Heatwave Magazine - Issue #5 - Winter 2017/18 by Heatwave Magazine

Issue 5 - Winter 2017/18

Heatwavemag.com

Issue 5 - Winter 2017/18

elcome to Issue 5 of Heatwave Magazine! It’s been an eventful year for us at Heatwave! We were lucky enough to meet up with the amazing Flamin’ Groovies backstage, in Amsterdam, where they told us quite a few anecdotes. We spoke to King Automatic, Shannon and the Clams, Biznaga, and more! We also collected some great films and top records, both new favourites and hidden classics, for you to check out. We even took a stop over in France to check in on their eclectic music scene. As always, we love our readers and appreciate your continued support! We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we loved making it. -The Editorial Team

9 12 14 16 18

Adria Marques Flamin Groovies JC Satan Ron Gallo French Music Scene Popcorn Chokers Top Ten Records from Goner Records

22 23 27 29 32 34 38

Cover Design “Biznaga” Ika Lesniak Layout Design Adrian Alfonso Special Thanks to Zac Ives from Goner records and El Marquès for contributing his artwork to our magazine

Answers on page 8!

Contents New Beats From The Street -Les Lullies -Chrome Reverse -Randy Savages King Automatic Shannon and the Clams Ex-Cult Futuro Terror Biznaga

Editorial Department Founder/Managing Director—Neus Ruiz Editors—Victoria Holford & Linsey McFadden Creative Director—Adrian Alfonso Contributors Olivia Cellamare Justin Crumpton Gema Germen Laurie Jane Nick Kuzmack Cullen O’Connor Marko Petrovic Frieda Strachan Penelope York Illustrators Lluis Fuzzhoud Christophe Lopez-Huici Georgios Katapodis Ika Lesniak Lid Palmer Francisco Salvado

Printed by Mortons 3

New Beats from the Street Les Lullies

Nick Kuzmack (DJ NixBeat) ce, founded es Lullies are a punk outfit from Montpellier, Fran offspring ard bast in 2016. These cats come across like the the vibrant of the frantic nature of The Boys, twisted with electric energy of The Briefs.

This band delivers a stunning punk-infused rock n’ roll that evokes a lustful need to shake, rattle and roll. Les Lullies have already released two EPs – their self-titled EP via Discos Meteoro in 2016 and the most recent, Don’t Look Twice EP, with Slovenly Recordings on November 3, 2017.

The new Don’t Look Twice EP highlights a refreshing take on a classic untamed punky sound. The first track. ‘Don’t Look Twice,’ immediately captivates with a notably tenacious shock and awe.

‘Don Craine’ follows in this vein, with a sound that makes you spasm out of control. ‘Bored, Sick Done’ is the snotty little brother of Rudi’s ‘Big Time.’ The last track ‘UFO’ knocks about with thrashing riffs and snarling vocals.

Les Lullies are brilliant and if these recordings reveal anything, it’s that there is a band in France that is ready to burn your house down with the ferocity of rock n’ roll. So check out Les Lullies and listen with impunity.

e Reverse Chloproe Yom rk Pene

t It’s important to have fun jus It’s for the sake of having fun. . natural, healthy and needed Let’s have some, shall we?

ntroducing to you, the medicine – Chrome Reverse, chez Paris. This band is all about fun, but don’t let that fool you. These fun-chasers are serious musicians with decades of experience. After three great singles on Mag Wheels, Bachelor and Kizmiaz Records, their debut album They Wanna Fight!, also on Mag Wheels Records, is a frenzied homage to the rawest, greasiest rock n’ roll ever invented.

Formed by the irreverent Lili Zeller, with her boisterous voice and rabid guitar, and her old music buddy, Iwan, on bass, they’re supported by Dave, on guitar, and Yan/Ludo, on drums. Let’s hear it directly from Iwan, with his nonstop passionate glee: Heatwave

Heatwave: You and Lili both came from garage punk rock bands; having now jumped to old-school, greasy rock n’ roll, with some dirty R&B on top of it, why the change? And why now? Iwan: We play the kind of rock n’ roll that we have always listened to... Why not? I actually had a wild rock n’ roll band 20 years ago called The Loud Mufflers. Cécilia from The No-Talents was on the drums. Heatwave: Do any of you have other projects aside from Chrome Reverse?

Heatwave:Surf, rockabilly, R&B and good old rock n’ roll straight from the late 50s and early 60s – the best recipe for general fun. How important is fun for your © David G band and what do you do to keep it going? Iwan: Fun is the main part when playing in a band! We don’t do anything special to keep it going, when the fun’s gone, we’ll stop the band! Heatwave: When, how and why did you start Chrome Reverse? Who are you in essence and what’s the band’s background? Iwan: We started three years ago. I wanted to play wild rock n’ roll and so I asked my old partner in crime, Lili, and some other friends. Our first guitar player and drummer came from the 50s scene, more than Lili and I. Now we have Dave on the guitar; he’s a fan of rock n’ roll, 60s, punk rock and hardcore. And then Yan on the drums, who’s comin’ from the 60s garage scene, but very open-minded to other kinds of rock n’ roll.

Iwan: Dave has a 60s punk duet band called The Punkin’ Bros and Yan is the “new,” for nearly 20 years now, drummer of the legendary band, The Barracudas. Heatwave: The choice for the name is obviously taken from the wheels that were built in bulk between the 50s and 60s in the US – a funny allegory for your music, Heatwave: How do you work but is there anything more out your ideas for songs? Do you start with Lili’s lyrics about it you’d like to add? straight away, or perhaps a Iwan: Chrome reverse wheels loose riff here, a humming were all the rage in the late 50s melody there, or all of them - early 60s on custom cars, together and more? yes. I’m a big car-nut myself, and as our sound is close Iwan: Most of the time to this era, it seemed to be a Lili comes with a riff or a complete song and we start cool band name! messin’ around. Heatwave: What bands/ songs would you highlight Heatwave: Who would you from that particular period of like to share the stage with time, the “mutation” of the the most? 50s into the 60s? Iwan: We are ready to play with Iwan: There are many songs from this era that we love! ‘The 309’ by The Rockin’ Continentals, ‘Wild’ by The Gentrys, ‘She Left Me Crying’ by Dinky Harris & The Spades, ‘Jeannie With the Dark Blue Eyes’ by Doug Powell, ‘I Got A Rocket In My Pocket’ by Jimmy Grubbs & His Music Makers, to name a few.

© David G Iwan: Yes, we are working on new songs and new covers. Heatwave: What motivates you? Where do you go for inspiration? Iwan: Playing together is the motivation. Having fun practicing, making new songs and playing live. We like to travel to meet new people and old friends around the world!

any cool band! It’s a wide range from rockabilly to garage punk. We opened for The Sonics, our friends The Wildebeests, and we will play with Kid Congo in December. Heatwave: What happens now after your frantic debut album They Wanna Fight!? Is there something already in the works?

Randy Savages Penelope York

here’s a new band in town and they have strong feelings about their mission. Their feelings are so strong that we felt compelled to share their thoughts. I tell ya, if they keep this wildfire going, I have no doubts that Randy Savages will start making headlines in no time.

© Bella Keegan Randy Savages’ name is based on the late American professional wrestler, Mr ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage himself. “Oooh yeah!” They are Liam Revenge, on guitar and vocals, Lloyd Loud, on guitar and vocals, Adrian Alfonso, on bass, and Nick Hadley, on drums. ,Liam – coming straight out of Manchester, has been in bands since he was a teenager, including The Speed Punkers, Revenge of the Psychotronic Man, The Psychobilly, The Hyperjax and The Termites, among others.

Lloyd was in Divine Brown back when they were signed under Artrocker/Wrecked ‘Em Wreckords, up until they broke up after an ‘excessive’ US tour. One can only imagine… Nick, the Aussie drummer, Hadley, was in Teenage Crime, who were pretty big Down Under. Adrian, as Liam said, “is the band virgin, but settling in quite comfortably!” Taking pride in punk’s ultimate DIY ethic, Randy Savages are starting their crusade of creating true originals with relentless vigour. As Lloyd puts it, “There’s too many xerox bands. We want to turn this country back onto the joys of a homegrown, kick ass rock n’ roll band.” Their sound, inspired by both 70s punk and 70s glam, indeed comes out as punk and glam’s righteous new-born, psyched up with a dash of power pop. They’re producing new songs at a tenaciously fierce “cheap” speed. We’re on our toes to see if they can pull it off and bring us that much-awaited new London-sound. Here’s what the band had to say…

Heatwave

New Beats from the Street

Heatwave: Tell us about forming Randy Savages? Liam: I’ve known Lloyd since the Divine Brown days, but he hadn’t done anything band-wise since they broke up. When I moved down here [London] from Manchester early last year, I pestered the fuck out of him until he agreed to be in the band I was planning on putting together. I kinda knew Adrian from hanging out at Garageland, Some Weird Sin, etc., before I moved down and knew he played. So I asked him to come and hang out and listen to some of the songs we were writing. The bass lines he was writing perfectly matched how I imagined the songs sounding in my head and now he is contributing riffs and song ideas. Nick was the last member to join. He answered an ad on Gumtree, came down to hang out, and fit in perfectly. He’s a great drummer, contributes loads of ideas to the songs and shares the same sick sense of humour as us. I feel lucky to be in a band with these lads… Not only are they great musicians and musically on the same page, we’re also good mates and have an absolute riot. It’s a cliché, but we’re more than a band, we’re a gang! Lloyd: I’d known Liam for years and when he moved from Manchester to just down the road from me, in Kentish Town, we reconnected. He helped me build the now infamous ‘Cave’ in my garden in Camden – two shipping containers bolted together, complete with the loudest PA known to man, which was just begging to be used and abused. Adrian: I knew Liam through a mutual friend from LA, we bonded over guitars and record posts on Instagram. He messaged me in late August 2016 asking if I’d be interested in starting up a band. I knew he liked some 70s hard glam, punk and powerpop, so I said yes. He told me to meet him in Camden, where he took me to Lloyd’s practice space. At that point I only played guitar, but they brought me in with the intention of me playing the bass, so they started playing and I tried my best to keep up. I didn’t think I was doing too good, but at the end of the session they asked when I was free to practice again the following week. Heatwave: Why the name? Liam: Man, it’s an amazing double entendre. Although, I’m not sure if people get the reference to the Macho Man. We are largely children of the 90s and if you were growing up around then there was hardly any chance of not being into American wrestling. It was one of them “is this amazing or terrible?” kinda names, which people either love or hate. Lloyd: Randy reflects our cheeky 70s naughtiness and echoes our glam influences. Savages pinpoints our primal rock n’ howl. Heatwave: You say you’re “on a mission to rid the current music scene of mediocre rock n’ roll clowns and punk rock clones.” Care to further explain? Liam: Haha, well I’d rather not name names, as I’m new in town and don’t want to get blacklisted, but the scene in general, and London particularly, is rife with shoegazers, haircut wankers, posers and try-too-hards. Lloyd: Wear your influences by all means, but bring something new to the table.

