered and arresting, and I think burning/melting a warped hole in an otherwise standard portrait of George Washington says more about the war inside the soul of America's history and present than any 10,000 words I could sit here and write about it. I think it is powerful and felt completely appropriate for the record. It tied the room together.
How did you end up working with Jesse Lacey on 'Bubblegum', and what was it like to work with him on the recording process of this record? Jesse's been a friend for 14 years and has seen my musical development in its entirety since Miracle of 86's 1st record. He has always had strong ideas about how I arrange and execute my songs, and about how my records have turned out, and has always mentioned being interested in producing one of them. This felt like the right time in the band's development to give that a swing. I have nothing but positive things to say about the experience - Jesse was incredibly focused, and enthusiastic, and creative, and he definitely helped shape, shake up, and improve the songs & the style.
Alternatively, how did you end up working with Rob Schnapf and what was that whole experience like for you? Rob and I made Put Your Ghost To Rest together in 2006, and two singles since. He also mixed Between The Concrete & Clouds and the second Bad Books record, so he's become my second most frequent collaborator besides Chris Bracco. I feel like I go to music school when I work with Rob. He encourages me to challenge myself in terms of chord voicing, harmony choices, lyrical sharpness, breadth of arrangement - I think working with him makes me a more well-rounded musician, and expands my taste set and tool kit. I am thrilled with both records for very different reasons, which I think is the best possible outcome I could've hoped for going in.
What was the hardest part behind putting together these two records for you, and why? I mean, it's a luxury problem, but all of it has just been, and will continue to be, the most work-intensive passage of my career. Each phase - from instituting the Kickstarter to fund the records, to writing and demoing the records, to making the records, to setting up and managing an international infrastructure to manufacture/promote/release/tour the records, to eventually going out and supporting the records live for a while - has required a lot of focus & attention. And everything normally required is doubled. So all of it is a challenge, but it's a challenge I asked for and welcome and feel is also allowing me an unprecedented & kind of thrilling level of investment & involvement. I feel really good about where we are, and really grateful for people making that possible.
How did your recent tour go with Weatherbox & Souvenirs and can you give us a couple of highlights from the tour? It was a great time! California treats us well so there were no complaints. As far as highlights, I would say selling out our local venue (Chain Reaction), as a first time headliner was pretty rewarding!
You’ll be releasing you’re second full length album 'Reverie Lagoon: Music For Escapism Only' soon so how excited are you to now have this record completed and ready for release, and also, what can fans expect from the record? As far as what to expect, I can't say much as I don't care much for preconceived expectations, however it will display a healthy progression. I would say we were able to leave any timidness behind on this one as far as really doing what we wanted to. As well as new influences being introduced naturally.
How would you say the record compares overall to 'Winter Forever' ? Hard to address without inherently giving people a premature opinion, but I would say there are some common flavors, as the songwriting as a whole comes from the place. However, I wouldn't compare the two sonically at all.
Can you tell us a bit about the recording process for 'Reverie Lagoon: Music For Escapism Only'? All of the pre-production was done on our own in Torrance, and the record itself was done in Omaha, NE at ARC Studios with an engineer named Ben Brodin. Outside of pre-production, the record was made throughout the month of March with some more work in June/July.
How would you say you have grown as a band overall since the release of 'Winter Forever'? Exponentially. A lot has happened between then and now.
How did you get to the album title 'Reverie Lagoon: Music For Escapism Only' and what does it mean to you? It means a great deal to me in more ways than one. It came to be in my head over some time, and when it all fell into place, it was very satisfying because it made sense in every way with the record conceptually.
What was the most challenging part behind putting together this record for you guys, and why? Well I would say this new record is a lot more expansive than the last one in a lot of ways, so managing time well enough to make sure everything that wanted to get done, got done was definitely a challenge. So in the end with some extra studio time we made it all work!
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour with The Story So Far and Save Your Breath and what should attending fans expect? We are very excited! We'll be seeing and playing a lot places we haven't been before so that's very intriguing. As far as what fans can expect, same as always, an honest show. I think these shows are really going to be special though so we're happy to be out with our friends in The Story So Far. May hear something new in the set, who knows?
You toured the United Kingdom for the first time last year, how was it for you, and can you give us a couple of highlights from the tour? We did indeed! It was definitely a nice experience for a number of reasons, one of them being none of us had ever been over there prior. We were with Balance & Composure and Pianos Become the Teeth so that was a highlight in itself. Those bands are made of fantastic people making fantastic music. It was also nice to realize that the U.S. isn't the only country on the planet you know? When you stay in your homeland without experiencing other cultures, it's hard to really understand how much more there really is, and how real it all really is. Makes you feel pretty small in the world, hahaha. I would say the only downside was only being over there for a week. We are very happy to spend more time over there this time, and also experience more of Europe where most of us have never been!
What else can we expect to see from Seahaven in 2013? Well right now the record comes before anything, so we're trying to get all that lined up. In this moment we're just focusing on this upcoming UK/EU run with The Story So Far coming up quick. Anything else is too early to talk about. We have a new record finished and sooner or later it will reveal itself! We can't wait to see you all over there! Thank you all so much for listening! ยกPura Vida!
Touring wise, what have you guys been up to this year so far, and what shows have really stood out to you guys, and why? We did our first headline tour in the US this past winter and that was pretty cool. I don’t think any of us had any expectations going into the tour and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable experiences we’ve had as a band. I think it’s still crazy to all of us that people care enough to come out and see us play. Also we had the privilege of opening up for Jimmy Eat World a few weeks back in upstate New York. If it weren’t for that band we probably wouldn’t be a band.
The new single 'Reflection' has been compared to Linkin Park, Deftones and Smashing Pumpkins to name just a few. How does it feel to be associated with such well respected bands, and how happy are you in general with the feedback to this track so far? We all had a pretty good laugh at that Linkin Park comparison. Aside from that I think it’s really cool. It seems like everyone enjoys “Reflection” for the most part and we can’t ask for more than that.
With the first record being so well received, did you all feel the pressure when writing a follow up album? You do sometimes wonder how people will perceive new music but nothing good can come from thinking that way. We did what came naturally and wrote what felt right. The second it becomes anything more than that is when I think it loses its meaning. We just tried not to overthink anything.
How did you end up working with Will Yip & Brad Wood for this record, and what were they like to work with? It was kind of a no brainer when it came to working with Will and Brad. Will produced and engineered the record and Brad mixed it. We’ve known Will for some time now and he’s our best friend. He probably knows our band better than we do at this point. Recording this past record with him was one of the most pleasant and easygoing experiences we’ve had; lots of good vibes and lots of good food. We watched tons of Curb Your Enthusiasm too. Getting Brad to mix the record was certainly a highlight as well. We’ve been fans of his work for years. He recorded records that we all grew up listening to and it was an honor to have him be apart of it.
How did you get to the album title 'The Things We Think We're Missing' and what does it mean to you? Jon was the one who named the record so I don’t want to speak on his behalf, but to me it means something along the lines of being content with who you are. I think people get too caught up in wanting things to make them happier. I think in a way this record sort of deals with dismissing that and concentrating on things that matter more. It’s a lyric from the 4th song on the record called “Tiny Raindrop” as well.
We've read that there will be themes of desperation and introspection on this record, so with this in mind can you tell us a bit about the main themes and influences that run throughout this record? Jon wrote most of the lyrics so I don’t really know. Plus I think it’s more meaningful for people to hear the lyrics and the songs and create their own meanings for them.
You put out a split EP with Braid not too long ago - can you tell us a bit about how that came together, and if there are any more plans for collaborations with other bands? We got asked if we were interested in doing it and thought it’d be fun. We’re all fans of the band and I think it turned out to be pretty unique. No plans as of now to do any more collaborations but who knows what could come about!
You guys have toured pretty relentlessly in the States - what is it you love so much about the live shows? It’s the best part about being in a band. I still get nervous before every show we play but that’s part of the excitement. There’s not much more gratifying than being in a room with other like minded people and getting wild.
What bands have inspired you since you first started as a band, and why? Band’s who were doing what they were doing for the right reasons. Band’s that weren’t afraid to be different and not follow a mold. There’s too many to name but MeWithoutYou, Circa, and The Smiths are a few.
What else can we expect to see from Balance & Composure in 2013? Lots of touring. We’re still trying to go to the moon and play a show so maybe that’ll happen this year!
Interview with Joe
According to your website the new album 'nearly killed you' so can you tell us what the recording process was like for this record, as well as how happy you are to now have it completed? Well, like most musicians, we like to self-mythologize, and one of our favourite self-aggrandisments is that writing music is somehow a death- defying miracle that involves traveling to the furthest reaches of one’s ego and identity. The truth of course is that writing a record like ‘Wild Light’ takes a great deal of focus and concentration, the belief in a shared goal and a commitment to working with three other people in often tense conditions. So no-one came anywhere near death, but we certainly lost our minds a little bit. In the ongoing journey that is 65dos, we can never fully quite grasp just how insane doing this has made us. We catch glimpses of it in the eyes of our families and friends as they try to make sense of the wordless husks of humanity we present to them. The recording process for this record, after 18 months of writing, involved two weeks in the studio with our coproducer and fellow musical conspirator Dave Sanderson. We decided between ourselves that we wanted to better the production of all our previous records. We were interested in pushing each sound to this imaginary ‘white hot’ point, just before it collapsed into mere noise. So the barebones of the songs were expanded upon, and we fired synths and programming through guitar amps and pedal chains and re-recorded them at the point when they sounded as insane as possible.
We spent a lot of time staying up and playing piano late into the night while projecting Maya Deren and William Eggleston footage onto the wall of the studio, which itself was in the middle of nowhere. We tried to create, in the least pretentious way possible, an alternative world of sound and vision that we couldn’t ever live in permanently, but whose music we could steal and carry back to our own reality. Essentially, a band who by circumstance alone have become far too down-to-earth, pragmatic and sensible tried to recreate the insanity of their youth. And we drank a boatload of wine. We then changed setting completely and mixed the record with Tony Doogan in Glasgow, which was in hindsight, a brilliant idea, as it made us re-connect with the record in terms of how it was going to be heard by everyone else. Tony Doogan laughed at us, told us we sounded like Don Henley and regaled us with many fantastic stories from a lifetime of recording and mixing insane musicians. We’re so happy with the record it’s almost untrue. We always think the record we’ve just written is the best one yet, but in this case, we really do feel that way. It also feels great to still be making music that we feel is relevant after all this time, rather than constantly regurgitating a formula we perfected years ago. 65 have never perfected anything, but therein lies our secret weapon.
Your record label describes the new record ‘Wild Light’ as “...where the music leads. There is no order but chaos. It doesn’t matter what you think you know about 65daysofstatic, nothing you’ve heard is true in the now.” What does the new album mean to you, in your words? Well we wrote that press release for our record label, as we’re total control freaks and I suppose it’s a fairly stylized stab at describing how we feel about it. Wild Light is like that sound you can’t quite hear between all the other sounds, that your brain fills in for you. Go and find a record that you loved when you were fifteen right now, that you haven’t listened to for years, but that you remember as sounding insane. Stick it on. Probably it doesn’t sound quite how you remember it? Your brain has kind of filled in what’s missing. That’s Wild Light. I don’t know, the last two years, much like the last ten years, or indeed hundred years, have been filled with the most insanely exciting and terrifying revelations about where we’re headed as a species and the lengths we’ll go to fuck up our planet and each other. Even in the two months since Wild Light was finished there have been the most incredible events surrounding how our data and communications are harvested at the expense of our basic human rights to serve government and major corporations. We may not have realized it yet, but we are living in the future, and we’re living through fluctuations and debates and conflicts that will shape our future in the long term. And yet other than being in 65, we’re just a bunch of dudes who are trying to make sense of living in that reality, trying to work out a way to engage with it, and trying to work out if deciding to play music ten years ago can be made relevant to the change we’d like to see in the world.
‘Wild Light’ is your fifth studio album - has the way you write changed over the years? Does inspiration still come from the same place? Wild Light might actually be our sixth studio album, although no-one seems to be counting Silent Running even though it was recorded in a studio and sounds ACE. The way we write hasn’t changed superficially. We get in a room together with a load of instruments and we stay there until we’ve got an album or someone’s in danger of getting hurt. However, more subtly, we certainly like to think we’re on a learning curve and that we’re always trying really hard to be better at what we do. We certainly don’t want to write the same music over and over again. Inspiration tends to come from what’s around us, what we read about. Certainly our priorities in that respect have probably deepened and widened since we started the band. It’s very hard to quantify or pinpoint where inspiration comes from though. Music tends to come out of you because you have to make it....it wants to be made. Or unmade.
Also, how would you say this record compares to 'We Were Exploding Anyway'? Oh it’s totally different. We’ve been through all sorts as a band, and when we were writing Exploding we really wanted to make a record that made people dance in the way we were always talking about in interviews. We also decided that the best way to arrange that dance music was in the most concise ways we knew how, and alongside that we chose quite a tough clean production. So we ended up with this quite taught, tense fierce record. Which was great! Writing Silent Running in 2011 however, which had a completely different purpose and came from a really oblique way of writing music compared to what we were used to (i.e. soundtracking a moving image) reminded us just how weird we can allow ourselves to be as a band. On top of that, we’ve gone through all sorts of nonsense over the last decade that is part and parcel of trying to get music out there, huge financial stresses and life changes, and we’ve stuck together through all of that, so we really just made a record that we wanted to make, without any regard for how people might feel we should sound. That’s really the only way you can make music, but it goes back to that idea that we kind of created this world and stole the music from it, and that place belonged to the four of us.
You are doing a shed load of touring this year, so how excited are you for your upcoming tours, and what should attending fans be expecting from the show? Yeah, we’re super-excited at getting to tour again. We haven’t toured at anything like this scale since 2010, so we’re really looking forward to it. 65dos was built on playing live, and we love to do it. I guess we’re a little daunted at being a little older and the physicality of a tour of that length. But mainly we just want to get out there and play the music. We’re hoping to build a really good set or combination of sets for the tour. The venues 65 play at don’t tend to be huge, but we’re trying really hard to bring some sort of production or visual element with us, as it would augment the album so well. Ultimately, we like to play hard and loud and we mean it, so expect that.
At the start of the year you played some shows in Australia for the first time – what sort of reception did you get over there, and how was this experience for you guys? We toured Australia and then went to China, Malaysia and Hong Kong for the first time, as well as revisiting Taiwan, which was awesome, because we named a song on the new record after Taipei. Australia was incredible, and brilliant antidote to the grey north of England at New Year. We happened to be there during the hottest day on record they ever had, (although a week later it went higher) and a few days later we were in Beijing on the most polluted day they’d ever had. So polluted in fact that it was hard to breathe and we all got ill. Watching freight trains carrying brown coal to be shipped from Australia to India and China, and then being in the most polluted city on earth shortly after gave us a unique insight into just how profoundly human beings are destroying the planet. Our complicity in this situation didn’t escape us as we flew ourselves and our instruments round the world. But the shows were amazing, the Australian crowds were fantastic, as were the crowds everywhere else. It was interesting playing music we’ve had with us for years and years to people to whom it was brand new. I mean the way the albums came out over there meant they were like new releases to a lot of people, and it kind of changed our perceived timeline of our music’s progression and made it seem more closely related to itself.
Your die-hard fans affectionately refer to themselves as the ‘65Kids’. Is this something you embrace, or is it all a little too much like the ‘Beliebers’ for your liking? It’s nothing like the Belieber’s thing because he’s a maniacal pop creation living in a constructed reality and we’re four scruffy impoverished blokes from the north of England who want nothing more than to forge some human connection via the medium of our music which is often the only way we know how. We certainly wouldn’t want anyone who has adopted being a 65kid as part of their identity not to think we weren’t humbled by having some much faith in our music, just as long as they’re not too disappointed should they ever get to find out how weird and unenchanting we are in real life. We can’t solve anyone else’s lives for them, we can’t even solve our own!
Your home town of Sheffield has a rich musical heritage – Joe Cocker, Def Leppard, Pulp, Richard Hawley and of course Tony Christie all originated in the city. What do you think it is about the place that nurtures musical creativity? Yeah and Forgemasters and indeed Warp Records, Heaven 17, The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, Rolo Tomassi and many more! Who knows? I mean, most major cities in the UK have probably produced some awesome music. Glasgow probably has a better track record than Sheffield, as does Manchester. It’s so hard to know if you’re surroundings actually nurture creativity or are just part of the elements that inspire you to make music. Maybe the inherent nature of living in post-industrial cities in the north inspires people to make music? Maybe people make music as a way to get out of those cities? Maybe cities produce music because musicians gravitate towards cities to find people to play with. Maybe the cities are divisible into many alternate realities and we will only master our environment when we unite and tame the concrete as our own. Maybe it’s what Jack Nicholson’s character says at the beginning of ‘The Departed’. I think I have demonstrated brilliantly how under-qualified I am to answer this question. Sheffield’s great though, and it’s a great place to come back to, and there are loads of driven creative people here who seem to be on their own fabulous paths rather than succumbing to some industry or media-centric idea of what’s ‘cool’.
Looking back on your 'Silent Running' soundtrack, how happy are you with how that release has been received by your fan base, and also, do you think that you would do another project like that in the future? We were really happy that it turned out like it did. We really did just think we were writing all this music for two nights at Glasgow Film Festival. That the project subsequently went to the Brighton Festival and the Amsterdam Film Festival, Sensoria Media Festival in Sheffield and so on was brilliant. But the crowd-funded record must have been the most empowering thing we’ve done for a long time. It came at a really good time for us. We’d been having some time off after touring Exploding round the world and we were a little disillusioned with the music industry, even more than usual! So to cut all that out and just make a record for about a thousand people, initially, that has continued to be listened to, well, yeah it was brilliant. Would we do it again? It was definitely a unique project, and the release fit seemed suitable. I think we’d think twice about going around crowd- funding everything, as i guess you’d be in danger of some sort of crowd- fatigue.
What else can we expect to see from 65daysofstatic in 2013? Loads and loads and loads of gigs. Another failed attempt to take over the world.
