HRH Mag - XXVI - October 2024

MYLES KENNEDY

FOGHART MARCUS TRUMMER NOT NOW NORMAN HEARTS AND SOULS DEAD POSEY SYTERIA EDDIE 9V KIM JENNETT DELAIN BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA IRON BUTTERFLY STEVE HOWE LIONS IN THE STREET CROSSBONE SKULLY LACUNA COIL PAUL Di’ANNO STAR CIRCUS PENDRAGON THE RATTLEBACKS THIEVES OF LIBERTY STEPHEN WILSON JR SOUTH OF SALEM RED GIANT FROZEN CROWN

Welcome to volume XXVI

- 11. Matt Pearce & The Mutiny

- 12. Tender Vendetta

- 13. Drenched

16 Kim Jennett

18 Dead Posey

20 The Blackheart Orchestra

24 Marcus Trummer

28 Richie Kotzen

30 Stephen Wilson Jr

32 South of Salem

34 Mark Stanway’s Kingdom of Madness

38 Live Reviews

- 38. Moseley Folk Festival

- 42. Ocean Alley

- 44. The Struts / Barns Courtney

- 46. The Libertines

- 48. The Dead Daisies

58 Crossbone Skully 60 Foghart

62 Frozen Crown 64 HRH Sleaze VII Photo Gallery

68 Lacuna Coil

70 Eddie 9V 72 Crimson Veil

74 Red Giants

76 Hearts & Souls

78 Lions in The Street 80 Steve Howe

Delain 86 Syteria 88 The Rattlebacks 90 Star Circus 92 Thieves of Liberty

Pendragon

96 Not Now Norman 98 Iron Butterfly

100 Album Reviews

Beth Hart | Motorhead | Red Giant | Steve Howe | Bullets and Octane |

Designer - Charlotte Hooper charl@darkwatch.net

Contributing Writers: Russell Peake, Viki Ridley, Adam Kennedy, Paul Davies, Charlotte Hooper, Dennis Jarman, Peter Ray Allison, Diane Davies, Victoria Llewelyn, Pete Key, Simon Dunkerley

Contributing Photographers: Adam Kennedy, Simon Dunkerley, Eric Duvet, All Others Credited.

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Chairman / Founder Jonni Davis

European Director John Ellis john@darkwatch.net

Head of Marketing

Charlotte Hooper charl@darkwatch.net

Head of Sales

Jessica Lloyd jess@darkwatch.net

HRH Official Photographer

Simon Dunkerley simond@hrhmag.com

As always, a huge thank you to ALL the hardworking bands, photographers and writers that have contributed to this issue. It’s very much appreciated by us all.

INTERVIEW WITH MYLES KENNEDY

Myles Kennedy is certainly firing on all cylinders at present. The Alter Bridge frontman is preparing to release his third solo album The Art of Letting Go in November.

Presently, the US-based frontman splits his time between Alter Bridge, Slash as well as his solo project. An impressive trio of creative outlets perhaps you will agree. Having three different vessels to channel his work is something that the artist enjoys. “I feel like to have the option to stretch out in these different realms with different people, I think just through dumb luck, somehow, I’ve managed to have this ideal career as a creative person and more than anything as a creative. I mean that’s the thing that I love, it’s the creating. I like performing. I love to sing. I love to play guitar, but it’s the creating, it’s the song,” said Myles. “In my brain, the way I think about things is I’m a songwriter first and everything else is to help facilitate the songs. And so, it’s great because anytime I go to the next project, I feel like I’m fresh at that point. I’ve gotten the things off my chest in that other realm that I need to do. And then I come into it like, I’m ready to go as opposed to, oh man, I’m kind of stale. We’ve just done this, and we’ve toured for two years and now we’ve got to make a record. And it’s nice to mix the formula up all the time.”

With multiple creative outlets, does Myles write songs with a specific project in mind? “I write with the project in mind, but occasionally there will be something that will come up where you’re like, ah, that would be better suited for one of these other projects. And so that’s the hard part for me is just having that filter, and developing that ability,” said Myles. “I think that to some degree, especially because this record is more of a hard rock record and they’re riff-based or these heavier riffs, that certainly blurred the line to a point. But the nice thing is with Alter Bridge, that’s more of a metal thing. With this it’s more of a, I keep bringing up this Keith Richards analogy where he would say, how much there’s rock and then there’s rock and roll and how much you have enough roll in the equation essentially is what he’s saying. And I’ve tried to have a little more roll with this than just the rock. And so, I feel like that’s the defining factor.”

The artist’s new album has been a couple of years in the making. “I started writing The Art of

Letting Go it would have been January of 2023 because we were projecting that by the Fall we’d be in the studio. So, I just needed to come up with the material. I wrote the majority of the record between January and June or so. There were a handful of songs I had lying around. There’s a song called Eternal Lullaby and Miss You When You’re Gone, which I think I had for about six years. I just needed to find a home for them,” said Myles. “That was the plan to go back in the studio with Michael Baskett otherwise known as Elvis, the guy who’s done more records than I can count at this point with various bands. I met him doing the Mayfield Four in 2000/ 2001 and started doing Alter Bridge records and did some Slash records and solo records. I love that guy.”

Kennedy’s recent single Say What You Will is the kind of song which stays with you for days, it’s incredibly catchy. “I’m glad it’s an earworm. As a songwriter, that’s the best news I can hear,” said Myles. “It came about last March or so. I was in a hotel room writing and I came up with that intro riff and to me immediately, I was like, oh, it almost has a Mark Knopfler vibe to it - who I love. And so, I just tucked it away and spent quite a while trying to massage the rest of the parts to make them up to that level. At least to the best of my abilities.”

Myles elaborates further. “Then it was a matter of what’s the lyric going to be. What’s the story going to be? And it kind of came to me while I was sitting on an airplane, we were getting ready to take off. And I was just kind of singing the melody and I got my phone out and wrote it down. And, then the story evolved from that point forward. And where I took it is essentially to address internal voices or external, any sort of harsh criticism that comes your way and how to deal with that. And so, it’s worked out to be this fun track that anytime that arises, you can plug in those lyrics and the melody and give you a little strength.”

There’s been somewhat of an evolution of sound throughout Myles Kennedy’s three solo studio albums. From the blues-tinged sounds of Year of the Tiger to the Americana-leaning sophomore release The Ides of March. With his latest offering, Myles is perhaps on more familiar ground within the hard rock space. But was it an intentional move to push the boundaries of his solo project

with The Art of Letting Go? “I think it somewhat was born out of necessity because we would tour those first two records as a three-piece. We would always inevitably have to rock out the arrangements to fill up the sonic landscape,” explains Myles. “Once our guitar/drum tech, Mick was talking after a show and he’s like, I like how you change these arrangements. Have you ever thought of recording them? And I was like, well, maybe just make a whole new record, how we would play it live anyways and record it that way. So, that was the start of it. And then also what happens, I got this signature guitar. We spent a few years putting that together and this PRS signature guitar. And that really informed me, it made me want to write riffs a lot. I just would sit there and just riff out for hours. So, I just had all these ideas, and I was like, I think I’m going to put them here.”

Having a solo project has allowed the artist to switch things up between albums. “I was a little concerned because it’s so much heavier than the first two, but I was like, that’s why you have a solo thing. You should be able to pivot and try different things - that’s the purpose of it,” he says.

The title of the record itself is a premise that Myles Kennedy fully embraces. “It’s been helpful for me to integrate The Art of Letting Go into my own life psychologically. I started getting into evolving and getting out of my own way about six or seven years ago,” said Myles. “I just found myself to be a little more reactive and there was a lot of baggage I just wanted to shake. So, I started doing a lot of reading, a lot of listening, and watching a lot of podcasts where people were integrating all these different philosophies, a lot of which were born out of Eastern traditions. So, I got really into mindfulness, and it’s just had such an incredible impact on my life. I wish I had discovered it years ago. I feel so much not just happier and content, but I feel like creatively it’s helped me as well because it does get you out of your own way and it’s helping kind of squash the thing that would keep me from reaching my potential, which was the human ego. And you’ve got to have a little bit of ego to do what we do for a living. But at the same time, you don’t want to be beholden to it because it just sucks all the fun out. So yeah, The Art of Letting Go has been transformative for me without a doubt.”

Myles Ahead of the Rest...

Having already toured the UK earlier this year with Slash and the Conspirators, Myles Kennedy will return to our UK shores with his solo project in November. “I was just in the UK not too long ago seeing some folks and doing some press and whatnot. And I was reminded just how much I love it there. And a lot of the reason I love it is because it’s the first place where I felt that anything that I was a part of actually might work,” explains Myles. “And it was with Alter Bridge 20 years ago, we all felt it was palpable. We were like, wow, people are gravitating towards this, and we might be able to have a go at this. And so, for me, I’ve said it a million times, it’s kind of ground zero. It feels like a second home.”

But there’s more than just the musical memories that Myles loves about the UK. “There are the restaurant chains I’m familiar with there and it just feels like home. And their TV shows - I love Grand Designs, just things like that. And so, yeah, I, I’m looking forward to getting back there for sure,” said Myles. On the subject of Grand Designs, Myles elaborates: “I just love that show. My wife and I, that’s like one of our favourite shows we discovered years ago and we were just

obsessed with it.”

With three solo albums behind him and an extensive back catalogue with his other projects, how will Myles go about picking a setlist for his forthcoming UK tour? “It’s hard because I’m known for these other bands and I’m really careful. I don’t want to do a ton of songs from Alter Bridge or Slash because I think we tour those, and they should be there,” explains Myles. “It’d be one thing if those bands weren’t a thing anymore and that was the only place to hear them. But for now, I want to lean more so on these three records. Maybe do a Mayfield Four song, maybe I’ll put in an acoustic version of an Alter Bridge song or something, but overall, it’ll be these newer songs.”

With Myles’ solo album in the bag - are there any plans for a new Alter Bridge album on the horizon? “We’re trying to get an official window to actually make a record. It’s just a matter of trying to find what exactly that’s going to be, given all the planets and everybody’s orbit. So, hopefully, that’ll come sooner than later,” said Myles. “With that said, I’m definitely starting to think that way

as far as what’s coming as a writer. I want to be prepared. So, I’m just stockpiling some ideas.”

For the rest of this year, Myles’ sights are on his new album. “Right now, it’s a lot of talking about the record and getting the release happening. And then I’m going to just be rehearsing,” he says. “I’m just going to be trying to sing and play all these songs as much as I can. So, I don’t have to think about it when we’re standing on stage. Then it’s just ultimately preparing for the tour, nothing really exciting. Just a guy sitting in his basement playing five hours a day,” concludes Myles.

The Art of Letting Go, the new album from Myles Kennedy will be released via Napalm Records on 11th October. Myles will tour the UK from 25th November. For ticket information and further details please visit: https://myleskennedy.com.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Chuck Brueckmann

NESTOR GATES OF HELL Vikis

Who are you?

We are Nestor, formed by friends in 1989, reinvented in 2021. Our mission is to restore the glory of rock!

Roll Call?

Tobias: vocals, Jonny: guitar, Marcus: bass, Martin: keyboards, Mattias: drums

porting the legendary KISS in Stockholm on their 2022 stadium tour. Now, brace yourself for an even more exhilarating experience with their newest onslaught, Teenage Rebel.

love, youth and the joy of being naïve.

Teenage Rebel is a rebellious and energetic onslaught that convinces with enormous hit density while invoking the spirit of youth. Get ready to crank up the volume!

Influences/sound?

Hailing from?

Falköping (aka Ghost Town), Sweden

Journey so far?

Get ready to embark on a journey through time as up and coming 80s rock purveyors NESTOR, hailing from the vibrant music scene of Sweden, release their electrifying, long-awaited new album, Teenage Rebel, via Napalm Records on May 31, 2024. Having formed in 1989 only to fall into a slumbering hibernation over three long decades, NESTOR emerged stronger than ever in 2021 with their debut album, Kids in a ghost town, marking the band’s triumphant return to the spotlight and captivating fans with their timeless sound and unmatched energy. With glossy production and nostalgic authenticity, they take you straight back to the golden age of rock music, openly displaying their influences ranging from Bon Jovi and Aerosmith to Journey and Foreigner. With over 30 years of existence, NESTOR turn back time while being one of the hottest newcomers of modern rock music, with millions of streams on Spotify and hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube to boot. The band has even shared stages with the almighty Alice Cooper, greats like Def Leppard or Europe and were even sup -

The album sets off with a captivating intro-monologue spoken by Danish voice actress Freya Miller, creating a retro, rebellious atmosphere that sets the mood for the album and prepares the stage for the opening track “We come alive” - a true blast of an opener. Rhythmic guitars create an exciting backdrop for the gripping vocals of frontman Tobias Gustavsson, leading towards an incredible guitar solo by guitar hero Jonny Wemmenstedt. The album’s title track, “Teenage Rebel”, convinces with tight riffing and an anthem like chorus honouring the tradition of 80s Hard Rock. “Victorious” is an anthemic masterpiece combining powerful vocals with dynamic instrumentals, promising to creep in the listener’s head and reign as a fan favourite at their energetic live shows, while “21” is a wild ride celebrating the ease of youth. NESTOR also prove their ability to shift from big stadium anthems to their emotional side on tracks like “Caroline”, convincing with catchy melody and passionate vocals, while guitar magician Jonny Wemmenstedt demonstrates his insane skills once again as he tops the song with another stunning solo. Touching ballads like “Last To Know”, “Daughter” and “The One That Got Away” present an even more vulnerable facet, reaching straight for the listener’s heart with yearning lyrics, while tracks like “Addicted To Your Love” and “Unchain My Heart” celebrate

Everything cool from the glorious 1980s, like bands such as Def Leppard, Kiss, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, but also the movies, the fashion, the hairstyles, the VHS tapes, the BMX bikes, the action movies - anything cool and wonderful from that era!

Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?

Lots of things comes to mind, like when we got to open for our childhood heroes Kiss at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm (and we just recently also supported Mr. Gene Simmons at the beautiful Dalhalla venue in Sweden), but we are also super proud of our two albums Kids In A Ghost Town, and Teenage Rebel, our music videos, getting nominated for a Swedish Grammis, opening for and playing with other awesome bands such as Europe, playing in front of record breaking crowds at Sweden Rock Festival… The list goes on. We’re living the dream of our childhood selves and savouring every moment!

What does the future hold for Nestor?

We will continue touring and playing live this fall, at home in Sweden, as well as a stint down in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. And then upwards and onwards from there!

Photo Credit: Henrik Mill

THE BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS

Who are you?

My name is Nerys John, I’m a singer-songwriter and front the project The Beautiful Darkness. I’m also a Virgo, spiritual badass and Mum to two amazing humans (& a Cat Mum too!)

Roll call…

This is a project I started on my own, so it’s essentially just me! I work closely with my producer, Trevor Gibson, and some really awesome session musicians too though.

Hailing from…

I’m originally from Cardiff and I now live in Herefordshire, with several other places featuring in between. Musically I feel like I’m from The Midlands, as this is where I really began my music career.

Journey so far…

Gosh, this could be a big answer! The journey is really something for me because it is so interconnected with the fabric of who I am and my journey into self-actualisation, through a real recovery journey. What pushed me to start singing actively was the realisation that if I didn’t do it - and I was absolutely terrified - then it would be a massive regret for me. So I went to an open mic, had several cans of cider, and sang. And this was years ago, but it felt like a real evolution for me and so often one step forward, two steps back a lot of the time. I began with covers gigs but found I very often felt like I was giving my all to someone else’s project and several times over things didn’t work out and after a while it became frustrating to

me. At this point I actually relocated but my musical connections remained in The Midlands. I eventually decided to go solo and started to prepare myself to start my own project. I’d written some songs and had organised myself to go to some open mics to make a start and then lockdown happened- I’d had a producer set up to get going with some recording too and obviously everything just stopped… So interesting how things work out. When I reflect on it now I can see that could have taken me in a pretty different direction! After that I came to start The Beautiful Darkness at a point, post lockdown, where I felt like there was nothing else I could do, nowhere I could go, but into music. I was in a space where I felt so stuck it felt like my only option. So I poured my heart and soul into it. I find I can be more honest, and real, and authentic and raw within this music than I can be anywhere else. It is so much a part of me. And I feel like I learn so much as I do this. I learn and develop as an artist and that feels so interconnected with me intrinsically, I feel like I grow so much alongside it. The songs document the experiences I’ve been through and really help me to cultivate a sense of purpose from some of the most painful experiences.

Influences/sound…

Growing up I think artistically Suede were the biggest influence on me. Coming Up caught my eye and I obsessed about it, and went on to buy their entire back catalog and collected every article, and every interview they ever did! Brett Anderson gave me a real education in art and I

would attribute my whole understanding of art to the things he would talk about. So that is a huge influence on my writing. I also love Skunk Anansie and the emotion they can capture, on so many levels, really inspires me. Sound-wise, I think my interest there are influences from The Cranberries and Paramore that come though.

Biggest gig/proudest moment to date…

This year I feel like I really levelled up when I came to play The Jam House in Birmingham. And I was fortunate enough to play a second time there too. In the time between I re-wrote a song that started off as a mantra years ago when I was really at rock bottom, which I then sang the second time. Being able to deliver that song, and embody the person who could do that felt like a big deal. I’d had an idea in my mind of how I could be to be able to do that, and the moment of making good on that was a great feeling.

What does the future hold for you?

My latest release is called The Narcissist, which I’m so proud of - it’s the first song I ever recorded and I knew when I first wrote it that it would be an important one for me. There’ll be another release early next year and I’m always writing, so there’s plenty more to come! I’ll probably be back in the studio next year for more and I’m currently making plans for to release an album eventually.

Photo Credit: Billibee Creative Studio

ARROW VALLEY

Who are you?

We are ARROW VALLEY! And no, that’s not the BBC’s latest crime drama set in a sleepy village in Wales… We are indeed an alt-rock band!

Roll Call?

Arron Turner: Vocals, Luke Hatton: Guitars, Nicky Hughes: Guitars, Mark Harris Bristow: Drums, Abbas Ali: Bass.

Hailing from?

Stretched across the West Midlands from Shropshire down to Redditch. On a spatial average, we’re basically the Peaky Blinders but one guy shows up on a tractor.

Journey so far?

Arrow Valley started life as a studio project between myself and Luke during the Covid-19 pandemic. We’d previously crossed paths over a decade ago within their local music scene at an open mic night. Luke remembers seeing me play but I don’t remember him, so he must have gotten better in that time because I now think he’s just about tolerable! We released our first EP, You’re Not Alone, in 2022 and with the lifting of Covid restrictions, we developed the project into a full band. We pulled most of the other lads in from previous projects - Luke worked with Bristow in the NWOBHM band Cloven Hoof and I’d previously played in bands with Nicky. Abbas was an outlier and we acquired him from JoinMyBand.com. We made him send in a couple of audition videos and he had some wicked video games

on display in-shot, so he had pretty much won us over before we saw him play. Plus Abbas’ name is practically “A-Bass”, so by birth name he is an amazing bass player. Since then, we’ve released a single, The System, where we recorded the video in my friend’s metal fabrication warehouse on the hottest day of the year in 2023. Looking back at the video you wouldn’t have known, but we were absolutely dying from the heat in there! Our second EP, Embodiment, is due to be released on 18th October. We dropped our first single, Ode, last month and our new single, By Design, will be out on 11th October. We’ve just finished filming the video for By Design on the beautiful grounds of Chillington Hall in Staffordshire. We filmed it on a bridge which crosses a large pond and pleased to report no one ended up wet!

Influences/sound?

As a basis, if you were to put a load of 2000s era Kerrang and Metal Hammer magazines into a blender and make a piece of abstract art from the remains… that’s reasonably close! We all meet in the middle of that era of music, but we also each have other influences ranging from funk rock to power metal, so you’ll often see elements from wider afield in our songs. We always aim to keep the song cohesive, but sometimes you have to throw a blast beat into a song for the sh*ts and giggles. If we’re honest, we write songs that we would enjoy ourselves, so the fact that others also enjoy what falls out of our heads is really humbling.

Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?

We played a killer gig at Corporation in Sheffield supporting Coyote Mad Seed’s album release earlier this year. Being the out-of-town band, I don’t think many of the crowd were that familiar with our work; but the show was an absolute blast. The response from the crowd was incredible, even when we were testing new material ahead of recording them for Embodiment. And it was at that gig where the promoter mentioned that our name sounds like a Welsh TV crime drama. I won’t try and do his reenactment of a scene, but it made us all howl. We’re looking to release footage from that gig in the near future, we really feel it was a great moment in time for us and it’s awesome that the whole set was captured on film.

What does the future hold for ARROW VALLEY?

Write music, play gigs, and sell our souls to try and get noticed amongst the cat videos and TikTok dance trends that saturate the metaverse! But in all seriousness, we love making music together. It’s a truly rewarding thing to do when people say how much they dig our music. Spotting fans wearing our band merch from the stage and seeing them sing the songs back to us is enough of a drug to keep us going until we drop.

Photo Credit: Jessica Hughes

MATT PEARCE & THE MUTINY

Who are you?

I am... Matt Pearce from Matt Pearce & The Mutiny! A funky soulful bluesy rock n roll band based in London but from aaaaall over...

Roll Call?

Well there’s me on vocals and guitar and writing and arranging and producing the records. Even did a bit of bass on one of them too but nothing to worry Jaco or Pino with...

My present and hopefully future (cos they fab!) live band is... Ollie Dixon on drums, Daliah Sherrington on vocals and percussion, Chris Burgham on keyboards, Pete Back on saxophone and the man called Ghost on bass...

So there’s a bunch of us! But it all creates a beautiful noise.

Hailing from?

I’m originally from Glasgow (or a wee place just ootside called Milngavie), moved down to that London years ago and presently in lovely Muswell Hill, looking down on the smog. Lived in Camden for a long time and just about survived to tell the tale, but most of the tales I prob couldn’t/shouldn’t tell...

Journey so far?

Ahh I think I just covered that or did you mean more musically? When I moved to London I ended up in a band with Tracie Hunter the daughter of one of my heroes, the great Ian Hunter. Next stop and for the longest time I was/am guitarist for

Brit Rockers Voodoo Six, doing many cool things like support the mighty Iron Maiden in stadiums round Europe, and put out a bunch of albums including one recorded in Steve Vai’s old house in LA. We ain’t split, just taking a long nap...and then I followed my musical heart and put my own thing together, to play all the kinda stuff I always wanted to. Hence the title of my 1st album, Gotta Get Home.

Influences/sound?

As a guitarist I have to say Jimmy Page, Angus Young, EVH, Mick Taylor, Lindsey Buckingham and the incendiary Prince. Musically I have huge love for the Stones, Led Zep, Black Crowes, early AC/DC, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Tom Petty, and also the funkier side of things like Prince (again), Stevie Wonder, Little Feat, Steely Dan etc. Mix it all up and see what happens! I never wanted a 3 piece guitar type sound, I love when all the other stuff is going on too.

Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?

Well the biggest is most probably in Friends Arena in Stockholm with V6 supporting Maiden, something like 70,000 were in that night... That was a bit mind-blowing to be honest. Proudest moments, my first headline show with the Mutiny was a huge deal for me, as was flying off to play in Russia with my music. And the day I got the first Mutiny album in actual physical form! That was a moment too. And I’m always very happy to play Shepherds Bush Empire as I’m on

the same stage my granddad the crooner Donald Peers played all those years ago... What does the future hold for you?

Well I’ve just released ‘Promised Land’ as a single, it’s a groovy Latin-influenced number from the last album with a touch of the Santanas. It went down so great on our last tour that I wanted to get it out there for wider consumption.

In the pipeline is the last release from ‘The Soul Food Store’ album in a month or so, a gospel type big balled called ‘Bring It All To Me’. It also went down a storm on the tour.

I’m planning to use recordings we made on the tour and put out a live album early next year, that’ll be fun cos people don’t really do live albums anymore! But the band sounds so great I really gotta... and you interrupt me literally as I type, working on songs for the Difficult Third Album..! It’s ongoing but no release date yet, and I think it’s gonna be a bit different from the others, cos... why not try everything?

As for live plans, we have some things being put together at the moment, and one that I’m very excited about is a return to HRH Blues next year! Both times I’ve played it have been amazing so that’s going to be a highlight for sure. Thanks for having me back guys!

Photo Credit: Press

TENDER VENDETTA

Who are you?

We are Tender Vendetta, a four-piece hard rock band. With catchy riffs and melodic hooks, our music aims to bring back the old school hard rock attitude from the past to a modern sound.

Roll Call?

The band is fronted by Matty Nicholls on lead vocals, with Aiden Hall on guitar / backing vocals and brother Jord Hall on bass/ backing vocals; backed by Luke ‘Ant’ Hart on drums.

Hailing from?

The band is based in Wolverhampton and we are all from the heart of the Black Country in the West Midlands. We are very proud of our roots and the heritage of rock legends that have come before us with the likes of; Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest just to name a few.

Journey so far?

We originally formed in 2020, though the idea of the band started with brothers Aid and Jord jamming around in 2017; mainly playing Gn’R covers but soon decided that we wanted to start an original band and began writing our own songs. It took a few years of looking for a singer until Matty replied to a ‘join my band’ ad we posted in Jan 2020, just a few months before the lockdown. The band was officially launched as ‘Tender Vendetta’ on social media in July 2021 and we played our first gig in August 2021 when venues were finally reopened. Our first single ‘Know your rights’ was released in late May 2022 and was followed up by our second single ‘No Rest’ in September 2022. The two songs were written during the lockdown period and were politically driven as we drew inspiration from our experiences and frustrations towards the situation at the time. We spent most of 2022 playing as

many gigs as possible; towards the end of the year, the band started to garner interest from promoters and management companies, however, this momentum was dampened with the departure of our drummer. From October 2022 we focused on finding a replacement drummer. We struggled to find someone who was committed and after only playing one show in Jan 2023 we chose to work with a session musician to record our two singles ‘I’ll Do Me’ and ‘Pretty Dangerous’ whilst still advertising for someone permanent. Shifting away from political themes, the two songs are centered around personal experiences within the band. ‘I’ll Do Me’ has become our most streamed song and recently hit 25K streams on Spotify. A year later in November 2023, we eventually found our drummer when Ant Hart joined the group. So far, 2024 has been a hugely positive period for the band. With the introduction of Ant on drums and a new sense of reinvigoration we started writing new songs but also expanding on our previous sound, with our older material now sounding much more evolved. We started gigging again in May and around the same time we went to RML studios in Wolverhampton to record two new singles. ‘Kamikaze Love’ was released on June 28th, and has been praised for its similar energy and vibe of peak ‘Appetite for Destruction’ era Guns n’ Roses. Our next single ‘Redux’ is scheduled for August 23rd and will complete our first (four-track) EP.

Influences / sound?

Our music often draws comparisons to Guns n’ Roses, Nirvana, Sex Pistols, Alice in Chains and Velvet Revolver. Collectively, they are the bands that we also share as influences. We’re also very influenced by 70’s rock too; AC/DC, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and Motorhead. We’re a gritty hard rock band so anything with a bit of edge,

you can probably hear somewhere in our own sound. Despite our similar tastes, each member has diverse influences too. As a guitar player, Aid brings the 70’s classic rock vibes of Led Zep and Aerosmith. Jord brings the punk rock attitude of Sex Pistols and Stooges. Matty brings the grit and edge of Alice in Chains and Guns n’ Roses; Ant brings the energy with Megadeth and Rush.

Biggest gig / proudest moment to date?

We haven’t had too many “big” gig opportunities to date but definitely our proudest so far would be playing Dementia Aware Fest in 2023. To be part of Dementia Aware Fest represents everything we love and why we all got into playing in the first place. Using music as a tool to help others, create awareness, bring people together and to spread positivity is what we’re all about. That’s the power of Rock n’ Roll for us!

What does the future hold for Tender Vendetta?

A lot of hard work! We have big ambitions and our main goal is to keep releasing music consistently and for as long as possible. We’re sitting on about 2 albums worth of material at the moment, so our debut album will be coming at some point in the near future. For us it’s always been about the music we write, and we live by the motto ‘let the music do the talking.’ Hopefully we can get some of those “big” gig opportunities too; we’re looking to get out on the road as soon as possible. More than ever, we are truly focused on pushing the band as far as we can, and aim to keep building our fanbase to share this journey with together.

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Who are you?

DRENCHED

Hi, we are Drenched, a Nu Grunge band from the northeast with sounds similar to those of the late 90’s & early 2000’s.

Roll Call (who’s who in the band and what do they play)?

Callum - Guitarist, main riff writer, band’s verbal punching bag. Loves a smelly bag of crisps with his packed lunch chicken wraps.

Marc - Lead vocals, his main strengths being his powerful voice, buying guitar amps and gear that will never be used and lastly funding monster energy all by himself.

Mike - Drummer, task manager, loves a pointless bicker with Mak (the rhythm section needs tension to work). Capable of three emotions, none of which are happy. Mak - Bass. If all fails, Mak will slap the bass and pretend it’s a revolutionary piece of art, visually the most imposing in the band but actually the softest of the lot.

Hailing from?

Based in the North East of England, our closest city and main gigging location is Newcastle, however, we all live near and practice in a small town “Berwick upon Tweed”. While it’s not exactly a social hotspot, it is a pretty little town and is a nice halfway point for us between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Journey so far?

“Drenched” has been around for not far off six years now, however, the current lineup has only been together for about 18 months. Callum started the band when he was 15 with the idea of having a group to play his favourite Nirvana songs with.

After having watched Marc perform at a local young talent event, he immediately wanted to play music with him. After a couple of years of lineup changes, Mike joined the band, having known Marc from school and playing in various groups together before. This point is where the band started to properly mould together, with a now clearer identity of sound, beginning to take a slightly heavier approach over time. After a couple of years of consistent gigging, and recording the tracks “Psychotic Images” and “Erased”, Mak joined the band. This would free Marc from Bass duty and allow him to focus purely on his vocals. Since then we believe we have been our strongest not only in live performances but also in writing our best music yet.

Influences/sound?

While we all have quite different personal tastes, the bands that link us together would be bands such as TOOL, Deftones, Loathe and Sevendust. Despite these general links, our personal tastes allow us to have a range in our writing. While we love writing heavy songs and riffs that are always super fun to play, it’s not what defines us. We love trying to write songs that are filled with atmosphere and mood. We find that striking the balance between the two sides of the spectrum is where our true sound sits and is the most satisfying for us all.

Biggest gig/proudest moment to date?

While we’re not sure exactly what our “biggest” gig would be. Our most important would probably be our first appearance at “Crypt Fest” (now VENOM FEST). This

gig brought us into a whole new crowd, making a lot of new connections with seriously talented musicians and performers, while also massively helping boost our local popularity. Just one example of this would be our new single “(in)sane”. We may never have even written this song had we not met the guys in “Negatives” from that gig as it features their main vocalist Ben Smith.

What does the future hold for the band?