© Ryan @ Shotison.com Heatwave: What’s coming our way? Liam: We’ve recorded four songs, which we intend to release as two 7-inches. We’ve been chatting with a few labels, so keep your ears peeled and your eyes to the ground. Adrian: Yeah, we’ve got two singles, which we self-recorded and had mixed and mastered by Dave Draper. We also have some demos, which we self-produced, and plan to record more soon. Lloyd: Always. If anything, this band is too productive. Heatwave: How do you work out songs? Liam: 60 percent of the songs are my ideas, which we then embellish and develop as a band, the other 40 percent are Lloyd or Adrian’s, which we then embellish and develop as a band! We’re all on the same page musically and open to each other’s ideas. So generally other people’s inputs are positively received. The band is two Northerners, an Aussie and a native Sarf Landaner, so we are pretty blunt. We’ve not got fragile personalities. We’re not going to sulk if someone says something is shit or a terrible idea, y’know? Heatwave: Bands out there you highly approve? Liam: In London I love The Cavemen, Scraps, Los Pepes, Johnny Throttle, further afield Hip Priests are great, The Breakdowns will be greatly missed, TV Crime. Bigger band-wise, I’m influenced by Slade, The Faces, The Jam, Exploding Hearts, Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and the Rumour, 80s Mod-revival/Powerpop stuff like The Chords, Secret Affair, etc. 7

Adrian: I like a lot of bands, but to narrow it down to current bands from the UK and Ireland I’d say The Cavemen, Los Pepes, Trash Culture, Strong Boys, Number Ones, Protex, White Trash and I’m really looking forward to what The Speedways will be releasing soon. Heatwave: Covers? Liam: ‘Don’t ring me up’ by Protex cos we love it, and ‘Walk All Over You’ by AC/DC cos we love it! Lloyd: If we can ‘Randify’ it and it sounds good, it’s in. Heatwave: Anything you’d like to add? Liam: Say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong. Adrian: Yeah, check out our website (randysavagespunkrock. com). Lloyd: You’ve only got 200 words! I ‘had’ 200 words, Lloyd... Yet, thanks to your vehement responses, I had no choice, but to surrender and beg for more. Now, show us what you’ve got, Savages!

Heatwave

New Beats from the Street

hat is it like to be your own band, nay... your own orchestra? What is it like to fiddle with all your musical influences from rocksteady and deconstructed blues to trash rock and rockabilly, garage beat and punk, yé-yé and salsa even… all the way to Kraftwerk (no shit!) and to turn it flawlessly into your own unique sonic sound?

King

lop

Yo r

Automatic What is it like to create all of this while playing a crazy array of instruments, aided by special trademark live sampling and looping techniques, all by yourself? What is it like to offer a most exquisite and beautifully balancedin-its-madness musical banquet, filled with full-bodied flavours, from all corners of the world, with a rich voice to match? I’ll tell you who knows what it’s like – King Automatic.

Heatwave: What made you decide to make the shift from drummer of the punk garage band, Thundercrack, to the unique sounds of a one-man band? King Automatic: I was playing in both, then less with the band and more as a one-man band. I always used to record on an old two-track tape recorder, playing my own stuff alone at home. I’d been a great fan of Hasil Adkins since I was teenager, so I decided to do it live. My idea was to try to sound like a band, not like a one-man band. Heatwave: How does it feel being part of this grand comeback of one-man bands? What’s your view on this uprising? King Automatic: I think it’s cool, but one-man bands, twomen bands or four, big bands... Who cares? I think the most important thing is the music that you make, not how many hands make it... and to find good songs. Heatwave: What are your biggest influences from the old-school one-man bands and who are your favourite one-man bands from today? King Automatic: To be honest, I’m more influenced by bands than one-man bands, but I’ve always been fascinated by Hasil Adkins, of course, like all the blues/rock n’ roll one-man bands. Then I discovered some others like Jesse Fuller or Dr Ross. From today, Reverend Beat-Man, Bob Log III, Urban Junior, Mr Occhio, Dead Elvis, etc. The Rock n’ roll world is small, so we all know each other very well.

Heatwave: The inspiration to create your music comes from genres as different as Jamaican rocksteady, R&B, bebop, French yé-yé, West African tribal drumming, Heatwave: Marc A. Littler has done such a thorough trash rock n’ roll and even garage beat-punk. How do you job on selling your persona and mission in your translate all these different musical backgrounds into bio, that I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s the sound that makes King Automatic? start by asking about your relationship with Marc? King Automatic: The Ramones wanted to sound like The Beach Apart from him being the director of a good number of your Boys and they sounded like The Ramones at the end, so it’s the music videos and the writer of at least the seventh track of your same process with me! I take all that I like from the last 70 years, album In the Blue Corner. We know you work together a lot. swallow it, mix it, then throw it back. How far does this collaboration go? Heatwave: What is your usual songwriting process? Clear King Automatic: I met Marc A. Littler 11 years ago. He asked structure, creative chaos or both? me to play as a support act for the screening of his movie about King Automatic: I would say both, but I always start with an Voodoo Rhythm Records. We then became friends and we ambiance, a tempo. Then I try to find harmonies and a structure. worked together sometimes on our respective projects like Or I can also experiment with sounds and stuff, then I find a song. soundtracks, lyrics and videos. Melodies come sometimes at the same time, but mostly later, Heatwave: But now, from your own point of view, who is King like the lyrics. I work with a good friend of mine, an English Automatic? guy from London, Rich Deluxe, who has lived in Nancy more King Automatic: King Automatic is five musicians living inside than half of his life. Sometimes I ask a friend to do lyrics, of me and trying to play together with only two arms, two sometimes, when I’m in shape, I do it myself! legs and a mouth!

Heatwave: Where do your lyrics come from? They seem to Heatwave: And why the name? As a one-man band, pretty stem from so many different international influences? much everything that you do is far from being automatic. King Automatic: Lyrics are often part of life, from people we King Automatic: The name comes from an idea about know or from him or me, mixed up sometimes with fictional mixing Elvis Presley and Kraftwerk or rock n’ roll and characters and written in a humorous, ironic way. Or it comes modern stuff, but it’s also a reference to Jamaican from the back pages of daily papers, local news, films, everything. singer, King Horror, otherwise known as Laurel Aitken. I know most of the people don’t care about lyrics, especially in I use a loop machine to create a musical background, so that’s the rock n’ roll, garage, blah-blah scene. But I just can’t sing the ‘automatic’ part. I do the loop live and nothing is pre-recorded; “my baby doesn’t love me, and I like to drink whisky, or walk for now, cos I’m starting to get bored of bringing and carrying all down the street or drive my black Cadillac...” that gear just for a few seconds of recording per track. Haha. Heatwave

Heatwave: Your music videos and visual presentation also play a big role - from 360 degree videos, to comic strips, to amazing album covers. Which artists that you’ve worked with would you like to highlight here?

King Automatic: Yes, I attach a lot of importance to the aesthetic aspects of a sleeve, picture, poster, etc. I used to work drawing and doing graphics, so I mostly do them myself – sleeve covers, posters, visual designs. I also ask artists I like to create special drawings, like the last two albums. Nicolas Moog who did the In The Blue Corner album cover has been a good friend of mine for a long time. He’s an artist and musician as well, playing in a country, folk-garage band called Thee Verduns. Baru, who did the Lorraine Exotica album cover, is a graphic novels artist! I’ve been a great fan of his work since the 80s. Daniel Wambach, who released the 360° video, is also an old friend, who doesn’t really care about rock n’ roll. Haha! He just wanted to experiment with his new camera stuff. He had the idea seeing the Baru cover, with the five King Automatic clones! Nicolas Drolc, who released ‘La Vampira del Raval’ video, is a young guy who made a film about the prison revolts in Nancy and elsewhere in France during the early 70s. Nicolas Moog and I did the soundtrack for this film. He also used to work with Marc A. Littler on movies and videos. All of them are from the Lorraine region. Heatwave: I’ve always been fascinated by one-man bands. The coordination alone makes me dizzy and you’re an autodidact. Any secrets to share with us? King Automatic: Aha, maybe not to lack the get up and go! But maybe the most important – learn drums first and get rhythm! Heatwave: Have you always lived in the Lorraine region? How is the music scene in Nancy? Any local bands that stand out? King Automatic: Yes, I was born in and still live in Nancy. I would say, since the end of the 90s and maybe since the Internet, it’s harder to feel atmosphere, history, influence from a city through the bands that are living there. You can find the same kind of bands, good or bad, playing the same way on every continent. Bands from Nancy that really marked me are The Squares, KaS Product, Rich Deluxe and Hot Nuts. Heatwave: Where to now? Anything new coming out soon? We’ll be waiting… King Automatic: I’m working on a fifth album and a 10-inch and I’ll be on the road again, and again, and again!

Rehearsal and Recording studios are now in Homerton We have 17 years experience and are here to help. · Brand new rehearsal rooms with air replacement system– no more stale sessions · Solid soundproofing with spectrum analyzed acoustics · Great price 3 hour evening slots · Really affordable- book on the day rates · Large 7x7m multi use room · Recording studio with 12 channel Neve desk Give us a ring for a chat 0207 923 9533 or have a look on our website http://www.gunfactorystudios.com

Olivia Cellamare

ack in 2009, a band from Oakland released one of the best albums of the year. Shannon and the Clams hit us hard eight years ago with their remarkable debut, I Wanna Go Home. What immediately drew me to them was how they sounded like Del Shannon or Ritchie Valens with a hint of The Ramones and the urgency of The Stooges.