So how did you guys get to the band name O’ Brother and what does it mean to you? O'Brother was just something that our old singer wanted to call this band. We liked it more than what we were calling ourselves at the time.
Your music is quite an eclectic mix of heaviness and ambience, so did this style come on naturally as a band, or did you just know what you wanted to do from the get go? Our sound is the culmination of all of the bands we listen to and love. Anything from Sigur Ros and Mastadon to Radiohead, Portishead, and Blonde Redhead... all of the heads.
What was the idea behind having three guitar players in the band? Actually, I think one of the main reasons we added a third guitar player was because we wanted our old guitarist, Aaron, in the band. He was really a drummer, but I was already playing.
Which bands would you say have influenced you guys since your formation, and why? TwothirtyEight, Thrice, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Torche, Harvey Milk, Portishead, and Isis just to name a few. They're all doing amazing things in their respective genres and sound incredibly unique in their own ways.
So, what can you tell us about your new album 'Disillusion' ? It's a healthy questioning of life and relationships and everything we experience. Musically, it's O'Brother in its next logical progression as a band.
How did you guys get to the album title 'Disillusion' and what does it mean to you? Thematically it fit with what Tanner was writing about. We talked about a few others before that but this one really jumped out at us when Tanner came up with it.
With Aaron Wamack now departed from the band, then how would you say the recording process for 'Disillusion' compares to what you did on your last album 'Garden Window'? Being able to record with Aaron was always a blast because of his fondness towards finding the most interesting and appropriate sounds possible. There were a few days, while recording 'Garden Window', where he and I came into the studio alone and just worked on auxiliary percussion and adding a lot of weird noises to songs like "Bear". 'Disillusion' had many of the same types of moments, where we were able to just experiment with crazy pedals and micing techniques. Sapone approached this record with a "we will try anything once" mentality.
How easy or hard is it to re-create the sound you capture on record in a live setting? It's always something we pay a lot of attention too. It's ok for some aspects of a record to sound different in a live setting. That's what makes a live show breathe and hit you in an entirely different way.
You’ve released your music through a couple of different record labels, from Favourite Gentlemen to Triple Crown, is there a reason to this change around? Favorite Gentlemen is something we have always been a part of, and want to stay a part of as it grows. Triple Crown joined up with some tools that neither us or FG had. Both are families to us and a part of O'Brother as an entity.
What else can we expect to see from O' Brother in 2013? Touring, hopefully. A lot of really fun shows. I know we have our eyes set on doing something proper in UK and Europe. Keep your eyes and ears open!
How did it feel to achieve great success with your second album, 'Singularity' in Australia, reaching number 1 on Itunes and peaking at number 3 in the charts, and what was this whole experience like for you guys? Very cool, we didn't expect to chart that high and the support we have been receiving from our fans has been so awesome, we are very happy about it all.
What made you decide to create a viral campaign and cryptic codes for fans to decipher on the site especially released for the new album?..Is this mysterious promotion technique something you will continue with in the future? We thought it was fun and different, I mean bands in the past have done similar promotion and it always seems to help make the release more fun and interesting for everyone involved, hopefully we can do something cool like that soon.
You have recently released a new video for, 'Masquerade' featuring Drew York (Stray From The Path), what made you decide to release this as a video and what was it like to work with Drew on a track? Well we love Stray From the Path and we brought them over for our album launch tour here in Australia, so having Drew around made it very easy for us to put together a nice video of Masquerade since they are from New York and we are from Sydney.
Can you tell us a bit about the influences and inspirations that run throughout the new album? Northlane's music and lyrics are influenced by almost everything that has happened to us as individuals, we are shaped and moulded by our environments and also we have been inspired by moments of mystical or visionary experiences.
How did you end up working with William Putney on this record, and how did he push you as musicians? A few of the bands on our label UNFD have worked with Will before, he makes huge productions and had the sound we wanted. He pushed us to perform our best on the album in each and every take.
With the album being called, 'Singularity' and featuring such titles as, 'Quantum Flux', as well as the artwork for the album, then what made you want you to pick/work with such an interesting narrative? I came up with most of the lyrical concepts and I've always been a massive geek when it comes to science, although I'm not a very smart guy I find a lot of my inspiration through reading and attempting to learn more about the natural world, not only through science but also through direct experience.
What is the meaning behind the artwork and who came up with the design? I originally had a conversation with the designer Pat Fox from Apollo Collective and already had envisioned a scene from ancient Egypt with a human figure holding the cube (Northlane's unofficial symbol). Together Pat and myself evolved the idea in a symmetrical album cover with both a man and a woman, symbolising the duality that evolves from the Singularity.
How come you guys didn't do a worldwide release of this album straight away, and how excited are you for the UK to finally hear it in October? I believe we are still yet to acquire record labels in certain parts of the world, so we were unable to distribute copies globally. We are beyond excited to get in touch with our overseas fans this year!
You're heading over to Europe/UK in October with the 'Never Say Die' tour to coincide with the release of 'Singularity', so how excited are you for this, and what can attending fans expect? It’s my first time to Europe / UK so it is like a whole new experience for myself and most of Northlane. They can expect to see an emotional performance full of energy and heart.
You guys have achieved so much in such a short amount of time, so with this in mind, what would you like the future to hold for Northlane? Transcend all boundaries.
You guys spent the first half of 2013 headlining the Rise Records Tour in the US, how did it feel to headline and how was it for you? It was cool to get to headline a tour and at the same time you realize very quickly that all of the responsibilities of the day are riding on you. There's no one there to tell you what or what NOT to do and if someone else is doing something wrong you have to be the dick and tell them they are fucking it up for everyone else. But as a whole it was really good and it was awesome to go out and see kids every night that were just stoked on our band and our music, it was a really nice feeling!
The new album, "An Eye For An Eye" is out now, how did you arrive at this title? Is there a theme of revenge? Well Chris writes all the lyrics and so from the lyrics of the song Deathmarks he came up with the title of the record. But as for it's meaning I would assume it's a pretty generally understood concept, if someone does you wrong then you return the favor. I guess "everyone gets their just desserts."
What can fans expect from the new album in comparison to your first full length album, "When We Don't Exist"? There is quite a bit more diversity on this one. A little bit more inviting for new listeners but still much more heavy for our fans that enjoy us for that side of our band. There's something for everyone on this record.
What was the writing process like for this album? It has been on going for a while, we took 2 years to write this record and we have been on the road touring for most of that 2 years. So late nights in hotel rooms and jams on off days helped a lot but we put a lot into this one and tried to give it everything we had and make it the best it could be.
The artwork for the new album looks awesome, who came up with the design and what is the idea behind it? Well a guy named Aaron Marsh did the design for it after listening to the record. I think he did a great job of expressing visually what we were trying to express audibly!
You are currently playing on the Vans Warped Tour and will be all summer, how has the tour been so far, and what have the main highlights been? This tour has been incredible, it's a dream come true for all of us to be here honestly. We grew up coming to the warped tour to see all of our favorite bands so to be a part of it is such a cool experience. But I think the highlights have been the fact that we have so many friends on this tour so everyday is just a big hang out. It's been awesome.
For those who haven't seen you live before, what should they expect? Loud, fun, bouncy music. The more fun you have, the more fun we have and the more fun we have the better the show is. So then in turn the more fun YOU will have. It's a great cycle, so I guess I would have to say just come expecting to have a good time and you won't be disappointed.
Are you playing any new material on this tour? If so, what has the reaction been like from fans so far? We are playing 2 new songs off of "An Eye For An Eye" I solemnly swear and the blackout. The reaction has been great, it's been cool to see more and more kids singing a long as the songs get more and more exposure.
As well as playing the the US Vans tour, you are heading over here to the UK warped tour in November! How excited are you for this? It's super exciting, this will be our first time to play for our UK and European fans. So we are stoked that we are getting such a good platform to start from!! Warped is awesome everywhere in the world so we are just excited to be a part of it!
What does the rest of 2013 hold in store for Like Moths To Flames? There is a lot happening for the band in the next few months, keep up with us on all of our social sites and you will always be aware of what we are doing next!
What made you want to release 'Rise' as the first single from your new album, and how happy have you been with the reception to the song so far? The title track Rise really encompasses the true theme of the album. We want to help people to see the strength within themselves. The stories I tell all have a purpose. I want those in need to learn from what I've been through. I want them to be able to relate to my life stories.
Can you tell us about the meaning/narrative behind the song? This song in particular is about hitting rock bottom and getting back up. I can't count the times I've felt like ending it all was the only way out, but something inside me made me see the strength I possessed. We all have it, and I want everyone to see it in themselves.
How did you arrive at the title of 'Rise' for the new album, and what does it mean to you guys overall? The over all theme for the album is to rise up and be strong. It's about being your own individual and not giving up. What better word to carry the torch than RISE?
Can you tell us about the main lyrical themes and influences that run throughout the album? Every song is very personal to me. I've seen a lot in my life, and experienced a lot of changes specifically in the past few years. I had to keep telling myself to not give up, and to keep moving. My life influenced the words on this album, and the theme is perseverance.
For those that don't know, can you explain why Joey Wilson parted ways with you guys, as well as what it has been like to record 'Rise' without him? Joey became the link of the band that wasn't moving along side us anymore. As we moved forward and progressed he stayed in the same spot. His priorities weren't the same as ours, and we needed to make ASD everyone's top priority. Recording this album was a great experience. We have never worked together this well. Before where things seemed lost at times, this time around fell right into place. I truly feel this is the ASD we were always meant to be.
What was it like to work with Jim Wirt (Hoobastank, Alien Art Farm) & Cameron Mizell on this record, and how did they push you as musicians? Working with Jim was really amazing. He really got us to see the magic we had right in front of us. At times we can be extremely critical. So critical to the point that we'll scrap awesome ideas just because we're not thinking clearly. He kept us headed in the right direction and really brought something incredible out of us. Once we got with Cameron he continued what Jim, Kit and Mitch had started with us. He kept us on track. He pushed us when we needed it. He was always right there for support. The overall experience was truly a blessing.
Can you tell us a bit about how the album artwork came together, as well what it means to you guys? There's no hiding that we've always been into the theme of having a girl on the cover, so we figured we'd keep with that. This particular cover displays life at its worst. She's tied up and sinking to the bottom. What else can she do other than drown? We're saying she's not going to give up. She sees the light above her and she's going to reach that light no matter what it takes.
So, how would you say 'Rise' compares overall to 'Identity On Fire'? We feel Rise is the best album we've ever written, plain and simple. It exceeds all the others in every way. It doesn't have any filler tracks or interludes to make up for not having a whole song. Rise is 12 full brand new songs. Rise is what ASD was always meant to create.
What was the hardest part behind putting together 'Rise' for you guys, and why? While the writing process was a great experience, in order to make these songs what they are we really had to dig. I know for me personally I dug down deep. I put everything I have into this album. None of that was easy, but looking back on the experience only puts a smile on my face.
What would you like this album to do for the 'status' or representation of A Skylit Drive? We want this album to represent ASD stronger than any other album of ours has. When people talk about true ASD, we want this to be album that displays us at our truest form.
What else can we expect to see from A Skylit Drive in 2013? You can expect to see us touring constantly throughout the rest of 2013. This is only the beginning. Will you rise with us?
Your upcoming second album, ‘There Used To Be A Place For Us’ is out October 7th in the UK, so how excited are you for this release, and can you tell us a bit about the main themes and influences that run throughout the record? This is the most excited we’ve ever been about anything we’ve done. I know everybody says that but we finally feel like we’ve found a point where we’re truly happy with the kind of music we’re writing and playing. That might sound strange to some but I think the lineup changes have helped to bring us all closer together and now we’re putting out a record that finally feels like Save Your Breath songs from start to finish. There’s also an added satisfaction from the fact that we almost had to give up being a band at two or three different points in the last 12 months which makes it all the more enjoyable. Through adulthood we’ve had a lot to deal with in our personal lives. These songs are focussed on our upbringing and our families and friends. Every one of us has unfortunately come face to face with a series of difficult scenarios, though the one consistency is that we’ve always managed to come through the other end. This album tells those stories in our own way. It’s about overcoming your issues and not letting the shitty things around you win. It’s also about the realisation that whatever happens to you, there’s never an excuse for some of the things we do. As human beings we can do some pretty shitty things and I think we have to be accountable for our own actions. I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of and it took me a while to realise that I was using my past as an excuse for my behaviour. I wrote a lot about things that were very close to home and I think it’s really helped me close the door on a few dark chapters in my life.
How did you guys get to the album title 'There Used To Be A Place For Us' and what does it mean to you? The title is inspired by the fear of getting lost and just becoming another band that has nothing to say. We’ve been doing this a long time and I guess at times we’ve felt a little bit like the nearly men. Whatever members have come and gone, from starting out at hardcore shows to supporting on big tours, whatever it’s been, it’s always felt like we’re still the same band with the same belief and the same ideals we had when we started. We’re not interested in a fad, we want to play songs we dig with our friends and other bands we love. Hopefully when people hear the record they’ll feel like we still have a lot more to give.
What made you want to release 'Lessons' first from the record, and how happy have you been with the response to the new material so far? I think it’s something a little different and it’s indicative (yes, I’m gonna say that) of the direction we’re taking. Recover was kind of a step away from what people maybe expected from us but we feel like we didn’t do ourselves justice on it. Releasing “Lessons” as the first song gave us an opportunity to open people’s minds up a bit and not let them think it was going to be a case of same old, same old. The response has been really, really positive so far. We never expect anything because we’ve turned into a bit of a pessimistic bunch (not really) but we’ve had amazing feedback and even managed to sneak some plays on Radio One which is beyond anything we expected from the first song off the record. Not bad for a few peckers from Wales. In all honesty, we’re just really excited to get more material out because we haven’t toured much this year and we’re really excited to get things moving again.
The album will be released through Animal Style records and it was their first international signing, how did that feel and how are they treating you so far? It’s great. If you look at some of the records they’ve put out there’s some really, really good bands there and we’re proud to be the latest name on that list. We felt like we needed a label that believed in us and what we’re trying to do. The most important thing is that you understand each other and from the first time we had any contact with Matt, he seemed like the kind of person we wanted to work with. We’ve always been a very hands on band and there’s a DIY ethic been instilled in us from our early teens and I think it was important we got a label that understood us and where we were coming from. Sometimes it’s better to work with people that really believe in you. You know that both sides will work their fingers to the bone to try and help one and other succeed. Matt who runs Animal Style has been amazing and we really couldn’t have asked for more form him. We’re also teaching him some key British terminology so in future, if he approaches more bands form the UK, he’ll know what’s up.
How did you end up working with Gethin Pearson & Stuart Richardson on this record, and what were they like to work with throughout the recording process of 'There Used To Be A Place For Us'? We first worked with Gethin on a charity Christmas cover we did the year before last. We liked the way that he worked and some of the input and ideas he gave us so we decided to try something different. We trimmed a lot of the poppier elements after Vices and we felt like he’d help bring out the kind of sound we were looking for. We worked with him on Recover and as this record started coming together and we felt a lot happier with the songs we decided to go with him again. We actually wrote and recorded the music for the record in 5 weeks in December and January.
We ended up working with Stu after he asked to do a mix of a track for us. We sent him some reference material and he nailed it. He mixed a song called ‘Whole’ for us and after that we knew we wanted him to do the record. It’s been a different way of going about things for us and getting the masters in August of a record we started in January has been strange but we’ve been allowed to see the whole thing grow from start to finish which has been really interesting.
Also you have a slightly different band line-up with this record compared to 'Vices' so how would you say the experience changed/compared for you guys when putting together 'There Used To Be A Place For Us'? Since we recorded ‘Vices’ we’ve had 6 people play drums in different capacities, which in all honesty, is just stupid. We’ve also got Dave PA brandishing his axe on stage left nowadays. Writing this record was about as far away from the process of writing ‘Vices’ as we could have imagined possible. In November we were pretty much nailed on that we weren’t going to carry on anymore for various reasons, then we all had a change of heart and decided we couldn’t just throw this away. I think none of us felt like we’d realised the potential or fully taken advantage of the opportunities we’d been given. We decided we needed to get a new record out and, ironically, we had to do it as quickly as possible. We wrote the whole record in about 3 weeks and recorded it in about 8 days. For some reason it clicked and things fell into place. We ended up with a record that felt right for us, somehow.
So, how would you say you have grown all together as a band since the release of ‘Vices’? It’s so hard to explain. We’ve experienced a lot of ups and downs but we’ve made it this far and every one of us knows that we can count on one and other. We’ve had some amazing experiences but we’ve also been through some tough times together. Every show we’ve played and everything we’ve done has just brought us closer together. Hopefully that’s reflected on the new album and people will be able to see how much we’ve grown. In reality we’re just happy to still be a band and to be sharing this experience together.
What do you want this record to do for the status/representation of Save Your Breath? We want to tour the world. We’ve always wanted to travel and to play anywhere and everywhere we can. Fingers crossed, that’s what this record will be able to do for us. We’re looking at this album as an opportunity to start again and hopefully people will listen to it with an open mind and enjoy it every bit as much as we do. It feels like we finally have our own identity as a band and hopefully that will allow people to look at us from a fresh perspective.
How excited are you for your upcoming tour with 'The Story So Far' & 'Seahaven' and what can attending fans expect? Probably the most excited we’ve ever been about going on tour. We met TSSF at the start of 2012 and they’re some of the best people we’ve ever had the fortune of meeting. They’re also an incredible band and have achieved incredible things in the last 18 months. The combination of having a new record, playing a packed out tour and being re-united with some great people is about as much as anyone could ask for. It’ll also be great to meet the dudes in Seahaven and get to watch them every night. The only disappointment is that we only get to spend 2 weeks with them. What can people expect? It’s going to be something new from us, at last. New songs, new lineup, new beginnings. We’re determined to be better than we’ve ever been and after everything we’ve been through we’ll play our hearts out every night. The new material is perfect for a live environment and everyone’s excited to see how it goes down. Can’t wait!
