Lots of new things this month: a new magazine layout, a new member of our team, and we’re back to our monthly release schedule. While we weren’t planning on ever adding anyone else to this project, a very close friend of ours just felt like the perfect fit. From now on, some articles, show write-ups, and gear rundowns will be written by none other than our dear friend (and incredible guitarist) Daniel.
It’s been a few months since we’ve put out a magazine, hence the two releases this month of Issue FiveSix as well as Issue Seven. Now with a new person on our team as well as a slightly shortened magazine layout, we’ll be able to commit to actually getting a magazine out every month. Hopefully, every month will include two shows, two interviews, and some other cool surprises, but the layout of the magazine might change a bit every month depending who’s touring, what’s being released, or just if we find cool things we want to share with you.
This month, we’re happy to present an interview with Ratchet by Mars, a review of Fontaines DC’s new album “Romance” by Daniel, a write up and some photos of stay in nothing, as well as some other things you’re soon to see.
As always, you can find us on Instagram @rozzmagazine, and you can always reach us via email at rozzmagazine@gmail.com if you’re an artist and you’re looking for a feature, there’s a band in your area that you think deserves the spotlight, or maybe you just found a cool project you want to tell us about.
Cheers, Mars, Hugo, & Daniel
the Edition 7 Playlist
our very first playlist with our new team member. not that our playlists are usually cohesive to begin with, but now with all three of us in on it, there really is something for everyone in this playlist. check it!
Sorority Girls mommy long legs
Life Rips is one of the best weird girl anthem albums of the 2010s, with this track really standing out as one of our favorites
Open Up
The Dare
This song makes me want to [REDACTED]
untitled yecch tapes areknuteknyterne
A little “unknown” Gem only found on youtube from an unknown norwegian artist, with its prog krautrock influences you’ll find your quickly entranced by its sound, really worth the listen
old scratch blues Jack white
Good ol’ Jack is back at it with a new album released this past August, with its opening track delivering a bluesy rock song the Jack White way
Starburster Fontaines D.C.
The lead single off their latest album “Romance”. An absolute menace of a song. no notes.
youngest daughter superheaven
Themes of desperation, longing, and addiction in a beautifully melodic track from “jar”
space lord monster magnet
Heavy guitar and seemingly random yet poetic lyrics are an ode to wanting to be a part of something bigger than just ourselves
Spring Is Coming With A Strawberry In The Mouth
Caroline Polachek
Polachek’s angelic voice soars (as usual) on this bouncy electronic track, taken from her 2023 album “Desire, I Want To Turn Into You”.
§ 1
Opeth
crassy mel sextile
Angular electronic post punk, arguably one of the most danceable songs off their 2023 album, “Push”
Cacao and Cocaine Sofia Isella
A commentary on the contradictions of the modern world, packed in a fuzzy, distorted and tastefully produced banger.
The first song to Opeth’s new album “The Last Will & Testament” is a hyper fusion between Opeth’s older heavy albums like “Still Life” and their new prog sounds like “Sorceress”.
homewrecker willow avalon
You’re going to want to put on your cowboy hat and get off your feet for this one!
Antimaterie
Isolation Berlin
I don’t understand German very well but the vibes are definitely there.
walmart jesse walles
this song explains exactly how it feels to go to walmart in the middle of the night by yourself, for all the weirdos or europeans who unfortunately have never had the pleasure
baddest bitch
jvB with ayesha erotica
It’s Baddest Bitch and it’s the same but Ayesha Erotica drops a fire verse on it so it’s not
alligator stomp the cramps
Honestly, if I could put the entire Look Mom, No Head album on here, I would
Tunnel Vision Crack Cloud
Crack Clouds magic with a droning beat and a switch that will carve a hole to your heart like a coconut and fills it up with a cocktail of post punk, new wave and some psychedelia as garnish To make a virgin punkedelia colada.
