stencil
MUSIC CINEMA ART FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEO GAMES
CIRCA SURVIVE
EVERLY DARK
RUSTY SHACKLE PLANKTON BLOOM THE PLIGHT ALL OR NOTHING NOT ADVISED THE X CERTS
�Issue 2 has arrived and clearly we can see that there are loads of bands stopping by the local area this summer, so there is no excuse for staying inside, get outside and discover something new�
cinema
games
MUSIC
ex Andrew D
local talent
film
aRT
Skating is more than a way of life for four boys from the South Wales area, read on to find out what it really means to them!
when did you first decide you wanted to skate ? Will: First decided I wanted to skate after having a go on my mates board. Its been on and off since then but in the last 2 years Ive realised what I missed when I wasnt skating Joe: I first wanted to start skateboarding in year 7, it was the thing to do back then and so I got a board and it just went from there, then hype died down, but I just carried on because I fell in love! Nikki: my brothers were skateboarders so i always wanted to from a young age Joe L: 14
What is it you love so much about skateboarding ? Will: I love the social side of skating, just going to a skatepark with a bunch of mates and having a laugh. IMO you cant beat the feeling of traveling through the air with just a piece of wood underneath you. No engines. Just beating gravity. Joe: The freedom of it all. Being able to do whatever you want, where you want, when you want and for however long you want. You can make skateboarding your own and add to it however you want. Nikki: getting away from everything else in life Joe L: Speed
How do you compare the Skate scene now to it was say ten years ago ? Will: The style of skating is completely different and I think theres a lot more skateboarders now. Theres always like surges in the skateboarding scene and there is a huge surge of skaters at the moment. Its amazing. Also 10 years ago 7.5 inch decks were the rage, now its all about getting a super wide boar Joe: I think the skateboarding 'scene' is somewhat the same as ten years ago, I just think that it has grown a significant amount over the last ten years, and is still continuing to grow year by year. And with all the new skateparks shooting up around the uk, the skateboard scene here will just continue to boom, it's gonna be dope! Nikki: its 10 times better, and 10 times better dressed Joe L: Better, (80’s was the best)
Worst bail ? Will: Worst bail was when I dislocated my shoulder. Didnt feel the pain till the next day though. Dont skate when drunk Joe: Um, two broken fingers, one of which was dislocated and broken on the growth plate. It suuucked. Nikki: theres been so many, iv had stiches in my head, thats probably up there Joe L: Don’t Remember Best place locally to skate ? Will: Either Caldicot or Newport Bowls. Caldicot is good to chill at and is basically my comfort zone skatepark but bowls are always a mega bonus. Joe: As much beef as people give it, it has to be caldicot skatepark. 5 mins up the road, a nice little concrete park with good locals. We could do a lot worse! Venturing a little further, spytty bowls, Hereford park and horfield park aswell. Nikki: i have a lot of friends in bristol, also the parks and street are so good there Joe L: Spytty Where in the world would you love to skate most ? Will: I would love to do the Northwest tour that the guys did on Beauty and the Beast, Anti-Hero and Girl. The skateparks over there are intense Joe: Oregon! Hella rad parks there! Nikki: i really want to go skate america again Joe L: Oregen What skaters have inspired you Will: I always loved the ES team and Koston has done a lot for skateboarding. Nowadays Im inspired by David Gravette, Darren Navs and Tony Trujillo. Frank Gerwer is a fucking hero though. He inspires me for the social side of skateboarding and just enjoying the whole scene Joe: Bryan Herman, Sean Malto, Darren Navarette, my Friends. Nikki: many. cole, mo and dennis b are at the top Joe L: john cardiel, tony T, David Gonzales
What is it like running a cinema ? Not as easy as it looks! As WEPH is a voluntary run organisation (with the exception of two part time employees) the professional and smooth running of the cinema relies heavily on the commitment of it's volunteer force of roughly 60+, and a committee who all have full time jobs outside of the cinema. Despite being a smaller independent cinema we strive to offer an experience for our customers that we hope rivals that of a visit to a multiplex and at times we hope it exceeds our customers expectations. Everything from organising sufficient volunteer staffing of 9 shows a week to the selection and scheduling of films, ingesting of the digital drives, marketing and general administration is probably the same as that of a 'for profit' organisation. Can you tell us a bit of history about the cinema, as it has been around for nearly 100 years now ? The cinema has retained it's original name and despite the building not changing a great deal from the outside, inside we have worked hard to offer and comfortable, modern and technically enhanced facility, we still have some way to go to reassure people that the cinema is not of the 'to quote a recent conversation with a potential customer' flea pit variety. Things have moved on since the early days and we are fortunate enough to be able to offer an air conditioned, widescreen, digital, surround sound and enhanced 3D facility.
Does your cinema help link the community, as on your site it states people that work there are mainly volunteers ? Yes it does, the majority of our volunteers live within a 5 mile radius of the cinema and generally are involved in more that one voluntary organisation locally. If we ever find ourselves in a 'profit' situation we re-invest the money into another local group who may need financial support. The motivation behind volunteering may be different for each person, but we are fortunate that we have a great team of volunteers who have been able to bring the necessary skills to the organisation which has helped us move into our 5th year of operation since re-opening.
“In short we consider that we are an independent, affordable, personal and professional organisation who can offer something different to the multiplex experience
Why should more locals come to your cinema ? In short we consider that we are an independent, affordable, personal and professional organisation who can offer something different to the multiplex experience. Favourite film ? I've got several really, being a part time working parent leisure time is of a premium and I do not watch as many films as I would like, if I think back I probably enjoyed Mamma Mia for the feel good factor (Catherine Johnson Playwright & Screenwriter of Mamma Mia is our Patron), Morris, A Life with Bells on for a great British black comedy, Avatar for my first experience of our 3D system, but I think that I have had my eyes opened to World Cinema, there really are some great lesser known, subtitled films that just don't get the national publicity that they deserve but none the less make great viewing.
“the professional and smooth running of the cinema relies heavily on the commitment of it's volunteer force of roughly 60+”
What film are you really excited to be showing this year ? I get really excited about any film that will bring us customers both old and new. I can't say more than that until I know for sure what we can show, films sometimes don't make it to us as they may not be offered in Digital Format.
