DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL INTERVIEWS ORIANTHI LUKE MORLEY GATES OF HELL LIVE REVIEWS THE VIOLENT HOUR AETHORIA
Welcome to volume XXX
The Team
Editorial
Chief Editor - Adam Kennedy - adam@hrhmediahub.com
Designer - Charlotte Hooper - charl@darkwatch.net
Contributing Writers:
Russell Peake, Viki Ridley, Adam Kennedy, Paul Davies, Charlotte Hooper, Dennis Jarman, Peter Ray Allison, Simon Rushworth
Contributing Photographers: Adam Kennedy, Simon Dunkerley, All Others Credited.
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Management
Publisher - Dark Watch BVI Limited
HRH Experiences Ltd
Chairman / Founder
Jonni Davis
European Director
John Ellis - john@darkwatch.net
Head of Marketing
Charlotte Hooper - charl@darkwatch.net
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HRH Official Photographer
Simon Dunkerley - simond@hrhmag.com
Kane
- 20. SNOT
- 22. (the) Melvins
- 24. Inglorious
28 Download Festival 2025 Interviews
- 28. Bullet for My Valentine - 29. Apocalyptica
- 30. Seven Hours After Violet - 31. Vowws
- 32. Dead Pony
- 33. Lastelle
-34. The Ghost Inside 38 Aethoria
Orianthi
HRH Ibiza Road Trip Photo Gallery
THE MAN BEHIND THE MIC...
2025 marks some big milestones for Sunset Strip legendary vocalist Jizzy Pearl, with the 35th Anniversary of Love/Hate’s debut, Blackout in the Red Room, alongside the recent announcement of them joining the HRH Sleaze line-up for 2026, AND the release of their latest album Punk Rock Fiesta. Although a man of few words, he simply lets the music and his seamless talent do the talking. Chatting about all things writing and touring, Jizzy shared some interesting stories from his immense career as one of the most iconic voices of hard rock L.A..
With a remarkable catalogue of bands on his roster from the late 80s to today, Jizzy has shared the stage with some incredible talent that has helped turn his name into a well-respected icon across the rock community. Having sang vocals for the likes of Quiet Riot, Ratt, L.A. Guns & Love/Hate alongside some solo work, Jizzy reflected on his fortunate music opportunities by saying “good Lord, this could take two hours! I’m a working musician. I happen to have been in a lot of famous classic rock bands and I gotta work, you know, and I’m a musician and I’m good, so I tend to get the good gigs and it’s all about keeping a roof over your head and having fun and feeling good about what you’re doing. And that’s it.”. Delving into his inspirations, Jizzy explained that it was the likes of “Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, I mean, all the people that everyone grew up with at my age, and Guns n Roses and all those bands from that Sunset Strip era. You’re influenced by what you like and what you grew up with and so if you’re a Led Zeppelin fan, you’re going to write songs that sort of reflect Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath you know what I mean? I’ve done this for so long, a million gigs. I’m the crazy man up on stage. People want to see an active frontman, they don’t want to see a potted
plant standing there looking down at his feet. So I just try and entertain people, that’s all.”. Earlier this year, Love/Hate released their eighth studio album called Punk Rock Fiesta and Jizzy gave us a little insight into the creative and recording process of this release, saying “I wanted to be Billy Idol, not Billy Joel. I write everything. Bass, drums, guitar, vocal, everything. And then I sort of give a rough sketch to all the guys to play on and then they make it better. Skid wrote most of the songs on those early records, the bass player, and it was the same thing [for Punk Rock Fiesta]. You know, he would bring in a song somewhat finished, and then we would all add to it. I try a little spin to it sort of thing, add your own ideas and concepts to it and just make it better. Better guitar playing, better singing, change things, that’s how we used to do it. I can still sing all the high notes, which is good. It’s rare these days. I just keep making music and hope that people still dig it after all these years.”. In terms of the artwork, Jizzy explained “I was working with the record company at the time and we sort of just threw a few ideas around and that’s how it came about.”. Joining Pearl on this release was veteran guitarist Darren Housholder, Puddle of Mudd’s ‘Chili’ Dave Moreno on drums, and Scottish bassist Christian Kimmet.
“I'm the crazy man up on stage. People want to see an active frontman, they don't want to see a potted plant standing there looking down at his feet.”
As we started to discuss Love/Hate being added to the HRH Sleaze announcement for 2026, Jizzy expressed how much he admires the UK and his fanbase overseas, “I’ve always had a good relationship with the UK, ever since my first record came out in 1990. And, I always do good over there. That’s why I try to come back every year
and play and this year, was very good attendance. People really dug it. I mean, I’d have to say, I guess the UK is my favourite place to play. I’m like any other musician, you know, I want to go where people dig your music.”.
“I'd have to say, I guess the UK is my favourite place to play. I'm like any other musician, I want to go where people dig your music.”
As well as HRH Sleaze, Jizzy has a number of projects, appearances and performances over the next 12 months, starting with a full calendar for the rest of 2025 with Quiet Riot, “We’re [an] extremely busy band and we work a lot and that’s basically my primary musical source of income. And then I do, Love/Hate when I can. I’ll try and book a UK tour as usual around that time [of HRH Sleaze] of September, you know, and probably play a lot of the same venues that I always play and make a little mini tour out of it.”. But one thing we can always guarantee from a Jizzy performance is “…besides my handsome, magnetic personality? I have an English band that I travel with in the UK. Stevie Pearce, Mickey Richards, and Christian Kimmet, and they’re my UK band over there and have been for several years, so that’s who I’ll be playing with, and we’re gonna kick ass.”.
Love/Hate will be playing at HRH Sleaze 9 in September 2025 at Club HRH in Sheffield. All tickets and information on the full line-up are available through www.darkwatch.net.
Words by Charlotte Hooper
Photo Credit: Christina Pearl
JIZZYPEARL
GATES OF HELL Vikis HUSH MONEY
Who are you?
We’re four sons of Georgia USA bringing the noise they warned you about. We blend southern soul, rock ‘n’ roll grit, and a little backwoods attitude. You can try to keep us quiet, but good luck…this Hush Money talks loud
Roll Call?
We’ve got Greg behind the kit, he’s the heartbeat and one of the voices of Hush Money, driving the rhythm like it owes him something. Seth’s on guitar and vocals, slinging riffs hotter than a Georgia July. Nathaniel holds it all down on bass - cool, steady, and deep as a church bell. And Caleb?
Another six-string slinger with a voice to match, he brings the fire, the twang, and a little danger. Four of us, one sound - loud, raw, and unapologetically Southern.
Hailing from?
We’re from Ellijay, Georgia, it’s a small town with a big heart and even bigger sound. It’s where the mountains meet the river and the music flows just as deep as the red clay. We might be from a quiet little town, but when we hit the stage, we make sure you know where we’re from.
Journey so far?
Back Home’.
Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?
No doubt our proudest moment so far has been playing Call of the Wild Fest in the UK last year. To step out on that stage, thousands of miles from home, and see the crowd rockin’ with us - man, it felt like everything clicked. We were playing to people who didn’t know us yet, but they were singing every word, feeling every note. It was a huge moment for us of proof that music can cross borders and bring people together.
What does the future hold for HUSH MONEY?
It’s been a ride! Rough roads, late nights, and a whole lotta sweat. We’ve played small dive bars and huge stages, had our highs, and faced a few rough patches. But every mile, every note, t’s all been worth it. We’re just getting started, and we’re only picking up speed. This journey? It’s far from over, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Influences/sound?
We draw from the legends, Allman Brothers, AC/DC, Zeppelin to name a few but everything we play is ours. We write songs that are as raw and real as the dirt roads we grew up on, with melodies that stick and riffs that make you move. We respect the past, but we’re here to build something new, something that carries that same fire but with our own twist. Original music, straight from the heart of Georgia, no apologies and y’all can hear that on our latest album ‘Go
We’re really excited about the future! Right now, we’re focused on building the sound and chemistry we’ve been working on for years. The next step for us is to take that sound even further with new recordings, bigger live shows, or collaborating with other artists who inspire us. We’re definitely working on expanding our reach, hitting some new cities and venues, and continuing to connect with the fans who’ve supported us since day one and make new ones. There’s always room to grow, and we want to push the boundaries of what people expect from us while staying true to that southern rock foundation. The future is wide open, we know we’ll be making a lot more music, taking our live performances to the next level, and hopefully seeing some cool opportunities come our way - whether that’s in the form of festival appearances, tours, or even international gigs. Ultimately, we’re just ready to keep creating and doing what we love.
Photo Credit: Press Supplied
BROCARDE
Who are you?
Brocarde
Roll Call?
Brocarde (singer, songwriter, director, designer, ghost whisperer, general nightmare)
Hailing from?
Oxford
Journey so far?
Brocarde is the creator of an enchanting world where dark, haunting aesthetics meet passion-fuelled lyrics and design. Brocarde is a dynamic storyteller who marries both music and fashion in an orchestral explosion, designed to make the ears and eyes bleed. A one-woman horror story, if centuries aligned, Brocarde could almost be the secret lovechild of Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath. In what could only be described as an effervescent melting pot, Brocarde’s bubbling cauldron is peppered with hints of Little House on The Prairie, and seasoned with remnants of the Addams family values: she’s an all-consuming artist who’s not for the faint-hearted. Brocarde arrived on the music scene in 2019 presenting her debut single Last Supper. With its biblical relatability and an army of sinister pigs, the music video depicted a twisted fairy tale that whetted the appetite of her loyal supporters. She was hailed as “One to Watch” by Planet Rock Magazine, and secured airplay on Kerrang!, Planet Rock and BBC Introducing. Since then, Brocarde has gone on to attract the praise of
some of rock music’s biggest stars, with Whitesnake’s David Coverdale hailing her as an “electrifying, creative new artist” and describing her as “powerful stuff!” Brocarde’s follow-up single, Love Me ’Til I’m Beautiful, featured drums by Korn’s Ray Luzier. Ray praised Brocarde’s unique vocal style, and was enthralled by her ability to capture extreme sweetness and mass aggression in her voice. He described her writing as a dynamic, theatrical adventure and hailed her as a future star. As someone who’s hugely motivated by the creative process, Brocarde is truly alive when creating – she’s been quoted as crediting song writing as the thing that got her through some of her darkest, most chaotic moments. As an adolescent, she struggled with fitting in and finding her place in the world, so she used to hide in the woods at school and write lyrics and poems to escape to an alternative dimension. As an adult, the skill still serves her as an outlet for her deepest, darkest, unspoken thoughts.
Influences/sound?
I’m mostly influenced by my passion for storytelling and the power of unspoken nightmares. I love song writing and lyrics, for me there’s no genre I won’t slide across in my quest to take the listener inside my mind. Horror movies inspire me, Tim Burton style visual and mental explorations into the abyss. I wanted my music to capture my own heart, its deeply personal, orchestral metal But there’s a burning intensity to it, like I’m bleeding the lyrics, I think passion is underrated. Playing it
cool, being cool, turns me cold, I need a little theatre for dramatic effect so my music can be quite intense.
Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?
Being alive, the human body is a fascinating thing, to be here still breathing and creating, brings a proud feeling that we often take for granted. I’m hard on myself generally, I don’t celebrate landmarks as I should because I’m trying to keep the train moving. I’m slowly becoming proud of myself I’ve noticed over the last couple of years that I’m really coming into my own and I’m proud of that, I’m proud of the music I create and knowing that the sound is intrinsically my vision and voice. I’m so proud of my upcoming album it’s the storybook of my life.
