So Young Issue Twenty-One

Issue Twenty-One

Squid Crack Cloud Amyl and The Sniffers Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Just Mustard Crows

Festival season is upon us and as we cling on to memories

Dundalk’s Just Mustard quietly released their debut album

of Brighton’s The Great Escape we look forward to a

last year and since then the noise around them is only

summer of our favourite bands, tents and warm beverages.

getting louder, we chat to the band about how it all began.

Our twenty-first magazine welcomes Canadian Mixed

Back to London and back to old friends, The Rhythm

Media Collective and most exciting live band around,

Method. It’s certainly strange to think they’re only just

Crack Cloud to the cover. We jumped on the phone with

about to release their debut album, and as they prepare

Mohammad of the group to dig into their ethos. If you’ve

to do just that, we give them a call about the album and

not heard about Squid yet then we’re not sure where you’ve

their evolution. Pregoblin are one of South London’s most

been. We caught up with the UK’s busiest new band in a

exciting new prospects. After the success of their debut

Cardiff Wetherspoons to talk influences, working with Dan

single ‘Combustion’ we ask them about song writing

Carey and enjoying what you play. We head to another

conditions, living with Fat White Family and what’s to

‘spoons to catch up with Crows. The London band have

come. Pottery round off this issue’s interview features and

recently released their debut album via Joe talbot’s (Idles)

we chat to Partisan Records’ latest signings about the scene

label, Balley Records.

in Montreal, Canada.

Amyl and the Sniffers have enjoyed an incredible 18 months

Review features include a look forward to Latitude Festival

and off the back of their double EP release, Rough Trade

and as Black midi prepare to release their debut album at

Records have picked up the Australian band to release their

the end of June, we discuss their rise, their approach and

debut album. Staying in OZ, Rolling Blackouts Coastal

what’s next for the band. Who Are You? returns and this

Fever are another band taking some time out following

time we chat to Body Type, Doobie Fontaine, Do Nothing,

the success of their debut album, we jumped on the phone

The Wants, Deliluh and more.

with Guitarist and Vocalist Fran Keaney. Emerson Snowe rounds off a trio of exciting sounds from Australia. He’s just released his debut EP and we caught up with him in Glasgow.

27 Who Are You? Get to Know 3 Amyl and The Sniffers Gacked on Anger

30 Just Mustard Frank

6 The Rhythm Method How Would You Know I Was Lonely?

34 Emerson Snowe That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll

9 black midi Telekinetic

35 Crack Cloud The Next Fix

16 Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Hope Downs

40 Pregoblin Combustion

20 Squid Houseplants

41 Crows Silver Tongues

25 Pottery The Craft

44 Latitude Festival Henham Park, Suffolk

Opposite, So Young Illustration Competition Winner, Naso Sasaki (The Ramones)

Amyl and The Sniffers Amyl and the Sniffers appear to be living the dream. For a

The process of it all was really smooth, we did one song

band with so many column inches devoted to deciphering

per day so I guess that element of the first EPs was in there,

exactly what influences have been blended to create

that’s the Amyl way of doing things. It was weird recording

their brand of snarling pub-punk, they appear wholly

not in a bedroom, but it was far from difficult.

unaffected. As critics chin-stroke, Amyl continue towards world domination. The shows are still violent and sweaty,

Speaking about the album more generally, could

the mullets remain, but the stages they inhabit only grow

you elaborate more widely on some of the ideas and

bigger. At the time of writing, their eponymous debut

processes that went into it?

album is about to be released worldwide, and it’s a cracker.

Moving incrementally away from the pure DIY chaos

We wrote most of the album in a garage in Coburg in

of their previous EPs towards a more rounded sound (in

Melbourne, it took about a month to do it all. It was a big

part due to the production of Ross Orton, who did Arctic

union of all the influences we had at the time, from boogie

Monkeys’ AM), Amyl haven’t lost the grit that makes them

rock to contemporary punk and post punk as well, bit of

so brilliant, but have refined it- a necessary move, when

power pop and some metal as well. We played those songs

taking into account they’ve gone from playing backyard

for a year, got them super tight. Three of the songs were

shows in Melbourne to selling out headline shows across the

written about a month before recording, we jammed about

world in little over 2 years. A mercurial rise, certainly, but

three and of those six, three of them became full songs.

also one that’s never seemed in doubt.

You’ve sort of ‘blown up’ now, for want of a better Hey guys! Last time we spoke was back in September

phrase. Has this change from DIY home-recordings to,

2018. What’s changed in the last eight months?

I dunno, supporting the Foo Fighters, changed the way you approach playing with the band?

Since then we’ve toured the US twice doing our own headline shows, recorded our first album, toured Australia,

I think we’ve sort of naturally progressed, we still have the

had some time off, did some modelling for Gucci, played

same approach to live shows as we always have, make them

SXSW and then toured a bit of the UK and Europe as well.

as fun and rowdy as possible. I think the song writing is a

Lots of partying between all that too.

lot more calculated now that we know there’s more than just our friends hearing the songs. People tell me that’s a good

I read somewhere that it’s now Ross Orton producing

thing but sometimes I see it as challenging.

your album [as opposed to Joey Walker and Eric Moore of King Gizzard] – how did this switch come about?

What does the rest of 2019 hold for Amyl and the Sniffers?

Rough Trade put us in contact with Ross, they made the introduction. It turned out we’d have some time in the UK

We’re back on the road for two months, June and July, our

to record so it fell into place nicely.

album comes out a week from the day I’m writing this.

Hopefully from then on, it’s gold chains and Maserati’s ‘til

The album’s a brilliant one – quite subtle and refined

2020. Maybe write another album, maybe tour Australia,

in parts, but without losing the energy of your earlier

maybe get back overseas?

tapes. Has this been a difficult step to take?

3

Words by Dan Pare, illustration by Larissa Hoff

The Rhythm Method With The Rhythm Method, what you see is what you get,

But everyone is more focused on coming across as having

two young lads from London who wear their hearts on their

an act instead of being truly honest. There’s a real fear of

sleeves and aren’t afraid of showing it. Their debut record

admitting you don’t know now, you have to have an opinion

‘How Would You Know I Was Lonely?’ is the tangible

and you have to stick to that one, instead of admitting it’s

embodiment - a quintessential and pertinent album for 2019.

something you don’t really know and asking questions. It’s admitting your own faults as a human being.

You buried yourselves away for a fair while to craft the record, how do you feel the band has evolved since we

While you explore notions of anxiety and struggle, I get

last heard from you?

the impression there is always a notion of hopefulness within your music.

Joey: I don’t know if evolution is the word. We’ve changed, our perspective has changed in the last year. It’s been

Rowan: I think the thing with us is we never really attack

an emotional rollercoaster, we got to points where we

subjects head on. A lot of the songs we write, we never

questioned why we do this and that it could implode in a

make these explicit references but they sound like the era

way. But we battled through that and looked on the bright

we live in. That’s one of the great things about Joey’s lyrics,

side of things.

even though they could be funny or surreal, the serious or hopeful message as you put it comes through, and I like to

Rowan: I think as Joey said our philosophy hasn’t changed,

think I reflect that in the music as well, it comes through

we’re still trying to make each other laugh, that’s basically

without us ever saying it. It’s quite understated.

what it’s all about. But in terms of how we play the game, we should do and have to do it all ourselves. It’s really

What I love about your songwriting as a duo is the bond

exciting to think that we could create a new model dare I

you’ve formed and exhibit as a pair. Would you say this

say ourselves. There’s a lot of bands out there realising that

feeds into your music?

as well.