Behind The Curtain Dora Jar
Dora Jar stuns once again with a wonderful new release, in anticipation of her upcoming album “No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire”
Cupid de Locke
cherry cola
devon again
a beautiful sonic representation of how it feels to fall in love presented by one of our favorite queer pop stars
Smashing Pumpkins
A beautiful whimsical and ethereal little song, from their ground breaking 1995 album “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”.
zeilmeisje Lucky Fonz
III
a melodic strongly worded song that will make you question your freedom and the choices you’ve made and still can make
damaged goods gang of four
Nothing needs to be said, it’s a classic, and if you don’t know it you better be putting it in your spotify queue now
Henry Split My Heart Ohia
Ohia is one man: Jason Molina. A soul searching songwriter with a grand melodic sound like Donovan or Neil Young
era stuck
Stuck scratches that weird postpunk point in your brain that i can’t reach with a finger or stick, luckily they got you covered
This Heat Sleep
Come on, Go sleep.
Where The Names Are Real Warhaus
A stunning new offering from the ever cinematic Warhaus, the first single from his upcoming album “Karaoke Moon”. Out November 22nd
Did You Love Somebody Peach Pit
A heartbreaking new release from Peach Pit, a beautiful country-influenced acoustic indie ballad that will have us all bawling our eyes out!
John
stay in nothing EU tour: live in arnhem
All of us over here at Rozz are suckers for a good grungy shoegaze band. It’s simply good for the soul! So when Stay In Nothing announced they would be crossing the Channel for a run of EU shows, including one in our home base of Arnhem at Willemeen, making the 10 minute (walking) journey to check it out was a no-brainer. Moreover, local darlings Outahead and Lodyne were set to open! Saturday night? Sorted.
Stay In Nothing, hailing from London but also from all over the world, are an interesting bunch. Headed by singer-drummer and singer-bassist Axel and Karin, their sonic signature is quite difficult to pinpoint, ranging from emo to shoegaze to grunge, and everything in-between. Alternatively, instead of me writing another 700 words of vague bullshit to describe their sound, I’d recommend you head over to the interwebs and let their art speak for itself.
As we entered the venue, Outahead had started their set. The Nijmegen four-piece always manage to pack a punch, bringing uncompromising punk with a grungy edge to get the crowd going. Having already released 3 singles this year, I think it’s safe to say we will absolutely be hearing more from these fine gentlemen. After Outahead finished their set, it was time for Lodyne to take to the stage. Also from Nijmegen, this trio, fronted by the always energetic Paolo, managed to pick up the pace where Outahead left off, playing a blistering set filled with new material from their latest album released last August: “A Fixed Frame”. Honestly, I was surprised how Paolo managed to simply walk off stage as if nothing happened, having jumped up and down for basically the whole set?! A pleasure to watch, and also to hear.
After Lodyne wrapped up their performance, it was time for Stay In Nothing to bring it for their first show in the Netherlands! I was interested in seeing how their big sound would translate to such a small and intimate setting like at Willemeen, but at the first song I was already pleasantly surprised. They managed to create a wonderful fuzzy wall of sound, as if one were a piece of bread being dipped into a fondue but the fondue is made of shoegaze and guitars and everything wonderful. Tendrils of oscillating delays and reverberating guitar, courtesy of Dino and Dylan, filled the room while drummer Axel and bassist Karin’s rhythms and vocals kept us grounded and alert. There were some technical issues early on into the set, leading them to restart a song a few times. This seemed to have thrown them off a bit, but they soon regained their footing. Let’s all keep in mind that we are dealing with a band that has already had three weeks of intense touring behind them, so all is forgiven. Moving on, I was excited to hear them play some new material, and they did. In fact, they played their upcoming EP in its entirety, which they finished recording just before this tour. Currently being mixed and mastered, and scheduled for a November release, we absolutely can’t wait to hear it. It’s always a privilege
when artists decide to reveal their music to us before they put it out. The band seemed to enjoy playing these new tracks more as well, experimenting and figuring out their sounds while playing, something I’m sure any music lover can appreciate. The rest of their set, thankfully without any more technical difficulties, went smoothly and, dare I say, quite beautifully. It felt as if their massive sound kept on expanding, filling every corner of the room. As we arrived at the last two songs of the performance, “Your New Family Looks Better On An Office Desk” and “Follow”, both from their 2021 album “SIN”, I felt as if underwater. Overall, Stay In Nothing’s set at Willemeen was a celebration of sonic artistry, taking their recorded work to the stage with velvety softness while packing quite the punch. An absolute pleasure, begging for bigger stages.