What does the future hold for BROCARDE?
The future isn’t ours to predict, and my fortune is not one I want to read. If life has taught me anything it’s prepare for the unexpected, realistically speaking I want to take over the world, creatively, not in an evil dictator role. Weirdly even speaking of my aspirations somehow limits them in my mind, I wouldn’t mind my own rollercoaster, as long as it had multiple loops and an outer worldly allure . I’d also love to write an album on mars, I’d even embrace alien lifeforms as backing singing if they had a nice dulcet tones. Follow my journey on Brocarde.com to see if I make these dreams come true.
Photo Credit: Press Supplied
OUR NORTH
Who are you?
We’re OUR NORTH, mixing metal with trap and hip hop elements together.
Roll Call?
Dan - clean vocals
Sam - screams
Chris Hepworth - bass
Jonny - drums
Chris Harrison - guitar
Joshua - guitar
Hailing from?
So we are a Sheffield South Yorkshire band in the UK. Most of us are from around that area. Dan, Jonny and Joshua are from Barnsley/ Sheffield, Chris Harrison is from Wakefield so just outside the South Yorkshire area making that West Yorkshire, Chris Hepworth is from Sheffield and Sam is the black sheep of the group, he’s from down south in Essex
Journey so far?
Our journey kicked off back in 2019. Dan and the two Chris’s used to be in another band, but they split up due to some musical differences.
We ended up finding the rest of the guys online. Sam was the first we auditioned
met him in a studio in Sheffield and were instantly blown away. He smashed it, so we got him in the band straight away. A few months later, we auditioned Jonny, liked what we heard, and brought him on board too.
Towards the end of 2019, we started working on our first EP, “Before we leave, we come to life”. We were beginning to bring in some hip hop vibes, though not as much as we do now. That was always the plan, but then COVID hit and kind of messed everything up. We couldn’t fully bring the idea to life with all the restrictions, and in the end, we weren’t feeling the direction it was going — so we scrapped it.
After that, we started working on what became our latest release, “Everyone for themselves”. We’re honestly buzzing with how it turned out and really grateful for the response it’s had these past few months.
Influences/sound?
We’re into a mix of hip hop, trap, and metal. On the hip hop/trap side, we vibe with artists like Post Malone, Yelawolf, Eminem, Token, NF, and loads more….
For the metal side, it’s bands like While She Sleeps, Bring Me the Horizon, Wage War, Architects, Northlane, the more melodic side of heavy.
Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?
We played Clarence unleashed which is a festival in the UK, that was a pretty big show for us, I think as a band the proudest moment is all the love we’ve been getting on the release of our latest EP, we’ve just hit over a 1000 listeners a month on spotify which is pretty cool
What does the future hold for OUR NORTH?
We wanna move onto bigger and better things, bigger shows, more listeners and we’re in the process of writing the next release, maybe another EP or our debut album? Watch this space….
The Violent Hour
The Hour is Now Interview with Carla Harvey
The Violent Hour is the latest project from former Butcher Babies vocalist Carla Harvey. The group recently released “Hell or Hollywood,” the brand new single from her new EP, which features guitarist Zakk Wylde.
Carla has had a successful 2025 thus far. “It’s been one of the most exciting years of my life, to be honest with you,” proclaims Carla. “2024 started out a little bit dark, before the rest of the world knew about Butcher Babies, I knew that I wasn’t going to be rejoining them on any tours, etc. So that was a moment of grief - a period of what am I going to do next? I’m an adaptable person, so I had to turn that moment into a new life.”
Carla continues: “After that happened, Charlie and I started writing new music, and then by the time 2025 rolled around, I was in the studio, and I had also joined Lords of Acid. And so, I feel like when one door closed, a couple more opened and life got really exciting.”
The artist’s recent single is an ode to her move to Los Angeles at a young age. “Gosh, that song is one of my favourites on the new EP because it really is an ode to a young 19-year-old Carla that got in her car and drove across the country to try and play music and see what she could do with her life,” explains Carla. “I moved from Detroit to Hollywood at a really young age, and the song is totally autobiographical, just about my experience of moving to LA when you’re a young kid from the Midwest. It’s a crazy experience and there’s lots of pitfalls but also lots of pleasures and lots of cool things that happen when you’re a kid trying to make it on your own.”
The sound on the track is perhaps different from what you would expect from the ex-Butcher Babies vocalist. The song draws on Carla’s classic rock influences, citing acts like Guns N’ Roses and Aer-
osmith as sources of inspiration for the song. “Growing up in Detroit, you are annihilated with classic rock, southern rock, and I always really, really loved Aerosmith. And Guns N’ Roses, which were hugely influenced by Aerosmith, were the first band that I really loved, the first band that made me want to be a musician, and really indulge in music,” explains Carla. “And so, I wanted to, again, be true to my really authentic self, my 16-year-old self that loved this stuff. And Charlie, of course, being together with me for 10 years at this point, he knows my earliest influences. And so, he was really helpful in that he knew, because he wrote every single song on my album musically, and he knew my influences, and he really used them to write these songs that I could have a great time with.”
The EP features several guest appearances from some of Carla’s musical friends. “It’s pretty awesome to have John Five on one track, and Zakk Wylde on another,” explains Carla. “I toured with Zakk multiple times. Butcher Babies did tour with Black Label Society, and he was always super kind to us. And of course, now he works with Charlie and Pantera. So he was happy to do it. And I mean, the first time I heard the solo, I was just blown away. I’m like, I couldn’t believe, just like the John Five solo on Sick Ones, I could not believe that it was on my song. How exciting is that?”
Charlie Benate wrote the project’s music and played all of the instruments on the EP. But what was it like working together with Charlie on this project? “It was really great to work together in that capacity. We had worked together a little bit on music during the pandemic. And, I’m very aware that he’s a prolific songwriter,” said Carla. “I always say, 99% of the day, he’s just he’s my fiance, but he is a prolific writer. So if he’s right there next to me 24 hours a day, what
better person to write with? And it’s a very intimate experience to work with someone on music that you love and that you admire. And again, he knows me better than anyone else does. He knows what I love. And, so he was the perfect person to write with.”
With their new EP in the bag, does The Violent Hour have any plans to tour? “We’ve got a couple of shows coming up. I’ve got a band in rehearsals, which I’m really excited about. And we’ve got shows coming up in September with Buckcherry and Michael Monroe,” confirms Carla. “We’ve got a couple at the Whiskey, which is completely full circle and really cool for me, to play a couple of shows that are, of course, going to be sold out with Buck Cherry on the strip for the Violent Hours.”
Beyond the EP release, how does the rest of the year look for Carla Harvey and The Violent Hour? “I’ve got the string of shows with Buckcherry, which I’m really excited about,” she says. “I’ll write some more Violent Hour music. I get to take a little bit of time off because I’m getting married, which is exciting. And then we’ll hit it hard in 26 and take the show on the road.”
The self-titled EP from The Violent Hour is out now via Megaforce Records.
Words by Adam Kennedy
Photo Credit: Lynn Yati
LUKE MORLEY
HERE COMES THE THUNDER
Known to many as the lead guitarist, songwriter and producer for British rock legends Thunder, Luke has been a key part of the band’s success over the last 35 years.
Walking On Water is Luke’s third solo album, following last year’s Songs from The Blue Room, which saw impressive chart success, including hitting #1 on the Official Indie Breaker Albums Chart.
Written and recorded during Thunder’s current hiatus while frontman Danny Bowes continues his recovery from a stroke suffered in 2022, it’s a record that might not have happened otherwise.
The year so far has been busy for the esteemed artist. “The album has been taking up a lot of my time, because it’s just me doing it, there’s no label or anything this time. So, on the admin side, I’m sure you will appreciate that there’s quite a lot to do. But it’s been good, it’s been taking up a lot of my time. I’ve been writing and doing what I usually do, really,” said Luke.
The success of the artist’s last album, Songs from the Blue Room, gave Luke confidence that he was on the right path. “It made the decision about whether I did it again a bit easier. So, this time it’s a bit more of a coordinated campaign. Last time I put the album out, and then touring was an afterthought, whereas this time it’s one campaign. It’s a bit better organised than it was last time,” said Luke. “The last one went so well, I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better, really, and if this one is half as well received, I’ll be delighted.”
Luke self-produced his new album. But was this something which the artist enjoyed? “Well, I’m a control freak, Adam. So, I like to be in charge of recording when I’m recording, especially if it’s a song that I’ve written,” said Luke. “A lot of the time, when some people write, they’ll write the music, write the lyrics, whatever, and
they’ll record it and they’ll kind of make a demo and they’ll leave it there. But it doesn’t work that way for me because obviously, recording fascinates me and how things are put together. So, one of the advantages of having a home studio is that you can build it up layer by layer. There’s no time pressure. So, I tend to write with the big picture in mind, and how it’s going to look at the end.”
With Thunder currently on the back burner, some of the artist’s rockier influences came to the surface when writing his latest solo album. “Not having written a Thunder album for three years, that rockier end of what I do is inevitable, I guess. The only difference, of course, is that it’s for my voice and not for Danny’s. So some of the keys might have been a little higher had they been recorded with Thunder,” said Luke. “But I think the great joy of making solo records is that I don’t think there’s any kind of expectation. It gives you a little bit more room to move in different directions because it’s not a band thing or a trademark associated with a band like Thunder, AC/DC or whatever. So, I do enjoy that freedom to be able to go from rock to country or a little gentle acoustic ballad. So, it’s nice to be able to do that as a songwriter.”
Luke Morley will shortly hit the road across the UK in support of his latest album. “It’s always the same when you make a record. You want the record to come out, it comes out, people react to it, but it’s only really when you get in front of an audience that you can see a visceral effect, hopefully, that the songs have,” said Luke. “It’s a really good band. I’ve managed to talk a lot of really talented musicians into doing it with me. So yeah, it’s great.” He adds, “I love the whole thing. I mean, it’s what I’ve done all my professional life, and I’ve not done it as much in recent years. I mean, Thunder toured less and less, because we tend to play bigger places and do fewer shows rather than do smaller
shows and lots of them.”
For Luke Morley, the rest of 2025 looks to be spent on the road promoting the new album. “The album comes out August 1st. Then it all starts on September 10th, I think it is. So that kind of takes me pretty much to mid to the end of September. In October, I’m going to have a few weeks off.” said Luke. “I’ve got a couple of charity gigs going on as well in November, and then, oh, crikey, December, I’ll probably start writing again. And I’m not quite sure what even for.”
Luke concludes: “I’m looking at next year, to find somebody to work with from a production point of view, because I like to make an album a year with another artist if I can. So yeah, there are a couple of people I’m talking to about that at the moment. Nothing’s confirmed yet. But we’ll see. So, I’d like to do that early in the year if I can. And yeah, and a bit of writing and then we’ll see where we end up.”
Walking on Water, the new album from Luke Morley is out now.
Words & Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy
GLENN HUGHES PERFORMING SONGS FROM HIS ICONIC SOLO CAREER AND MUSIC FROM BANDS SUCH AS TRAPEZE · DEEP PURPLE HUGHES/THRALL · IOMMI/HUGHES BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION AND MORE... ! PLUS
BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY PORTSMOUTH GUILDHALL WOLVERHAMPTON KK’S STEEL MILL LONDON O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE MANCHESTER O2 RITZ NEWCASTLE BOILER SHOP
REVIEWSLive
THE
BLACK KEYS MILLENNIUM SQUARE, LEEDS
A beautiful summer’s night ushered in the arrival of USbased outfit The Black Keys for an outstanding evening of live music in the heart of Leeds city centre.