There was something within their sound that was unlike anything else around. I knew nothing about them, but their music made me feel like we hung out in school, watching the world go by. Something I truly admire about Shannon and the Clams is their ability to capture nostalgic feelings in such a powerful way. They don’t make you want to sit and bawl your eyes out… Not in that sense. They just make you think of summers gone by, when all was right in the world. They make you remember the first time you met someone, the first time you were in a sentimental moment with them. They feel like your first everything and for a band to be that powerful from the start is such an admirable thing. If you’ve ever been to a Shannon and the Clams show, you’ll know just how energetic and beautifully rowdy it gets. It’s like a high school prom gone wild. I saw them for the first time two years ago, the night before my birthday at the Oslo in Hackney. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. I remember standing at the side of the stage and I had a perfect view of the crowd and the stage. Heatwave

The honesty in their lyrics and the way they are unafraid to be vulnerable and not precious about coming across as vulnerable is something that just keeps you hooked. Their music is meant to be heard in a live setting, especially if you want to see what a brilliant relationship they have with their fans. I was in awe of the fans and the band. It was unlike anything else I had seen before. What struck me was the intensity of the relationship between the band and the fans. I had to ask Shannon, from the time they started, up until now – has the relationship they have with their fans changed at all over the years? Shannon: I think because every time I play I am coming from a genuine place that the people can feel it, can see it and can connect to me. I think because I’m honest and open and vulnerable when I perform it’s easy to tap into your own emotions and see yourself there, so it’s a natural connection. I am so incredibly lucky to have such incredible fans. I genuinely love them and Shannon and the Clams would absolutely not exist without them. Heatwave: From the same show, I remember some idiot launching into some sexist remarks at you [Shannon]. We’ve all seen it happen. Some doofus gets a bit too cocky and thinks they can yell things at someone on the stage. It is never cool or acceptable to do this. I saw Nick Cave recently, and some idiot yelled “Get your dick out!” at him. Fortunately, I don’t think Nick heard him. I can only imagine what Nick would have said if he did. When someone yells degrading things at you while you are essentially, doing your job it can be frustrating, among other things. I’ve sadly heard this happen more often than not, when I’ve seen bands that have been fronted by women or have them in the band. How do you consistently deal with it? Shannon: I believe, as a woman, to always stand up for myself. Sometimes it’s hard and you should pick your battles – for safety and because sometimes, emotionally it’s takes too great a toll on you and won’t make a difference on a creep. Even when it’s scary, and it almost ALWAYS IS, you shouldn’t put up with anyone who tries to make you feel objectified, or small or lesser than them. Those people need to see that you’re not gonna take it and their behaviour is unacceptable. For all the many men I’ve stood up to, and occasionally punched, I’d like to think that maybe I got through to at least a couple of them and they have changed their ways. Who knows? Or even if another person saw me doing it and it gave them some confidence to stand up for themselves someday, that would make me really, really happy. Heatwave: For me, you still feel like a new band and I guess that comes from how, with each record, you just give us something new and take us someplace you haven’t before. How can a band that has been together so long keep up with this magic? Ahh man, it’s easy when you love each other, right? Love has to be the glue that keeps a band together. But surely, over time the process may change with how you create and record your records?

Shannon: Yes, in some ways. I always write songs based on real experiences, I never just pump out a song with no meaning. So in that sense sometimes the process is more intense or more desperate or more fun. The basics of my writing process are usually similar in that I often get my ideas driving in a car and record them on my phone, I later sit down with the phone recordings and my bass and start working out more developed melodies and connecting ideas. Heatwave: Oakland is the home of some great bands, from En Vogue to The Soft Moon. Regardless of genre, gender, age, whatever! Oakland oozes a wealth of exceptional music that can move us all. Some still make music; some are bands we like to think about from time to time. With a lot of bands coming and going, maybe it can be daunting, but change is good for us all for the most part, right? Shannon: It’s constantly changing. Garage rock has died down, weird punk has blossomed, lots more women, POC and queer people have come to the front and are doing amazing things there. I am so so proud of Oakland and its amorphous music scene. Heatwave: Although it’s like asking a parent to pick their favourite kid, I feel like Shannon and the Clams have enough records and have been around long enough to beg the question, do any records in particular stands out for you, Shannon? Shannon: They all are a journey and all represent different pieces of me and Cody’s lives. I can’t choose one because they are all me. They are all deeply personal and I am the most nostalgic person I know, so could never be closer to one over another. I can say that the first one I had much less control/confidence over the recording process, so it has less of me represented in it than I wish BUT that itself is a symbol of what I was going through at the time and wouldn’t change it. Heatwave: Who is the most ridiculous (and funniest) person you have been compared to? You just know that lazy journalists will lob in any old comparison without even probably listening to the music. So go on Shannon, hit us with your best one! Shannon: Hahaha, I love this question. In Europe people just say any plus size singer like Adele or Beth Ditto. Both of whom I respect BUT come on, we are soooo different! Shannon and the Clams are a band that are easy to relate to, especially if you’re from a small town that doesn’t offer much to you. You find your own way out, and it takes time. Our tastes change, views can change. It’s part of growing up and finding your way. I love that Shannon is so nostalgic and puts this across so wonderfully in her lyrics. And I love how she and Cody just have this bond lyrically that makes you want to start your own band. On some records the songs do sound more intense than the previous ones. They are a band that isn’t afraid to be brutally honest and to take you along for the ride. I hope you take some time out to go listen to Shannon and the Clams and allow nothing to interrupt. 13

x-Cult are a band to be reckoned with. Originally hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, they blend elements of 60s-style psychedelic noise, with 70s fuzzed-out post-punk tendencies and early 80s Hardcore. Their recordings boast an almost unrivalled intensity. However, one must go to their gigs to truly bear witness to their awesome, raw power. On stage they never fail to captivate their audience with a coolly aggressive and charismatic demeanour. In 2016 Ex-Cult worked with Fuzz’s, Ty Segall, and subsequently released their third full length album Negative Growth via In The Red Records. Later in 2017 they also released the Blurry single through Red Lounge Records. Both recordings show off Ex-Cult’s ridden sludgy post-punk sound. To sat down with vocalist, Chris Shaw, recent US tour, Negative Growth, and their future plans.

Heatwave

evolution into an anxiety find out more, Heatwave to get the scoop on their working with Ty Segall

Heatwave: Ex-Cult has recently wrapped up a US tour, how’d it go? Shaw: It was sick. The tour was pretty long and we had some festival appearances here and there. Overall it was a blast. Heatwave: Where was your favourite place to play? Shaw: I always like playing on the west coast. Playing in San Francisco and Los Angeles is always great. We played Pickathon in Happy Valley and Oregon in a barn, and people lost their shit. That was sick. Heatwave: During your last couple of US tours you had DJ’s spinning for your gigs – DJ Fish in Las Vegas, DJ Suzanne Bummers in Portland, and me, DJ Nix Beat in Salt Lake City. Do you think having DJ’s spin at your shows makes a difference? If so, how? Shaw: I think having a DJ is crucial. First off, it alerts the weirdos that are in there drinking that a rock n’ roll/punk show is about to happen. It also sets tone for the show, which is cool if you’re in a place you’ve never played before. DJ’s don’t get a lot of credit, they probably don’t get any credit, but I always appreciate hearing great punk 45s being played loud as shit out of house speakers. Heatwave: Ex-Cult’s last album Negative Growth was released in 2016. Where does the name ‘Negative Growth’ come from? Does it have anything to do with the economic theory of the same name? Shaw: I didn’t know there was an economic theory called negative growth. I think that title is kind of my feelings about my old home town and my life there. I’ve been singing in bands since I was 15, but somewhere in there I got married, got a college degree, worked for a newspaper for a while and worked my way up to Music Editor. Then I realised all that shit I was “supposed” to be doing was a fucking joke. I had nothing to show for it – Negative Growth. Heatwave: What are you drawing from with ‘Government Birdcage?’ Shaw: ‘Government Birdcage’ is about being on death row in prison. “The Government Birdcage” is a term I made up for being in prison. If you read the lyrics, there are references to being taken to the “execution room.” Waiting for the impending doom is a feeling I think we captured well on Negative Growth, specifically on the song ‘Government Birdcage.’ When death finally comes, it is welcomed. Heatwave: Also, what is the story behind the song ‘Panic in Pig Park?’ Shaw: Fuck the police! Heatwave: In an interview with northertransmissions.com you were asked how you felt about the future of society and said that Negative Growth reflects your state of mind. I was wondering if you could expand on what you meant by that?

Shaw: Well things haven’t exactly gotten better since I said that. I try not to use the band to make political or social comments, so that’s all I have to say. I think people are pretty aware of how shitty the situation is in the US, anyway. Heatwave: Negative Growth was released through In The Red Records. How did you get involved with them? Shaw: Larry Hardy mentioned that he was interested in doing a single and so the conversation started there. Everyone in the band is fans of the label, so it was a very easy decision. In The Red is a staple, most people who like the type of music we play know that they can count on that label. Heatwave: You also worked with Ty Segall with GØGGS. Do you plan to work with Segall on future projects or Ex-Cult albums? Shaw: GØGGS II will be unleashed when the dark lord manifests it into being. Ex-Cult will start writing again in early 2018. Heatwave: Since you’ve moved to LA what are some of the differences you’ve come across in the music, in comparison to living in Memphis? Shaw: It’s not really fair to compare Memphis to LA. I mean, there is no comparison there. Memphis has always had a small, but dedicated music scene. It’s to the point now where Ex-Cult can pretty much play anywhere and expect to play to more people than if we played in Memphis. Kinda sad, but life is sad. Heatwave: In an interview with Noisey, you mentioned that Blurry, which was released on Red Lounge Records, represented a word you associate with “being worn down, tired and not all there, but not fully fucked.” I was wondering, what were you drawing from for this track? Shaw: I think ‘Blurry’ is the last of the songs that will have a similar feel as the Negative Growth tracks, it’s in the same vein, for sure. Blurry may be our most straight forward punk song we’ve written. It’s fun to play live and the single is pretty hard to track down as well. Heatwave: Does Ex-Cult plan on returning to Europe soon? If so, where would you like to go? Shaw: Right now there aren’t any plans, but I’m sure we will be back soon! I’d like to go to Italy, spend more time in Germany and Spain. We want to play anywhere that will have us. Heatwave: What do you find are the biggest differences between playing Europe versus the United States? Shaw: The live show stays the same, but pretty much every other aspect of the shows are different. Promoters don’t always treat us the best in the US, which I guess you really notice when you go to Europe. Heatwave: What’s next for Ex-Cult? Can readers expect new material from you? Shaw: Yep. We will have something new in 2018 on In The Red Records. We normally use the winter to write and contemplate the meaning of our existence By Nick Kuzmack (DJ Nix Beat)

pain might be having all kinds of crises this year, but something extremely good coming out from all of that, is the new stream of post-punk bands, such as Futuro Terror. Futuro Terror are Néstor, Héctor and Jose, a trio from Alicante, whose new album Precipicio was released in September. Our writer and friend, Gema Germen, who knows them a little too well, got in touch with them to learn a bit more about what they have been up to. Heatwave: For those who don’t know you, where do you come from? Have any of you been involved with any other bands? Néstor: The three of us have been playing for a long time. I have been in Spanish bands – Morenas, QATEM, Todo Lo Bueno, La Mujer Blandenga, Sobrasada, Mistol, Corea, Destrega… At the moment, apart from Yorchh and Futuro Terror, I have a project with José and Víctor from Morenas called, provisionally, Brigada. José: I have also been in many bands. I played in Los Plátanos, Ansaldo Tropical, and at the moment, Alfa-Estilo and Brigada, as well as Futuro Terror and Heatwave

other projects I have in the pipeline. Heatwave: I met you around 2013, when I moved to London. You were involved in the legendary label Discos Humeantes, which was run by Pablo. What happened with the label? We like a bit of gossip, do you have anything you would like to tell us, good or bad... We know that one day the name changed to Humo, but nothing else. Néstor: All I can ever say about Pablo is good. I love Pablo and everything that he did with the label. He did it in a very logical and consistent way, but of course, if you gotta do all the job alone, in the end you get fed up. I think Humo, that is another story.