What else can we expect to see from Save Your Breath over the next couple of months then? Maybe you guys will tour the US on this record? A lot more than you’ve seen over the last 8 months. We’ll be touring as much as we can and trying to get as far afield as possible. We’re planning to tour out of the UK and it’s always been a dream of ours to play in the US. You can never say for certain and we’ve been saying this for 4 years but we really feel like between now and putting out a new record we’ll have been able to visit all the places that up until now we only dreamed about. We’ll be doing something special of our own in the next few months and we’re going to try and make our own mark on this genre and especially here in the UK. We’ve had enough of being the bridesmaid, time to be the bride.
How has your summer been as The Flatliners, and how would you compare it to what you got up to last summer? This summer, along with the rest of 2013, has been very, very busy. Just the way we like it. Lot's of traveling, lots of shows. We spent the first half of the summer on tour in the US with friends A Wilhelm Scream, Such Gold, Astpai and The Holy Mess. After those tours, we headed over to Europe and the UK for a mixed bag of festivals and club shows. Summer always ends too quickly though, and this year was no exception.
How did you get to the title 'Dead Language' for your new album, and what does it mean to you? The title 'Dead Language' is half serious and half a joke. Many of the songs are about a time in my life where I learned from a lot of mistakes I'd made. A time in my life that is now virtually dead. That's the serious side. The joke side is that we're releasing a CD in 2013, when not all that many people buy CDs anymore. We never take ourselves all too seriously anyways, haha!
Can you tell us about the main themes that run throughout 'Dead Language'? Like I said, many lessons learned through positive relationships, and seeing some of those relationships fail. Spending lots of time on the road affords one the opportunity to do a lot of reflecting. And I think it's important to pin your mistakes to the wall and try your best to learn from them. The proverbial wall in this sense for me personally is the making of an album. Through these songs, I've done my best to learn from my mistakes.
What is it like to work with 'Steve Rizun', and also we heard that you guys did some producing on this record, so what was that like? We've done basically everything with Steve, so he's great to work with. Very comfortable at this point, and he knows our sound so well. Being more in the producer's seat this time was very fun for us, and I think it was just a natural progression after having worked with Steve for so many years on our songs. This was probably the most prepared we've ever been to record an album, so lot's of the ideas were already fleshed out and ready to be recorded. Steve has a great grip on what we want to do though, and is great to have around to tell us when something really sucks. Or when something needs a little more work.
In a kind of reference to the last question, how would you say the song writing/recording process compares on this record to what you have done before as The Flatliners? The writing process for this album stretches even further back than the release of our last album 'Cavalcade' in 2010 in some ways. Certain riffs or lyrics were unearthed from years back, and were thrown into the ring for the writing of 'Dead Language'. We continued to write riffs, small parts, lyrics, etc. while we were touring for the last 3 years. But we would never really hunker down and write full songs on the road. That part of the process with us always comes later, when we've got a nice break at home where we can get into our jamspace and really focus on the task at hand. The recording process this time around was very exciting for us. All the basic bed tracks for each song were all performed live. With hardly any click-track going. It's just the four of us doing what we know how to do. Play music together. We would add in a guitar line here and there, and the vocals of course, afterwards, but for the most part this new album of ours is a live-off-the-floor recording. And that's something we've always wanted to try to capture.
What was the hardest part about putting together 'Dead Language' for you guys, and why? Really just finding the time to have that focus at home to work on the songs, and then eventually record them. Our touring schedule for the past several years has been extremely lengthy, so it was a challenge to allocate the couple weeks we were off the road here and there to working on the album. But we eventually pulled it off! It only took us 3.5 years, haha.
How would you say you have progressed as a band overall since the release of 'Cavalcade'? I think with every album, and the inevitable touring behind each of them, we continue to progress at playing our respective instruments. And I think we continue to progress at playing together. Subconsciously really, we tend to challenge ourselves a bit more with every album we write. Whether it's writing something you cannot sing and play at the same time at first, or trying your best to stretch out your vocal range a bit. I think there's always this weird challenge we set forth for ourselves in the back of our heads.
How did you guys originally end up on Fat Wreck Chords, and what have you enjoyed the most about working with them over the years? A mutual friend of ours and Melanie Kaye, who used to head-up Fat Wreck Canada, introduced us to her back in 2006. It was right around the time that we were demoing songs for 'The Great Awake' so we showed Melanie a few songs. She liked them so much that she sent them to Fat Mike right away, which we thought was extremely sweet, but we never really expected to hear back from him. Low and behold, only about a week later Mike called us up and said he wanted to hear more songs. We frantically demoed the rest of the songs we had written for 'The Great Awake' in one day and sent them off to him. I think at first Mike wanted to release those demos as the album itself. This was an extremely flattering idea, but we wanted to show him, everyone else at the label, and the rest of the world that we were serious about making a new album and wanted to take our time with it. The rest is basically history. I believe we were in the right place at the right time, with some great friends who really have our backs.
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what should attending fans expect? Very excited! Always a great time in the UK. We have a great fan base there, and have many great friend around the UK, who always show us a fantastic time. People should get to the shows early to see Astpai. They are an incredible band who deserve your attention!
What does the next year hold for The Flatliners? Winter hibernation, and then we pick up where we left off. On tour. Forever.
Call your friends is album number ten for Zebrahead, how does it feel reaching this milestone? I never really keep track of how many albums we have finished, so I'm not really sure about the milestone or what album we're on. It's great that we have 10 albums worth of songs to pick from when we play, so that's cool. I am just lucky to be able to have fun and still record!
The album is definitely a party album, can you still compete with some of the younger bands when it comes to partying? Our livers are more experienced and more conditioned than theirs, so in that aspect yes. Plus, we're always the loudest, which helps in the partying…at least that's what they say! Oh yeah, and we're friends with Andrew W.K. so that says it all.
It's your first album without Greg, how much input did he have with it and what was the recording process like without him? Greg left while we were in the very early days of writing, so there were two or three songs that he had a hand in writing that made the album, but he didn't record anything. Other than that, it was all us. As for the recording process without Greg, it was pretty much the same. We spent a lot of time writing and preproducing this album with Dan, plus he's been a friend of ours for a while, so it was an easy transition for us. Of course we had a great time in the past and missed Greg, but we understood his decision, and glad we got Dan to take his place.
He's been replaced by Dan who has already had a lot of involvement with Zebrahead, was it a no brainer to get him in the band? Yeah, it was a no brainer. Like I mentioned, he's been a friend of ours for the last five years or so, and he has also gone on tour with us twice in the past when Greg couldn't make it. So that, along with his talent, and just being an awesome guy, made it super easy!
Have there ever been any points where you've considered leaving the band yourself and what kept you from doing so? I haven't thought about leaving the band at all. It's a blast, and I feel very fortunate to be able to do it!
What was the hardest part behind putting together this record for you, and why? This record came easy‌Unlike the last album, 'Get Nice!', we didn't write 40 songs and try to pick the best ones. Instead, we focused on writing quality over quantity, so that was easy. I'd say the hardest part of the writing and recording process was deciding where to eat for lunch!‌.i'm serious.
Can you tell us a bit about the main themes and influences that run throughout Call Your Friends? We just basically wanted to try and put our live energy and party feel, into a record. I think we achieved it on this record. We tried to be aggressive and positive and had a lot of fun, and just pressed record. It was great. If there was a main theme it would be, party time, all the time.
How did you get to the album title Call Your Friends? We didn't have a title while we were recording, and I rewrote the chorus to "call your friends" and I used that line. It kinda became something we would say, and it basically embodied "party". You know, like, "hey, call your friends, let's party." So along with that line, and the song being a strong song, we decided to name the album that. It just so happened that Sony picked "Call Your Friends" as the first single. I think it's a great choice!
So how would you say you have progressed as a band since the release of Get Nice! I would say we have grown, but definitely not matured!! Mainly with the departure of Greg and the addition of Dan, we have become a bit more of a unit. Not that we weren't with Greg in the band, but I think we just got a little closer with one another now because we're a family and when one of the family leaves it kind of makes it stronger..somehow? I don't know. But anytime you get a new member, as with me also, things change a little, and you just roll with it.
You'll be playing two gigs in one day in London in November, they're your only UK shows of 2013, how will you be making them special, and how excited are you for these shows? I am super stoked for these shows!!! I love playing two shows in the same city in one night because by the middle of the second show, things are just silly and crazy and awesome. It's great because they're the last two shows of the tour, so you put it all out there on those last two shows. I just hope to not throw up by the second show!
You're also heading out on tour with Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake again next year, what's it like touring with those guys? Touring with those guys is like going on a crazy beer drinking, hard rocking vacation with your old friends. I think by this point, we have toured so much with each other that we're legally married in some states! It's great, honestly those guys are all fantastic and we have so much fun with them. I am so excited to be going back on tour with them!
What else can we expect to see from Zebrahead in 2013? I think that's pretty much it, unless we secure some more dates in Asia and America, which we may do by 2013..but we'll see. If not, 2014 is the year!
You guys were a part of the Warped Tour this year, how was that whole experience for you? Warped is a festival that all our favourite bands have played, so while we were growing up you can imagine the pedestal we put it on. Playing it in 2012 was a dream come true and coming back for the second time in 2013 was like a cherry on top. The stand out moments were when we were able to see the growth from one year to the next so visually. It was just as much hard work as the first time but even more rewarding with a bigger fan base.
What made you want to release 'The Ocean' as the first single from the record, and how happy have you been with the feedback to the song so far? 'The Ocean' is a song we felt best represented the album and the way the band has grown since 'What Are You So Scared Of?'. Our fans were super receptive and excited about what they called our 'new sound' despite us not recognizing the extent of how much we'd changed at the time.
Can you tell us about how the video for your current single 'Lonely Girl' came together, as well as a bit about the narrative behind the video? The video for 'Lonely Girl' was filmed overnight after a show on Warped at a gas station in Minneapolis. The storyline was deliberately true to the lyrics and real life inspiration for the song. It walks you through the downward spiral of a 'lonely girl' as she turns away from her friends and family only to find herself lost.
So how did you get to the album title 'The Other Side' and what does it mean to you? A lot of the songs are about understanding and accepting the past and finding yourself as a new person because of it. 'The Other Side' is a reflection on finding perspective.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout 'The Other Side'? If there is any theme running throughout the album it would probably be self realization. When I became an adult I thought all my greatest challenges were in high school but it became apparent that I still had so much more to learn. Throughout the writing process of 'The Other Side' we were on tour consecutively for 2 years, 9 months of which I was really unwell. Being so far from home and without any answers or relief I was completely pushed to my limits and saw a side of myself I didn't know existed. It was dark and suppressed and insecure. A lot of the lyrics come from the very centre of that time all the way through the recovery and what was practically my rebirth.
How did you end up working with Dave Petrovic on this record, and what was he like to work with? We have worked with Dave on everything we've ever recorded except 'What Are You So Scared Of?' but never had the time or budget to really discover what we were truly capable of together. What took us back to Dave was the pure musical chemistry we have as a team and the album wouldn't be what it is without him.
What would you say was the hardest part behind putting together this record for you guys and why? I'm not sure it was ever truly difficult. Both the writing and recording processes felt 100% natural and real. We are closer now than we ever have been as a band and hearing the album come to life was like the reward after two really challenging years on the road.
How would you say you have progressed all together as a band since the release of 'What Are You So Scared Of?' As individuals we have all grown in musicianship and ability but the biggest and most important progression between the 5 of us is the way we have grown together as a family and made the road our home.
Also, looking back on 'What Are You So Scared Of?' how happy are you with this record now, as well as what it has done for Tonight Alive? Looking and listening back now it's more obvious to me where work was needed, but taking away the critical eye it's hard to believe just how much that album really did for us and how much people connected with it.
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what should attending fans expect? As we've said in the past, the UK took us in under its wing faster than anywhere in the world, including Australia; so you can imagine the kind of atmosphere and energy the love between us and our fans creates at shows! As for what fans can expect at the shows (other than the obvious new additions to the set list) are the good old regulars: sweat, a hoarse voice and a good time.
So how has the summer been for you guys, and how would you say it compares to what you got up to last summer? This summer was cool. We were home for most of it, so Im really excited to be back out on tour (that's what we're doing right now) and getting to play the new songs from "Growing Up Is Killing Me" for everyone! Last summer we were in the studio for most of the summer recording GUIKM.
Can you tell us about the main themes and influences that run throughout your new album 'Growing Up Is Killing Me'? The album is about making decisions and deciding where to go in your life. That's where the title came from. The album as a whole goes through the different emotions and "motions" of every day struggles. As a person you are always growing no matter what age or stage you are at in your life. We decided to write about that and it came off pretty cool in my opinion!
We've read that this album is about what it's like to grow up and maybe forget about the events that were more exciting then than they would be now. So with this in mind, can you give us a couple of events/times that defined your youth, and why? Christmas when you’re a kid is something special. It's almost like a "magical" time I'd say. As you get older the magic starts to fade away. You start becoming an "adult" and have other things to worry about. When you were a kid, it's almost like there was no worries. Christmas was always a special time in my life and still is. Just now that I'm older, the things you once were so stoked on start to change.
How did you end up working with 'Dan Korneff' and what was he like to work with? One of our friends who is in a band recommended him. We started looking into his work and what he has done and found out that he's done a lot of cool records that we loved the sound of and the over all production on. We hit him up, sent him the demos we've been working on, and he was down to work with us! Dan was awesome to work with. We clicked right away. He really helped us zero in on our writing and performance for this record. He pushed us to try and go places on this record that we never would of never tried had he not have been there. The whole experience was awesome!
What was the hardest part behind creating 'Growing Up Is Killing Me' and why? The hardest part was finding time to write for this record. We all work regular jobs when we are home to pay bills, etc. So it took us a little longer to write for this record. We didn't want to rush anything so we steady plugged away at writing and working on it until we were happy with every song. When we write songs, we don't just write a bunch at one time and then trash the ones we don't like. We take time on each song to make sure that it can be the best possible song
If you had to pick, which song on the new album means the most to you, and why? For me personally I'd say the song "Don't Call Me Lucky". That song in a nutshell sums up a lot of what we've gone through as a band over the last couple of years. The song is about running into people who will say "ah man you're so lucky to be doing what you love. I wish I could be doing that". We feel like no, we're not 'lucky' we've worked hard for this, and have made sacrifices to make this happen. We've busted our tails for this band. People can do the same in their own lives if they work hard for something too. You just have to want it, and believe in yourself and what you are working towards.
Can you tell us about how the artwork for 'Growing Up Is Killing Me' came together, as well as what it means to you? Our friends Michael Cortada (aka 'Mike C") did the artwork for GUIKM. We sent him the record and told him the story behind it and we asked him to run with the idea. He started sending over sketches of what he had been working on and we were blown away. He captured exactly what we wrote about on this record through the artwork. The artwork on this record means a lot to me because it tells a story. Our previous record didn't have that so Im pretty stoked on it!
How would you say you have progressed overall as a band since the release of 'What We Left Behind'? I feel like we've really grown as musicians and song writers since WWLB. We took a concept with GUIKM and ran with it. We pushed ourselves to make the best record possible and I think it shows.
Also, looking back on 'What We Left Behind' how happy are you with this record, as well as what it has done for the representation of 'Veara'? I'm very happy with WWLB and where it has taken us. We've been all over the world on it, and that's something I'm super proud of. WWLB is a great representation of 'Veara' and GUIKM is the extension Veara. I like where writing has been taking us for sure!
What does the next year hold for 'Veara'? Touring, touring, and more touring! I'm stoked to be out on the road and can't wait to see everyone at a show!
The new album is being funded by fans via PledgeMusic - run us through what this is all about, as well how this whole process was for you guys? Pledge is the best of all the "fan funded" platforms in so many ways...The biggest selling point for us, is that the fans are literally part of the entire process of making the album...I played them acoustic demos, brought them into the studio during the tracking...Fans voted on the title of the album and will vote on an exclusive shirt...It is very interactive...
What sort of interesting packages can fans buy? Fans could come in the studio for a day, play on the album if they chose...We have fans sing back up vocals, appear in a video....We also have TONS of signed exclusives from past tours and the normal shirts and posters....There is something for EVERYONE...And every single pledge gets an exclusive acoustic album...Pretty cool stuff!
How did you come up with the new album title 'Lunch.Drunk.Love' and what does it mean to you guys? It is a play on words of the movie Punch Drunk Love....I am not sure why it hit my one day, but when it did, I was giddy! I LOVE this title...We are known for being bigger guys, that like to drink beer and sing about relationships....It just fits!
Can you tell us a bit about the main themes and influences that run through 'Lunch.Drunk.Love'? It definitely leans towards being a break up record...There are a few more angry songs on this one than on past albums, but topically, it's pretty much middle of the road BFS...
You guys are generously donating 5% of each pledge to charity - tell us about the charity you're supporting? Yes...We are donating the money to Sweet Relief Musicians Fund...Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Grant recipients include recording artists, club and session musicians, composers & songwriters from across the country. From Classical to punk, jazz to country, reggae to blues and everything in between, Sweet Relief is there to help the musician in need.
In October this year you'll be kicking off your last ever UK tour. (so for those that don't know) Why won't you be coming back? Was it something we said? Ha...Not at all...And we aren't saying we will never come back...Just no more extended touring...We are getting older and have families and lives that make it really tough to be out of the country for 3-4 weeks at a time....Also, we see so many bands run themselves into the ground...PLaying to 2000 people and 4 years later 20 people....We didn't want to do that to BFS....Especially in the UK, who have been so great to us! We wanted to go out with a bang, while we are still on top! and it certainly looks like that is what is going to happen!
Also, what can fans expect from the tour? Only one support band, Patent Pending....And then a VERY long BFS set that covers all the stages of the band....All the hits....And some awesome surprises!
Do you plan to continue touring in the States? We haven't decided exactly what our plans are in the states...For now, we are just focused on this album and this amazing tour!
Can you give us a couple of your best memories from touring in the UK? As well as how much you guys will miss performing here? Well, first off, no question we will miss it....You guys are the best audiences in the world! And I mean that.... Download 2007 is a big one for us....And when we sold out Brixton in 2007 as well....So many memories...It is hard to pick a few...