The dynamic duo descended upon Millennium Square where a huge crowd gathered for the show. Indie superstar Miles Kane and rising talent Alex Spencer provided the perfect precursor to the headliners.
Kane announced that he had always been a fan of The Black Keys and even recently teamed up with the band’s Dan Auerbach, who assisted Miles on production duties on his new album. Fan favourites such as Inhaler and Come Closer won over the massive crowd in attendance early in the evening.
Grammy-winning rock duo The Black Keys are preparing to release their 13th studio album, No Rain, No Flowers, on August 8th. The band has been teasing the album with a string of singles in the run-up to its grand unveiling.
However, new album aside, one thing that The Black Keys have in spades is an arsenal of crowd-pleasing anthems. Hits from the band’s vast repertoire have propelled the group into the premier league of rock outfits.
Arriving on stage to a hero’s welcome, drummer Patrick Carney sat behind his colossal drum kit at the front of the stage, with Dan taking his position nearby. Quite frequently Auerbach joined the sticks man on the drum riser.
At the top of the set, the hits came in thick and fast with
the likes of Gold On The Ceiling and Fever featuring. And whilst, there wasn’t a lot of chit chat between songs, early in the show Dan addressed the audience with Leeds how are you feeling – and there were resounding cheers from the Yorkshire audience. The Black Keys may be a band of few words, but they certainly let their music do the talking.
The beauty of The Black Keys’ sound is that it’s rooted in the Hill Country Blues. And songs like I Got Mine and a jammed out airing of Everlasting Light were a testament to the band’s roots. And whilst the group’s set was full of classics and anthems, the band’s latest output proved to pack just as much of a punch. Recent single Man on a Mission was dedicated to Miles Kane. Title track No Rain, No Flowers may showcase more of a contemporary side to the band’s repertoire and feels as though it is a classic in the making. The single is destined to be a staple in the band’s setlist going forward. The song has more hooks than a fishing tackle shop.
The band really spread out during their take on Canned Heat’s On The Road Again. Auerbach’s guitar tone was simply sublime throughout.
The final stages of the set, featured back-to-back fan favourites. The unmistakable riff and heavy rhythm of Howlin’ For You had the crowd singing along to their heart’s content. Whilst She’s Long Gone provided an explosive conclusion to the main set.
There was only ever going to be one way to end the show and that was via Lonely Boy, and it did not disappoint. On Tuesday night in Leeds, The Black Keys left their fans with anything but a case of the blues.
Words & Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy
LITA FORD / VIXEN / CHEZ KANE
KK’S STEEL MILL, WOLVERHAMPTON
Sharing the stage for a sunny (and very sweaty!) Saturday evening was three powerhouse groups of some of the most formidable ladies in rock; Welsh wonder Chez Kane, 80s icons Vixen and the oh-so glamorous, Lita Ford.
KK’s Steel Mill has become one of the main go-to music venues within the West Midlands, and as the crowd grew rapidly across the evening, the atmosphere became intoxicating. First up was Chez Kane, a powerhouse pocket rocket with a voice that could fill a stadium. As Kane and her band erupted onto the stage, you felt transported back to the 80s hair metal scene with a show pulsating an infectious energy! The entire set felt like a party that certainly got everyone pumped for what would turn out to be an iconic evening.
As the crowd continued to bulk out, Vixen took to the stage with Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’ as their intro, before bursting into ‘Rev It Up’ which was a perfect choice to open with. Each member fled onto the stage setting the bar for a consistent level of ballsy energy and mesmerising talent for their set, playing a number of crowd-pleasers such as ‘How Much Is Love’, ‘Streets in Paradise’ and ‘Edge of a Broken Heart’, alongside a multitrack which intertwined a Black Sabbath cover. This set was nothing short of a perfect display of masterful musicians and pure rock n roll!
The third final superstar of the evening was of course the guitar Goddess, Lita Ford, who closed the night with a set full of absolute 80s rock nostalgia. Her slot included a number of covers such as Elton John’s ‘The Bitch is Back’ of which Ford introduced by saying “Do we have any bitches in the audience tonight? Alright baby this one’s for you“,
followed by Alice Cooper’s ‘Only Women Bleed’ and even the Sex Pistols’ ‘Black Leather’, as well as a exploration of Ford’s own portfolio from her 50 years in the bizz! With tracks such as ‘Living Like a Runaway’, ‘Playin With Fire’ and ‘Kiss Me Deadly’, Ford even said “jam out a little bit” to an already lively crowd, before going straight into ‘Back to the Cave’.
Ford saved a number of treats and surprises to showcase later in her set, including bringing Chez Kane and Vixen back on stage to do an exceptional performance of The Runaways iconic anthem, ‘Cherry Bomb’. There was not one single person in that audience that didn’t sing or dance along to this remarkable supergroup presentation. However, the real stand out and prominent moment of the evening was right before she said her goodbyes, when Lita gave the spotlight to the late heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, who had passed away just 24 hours before. Performing her collaboration track with the Prince of Darkness ‘Close My Eyes Forever’, a photo of Osbourne was placed across the back screen as torches were held up and ‘Ozzy’ was chanted throughout the crowd, with Lita’s saying “keep them coming!”. Silence then struck the audience as the song started with Ford’s guitarist, Patrick Kennison, singing Ozzy’s part and truly did the song justice. A moment I think all metalheads will treasure with not one dry eye in the building.
Overall, this was a total treat of an evening and certainly one of those gigs that will be remembered and reminisced for years to come.
A triple threat line-up, and a fierce Girls Night Out!
Words by Charlotte Hooper
Photo Credit: Jude - Lightfire Media
SNOT
KK’S STEEL MILL, WOLVERHAMPTON
Santa Barbara’s very own hardcore heroes SNOT shook the walls of KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton for the closing night of the UK run of their tour, performing their debut album ‘Get Some’ in its entirety. With a legacy lasting over three decades, this performance confirmed their title of being one of the driving forces within the late 90s numetal scene with a set of utter mayhem.
First on was support artists The Fear who set the bar with an incredible performance, after bounding onto the stage stating “we’ve been sent to f*ck s*it up” - to which the room erupted as the first circle pit of the night commenced. Opening with ‘The End is The Start’ we knew we were gearing up for a set filled with heavy riffs, relentless pace and absolute high energy. The UK rockers even performed a very impressive, unique cover of James’ ‘Sit Down’ which created an infectious sing-along amongst a raucous crowd. The perfect opener to compliment a night of pandemonium.
Next up was the main act of the night, the boisterous lads of SNOT. The atmosphere was total carnage with the crowd matching Andy Knapp’s vocal level, turning everything up to 11. The band’s gratitude was projected when Knapp reached out to everyone saying, “thank you so much for being here with us tonight - let’s get a little crazy, let’s get a little loud, let’s get a little Stoopid!” before heading into their iconic single ‘Stoopid’.
The entire night oozed anarchy with the crowd doing some of the most ferocious circle pits, crowd-surfs and head-banging I’ve seen in some time (a special shout-out to the security who certainly put their shift in for this gig!). Some particular crowd pleasers included ‘Joy Ride’, ‘Snooze Button’ and ‘My Balls’. However, it wouldn’t be a true homage to SNOT’s debut and the legacy it has created without giving a special mention to their original lead singer, the late Lynn Strait, with founding guitarist Doling taking to the microphone stating “My name is Mikey, it’s nice to meet you - every gig we play is for Lynn. Scream for him now”. With zero hesitation, the audience did not disappoint with their response as the claps and cheers rippled throughout the masses.
Once the album play through was complete, the band humbly exited the stage only to return shortly after by popular demand of the crowd, who screamed an earpiercing chant of ‘SNOT’. Their encore started with a cover as iconic as their debut, with a version of Black Sabbath in memory of the Prince of Darkness, which felt perfectly suited being so close to Ozzy’s hometown. A pinpoint moment before closing the night with the monstrous, ‘Absent’.
Crowd-surfing, circle pits and total chaos. A sweaty treat of a night for all 90s nu-metal fans.
Words by Charlotte Hooper
Photo Credit: Jude - Lightfire Media
(THE) MELVINS
XOYO, BIRMINGHAM
Montesano’s grunge-metal maestros (the) Melvins are commonly known for their unique fusion of alternative genres, making them legends in the hierarchy of rock music. Returning to Birmingham after 2 years, this was an appearance that solidified exactly why they are such an influential act across the hardcore scene.
Redd Kross had the important role of psyching-up the crowd for the evening and they were perhaps one of the best support bands I’ve seen live. They explore a perfect blend of punk, glam and garage rock, mastering their style and sound since the early ’80s. Their hour-long slot included some of their iconic singles such as ‘Uglier ‘, ‘Lady In The Front Row’ and ‘Switchblade Sister’, as well as a cover of The Beatles’ ‘It Won’t Be Long’, plus an insight to their latest long-play self-titled vinyl record, with tracks ‘Stunt Queen’ and ‘Candy Coloured Catastrophe’. A delight to see live and a band who held absolute charisma from start-to-finish. From their fashion, execution and stage charm, this quartet were nothing short of entertaining with pure rock n roll character.
Bassist Steven McDonald put in a double-shift across the evening as he performed in both bands, and with his infectious smile and contagious energy, his unquestionable talent and efforts did not go unnoticed. As the lights dimmed and an image of Agnes Moorehead in her Bewitched Endora era emerged across the back
screen, we heard the iconic distorted sound of ‘Working the Ditch’ erupt as Buzz Osbourne graced the stage. With double the drums, this was an exceptional performance that truly demonstrated how timeless the sound of (the) Melvins really is.
They of course played some of their anthems including ‘Your Blessened,’ ‘Honey Bucket’, ‘A History of Bad Men’ and ‘Revolve’ alongside other classics from their repertoire of the last 4 decades. Their signature distorted sound, chugging riffs, conflicting time signature combinations and bold presence displayed an endearing and fierce performance that certainly cemented a nostalgic moment for metal-grunge fans of generations.
On a side note, this was my first time experiencing XOYO and I couldn’t think of anywhere else within Birmingham that would have been a better fit for this dynamic duo of a line-up. With a capacity of 800, a rooftop terrace, a rustic feel and a multi-level layout, the atmosphere was a key component to the overall vibe and essence of the evening.
A night of metal-infused, sludge-chugged, punk-driven, grungy-goodness.
Their ‘Stop Your Whining Tour’ consisted of a short run of dates across the UK and continues across America for the rest of 2025.
Words by Charlotte Hooper
Photo Credit: Pete Key
INGLORIOUS
KK’S STEEL MILL, WOLVERHAMPTON
Following 3 years out of the spotlight, the guys of Inglorious are back and stronger than ever! The revised line up now consists of renowned lead vocalist and founding member Nathan James, the return of original bassist Colin Parkinson, as well as the exceptional latest additions to the band, Henry Rogers on drums & percussion and Richard Shaw on guitar. With a packedout crowd at KK’s Steel Mill this was a highly anticipated performance that left no one disappointed.
Opening for the evening were Marisa and The Moths who have become a prominent band throughout the rock circuit as ones-to-look-out-for, for quite some time. The band gave a tremendous performance with tracks such as ‘Get It Off My Chest’ and ‘Shout’, with Marisa’s highpowered vocals, Liam’s immense bass runs, Alex’s slick drums, Alez’s killer guitar riffs and an entire band full of dynamism. A solid choice of support.