Joey: I’d say first and foremost Rowan and I are very Joey, your lyricism has always been distinctive - fed by

different people, and the best way I can describe it is

personal experiences. It can’t go unmentioned that as a

that I’m a very catholic person and he’s a very British,

generation we need to be more open, would you say this

Protestant person - even though he’s not particularly

drives your own honesty?

Christian or anything. I think the way that’s sort of worked over the years in a productive way is quite strange really.

Joey: From the very start the idea was to be as honest

We’ll disagree on things but it’s always solved in a very

as possible because that’s where we thought we both set

pragmatic manner.

ourselves aside and would also connect with as many people as possible. At first we thought it was just for us, and then

Rowan: I think we’re both men that cry at the drop of a

we noticed that a lot of people connect with it. So that goes

hat as well, there’s a lot of sensitive, surface-level emotion

to show to me that communication is important, which

with us. We’re very easily moved to tears, and I think

seems bizarre. We live in a time where communication is

that’s where a lot of the sentimentality comes from. We’re

how the world goes round with social media.

sentimental old fools.

Words by Ross Jones, illustration by Ji Hyun Yu

6

So Young Illustration Competition 3rd Place, Joe Watson-Price (Dev Hynes0, opposite, 2nd Place, Ian Moore (Hotel Lux)

black midi Black midi’s story has been fabled enough to not be

During those nine hours I watched him slowly nibble away

overblown on these pages but it’s important to reiterate

at a 3-foot baguette whilst wearing an obtuse stetson hat.

the basics. Take four guys, straight outta Brit School, into

He really made that fucker last. I was in complete awe at

the open arms of Brixton’s Windmill courtesy of one Tim

the spectacle before me. At the end of the night, I decided to

Perry, the venue’s resident booker. An all round hero and

ask him, simply, why? His response? “It was 20p and lasted

boon to the underground music scene, Tim was the only guy

me the whole day.”

willing to give them their first gig - apparently the process of securing a debut show was a real struggle for the group.

This is when I truly understood Black Midi’s rationale

It’s a notion that seems almost laughable now as the band

- logic overrides everything. They do things that are

repeatedly sell out venues across the UK and as I’m sure

necessary and sometimes, so pragmatic, that people are

you’re aware, black midi performances have come to define

convinced there’s a mysterious veneer to peel back, an

them. A breeding, pulsating organism that usually work as

ironic secrecy that shrouds their entire being. What they’re

a blueprint for whatever sound they decide to manifest in

actually fuelled by is a matter-of-factness that ensures that

to next, each groove greases the wheel of the next, each

they keep moving forward, no obstacles allowed. I can’t

member part of their own inside joke as they move through

imagine black midi are particularly sentimental about

intense, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes humorous

their music but I do also think they create it, inherently,

moods and tones that verge on the telekinetic.

for themselves. It’s less to do with emotion and more that there’s so much to create, that time can’t really be wasted

The members, bassist Cameron Picton, drummer Morgan

on redundant junctures. There’s a line in their latest release,

Simpson, guitarist Matt Kelvin and vocalist Geordie Greep

‘Talking Heads’, which states (or rather squalls), “I am

have become just as synonymous with their unconventional

indifferent, I have no interest, I do not care, I have no

live antics. For example, my first encounter with Geordie

interest,” which is the only time I think I’ve heard their

Greep was as bizarre as one might expect; Fred Perry were

lyrics reflect their mindset.

hosting an all day event at the 100 Club, an event which black midi had been asked to play. The event encompassed at least ten hours; I was there for a solid nine. So was Geordie.

9

Words by Harley Cassidy, illustration by Josh Whettingsteel

For a long time, only YouTube could offer sparse glimpses into their world, then ‘bmbmbm’ appeared, ticking on the Speedy Wunderground Soundcloud like a feral child. Their first proper release, it was another signifier that producer Dan Carey’s ear is more adept than most. A tetchy, ominous score pulverised by goblin screeches and a growing sense of self-destruction that leaves you breathless until the very end, ‘bmbmbm’ was the catalyst for an even larger scope of interest that next racked up nearly 250,000 views on a live KEXP video where viewers from all over the world throw as many music references in to a pot as possible - Slint, Can, Minutemen, Swans, Sonic Youth, King Crimson… it began to read like the start of a truly great noise rock compilation CD. The best part? None of them really summed up what you were witnessing and the comments arguing for and against were an entire thread of their own.

Pockets of the music industry are still baffled at the meteoric rise of the band and the sheer word of mouth they generate. How can a band so newfangled, be so accessible?

How could Rough Trade, home to indie luminaries like The Smiths and The Strokes give way to something so caustic?

How have they allegedly bagged a six-figure publishing deal? Well, for one, think about how fucking bored everyone is with the cyclical nature of the industry. For a generation with the worst attention spans to date, I’m sure watching a stupidly tight, improv-based bunch of 18 year olds for no more than 25 minutes is probably quite exciting.

It will certainly distract anyone from their smartphone, at the very least. It’s also extremely hard to ignore the brilliant technicality of black midi, whether you ‘get it’ or not. With manic time signatures and the kind of drummer who musicians could only dream of playing with, it’s with genuine intrigue and excitement that people will greet their debut release, ‘Schlagenheim’, on June 21st. No one can even predict what will happen next. I just hope they don’t lose their hearing.

11

black midi

So Young Illustration Competition 4th Place, Marta Giunipero (King Krule), opposite, 5th Place, Ryuta Endo (Girl Ray)

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever The cusp of summer feels like the perfect time to put

It was originally going to just be one track but we ended up

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever on the record player. As we

getting another one together so decided to put a last minute

dial vocalist and guitarist Fran Keaney, he’s enjoying some

seven inch out. I’m really glad we did because I really like

rare down time back home in Melbourne.

the artwork for it. The photo is actually of a tile in one of our kitchen’s but the first impression of it looks like some

There’s never much let up for this hard-working band, who,

tropical shallows.

instead of winding down are using a gap in touring to get stuck into their second full-length. “It’s nice to have a bit of

If you look closely you can see the cracks in the face of the

space,” he says, “We wrote a bit on the road but you need

tile. We’re all thrilled with the result.

a clear head and plenty of time to waste.” Having cruised into the hearts of listeners across the world last year with

It lives up to everything we expect from you guys, how

their debut album ‘Hope Downs’, now the idea is to recline

did the track come together?

and let the music work itself out. Fran continues, “At home the analytical side of the brain buggers off and you can feel

‘In The Capital’ has been around for a while actually. We

free to let thoughts flutter in and out, it’s a really healthy

recorded the bulk of that song when we did the album

process.”