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for full cinema listings www.wottoneph.co.uk
EVERLY DARK Why do you love art so much?
belchingstars.com
I’ve always been very creative and have drawn for as long as I can remember. No matter where I am or what I’m doing I’m always sketching something. It’s the best way I can express myself and how I’m feeling. I like how other people can look at something and understand or relate to that piece of work, just like music or when you read a book or watch a film. I like that connection that can be made between complete strangers. I studied a fine art degree at university and it did anything but inspire me I just didn’t fit in at all, it felt very pretentious at times but I remember often skipping lectures at university, getting a bus to London and sitting in front of Monet’s ‘waterlillies’ at the Tate Modern, I’d sit there for a couple of hours writing about this one painting. I would say Monet truly ignited my love for art. It made me want to touch people and overwhelm them like he did with me I think its amazing to be able to do that. How did you get the name 'Everly Dark' and what does it mean? Everly dark actually came about quite recently, for those who have followed my work will know I used to go by the name of deadgirl. This was initially a tag name which I developed while ‘studying’ at university during my very brief stint in graffiti where I did mainly tags and stencils. I kept that name for a good 4-5 years though prior to that but felt I needed a change; my artwork has evolved so much as have I, that the name just didn’t fit anymore and I guess I wanted something a little more positive. Everly is a name I have always loved and I wanted to contrast that very innocent sounding name with an edge so I chose dark. I think it reflects my work well as my work is very colourful and in some ways plays with a certain innocence but there is also a darkness, a sadness in the characters I draw.
What do you think of the current state of Art? I don’t claim to know an awful lot about the state of art. I’m more into actually making art than reading about it. Saying that, I’m not ignorant to the art world but have a tendency to focus on the stuff that really interests me. I’m very into pop surrealism and the low brow art movement and am inspired immensley by a number of artists such as Mark Ryden being my personal favourite. Jeff Soto, Scott Musgrove, Travis Louie, Gary Baseman, Camille Rose Garcia to name a few. I think my style of work fits well in the lowbrow art category but realise I have a long way to go to be recognised amongst certain artists that I admit i put on a pedestal. Some people say to me you shouldn’t worship other artists but I think it’s hard not to do that if they have inspired you so much. I know in myself I am capable of achieving great things as is everyone but I am also the first to notice my flaws and I think that’s a good thing because it pushes you to work harder and get better at what you do.
How do you go about doing a painting? Where do you start, and how do you get the ideas? I often just sketch stuff out and, if I like it I turn it into a painting. Idea wise I guess I pick stuff up subconsciously through what I immerse myself in; through literature and film, also what’s going on in my life. I guess a lot of stuff is in a sense autobiographical, what I’m feeling plays a big part in what I create. I’ve been told I’m too sensitive but I use that sensitivity to come up with ideas. Heartache always inspires me to translate it visually to make that pain into something beautiful. What do you like drawing the most ? I always like developing new characters, but I tend to draw a female character continuously throughout the development of my work. People have often said she looks similar to myself and asked if she is me. I would say no. I don’t see her as myself but a part of me that is reflected. I use her to express my emotions so an element of me is in her but I would say that is the case for a lot of artists. I think it’s almost impossible for an artist to create something and not have even a small part of themselves reflected in that piece of work. I also love drawing skulls!
What influences your work? Music is a huge influence in my life, my headphones are almost permanently attached to my head! I would say every painting of mine has a song to it. I expect literature would be a big influence for me also as I read a lot of philosophy and like to connect with people from another time. I’ve always felt a bit of an outsider and this is reflected in what I read and in turn has an influence on my work as an artist, I love Kafka, J.D Salinger, Ernest Hemmingway, Jean-Paul Sartre and a personal favourite Fernando Pessoa. Anything dark or unusual; stories about misfits, the lost and the weird always inspire me and in a way comfort me on my own journey. Of course art is a huge influence, many pop surrealist artists of today inspire me, but I also love great historical artists such as Monet, Van gogh, Francis Bacon to name a few. What does the future hold ? Hopefully good things. I tend not to look too far into the future as I prefer to take each day as it comes. I’m not really into planning things – I’m a bit superstitious I always think if I plan something it wont happen or it will happen differently to how I expect it to happen, so I tend to live my life with no expectations and spontaneity. I’m constantly evolving as an artist and hope to reach people and inspire them as much as certain artists have inspired me.
www.belchingstars.com
belchingstars.com
belchingstars.com
“He’s produced albums by Kids In Glass Houses, Funeral For A Friend, Save Your Breath. The man who helped so many great welsh bands ‘Romesh’ drops by for an interview!” When did you decide you wanted to be a producer, and how did you get into it ? I was in a band at a really young age and did that for a while playing guitar. I started to realise after being in it for a while that it wasnt really what I wanted to do. I was more interested in being in the studio and loved seeing songs take shape. From there it was just a natural progression really. I started putting a studio together and got really into production and engineering.
How did 'Long Wave Recording' form ? It started off as a studio, recording a lot of bands who I knew back in the day such as Kids In Glass Houses, The Blackout, Dopamine. It all started to grow from there really !
What does a typical day in the studio involve ? There isnt a typical day really. The kind of work I do means there is never really a standard day. One day you might be tracking drums at a studio, the next you might be arranging and tracking a string section for a song ! That is the great thing about this work, every day is different. What was it like to work with one of the biggest bands in South Wales 'Funeral For A Friend' ? Absolutely incredible, infact, I am working with them right now aswell on their new EP. The guys are just amazing players and such down to earth people that it is so easy to get along with them in the studio. We are really good friends which I think helps the vibe in the studio. We all have a really good laugh but know there is also work to be done aswell ! I started working with them a while ago doing some mixing when they were doing the "Tales" record and then I got a phone call one day asking for me to produce their next album. Few years later, we are still working together ! Pretty cool! You have produced a lot of music from the South Wales area, what is it you love so much about music from this area ? There is just so much talent and great songwriters about its hard not to love the music that comes out of Wales ! The really nice thing is that all the bands are friends here and we all tend to hang out at the same clubs and venues so its a real tight community here. I think the musicians here have seen so many bands come out of Wales that they feel inspired to try and do the same.
Who would you love to work with ? There are so many bands Id love to work with ! Im in to so much music its a pretty hard question to answer !
What does the future hold for you' ? Im just going to keep doing what I love doing really. I dont have anything planned except to keep making records and hope people like them. As long as the future means I will still be working with talented musicians then its all good !
“There is just so much talent and great songwriters about its hard not to love the music that comes out of Wales !”
Band Members
Liam - Vocals, guitar Scott - Fiddle, banjo, vocals James - Guitar, vocals Baz - Bass, vocals Owen - Drums, percussion How did 'Rusty Shackle' get together ? Well, James and Scott are brothers so they've known each other a while now, James was in school with Liam, Liam has sporadically been jamming and playing the odd gig with Scott over the last 5 years, Scott has been in a band with Baz for years and Owen has been in a band with Liam for 7 years. (Takes deep breath...) So, our lives have been close - personally and musically - for a long time. How did the name 'Rusty Shackle' come about ? We wanted something that described our sound rustic... rusty - and shackle, well it just made it sound like a character from a spaghetti western which was cool! Unfortunately, it also sounds a bit like a rash in your nether regions. Not cool. Can you describe your style of music to us ? Dirty bluegrass folk & roll. Favourite song to play live at the moment ? Gotta be a song called Bandit Down. It's a blistering dance-rock-folk-bluegrass-middle eastern-wild west-sweatathon.