As Nathan, Colin, Henry and Richard took to the stage, the roar from the audience resonated throughout the venue, giving the band a warm and well-deserved welcome. Straight away Nathan unveiled his natural flare of engaging showmanship as they opened with the first track from their newly released album ‘V’, Testify – an anthem full of power and punch. This certainly set the tone for what would become a phenomenal evening.
The audience reciprocated the high-energy pace from the band from start to finish, with their mixture of blistering cheers and strong sing-along efforts. The set was a well-
rounded and thought through combination of songs from every album in their catalogue, with tracks such as ‘Takin’ The Blame’, ‘She Won’t Let You Go’, ‘Read All About It’, ‘Holy Water’ and ‘Unaware’. Nathan appeared extremely humbled and thankful for the support of the audience, which consisted of fans both new and long-standing. Later on in the set, Nathan and Colin performed acoustic numbers ‘Bleed for You’ and ‘Glory Days’, displaying a sense of vulnerability to the crowd who were in awe of the duo’s captivating renditions.
It’s of no surprise that Nathan’s voice throughout showed effortless transitions of his impeccable range, accompanied with Colin’s superb and powerful bass work. Putting the spotlight onto the two latest additions to the band, Richard’s shreds were masterful, intricate and fiery (alongside his exceptional headbanging!), whilst Henry’s drumming demonstrated an incredible dynamic of skill, exploring exceptional fills, fierce variations and punchy grooves – a pure paramount performance.
There is no denying the sheer talent from each member of this exquisite line up, and how they effortlessly complement one another. Their musicianship is second to none and they not only demonstrate a solid connection as a group - but also a tight, distinctive and bold sound. A mighty return and refreshing new chapter for the renewed, refined and revitalised Inglorious. Pure electric.
‘V’ is available to stream through all platforms now and is also available to purchase through their official website.
Words by Charlotte Hooper
Photo Credit: Pete Key & Jude - Lightfire Media
Celebrating 25 years of Download Festival at the sacred grounds of Donington Park, Hard Rock Hell Radio’s very own Charlotte Hooper caught up with some of the bands backstage on this year’s bill to talk about plans for 2025, new releases, collaborations and how it feels to be performing at such an iconic rock festival that marks a pinnacle point each year on everyone’s calendar!
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
Charlotte: Welcome back to Donington!
This year as a whole is a pretty big year for you guys. Not only are you on the main stage later today, but this year also marks 20 years since your debut album the Poison. So will you be celebrating that at all during your set later on?
Jamie: Yeah. So basically all year since January, we’ve been on The Poison Anniversary tour. It’s been amazing to celebrate the debut album, playing it and we’ve obviously taken it across America last month in May and we done a few festivals in America and we was like, do we play the album? Or do we just do we just do like a poison heavy set and add some songs in? But we ended up playing the album and we were just like, you know what? Let’s just do it. Let’s just do it all through June as well. So it’s gonna be, yeah, the poison album tonight with a few extras at the end.
C: So Few added bonuses.
J: Few added bonuses, yeah.
C: You started this year with a co-headline arena tour with Trivium, which is a dream combination for any metalhead. So how did that combination of a tour occur?
J: It was obviously well, like I said we are celebrating the 20 years of The Poison and Trivium is celebrating 20 years of Ascendancy, so it’s a no brainer. Two I think
very important albums in the last 20 years and it’s something about that 2005 era where like you said Bullet, Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, those type of bands, they made a massive impact in the scene and they’re important albums for both bands and it just made sent makes sense to do. It was a blast, really good.
C: What would you say was your favourite part about touring the Trivium?
J: They’re great guys. For me, I’m a fan of Ascendancy and to hear that every night was was amazing. [we] got along great with them. Me and Heafy were doing jiu jitsu in the days. So he’s waking up doing jiu jitsu and then, obviously, playing the albums then in the night. So, yeah, it was just great all round.
C: Over the last two decades, we’ve had seven albums from you guys. Does your method of writing stay consistent piecing together new material, or do you purposely try to challenge yourself for each one?
J: I think it’s important, we the band have challenged ourselves on each album. It’s like [we] can’t keep creating the same album over and over again. Especially for us its fresh as well when we challenge ourselves, it just keeps it fresh. So we’ve got a few ideas for the next album, which is gonna be released next year. Still early days, but, it’s different again. It’s not different as in, totally different style, but for us, it is again, we’re challenging ourselves. So it’s exciting. And we can’t wait. It’s gonna be very interesting. C: It sounds it!
C: What would you say is the biggest thing that you’ve used as a learning curve or a point of reflection since your debut?
J: That’s a good question. I think it just comes with, just being in in the business for over those years touring, releasing albums, and you just kinda learn from more things, mistakes that you’ve done, similar to anything really. I think that’s what it is. I guess, just maturing as a band. Each album you do, challenge yourself. Just try to better yourself and we just wanna keep stepping up, and I think we’re gonna definitely achieve that with this next album and like I said, tonight, we’re on just before Kornthe headliner and, it’d be awesome for one year they invite us back and we can we can be at that top slot and headline and show everyone what we can do. Be the dream
doing that.
C: This anniversary has obviously sparked ideas for some new music. So what can what can you tell me about this upcoming album? I know that it’s not until next year, but what what little secrets can you tell me about?
J: Yes. We got a few demos knocking about. It’s different as in, we’re exploring with different tunings, a lot of stuff is in a heavier tuning, which is good because, like you said, you’re not revisiting the same old pattern and the same things, especially when you’re writing a song. Different tunings have sparked different melodies and stuff. So that’s what’s going on at the moment, it’s gonna be heavy, melodic, and I know every band kinda says the same thing, but I think it’s gonna be really exciting times. So, yeah, can’t wait.
C: After today’s show at Download, you’ve got a few European appearances. What else can we look forward to for the rest of this year?
J: So, obviously, next week we’re doing Grasspop, few European festivals, which is which is amazing, and then we go into the studio and crack on with writing, making for the next album, there’s some talks, maybe doing some stuff towards the end of the year, but, we’ll see if that comes into place. And then, next year it’s concentrate on the new album release and then get back out there and do it all again.
C: And before you set tonight, do you are you gonna have a chance to go and see anyone?
J: Just walked out now with my family and we aw Jinjer and they sounded good, we actually toured with them about two years ago. They’re a great band. Great, great people. Obviously, we’re doing some interviews now. We’re gonna chill out, play the show, and then watch Korn tonight. So very excited for that.
C: And you’ve got Jesse here as well for Father’s Day
J: Yeah. It’s [a] great Father’s Day. He’s gonna come out and rock with us and yeah. Watch Korn.
C: Well, I wish you all the best of luck for the rest of this year, and I can’t wait to hear that the new album!
J: Thank you!
APOCALYPTICA
Charlotte: Welcome back to Donington, this is your fifth time playing, I believe! Pertuu: I think so. There has been many! I heard that it was the very first Download in this form that we already were there in the first day and first year, and, of course, you start to think that, oh, we kind of have been existing for a while already. I feel like that same young guy who had the passion to play metal music with our instruments, but then you all of a sudden realize that, oh, thirty years has passed.
C: Well, just talking about that…next year, of course, marks thirty years since, the release of your Plays Metallica album, and last year, you released the volume two for it as well. What encouraged you to release the second volume, and how was it different to construct from the first one?
P: Actually, for ourselves, we kinda always knew that we want to make the second version because, there were still so many favourite Metallica tracks that we never made arrangements of. So it has been in our minds for twenty years. But after the couple of first moves, we went strongly to our own material to become like a real band at least in our eyes. But it kinda felt correct at this moment, there were COVIDs, there were very strange times all over, and we felt that leading to our 30th anniversary, we could actually now dive to this music back again. We had a celebration tour already, I think 2017/2018, we played Metallica concept shows, and they were very highly demanded. People love to hear it. So, of course, there’s always this aspect, and then you think that, okay, we do, let’s say, 30 shows in Europe and then another 30 in states, and that’s it. But I think we’re gonna tour with this maybe for like 200 shows and it lasts still until the end of next year. So kinda two and a half year tour, but that’s great. I actually mentioned that, I feel with this music, I feel kind of the same sparkle that what we had when we were teenagers, and it is something extremely nice to feel when you are closer to 50, you know? So having that passion of the teenagers,
but maybe quite a bit more experience in what we do, we learned about how to use cellos much more during with all the albums, all this touring, and you asked about the difference. I think the initial idea of Apocalytica to play Metallica is the same, but also how we make arrangements, everything is evolved and developed. Sound is also much more modern. So it is basically like the silly boys, but now with the mature attitude and skills.
C: You mentioned earlier as well about the fact that you’ve released volume two because there were other Metallica tracks that you wanted to interpret. So what was the decision making process of picking these particular songs across both volumes?
P: Couple of them were really, really clear. For example, Ride the Lightning and Black, they have been my all time favourite tracks. So I started to make arrangements from those naturally. But then when it came to [the] rest of that, me and Elcca especially, we listened the entire Metallica back catalogue, and I mean, absolutely everything several times in order to find songs - you might have, like, a wonderful Metallica track, but it just doesn’t work when you take the lyrics.. It’s actually pretty challenging to create those themes only with instrumental version. So often you need to have other kind of aspects, harmonical things that you can you feel like you can add there, make the song kinda new, but still respecting the original masterpieces. So it was a fashion, and I think that in total, we probably made 20 to 30 arrangements. And out of those, these that ended up now work the best and I’m all the time laughing openly that there are still couple of ones that I could not include in here. So maybe. Who knows?
C: Who Knows! There might be a volume three.
P: Yeah. Or at least in the live shows, we might take something else at some point. But the importance of Metallica for us is, of course, they are the reason why we are here. They also have been really, really supportive towards us throughout the career. So it’s an amazing thing to kinda see where you end up, or I still want to end up elsewhere also but I mean, until now to realize that we have been fortunate to be able to work with incredible people in this business, amazing vocalists, not only Metallica guys, but like all In amongst the Corey Taylor’s that Apocalyptica seems to be in a way we are so different probably to a normal band that we are interesting project to actually feature, and because we don’t have that regular own singer, it also gives us all that space to fool around with the greatest people on earth.
C: A bit of freedom with it.
P: Exactly
C: You mentioned some of the collaborations that you’ve had over the years. Who have been some of the standouts or some of the highlights?
P: Well, of course, actually, the two guys that I already mentioned, Rammstein’s importance is as well, like, is absolutely one of my favourite bands of all time. So Lindemann is a amazing performer, and we made the David Bowie song heroes in German called Helden with him, and it’s fantastic. So if you don’t actually know, it’s a good tip to listen from Apocalyptica repertoire featuring Till Lindemann. But Corey Taylor, I never can stop praising how unbelievable he is as a vocal talent. Not only shouting, but his tonal singing, so powerful and it’s an insanely cool track - I’m not Jesus. Then we have played with incredible women, Simone Simons and all those, amazing people. We are fortunate to have so many friends, I guess.
C: You’re playing the dog tooth stage later today as well. So are there any little treats that we can look forward to? What can people expect from your set?
P: I would guess that or no, this is not a guess, I know that we will give absolutely everything with what we have left for here and luckily, this is the last show of this weekend, so we don’t need to be scared of something saving energy for tomorrow. But I’m expecting it to be a hot and a really, really powerful show. Our Metallica set works so well in festivals. People are seemingly enjoying, laughing, singing loud. So it’s kind of an interactive thing. I always laugh that we must be one of the more popular, Karaoke bands. That you go to places and people can really be the vocalist themselves. So I expect to have a lot of fun, and we always did here in glorious Download, Donnington.
