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Fre e Throw
Nessa Barrett
cle opatrick
K .Flay
Ha cktivis t
S calping
Pom Pom S quad
Spiri tb ox
+ loads more
upsetmagazine.com
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DE’WAYNE Beartooth The Maine
Begging for trouble.
JULY 2021 Issue 67
RIOT 4. BEARTOOTH 8. NESSA BARRETT 10. CLEOPATRICK 12. K.FLAY 14. TIGERCUB 18. FREE THROW 20. HACKTIVIST ABOUT TO BREAK 22. SPIRITBOX 24. SCALPING FEATURES 26. AFI 34. DE’WAYNE 38. POM POM SQUAD 42. THE MAINE REVIEWS 46. WOLF ALICE TEENAGE KICKS 50. YONAKA
Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Dan Harrison, Finlay Holden, Jack Press, Jamie MacMillan, Jasleen Dhindsa, Kelsey McClure, Linsey Teggert, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Camelia Azar, Dirk Mai, Eleanor van Veen, Hannah Edelman, Imani Givertz, Jacob Boll, Jamie Harding, Josh Massie, Johann Ramos, Matthew Sterling, Rosie Powell, Travis Shinn 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. The tag of a ‘heritage band’ has become something of a double-edged sword. On one hand, we should respect those acts who have been there and done it - the ones who laid down the foundations for every new talent that followed. But on the other, so many of those legends who have twenty, thirty years or more on the clock become stale stuck in their own boxes, grumbling about everything new or exciting that dares take a peek into their world. Thankfully, AFI firmly avoid that
pitfall. Three decades behind them and they’re still going strong, still evolving, and still putting out really bloody great albums. As they drop their latest, ‘Bodies’, we’re honoured to have them on the cover of Upset. May their peers take heed.
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
Riot. EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
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THIS MONTH >>>
The new album from cleopatrick does what it says on the tin - everyone agrees, one half of the duo, Luke Gruntz explains. p.10
Brighton rock trio Tigercub’s second LP effort, ‘As Blue As Indigo’, once again cements them at the top of the food chain. p.14
Taking some time to consider who they are and what they want, the past year or so of turmoil has suited Free Throw well. p.18
“THERE’S REALLY NO HOPE OR POSITIVITY ON THIS RECORD; IT’S VERY DARK AND MORBID”
Bit low? Thoroughly had enough of life’s downs and downs? Beartooth know how you feel. Words: Jack Press. Photo: Johann Ramos.
W
hile the thought of now-fastapproaching warm festival beer and some bands puts us in our happy place, it’s not so easy to erase the scars of a year and a half that’s put us through our paces both physically and mentally. With their tours cancelled and house arrest all but a worldwide sentence, our beloved bands became humans in our eyes once more. For Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo, he found himself battling back from a brink he’s been at on more than one occasion, which collided with the creation of their
fourth album, ‘Below’. “Either I’m feeling really positive and creative and working hard, or I’m just sitting on the couch for a month and nothing matters. It’s been a grind to get going,” admits Caleb, the exhaustion evident in his every word. ‘Below’ is an album born out of the pandemic. Written, recorded and produced entirely by Caleb himself at home in his basement, it’s a product of a year’s worth of isolation; an experience that has been both a blessing in disguise as much as it’s been a curse out in the open. “Going through the process honestly was really difficult. I missed
co-writing and I missed having other people around, and it was really tough to find inspiration and be excited about something,” he explains, honest as ever about his own experiences. “Once I got further into it, I realised in a way it was almost a blessing in disguise purely for the sake of writing the album. Obviously, in another sense, this lockdown and pandemic has been fucking terrible. But purely for me as a writer, it forced me into a place where I had to trust myself again and really rely on my instincts to make an album.” Armed with nothing but a home Upset 5
Riot.
“I’M ESSENTIALL A ROCK ’N’ ROLL CLOW MULLET, PORNO TACHE, 7 FOOT TALL… 14 Upset
LY
WN.