but for a number of reasons it didn’t end up on the record because I wasn’t happy with the lyrics. It was a bit of a

They’re far from forcing anything, “You might waste a

loner and it didn’t really have any friends on the album. I

whole afternoon on a song that you’ll shelve three hours

kept working on it and had a breakthrough after I’d read

later but then a guitar line might emerge from it three days

a book by this Australian author called Gerald Murnane.

later that works.” Despite how it might seem from the

It really tied in with what I’d initially felt for the song

outside, not much has changed for the bunch since signing

which is a hard to describe feeling of connection despite

to Sub Pop and releasing a string of brilliant records.

distance. I came up with the melody for the song when I

“We’re just way busier,” Fran says, “We still juggle the

was swimming a few summers ago and came up with the top

band with our work like we did before but it’s all a bit more

line melody. At that time my nan had passed away and all

hectic. We’re not driving sports cars or anything, it’s just

these disparate sorts were coalescing in this general idea of

us as usual really and a lot of the songs in our band are

connection despite distance. It was already imbued with that

about working and looking out the window. If we were just

feeling but then after I read this book ‘Border Districts’ by

outside the window maybe we wouldn’t know what to talk

Gerald Murnane it seemed to have that same feel to it and

about.”

the lyrics came together quickly. So I re-did the vocals and the song was brought back to life.

You’ve dropped a great seven inch to bridge the gap to future material, how did that come about?

It was just a case of putting some more songs out there really.

Words by Rhys Buchanan, illustration by Janice Chang

16

That track is a lot more enigmatic than your other

I love that people at your shows just dance to the guitar

material?

music, would you say that underpins your ethos?

Those songs are a bit more opaque than the rest of the

I really love that people dance to our music. It’s not really

album. I think the lyrics let the feeling of the melody hit

about looking at us, we’re just encouraging other people to

you a bit. That was my thinking for that song anyway, I

move and enjoy it. People dance in all manner of ways. I

felt like the song had already said what it needed to in the

also like seeing people who you wouldn’t think would move

melodies but it was just a case of finding the right words

to our music. That’s what I love about The Stone Roses, you

to emphasise that. It took me a while to get there but

get these big trojan football supporters singing these grand

eventually I solved that puzzle. The lyrics to ‘Read My

melodies, there are so many big units at their shows singing

Mind’ fit well with that as well. I think they both have a

along.

similar feel and it all works well.

You wouldn’t normally see football fans sing flowery There’s a lot of you guys in the band to contribute, is it

choruses, I’ve always really liked the idea of playing floral

an interesting balance when it comes to the songwriting

pop songs to grown men and watching them dance.

process?

Tell us a bit about your relationship with Sub Pop then?

It’s something we’re tweaking and talking about a lot at the moment because we’re writing the next album and are

It’s a dream to be honest and it’s continued to be that way

a fair chunk of the way through. Sometimes somebody will

because they’re so supportive. They’ve believed in the band

have a small part of a song or a verse, chorus, lead melody

from day one and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the way

or even concept, then we add to it once we have a fully

that it’s been going. They feel like family. We’ve been to

formed idea. When we started it was a lot more like that.

the office in Seattle a few times and it still feels surreal to

A lot of our favourite songs are the ones that start with a

go there. I don’t think it will ever feel normal.

scrap of an idea that has been pulled apart and taken in another direction then recorded on a phone then picked

In terms of the new record, are you hoping to go at your

apart again and frankensteined into a song. The songs are

own pace?

just natural reflections of the five of us and our chemistry really. We could not have written those songs but for the

I think we’re eager to get something out as soon as we can.

five of us playing them together. Tracks like ‘French Press’,

The plan is to record in the back half of the year. We’re a

‘Clean Slate’, ‘Wither With You’ or ‘Mainland’. A lot of the

fair way along but the idea is that we’re going to finalise

songs on the new album have been a bit more aware of that

some lyrics and come up with a few ideas while we’re

process. We’ve been going in and letting the songs go. It’s

travelling. We’ll be playing a few new ones at the upcoming

been way more organic without sounding too cliché.

shows as well. The songs change so much when you play them live so we’re excited to get them out there.

Is it important for you not to overthink things then?

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever play the BBC Sounds I think so for sure. It’s better when accidents happen as

stage at Latitude Festival this year.

well. For example if a drumstick is dropped and the snare falls out for a few seconds then we’ll leave it out. Or at the start of the song ‘The Hammer’ there’s a false start and we decided to try and relearn that weird mistake. It’s those sort of things that we want to try and capture a bit more. It’s the same with the melodies and lyrics that just fall out of you, they’re the ones that we want to trap and keep hold of. It’s an inexact science and it can be a slow process but if we give it enough time then we’ll eventually catch a fish.

17

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

Edwin Burdis, courtesy VITRINE, London / Basel

Squid It’s been a whirlwind twelve months for Squid. From

But it’s either do that or drop two songs which we can’t

playing their first major festival set at Green Man, to now

really afford to do. It’s made us realise we’re really excited

having a full summer and beyond booked-up for 2019, the

about playing longer things if and when the time comes.

band are louder and more focused than ever before, whilst being all prepped for the release of their debut EP. We sat

I feel the EP finds a middle between the subtle pacing of

down outside a friendly local Wetherspoon in Cardiff with

‘Terrestrial Changeover Blues’ and the percussive drive

Ollie, Anton, Louis, Laurie and Arthur to discuss what lies

of ‘The Dial’ or ‘Houseplants’ - in terms of your writing,

ahead for this increasingly intriguing group.

do you feel you are conscious about your overall body of work and the way it grows?

Your EP that’s on the way is an expansive, considered and eclectic listen - full of esoteric turns and effortless

Ollie: I think the thing with stand-alone singles is you can

fluidity. Would you say this represents how you work

only try and be one thing. ‘Houseplants’ is a big, punky

as a group, with seamless and perhaps unspoken

tune and that’s it, but with the EP we’ve had the chance

unification?

to do ambient, punk and loads of different genres and put it under one thing which is what I think we’re really good

Anton: It’s not like we go through things without

at. But just doing stand-alone singles is a good way to be

discussion, we always have disagreements, but that’s

pigeonholed and having a coherent body of work is really

how you produce good things as a group, you have

exciting to us.

disagreements and you find the best way out of that.

You need to have different opinions to make something

Arthur: We’re five voices, and if we were always shouting

interesting. We like working eclectically, bringing in a mix

and were really fast all the time we’d be unbearable people

of different things and trying not to keep things under one

to be with. We’re definitely not, we’re all very different

banner. Making sure that we don’t remain stagnant and

people and we all have a lot of different things to say a lot

always trying to introduce different things.

of the time. So I think naturally what comes out will always develop and will always be varied.