You've more or less had the same line-up since 1994 - what's the secret for staying friends and not wanting to kill each other? Knowing your role in the band....Respecting the roles of the other guys...Knowing when to push someone's buttons and when to leave them alone....Also, beer helps!
What will 2014 have in store for Bowling For Soup? A re-recorded greatest hits album, a covers album....Possibly some festivals in the states and elsewhere...And a nap!
You guys have been in music for almost 20 years now. So with this in mind, how would you say the industry has changed since you first started out? There are very few things that are the same...Really, everything is different...Social media has all but replaced touring...We record our albums in our bedrooms now...It's insane! The internet keeps us in touch with the rest of the world and with home...It's crazy...The one thing that hasn't changed is that persistence and perseverance, good songs and a lot of luck will get you everywhere!
Last year marked the 10th anniversary of your debut album, Tell All Your Friends. You recently released an acoustic live recording of that record – so what was the idea behind this, and how fun was that process for you? We really enjoyed breaking the songs down to their bare bones structures and rearranging some of them. It was incredibly rewarding to play very intimate shows. Often times the crowd would sing along so loudly it felt as though the audience and the band were functioning as one giant unit! (that was not a euphemism; you sick freaks).
What has been the most rewarding part about performing these songs live in an acoustic style for you guys, and why? The intimacy was what I enjoyed most. When we are in larger rooms with our loud booming guitars playing a full on rock show you lose some of that. It was a nice feeling to be back in some of the same small clubs we cut our teeth in. We could interact with the audience on a very personal level and share stories of how the songs were written. I think the laid back acoustic vibe lent itself to that sort of thing nicely.
So, how do you think you've grown as musicians since TAYF in 2002? We are all constantly listening to different genres of music and evolving as writers and musicians. Back in 2002 I wanted to try and play as many notes as I could fit in a single bar. I thought I was Paul McCartney on speed or a poor mans finger-style Matt Freeman (Rancid). I think we are all a lot less selfish and instead of trying to cram all our own shit in, we try to allow the best idea to shine.
How does it feel to still have such a massive response to this record ten years on? The response still shocks me. I literally thought we'd put the record out, tour through the summer of 2002 and I'd be back in school that fall. Eleven and a half years later I'm still wondering when I'll have time to enroll again.
For you looking back now, what can you remember of the recording process, and how does it compare to how the band recorded after this record? The recording process was very very quick and completely disorganized on our end. We didn't know we had to bring our own drum kit. With any demo we ever made previously, the studio already had some crummy beat up kit already set up. We spent half the first day driving around Jersey City finding drum heads for the studio kit. Everyone had jobs or school so we had to work around all our schedules. I did all my bass tracks in exactly four hours. Everything is a lot more professional now and thankfully we have to luxury of this being our only job.
If you could, is there anything that you'd go back and change on that record? From a technical standpoint there are about a bajillion things I'd change. I think if we did that the record would be stale and completely flat though. There is a Japanese concept called wabi sabi that my friend Mr. Will Noon turned me on to. It's seeing beauty in imperfection. I have never been a part of a record that could better illustrate that concept.
What was the hardest part behind putting together TAYF for you guys, and why? For me nothing was really hard except that time when Mark and I got super lost on the way to the studio. Remember, this was in a time before GPS. But seriously, I think Adam and John really laid it all on the line with the honesty in the lyrics they wrote. It's a difficult thing to open up as much as they did for all the world to see.
TAYF Acoustic was completely self-funded and put out on your new label Sorry Records - what influenced the decision to do this project independently? We wanted to do things our own way. This project was a labor of love and came about at a time when we were in between labels. We didn't want to rush into anything for the sake of just getting it out there, so we did it ourselves. Thankfully our manager Jillian knows how to run a tight ship and she coordinated the entire project masterfully.
A while back you announced on Twitter that you were writing in a ‘secret mountain house’ – how fun has it been to record there, and also is the location playing a part on the sound of the new record? The 'secret mountain house' was just a little writing excursion we went on in West Virginia. It was productive but it was kind of hell on earth. The first morning I woke up with a mouse sleeping on my back. Rodents were everywhere, getting into our food and pooping on everything. We wrote about 12 half assed versions of songs over 7-8 days and left 2 days early. I don't think the location influenced much at all except wanting to get as much work done as quickly as possible. We were definitely in a mindset of quantity over quality. I am still glad we did it though.
What else can we expect to see from Taking Back Sunday in 2013? We've got some recording to do with our good friend Mike Sapone, then a little touring in the fall. Two of us are welcoming brand new people into this world so that should be pretty cool as well. We'll rest up over the holidays and world domination will resume in 2014.
Interview with Chris
This is obviously a country/rockabilly (with a touch of rock!) sounding band, so can you tell us about when you first got into this style of music, as well as what artists have influenced you over the years in this genre? I've been a fan of country music for a long time and have gotten progressively deeper into it over the years. This record was heavily influenced by Buck, Merle, Wynn, etc...
So what made you want to do a record of honky-tonk covers instead of another original record, and also how hard or easy was it for you to decide which covers that you wanted to do for this release? Initially we weren't thinking about doing a covers record. We were going to just learn a bunch of old tunes and then go play them for a while but we had so much fun that we decided to record them.
What was the hardest part behind putting together your new record 'All Hat and No Cattle' for you and why? The hardest part is that period between finishing the record and putting it out. We just want to get it out as soon as we get it mixed but of course there's a lot of details to work out.
There's six of you in this band, so what was the recording process like for this record, and also what's it been like to record with a bigger ensemble of musicians, as the lead singer!? We recorded the basic tracks live all set up in a room together banging it out. I'd never made a record like that so it was a lot of fun. Very immediate.
Also, in a kind of reference to the last question, what's it like for you to switch from the 2nd guitarist in the Foo Fighters to the lead singer of this band? It's an adjustment for sure. Singing honky-tonk has been the biggest stretch. Every show feels like a progression.
How would you say this record compares to your first self-tilted debut? This record is way more up-time than the first record. This is a Saturday night kinda record!
So, how hard or easy is it for you to work your side projects around your time in the Foo Fighters? Foos haven't been real busy for the last year or so, so I was able to do a lot of Peasants shows and get this thing all tuned up.
Since you started this side-project what has been the most rewarding moment for you, and why? I'm pretty proud of this new record so that's been a highlight, but I'm also real proud of how much tighter we've become as a band. The last year and a half has been a journey.
What else can we expect to see from 'Chris Shiflett and The Dead Peasants' in 2013? Lots of weekend gigs. We just started getting a new Foo Fighters record together so my Monday to Friday dance card is going to be pretty full for a while.
Touring wise, what have you guys been up to this year so far? We've done a few runs, in the states and around the world. Otherwise most of our time has been spent in writing, recording, and preparation of 8:18.
So how did you guys get to the album title '8:18' and what does it mean to you? I came across Romans 8:18 and it immediately stood out. It embodies the different looks at suffering throughout the album.
Can you tell us a bit about the main themes and influences that run throughout '8:18'? Misery is the general backbone. Each song takes perspective and looks at the subject in a different theme.
How would you say you have grown overall on this record since the release of 'Dead Throne'? I think my biggest growth was trying to capture more of my live voicing on the album. There are a number of parts on 8:18 that are far from vocally perfect, but I was happy to leave a lot of that in and create a product more specific to what I do live.
For those that don't know, can you explain why 'James Baney' departed ways with the band, as well as what it was like to record this release without him now in the process? We parted ways with James mostly due to tension and because we were having a hard time spending so much time together. It isn't easy being around the same people all the time, and I think the common outsider tends to under exaggerate that. The process of writing and continuing forward couldn't have been smoother in regards to making 8:18.
The record was produced by you guys as well as Matt Goldman & Adam Dutkiewicz, so with this in mind, what was it like to have such a hands on approach with a record, and also, what was it like to work alongside Matt & Adam? We're hands on with everything, so coming in for 8:18 wasn't anything different. We've also worked with Adam before, so we knew what to expect there. It was our first time working with Matt, and I'm glad to see he had an interesting effect on the album.
When did you guys first start helping out so much with the producing, and also do you think that more bands should attempt to have this kind of approach when it comes to recording a record? We've actually been this way with production since we started. At some time or another, it seems that metal bands started having other people write their material, which is utterly appalling to us. We play in a band to make music and play it: not to have someone else write it and then we just pose for pictures. I hate that stuff.
What was the hardest part behind putting together '8:18' for you guys, and why? Recording is always difficult for me, there's a lot of pressure there, and I know that goes for all the guys in the band. With 8:18 and our other material, that's a point of struggle for me.
Can you tell us a bit about who came up with the artwork for the record, as well as what it means to you guys? I wanted to source locally, so I hired an artist I admired from around Chicago. I came across his work online and I realized it'd be perfect for what I wanted to represent the album. Dan is a great guy and I'm very happy to have been able to work with him.
How did you end up on Roadrunner records, and what have they been like to work with on the release of this record so far? We ended up there like any band ends up on a label, there's not really a glamorous backstory! So far the relationship has been fantastic, nonetheless, and I'm very grateful for that. We're honored to be with such a respected label. For you guys looking back now, how happy are you with the way 'Dead Throne' has been received by your fan base, as well as what it has done for you guys as a band? Even still I'm quite pleased with Dead Throne. I can't say enough for how honest that record is, and I'm glad that honesty has continued with the past two years. It also helped us bridge gaps with our sound and what we did with Zombie EP, and we got to tour more places off of it. Prior to Dead Throne, we didn't get to spend nearly enough time in the UK and outside the states.
How excited are you for your upcoming UK, and what should attending fans expect from the set/performance? Dead Throne UK was excellent, so I'm hoping for the same thing when we come back with 8:18. It'll be our first tour on the new record, and I'm confident the UK will treat us well with it. It's happened a number of times before, so we're excited to come back.
What else can we expect to see from The Devil Wears Prada in 2013? I've got another writing project in the works, but otherwise TDWP will just be touring relentlessly and unveiling 8:18. It seems like it's taken us forever, so the anticipation is high for everyone to hear the songs. I think listeners will be pleased.
When did you first get involved with art/illustration, and what was it that attracted you so much to this world? I have been drawing as long as I can remember, but drawing for a living became a reality when I got paid for my first painting, then second painting and so on. It was then I realised that being an 'artist' was not just something people in books or films did. I knew nothing of the world of being a hired professional so the only thing that attracted me to it was doing something I loved for a living and its still the only thing.
Who was your first major client, and how was this whole experience for you? I think my first client was Iron Fist and they kinda took me in under their wing and gave me lots of work. I cut my teeth working with them and my name and my work grew with them. I owe them a great deal they were great to me. Sadly I can't do as much as I would like these days with them, our schedules are ships in the night.
So how did you get to the name Godmachine, and what does it mean to you? It was a long process that only came to light long after I chose the name and was made to think about it. When I first picked it I did so because of all the artists I was being introduced to like Horsebites, Hydro75, Palehorse, Angry Blue and loads more and I just thought it was cool to have a great name. I took a night or two to think of all the great words I had ever heard and settled on Godmachine because of the the band The God Machine. The idea of the god machine comes from a long line of real life weirdness and some epic artificial intelligence sci-fi films, philosophical ideas and great tales. To me it means I can do what I like as an artist and be myself away from that, I'm not some one who gets off on the super ego thing that most people seem to enjoy about being known. I was once with a group of illustrators hanging out and we all went into this store, all the famous illustrators all used their real names and we were introduced using our real names, the great thing was I was basically ignored because they didnt know who I was. I dont mind that, it shows people up and it gives me a chance to watch as an outsider.
You recently made an appearance at the Cardiff film and comic con, so how was that whole experience? It was great, My friend Gary invited me over to hang out and it blew my mind. It was the first comicon type anything I had been to and it was brilliant. Its Cardiffs first...I think. Its probably not as big or as cool or slick as what a lot of people are used to but I thought it was amazing. Apart from the celebs that line up in their booths and the stalls that sell their wares, the most amazing part of the convention were the people: They made so much effort and were having their chance to shine, kids that probably wait all year for these events and they blossom. It reminded me of when you take my mainecoon cat and put him in the snow: he shines, he comes into his own. It was great to see all the effort the people make and how many people respond to them by talking to them about their shared interests and having their photos taken. My friend Marc took his kid along and every time the kid saw a bloke dressed up as a character he knew his face shone like it was xmas. I have to admit I only recognised wolverine and Jack Sparrow and spent most of the time asking "who have they come as" hahah. I can see why these things are so massively popular if this one was to go by, good people with great attitudes.
How did you end up working with Bring Me The Horizon, and what was it like to work with them? I think a lot of people starting out or seeing the band names on our sites think we all work with the bands directly, and sometimes we do, but most of the time the bands name is licensed out to a merchandise company and its them who you work with. They approach you with a band - you do a few sketches- they pick what they think is in keeping with the bands style etc- you send them the finished piece- they send it to the band or their management and its either rejected or approved. I used to think that if I did a deftones tee it would basically mean you became an extra member. Sorry to disappoint a lot of people but the reality is you are sat on your own for weeks on end with only emails to merch companies. Personally though its been my experience that the merch guys are bloody legends and you make some good friends in the industry, they teach you loads and help you hone a skill for this kind of stuff. Sometimes if you are lucky you do get to speak to the bands directly and that is awesome because they are artists too and you make some great friends. But the majority of the time its merch companies....Danzig never rings.
You also got to work with Tony Hawk, so can you tell us about that project, as well as how it came together? It was through my long lost buddy Brandon Hart, he had been working with Birdhouse for years and he put forward my name to work with them. Again you dont go skating with Tony for an afternoon, its basically art directors suggesting ideas for you. The best thing about working with Birdhouse is that I finally have a name on my CV that my friends and family have heard of. Even my mum knows who Tony Hawk is, and she tells her friends up at bingo.
What's it like to work with a client then, do you always come up with the main ideas/concepts, or can it vary from project to project? Most of the time the client comes up with an idea and we just hash it out together or I turn it down or I just do it as is. The main problem is doing something that doesnt make me wet. I want to be excited about a piece, I dont want to just churn out "a zombie coming out of the ground", for money, I'd do exciting stuff for free.....maybe not, but you get the gist.
How long does a project normally take you, and can you tell us about the main steps you normally take when creating a piece of art? It really depends on if there are any new kitten videos on the web or if some popstar has started wearing smaller shorts. I do some research, do some sketches and then plow into it with only small breaks for kittens and coffee.
What would you say is the hardest part about your job, and why? The hardest part is trying to keep it fresh, drawing like other people is easy but thinking for yourself is hard. I work hard and doing something different each time, not different for you or the client but different for me, that stops me getting bored or stuck in a rut.
Alternatively, what would you say is the most rewarding part about your job, and why? being able to draw for a living and slowly getting to a point where you can draw what you want. Thankfully I have a few clients right now and have had for a while that let me get on with it, I do my best work when I have to impress myself. When this happens my art moves forward faster than usual, ideas I have had for months are finally allowed to see the light of day. It took me ages to convince people to let me do grey ink on black shirts, people complained you couldnt see much and wanted to be like all the bright stuff we'd been doing for so long and now its everywhere. Love being able to do stuff like that.
So can you tell us about what projects you have been working on in 2013 so far? So far 2013 has been awesome and furiously fast, for the first time in a while I am looking forward with some great plans due to having some great people behind me and some great clients. I cant tell you though, but I can tell you its exciting :D
What films/icons have influenced you over the years the most as an artist, and why? For example we've seen that you've done a lot of great work based on Alien/s!? I think a lot of stuff like Aliens must have influenced me a lot more when I was a kid, lets face it there is only one Alien film and thats Alien. We do go back to them mainly through nostalgia. I dont think films influence me artistically, I think they just set a mood or rather suit a mood that allows me to draw art I like.
What else can we expect to see from Godmachine over the next year? Hopefully more personal stuff. I say this every year though. More getting out and meeting people too.
So when did you first get into directing/editing? It was something I got into when I was really young. I used to borrow my Dad's video camera and use my younger brother and cousins to star in my home movies. I'd spend hours recreating my favourite movie scenes, shot for shot, and then edit all the clips together with the same soundtrack used on the film. That’s where I first found my love for directing and editing. As I grew up I started to get into music quite heavily and by my late teens I'd managed to combine all 3 passions and start making music videos.
Which directors/editors have inspired you in what you do over the years, and why? In music videos - Michel Gondry and Mark Romanek. Two very different styles but both very inspirational directors to me. Although they're not on the music video scene so much these days, the videos they made back in the day are amazing - so creative, cinematic, well planned and executed and the majority of the time game changing.
Who was your first major client, and how exciting was this for you at the time? My first major video was for The Cribs. I was extremely excited - they were one of my favourite bands at the time and I'd seen them play so many times - so getting to spend the day with them, directing them through a video and eating pizza with Johnny Marr was pretty exciting.
Can you tell us a bit about the projects that you have been working on in 2013 so far? I've been busy working with Fenech-Soler a lot this year. I've just finished a behind the scenes documentary to accompany their new album, I've been on tour with them in various amazing places around the world and I got to make a music video for their single 'Magnetic' that I'm very proud of.
How did you end up working with Lower Than Atlantis on their video for 'Love Someone Else' and what was this whole experience like for you? It was through a friend actually. He'd been working with them on tour and called me because they were trying to find the right music video and hadn't had any luck yet, so he suggested that I pitch an idea to them – which I did and it must have ticked the boxes as they picked it and wanted me to make it! It was a great experience - making an all-American video with actors and actresses and then getting the band to perform in an unconventional 'rock' video way. A long day but very rewarding looking back.
You also worked with the band for 'Go On Strike' so what was it like to work with the band once more? Maybe it was a more relaxed environment this time around? I was quite humbled that they came straight back to me for their next video. As I'd had the pleasure of working with them before, it was obviously more relaxed as we'd met each other - they'd also seen how the music video process worked and knew what to expect etc... We spent the day filming the boys rocking out in a big empty warehouse with a load of lights which was awesome, followed by a few days on the streets of London finding real characters to put their middle fingers up at the camera.