What do you think of the current state of music ? Well, it's the same as always really: some goodness, a lot of crapness and hardly any greatness. How do you go about writing a song ? Well, one of brings some lyrics, music or a riff. Then everyone builds their parts around it til we've got a full song. Then when we think it's done we leave it til the following week, come back and trim the fat - so to speak - until we've got a condensed 3 minute epic. How did the Wychwood Festival go ? It was AMAZING! The gig itself was real good, we played well... a "Hoedown hootennany" according to The Independent. Then the rest was just a drunken haze of pints, pimms, music and mash. Who would you really love to play with and why ? We'd love to form a supergroup with Rolf Harris on washboard, Barry White on soothing, silky vocal romance noises, Barry Manilow on nose trumpet, Lady Gaga moaning quietly in the background and our friend Bish on maracas. What does the future hold ? Bio-particle regeneration using sub-atomic nuclear acceleration and free jetpacks for OAPs instead of shop mobility scooters
“They’re on the same record label as Green Day, things are really looking great for welsh pop-punk heroes ‘Save Your Breath’ read on as they stop by Stencil for a chat on pretty much everything!”
Band Members Kristian sings , T.O and Parslow play guitar, Bobby plays the drums and I(Ben) slappa da bass. How did Save Your Breath form ? I guess like most people we were bored, we wanted something fun to do with our time. After my old band broke up, Tom asked me if I fancied starting a band with him and a friend of his(Bobby). It was just the three of us at the start, we "practiced" once a week or so until Adam joined and then we started to do a bit more and worked towards playing some shows. The four of us wrote a lot and then we met our first singer Webbo in the summer of 2007. Is your name in any reference to the Hit The Lights song - 'Save your breath' Nope...unfortunately not. We've been asked this a few times, but we threw a bunch of names around for a while and this was the one that stuck in the end. It's a fairly well used phrase and seems to pop up a lot in songs, I think maybe because HTL used the phrase as a song name people would assume that's where it came from. More than likely we would've pulled it from Fall Out Boy's 'Chicago Is So Two Years Ago' but I really can't remember. The whole three word name thing was in vogue at the time and I guess we weren't smart enough to buck the trend. How does it feel to be on the same record label as the American pop punk superstars 'Green Day' ? It feels strange. It's a compliment that a label from America with such a good reputation would take a punt on a band like ours, especially considering our size. It's not everyday you get to say you're putting a record out on the same label as Green Day and A.F.I so we were really happy about that. It definitely enhanced our reputation, we're very proud to be associated with a band like Green Day and it's something that was a total surprise to us, we were really happy. The novelty has worn off a bit now though and we're back to business, trying to grind our way forward and get ourselves to where we want to be in the UK is the most important thing for us, fingers crossed we can use this connect to tour in America in the future, that'd be a dream come true. You guys did a split ep with Fireworks how did this come about when you live so far apart ? The internet changed music completely and for a while MySpace changed it further still...bands within certain genres were very well connected, it was so easy to get in touch with people. We were big fans of theirs and we toured with a band called The Wonder Years who are friends of theirs, the idea of a split was floating around so they put us in touch. It took a while and only got a somewhat unofficial UK release, but we were happy that it happened and also that we managed to get those CD's spread around the UK. I think we did 500 or so which wasn't big numbers but at the time we never really imagined we'd release a CD. We kept in touch and we've hung out with the Fireworks guys a few times after they toured here with Set Your Goals and more recently with Four Year Strong. They're all really safe guys, we had a blast with them and The Wonder Years at Slam Dunk this year.
Has the way you play or the way you write music changed much with your new lead singer (Kris)? A little, but definitely in a good way. Kris is much more involved in the writing process the rest of us go through, he takes part in everything we do and we all work together on the songs from start to finish. There's definitely a new togetherness about the band which maybe wasn't quite there before...everything seems to be a lot more natural now and we all have the same goals. It's been refreshing for us as it did look like we'd hit the end of the road at the back end of last year. What can you tell us about the latest single 'Stay young' ? 'Stay Young' is the first song we've done with Kris as our frontman, it's a little bit different to what we'd done before but we did record 'Nothing Worth Having...' over 2 years ago and The Lost Boys a year after that. Things were bound to be a little different and I think some of our older "fans" struggled with that as well as the fact that it was a new singer taking over from Webbo which made choosing the right track pretty tough. The song is about staying true to who you are and whatever you want to achieve, you have to be honest with yourself and the people close to you if you want to achieve your goals. We've met a lot of people the last few years, some have stayed friends, some you lose contact with...unfortunately there are others who have changed their own ideas and ambitions, it's often these people who will talk down on you or people you know and make judgements with little reason or understanding. 'Stay Young' is about those people and how they can end up letting themselves down if they lose sight of what's important. What do you love so much about playing live ? Everything!!! It's what being in a band is all about. Nothing comes close to the feeling of playing a live show, you can't really describe it unless you've done it yourself...everything else goes out the window. For that time we're playing, all that matters is the five of us onstage and the people in front of us...you forget everything else and it just becomes about everyone in the room at that time. Playing live is so much fun too, we're lucky with our genre of music that it's very upbeat and light hearted in many ways so we can concentrate on having fun and involving the crowd in that as much as possible. We've been told that we look like the happiest band ever when we play shows and it's probably because it's true...there is nowhere we'd rather be and nothing we'd rather be doing. Any festival appearances this year ? Not planned...there are various reasons for this but the main one is that we're concentrating on writing our record and at the time the festivals get booked we still hadn't toured with Kris. Things could have gone either way for us when we got back to playing shows again so we didn't plan too far ahead...fingers crossed for next year I guess, though we may still do some support slots on a few warm ups.
How did you get together? Our singer originated from the untamed mountains that roll endlessly behind Kris’s house. We don’t think he was born there rather turned loose by his disappointed young parents, a bit like The Penguin in Batman but he didn’t have flippers he just kept shouting all the time. Eventually after many offerings of warm milk in a bowl and fresh meats the family gained the trust of the savage ragamuffin and one night trapped him in their basement. The screams could be heard for miles around and the panic stricken, then young, Kris instinctively picked up the Bass. The tantric soothing funky rhythms and hypnotic crab-like hand movements silenced and intrigued the beast. A companionship was made. Over time they taught Leigh to walk upright, eat with a knife and fork and to not use his outside voice indoors. He taught himself how to get dressed and play guitar which both at times are questionable but still tremendous achievements. John Harman was born under a wandering star. His family were military gypsies traveling through Wales during the gold rush. At six years old he turned his situation around and decided he was the head of the family. He stopped taking orders, eating animals and moving his house all over the country and started playing guitar the wrong way around. Word of his weird and wonderful skill soon reached the funky, pockets-filled-with-worms bassist and his now domesticated, feral front man. They caught a boat ride to his camp and lured him to the mainland with promises of chocolate covered lentils and the secrets of fire. A friendship was born.