While we can’t predict the future, unfortunately, we can tell you that we have our debut EP “Grey” on its way, releasing on the 23rd of August. To go alongside this, we have a release show on the 24th of August with some very special guests. All information on that can be found on our social media. As for after this period, we will continue writing to the best of our abilities, working with the lovely producer George Collings. We aim to be back in the studio by the end of the year, as long as we are happy enough with what we have written, and have the available funds, so please come to our shows and buy some merch or contact us on Instagram @drenched.band and we can post some out!

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UK’S QUEEN OF ROCK

Kim Jennett is back with a bang. The versatile vocalist recently unveiled the first single from her upcoming EP. The song is titled Hell Is Wherever You Are.

In recent times the UK’s New Queen of Rock has been working on her latest solo material as well as performing with blues guitarist Krissy Matthews. Kim is also featured on Krissy’s latest album. Blues is a genre that has always resonated with the gifted performer. “It’s where a lot of my inspiration comes from, old school blues singers like Etta James, Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters,” said Kim. “I just love how they have turned something terrible, because they all had really difficult lives, into something incredible. And I just love that raw power that they’ve got because they’re p*ssed off. They’re upset, so it just comes out in their voices and their songs. And I love that.”

Kim elaborates further. “Blues has always been a big part of what drives me to do music, and I do think even my rocky stuff, it’s definitely got that bluesy edge because that’s where my influences come from. So, it’s so nice to just go out with a blues band and sing some proper blues. I feel like I can pour my heart and soul out with that kind of music, it’s really special.”

Kim’s latest single Hell Is Wherever You Are marks her first foray into the relaunch of her solo career. But how is she feeling about the release? “There’s a lot of fear and anxiety that goes with releasing your art into the world. My parents are artists, and I talked with them yesterday and they were saying it’s very normal for people to be anxious about putting their art out there,” said Kim. “I do feel quite anxious, but then also I’m excited to go out there and play these songs live and play my music live on a stage that I’ve written about experiences that I’ve been through. That’s exciting to me, but anxiety is looming with it. I’m sure once it’s out there I’ll feel a relief.” The singer elaborates on the backstory of the single. “I wrote the song when I came back to England from a period touring around America, I was doing merch actually for Geoff Tate who I’m touring with now. And I went through a nasty break-up,” recalls Kim. “I came back home, and I

was sat in my room in my childhood bedroom in Warrington and I was thinking what the hell am I doing with my life? I feel awful, I’m on my own. I’m back here and I’ve just been in LA. I’ve been in all these incredible places, Texas, all these places that I’ve always wanted to go to and then I’m just back here on my own.”

Songwriting provided an output for the artist to channel her experiences. “I went through quite a bad period of time, but then I wrote that song it was kind of a reminder to myself of - hang on, when you were there, you were with someone who was bloody horrible to you, so you’re better off now,” confirms Kim. “You’re on your own and you’re working on your music and that’s a good thing. So, it is like a comfort song really to myself and a reminder that I’m doing alright even if it’s in Warrington. I’m doing a lot more now and I’m working on myself. It’s alright to take a few steps back because the grass isn’t always greener.”

Musically, Kim was inspired by a whole raft of strong female artists. “It’s an angry breakup song to remind yourself that you’re a badass and that you don’t need no man,” confirms Kim. “There’s a lot of songs from the 90s and 2000s that I listened to at the time. Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson inspired it because I’d listen to them in the shower, and it would pump me up and I’d be like right I’m ready for a day now. So, I kind of wanted to create a song in the rock world that had that same kind of badass girl power energy.”

Kim’s latest single is just the tip of the iceberg. There is also an EP on the horizon. “I’m not going to stop, that’s my plan, just to keep going, keep writing,” explains Kim. “I am releasing an EP which is very exciting, which I’ll have for sale on the Geoff Tate tour. And then I’ll probably release a couple of singles from that and then release the whole thing. So, there’s lots on the way, and hopefully another music video and more music because I’ve been writing a lot.” Kickstarter has been an invaluable platform for the artist during this latest project. Kim exceeded her target, reaching approximately 200% of her initial goal. “It’s been essential really. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of everyone and Kickstarter,” said Kim. “It’s been amazing and like you say it hit 200%, which is quite validating as well that people want to listen to it. And it’s allowed me to be creative and create something

I’m proud of. So, it’s been invaluable. And it’s been nice to connect with the fans as well.”

Of course, social media is integral to promoting new music. However, its use as a promotional tool can be somewhat of a double-edged sword. “You can get tied into how people are perceiving it and that can have quite a detrimental effect on your mental health. I think you can get really tied into this post has had this many likes and this one hasn’t - why hasn’t this one? Or maybe I should change my content to appease people. And that sucks all the fun out of it. Because now I’m not posting about what I want to post about, I’m making posts to get likes,” explains Kim. “I caught myself doing that the other day and I deleted something because I was like I’m trying to farm likes here. And that isn’t why I do this. It’s not why any musician does this. We do it because we love doing it and that started to pull the fun out of it a little bit.” Kim explains further: “Sometimes I think we concentrate too much about how things are perceived rather than just here’s my art, I need to get this out there because I’ve created it. It’s done, leave it alone now and move on to the next thing rather than how people like it. Because if I thought about what people liked, I wouldn’t make music like what I do, I’d make pop music.”

Kim is looking forward to taking her new music out on the road, with both headline dates and a run of shows with Geoff Tate on the cards. “The live shows are what make it all come together for me. I love performing - it’s like my drug, I have to perform. I love meeting everyone and travelling around the country,” said Kim. “I’m just so excited to finally bring all these songs together - my little vision. It’s a bit wacky because I think I’m a bit wacky and a bit weird and I’ve got a bit of a wacky weird vision for it with the Queen of Hell stuff. And we’re going to bring that in and make it a proper show. I can’t wait - I’m absolutely buzzing for it,” concludes Kim.

Hell Is Wherever You Are, the new single from Kim Jennett is out now. For further information and upcoming tour dates please visit www. kimjennett.net.

ARE YOU IN A CULT?

LA alt-rock duo Dead Posey will release their long-awaited debut album, Are You In A Cult? on 18th October. The LP explores themes of false gods, corrupt politicians, manipulative celebrities and influencers, and biased news commentary.

The band’s debut album has been a long time in the making. “We are excited about getting this album out because it’s been a long time coming. We started this about four years ago during the pandemic. And obviously, we put out a lot of the singles in the last few years. Artistically, it’s nice to have the album as a whole coming out now,” said Danyell.

The album title ‘Are You In A Cult?’ conjures up images of Netflix documentaries like Wild Wild Country. Although the concept of a cult sounds somewhat sinister, the essence of such a group is open to interpretation. “Are You In A Cult came pretty early on in the process of writing the album. You see different cults popping up in different ways, whether it’s in the rock scene, there’s little cliques which could be a cult, different political things could be a cult, different religions,” explains Danyell. “And just the concept of a cult is very fascinating to us. And we just felt really inspired to lean into that.”

The band grapples with a multitude of burning issues within present-day society. In that way, the album represents a snapshot of life within the strange time we find ourselves in. “I think we’re living through some pretty wild times right now. We thought they were wild a few years back when we started writing some of the songs for this record, and it hasn’t changed. Things feel even more or at least equally as chaotic,” said Tony. “In our country here, there’s a constant stratification of people into different teams, politically and polarization.”

He adds: “I think that this album, all those themes that are running through it are just prevalent. We see them everywhere. We see them in the world that we’re all living in right now. And hopefully, there’s lights at the end of the tunnel. We’re not horribly pessimistic and nihilistic about everything. And that’s why we make the music too because it allows us to process it.”

The album features a cover of a song from a band much closer to home. That being New Order and their timeless classic Blue Monday. “That was one of the first ones that we were playing more with the electronics side of things mixed with the rock. And we thought it would be fun to do as an exercise, but then it turned into - oh, this could actually be a song that can be on our album,” said Danyell. “We played it a few times live and loved the way it was feeling. And just vocally, I don’t like calling myself a singer because I don’t feel for myself it’s the most important

thing to hit the perfect high notes like you’re on The Voice or American Idol by any means. I think that’s an incredible talent, those that do that. For myself, it’s more important to have that character and really evoke the emotion. And those lyrics are so deep in that song that it really spoke to me to sing. And that’s what was enjoyable about it. And like I just said, we enjoy playing that one live too. So, it just kind of felt like it was our own.”

That particular style of music really resonates with the band. “We have a fascination for 80s dark British pop, I guess, because we also covered Never Let Me Down Again. Depeche Mode is one of our faves. And so, there’s always a fascination there, because life is like that,” proclaims Tony. “Life is a dark British pop song. A little bit of romance, but a little bit of cloudy skies too.”

Perhaps one song on the album which underpins the political theme within the album is Welcome to the Nightmare. “In 2020, when we wrote it. It was just from seeing all the different stuff on the news. We don’t watch the news basically at all, but the stuff we see, whether it was on the news or online, and just personally, what we were dealing with, with people we know having different political views - it was inspired from that place,” said Danyell. “So, it wasn’t like we were trying to be like, oh, let’s make a political song. It just kind of happened. And it was pretty therapeutic to write. And it just evolved over time. Originally it was called Welcome to the Sh*t Show. And then we changed it to Welcome to the Nightmare because we just felt Nightmare had more impactfulness to it than Sh*it Show. And I feel like that word’s been getting used.”

Recent single She Went Bad is a real earworm and has been receiving a lot of attention both from the media and fans alike. “I feel like that one was a long time coming as far as the lyrics to that song. Just because my whole music career - it’s been ten years, basically. Give or take. Because I started music in 2014. So, when I first started, I was very like, oh - I want people to take me seriously,” explains Danyell.” It’s a very male-dominant ecosystem. And I wanted to be taken seriously. I want to be one of the boys. Also, I was trying to break the mould, not just because I was doing acting and modelling before. I felt this thing where I was always judged by what I looked like my whole life. And then, when I got into music, I wanted to break that, and it be about something deeper than just what I look like. And I feel She Went Bad, it’s been a long time coming lyrically. Because it’s basically shutting all of that and just being your true, authentic self. And I always have been my true, authentic self. But I feel like the last layer was in the last few years where I was like, oh, I have to only wear big, baggy T-shirts because then people will take me more seriously. Where now I’m like, f*ck that.

I can sometimes wear a little skirt and next to nothing. And another time I can wear my baggy shirts. It shouldn’t be this hard and fast rule. If you want to be taken seriously, you have to be this way or that way. And I feel She Went Bad is a good example of just the headspace I’ve gone through in the last decade, I would say, with all of that.”

The band’s influences are drawn from a variety of places. From David Lynch to Salvador Dali and Edgar Allen Poe. “They all tapped into the dark side of life and showed that through their art,” said Danyell. “And so, yes, over time, that’s always been an inspiration because the world’s not just good and it’s not just bad. And I feel having the two, the good and the bad makes it beautiful. And that’s why we have gravitated towards artists like that on a visual level.”

Tony elaborates: “I think those iconoclastic, just slightly left of centre, darker than normal, maybe considered not exactly outsiders, but kind of truly walking the beat of their own drummer. The David Lynch’s and Edgar Allan Poe’s, that’s sort of how we model, what we think is great in art.” Danyell continues: “And also on top of it, other inspirations like my grandfather was a homicide detective in LA. So, he did some different homicide murder cases in the 70s and 80s. And I feel like I’ve always heard different stories about that dark life. So even that stuff has been really inspiring in certain ways as well.”

The band hope to return to the UK once their album drops. “The UK has really become a great almost like second home for us. This past trip in July, I think it’s the fourth as a band. Obviously, it’s very expensive to come, but it’s really good that we’ve been planting the seeds there,” said Tony. “I think we’re actually really proud of the fact that we’ve been able to come out to England four times. There’s a bunch of bandsour contemporaries, US-based bands that might even be, quote, unquote, a little bit bigger than us that haven’t done that and haven’t been to Europe at all, or only once. So, I’m really glad that we’re a few steps ahead on that path, and we’re definitely going to continue it,” concludes Tony.

Are You In A Cult?, the new album from Dead Posey will be released on 18th October.

Words By Adam Kennedy

The Smallest Orchestra in the World

The Blackheart Orchestra is officially the smallest orchestra in the world. The dynamic duo of Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington perform an impressive thirteen instruments between them. Widely adopted by the progressive rock scene, the award-winning duo have performed everywhere from the London Palladium to the Royal Albert Hall.

The Blackheart Orchestra are presently in the middle of an extensive UK tour. “We’ve done six shows out of eighteen. So, we’re a third into it. We started in Scotland. Edinburgh and Montrose, which were both great,” said Rick. “Then we did Newcastle, Leeds, Barnoldswick, which is north of Manchester. And that’s a very unusual and fantastic gig as well. Barnoldswick Music and Arts Centre. It has a capacity of about 60, but everybody plays there. The biggest names play there. It’s a wonderful, weird kind of gig.”

The Blackheart Orchestra’s multi-award-winning latest studio album, Hotel Utopia has been well received. “The story of that record starts with the record before, which was an album called Mesmeranto,” said Rick. “We were writing Mesmeranto, primarily Chrissy was, at a time when her mother was very poorly, and she passed away. And I think the duration, and the process of writing those songs was about preparing for death.”

Chrissy elaborates: “It was like anticipatory grief in a way that album. But then I guess Hotel Utopia was the grieving part, the kind of wondering if there’s anything else. There were lots of themes in it around death and religion and reincarnation and all these things, I guess, that come up for you when you’re grieving.”

Rick continues: “Hotel Utopia was, I don’t know whether metaphor is the right word, for something that some people might call heaven, or some people might call the afterlife. Hotel Utopia, is maybe where we go if we have that kind of faith. I do particularly, but a lot of people

don’t. What happens when the light goes out? What does it feel like? What happens next? Does nothing happen at all? Or does something begin at that point of something ending? And the album was truly trying to discuss that with the different songs, trying to discuss different thoughts that people might have about what happens. It’s just a frustrating mystery that we will never resolve until that happens.”

The Blackheart Orchestra toured with space rock titans Hawkwind. An experience which the duo particularly enjoyed. “It was great. We loved it. We made really great friends. They’re such nice people. Obviously, the music is great, and they have been pioneering forever, but they’re just such lovely people and so respectful,” said Chrissy. “As a support act on the road, obviously, we all try and be respectful of each other. We were expecting to have five minutes for sound checks - if that, but they were very much like, the stage is yours. How much space do you need? And, it was just like making really beautiful friends on the road.”

“They are a really big family that’s been going for generations almost because it’s fifty-odd years now. But their fan base is part of their family as well. They’ve got a very great and unique relationship with their fans and with their crew,” adds Rick.

The group were bowled over by Hawkind’s orchestral arrangements. “The first show that we did with them was with Mike Batt conducting the orchestra. It’s just a spectacular experience. At first, you think Hawkwind with an orchestra, what a crazy concept. But it was the most stunning experience,” said Chrissy.

orchestral stuff on a lot of our albums, and we like using those textures and building those sorts of ingredients into our music. And I think being with Mike and the orchestra and Hawkwind on that tour was a real inspiration to us, to open our eyes a lot,” declares Rick.

Hawkwind aside, the group’s influences are far-reaching. “My favourite band is Sigur Ros. So, there’s probably some kind of Icelandic influences coming into me, I suppose, because I love lots of Icelandic music and lots of ethereal rock,” said Chrissy. “And I like lots of minimalist classical music as well.”

However, the pair don’t necessarily share the same influences. “We come from different places musically. It’s weird how we get on so well. I don’t know how it works, really,” said Rick. “I grew up in a different generation to Chrissy. Blues was essential. It was the central ingredient to a lot of that decade of rock music and that great decade of music. And I still love that blues mentality I suppose. I think we’re just like great big sponges, aren’t we? And we soak up so much different musical water through our musical lives. Every band we ever go and see, every album we listen to, everything that we hear. And then, you get the sponge pretty full, and you wring it out and what comes out is our music that comes out from all that water that’s gone in.”

“It’s not just what you listen to, it’s your life and what you read and the people you meet and the art that you see and the countries that you travel to.

I think all of that really seeps in”

The band’s influences and inspirations transcend music. “It’s not just what you listen to, it’s your life and what you read and the people you meet and the art that you see and the countries that you travel to. I think all of that really seeps in,” adds Chrissy.

Touring with such a legendary group was a true source of inspiration for the pair. “Being on that tour inspired us orchestrally. There’s a lot of

Whilst on their current UK tour the duo released their new single Bloodlines. “It was written at the end of our spring-summer tour. And it’s a

song about all of those things that get passed along in our lineage. Hence the title, Bloodlines,” explains Chrissy. “But all of those things that get passed along, not just how we look, but all of the experiences that get programmed into our ancestors’ nervous systems that kind of get passed along to us, and how we see it showing up in our lives today.”

Bloodlines is perhaps a glimpse into the next instalment of the band’s studio album. “We’re in the studio now starting to record the new album. We are trying to do it in between touring, which is a little bit tricky. But I guess that’s how we always do it. We just get in there when we can,” said Chrissy.

Putting together an album between touring can be challenging. “It’s not easy, because you don’t ever gain any real momentum with making an album. When you’re three days on the road, one day in the studio, three days on the road, one afternoon in the studio, you’re always taking little bite-sized chunks of the album. But it is gaining momentum. We’ve got four tracks down now, which we’re very happy about. Bloodlines was the first thing that we did,” explains Rick.

Chrissy elaborates: “It’s all written and sort of ready. I kind of like these breaks where you get time to reflect upon what you’ve done. I don’t know what it would feel like to go into a studio and do a two-week solid recording,” she says. “Maybe that would be absolutely great, living, breathing it …It’d be like giving birth to all of your children all at once if that’s what you want to do. Rather than having this one thing. I always feel like each of the songs has their own little personality and they have their own thing to say. And because we go in there without a band, we have lots of choices to make about how it sounds.”

Having that level of creative freedom could be perhaps a blessing and a curse. “In a way, that’s a freedom that we absolutely love. But it’s also quite a challenge because we have to make all the decisions. And, we have to not just play all the instruments but make all the decisions as to how to produce things. There’s less of a communal spirit than there might be in a sixpiece band, there are a lot of contributors. That can be negative as well. Everyone wants to be louder than everybody else. We’ve all been there. But I think what we do is quite unique. Both on stage, we’re trying to make as much noise as we possibly can with twenty fingers,” proclaims Rick.

The group are quite relaxed about the time frame for their forthcoming album. “We want to get it done as soon as possible, but we don’t have a deadline that it has to be done by this day, because I think it’s so important for it to be the best that it can be, and without putting

so much pressure on. It’s not open-ended like it’s going to take years, I hope. We have a loose timeline, but it’s not set in stone,” said Chrissy.

The band have a strong idea of what’s coming in the not-too-distant future. “We tend to work a year in advance. So, I know we did two tours here – a Spring and an Autumn tour. And next Spring, we’ve got 25 dates booked and sorted out. I’m still working a little bit on the Autumn tour next year, but that’s going to be about the same,” said Rick. “We are trying to record an album and trying to get that sorted and out there. It would be nice to venture over to Europe at some point, but that’s not like in the diary yet, but that would be a hope.”

The Blackheart Orchestra will perform at HRH Prog in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 17th – 20th October. For further information, please visit: https://hrhprog.com/ line-ups/.

Words By Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Ed Fielding

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Young Musician With An Old Soul

Canadian blues, soul, and rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Marcus Trummer will release his highly anticipated studio album From The Start via Gypsy Soul Records on Friday 15th November 2024.

Throughout the year, the young artist has been touring his native Canada, whilst simultaneously setting his sights on markets further afield. “We got out on the road and played some good festivals in Western Canada. We went out to Vancouver Island and got out there this summer, which was beautiful,” said Marcus. “I just got back from Colorado. We played my first-ever US festival down in Telluride - Telluride Blues and Brews, which was really cool. So, it’s been good to get out there a bit more ahead of releasing my debut. And then obviously, we’ll be doing a lot more once the record’s out there.”

From The Start is the Calgary-based artist’s debut album. But how is he feeling ahead of the release? “I’m just eager to get it out there for the most part. I’ve been waiting on it for a little while now. We recorded it in December 2022,” said Marcus. “So, until we started releasing singles, it was over a year and a half. And now it’s coming up on two years by the time the full thing’s out. I’m just mostly excited and eager to get it out there.”

Although the time that has passed between the recording and release of the album has been beneficial. “I definitely feel with that gap I’ve had time to evolve and grow. And so, I’m writing new songs already and working on getting stuff together for another album,” said Marcus. “I’ve been playing these songs live too, for a long time. So, I’m almost ready to start working the new ones into the set.”

With this being Trummer’s debut offering, the songs have been accumulated over a long period of time. “It’ll be nice to tie this chapter together. These songs, most of them I wrote over the last five years or so. And I compiled the best ones. This is definitely a good statement for where I’ve been in the past few years. So, I can’t wait to put it out and then on to the next,” he says.

From The Start was produced and mixed by The Commoners’ guitarist Ross Hayes Citrullo and Renan Yildizdogan. “It was my first time travelling to record. So, I’m in Calgary and flying out to Toronto. My brother came with me. He’s my drummer. And then we met up with the rest of the musicians out there and the studio guys in Toronto. And it felt like flying out there made it feel like a very serious experience,” he says. “Ross’s personality, especially is very laid back and helped us not be so nervous.”

“We had a few days to record. So, it wasn’t super rushed, but we were going pretty quickly. I

think it was cool to have the pairing of Renan and Ross, and have two different perspectives,” said Marcus. “They weren’t just saying yes to everything I wanted. And it was cool. That was the first time I’ve really worked with a producer in that capacity where they’re really getting involved. I’m glad about how it worked out.”

The artist’s recent single Waiting For Change feels somewhat pertinent in the present time. “I think it’s the type of song that I wanted to write for anyone that can relate to it, no matter what they’re going through. Because everyone’s got different struggles and different challenges. And there are different things in each of our communities that we’re dealing with that we don’t like and that we feel are going in the wrong direction. And so, I think it can relate to lots of different situations,” said Marcus. “I guess, the main perspective I was coming from is there’s not a lot you can do to change these big problems. But if you let it affect you, you end up wasting your time and wasting your life. And I wanted to focus on what can you do. And you can take it into your own hands. And it’s not about changing the world, it’s more about how can you make your community better. How can you make your family, and your life better?”

Perhaps you could say that Marcus Trummer is a young artist with an old soul. “I’m definitely into the older stuff,” he says. Although the soulful bluesman discovered a lot of these artists through his contemporaries. “We were playing Telluride and Gary Clark Jr. was playing there. And it’s through him that I got into these older blues cats, like Albert King, BB King, Freddie King. And that’s been big on my guitar playing,” said Marcus. “And through some of the soul music coming out these days, if you go back, you can see where all this influence was coming through with Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, all these great mostly 60s and 70s blues and soul artists as well. So, I’m into all that.”

The artist’s influences are far-reaching. “I think my songwriting was kind of influenced by the popular writing style of rock and soul music, I guess you could say. And even some of the American rootsy songwriters like Jackson Browne,” he says. “I love the Allman Brothers. I love that jammy aspect, too. So, what I’m trying to do is make a mix of it all that works really well. And there’s a lot of good artists doing that these days, like Tedeschi Trucks, and Gary Clark Jr. and whatnot.”

Marcus gives a nod to the late great BB King on a song called The Only Thing. “That was one of the older songs that I’ve written that made the record. And it’s definitely influenced by that ‘60s blues thing. And BB King on the solo and that phrasing. I was looking towards him as inspiration,” he says. “I never really wrote

traditional style blues. And this one’s kind of the most similar. It’s not a 12 bar per se, but it’s got a few more jazz things thrown in there, but it’s essentially traditional blues. And I think, it’s always been hard for me to write that traditional blues, just because I want to be authentic with what I’m writing.” Marcus elaborates further: “I don’t want to be a caricature or some sort of novelty performer. I want to write stuff that feels authentic to my experience.”

“I obviously have a deep appreciation for blues. It is the source of all the music that I listen to and that I’m into. So, I think putting one more traditional blues song, at least, on the record was fitting.”

Trummer’s latest single to be released from his debut album is titled Hard Time. “There’s a lot of similar themes to some of the songs. We were talking about Waiting For Change. It’s kind of a similar message, but maybe more of an emphasis on pushing people towards the solution, which I would say is loving each other and focusing on that. So, the verses kind of make it sound more like a relationship-type thing, which sometimes I find helps me communicate a message if it is put into that context. But really, I just wanted to get across that anytime is a good time for love regardless of what’s happening.”

With his debut album in the bag, the road is calling for Marcus Trummer. “I love touring. And I think it’s a big world out there. There are a lot of fans in faraway places who are either waiting for me to come there or are yet-to-be-made fans. And so, I think my goal is just thinking big, thinking about getting out there,” he said. “I think we’re looking at the UK and parts of Europe. And if I can get back to the States, that’d be great, too depending on what sort of opportunities come about. And then Canada is always good, too.”

“I will hopefully start to hit on all that in the next year or two. And as I get out another record, we’ll see what happens, if I can get some support tours. But I’m definitely hoping to get out as much as I can,” concludes Marcus.

Marcus Trummer’s debut album “From The Start” is released by Gypsy Soul Records on November 15th. The album is available from www.marcustrummermusic.com

Words By Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Heather Saitz

Flying Solo

Hot off the back of a 95-date world tour and album release with The Winery Dogs in 2023, Richie Kotzen returns with a brand-new album titled Nomad.

Now known also as a prolific songwriter and one-half of the acclaimed duo Smith/Kotzen with Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith, Richie’s ever-growing back catalogue (including more than 20 solo albums) ensures that his fans around the world are constantly treated to his prodigious talent both recorded and live.

The guitar maestro has spent a lot of the year so far on the road. “We did a nice run of dates in Europe with my trio. A couple of cool festivals and some headline shows and a couple of support slots,” said Richie. “And it was a great run, and good to be back.”

The title of the artist’s latest record, Nomad, is perhaps one that is relevant in the present time. You quite often hear the phrase digital nomad these days about people who work away from home, essentially setting up shop wherever they lay their hat. You could say that sentiment shares similarities with touring musicians. “You could definitely make that connection,” said Richie. “I didn’t put a lot of thought into the title of the album until I realized that I had eight songs that I wanted to release in the form of an album.” He adds: “When I was looking at the titles of the songs, I picked that because the song itself is very interesting. It’s a little left of centre as it relates to what people may have heard me do with some of the other things that I’ve released. And then, it does tie into what you said, with the fact that I am a musician, I do travel a lot. And I like change. I don’t like the same old thing over and over again. Some people get very comfortable with that, and I’m not. So, I think that that’s a fitting title at the end of the day.”

Nomad was written, recorded and produced by Richie Kotzen himself. Obviously, production is a very different skill set. Was that something that the artist enjoyed? “I mean, for someone else, I wouldn’t really want to be bothered with being a producer. But as it relates to the music that I create, it’s not even something I think about - it’s just the process. It’s how I do it. Because basically, my only objective in this is to get what’s in my head to come out of the speakers,” said Richie. “And whether that happens with me being alone in a room, which is how this happened, or whether this happens with me working with an outside producer, it doesn’t matter to me. As long as the end result is what it was that I was

envisioning creatively. So, it just so happens that the way that I’m able to do what I do is such that I work alone. And not only can I say I do my best work alone, I do my only work alone. So, it just is what it is. I actually don’t like that expression. But I think, in this instance, it’s a great way to describe it.”

As a versatile performer, Richie played almost every instrument on the album. “I am not the only musician on the album. It started out that I was the only musician on the album. And then there were two songs that I was hearing something very specific in the drums,” recalls Richie. “And so, on the song Nomad, the original drum performance on that song - I programmed it. And it sounded really good. But when I listened to it, there was that little voice in the back of my head that said, oh, I just wish that they were real drums played by a person. And the reality is on that particular song, I don’t have the facility on the drums to play that way. I can hear it. And I can write it. But I can’t physically execute it. So, I called my friend Dan Potruch. And I said, hey, can you play this for me? And I sent him the recording, and he came in, and he had it all charted, and he played it perfectly. And brought that human element into it. And then there was another song that Kyle Hughes played drums on.”

One of the first singles to be released from the album is called Cheap Shots. “I wanted to come out with a single to release in conjunction with my European tour. And I wanted something that was of a certain tempo and of a certain energy, of which Cheap Shots is. And so, I had the riff right here in this room that I’m in, and I was playing a riff. And all of a sudden, the cadence of the melody came to me. And I started singing over the top of the riff, and I recorded it. And I was basically scatting. And I was saying certain things that were actual words and certain things that were not words. And the ones that did turn out to be words, I wrote them down, and I started to formulate a story. And that’s where Cheap Shots came to be. I think that was something that I just sang inadvertently,” he says. “I wrote the whole song around that, about someone taking a cheap shot or assaulting you, and without very much sophistication. So that’s where it came from.”

Nihilist is perhaps a further thought-provoking song title on the album. Is the philosophy of Nihilism something which interests or resonates with the artist? “No, that’s not anything that I would live by. But it’s most definitely a mood, for sure. I think, from time to time, it can be good to get into a space where things don’t matter and you’re unaffected. I think that can be healthy. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be in that position. I wouldn’t want to be there permanently. Because

I like the roller coaster of life. And I like experiencing different emotions. And I welcome the ups and the downs because that’s where the creativity lives,” said Richie. “But, as a composition, again, that to me, is probably the most impor tant song on the album. Because that was the first thing that I wrote. That’s the oldest song on the album. And then it would be Nomad. So those two were written around the same time. And I think they’re cut from a very similar stone. And I like the way the album flows with those songs ending each side of the album.”

Throughout Nomad, Richie Kotzen expresses his diverse techniques and influences, from hard rock to 70s-infused soul and funk, jazz fusion to R&B. But was it his intention to make an album without musical boundaries? “Yeah, I love that. I really despise the notion that an album has to be monophonic and one-dimensional. And that is always a conversation that would come out of A&R people at record labels. And it was always frustrating to me because some of the great albums that I grew up listening to were very varied,” he says.

“It’s interesting, because the argument I always remember, even some musicians always talk about the power of a band, you have to have a band. I got signed as a solo artist to Interscope. And I even remember this argument of band, band, band. And then, in my mind, I was never a guy that, beyond a couple of bands, I was always into solo artists. I was into Stevie Wonder, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie. And so, when you listen to artists that are solo artists, they’re diverse, they’re broad. They don’t just keep doing the same thing over and over again, because otherwise, it would be terribly uninteresting. So, my musical influence is apparent if you listen to the record. And that’s why I think this is probably a very important record for me, because the pendulum really does swing very well inside the realm of who I am as a recording artist,” concludes Richie.

Nomad, the new studio album from Richie Kotzen, is out now via BMG.

Words By Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Juergen Spachmann

Rising US star Stephen Wilson Jr. will be bringing his signature blend of indie, grunge and country to the UK for a headline tour this October before heading on to Europe.

The artist’s debut album was released five years to the day of his father’s death. Subsequently, søn of dad is a 22-song tribute to Stephen Wilson Sr. that has garnered widespread critical acclaim from the media and fans alike.