Ollie: It’s a nice stepping stone between lots of earlier stuff and the more energetic live show that we do and we’re

Anton: But I think it’s also too early for us to be thinking in

happy to have that. It’s the mixture of the jazzy elements

three years time we want to of done this and this. One of the

but with the post-punk edge to it. At the moment everything

most exciting things about being in Squid is I have no idea

is very directed by how our live set works, because we are

what type of music we are going to make next.

only given thirty minutes set time, so we play it like it’s a post-punk thing and blast it out, but I think it’ll be quite

Louis: I think when we recorded ‘The Dial’ with Dan

exciting when we get an hour set time so we can bring in

(Carey), and considered the energy we were able to capture

everything.

in actually working with him for the first time, I don’t think we’d have been able to assume that when we did our EP that

Anton: I think we all feel we are a bit desperate to do

A, we would’ve been doing it with him still, and B, that it

longer things and experiment. We always used to have gaps

would be something that was as much of a mix of different

in between our songs and mess around, there was a bit of

energies in the different tracks.

improv and it was more of a considered thing.

Words by Ross Jones, illustration by John Molesworth

20

It’s so great to work with him again because he’s proven

Anton: I don’t want to speak for other bands, but from

that he’s able to capture all these different sounds that we

our perspective, the lyrical point of view is mostly Ollie,

are wanting to put together. Listening back to it, it’s all very

then secondly Louis, then third it’s me. We use the voice

different, but there is a cohesion and it’s really nice to hear.

as just another instrument when we write things, people start making noises over what we write musically, that

I get the impression that once you found your sound

develops into sounds, then into words. I think that’s why it

you quite quickly began to expand on it, the personality

comes across as feeling as playful as the music sometimes,

and identity of the group becoming very much a

rather than the music serving the lyrics, it’s all part of one

whole concept rather than separate entities - was this

thing. But I will say that also lyrically some things don’t

important for you to be able to present?

seem cohesive, because when we’ve got three different lyricists sometimes we write separately and then throw them

Anton: That’s it, we want it to sound good and not a mess,

together.

and we do write with a listener in mind. It’s not like we’re just writing just for the sake of making music, we do

Your lyrics embrace this elusive surrealism while still

actually want to make music that people enjoy listening to

being laconic and wit-filled - I feel like it captures the

as well as ourselves. The main thing we are trying to do is

abrupt and anxious unknowing of modern life through

have a good time.

the characters you encounter?

Ollie: We throw a lot of stuff away, there’s a lot of stuff

Louis: Yeah it is and I think that stems in part from when

we’ve forgotten about. It happens very quickly, you are

Ollie puts together lyrics for a song we’ve been working

always writing and then you don’t even speak about it, you

on and then I add something on that might end up serving

just don’t play it again.

as a kind of chorus, there’s a dichotomy of meaning or theme. I think for any kind of thought that is slightly surreal

Louis: I think in a way that comes from us being more

that’s fair to say because it’s two streams of consciousness

disciplined and being aware of what we’re willing to drop.

going together, maybe directed at each other and slightly

If something doesn’t feel like its really enjoyable to play

conversational but often thematically quite different. So

then either that’s a point where we feel the need to develop

I think there is an almost intentional confusion that we’re

it and that could take a while or we’ll drop it until it feels

willing to put together two different lyrical approaches in

like the right time to bring it back again. I think that’s fair

the same song.

to say, with the live set especially.

Anton: If you’ve got something to say that isn’t a lot of Anton: We all know eachother so well that we can sense

words and you can just do it then you don’t have to worry

when something is not working out.

about people getting in your way. I mean obviously if any of us were writing really crap lyrics then we’d be like “what

Laurie: We’re all from different musical backgrounds, we

are you doing?”

all know each other so well and we know we’re all good musicians, so we know when things work. Sometimes with

Ollie: I think there is a lot of pressure to be political in this

music it’s as simple as some things work and some things

current climate of bands, especially if you aren’t writing

don’t, and we all have a similar understanding of what that

about Brexit or a crisis or something.

is even though we all bring slightly different things to the table.

We probably find more inspiration in people like Limmy and Bob Mortimer.

I love how that sense of unification as a group feeds into the lyrics, it feels like sharing the duty gives your music

Squid play The Lake Stage at Latitude Festival this year.

this fuller picture of the narratives you are depicting, which some of your contemporaries can perhaps get lost in by being too focused?

21

Squid

Pottery Pottery have created a massive stir over the past few

Paul: We’re really just trying to please ourselves. When

months; earning the title and being labeled as one of

you keep listening to certain bands over and over, and you

Montreal’s most exciting new bands. With their dashing

get bored of it. You could just make music rather than of

Canadian charm, hint of British wit, and fierce energy, it’s

look for new music. We’re trying to make music to excite

easy to see why so many have begun to lust over these five

us! With psychedelia, we’re not trying to be psychedelic

lads. After much perseverance, Pottery have locked in a

but I think we all like that genre in general. We see things

deal with Royal Mountain (Canada) and Partisan Records

differently; being weird.

(ROW) for the recently released EP, ‘No.1’. The wait has paid off in the band’s favour as they continue to create a

Before properly releasing any music, you were opening

major buzz and attraction wherever they perform. I sat down

for acts such as Parquet Courts & Thee Oh Sees. Were

with Pottery whilst at The Great Escape to grab a much

these shows that you were able to book through your

needed caffeinated beverage and overdue catch-up.

connections in other groups?

How did the group of you come together to create

Jacob: For the Parquet Courts show, I sent an email to

Pottery?

them initially; they never got back to me. We then played a show for this promoter in Montreal called Greenland, and

Austin: When I moved to Montreal, I met Jacob

he really liked us and wanted to hook us up with another

[Shepanksy] on the first day. Jacob and Paul [Jacobs] knew

show. I asked “what about the Parquet Courts show?”, but

each other prior to that.

there wasn’t a budget for it. So we said “fuck it, we’ll play for free. We just want to play the show!” We ended up

Paul: Our friend Eddie told me about Austin as we were

playing the show, playing for free, we got a beer each, and

looking for a guitar player for my band. After I met Austin,

a few friends on guest list. We got on with the band really

he mentioned he needed a drummer for their shit. We just

well and they invited us to play a couple more shows the

started jamming together from there. We essentially met

following months. It worked out well!

through our bands.

You’ve since received a co-release deal from Royal Can you tell us a little about the Montreal music scene...

Mountain & Partisan Records. What made these two

How does it vary from English speaking parts of

labels feel like the right fit for the band and the debut

Canada?

release?

Austin: A lot of DIY spaces closed down but now a lot of

Jacob: Royal Mountain is just a Canadian label. We signed

official spaces are opening up. It’s in a weird transition.

to Royal Mountain and shortly after; we were talking to

I think we mind our own business a lot. I don’t think we

a couple of US labels but things didn’t work out and the

really have too much to say about the actual scene itself.

people didn’t feel right. We ended up meeting a lot of the Partisan people and really got along with them. They’re the

Your sound and structure varies; you can go from

best. They aren’t just a record label; if we needed something

sounding psych rock to aggressive punk. Would you say

or if we were in a hard spot as a band, they wouldn’t say

this is a real statement to the personalities and creative

“Oh sorry we’re just a label!” They’d get in there and try

mindsets involved in Pottery?

and help out as much as they could.