Stay In Nothing are currently wrapping up their EU tour, but with a brand new EP in the works, I’m sure it won’t be long until they make their way back to Europe. Until then, go check out their 2021 album “SIN” and their other material on your favourite streaming platforms and on Bandcamp.
STAY IN NOTHING
For Ratchet, music, art, and video making are all about personal connection and expression. “I often force myself to only bring Ratchet to the camera, but because I long so much for personal expression, Kar-
fans, the music itself felt like another close friend that Ratchet could connect to, which creates a more intimate attachment to each and every song.
This level of personal input creates something so authentically “Ratchet” every time he releases a new video or a new song, but there is also a certain aspect of para-socialism that comes with putting yourself out there in this way. “What I do find challenging is that sometimes fans think they know me so well that they send me messages about very personal topics that I have little say in”, Ratchet told us. While of course so much of himself goes into each and every project, it doesn’t mean that fans know everything, and it especially doesn’t mean that they know you in the same way that your best friend does, even though for some it may feel like this at times. While this is quite a struggle, the overwhelmingly positive
ily outweighs these uncomfortable
Speaking of positive reception, just a few weeks ago on September 13, Ratchet’s newest song, My Shoes, was released for the world to hear. This song was both a cathartic outlet to shake off all of the stress and nervous energy from ending a semester at college as well as a way to lean into spontaneity and the atmosphere of the moment when this song was written.
“At the end of my last school year, I was so stressed at one point that I needed to unwind. I picked up my acoustic guitar and played two chords. For some reason, it reminded me of an interview I once heard. In it, a well-known producer talked about how he once worked with a young singer-songwriter. He said the guy came knocking with a demo of his song, trying to convince him that it would be a hit. The producer said he’d only work with him if the guy could convince him by performing it on an acoustic guitar right then and there. The young singer-songwriter was sent home shortly after. In short, a song that’s strong at its core. Instead of jumping straight onto my laptop, I repeated the two chords over and over. In front of me was
my planner, and I started writing lyrics in it. In one evening, I wrote this song and recorded the vocals and guitar that same night. In the end, these are still the main elements of the song, and I’m proud of that.” (Ratchet on newest single “My Shoes”)
Ratchet’s intriguingly dark yet inspiring online universe has so much to offer, and ultimately stands to prove that believing in yourself and what you have to say to the world pays off, even if you feel like there are times when you’re not being heard. His art serves as a point of connection for everyone, especially if you’re going through something difficult and it feels like it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. “Don’t be afraid—most people around you are secretly just like you and are willing to listen.”
You can find Ratchet’s music on all major streaming services, and you can keep up with him on Instagram and TikTok at @ratchet.official, as well as on his website ratchet-music.com, and on Youtube at ratchet-official.
Sometimes it’s obvious from the moment that someone steps on a stage that they’re truly meant to be there, and that’s absolutely the case for rising star Sawyer Hill. On September 22, he and his three bandmates rocked a sold out room at Ekko in Utrecht (NL) for a show that is guaranteed to be someone’s “Mom, I want to be a rockstar when I grow up” moment.
Kicking off the set with a bang, the band opened with “Firestarters”, a song that garnered much anticipation online before its release in October 2023. Sawyer in a brown suit, and his bandmates in matching white dress shirts had the crowd instantly hypnotized from the start. Hot, sweaty, rock n’ roll filled the room wall to wall as fans sang along and balloons were bounced around by the crowd. So hot in fact, that the band had to stop and re-tune their guitars a couple times throughout the first few songs.
Continuing with “Never Once”, Sawyer’s stage presence made a fully packed out room feel intimate, holding his guitar over the first couple rows of fans as he played and going on with a bit of stage banter between every song.
Some bands do it for the money, some do it for fame, but Sawyer and his band aren’t in it for either of those; they’re in it for something even better.
“Let me tell you something about us. In all four of us up here, there’s a big, black hole. Maybe our parents didn’t love us enough…or our girlfriends broke up with us, but it created a nasty, disgusting… praise kink” he said, as the crowd erupted into a sea of laughter and cheers.