Perhaps you saw Stephen Wilson Jr earlier this year as support to fellow countrymen The Cadillac Three. “Those are some dear friends of mine. We’ve known each other in the Nashville circuit for quite some time. I would say that we kind of came up together in a lot of ways and in our respective indie rock bands,” said Stephen. “In a lot of tours, you find yourself making friends or meeting new people and trying to get to know new people. And this one was more like, hey, let’s catch up. What’s life been like for you lately? And just kind of hearing the lowdown from everybody. And it was great.” He adds: “They’re an incredible band.”

Whilst in the UK, the artist had the opportunity to perform on Later with Jools Holland. “I’m a big fan of the show myself. I’m a big fan of a lot of the music that comes out of the UK. So, I’ve been watching that program to discover new bands myself, even though it’s been a little bit harder to find that program over here,” he says. “It was a real dream. It’s actually like a dream that I didn’t even have the capacity to dream at the time, because honestly, I never saw myself as an artist. I was always like a guitar player, side guy, songwriter, and behind-the-scenes fella. And so, yeah, I always dreamed of playing on Jools Holland. I never thought it’d be my name on there. I thought it’d be maybe some band I was in or something like that. So, it was wild to see my name, my dad’s name, be announced on Later with Jools Holland. It was a very surreal moment, honestly.” He adds: “It was probably one of the biggest highlights of my career that I’ve had. I haven’t had the longest artist career. I’ve only been kicking for a couple of years now. But man, it’s going to be really hard to top that one.”

Stephen Wilson Jr’s 22-track debut album chronicles the emotions that the artist was going through following the passing of his father. “My dad died six years ago, and I said goodbye to him on an iPhone 8. And pretty much I died when he died, too. Like I was talking about earlier, that guy who never imagined himself singing on a stage or never imagined his name being announced on Jools Holland. That guy died with him. And so here’s this fellow. So that was kind of the beginning of the genesis, really,” explains Stephen. “It was like, a death to self and perhaps a birth to a new one because my whole identity was wrapped around my dad, Stephen Wilson Jr.

My name is his name, very much an interlinked relationship. And so, it left me a bit lost because the word lost is sometimes a great place to be when you’re looking for something.” Before his musical career, life was very different for Stephen Wilson Jr. “I used to be a scientist in my former life. And so, in the weirdest way, I put my lab coat back on and my emotional lab coat. And I just started trying to keep a record of what I was going through. I feel like that’s what scientists do most of their day is keep records. They just keep track of things. They keep records. And then you sort your records and your data into hopefully something compelling. But so, I just kept a record of everything I was going through,” he says. “I love that we call albums records. And I love that because that’s more of what it is. It’s a record, not a music record, but literally a record-keeping exercise. So, søn of dad is just me, literally a lost fella from literally minute one of his death. We pretty much spent four years making the record. So, it was a four-year process of me going through from the instant grief to maybe figuring out how to find some closure.”

The album features an astonishing 22 songs chronicling Stephen Wilson Jr’s journey through grief. Once he started writing, did he feel as though he tapped into a creative vein so to speak. “Yeah, that was more what was happening. I was just trying to do my job, not so much make a record if that makes sense. And the job at the time was just to try to harvest these songs that were showing up at the time,” he says. “And so, 21 songs didn’t feel like enough and 23 felt like too much. And I don’t know why 22. But I just kept writing songs until something said, stop. OK, you’re done now. And that’s where we stopped. And I don’t know why 22. There was a lot to talk about, I guess.”

The artist’s sound transcends genres spanning country, grunge and indie rock. In his own way, he calls it ‘Death Cab for Country’. “I didn’t really get into this to be in a particular genre. I’m kind of living within an anomaly. And it’s all kind of a bit of a mistake in a weird way. So, it doesn’t surprise me that the genres are kind of blended - that part is a little bit perhaps out of the norm,” he says. “So the genre stuff is not something I think about. I think of myself as a country songwriter. That’s what I do. I write country songs. Whether I sing country music or play country music, I’ll let you decide that. Whether I play rock and roll music or Americana or indie or whatever it is or grunge, I’ll let you all decide that. But at the moment, I write country songs. And that’s where they kind of start with the country. I’m a country songwriter. And whether I’m anything else from there, I don’t really know. But yeah, there’s a lot of indie elements. I jokingly call it Death Cab for Country. It kind of sums it up in the weirdest, best, quickest way possible.” Stephen elaborates further: “When I started

writing my own stuff, I wanted to write more Guy Clark-esque, really deep country songs. But when I start picking up a guitar and singing them, they sound closer to Soundgarden for some reason. I don’t know why they just do. I’m not trying to make them sound that way, but in my head, they’re country songs. They just come out sounding a little bit more like Superunknown.”

The artist is not afraid to call upon his grunge influences for inspiration. “Soundgarden taught me how to play guitar. I mean, almost literally, my whole guitar style is Soundgarden,” he says. “When I first started playing guitar, my friend gave me this tab book. It was Superunknown, the whole album,” he recalls. “And he gave it to me. And I learned every song on that record. I’d only been playing guitar for six months. That’s where I learned how to do all the weird open tunings. I didn’t know you could tune your guitar differently until Soundgarden. And I learned that early on.”

He adds: “And then obviously other bands had a big influence on me. Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Weezer were a big influence, at that time. And then Death Cab and the Postal Service. How grunge kind of merged into indie music. Grunge kind of split off into nu-metal and then indie. And I wasn’t going down the nu-metal path. After the post-grunge thing, that was honestly really compelling to me. So, all the indie stuff was kind of really when I started making music - that’s the world I started making it in. But I had listened to a lot of grunge music, obviously, up until that point.”

Following his recent tour with The Cadillac Three, the artist is looking forward to returning to the UK for the first time as a headliner. “It’ll be my show. So, you’re going to be stuck with me for at least 90 minutes. I have never done a proper show there in the UK. Everything I’ve done has been support slots, quick 30-minute, maybe 40-minute slots. So, you’re going to get a full show. That’ll be a huge difference right there,” he says. “I can’t wait. You all have the best fans. The first tour I ever went on was in the UK right out of COVID - the first tour for me as an artist. Brothers Osborne brought me over there in 2022, right when things opened back up, like literally right in the beginning. So my artist career sort of started in the UK. So, it feels like, more or less, I’m coming back to where it all began. I’m coming home,” he concludes.

The debut album from Stephen Wilson Jr, søn of dad, is out now. The artist will be touring the UK throughout October. For further information, please visit https://www.stephenwilsonjr.com/.

Words By Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Tim Cofield

THE PARTY CONTINUES ...

album are the last ones we wrote. And I think one of them was the day before we recorded the first single.”

South of Salem are a band with a relentless work ethic. This year saw the band grace the stages of the majority of the UK’s rock festival circuit, release their sophomore album as well as tour with former MMA heavyweight Kris Barras.

Having performed at HRH Road Trip in Ibiza during the summer, the band will shortly make their return with an appearance at HRH XVII in Great Yarmouth.

Speaking about the year so far, Kodi said: “It’s been super busy. We started touring with Kris Barras. We did a few headliners as well, darted around early in the year and then we hit festival season. And I’m surprised that I don’t live in a field and get to play outside every day now. But yeah, we played to literally tens of thousands of people this year. So it’s been really cool. And also, we released the album at the beginning of the year as well. It’s all just built up to give us some sort of confirmation that the album was good.”

South of Salem’s sophomore album Death of the Party did incredibly well considering the band’s

DIY approach. They are unsigned, without a label or PR support. “We kind of went into album two thinking that we had to try and top our first album. During album one, we were kind of writing and discovering who we wanted to be as a band. Whereas by the time we got to album two, we had been touring live and worked out what we were about and what sound we were honing in towards,” said Joey. “And we had a couple of new band members, which meant that we were kind of rehearsing more and writing a lot more as a group. And, we worked with Romesh Dodangoda, who has worked with Bring Me to the Horizon and loads of cool people.”

Working with Romesh was a fascinating experience for the band. “Romesh was fast-paced and got us working in preparation for the album. There was loads of practice, lots of writing, which was really cool,” said Joey. “I think with themes I guess we were doing more of the same. We never sat there and had discussions about where we wanted the direction of the band to go. We just kind of let it happen organically and just wrote and wrote and wrote. And I think Kodi and I work well under pressure. When we’ve got a deadline, we just start going crazy with song ideas. So, I think a lot of the songs that ended up on the

Having adopted a DIY approach thus far, the band’s fanbase has become perhaps South of Salem’s loudest voice in helping the band achieve their goals. “Our fanbase has been so loyal and supportive all the way from the beginning when we were starting out and it’s just grown exponentially. It’s just insane how fast it’s grown. But I think it’s just because they could see we’re enjoying ourselves. We want to meet people,” said Joey. “We’ll spend hours signing stuff and taking selfies and stuff. And I think that goes a long way.”

The band recalls how the song Vultures from their latest album came to fruition. “Like most songs, I will save a load of ideas and lay out a bit of a song and send it to Joey with no real explanation of what it’s called. I think the file name was Rob Venge because I thought it sounded a bit like Rob Zombie and a bit like Avenged Sevenfold,” said Kodi. “And then one day at band practice, he’s like, hey, play that song. And he sang the chorus. And it was like, sh*t, - that’s a hit.”

Joey adds: “It was like going back in time to when rock bands were in the 80s and they partied. That was the first time I ever felt like a proper Motley Crue style rock star. By the pool, and the sunshine. I would go there and play a gig, and then come back to the pool.”

Festival season saw South of Salem perform at the likes of Bloodstock, Steelhouse, and Maid of Stone to name but a few. “It was busy. It was just great to be at so many different varying types of festivals. From an organisational point of view, some of them felt really family run and some of them were really big. The differences were just interesting, but they were all really well organised and really cared about, which was great. I think every festival is different, but they were all really good. I think that made us more comfortable and happier with it,” said Joey. “It’s like a bit of a milestone as well when you play a festival and you’ve gone up a stage, it’s just this measurable or tangible representation of how well you’re doing.”

Aside from performing in the muddy fields of the UK’s festival circuit, South of Salem was able to catch a few rays in the sunny climes of Ibiza at HRH Road Trip. “The whole experience was amazing. Just getting to chill by the pool with all the fans and stuff,” said Kodi. “I think a lot of bands kind of locked themselves in their room for a bit, and we were just out there everyday partying, just having fun, making the most out of being there. The weather was amazing, the crowd was amazing.”

South of Salem will shortly hit the road with Wednesday 13. The band toured with the ghoulish character last year. “It was just funny and relaxed. I think we came off the WASP tour where it was great, and we loved it. But it was very serious. And they didn’t really speak loads. And the sound checks went on for a long time and all that kind of thing. And, it was just very professional and probably old school, I guess. And then Wednesday is shouting cheese into the microphone for a sound check. And it’s all very silly and tongue in cheek and stuff,” said Joey. “I think that was really good, but just a completely different end of the spectrum. We had a good laugh. It was really fun, really chilled. And we all like the music. So, it’s a massive bonus to get to see them play every night.”

The group also shared the stage with Kris Barras whilst supporting the artist on his UK tour earlier this year. “I think maybe we were brought in for

the tour because we’re a bit heavier for his new sound as well. I think it works really well,” said Kodi. “He’s got way more experience on the UK circuit than we do. So, it’s always good to have somebody like Kris who will open themselves up to you while you’re on tour with him and give you some advice. So, it was just a really good package and his crew, and the band are super professional and are really easy to tour with.”

South of Salem are raring to go for HRH XVII. “That is going to be a blast,” said Dennis. “I’m really looking forward to being there. We’re looking forward to playing any festival and gig ever. But I think Lizzy Borden is playing as well on the bill. So, I think I’ve seen those guys in California. And it was very weird. So they’re going to be sharing the stage with us. And I’m really looking forward to it in Great Yarmouth. It’s going to be great,” he concludes.

South of Salem will perform at HRH XVII in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 7th –10th November. For further information, please visit https://hardrockhell.com/.

Words

By Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Press Supplied

Mark Stanway ' s Kingdom of Madness

Mark Stanway was a ‘key’ part (if you will excuse the pun) of the Magnum lineup between 1980 and 2016. Following his departure from the group, the keyboard player extraordinaire regrouped with classic-era members of the band to keep the spirit of Magnum alive.

Kingdom of Madness was formed in 2018, and since that point, the band have been gaining momentum. “When I first started this idea of Kingdom of Madness, we had the COVID situation, and that messed everybody up,” said Mark. “All the shows were rescheduled two or three times. And the momentum we achieved in the initial stages got lost because of all of that. But it feels now like we’re building it again now.”

The group have been delving deep into the Magnum back catalogue during their live shows. “The few shows we’ve done so far this year, which kicked off in early September in Stoke, have gone down so unbelievably well. And we’re playing some real early stuff that Magnum hasn’t played for 45 years. Tony was always pushing his new album or the next album. Whereas we haven’t got that situation. We can listen earnestly to what the fans are asking. And try and give them

as many of those things as possible,” explains Mark. “And certainly, the songs we are playing, at least one of us was involved with. I did 18 or 19 albums with Magnum. So that was pretty much all of them from 1980 up until 2016. But we’ve got Richard Bailey on keyboards, guitar and flute, who was featured on the first two Magnum albums.”

With the sad passing of Tony Clarkin in January of this year, perhaps it’s even more pertinent now to celebrate the band’s musical legacy. “We cancelled the tour that was going to be last year anyway. And that was out of respect for Tony,” said Mark. “And we put everything back because that was just sad news about Tony, really, really bad. It was a great loss musically, obviously, and a great loss personally.” Mark adds: “Tony Clarkin’s lyrics are still up there with the best lyricists in the world as far as I’m concerned. His lyrics were magnificent. He did spend an awful lot of his time creating those. So, it was a great pleasure to have input in those days, musically.”

Mark Stanway’s first-ever show with Magnum was at Reading Festival in 1980. “It’s just a small gig there,” he jokes. “And live on Radio One,

which I was told as I was walking up the steps to the stage. No pressure there.” A baptism by fire, perhaps you will agree? “Obviously, I had to concentrate like hell. But Magnum, we’re very good at putting in rehearsal time. So, we were pretty much on the ball when we went on that stage. And I listened to that show back, not for a while, but I go, well, if that was my first gig, you can only get better. I mean, technology has moved on so much. I think we did Reading two more times after that. But yeah, it was a little bit of pressure, that first one. But it went great.”

Mark’s first album with Magnum, Chase The Dragon, followed. “We did the whole album in two weeks, which is unbelievable. But we were tight on budget because we were with Jet. But we had Jeff Glixman, who’d done a band that we all loved, Kansas, before us, and done many things since. So, he was very efficient. We got our parts together really quite well. We’d done shows playing those songs before they were even released. But I’ve got very happy memories of the Town House, where we recorded it.”

One of Mark’s fond memories from that recording was using Mike Oldfield’s Steinway Grand.

“That’s what I played the intro to Sacred Hour on. And it’s just the brightest, best acoustic piano I have ever had the privilege to play. And then I got told that’s what Tubular Bells was played on.”

Magnum went on to record On a Storyteller’s Night in 1985. An album that was somewhat of a breakthrough for the group. “We did that in three weeks as well. And do you know how much that cost us? Nine grand,” declares Mark. “That’s how much that album cost us, which is a far cry from half a million for Goodnight L.A.” He adds: “Les Morts Dansants, On a Storyteller’s Night, and How Far Jerusalem. They are timeless. And, I dare say certain sounds can make it sound a tiny bit dated, but the songs remain the same.”

Magnum were on a roll. Vigilante went on to capitalise on the success of On a Storyteller’s Night in 1986. “We managed to free ourselves from Jet before we signed to Polydor to do Vigilante, and for once, we had a budget. And we had meetings with quite a few producers on that. Tony Visconti was in the frame for that. But then Roger Taylor had heard us and enjoyed what he’d heard. And so, he was approached, and he said yes straight away. And we had the privilege of also having Dave Richards, who engineered all the Queen stuff. So, we had a guy on the actual controls that really was good,” said Mark. “But having Roger and his profile, that really helped. And in actual fact, Roger’s band, The Cross, came out and supported us on the next Vigilante tour. That was one of the deals, and we thought, well, fair enough. So, it’s quite odd to see one of the support band arriving in a helicopter.”

Mark recalls his experiences with Roger Taylor. “He was great, and he got up on stage with us. We did three nights at Hammersmith on the

first Vigilante tour, and Roger did some backing vocals. An amazingly high voice that guy has got. On a track called When The World Comes Down. And he got up and sang backing vocals with us for three nights on the trot, which is quite a buzz. We’ve got a member of Queen singing backing vocals with us,” declares Mark. “And that capitalised and added to the success of Storytellers Night, which didn’t happen overnight. It seems like it did, but it didn’t. We were still going up and down the motorway in a transit van. Lying on top of the equipment and things. But Vigilante really did feel like it’s the first time we properly headlined a sellout at Hammersmith. I think the first time we did it was the Storytellers Night, and I think we got 1,000 in. Harvey Goldsmith, bless him, took the risk on us, and we got 1,000 in. So, that was such a buzz to headline Hammersmith. Then, a few months or less than a year later, we’re doing three nights there, sellouts. So, that was a hell of a buzz. And, of course, then we went on to Wembley and the NEC. It’s just ridiculous.”

The album Wings of Heaven was a chart-topping success. “Number four that went in the charts. It got a silver disc in less than a fortnight. So that’s how fast that sold,” said Mark. “But when you’ve got the machine working for you and the might of the record company throwing everything at it, and they had us working. We went to every record distributor, warehouse, and everything during that time to fly the flag. And it paid off.”

Mark Stanway’s Kingdom of Madness celebrates the classic era of Magnum between 1978-94, including songs from the band’s Jet era and beyond. But how did the project come to fruition? “ When I first left Magnum, I never even thought about trying to put a new band together. I did

a series of evenings with, which I had Mo Birch with me, my wife, who’s got a wonderful voice. Richard guested on that,” recalls Mark. “And it was during that time that Richard said, why don’t we put a band together? So, it wasn’t my idea when I left Magnum. It was the furthest thing in my head. But I got talking with Richard, and the pair of us decided that it might be an idea to put a band together, doing the songs that we all had a part in. My only stipulation was there’s only one drummer I want for that job. It was down to him accepting. And Micky [Barker] did accept. And thank goodness, he’s the best drummer Magnum’s had, in my opinion. He’s just such a good player. And still is.”

The band are very much looking forward to playing at HRH Prog in Great Yarmouth. Mark teases what could be in store. “I don’t want to spoil the show, but I think quite a few people have already mentioned what we’ve done. But let me give one example. We’ve started the show with a real proggy song, which is going to be perfect for your festival, which hasn’t been played literally since it came out. I never played it with Magnum. Richard only played it once. We’ve got a couple of tracks like that that haven’t been played for that long. So, the reception that we’ve been getting is so encouraging and indeed humbling,” concludes Mark.

Mark Stanway’s Kingdom of Madness will perform at HRH Prog in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 17th – 20th October. For further information, please visit: https://hrhprog. com/line-ups/.

Words

By Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Press Supplied

REVIEWSLive

MOSELEY FOLK FESTIVAL

MOSELEY, KING’S HEATH, BIRMINGHAM

The annual Moseley Folk and Arts Festival returned for another year hosting a variety of musicians, comedians and spoken word artists, both local and from across the globe in Moseley Park for 3 days of pure folk fun. The second you walk onto the site you’re naturally led into a whimsical forest with music bouncing through the trees, arts and crafts stalls and a summer festival, feel-good vibe. Due to the festival having no camping, you also gain a sense of the local community whilst walking around and soaking in the scene.

The city’s biggest folk and arts festival opened the stage to some well-known names within the folk community with Friday’s line-up starting with a bang! Opening acts across the main two stages, and names to keep an ear open for included Ollie Cook, Maddie Morris, Frankie Archer, Cat Clyde and Odie Leigh. The Scratch was a standout band for me with their perfect combination of grunge meets folks, especially during their cover of The Pogues Sweet Sally, which gained a quick approval from festival goers across the park as a cheer exploded through the field.

Flogging Molly warmed up the stage for The Levellers and had the crowd roaring from start to finish. They opened with their classic ‘Drunken Lullabies’ which erupted a contagious energy through the audience, and you couldn’t help but tap your foot, have a little jig or simply smile! Throughout their set we were gifted little backstories that influenced certain songs, as well as little facts that really made you feel connected with the band. Lead singer Dave King told us tales of his family including that his Mam was from Birmingham and “caused controversy wherever she went” dedicating ‘Rebels of a Sacred Heart’ to her, before introducing his wife of 17 years and fellow band member, Bridget Regan on the tin whistle. The instruments used

throughout their set transported us all to a cosy Irish pub with a fiddle and bow, a bodhrán, accordion, banjo and acoustic guitar - all entwining and creating the much-loved, traditional folk sound. This was their last show in England for this summer and they even had a slot as part of Bloodstock which after a deeper thought, and having then watched their full performance, I started to appreciate why their punk-esque style slots perfectly to an audience of a number of genres.

Beans on Toast closed stage two and has also supported Frank Turner alongside Flogging Molly for a previous tour, making this sequence of bands a perfectly planned schedule. He performed a number of tracks based around his personal experience as a Dad and previous life experiences with a humorous edge that rippled laughter through the festival goers. Finally, the mighty Levellers brought their well-known high energy performance to the people of Moseley with an hour and a half-set delving into the depths of their back-catalogue. Their anarchic folk infused rock combined with punk attitude was fully charged throughout, with the band playing a great combination of songs old and new, including Carry Me, Another Man’s Cause and One Way, before closing their set with their iconic Beautiful Day. A perfect finish to day one.

Katherine Priddy started off my Saturday, a name that has recently been echoed throughout the folk community. She was accompanied by George Boomsma, who also had his own set on Sunday. A remarkably talented duo who complemented each other perfectly. They played a number of songs from Katherine’s most recent album, released in February, titled ‘Pendulum Swing’ which explored a number of traditional folk techniques and characteristics that were perfectly executed throughout the set. During her performance, Priddy commented on the fact that she was honoured to be playing on such a femaledominated bill for the Saturday, and its easy to understand where she is

coming from with artists such as The Staves, Dominie Hooper, CMAT and Bess following that day, an explosion of talented female performers.

The Staves were introduced with a wonderful dedication to Moseley Folk Festival supporter and late BBC DJ, Janice Long. Throughout their performance they often referred back to when they first met Janice, and how they owe it to her for not only suggesting them for the festival but giving the sisters their first radio opportunity. Their humour, whit and sisterly bond are always key components to their live performances and this occasion was no different. Their one-hour set explored their perfect blend of harmonies with bold tracks such as Black and White and Good Woman, to gentle acoustic numbers that were a perfect showcase of their vast talent.

CMAT co-headlined stage one who was an artist that was a complete highlight of the weekend for me. A natural performer with a unique and wild stage presence. Her chemistry with her band breaks the barrier between the stage and the crowd, making the whole experience one giant party! From striking a pose when strutting onto the stage, to dancing with her band, getting the entire crowd to do jazz hands, to ending up in the crowd, CMAT is an exquisite and must-see performer. Of course Dexys closed the main stage on Saturday as well with tracks such as ‘Tell Me When My Light Turns Green‘, ‘Plan B‘ and ‘Coming Home‘ before their classic crowd-pleaser ‘Come On Eileen’.

One band I was excited to see live was Hejita who did a set of Joni Mitchell songs but as their own arrangements, and wow – did they do the folk icon justice. Performing unique renditions of some of Mitchell’s classic folkshaping originals such as ‘Woodstock’, ‘A Case of You’ and ‘Underneath The Stars’ this was a complete weekend highlight. Throughout the afternoon there was local music groups marching throughout the festival as well as a hay-throwing workshop and of course some spoken word performances.

But the lead performer of the day, and possibly of the weekend for me was the Barnsley Nightingale Kate Rusby. A folk favourite who gave an incredible set with some cover tracks from her lockdown album ‘Hand Me Down’, including ‘Manic Monday’ and ‘3 Little Birds’, as well as some of her leading singles ‘Awkward Annie’, ‘The Lark’ and ‘Underneath The Stars’. Her storytelling pulls you in and her Whitty-humour engages

you throughout the performance. Especially as her husband and fellow band member, Damian O’Kane was celebrating his 40th birthday, with the crowd singing to him whilst he cut into some cake on stage! Belle and Sebastian closed the three-day event with a mammoth of a set, bringing the weekend to humble close.

A smoothly ran, fun, relaxed, familyfriendly event. Mosley Folk Festival

was a perfect end to the summer festival period. Full photo gallery available via hrhmag.com

Words By: Charlotte Hooper

Photo Credit: Simon Dunkerley

OCEAN ALLEY

O2 INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM

Proudly independent Aussie psych sensations Ocean Alley, notoriously known for their pure infectious energy, gave a performance that certainly brought the surf rock grooves to Birmingham’s O2 Institute this September. Performing a number of fan-favourite singles such as ‘Yellow Mellow’, ‘Knees’, ‘Baby Come Back’, ‘Happy Sad’ and their 2018 anthem, ‘Confidence’, their set homed in on their backcatalogue spanning over 10 years, and from the constant roar from the audience as each song started, you could feel the approval echoed throughout the room.

‘Confidence’ was the first track I heard from these guys and when they played that opening riff the entire crowd erupted into a room full of an intoxicating buzz. Ocean Alley’s sound encompasses an electrifying fusion of psychedelic hard rock with reggae elements that you can’t help but resonate with. Their exaggerated whammy pedal combined with the guitar slides complimented this sound and style immensely, with each band member demonstrating their individual talent effortlessly. Taking to the stage one final time for their bass-heavy single ‘Lemonworld’ as their encore, this gained a final seal of approval with the audience singing back every single phrase. There was constant gratitude for the crowd and growth of their fans over the years throughout the evening, including a reflective moment from lead singer

Baden Donegal who commented “I think we played this venue last time we were in the UK and played to half the amount of people that are here right now, so thank you for coming out”.

We of course started the evening with fellow pyschinspired groups CVC and Hockey Dad. Kickstarting the night CVC set the bar for a groove-driven evening giving us a huge noise with their badass bass riffs, guitar scale groove runs and jazz-styled drum flare. They even performed a cover of Modjo’s iconic dance anthem ‘Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’ which got everyone up on their feet dancing and was a total highlight of the night.

Up next was fellow Aussie-indie rockers Hockey Dad performing a show that included lots of lights and smoke plus a drummer lead with Billy Fleming keeping up the high-energy atmosphere by interacting with the audience between each song. This duo should certainly be on your radar especially with their latest album ‘Rebuild Repeat ‘released just this year.

Overall, this line-up was all about the laid-back feel and enjoy the moment approach. A solid line up that left the feel of good times and summer vibes.

Words by Charlotte Hooper Photo Credit: Lynn Burt

THE STRUTS

O2 INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM

Although Birmingham is known for being the heavy metal Capital of the world, the city was treated to a triple threat of pure melodic rock as The Struts and Barns Courtney took over the O2 Institute with support from underdog, James Bruner.

Hailing from Springfield, Illinois, James Bruner was a perfect opening and support artist for this dynamite line-up as he demonstrated a pure and natural talent performing a solid set of electric rock n roll, showcasing a great chemistry with his band.

Strutting to the stage next to Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ in a tassel leather jacket with ‘legend’ written across the back was co-headliner Barns Courtney who gave a stadium-esque performance with a punk-rock attitude and total swagger. Imagine a combination of Mick Jagger’s prominent lead, David Bowie’s slick style, Michael Hutchinson’s sex appeal and a sprinkle of Jim Morrison’s cool and collected flare – that, is Barns Courtney. Having been in the scene for the last decade, Courtney was a total powerhouse with buckets of energy and copious amounts of charisma. His set was built with tracks such as ‘99’, ‘Kicks’ and ‘Glitter & Gold’ before closing with the much-loved ‘Fire’, where he was immersed within the crowd getting everyone down

to the floor before jumping in sync as the song burst into action. A remarkable performance that certainly earnt its co-headline spot.

Derby rockers The Struts concluded the night with a performance that was nothing short of excellent. Great shreds, killer solos and pure talent across the band.

Taking to the stage to Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’, their set consisted of some core tracks from their latest album, including the title track ‘Pretty Vicious’ and ‘Too Good at Raising Hell’, as well as some of their well-known anthems ‘Body Talks’, ‘Primadonna Like Me’ and ‘Kiss This’. We were even treated to a new track called ‘Can’t Stop Talking’ which received a roar of approval from the audience and even some crowd participation orchestrated by lead legend Luke Spiller.

Fashion choices and music were both on top form for this evening from all three sets and the music was nothing but classic, good ol’ rock n roll!

Words

By Charlotte Hooper

Photo Credit: Pete Key

THE LIBERTINES

O2 ACADEMY, BIRMINGHAM

Camden’s favourite misfits, The Libertines performed to a sold-out crowd at Birmingham’s O2 Academy in Birmingham as part of their current tour, supporting the release of their fourth studio album ‘All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade’. Their set consisted of a perfect blend of new and older tracks, exploring their latest singles alongside paying homage to their much-loved back catalogue. Earlier this year the band played a number of intimate gigs around the UK, and so it came as no surprise that this tour has sold out almost every date, and even added extra dates due to popular demand.

Tonight’s programme consisted of 3 support acts starting with Coventry based Short Straw. During change-over Laurie Wright entertained the audience with his buskingstyle performance of raw, genuine musicianship fitting suitably within the style of the evening. The main support came from Hastings based trio Hot Wax who set the bar very high for the rest of the night. As must hear for fans of Garbage, L7, Pixies and Wet Leg with their prominent riot grrl elements, grunge inspired qualities and pure punk rock attitude.

Although there wasn’t much audience interaction, the opening of each track received a roar of approval from the

crowd, and as each song was sung back to the band, their humble expressions of soft smiles showed their immense appreciation for their dedicated fanbase, some of which have been on this journey with the group since they first emerged back in 2002. Their set included ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’, ‘Gunga Din’, ‘What Katie Did’ and ‘What Became of The Likely Lads’ before finishing the night with their classic anthem, ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’.

The quartet collective of Carl Barât, Peter Doherty, John Hassall and Gary Powell sounded tighter than ever before and were on top form for a well-deserved packed-out gig. Full gallery available via hrhmag.com

Words by Charlotte Hooper

Photo Credit: Pete Key

THE DEAD DAISIES

BOILER SHOP, NEWCASTLE

Rock and roll supergroup The Dead Daisies recently returned to the North East for their first show in the region since 2018.

Of course, a lot of water has passed under Newcastle’s Tyne Bridge since then, as well as a lot of change within the group. Since 2018, the Daisies welcomed Glenn Hughes for a period of time before the Voice of Rock returned to his solo project.

As we all know, The Dead Daisies have always been a group full of rock and roll royalty. Throughout their history, the band has seen more lineup changes than your average fantasy football team. But at the same time, that keeps things fresh and interesting, not just for the band but also for their fans.

With the return of John Corabi to the Daisies’ fold, the band are once again reunited with the quintessential voice of the group. And the band’s latest album, Light Em Up, is the perfect example of that. Recent additions to the group Michael Devin and Tommy Clufetos further bolster the band’s already stellar lineup.