How did you get the band name? The name was inspired by one of many documentaries by Sir David Attenborough. Throughout the documentary he kept saying ’Plankton Bloom’ in his truly awesome voice over and over, at a time when we were asking ‘what could be our name?’ So we became Plankton Bloom. With the adage of individually we stand alone, just like plankton, but together we can change the colour of the world. Just lucky I wasn’t watching porn at the time.
What bands inspire your music? Individually, various bands and artists move us, I think too many to write, you’d just have a comprehensive list of bands because it’s all inspiration. Personally if I graced every moment music has moved me more often it’s the mass produced, lifeless clones, devoid of personality or integrity that fuel our efforts. The acts that don’t write their own songs, mime live and cant play any instruments but still sell out and make millions, they inspire us to make music. Having said that, they inspire us they don’t shape our sound. Our individual top 3 would be…. Leigh – Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Blind Melon John – Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Brand New Kris – Spoonbill, Bonobo, Rena Jones
Fav song to play live? Secondhand Sunlight. Its progressive, pointless and heartfelt and one day will make sense.
As a band, what has been your biggest achievement so far? Firstly the near completion of our cd ‘Digitalis Acoustica’ or seeing Plankton Bloom lyrics tattooed on actual living human flesh. The crazy fool is called Sarah O’Conner and I think that has been one of the biggest, achievements of my life
Who would you really love to tour with? Megan Foxx
Future plans? very much looking forward to starting to gig and showing people the songs we’ve already made. Somewhere between aspirations of world domination and complacently doing fuck all, that’s where you’ll find us, always making a noise and sometimes being heard. Our new cd should be out within a matter of weeks! (definitely before the next release of Stencil Mag!)
Any last words We all want to give a massive shout out to Thomas Parfitt who is currently mastering and drum programming our songs. The sound he has achieved is phenomenal, given how amateur we were at recording. You’l find him and his own music on soundcloud and facebook and we implore you to check him out! I
CRASH AND BERNEY Hannah Berney - vocals Josh Moon - keys Laurence Mason - Bass Rhydian Griffiths - drums Tom Sanger - Sax How did you get together ? We got together after our music teacher needed a band for a gig he had booked, so he grabbed us all together, and a week later we had a local gig to 1500 people on bonfire nights. We've tightened up since then, and played a lot more gigs! We all knew each other from school and other bands, so it was easy to play together. Where did the name come from ? Well, our music teacher and Berney were trying to think of a name as we had a week to put a name on a poster. It's a cheesy play on Crash & Burn, but it stuck. What can you tell us about your upcoming performance at the 02 arena for the live and unsigned ? We entered Live & Unsigned with the hope of getting to play to some bigger audiences, and so to get to the 02 is a bit of shock. We're currently trying to find our cover song. Live & Unsigned is huge, after 10,000 plus entries the final has only 80 acts, it's an all day huge event and we've been put in the indie category, so it should be an exciting day! There will be Radio 1 judges, Noddy Holder, EMI and other record company representatives, even if we don't win, as we're up against some incredible acts, it will be a great experience!
What can you tell us about your latest EP ? Our EP last year was recorded at Soundspace Studios, and this year with a new bassist and drummer we've re-worked some tracks we worked on last year, and we've written a few more too, so we're going record at studios in Monmouth this coming month, so we're excited to see our. At the moment we're on the Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tape (www.mixed-tape.com) after being found by them on myspace, you can get a track of ours for free, and a full album of other international artists. What festivals are you playing this year, and how excited are you ? We're playing lots! Oce Festival, Caldicot Festival, Rock in the Dell, Coleford Music Festival, Chepstow Music Festival, and we're supporting headliners, "The Commitments" at the Monmouth Festival. The of course we are at the Live & Unsigned Festival. We're much busier than we were last year, and we're hoping to play to some great audiences and increase our fan base. Why should people come and watch you live ? We perform, we have fun, Berney tells terrible jokes, and live, we don't lose the energy, (or the tuning) that you can hear on our recorded tracks. We also like to take well known songs, ie. The Prince of Bel Air and completely re-do them, hopefully you'll be amused, surprised, and entertained. The boys also have a penchant for solos :) What does the future hold ? Hopefully, something exciting! Bigger gigs, bigger audiences and a finished EP by this summer. Regardless of how this festival and competition season works out, we hope we are able to grab every opportunity we can find along the way. You've got to get out and gig to get where you want right?
CIRCA S “They have played with some of the biggest bands in the world, Coheed and Cambria, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Gaslight Anthem, The list goes on! but what we should note is the American rockers have three albums under their belt and it seems like they’re only just getting started, Stencil Mag caught up with them just before their headline show in Cardiff Ifor Bach!”
Band members Hi my name is Colin, I play guitar. How did Circa Survive form ? 5 people in their miserable lonely existences brought together by equal parts fate, luck and chance found each other and became one whole. For a more detailed description of this story.... see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circa_Survive Can you describe to readers just exactly what Circa Survive sounds like ? Wet with bits of sharp. What can you tell us about your latest single 'get out' ?
It's one of my favorite songs that we've ever written. Every aspect of it speaks to me. If I heard it as someone else, I'm pretty sure that we'd be my favorite band. haha. Anthony's lyrics in that song seems to strike a chord with quite a few people. I think it captures a feeling of restlessness, of dissatisfaction within your life and the desperate need to escape. This is not your first time touring the UK, what is it you love so much about playing here ? We love playing anywhere that the people are passionate about the music they listen to. The UK is quite passionate.
“We love playing anywhere that the people are passionate about the music they listen to. The UK is quite passionate.”
SURVIVE What can you tell readers about your latest album 'Blue Sky Noise' ?
It is our third album. We wrote it in a cottage on a nature preserve that we call "creek house". No tv, no internet, no distractions. Blue sky is a term for unfeasible idea in the business world. We liked that. This is the most personal album we have ever made. We were writing it for about a year and a half and then recorded it in about 4 months. It was produced by David Bottrill. He has made incredible albums by Tool, Silverchair, Muse, King Crimson and more. Working with him was incredible. Other than that... You should check it out if you like chocolate. What can fans expect at your Cardiff headline show on July 12th ? It will be sweaty, loud and probably the best hour of the day for anyone in the room, including us. How do you go about writing a song ? There is no definite formula for us. Each song has its own journey. We all contribute but some songs are more heavily influenced by some than others. In general we give the song what it asks us to. Whatever it needs, we try our best to provide with as little ego and bullshit as possible. From the new album, which song have you enjoyed playing live the most ? Get Out and I Felt Free are both incredibly fun to play. It depends on the night and it depends on our mood as well as the crowds'. Finally, What does the rest of this year hold for Circa Survive ? Travel, music, family, friends, love, and life. Hope to see you soon!