How did you end up working with Maximo Park for 'Hips and Lips' and what was it like to work with Thomas Turgoose when creating the video? A mutual friend got in touch saying they wanted to do a new video and they had Thomas Turgoose interested if the video had a role for him. So I went away and wrote a video that had a character that is a massive Maximo Park fan with a huge (unhealthy) obsession – who has made a 'fan video' for them. Thomas Turgoose is great, you imagine that he's going to be just like his character from This Is England but he's quite the opposite - very polite and professional with a good sense of humour.
When working with bands, do they normally bring the idea to you, or do you normally come up with the majority of the video ideas yourself? It's a mixture really - sometimes artists/ bands have an idea or theme that they'd like the video to be about and then you go away and explore that idea and write a video that suits that brief. But the majority of the time it's a completely blank canvas - which is great because you can just listen to the music and let your imagination run wild.
Can you tell us a bit about the main equipment you use when creating a music video? The equipment I use changes per video (and per budget!). The majority of the time I use the Arri Alexa camera. The images it produces are beautiful and they have a real filmic quality to them - which is great for most music videos where there isn't the time or money to shoot on film. I like to use anamorphic lenses as well because of the nostalgic 'Hollywood' look they give and of course the lens flares they produce can be amazing. Then to tie all this together I edit my videos on Final Cut and use After Effects for any additional effects/ touching up.
What's been the hardest video for you to shoot since starting out, and why? Fortunately none of them have been particularly hard. Some run smoother and easier than others but each always has its own challenges on the day - it's just about overcoming them and adapting.
So what effects do you really enjoy using when creating a music video, and why? My favourite effects are the ones done in camera without the help of any computer software. It's so easy to do everything in post-production these days with amazing results but if you're creative with what you've got and spend time planning and timing - making effects in camera and seeing the finished results is very rewarding.
Alternatively, have there ever been any effects that have gone sour, or been a bit harder to make work than expected? I don't usually use effects as I try to concentrate on the narrative or performance. I only use them if the video needs or benefits from them rather than just putting effects in a video for the sake of it. So the only ones I have used have always been well planned in advance to make it easier on the day - like the location changing effects in the 'Magnetic' video.
What is the most rewarding part about your job, and why? I'm very fortunate to be doing what I love for a living and not having to just keep it as a hobby. That in itself is very rewarding.
For those looking to do directing/editing as a living, what advice would you give to them? Make stuff off your own back/ in your own time to learn the skills and craft. Every video I do, whether it's directing or editing, I'm always learning something new. That's what makes you better at what you do.
What else can we expect to see from Luke Bellis over the next year? Hopefully a move into directing commercials and to direct some short films‌ and probably more music videos!
"Everything hardcore punk, alternative rock and metal." "News, tons of videos, free downloads and exclusive interviews."
A couple of years after working with Marvel, you also worked with DC comics on Batman: Riddler – The Riddle Factory, so how did you go about doing your own take on Batman for the first time, and what was it like to work with DC comics? After my experience with Marvel, which was pretty depressing most of the time, it was a joy to work for DC at first. I'd been head hunted to do the Batman book with Matt Wagner and it felt great. I'd always loved The Batman, he's still my fave mainstream character, so you can imagine how stoked I was. I put everything I could into that book, I was so dedicated, knowing it could do me a lot of good if it got noticed. I don't really remember how much time I took designing my Batman, I think, as I do these days, that I just banged stuff down on the page and hoped for the best. My head was full of how he should look and I depended on that alone, as I drew each page.
You also got to work on Batman for Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, so what can you remember from this era of Batman comics, and what would you say was the most rewarding part behind creating these issues? There was nothing rewarding on that book! It was a nightmare! I'd been doing Batman regularly, month in, month out, and I'd got sick of working with a forced inker and colourists. I'd got frustrated that I couldn't produce my own work as I was doing with my creator owned (and adult only) series Tongue Lash, which I penciled and inked, fully in control of the finished product. It was coloured, beautifully by Scarlett Smulkowski, who went on to work for Moebius. I told my editors I wanted to do something for them with the approach I used on Tongue Lash. After a while they came back to me with the Worlds Finest idea, which I was delighted about. I signed a contract stating that I would be responsible for the drawing and inking and that Scarlett would colour. To cut a very long and ugly story short they broke the contract numerous times. After drawing most of the first 48 page book and was getting ready to ink it they phoned to tell me the deadline for the whole 290 page series had been brought forward a staggering eight months, meaning I had to use an inker, which I had to find. Then the same thing happened with the colouring, me having to phone Scarlett to tell her she'd been sacked even before she'd started, which broke her heart as she'd really wanted to work in the U.S market. By this time a was sick of the job, it had turned ugly and I was getting lied to constantly. I finished all the covers and walked out. I'd had enough. This was meant to secure my place in the industry, but instead I was being used as a scapegoat for its lateness, my good reputation had been destroyed. After I quit I got a great offer on Human Target, written by the awesome Grant Morrison. I said I'd do it as long as they don't fuck up the job, which, after only eleven pages drawn, they did, by again bringing the deadline forward. I'd had enough. I quit comics for good. I was told I'd "never work in comics again" which I decided I'd agree with!
In 2004 you were then a part of the Judge Dredd Megazine, so what was that like for you, and how fun was it to do your own take on the awesome Dredd Mmmm....Dredd! 2000AD was the first book I'd found that blew me away, made me wonder if drawing comics was what I should do with my life. After leaving DC and comics in general due to a serious double hiatus hernia and the crap I'd been dealt I had no idea what I was going to do with my life from there. I was a decent drummer but had got sick of the music industry, frustrated I couldn't find a band I really belonged to, so what was I gonna do? My pall Pete Doherty phoned me one day, as we talked he said "didn't you always want to draw Dredd? You know Alan Grant (from my work with him on Batman), why not call him and see what happens?" Bingo! I came up with a story idea, put it to Alan and before I could take it all in I'd got a yes from Tharg. I was suddenly back in the industry, and this time I swore I'd do it my way. Do it right. Dredd's a bastard to draw but it's super cool to do. What I love most is everything around him, the people, the city, the cars and airships, I love it all! Robots!! I freaking love drawing and designing robots!
What do you think of the new Dredd film then? Bloody loved it! It was the first 3D film I'd seen that worked. It's a work of art in 3D. I can't wait to see more. Considering what little money they had, comparatively, I think they hit it so well, got so much right. I sent them a file with my already designed images for the Big Meg but was told it was already in production. It would have cost them a fortune to do my Mega City!!
In 2012 you came back to Batman on the graphic novel 'Batman: Death by Design' so how awesome was that for you, and also, how would you say the way you create Batman on paper has changed or developed over the years? The book's set in 1938 so that played a huge part in how I visualised The Batman. He had to fit perfectly into that world, it had to make sense aesthetically, logically. My Death by Design Batman is solely designed to act in that book and that book alone. When Mark Chiarello, the head honcho at DC as far as I'm concerned, invited me to take the job I couldn't believe my ears. After what had happened at DC years before, the "you'll never work in comics again" thing, I thought I was dreaming! Turned out to be the best job I ever took. It's broken me back into mainstream comics with a bang! Something I'd never dared to imagine.
What's been the hardest part behind creating the Batman comics/illustrations over the years for you, and why? Hmmm....I guess it must be trying to come up with new ideas and poses for the guy. I hate to repeat myself, and never swipe, so it's a bugger to develop something unique. I have to delve very deep into my memory of loving the character as a kid, drag up those impressions and feelings and implement those discoveries in my work. I also use my logic, thinking how this guy would act if he were real, which he obviously is by the way! Being a European artist helps I guess, not having the classic American comics mythos ingrained in me. I never read a lot of American comics as a kid, they just weren't available to me, so I never developed as an artist with a memory of those books. So my Batman is a European!
Alternatively, what's been the most rewarding part about illustrating these comics over the years for you, and why? When I started at Marvel UK age 26, I was told I was already too old to have a successful career. I still remember that when I'm drawing, it makes me feel I've accomplished something good, worthwhile. Also, when my sister died when I was young I felt her life had been stolen and swore to myself I'd do something good with my life, which I cherished. I still feel that this drives me, that promise to the universe that my life wouldn't be wasted. Working in comics, something that I deeply love, makes sense to me because of that old promise.
So, when working on a comic, what does a typical day involve for you? I take our daughter to school first thing, then try to get to work as soon as I can. Thing is, I'm a night owl, thanks to my teenage years and in my twenties of playing in bands 'til all hours. My brain generally doesn't start working dynamically until midday, so I have to adapt to that. My most productive period of the day is from three to six pm, and then late at night (when I have the energy!). I rarely do any physical work past seven pm, I'm a devoted family man, but I often have my best creative ideas late at night, filling sketchbooks sat on the sofa. I did some work for Sony years ago that made me enough dough to build a studio in our garden to work in. I sit in there, my man cave, listening to loud music while I work, being constantly reminded of how lucky (or smart!) I am by not working in an office or factory all day. I did my share of both as a lad, so I know all too well how cool it is to be in there, my bubble, my sanctuary! The money's crap but its a decent life.
How long does just one page of illustration take to create, and what are the steps you take as an illustrator in this process? It depends a lot on the job. When I was doing Death by Design I took a long time getting each element of a page right for the book, and I had a blissful open deadline, something unique to that gig. Some days I might only get one panel fully finished, others I'd do a whole page and start another. Generally I try to get a page done in a day, or at least break the back of a page as much as I can. When I get a script I read it as fast as I can. Then put it away for a few hours. I then go through it again, making notes or even drawing a whole scene in rough as I get ideas. Once that's been done for the whole story I design what's needed in a sketchbook. This is often my favourite part of the proses. I love designing. When that's all done I bang straight onto laying out the whole book, plotting figures, placing key elements, that kind of thing. Then I take a deep breath, sharpen my pencil and begin to draw finished images. I work as fast as I can at this stage to capture the scenes as dynamically as possible, to keep the drawings fresh and with as much life in them as I can. If I'm inking the job, which I often don't, preferring sometimes to do fully finished pencils which I then scan and colour on my computer, I have to meditate into a unique state of mind. I become the professional draftsman, using all my knowledge of "the craft", placing myself firmly inside a defensive bubble. I don't usually like inking, the pen or brush doesn't smell like a pencil, ink can be spilled or smudged, lines can be placed badly that need later fixing. Pencilling is far more natural to me, more interesting and rewarding. When a few pages are drawn I then like to colour them on computer as fast as I can so I can get back to drawing. I can spend too long colouring, finding new ways of doing the same job, finding new pallets and generally messing about. I'm trying to find a colourist I can work closely with to speed this process up.
For those looking to become a comic book artist, what advice would you give to them? Don't do it. You'll only be more competition for me. Give those ideas up immediately and get a "proper job"!! But if you insist... When you become a comic book artist or writer you become a business. You ARE the company. If you're not business minded then you have to become business minded. There's no guy standing over your shoulder watching you, checking you. You have to BE that guy. You're you're own boss. That's one major thing I love about this job, the freedom to make your own mistakes and good decisions. For an artist you need, as Moebius told me, to study classical art. I soon realised this was vital, as it frees you to develop your own voice, become a real artist, which you should be if you're seriously considering this profession. Become aware of all forms of artistic expression, including music, sculpture, architecture etc. Be a true artist. Dive deeply into it. Enjoy and be proud of it. You have to find a way of being very strict with yourself, don't let the TV or other distractions...distract you! It's so easy, when you find yourself alone at your desk, blank paper in front of you, to find other things to do that don't seem so demanding. You have to realise and revel in it that you're not in a gloomy office or factory or whatever. If you can make enough money to house and feed yourself drawing comic books then you need to realise how darn cool that is, comparatively. Also, study other comic book artists, the ones who turn you on. Think about and discover why they did what they did in a particular panel or page. There's a shed load of studying to do, but it's all worth it when you get that first call to action!
What else can we expect to see from Dave Taylor over the next year? I'm presently working on a Batman: Black and White for the new series. I've written it myself and am pencilling and inking it in my "European style", as demanded by the editor. It'll be in the sixth and final issue, I think. I'm also doing an issue of the highly acclaimed series Prophet, from Image comics. I'm working closely with the ball of fire known as Brandon Graham, a star of the industry. It's science fiction on acid, so I'm a happy bunny! After that I'll be working again with the master Ian Edginton on more Dredd and other, presently top secret projects. And taking of top secret...I'm involved in a movie and TV adaptation of the famous (to some) 1980 Rendlesham Forest UFO incident, the "UK's Roswell". I've done concept and storyboard work for the proposal, which is in development. I'm a bit of a UFO researcher on the quiet, having witnessed a classic flying saucer when I was a kid and have spoken directly with what is commonly known as a M.I.B! This area is still seen as a taboo in our silly society, but it seems things are changing quit rapidly. Folk generally are starting to accept we simply can't be alone in this seemingly infinite multiverse. Why then are folk who witness the unexplained still ridiculed for speaking the truth?! I saw a flying saucer, so deal with it! All I'll say, before I go off on a rant, is check out the Disclosure movement and the Citizens Hearing on Disclosure, if you're just slightly interested it'll do you a lot of good. Finally, check out the new UFO Truth Magazine, which I do a bit of work for. I'd better shut up now or they'll call me again!
How did you get into acting, and when did you realize that this is what you wanted to do with your life? I did a lot of musical theatre in H.S. and College, but didn't really think about acting as a career until later. I was planning on becoming a teacher, because most of my life I was told that I could never make it as a performer (that false adage- "those who can't do, teach"). I was studying Music theory and performance in Junior college and singing in an alternative rock band when I overheard my band talking about how I was a good singer, but a lousy front-man. They agreed that they needed someone with "personality". I took that pretty hard, but instead of letting it bring me down, I started taking acting classes, then things just sort of snowballed from there. Shortly thereafter I found myself working on my first professional play in which one of my acting teachers was one of the leads. (which also dispelled that "those who can't do…" BS)
At what point did you realize that maybe you could do this as a career, and how rewarding was that whole process for you? That's a hard one. I'll be honest; I had a lot of misconceptions about this "biz" when I first got into it. One of them was that "making it" was a tangible…thing…and that once I "made it", it would be smooth sailing from there. Well, here I am now, a small character in one of the best TV shows in history, and I still don't know how I'm going to pay the bills next month. I'm sure I will, one way or another, but, the insecurity of this job is pretty scary. I hope someday to be able to call this my career. And, in a lot of ways, I guess it is, but, I haven't reached that level yet. Right now I'm just hoping that I can keep getting work.
So can you tell us a bit about how you first got the part for Skinny Pete in the hit TV show Breaking Bad? I got a call from my agent about a small "day player" role for a new show called Breaking Bad. I had some familiarity with the show through a casting director who was working on casting it for FX when they were considering it, but ultimately passed. She was using parts of the script for an auditioning workshop that I was taking. Anyway, I got called to read for a "skinny stoner". There were three of us, Skinny Stoner, Tattooed Stoner, and Chubby Stoner -who later became Combo. I read for the Skinny Stoner first, then was called back, but the script had been changed; now it was just 2 of us- Skinny/Tattooed Stoner and Chubby Stoner. Luckily, being both tattooed and rather skinny, I got the part. A few days after finishing my first episode, I got a surprising call from my agent, Linda, that they wanted me back! I was thrilled! That was sort of my "holy grail" at the time- to turn a small, one-episode role into a recurring role! I went back for my next episode and they gave me a name, "Skinny Pete"! When I saw that in the script, I jumped for joy!
You Matt Jones and Aaron Paul really work well together on screen, so what's it been like to work with them over the years, and how did you build your character up with them as the seasons went by? Matt and Aaron are incredible people! They had a lot more experience on camera than I did, so I really looked up to them. However, I'm a bit older than the two of them, so, we had a unique dynamic. The best part about our relationship on camera is that we are all pretty good friends off camera, so, we never really had to pretend that part. The more we worked together, the more we got to know each other, the easier it was to make our on camera relationship believable.
There's a whole different range of characters on Breaking Bad, so who else have you really enjoyed acting with whilst on the show and why? Every actor on that show is top-notch! It's been a who's who of actors whom I've wanted to meet and work with, lol! My first scene with Bryan Cranston was probably the second most intimidating experiences of my career! (second only to having Chuck Norris interrogating me in my first TV appearance ever)
Can you tell us about how a typical day would work for you on the Breaking Bad set? a lot of my scenes seemed to happen really early in the morning for some reason. I'd show up, get into costume- no makeup needed, sadly- and wait for my time to shine! I usually tried to hang out on set and watch the other actors work- not for spoilers, but for any acting tips I could learn from watching them. Shortly before shooting our scenes, the director would call us in for a rehearsal, where we would figure out how we were going to play the scene; where we'd stand or pace or sit or smoke something, etc., then we'd show the rest of the crew what we came up with- they would then set up the lighting and figure out the camera angles and then, if it wasn't time for lunch, we'd start shooting. Frequently, we spend more time waiting for our scene to start than we spend actually shooting it, but, that's how it goes‌
What's the atmosphere like on set, and what's it like to work with such a great crew? I called it a "working vacation". The atmosphere was just about everything you would hope it would be; exciting, fun, positive, professional and comfortable. Every person on the cast and crew was passionate about what they were doing, and it showed. You never heard people complaining about having to be there or not liking anyone. As cliche as it sounds, we were really just like a big, happy family.
What was the most challenging part behind playing this character for you, and why? I don't know if I totally accomplished this, but, for me, staying as real as possible and not going "over the top" with the character was pretty challenging. I noticed, as I did more and more episodes, the directors didn't have to tell me to "bring it down a notch" nearly as much. Alternatively, what was the most rewarding part behind playing this character for you, and why? The most rewarding part to me was the education I got. I try to learn something new every day, especially when it comes to getting better at my job. Watching those incredible actors work helped me get some insight into their process.
We must ask, what has been your favorite scene to shoot whilst on Breaking Bad? I had a lot of fun shooting the scene where Matt Jones, Badger, and I discuss Zombies in video games. It was something that just clicked with us. We did every word as it was written, but it felt almost improvised, I didn't have to think too hard. We were given a lot of free reign to roam around the room and just rant. It was sort of liberating.