Whilst performing in front of a packed-out crowd at the Boiler Shop in Newcastle, the thought that crossed my mind was –is this incarnation of the group the best Dead Daisies lineup yet? And perhaps it is.

What was noticeable was the importance of Michael Devin, who plays such a vital role in the band’s lineup. As we’ve seen

during his time with Whitesnake, whilst Michael provided the bulk of the backing vocals, it allowed the rest of the group to be more present on stage, resulting overall in a better performance visually from the group.

Musically, a Dead Daisies show is very much a celebration of rock and roll music. And the band most certainly wears their influences on their sleeves. As a result, there is always going to be a few cover versions in the mix, and on this occasion, it was the band’s takes on I’m Ready by Muddy Waters, along with their firmly established renditions of Creedence Clearwater Rival’s Fortunate Son and Alex Harvey’s Midnight Moses.

One further cover featured via The Angels’ Take A Long Line, which features on the band’s latest album, Light Em Up. Although the band didn’t go too heavy on the new tracks, with only a few tracks making it into the setlist, including I’m Gonna Ride and the title track itself.

There were plenty of fan favourites during the band’s headline set including crowd-pleasing airings of the anthemic Make Some Noise, Lock N Load and Mexico. And if that wasn’t enough for the band’s loyal Geordie following, an encore performance of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter was the cherry on top of the band’s rock n roll extravaganza.

It may have been six years since The Dead Daisies last visit to Tyneside, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Words & Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy

CROPEDY MUSIC FESTIVAL

MOSELEY, KING’S HEATH, BIRMINGHAM

Held for many years in the rolling fields of Oxfordshire, Cropredy Music Festival is one of the UKís premier festivals and features a wide range of music to pull in a people of all ages. This year we had some of the big hitters on the Prog Rock scene with Rick Wakeman, Focus and Big Big Train, rising stars in the Blues scene with Elles Bailey and the Zac Schulze Band, an absolute legend with Tony Christie and lots of others to tempt the people in, including a special surprise guest!.

For those new to the festival and wondering what its like, the main site is one amphitheater style field with one stage and one huge long bar, the outer fields contain all the camping which includes glamping for those who want a bit of luxury. The fringe festival is based around the village of Cropredy with all the pubs having stages and events over the weekend so you will always find something that makes you get your groove on.

Historically Thursday night used to be a warm up night without music however year on year more people started to arrive early so it then became another night of music and has hosted some amazing bands over the years, Alice Cooper being the standout one for many.

Now a few words about some of the bands on over the weekend, full lineup in the photo.

As ever the event is opened by Fairport Acoustic with Dave Mattacks taking up a more permanent role on drums since the passing Gerry Conway earlier in the year. A quick set to welcome everyone to the event and get people in the mood for what is set to be another fine year.

Feast of Fiddles take to the stage, a great spread of some of the most talented players in the UK which includes Marion Fleetwood and Chris Leslie and the legendary Brian McNeil. Stunning set which included a solo from Simon Swarbrick in tribute to Dave Swarbrick.

As Tony Christie took to the stage, ìHello Glastonburyî he quipped, many will know he is living with dementia and enjoying life, I think everyone of any age will know a few of his songs, the crowd were in fine from for his set.

Rick Wakeman and his many keyboards enveloped the stage with his English Rock Ensemble, in between his stories and jokes they managed to play an inspired show of ìJourney to the Centre of the Earthî as a whole and then finished with ìStarship Trooperî when he went full on dueling keytars with son Adam Wakeman.

Friday bought a varied selection of music and a new headliner. Black Water County have played a few festivals this summer and wow, energetic punk infused folk to kick the cobwebs out of your head and get the bones working, definitely one to keep an eye on.

Dewolfe whom I’ve been waiting to see for a while didnít let me down, oozing with 70ís cool and stage presence they

hammered out a 70ís infused rock set. Not to everyone’s taste but this is the sort of band the festival need to be looking at to pull in a younger crowd and help protect its future.

Elles Bailey chose the festival for the album launch show of her new album ì Beneath The Neon Glowî, one of the many great artists on the UK Blues Scene at present.

The surprise for many was Spooky Men’s Chorale, 15 piece acapella Aussie choir that offered sublime harmonies, epic ditties and comical stories all led by the spookmeister Stephen Taberner. Jolene and Bohemian Rhapsody never sounded so good.

The cancellation of Friday headliner Trevor Horn due to health issues was a big loss to the festival but I’m sure he will be back when he can, however the replacement was none other than Richard Thompson who is always a firm crowd favorite. Joined by Dave Mattacks, Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg and wife Linda Thompson they gave an amazing set with sublime guitar work and haunting vocals to close off Friday.

3 days is never long enough and we soon find ourselves waving the white hankies, not in submission but in tune to Richard Digance as he takes us through his wake up set on the final day.

Zac Schulze band injected a huge shot of blues rock into the day which included a smattering of Rory Gallagher covers, great response from the crowd. Focus got us yodeling as they took us back to 70ís prog rock, I’ve seen them a few times over the past few years and they are always a great crowd pleaser.

So the long awaited and much discussed special guest took to the stage and it was non other than everyone’s favorite brummie Jasper Carrot, like him or loathe him he put on a great show and covered so many cringe worthy subjects. Those who know him got it and the others, well it was there loss. Just a pity he didnít do a few of his songs !

Fairport as ever bought the festival to an end with 2 Ω show covering all the years and many special guests including Ralph McTell. With such a back catalog to pull from you can never play everything people wanted to hear but this year was an exceptional set. Yet again we all stood together and sang ìMeet On The Ledgeì whilst remembering friends past, present and no longer with us.

Over the weekend it was mentioned a few times that we all should really follow the principle of ìUse it or Loose itî, its challenging times for many festivals and people really need to get out and support live music, festivals and events as once they are gone we will have nothing to keep us all sane.

Grab you tickets for next year at https://www. fairportconvention.com

TOWERROK FESTIVAL

REBELLION, MANCHESTER

Nine bands, one stage and a whole lot of great music. TowerRok festival a one day event to showcase some of the bands on the TowerRok management roster. This time it was held at the Rebellion Manchester, which in the past has had some issues but now seems to have got things on the right track. Bands were Shape Of Water, Odin’s Revenge, Waking The Angels, White TygÎr, White Skies, Iconic Eye, The Hot One Two, Not Now Norman, Voltstorm. TowerRok have a series of festivals at both Rebellion Manchester and Night Train Bradford coming up so have a look on their site for events and tickets and give them support. www.towerrok.co.uk

Words & Photo Credit: Simon Dunkerley

COSMIC VIBRATION FESTIVAL

YELLOW ARCH STUDIOS, SHEFFIELD

From the buildings beginnings in the industrial revolution the Yellow Arch Studios is now forging its way in the music revolution to bring some amazing live music to Kelham Island Sheffield. This time its the turn of one of my favorite genres, doom/stoner rock. Cosmic Vibration Festival is hosting some of the best UK doom, stoner and hard rock bands around including some mighty international bands like Duel and Sacri Monti. It is set to become a regular on the UK festival scene and filling a gap in the market for this hugely popular genre of music. For those who miss the HRH Doom Vs Stoner events in Sheffield this is a great festival to go to. Keep and eye out for the event in 2025 at www.https://www. yellowarch.com/event/cosmic-vibration-festival.

Words & Photo Credit: Simon Dunkerley

THE BEAST IS BACK

Former Iron Maiden vocalist and frontman Paul Di’Anno recently released his new album, ‘The Book of The Beast’, via Conquest Music.

The album includes five previously unreleased tracks, along with a carefully curated collection of songs that distils many of the best moments from Di’Anno’s fascinating and formidable career.

Whilst Paul’s musical career continues to generate a huge amount of interest among both Iron Maiden fans and rock/metal fans alike, the artist continues to push through his well-documented health challenges. “It’s a bit tough. I’ve been in a wheelchair all the time. It’s not been that great,” said Paul. “But, playing live, that’s what does it for me. It gives me a little bit of hope things are coming along, but it’s just slowly.” He adds: “I have to have this thing called lymphatic drainage done for my leg. And it’s bloody painful.”

Paul has been receiving treatment overseas for his condition. But despite his health troubles, touring is something which he still enjoys. “It’s been great. Every show we do has been sold out, which has been awesome,” he says. After an absence from touring in the UK, the artist is gaining momentum once again. “We’ve got to build up some grassroots again. But it’s worth it. It’s really good. I love my country, and I want to get back to playing it.”

Di’Anno’s latest album The Book of The Beast shines a spotlight on all aspects of his career including Iron Maiden and beyond. Deep cuts from albums going back to Paul’s Battlezone, Killers and Solo days have been remastered to give them a more up-to-date and polished production. Perhaps some of the material on the album had never been given the attention it deserved. “Some of the record labels we were on just didn’t have the power to do too much. We were grateful to get a record out. So, you do what you can,” he says. “But this is a better opportunity. There are a lot of people who know lots about the catalogue, but they’ve not actually heard it or had it advertised as such. And now they’re getting it.”

Cliff Evans at Conquest Records was instrumental in getting the project up and running. “We are mates and ex-bandmates as well. He came up with the idea. He sort of co-manages me anyway, he has done for years,” said Paul “I was really happy that he came up with this. It’s a chance to get the back catalogue out.”

The album features appearances from a trio of guest vocalists including Tony Martin, ZP Theart and Lidya Balaban from Crowley on fresh takes of Maiden classics Wrathchild and Remember

Tomorrow. “I just wanted to do something different, “he says. “I just wanted to hear what it sounds like when it’s done by somebody elseeven though I’m on it as well. It was just fun.”

Of course, Paul Di’Anno has been a huge influence on bands like Metallica, Pantera and Sepultura. “I’m quite amazed at it. My self-esteem is not that great. To be honest with you. But it’s cool when you’ve got people like James and Lars and all that come up to you and guys from Pantera and Sepultura. And they say you inspired this. And I’m like, oh, wow. You can’t quite believe it,” he says. “I try not to think about it too much. And as I said, my self-esteem has gone right downhill recently because of what’s happened to me. But yeah, I find it a bit difficult sometimes to get my head around it. As I said, all I ever wanted to do was play music. I wasn’t here for money or anything else, just to play music. That’s it. And it’s been the biggest healing power for me at the moment.”

Paul recently met up with current Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson whilst on tour in Croatia. “There was no problem. It was his show, and I was in Croatia as well. And I was supposed to be doing a signing later that night,” recalls Di’Anno. “I went backstage and met his band. They were coming down to see me later anyway. And Bruce came down later on. So, we got everyone else out of the dressing room and just me and him had a chat.” Would Paul be open to collaborating with Iron Maiden if the opportunity arose? “I think that’s in the past now. But to be honest with you, it’s a case of never say never. It would be interesting to work with Bruce.”

The singer recalls the first two Iron Maiden albums. “We were a good live band, that’s for sure,” he says. “I still think the first album is absolutely great.” However, his feelings aren’t as positive about the sophomore release. “I wasn’t too into Killers. But as I said, I didn’t know what I was doing. I’d only just started doing this recording lark and I was really unsure. And you’ve got someone like Martin Birch who’s done all these fantastic bands. I was a bit in awe, and I didn’t really know what to do. But he got the best out of me at the time.”

But which song from the Maiden repertoire would Paul say he enjoys performing most live presently? “I love Phantom of the Opera. If we’re doing a Maiden set at the moment, it’s Phantom of the Opera and Running Free.” Paul’s approach to performing Maiden has more of a punk-rock edge to it. “I’m enjoying playing all of them because we play them slightly differently, a little bit faster, and they got a bit more of that punk attitude to it,” explains Paul. “Some bloke, I don’t know if he was trying to insult me, but he made me laugh, which is great. He said this sounds like The Exploited playing Iron Maiden. I thought that was f*cking great.”

But then again, Paul has always been a punk at heart. “I like punk music,” he says. “I listen to bands like Zeppelin and all that stuff. But I got bit by the punk bug because it seemed everybody and anybody could do this. And that’s what it was for me. As I said, my self-esteem wasn’t that high anyway.”

Paul elaborates: “I could sit in my bedroom and mimic every bloody record I had from Marc Bolan, David Bowie, everybody. And then my mate said to me, he said, have you ever tried singing yourself, mate? And I thought, not really. But then when punk came, as it goes, I thought, oh, blimey, I can do it.”

Following the album release, Paul Di’Anno will resume touring in the UK. “This has been fantastic for me. It’s been really good. And as I said, it’s the best therapy ever. So, I’m really happy,” he says. “It’s bloody difficult going from A to B when I’m travelling and stuff like that. Especially abroad. But yeah, it’s been really good. It’s been good for my soul, to be honest with you. It’s given me a bit more determination.”

Beyond Book of the Beast, some new material is perhaps on the horizon. “I’ve got another writing partner I work with in Mexico, my mate Marco. And I’ve got four tracks from him we started on in Montgomery last year when I was over there for a couple of months,” explains Paul. “I’m having a problem lyrically at the moment because my head’s not in the right place. Because of all this sh*t with PTSD and anxiety attacks. So, once I’ve got this together and the more progress I’m making health-wise, the better I’m going to be. And then I’ll be able to sit down and write.”

“I’m going to have a go in the next couple of months or so. As I said, I suffer so badly with the old black dog coming in all the time and anxiety and all that. It only takes one thing to trigger it off. I want to be in a better place before I start writing. But I’ll do whatever interests me,” concludes Paul.

Paul Di’Anno will release his new album, ‘The Book of The Beast’, via Conquest Music on September 27th, 2024. Paul will be touring the UK/Europe from 21st August through to mid-December 2024. For further information, please visit www.pauldianno.co.uk.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Marco Benjamin Alvarado

CROSSBONE

times. Because it’s never easy. Like I always say, I’m not complaining. I’m explaining,” says Tommy.

Crossbone Skully is the new project of the band’s mastermind/frontman Tommy Henriksen (guitarist and musical director for Alice Cooper’s band and member of Hollywood Vampires).

The group’s debut album Evil World Machine follows in the footsteps of concept albums like Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Diamond Dogs and Quadrophenia. The album itself revolves around the band’s namesake character Crossbone Skully - an avenging superhero who was tasked with the mission to save humanity and fight the age-old battle of good vs evil.

Tommy Henriksen brought the project and his vision to life. “It’s raw. It’s real. It’s everything I love about music,” said the Hollywood Vampire’s guitarist. “I like to say the Crossbone Scully record it’s an unanchored record that’s about survival in the universe. If Scully was my super god, that’s exactly what it would be. He wants to do the right thing. But at the same time, if no one wants to do the right thing, he’ll kill you. He just wants to do what’s right.” In that respect, the artist believes there are parallels to his own story. “It’s like the story of my life. It’s about struggle, survival, hard

For this project, Tommy Henriksen called upon legendary producer Mutt Lange, who came out of retirement to be executive producer on the record. “We’re still working together all the time. And I can’t say enough about how grateful and honoured and lucky that the guy wants to work with a dir tbag like me,” said Tommy. “I still pinch myself. I don’t care about selling records or anything like that. I already won. I got to work with the greatest living producer of all time. Not many people could say that. People who sold millions of records. But a guy like me who comes from nothing, I’m sitting in a freaking apartment in Switzerland. I work with Mutt Lang. I won.”

Working with Mutt Lang has been an enlightening experience for the artist. “I’ve always tried to write songs and make it sound like Mutt Lang when I’m producing and writing. And I just love that sound,” he says. “I’ve learned so much about arranging and songwriting and everything from Mutt Lang.”

One of the band’s recent singles Money, Sex and

God grapples with a variety of themes that are pertinent in our present-day society. “I wrote the song five years ago. This record’s taken five years to get out because it’s not a typical record,” said Tommy. “I was sitting around watching a television show and they were talking about religion and currency and politics and how you shouldn’t mix those three things together. And I was like, what are you talking about? Everyone does it all the time.”

Subsequently, the creative juices began to flow. “I was like, Money, Sex and God. And I never forget it the next morning. I wrote it down. And the next morning I sat in my room, and I went, Money, Sex and God. I went, what are you going to choose,” he recalls, before making the decision – “God’s going to lose.” He elaborates: “But then the clincher was when I said, but if it was up to me, you’re all going to lose.”

Crossbone Skully is also the main character in the upcoming animated film of the same name. Tommy recalls the development of the character. “The visual aspect is Mark Wilkinson, because when I initially spoke to Mark, I said, I want to do like this alien pirate, super God, who’s good, but he’s also could be badass. I’d want Scully to be my

CROSSBONE SKULLY

thing I’ve heard in years, seriously.”

guy, because I want him to kick ass. I want him to be nice and have empathy towards me. But at the same time, he’s going to kill you. And he doesn’t take sh*t from anyone,” he says. “But the thing was, it’s like I always said to Mark, I want to have this thing where he’s lovable. He’s funny.”

The plot thickened thanks to Tommy’s good friend and musical companion. “Alice Cooper developed this whole thing. The story also, where he’d be like, no, Scully’s he’s got to be funny. He’s got to be sexy. Chicks dig him, and all this stuff. And he likes to party, but he’s just the hero. But you can’t cross him. And he’s got all these friends everywhere in the galaxy, in the universe,” explains Tommy. “And when me and Coop sat down, we’d sit down at breakfast, and we’d be throwing these things around. I’d be laughing. I’m going, oh, this is great.”

Tommy had a further famous friend in mind for the project. His Hollywood Vampire’s bandmate Johnny Depp. “For the voice, I wanted to have Johnny Depp be Scully. And he’s just a busy guy. And I couldn’t get to him,” explains Tommy. “So, I’m sitting there, and I was like, what would be cool, is Stephen Hawking. Maybe I could find a voice app

with his voice. So, I found this voice app for free. And they don’t make it anymore. So that’s why it’s on my old iPhone. And I found this voice. And I went on it. And then I slowed the pitch down, dropped the pitch down, and slowed the tempo down. I typed in it on my phone what I wanted him to say,” recalls Tommy.

Despite the logistical challenges revolving around getting a Hollywood A-List celebrity to perform the voice of Crossbone Skully, Johnny Depp was taken back by the record. “Coming back to my brother Johnny Depp over there. I finally get around to playing him the record. And I said, dude, I wanted you to be the voice of Scully. So, it’s three in the morning one night. It’s always three in the morning. So, I’m playing it for him. He’s like, bro - let me hear the record. And I was like, alright,” recalls Tommy. “So, I go and put it on, and he hears the intro of Evil World Machine. And I can’t make this sh*t up. He stops. He looks at me. He goes, brother, this is your Brando moment. He goes, this record’s brilliant.” Tommy adds: “After the record was done, the way we end it with Misfits of the Universe, he looked at me and went, brother, it’s brilliant. I love it. I can’t tell you. I think it’s the best

With the forthcoming release of the Crossbone Skully record and an upcoming UK tour with Alice Cooper, there’s presently lots of irons in the fire for Tommy Henriksen. “We’ve got a lot of stuff mapped out. We’ve got Alice Cooper. We’ve got Crossbone Scully. And we’ve got Hollywood Vampires. So, all of that stuff’s coming. And so, I’ll be working my way in between all of it with Scully. Or it all depends on if something else comes along - I have no idea,” he says. “That’s what I love about the universe. It’s like, you don’t know what’s going to happen. It just tells you where to go. And I always look at it this way. I’m supposed to be where I’m supposed to be because that’s where it wants me to be. And I sound like a hippie or anything like that, but I really do believe that.”

Evil World Machine, the new album from Crossbone Skully will be released via Better Noise on 15th November 2024. For further details, please visit https://crossboneskully.com/.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Press Supplied

MOJO RISING

With a career spanning more than 50 years, Foghat recently witnessed their first #1 album when their latest release, Sonic Mojo, topped the Billboard Blues Chart. A testament to the group’s staying power after all these years.

Although there have been lineup changes along the way, Foghat drummer Roger Earl is celebrating 53 years in the band. But how is the artist feeling about reaching this milestone in his career? “Be careful what you f*cking wish for,” he laughs. “Ever since I was growing up, there was always music in our household. My father played the piano. That wasn’t his day job, but in fact, he took me to see Jerry Lee Lewis when I was 12 with my best friend and a few other people at the time. I was never the same after that.”

He continues: “I got Chuck Berry records. I went to see the Stones when I was 16 or 17 at Eel Pie Island and The Marquee. And it’s all I ever wanted to do. I was a commercial artist. Because the drums and cymbals were expensive, so I had to have a day job, but all I wanted to do was play in a band. I was never going to be Buddy Rich. There are only a few of them in this world that have ever came close to that. But I always loved playing in bands. Rock and roll, that was my first, and then the blues. And I always wanted to come to the States, and I got that chance when I was 21/22 when I was in Savoy Brown.”

Not only did the band’s latest album, Sonic Mojo, reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Blues Chart, but it’s also in consideration for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category. Marking Foghat’s first-ever Grammy consideration. Perhaps you could say all good things come to those who wait. However, Roger believes that it was more down to “a little bit of perseverance.”

Being a professional musician is all he has ever wanted. “The thing is, I didn’t want to have another job. This is what I do. This is what I wanted to do. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been in a band,” he says. “We’ve had some ups and downs. Of course, especially losing Lonesome Dave and Rob Price, that was tough. And also, Craig MacGregor, our bass player. We were really tight. We were good friends. We were brothers. That’s part’s been tough. And there were times when I wondered what I was going to do or carry on. But then I would meet somebody, or somebody would say, come on, Roger, get off the couch and go do something.” He adds: “Sonic Mojo, sums up what this band’s all about. It’s a blues rock band. I listened to this music when I was a kid. It’s still there.”

Sonic Mojo also features the last songs ever written by former bandmate, and long-time friend of the band Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown.

“After our last previous studio album, Under the Influence, I invited Kim down to play on it, which he did. We were finishing up in Nashville, and our producer was Tom Hambridge. Kim played on three or four songs. And then when we were finishing … Kim came up to me and said - look, I’d really like to write some songs for Foghat. I said, well, that’d be great, so long as you play on them. And he had a wry smile,” recalls Roger. “Unfortunately, Kim didn’t. He got ill, but he sent me four songs with him playing to a drum track, just playing, guitar and singing. And we took them and ran with it.”

Roger adds: “The sad part was, I think I talked to Kim a couple of months before he passed. He was in hospital for a long time, and they wouldn’t let you call there or go there. But with Kim, it was sort of like we did a whole circle, with

Kim coming back and writing some songs.” The Foghat drummer has nothing but kind words for the Savoy Brown legend. “Kim, he was a beautiful man, a great guitar player and a fantastic writer,” he says. “I love Kim Simmonds. I love him a lot.”

Sonic Mojo features several covers from some of the greats of the blues genre. When asked about the blues, Roger proudly shows me his t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase, Born in Muddy Waters. “Lonesome Dave said something one time, and it stayed with me. I think the reason that we have a passion for blues and American music is because it has an honesty about it,” proclaims Roger. “And I thought Dave hit it on the head with that one. It feels real, even though I wasn’t born in Mississippi, and I didn’t travel to Chicago until I was 23, there’s an honesty about the music, and I just gravitated to it.” He continues: “When I first came here, it felt like I was coming home, even though they speak a little funnyjust kidding. It felt right. And I got to play with my heroes. I played with Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker in the band. It was just magic.”

One of the many standout songs in the Foghat discography is Slow Ride, which featured on the band’s seminal Fool for the City album. “The Fool for the City album, Tony Stevens had left the band, and Nick Jameson, who we’d worked with a number of times over the years, joined the band. I asked him to join the band, and that was the first time we took three months off the road to record,” recalls Roger. “Nick and I rented a station wagon and drove to a bunch of different studios all over New York and upstate. And we found this place in Sharon, Vermont, on top of a mountain. Nick loved the rooms, a huge room, wooden floors, wooden walls.”

He adds: “I have to give credit to Nick Jameson. He was the one with the arrangements, and that was Slow Ride. For example, Rod Price and I had bought a house out here in Long Island at Rocky Point. I wasn’t living there. I was living in upstate New York in Woodstock. And we had the basement soundproofed. I drove down from Woodstock with Nick, and we were in the basement. We set up and started rehearsing. We hadn’t done any gigs together at this time - Nick had just joined the band.”

Roger continues: “Dave’s got his guitar, and he’s playing slow ride, take it easy. I mean, it was like, that’s it. Nick took it to another place, and Rod Price was absolutely brilliant on it. But Dave came up with the lyrics, and we had a little cassette player, and we started playing. Nick said to me, just go bang, Rog. And that was it. I mean, the middle, the breakdown with the bass and drum thing, the whole arrangement, Nick came up with that. But we were having fun, and it was relaxing so much as we had all the time in the world to record and play, and we were all living together. We had a house at the bottom of the mountain that we all lived in. I think it showed in how well the record was received. I mean, they’re still selling the album these days. So yeah, Fool for the City was great”

Foghat aside, in his early days as a musician, Roger Earl had the opportunity to audition to play with Jimi Hendrix. “Chas Chandler called me up at work and said, have you heard of Jimi Hendrix? He was in all the newspapers and all the music magazines. I said, yeah. He said, do you want to come and audition? I said, yeah. It was a weekday in London, just off Piccadilly Cir-

cus. It was a jazz club,” recalls Roger. “Of course, it was raining, and we were all standing outside. It was about 12 o’clock or one o’clock, and we were waiting for the place to open. The cleaners had just been in there. And Jimi comes up, and he starts talking to me about some songs that he’d written the night before. I was just in line, and I was about fourth, fifth or sixth in line to play. I brought my own drums. My brother gave me a hand, taking them down the steps, and Jimi started playing.”

Performing with the legendary guitarist was a memorable occasion. “He was very generous with his time. I’m sure I played for about 40 minutes or so. Obviously, I didn’t get the job. The drummer he took was absolutely phenomenal,” explains Roger. “But I did actually jam with him one night at a club in New York City. I got up and sat in on a song, and a bunch of people were playing with him. It was like a jam session. And also, at a club out in LA one time, and I seem to remember Eric Burdon was singing at the time, but everybody was getting up, so I got to do that. I never really hung out with other than the time I auditioned. He was a beautiful man. He was something else.”

Roger Earl is hoping to bring Foghat back to his homeland of the UK in 2025. “We’re trying to get over next year in the spring. Our manager is talking to some people, different agents over there. I want to go there. We haven’t played there since just after the record was released. We did a three-week tour with Captain Beefheart. We had got a couple of gigs around London and did a couple of gigs up in Scotland, but that was it,” said Roger. For now, his home is the United States. “This is my adopted home. I love living here. I love playing here. It’s a land of music, as far as I’m concerned,” concludes Roger.

Sonic Mojo, the #1 album from Foghat, is out now. For further information, please visit https:// foghat.com/.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Press Supplied

FRozen CROWN

The Big Freeze

Italian power metal band Frozen Crown are preparing to unveil their new studio album and Napalm Records debut, War Hearts. This marks the band’s fifth album in their seven-year career and their first as a six-piece band.

With their new guitarist, expanded lineup and addition to the Napalm Records roster there has been a lot to celebrate for Frozen Crown. “This year has been amazing for us because we had a lot of satisfaction in working on the new album. So, with the label Napalm, new songs and a new guitar player. It’s the first album that she recorded with us, it has been a great enrichment to the band from the point of view of the solos, the composition and everything. We are very satisfied with the album,” said vocalist Giada “Jade” Etro. “We had a lot of amazing gigs during this year. Starting from February, we were touring with UDO in Scandinavia. So, it was our first time in some countries like Norway and Finland. And 2024 so far has been, I think, the best year for the band.”

good feedback from all the fans, but also from a lot of new people that got in touch with us after joining Napalm. Our exposure has grown a lot. And we are so happy to have the chance to share the album with the world by touring with Kamelot. Everything is in the right position,” explains Jade.

The Italian-based outfit expanded their lineup with the addition of guitar prodigy Alessia Lanzone. “So Alessia, we’ve known her for some years, and we had a chance to see her live, to watch her videos. And when we decided to have a third guitar player, she was the only choice. She is very good with rhythms, very good with solos. And from the personal point of view, a perfect element to fit in the band,” said Jade. “And, of course, the reason why we decided to have the third guitar is that we want to be 100% true on stage. Nowadays, a lot of bands have a lot of sequences and layers. And we wanted to bring on stage the same wall of sound we have on the CD. So, when two guitars are making a solo together, we didn’t want the rhythms to be filled with the sequences. And that’s why we thought about a third guitar that has also space for her solos. They are sharing all the guitar work, 33% each.”

With the new lineup and label does it feel like the start of a new chapter for the band? “Definitely. Because it’s a breath of fresh air and the dynamics that a new person creates in the band, especially, when it’s a special person like Alessia. Gave us a lot of positive vibes. So, a new beginning with a lot of enthusiasm for the new deal, for creating a new album and for the new equilibrium we are having,” said Jade.

Frozen Crown have a colossal work rate, having released five albums in seven years. Their previous release Call of the North was released only last year. By their admission, the group are prolific songwriters. “We started mainly as songwriters. So, I really love to create songs and work on songs. And that’s why it’s so easy for our creative flow to take shape because we love to compose, to work together and to work on the songs,” declares Jade.

the album. “There are some reoccurring themes, like the motivational side. We always want to put in metaphors, like battles, war, and the everyday difficulties we all share. We always want to try to transmit how to find the force to go on in everything. And also, we try to take inspiration from the epic side. I’m a great fan of Tolkien and all the fantasy sagas. Game of Thrones, and House of the Dragons. Also, if you go deeper into the meaning of things and try to translate it into your everyday life, the metaphors are there. And that’s what we usually want to put in our songs.”

The song Edge of Reality, in particular, draws inspiration from the movie Highlander. “On Highlander, there is another theme that we frequently talk about and that’s the passing of time. So, it’s very dear to me because I always try to say, make the best out of your days because time flies,” said Jade. “And in Highlander, even if we are not immortal, we can see the story of a person who loses his loved ones. And it’s something that happened to every one of us. So, it has been a great inspiration for me to say, take care of what you have because you never know what could happen.”

Frozen Crown will shortly be touring in the UK for the first time as a special guest for Kamelot. “We are extremely happy and we can’t wait to start the tour because being in the UK for the first time, it’s a dream come true for us. We have a lot of fans built through the years from the UK and we are looking forward to meeting and seeing them, playing in the venues, to share the energy with the public. We have never had the chance to do that,” said Jade. “So UK, it’s one big goal we are achieving this year. And, being on this tour, of course, it’s an amazing experience for us. Kamelot have been one of my main influences also when I was young. I was singing all their songs, and I’ve always sung along with male singers.”

Everything is presently in the right place for a positive album release. “We are feeling very excited also because our first two videos and singles, Steel and Gold and War Hearts, had very

The title of the band’s latest record takes inspiration from Finnish melodic death metal Children of Bodom, who also had a song titled Warheart. “Children of Bodom has been one of the bands that we have grown up with. There are a lot of musicians I’ve grown up with, Iron Maiden, Metallica, maybe, from older generations of bands,” said Jade. “But we were teenagers when Children of Bodom made their great explosion. So, we wanted to pay tribute to them also because we feel very young like they were when they started. A young band and new, fresh air. So, we feel a lot of things in common.”