“There is no definite formula for us. Each song has its own journey.�
Can you define to readers what you sound like? Well we have two lead singers who both have pretty distinct voices when you hear them together - you can tell there are two singers, unlike some bands when you can't tell the voice has switched. So I guess that is pretty unique within the pop punk circuit at the moment, at least in the UK, as there aren't many bands doing what we're doing. And it works well in harmonies! But I'd say we're a more aggressive style of pop punk, we like things to sound heavy rather than too poppy.
You recently performed at the amazing 'Slam Dunk Festival' how was it? Slam Dunk was real awesome yeah, when we finally got announced we were all very excited and couldn't wait to get there - not only to play but to hang out and watch the rest of the rad bands on the bill. A lot of our friends were playing too and both our sets in London and Leeds went really well for us. We had no idea what to expect - considering it was such a good line up, we thought we'd have a lot to contend with but it didn't seem to matter as both the rooms we played in were rammed. We had a blast!
What was it like touring with 'The Swellers'? That was great too man, it's safe to say The Swellers are one of our favourite bands so when they told us they'd got us on the tour we were all stoked - and they're a fantastic bunch of dudes who play a killer set every night, we made real good friends with that band and had a load of fun so we're very grateful they hooked us up.
What can you tell us about the song 'Hate Being The Dip Guy'? Well the lyrics are about us and our home town of Birmingham, but it was named after something stupid Rich Murphy said in Russia. It also has a video which we shot in Birmingham earlier this year, check it out on our myspace (www.myspace.com/allornothing) and on LavaTV (Sky channel 378)
You did a split EP with Chaos Days, how did this come about? Well they are some of our best friends and they were a fucking awesome band, they were really underrated in the UK and should have been a much bigger band. It came about because both our bands had a couple of songs kicking about that we'd recorded and just wanted to get out there asap for people to hear, so we decided on doing a split together and All Aboard Records kindly released it for us. It's sad that they split up, but we're happy to have done a record together before it was too late. You can buy it for real cheap on iTunes, check it out.
How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour? We're just grateful to be getting back out on the road again. No-one likes to get home from tour and go back to a boring day job so to have another tour coming up so soon after touring with The Wonder Years and The Swellers and playing Slam Dunk etc etc is wicked. We'll be playing more new songs too so we're excited to hear what people think of the latest stuff we've been writing, they're the best songs we've written as a band so far and we're proud of them - Hope you all dig it.
Best memory as a band so far? It'd have to be when we toured Russia last summer, unfortunately I wasn't there to experience it as I was away in China but from what all the guys have told me and from the videos you can see on our youtube channel (www.youtube.com/allornothingpunk) it looked like they had the time of their lives. Hopefully we'll get back over there in the next year so I can go this time!
What can fans expect heading to your Bristol show (June 24th @ The Croft OR July 26th @ The Fleece)? You can expect a sweaty and energetic show full of hard hitting pop punk and sing alongs, in the vein of New Found Glory and Captain Everything! Come down and see for yourself. Support homegrown bands.
What does the rest of this year hold for 'All Or Nothing'? We should have a new release out before the end of the year, if all goes to plan. There are a bunch of ideas floating around at the moment, but the main objective is to get an album out asap and keep touring as much as we can and hopefully reach new worldwide destinations. No Sleep Records of California (who released our split 'Distances' with The Wonder Years last year) have already said they really wanna work with us again so we're in talks with them about an American release at the moment, and who knows what else could happen....
List your new band members
On the bass guitar we have our good friend Ace Pablo Handley, seasoned merch veteran for The Plight. He's pretty much been in The Plight as he's come on the last twelve tours, selling merch and drinking hard. On the drums we have Mr Jack Wayne. We toured with his old band a couple of years ago and we bonded really well, and he rode in our van for a couple of days just to hangout and we became quite fond of him so it seemed like a logical progression to ask him. He's a beast. How did you form ? The band was formed in a spectacular outburst of anti-matter and c-beams near the Tannhauser Gate. We've seen things you people wouldn't believe. What was it like when you got signed to 'visible noise' records which already has some of the UKs finest bands? errr. it was kind of weird. When you play punk rock you never really expect any of the "bigger" labels to come knocking, but it's allowed us to do some cool stuff. I don't know really, we would have continued to put out records and do exactly what we want regardless of what label we were on, I think it's important not to focus to much on what label you're on and what bands you've played with. You're only as good as your last gig and i think a lot of bands forget about that. The Dead Formats are a punk band on our label and they are great, check them out. How do you go about creating a song ? Lewis usually has about 10 songs on the go, we jam a lot of those ideas together at practice, and then lewis writes the song and demo's it in his bedroom and then we all work from that. Al tends to work out the lyrics as the song develops. How excited are you to be playing 'Hevy Fest' ? I'm looking forward to seeing Pulled Apart By Horses, Hexes, Chickenhawk and Throats but that's about it for me. However the Plight Party will be in full effect and I'm sure we'll offend some people, which will lead to interesting situations and scrapes and whatnot, which...really is going to be the best thing you could watch all weekend, I'll be honest. What can you tell us about your latest album 'winds of osiris' it's mint. I think we're all really proud of it. I'm not going to try and sell it. Come and see us and have some fun and get 6 tonnes of rock all over your face. What does this year hold for 'The Plight' ? We shall continue to destroy all other bands. Take us on our tour if you think you can handle it. finally, what can fans expect attending your show in Cardiff ? (July 21st) Fireworks,Beards,Harmonies, Power
“Slam Dunk Festival, a new album, and now a UK Headline summer tour, whats next for british pop punkers Not Advised?�
NOT ADVISED How excited are you for your summer headline tour ?
We're really excited for our summer tour. We're a bit nervous about heading out on a headline run but I think that's to be expected. It's nice to be able to play a longer set and know that people at the shows will be there to see us especially. What is it you love so much about gigging ? Touring is just awesome in so many ways. You get to travel around with your best friends, playing music which is your favourite thing. You can't get much better than that! What is it like being on the awesome Lab Records ? LAB records are great! They genuinely care about our band as much as we do and thats the most important thing to us. They've helped us out so much. You've played with some amazing bands already, including Deaf Havana, who would you guys really love to play with next ? We played with Deaf Havana for the first time at slam dunk festival. They tore the place apart! We don't get to play with other UK bands in our scene as much as we'd like so it was cool. We wouldn't mind a show with Blink 182 sometime! What can you tell us about your latest mini album 'After The Fight' ? "After The FIght" is 7 tracks of British, anthem, honest pop rock. Rather than us try and describe it have a listen and let us know what you think! So far what has been your biggest achievement as a band ? It's always hard to say but it felt like a big achievement at Slam Dunk Festival when the PA blew up on us during "Right Now" and the crowd sang it for us, that was really cool What can fans expect heading to your Bristol show (August 2nd) We rarely play in Bristol but last time (with Go Audio) it was a really fun show. Expect to get involved, have fun and see 5 boys get very sweaty! Finally, Is the rest of 2010 set to be a busy one for Not Advised ? Yeah it's set to be really busy, we're trying to balance writing our debut album with touring as much as possible!!