25

Words by Sarah Morrison, illustration by Seba Cestaro

Dry Cleaning We’re called Dry Cleaning and we’re from South London.

The music we play is post-punk with a slight Americana edge to it. It’s quite rocking but minimal with a mostlyspoken vocal.

Can you tell us something that you collectively really love?

Chicken nuggets.

What can we be excited for over the next 12 months?

Our first EP, ‘Sweet Princess’ is coming out soon. Then we’re doing a mini tour throughout August. Come and say hi.

Dry Cleaning play The Alcove Stage at Latitude Festival this year.

Body Type Hi, Sophie here! Body Type is myself, Georgia, Cecil and Annabel. Four lonely hearts who decided to start a club

Deliluh

band. Our music is honest and raw and the sound of us having the most fun we have ever had in our lives.

We all basically met through the DIY music community. I (Kyle) met Jude through tending bar at one of his former

Can you tell us the story behind one of your songs?

band’s shows (HSY). Erika’s old band (Mazola) played shows in a garage behind Jude’s house years ago, and also

‘Insomnia’ -a new song on our recent EP - is the result of

played at my apartment a few times. Julius met the lot of us

me moving to a seaside town south of Sydney, walking

after moving in with me through a recommendation from

along the beach absolutely in awe of the beauty of the

our friend Ami, and joined Deliluh soon afterwards. Erika

horizon and how it was making me feel. It’s something you

and Jude joined not long after that... Kinda complicated

don’t see often when you live somewhere built up, with

on paper, but we were all exposed to each others’ music

smoke and skyscrapers obscuring your view - but it’s so

through shows around town before playing together as a

healthy for the mind and soul to get that space every now

unit.

and then. So this song is a reminder to go and take a breath and stare into the infinite and think about beautiful things in

Can you tell us something that you collectively hate?

your life whenever you get the chance.

Corporate involvement in DIY culture.

27

Dumb

The Wants

Hello we are called Dumb, we live in Vancouver BC Canada

We are The Wants from New York City, specifically

and we make a variety of rock music.

Bushwick, Brooklyn. Our music is a blend of danceable grooves, anxious energy, and emotional yet enigmatic

Can you tell us the story behind one of your songs?

lyrics. We use deceptively simple components that interlock like techno percussion and pop forms.

Ryan from Mint (our label) told us that if one of our songs got picked up by CBC it could pay for our entire album

What’s special about where you’re from? Has it inspired

in royalties, or something like that, so we wrote a song

your music?

called ‘CBC Radio 3’. It’s all about wholesome shit like acknowledging and confronting your reservations and

There is no city with more energy than New York. That

limitations, like not being able to get your song played on

energy can be intoxicating or excruciating; we do our best

CBC radio for example.

to channel it, but it’s always volatile. Our work is inspired by these extremes and the intensity and focus with which one must live every day here.

Do Nothing What’s special about where you’re from? Has it inspired your music?

Nottingham has a super diverse scene where everyone gets along really well and supports each other a bunch. Because of that it doesn’t feel like a competition, which definitely helped us grow and improve.

Can you tell us something that you collectively really love?

Doobie Fontaine

Breaking even on gigs is rare but enjoyable.

Doobie Fontaine is an alter ego; although as we know life imitates art. So Doobie Fontaine has found a sort of rebirth

Can you tell us something that you collectively hate?

as a revolving cast of musicians, centred around core four members. We’re from England, Australia and New Zealand.

Overpriced service station sandwiches.

We’re all currently based in London. The music we make is road music for a surf trip, or a fly fishing excursion, or a Stetson convention. But it’s also city music. It all exists within a wider slacker ambience.

Can you tell us something that you collectively hate?

Spending more on taxis getting to the gig than the gig pays us.

28

Just Mustard Hailing from Dundalk, Ireland, shoegaze rock quintet Just

We just had loads of songs that we liked and we all

Mustard are hot shit at the moment. After releasing their

collectively said that we listened to albums more so than

debut album ‘Wednesday’ last year, they’ve become one

EPs and so we were like “Let’s just do an album then!”.

of the most talked about new acts on the scene, with their

There were a few people maybe advising us not to do it

show at this year’s Great Escape festival resulting in queues

because no one knew who we were! But it was something

around the block to get in. Dropping their brand new AA-

we really wanted to do. I’m really happy we did! But it’s

side in May, the two tracks - ‘Frank’ and ‘October’ - show

strange. We released it in May last year and we got a review

different sides to the group, working as an exciting glimpse

in December! It’s strange as well because we’ve got new

into what they can achieve and what they’re hoping to do

songs that we want to be playing but people who really love

in the future. We had a chat with vocalist Katie Ball to find

the album are wondering where their favourite album tracks

out more.

are!

Going back to the beginning, how did you all meet?

What are you working on now?

We were all in the same social circle and we’re all from the

We’re working towards a second album, probably will

same town. It’s quite a musical town so most of my friends

be around early next year, but nothing set in stone yet,

would be in bands or have something to do with a band, so

and we’ve released a double A-side. We released ‘Frank’

we all just started hanging out and making music together.

which is more like the happy, light side to the sound and

We didn’t have a drummer and just had a few friends who

then ‘October’ is the darkest song. We play it last at every

were drummers helping us out at gigs, so we didn’t really

show and we really like the song. It’s quite a scary song,

start properly until Mags [Shane Maguire], our current

quite nightmarish. The vocals start really lullaby-like and

drummer, started playing with us and that was about two

then there’s like a wall of noise after which sounds like a

years ago.

nightmare. It ends on the guitars making a really loud noise for a really long time. If it happened for any longer it would

Was it pretty harmonious how you all saw yourselves as

be really awful. We cut it up at the right time! We end on

a band?

that because we were like “what song can we play after that?”.

It’s changed a lot over a while. When we started, we were still trying to figure out what we liked. We had similar

How have you grown from releasing your debut up to

influences so we were just playing music like our influences

now?

instead of taking inspiration from them and trying to create something different. It took a while to get to making music

Musically, we’ve just been gigging all year, I don’t

that we were actually proud of. I think the first time that

remember the last time we had a writing session, so it’s hard

happened was when we wrote ‘Pigs’, with the minimal

to know. Our sound checks last week turned more and more

drums and bass loop. I feel like we’re still changing and I

into jams because we’re just mad to get in the room and

feel like there could still be more changes.

write together. It’ll be interesting to get back into a room together and see how things have changed musically with

What made you want to put out ‘Wednesday’ when you

us. I’m looking forward to that.

did?

Words by Elly Watson, illustration by Rebeka Lukošus

30

www.edwinburdis.com

Courtesy VITRINE, London / Basel

Emerson Snowe Emerson Snowe is the moniker for Brisbane based

I don’t really look at them after I write them down, I just

songwriter, Jarrod Mahon. Infusing 80s synth pop hooks

put down the first thing that comes into my head - it always

with confessional lyrics, his new EP ‘That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll’

ends up being quite open and personal, as that’s the kind of

is both emotionally hard-hitting and sonically sublime.

person I am really. I couldn’t put something on and try to

The musician/visual artist chatted to us from his hotel in

make it look cool.