Jade explains some of the themes featured on

The band remain tight-lipped about their plans for the new year. “There is a very interesting thing that will come up in the first half of 2025. But also here, I cannot say too much. So just keep an eye on our social networks. Really good news is coming for 2025,” concludes Jade.

War Hearts, the new album from Frozen Crown will be released on 18th October 2024. The band will tour as a special guest for Kamelot with Ad Infinitum and Blackbriar throughout November.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Federico Mondelli

PHOTO GALLERY

Photo Credit: Simon Dunkerley

Emerging From The Shadows

INTERVIEW WITH CRISTINA SCABBIA

Italian goth metal legends Lacuna Coil recently released their new single, Hosting The Shadow, featuring Randy Blythe from Lamb Of God. The song is a further taste of what is to come from the band’s forthcoming album.

In addition to their new single, the group will be undertaking a UK and Ireland tour in October with support from Blind Channel.

This year has been somewhat of a whirlwind of activity for the group. “It’s been super busy. So many projects, and of course, a new record,” explains lead singer Cristina Scabbia. “I’ve got to say that I’m very happy because everything has gone amazingly so far. And everybody likes the new songs. So that’s a very good start for the new Lacuna Coil record as well.”

Cristina explains how their Randy Blythe collaboration came to fruition. “Well, the song was written by us. Usually myself, Marco and Andrea …

let’s say we are the core of the band because we are the ones that have been there since day one. So, we usually write the music and lyrics as well,” said Cristina. “But we’ve been knowing Randy for so many years. And we’re really good friends. So, every time we are crossing paths in Milan, or we get together in other places, it’s always a huge party with him and the Lamb of God guys.”

When the band envisaged a guest on their new song, they immediately knew who to call. “When we did Hosting The Shadow, we said, it would be cool to have a guest on the song. So, we asked him and immediately he said - yes, I’ve been looking for this moment because I wanted to collaborate with you guys because you are family to me. And that’s how it happened. And he did a phenomenal job. I mean, not that I had any doubt, because I love Randy as a human being. But I am very aware that he’s one of the best singers in the metal scene. So, I’m very honoured to have him on the song.”

The message behind the single is perhaps

one that many can relate to. “The song itself was inspired by the strength that we have to maintain even through hard moments. I think that too often, especially looking at social media and on TV, every representation that we see around us, it always seems that we have to have everything perfect around us. And if there is something that is so-so or if we’re going through problems, it’s a huge deal and it’s not easy to deal with stuff that’s not happy and perfect. But at the same time, that’s what life is about. It’s made of ups and downs,” explains Cristina. “What we must learn is to host the shadow. Whenever something bad happens, we have to learn from it. We have to master the moment and take the positive out of it all. We don’t have to fall on the ground every time that something we don’t like is happening.”

Randy Blythe is not the only metal vocalist to collaborate with Lacuna Coil in recent times. The group teamed up with Ash Costello from New Year’s Day on their recent single In The Mean Time. “When we wrote it, we felt it needed

something extra and someone coming from the outside to give a different flavour to the song. And we thought about different names. But then we contacted Ash because we were in touch. We were writing to each other. And I really like her as a person, but also her character as well. She’s in the goth scene, but also in a modern way as well. And I think that she has a great voice,” said Cristina. “At first, I was a little bit worried, because whenever you write parts for other singers, it’s not easy for whoever comes in to interpret something that someone else wrote. And I know it myself because I collaborated with other people. And it’s always weird because voice is such a unique instrument that you can’t simply say, OK, you do this note and that note. That’s not how it works.”

Cristina continues. “I was a little bit worried because I really hoped that she liked it and that she could mix her part with her style. And again, she did a great job. And we toured together on the previous North American tour. So, we performed the song every night, minus the first one, because the first evening on tour is always hectic with all the stuff that you have to organize. And we loved it. And the crowds loved it. And it was very well received.”

With two new singles released, when can the fans expect the new Lacuna Coil album to materialise? “I can tell you that the announcement of the release date is not too far. It’s not imminent, it’s not this week or next week. But we have completed the record. We have completed not only the songs but also the artwork. I mean,

everything is in stone. So, it’s done,” said Cristina. “The only time that we need, it’s mainly the time that you always need for the marketing side, to collect everything, to put it together, to send projects. But the songs are there, so I can tell you that it will be next year. But that’s pretty much all I can say.” Cristina gives a little teaser about the sound of their new album. “I can also tell you that it will be heavier,” she says.

Would Cristina agree that the recent singles are a good indication of how the rest of the album sounds? “We want to evolve somehow. But evolution doesn’t mean changing. It means going somewhere from where you were, but still being yourself,” she says. “So, the next record will have songs like In The Mean Time and Hosting The Shadow. But it will also have songs that are probably very surprising for many because we’re going - still metal, don’t worry about that. But they will be different. They will be heavier, or they will be completely slower.”

Lacuna Coil will return to the UK in October. But how much are the band looking forward to returning to our shores? “A lot, because I think that in the UK, we have very loyal fans that became friends as well because we have a very strict contact with our fan base. We know many of them or we know their names, and where they live. I don’t want to sound like a stalker, but we write each other. We have meetings. Sometimes they come to Milan, and we meet, and we go out for a pizza with some of them. We know them so well because the UK has been one of the places that gave us the most support when we started,

and it continued. And we also came there so often,” said Cristina. “We stopped because of the pandemic first, then because we couldn’t be in two places at the same time. So, we started to tour the US. We focused more on the US because that was the right moment for booking and we were there. But we’re really looking forward to coming back because it’s been a long time, and we love to come there. And the fans are crazy and are having a good time during the show. And you know how it is. You can give the best performance, but without a crowd, you’re f*cking nothing. It’s just an exchange of energy going through. That’s what lives are about.”

Aside from the UK tour, the band remain focused on their forthcoming new album. “I believe that there will be a lot of planning for next year. We’re going to be thinking about videos, maybe other photo shoots, all the stuff that you need to plan,” says Cristina. But before that, some well-earned downtime is on the cards. “I’m going to finally take a vacation,” concludes Cristina.

Lacuna Coil will tour the UK and Ireland starting the 15th of October at the Limelight in Belfast. The run concludes on the 26th of October at the Academy in Bristol. For ticket information and further details please visit: https://lacunacoil. com/.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Patric Ullaeus

Eddie 9V, or Brooks Mason as he is known to his friends, has witnessed a meteoric rise since the release of his Ruf Records debut back in 2021. And with a name like Eddie 9V, perhaps you would expect his latest album, Saratoga, to be nothing short of electrifying.

The artist’s latest offering follows hot off the back of last year’s chart-topping album Capricorn. The latter was a record that was Number 1 in the blues chart for a week until it was knocked off the top by Bonnie Raitt. Battling with the heavyweights of the genre is par for the course for the gifted bluesman. “It was the same thing with The Black Keys. It’s funny, I just met with Dan Auerbach last Tuesday, and I told him when I put out Little Black Flies, I think it debuted at Number Four,” recalls Brooks. “And right below us, The Black Keys put out a blues album. I think it was the Delta Kream album. And they hadn’t put out an album in six years, and they put out a strictly blues album.”

Of course, you’ve got to be thick-skinned in the music industry. And Eddie 9V is prepared to roll with the punches. “I don’t feel bad. I mean, it was good to debut at Number One. That felt really good. And, I can say that I did that,” proclaims Brooks.

Eddie 9V’s latest album sees the artist pushing his sound into the soulful Americana space. “A month before we put out Capricorn, we went out to Denver to record with the drummer of Nathaniel Ratetliff’s band. His name is Patrick. So, he was going to produce the album. And there were a few horn players from The Night Sweats,” recalls Brooks. “When we were in that chapter of the record, I was planning on making a soul record. Kind of like the Nathaniel Rateliff record. And then that thing in Denver kind of fell apart. I mean, we’re still friends. I saw Pat the other day. It’s just the logistics when you’re a band our size, it’s just hard to get everybody over. So, the logistics kind of messed up.”

High Voltage

Subsequently, Eddie 9V went back to the drawing board. “What happened was we had to finish the record at our home studio, which was fine. That’s why you have all these different songs. You’ll go from Saratoga to Cry Like The River and then Red River. It’s just a lot of different stuff,” said Brooks. “So it’s all over the place, but in a good way, I think.”

On Saratoga, Eddie 9V co-wrote with his brother, the much-respected Southern musician, Lane Kelly. “Lane doesn’t really write the songs, per se. In older bands, he really did. He really contributed chord progressions and stuff. But realistically, what happens is Lane’s at the studio, and I’ve got an idea. He fires up all the boards and the compressors. And I’m very grateful for that because I get the demo out,” explains Brooks. “And a lot of these demos end up being songs on the record, like Love Moves Slow, Red River - those are just demos that ended up being on the record.”

Eddie 9V recently acquired a historic piece of musical equipment for their studio. “So, this past year, we got a board - a console. We actually bought the original Daptone Records console. And that’s another reason why we’ve got to play so many shows - so we can pay for it,” he jokes. “We got that console just in time to do some recording on it. And it sounds absolutely wonderful. But it was the original Trident board at Daptone Studios that did Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Budos Band, and Charles Bradley was mixed on it. Right now, it’s in a living room, but hopefully, one day, we will have a full-time studio.”

He continues: “The whole reason why we bought that board is to say - hey, Amy Winehouse sang Rehab on this board. So come on in. And that’s going to be the selling point. And it is crazy because there are videos on YouTube; I was watching the other day of Amy sitting at the board with Mark Ronson.”

Following a whistlestop visit to the UK earlier in the year, Eddie 9V will shortly be returning to the UK for a run of headline dates as well as a show with Robert Jon and the Wreck. “I’m really looking forward to it. We had a lot better reaction in the UK than I thought. We were playing these

small clubs, but they were packed,” said Brooks. “I think my favourite show might have been in Bristol at the Louisiana. I’ve nothing against the other ones, but the energy of that show. Also, it helped that I was walking down the street, and people were like, Eddie, what’s up, mate? I’m like, I got recognized. I like this town.”

The artist relishes the musical history of the UK. “Bristol was awesome, and there’s just so much history in the Louisiana. That show, I think we sold it out. It was pretty damn packed in there. But it’s just like the Black Keys played there in ‘02 and then Amy Winehouse in ‘04. It’s just crazy to see. And you can watch a video of it. There are so many legendary spots in the UK that I still want to hit. But I’m excited. I know we’re doing that one show with Robert Jon. I think they sold it out. And so that’s awesome.”

Moving forward, the road is calling for Eddie 9V. “It’s touring and just constantly writing music. I’ve been producing a lot more stuff. I produced an early 70s, Wurlitzer jazz, Grant Green-type record. I’ve been producing a lot. I’ve been going up to Nashville meeting a lot of new people,” said Brooks. “I want to do a record where I have guests on the record. I think that’s probably my next idea for a record. I’d like to manifest getting Marcus King and maybe Nathaniel Rateliff. And getting some people, because I met them. And I just want to make a really good album. I want to make something that people want to listen to.”

Eddie 9V releases his new album “Saratoga” via Ruf Records on Friday, November 22nd. The artist will tour the UK from November 30 until December 5th.

Words by Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Press Supplied

UNVEILED

Blending death growls with ethereal soundscapes and elements of progressive rock, Crimson Veil have been stunning audiences with their unique take on metal. The group of multi-instrumentalists emerge as a new project from their previous band, Birdeatsbaby. The band are presently getting ready to release their debut album Hex.

Crimson Veil’s first foray into the world of touring was as special guests to Lordi. Reflecting on the run, lead singer Mishkin Fitzgerald said: “It was amazing. It was our first tour and our first shows with Crimson Veil completely. Obviously, we’ve been playing together in the previous project for years, but this was a totally new experience and definitely for me, the biggest stages I’ve ever been on.” Mishkin adds: “It was a real baptism of fire. It was kind of terrifying, exhilarating and really fun.”

Having been performing as Birdeatsbaby for some time, the band’s rebrand and musical

evolution have reinvigorated the group. “For us as the band, it was just a huge experience to go from playing really small independent shows as Birdeatsbaby to suddenly playing these really big stages. But it also felt very natural. It felt like, our time has come,” said Mishkin.

But was it a conscious decision for the band to rebrand – did it feel as though something new was emerging in their writing or musical direction? “Yeah, definitely. So, we were releasing songs from this album as Birdeatsbaby before we signed to Reigning Phoenix. And there was a real murky area where we were like, do we carry on as Birdeatsbaby and have all these previous records that aren’t metal at all? Especially the earlier ones are kind of like punk cabaret; a sort of weird niche of tunes. And then it just got heavier and heavier,” explains Mishkin. “It took us a good year to go backwards and forwards with the label and management that we now signed to deciding what to do. But they felt and we felt as well that the music was too heavy, and it would make sense to just have a clean break and start again as a purely metal project.” All of the signs were pointing towards the start

of something new. “I felt this real pull towards something. And then suddenly out of nowhere, there was this record deal on the table and all these things happening and tours. And it was like, well, this is amazing. So, it kind of felt right to just have this rebirth and come up with a new thing. And I’m glad I never have to explain Birdeatsbaby to anyone ever again because it’s just a really weird kind of silly name. So as much as I love it, I’m quite glad that Crimson Veil sounds like a metal band, not what the hell is Birdeatsbaby,” jokes Mishkin.

The image that Crimson Veil portrays is rather striking. But how important is image to the band’s overall aesthetic? “I think it is quite important. Obviously, the music is the very first thing and that is the core, I would say it’s the most important thing. But I feel like the visuals are just an extension of the sound,” said Mishkin. “So why not just have fun and take it to a new level? Why not try and make the audience feel like they’re part of something a bit different and a bit weird? I love dressing up, it’s really fun.” Mishkin elaborates: “This music felt too bombastic to just

go on stage in jeans and T-shirts.”

There is somewhat of a ritualistic, shamanic or spiritual aspect within the band’s music and live performances. “I was raised going to church Sunday to Sunday, sometimes more. My mom was a church minister. So, that was like a spiritual experience when the music started,” said Mishkin. “And then everybody’s singing together. And I do feel like it elevates the atmosphere. And for me, that’s turned into going to gigs now and performing gigs. I just feel like that’s my church now.”

Mishkin had most of her musical training at church and was strongly influenced by hymns, classical music and later on, all things rock and metal. The latter wasn’t part of her musical upbringing during her formative years. “I wasn’t really exposed to it as a child at all. It was a lot of religious music. But my dad did have a really weird eclectic record collection. So, he had a bunch of classical stuff, some opera. But then he had Queen and Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles and then the Muppet Show, like the weirdest collection of music ever,” recalls Mishkin. “And I would just stick on record after record and absorb them and get obsessed.”

The artist recollects an album which was a game-changer for them. “I think Muse Origin of

A factor that gives the group a lot of flexibility in their compositions. “I think we’re really fortunate that a lot of the band members can play multiple things,” says Mishkin. “Hana essentially is like a string section and a harpist and a singer, and a writer as well. So having all those things you can just kind of go anywhere with is really exciting. It was a chance for us to just play around. And we felt like the cello for this record was a deeper, more metal sound. Usually, Hana would play the violin in Birdeatsbaby. And then this one, we were like, OK, let’s go for cello. Let’s make that the bass instead. And so, it’s another way that it just sounded a bit darker and heavier.”

Symmetry was the first record that opened me to a heavier rock sound. It was the first time I’d heard classical music and it’s really high pitched, almost operatic vocals used, but in such a heavy way. And I just totally fell in love with that. And that was really my way into metal. And then I got into System of a Down and Lamb of God.”

Drummer Anna Mylee played a key part in honing the band’s heavier sound. “Gary, Hana and I have worked together a lot on various projects. And the three of us have written together so many times. Bringing Anna into that was the first time for us that we had a drummer who could do quite complex, progressive stuff and was really into it,” explains Mishkin. “We’ve had drummers who were good enough to do that. But we’re like, I’m just not into this. Or drummers that maybe would struggle to play that kind of stuff. Whereas with Anna, it was amazing because I would bring this wild idea and she’d be like, yep, you can do that. I was like, oh, my God, we can have all the songs with weird time signatures and changes and do stuff like that. And obviously, that’s kind of what happened. It just got a bit ridiculous. And then we just ran with it.” Mishkin adds: “I would say that Anna is a big part of that sort of progression into that more progressive and heavier territory. We’re writing the follow-up now. And all I can say is that it’s even more ridiculous.”

Crimson Veil is a group of multi-instrumentalists.

One of the band’s recent singles Ribbons is accompanied by a compelling video which perfectly accompanies the composition. “A lot of the songs have started in the pandemic where there was no touring. And I was just in a bit of a place where I felt really stuck, like totally restricted, able to write, but I didn’t have anything to write about or anyone to write with. It was like being at home alone with the piano, which was beautiful in some ways. But then in other ways, it was really lonely and felt like everything was over and we were never going to tour again. And that was it. So, it came from this place of feeling very restricted,” said Mishkin. “That’s what the song concept’s about, which is why we’re all like tied up and pulled in different directions because it’s kind of about paralysis, which is the main feeling that I had in the pandemic was this paralysis of well, the world just stopped. And in some ways that was beautiful because we didn’t have to tour all the time and be tired. But in other ways, it was like, oh, no, am I ever going to play a show?”

Crimson Veil remains open-minded as to what comes next. “We don’t have a lot planned for the rest of this year. As far as I know, we’re waiting to see which tour we’re going on next. I know we have some really exciting stuff happening in 2025, which is to be revealed soon. But we are having a launch party in our hometown of Brighton at the Green Door Store on the 5th of November. That’s going to be our album launch day. So that’s a certainty. And then for the rest of the time, not really sure yet. We’re just waiting to hear. But we’re desperate to get back on tour and hit the road and just play as much as possible,” concludes Mishkin.

Hex, the new album from Crimson Veil is out now via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM).

Words by Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Scott Chalmers

Red Giant Interview with Dave Simpson

on Friday 18th

UK rockers Red Giant will release their eponymous debut album

October. The trio is the brainchild of the popular YouTube presenter and guitar prodigy, Dave Simpson (he’s amassed over 135,000 YouTube followers due to his guitar tutorials and gear demos). The band’s sound transcends genre bringing together elements of rock, blues and grunge to great effect.

Speaking about their latest offering, Dave said: “We recorded the album in April. So, it’s a couple of months back now. We initially started demoing songs for it in January, and February time. I picked ten songs, and I was thinking these would be really good for an album.”

The recording process itself came together quickly in the studio. “We started rehearsing and doing pre-production on it. And then we went into Chapel Studios to record it in April. It took us three days to do it, which isn’t a great deal of time. But we were well rehearsed and just got in there and just got on with it,” confirms Dave. “Most of the songs are one take with certain overdubs.”

Dave adds: “I’ve been songwriting for years and years and years. And these songs they just spoke to one another. I was like, it’s time for them to fly.”

Red Giant took a live approach to recording their debut album, with all three musicians being in the same room at the same time. “We were all in the Chapel Studio. It’s got an amazing live room. It’s got amazing big windows. You can see trees outside and stuff. So, we were in there. We had the amps isolated, so there was no bleed in the drum mics,” explains Dave.

Subsequently utilising this approach, the album was recorded in no time at all. “The first day was focusing on getting the core of the songs done. The second day was overdubs and the third-day vocals,” confirms Dave.

The band’s recent single Monsters was inspired by the lockdown. “Monsters came about just out of frustration with what was going on. I felt at the time, we weren’t being told the whole story. And I just felt very betrayed by the powers that be. We’re all locked away in our houses and there’s no freedom. We can’t go outside. We can’t do anything. And I just felt really helpless,” explains Dave. “I recorded a demo and had it all done in two hours. Then when it came down to the album, I was like Monsters has to go on there.”

Red Giant’s influences are far-reaching. But does the band prefer not to be put into a box musically so to speak? “I don’t mind, really. I mean, I think people are going to do that regardless of what you say or what you do,” says Dave. “I love bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Soundgarden. I also love Peter Green and Muddy Waters and people like that. And there’s other kind of aspects as well.”

Dave didn’t necessarily want to follow the traditional blues sound, but instead preferred to take influence from it and develop it. “When I first started the band, I was thinking, I don’t want to be that Stevie Ray Vaughan-esque kind of blues. I wanted to be able to palm mute and do

heavy guitars and big distortion and feedback,” explains Dave. “And over the years, this style just emerged of very heavily distorted, very big guitar sounds, big drums and a big bass sound.” He adds: “It blends from genre to genre. And as I said, there’s blues and there’s rock and there’s drums. And I’m trying to smash it all together and create one thing.”

Dave’s blues influences shine through on a song on the album called What You Gonna Do. A track in which the guitarist channels the late great Peter Green. “It initially wasn’t going to be on the album,” said Dave. “But when Peter passed away, I was like, it has to be on an album now. And I was trying to channel my best Peter Green impression in that song. To my opinion, I failed miserably because you can’t replicate him.”

The artist recollects discovering Green’s work. “It was my dad who introduced me to Peter Green. And we were randomly watching a TV programme and there was footage of him playing Oh Well. And I just fell in love with Oh Well and it sent me down a Peter Green rabbit hole and I started listening to all the other stuff. And it was just his expressive nature of guitar, being able to go from a whisper to a scream on the guitar in a way that I’ve never heard anyone do since or before. The man terrifies me in his dynamic range. And when he went for it, it was like he was just tearing at your emotions all the time. And it affected me on such a level where I was just like, well, this man’s now one of my heroes. If I can strive to play at least 1% as good as he is, I’ll be quite happy.”

Red Giant are a power trio in the vein of legendary blues-rock groups like the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Cream. This format gives the band the kind of flexibility that Dave enjoys. “I’m a massive fan of bands like Jimi Hendrix Experience and then Cream and Fleetwood Mac. I like the freedom that those three pieces had where you could extend the songs and you can all kind of shine really,” said Dave. “When you start getting multiple members, you have to start compromising what you can and cannot do live musically. And with a three-piece, it’s always worked out nicely because I love improvisation. And my drummer loves improvisation and our bass player at this point, loves improvisation. Just that ability to bounce things off each other whenever you feel like it live is fantastic.”

Dave is joined on drums by their longstanding musical counterpart John Joe Gaskin. “He’s got this psychic ability to know where I’m going, and I can kind of read where he’s going. And it was one of those weird things where there is a musical telepathy thing that people talk about,” he says. “We try and outwit the other person to throw them off because it’s fun to do that, to test each other and again, to keep you on your toes. And we do that a lot. And so, I’ve been playing a

long time with him. And the bass player on the album, Carina Powell, she joined in 2021, and she joined through John Joe.”

Although she didn’t feature on the album, bass player extraordinaire Keira Kenworth (Troy Redfern/JoanOvArc) has been sitting in for Carina during some live shows. “She learned 21 songs for us in no time at all. We had one rehearsal and then we just jumped into a gig,” said Dave. “She’s great to play with. She’s just solid and has that big bass sound.” Dave adds: “My brother is going to step in on bass for a couple of other gigs. But Keira is doing most of them.”

Red Giant’s latest single Why is a song which the guitarist is most proud of. “I’m petrified of it coming out because it’s a song that’s so deep and meaningful to me. I’m always hesitant to share it,” he says. “It feels a bit weird to put yourself out there in such a vulnerable way.”

The song revolves around a topic that perhaps many will relate to, that being bullying. “It’s just that perspective of this young lad or it could be anyone who’s in that situation being bullied at any point in their life, I suppose. And just basically saying like, why me? And please make it stop. Can you just not do that, please,” explains Dave.

YouTube has been a great platform for the guitarist in recent times. Dave has built up a solid following via his channel. “That was something I never expected in a million years for it to get as big as it did. I started YouTube in 2013 demoing guitars for a local vintage guitar shop where I was working. And when that shop folded or closed, I was kind of like, well, I enjoy making videos on musical stuff and stuff like that. So, I didn’t want to stop. I kept the channel going and it evolved into this thing it is now, which, again, is just beyond my comprehension,” explains Dave. “But all these people have got on board with it, and they support me. They support the band. They come to see us live.”

With their debut album under their belt, Red Giant are already looking into what comes next. “Next year we are looking to tour. It’d be nice to be able to get a 10-day tour early next year to get to get the album out there. And after that, kind of do some individual shows and maybe do another tour at the end of the year,” he says. “In 2026, I want to do another album of songs. I’m sat waiting. So that’s the idea. Next year, we will focus on this album and get out there as much as we can to promote it, and tour it. And then 2026, get in the studio again,” concludes Dave.

Red Giant’s eponymous debut album is available from www.redgiantofficial.com

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Totty Simpson

Soul Survivors

Following their appearance at HRH XVI last year in Great Yarmouth, Yorshire rockers Hearts and Souls are counting the days until their return in November.

Following the release of their five-track EP, Nights of My Days, last year, the Northern rock outfit have released a pair of singles. “We recorded the new single, Anjalie. We did it with a guy called Robert Munday. He was the drummer from Roy Orbison. He played with Jimi Hendrix as well,” said Luke.

The frontman’s encounter with the legendary drummer was a happy coincidence. “I ran into him by accident. There were some Italian ladies in a local cafe who liked Guns N’ Roses, and

him the music. And the girls, one of them, she kept telling me about this guy. Every month went by and then there was a note, and it just said Robert Munday, Roy Orbison’s drummer. So, I rang him and he started doing that with us,” he recalls. “So, me and Paul [Guerin], we did the record altogether. And Andy Hawkins, our friend, he’s a music producer who’s worked mainly with indie bands. He did the Pigeon Detectives and things like that. And we put it all together. And that’s what happened there. That was Anjalie.”

But the legendary endorsements don’t stop with Robert Munday. “Anjalie got listened to by the E-Street Band as well. And Nils Lofgren really likes it, which was great. So, we’ve done a lot with Anjalie, so far,” said Luke.

Wayward Sons at the Parish in Huddersfield. The show brought back memories for many of those involved as well as re-establishing a connection with a former bandmate, current Wayward Sons guitarist Sam Wood. “Sam played in a band with me when he was a kid. I think it was a Hanoi Rocks gig, and Sam was there in the audience. And he befriended me, and I put him in a band with me for a while,” recalls Luke. “I think it was a great show. The Parish was packed. And there were people I hadn’t seen there for a long time. And Sam was a good friend. And there were a couple of personal tragedies that had taken place at the time. And I think everybody had a bit of a nostalgic reunion, but it was a very good night.”

Hearts and Souls’ previous single, Whispers

featured the Wayward Sons guitarist. “Sam came and played some guitar on that for us,” said Tom. The title itself came from a simple conversation. “It was something that Paul had been talking about with a rock star that I won’t name because it’s a bit namey for the sake of it. But, he said, oh yeah - I’ve heard the whispers, and that was it. That’s where I took the title from,” said Luke. “It was also the first song that we’d done with the lineup sort of fully solidified as well. We all had something to do with it, and I’m still really proud of how that song came out. We did that, and it kind of opened the door to us by doing less of a standard sort of rock sound and added a little bit more of the sort of rootsy, power pop stuff. We all like to bring that element of it into the songwriting. And I mean, I think that was the springboard for Anjalie,” said Tom.

The band are very much inspired by seventies rock and roll. “There’s so much in our sound. There are so many different types of influences. You can draw a straight line in so many different directions. And I think Paul helps us keep it together without going too far away from what we originally intended with whatever song we’re working on. He helps us keep it within them goalposts,” said Tom.

However, the group’s influences vary from member to member. “I mean, for me, it’s always lifted from the Rolling Stones and the Crowes and people like that,” said Luke.

“Obviously, as the guitar players, we come from very much the same place within the context of this band,” said Tom. “Like Luke said, it’s Black Crowes, early Aerosmith. I find when I listen back

to some of the stuff and I might not realize it at the time, but there’s a lot of the Tom Petty, Cheap Trick sort of stuff going on in there as well. And I think a lot of the time, it’s less to do with what we’re influenced by and more what the guys who we’re influenced by were influenced by. It can go back that far sometimes. While we try and steer away from it, we end up going full circle and coming back from the side sometimes.” said Tom. “It’s very hard to not be influenced by a band like The Beatles, even if you hate The Beatles because they’ll find you through other people,” adds Luke.

Black Eyed Sons guitarist Paul Guerin is a key part of the Hearts and Souls setup. “He’s never stopped being involved. There’s an acoustic video out now that Vintage released called Night of My Days, which Paul plays on. It’s the stripped version of it,” said Luke. “He’s the person who has done all the production so far. And, when he says he’s going to come and do something with us, he always does. So, that’s how it is.”

Luke adds: “He’s always around, he’s always involved, and he wants to do some of these guitar shows. So, he’ll be doing that. I suppose everything will depend on what happens with his touring schedule on the release of his new record, which is in January. I’m starting to do some basic stuff on a track or two in a few weeks, and no doubt he’ll play a hand in that.”

Tom adds: “I mean, to be fair, he’s always very hands-on. Even though he’s all over the place - when it comes to laying the tracks down, he’s straight on a train, and he’s in there with us. So, it’s not like he’s a satellite member. As you say, he’s very much involved and tells us when we are

sh*t, which we all need to hear now and again.”

The band are full of praise for Guerin and his impressive career. “He’s been in a lot of bands and a lot of places. I know he’s known as being a guitar player for the Down and Outz and The Quireboys, but when you look at what he’s done and where he’s been, he’s done everything from Chris Evans TV shows back in the nineties to Comedy Elvis. And he’s done a lot of Michael Schenker and worked with a lot of different people. A lot of stuff that guy’s done,” said Luke. “I think it really helps us with everything that we do,” says Tom.

Moving forward, there is a lot on the cards for Hearts and Souls. “We’ve been booked for HRH; we’ve been booked for all the Northern Guitar Show festivals up to 2026. And we signed with Vintage,” said Luke.

Following their last appearance in Great Yarmouth, the band are looking forward to their return. “The last time we played Hard Rock Hell Festival, it was just a great atmosphere on stage and backstage as well, and just a load of cool people. And we’re all there for the same thing, just to go there and rock it up. And it’s just been great so far. So hopefully, more gigs will come.” said Jimmy.

Hearts and Souls will perform at HRH XVII in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 7th – 10th November. For further information, please visit https://hardrockhell.com/.

Words by Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Press Supplied

LIONS IN THE STREET

ROAR POWER

Lions in the Street began their career by signing and then walking away from the troubled TVT Records (NIN, Pitbull, Little Jon), Nickelback’s 604 Records (Carly Rae Jepson), and legendary manager Allen Kovac (Motley Crue, The Cars, Blondie, The Bee Gees), earning them a spot on the music industry’s blacklist.

Years in the wilderness resulted, and despite experiencing the best and worst of the old music business—from hanging out with Todd Rundgren, Bob Ezrin, and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, to seeing an A&R guy almost fired just for going to see them play—the band somehow kept going, releasing music piecemeal.

