Sonic Shocks
Issue 10/2012
Page 15 By Becki Kremer
by Becki Kremer
Interview with Chris Kybert and Oz Craggs by Becki Kremer Feature by Matt Dawson One of the strongest bands on the current UK live circuit, Feed The Rhino are riding the wave brought on by their recent release titled The Burning Sons – a record about which Chris says he thought ‘we were never, ever going to play the new material because we felt under pressure to deliver something that was going to smash the last one. We just wanted to crush our other stuff, and personally I think we achieved it – the five of us believe we did what we set out to do.’. Oz agrees: ‘We spent so much time writing and recording and working on it – literally sweated and cried over that thing! It sounds really cliché or sounds like we're being over the top but we really did pour our hearts into it, and then for it to come out and have everyone singing along it's amazing.’ A particular song that comes in mind to the duo is ‘Left For Ruin’ a song that Oz describes from a writing perspective as ‘intense and the most thought out’. Returning to Hevy for the third year in a row, the boys feel a sense of the festival being a home away from home as Oz describes it as ‘One of our favourite places to play – everything fell into place perfectly; the crowd were insane; the sound was really good for us on stage; the organisation of the stage was fantastic. It couldn't have been better, and it was just one of those things where it felt effortless. I loved every second of it. Every year has been amazing for different reasons – the first year we opened the main stage and were relatively unknown, and people took a chance and a lot of people say it was a turning point for us where they saw the confidence coming out, and we came back the next year and it was amazing. There were thousands of people, but today was in a tent with a different vibe – everyone was singing along with the new material and getting involved. It was really special for us, and we never take shows like this for granted.’ Chris reiterates the sentiment: ‘It's always special for us to play at this festival because we're local boys. People aren't bored of us too, touch wood. We always get there on the Friday and smash our brains in – we can't help it because there are so many people.’ Those that have seen the band live in the past shouldn’t be too surprised at the intense insanity you can find at a Feed The Rhino gig; Oz recounts a story when the band first started: ‘I remember years ago on our first tour we played to a room of just about four people, and they tried to stand there with their arms folded so we literally jumped on them with our guitars.’ Luckily’ he believes ‘we don't really get a very belligerent crowd’. Chris believes that there’s a well placed intent that emotions play a huge part in the live show ‘I mean we ask a lot from the crowd, but we give a lot too. If people want to stand at the back and enjoy that's fine but I think if it was a whole crowd like that we'd be gutted. Even when I go see bands I'm a little bit older now so I don't mosh but I at least head bang and air drum along, and that's all we ask of people really.’ Oz reaffirms how the members were at gigs ‘Always the kids in the pit getting involved! That's what music should make you do – if you don't feel anything from a live performance then it's a shit gig. It's got to evoke some sort of emotion.’ For those yet to see them however they will be touring in October/November with Gallows in an experience that will be according to Oz at least ‘a fucking earthquake’ and to Chris ‘like different aspects of the human soul. Or something really intense (laughs).’ Now really how can the little voice screaming ‘MOSH’ refuse that!
You guys played your set earlier today – how did that go? Dani (Vocals): We had a good set – there were some technical difficulties though, but that can't be helped. They cut our set short. Dav (Bass): Literally, half way through a song they cut the sound. And I'd like to say to the man “Fuck you, and if you ever hear this I know where you live”. Dani: I think everyone was frustrated 'cause it was coupled with a little bit of technical difficulties, but the middle bit was rad so we can't really complain. Dav: The filling of the sandwich was fine, it was just the crusts we didn't like. No one likes crusts. Are you guys hanging around, and who are you planning to see? Dani: Yeah we've been here all weekend and we went out and all got a bit drunk last night. So we're here all weekend to support our friends now and hang out. Dav: We came yesterday because our friends from Bleed From Within are playing, and our boys from Deaf Havana are playing. We were like “we could sit at home or we could actually get off our arses and support them. I also really want to see Meshuggah!
Dani: I wanna see Andrew WK because it's definitely going to be an experience! Dav: I'm expecting a big balloon of drugs to pop above the crowd, and just cover everyone with cocaine. Coke-fetti if you will – I want that at my wedding! Your second album (The Union of Crowns) was out in July – how's the reception been to that? Dani: It's been amazing – more than we ever thought it would be and more. We've gained a whole load of new followers, and that's what we always try to do as a band – appeal to more people. Final question, if you could be anything else besides be in this band, what occupation would you take up and why? Dav: I'd be a professional rhythmic gymnast. I love the ribbon; I think I'd be graceful, like a gazelle. Dani: I'd be a fireman. Why? Dani: 'Cause I like looking at other guys bodies. Dav: He loves sliding up and down poles. Dani: I'm cracking with a hose. Dav: He's great at watering flowers and was like “Dyou know what, I could probably do this on fires”. Ladies and gentlemen, Dani the Fireman.