Band members Axl - Dave Reilly Slash - Al Gordon Duff - Andrew Biddle Izzy - Jon Sudbury Dizzy - Steve Green Why did you choose to be a Guns N Roses tribute band ?
Well, you've got to pick a band that you think is great and, if you want to play regular busy gigs you've got to also pick a band that is extremely popular and isn't already being done, which kind of narrows down your choices quite a bit. There's not much fun to be had playing say, The Black Crowes or The Cult, as great as they are, to an underfilled venue. You're not going to get re-booked anywhere 'cos the bar takings are going to be rubbish! And there's no point in starting a Pink Floyd, Beatles, Queen, etc band as they're already being done very well. What is your most favourite Guns N Roses song to play live ? It varies from member to member, but it tends to be the rockier numbers like Nightrain, Out 'Ta Get me, Mr Brownstone, etc. What do you think of Axl Rose continuing without any of the original members of Guns N Roses and what do you guys think of the latest album 'Chinese Democracy' ? Is he still doing that? Ha ha, no, seriously, it seems like 'Axl + some other musicians' rather than GN'R, y'know? To me, GN'R was a heavily blues influenced band. There was fantastic interplay between the two guitar parts, Izzy's sounding deceptively simple and Slash adding a heavier sound with more syncopated rhythms on top, coupled with Adler's feel on the drums and Duffs 'punkish but tight' bass lines provided a musical foundation where the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts. Which, imo, is missing from Chinese Democracy. I can completely understand why he's used the name GN'R as it's a massive brand, but I think he'd have got more respect if he'd gone with a different name. That and also not taking 14 years to make an album....
How does it feel to be selling out shows ? Fucking marvelous of course!! :-) But you've got to keep it in perspective: the punters aren't paying to see 'us', they're coming to see a GN'R show with a line up that they'll never get to see for real again, y'know? Best gig so far? A tough one indeed. Bournemouth Opera House was a very good one. Huge place, 900 or so in there, really good lights, etc. When we played at the Point in Cardiff when it was still open was possibly the rowdiest audience so far. 500 people really going properly nuts. The Assembly Rooms in Leamington Spa was another great one. Fantastic venue and the hospitality there is amazing! What cans fans expect from your show at Bristol Academy ? as well as another local show at the Cardiff Coal Exchange ? The full works. All killer, no filler. 2 hours of classic era GN'R consisting of all the hits, fast ones, slow ones, epic ones, acoustic ones, everything. For the bigger shows like these we've got the 2 backing singers, Lucy & Alecs for the full 'Illusion' era show. Playing bigger venues like these is fantastic because there's alot more room onstage for the band members to really put on a show, no-one's standing still. Also, there's always a dedicated lighting engineer which adds to the show soooooo much, allowing us to give a better 'product' to the audience than is possible in some of the smaller venues. Come see the show, you won't be dissappointed. What does the future hold ? More gigs! There will be some rather interesting news coming soon, which was being discussed this past weekend, but I'm not going to say right now. Keep an eye on www.ukgunsnroses.com to keep up to date....
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“UK Guns & Roses are ANOTHER band who are dropping by the local area this summer, read on for an exclusive interview withe the biggest and bestest UK Guns tribute band�
“Excited for 2000 Trees Festival this year ? we are! by the time this magazine is out the Festival would have finished, but we really can’t miss out on something so brilliant! One of the creators of the festival has been nice enough to share with Stencil Mag exclusive reviews with three bands that played the festival!”
2000trees festival showcases the best in British new music. What are your favourite up and coming British bands or artists at the moment? We are all big fans of a band called Dutch Uncles. We have played a few shows with them and they are always exiting to see live. There is another band from oxford called Jonquil that we are following. We have not seen them live yet, butthey are amazing on record and we have invited them to play some shows with us. Have you ever been to 2000trees before, if so what have been your highlights from previous years? We have never been to 2000 trees before. But we are very exited to come for the first time and play. Who is your favourite British band of all time? The Beatles... but i guess they are my favorite band ever. I have been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin recently, they are one of the best british bands ever. What are your plans for your performance at 2000trees? We don't normally plan out gigs. We just have a good time and hope every one else does. We will be playing some new songs from our second album. Which other artists are you and your fans looking forward to seeing, at this year at 2000trees festival? Metronomy, we went to see them in camden two years ago and they were amazing. Lofi Culture Scene are always good live aswell.
2000trees festival showcases the best in British new music. What are your favourite up and coming British bands or artists at the moment? Well, some may call me biased but the artists on our Rebel Alliance Recordings are obviously, to us, the best up and coming bands around. The Skints are reggae-punk from London and are going on tour with the Slackers in Europe very soon. Mouthwash are currently doing the whole King Blues tour and they're indie-ska from London. Random Hand are metallic Ska-Core from Keighley and many music fans might have seen them as they have gigged so hard over the last few years. And we've just started working with a band called Dirty Revolution from Cardiff who are awesome. So I think the best up and coming bands in the UK are those bands right there. But otherwise I really dig Crazy Arm on Xtra Mile Recordings and there is a band from Bristol called Gecko who are really cool. Have you ever been to 2000trees before, if so what have been your highlights from previous years? I have not. Whatever my highlight is this year will be my highlight of previous years if you ask me next year. I'm getting a bit old and afraid of mud for festivals but I can still turn it on every now and then. Who is your favourite British band of all time? I'd have to say the Specials. It's kind of a hard one between them and the Clash but it's got to be the Specials from the message to the tunes to the imagery to the label. They've been a huge influence on stuff that has been a huge deal to me such as the Prodigy, Blur, Asian Dub Foundation and the Streets and also so many of the American bands I loved in my teens like Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sublime, Rancid and No Doubt. What are your plans for your performance at 2000trees? We've got a new line-up and new things happening in terms of samples and synths so being able to take that onto a festival stage is an exciting thing for us and it's a development and a challenge we're looking forward to putting the new line-up through. I guess to be able to surpass our previous festival performances are our plans but specifically that involves us creating a fun environment and playing a soundtrack for people to enjoy themselves and dance. It's never an exact science but it's always interesting and we've always been known as a band that can get people moving. Which other artists are you and your fans looking forward to seeing, at this year at 2000trees festival? Frank Turner and Crazy Arm. I might watch 65 Days of Static too if I get the chance!