The Canadian quartet are presently preparing to release their new album, Moving Along, on the 8th of November. The band’s journey to this point has been uphill, to say the least. But despite this, lead singer Chris Kinnon is positive about their upcoming release. “It’s a long road. And we’ve been in this place before where we’ve made records, and they’ve not been released. So, it feels like a suspended reality. It sort of feels like it won’t happen,” he says. “It’s nice to be in control of that because in the past, sometimes we weren’t. So, we feel in control to the degree anybody can be in control of something in the future. But we feel like we’ve done our best job of putting a full record together and releasing the album we want. So, I think that’s good.”

Moving Along has come to fruition over a long period of time. “It’s been piecemeal. We had a bunch of these done a long time ago, but we didn’t like the way they were finished. We redid a bunch of those, cut some different tracks on some of them, and remastered,” said Chris. “It’s really - I don’t want to say like potpourri, but it is a kind of a hodgepodge. It wasn’t like people set out to make a record in two weeks like the White Album. They’re in the studio for a month, and then they come up on the other side of the complete coherent record. This wasn’t that. I think we achieved coherence. A kind of cohesive record, but not by doing it in two weeks in a studio or not by design. It was something to impose on these massive tracks and songs, which is kind of its own challenge. But pretty cool.”

Lions in the Street features the Brothers Kinnon (Chris on vocals and guitar; Jeff on drums). As family members in a band together, do they

get along? “We don’t really have conflicts. You’ll have conflicts about the song’s nuts and bolts, like whether it should have a bridge or not. I mean, those kinds of disputes are inevitable, and they’re healthy,” said Chris. “But I think we trust each other a lot, and we can be honest about the songs. I think that yields a better result in the end. Better art because I believe my brother when he says something’s not good, because I should say I believe him when he says something’s good because he’ll tell me if something’s not good like that. Those are healthy parameters for being creative. You need to trust other people because sometimes you lose distance. You can fall in love with things that aren’t great or they don’t work. The idea doesn’t match the reality or the performance. And so, you need it. You can’t be too idealistic with that stuff. You need some of it. So, we’re pretty good that way. And Sean, we’ve known since we’re kids; we’re family friends. So, there’s a trust there, I guess. I don’t know how to say this, it’s not hunky dory every day, but we don’t fight, really. We disagree, but it’s healthy.”

Bands like the Rolling Stones, The Faces and The Black Crowes are coursing through the veins of Lions in the Street. “Those are bands we’ve always listened to. I think our honest influences are on our sleeve,” said Chris. “Initially, the first music I ever liked was pop music. But it wasn’t Top 40 pop music. It was 60s pop music that I heard on the oldies radio. So, I heard that, or my old man had a great record collection. So, I’d hear little bits of Bob Seger or a lot earlier stuff too like Duane Eddy and Chuck Berry.”

Chris elaborates further: “The Faces and the Stones are perfect bands in a lot of ways, especially the Faces. I think they’re probably even a bigger influence than the Stones on us. Obviously, I can’t sing like Rod,” he says. “No one can, except maybe Steve Marriott. But there’s just something there with the guitar tones, especially. And the drumming is obviously great. All the individual players are phenomenal. But when they come together, it’s really rambunctious. It’s got the rock and roll energy. And sometimes it feels like it’s going to fall apart - it’s almost reckless. And that’s how we’ve always tried to keep that drive, that forcefulness about rock.”

One of the many standout tracks on the album is Walking Back to You. That being a southern rock jam in the vein of bands like the Allman Brothers and Derek and the Dominoes. “So that’s one I wrote. And I was writing lyrics with my wife. I was teasing her. She’s the Bernie Taupin of the band, but she’s good with hooks and good with lyrics. She’s got a literature background, so that’s helpful,” said Chris. “But we kind of wrote that song together, and it was absolutely Bobby Whitlock-inspired. People always talk about that Layla record and Derek and the Dominoes and how great that Duane Allman and Clapton combo is. And I agree with all that.” He adds: “But the thing I like most about Derek and the Dominoes is Bobby Whitlock. I’ve always thought that those songs were way underrated. And so that’s us doing our best Bobby Whitlock or Delaney and Bonnie on that.”

The group like to flex their creative muscles in the live environment. “We’re not a jam band at all, but we do stretch out sometimes live and play these things a little longer, the same way the Stones did and the same way the Faces did,” said Chris. “But we always try to make it fun rather than being self-indulgent. So, we’ll do these little breakdowns and stuff. The Faces were great at that, little breakdowns and buildups to keep the audience interested.”

The title track, Moving Along, is also the lead track in the upcoming Paramount film “Cassino In Ischia”, starring Prison Break’s Dominic Purcell. Speaking about the movie, Chris said: “The director just contacted us. He heard the song, and he fell in love with it and wanted to pursue it. He opens the movie with it. It’s out on October 2nd. I think it’s streaming, but I’m not sure.” He adds: “I haven’t seen the scene yet, but apparently, it’s pretty good. So, Moving On comes on. And then I think he closes it with another song of ours, Mine Ain’t Yours on the credits.”

Are there any plans for the band to tour the UK? “We’d love to, but not right now. It’s too hard to get over there. We will try to play some shows over here like LA is an easy one, and Vancouver. But we are all busy now. I joke that we are like Steely Dan but minus the drugs and access to the great studios. But we just kind of make the music, and if we can get out and play it, that’s cool,” said Chris. “But it’s really tough these days. I don’t know if you’ve seen all these bands cancelling tours because it’s obscenely expensive. And where we are on the west coast here in North America, it’s pretty hard to get out and tour because it’s so far between venues and cities. Whereas the east coast of America is a lot like the UK, within three hours you can hit 50 million people, it’s quite dense and easier to play shows.”

Lions in the Street will continue Moving Along with studio material, at least for the time being. “For us right now, it’s just making music. We are going to put this album out, and then we are going to get ready for the upcoming live album, which we did for Sirius XM, that we are going to remaster and get out. We’ve got some recordings we did with Dave Cobb, a big Nashville producer now. He was in LA for a long time, so we are going to put those out. They are almost done. And that will be another album. And then we’ve got a whole bunch of new songs. I would rather put my energy into writing and recording than touring,” concludes Chris.

Moving Along, the new album from Vancouver rock’n’roll guitar band Lions In The Street will be released by Interior Castle Music on November 8th.

Words by Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Gregory Crow

GUITAR MASTERCLASS

INTERVIEW WITH STEVE HOWE OF YES

Progressive rock legend Steve Howe recently unveiled his latest solo instrumental album Guitarscape. Joined by his son Dylan on drums the YES guitarist has delivered a record which showcases the many different facets of his artistry. By his admission, Steve has described the record as a “guitar masterclass”.

Steve shares with us the background to the release. “It’s an instrumental album featuring a range of guitars that I play. There’s a little bit of steel and acoustic guitar. And basically, I got the album going by doing some improvisations on a keyboard with different textures each time, different tempos and a variety of different keyboard back ing tracks,” explains Howe. “And what I’ve done is I’ve developed a guitar style that maybe suits that, and it ends up being a whole piece of music.”

On Guitarscape, Steve is joined by his son Dylan Howe on drums. Working together is something that the guitarist enjoys. “It’s the ninth solo album he’s worked with me on and it’s just beautiful. We have a great relationship,” said Steve. “He’s got lots of freedom just to be able to see how he feels about different parts of the music, and he develops his part. We record remotely. We would get together, but it’s easy. At the time he had his own studio where he was recording. He’s rebuilding somewhere else now. But yeah, we had a great time.”

When you look at the list of song titles on Guitarscape they all convey a feeling, a sound or an emotion. Song titles are particularly pertinent in composing instrumental music. “I keep a list of titles that I think are kind of good. And when I look through it, there’s a lot I’ll never use, because they won’t maybe have their moment. But sometimes I can refer to that and have some of these titles already. Others do come. You listen to the music and you’re thinking, oh, that might be nice.” Steve adds: “Some of the things

are quite sound-orientated, like Hail Storm. And something like Seesaw, there is a sort of pivotal factor in this song where it keeps going. So, I look for those connections, if I can, in instrumentals.” Steve continues: “It’s something I do enjoy. Artistically, it’s very pleasurable, titling music. In fact, I’ve done it for a few friends occasionally, when they said, what shall I call this? And I might come up with something because words are just there to be played with.”

Steve Howe self-produced his latest offering. But is production something that the guitarist enjoys? “Well, I think it’s quite integral. And sometimes I cite Kenny Burrell, who’s got this jazz sound that’s just the one that everybody wanted. And there he was a guitarist who cared for his sound, and I think he took it through that he looked after it on the record. And Les Paul, there’s no finer producer has ever happened in this world than Les Paul. He was so clever. It’s unbelievable to listen to his records now. So basically, production was fascinating. I didn’t realise it was,” explains Steve. “When I was with Joe Meek and then Eddie Offord, I just sort of naturally said, well, how do you do that? Or should we do, can we do this? I asked questions, and I got asked questions. So basically, I kept learning. And rightly so it said on most YES records, it was produced by YES. And it was a team of people who thought they could produce YES, but we had to share the role between us.”

Steve continues: “As solo albums came along; I got more ideas. I noticed that in Asia, I was still semi-producing to an extent. Maybe the guitar area on the first album had a lot to do with me because Mike Stone graciously invited us down every evening at the mix to say, what do you think? And we said things to him. And we changed the mix marginally from his great starting point when we added the group’s personal view on, well, that could be a bit bigger or that should be over here. So, I’ve been doing that, and yeah, I seriously like it.”

In a solo environment, self-production seems even more important. “It’s a lovely thing to do

collaboratively, but on your own, of course, it’s a marvellous thing to do, because you’re going through the tunnel. You’re just evolving the music as you like. But don’t let me discount not only the importance of Dylan and having a collaborator in the music. Dylan is doing a big job because there’s nobody else. And a big part of it. But also, Curtis Schwartz, who’s the engineer, we’ve been working together for over 25 years. And it’s just easy working together. So, we know a lot of, I think, what each other hears is from some of the same perspectives, but fortunately not all. So, we’ve always got times when we see it slightly differently, and we’ll find out why. So, I’ve always been a team sort of guy, but, if you’ve got ideas, you can put them forward.”

Aside from Steve’s solo album, YES continues to blaze a trail around the globe. “We are on the move quite soon,” said Steve. “We’re going to start in Miami with Deep Purple. So, we’re on three and a half weeks in the States, but it’s not the West, where unfortunately there’s a lot of wildfires happening again, but we’re on the East, and we got to Canada as well. So, we do that tour, it’s about three and a half weeks, and then we just hang in a bit, and then go straight to Japan. We’ve got a two-week thing, and it’s spread out quite nicely. Of course, there’s the bullet train, and wonderful shows in Tokyo. But after that, there isn’t any touring, and we might go back doing some more writing,” concludes Steve.

Guitarscape by Steve Howe is out now via HoweSound. The album is available on CD, vinyl and digitally as Dolby Atmos.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Steve Burnett

DANCING WITH THE DEVIL

Delain are about to break new ground with their upcoming EP, Dance with the Devil, set to be released on November 8, 2024 via Napalm Records. The EP not only highlights the band’s new lineup, but it also promises to showcase the best of the group’s discography while striding ahead into a future that promises to explore new, more synth-driven soundscapes than ever before.

Since the release of Delain’s latest studio album, Dark Waters, the band has spent a lot of their time on the road. “We toured at the beginning of the year. We had a European tour,” said lead vocalist Diana Leah. “And then we played a few shows in the Netherlands in May. And then we did a bunch of festivals during the summer. Now, we’re going to close the year with a short tour in the UK and Ireland. So that’s going to close the year for us. So, it’s been great.”

nice next step and also a good introduction to a new era with the next album.”

The EP fuses both the old and new eras of Delain and also bridges the gap to the group’s next album. “It’s kind of the connection between the past and the future. With new songs, but also us playing older songs and Diana singing on a new recorded version of Sleepwalker’s Dream, which is from our first album,” said Martijn. “Fans also asked about that. Because Diana recorded a part of it on social media. And then we got a lot of questions that we want the whole song. And, of course, we played live a lot, and we recorded that. So, there’s just a lot to tell people and almost to the point that there’s not even enough space on one CD.”

a toxic cycle where you keep going back to that person, but that person treats you like crap. And you don’t really have the guts to say, okay, this is it. It’s enough. I’m moving on. So that’s the dance with the devil. The title also refers to that - it’s like a dance; you keep going back and forth. And the devil is not necessarily the person, but the whole situation.”

A further new track which features on the EP is The Reaping. “The lyrics are written by my wife Robin. And it’s kind of a more classic Delain song. We tried to implement this groovy guitar

The group have been happy with the response to Dark Waters so far. “I think I speak for the whole band that we are happy. It’s a new chapter in Delain’s life. And it has been received really well. We did a lot of tours and a lot of shows. We toured the States, Canada, all of Europe,” said keyboard player Martijn Westerholt. “We also got some heavy rotation in some countries like Finland, for example, with Moth to a Flame. I think it actually went better than expected. And also, in the band, there is a lot of drive and enthusiasm. And everybody’s really working on building the future for the band. Also, the venues we played in were really filled with a lot of people. So yeah, very grateful.”

Following the release of Dark Waters, Delain returns with their new EP Dance with the Devil.

“The EP idea Delain did before, and it always worked really well. We got a lot of requests from fans saying - hey, when are you going to release new music? At the same time, you need to take your time writing a new album,” said Martijn.

“But we had these songs already in the making. I think I started when I was in Finland last year with a co-writer, Guus. And then, of course, Diana joined in with the singing and sorts. And even her partner helped us with Dance with the Devil. So, we thought it would be great if we did the EP cycle again to keep the whole ball rolling. And the Dance with the Devil title, of course, invokes a lot of ideas in artwork and layout. So it’s a really

But how did Diana approach a classic from the Delain repertoire like Sleepwalker’s Dream? “I definitely try to put my own spin on it, because especially as a singer, I think that’s the fun part of it. Where you can just take a song that’s been written by other people, sung by other people, and reinterpret it your own way. And showcase it to people in a different way, and make people hear it in a different way,” said Diana. “And all of a sudden, the song becomes interesting again, and maybe people hear it in a way, and they go like, oh, my God, I never imagined this could be sung this way, or I could hear it this way. So, it’s always fun for me to sing a part in a different way and just add my own personality, my own stamp, my own touch.”

The title track of the single Dance with the Devil was inspired by toxic relationships. “Whenever I write lyrics, I usually write from either my own experiences, stuff that I went through, or I’m always inspired also by other people’s stories and how other people live stories in general. And so, this particular song, it was almost like therapy for me, especially the lyrics,” said Diana. “And it’s mostly about a toxic relationship, toxic relationships in general, and how you want to break free from a toxic relationship. But it’s hard, you always get pulled back by something, by some kind of invisible energy, and you don’t really understand what it is. And it usually happens because you don’t really have boundaries set in place for yourself to distance yourself from that relationship and allow yourself to heal. So, it becomes

pattern and played around with that because we thought we didn’t have it often in that way. And so together with Guus, we played around with it. And then pretty quickly, this song came into development. And it’s a bit more classic Delain. But also, there are a lot of synth elements in there. And of course, we also gave it to Diana at a certain point so she could give her spin on it. And I think it worked out really well.”

Dance with the Devil continues with nine live performances featuring massively-streamed hits from both the present and the past. The tracks give the band’s fans a taste of the new lineup in the live environment. “It’s a nice mixture of old and new and the songs being live performed also by Diana - the old songs, which is nice for people to hear. They can see what Diana is about on stage and with singing. And, of course, also the songs of Dark Waters performed live,” said Martijn. “So, it is nice to hear the current lineup performing those songs, the old and the new, and people get a really good idea about what is Delain about - the fresh perspective, but also keeping truthful to our past.”

Beyond the EP, Delain are already thinking about their next album. “I already wrote some bits and some pieces, and I’m also looking forward to showing Diana some of these things so she can also get to work with them,” said Martijn. “I think next year is going to be a year where we really need to work on this new album and this new chapter in Delain.” Diana adds: “We have so many things to say still, and so much more music to show to people and so many more places to go visit and play for people. So those places, also new music and new songs. And I’m really looking forward to it and seeing how it all develops and how people are going to react to it.”

And from what I’ve seen last year, the audiences there are incredible, energetic and just what we wish for. So, I’m looking forward to also playing the new songs live on this tour and just partying with people, having a good time and celebrating Delain’s music. To just forget about the outside world for an hour and a half or two hours and just have fun together.”

Martijn concludes: “The UK always has been really good to Delain and has been one of our most impor tant countries to go to. And I don’t know what it is, but there’s some special connection there.”

Following a short UK tour last year, the band are looking forward to returning for an extensive run in November. “I’m really excited because my first time in the UK was on our first European tour, which was last year in April. And I think we played just two shows. We did London and Manchester,” explains Diana. “Now it’s a dedicated tour. So, we’re going to do more cities, and we’re going to get to go to Ireland as well. So, it’s going to be a full thing, a complete tour dedicated to UK fans.

Dance with the Devil is set to be released on November 8, 2024, via Napalm Records. For information about the band’s forthcoming UK tour, please visit https://www.delain.nl/.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Tim Tronckoe

Angel of Rock

Interview with Jackie Chambers

It’s been a whirlwind year for Jackie Chambers. The guitarist has been touring relentlessly with both Girlschool and Syteria. Last year, the latter released their latest album Syteria World. Fur thermore, the band will be making an overdue return to Great Yarmouth at HRH XVII.

Jax, as she is known to her friends, picked up the gong for Angel of Rock, at last year’s HRH Awards. The guitarist extraordinaire is very much part of the HRH family. “Well, I am now,” laughs Jackie. If you listen to HRH Radio perhaps you will have heard Jax’s new show on the station. Adding radio DJ to her glowing resume has been an enlightening experience. “It’s opened my eyes to be fair. It’s given me a whole new respect for DJs because there’s a lot more to it than I expected. I thought - oh this will be easy, I love music, and I love chatting - it’ll be a breeze,” explains Jackie. “But it’s not, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that you don’t know about. And I’ve sat here for the last three days just checking out new bands and listening to music, downloading stuff and putting it together…and it’s a lot more difficult than you think, sitting in a room speaking to yourself, isn’t it?”

Jackie was overjoyed to pick up her much-deserved Angel of Rock accolade at last year’s HRH Awards. “I’m still waiting for the wings and halo, they never arrived,” jokes Jax. “It’s lovely because I mean I love going there anyway. I’ve been a few times. It was lovely to stay there for the whole four days - you know the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday this time.” But in terms of the awards, it wasn’t Jackie’s first rodeo. “I’ve been up for two before, but I’ve usually been up against somebody absolutely massive. So, this time, I’ve got one. And it’s lovely. Of course, I know most of the people there now, the Hard Rock Hell staff and most of the audience to be fair. I recognize loads of them from gigs, and gigs I go to. So, it’s lovely, I do feel like part of the family there.

after-show on Friday and we’re doing the main stage on Saturday,” said Jax. She would like to be at the awards also - her touring itinerary with Girlschool means she will be hot-footing it from the US. “I’m in America with Girlschool. We’re playing on the 5th in Phoenix because we all said we’re coming home before the election. I said to our manager Giles, can you please book me a ticket straight home. So, I’ll do a red eye and travel back overnight and try to catch some sleep. So, I’ll be back for the 6th, so I should be there pretty much like a zombie on the 6th.”

Festival season has been good to Syteria so far this year. The band once again returned to the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool for the second year in a row. However, there seems to be a theme to the band’s manic travel schedule this year. “Again, I had to fly in from abroad, I was in Sweden the night before. So, I got a five o’clock in the morning flight and then Andy picked me up,” recalls Jax. “I just wanted to get there, because I loved it last year. We stayed for the whole four days. We did a couple of gigs around the vicinity in Blackpool, so it’s great. But I just love it, because there are so many bands on that I know. People from the old days that I know in punk bands, and just playing there it was a dream.” Jackie adds: “We’ve got about five good festivals this year. And Planet Rock is probably the next one after HRH.”

Jax has been touring a lot with Syteria this year while promoting their latest album Syteria World. “I love gigging anyway. It’s just one of my favourite places to be on stage, no matter who it’s with. I mean I did a gig at the weekend; I went from playing to 60,000 people with

Girlschool to coming home to playing in a pub in Northampton to 40. It’s as diverse as that, but you know, I love both just equally,” said Jackie. “60,000 people is a blast, obviously it’s just a sellout crowd, but at the same time, you can’t see faces. Whereas when you’re in a room with 40 people you get more feedback. There’s more of an intimacy about it that I really like. So, I like playing both.”

Jax continues: “I’d really like more people to see Syteria, which is why I’m trying to get us on festivals because I want them to experience what I experience. I get this with Girlschool every week. I was at Wacken the week before. 60,000 people this time doing all these massive festivals. I just want Syteria now to be playing festivals, so they get to play a bigger audience because we put a lot of energy into it whether there are eight people or 80,000 - we’ll put the same amount of energy into it. And the band all love playing live and we really like being together. I think that comes across on stage - I hope it does”

Syteria have some release plans in the works. “We’re going to bring out Chasing Dreams and the ballad which is called Remember Me. They are the ones we want to do for singles,” said Jax. “We’ve sort of got next year figured out. We are hoping obviously to do these videos if we can get two videos done that would be amazing. It’s just the time and financing them. I’d really like to get Syteria on a support tour with a known band – that would be great,” concludes Jax.

Syteria will perform at HRH XVII in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 7th –10th November. For further information, please visit https://hardrockhell.com/.

Words & Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy

THE RATTLEBACKS

Sometimes you stumble on a band, and they stop you in your tracks. And that was certainly the case when the new album from Brighton-based rockers The Rattlebacks landed on our desk here at HRH Mag.

The UK-based outfit’s debut album Sidewinder will be released on the 15th of November, and just like the snake featured on the album cover, it’s got a lot of bite to it.

As AC/DC once proclaimed it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. A sentiment which the band would perhaps agree with. “2024 has been hard. I think that’s the reality of it. It’s been good, but we’re trying to learn about the music industry as we go and it’s all self-funded. So, any mistakes we make compound because any money that you put somewhere and it doesn’t work, then you can find it tough to realise maybe it should have gone elsewhere,” said The Rattleback’s guitarist Coxy. “The money thing has been difficult. But I think people are maybe starting to take notice of what we’re doing.”

He continues: “We got into the rock scene because we’re fans of the genre. We think we know

what makes rock exciting. And we’re trying to be that band for people like us. And we just think that if people can see us or just hear the album or be introduced to us, I think that the rock music fans will buy into it.”

Trying to make a name for yourself in a competitive rock scene can be somewhat of a mountain to climb. “It’s like my Mount Everest, this thing, and I’m not prepared to lose,” said Coxy. “So, we’ll see how we go.”

If the music industry is the band’s Everest, then their latest album Sidewinder is certainly a good first step in their ascent to the summit. Speaking about the release Coxy said: “I’m incredibly excited. I can only draw parallels with present-day people like Tailgunner. I know what can happen if it lands how I would like it to.”

The album is of course, of a high calibre, the challenge for the band is making their voice heard. “My only concern is about how we get it in front of the right people,” he says. “I’ve never been more confident in anything in my life. I really feel we’ve delivered on it.”

The band’s debut album follows their EP Kink,

which was released last year. “Kink did what we wanted it to do. It was a tee-up for the album, really. The material you’re hearing there is Rattlebacks with no trickery,” said Coxy. “It’s just us going into a studio and doing what we thought was good at the time. And that was just these raw tracks by some guys. And I think it shows potential.”

One track in particular from the EP remains a favourite for the guitarist. “Amon for me, I don’t think we’ll ever drop that from our live set. I think that’s still one of our favourite songs to play and it doesn’t always work like that,” he says. “You end up moving on from a lot of the old stuff. But I’m very proud of that song. It opened some doors, and it’s allowed us to build some contacts to enable us to help push the album through, which has been fantastic.” He adds: “We learned a lot of lessons from Kink and hopefully we’ll put that into Sidewinder.”

The band planned to strike whilst the iron is hot and follow up with a full-length album a year after their EP was released. “We’ve been waiting on and sitting on some of this material for quite a long time, just making sure everything’s right behind the scenes to make sure that we can go.

Because we’re very conscious that we’re in the music industry and we’re only going to be in our 20s for so long. You’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot and you’ve got to keep things moving and we want to build that momentum. So, what we were keen not to do is do an EP, wait three years, do an album. It kind of derails you.”

Beyond Sidewinder the band are raring to go. “We’ve already got 24 songs for album two,” confirms Coxy. “Even for album two, I think we’re keen to get that done as soon as possible. All we’ve ever tried to do is try and get bigger gigs, play to more people and get better shows. This is what all this is about. That addiction of performing.”

The opening track of the album The Taste conjures up images of bands like Alice In Chains. “I think that in our earlier time as a band, it was all very GNR. And that’s where Max and I, the lead guitar player, that’s what we grew up on. That’s our introduction into rock music,” he says. “And then eventually you find your own thing, which I think is what we’ve done on this album. But to answer your question, yes, Alice in Chains is a huge influence on both Max and I, both with writing and just with how much we enjoy that. Especially for me, Facelift is one of the best albums ever. So, I think we try to pitch ourselves as the band that should have come after grunge. That’s how we feel about it.”

There is even a song on the album which pays homage to the band’s sadly missed frontman. “I’m a massive admirer of Jerry [Cantrell] and how he formulates the riffs. And the song Please Me on the record is one of Max’s tributes to Layne Staley,” explains Coxy. “It’s mixed between his own personal troubles and Layne’s. And it started off as Layne’s and then he was drawing a lot of parallels with his own life.”

The Rattlebacks worked with maverick producer David Holmes at Lightship 95 on their debut album. “I can’t speak about him highly enough. He’s the sixth member of the Rattlebacks as it stands,” he says. “I’m incredibly into the detail of what we do. It’s consuming and incredibly exhausting and that enabled me to focus on just doing my job as opposed to focus on worrying about how this record is going to turn out because it became very clear that Dave had got this. And he’s put his arm around us and not only that from a musical side of things, but from a friendship side of things, we’ve become very close. And also, he’s gone above and beyond.”

The Rattlebacks are hitting the road in support of their new album, including a run of dates with Tailgunner. “We’ve done four shows with them. We’ve got five left,” said Coxy. “We’ve got this 18-day tour from October till December, which of course we’re looking forward to it. It’s another step up to do that many shows and it’s going to be great. I know that there’s going to be some

surprises on the shows.” He adds: “We’re a live band – we feel that’s where we’re best. And I think the time is now to catch the most exciting version of The Rattlebacks.”

With the release of their debut album, The Rattleback’s ambitions are clear to see. “We want to go to Europe in April. I think that’s our plan, but we had word that there may well be some support tours on the table,” he says. “We’re in no real position to make any demands for anyone to make decisions. But at the same time, the clock’s ticking if we want to go out to Europe.” Either way, whatever happens in the next twelve months for The Rattlebacks only time will tell. However, one thing is for sure, if Sidewinder is anything to go by, the future looks bright for these Brighton-based lads.

Sidewinder, by The Rattlebacks, will be out everywhere on Friday 15th November. For further information, please visit https://linktr.ee/ TheRattlebacks.

The Rattlebacks will perform at HRH Sleaze VIII at the O2 Academy Leicester over the weekend of the 5th - 7th September, 2025. For further details, visit https://hrhsleaze.com/.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Rob Blackham

STAR CIRCUS

Rock n Roll Stars

Star Circus are a New Wave of Classic Rock band led by Dave Winkler and Sophie Aurélia Young. The group recently shared the stage with bands like Kickin’ Valentina, Midnight Devils, Spread Eagle, and Doberman as well as performing at high-profile events such as Call of the Wild Festival.

In between touring, Star Circus has been working on their eagerly anticipated sophomore album. The band brings us up to speed on their forthcoming release. “At the moment we’re still recording the final bits for the album. We finished drums and bass a couple of months ago, but with the types of songs we have, there’s so many guitar tracks and loads of backing vocals, so it takes quite a lot of time,” explains Sophie. “Our next single is being mixed at the moment because that’s all recorded and we’re hoping to bring that out on the last Friday of October.”

The band’s forthcoming single will be accompanied by a new music video. “We’ve just come back from the video shoot. We went all the way to the coast up north and then back down to Tank Space in Nottinghamshire,” said Dave. “It’s quite arty and it tells a story but it’s quite a long song, it’s like nearly six and a half minutes, so I’m not sure how that’s going to go down. But we think it’s a good song. So hopefully people will stay interested for six and a half minutes,” explains Sophie. “It’s an epic power ballad,” adds Dave.

Sophie elaborates on the band’s new album. “Overall, the album’s pretty varied. We’ve got some much heavier tracks in comparison to the debut album, some ballads and some really fun, almost like power pop-type songs. We’re hoping to release that in the first half of next year.”

The group’s forthcoming new album also showcases the evolution of the songwriting process within Star Circus. “Several years ago, when we started - the band was very much Dave’s solo project. So, the first album was pretty much

all of his writing. But the point of this album was to create more of a band project. So, we’ve collaborated on a lot of songs - but Dave’s much more of a natural songwriter. He’s been in the industry for a lot longer than I have, so he’s got a lot more experience in that,” said Sophie. “But I’m happy that I’ve contributed quite a lot creatively to this album and our other band members have put some influence into a couple of the songs as well. So, it’s nice that its people coming together and creating something new.” Dave adds: “Sophie’s got her first song that’s entirely hers on the album.”

Despite the change in approach, the same Star Circus that their fans have come to know, and love is at the heart of the band’s music. “It’s more of a collaborative effort. But obviously, the same Star Circus sound that people have heard on the first album, is very much still there, because I would still say Dave’s very much the primary songwriter, but there is a lot of influence from the rest of us,” confirms Sophie.

There appears to be somewhat of a common thread in the band’s songwriting on their new album. “I’ve noticed that there is an element of running from things and starting anew and escapism,” said Dave. “A lot of the other songs are sort of similar, like trying to get a positive out of a negative experience. Because I think writing music and just generally being creative is always a healthy way of dealing with emotions that aren’t necessarily positive,” Sophie says.

Although not intentionally, experiences from lockdown crept into the band’s writing. “I think a lot of bands I’ve seen interviewed have said that they hadn’t had the intention of writing a lockdown-inspired album, and we feel the same. But then looking back, there’s a lyric on the new single Turn the Tide, which is, confined to plastic cages behind the bricks and mortar,” said Dave. “We didn’t want to do anything too obviously lockdown. I think everyone is sick of that now. So hopefully everyone can take their own story from that and not be like, oh, another lockdown song, no one needs that,” adds Sophie.

The album itself has been a long time in the making. “Our debut album didn’t come out until the end of 2022. So, I guess a lot of people expected that to be the lockdown album. But Dave had written that quite a few years before, it just took a really long time to make,” explains Sophie. “Dave started writing some of these songs in lockdown. But then most of the album was written pretty much at the beginning of this year.”

The first single to be released from the band’s upcoming album is Chained To You. So far, the group has been happy with the response they’ve received towards their new material. “I think it’s been great. We’ve had good streaming numbers and YouTube views. People have responded quite well to the video. And we’ve played it live quite a few times,” said Sophie. “It’s good to put a few new songs in the set. And this one’s had a really good response. We’ve got another new song in the set called Over and Over as well. That’s the fastest track that we’ve done. That’s very high energy, but also quite epic at the same time.”

