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Gre gor Barnett
Weathers tate
Fathers on
Zeal & Ardor
NOBRO
Graphic Nature
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Deaf Havana Vein.fm Iann Dior
Static Dress. The UK rock scene’s most exciting new band are ready to explode,
but what is ‘Rouge Carpet Disaster’, and why did it nearly pull them apart at the seams?
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N O R T H : F R I D AY 3 R D J U N E - L E e D S T E M P L E N E W S A M S O U T H : S AT U R D AY 4 T H J U N E - H AT F I E L D H O U S E
MARCH 2022 Issue 74
RIOT 4. DEAF HAVANA 10. GREGOR BARNETT 14. BAMBARA 16. WEATHERSTATE 20. BAD OMENS ABOUT TO BREAK 22. NOBRO 25. BEAUTY SCHOOL 26. GRAPHIC NATURE FEATURES 28. STATIC DRESS 36. ZEAL & ARDOR 40. FATHERSON 44. IANN DIOR 48. VEIN.FM 54. MOM JEANS
Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Dan Harrison, Dillon Eastoe, Finlay Holden, Jack Press, Jamie MacMillan, Josh Williams, Kelsey McClure, Linsey Teggert, Rob Mair, Sam Taylor, Steven Loftin Snappers Cameron Brisbane, Camille Gladu Brouin, David Anderson, JD, Jon Stone, Olli Appleyard, Oswaldo Cepeda, Pooneh Ghana, Reid Haithcock, Tom May, Xav Barksy, xvisua 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. There’s nothing more exciting than potential. No matter what the heights that will be reached in the future, the prospect of something or someone fresh out of the blocks, the world at their feet and all possibilities still open is as close to fairy tales as we’ll ever get in the real world. That’s why, when it comes to music, the buzz around a new band breaking through and making their first steps is the most exciting elixir available. So much so it’s almost addictive, sending us swirling from one bright, shiny hopeful to the next, wild proclamations and hyperbole in tow. But when we call Static Dress the most exciting new band in UK rock right now, we do so with a bit more substance than would usually be expected. There’s something different about the Leeds collective. Yes, their music cuts through the noise like a hot knife through room temperature butter, but that’s not the only factor shining a bright light on
their undeniable talents. It’s the world around them, too. Olli Appleyard is a man with a creative vision, weaving a universe around his band that feels full and rewarding - hell, he even shot the photos that accompany this month’s cover feature. When you think back at the bands that have done that so successfully in the past, you start to understand just why, this time, those hopes and dreams we’re forcing upon Static Dress feel just a little more valid. As they prepare to enter the era of ‘Rouge Carpet Disaster’, those plaudits are only going to get louder. One thing’s for sure, it won’t be boring.
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
Riot.
Weymouth punks Weatherstate try to build hope from drudgery with their new album, ‘Never Better’. p.10
THIS MONTH >>>
EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN ROCK
The Big Story
“We all hated each other; none of us wanted to be in a band anymore”
Deaf Havana are back from the brink with a new studio album in tow, ‘The Present Is A Foreign Land’. Words: Jack Press. Photos: Jon Stone.
Gregor Barnett, guitarist/co-vocalist for The Menzingers, is breaking out on his own with a debut solo release. p.16
Noah Sebastian from Bad Omens lets us in on some behind the scenes titbits from their new album, ‘The Death Of Peace Of Mind’. p.20
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“I re w so so Iw te 10 Upset
I haven’t eally written ongs olo since was a eenager” Gregor Barnett, guitarist/co-vocalist for The Menzingers, is breaking out on his own with a debut solo release. Words: Rob Mair. Photos: Tom May.
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16 Upset
Weymouth punks Weatherstate try to build hope from drudgery with their new album, ‘Never Better’. Words: Sam Taylor. Photos: Xav Barksy.
Never better.
Believe the hype. The buzz around Static Dress might be impossible to ignore, but - while so often such excitement can be built on unstable foundations - they’re the real deal. A band who build a whole universe around them, they’re a band to believe in. But what is ‘Rouge Carpet Disaster’, and why did it nearly bring their whole world crashing down? 28 Upset
Words: Jack Press. Photos: Olli Appleyard.