C: Just before we started the interview, you were saying that you’ve been doing quite a few festivals as well over the last few weeks.
P: Yes actually, this is the second weekend, but the travels have been insane. Like, sometimes when you need to move from place to place, A to B, it means that there is not really, like, two, three hours in a hotel in a night, and then you are again in an airport. So it’s kinda tough. This will be a busy summer. I think we have 25 shows until the August, and a lot of of travel, but it feels so good. We actually now play nearly all biggest, greatest, metal festivals in Europe so it’s a fantastic setup for us, and what else can you ask that than this long lasting career that we still can be here do doing the things that we love. I’m just very, very grateful.
C: And for the rest of 2025 what can we look forward to?
P: Then we are going to The States again with Halestorm, supporting Halestorm in USA arena tour. In the end of the year, we do something like Mexico, and next spring is gonna be more USA, Latin America. Next summer, also festivals. So I don’t really actually know so much that where all we go, but the interesting thing is that I already
started to really think about that what can we do after this cycle. It’s for mental health is actually really, really cool thing to try to start to compose already new things, figure out stuff. It’s, of course, starting slowly. You don’t often have so much energy or time on the tours, but still, it is a refreshing thing to think that what should we do after two years, for example. And I’m sure that we
SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET
Charlotte: Welcome to Download. You’re part of a very exciting new project. So for anyone who doesn’t know, tell me about Seven Hours After Violet, how you evolved and how the idea came about. Morgoth: So Seven Hours After Violet is somewhat of a super group, I suppose you’d say. It’s myself and Josh who played in Winds of Plague, I’m a producer of multigenres and different accolades, and Chavo from System of a Down, Taylor from Left To Suffer, Alejandro Aranda, the superstar, he is from American Idol and Scary Pool Party and it just came about because System wasn’t really releasing music. So Korn, low key Korn, kind of actually, indirectly had something to do with putting this together. I was working with Jonathan Davis on some music with his son and for just some writing sessions with Korn, and they have the same management as System of A Down. So Beno, who owns Velvet Hammer, reached out to me asking if I wanted to make music with Chavo so I was like, yeah, of course, I mean, who doesn’t love System of A Down? So he told Chavo about it and randomly at one of Chavo’s weed lifestyle brand 22Red’s launch party, I was there and I was like, hey, I’m who Beno told you about, so we just got together and started making riffs and it wasn’t planned, it just kind of came together where I was just like, oh, this is sick. That’s the basic gist of it. Then we made a bunch of music. I brought Josh in to play drums on it. I was producing Taylor’s album for the Left To Suffer and Alejandro was a guest spot on it and we were all big fans of Alejandro’s music. So them two on the Left To Suffer
still have several tricks that we did not find yet, and we always did. With every single album for us, it feels like we kinda found new flavours, new reason to do this and the constant need of searching has been probably the biggest motivator and a big flame to drive us forward. That we still I think, it comes from the instrument. Nobody basically did this before us, and we always
songs, I was like, this should be our vocal combo, and I brought it to Chavo and Chavo loved it.
C: So you released your self-titled debut album last year, talk Me through the production and creative process of putting this piece together.
M: Well, making the album was, like I said, it was spontaneous. Me and him [Chavo] just started making songs together and then I would bring Josh in to play drums, and after we had like a lot of music, we were kind of like looking for a vocalist, figuring out exactly what that was going to look like. It kind of unfolded as we were making it. It got more serious as we made songs and we were like oh, we legitimately love this. So, once I was doing the Left To Suffer album and I realized Taylor was a great singer and also one of the best heavy vocalists I’ve ever recorded or had the pleasure of working with and then also having Alejandro in it, who’s just the best singer I know, one of the best guitar players I know, we just kind of put that together and Josh, we brought him along pretty early.
Josh: Yeah, I mean, making the record mainly was just like him and Chavo sitting down, writing riffs together and then I came about and just kind of gave it more of a real drummer feel because it was all just like a basis program beat for a skeleton and then I came on electronic hit and kind of gave it more feel, more alive drummer, you know, real. But it’s still weird to me [that] the album’s been out a year because it doesn’t feel like it. But we’ve been working on it him, I, myself, and Chavo really got the bare bones of it down, and then we brought Taylor and Alejandro and it just brought it totally to life. So it was fun. It was a fun situation because I didn’t see it being so crazy as it is now. You know what I mean? The music definitely came to life for me after we got our both our vocalists. But, he’s the guy [Morgath] for a lot of that producing stuff. He makes amazing music. He works with amazing artists. So we’re in good hands already.
C: So you mentioned earlier as well that obviously you’ve all got your own individual projects outside of this. So did you find working together different to any of those other projects, or was it just natural?
just had to find and expand the borders of cello, rock metal, whatever that thing is. Whatever you want to call it.
C: Well, all the best of luck with your set later and for the rest of 2025.
P: And thank you very much as well for your time, likewise.
M: It was pretty natural for the most part. We all have our own kind of way of doing things, but Taylor and Alejandro both are very competent songwriters, and there is
just kind of a flow of songwriting, when you’re a songwriter and you’re in the mix, kind of working with songwriters from different genres all the time, you just kind of have a way of going about it. So pretty much we had the music there, and Alejandro stepped in and added some more key stuff on top of the stuff I had done too. But, as far as the songs go, we had the layout of it. So we just kind of sat there and just brainstormed melodies, like, oh, screaming here, singing here, and the way we kind of write is just melody first driven. So Everyone just kind of starts humming melodic ideas and we just kind of see what’s the strongest melody and then kind of put lyrics to whatever melodic thing and kind of start to put the pieces together from there. The album, lyrically just has a lot to do with kind of personal [ideas], it’s song to song basis, and we kind of let the meaning of it unfold as we were writing it. Someone would come up with a lyric to a melody we had and we’d be like, oh, that’s a cool idea. I can relate to that because of this and this and this, you know. So a lot of it has more to do with personal struggles and triumphs and stuff like that. A song like Alive is just kind of about someone trying to suck the life energy out of you and stuff and there’s just variations of that. Each song kind of has its own meaning. We weren’t really too strict about it being some sort of concept album. We just wanted to write the best songs we could.
C: And am I right in saying that you’ve already got a second album in the works?
M: Yeah, well, we definitely overwrote for the first one. So the only way we can make choices on what was making it and what wasn’t was just based on parts that we were like, oh, maybe we should work on this one a little more. So we do have a handful of songs and ideas already going and yeah, we have a handful of new music already.
C: And you guys are playing the Dog Tooth Stage later today as well. Have you got anything else planned for the rest of this year?
M: Yeah, we have some stuff in the books and in the works we’re talking about, as far as new music, more playing, more touring. I can’t say specifically what tours and stuff yet, but it’s become more serious for everyone as we’ve been doing it because the live shows have been going great and everything’s been going great. So all of us are pretty into it now, so [you] definitely can expect to see us around more.
VOWWS
Charlotte: Welcome to Download Festival, guys. You played the Opus stage earlier today. So how has Donnington treated you so far?
Riz: Oh man, everybody is so lovely. As soon as..Yeah, very well, very well. We had a really good time.
Matt: We got into the hotel last night, like really late last night and just this random lady in a reception just started, kind of like gently making fun of me. I just thought that’s the perfect welcome, you know, like it was good natured. It was good. It was great.
C: And that was before the festival started for you?
R: Endearing. Yeah. And everybody at the festival has been awesome. We had like a couple of technical things happen. It’s just festivals, it happens. There’s so much power running around and so much to do. But the stage crew and everybody was really comforting and really not worried about time. They were like, just play your set, don’t worry about it. It was so. It was good, really good experience.
C: So 2025 has been pretty exciting for you guys so far, specifically with your new music. So let’s start with Shudder, which was released just last month. It has some immense guest appearances as well. So talk me through not only those guest appearances, but the idea of this single as well.
R: So the people that worked on it, Billy Howard produced it. He’s a good friend of ours. He’s just so talented and we’re lucky to be in his orbit and he helped us put it together. Josh Freese is a friend of ours. He’s one of the best drummers in the world. The best drummer in Long beach, definitely. And he played on it. And Munky from Korn, all of these guys know each other as well, so it was just all very serendipitous. We’re very lucky that they, you know, believed in it and wanted to be a part of it and give it some legs.
M: But we also kind of felt like Shutter was one of those songs. The first two singles we released were like more like single singles. Like they were just songs in and of
themselves. But Shutter is like, it goes more, different places. So we thought like if we were going to get have any song that would be a collaboration with a couple of different people, that would be the one. So it ended up working really well because there’s room in there for different people.
C: We of course, obviously have the single Hurt as well. So both tracks will be off your new album. So talk me through the construction and the ideas that you’ve got behind the album.
R: I mean, it’s pretty. Goes a lot of different places, which we always have done with albums, sometimes. I mean, earlier on when we were younguns writing, we went probably in too many different places within one song. We’re both quite adventurous, but I think it’s just a nice 11 course meal of lots of different bites of….we’re talking about food, right?
M: Are you hungry?
R: I’m hungry.
M: I think the album didn’t take a while and we had 20 songs written and recorded. And then I was ready to mix it and like, be finished with it, and Riz kept saying, it’s not ready yet, it’s not ready yet. And she’s like the canary in the coal mine for us. If something’s not right, she can’t help herself. She’ll say so. So I was like, oh, my God. All right, so what, we have to do this again? It’s like, well, we don’t have to do it again, but we have to, figure out how to make it, everything it needs to be. Starting to work with Billy was the process because with him we stripped everything back to, only what was really, really, good. But I’m doing that in air quotes because good is subjective, but, you know when a song is everything that it needs to be, right.
R: We exposed the song where, like, we ripped it apart and got rid of anything that wasn’t more like the songs, you know what I mean? Like, or just put it under a microscope in that sense of really being, I mean, Shutter actually, funnily enough, was a completely different sounding song before we revised it. There was too much going on, remember, too many ideas. But we sort of like had to do that. To throw a lot of stuff initially, you know, and then edit yourself later and I think that was the process that we really did put between ourselves. And then again with Billy, we edited again and was like, okay, let’s just strip it back to what’s really potent, you know, and everything else that doesn’t need to be there. Let’s just get rid of that.
C: It’s almost dissecting it to get to the good stuff out.
R: Yeah, yeah. We kept all the major organs and we got rid of… M:….the patient lived!
C: And you guys as well use a lot of visual elements to accompany a lot of your live stuff and your actual physical music as well. So what is it that inspires those elements?
R: We write with pictures in mind. You know, we’ve always enjoyed film and we like movies, artwork. We write from that place.
M: A lot of the time if I’m doing like a musical sketch, a little idea a lot of the time Riz says she knows it’s good if it inspires a music video idea
R: I start seeing pictures in my mind and that’s how I know that there’s something really special going on and vice versa. Sorry, I’m eating candy now. Sorry guys,
C: We were talking about food. It’s on the brain., you’re fine!
C: I’ve heard as well that you’re big horror fans. So what are some of the horror movies that are your all time favorites?
R: Oh man. Like the Exorcist. Basically. When I was a kid, I watched every single horror movie in the video section. Maybe not so modern horror movies. There’s less of them because I think sometimes as a genre it can be like a cheap trick to just jump, scare people. But then there are ones that [are] really like, whoa. But really it’s the sort of classic horror films like the Omen, I seem to gravitate towards the ones where there’s like spirits or evil or like some entity that is quite mysterious. You don’t see it, you don’t know what it is. And that gets your brain really going. It’s sort of Hitchcocky in that way. And like, the weird hippy religious themes and all that sort of stuff gets me pretty excited.