Futuro Terror Gema German and Neus Ruiz

José: Well, I think Pablo wanted to get away from a certain indie punk scene, to call it something. It was the time when Burger Records was the hype and you would see people with Discos Humeantes T-shirts and Burger Records bags... People that were probably more there for the hype than the music. The scene was quite annoying, mostly because in Discos Humeantes we were a family, something very, very far from what the scene was starting to get associated with at that time. I think he wanted to run away from that scene no matter what. I believe that his new label, Humo, has

accomplished the biggest and most credible catalogue from our country. And Pablo is an incredible person and a very good friend. Heatwave: Comparisons are crap, but do you see the band in a better place with Bcore and the last two records? How are they treating you? Néstor: Bcore works in a very different way from the way Discos Humeantes was doing it. You could say that this label is more professional. With people that are more involved, with more time to work on it, and I imagine with more money too of course. Anyway, they treat us very well. José: Indeed. Heatwave: I love the designs from the latest posters. Especially the cover of the last record. Are any of you involved with the artwork? Néstor: I do the posters, as well as the designs for the two 7-inches we have. The artwork of the new LP was done by María Gea from La Plata. José: María Gea is doing incredible things, all the artwork and design from La Plata are brutally elegant. Also, everything that Néstor does is very cool. He has been developing his style for a million years and every day his designs look better. Heatwave: What music do you listen to at home? Do not answer punk, please. We already know that, but give us some names... Néstor: Not “everything,” like they say, but a bit of a variety. Rather than at home, I would say I have listened a lot of new stuff in the car such as, Connan Mockasin, Dick Diver, The Goon Sax, Royal Headache, Mild High Club, D.L.I.M.C, The Coneheads, Duds, Omni, Sievehead, Institute, Uranium Club, Protomartyr... José: Same as Néstor’s, basically, and a lot of classics too. Lately, I have been listening a lot to Mirrors Over Kiev, The League of Gentlemen, Oxid, Marine Girls and also more known things, The Usual, Mission of Burma, Big Boys, Wipers, Death…

sentence, of course I also ask for help. Heatwave: I love your lyrics. Many of the melodies and your way of singing reminds me of Violeta de Juanita y Los Feos, do you like them? Néstor: Yes, of course I like Juanita y los Feos in general. Violeta’s voice is the most, also when she sings in Rata Negra o Megaherzios. José: I try to learn from anyone that is able to write amazing lyrics in Spanish, in a natural way, including Violeta of course. I have also learned a lot from Fantasmage or Parálisis Permanente, or even from pop bands such as La Mode. Also, I love the lyrics from Sierra, Fasenuova or Pablo Und Destruktion, but with them I prefer the lyrics rather than the way of singing to be honest. Heatwave: In London, if someone has doubts about where to master a record and asks around, everyone tends to head to Daniel Husayn’s studio. Your first record was also mastered there, why him? What do you think about the mastering studios in Spain? Néstor: Our two first LPs and the second 7-inch were mastered there. I think it was because we saw the name on the credits of the Love Triangle record. We went to the website and decided to try. I don’t really know much about studios, but it’s hard to find a record mastered in Spain that really convinces me in terms of sound. José: I get the feeling that in London people are a little less afraid when it comes to risking and playing with the sound as is the case of Love Triangle. I also usually listen to albums that sound more natural than those in Spain, as is the case with Sauna Youth. Here, there is a kind of obsession to get everything to sound very good and the mixes sometimes do not have much life. Then when people risk it most of

© Alexandra Pena the times it just sounds very good, don’t ask me why. Hahaha. Heatwave: Are you going on tour soon or are you already submerged into it? Are you planning to pop by the UK again? Néstor: We have now started booking the first dates for the launch of the new record. There are quite a few and they are one after the other. We are still pending a visit to the UK, we talked about doing a mini tour with The Abjects, but things are still up in the air. José: Yes, well, the thing is, last time we were going to play with them we couldn’t make it. We could also play with Retrofuture (Gema’s band), are you up for it? Hehehe. Heatwave: If you had to translate Futuro Terror into English, what would be the most accepted interpretation? You can take a few lines to explain if it goes beyond the limits of reality. I think that you have predicted very well the present age in which we are living. Néstor: The easy thing would be to say “Terror Future,” right? But of course, we could say something coming from a movie, like Apocalypse Now. José: Well, it’s also that game with the Pistols’ ‘No Future,’ so it could be something like, “Yes Future, but shit future.” Although I doubt it has any grammatical sense.

Heatwave: What’s your process of composing the songs? José: I get the ideas from the songs, like a little draft in which there are already a few riffs and a melody, a verse and a chorus to say something. Afterwards, we finish everything in the rehearsal studio between all of us. We give form to the structure and at the end I finish doing the lyrics at home. Sometimes if I am stuck with a verse or 17

Heatwave

Â©Ruth Mora

The band has already played within Europe and internationally. Neus Ruiz

iznaga has become one of my favourite bands this year (and possibly yours soon too).

ever band comic for Heatwave about Biznaga’s most well known song ‘Una When asked if there is a limit they said, Ciudad Cualquiera.’ “never, we are open to everything.” As Biznaga explained to us, this is a song Unless you are a very square minded with a somewhat ‘romantic’ air. A tribute to person, you will definitely understand a city that is a great stage for stories of all their message. kinds – tales of passions and miseries, and Watch out for Biznaga, because their the hustle and bustle of its days and nights. upcoming plans are to play a lot of gigs and travel as much as possible to find new places for inspiration.

That’s why it has that style of image, expository and descriptive, like flashes This bunch, from every corner of Spain, of scattered pictures and characters. first met in Madrid, almost as if it was But the ultimate meaning is given by meant to be. In no time they had gotten In case you love digging for new beats, the refrain, “A city as good to die for as it together and found a musical spark. they recommend Spanish bands, such any other city, any city to die for,” which People saw them play or heard some of as, Violeta Vil, Enamorados, Suicidas, beats with the ideas of masochism, their songs, from mouth to mouth, from La URSS, La Plata, Barcelona, Carne, fascination and the disenchantment that ear to ear, eye to eye… What started as AVT, Cuchillo de Fuego, Fasenuova, is experienced while living in a big city. an EP turned into an LP and the rest is Satélite, Calvario, Obediencia, Rata Negra… etc. The truth is, despite everyone’s differences, history... Well not yet, but it will be! we all look and feel alike. Increasingly more They are inspired by the 70s and 80s When asked what they would say to any so as time passes by. It is, unintentionally, Spanish scene. Bands such as Parálisis of the new generation that want to start a song that despite feeling provincial, has Permanente, Los Ilegales, Eskorbuto, a band, they advised, “Do not be afraid a fairly universal and borderless discourse. Kortatu, Gabinete Caligari, Último Resorte and play as much as you can, no matter and of course, those UK bands that we what, no matter who with or what they It doesn’t matter who you are or where all love – The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, have to say. And mostly prepare a good you’re located geographically. Everything Buzzcocks, Wire, Protex... This last one is live show. Sing, either in your native has an end, and that annihilates any also on Heatwave’s top list and they even language or in the one in which you can concepts linked to territory, identity or express yourself best.” culture, as being something native and played together for this issue’s launch! distinctive of a particular place. So far, their experience has been really After contacting Biznaga, I also got in good and the Biznaga fan base is touch with Ruth Mora. Ruth is an amazing Fair enough, anyone that does not live in growing around the world every day. artist from Mexico, who created the first their native town will totally understand.

El Marquès

Linsey McFadden

arcelona-based artist and musician, Adrià Ferrer Marquès’ punk rock fuelled, 40s-50s influenced artistic style has birthed endless gig posters, album art, graphics and illustrations – including Bat Girl featured on pages 20 - 21. Bat Girl started the way a lot of cool designs by artists in the punk music scene do – as a gig poster. The creepy-cute illustration started it’s life in pencil, before being inked and having colours added digitally. “I realised it could be a great Halloween illustration, so I made some silkscreens to sell them,” Adrià said. “I was searching for some cool old-school costumes. I found some really awesome ‘bat girl’ disguises from Victorian times and I decided mix it with the more common skeleton tights.” A graphic tablet has only recently been added to his creative process. In the past his art would’ve been done completely manually, but after purchasing a tablet last year, he’s found it a lot easier to add the final touches digitally. Adrià only started taking his craft ‘seriously’ three years ago, but it wasn’t until this year when he started working full-time as an illustrator and graphic artist. He has a lot of experience working with bands and, mostly Spanish, record labels. With some notable ones being Bcore Disc and El Segell del Primavera. He also really enjoyed doing El Tren de la Bruja for Brighton 64. “I used to listen to them a lot when I was a teenager. I specially remember when they reunited again some years ago and did their first gig,” he said. “It was the first concert I went to with my little brother, so it was kind of special. I felt very happy when they asked me to do the artwork for their next album!” Sometimes labels come forward with very clear ideas and sometimes they give him lots of freedom. “Obviously I get more fun with the second ones,” Adrià said. “If the budget is not very high, I used to demand a bit of creative freedom, at least. I used to send them a sketch and if it’s all okay, I start with it.” However, lately he’s been enjoying doing editorial works, even getting to create bookcovers for filmmaker, Jacques Tati. “Illustrating books is my favourite stuff,” he said. “I’m very proud of it, cause I really like his 50s and 60s films.” Adrià’s interest in and inspiration from the artistic creations of the 40s - 60s is readily evident in his own work. He’d love the opportunity to do some jazz album covers; because he’s really into the ones from the 50s - 60s, but he welcomes all work offers. On top of making awesome art, he also spends his time singing in The PennyCocks, a 70s punk and rock n’ roll band started in the summer of 2009. Heatwave

“I always did all the artworks, album covers, merch designs, etc… It was a bit of learning for me,” he said. When it comes to straddling the lines between music and art, it’s become basically second nature for Adrià. “It’s all about practice, I suppose. After a bit, this creative stuff comes out of you in an easy way,” he said. “Drinking beer for thinking on the concept, and coffee for working could help. Also a place where you feel comfortable to do it.” The band plays often outside Spain and has quite a fanbase in Germany. They even played the UK for the first time last year, at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool. “It reminded me a bit of the Spanish shitty touristic sea villages I came from,” he said. Hopefully the PennyCocks will get a chance to experience more of the UK than Blackpool and we’ll get to see some more of Adrià’s posters, but for now, lets just keep our eyes out for more of his printed works. “I believe that the most important thing is to never lose curiosity,” he said. “You can always find new, inspiring stuff everyday if you keep this curious state of mind.”