Keeping the energy up with a cover of Johnny Cash’s Folsom “Prison Blues” had the whole crowd movin’ and groovin’; a fun, high-energy take on an acoustic classic. From Sawyer’s powerful vocals to a gritty distorted guitar solo from his fellow bandmate, their take on this song really gave the crowd a taste of that Arkansas hillbilly sound with a fun, eccentric twist. As the cover came to an end, a fan from the front row held up a jar towards Sawyer, explaining that it was full of messages for him and the band from some fans. He held it up as the crowd, and passed it over to his bassist, Josh, who then proceeded to put it down in exchange for his
stage beer. “Chug, chug, chug”, the crowd chanted, as the band all looked at each other with big smiles on their faces. “You’re laughing now, but we’re checking him into rehab tomorrow”, Sawyer said to the crowd.
The whole show had such a comfortable, warm (literally, it was boiling in there) energy that is sometimes missed when an entire room is completely packed out wall to wall, but the band’s way of almost playing with the crowd rather than to the crowd made this show stand out. Even if you walked into Ekko that night having been dragged there by a friend who’s a fan, or you bought a ticket on a whim, you’re sure to have walked out a brand-new Sawyer Hill fan. From the atmospheric guitar and vocals on “Look At The Time” to the fiery passion behind “Firestarters”, Sawyer and his band really did take the crowd on a scenic emotional rollercoaster throughout the night.
Until Sawyer comes back to Europe or wherever you’re located, you can keep up with him on Instagram @sawyer.chill, on TikTok @itssawyerhill, or wherever you stream your music.
NEW SONGS, OVERCOMING
ARTIST’S BLOCK & FINDING
COMMUNITY,
ZAK MES
At the intersection of pop, poppunk, and Midwest emo lies Zakmes, a rising Utrecht based solo project by Zakaria Messaoudi. Self-described as a project with a playful sound that leaves space to talk about the not-so-playful topics in life, Zakaria went over all the nitty-gritty about Zakmes with us, what it’s like to be in the local Dutch scene, his most recent single, and advice he has for musicians who are just getting started.
Originally, Zakmes was meant to be mostly a pop production based project with some room to add in whatever instruments and sounds just feel right at the time. Sometimes this lends itself to a more classic midwest emo band sound, and other times to a more indie pop energy. Bits and pieces of Say Anything and Nothing, Nowhere’s sounds, and especially Bilmuri’s freedom in experimenting with unconventional sounds and techniques serve as inspiration to this project as well.
Garage rock and post-punk are at the forefront of the Dutch scene, but pop punk and midwest emo are also on the rise. “A few years ago I thought I was probably one of the 4 only people in my city who even listened to Midwest emo / emo revival, lately, through going to local shows and just meeting a
ton of people both online and in real life, I’ve started to notice that there’s quite some people who’ve felt the same way, and since then we started connecting more”, Zakaria said. While there isn’t quite an abundance of bands in these genres in the local scene, bands like 32elephants and Get Sad are also out there with Zakmes bringing that midwestern emo energy out to the Netherlands. This past summer, the three of them played a show in Utrecht that sold out before any tickets could even be sold at the door. Zakaria cites this show as a daydream coming true after watching so many videos of packed out midwest emo house shows across the US. Both the crowd and the other artists brought the best energy that made the show feel more like a warm communal home than a party or an event.
Zakmes’s most recent release, Coping Skill Issue is a collaboration with long time friends from 32elephants. The instrumental for the song was something that Zakaria had written a while ago, and after he sent it to Patchouwa from 32elephants, the idea of making it a collaborative project came up.
“I invited him over to my workplace at the time where I had access to a vocal booth, he wrote,
and I recorded his vocal parts on the spot and we started messing around with that call-and-response part where all the vocals overlap each other, which we kinda got from Blink-182 and Sum 41. It was also a nice breath of fresh air to work with patchy’s more natural and raw vocal sound as opposed to the way I usually mix my own vocals.”
A bit of tracking guitar and some Moroccan soup later, a few hangouts turned an older shelved instrumental into a fun collaborative track. Working together on a track keeps you out of your own head and prevents you from hitting too many creative blocks along the way. It also allows you to have someone to bounce ideas around with and share the excitement with when you make something you really love, which can be really rewarding.
Zakaria has put so many hours into creating Zakmes which has surely been rewarding. To end it all, he tells us -- “If you wanna do something in music, or anything creatively just go for it. Start that project, start that band, buy that camera, buy that skateboard; just start. Making moves and messing up is better than standing still while striving for perfection.”