…”
Brighton rock trio Tigercub’s second LP effort, ‘As Blue As Indigo’, once again cements them at the top of the food chain. Words: Finlay Holden. Photo: Rosie Powell.
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Three decades in, and AFI are bolder and more fearless than ever before. Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Jacob Boll, Josh Massie.
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One of the most exciting newcomers in an age, De’Wayne isn’t concerned with labels. Words: Jamie MacMillan.
“F
inding rock music saved my fucking life, bro”. As far as big statements go, De’Wayne drops in a huge one partway through our chat with the LA-via-Houston rap-rock-pop-everything-really superstar in the making. Sitting on the very edge of releasing one of the most exciting debut records in aeons, the excitement and release are close enough to touch. Not that he needs an excuse to be animated or ready to burst. The buzz and energy that marked him out as someone to keep a very close eye on following his support tour with close friends Waterparks (more on those miscreants later), and his startlingly powerful ‘National Anthem’ runs through his every pore. A mile-wide grin is never far from his face throughout our chat; in fact, at times, it feels like he’s gonna bounce straight off his chair and through the screen. You can’t blame him. This is De’Wayne’s world now. As always looking like the best-dressed man in music (him, not us), it’s lunchtime Stateside as we join him over Zoom. With the album not even announced yet, he’s visibly excited to be discussing *anything* to do with ‘Stains’ - the record named after his hope of being a stain on the culture. “I’m as excited as FUCK, bro!” he grins. “I really just wanna put my voice out in the world, so I’m feeling that urgency and rush to wanna just be out there. It’s an incredible feeling, man.” From the surging angry rush of ‘National Anthem’, through the hyperactive greatness of ‘Super 8’ and moments like ‘Walking To Work’, he’s about to drop a record
with enough fire in its belly and energy at its fingertips to power an entire continent. Vital and vibrant, it’s an album that doesn’t give two shits about where you come from or what you look like, but only what you’re bringing to the party. It’s a firework let off indoors, its genre fluidity never feeling anything other than right *now* at every second in its freedom from restraint. The record skips from pop-punk through rap via frenetic punk; at times, it feels like a one-man moshpit. “Is genre dead? 100%!” begins De’Wayne. “I’m as punk as anyone, and just as rock and roll as anyone, just because of who I am. I would define my album’s genre as ‘attitude’; it’s solely based upon that. People like The Ramones and The Strokes and Iggy Pop? All attitude. Genre’s so dead, and I’m happy that it’s coming about while we’re about to put out music. Perfect timing!” If you’ve been paying attention to his pure bromance with Awsten Knight, then that attitude should come as no surprise. Another clue comes with his love for Matty Healy and The 1975, another key influence for him over the last few years and one who gets a namecheck on ‘National Anthem’. “My God, he’s the guy,” he smiles. “He gets in trouble because I think he’s a little ‘too’ smart sometimes. But when he speaks on politics and things, it really just strikes a chord with me. I admire what he does, and I admire that The 1975 look like a rock band but doesn’t make rock music. They’re boxless, genreless.” Having grown up in a Christian background in Houston, surrounded by gospel music and hip-hop, De’Wayne describes his taste as a process of that upbringing. “I don’t know how to not mix my inspirations, you know what I’m saying? It might hurt me one day, but I trust my taste enough to think that I can mix these things.” Moving to Los Angeles changed his life forever, and today he still thinks of it as one of the most important decisions of his life. “When I came here, I Upset 35
SQUAD SQUAD SQUAD SQUAD GOALS Subverting one of America’s iconic roles, grunge-pop newcomers Pop Pom Squad are having fun with challenging preconceptions. Words: Linsey Teggert. Photos: Camelia Azar.
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For their eighth studio album, The Maine are delving deep into their emotional scrapbook. Words: Jack Press. Photos: Dirk Mai.
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