2000trees festival showcases the best in British new music. What are your favourite up and coming British bands or artists at the moment? Jordan - There are some really great Scottish bands making music right now, some of whom we've had the pleasure of sharing stages with: Copy Haho from Stonehaven are a really fun kind of pavement-party band, Kristoffer Morgan makes really pretty saddlecreek pop music and Flood of Red provide the weighty melancholia that we all secretly need and want in our lives. Murray - Copy Haho are probably my favourtie up and coming band. They are from a wee place called Stonehaven which is 20 minutes outside of my hometown in Scotland, they are great guys and an excellent band. We toured with them in February 2009, and every night they blew me away, I highly recommend them. Stars and Sons are also fantastic, they are from all over the place but are based in Brighton and they have a record out this year. It's called 'Good morning mother', and it's really great, keep your eyes and ears peeled for it. Have you ever been to 2000trees before, if so what have been your highlights from previous years? Jordan - This will be our first time at 2000 trees. Over the years i think it's become a fairly established alternative to the usual rockfairs, and it's a pleasure to be a part of it. Murray - I have never been before, but I’ve heard only good things about the festival so we're really looking forward to playing......and being general festival goers. Who is your favourite British band of all time? Jordan - Iron Maiden maybe? They're a band right? They do that one that goes "oohhhh, ohhhhh, oohhhhhhh..." classic songwriting. Murray - The Beatles or The Cure. The Beatles. What are your plans for your performance at 2000trees? Jordan - We plan to play music, for the enjoyment of the spectators. The music will be in unison that is, played together, at the same time. Unison-rock. Murray - We're going to be playing quite a few songs from our new record which is out later in the year, so expect a lot of confused faces onstage as we try and figure out how to play the songs in front of an audience. Which other artists are you and your fans looking forward to seeing, at this year at 2000trees festival? Jordan - Festivals can get a little hectic sometimes, you don't always get to see the bands you want. Thankfully every band on our stage is great so I don't have to move at all. Frank Turner is on our label, he's obviously great, or he wouldn't be on our label. Pulled apart by horses, Crazy Arm, And So I Watch You From Afar are pretty sick. I hate competing on stages with super-heavy bands, it's the equivalent of the older guys in the changing rooms at school, completely terrifying. Basically if you leave feeling emasculated, we did our jobs. Murray - I don't know if we're staying for the full weekend or not, but if we are, i will most certainly be watching And So I Watch You From Afar, Pulled Apart By Horses, Frank Turner, Skeletons and The Empty Pockets, Twin Atlantic
Cinema Release Date: July 16th Written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island) as the main man, serioulsy nothing can go wrong. Inception tells the story of an interesting character named Cobb (DiCaprio) who enters peoples dreams, yes thats right, Inception is based in a world where people can enter dreams, intriguing? I agree. I think we can expect something similar to 'The Matrix' but maybe with a bit more confusion (somehow), have no doubt though, Christopher Nolan will make this kind of film genius. Joeseph Gordon-Levitt is also in the film, and for those of you who still don't know who he is I can't stress more, you need to check out the films '(500) Days of Summer' and 'The Lookout' both of these films show of his underatted skills as an actor, and I think his career has only just begun, so keep an eye open! This film is described as dark, thriller, mystery, all of which DiCaprio and Nolan can pull of with ease, so be prepared for one of the most mind bending films of summer, although Cinemas will be filled with twi-fans and Toy Story lovers make sure you check this one out to.
Cinema Release Date: July 8th
Just when you thought they killed the predator franchise with a sequel to the Sci-Fi action once again returns to our screens. with a fresh cast and director we see an attempt to re-boot the classic, the bad thing is the director to this film 'Nimrod Antal' has only directed a couple of mainstream films before this, so taking on something this massive seems a slightly bit worrying for me. Predators simply (Without giving to much away!) tells the story of a small team of Soldiers who are tracked and hunted by the space age species 'Predators' With a cast including Laurence Fishburne and Adrien Brody this film could hopefully turn out to be not as terrible as I predict, they have both blown us away as actors before, so I really hope they pull all the tricks out of the hat to prove to me and the hardcore predator fans that these kind of films can still be saved. Anyway, if you want an action filled Sci-Fi which isn't as confusing as Inception, then head this way!
Cinema Release Date: July 23rd The world has been waiting a long time for this film and it is finally here, this is really where summer hits its prime for movies, Toy Story 3! Its been over ten years since Toy Story 2 and it will most probably still beat every other film to be released this year in sales, yes, even Twilight! The original cast return to their roles which is brilliant news as I am sure fans would'nt have it any other way. Tom Hanks has been rather busy in the creation of 'The Pacific' but he is still working hard at showing of his craft, and I am sure he will prove to us again that he still has what it takes in this latest addition! The plot to this one is that Buzz and Woody end up in a day care centre after Andy leaves for college, so expect a load of new characters! One of the best things about Toy Story is how timeless it is, when it was first released it was one of those films that was so far ahead of its time, and it still feels that way. Another admiring thing is the audience it will apeal to now, after being so long since the original it will bring in both adults who experienced Toy Story when they were a bit younger, and also attract children who will be being introduced to the trilogy for the first time, I expect nothing less than greatness from this film, and Pixar have never created anything less.
Cinema Release Date August 2nd
Leonardo DiCaprio has more than a handful of cherishing motion pictures under his belt, Titanic is what most people will remember him by, but I should advise you to revise the following films Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, these are all mighty films each in separate genres celebrating the compass of DiCaprios talent as an actor. Based in 1954 U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo) is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a murderer who has just escaped from the criminally insane hospital, in his quest he discovers that she may be hiding in the remote and gloomy island of Shutter Island. Joining DiCaprio in his enquires we see him being accompanied by the pleasant Mark Ruffalo (Where the Wild Things Are) who plays his associate Chuck Ale. Mark is not a star many people notice, but he always fills in that crucial missing gap in a film as an actor, and the combination of both Mark and DiCaprio makes a firm back bone for such a unique concept. This film looks like it will grab straight into the deep end so be prepared to enter the crawl and startling world of Shutter Island with the popcorn at eye level just in case something you don’t quite apprehend comes lurking round the corner.
DVD Release Date: July 12th Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Taylor Lautner (Twilight: New Moon) With such an ambitious cast how can this film go wrong? Well I am certain it won’t really, as eclipsed behind the directors chair we have none other than Gary Marshall who bestowed us with the female heart warmer Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts (Who also features in this film) and Richard Gere. Set in the dashing city of Los Angeles the film sections between various different couples exampling the pressures and high expectations of Valentines day. you will be likely to discover one of your favourite actors and your also guaranteed the usual romantic comedy run of emotions with just that little extra craftsmanship from Gary Marshall to make it worth while.