Glasgow about love songs and trusting his gut.

In your writing you’re very open about your personal So everything seems like it’s getting pretty crazy for

struggles. Were you consciously subverting the stigma

you right now, the Emerson project is really picking up

that surrounds mental illness through your music?

momentum…

With my mental health I can only talk from my perspective It’s really special that all this is happening. At the

of things, this is how I’m feeling - I’m up I’m down,

Birmingham show the other night, there were

constantly, y’know? There was a part of me that wanted

trans kids coming up to me and saying how much ‘Human’

my writing to be uplifting in a way. I really love how with

had resonated with them and it’s really beautiful. Most of

Brian Wilson’s stuff for The Beach Boys, the music is so

the time I’m like “no one cares, no one’s listening” and it’s

uplifting but unless you’re really listening to the words or

so easy to think that, but in reality there are always people

reading them you wouldn’t think too much on it. I do think

out there that are watching what you’re doing.

that people often think that [having mental illness] is about being sad all the time, but there are beautiful things out

When did you realise that the music you were writing

there and I think the music, especially with this E.P, is quite

was good?

representative of that.

It was around July 2016, and I went to my parent’s place

While only seven tracks long, the E.P has several long

and I picked up this nylon acoustic guitar that I learned to

songs, ’Our House’ and ‘Could You Love Me’ are so

play on when I was ten. I was like I’m actually going to sit

gorgeous. I’m interested to know, what draws you to the

down and do a song a day or something, see what happens

art of the love song?

and for the first time ever, when that first week was up I had seven tracks that all sounded similar, and that had never

I think all the songs on the E.P are love songs, even ‘If

happened for me before. I was like, “These songs actually

I Die..’, it’s a love song to life in a way. It’s probably

sound like one piece of music” so that’s when I started

something that comes from my fascination with french pop.

putting stuff up online. I wrote all the stuff for ‘That’s Rock

It’s not something I think of but everything comes out like

‘n’ Roll’ pretty much in those first two weeks.

that, maybe because it’s one of the few things I know or understand, like I don’t understand that many things in life

Do you tend to treat your songs like a journal?

but I know what love feels like and I know what caring for someone feels like, I think that’s one thing that I can really

Totally, it was all about like trusting my first instinct. With

talk about.

the lyrics the way that they come out they’re usually the first draft.

Words by Eleanor Philpot, illustration by Rafal Kwiczor

34

Crack Cloud Crack Cloud have just won The Great Escape. Criminally,

played some post rock and some black metal for a little bit,

this is the first time I’ve seen the band but I do so twice in

but always with a hint of some social political ideas and

one day to make up for it. Since releasing their two EP’s

philosophies. It was always kind of important that we were

in the LP format, the Canadian mixed media collective

telling our truths, our story. So when he (Zach) facilitated

have dominated most conversations when it comes to

Crack Cloud, which was a demo that he put together

new favourite bands. Live, it’s more a sonic maze than a

which was six songs that I think we deleted by accident,

journey, with every member adding a vocal role to their

that’s when I kinda noticed he was onto something. The

flawless playing, inflicting whiplash as you try to keep up

communities in Canada are pretty unique because everybody

with who’s doing what. As a collective they span to 20 or

revolves around each other and there’s a lot of crossover

so members, originating from various areas in Canada, but

between musicians and bands. When he put together the LP

as a live band they shrink to seven. Their early story has

which is the two EP’s, that was compiled by a whole bunch

been told plentifully, substance abuse and the recovery from

of different musicians who are friends of ours. And when I

those substances has been the catalyst for all things Crack

heard ‘Anchoring Point’ that’s when I was like, “I’m gonna

Cloud, and led by drummer and lead vocalist Zach Choy,

jump in on this now”. I realised that we wanted to make this

their two masterful post punk EP’s were born. Whilst on the

a multimedia project because we’d always worked on films

road in the UK, the band have released a new single titled

together, we made shorts and we are fans of cinema and

‘The Next Fix’, an early teaser that not only serves as a beat

storytelling with interesting narratives. It was important that

laden contrast to favourites such as ‘Drab Measure’, but

we mashed our minds together and with different people and

also the beginning of ‘Pain Olympics’, which we believe to

all the more unique artists we knew in our communities.

be the title of their debut album. Crack Cloud are an energy that strive to be more than a band, pushing boundaries,

So it seems that Crack Cloud is more an idea that people

neglecting the expected and welcoming the like minded.

can freely buy into as opposed to searching out a group

The collective appear to prioritise what’s around them,

to fill a role…

creativity and their relationships before any financial goal, and I jumped on the phone with Mohammad to talk it all

Because of how malleable our music scene felt, it just felt

out.

weird to create a band and say this is the band and these are the band members because it didn’t work that way. It

Take us to the beginning, or what you view as the

was easier for us to make music and shoot out ideas by

beginning of Crack Cloud…

collaboration without the intention of like, “oh this is an album we are going to make” and “oh this is an EP we

Roughly 2015, 2016, Zach Choy has kind of been the

are going to make”. It just kind of came to be. And Crack

founder of this whole project. He made a lot of basement

Cloud still kind of operates in a way where we are not really

tracks and bedroom tracks with a lot of sound exploration

looking to break into the industry or anything, we just want

and I think for the most part it was a way for him to learn

our music to be heard and if anything comes out of it, we

how to record track ideas. He’d always been very musical

know what we want to succeed in life. We want to feed our

and we’d played in lots of musical projects together since

family, feed our friends and to facilitate spaces where we

we were quite young. They were mostly like punk bands

can constantly be creative and use that creativity as a means

and then we followed the flow of what was trending at that

of healthy living.

moment,

35

Words by Sam Ford, illustration by Josh Whettingsteel

There seems to be a strong rejection of the term ‘band’

As a collective that was built upon personal recovery

and a heavy lean on the multimedia collective. Why is

and personal creativity, did you ever expect to be taking

that?

Crack Cloud and those debut EP’s into the world in a bigger capacity and how does that affect your creativity?

I was trying to make sense of the ‘band’ too and to me, and this is in my own words not anyone else from Crack Cloud,

I didn’t have any expectation and I think that helps our

I think the allure of what made a band special back in the

motivations. You know, sometimes I’m on the road and I’m

day is that you’d see a record and look at the cover and you

thinking, “I wish I was back home being creative” but we

see this world that they’ve created and you buy into that.

have now learnt different mechanisms to keep that creativity

You couldn’t just look up the guitarist’s name and look up

on the road, to keep working and communicating with

their latest tweet from yesterday which kind of destroys

people back home. I know we are going to play Roskilde

that illusion. I want to celebrate everyone’s individuality

in June, and the goal is to hopefully get some of the other

because we live in that world now and it’s hard to buy in

members to come out and put on a huge stage show and

and it feels too much like a capitalistic endeavour or a

show this project in different lights.

company as a ‘band’. I really want it to be fluid. The issue that’s obviously going to come with that is how you divide

So the growth of Crack Cloud welcomes in more of the

things but it’s all about communication and making sure

collective when it comes to performance?

that everyone’s needs are being met.