Flamin’ Groovies T

Marko Petrovic, Neus Ruiz & Victoria Holford

here’s a great story about how I got into the Groovies. It was 2001 or 2002, in the legendary Amsterdam rock n’ roll dive bar, De Diepte. Bone from The Anomalys was DJing and he put on this monster of a record, Teenage Head, and then played two covers of it in a row. I knew the Nine Pound Hammer version from a Scooch Pooch compilation I had for years, but never knew it was a cover. After I bumped into him in the toilet I asked him who that amazing record was by and he said those two magic words – Flamin’ Groovies. 23

Wow, I mean, what an over the top band name. Ridiculous, just like great band names are supposed to be. I started digging up everything I could find about them online, in old magazines and of course, going to all the record stores in town looking for their stuff. Slowly, I started to piece the whole story together… They started back in 1965 in San Francisco, in the golden age of rock n’ roll. By the end of the decade, when the music started to get boring and self-indulgent, they stuck to playing earthy, rootsy rock n’ roll in the vein of Chuck Berry and The Stones. By the early 70s they had perfected their high energy sound and become one the most influential proto-punk bands. Then after three albums the singer, Roy Loney, left them and their years in the wilderness began. He was replaced by the amazing, Chris Wilson, later of the Barracudas, and they went to England to cut demos at Dave Edmunds’ Rockfield Studios. While they were laying down some earth-shattering tunes, they couldn’t find a record label. A bootleg record here and there emerged, like the mind blowing Slow Death on the French label, Skydog, but they mainly established their reputation by playing hundreds of gigs all across Europe. Years later the demos from those sessions were released by Norton Records as Slow Death (Amazing High Energy Rock n’ Roll 1971-73!). I bought that record back in 2008, in Madrid, and it was a holy grail. Not just for the indescribably good songs, but also for extensive liner notes by the ever-present guitar player, Cyril Jordan. The material from those liner notes is the basis for my interview, but before we get to the interview, let’s finish the little Groovies history lesson. In 1976, after a couple of years where the band was in limbo, and by all accounts finished, the demos found their way to Seymour Stein. He loved what he heard and signed them to Sire Records, where they released three more classic albums. During the punk explosion in the late 70s, they fittingly incorporated a lot of Beatles/Byrds-like pop sensibilities into their sound, again not conforming to the prevailing musical trends. Then, in 1981, Jordan and Wilson fell out and the classic era of The Groovies was over. Jordan soldiered on through the 80s with different line-ups, including a stint with an Australian troupe, but the magic wasn’t there anymore. That was, until 2013, when Jordan and Wilson met each other for the first time in years and made up on the spot. Shows in Australia and Japan followed. They started working on a new record and there’s a documentary in the works. The Flamin Groovies had a new lease of life. Fast forward to September 2017, a sweaty backstage at the Q Factory in Amsterdam, where I had a no holds barred talk with Jordan and Wilson, with a little help from Heatwave head ‘honchita,’ Neus… Heatwave: I had a listen to your new record and found it to be both rootsy, like your first incarnation, as well as poppy, which is reminiscent of your second classic incarnation. Was that a conscious thing? Chris Wilson: No, it just worked out that way. Cyril and I had been working on the songs for some months, Heatwave

from when we got back together again in 2012, with these other two schmoes, Victor and George. George hadn’t played guitar (Bass) in 25 years and Victor was like a chancer. He was strictly on the road to get laid, basically, and make as much money as he could! Heatwave: Wasn’t there a Facebook outcry about George Alexander not being in the band any more? Chris Wilson: Oh yes, of course there was. Because he made it sound like he had been fired, but he wasn’t fired at all… He quit and left us in the lurch because he wouldn’t finish the sessions that we had booked at our friend, David Earl’s, studio. Heatwave: I had a pizza with David Earl outside of The Roundhouse. He was a really cool guy! But we digress… let me put that question to Cyril too, was it conscious decision to incorporate both the rootsy, as well as the poppy sound, into the new record? Cyril Jordan: It’s natural, yeah it’s totally natural. We have a side of us that’s very poppy, like The Beatles, but then we have got another side that’s like The Stones, you know? Then we’ve got a full prog side that’s like The Byrds… Not one group influenced us, but a lot of groups. We just love rock n’ roll. Heatwave: Cyril, I wanna get into some nitty gritty. I reread some liner notes today, so… James Brown 63? Cyril: Oh man, 63 was a concert in Oakland and I went with my cousin. We were the only white people there, right? And we had these boots and silver coats and the black people looked at us like… should we kill them or should we kiss them? They didn’t know, they didn’t kiss us, but they didn’t touch us you know? When I was young, the black people (and we called them ‘The Bloods’) you know? The way they talked, the way they danced, the way they sang and the way they dressed man, it’s like these are the coolest people. They had the jive and these new kids, they don’t got the jive no more, you know what I mean? These kids, they don’t know who Robert Johnson was, but they know who Oprah is! Heatwave: Ok… Being with OJ Simpson, give it up!

Cyril: I went to high school with OJ, but only summer school. Heatwave: Was he already an athletic star? Cyril: He was on the football team, but he was one of those black guys that the other black guys made fun of, so when I heard that he did this thing, I thought to myself, “now that’s not the OJ that I know.” Now let me tell you what I think happened... about six months before he supposedly did this terrible thing, I had heard that there was a hit out on him, from a Cuban coke dealer that OJ owed a quarter of a million dollars to... Because he was a big coke addict. Now what the mob does, they don’t kill you, they kill your wife because then the cops go after you. Same thing with Phil (Spector). Phil is crazy like Lenny Bruce and Lenny Bruce pissed off the federal government people, the judge and everybody and then they came after him. Phil pissed off his lawyers and they said “fuck him!” He had no gun residue, you can’t shoot without gun residue. Heatwave: Are we talking free Phil? Cyril: Yeah, free Phil Spector! Heatwave: What about walking on the porn set, Behind the Green Door? Cyril: Well what happened was, I was at the Fillmore Auditorium, it was 1969, it was a Friday night. I came in late at about 11 o’clock and I didn’t see anybody that I knew, so I started to walk out and Chas Chandler, Jimi Hendrix manager/Bassist from The Animals, walks out and I go, “Hey Chas, what are you doing?” He said, “I’m going to a party.” I said, “Oh yeah? Where’s that?” He said, “Up the street.” So we walk out of the Fillmore, we turn left, we go about a block, we go into the church that five years later Jim Jones uses... you know Jonestown Massacre? We go into the church, we go downstairs, long hallway, rooms on both sides, no doors, right? There’s an orgy going on! It’s like 150 people fucking and sucking and just everything! And I go to Chas, “Hey, it’s a pretty good party man,” and he goes, “I can’t fuckin’ believe it!” So I walk the end of the hallway and I see this big opening with a bunch of lights. I come in, I look and I see Marilyn Chambers on the staircase sucking this guy’s dick, right? And then these guys on the right go “Cut, cut, cut!” So there’s footage of me on the cutting from floor at the Mitchell Brothers! Heatwave: You should get that footage for the documentary. Cyril: Oh yeah, that would be awesome. Heatwave: How about Johnny B Good, C Minor, Brian Wilson? Cyril: Oh! The night that we cut the Shake Some Action second version in 1974 (Capitol Records). It’s twoin-the-morning and we went back to the house we were staying at with an old girlfriend of mine, Michelle. We walk in and Shelly is talking to Brian Wilson, sitting on the couch drinking and he’s got a pint glass filled with Vandermint, this Dutch chocolate liquor. We go in the kitchen, he comes in and goes, “You guys are the Groovies” and he picks me and George up and squeezes us right? And I said to Brian, “Brian I got this idea for Johnny B good in C minor.” And he went, “we’ve gotta find a piano.” So he starts calling up recording studios, of course it’s now four-in-the-morning, he’s hammered, he can’t get ahold of anybody. So he says, “ok we’re going to my house.” So we jump in his Lincoln Continental, we go to his house and I show it to him and then he showed me a bunch of his songs.

But I knew Brian since 62, because I was backstage at all The Beach Boys shows. So, there was one time back in 62 and they were all there singing ‘Surfer Girl’ a cappella with no microphones. I fell in love. It was pure magic. Heatwave: Tell me about Seymour Stein of Sire Records taking you to an underground corridor under Chinatown. Cyril: Okay, so Seymour takes me out for dinner. After dinner we go into an alleyway and we smoke a joint and go down these stairs and a little boy opens the door and there’s like 500 Chinese guys going “Hey Seymour!” I used to tell people Seymour is one of the five guys who rules the world. Man, I love him, he saved rock n’ roll, stretched it for another five years by signing us, The Ramones, Talking Heads and all those bands. The last great wave of American rock n’ roll. And that was a shame, because the MC5 were gone, they broke up in our house. This was 1972, John Sinclair was already in jail, and that whole scene went up like a fart in the wind. Anyway, at four-in-the-morning Wayne comes downstairs and goes “Hey can you call me a cab?” and I call him a cab. Fifteen minutes later he’s gone, then ten minutes later Rob Tyner comes and goes “Where’s Wayne?” and I go “He took a cab,” and he goes “Oh no!” They did a show a day later at the Speakeasy without Rob and that was it. If they had survived I’m sure I could’ve talked Seymour into signing them. After the interview we chatted on, off the record about all kinds of shit, including politics and life in the 21st Century in general. Speaking of 2017, Cyril is still fighting the temptations of modern communication, so no mobile phone or email addresses for him. But as we had an amazing chat and both felt we could’ve gone on for hours, he gave me his home phone number back in San Francisco and we made a deal to delve deeper into his unique life story. To be continued…

Heatwave: Was he already blacklisted at that time as a looney? Cyril: Well, he had a basketball player from the LA Lakers as his bodyguard to protect him from himself and other people like, Van Dyke Parks, who always wanted to give him heroin. 25