What was it like to film your last scene as Skinny Pete? It was definitely a solemn occasion. I spent most of the series as an "on call" character. Skinny Pete became a character because their original plan to kill Jesse in the first season was thwarted by Aaron being so good and likable. Since they didn't kill Jesse, and I had already been established as his friend, I became a recurring character. But. I was given the impression very early on in the series that 1) if they had known that Skinny Pete was going to be around from the beginning, they would have hired a much more "known" actor for the role and I wouldn't even have been considered. and 2) Every episode I did was essentially an audition for my next episode. I was told specifically that I could easily be killed or simply just written out if at any time they felt I wasn't pulling my weight. So, the fact that I made it all the way to the final season was a huge weight off my shoulders. I loved being part of the show, but, at the same time, I was in constant fear for my job while on it. My last scene was hard. As an actor I really wanted more, but, I am tremendously grateful to have been there at all.
You were a part of the film Splinter, so what was that like to work on? Splinter was so much fun to work on, and actually very rewarding to me, because it was the first, and really only- so far- project I've worked that has utilized my mime training. Toby Wilkins cast me to play "Blake Sherman, jr."- the gas station attendant. My character was killed in the beginning credits of the film, by an infected raccoon, and ends up becoming part of a weird alien creature that traps a criminal and some hostages inside the gas station. Luckily, while we were shooting my last scene, where I beg the criminal's druggie girlfriend to put me out of my misery, Toby liked how I was able to contort my body while pretending to be possessed by the alien infection. So, he brought me back to help play the creature throughout the rest of the film. He had a gymnast doing some weird tumbling moves to propel the creature forward, and would cut in shots of me in the same costume contorting my arms and body in ways the gymnast couldn't.
It was great how he would go back and forth between the two of us to create this unique creature and his movement. I'll be honest, I hope it's the last time I'm ever asked to wear a full body latex costume! I was thrilled to give it a go, but once I was in it, wow! It was suffocating! Part of the problem was that because of the budget, they couldn't make two creature suits, so they fitted the gymnast for the suit and then squeezed me into it. Oddly enough, skinny as I am, the suit was too tight around my chest, and after a few hours of being in costume, shooting some test shots and a couple of shots that they used in the film, I ended up not being able to get enough oxygen and started to exhibit signs of asphyxiation. Once they realized something was wrong they called the medic and immediately started getting me out of the suit, which took about 45 minutes. Nothing serious ended up happening, but, it has made me a little shy about working in latex masks! Incidentally, I was shooting another low budget horror film called FRIGHT FLICK, by Israel Luna, at the same time that we were shooting SPLINTER, I play a drag queen makeup artist, totally different than my usual thing!
How did you end up being a part of the new film To the Wonder, and what was it like to work on that project with actors such as Ben Affleck & Javier Bardem? I don't know how to explain that one! I'm still in disbelief! Again, I went in to audition for a small role, and, for whatever reason, Terrence Malick-THE Terrence Malick-liked my audition so much that he himself told me he combined two major roles into one and then named him Charlie. I was dumbfounded. My wife took a film aesthetics class in college and had to study Malick's work, and here I was about to be in one of his films! The original casting notice for the film was very vague; they wouldn't say the name of the film, who was directing or who was in it, they just posted a notice from the Oklahoma film commission saying that it was going to be a very high profile film and that we can be assured that it would be worth auditioning for. I knew the casting director, but he would only say that it was definitely something I wanted to try to be on, so, I went to the audition. The audition process was unique for me. It was the first time I was asked to bring my own material and perform it. Luckily I had a friend who had written a film for me that we are still trying to get funded, so I used a scene from that. My second audition was an on camera interview with the casting director. It was more of a personal conversation than an audition, but, I was ok with it, I found the whole process fascinating. Finally, they had me read a few lines from a sort of script, but, it was the most interesting script I've ever seen. The dialogue was vague, which should have been a really good clue as to who I was auditioning for, but more than that, the description of the scenes were more of a philosophy than a set up. It was beautiful and confusing all at the same time. In hind sight, it makes perfect sense, but, at the time, the idea of working on a Malick film was about as far fetched to me as posing for Rembrandt! I was honored to meet Ben and Javier while I was on set, but, alas, to my dismay, I didn't actually get the honor of working with them directly. I was blessed to be paired with Olga Kurylenko for the entirety of my time on set, which, as you can imagine, wasn't my wife's favorite part, but, it's not like she had anything to worry about‌lol.
You directed and wrote a short entitled The Waterson Project so what was it like to work on this side of the film world, and do you think that directing/writing is something that you'd like to do more of in the future? I am really proud of that little project, but not in a way that I would want people to see it. I made THE WATERSON PROJECT specifically to learn how to make movies and to help me be a better actor. I not only wrote and directed, I was pretty much the entire crew! My earlier attempts to star in my own films ended in miserable failures because I and my friends who were posing as my crew had no idea what we were doing. I thought that if I made a film myself, doing all of the jobs without interference from anyone, then I would learn what my strengths and weaknesses were and that the result would give my crew more confidence in my direction and we'd be able to make something. That didn't happen. I did make a movie, it did get accepted into a film festival, but, it should have and could have been much better. I still have no idea how to get a good film made- financing and producing and all that- but, I did learn a lot of things that help me be a better actor. I learned a bit about what the rest of the crew has to go through to do their job, which, in turn gives me a lot of respect for their work. I've lost confidence in my writing skills, so, I don't see much of that coming in my future, but I would love to direct again sometime; I'm just not sure I'm ready for it yet. I have so much more to learn!
What else can we expect to see from Charles Baker over the next year? Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to try snatch another recurring role or two out of the grasps of a couple of guest star roles. I'll be appearing in at least a couple of episodes of THE BLACKLIST with James Spader. I'm hoping that will turn into more of a regular part. And, next year, hopefully, I'll be on a show called MURDER IN THE FIRST, which has an incredible cast including Tom Felton! Also, A film, AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS by David Lowery, is in Theaters and On Demand in the US right now- it is an incredible film!
Ziggy & myself started screen printing back in '06, (also known as "The Myspace Days"). We hung out back in Fleet, Hampshire where we both grew up, Ziggy was interested in getting a screen printing press & asked me if I wanted to join him. It started out as a "yeah man, we'll do that" kind of deal where you talk about it, but you're not actually serious about it. Ziggy was (& still is) an artist painting under the alias Funns. We were both studying art at college & used to go around spraying stencils / paste ups etc. Over the summer break from college I told my lecturer that I was going to miss the first 2 weeks of the 2nd year, as I had a holiday booked to Australia. He basically said "well if you do that, see what happens when you get back" he wasn't my best friend anyway due to poor attendance that year. Obviously I went on holiday anyway & long story short, got kicked out of college. With nothing to do & prospects for a bright future looking slim I decided I would take Zigg up on his idea. We both clubbed together our money (ÂŁ500 each) & bought a really cheap screen printing kit off eBay. This is where the pain began haha. Our kit was incredibly basic, it consisted of a really rickety 4 colour, 2 station press (complete with wooden boards & vice like clamps you had to adjust with a spanner), flash drier (basically a grill on a stand), cheap plastisol inks, wooden (43T, white mesh) screens, a set of soft squeegees & a 500 watt security light for exposing. I won't go too much into the amount of trouble we had with that set up, I could go on forever. It's pretty painful even thinking about it, but I will quickly summarise. We were working out of a shed in Ziggys parents back garden, with a grill that was constantly on, very dimly lit with a red bulb, with windows that didn't open & lots of chemicals & smoke when things inevitably went wrong. Our way of curing prints was 1 minute under the drier & we had a backwards clock that we looked at to check drying time. The exposure set up we had for burning screens was incredibly unreliable & after waiting 20 minutes for it to expose we had to run with the screen to the end of the garden to wash it out. This was in the middle of winter, after exiting a incredibly hot shed, mixed with freezing cold water. It really wasn't pleasant. Then after all this pain realising the screen didn't expose properly was incredibly disappointing. We had no prior screen printing experience & got all our information from forums & YouTube videos. We were too stubborn to ask for help we just learnt through the internet, trial & many errors. After all this, somehow when everything came together & we saw the final print on t-shirt we forgot about all the terrible shit we went through to get there, & that's what kept us printing.
Fast forward a year, Ziggys parents were moving country & we had to relocate out of the shed. We decided it was best to try & find a rented house with a double garage we could work out of. We put our budget into Rightmove & "within 100 miles" of Fleet. There's surprisingly not that many rented houses that fitted our tight budget that included a double garage close by, so we ended up 70 miles away from all our friends & family, in Westbury, Wiltshire. The rickety press we had wasn't working out & we had a little more room so we decided to upgrade. So we asked the bank very nicely for some money & promised to pay it back (got a loan). After we upgraded we quickly realised how bad our entire previous set up was. Having equipment that actually worked as it should was a godsend (an expensive one). We had decent press / OK drier so we could actually produce decent prints, somewhat efficiently. After a year or so in the garage we were getting concerned that our landlord may find out we were using the garage for reasons that it wasn't intended for, plus we were making a little money so decided to move to a small industrial unit. This is when we decided to start fresh as "Monster Press". We stayed here for around 2 years, & pretty much paid ourselves just enough to live on & reinvested everything else back into the business. It was definitely a big old struggle for a long time, but we saved enough money to get a 2nd manual press, upgrade our drier & move warehouse. This takes us up to our current unit we're still in now. After working flat out for a year or so in our new place, printing all day on a manual press each we bought our first automatic press, which was kind of like "making it" in the screen printing business, for us at least. I'm not sure how much more our hands / wrists could take, a short while before we bought the auto I was printing with a support on each wrist due to RSI from printing for so long. Not too much to say after this, as we had ironed out most of the "growing pains" by now. Buying the auto has enabled myself & Ziggy to produce shirts much more efficiently. Ziggy is now running the production side & I handle the rest, which is working out well. We have 2 other employees currently Ash & Jay. Both are long term personal friends, so we all get on real well, everyone is passionate / cares about the company & works hard. It's a really great set up & works well. Even though we're running pretty much full capacity constantly, the time orders are being produced is faster & better quality than ever. We all moved to Bath a year or so ago, after living in Westbury for so long it's nice to be in such a nice town. We're looking to relocate the business there at the end of the this year to a larger unit & upgrade our equipment again to keep up with demand. We just launched our new website, which has been under development for a long time! We have an online ordering system & a good selection of sample tees to purchase to check our print quality. Some real good artists worked on these including Grindesign, Saintgraphic & Craig Robson. Take a look at our site -
Made various very long lists, that was our favourite! Not too much to say. Ash came up with that one, kudos!
We haven't printed for many large corporations / bands as we have always aimed towards independent market & specialised in smaller print runs, as we were a manual shop for a long time. Now with our auto we are able to fulfil larger orders so I'm sure we'll hook some big bands soon. Largest band so far was Black Veil Brides, other than that While She Sleeps, Heights, & Marmozets. One of our favourite current clients we're working with at the moment is Harry Main (pro BMX rider), printing for his clothing line "The Wandering". We have also printed for a ton of clothing brands including Honour Over Glory, Hard Times & No Fit State. What clients have you really enjoyed working with this year, and why? (maybe they had an awesome design that you just liked printing?!) We printed the new Big Bad City range a few months ago for UK artist Chris Lovell. That was a fun one, really complex designs were recreated with minimal colours. Final print results were pretty stunning. We've been printing a lot of Craig Robsons artwork recently too which isn't always too technical to print, we just really like his artwork style & it looks great on a shirt.
Lots of work haha. We're pretty much always booked up, but somehow manage to hit the 2 week turnaround time. We just invested in a load of new equipment & we're hiring some more staff to make sure we continue to keep up with demand in 2014. As I said earlier we have all been friends for a long time before working together so we get on real well & have a good laugh. I won't go into specifics as I guess it's unprofessional to have fun at work.
It took a loooong time. I heard from a friend "take whatever timescale a web designer gives you & times it by 4" so that was about right. To be fair there was a lot of work that went into it, it was completely custom made & there were a lot of kinks to iron out with the ordering system & other unexpected problems. The web designers did a great job on the design & function of the site, we're very pleased with the end result. We wanted to keep the ordering system as simple as possible with 1 design, 1 print location, 1 type / colour of shirt otherwise the order process would be never ending with all the different variations you can have with some orders. Still, a large portion of our orders can be placed online, but for the less straight forward stuff we still quote via email.
It was competition put on by Pencarrie (UK garment wholesaler) & Sols (French garment manufacturer). It wasn't a huge thing, but we did win a crate of champagne, a certificate & we're getting a write up in Images Magazine (UK textile industry magazine). Free booze is always awesome.
Hardest part was "ironing out all the kinks" in the early days. I'm not sure I could take that again! Not having time off sucked, didn't take a day off in 2 years (with the exception of Christmas). Other than that, not being able to leave work at work, it's something that's always on your mind & can never really switch off from, in some respects that is a good thing though.
Making cool shirts would be top of the list. It's great to be able to print work from your favourite artists & great to discover new ones. In terms of actually owning your own business, being your own boss is great, if you make it through the stress of starting out. Having your own business is something to be proud of, making something from nothing & looking back on what you had to go through to get there. Being able to employ like minded people that you actually get on with, without bullshit office politics is also winner.
I wouldn't say stand above the rest, or are better than other companies as it would be completely bias for me to say that. Anyone can say they're the best, the proof is in the prints. We're pretty damn good, there's rarely jobs I see going out that I think could have been done better & I have particularly high standards. I think this is probably how we have gained such a good reputation for printing, obsessing over the details.
We have grown pretty quickly considering we started the company in a "bust" (recession), but have managed to grow substantially year on year. From a shed to a garage, to a studio, now warehouse & soon to be a larger warehouse in the past 6 years. I'm not sure we want to grow too much more, staying reasonably small has always been our plan but I guess customers dictate your growth so we'll see what the future holds.
The Creech – Now or Never Sadly, it’s not the 1970s any more. But on the plus side it appears there are bands like The Creech who are still writing and producing some nice and shouty punk rock. Now or Never is a short but sweet burst of classic punk; screw bringing music into the modern era when you can write music that holds a special place in musical history. True, it may not be the best recorded, or the best played, or the best sounding in general, but at the same time you can learn to look past these minor downfalls and appreciate that Now or Never is full of just as much passion and energy as any other album. If you’re an old school punk fan, or even a fan of newer material, there will almost certainly be something you can find to love in this album. AL
Rise Against – Long Forgotten Songs It’s always an odd thing when a band brings out a compilation album. Chances are it means they’re a little strapped for ideas and need a bit more beer money. But this is Rise Against, so I am going to ignore that idea and go with what frontman Tim McIlrath said about wanting these little gems to see the light of day once more. Long Forgotten Sons, a pretty clever title when you think about it, is a compilation of all the b-sides and rare tracks that have been released at some point, all mixed up in one place. As well as containing some truly great songs that it’s hard to see why they didn’t put on the album in the first place, it’s also a very interesting audio timeline of this band’s career; from the more punky aspects of their early works, to their more polished sound of Appeal to Reason and Endgame. If you’re not a huge fan (shame on you!) then you can probably afford to let this pass, but if you enjoy more than playing Prayer of the Refugee on Guitar Hero 3 then this album is more than worth a listen. AL
Flyleaf - Who We Are EP This new EP is aptly titled perhaps to reassure fans following the departure of Lacey Sturm that their core sound will remain true to who they are and to introduce new singer, Kirsten May.. Opening song, 'Something Better' is the only new song featured and it shows a very different sound to what we knew, whether its actually 'something better' I'm not sure. It does feature a collaboration with Sonny from P.O.D and has quite a prominent pop sound with its upbeat lyrics and instruments, which lacks that hard edge they usually display. That being said this is a interesting song and nicely showcases Kirsten's vocal abilities! The rest of the EP consists of live tracks of current and old Flyleaf songs such as 'Call You Out', Kirsten does a great job with this track, which was one of my favourites on the new album - she has some powerful pipes and the band show they perform solidly live! 'Fire Fire' again a great choice to pick as such a powerful song, again they have a great live sound and show what they've got, especially with some nice vocal highlights. Last song 'Sorrow' taken from first self titled album creates a nice span of their music timeline. Kirsten has had to step up and fill someone else's boots which is a tough job - but I think she can stand tall as she proves very worthy! I think it was a good idea for the band to release this EP with mainly live tracks of their existing songs, to ease us in with new singer and make a statement that the band hasn't changed all that much considering. CL
The Used - Ocean Of The Sky (EP) The Used decide to surprise us with these new tracks following their last release in 2012, 'Vunerable' and to 'tide' us over until their new sixth studio album is released next year.. First track, the randomly titled, 'Iddy Biddy' is fast and different, showing a slight change in direction but as ever features catchy riffs and has quite a mainstream sound with a hard edge, a very promising start! 'Quixotica' has a mental fast paced start and is better than opening track in my opinion, and is more in keeping with their their old sound. 'Thought Criminal' is a slower paced soothing song with beautiful vocals, that picks up half way through with faster more prominent instruments and random fast talking and nice calming effects. Title song 'The Ocean Of The Sky' again shows a different side to the band, with great bass lines, rhythms, stripped down verses and a strong catchy chorus..another example of the bands creativity and diversity in this 8 minute long offering that sets us up nicely for the closing number.. 'Tethys' is a very interesting one for the band, being the longest song they have done, being over 20 minutes long! The word "Tethys" means titan and is also the name of one of Saturn’s moons - and quite fittingly its powerful, atmospheric, eerie and experimental, sounding like a movie soundtrack! This is a impressive array of sound and music, which has a sense of exploration, that takes you on a emotional and musical journey - a brave and bold one to end on! This EP is very much in keeping with their style but it also displays a lot of experimentalism, with some interesting and largely great results! The 'sky' is the limit for The Used!..CL
Zebrahead - Call Your Friends This album marks their tenth studio album..this far into their career can they still impress their fans?!.. Opening song, 'Sirens' is fun, catchy with strong rhythms and riffs. This is a high powered opening, which is no doubt going to get stuck in your head with its infectious sounds! The comically titled, 'With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?' has a nice serious dramatic opening, and is quite heavy considering the funny nature of track, in contrast with opening track. Title track, 'Call Your Friends' has lots of gang sing alongs and silly antics - a good one to reminisce to, as helps take you back to your youth. Keeping up momentum and consistency, 'Murder On The Airwaves' is another solid catchy track, which has more of a serious sound that the title track. They have a nice balance of silliness and seriousness! 'Public Enemy Number One' is by far 'one' of catchiest songs featured with its high impact chorus, proving that after all this time they still can produce hard hitting tracks! The band do like to be fairly diverse and mix up the genres and 'Born To Loose' treats us to a bit of impressive fast rapping, to keep us guessing.. 'Stick Em Up Kid' sounds like a rebellious youthful track, and as always is super catchy, however runs the risk of sounding similar to previous songs..'Nerd Armour' comes to the rescue containing weird noises that mess with you and strong chants making for a interesting and different song! Ending track, appropriately called, 'Last Call' has a lot going on in a good way and is high energy and very driven with lots of angst! This albums offers something for everyone as it goes from being fun/silly, as well as serious and strong with its solid memorable songs and mix of changing genres. The band have been at this for a long time now, and show no signs of slowing down! CL
The Devil Wears Prada - 8:18 Melodic metalcore act return with their fifth studio album, which is the first not to feature original keyboardist, James Baney, who left the band in 2012..this many albums in and with the loss of James, can they still surprise and keep things interesting?!... Opening track "Gloom" starts with a creepy intro through the use of sound effects then dark/demonic screams burst through! The song maintains brilliant strange and eerie vibes along with heavy instrumentation, making for a high impact opening track! "Rumours" again sees the use of brilliant synth sounds and effects, along with nice varied vocals helping to break the song up, all brought together by superb arrangement! "First Sight" is immediately fast paced and filled with melodic crazy riffs. Its highly dynamic making it a stand out song, especially with its clever transitions, which flow perfectly.. For a song called "War" it opens on fairly optimistic sounding instruments, featuring flawless clean effective vocals with aggressive screams also, both of which are effective and emotive in own ways with now dark gloomy sounding instruments to accompany, something they are all too good at! The shortest and title track, "8:18" has calm opening sounds contrasting with growls that are filled with passion and emotion, with a nice mix of clean vocals and screams for effectiveness, all the while boasting atmospheric sounds with an air of ambience. "Sailor's Prayer" breaks the calmness of before featuring some brutal memorable riffage and overall great instrumentation and a particular strong melodic chorus!