Yes. We think about how all of these things will grow and This attitude and approach is quite unique, especially

we joke about how one day Zach will step out, I’ll take a

compared to the ‘band’ world in the UK…

step back and Zach’s younger brother will take over and start drumming, keeping it as the malleable, fluid, creative

It’s taking from a lot of other musical cultures, hip hop

outlet where people can come in and carry the torch. And

has a lot of crews and ensembles, everyone is represented.

trying to be you know, Meta about identity and people. As

Everyone has their moments. Sometimes someone might sit

I’m talking to you and explaining it to you now, I’m getting

out of a song and people await them, people look forward

your ideas you know. I think that’s what Crack Cloud is, it’s

to their individuality and what they might bring to the table.

a lot of talking, It’s a lot of arguing with each other, a lot of

Realistically I want this to put a magnifying glass to my

debate and then coming to terms to put it into something we

community, that’s kind of my goal and then hopefully all

are proud of.

the people who aren’t represented on our live stage will get their chance because they’ve been bustin’ their ass too.

Speaking of those outside of the live set up, where else does Crack Cloud exist?

To be honest, now, we are all pretty much situated on the west coast of Vancouver and everybody there that’s involved either has a really personal history with us or has just met us, like our motivations and they know our history and goals. I think they are attracted to that and I hope they feel that there’s a lot of creative liberation. All this other stuff that’s happening like going on tour is just the icing on the cake. We are lucky and we don’t take this for granted.

37

Crack Cloud

You’re touring off the back of the success of songs that

We needed Richard (Label Manager) as he’s put a lot of

were written the best part of 2 years ago (known strictly

faith in us. When he met us we were probably at our lowest.

as an LP and not an album), and as a collective who

When people were questioning our motivations you know

seems to be so forward thinking and ever evolving, do

and because of our history, you don’t make friends all the

you still have a connection with those songs?

time when youre getting fucked up. That’s something we have to own and redeem trust, he definitely saw us at a

Definitely have a connection as they feel timeless to me but

pretty low point but he was convinced by our motivations.

we are playing four new songs at the moment on this trip,

He took a risk with us and we are eternally grateful to him.

giving a tease of what’s around the corner. We really want this to be our magnum opus and to really kick start the idea

Crack Cloud strikes me as a project that’s led by

of what Crack Cloud is fully capable of. And hopefully

relationships and people ahead of an end product or

reach towards greater milestones. The narrative we are

ambition…

about to tell with ‘Pain Olympics’ is something that’s been formulating in our heads for over ten years, since I met

Without a doubt, even the text on my leather jacket (in

Zach. We are really excited to start dropping some of that

the video for ‘The Next Fix’) says “Nadam” which means

stuff soon.

repent and it’s just the idea of confessing your sins so you can take that weight off of your shoulders as we are going

You’ve just released ‘The Next Fix’ and it’s a departure

to be here for you. We wanna see striving communities, it’s

from the LP…

as simple as that. Bringing the best aspects of religion into our lifestyle without being dogmatic.

The way that we set out with Crack Cloud is that nothing that we make can be fit into one box and we don’t want to be stunted that way. I think that’s what’s going to make Crack Cloud, Crack Cloud. We don’t want people to know what to expect each time we drop a single. I was stressed up until two hours before we had to hand it (the video for ‘The Next Fix) in. I wish I could’ve expanded on it more because in the video there was so much sensitivity to the subject matter that it was actually draining. It was a hard thing to share and I didn’t know how people were going to digest it.

Do the sounds of ‘The Next Fix’ represent a new immediate future or just confirmation that you shouldn’t think you know what’s coming?

Yeah, don’t think you know what’s coming and it’s going to make sense in the album and it’s not going to seem like it’s out of place at all. We have another song and video done which is hopefully going to come next month. But we decided to subvert some expectation a little bit rather than go for the classic post punk sound and that’s the risk taking we want to take and it’s fulfilling.

Your relationship with Coventry’s Meat Machine Records is fascinating and proves further how you’re willing to reject the industry and its norms…

www.joshwhettingsteel.com

38

Pregoblin Pregoblin was initially started two years ago, at the singer/

Many times I haven’t written it down, and forgotten it. It’s

songwriter, (and Jessica Winter’s uncle) John Lawrence

like that bit by Mitch Hedberg, about writing jokes. If you

Winter’s house, in his shed/studio in Brixton. The band

know it? He’s in bed, an idea comes, and he has to decide

then formed over a period of a year, with many different

whether its worth getting up to write it down. That’s me.

members. Since releasing their first single, ‘Combustion’

Then I bring it to Jessica Winter, and we record and write

we at So Young have been obsessed and thought we’d catch

them together, a lot of the writing happens in real time, we

up with former Fat Whites collaborator Alex Sebley to find

have something special.

out more.

You wrote ‘Touch the Leather’, which is an era defining How would you describe Pregoblin?

song and definitely one of our favourites from the six years we’ve been running So Young. What were the

A nice idea.

circumstances in which you wrote that particular song?

The South London scene has flourished in the wake of

I was in Algeria with Lias and Nathan, we wrote it there. It

yours and your contemporaries’ initial critical acclaim

was originally about hot leather car seats.

and notoriety in Brixton. How do you feel about that scene, have you been around it at all?

It seems you’ve almost lived a parallel life to the Fat White Family. In and out of the band, living in the same

It’s pretty amazing. I remember when nobody was talking

area and living a particular lifestyle. The Fat Whites are

about South. It’s nice.

now seemingly living a cleaner lifestyle and taking the music a bit more seriously, which appears to be the

I’ve read about your taking of Pregabalin to get off

case with a lot of the South London old guard recently.

heroin. How did that transition and/or the use of

‘Combustion’ seems to lean this way but is it the time for

Pregabalin affect your songwriting and creativity?

clarity and a slightly clearer sound from you?

I did use pregablin initially to get off heroin, and at the time

I live with Nathan and Lias. We’ve all lived together off and

it was funny to call the band PREGOBLIN. The effects of

on over the years, and shared a lot. I was never in the FWF.

the drug do make you feel impish, and the name just stuck. I

I was in The Saudis.

can’t actually say that pregablin or any drug has ever helped me write any songs. I wrote the beginnings of ‘Combustion’

I wouldn’t really call myself the old guard, PREGOBLIN

when I was clean. And I take addiction seriously now, as it

only just started. After the Saudis, there was a period when

should be. And take a dim view of people who glamorise

I made no music. When I did start again, I knew I wanted to

drugs.

make something different. I think we did that. I wasn’t clean for most of it. So I can’t really say a cleaner sound was due

What conditions need to be present for you to write a

to a cleaner life style, it wasn’t.

song?

What else can we expect from Pregoblin in 2019?

I wish I knew. I’ve learnt to trust a process of nothing for ages, followed by something.

We have a new single coming out soon. Thank you.