M: Rather than like gory scary.
R: Yeah, gory. I mean, having said that, like I did love watching like the Evil Dead and Nightmare on Elm street
M: That stuffs kind of funny as well.
R: Yeah, it’s not just scary. We don’t like watch A Nightmare on Elm street and be like, let’s write an album. But there’s that sort of weird heaviness... I mean even what was the paranormal activity? Do you remember that? They always do that.The y always are like, oh, let’s make millions and millions more dollars. Like, I get it.
M: Blair Witch was like that too. You don’t see anything, but it’s scary because you don’t see anything.
C: You kind of get in your own head the what could be?
M: Which is such a good thing. Musically, we feel a little bit like that sometimes we don’t say, I feel sad in our music, but we’ll say a bunch of stuff that might cause people to identify with a feeling, you know, demonstrate rather than just say it.
R: Yeah, yeah.
C: That’s such a unique way of approaching it as well. That definitely takes some skill, for sure. In terms of the rest of this year, you’ll be supporting Jerry Cantrell later this week, and you’ve got a big European and UK tour as well, so where can people catch you?
M: Yeah, so we’re playing in London with Jerry at O2 Academy, Kentish Town. We’ll be doing also Moulin Rouge in Paris with him, and we’ll be doing Hellfest, Grasshop, Resurrection Fest, and then we’re about
halfway through a tour. We did a bunch of festivals and a bunch of shows with Jerry, but we’re coming back again in August
R: August, yeah.
M: To do Gunnersbury Park with Smashing Pumpkins. We’re also doing Latitude Festival on the 27th. That’s our first headlining stage there
R: But if you want to find all the details, you can go to vowwsband.com
M: There you go.
C: So we’ve got a new album, we’ve got a big tour, lots of appearances for the rest of this year. Is there anything else thrown into the mix?
M: Got new music that we’re working on, so, you know, people can stay tuned for that. We had a big gap in between, leading up to
DEAD PONY
Charlotte: It’s Friday afternoon here at Download and you guys played the Avalanche stage earlier today, so bring me up to speed. How was your Download debut?
Anna: It was fantastic. Like you said, it’s our first time being here, first time playing, and it was incredible. The stage was absolutely packed, spilling out into the field. So it was incredible.
Blair: Yeah, it was a way, way bigger crowd than I thought we were going to get, so really happy with it.
A: Yeah. And we had like mosh pits from the get go, so.
B: From the get go.
C: And you guys have recently been on tour as well with Don Broco, what were some of the highlights about that and how did that collaboration come around?
A: I think that the highlight for me was probably last night we played in Oxford in the O2 and it was only our second time ever playing in Oxford and the crowd was amazing. It was really good and I don’t know why, I just didn’t think that Oxford was going to bring that energy, but it really did. It was incredible. And I guess it just came
this album, we had a big gap because we were, like, re-examining things and stuff like that. That’s not the case moving forward. Like, we’ve got so much stuff we want to put out
R: A backlog of stuff to do. Yeah, we just did some merch with a designer friend of ours in Japan. His name’s Arashi. Sorry, guys, I’m eating again - these Percy Pigs! I’ve never had a Percy Pig. This is amazing. Yeah, we do a lot of stuff with fashion brands, so there’s always merch collabs and things going on. I do live visuals for a lot of bands, for Deftones as well, and Crosses. And so we’re always busy, we’re always creative, and we’re grateful
M: But you were talking about one in particular
R: John Lawrence Sullivan is the best. He’s a
about like we didn’t really know Don Broco before it was just we got the offer through our agent and, you know, that was it really.
B: It was one of those ones. It was like a gig that totally makes sense. But yeah, it wasn’t like we kind of met him or anything. It was just like it kind of came through our sort of agent or whatever. Like, yeah, just basically Anna said,
A: Yeah. I feel like we kind of live in the same world. Like, we’ve got a lot of mutual friends and things like that. But yeah, we just never had come together before. So, yeah, it was nice to meet them and play some shows with them.
C: So it’s kind of like a natural collaboration. A: Perfect
C: And you guys are known for your relentless touring as well. So last year with your debut album, Ignore This, you had a bunch of great support slots with that as well. So talk me through some of those.
A: Yeah, so last year, while the album was being released, it was like the week before the album was released and then the week after we were on tour with some of our like, really good pals in a band called Kid Kapichi and that was the best way, I think, for us to celebrate the album being released, wasn’t it? It’s one of the best tours that we’ve ever done. We just did UK with them and then after that we basically went to Europe and played a bunch of festivals. But we also supported a band called Against The Current on tour, which was amazing. They’re an incredible band and it’s like one of those ones where it just, makes sense, you know, it just totally fits. And we also supported The Warning again. We’ve played quite a few shows with them and they’re really nice girls and they’re a great band, so it was nice to kind of be reunited with them as well. Other than that, I think we did headline shows as well. We did a lot of headline shows, which was good.
B: So many shows.
A: Oh, my God. I actually want to go through our calendar and, like, count how many
Japanese designer named Arashi Yanagawa. They just did this. There’s a pop up in Japan with all these designs by us. It was a really big deal. I didn’t really realize how big it was going to be until I saw all of these photos. And this is the shop front, this giant piece of glass. It’s our logo branded on all these cool Japanese kids like buying Vowws merch and it was just cool, you know. So we sit because of our sort of visual thing, the strong sort of the emphasis that we have on visual stuff. We end up doing a lot of collabs like that. Merch drops.
C: Well, all the best of luck for the rest of this year, guys, and with the new album, and I’m really excited to hear the new music as well.
M: Thank you for having us!
shows we played last year. Because it must be …
B: I bet it be, really disappointing when you actually see the number, you’re like, what?
A: I think it’s going to be over 150. No, I think it’s going to be like, over 100.
B: Nah, well, maybe near 100.
A: 150.
C: Relentless, regardless…
A: Someone listening to [or reading] this. Count up every show that we did and then email us.
C: So, speaking of your debut, like, I say, it was released last year. Tell me a little bit about the writing process of this album and the ideas behind it.
A: So basically, we kind of approached this album in the total opposite way of what the way that most bands record albums. Most people will write the songs and they go into the studio and record. But we basically just booked out a residential studio in Scotland in the middle of nowhere for two weeks, and we were treating it very much as a writing camp. We were, in the morning, me and Blair will write the song and then in the evening we’ll record it as a band, and it was the most intense two weeks of our lives, but it was great and we came out with a great album. But at the time we were all just like, why on earth did we decide to do it this way? Most bands take three months in a studio recording an album, and we did it in 14 days. So it was incredible
C: An achievement, but a learning curve?
A&B: Totally.
A: I feel like we’ve been a bit more relaxed with this next kind of era. Whether it’s an album or whatever, we’re not too sure yet, but I feel like we’ve been so much more relaxed with the writing of it and we’ve been taking our time just really perfecting the songs and really making sure that they’re to a standard that we’re very happy with and also just not, you know, going crazy in a cabin in rainy Scotland.
B: Yeah, there was three days into recording the album, I was trying to record it, edit it, and mix it all in one day. And then three
days in, was having a nervous breakdown and was like, right, guys, we need to do this a different way because I can’t deal with this. I was like, let’s just record it and I’ll edit. I didn’t mix it all later on. In the end, I didn’t mix it, well, I did, but then someone else mixed it as well. But, yeah, it was a lot. It was a lot of learning as well.
A: Yeah. Yeah, totally.
C: And sometimes I think outside help, it’s fresh eyes, isn’t it? So someone else looking at the new project as well, it can take the pressure off a little bit.
B: Totally.
A: I think it just makes it, keeps it fresh.
C: And the cover as well, I wanted to talk to you about so its the stack of VHS’, so how did that happen? Whose idea was that? How did that idea come up?
A: Well, we kind of came up with the idea because the album itself, we’re very inspired by, like, film and media and books and tv, and we write a lot of our songs about that kind of thing. So there are some songs that we have that are written about specific films that we’ve got songs that directly reference like the Matrix, and we’ve got ones that reference one of my favourite films, Natural Born Killers. But we wanted the album to feel like you were kind of flicking through your DVD selection and every song could be the soundtrack to, like, some Tarantino film or some Nolan film or something crazy.
B: Like a zombie.
A: Yeah, like a zombie movie. Or, like, some trashy 90s slasher film. We wanted it to be, that kind of, like, nostalgic vibe. So it just made sense for the album artwork to be the DVD collection. We all have it, or we all had it at one point in our rooms. And it’s just quite a nostalgic thing. I think a lot of our music in particular, particularly the things
LASTELLE
Charlotte: Welcome to Download Festival. Adam: Thank you so much.
C: You guys aren’t actually playing until tomorrow on the Dogtooth stage.
A: We are playing tomorrow, yes, at 11:45.
we write about lean heavily into nostalgia, and it’s just the things that we enjoy sort of listening to. Yeah.
C: And you released it as well on silver vinyl
A: Yeah
C: I assume that’s part of the nostalgia side of it as well. Are you vinyl collectors yourselves?
A: No, actually, I’m not. Like, I actually don’t collect vinyl, which is actually a bit sad now I think about it, because I just don’t have a record player and also I live in a tiny flat in Glasgow, so I don’t have the space to keep them. But the reason that we did the Silver was because we wanted it to look like our DVD when it came out, you know? So, yeah, I mean, it was just nice to have vinyl because it was our first ever proper album on vinyl. B: It’s funny, isn’t it? Like, you have a vinyl and you try and make it look like a CD
A: Yeah, I know, I know! And then we did a CD, then we made it look like a vinyl
C: So you mentioned earlier that you had a learning process with your first album. So does that mean that you’ve got a second album in the works? Can we look forward to some new music?
A: Definitely. Like, we’ve got a ton of new music in the works. We played two new songs today. One’s called Boom and the other’s called Freak Like Me and the songs that we’re working on just now are amazing, but we’re kind of just feeling it out at the moment. We don’t know whether it’s going to be an album or singles or just whatever. We’re just kind of, like figuring all the boring things out. But while we do that, we’re just working on writing new bangers and recording new music.
C: And any other plans for the rest of 2025?
Just loading up just in case you’re up in time, wake up early, come to Dogtooth at 11:45.
C: You guys are obviously here before your actual set are you making the most of the festival as well?
A: Absolutely, we’re a band that loves to make the most of the time that we’re here. We’re here from Friday through to Sunday so we’re gonna see as many bands as we can.
C: How’s your Download experience so far? Has it met the expectation?
A: Oh yeah, Download’s amazing, and last year was so wet and this is quite different, but saying that I’m sweating my tits off right now, its pretty hot but I am enjoying it so much.
C: It’s one extreme or the other
A: Yeah, why can’t it just be cool?
C: It’s either puddles of mud everywhere, or blistering! So getting on to your music, you recently released your new single, Bitter Seeds, which is an absolute summer anthem. And of course, it’s taken off your upcoming EP, Exist volume two. So tell me a little bit more about the Exist
B: Signing a big, massive record deal [giggles]
A: Yeah hopefully signing a big massive, record deal [giggles] and just writing a bunch, because we toured so much last year, it’s just been nice to be at home this year and just work on what it is that makes you a band writing music and making music. So as much as we love touring. Yeah, we love touring, That’s what we live for, it’s just been nice to, like, take a break.