"Care More" offers something different and shows how the band are experimenting with atmospheric and ambient results with a high emphasis on sound effects and production. A very interesting song with weird effects, which works exceptionally well! "Martyrs" takes us back to manic brutality, in this high energy and high powered track, especially through the use of strong gang vocals. The appropriately titled 'Number Eleven' is filled with some beastly double bass, fast picking and strong melodies. "Home For Grave" is one of heaviest tracks featured with catchy heavy riffs, dark growls, fast prominent drums and sinister sounds. Final track, "In Heart" has a air of melancholy and brutalness and features great riffs and memorable rhythms - it embodies all the elements seen throughout in great form, making a strong one to end on! This is some of the darkest and intense material so far from The Devil Wears Prada, and again they prove their not just a typical metalcore band! They experiment in creative ways and mix things up, and with solid and refreshing results, in what could be said to be their best work yet! CL
Like Moths To Flames - An Eye For An Eye American metalcore band release vengeful second full length album! The opener, "You'll Burn" is a promising solid start but seems a bit safe for a metalcore song as its very conventional.. "I Solemnly Swear" has some exciting and cool effects giving them more character along with memorable riffs, melodic singing, and a strong structure, making this a stand out track! "The Blackout" grabs your attention more in the opening than previous tracks, displaying nice clean powerful vocals; again this is a highlight, with its catchy rhythms and effective lyrics! "In Dreams" flows nicely from the previous track and shows tones of melody and catchy rhythms - exploring more away from typical metalcore. Shane Told of Silverstein sings on "Into The Ground" keeping things exciting and makes a lasting impression! "Serpent Herders" has a great creepy dark opening riff, and maintains an atmospheric yet brutal sound throughout, this is definitely one of the best so far! Ahren Stringer of the Amity Affliction can be heard on "Lord Of Bones" and again makes his own mark! There are some nice transitions going on here keeping things fresh - another highlight! Last track, "My Own Personal Hell" is high powered and emotive, with a good balance of aggressive and clean vocals as always, and marks a good one to end on! This band certainly have a lot of passion, anger and aggression - but still trying to find their place in this tough genre, but show lots of potential and some great shining glimpses. Overall this is a solid and powerful album which any metalcore fan should be able to sink their teeth into! CL
Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue Acoustic Re-releasing a record for a tenth anniversary has become old-hat in the poppunk industry. However, Yellowcard's full re-recording of 2003's 'Ocean Avenue' as an acoustic album is at least a somewhat innovative spin on the standard issue. Like Yellowcard's other acoustic record ('When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes'), 'Ocean Avenue Acoustic' gives prominence to the airy violin of Sean Mackin, the unique selling point which once set Yellowcard apart in a sea of spiked hair and whiny vocals. Meanwhile, Yellowcard's strongest asset is drummer LP, a ridiculously talented tub-hitter; unfortunately, on an acoustic record it comes as little surprise that his signature hard-hitting style had to be scaled back. Yet, this doesn't stop him from showing-off his ability to play technically impressive rhythms from start to finish. The highlights, unsurprisingly, haven't changed - 'Way Away', 'Ocean Avenue', 'Twenty Three' and 'One Year Six Months' may all sound like generic pop-punk, but these tracks, with their unforgettable chorus hooks, were once ground-breaking blends of romantic lyrics and ripping guitar shreds. Younger fans might not realise, but a decade ago it would've been difficult to find a pop-punk fan that wasn't familiar with the hit single 'Ocean Avenue'. A record that sits with 'Sticks & Stones', 'Enema Of The State' and 'All Killer No Filler' as one of the elite pop-punk works of the early noughties, 'Ocean Avenue Acoustic' might not quite recapture the magic of ten years ago, but it does provide a glimpse of history to the new generation, who shouldn't forget the bands that made the scene what it is today. RM
Saves The Day - Self titled Many STD fans will be relieved to discover that the band have lightened up again with Saves The Day compared to the concept albums that was completed exactly 2 years ago. What's been created this time is an auditory version of an American 90's coming of age film, with songs full of reminiscing, clichĂŠd declarations of love and stories of being punched in the face. You know, all the stuff before life gets complicated and sullied somewhat by mortgage and child maintenance payments. If you're asking 'what does that mean?', you could look at early noughties records of theirs for reference. With the reignited pop punk formula, this album is probably more accessible to fans from that era, with unassertive vocals from Chris Conley and sickly sweet hooks which most definitely carry a sugar tax, similar to most American imported confectionary. The album in its entirety is a non-stop feel good fest with tracks such as 'Remember' and 'Ring Pop' singled out to make even the most manically depressed smirk slightly. The band have composed a 21st century lullaby in the form of 'Beyond All Time' and people demanding something a bit grittier can get their teeth into the verses of 'Xenophonic Blind Left Hook'. The only thing that concerns me is how 33 year olds managed to sound like 17 year olds... I have a suspicion that there is a pretty heinous picture hiding in some New Jersey attic. But apart from that it's a deeply refined and very well executed record. Especially for a band whose acronym means you should probably seek medical advice. SG
The Flatliners - Dead Language The punk public, the punkblic as I like to call them metaphorically fellated the 2010 release Cavalcade something chronic, for very good reason, it was a fantastic record. The ironic thing is that The Flatliners make my heart rate go up if anything, and Dead Language 's opener is no different. After being lulled into a false of security for the first 20 seconds, 'Resuscitation Of The Year' explodes into a sprint to the finish. The best analogy for the rest of the album is like a spin class. It kicks off royally within the first track, then gradually loosens on intensity and speed hitting a trough at 'Birds Of England' before picking up the pace, peaking at 'Caskets Full', subduing again at 'Ashes Away' and going u‌well you get the picture. It's like a sine wave for the audiophile geeks among you. The book ends of this record is what do it for me, encapsulating a rawer punk sound then some of the pop punk vibes in the midriff. There are certainly parts with will stick in your brain incessantly for a time to come, whether you want them there or not. The drums sound sharp throughout, the guitars are furious and the vocals sound like you'll need a vaccination jab before you listen. So this is most definitely going to be a worthwhile purchase for you if you're a Distillers/Rancid fanatic. Or if you find your pulse dangerous low. Either/or. SG
Veara - Growing Up Is Killing Me Georgian quartet Veara are set to release their new album “growing up is killing me” on Epitaph records this month. This Pop-Punk compilation has been attracting rave reviews from critics and other bands alike such as “A day to remember” vocalist Jeremy McKinnon who has been nonstop tweeting the band praise having worked with them on their 2010 original album. And right from the album’s onset there’s that ADTR vibe that seems to flow in and out of sections with its similar punchy melodies and catchy choruses. Lead singer & guitarist Patric Bambrick explains that the band are growing and getting better with each day. This sentiment is clearly evident, as the album progresses each track seems to snowball into something a bit more comprehensive and divulge into the technical side of pop-punk. The band has lately toured their asses off playing with some of the new big hitters of the punk era. This befriending seems to have rubbed off as the album contains cameo appearances from Andrew Deenef (Close to home), Shane Todd (Silverstein) and Dan Campbell (The Wonder Years) just to name a few. Considering “growing up is killing me” was smashed together in little over two months at the house of loud studios in New Jersey there’s no sign that the band have slacked off in any way in creating it. The first track “Next stop ... Everywhere” lets you experience a taste of everything to come with a hint of raw driven melody, a pinch of the technical and a face full of catchy sing-along crap thrown in for good measure. The energy throughout the album is just as intense as their live performances, Veara have become widely renowned for their 30 minute ear bleeding stints on stage and their album is no exception. Tracks such as “Fake Blood” & “Don’t call me lucky” all have their own unique messages on life’s little experiences but the album as a whole is an experience in itself. If you want something that is a true mixing bowl of everything that’s good with Pop-Punk today then “Growing up is Killing Me” is definitely worth a listen. CM
Monuments - Existence There's just something about Boston that produces great punk rock. The most recent band to emerge triumphant from the city on a hill is Australian natives Monuments. Ditching Oz for the Northern shores of the US, the fledgling quartet spent the month of January in Boston piecing together their debut record 'Existence'. The result is a solid punk rock album that is bound to put them on the radar of any Story So Far, Wonder Years or Menzingers fans. 'Lose You In The Crowd' is an epic slow-burner which explodes into furious beats and tearing guitar lines that hark back to the golden age of punk when Bad Religion and Social Distortion reigned supreme. Meanwhile (and symptomatic of play-fast, play-hard punk rock) the odd track, such as 'Flesh' or 'Float' fall by the wayside, ending before they've even begun. But this isn't much of an issue on a debut (if we discount 2012's mini album), when a good eighty per cent of the material is killer. The highlight is lead single 'Howl' - a gruff, brooding slice of hardcore punk in the same vein as Polar Bear Club. Caz Matarazzo's less-than-polished vocal style runs the gauntlet perfectly, and the guest vocals from Make Do And Mend's frontman James Carroll are a welcome contribution from another band who are nailing it right now. Monuments have made a rough and ready, fists-up full-length. In ten years time it might not be the magnum opus in their back catalogue, but it will be hailed as the spark that started the fire. RM
The Dangerous Summer - Golden Record The Dangerous Summer return with their third full length release ‘Golden Record’ - the album kicks off with the first single ‘Catholic Girls’ - immediately there is a sign of more aggression in AJ Perdomo’s vocals which combines superbly with the soft guitar tones and heavy drum beats, a great start to kick the album off and one of the more memorable tracks on the album. The second track ‘Sins’ has a very similar style to the opening track, again the aggressive vocals work wonderfully and helps tell the story of the song. Next is ‘Drowning’ a much more stripped back number with mainly dominated by a single guitar riff, not the most exciting song on the album and a step down from the previous two tracks. ‘Knives’ picks up the tempo again, the lyrics ‘And I will always return to You, 'cause in a way I belong to You’ are repeated throughout and make this particular song very anthemic and will sound huge when played live. ‘Honesty’ is another track that has a very anthemic chorus supported by an almost military style drum pattern which enhances the anthemic style of the track. ‘We Will Wait In The Fog’ gives the listener a taste of The Dangerous Summer’s experimentation with the guitars which has been lacking so far, again another strong vocal delivery makes this a typical TDS song.
A criticism of the album I would have so far is that the songs do sound very similar, ‘Miles Apart’ offers a change with a very catchy and upbeat drum pattern and guitar riff, this song in my opinion shows similarities to their previous works, going back to the catchy songs that made the album ‘Reach For The Sun’ a pleasure to listen to. ‘Into The Comfort’ is another one of the more experimental songs on the album with numerous shifts of sound of the instrumentation but at the same time ensuring the music is still catchy and flows well. ‘I’m So Pathetic’ opens with a guitar riff very similar to those used in their previous album ‘Reach For The Sun’ - again the chorus is very dominant like many of the songs on this album. The lyrics ‘and heaven knows, heaven knows me’ gives me the impression that there is an occurring religious theme with previous tracks on the album entitled ‘Sins’ and ‘Catholic Girls’. The album concludes with ‘Anchor’ which has an almost choir like vocal introduction, the track provides a great finish to the album. ‘We did it. We worked so hard just to feel alright.’ - I think these lyrics just sum up the mentality of a very hard working band. Although it’s not a groundbreaking album, it still gives their fans another album to enjoy. It’s an album very typical of the style of The Dangerous Summer, the added aggression in the vocals provides something new and the album still retains the catchy style of ‘Reach For The Sun’ and the powerful style of ‘War Paint’. JP
Blessthefall - Hollow Bodies Blessthefall release fourth studio album with some surprise guests along the way!.. First song, "Exodus" has an interesting electronic opening, which gives a positive/upbeat sound, then the synth sounds become layered with crashing drums and intricate guitar riffs. Vocally, we are treated with strong screams from Jared and melodic singing sections from Beau, making a good contrast from both vocalists, all this plus some nice tempo changes, makes this opening a winner! Single, "You Wear A Crown But Your'e No King" again shows great balance through the use of completely different vocals, both equally powerful; hear we get some of the best screamed vocals and a sense of real aggressive! That along with complex riffs, and fast heavy drums makes this a no brainer single! Title track, "Hollow Bodies" has a driving riff from the off, and throughout you get a feel of lots of depth, helped by intellible riffage and mad drums. Also the chorus is probably one of the strongest and most memorable! With "Buried In These Walls" we reach a slower tempo number, which is ambient and atmospheric, making for a nice calming song and shows they're not afraid to explore and experiment.."See You On The Outside" follows on well from previous track with a high emphasis on clean vocals, along with lots of clever tempo changes and strong riffs and rhythms. The use of different instruments such as piano help build atmosphere and tension, in what sounds like a strong love song! "Youngbloods" sees guest vocals from Jesse Barnett of Stick To Your Guns, which quickly breaks the calm of the previous tracks as throws us into deep aggressive screaming, fast paced riffs, and strong gang and varied vocals; this is one of the most aggressive tracks featured! "Standing On The Ashes" keeps up momentum of last track, with strong rhythms, and complex instrumentals. This is a high energy, stand out track with great structure!