DVD Release Date: July 26th As if Sam Worthington couldn’t have a better start to the year, the last film he appeared in was Avatar which is nominated for 9 Oscar awards, there is actually no stopping him as he comes blasting back onto our cinema screens in a remake of the 1981 classic. The mortal son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) Perseus (Sam Worthington) is sent on a quest to the dark underworld to stop the evil Hades ruling the world. Yes the story line may well just seem like your standard good vs. evil plot and I guess to some extent it is, but at the same time it looks like it will really hit new heights for being imaginative and spectacular. Director Louis Leterrier is behind this one so really anything could happen, his last project was the supreme Incredible Hulk which did indeed surpass the terrible efforts of the first one. So with that being said maybe this Clash of the Titans re birth with all its CGI packaging could be more superior to the original one which has no CGI at all?
The core of the game is great, easy to pick up and play but with the right amount of challenges, but that’s not enough in this climate of audio visual perfection. I am happy to say TWC doesn’t disappoint. The sound is incredible both voice acting and sound effects are truly film esque adding great depth to the already stunning visuals that create a grittier much more believable world than the original series or that horrid Michael Bay rubbish. Like most modern shooters I believe that to succeed they must have a decent scope for online play, purely to extend their longevity beyond the 8hour mark. Thankfully TWC has an enjoyable array of online modes including standard team death matches to the more complex modes such as Code of Power where teams must capture the COP and return it to there base, teams take it in turns to defend and capture. None of the modes in TWC are particularly ground breaking but all function well and there is a mode for all play styles. The online modes are all playable using one of the 4 classes. – always Cars Bumble Bee style, fast low armoured but the speed makes them fun to play their armour makes them easy to kill.
– as you would expect your Optimus Prime and Soundwave
character models these are tough and very resilient, of course with strength comes a loss of speed but trust me they are tough.
their speed coupled with the healing ray make them a necessity in any good team. Each of the classes can be levelled up and supplied with custom weapon setups, not only that you can mod the colour scheme to add the personal touch. Each class also comes equipped with perks such as shield walls, and stat boosting battle shouts. All this means that creating a balanced team is important in your pursuit of victory, this becomes even more evident in the Escalation mode, where you and up to 3 friends take on wave after wave of enemy. Having different roles in the group bring many different play styles together to creating a hectic highly skilled competitive environment. The potential the game has for a thriving community is huge, quite simply it’s the Transformers one of the biggest cult cartoon of the 80’s and now Activision have given us a decent outlet to act like we’re kids again, and the youngsters playing this game who just have the Bay version to refer to will be just as happy. Quite simply It’s everything you could want from a transformers game, if I played this when I was 12 my head would have exploded with joy.
The atmosphere of this eco friendly festival was electric. As the festival is quite distant from the town centre you really do find yourself in a different world, a place far away from everything. At night you’d see flying lanterns flooding the sky, and listen to acoustic sing a longs throughout the campsite, I don’t know what else you would need! Half the festival goers were dressed up in animal costumes as part of a fancy dress competition, this added a fun element to the festival and really did make it rather unique. For all you campers who prefer to not party too late into the early hours you can camp in the quiet zone which is really nice as all the tents are spaced apart and you can get a pleasant nights rest! Families don’t worry you can come too! We saw plenty of families this year and this should be supported in every festival. Getting in and out was no problem, all the directions were posted on the web site, and big green coaches were available for getting from the train station to the festival at the small fee of a £10 return. The festival is in a scenic location so your have a good road trip up as you lose yourself in the countryside! As we only arrived Friday night we missed some cool upcoming bands like Crazy Arm and So I Watch You From Afar, I am sure these bands were impressive as they seem to be getting higher and higher slots on the stage. Frank Turner was the first band we saw, and he did indeed bring the festival to life. He has played 2000 Trees before so he knows exactly how to interact with the crowd. The set was rammed with classic sing a longs like photosynthesis, love ire and song, and Long Live The Queen, he even played a new song in which he had everyone singing along to straight away, complete genius. Saturday is here and the first band we see are Sonic Boom Six they may have lost a guitarist this year but they are back in full force, borrowing the saxophone player from Kids Can’t Fly. They did a great job in getting everyone moving, even two men dressed up in giraffe costumes were having a little skank! Mumford and Sons need to lookout Johnny Flynn and The Sussex Wit are on the stage, and they are stunning at providing the crowd with nu-folk sing alongs. They are also one of the reasons I love attending festivals like this, you get to discover so much new music and this is certainly a band you should all check out. 65 Days of Static hit the stage, instantly everyone’s jumping, they may have only played three songs but they all lasted a long time and they did a great job in keeping the crowd interested. Those of you who know 65 Days will know there is no singing in their songs so they’re always such a unique and fun band to watch. Bombay Bicycle Club stepped things up with their indie anthems It is clear from the crowd and the atmosphere that there is a big buzz about this band. I have a feeling that in a years time they could well be selling out arenas. The Subways are no strangers to festivals but the brilliant thing about their slot at 2000 Trees Festival is this is the first time they have ever headlined one, they did not let us down, they put all their energy into every song and the whole crowd were singing along, Their new songs also sounded killer, so I think The Subways will once again be flooding our radio stations in the next year! Keep an eye out! They were a perfect end to one of the best ‘smaller’ festivals here in the UK, here’s to next year when the Festival celebrates its 5th year!
Many of us as kids read comics or watched superhero films and after escaping into these worlds, we would want to have superhero powers ourselves; this film is born of that motion. A young and somewhat overlooked highschool student Dave Lizewski has a massive love for comics. Bored with his life and the day to day pressures of school, he decides to become a superhero himself, though with no training and no actual powers it might be a bit tougher than he assumes. Kick-Ass strips us to the bare bone of human capability as when a fight scene occurs Dave (now known as the hero ‘Kick-Ass’) doesn’t just beat everyone up with one punch like Batman, he takes a good couple of punches himself before he just about wins the fight. So that sense of realism this film brings is one of the coolest aspects about it. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from Superbad) does play a similar kind of character in all of his roles, but hey, he is brilliant at it. Acting as Dave‘s eventual rival ‘Red Mist’ who gives us some memorable superhero puns he adds a necessary backbone to the film creating a fun atmosphere. And hurrah! Nicolas Cage is finally back in good films; Wicker Man? Ghost Rider? I think we’ll be happy to let those bad memories go after his outstanding performance as ‘Big Daddy’ in this. I guess you could state this film as being a superhero-comedy-action flick because at times you might feel like you’re in a Kill Bill movie as you see the young child, ‘Hit Girl’, cutting people to bits. At other times you will be submerged into a romantic or comedy scene, always keeping you hooked. As soon as I hear someone in the audience laughing while shouting, you know this film is surely going to be a favourite amongst many people. Check it out as I loved it and this film is defiantly what it says on the tin, kick-ass!