The band are presently teasing their new material in their live sets for the time being. “Pretty much between now and releasing the album, we’re gradually going to drop some new songs into the setlist just to give people a flavour of where the sound is sort of going. But obviously, the setlist will still be a lot off the first album until we release the new album.”

The cover artwork for the band’s recent single was created by Sophie. “I’ve done a lot of illustration in my life. For example, the artwork for the first album, that’s one of my acrylic paintings as well. It’s something I really enjoy, I’m just a creative person,” said Sophie. “My day job is being a fashion designer; I make a lot of stuff for some cool people. So, painting and artwork, and now I’m also doing digital artwork as well, it’s something that I love doing. It just simplifies things if people within the band do these things rather than outsourcing artwork.” Following their run together last year, Star Circus recently rejoined Spread Eagle on their UK tour.

CIRCUS

“They’re such nice people, so we’re really grateful they asked us to join them for another four shows,” said Sophie. “That’s not something that bands usually do, touring again with the same package. This time as well, their main support is our good friends, New Generation Superstars, and we haven’t seen those guys in a while.

The band’s future plans are currently being formulated. “At the moment, with the album, our focus is which single is going to come out when. Obviously, we know what the next single is, and that’s coming out at the end of October, but we’re still making decisions on which songs are the singles, and exactly when we’ll be bringing those out because there are so many that we like,” said Sophie. “And we’ve got video ideas for a lot of them, but, finance-wise, that would be impossible to do, with a super massive production for every single song. So that’s still something we’re going to figure out. But yeah, we’ll continue releasing music throughout all next year, even after the album has come out.” Sophie continues: “Hopefully, next year will be full of lots of touring, and live shows, and festivals as well, just because that’s what we love doing, getting out there, playing the music, and interacting

with the audiences, and the fans.”

Dave concludes: “We will be playing all over the UK, and hopefully beyond the UK, if anybody wants us. And Turn the Tide will be out on the 25th of October, I think we are going to commit to that. So that’s imminently coming up.”

Star Circus will perform at HRH XVII in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 7th –10th November. For further information, please visit: https://hardrockhell.com/.

Words & Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy

North East-based rockers Thieves of Liberty have been regular visitors at Hard Rock Hell over the years. Most recently the five-piece performed at HRH AOR in Great Yarmouth. Despite their busy touring schedule, the Northern lads have been hard at work on their new album which will finally see the light of day on the 15th of November.

Festival season was particularly busy for the band. Thieves of Liberty performed up and down the country over the summer. “Firevolt and Wildfire are almost our second homes now,” said guitarist Kieran Wilson. “We’ve done Wildfire three years in a row, and it was our second year in a row at Firevolt. We came through the ranks of that one by winning the Battle of the Bands and then we went back again to the Battle of the Bands this year to do a headline performance for the competition.”

The festival circuit has catalysed the group’s following somewhat. “The rate we’ve grown over these past couple of years thanks to doing festivals, especially Firevolt because of the size of it, has been incredible. The lineup at last year’s Firevolt had Royal Republic, Cardinal Black, and Massive Wagons. Some of my favourite bands in the world. So, it was kind of mind-blowing to get to play that festival alongside all of those guys,” confirms Kieran.

The band’s forthcoming album Shangri-La has been a long time in the making. “We started recording it in August of last year and we spent so much time and money in the studio just trying to get it perfect,” said Kieran. The band had a strong idea of how they wanted the album to sound. “One important thing was trying to capture the energy of our live shows. It’s a really hard thing to try and translate on a recording because you’re in a studio, it’s so meticulous, that it becomes a bit robotic. So, we just kept going over and over, we’ve been obsessing over tiny

vibe was right.”

Thieves of Liberty have been happy with the progress they’ve made. “The response has been amazing. We’ve had loads of pre-orders, and we’re hoping we might sneak into the rock charts, which would be nice for our first full-length album. Although Linkin Park has just announced an album the same day, so I’m not happy about that,” jokes Kieran. “That day it looked so clear, no one else was announcing then Linkin Park popped out of nowhere. But it’s gone down really well, and we’re blown away by the response.”

If you’ve seen Thieves of Liberty live in recent times perhaps you will be familiar with some of the group’s new material. Although the band has managed to keep several songs under wraps until the album receives its full release. “About half of the album we have been playing live for quite a long time,” said Kieran. “There are three songs on the album which we’ve purposely never played live just so we’re leaving something to the imagination. There have been times when we’ve seen people in the crowd singing along to songs that haven’t even been released and we wonder how they know the words. I don’t know the words,” laughs Kieran.

However, that is a good omen for the group, it means their new songs are both catchy and memorable. “We’ve released two singles so far, maybe three by the time this comes out. We’ve been playing the likes of Shangri-La, the first single, and Sweet As Today, the second one. And we’ve done a couple of festivals recently like Rockwich where the whole place was singing along to the chorus of Shangri-La and it’s only been out a couple of months. So that was sort of a crazy experience, looking out and seeing everyone knowing all the words.”

The title track of the album, Shangri-La is quite

album. “I think that was maybe the first song that probably came together under this current lineup of the band. We just started working on it as Tom was joining and then Tom came in and put his stamp on it. So, it was almost the basis for the start of the whole album,” he says. “It really set the tone for us going into the writing experience, because we immediately felt it was a level above everything else that we’d done before. So, it kind of became that whenever we were writing a song after that, that was the song that was used as the comparison – it had to be as good as that. If it’s not, then it doesn’t go on the album because everything has to be top quality.”

Kieran elaborates further: “We made it the title track because it’s got an edgy modern blues rock style which is an overarching theme throughout the album. Though it does diversify along the way and take you down roads you probably didn’t expect.” Shangri-La is also a theme which runs throughout the visual side of the project. “Shangri-La was an ancient part of Chinese mythology. So, we sort of leant into that style. And since Shangri-La sets the tone for the album it was kind of a no-brainer to be the title of the album as well,” said Kieran. “And then the artwork was something we managed to throw together between us which we thought looked really cool with the temple. So, we leant into that style, and we’ve styled all our merch around Chinese mythology as well with dragons, cranes and Chinese writing.”

The band’s third single Sick Pup shows a slightly different side of their musical repertoire. “It’s a bit different to the first two. So, we had blues rock, then we had modern almost pop rock for the second one, I guess. And this one, it’s a bit heavier, it’s a bit darker. We just wanted to show off a bit of range to our sound with this one. There’s a lot more edge and bite to this one. It’s quite aggressive.”

Shangri-La showcases Thieves of Liberty’s expansive musical talent as well as taking the listener on a journey across the album’s twelve songs. “We were very cautious to not just write

Shangri-La 12 times, and everything sound a bit samey,” said Kieran. “We all have such different influences.”

Kieran walks us through some of the songs on the album. “Casual Tragedy is quite funky. I mean it’s got a saxophone in there. It’s very different. The chorus is again a little bit pop rocky but it’s a bit jazzy at times. There’s a big, harmonized guitar solo in there which I guess you could say is a bit Thin Lizzy,” said Kieran. “We’ve got songs like Until the End which has a long atmospheric intro. We’ve got a choir going on with a lot of string sections and that goes into a really heavy rock tune after that. Cherry Queen - it’s very drum-heavy. That one’s a bit of a heavier one as well. And not to mention Luminescent Daydream which is a piano ballad.”

Speaking of the latter, Kieran said: “Luminescent Daydream is one of my favourites on the whole album. It’s one of my favourites to play live as well. We’ve been doing it for a while, and we have had a couple of shows. Wildfire was one of them where we didn’t ask for it, but the whole tent pulled out their torches and their lighters and lit the place up and that just looked amazing,” said Kieran. “It’s a nice showcase of James’ vocals as well I think.”

Heading into the new year Thieves of Liberty have plenty of irons in the fire. “We’ve got a few shows coming up. We’ve got the album launch

weekend with shows in Sunderland and Manchester. Of course, we’ve got a few other shows dotted around October and into December. But then early next year we will be doing a full UK tour. However, that is not fully confirmed yet, so I can’t say exactly when or exactly where but there will be lots of shows in lots of places,” concludes Kieran.

Shangri-La, the debut album from Thieves of Liberty will be released on Friday 15th of November. The band will be performing album launch shows to celebrate the release at the Independent in Sunderland on the 15th of November, and Amp in Stockport on the 17th of November. For ticket information and further details please visit: https://thievesofliberty.com/.

Words & Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy

PENDRAGON

Progressive rock legends Pendragon released their latest full-length studio album Love Over Fear at possibly one of the most challenging times possible. That was just before the pandemic. The band were on tour in Poland when borders began to shut, forcing the group to hot-foot it back to the UK.

Like many groups, attempting to coordinate or plan a tour during that period became very difficult, with numerous shows cancelled or rescheduled. Finally, this year, Pendragon has gotten back on the road. “It’s been fantastic because we’ve done the first tour that we’ve done in four years,” said Pendragon frontman Nick Barrett. “Things have changed quite a lot since COVID. It’s caused an awful lot of problems because I thought it was going to be a doddle. I thought it was just going to be like a pause on a cassette player. Pause. Everyone gets vaccinated. Let the pause off. Carry on. But, of course, that didn’t happen. And I postponed the tour, I think, about three times every year. Just literally the same dates and copied and pasted them. And we had to keep cancelling it, postponing it and in the end, we had to cancel it.” Nick adds: “It was amazing to get back out on an actual three-week tour.”

Whilst there may have been a few lineup changes along the way, Pendragon are presently celebrating 47 years as a band. Speaking about the band’s longevity, Nick said: “Well, it’s amazing. The thing is, I consider this bit as the icing on the cake. It’s taken us 47 years to get rid of all our

idiots. And I mean that in a caring way,” he jokes. “Every new slight change or incarnation seems to have gotten better than the last one. And now it’s just such a pleasure. Everyone likes being in the same room together. We even like rehearsing, which is something we used to loathe to do, ploughing through songs we’d played for so many years at rehearsals.” He adds: “And there’s a great pleasure in just being able to relax a little bit more about what we do. Everyone’s not so precious about everything. We can make suggestions, so everyone’s more open-minded. And it’s just a really great and enjoyable thing to do now.”

The band’s last full studio album, Love Over Fear, was released just before the pandemic. “It came out in February 2020, when we were actually on tour in Poland - I think it was March the 9th when things really started to kick off, and we managed to do one gig in Bydgoszcz. And then we did the following one in Poznań the following night. And the promoter was saying the police had told me if I do this show, I’m going to be fined. But it’s better for me to pay the fine than have to refund all the people’s money. So, we’re going to do the show and stuff it. And that show ended. And literally, the tour bus driver said they’ve just announced they’re closing the border in four hours, and it takes three hours to get there. We’ve got to go now,” recalls Nick. “So, we got in the tour bus and just made it across the German border, where we were holed up for two days, just waiting to see what might happen. And then countries started falling like dominoes

because we thought maybe there’s a way we can do Austria and cut through. Then Spain went, and Italy had gone, and we thought maybe we could still do France. But no, in the end, it all just went. And I just said, right, that’s it. Before we get stuck on a tour bus in the middle of nowhere for X number of weeks, we need to get home. So, we just came straight back.” Thankfully, despite their touring woes, the album did quite well. “It was a bit rough going, having to end the tour like that. “But what had happened is that a lot of people bought the album before - they pre-ordered it. So, the album sales were really good. People were buying lots of stuff online during the lockdown, and the sales of the album were fantastic. So, it wasn’t all bad,” said Nick.

With Love Over Fear and the pandemic in their rear-view mirror, are there any plans for some new material from Pendragon? “I had about 20 minutes of material about two years ago and put that out as a mini album. I thought, well, I really want to put something out. And we haven’t got enough for a full album. So, we put these 20 minutes out on a thing called North Star, which was really popular. That went really well. So, there was that” explains Nick. “At the moment, I’m sort of working on some new stuff loosely. I mean, I have to do a lot of other stuff as well because I run the record label here and book the shows and do all the logistics stuff with my wife. So, it’s not just being a Namby Pamby musician. It’s doing all the other stuff as well, which is 90 per cent of the work, organizing people and rehearsals and flights and that sort of thing.

But there’s always a bit of new music in the pot boiling away. But nothing’s really descended as the inspiration hasn’t really struck yet to do a new album. But I’d like to. I really want to. It’s about time we did. But there’s been a lot of other things on the go.”

Before the days of the internet and streaming services, radio shows like the Friday Night Rock Show hosted by veteran Radio 1 DJ Tommy Vance were incredibly important. Pendragon recorded a live session for Vance, who saw something special in the band. “It was brilliant because there were very few outlets, but the outlets that were there were incredibly influential. I mean, I’m not talking about just Tommy. It was actually his producer, Tony Wilson, who saw us. And the other thing was the Marquee Club in London. And then that led to other things because it was run by the same people that did the Reading Festival. So, if you did well at the Marquee Club, you were often asked to play at Reading Festival, which is what happened with us,” recalls Nick.

Performing at Reading Festival catalysed the group’s session on the Friday Night Rock Show. “Tony Wilson was there looking for bands for sessions, and he came up and offered us a session straight after our performance, which was incredible. So, it wasn’t like nowadays, where everybody seems to know very quickly everybody because of social media, there were a few things that would make a big impact. So, lots of people were trying to get on the Friday Rock show because it was the thing that people listen to hear this kind of music. The other one was Fluff Freeman, as well. I mean, he used to play our stuff, and that was fantastic. And I think people look back very fondly, like I do, listening to Radio Luxembourg and the music that I heard back in the early 70s.”

Reading Festival evoked some great memories for the Pendragon frontman. “I remember going

there as a fan in ‘76 to see one of my all-time favourite bands, Camel and Rory Gallagher as well. And I remember one of the very first bands that came on was a band called the Sadista Sisters, and they got absolutely pelted with bottles. And that stuck in my mind. I thought, well, if the audience don’t like you here, you’re really in trouble,” said Nick. “So going back to Reading in ‘83 was terrifying because I could remember that if they don’t like us, we’re going to get this bottle treatment Sadista Sisters got. Luckily, we didn’t get one single thing thrown, and it really kind of sealed the deal for us with a lot of people. So, the relief was just absolutely immense. But it was terrifying. When you go up that ramp at the back, and you see 30,000 people out there, it was just unbelievable. I don’t think we played the best show we’ve ever played, but I was just happy to get through it in one piece.”

One band that really took Pendragon under their wings was Marillion. “Well, that really was the linchpin for everything, because our manager was just a local friend really. And he took it upon himself to call himself our manager. But he used to promote a few shows, and he said, I’ve heard of this band called Marillion who I’m getting agencies looking for shows for them. It’s a band from Aylesbury. Apparently, they sound very much like Genesis. I think it would be great if we did a show with them,” recalls Nick. “So, he promoted a show at Gloucester Leisure Centre with Marillion headlining and us supporting them. And I remember he said, whatever you do, don’t p*ss them off. Go on stage on time. Don’t overrun. Don’t start demanding all this stuff in the monitors, just make sure it’s easy for them. So maybe they’ll ask us to do some more shows.”

Thankfully, one of the members of the Marillion was keen to work with Pendragon again. “It was Mick Pointer, the drummer, who is a really friendly guy. And I’m still great friends with him. But it was him that sort of said, you guys should come and do a gig with us at the Marquee Club

in London. We thought that would never happen,” recalls Nick. “Literally three weeks later, a phone rang. And it was John Arnison, Marillion’s manager, who said, the guys have asked me, do you want to come and support Marillion at the Marquee Club? And that was the beginning of really starting to break the walls down because we did tons of shows for Marillion. We did half of their Fugazi tour. We did a couple of shows in Holland with them on the Misplaced Childhood tour. It just made all the difference. And it was incredible.”

Pendragon will perform at HRH Prog. But how much are the group looking forward to hitting the stage in Great Yarmouth? “I’m looking forward to it. Having not played for four years every gig’s a gem,” said Nick. “We’ve got an hour and a half, and we’ll probably play a fairly similar set of songs that we played over the last year. I’ve really thought about this as a sort of festival-style set. There’s some fairly up-tempo stuff, but also some kind of moody stuff as well. But I think that’s what we kind of do best, really.”

Nick concludes: “I think the HRH crowd, for some reason, I don’t really quite know why, but it seems to be a slightly different prog audience than our normal prog audience who would come and just see us. So, they maybe come from a slightly different schooling. I don’t know, but that’s the impression I got. So, it’s quite nice to have a slightly different kind of vibe to the whole thing where people may not necessarily know who we are, but we grow on them as the set goes on. That’s the hope, anyway.”

Pendragon will perform at HRH Prog in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 17th – 20th October. For further information, please visit https://hrhprog.com/.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Photo Credit: Press Supplied

NOT NOW NORMAN

Throughout 2024, the group have been taking every opportunity to get out of the borders and take their music to locales further afield. “It’s been incredible,” said lead vocalist Taylor-Grace. “Our first gig was on the 2nd of February in Hastings where we’ve never gigged before. We haven’t even travelled that far in our lives. And it was absolutely incredible.”

The tail end of 2023 was a challenging time for the group when a medical emergency derailed Not Now Norman for some time. “One of our band members had to go to hospital before the end of last year. At first, we were worried that we weren’t going to be able to do as many gigs for a while until he was better. But thankfully, he’s managed to come out of it, and we were able to gig again,” said Taylor-Grace.

Not Now Norman’s tour schedule has taken the band far and wide so far this year. Taylor-Grace brings us up to speed: “We played Call of the Wild Festival earlier this year. We played SavFest again. We’ve gigged in Wolverhampton, Bradford, Cannock, and Norwich. And obviously, we’re going to be at HRH in Great Yarmouth, which we’re really looking forward to. It’s been incredible. I’ve enjoyed every single second of it.”

Touring aside the band also welcomed a new member to the lineup. “We’ve also got a new drummer, Ivy, she’s absolutely phenomenal. We’ve been recording new music. We’ve just finished it as of last week. So that’s going to be really good,” she says. “We’ve done a lot of DIY projects. We’ve been filming a lot of videos ourselves. So, of course, we’ve been doing different things for that, flying birds of prey and things like that. That’s been incredible. “

The first taste of the band’s new album is the song Why Don’t Ya Like Me. “That track was about, there was a troll that posted a comment. Somebody had uploaded a video onto YouTube of us performing. And this troll posted a comment saying, they’re not particularly very good -

And my first thought was, what’s with your knee fetish? I’ve never heard of that before. And I’ve told people that, and people are going, I can’t say I’ve ever noticed that. But they also made me think. Once upon a time, I wouldn’t laugh, not at that. Once upon a time, I would have been quite devastated.” She continues: “I started thinking about all the troll messages that I’ve had in the past since starting Not Now Norman. I thought, you know what? I’m going to write a song about it.” And so, Why Don’t Ya Like Me was born.

Not Now Norman’s repertoire perhaps comes from a personal place. Follow-up single Who I Am grappled with a subject that perhaps some will relate to. “Pretty much everybody in this house has got a bit of PTSD,” explains Taylor-Grace. “I started thinking about how proud I am and how far I have come from dealing with PTSD. And sort of saying, I’ve been through this, and I’ve come up the other end of it.”

Taylor-Grace was able to channel some of the emotions evoked by the condition in the studio. “Halfway through recording the track, I had a bit of a flashback, and I started getting quite angry. I left what I recorded in the track. It’s when I’m going look at this hard man thinks he’s all big and tough and stuff like that. I was really angry when I was singing that, and I thought, I’m going to keep that in the track. That sounds brilliant,” she said. “It’s a track for people who have got PTSD, but more looking along the lines of - yes, I’ve been through it. I’ve got PTSD, but I’m still alive.” Taylor-Grace adds: “It’s still a horrible condition to deal with. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But there are still moments where I think, I’m strong enough to get through what it’s putting me through. And it’s one of my favourite songs to play”

Whilst live streaming was a lifeline for bands during the pandemic, Not Now Norman have continued to utilise the platform to great effect. Having grown somewhat of a following online, the band regularly hosts weekly live streams on Facebook for the die-hard fanbase. “Originally, I

confident person. So, I really enjoy doing them,” explains Taylor-Grace. “It’s really fun to put your own mix on some covers, and just having fun with it. To this day, we still don’t really practice the tracks, and I think that kind of adds to the element of it just being fun and laid back. But it is really good to talk to as many of your fans as possible at one given time, because you can learn an awful lot about them.”

Not Now Norman welcomes the connection they’ve made with their fanbase online. “It’s good to see people cheering you on as the band is progressing. Sometimes I think of them as being part of the band, if that makes sense, because I firmly believe that if you don’t have fans, you’re just a bunch of people playing instruments, and that’s it,” said Taylor-Grace. “So, I’m always thankful to see people interacting with the live streams. And it’s a good laugh.”

Not Now Norman will make their Hard Rock Hell debut at HRH XVII in Great Yarmouth. “We’re really looking forward to it,” said Taylor-Grace. “When our manager Greg said that we got the gig, I was over the moon. I couldn’t believe it, because I’d seen these gigs being advertised so often by bigger bands than us. And I remember looking at these posters thinking, I wish I could do a gig like this. And lo and behold, there was our name on the poster. And I was like, wow, this is actually happening. I can’t believe this,” proclaims Taylor-Grace. “It’s very difficult to describe just how excited I am to do this. I don’t think I was quite prepared for how fast that Not Now Norman got here.” Taylor-Grace concludes: “I’m so glad that we get this opportunity to play this festival and with so many other great bands as well. I’m looking forward to seeing Syteria again. I’m just so excited.”

Not Now Norman will perform at HRH XVII in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 7th – 10th November. For further information, please visit https://hardrockhell.com/.

Words & Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Iron Butterfly are a group that was formed in San Diego, California in 1966. The band’s classic lineup featured Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy, Lee Dorman and Erik Brann. The title track of the band’s sophomore album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, resulted in the psychedelic rock group becoming the first band to receive a platinum album from their label Atlantic Records.

Of course, over the years, the band has witnessed many lineup changes as well as their share of unfortunate losses. Current lead guitarist and vocalist Eric Barnett remains the last link to the band’s core lineup. Eric joined up with Iron Butterfly’s Ron Bushy, Doug Ingle and Lee Dorman in 1994.

Presently, Eric is preparing to take out the band’s current incarnation whilst celebrating the legacy passed down by his former bandmates

and fallen friends. “Three years ago, Ron Bushy passed away, and then we had Covid. And so, a lot of things came to kind of a slowdown,” said Eric. “We’ve just been kind of revamping the material and the band, really just trying to hone in on the set. This is going to be the first gig with this actual lineup at HRH. So, there’s been a lot of rehearsals, writing new material, and going through updating the promo and getting everything ready to pretty much kick it off this fall.”

When Eric joined the band in the mid-90s, it was a dream come true for the artist. “Sometimes I would pinch myself,” he says. “I knew them from the late 80s. And when the three original members put the band back together in 94, I got called to come down and check it out. And they hired me, and it just seemed like a dream.”

Eric continues: “We started playing right away and I would look over to my left or right of

whichever side of the stage I was on and just realize who I was playing with. And it was just a thrill, I don’t know any other way to put it. We toured all over the world, and those three people were such a big part of rock and roll history. Doug Ingle, his voice and his writing, I just learned so much from all of them, and I’m just grateful to have the experience.”

The guitarist recollects joining the band. “Doug was especially lenient with me because when I joined the band, there had been five other guitar players,” he says. “I was the fifth Iron Butterfly guitar player. And they let me interpret some of the stuff and kind of go off on my own.”

Of course, self-expression and interpretation are par for the course in the world of psychedelic rock. “In the mid-60s, they would learn their music; they would learn a song, and then they would go out and test it out in front of the audience before they would record it. And so

that was basically how In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida became so long. They just kept stretching it out and trying different things,” he says. “And you probably know this story, but they weren’t even aware that they were recording that when they recorded the vinyl version of it. They’d come to the studio, and the producer had not been able to get through traffic - it was in Long Island, I think. And so, the engineer said, just run through something that you all play. And so, they ran through In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida once, and that was it. And it was just from months of playing it live and seeing how it went over with people.”

Sadly, Doug Ingle passed away in May 2024. “This guy was an original. I mean, I’ve honestly never known anything like him. I sometimes wonder if people really understand what a musical genius he was and is,” said Eric. “We were doing a German tour. And at one point after the show, we all went into the lobby of the hotel and Doug just sat down behind the piano and flawlessly played a piece that I’d never heard before and just stunned everybody. And between that and the sound of his voice …I don’t think people could really appreciate what all three of those guys were capable of musically. Lee Dorman and especially Ron Bushy pretty much invented the drum solo.”

Eric has fond memories of being on the road with his dearly missed bandmates. “Being out there with Doug on the road, he would sit and sign autographs literally until his hands were bleeding. He would just stay to the very last one, and Ron would do the same thing,” he recalls. “Ron was the best man at my wedding. And they were just very nice people who were never overtaken by their fame or the amount of records that they’d sold. They were just down to earth.” He adds: “It was just really a lesson in what it meant to be a substantial figure in the rock and roll pantheon, the halls of fame if you want to call it.”

Eric continues: “There was really only one super famous song, but there never has been a time that no matter how the gig was going, whether all the equipment problems or whatever, when we went into In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, it always brought the house down every single time. So yeah, I’m just grateful to be a part of that music.”

Eric Barnett is happy to carry forward the musical legacy of his former bandmates. “I’m committed to be there for whatever it takes to do itwhenever we have an opportunity. And I love playing the music,’ he says. “But whenever this comes up, and we have an opportunity to go out

and perform this, we were saying that the magic is in the music. And whenever we get a chance to go, we drop what we’re doing and go do it. It’s very important.” Eric continues: “We’re at a point where one of Ron’s last wishes was to make sure that the music carried on. Nancy Bushy owns the name. And we’re going to do everything we can to keep it going. I think we do a good job. You’ll see.”

Iron Butterfly are looking forward to performing at HRH Prog. “I’m looking forward to it. And this is going to be a new experience for me. We’ve done a couple; we headlined a prog fest in Verona. And that went over well. We’re not quite as heavy as some of the prog bands. So, I hope that it’s accepted well. But it has in the past. And I’m very much looking forward to it.”

Iron Butterfly will perform at HRH Prog in Great Yarmouth. The event takes place between 17th – 20th October. For further information, please visit https://hrhprog.com/line-ups/. Words by Adam

Kennedy

Photo Credit: Press Supplied

REVIEWSAlbum

THUNDER

THE COMPLETE EMI RECORDINGS (1989-1995)

Last month Danny Bowes announced his longawaited return to the live arena, with a slew of spoken word shows — billed as Maximum Chat — scheduled for next summer.

At the same time it was confirmed that there are no plans for one of the finest blues rock singers on the planet to play with Thunder any time soon.

While Bowes continues his recovery from a lifethreatening stroke and fall in 2022, there seems little prospect of a full return to rock and roll.

But it’s not as if Thunder could be accused of leaving fans wanting more — the band’s recent run of chart-busting albums complementing an already stacked back catalogue of bona fide classics.

And Bowes really shouldn’t feel obliged to sing live again, given his 35 years of unstinting service to the entertainment industry.

In fact, Danny boy should point those craving their Thunder fix in the direction of this comprehensive seven-disc set spanning the

band’s major label heyday.

Now there’ll be a whole bunch of committed devotees already bemoaning the fact that there’s not really anything new here.

The completists will surely have every live track, outtake and alternative mix — as well as the first three Thunder studio albums — on repeat.

But do they have them all in one handy flip-top box? Doubtful. For this is the first time Back Street Symphony, Laughing On Judgement Day and Behind Closed Doors have been bundled together with the best of the band’s live work from the early 90s.

There’s Live At The Town And Country Club and Live At Donington — two historic shows recorded within the space of few months — and so many B-sides, extended mixes and live cuts that it all gets a bit overwhelming.

What’s clear is that quantity never blunted quality where Thunder was concerned.

Right from the off, the remnants of pop rockers Terraplane never skimped on gold-plated riffs, compelling narratives and singles primed for Top Of The Pops and Castle Donington. And for that we have Luke Morley to thank. Has there been a more consistently impressive songwriter during the last five decades? This, after all, is the supremely talented individual who penned Love Walked In, Low Life In High Places and River Of Pain.

Morley birthed Dirty Love, She’s So Fine, Everybody Wants Her and Moth To The Flame. And anyone who’s heard his most recent work with Spike — set for release on The Quireboys’ Wardour Street album — will find plenty of evidence that the six stringer’s not done yet.

But it would be remiss to praise Morley’s prolific early years with Thunder without referencing the contribution of Andy Taylor.

Long gone from Duran Duran, the long-time rock fan found a kindred spirit when asked to produce Back Street Symphony.

And Taylor’s attention to detail, pursuit of perfection and love of a catchy riff brought out the very best in post-Terraplane Morley.

Thirty-four years after Thunder’s remarkable debut dropped it’s still a commercial rock record

steeped in blues that truly stands the test of time. Significantly, the complementary live sets reveal songs built for festival crowds and club audiences alike — another focus for Taylor following years spent touring the world with the biggest new wave band on the planet.

Morley and his Geordie buddy shared the production duties on 1992’s Laughing On Judgement Day. The former’s growing confidence allowed Taylor to concentrate on the minutiae and Thunder’s second long player is a lesson in blues rock perfection.

Laughing On Judgement Day may have run headlong into a clash with grunge but its 14 songs revealed Morley to be a generational talent and allowed Bowes to break far beyond the selfconstrained boundaries of Backstreet’s singles-led approach.

That Behind Closed Doors sounded nothing at all like the rock and metal fans were being told to listen to in 1995 matters very little.

It’s a Thunder album produced by Morley and Mike Fraser and, therefore, another outstanding record of its type. Bowes sounds magnificent and Castles In The Sand remains one of the band’s best ever songs.

It’s difficult to imagine any fans of classic British rock — those who grew up on Rodgers and Coverdale or a new generation who sought homegrown heroes to challenge the Sunset Strip’s hair metal crew — who don’t know the majority of these songs inside out.

And perhaps this box set isn’t for them. Maybe it’s the must-have snapshot of a moment in time for kids of the noughties who need to know their rock and roll history. And who need to know who Luke Morley, Danny Bowes, Harry James, Ben Matthews, Mark Luckhurst and Mikael Högland really are. Seven sparkling CDs tell the full story of those glorious early years when Thunder stormed the charts and thrilled hundreds of thousands of festival fans. Bowes might not be able to sing right now but he was bloody brilliant back in the day.

Words by Simon Rushworth

LIONS IN THE STREET MOVING ALONG

Currently putting the finishing touches on a live album and a record they made with multi–Grammy Award winning producer Dave Cobb, Vancouver, Canada based Lions In The Street will release their Moving Along studio album on November 8th 2024 via Cargo Records. This IS one of the most full-on albums I’ve heard for quite some time as these twelve tracks are the real deal, point proven by album opener ‘Moving Along’. It’s as raw as your ears can take as the grinding intro riff, howling feedback and a furious drum pound raises the bar early for rock and roll par excellence, including harmonica and a put up or shut up vocal.