B: The start of the year, it was like we had a thing where we would say okay, let’s just go back to doing what made the band fun and let’s just go back to being, a band again, rather than just being this entity that exists to be on the road and yeah, I think it’s all to do with just having fun and enjoying it and that just resonates when you make music, you know, you can hear that it’s good fun.
C: And obviously the crowd response today is has just confirmed that for you as well.
A: Yeah, it was amazing. And that’s the thing, you get kind of, in a funk, don’t you, when you’re at home? As much as I have enjoyed being at home after not playing a gig for a month, you get a bit, oh, a bit. You feel a bit like, I’m worthless. What’s life all about? Like, oh, what am I even doing this? Or then you play a gig like that and you’re like, okay, this is what it’s all about. This is literally what it’s all about. Playing to crowds like that.
C: Absolutely. Well, I wish you all the best of luck for the rest of this year.
A: Thank you.
B: Thanks for having us.
C: I hope you enjoy the rest of download as well.
A: Thank you very much. Nice to meet you.
project, so including volume one and what we can expect from volume two.
A: So we released volume one last year and it was a body of music that really sort of tackled a lot of mental health issues and grief, and volume two is what we’re releasing at the moment where we’ve released two songs and we’ve got a few more left and we’ll be releasing the rest in by September of this year. So we took these, this sort of collection of music and we really wanted to sort of split it into two parts, a volume one and volume two, really to Showcase as many songs as we could. You know, ultimately, we were really proud of the collection of music that we made, and we wanted to release it as two parts so we could release it over the two years
C: You guys aren’t afraid to talk about some emotionally uncomfortable topics as well. So why do you think this is so important?
A: Well the thing is, you know, I pretty much say this in every interview, like I’m quite a positive person.
C: I’ve definitely picked up on that vibe.
A: I’m an Oxford camp boy, you know, and some people are surprised when they see me on stage, I switch and it really allows me and the rest of the boys to let our emotions out and show that vulnerability because I don’t really show it any other way. So I think that our music is a great way to tackle the uncomfortable and in that itself, I feel like the fans can relate to it as well, and they can sort of connect to it, and it is emotionally charged. We want it to be. But I think that music is a great gateway to be connected with a community and talk about the subjects you don’t always want to talk about yeah, that’s what I think that our music does.
C: So it’s kind of breaking down that barrier as well between you and the audience.
A: Exactly, I don’t show those emotions on a day-to-day basis and I think our music is a gateway to release that emotion. And then in that, people that listen to our music can go, I feel that way or I don’t know how to deal with grief, I don’t know how to deal with my mental health or other people’s mental health and I think that our music embodies that.
C: So as we mentioned earlier you’re playing the Dogtooth Stage tomorrow so what can we look forward to from your set?
A: A morning wake-up call, a wall of sound, it’s going to be an emotional roller coaster. So yeah we haven’t got a long time, we’ve only got 20 any minutes so we’re going to just throw out as much as we can and, show as much emotion as we can and, yeah, we’re excited to Showcase some of our new songs,
THE GHOST INSIDE
Charlotte: It’s a sunny afternoon here at Donnington and you guys played the second stage earlier today. So how was the Download crowd for you?
Vigil: It was incredible. We’ve been fortunate enough to play Download three or four times before in the past and they’ve always been great. Like we’ve always know what to expect and you know we’ve played the tent
but also some of the songs that have been doing so well on socials and Spotify and show people that you can play Flugelhorn in a metal band, you know, that sort of thing.
C: All the good stuff.
A: Yeah, exactly.
C: And this is your first Festival appearance of 2025 as well so where else can we see you for the rest of this year?
A: So we’re playing at Radar Festival in Manchester we’re really excited and again, we’re going to stick around for the whole weekend because Underoath are playing on the last day, so we’re super chuffed about that. But we also, on Monday, we’re announcing a headline tour that we’re going to be doing a UK headline tour in September alongside with the release of our new EP. So we’ll be announcing that on Monday or maybe on stage tomorrow telling people that if 20 minutes isn’t enough come see us for a good hour. So, yeah, so we’ll be touring at the end of the year and really showcasing exist volume two.
C: And if you’ve got anything in the works yet after the Exist project is finished?
A: There’s always stuff in the works obviously, I don’t know, but we truly want to get on to truly our debut album because we have put this out as it, as EPs, so it would be great to move on to that, but there’s always stuff going on in the works and we’re excited to continue to grow.
C: And as we’ve said, you’re around for the whole weekend, so who else are you
stage and headlined the tent stage and stuff and This is our first time playing the outdoor stage and it was crazy. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. We went into it knowing it was going to be something and it blew all of our expectations out of the water.
Zach: Yeah, like he said, it was easily our best Download set. It was pretty freeing to be outside and having the sun out was a bonus.
C: Always a bonus.
V: Oh my God, we’ve had a lot of rough weather experiences here in Download. So the fact that we’re able to hang out and not be muddy and gross, we’ll take it.
C: It’s a little bit of a winner.
V: For sure.
C: Last year you guys released your sixth studio album Searching for Solace, which explores the idea of facing challenges and how to navigate around them, but also how to be resilient as well. So what were some of your biggest inspirations for writing that album?
V: I think we went through a lot just with ourselves and within the world. The album prior to that that we put out was at the height of COVID and we didn’t get a tour on that record. We didn’t really get to do
looking forward to seeing?
A: Oh, I can’t wait to watch Sleep Token is just going to be nuts, especially as I’ve seen them quite a few times and they were small stages sort of thing. I’ve not seen them at a festival, and now they’re playing on a main stage at Download, which is absolutely nuts. I can’t wait for that. But also Korn. Me, Freddie our bassist, we’re gonna be dancing to some Korn, so we can’t wait. There’s so many amazing artists across the whole weekend and I know that like right now I’m like going I just really want to go see Graphic Nature but of course I want to speak to you as well!
C: Priorities should be in the right place!
A: Well that’s why I’m here, that’s why I’m here.
C: So we’ve got the announcement of your tour towards the end of the year, we’ve got the release of your EP and we’ve got talks of your debut. Is there anything else that we can look forward to for the rest of this year?
A: Well, I think that will be the main thing. We’re hoping to get out to Europe. We did Europe earlier in the year, but we’d like to do more shows across Europe, and of course, we would love to get over the other side of the world, but we’ll see about that over time as we continue to grow. But, yeah, watch this space. Hopefully we get over there.
C: Well, I wish you all the best of luck for the rest of this year and thank you very much for sitting down with me.
A: Thank you so much. Cheers.
much off it and by the time we got around to actually doing it, it was it was new songs that were a year and a half old already, so it didn’t feel like the same record, you know?
So when we put out Searching for Solace, a lot of it was just experiences we’ve had and seeing the world from a different angle because, we all had to live through the pandemic. We all had experienced what it was like, what life was going to be like. And I think it was the first time since our accident that we were like, hey, is this going to come back? Is this going to be a thing again? Are we gonna know what to do? So we we just had a lot of different angles that we couldn’t see previously that we were able to see in greater detail and as far as like aesthetically, the whole vibe of the album is like navigating those like dead ends and wrong turns and lefts and rights and ups and downs and kind of just navigating through the maze of the mind. ‘Cause you know, your mind can make you think a certain way, even though it’s not actually that in real life. So that’s kind of the core by searching for solace was, we all need to get to the end, but we have different routes to get there
C: And that’s kind of a reflection in the artwork of it as well. So talk me through
the decision making behind that.
V: Yeah, the artwork came to be our bassist Jim had the idea of doing the kind of split open head. I think collectively it was kind of, we all came to the idea of Searching for Solace and putting the songs together and, and I was, a big factor in the idea behind it and I think it all came together so naturally and Jim kind of spearheaded that artwork. Z: I mean, he had that idea when we floated the title for the record, but that’s how everyone in our band was feeling at the time, doing the record and the way we did it, like taking our time and writing with new people and it kind of helped us all get to the tallest point together.
C: And it’s also been released on some very cool vinyl, I know there was a marble one and some coloured vinyl as well. Are you vinyl collectors? And what was the decision making process behind that?
V: Well, the way the world is now with music and streaming, it’s like it’s so physical media is at such a rarity nowadays, you know what I mean? If you handed me a CD, I couldn’t play it. I don’t have a way to play it at my house. I don’t have a way to play it in my car. So I think with vinyl, I think vinyl is the collector’s item like if if a person likes a band, they can listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, whatever, listen to it. But to own a physical piece of the record, I think the vinyl is just such a cool way to hold the record. I’m a big vinyl guy. I have a record player at home. I have a huge vinyl collection, so. for me, I’ve always been really big on having, like, cool variants and different colorways and printings and pressings and all that kind of stuff. So it’s always been big to me. But I think it’s the way the world is now and with streaming, you can have access to a record instantly, like, right away, no problems. The second it comes out, you have access to it and it wasn’t like that in the past. So I think as far as physical media goes, I think records or vinyl records are just, like, the way it is now.
C: I suppose it’s that extra connection as well with the fan base.
V: Yeah, exactly and it’s like, I always loved, I grew up on, I’m old, I grew up on cassette tapes and then I remember when CDs came out. So I remember looking through the booklets and reading the liner notes and the thank you’s and reading the lyrics and all that kind of, like, that was always cool to me, and I was like, we lost that for so long when CDs went away and streaming became a thing. And I was like, we need to, like, have something and. you know, when vinyl made it comeback, I loved it. My dad was a big record collector and I’ve always loved collecting and I love having, like I said, the physical media and I like that if I like a band enough, not only do I just listen to them on Spotify, I’m like, oh, I’m gonna buy their vinyl too. I want to be able to hold it, look at it and experience it offline and not have to worry about anything. Like, I have this, it’s cool, you know?
Z: Every time I go over to his house, I get to see his whole setup and I love watching it too because he has a little display for the album art, puts the vinyl in, it’s a vibe, yeah.
V: One day I’ll get Zach into it. I’m trying, I’m trying really hard. I keep going like, hey, I got a couple extra vinyl of this, you want it?
Z: I do have a record player at home, I just haven’t plugged it in yet.
V: All right, well, it’s time to start.
C: So it’s a step in the right direction. Z: Yeah, for sure.
C: And I suppose it’s part of the whole experience of listening to the music in another way as well, so it’s connecting to it on a different level.
V: Yeah, and it’s like, I mean, obviously I could put in my AirPods and I could put on a playlist and make coffee in the morning when I wake up and breakfast and stuff. But, I have my record player in the living room and it’s connected to the kitchen. So I just literally go downstairs, put on a record, make my coffee, and it’s just, I don’t know, something about the connection of like actively putting on music. Like that’s just such a lost art, you know? That, that was a thing. Like CDs were a thing. Like we are a band, we’ve been a band long enough to
remember where you would go out and you would sell CDs. Like you would have CDs at your merch table and you would sell those and that’s how you sold records. There was no streaming and then that came along and then that’s a whole different industry on its own. I don’t know, the collector me loves it. So I can’t say enough good things about it, but doing the different colorways is cool for collectors like myself. I know there’s people who are into The Ghost Inside who are also big collectors as well, and having the variants and the limited pressings and the test presses and all this is such a big deal. So it’s cool.
C: So after Download you’ve got a few European dates before heading back to the US and then over to Japan and Australia so you seem to be pretty hectic for the rest of this year.
