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Travie McCoy Loathe Sick Joy Stick To Your Guns Yours Truly Sens e s Fail renforshort
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The Present Is A Foreign Land
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Mothica The Faim Viagra Boys
AUGUST 2022 Issue 79
RIOT 4. MOTHICA 8. SENSES FAIL 10. SICK JOY 14. SLAM DUNK 20. STICK TO YOUR GUNS 24. YOURS TRULY ABOUT TO BREAK 26. RENFORSHORT FEATURES 28. DEAF HAVANA 36. THE FAIM 40. VIAGRA BOYS 44. TRAVIE MCCOY 50. LOATHE
Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Finlay Holden, Jack Press, Jasleen Dhindsa, Kelsey McClure, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Bridie Cummings, Derek Bremner, Fredrik Bengtsson, Jake Crawford, Joe Calixto, Jonathan Weiner, Kirsten Thoen, Lissyelle Laricchia, Sarah Louise Bennett P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of The Bunker Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which The Bunker Publishing Ltd holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of Dork or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.
HELLO.
Being in a band isn't all glamour. It's not a world of universal adoration, impossible riches and endless people proclaiming your brilliance. It can be tough too. Deaf Havana certainly have known their ups and downs. Now down to a duo, James Veck-Gilodi and his brother Matty feel like a band who, at the very least, have decided who they are. We're delighted to welcome them back to the cover of the mag this month, as they prove that everything is a journey, and if the destination is self-realisation, that's a win.
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
Riot.
THIS MONTH >>>
With their much-anticipated debut album, Sick Joy are ready to fly. p.10
EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
The Big Story
Night vision. Mothica’s second fulllength is nothing short of ambitious. Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Lissyelle Laricchia.
4 Upset
The good times seem to be back at Slam Dunk 2022 - check out our full report. p.14
Stick To Your Guns' Jesse Barnett is here to wake up the masses. p.20
N THE LATE 60S in West Virginia, residents purportedly saw a shadowy manifestation before disasters including a collapsing bridge. Known as the Mothman, he became a harbinger of death and terror. Naturally, it’s a creature similar to this that alt-popper Mothica has manifested in the physical realm for her second album, ‘Nocturnal’. “He’s kind of based on a Luna moth,” his creator begins. “I liked the glowing green of nocturnal and it being like nighttime, glow in the dark. He’s this kind of furry moth with the green suit and green wings, and he just wants people to fall asleep, but we don’t know why,” she smiles, questioning her answer. For Mothica, ‘Nocturnal’ has been a long time coming. An ambitious offering, this second full-length brings together the ideas which first formed years ago when she began creating music. Growing up as McKenzie Ellis in Oklahoma City, it was at 18 that she began writing music after a childhood of depression, self-harm, along with alcoholism aided and abetted by toxic relationships. A hard worker by nature, it all began to pay off after a viral TikTok clip of her listening to her track ‘VICES’ worked its way onto 20 million phones. Ever since, it’s been Mothica establishing her vision - the first instance coming in the form of 2020’s ‘Blue Hour’. “I’ve been in the industry a really long time. You know, people had told me my time had passed,” she admits. “And then when everything kind of started happening, and I was like, ‘Oh, I can show you now that I was right, and I did have something worth sharing with the world.” Here on ‘Nocturnal’, all rumination aside, Mothica’s main concern is taking herself from her driven cocoon into a fully-formed mythological Mothra of sorts. Noting it’s her “first time making what I think a Mothica album could be”, it’s a final form that threatens to keep on growing, proved by her multiple mentions of having concepts for future releases already laid out. “I want each release to be self-contained so that it has its own identity.” Where ‘Nocturnal’’s rock elements are a first, dark and moonless pop has been the DNA of Mothica. This time out, she was processing in the name of ambition. “A lot of the songs come from that - and a lot of songs will never come out because they’re just too angry.” Admitting that “I definitely experience emotions in extremes,” it’s this she pegs as the reason she’s able to write songs in the first place. “I don’t think I could write songs if I didn’t think dramatically that the world was ending every time something happened!” But back to Moth Man. This personification of Mothica, and her fluttering namesake, comes from choosing the moniker when she was younger after finding an affinity Upset 5
THE END OF
THE F*** WORL 10 Upset
*ING LD.
With their much-anticipated debut album, Sick Joy are ready to fly. Words: Kelsey McClure. Photos: Bridie Cummings.
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THE GOOD TIMES ARE BACK AT SLAM SL S L AM DUNK 2022 14 Upset
STAND ATLANTIC
With the tropical weather and trees hugging the back of the stage, the Jurassic Park theme tune is perfectly placed as the Aussie quartet stumble out on stage. There are no dinosaurs to be found, but instead plenty of fresh new tunes from their month-old new album 'f.e.a.r'. New numbers 'pity party' and 'deathwish' sit comfortably alongside old favourites 'Lavender Bones' and 'Lost My Cool'. And, judging by the one solo shoe flying overhead, it's clear the crowd are loving it. "If you don't lose a shoe, you're not pitting hard enough," encourages Bonnie Fraser.