They wear their Rolling Stones influences on their sleeves with pride for ‘Mine Ain’t Yours’ as they blast out a supersonic shuffle to get your feet moving. It’s so powerful you would swear that it was four guitars, not two raging away. for a sturdy strut. Their frustration boils over for ‘Waiting On A Woman’. It’s a razor-sharp romper stomper and a midway saxophone blast adds subtle nuances. ‘Shangri La’ is all fiery barroom boogie that takes no prisoners throughout this feelgood rock and rollercoaster ride.

I was getting a lot of Ramones vibes in ‘Hey Hey Arlene’ in this potent pogoer from raging guitar overload to test any P.A system its blasted through. ‘Walking Back To You’ has a delightful Creedence Clearwater Rival like intro that muscles up to slide guitar heaven to shift out your ear wax! A lead vocal pleads to the heavens for a reunion with your lady to make it a bonafide rock disco floor filler. ‘Truer Now’ is a rootin tootin sharp shootin country and western hoedown, kicking out the jams over a hypnotic drum pound, a heartwrenching vocal, banjo and huge choruses to make for my album highlight. Album closer ‘You’re Gonna Lose’ has a stoner rock like main riff that buzzed through my headphones like a hive full of angry bees, closing this overwhelming album in earthshaking style. Job Done!

MASSIVE WAGONS EARTH TO GRACE

Lancaster’s finest have finished their seventh studio album, ‘Earth To Grace’, which is the follow-up to the 2022 belter ’Triggered’. A whopping eleven tracks with four bonus ones added on, it’s just what we need, a ‘Massive Wagons’ overload! Recruiting producer Matt O’Grady (You Me At Six, Don Broco) for the first time, has taken the band to new heights and rebooted the system. The result is an album from these guys that you just have to hear and one that will set the rock charts on fire.

‘Sleep Forever’ salutes ‘Motörhead’ with furiously flying vocals and brandishing low level riffs, it’s bloody superb and that’s just the opener. ‘Missing on TV’ and ‘Free And Easy’ cruise in typical ‘Wagons’ style and the production is 100%. These reflect the songwriting talent of Adam Thistlethwaite and Barry Mills in a new and refreshing light. Guest vocals from Colin Doran (Hundred Reasons) on ‘The Good Die Young’ capture another dimension, it’s frantic and yet blissfully melodic, just simultaneous brilliance. ‘All We Got’ drops a few gears, while the sleazy limelight shines on ‘Cool Like A Fox’, with its laid back swaggering. The pressure keeps rising for ‘Fun While It Lasted’ and descends on ‘Whatever Makes You Happy’ which is dark and mysterious, Mr Mills’s vocals taking a rather sinister turn.

They cool it down on ‘Underdog’ with plenty of delicious guitar, combined with roaring vocals, it’s another we can sing along to at upcoming shows and ‘Rabbit Hole’ is non-stop scurrying, catch that bunny. The bonus songs ‘Punk At Heart’ and ‘OCD’ are rewarding extra’s but ’Needles And Hay’ is an acoustic shanty and a breath of fresh sea air. The same with the last track, a ‘cowboy version’ of ‘Free And Easy’, which conjures up sitting around a campfire in the Wild West. Seriously, you have to get your mitts on this album.

STEVE HOWE GUITARSCAPE

Constant productivity seems to be the mantra for Steve Howe’s output of musical recordings, whether with Yes or solo, over the past decade and more, and Guitarscape is further proof of his twitchy hands being put to very good use. It’s an engaging fourteen track album that also connotes a guitar tutorial by this master guitarist. Gone are the days when a budding fret student had to pick up a stylus and plonk it back down into a record groove to re-listen to a passage of brilliant music. Modern music gizmo’s have made this so much easier for any student to copy their idols and Steve Howe’s exceptional playing on this, and his previous solo albums, are a guitar masterclass. They are also a rewarding listening experience that accentuates an any time of the day mood. There’s a watchmakers sense of precision from the retro sounding bobbling synth pattern, emitted from an Novatron Summit keyboard, and needle sharp guitar notation on opening musical statement Hailstorm. With his son Dylan adding subtle percussion, Spring Board continues with the onomatopoeic musicality of the song titles. Symphonic synths and acoustic guitar blend gracefully on Distillations, Spring Rhyme and Up Stream furthers this six string sonic exploration. This album readily reveals Howe’s remarkable guitar playing gift as the acoustic meditation on Passing Thought and the fluid guitar effect on Touch The Surface immersively demonstrates.

Imbued with electric and acoustic rock and classical flavours, Howe he does it is tunefully laid bare on Guitarscape.

Words by Dennis Jarman

Words by Diane Davies

Words by Paul Davies

THIEVES OF LIBERTY SHANGRI-LA

This young band in the ‘TMR Management’ stable have already received awards including 2022 HRH Champions at our Red Carpet awards. They also won the BOTB contest to play at the Firevolt festival in 2023. A five-man army from Sunderland they are now set to release the album ’ShangriLa’, a 12 track delight that will be available in numerous formats.

They’ve already released a few singles as tasters, the first being the header ’Shangri-La’, a slow grind that features the screams of James Boak alongside dual guitarists Liam Lindsley and Kieran Wilson, who fire up impressive chords. ‘Sick Pup’ maintains the groove and the revolving hook is tremendous. These two six stringers shadow James flawlessly, as he spurts out the lyrics and then ‘Cherry Queen’ picks up on a more stomping tempo. There are funky vibes and cool bass tones by Pete Kimmond on ‘Casual Tragedy’ which melts with harmonies, melody and supreme guitar solos. Reaching track five ‘Rabbit Hole’, the album takes a twist, there’s another layer to this band and it hits on this one. The melancholy ‘Until The End’ diversifies further, an imposing introduction strengthens into riff positioning and more hardened vocals.

After a break in Ibiza the band wrote ’Sweet As Today’, holiday memories turning the second single into an uplifting and easy on the ear charmer. Another angle for ‘Luminescent Daydream’ which is a ballad of epic proportions. The guitars are allowed to slither in mellowness and it’s an anthem that strolls with constant visions of warm and heady days. Time to switch the game plan again and ‘Caviar & Diamonds’ is a tasty piece of raunchiness, that delivers more axe strings of unbelievable talent along with sound drumming from Tom Bushby. The three bonus numbers ‘Ain’t Going Home’, the dirty and messy ‘Calypso’ and ‘Ground Zero’ that’s a jaunty fun-ball, all add weight to this top-grade album.

HELD BY TREES & MARTIN SMITH LAY

YOUR TROUBLES DOWN

Helmed by composer/producer David Joseph, Held By Trees is a conceptual sonic ambient project of discursive instrumental compositions. That is until now as former Delirious singer/songwriter, Martin Smith, joins musical forces on this third EP release and, across these atmospheric three tracks, he gives voice to Held By Trees’ music. Have no fear, they also revert to type by including instrumental versions of each song. Recorded in the big room at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio, former Paul McCartney and The Pretenders guitarist Robbie McIntosh and Delirious guitarist Stuart Garrard create an intertwining of finely crafted notation over which Smith’s soulful vocal and Andy Panayi’s saxophone soars on opening song, You Deserve. Evoking crepuscular moments, the unhurried ambience of the just shy of sixty three minutes music is a transportive experience. Carefully crafted in its construction of instrumentation, You Deserve and Lay Your Troubles Down gently build a sonic brick by brick temple of spiritual sound. Mostly recorded live in the studio, there’s an old school confident sheen of professionalism imbued in these Floydian/Talk Talk influenced compositions as second track Lay Your Troubles Down particularly details. Unusually for HBT, there’s a much shorter track, Oh, My Love, that possesses a 70s rhythmic groove that clearly reveals the joy they had creating this EP. Following the traditional instrumental takes, Hong Kong ambient duo, Salt Of The Sound, present their peaceful take on Lay Your Troubles Down with spectral vocals by Anita Tatlow. To summarise, Held By Trees has hit upon a creative blend of vocal and instrumental music that points the way forward for this entrancing ensemble (thirteen collaborators on this EP) to pursue.

BULLETS AND OCTANE

DEMOS & B SIDES

Gene Louis is one of the most charming, enigmatic and charismatic performers in punk rock. He has the skill to be able to captivate an audience whether he is singing or sitting behind a drum kit. Since their inception in 1998, Bullets and Octane have gained a tribe of loyal followers across the globe, The Revelry, Song for the Underdog and In The Mouth Of The Young each received commercial and critical acclaim, prior to the pandemic, further success was gained with albums Waking Up Dead and Riot Riot Rock N Roll. This release might be named Demos and B Sides, but this may be an unfair representation of just how good this collection of tracks truly is. Straight out of the gate, Bullet From A Gun with its powerful drums, like rolling thunder and an accompanying high voltage vocal from Gene, a punchy, fierce, very strong start. Segueing seamlessly into 93-Party On The Roof, an anthemic power pop, punk rock bop, a tale of excess getting wasted, getting naked, I hope you can make it? This is essentially Gene, tongue in cheek, twinkle in his eye, forever the raconteur, did this really happen, we will never know, but it’s a lot of fun to wonder. 1234 get on the floor, 5678, too late, is brilliant in its simplicity. So catchy, immediately it hooks you in, ready for an aural onslaught. Loud, fun, high octane, another anthem far from just another B side. Ordinary People is a friendly, heartfelt, melodic track, that demonstrates the lyrical and vocal versatility that Gene Louis possesses. His words are often written in an autobiographical manner that give some insight into his past struggles to wellness and recovery. Yes, he can scream out a song and make it sound effortless but, read between the lines and you will hear the pain and anger that he is able to emote, you will find hidden depths and a wealth of talent that continues to capture the interest and hearts of fans and fellow musicians, worldwide.

Words by Diane Davies

Words by Paul Davies

Words by Viki Ridley

DEF LEPPARD

ONE NIGHT ONLY

LIVE AT THE LEADMILL SHEFFIELD MAY 19, 2023

When a band the size of Def Leppard, are reunited with the city that claims them as their own, there will forever be a certain kind of magic that

CROSSBONE SKULLY

EVIL WORLD MACHINE

The sound of circling vultures, a robotic voice permeates, there is no heaven, no hell, nowhere to go, the end of the world awaits. Evoking

accompanies the homecoming. In May 2023 The Leadmill, in the city of steel itself, Sheffield, one of the most famous venues in the North of England, got to experience a moment in musical history, when, for one night only, the boys came home.

The crowd roars, the intro to The Sweet’s Action, tempts and teases with a little rock n roll foreplay, Joe Elliot screams, good evening Sheffield, good evening to the world, welcome to The Leadmill! And we are off, the main event in full effect in less than a few bars. The energy is high, the audience is wild, taking the vocal from Joe and making every word of it their own. Campbell and Collen compete, riffs clean and sharp enough to draw blood build to a crescendo, but doesn’t let go as hot on the heels of Action comes a single from 2022’s Diamond Star Halos, Fire It Up. The chance to dance, clap your hands, release a little, until we rocket back in time to 1981 with Let It Go, onto 1983, with the first track from the iconic Pyromania, Too Late For Love. Once again, The Leadmill is taken by the audience, in fine voice and providing percussion, adding to the ‘wall of sound’ that Leppard are so famous for.

Time to get hysterical, sexual, and Excitable next, with pulsating, powerful drums and bass from Allen and Savage, the suggestive delight of the tale of the ballistic lipstick, dream machine gives enough groove to satisfy, but not satiate, as this

visions of a bleak and joyless existence, who can save humanity from itself? Welcome, Crossbone Skully, the saviour of the world, the antidote to a looming dystopian future, the edge of catastrophe caused by the foolish worshipping false gods, money, sex and greed.

Initially introduced in comic form, Crossbone Skully is the hero of this concept release. And although there is a story told, Evil World Machine is rammed to the hilt with rock n roll tracks that can each stand alone, or, fit seamlessly alongside one another in their entirety.

Created by Tommy Henrikson, Tommy Denander and produced by the legendary Mutt Lange, the idea that this album could, or would, be anything less than excellent, is simply out of the question. Tommy, not known for being a singer, has forever been the driving force on bass or guitar for legendary artists such as Alice Cooper and Doro Pesch. At first listen, he does indeed have a vocal that is familiar, and comparable to ACDC, in either era, he is consistently impressive, yet different, track to track.

Ima Bone Machine offers a vocal with a little spirit

incredible journey continues.

Def Leppard tireless and dynamic, power through Mirror Mirror, Slang and Kick, holding every attendee in the palm of their hands, until that grip is turned into the gentle caress of the simply beautiful, Bringing On The Heartbreak. Elliot’s vocal, melodic and soulful, layered with shimmering drums and guitars that scream out passionate cries. A heady and emotive blend that provides a moment of gentle grace before we slide into the home stretch.

The familiar opening bars of Hysteria are met with bellowing approval and the vast chorus that accompanies Elliot through the track, quiet only for Collen’s, glass cutting solo, a temporary hush before reuniting with Elliot in joyous rapture for the deliciously dirty, hip grinding anthem, Pour Some Sugar On Me. No time to take a breath, introduced with a tale of the dearly departed Steve Clark, the immense, Wasted takes us home, leaving a crowd hollering, but now spent, from their intimate evening in the company of true greatness.

Words by Viki Ridley

of the late great Alex Harvey and a dash of the also late, legendary Lemmy Kilmister evident. The extremely fun Celtic flair of Bust The Trust, gives a nod to Slade’s Run, Run Away, adds a little Scottish seasoning and sounding like a track that Big Country would have been proud to perform. High On You, guest starring Nikki Sixx, is the perfect anthem, an impressive guitar break, and a hooky singalong chorus combine to make this track unforgettable, a guaranteed instant favourite.

Atmospheric and haunting, melodic and beautiful, The Last Night On Earth is stunning, Tommy’s vocal is gritty and passionate the perfect penultimate track, this is sheer class. Pounding drums provide the heartbeat of Misfits of The Universe, we are united, all are welcome here, don’t be afraid, you are not alone. The unifying, closing message from Crossbone Skully. Our hero leaves us, but his legacy remains in this, a conceptual masterpiece, this Evil World Machine.

Words by Viki Ridley

EDDIE 9V SARATOGA

To say that Saratoga, the new studio album from Eddie 9V (9-volt) blew me away after one play is a no brainer! At the tender age of 15, he paved his way to the roots and blues circuit of his native, Atlanta, Georgia and the album will be unleashed via Ruf Records on November 22nd, 2024.

Twelve tracks of sheer beauty start with the album title track. It’s a heartwarming slinky shuffle as these three-foot tapping minutes get under your skin. His melodic rasp gives this song an extra edge, punctuated by deft guitar touches and a catchy, saxophone fuelled chorus. ‘Halo’ has quaint acoustic keyboard stabs for a pain of love lost, gaining power from a boisterous brass section, as a beautiful lead vocal ascends it to the heavens. ‘Delta’ flows free, taking on this shimmering ballad on doo wop handclaps, a sassy opening vocal with more prominent sax, off kilter percussion and wiry guitar lines. ‘Red River’ is a speaker rattling party starting and last one to the bar finisher that oozes class with ease, strutting its funky stuff with aplomb. ‘Wasp Weather’ strolls along with a streetwise vibe, taking its toll with a sting in its tail. It’s a jive talking finger clicker, strutting on booming bass guitar driven power and fleeting piano flourishes. I was getting a lot of Allman Brothers vibes throughout ‘Truckee’ which is no bad thing as this acoustic driven song will make your day effortlessly. Surfs up as ‘Tides’ opens up so frail, it could break down, but it’s saved by some Detroit based like swing, ending on a shimmering lead guitar solo.

The album ends on ‘The Road To Nowhere’, not the Talking Heads classic, but a Johnny Cash tinged muscle bound brawl, and a lovely earworm comes from the guitar work, bringing to mind the expertise of Link Wray, as Eddie adds his finest vocal performance to close an astonishingly awesome album!

Words by Dennis Jarman

RICHIE KOTZEN NOMAD

With over twenty solo albums already under his illustrious belt, you may think Richie Kotzen has nothing new to add to his catalogue, but you’d be wrong. Not only a musician of enormous talent, he has been influenced by every genre under the sun, from Rock to Soul, Funk, Jazz and RnB. Artists that Ritchie lists as favourites, range from Rod Stewart to Curtis Mayfield and Bad Company. His own compositions are a mash of early encounters, and the results are beguiling. ’NOMAD’ is made up of new songs that reflect his innermost tastes, and it truly is a one man effort, as he not only recorded and produced the album but played the majority of the instruments himself. The first of the eight tracks is ‘Cheap Shots’ a refined rock experience that spins on its heels with guitar squealing and pressing rhythm. ‘These Doors’ intensifies with a pack of bass and a rising melody. You sense how comfortable Richie stands in this type of environment, as it’s smooth and graceful with lush modern jazz infusion. As ‘Insomnia’ plays, you are taken to on quicker path. More direct harmonies combine with notes that reach the extremities of this man’s technique. The title song is a driven statement, full of texture and runs for six minutes. It has deep, intricate and winding solos, a blending chorus and leaves you feeling fulfilled. A slight change for ‘Escape’ which revolves around rockier ground. The base level is still low though and seeps between Richie’s remarkable vocals. ‘On The Table’ also presses with a rapid rock theme and more superb lyrics, before drifting into a glorious instrumental for the second half. Slowing down and dropping a gear for ‘This Is A Test’ as Richie plays acoustic guitar on this beautifully crafted ballad, that has the most direct and captivating words. ’Nihilist’ returns to the velvety warmth of the lower end strings and is a fitting finale for this enrapturing album.

Words by Diane Davies

MOTORHEAD

WE TAKE NO PRISONERS

This is the sonic equivalent of an unrelenting juggernaut speeding headlong, lights ablaze, into the deafening night. Being singles and, yes, Motörhead had a heavy bevy of them, the speedy rotation, especially the 7” singles deluxe box set version, will keep any purchaser head down awake into the wee hours. For those who don’t fancy the exercise of getting up and flipping over these vinyl seven inchers like burgers, there is also an expanded double CD and digital option for not so light relief. These latter-day releases collected from 1995-2006 iteration of this metal institution remind how, given its infamous baggage, Lemmy kept this heavy loaded train on the rails and steaming in the desired musical direction. It’s not a collection for those who bleed easily or with an expansive attention span, however the contents include rare radio edits and live B sides. More than a few assiduous ‘motor-heads’ will probably have all the tracks and assorted bits and bobs, many won’t, and this isn’t a collection that comprehensively represents the band from when Wurzel departed leaving the band to revert to a trio with guitarist Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee sweating the drum stool. Nevertheless, from the pummelling Sacrifice, the novelty single release cover of God Save The Queen, the unimaginatively titled semi-acoustic Whorehouse Blues and R.A.M.O.N.E.S., it is a deluxe, if you opt for the decently housed box set, collector’s item that does the memory of Lemmy loud and proud.

Words by Paul Davies

KIM JENNETT QUEEN OF HELL EP

Brit rocker Kim Jennett marks a new chapter in her solo career with the artist’s latest four-track release, the Queen of Hell EP.

The opening track and lead single Hell Is Wherever You Are kicks off the EP. The song is packed full of big riffs and even bigger hooks. Kim certainly makes her feelings known in this fiery rocker. The single is a true earworm and the kind of memorable number that stays with you for days.

Underpinned by sinister synth riffs, short sharp funky guitar licks, a tight groove and passionate screams, Kim channels peers like Lzzy Hale during Bloody Killing Floor.

Dead To Me switches things up during a song which again projects another passionate message from the artist. As the old story goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

The EP concludes with a phenomenal cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song. The latter is a song which reminds the writer of Robert Plant’s impressive vocal range on the original making it a difficult song to cover for sure. But Kim certainly does it justice and puts a modern stamp on this classic rock favourite, whilst simultaneously showcasing the artist’s sensational vocal pipes.

The Queen of Hell EP is Kim Jennett’s first foray into the artist’s new era and is full of promise. The majestic release showcases not only a new start for the Warringtonbased singer but also highlights the evolution of Kim’s sound into the contemporary rock space. The release is a crowning glory for the UK’s new Queen of Rock. Long may she reign.

BETH HART

YOU STILL GOT ME

When it comes to greats of the blues genre, Beth Hart has earned her place up there with the best of them. And the artist’s new album sees the versatile artist musically at the top of her game, whilst showcasing the many different facets of her artistry. Opening track Savior With A Razor is the type of tune we’ve become accustomed to from Beth in recent times. A foot tapping, piano blues number, which features some searing guitar licks from special guest guitarist Slash. A further guest appearance from labelmate Eric Gales features on the brilliant Suga N My Bowl. Gales’ guitar phrasing is second to none, he truly makes his axe sing. The song’s infectious melody and heavy groove will have your head bobbing in no time. Songs like Never Underestimate A Gal and Pimp Like That showcase the jazzier side of Hart’s repertoire. The artist steps into new territory with the Folsom Prison Blues-esque, Americana-tinged Wanna Be Big Bad Johnny Cash. The latter is a bit different from the rest, but like all the other styles in Hart’s musical toolbox, she adapts to it with ease. There is a cinematic quality to Drunk On Valentine characterised by the addition of strings and horns. It’s a gentle, gorgeous, piano-based love song that is enough to melt even the hardest of hearts. You could well imagine the song featured on a romantic comedy featuring Hugh Grant or the likes. The jewel in the crown of this wonderful album is Little Heartbreak Girl. A song which holds its own against classics from Hart’s repertoire like My California. The album closer, Machine Gun Vibrato, is the sort of song you would maybe expect as a set closer in the live environment. It’s dark and brooding, with a tight rhythm and heavy guitar riffs midsong. The song’s mood could soundtrack a moonlight drive along a dark open road. Throughout the eleven tracks featured on Hart’s latest offering, the artist takes you on a musical journey on board a rollercoaster of emotions. Whether you like rock, blues, jazz or soul there is something here for everyone.

THE RATTLEBACKS SIDEWINDER

Upon first listen to Sidewinder in its entirety, you are met with the idea that there is something quite grand about it. 11 hard hitting tracks, mighty, each one their own entity, some epic in length and structure, for a first album, it is most certainly, out of the ordinary. Opening with undulating guitar and atmospheric, hypnotic vocals, The Taste grabs at the imagination with ease, giving a taste of what is to come whilst immediately demonstrating the confidence and prowess of a band who know just what it is that they have to offer. What follows is single release, Dementia Lounge. A powerful, angry, introspective commentary on the existence of a man with a cognitive issue. One that removes control, autonomy, memory, function and love. Building the sense of frustration, a crescendo of drums and a screaming vocal asking, what’s my name, explodes and slowly fades out to dying screams. How To Calm The Silence, is a wall of sound. Multi layered vocal harmonies, wrapped around a weighty pulsing rhythm section, beautiful, engaging and impressive and, demonstrating versatility, yet staying true to The Rattlebacks form and sound. The anthemic chanting chorus of Open Your Mind, will surely be a live favourite. An exercise in aural pleasure, thick pulsing bass, rolling drums and heavy, meaty riffs accompany lyrics that demand a surrender to temptation, deliciously dominating, a definite stand out track, within an album of many. The album echoes heavy rock, but there is an underbelly of grunge, melodic, gritty vocals, dripping with emotion. Current and fresh there is evidence of influence here, Alice In Chains, Incubus, Queens of The Stone Age, no fluff or filler, each track has depth and meaning. Sidewinder is an imposing, majestic debut that exudes class in every aspect from song writing to musicianship to production and places The Rattlebacks in position to be one of the most exciting acts on the UK rock and metal scene today.

Words by Adam Kennedy

Words by Adam Kennedy

Words by Viki Ridley

MARCUS TRUMMER FROM THE START

Rising star of the Canadian blues scene, Marcus Trummer, will release his new album From The Start via Gypsy Soul Records on Friday, 15th November. For his new album, the young bluesman travelled to Toronto to work with a crack team of musicians and producers. Perhaps you could say that there is a common thread running through the album thanks to production work by The Commoners’ guitarist Ross Hayes Citrullo, with additional contributions from the band’s Miles Evans-Branagh (keys and piano) and Adam Cannon (drums). The record opens with Holding Out For You. A song with a soulful summertime groove that is oozing with keys, horns and Trummer’s silky-smooth vocals. Let You Down follows in a similar vein. His tone and fretwork particularly in his soloing further exemplify that the artist has found his sweet spot in the soulful blues space. Hard Time changes the mood of the album with a more sombre number. The pertinent message found in Waiting For Change highlights Marcus’ songwriting capabilities. The artist’s wonderful vocal delivery is coupled with a superb solo which illustrate Trummer’s tone and appreciation of space. The award-winning bluesman pays homage to perhaps the greatest of all, BB King, with the traditional blues number The Only Thing. The soulful blues sounds of From The Start features undertones of heavyweights of the genre, the Tedeschi Trucks Band. The penultimate song of the album Ready To Go confirm Trummer’s influence by soul greats like Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye. The sound is classic, to say the least. The album concludes with Let The Devil Win, as Trummer switches gears during an all-out rocker. At just 23 years old, Marcus Trummer delivers an album which showcases talent beyond his age. A young man with an old soul, but most importantly, a bright future. If this album is just the start, we look forward to more of what’s to come.

RED GIANT

EPONYMOUS

Red Giant is the brainchild of popular YouTube presenter and guitar prodigy, Dave Simpson. Over the years the artist has developed a staggering following online thanks to his tutorials and guitar demos.

Thankfully for his followers, the guitar maestro is preparing to release the eponymous debut album from his power trio Red Giant. Let’s start at the top of the release with Friends. It is a song fuelled by scorching whammy bar-fuelled guitar licks, harmonised guitar parts and a heavy groove. The album switches promptly with the funky, bass heavy sound of Tell Me. A song which features undertones of versatile alt/rock greats Rage Against The Machine.

The song Why? slows things down momentarily during what is a particularly poetic and thought-provoking ballad. Whilst the band’s COVID-inspired recent single Monsters is short and sweet at just 2 minutes and 37 seconds long. At the same time the track illustrates more of the grungy side of the band’s repertoire. The track The Dark of Me follows in a similar vein. Drummer John Joe Gaskin’s solo on funky blues/rock number Don’t is of note. However, the standout track of the album is unquestionably What You Gonna Do? A song which pays homage to the late great Peter Green. The composition is a super slow blues number and showcases Simpson’s virtuoso playing and appreciation of space. You Say, I Say is a potent finisher to the record, and perhaps the heaviest song on the album.

Red Giant’s eponymous release spans ten tracks which showcases the band’s eclectic sound which fuses blues, rock and grunge to great effect. The result is an album that spans over and above the typical blues/ rock albums you find in the current UK scene. Expect big things to come from Red Giant. Red Giant’s eponymous debut album will be released on Friday 18th October.

HEALTHY

JUNKIES

LISTEN TO THE MAD

Words by Adam Kennedy

Words by Adam Kennedy

Fresh off the back of their recent appearance at HRH Punk, UK alternative crew Healthy Junkies return with their outstanding new album Listen To The Mad. An album that conjures up images of the great Sub-Pop releases of the 90s and perhaps the band’s best work to date. From the opening notes of Favourite Place at the top of the album, an instant smile was found on my face. Whilst some albums might take you a few listens before you get into them, this was quite the opposite. It was a case of love at first listen. The opening track is the kind of foot-to-thefloor number that immediately grabs the listener by the scruff of the neck and throws you into the mosh pit. The second song, Self Conscious is characterised by Nina’s gorgeous vocals and Phil’s fuzzy fretwork. The track has undertones of Nirvana, particularly in the drum fills. And it works incredibly well. On the other hand, Desire is a dreamy number, and slightly slower than the opening numbers. Julie’s Got A Job powers through with MC5-esque riffs, big hooks and a chorus which you can almost hear the crowd singing back to the band on stage – “Julie’s got a job working in the city,” the fans will chant. Healthy Junkies switch things up mid-album with Son And A Daughter. The song’s bassheavy rhythms take the band in more of a dub/ska direction, but only momentarily. The intricate bass work, angelic vocals and hypnotic melody of Solitaire cast a spell over the lister. Whilst the punky sounds of Now Or Never and the funky groove of Baroness are of particular note. The song Tinnitus rings in your ears, but in a good way. On the other hand, the penultimate song of the release, Lion In A Circus, is the type of tune that we’ve come to know and love from the Healthy Junkies. As the title illustrates, album closer World On Fire provides a combustible conclusion to the Healthy Junkies brilliant latest offering. Based on the strength of this release, you would be mad not to pick up a copy of the album. Listen To The Mad, the new album from Healthy Junkies will be released on Friday 22nd November, via Banana Castle Records.

Words by Adam Kennedy

THE DYNAMIC DRINKING CLUB

PISS AND CANCER

Imagine, footsteps on a grimy street, slick with Autumn rain, in the distance the soothing tones of a steel string guitar emanates through the wooden doors of a dive bar. Upon entering, the heady fragrance of beer, gin and red wine, mixes in the air with the sound of music, and in the corner, sits a bloodshot eyed duo, their creeper clad feet helping keep time while they battle with emotions, armed only with

guitars and harmonicas. Welcome, one and all, to The Dynamic Drinking Club.

The brainchild of Anton Meriläinen of The Dave Kusworth band and Andy Hekkandi, but far from the upbeat, cheeky delights of Trench Dogs, Dynamic Drinking Club is a semi acoustic journey through 12 tracks, that runs the very gamut of the human condition, funny, melancholy and beautifully strange.

Sirens introduces us to the DDC, in a country fuelled castrophising of a possible heartbreak, and a surprisingly gentle, but nonetheless impressive way to say hello. Single releases On A Lie and Seed Of A Bad Idea follow, the latter conjuring up visions of Hanoi Rocks, 1984, Andy invoking the very essence of Michael Monroe, in this thoughtful, emotive, guitar driven, ballad of woe.

Each song has difference, its own charm, different enough to keep things interesting as each track is as unexpected as the next, whilst remaining thematic. Case and point, we transition with ease from the blue grass infused, Halliards, to the bar room rollick of Daggers. Dripping with swagger, telling a tale of drunken antics and the eyes of disapproval, interspersed and punctuated with a protesting harmonica and bluesy riffs this is a standout high point taking us to the halfway mark.

Acoustic guitar and strings underpin the self-deprecating Shortcomings. A delightfully sad, heartfelt plea for forgiveness, for love and for the acceptance of being fallible and flawed, the only permanent human condition.

Sounding more Tennessee than Stockholm, Awful Dutch Wine is a moment of greatness and humour, lifting spirits briefly, before a return to the stripped down, claustrophobic, loneliness of Gone Again. Calling time on the Dynamic Drinking Club, Crooked Song steals a little from the Crooked Man, adds 2 fingers of Marc Bolan, and a hefty jigger of piano, all shaken and taken as the last shot, to send us on our merry way.

Piss and Cancer is an eclectic gathering, a mish mash of influences, harmony, humanity and inebriation, join humour and genuine talent to deliver an album that is easy on the ear, but not on the heart. A perfect soundtrack to this treacherous and rocky path that we tiptoe along with trepidation and call, life.

Words by Viki Ridley