V: Yeah we had a really slow first start of the year. We got together and worked on some songs, we wrote some stuff, just some demo stuff and then the second half of the year is really really loaded. We’re doing this festival run out here in Europe, going back home, going on tour in the States with Volbeat and Halestorm. Then we’re going over to Australia with Bleed From Within, Japan, and then I don’t know if we can really talk about it, but we’re gonna be coming back here.
Z: So, yeah, the year will round out in a really nice way.
V: A very nice way. So it’ll be, it’ll be really nice. So hopefully we’ll see a lot of people reading this or hearing this, you know, at these shows. So we’ll see.
C: So outside of the tour, can we look forward to any new music or have you got anything else planned for the rest of the show?
Z: Yeah, we’re working on new stuff and we have some pretty big, pretty big ambitious plans for 2026. So we’ll have a few things we’re hopefully gonna be launching then.
You can listen back to all interviews from this year’s Download Festival including all featured in HRH Mag plus talks with GORE, Kittie, Venus Grrls, The Molotovs, Archers, Sikth, Two Year Break and Split Chain via www.hardrockhellradio.com
Download Festival 2026: Wednesday, June 10th to Sunday, June 14th, 2026
Thanks
Aethoria is the latest hard rock band to emerge from Suffolk. The band was born out of the embers of the group Circadia. Aethoria are built on huge riffs and soaring solos. The group has been in the studio working on new material and recently got off to a flying start with an appearance at Bloodstock Festival.
Aethoria released their debut single Tamed to in the first half of this year. And what can we say, it doesn’t half pack a punch. But has the band been happy with the response to the track thus far? “We’ve been really happy with the response. And how well it’s been received by the fans of Circadia,” explains guitarist Alex Coombes. “That was kind of the previous incarnation of this band, I guess. This band was born out of the ashes of that band. So, it’s good to see people who followed that band coming back to check this out.”
Lead vocalist Mecia-Jade Holden continues: “There’s always a worry of being compared, isn’t there? And we’re not a like-for-like style. We’ve got similarities. So obviously, we’re working with different creatives because I’ve only ever written with one other person before. So, I had this worry of writing with different people. Is it going to be a different sound? Are people going to appreciate it as much? But yeah, it’s been really well received. Everyone’s loving it.”
The band share with us the inspiration behind their recent single Tamed. “So, when Circadia, the last band, finished, I had probably one of the darkest periods of my life, I would say. And I never realised how much music had literally impacted me, just my day to day. I realised that, OK, I’m not going to write music probably again. And I don’t know if I can go through that again, having something that’s your baby just like ripped away from you. So that was the in-between period of what do I do? Do I
dane go to work, come home? I don’t write anymore. This is it. Do I let that happen? And then when we started, we jammed, we had these ideas, and it was about bringing that back, bringing that I’m not going to take no for an answer. I’m not going to be tamed. I am going to keep going for this. I don’t care what anyone else tells me. I am going for this fully. And it came together really quickly,” explains Mecia.
The band name itself is quite an interesting one. The word Aethoria can mean ethereal, heavenly, divine, or even celestial. But how did the band come to this name for the group? “It was probably the hardest thing. Writing the songs was easy. Coming up with the band name was a process,” said Alex. “And it got to the point where I think it was just me that was just overthinking everything, and everyone else was like, Mecia, we’re set with this name. It’s just you. And then, actually, I went all around the houses and came back to it and was like, yeah, why didn’t I like that? Because actually, that’s beautiful. And you know what it’s like - you find something you like, and then you go online, you find lots of other bands that have got it. And yeah, with this one, I do love the meaning of it. That kind of otherworldly feel. And no one, touch wood, has it. So it was very unique to us. And it’s almost fitting with some of our songs ... you can drift. Some of them really tell a story, and they feel like they drift and have these beautiful harmonies and things with the guitars and the vocals. I feel like it just fits our vibe 100%,” adds Mecia.
Which bands would Aethoria say have influenced their sound? “I’d say mostly with the riffs, probably Tremonti, Alter Bridge. I’ve always loved that melodic hard rock and the guitar harmonies. It’s hard rock, but it doesn’t feel like hard rock a lot of the time,” said Mecia. “It’s still really
radio-friendly. And then with vocals, I absolutely love Myles Kennedy, and I absolutely love Amy Lee. I’ve been obsessed with Evanescence since I was a kid.”
Alex continues: “ I think that across the band, there’s a big range of influences, which is what I think helps. Even though when we joined Tremonti and Alter Bridge was the brief the rest of us were given by Lee and Mecia. I think that our wide range of influence within the band kind of helped keep that sort of sounding contemporary. I really like modern metalcore bands like Spiritbox and things like that. My main influence is more prog bands like Opeth and Weird Instrumental Guitar Music. I know Connor, I think he’s a big Ghost fan. And then Tom likes kind of similar stuff to me. He likes the heavier stuff. He’s a big Opeth fan and heavier.”
Aethoria are presently based in Suffolk, but the band are looking to get outside of the region for shows in the future.
“We’re sort of based predominantly in the Ipswich, Colchester area. And yeah, I don’t think we particularly want to sit too long just playing in Ipswich. I think we’ve got to focus on trying to get out there as widespread as possible. I mean, we’ve got the gigs we’ve got booked for later in the year. We’ve got a majority that are further afield than sort of closer to where we’re based,” said Alex. “And we’re talking already with promoters and things about festivals next year, some hopefully good UK festivals. We’re just trying to push ourselves as quick as we can really, and just work hard. And we just want to get out there as quickly as we can and do our thing,” concludes Mecia.
Words by Adam Kennedy
Photo Credit: Press Supplied
Following the release of her new album Some Kind of Feeling, critically acclaimed guitarist and singer Orianthi recently announced her January 2026 UK Tour.
Orianthi’s new album Some Kind of Feeling was released digitally by Woodward Avenue Records on June 27th. The CD was released on August 15th, followed by the vinyl on September 19th.
Orianthi produced three songs from the new album, including “First Time Blues” feat. Joe Bonamassa, “Ghost,” and “Bad For Each Other.” The remaining seven songs on the album, including the current single “Attention,” are produced by Kevin Shirley (Black Country Communion, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa).
It’s been a busy year for the artist thus far. “I put out a record, which I’m really proud of because I had a lot of freedom with this record and working with Kevin Shirley was awesome,” she says. “And that process for me was really easy, and it just felt good. And I think that it comes across with the recording.”
Orianthi adds: “This style of recording was just going in there, having the songs pretty much mapped out, because I like to do pre-production myself at home, bring them in, and then having them brought to life by great musicians and a great producer. And I produced four songs myself, but I wanted Kevin to come in too.”
But what is it about Kevin Shirley that makes him one of the most sought-after producers in the music business?
“I’m very particular about working with producers. I don’t like someone to come in who’s not alpha, who knows what they’re doing. Otherwise, it’s just a waste of my time, and I get irritated because I’m a producer myself. And so, it’s like I need someone to come in who knows exactly what to do and not go, I think you should try this,” explains Orianthi. “He just knows that because he’s done so much stuff in his life that I respect.” Orianthi elaborates: “He’s pretty into it like the band and myself, and just getting the best product and the best final result.”
If you’ve heard Orianthi’s scorching solo on recent single Attention, you will appreciate the artist’s passionate songwriting ability. But what is the background behind the song? “Well, every song lyrically is like a diary entry, which can be a bit scary when you put stuff out, that is literally what’s happened to me with relationships or whatever. And it’s funny; I write some -
thing, and my ex says, ‘Is that about me?’ It’s like, no. But it’s so literal. And I think why not? I’m an artist, so I have to be honest. I can’t be, oh, let me make up this fairy tale story that never happened. That’s just stupid. And that way, when I sing it, as disturbing as it can be when you put yourself back into that situation psychologically, it’s like, hey, you know what? I’m reading out a diary entry. This is what I went through. Somebody else can probably relate to it or help them,” explains Orianthi. “Music brings people together and makes you feel a certain way. And I think it’s comfort. We play shows, and it’s all about leaving people with a really good feeling. They go home, and they’re elated and they’re happy and they just had a good time.”
Orianthi invited fellow gifted guitar great Joe Bonamassa to feature on the track First Time Blues. “Joe and I have been friends for a long time. He lives out here in L.A. part-time,” explains Orianthi. “I don’t know, I guess it was weird. I cut this song a while ago, and it was more like a demo, and it really called for another guitarist on it. And I was like, it would be really cool to have a badass guitar player. And then, I thought Joe was in town. I hit him up and said, Hey, what do you think about coming in and playing on this song? He said, Absolutely. He said, Bring me some Diet Coke and I’ll be there.” Orianthi continues: “He came and jammed with me at the Whisky, and it was really fun. I think his playing is so interesting. It’s very blues-based with his own style, to where he can play really fast. But then I think it just fits right with that track. I’m really thrilled with the way it turned out and that he’s a part of it.”
On Orianthi’s latest offering, she covers a version of ZZ Top’s Sharp Dressed Man. “It’s funny. I just wanted to just record it because I had just jammed it with Billy Gibbons for his birthday party a few nights before. And Billy and I, we’ve played it quite a few times,” she explains. “It’s kind of cool coming from a woman like me, because it’s true. We love Sharp Dressed Men. I play it quite a few times with my band live, and it just went down really well. And I said to Kevin, Hey, why don’t we just cut a cover for this record? And we just started jamming that in the studio. And I said, just record it …it’s got a vibe. I haven’t sent it to Billy yet. I’m afraid to text him because I get really nervous about that stuff.”
Orianthi explains: “Billy’s a good friend of mine. I’ve known him since I was 16, when I opened for ZZ Top in Australia.
And we’ve played many shows together, and we’re really good friends. He’s a fricking legend. I’ll send it to him soon.”
Aside from her solo work, Orianthi is part of Band 3, a supergroup featuring Cindy Blackman Santana and bassist Rhonda Smith. “We’ve just finished the record - it’s called The Power of Three. We’re going to be launching that in November. And, yeah, I’m excited. I like to keep myself busy playing shows and making two records at the same timeit’s good for me to do that. I’m excited about both things. I love, obviously, my solo career and everything, but collaborating and making a totally different record with someone like Eddie Kramer, who’s a legend. He’s amazing at what he does. And it’s quite different from what Kevin does, but they’re both incredible.”
When it comes to legendary producers, Eddie Kramer is up there with the best of them. “He’s just such a supportive person. He just loves music, and he’s so cool to work with,” said Orianthi. “There’s something really special and magical about Eddie. The gravity with him capturing all the stuff that Hendrix did, and him telling these stories. I don’t want to bug him too much, obviously, but when he shares, it’s like, wow.”
Orianthi will soon make her long-awaited return to the UK for an impending solo tour in January. The artist has recently returned from Europe. “It’s nice to be home for a minute before heading out and playing a couple of shows. I just got back from Europe. We were over there for three and a half weeks, and those festivals were amazing. It was so fun. People were just full of energy, good vibes, and I loved it.” Orianthi will arrive in the UK in January 2026 for a headline tour in support of her new studio album. Dates include Manchester, Band on the Wall (Jan 24), Glasgow, Oran Mor (Jan 25), Leeds, Brudenell (Jan 28), London, O2 Academy Islington (Jan 29), Planet Rocks’ Winter’s End (Jan 31), and Southampton, The Brook (Feb 1). For ticket information and further details, please visit https://www.thegigcartel.com/ Artists-profiles/Orianthi.htm. Some Kind of Feeling by Orianthi is out now.
Words by Adam Kennedy
Photo Credit: Alex Brown
Feeling Good Orianthi
Photo Credit: Simon Dunkerley