Words: Alexander Bradley. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
S
lam Dunk has come around quicker than ever this year. The delays last time mean it's only been nine months since Leeds and Hatfield got a serving of all that is alternative, pop-punk and hardcore. Despite this edition of the festival going back by a week to line up with the Jubilee weekend (it's what The Queen would have wanted), it feels like Slammy D was back on track. With only a few months between both 'Dunks, you might think only the bands would be different this time out - well, yes and no. Temple Newsam, home of day one in Leeds, is still a bastard made of hills, while Hatfield Park remains a luscious open space fit for any festival. Within those sites though, the layouts have been re-jigged. The side-by-side stages that meant the party never stopped in previous years are gone, and what's usually the punk/ska Punk in Drublic stage of the last few years is now front and centre for Sum 41 to headline. Pop-punk lovers are hidden away in a big top while the hardcore crowd gets sunburned outside, which definitely feels the wrong way around. There are no compromises when it comes to the line-up, though. Sum 41 headline the Main Stage (main by name, not by nature - it's tiny), while Neck Deep and Alexisonfire stand shoulder to shoulder on the billing, each delivering sets worthy of topping such an impressive roster of bands. Elsewhere, the line-up has made more steps towards diversity. Where the festival late last summer was spent wondering if it was really safe yet, this time around, it feels as good as ever to be in a sea of elbows, knees and armpits, beer-soaked and sun-kissed as whatever band kicked up another gear. It feels like the good times are back at Slam Dunk. Upset 15
" WE CAN'T SHUT OURSELVES OFF FROM KNOWLEDGE"
20 Upset
Stick To Your Guns' Jesse Barnett is here to wake up the masses. Words: Jack Press. Photos: Joe Calixto.
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PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT
28 Upset
A lot has changed for Deaf Havana, but as they prepare for their new album ‘The Present Is A Foreign Land’, they’re confident in their own skin. Words: Alexander Bradley. Photos: Derek Bremner.
TENSE TENSE TENSE TENSE TENSE TENSE
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36 Upset
Returning with a new line-up and a new album after a period of upheaval, The Faim are back in business. Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Jake Crawford.
CAVE
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IN.
ROM THEIR CHARGED NAME to their vicious attitude, Viagra Boys are never afraid to reach for the extreme. With their third album ‘Cave World’ grabbing those sonic and thematic heights in a tight clutch, Sebastian Murphy reveals the changes in his own erratic behaviour that have enabled an increase in creative potency. “I take music seriously, but I find humour to be a very important aspect of everything I do, both in my art and my personal life,” the singer and frontman says when reminded of his previous thematic obsession with shrimp. With their existing records, ‘Street Worms’ and ‘Welfare Jazz’, the raucous-yet-honed group have managed to hide somewhat sincere reflections within a sarcastic tone because it makes it easier to process not just for fans, but for the artists too. However, Sebastian now says that “in light of what’s going on in the world today, you can come to a point where you have to be serious. You can’t just hide from everything all the time, and a lot of what’s happened to us all has started to get into my head even though I’ve tried to avoid it for years.” In the seclusion of rural Sweden, the group were empowered with a societal immunity to global events; instead of experiencing the chaos first-hand, they were forced to watch it unfold through screens. “I was looking at the news and memes a lot, and you could quickly tell there was this madness going on in the world,” the lyricist recalls. “People were splitting up into polar opposites; anti-maskers, maskers; anti-vaxxers, vaccinators. When I was watching that unravel around the world, it was like watching an entertaining
Stockholm post-punk troublemakers Viagra Boys are trying to make sense out of chaos, tackling the world’s woes head-on. Words: Finlay Holden. Photos: Fredrik Bengtsson, Kirsten Thoen.
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ILIKEITWHENY 44 Upset
YOUSLEEP Travie McCoy has been through the music industry wringer, but with his new solo album, he’s finding a route to happiness. Words: Jack Press.
ONESTLY, I FEEL LIKE A BAG OF DOG SHIT ON FIRE!” chuckles Travie McCoy from his home. “I’m getting over COVID for the first time, and it sucks; I thought I was invincible. I got my two shots and a booster, but I’m sitting in my house feeling like a fucking wet bag of dirty gym shorts.” Six years ago, Travie McCoy dropped off the face of the earth. Jaded by music industry execs sucking his blood – “that fucking machine is something my cogs don’t fit into” – he took time out of being a global pop star to work on himself. Having cleared his head, he’s back with new album ‘Never Slept Better’. So, how ironic is it that his first single in six years, ‘A Spoonful of Cinnamon,’ is about Covid – and now he’s caught it? “When the pandemic started getting crazy in New York, I think I’d been to 15 funerals, or lost at least 15 close friends and family. It was a lot to swallow, but I felt that it needed to be spoken on because I’d be naïve to think that there wasn’t a million other people out there who weren’t going through the same thing as me.” While his comeback conquered the last two years, ‘Never Slept Better’ is six years’ worth of diary entries. It’s the highs, the lows, and the inbetweens of a boy from Geneva, New York, and the life he’s led. From his battles with addiction to his struggles with depression, it always comes back to the music industry machine. So, why tell his story now? “I never stopped making music, but I did take a sabbatical to reassess the people around me and their intentions and why I felt like I was putting more into my career than the people I was paying to help me. “Honestly, I was being bought down and censored, like you can’t say this on this song because somebody will feel this way. Listen, I’m a 40-year-old man; you can’t tell me what the fuck I can and can’t say. I’ve always been a free bird, I’ll always Upset 45