JC Satàn

Laurie Jane

C Satan’s motto for their live shows is ‘have fun, become crazy.’ If you’ve ever seen the Bordeaux-based, halfFrench and half-Italian garage rock group play live, you’ve probably experienced and encountered a bit of both of those states. They purposely try and make their live sound different from their albums by performing louder and more primitive than their recordings, which have a more polished and almost pop-like sensibility at times. The band sometimes gets compared to Thee Oh Sees, The Feeling of Love and Ty Segall, but they still manage to create their own distinctive sound of chunkydoom-pop blended with dark guitar riffs and unsettling, screeching vocals. JC Satan’s lead-woman, Paula Scassa, first met Arthur Larregle of The Meatards and Crâne Angels in her native Italy, but it wasn’t until she came over to Bordeaux on a holiday in 2008 that JC Satan was born. The band initially just played together for fun, and even their name was originally a joke, but when Slovenly Recordings approached them about putting out an LP they began to At our shows, we try to be kind of loud, practice and play on a more regular basis. violent and nasty. We want it to be After releasing their album, Sick of Love, two different experiences, being in in 2010 the band finalised their lineup your room listening to the record in 2011. Along with Paula on vocals and or being in a club during a concert. Arthur on guitar and backing vocals, the Heatwave: What has changed the band also includes Romain Boutin on most since you first got together? drums, Alice Ronzini on bass and Dorian Verdier on keyboards. The band has since Paula: Surely we are a little bit better, put out four albums, six EPs and they seem especially where I am concerned. I wasn’t to tour almost every other month. There’s able to sing seven years ago. I’m still out of no sign of them stopping anytime soon. tune sometimes, but now I can recognise it! We had a chance to chat with vocalist, Heatwave: You all connected with Paula, ahead of their appearance at the each other originally in Bordeaux. We’re Loud Fest in Naples, to find out Do you all still live there? just what JC Satan has been up to lately. Paula: We all live in Bordeaux. I moved Heatwave: How would you here from Turin, Italy, to be closer to the describe the JC Satan sound? band six years ago and I’m still here. The others have all lived in Bordeaux Paula: Well, it depends if it’s how we since before we became a band. sound on a record or during a show. The sound of our recordings have evolved Heatwave: You seem to tour pretty over our five records and we are evolving regularly. Do you all enjoy it? too. We record everything by ourselves, Paula: We like touring the most. It’s so at the beginning it was a lot more the best. Sometimes it can be tiring, lo-fi. I’d say more cheap or naff… but especially when you spend more than after seven years, it’s become more clean seven hours in a tiny van, but the and precise and I’d say also more pop. conditions have improved in the past years. So it’s usually something we all enjoy.

© Paula H. Satàn The more places we can visit and the more cities we can play in, it is surely one of the best experiences you can have in your life. Heatwave: Are there any particular gigs or festivals that have stood out for you? Paula: In general it’s really fun to play big festivals, because then it’s possible to play for a lot of people and usually we also get to see shows of bands that we like. The last festival we played, was End of the Road in the UK and it was amazing. Even though we played as the first band on the first day, at noon, there were still plenty of people and it had a really warm feeling. That festival is also amazing in general, so many good bands, a nice location and lots of friendly people. Outside of festivals, one of the best shows we ever played was at The Maroquinerie in Paris, for the release party of our fourth record for Born Bad. Heatwave: Who is your favourite artist you’ve ever performed with? Paula: We had the chance to do a whole European tour with Ty Segall in 2015 and it was great. We performed with so many 27

good bands. I’m worried I’ll forget some, so I can’t make an exhaustive list, but we shared the stage with Meatbodies, Destruction Unit, King Dude, The Intelligence, Movie Star Junkies, Frustration, Usé, Magnetix and Black Bug to name a few. Heatwave: Your last record came out in 2015, any plans for recording again soon? Paula: We just finished recording our fifth record and it should be out in February 2018. Heatwave: What are your plans for the next year (2018)? Paula: Next year we will release the new record and we hope to tour for the whole year nonstop. We will probably tour in France and come back to the © AKrAw2Live UK. We hope to have an EU tour and maybe even US. We’re also thinking Last (aka Full Moon Empty Sports Bag) about going to Japan too! and Compulsive Gamblers Gamblin’ Days Heatwave: Is there any new music that Are Over. In terms of really new music, I like a lot of different stuff like Ho99o9, you’re listening to regularly? Lana del Rey or Terrortron. Paula: Lately I’m listening to a lot of old Italian and French music, like Lucio Battisti If you didn’t catch JC Satan at the We’re or Nino Ferrer. I’ve also been recently Loud Fest in Naples, be sure to check listening to some old records that I used to them out when they tour with their new listen to almost ten years ago, like Country record next year. Teasers Secret Weapon Revealed at

Ron Gallo Penelope York

on Gallo seems like he belongs to a different species than the common musician. He might practice in the same rehearsal rooms, use the same instruments, play the same venues, but Ron Gallo surely is a different breed. One of those few who are not afraid to search deep within, experimenting with everything from roots rock to garage punk, while – like any true artist, dissecting and scrutinising his own life experiences. From Philadelphia, now settled in sunny Nashville, Ron Gallo delivers his own take on the world, backed by bassist, Joe Bisirri, and drummer, Dylan Sevey. Keep a close eye on this one, for Ron Gallo still has a lot to say and for many years to come.

Heatwave: I’ll start with a bang. One that I wouldn’t know how to answer. Who is Ron Gallo as a person? Ron: You know as well as I do! I honestly don’t know either... I am trying to figure that out. I found out recently that I am not this name, or idea, or mind, or body that I thought I was for a long time. But Ron Gallo, the character I play daily, is mostly associated with the music he makes, so we can talk about that since that’s why we are talking in the first place. Heatwave: Now, let’s talk about music. Your former band, Toy Soldiers, back in Philadelphia, grew from a two-piece to a ten-piece and then back to a four-piece, with you being the sole constant. Now you’re a solid three in Nashville. How would you value the Toy Soldiers’ experience? What did it teach you?

Ron: It was like a rite of passage to go and struggle and make every mistake a band can make. That allows you to actually start to figure some things out about what you are trying to do. Heatwave: You say Philly became a cold, dark place to you and ‘especially stagnant.’ Why did you choose Nashville as the next chapter? Besides the extreme change of pace, does it have anything to do with the mix of American music roots history and the increasing garage underground scene? Ron: It was mostly the sun, space to breathe and the connection I had with my friends living there that brought me to it. It’s just a nice place to live and come back to. It has a really good vibe and people are kind. Heatwave: For the sake of the audience, let’s talk about

genres. Toy Soldiers were all about American roots rock, blues, country and folk. Your solo work has a myriad of inspirations, which I find deeply stimulating. In this constellation however, when talking about Heavy Meta, how did garage punk become the main propelling force? Should we blame Philly on this one? Ron: When we started making Heavy Meta, a hundred years ago. I started to see myself in the freakishness and energy of a lot of the punk and garage kind of stuff. I figured maybe I was suppressing a lot of that, making music that wasn’t reflective of where I was at. I guess the things I started talking about in songs was complementary to a more aggressive sounding music. It was just what seemed honest to me as a music maker and someone who plays music live. It’s what I like

to see and what I like to play, but that is always changing. Heatwave: For you, the lyrics are the core and the music a mere conductor, one that allows you to tell your stories louder and make them easier to reach. How do you work out which messages you want to send out to the world and can you tell me about your songwriting process? Ron: It’s really just living dayto-day and observing the world and myself – how I feel about those things and then the song ideas present themselves. I find that songs do not happen when you try to make them happen. I want to try and contribute something to the world and people with music, not just add more fluff or entertainment per se. So I try and find universal things that we all tend to avoid or ignore in an attempt to encourage some inquiry into them. 29

Heatwave: What songwriters and musicians inspire you the most? Is there a particular one who you could see as a mentor? Ron: I don’t usually get inspired by obvious musical things or one person consistently. I’m always shifting and pulling from many places. I’m inspired more by intangible things like the energy of Iggy Pop or the honesty and fearlessness of a lot comedians. Or a songwriter like Sun Kil Moon, or the inherent weirdness of Andy Kaufman or Talking Heads, or George Harrison and John Lennon’s exploration of spirituality in rock music. Or the humour of Lou Reed, or the wide-eyedness of Jonathan Richman/The Modern Lovers, or the power/ emotion of singers like Jeff Buckley or Mahalia Jackson. Heatwave: Your last album, Heavy Meta, talks about, as you said it so well, “timeless human issues,” but always with a twist of mockery. When I’m feeling lost, I also use humour to cope with... well, our timeless issues. How do you choose what thoughts to gather and how do you rearrange them into songs? Did it help you to shush some internal ghosts? Ron: I wish I could choose to gather thoughts, but I think they choose me, and the ones that I end up feeling really strongly about usually turn into songs. To be honest, I think a lot of my internal issues surrounding the songs on Heavy Meta have been mostly worked through a long time ago, so I feel way past all of that stuff now. Heatwave: The title Heavy Meta, is it as deep as it sounds? A wordplay to capture the heaviness of your lyrics’ themes, aided by a good pinch of humour for a better assimilation? A way to process your feelings into a single concept? Heatwave

© Tom Bejgrowicz Ron: It’s a total joke, but I think it sums up the whole vibe. There is a heaviness to it, there are ‘meta’ elements to it and the title is a pun, so that covers the humorous side. Heatwave: You say you’re in another place now, a better place than when you wrote Heavy Meta. Where do you think this better place will take you musically speaking? Will the next album answer some questions raised in Heavy Meta? Ron: If Heavy Meta was me angry, going off on all my issues with the world, then the next album will be me taking personal responsibility and asking “what can we do about all of this?” Heatwave: The world is finally calling. How does it feel touring outside the US for the first time? How’s it going so far? Do you think it’ll have an inspirational role on your next album? Ron: Our touring style this year has been so non-stop and insane that each time we’ve gone to Europe I have been completely zombified and exhausted from day one and that hindered my view of the whole experience. But I am excited to try again, when

I feel more like a human. That being said, the shows and crowds and a lot of the places we’ve gone to were incredible and not something I would have ever imagined I’d be doing a year ago. Heatwave: The world is sceptic as never before, me included. Yet you are rather spiritual. How and where do you find that strength? Apart from the amazing catharsis that music brings, what else do you do to find inner peace? Ron: I mean it’s not really a strength. I think that it’s just getting to the root or truth of what we really are as humans and it’s not what we do, our job, our name, our opinions, our thoughts, our identity, or accomplishments. We are so consumed by all those things that we think that is what we are. It takes a serious willingness to question EVERYTHING we have ever known to start to figure out what life is. I think that our true essence as humans, beneath all the noise of this false world and sense of self we created is peace, silence and a wonderful sense of nothingness, that anytime I’ve been fortunate enough to experience has brought a lot of true happiness, the kind that cannot be attained.

Heatwave: How do you keep your inspiration going, your inner fire live and kicking? Do you have any advice for not only young musicians, but all kinds of people on how to keep your passions and ambitions alive? Ron: It sounds cliché, but just live your truth and that’s tricky because you may not know your truth, but even that is one, that’s actually a great one - to live as if you don’t know shit. Don’t take yourself or your ambitions too seriously because none of it matters and neither do you. Enjoying your life and loving what you make and the people you make it with are the only things that matter and if you can pay rent and have cool experiences from doing that then cool, but striving for anything beyond that is a surefire path to suffering.