Words and illustration by Josh Whettingsteel

40

Crows As anyone with an ear for the dark and the heavy knows,

It legitimises you, in a way. The album took so long to put

Crows have been a brilliant staple on the live circuit for

out because we were being dicked around by labels, and

around half a decade - without really gaining the recorded

our drummer had to move back to the US. Things became

success they’re probably due. Indeed, since the release of

more drawn out due to necessity, but we were gigging

2016’s ‘Unwelcome Light’ EP, lineup changes and label

throughout this period, so it wasn’t like people were going

frustration led to a quiet period release-wise, with the band

to completely forget about us.

admitting the period “felt a bit like banging our heads against a brick wall”, and even acknowledging “there were

Your album came out on Joe Talbot’s [Idles] label,

times we wanted to pack it all in”. But with the release

Balley Records. With Idles, they were plugging away

of brilliant first album ‘Silver Tongues’, Crows’ vision

for years until the penny finally dropped and the world

seems to have finally been vindicated. Showcasing both the

understood them. I feel their success has bled over into a

frenetic energy of their live set (indeed, several tracks from

lot of other bands, especially those of a heavier volition.

the album are re-recordings of older songs) – but also more

Why do you think this is?

forward-looking, expansive, almost shoegaze-y territory in the latter half, the album is a testament to what can be

Idles are so supportive of other bands. Touring with them,

achieved with sheer determination and uncompromising

they were literally shouting out bands for the crowd to listen

commitment to the sort of music they wanted to create. We

to in between songs. Going back to their success, as long as

met with Crows in a dark Wetherspoons on a sunny day, to

people are pissed off they’re always going to want heavier

chat about the album, the state of the world, and who the

music, some sort of angry sound to channel it through.

band would most like to punch in the face (Nigel Farage/

Especially with what’s going on in this country at the

“Someone people really love, like David Attenborough”).

moment, it’s prime time for this sort of reactionary, punk-y

.

music. It fluctuates in popularity, but it won’t go away.

The album’s been out for a couple of weeks now- how’s it Talking about the album more as a body of work; what

been received?

sort of ideas/ themes did you try and work into it?

Really good, great. We had no idea how it was going to go because it’s been such a long time coming, and there was

Because we’ve written the album over the course of a

the worry people would no longer give a shit. The only bad

couple of years, there are so many different themes and

review we had was from some blogger, whose complaint

topics on it. It’s maybe different to other albums because

was that it didn’t sound the same the whole way through, so

we didn’t sit down and write it based around a cohesive set

wasn’t post-punk enough.

of things, but more collected the sum of our experiences over the last few years. There was also an element of trying

It was in 2016 that you put out your last EP- you talk

to broaden the spectrum of what we were playing. So

about worrying whether people still care, but the album

much music has been written that everything is going to be

feels like it’s been received on a much larger scale from

rehashing something that’s already been done, to the point

your previous work. Is this the case?

where it’s just trying to make a sound your own. In terms of the album, it’s really important to us that it sounds good as a

I think part of it is actually having an album out, it makes

fluid body of work, not just a selection of individual songs.

people think ‘oh, it’s all more serious now’.

41

Words by Dan Pare, illustration by REN

Latitude Festival As heat waves threaten and springtime showers keep our

As we scroll down the line up, that’s where our true

feet on the ground, it’s the perfect time to look forward to

highlights arrive, bands such as Crows, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs

festival season and more specifically, Latitude. Henham

Pigs Pigs Pigs and The Murder Capital play the Sunrise

Park, Suffolk is where you’ll find the festival from the 18th-

arena and inject some healthy noise to the weekend. BBC

21st July, it boasts an eclectic line-up of radio darling pop

tastemaker, Huw Stephens takes over The Lake Stage once

and comedy. If you dig deeper, you’ll also find some of the

again to bring some of his favourite new artists to Latitude.

most exciting new bands around, many of which you’ll have

We can’t say we disagree with his choices as he invites

seen in our pages.

Black Country, New Road, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Squid and Working Mens Club along to play. London’s primary

Main stage treatment has been given to godfather of the

independent promoters for new sounds, Bad Vibrations

London scene, Baxter Dury and he’ll be sure to use his

look after the lower realms of the line up but small print

early slot to bring the hits from recent album ‘Prince of

is rectified by big sounds. Be sure to catch Viagra Boys,

Tears’. The BBC Sounds App plays host to the second

Gently Tender and Dry Cleaning at The Alcove stage.

stage at Latitude this year and it’s here that you’ll find an influx of guitar bands. Over the three days the stage ranges

Latitude Festival tickets are available via their shop. Full

from indie legends, Primal Scream to Kent noise makers,

details upon their big poster on the left.

Slaves and London’s The Big Moon who begin their return to stages after some time away to write. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have had one hell of a year and turned up the excitement for their upcoming festival performances with the release of 7” single ‘In The Capital’. You’ll find the Australian five piece on the BBC Sounds stage too.

Words by Sam Ford, illustration by Josh Whettingsteel

44

So Young Illustration Competition 6th Place, Rachel Summers (Pulp), opposite, 7th Place, Nuria Just (Fat White Family)

So Young Illustration Competition 9th Place, Jolanda Jokinen (Haim), opposite, 8th Place, Mari Kinovych (Alabama Shakes)

So Young Illustration Competition 10th Place, Josie Sommer (The Ramones-Judy is a Punk), opposite, 11th Place, Sofia Figlie (Alabama Shakes).

Previous spread, 12th Place, Steve Nelson (Sports Team)

So Young Illustration Competition 14th Place, Maria Frade (Beth Ditto), opposite, 13th Place, Alex Ram (Joy Division)

So Young Illustration Competition 15th Place, Kingston Poplar (Nirvana), opposite, 16th Place, Leanne Rule (Slaves)

So Young Illustration Competition 17th Place, Joshua Rush (Prince-Purple Rain), opposite, 18th Place, Stefanie Rohnisch (Beth Ditto)

So Young Illustration Competition 19th Place, Maria Teresa Lagana (Goat Girl)

So Young Illustration Competition, opposite, 20th Place, Vitoria Bas (The Beatles)

Editors

Sam Ford

Josh Whettingsteel Writers

Dan Pare

Ross Jones

Harley Cassidy

Rhys Buchanan Sarah Morrison Sam Ford

Elly Watson

Eleanor Philpot

Josh Whettingsteel Printed By

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Artists Josh Whettingsteel Holly Whitaker Naso Sasaki Larissa Hoff Ji Hyun Yu Ian Moore Joseph Watson-Price Marta Giunipero Ryuta Endo Janice Chang Edwin Burdis John Molesworth Seba Cestaro Rebeka Lukosus Rafal Kwiczor REN Rachel Summers Nuria Just Mari Kinovych Jolanda Jokinen Josie Sommer Sofia Figlie Steve Nelson Alex Ram Maria Frade Kingston Poplar Leanne Rule Joshua Rush Stefanie Rohnisch Maria Teresa Lagana Vitoria Bas Darren Shaddick Photos for Collage April Arabella

Holly Whitaker

Jennilee Marigomen Benedicte Dacquin Art Direction

www.joshwhettingsteel.com Special Thanks Sam Craven Cal McRae Jamie Ford Ross Jones

Cameron West

Opposite, Stella Donnelly by Darren Shaddick

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