Interview with Matt Jones and Richard Duffin By Becki Kremer How did you guys come together and form the band? R i c h a r d (Drums): Bit of a random story. Matt's from Nottingham, and that's where the band originated and I'm from Lincoln which is about an hour's drive. There was another guy I knew who was looking at starting a metal band up - I was a drummer, he was a guitarist – and I randomly met a guy through Myspace who was wanting to start something up in Nottingham, and that's where I met the other guys. How do you guys get on so well after all this time, considering you see each other so much? Richard: I think when we've had any sort of major arguments we've all just shut up for a while and left it to calm down. To be fair, we're all quite diplomatic in the way we sort it out. I think we're a close unit – we're all friends, we all like to go out on nights together in Lincoln when we're away from the music. I mean, Matt lives with me now so I can't get rid of him anyway! (laughs) How do you prepare before you go on stage? Richard: I guess we all just worry about our own little bit. I think all the pep talks are done earlier on in the day, we don't really do a pep talk directly before we go on stage. We have a set plan for what we wanna do on stage - we know the setlist, we know anything that Matt might choose to do with the crowd, we know how we want to set our stage up. I think we know what is expected of us, so all we have to worry about is making sure our individual stuff is perfect. Things like making sure guitar leads aren't crackling, or me as the drummer making sure I've got all my equipment set and my cymbals aren't falling off! Your new EP drops in September – what should fans be expecting? Matt (Vocals): Well in between the albums we felt like we had to bridge the gap to let people know what we're doing 'cause it's been like two years. What we're writing now is very us, but I feel like what we've done now is much closer to what we wanted to do at the start. We sort of diverted from that, but now we're sounding more like ourselves, and we've been happy that our label has given us the creative space to do that and not pushed us for another release. Richard: They've been great to us really, and just wanting to make sure we make an album that everyone deserved and wanted. That's why we knew it was best to release a 7 track EP to let people know what was going on. How was your set earlier today? Did you enjoy playing this year? Richard: Absolutely amazing. We started obviously aware that everyone was still feeling last night, although we weren't worried when we saw the crowd participation and whatnot. That's why we play, and it ended up going really, really well. We were very happy with it, and we love playing – it's opportunities like this that make us carry on doing what we do. Final question – which bands do you plan on catching the rest of the weekend? Matt: Definitely seeing Seahaven, and Glassjaw. Richard: When I first started playing metal the first Norma Jean album was amazing – I don't think it's left my car since if i'm honest, so I'm super excited to be sharing a stage with them! Converge and Glassjaw are also two massive influences so I can't wait to see them.
Where does your name come from? Paul (Synth): I haven't been asked that question in about seven years! It's all to do with when we started the band, and at the time Me, Rick and Johnny were trying to think what kind of encapsulates it. And just the phrase Devil Sold His Soul was something that I came up with – and in a nutshell it's about getting people thinking is there a devil, and if there was did it have a soul, and if it did what would it sell it for? Johnny (Guitar): It was tough having the word devil in our name, especially 'cause our music's not like that – we thought it might give people the wrong impression! Although a lot of people just call us DSHS these days. You guys played Hevy Fest 2010 – how did that compare to playing this year? Paul: It was a bit more intimate, 'cause the tent was smaller than the one we played on today and it was absolutely rammed and sweaty. But today was really cool as well, because we translate from smaller stages to big stages. Johnny: I think our music's... I'm not going to say epic (laughs), but I think it just translates a lot better on bigger platforms. But when we got off there was a massive boo, but they were on our side. Really? Why? Paul: 'Cause we'd just started the last song, “Hope”, and a lot of people like that song. So they heard us start, but then they cut our sound. The thing is, we timed our set and it was 38 minutes, but we think the other stage next to us must have finished a bit late so we couldn't start on time. Johnny: I feel sort of sorry for the sound guy because when that happened so many people turned around a gave him bad looks. It's not really his fault! Paul: Yeah, but the reaction to us was really good and it's a great festival – it's really compact and it's a good lineup. You chaps have a new album out in September (Empire of Light), so what can we expect from that? Is it like your old stuff or has it got a new vibe? Johnny: It's pretty much a mix of the first two albums, and then a few new
things. Paul: And some of the original EP's in there too. We've just taken bits of everything we've written up till now, and we wanted to write new stuff and new ideas as well and put it all in the melting pot. If it gets the exposure and lands with the impact we're hoping that will mean a large amount of people listening to it won't have heard us before so they're going to get the most refined record we've ever done. How do you think your process and your approach to writing music has changed? Johnny: We just fluked it (laughs). You know, we don't really pay attention to what other people are doing. We know what we do and we just try and get better at it. Paul: With every album we're getting more grounded in what we do, and it just feels like with this one we finally know who we are, what we're doing, and what we're comfortable with. Hopefully Empire of Light will be the record that really does it for us, I mean we've been slugging away for eight years now – we've enjoyed it, we just want to get a bit more in return. We've been struggling for a while, but we don't do this for the money – we do it because we love it. Johnny: We're still swinging – and that's the theme for quite a lot of the new album and our newest video “A New Legacy”. Paul: Yeah, people keep saying what's it got to do with your music, but actually it's about a guy who's got to dig deep, train hard and eventually does what he's set out to do. It's a kind of metaphor for us and our album – we've stuck with it for all these years, we're still doing what he do and we're punching harder than ever