Vision of France Through A Musical Perspective Cullen O’Connor

ach time when touring Europe with my band, Archie and the Bunkers, my favourite country to play, without doubt, is France. Whether it is the extremely enthusiastic and frantic crowds, superb bands, friendly people or the excellent venues that make France a cut above the rest, I have yet to decipher. One thing that I do know for certain however, is that the French certainly know how to appreciate music. The music scene in France is tight-knit, but unlike most other scenes that have been shrinking over the last decade, the music scene in France is constantly growing. Whether they are from the same city or opposite parts of the country, the French scene really just feels like one big, happy family. My first time ever being exposed to the music scene in France was at a festival in Bourges called Cosmic Trip. This was my first time ever being in France... or Europe in general. Even after two European tours, this festival is still one of my fondest memories. The lineup for the 2016 Cosmic Trip Festival included jaw dropping performances from The King Khan and BBQ Show, Heavy Trash, The Jackets, The Monsters and a ton of other amazing bands. What makes this festival even more amazing are the people who put it together. Everyone was super helpful and caring, especially to a newer American band, such as mine. Although I didn’t know it at the time, Cosmic Trip Festival is run by multiple Heatwave

members of a French band called Bee Dee Kay and The Roller Coaster. This group, formed in Tours during the early-mid 1990s, is almost beyond description. If I was forced to describe their sound, I would say that they are exceedingly garage-punk and raw, but the instrumentation gives them a very deep and full-sound, which is mind-blowing. The group’s singer, Bee Dee Kay, has a very unique and original voice that sounds like an amalgamation of Elvis Presley, Jello Biafra and Lux Interior. He’s not the only spectacular thing about this band, however, the rest of the musicians are also extremely powerful and talented. Especially the guitarist, Mr Lorenzo, and the saxophonist, Big Fred Rollercoaster, who is also a member of King Khan and the Shrines. I would never have guessed when meeting them, that they were in such an intense and killer band. Only being in France for two shows my first tour was heartbreaking, but thankfully we played nine shows when my band returned in June and July 2017. Fortunately for me I really got the opportunity to soak in the French music scene this time around. The first show we played was at Le 106 in Rouen. It’s a newer music establishment, built inside of a warehouse on the Seine River. I honestly think it could be one of the nicest and coolest venues we’ve ever played, not to mention that their private caterer cooked us a gourmet dinner and

dessert before the concert… That might have been the best meal I had all tour long. The local opening band, The Baked Beans, had a very Psychedelic, 60s pop-punk sound and I remember them being quite good. Things were already going great on day one, but the next two shows only got better. Relache Fest in Bordeaux came next and I had no idea what to expect. It was in the middle of a city square and things seemed pretty quiet until about 30-minutes before we played. By the time we started more than 500 people, surprisingly a lot of younger kids, were going crazy to our music. We ended up doing three encores and then stayed to party and dance with the DJ and the crowd until almost 3am. Surprisingly the DJ played all 50s and 60s American music, like The Beach Boys, John Lee Hooker and Chuck Berry. After Bordeaux, was a six hour drive to play This is Not A Love Song Festival in Nimes. This festival had a wide range of bands playing, like King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Thee Oh Sees, The Black Angels, Jake Bugg, Royal Trux and Echo and the Bunnymen. It was one of the best crowds we’ve ever had. Again I couldn’t believe the amount of people enjoying so many different types of music. You would never see so many people interested in all these styles of music at an American music festival.

Les Grys-Grys were definitely my favourite French band at This Is Not A Love Song Festival. They have a garage rock basis infused with an R&B sound that is truly infectious. Currently, Les Grys-Grys have two singles out. One on State Records and another on Dirty Water Records. Rennes and Nantes were the next French destinations on our tour. Rennes could possibly be the sweatiest show we have ever played. It was unusually hot, even for late June. If my memory serves me correctly, it was around 39 C or 102 F outside. Inside, the venue was crammed with people. It reached such a ridiculous temperature that I had to step outside in the middle of the show to avoid passing out. Only half the crowd could even fit in the venue, the other half stayed outside, which was probably a wise decision. The Mockin’ Birds were the support group that night. Their style is similar to that of The Kingsmen and The Sonics. If I remember correctly, they even did a cover of ‘Have Love Will Travel,’ which I genuinely enjoyed. Nantes took place on June 21, which is also known as Fête de la Musique. Yes, France has a holiday dedicated to going out and enjoying live music. It is absolutely terrific! Everywhere in the city was full of people and bands. When we played, people were literally crowd surfing in the street. Fortunately for us, we had amazing support from sensational French one-man band, King Automatic. Not only is he kick-ass, but he is also one of the nicest guys I have met. King Automatic has really created his own style of rock n’ roll that is like a mix of tribal, surf, R&B and punk. He has released quite a bit of music, with all of his full length albums on Voodoo Rhythm Records. King Automatic is absolutely one of the most mesmerising one-man bands I have ever seen. In Paris, we played La Mécanique Ondulatoire, which is one of the two places for good international rock n’ roll bands to go. Both times I have gone there, it has been an overwhelmingly pleasant experience. This time, I got the privilege of playing with one of the most primitive duos in rock n’ roll, The Punkin’ Bros. I had only ever seen videos and pictures, which really made me hyped. When they hit the stage they certainly did not disappoint. The Punkin’ Bros can put all your favourite guitar-drum duos to shame, with a ferociousness that goes unrivalled. They display a wide range of sounds from 60s beat to Garage-Punk. Cry Baby Car Show in Redange was our second to last show in France. My expectations were low, but it was a blast. All the vintage American cars made me feel right at home. Surprisingly, it was one of the best live sounds that we have had, even though it was outdoors. The last show was at Les Eurockéennes de Belfort, one of the most prestigious festivals in all of France. Around 130,000 people attend this fest each year and it was a true honour to be asked to play. Most of the bands there didn’t really catch my interest, except of course for Iggy Pop! Playing with Iggy Pop has to be one of the greatest experiences in my life. Even after returning home to the United States, I am still discovering excellent French bands. I feel extremely lucky to have been sent a sneak peak of The Gentlemen’s Agreements’ upcoming album. Everyone should love The Gentlemen’s Agreements, because they have something for all music tastes. They categorise their sound as a freakbeat, garage, swinging 60s, R&B, mod band... I categorise it as spectacular. 33

© Archie and the Bunkers It definitely has vibes of The Animals mixed T & The MG’s, but it is so much more than just a doubt, The Gentlemen’s Agreements is favourite things happening in the French music

with Booker that. Without one of my scene today.

The music scene in France is something to treasure. It isn’t just focusing on one type of music and it doesn’t discriminate against either classic or inventive sounds. People in France appreciate, listen and play music, because that is what it was meant for. If you are ever in France for business or a vacation I invite you to go to the nearest bar or venue and see for yourself what makes the French music scene so special.

With confidence, there is the understanding that you are grateful to be where you are. The understanding that you got there through hard work, the help of others, etc. Arrogance suggests you are where you are because you deserve it, which isn’t really ever true. The documentary starts off by introducing Janis’ family, her hometown, her move to San Francisco, the part she played in Big Brother and their eventual demise, when her ego got too big to handle. Throughout the documentary, there is a fauxJoplin voiceover reading real letters that were sent to her family, between clips of her being interviewed, with fanciful wigs and feather boas. Though the voice was fake, the words she wrote were not and they are full of self-importance and lies.

rs n e k o h C n r o c Pop han & Justin Crumpto Frieda Strac

Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015) Frieda Strachan I feel about Janis Joplin the same way I used to feel about Juliette Lewis. She seems like such a cool person, but I just DON’T like her. While I grew to love and appreciate Juliette Lewis, even after this Janis Joplin documentary, I still don’t like or appreciate her. When I was around 13 or 14, my brother bought me a Jimi Hendrix CD and poster for Christmas and for a brief period I was obsessed. From there, I got into Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. I tried my best to get into Joplin, just because it seemed like I should… but I just couldn’t get there. There is a lot I admire about her – the fact she was the female face of rock n’ roll, the fact that she saw herself as “one of the boys” or the fact that she wasn’t like any of the other women from that Heatwave

Her interviews convey her as being a big shot, a hot shot – she talks about her inability to bake bread, because she is too busy being a pop star. Who cares about that? How is that the definition of a full life? She talks about all the fans obsessing over her and pointing out famous people she is in photos with to parents who probably couldn’t care less. She gloats on TV about travelling around Brazil, like an everyday person, she moans on an interview about people attacking her for “giving them what they ask for” and jokes about wanting to be around men and not women, because she doesn’t want the competition. I felt myself being disappointed by her throughout, upset by what she said and did, how she acted and reacted, © Disarming Films

era in terms of voice or look. Unfortunately, this documentary did little to ingratiate Janis to me. Throughout Little Girl Blue she comes across as arrogant, overly confident and egotistical... It definitely wasn’t just confidence.

that childish, try-hard thing about her. Then it dawned on me that she was 27 when she died. This realisation came moments before they discussed her death onscreen and I felt incredibly sad all of a sudden. I’m not sure if it was the intention of the filmmaker to set it up that way, to present her as such an unlikeable person, only to drop the death bombshell right there when we had forgotten she was young and confused and thrown into the spotlight when she was young, at a time when it does matter to you how the world perceives you. You see how she smiled when working with the final producer she worked with, Paul A. Rothchild, having given up drugs, and how that final high was her demise. It’s sad, yes, but more than the sadness, I just felt guilty and sorry for her. As I’m not a fan of her work, I’m unsure of how things would have worked out had she continued to release music, completely drug free. Would the hedonistic lifestyle have calmed that part of her that was so desperate for fame, pleasure and admiration? Her friends who are interviewed, ex-bandmates who she dropped to become a star, they all seem to think she had so much to offer. One said she just felt too much and knew herself and her emotions too well to succeed in this life. I’m not sure how true that can be, when I feel I’ve learned so little of her having spent an hour and a half trying my best to see a flash of something that made me want to like her... Or her voice.

The Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) (2017) Frieda Strachan It shocked the world when a terrorist attack at the Bataclan venue in Paris took place in 2015, killing 90 people. A gunman opened fire at an Eagles of Death Metal gig, leaving attendees of the concert nowhere to hide or escape. It brought the band notoriety that they never had before. They were mentioned on the news all over the world and frontman, Jesse Hughes, became a spokesman for the band... And for the fans. Oddly, the film initially focuses on the ‘friendship’ between Hughes and the drummer of the band, Josh Homme (also the frontman for Queens of the Stone Age). It’s nice hearing about them supporting each other as teenagers, always being there for each other and having each other’s backs, but it also feels extremely self-indulgent. The very first shot is an unfinished clip from a French news report, where Hughes begins to breakdown when asked how he feels returning to Paris to play for those who witnessed the attack. Then it goes straight into Hughes talking about being a kid. This takes up the first part of the documentary, more than half. Only after we have established that EODM see themselves as posturing rock gods, are we introduced to anyone who witnessed their friends and loved ones pass away in front of them, but again, it’s mainly to talk about how great the band is. The thing is, no, though I don’t like the band, I never questioned that people going to see the gig were there because they do like the band. I never questioned that a side project band of Homme’s, which was always promoted as a side project with his childhood best friend, was ever a band that wasn’t founded on friendship - that’s their ‘thing.’ That was the selling point.