"Carry On" features Jake Luhrs of August Burns Red - offering some full throttle impressive screaming, but still maintains the bands core sound and works well as a collaboration! "The Sound Of Starting Over" contains strong vocals from Bokan, with nice synth sounds to add more depth and substance, in what is one of best tracks. Closing track, "Open Water" featuring LIGHTS (Canadian electro-pop singer, who is Bokan's wife) helps create an ethereal sound; although it still has a slight dark sound embedded within the pleasant bonding vocals, which is helped through use of instruments and the way they build up towards the end with more power and passion - making this an epic closer! Blessthefall stick to what they know and do best with the help of some guest vocals/writers thrown in for good measure, but they also do explore and keep things creative, making it not yout typical metalcore sound! This is a solid and consistent album, and may well be some of their best and defining work to date! CL
Nine Inch nails - Hesitation Marks 2013 seems to be the year for music comebacks. Its seen a new album release from legends such as Daft Punk, Primal Scream, and of course, Nine Inch Nails. Hesitation Marks is the follow up from the 2008 album The Slip. Named after the beginning uncertain marks that are made before selfharming, the name connotes another dark and twisted album; however this doesn't seem to be the case. The new album has Trent Reznor taking a new, happier direction. The opening track itself is called 'The Eater of Dreams' and is only 54 seconds long. It features no vocals and no real musical pattern, only a repetition of beeps and feedback like noises, rising gradually. When it comes to building the suspense NIN rally know how to do it. The track leads perfectly into 'Copy of A' which has a sort of dance/techno feel to it. The catchy repetitive lyrics are paired with some electronic sounds. It definitely recognises a change in Reznor, free of the anguish and hatred that was once recognisable in the old NIN. The rest of the album follows in these footsteps, songs like 'All time low' 'Find my Way' and 'Come back Haunted' all have the essence of an emergence from the dark side to bigger and better things, which is the direction Reznor wanted to take it in. Don't let that fool you though, Hesitation Marks is still classically NIN, and will still continue to delight and surprise hard-core fans. It's been a long transition, but hopefully the new NIN sounds will stick around for a while. EG Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King It's been a while since these messiahs of metal rock have arisen, and their sixth studio album Hail to the King sees them coming back with as much fury as before, even managing this time to get a UK no 1. They have already surpassed 5.5 million views for the title track and possibly one of the reasons for its massive success is that the opening track 'Shepherd of Fire' features on Call of Duty:Black opps II - a rocker/gamers fantasy. The album has been produced by Mike Elizondo, the same guy who produced the 2010 album Nightmare and definitely follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, except this time with much more ferocity, energy and quintessential hard rock anger. 'Shepherd of fire' is the perfect opening track. It has about 15 seconds of next to nothing- sounds and noises placed strategically to build suspense, which is paired with dark ominous tones and a rising drum beat ready to get your heart racing. It then crashes into typical A7X style, setting the tone for the entire album. 'Hail to the King' starts, as all good rock songs should, with an intricate electric guitar riff, building with distortion and heavy drums, and makes you feel that any challenge you've ever had in your life can be overcome just by listening to this song. It feels makes you feel like you could shred the guitar in front of Lucifer himself and you would be praised for eternity. 'Crimson Day' is the closest you're going to get to a ballad on this album. It's a little different and comes slap bang in the middle of the ten songs. The beginning starts with some soft M. Shadows vocals on top of some simple, slow, guitar riffs that make you feel like you could be rocked to sleep, however give it one minute and the rest of the band chime in with their interpretation, making it an A7X Classic. Overall this album seems set to succeed and will probably be one of A7X's most legendary and remembered albums. EG
Bowling For Soup - Lunch.Drunk.Love. Lunch.Drunk.Love. is Bowling For Soup’s 12th or 14th album, depending on who you listen to (the band aren’t even sure themselves). It comes some 19 years after the band first started making music together. They’ve got older, they’ve got families, and if you thought that meant they would be adapting their music to reflect their new age bracket and be taken a little more seriously (Blink 182, anyone?) you’d be wrong. Lunch.Drunk.Love. is exactly what you would expect from a self-proclaimed ‘fart-joke band’. They’ve never taken themselves too seriously and they’re not about to start now. Track one ‘Critically Disdained’ deals with this issue headon: “We’re not here to change the world/We’re here to laugh at others/Maybe get a laugh along the way”. The album was funded by fans via PledgeMusic in return for a huge selection of packages, including hanging with the band or even recording vocals for the album. Needless to say it didn’t take long for the band to raise the cash needed, and I for one am glad that they did. Lunch.Drunk.Love. has surprised me, and I have to say I’m genuinely disappointed that this autumn’s UK tour will be the last that they do this side of the Atlantic – I guess you can sing about farts, chicks and being the first to the bar all you want, but babies still have nappies that need changing…CP
Circle Of Rage - Rage in D Minor This brief collection of songs goes by the name of 'Rage In D Minor'. But don't let that put you off - thankfully the music is one hell of a lot better than the album name. Originating from Kent, Circle of Rage describe themselves as 'UK based InfoCore'. I'm not even taking the piss. They really do describe themselves like that. Why they felt the need to utilise such a ridiculous genre name I have no idea - but once again, don't let that put you off. 'Rage in D Minor' really is a promising piece of work - Politically driven melodic hardcore punk that doesn't rest for a minute. This album doesn't last long, but it manages to transverse hardcore, metalcore and at times thrash. Consequently you can't ever feel relaxed listening to this, but that is, of course, the whole point. Released on Copro Records in July, Rage In D Minor deserves your time and attention. I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more from Circle of Rage, so long as they have a serious think about how they describe themselves. CP William Beckett- Genuine and Counterfeit Ever since the split of The Academy Is, William Beckett has established himself as a solo artist with bundles of promise for the future. Genuine and Counterfeit is Beckett’s first full-length solo record, coming off the back of his three E.Ps released in 2012. For those familiar with Beckett’s previous releases, expect more of the same. Beckett has essentially picked up where he left off as the lead singer as The Academy Is, with his clean pop punk vocals and heartfelt lyrics. One difference is that he has gone all out with the synths in his latest of releases. This may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but they add that feel good vibe which can result in you air-keyboard-playing on a packed-out bus, Benny and Joon being the prime example.
What’s clear is that Beckett has certainly approached this record with a sense of maturity which was perhaps absent during his days in The Academy Is. Turn on the Lights is the strange combination of a ballad structure, with pop punk lyrics and vocals, and a little bit of banjo thrown in there for good measure. Caught in the Middle is a slow tempo number which features a big guitar riff a couple minutes in to catch you by surprise. The track is fantastically placed and allows you to catch your breath again before it goes straight into another pop-fuelled track. A Million People is the perfect finale to this album, and leaves you wanting more. The album shows resemblances to The Futures last album, with that feel-good sound. As previously mentioned, this album may not be to everybone’s taste, but if it is, you won’t just like it, you’ll love it. AG
Hands Like Houses- Unimagine Australian sextet Hands Like Houses have returned with their second fulllength album, Unimagine and it looks like this band are going from strength to strength in the emotional-post-hardcore scene. Full to the brim with strong guitar riffs, keyboards, and some tasty breakdowns, these guys have returned with a vengeance. The combination of Trenton Woodleys impressive melodies and lead guitarist Matt Cooper make the choruses all the more hard-hitting and are sure to leave you dusting off the old air guitar and belting out some seriously embarrassing moves infront of your bathroom mirror. The album gets out of the starting blocks in a strong and fast-paced fashion, through the likes of ‘Developments’ and ‘Introduced Species’ but if there is to be one criticism it would have to be the chosen placement of ‘Oceandust’ within the album. The slow piano number really stops the record in it’s tracks and it could be suggested that if the track was to be anywhere in the album, it should be the final track. All criticisms out of the way, Unimagine is everything but unimaginative. Woodley’s vocals really carry this album and it’s not up for debate whether this band are set for bigger things. AG Kids In Glass Houses - Peace British rockers release 'Peace' their fourth studio album which was fan funded through Pledge Music. Known for their infectiously catchy rock/pop anthems does this fourth release live up to the standards of their previous efforts?!.. First song 'Peace' is a super catchy opening track that will have you hooked; this is a perfect title track and single choice! Aled Phillips typically flawless and great tones set things off nicely!.. First single, 'Drive' brings the tempo down slightly especially in the verses - but the chorus is big and bold with impressive and memorable high vocals. This is a very mainstream one with some nice bass lines most noticeable in the verses and strong gang vocals. This is the sound of an electro pop anthem! "Set Me Free" has a very pop feel with groovy riffs and bouncy rhythms; it is extremely catchy and is a definite highlight which displays perfectly their own creative freedom which they allowed themselves with this release, along wiith a great shout out chorus which could easily be a fan favourite! Keeping standards high, "VIP" again boasts a big strong rock chorus that will be a great live one! "Stormchasers" is a bit slower and more downbeat than others but with powerful vocals and lyrics and has a feel of a slow party anthem! Closing song, "Nightcrawler" is a stripped back number with vocals which are emotive and passionate - this is a definite vocal hightlight and shows they can do more than just big rock songs! With strong lyrics something this albums has lots of and with a change of tempo and direction this makes a stand out closing song - and shows their versatility and creativeness! 'Peace' is their most fun infused album to date with largely feel good uplifting tunes! You will be hooked from the start to the finish as there is not a bad song to be found with standards remaining high throughout, making it tough to decide your favourite track! This could just be their best and most creative album yet, and showcases pop rock at its best! CL
The time has come once again for those ghastly ghouls to rise from the depths of Hollywood and scare us senseless. Yes, you’ve got it. James Wan brings Insidious Chapter 2 to our cinema screens, continuing off the back of the prequel which follows the Lambert family and the son, Dalton. Insidious- Chapter 1 revolved around Dalton’s ability to separate himself from his body, however in this latest instalment, it is Dalton’s father, Josh, who is facing a similar issue. Josh has been taken over by a serial killer poltergeist unbeknownst to the rest of his family. You can be forgiven for mistaking Insidious- Chapter 2 for a mock horror. There are some frighteningly bad gags throughout the movie which completely lose the audience. In terms of elements which make this a horror; there are very few. This movie has been designed by director James Wan for cinema-goers who purely go for the jump-factor. The suspense is built through the medium of silence, followed by a ‘mysterious’ bang, and repeated over and over again. Like the majority of these horror franchises, this is deteriorating with age, and what makes thing worse is that the ending leaves it open for chapter 3. God help us all. On a final note, this certainly isn’t worth splashing £15 for a ticket at your local cinema, wait until it’s in the bargain bin at Poundland.
Title. Grand Theft Auto V Developer. Rockstar Platform(s). 360, PS3 UK Release date: Out Now RATED: 18
It’s not every day that a game that EVERYONE plays is released. On day one, I glance at my facebook or twitter and all I see is ‘GTAV’. There are a few franchises out there that still cause a stir in even the most half hearted of gamers: ‘a new GTA!’ seems to be just the ticket to send gamers into a frenzy. I will be honest, the early announcements did little to inspire but as more info was leaked and the tantalising trailer brought forth a wealth of pre orders I could not help but jump on the bandwagon. From the get go it looks amazing, and appears to offer never before seen scale… if I could link any series growth directly to technology it would be GTA from its humble top-down beginning to the now sprawling expanse of Los Santos. It pushes this generation’s tech to its limits. So what are we waiting for? Let’s see if it’s everything we hoped. The game is familiar, that is to say it is still very much recognisable to its predecessors, however the changes become quickly apparent. First off, we play as not one but three main characters with interwoven storylines. We start the game nine years before ‘current day’ on a heist, needless to say it ends interestingly and with questions. Pan forward nine years to the sprawling populous of Los Santos and a man talking to a shrink (psychologist), as he leaves he sits down on a bench and two gang members ask him for an address, we then take control of one of those men… at first this seems odd but roll with it, it gets interesting. This review will, where possible, be spoiler free, the game has been out for a week so I imagine at this point you should have a vague idea of who’s who so let me break it down. Franklin the up and coming criminal looking to make his fortune struggling with his ties to the hood, and ‘loyalty’ to his ‘brothers’. He tries, where possible, to avoid the stereotypical gang banger, which is a refreshing break from the expected arch. Then we have Michael, the retired criminal who features in the prologue at the start and for all intense and purposes should be dead. He now has a game-addicted son - a quite wonderful reflection on the type of players synonymous with violent games - a cheating wife and a rather loose daughter… it’s no wonder he returns to a life of crime. And then there’s Trevor. Well what can I say? Trevor’s an asshole and possibly one of the most dislikeable playable characters ever. Some may disagree but I found him very difficult to play, despite his dark humour and extremely enjoyable missions I just didn’t like him.
Other than dialogue, mannerisms and appearance, Rockstar have chosen to add further differences between the characters introducing a special ability for each character. These can be used to great affect and influence. Who you choose to play during your ‘off mission fun’. Franklin can slow down time in vehicles, allowing for some quite spectacular stunts. Michael can slow down time in combat alla Max Payne (great for taking down large groups of foes quickly, and then there’s Trevor… he can go into a rage mode which allows him to deal double damage and take half, making him a killing machine (surprise surprise). Throughout the story, you will undertake a variety of jobs to primarily make money, (other missions I shall not spoil). However I will say, unlike previous GTA games Franklin and Michael seem to be a different class of criminal, they are to a certain extent quite clean. That is to say that they rob banks, jewellery shops etc… we are moving up in the world from drug dealing and bounty work. That is, until Trevor enters the picture: see above… he’s an asshole: drugs, guns, rednecks and murder. Meaning there is a great balance in missions from the sublime robberies to the ridiculous actions of a mad man on the edge. Heists act as chapter ending missions, they require great planning and offer substantial reward. All three of your main characters will be playable and you will often switch between them throughout the mission. For example; parasailing into a building while you switch to another character to snipe from a distance to flying a plane while the others shoot. You can choose to switch to the character that is most effective at that time (tip the computer is good at sneaking and driving and awful at shooting). Heists will require more than just the three of you, firstly you will need a plan… whoever has organised the heist will go through the possible method then you will choose. One is always far more destructive than the other…. Then you can pick your team from a variety of NPC’s, the better their stats the easier the mission i.e. a better hacker can keep the alarms off for longer, however they will take a larger share of the profits. Throughout, dialogue is extensive and varied; it’s clear an incredible amount of work has been put into it. Even when you are driving somewhere they just don’t stop talking! It is as to be expected: very stereotypical and often very funny. The core characters are a lot less cartoonish than the wealth of NPCs you meet along the way who at times borderline on the silly, keep the game flowing and never result in a mission that feels ‘pointless’, from solving family problems to assassinating people, it all feels relevant to the plot.
As well as a huge amount of detail and variety in the missions, Rockstar have also added new utilities: missions now offer ratings for performing them in certain ways: completion time, headshots, not being seen etc… and ALL MISSIONS ARE REPLAYABLE! Furthermore, there is now a checkpoint system meaning those missions where you drive for hours only to be seen by the first dude in a stealth mission are not a worry as you will just pop back to the start of that section and not the entire mission. Ultimately GTA is about two things, the story and exploring the world, and missions do not hinder this, fancy a break then do what you want… GTAIV was a living city, GTAV is a vastly populated world that will at first seem overwhelming, from airports, beaches, docks, cities, deserts, mountains, rivers and even oceans! There is just so much to see and do, but how best to do it? Vehicles are the backbone of the franchise, they have come along way since the early days. This time round cars especially are fantastically designed offering far more detail than previous GTA games, for example you can now raise and lower the roofs on soft top cars. In look; they are much closer to modern cars than previous instalments’, the Audi R8, Ford GT40 and Mini Cooper are near perfect copies. The car customization seen in San Andreas is back but this time it’s deeper; body kits, armour and nitrous - it all becomes necessity if you want to stand a chance in one of the numerous street races, or just want to travel the world in style. The choices of course don’t end at cars, anything with wheels is in this game from bikes, both motor and peddle, quad bikes, tanks, lorries, dune buggies…. The list goes on. Rockstar have clearly put a lot of work into the driving physics, handling one of the numerous vehicles no longer feels like you’re driving a shopping trolley, although vehicles still have heightened manoeuvrability it does not feel too exaggerated but at the same time allows you to pull off some incredible driving feats. Water was previously a weak point in the game up (in the early days you could not swim!) Now we can swim and dive whilst in well animated oceans and rivers with currents and detailed depths and sharks! If swimming is not your ideal way to tackle the vast expanses of water (it shouldn’t be, that would be stupid) then why not use one of the numerous boats, jet skis or – yes - even a sub marine. With Los Santos and the surrounding area being so vast, for some missions, and at times just to get places, you will be compelled to take to the air. Flying has always been a latter stages thrill, thankfully some thought has been put into implementing it meaningfully into the game, (no spoilers). Planes are fun and a great way to get from one end of the map to the other quickly(ish)… it is big. From helicopters to passenger plans and yes fighter jets! The air is yet another place to explore. So what do we do when we are not on missions or exploring? Well when it all comes down to it, you are a criminal. It’s about making money and shooting people who try to stop you, so how does that work? Combat has yet again had another overhaul, it has built on GTAIV’s cover system. Our characters still cannot take much punishment, which in my eyes is a good thing. The cover system is intuitive, locking onto the closest piece of cove with a press of a button, getting your character out of danger quickly. There is a vast array of guns, bombs and melee weapons in which to exact carnage, all of which are customizable with suppressors, flashlights etc… well animated and very affective, the ‘auto lock on’ is still in the game so combat will feel fast and you will feel capable from the get go. Another notable combat feature is going into stealth mode and carrying out sneak attacks or avoiding combat all together. GTAV gives options in every aspect of play. Making money is hard in the early stages and Rockstar make no qualms: in order to enjoy the fruits of GTA you will need to make money… ‘How?’ you ask? Well the heists will deliver healthy chunks of cash, but how you make more is up to you, do you buy property, collect bounties or - my personal favourite – investing? That’s right, you can invest your money in the stock market, coupled together with good timing and you can turn 200,000 into 2,000,000 in no time. All these features are on your phone, as well as markets to buy exotic cars and much much more, for even more utility, download the app on your actual phone! The battle between us (the criminals) and the cops is the bread and butter of any GTA game, I would have to say that with V they are less of a visible presence, however when you do something wrong they are on you like white on rice. My encounters with them have been fast paced and a challenge due to the less suicidal AI than was seen in previous games.
They are tactical and utilize their patrol patterns to box you in, so the chase is great and it pleases me to say that escaping is achievable. Not easy but certainly doable. At times, I felt that GTAIV passed ‘4 star wanted level’ was just plain unfair and almost impossible to escape, this however offers great balance. So at risk of this review going on and on I will cover the rest succinctly. There is so much to do in the city…to start with you can level up your character by performing different feats, driving at top speed, landing planes cleanly, sprinting and swimming for long distances. Not to mention triathlons, training your dog, buying new clothes, street races, sky diving, tennis, golf and yoga… yes YOGA! And more… even hunting and looking for aliens… So to wrap this up with a bow, there is little wrong with GTAV technically, there was a few texture pops - it is running on old hardware remember - the visuals take this gen to the limit and the installation disk takes it a lil bit further. Audio is great. From the mind blowing amount of dialogue to the always-enjoyable radio stations, the game is one big joyous assault on the senses.
Rockstar have created a monolithic satire game which pokes fun at the world, from flexing its political muscles in regards to the modern western world, tackling subjects of collection of information and private armies (real issues in the world) to being down right offensive. I would not be doing my job if I did not point out some obvious and at times questionable aspects of the game. Firstly, the game is incredibly misogynistic, with no notable strong female characters. This, to me, just felt unnecessary and almost a conscious stupid decision. As they have been accused in the past of doing, Rockstar make no effort to cast off their racial stereotypes. So that is racism and sexism crossed off the list, oh wait we can add animal rights as you are allowed to hunt in the game (they are annoyed about that). If that wasn’t enough there is a torture mission! Followed by a rant about torture being made legal. If you understand American politics, it’s making some very meaningful statements - all this in a game where a man gets covered in poo, there’s a sasquatch and I am pretty sure I saw Trevor’s penis: it’s just insane. Is it serious or isn’t it? I’ll let you decide.
It’s huge! At times, it will overwhelm, offend and anger… but my goodness it’s a talisman to the scale, detail and magnitude great videogames can create. GTAV is simply compelling and brave from the get go. Its merits outweigh its mistakes and its merits are as such that it is probably the greatest console game ever! With over a billion dollars grossed in the first 3 days of release… who am I to argue? Online goes live on the 1st of October standby for news at XBLgamerhub.com