G
reat art often comes with hefty consequences; the stories of artists pushing to extremes to realise their vision are all too well known, extending themselves past their breaking point in the process. For Static Dress’s Olli Appleyard, the making of their debut album threatened to not only derail the train of hype they were riding but to throw those on it off a cliff of burnout. “Everyone was worried about everything, and it forced you away from yourself. I lost track of everything. It was the lowest of lows,” reflects Olli, lit only by the light of his screen in a moment of vulnerability. “We weren’t a band. There were moments where it wasn’t even a thing anymore. Like, it was over and dead. Trying to do this just killed it.” As the train began to leave the tracks, driven by artistic ambition, Olli pulled himself into out of body experiences just to hold it all together for Upset 29
O O O
36 Upset
OCCULT OCCULT STATUS OCCULT STATUS STATUS STATUS Zeal & Ardor are a band unlike any other. Sprawling, ambitious worlds form around their dramatic, fully-realised ideas. Their third, self-titled album might well be the biggest of them all. We caught up with mastermind Manuel Gagneux to find out more. Words: Linsey Teggert. Photos: Georg Gastas.
T
he act of subverting expectations has been at the heart of Zeal & Ardor since the very beginning. Back in 2013, SwissAmerican musician Manuel Gagneux asked users of 4chan to suggest disparate genres he could splice together. One response, intended to be a bad-taste joke, was to mix black metal with African American spirituals, although that was phrased in a horribly derogatory manner. Rather than react with anger, Manuel decided that the ultimate ‘Fuck you’ would be to embrace the challenge instead. From that sprang the central idea of the project: what if enslaved people had turned to Satan instead of God? Building upon the juxtaposition of black metal with spirituals, Manuel has created two hugely acclaimed records and an EP, laying gospel blues next to blast beats and soulful vocals alongside ear-piercing shrieks while layering the whole
hallucinatory avant-garde sound with generous references to the occult. On paper, melding such contrasts together seems like an impossible task, but Manuel made it work with stunning dexterity. When talking to Manuel himself, the expectations differ greatly from reality. Watching him perform live (now as part of a full band), he’s an enigmatic figure dressed all in black and shrouded in swirling smoke. Watching him growl his way through lyrics such as “Where’s your fucking God, When you’re about to rot?” from recent single ‘Run’, you’d be forgiven for expecting to meet a serious, slightly terrifying character. In fact, the opposite is true. Manuel is softly spoken, lighthearted and doesn’t take himself too seriously. He finds the pre-conceived notion that he may be a stern, Satan-worshipping deviant rather
hilarious. “The funny thing about that is, when I started to get a lot more interest from the press, I actually for a second considered whether I should seem like this really serious person or put on a mysterious façade. The thing is, if that was the case, everyone involved would have a worse time. If you’re a journalist, it would be like pulling teeth, and I’d have to constantly work to maintain this lie. That’s not a sustainable idea to me, so I’d rather just be myself because I can be that consistently, no problem!” Manuel himself has stated that he’s been somewhat bemused at the unexpected success of Zeal & Ardor; after all, it was only meant to be a one-off recording project. After releasing their debut album ‘Devil Is Fine’ in 2016, the naysayers still questioned whether it was all a gimmick. The critical success of ‘Stranger Fruit’ in 2018 further Upset 37
THE
NEW NORMAL.
Fatherson have ripped up their own rulebook for a new record that sees them reaching further than ever before. Words: Dillon Eastoe. Photos: David Anderson.
40 Upset
F
orced apart by lockdowns as they started writing their fourth album, Fatherson have embraced the new normal, working remotely to find new textures in their sound and create their smartest collection of songs yet. Getting right in your face with guitars parked at the front of the mix, Fatherson amped things up on the driving rock of 2018’s ‘Sum Of All Your Parts’, which later saw them step up to support compatriot Lewis Capaldi in sold-out enormodomes across Europe. That album took their songwriting to its rawest extreme, the Scottish trio stripping things back to essentials and tracking their parts live, so something was bound to give when they came to make a follow-up. “We released a reimagined EP [in 2019] that had four tracks from ‘Sum Of All Your Parts’ on it,” bassist Marc Strain says. “Which opened
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IT’S GONNA
BE 44 Upset
I
With his new album ‘On To Bigger Things’, Iann Dior is riding a wave. Words: Steven Loftin.
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TO WRAC
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CK & RUIN
Vein.fm aren’t a band to leave anything on the table - but with their new album ‘This World Is Going To Ruin You’, they’re all in to spectacular results. Words: Steven Loftin. Photos: Reid Haithcock.
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