We are shown countless photos of the pair during awkward phases of their lives. We are made to relive moments where, would you believe it? Hughes didn’t think he was even cool, then all along he actually was! We are told about how Hughes owns multiple capes. We are told Hughes always has a persona and how he has a moustache! Isn’t that just SO QUIRKY. Actually, no. I found it kind of embarrassing. I wanted to know how the band changed and I assumed the documentary would focus on the lasting emotional effect of the incident on the band and their fans. And maybe even the connection that was made. I was also keen to hear why on earth Jesse Hughes suggested that Muslim security could have at one point been responsible for enabling the terrorist attack, and what realisation he had to make him backtrack that wasn’t obvious in the first place. That was off, too. Towards the end, when we finally get the opportunity to hear from the fans, we are given no real background, no one really gets the opportunity to set the scene for their night ahead and how it suddenly turned to shit… A story that I want to hear and meditate on.

That’s the engaging part, the empathetic part of the whole thing. The thing that connects the band to their ‘friends,’ but we are only given flashes of this connection. Hughes briefly meets with fans before the gig and breaks down and is comforted by Homme. It was a touching moment and I felt my heart swell, but I didn’t feel like that for the majority of the documentary. I was really wanting the film to give me more to think about than it actually did. During the gig he calls everyone

his ‘friend’ and it looked like fun, but I wanted a follow up. How did it feel being back there, seeing the same band, the same place where 90 people died unnecessarily, so suddenly. We weren’t given that, because it wasn’t the band’s friends who lost their lives really, the connection between a posturing ‘rock god’ and his consumers just seemed a bit lacking… and that was a real shame.

Ghostroads: A Japanese Rock n’ Roll Ghost Story (2017) Justin Crumpton When you really wanna make it as an aspiring musician, you will go to any length to do so. The popularity, TV, radio... All of the things that go along with it. But at the end of the day is it really worth all the blood sweat and tears? How far is one person truly willing to go to make their dreams a reality? There is a tough lesson to be learned here and Ghostroads displays the hard, fine line between obsession and insanity. It’s one man’s quest to do what seems impossible for so many. A so close, yet so far type scenario. If you are a musician or even a dedicated lover of rock n’ roll, like myself, this film is truly for you. We have all been a ‘Tony’ (the main character in this movie) in our own lives, in

some form or fashion, but the way this movie is portrayed is almost like one of those films that are based on a true story or a documentary. It starts with things just being bad and lousy all over. The opening scene begins with Tony leaning 35

against his car and then it cuts to his group, The Screamin’ Telstars, at band practice. It’s a realistic perspective. Hard work does not always pay off and sometimes you have to get lucky.

Now is this all in his head or what? He wants a really cool sounding amp, “of course,” the amp said. “Look no further.”

The shopkeeper at first said that it wasn’t for sale, but then said, “if you really want Let’s get this straight from it that bad... it’s yours, but the beginning then, The be careful!!! It has a history, Screamin’ Telstars are bad, so you cannot return it.” very bad... Off count, off key So Tony takes the amp and Tony can’t play a good home and plays with it a bit. chord progression to save his It doesn’t sound that great at life! So he tries again, fires up home, but at the gig it sounds a smoke, the band starts and amazing and it seems to give then his Vox starts smoking like Tony abilities that he didn’t a freight train and essentially have otherwise. He brings the blows up. But they have a show amp to the next practice, but tomorrow night! What will Tony it’s a bust. What happened? do? Will he find another amp? So he takes it home and This is where his quest to plugs it in and the guitar begins achieving stardom and this tale playing by itself! Suddenly a truly begins. Tony’s rival, Shinzo, strange bluesman appears in appears and gives Tony a wake an old 1920s suit. His name is up call that is desperately Peanut Butter and he begins to needed. He tells him about explain that he is behind Tony’s his world tour with his own sudden talent. He and the amp band, The Mad Reader, who are one and he has come to are playing the illustrious Tokyo help Tony achieve his destiny. Bowl on the last leg of the tour. Then he offers him an opening At the next practice he was a slot, mainly as a joke, but hit and the band were shocked he’s still gotta find an amp??? and Tony explained it was the ghost inside the amp! This is Tony finds Millimetres Music, where things begin to get crazy, a tiny hole in the wall music shop, as The Screamin’ Telstars had a in search of a replacement amp big run of shows and began to for that night’s gig. What he gain popularity after an awkward finds there will change his life encounter with a local promoter, forever. He stumbles upon thanks to Tony’s spooky friend. a very mysterious, old tube amp that starts a conversation Tony begins to learn more with him. “What are you doing from Peanut Butter, he makes around here? You don’t have a request for the perfect so many amps, one will be song, but this comes with just fine,” slowly convincing a price. The wish can’t be Tony to buy the talking amp. granted unless Peanut Butter © Mike Rogers / Robot55 LLC

Heatwave

© Mike Rogers / Robot55 LLC gets what he wants – souls. the singer and frontman for The Rotters, one of the early This is where the story LA punk bands from the late sort of plays out like a cheesy 70s. This is a guy that was B-movie, but it is so well done front-row for one of the most that it keeps its composure important music scenes in and stays on course. At the the the history of the US, and same time it really makes you in my opinion none has even think, is this just all in his head? come close to touching it since. This is where Tony really A scene that brought starts to break down. Shinobu, us bands like The Germs, the local promoter gets a Black Flag, X and so many request from Shinzo to book more, that I can’t even begin The Screamin’ Telstars for to try to mention them all their next show, to embarrass here without giving them them, as he thinks they will be the fair credit they deserve. booed off stage. Little does the So after seeing the film I rival know, Tony will be ready. almost felt as if I was feeling The show is a complete a bit of that creative energy, success, but he is still lacking even now after all these years. the perfect song. Peanut I highly recommend and deeply Butter, being the trickster he is, encourage everyone to see it. only promises him this if he kills It has killer reviews from many his bandmates as a sacrifice legends themselves, such to the amp, but he can’t do it. as Richie Ramone and even He asks Peanut Butter Rodney Bingenheimer, from to take his soul, thus saving the long running Rodney on the his bandmates. Becoming Roq on KROQ-FM in LA – the a legend in death was more first radio station in America that important than the money punk music was featured on… that can come in life, so he So it’s extremely monumental. sacrificed himself to ensure this. It was even featured the Raindance Film Clicking in around the at Festival in London to rave 1-hour 20-minute mark, this and honours. one really hits where it needs reviews to and teaches us the valuable, So please, do yourself a important lesson that fame favour and seek this one out. and fortune are not what life’s I put it right up there with Wild all about. Rock n’ roll itself is Zero, the Guitar Wolf movie, and a lifestyle and so many have believe me that is saying a lot. been caught in its web at I just hope that the some point, myself included. DVD, when it comes out, The film was created by Mike has a killer drinking game! ‘in Tokyo’ Rogers. For those of you that don’t know, he was

Top 10 Records - Zac Ives from Goner Records 10) The Golliwogs Fight Fire / Fragile Child 7-inch single (Scorpio Records, 1966) Pre-CCR garage action, ‘Fight Fire’, is the Nuggets-rocker that’s better known and it is solid, but ‘Fragile Child’ is 60s jangle-perfection with Fogerty wailing about an unattainable girl.

8) The Clean Boodle, Boodle, Boodle 12-inch (Flying Nun Records, 1981) I got over to New Zealand last year for the first time and after pouring over records, videos, zines and MP3s for years, it was truly mind blowing to actually be there. Main-man, John Baker, led a rock n’ roll tour that involved a speakerphone call to Alec Bathgate and handshakes with all sorts of Kiwi punk-royalty. I even got to see David Kilgour play a street festival in Auckland! Love the format of the 12-inch EP that Flying Nun favoured in the 80s, and this is one of the best. 6) Television Personalities Smashing Time / King and Country 7-inch single (Rough Trade Records, 1980) The third single from TVPs was generally ignored by the UK pop press, who chalked them up as wacky funsters who had taken too much acid. Two charming and timeless slices of DIY pop. 4) Ford Eaglin My Head is Spinnin’ 7-inch single (Imperial Records, 1961) New Orleans put out all sorts of great mid-tempo R&B in the early 50s-60s, this one is my favourite. Eaglin may be better known for his solo blues stuff, but I prefer these early 60s records he did with Dave Bartholomew and a small band that came out on Imperial. It still makes the hair on the back of my head stand up… Every time.

9) Eppu Normaali Aknepop LP (Poko Records, 1978) I always liked records that weren’t in English. Similar influences through a different filter often create cool results. Plus, you don’t have to worry about some crappy lyric ruining what otherwise is a good song. This debut album from Finnish punks, Eppu Normaali, destroys all in its path. The song ‘Poliisi Pamputtaa Taas’ might be the all time best punk rock song.

7) The Yo Yo’s Leaning On You 7-inch single (Goldwax Records, 1966) Greg Cartwright, of The Oblivians and Reigning Sound, used to say there’s something about Memphis garage records… Something unique about the sound that you don’t hear in other records... I think he’s right. This is one of my favourites, a moody tune about a guy who’s depressed about breaking it off with his girl, because he’s too dependent on her. Ride it out buddy! 5) Bill Laundy Bright Lights and Go Go Girls 7-inch single (Zefco Records, 1968) I love weird 60s country singles… This is one of my favourites. “Bright lights and go-go girls, country music that’s my world, lots of booze to start my night off right.” What more can a man ask for?

3) The “5” Royales Take Me With You Baby 7-inch single (Home of the Blues Records, 1961) Slinky R&B on the Home of the Blues label out of Memphis. You can always tell a “5” Royales record by the insane guitar break. El Pauling’s solos are loud, raw and sound like no one else. 2) Professor Marx Let’s Start a Punk Rock Band 7-inch single (Nirvana Records, 1978) There has now been a compilation or two of “fake punk” records – bands that tried to either goof on the punk craze or cash in on it. Here’s my favourite… Marc Zydiac’s rant about all the reasons he’s gonna start a punk rock band: “I’ve been playing guitar for a week,” “I’ve got the IQ of a tree.” Fella’s got it all figured out!

1) Shop Assistants Safety Net 12-inch (53rd & 3rd Records, 1986) Edinburgh, Scotland was ground zero for alternative/pop in the mid-80s. I can’t hang with it all, but I’ve got some favourites and this is one. Singer Alex Taylor’s vocals slide around on loud, trebly reverb soaked guitar riffs. I could listen to it all day.

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