And finally, it truly does take a village, so on a final note:
“BIG shoutout to the local bands & homies; (32elephants, Get Sad, 7th Circle Motel, All Dogs Go To Heaven and many more!), shoutout to all the sweet people in the scene, shoutout to Noble Goods Co, Shoutout to ACU, Shoutout to De Vondelbunker. If you want to come check out a show or just ask anything, feel free to come say hi on Instagram @zakmesmusic and, importantly; FREE PALESTINE.”
PHOTOS BY JOY VAN DEN BERG / WORDS BY MARS
roma
album review by Daniel
romance
Wake up, it’s time to believe the hype. Fontaines D.C. have always been a mysterious bunch. The Dublin based five-piece have managed to subvert the expectations of both critics and fans alike with every release. Their latest offering, titled Romance, seems to do so again, being both their most accessible and experimental record yet.
The Irishmen did not make it easy on themselves. Their last record, Skinty Fia, was released to wide acclaim, and was mentioned among the best albums of 2022. On top of this, it won them a Brit award in 2023 for “International Group” and a nomination for album of the year at the Choice Music Prize. No pressure at all lads.
The opening track, “Romance”, starts ominously, as if it were leading us into a dark alleyway. It trudges along slowly, until finally giving way to a crescendo of distorted guitars and synthesisers which in turn lead us to what feels like the first “real” song of the album.
“Starburster”, the lead single, is an absolute gem of a track, already giving the album its first proper highlight (only two songs in!!!). The sharp breaths taken in between the chorus lines give the song an air of breathless urgency, which is even further shoved down your
throat using screaming synth leads. Keeping up the aggressive dynamic, we are immediately thrown into “Here’s the Thing”. A high-energy banger where it feels like singer Grian Chatten almost addresses you personally (and one can’t help but feel a bit watched).
After “Here’s the Thing”, the record takes a bit of a nosedive tempo-wise. With songs like “Desire” and “In the Modern World” we are again reminded of how the Fontaines have mastered the subtle alchemy of expression, being able to condense heartbreak, melancholy and being super fucking pissed off into a single moment. A special treat for the songwriters among us. “Bug” treats us to some nineties nostalgia, while “Motorcycle Boy” could have been a Cranberries song. The Irishmen are not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve.
Although the songs are still very well crafted, we can’t help but feel a bit of a slump at the halfway point of the record. The momentum created by “Starburster” and “Here’s the Thing” is virtually gone, and “Sundowner” and “Horseness is the Whatness” do not deliver quite as you would have hoped at this point in the record. The album floats, desperately needing a bit of a kick to the arse. Luckily, this is exactly what we get with the grungy monolith
called “Death Kink”. A shot of espresso harking back to their earlier days of pure guitar madness. An absolute treat.
The final track of “Romance” gives us exactly what we’re craving after a mean old slapper like “Death Kink”: a beautiful cheesy little song to remind us that the world is not as bad as we sometimes might think it is. This comes in the form of “Favourite”, another single the band graciously revealed to us before releasing Romance. A lovely jumpy bittersweet indie song concluding a bittersweet album, but one that will surely do well on the festival grounds this summer, and venues around the world. Speaking of which, if you want to catch Fontaines D.C. out on the road, you can! Their “Romance World Tour” is set to circumnavigate the globe from September all the way into December, with some dates already announced for the new year. Be quick though, as one would expect, many gigs are already sold out
To conclude, Romance is a place that manages to capture, excite, and subvert all. A beautiful offering from a beautiful band, and one that will for sure stand as one of the shining examples of modern Indie music in 2024.
contact info (the boring stuff)
Thanks again for checking out this magazine that we’ve worked super hard on! we are a three person team doing absolutely everything from designing the magazine, to the photography, to reaching out to artists and interviewing them, printing and binding the physical copies- yep, that’s all just us thee. and we’re happy to be doing it! it means a lot for people to check out our work! you can keep up with everything going on with the magazine in between each (hopefully) monthly release on our socials below:
Instagram: @rozzmagazine
tiktok: @rozzmagazine
Email: rozzmagazine@gmail.com
to keep up with our other personal work outside of the magazine, check out our socials below!
Mars: @killingm0nday on instagram
Hugo: @hv_hemlock on instagram
daniel: @teringhipster on instagram
next month: delilah bon, american football, and more.
