vinyl and cotton by joe carter

all content produced by Joe Carter unless stated otherwise. Layout and design by Joe Carter.

www.joecarterdesign.com

NOTE FOR OUTSIDERS

unk and hardcore don’t stand alone within music when it comes to bands having a strong look and feel accompanying their sound. Where it does stand out is in the way that small bands (small in the sense that they are not Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Pink Floyd or The Rolling Stones) can get their name spread through word of mouth, selling a lot of t-shirts, and of course their music. The DIY mentality is shared by ‘The Kids’ who go to shows, everyone buys merch at gigs, it’s something that in most cases has little to do with fashion (although better looking shirts are obviously more likely to sell) and more to do with wanting to own a tangible piece of a band. It is usually the main income for touring bands nowadays, and merch sales can mean the difference between getting to the next town or not, it also provides advertising: an army of people wearing t-shirts with your band name on the front can go a long way at creating attention.

Records are still released and sought after by many who enjoy owning a physical format, EP’s are often released in a limited run on 7” vinyl over CD format, and album releases are almost always released on 12” vinyl, as well as other formats- and most come with a code to download the songs online as well. The nature of releasing limited runs- mostly done so to test the water rather than to create a hype inducing buying frenzy- means that records regain the collectability factor over other formats. The emthasis on records is quite special in hardcore music, considering records- or even mp3’s don’t sell in the free illegal download age- a band will play a gig at a small venue and have an array of different records for sale. Vinyl is admired and collected by the minority of people who appreciate the beauty of having such a large physical piece of music, wrapped up in massive cover artwork / over something as disposable and impersonal as an illegal download.

STANDOUTS pages 6-18 A selection of my most treasured records and shirts, and the stories behind them.

NEVER MIND WHAT THEY’RE SELLING // IT’S WHAT YOU’RE BUYING pages 19-31 An article on merch and record collecting by Luke McGuire (everything you touch turns to gold), and a run through of some of his favourite records.

NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT LOOKS IT’LL ALWAYS HAVE A SWEAR WORD ON THE FRONT pages 32-38 An article on Fucked Up’s aesthetic.

THE LADYBIRD TALKS pages 39-49 Chris Maskell on his weird and wonderfull record collection.

INTERVIEW WITH HOLY ROAR RECORDS pages 50-59 I talk to Alex from Holy Roar Records about vinyl, t-shirts and the music industry.

INTERVIEW WITH CEREMONY pages 60-66 Guitarist Anthony talks about the evolution of Ceremonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s record artwork, and reveals his favourite records.

INTERVIEW WITH SHARKS /// pages 67-77 I speak to Sharks about limited edition records, their new album, and music videos.

STANDOUTS

Joe Carter runs through the best of his record collection, taking both music and design into account. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a few shirts thrown in the mix as well. www.joecarterdesign.com

Sharks- No Gods (Rise Records) I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop playing this record since I bought it at the Cardiff leg of their first UK headline tour. Sharks have nailed their debut albumthe perfect mix of punk attitude and pop song-writing ability. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got groovy looking blue and red vinyl on the first pressing as well, which is always a bonus.

Queens of the Stone Age- Self Titled 2011 re-release (Domino Records) Probably my favourite album ever. I could listen to this endlessly and I’d be in bliss. I was extremely lucky and got to see Queens play this album from start to finish (as well as B-Sides and requests) at Camden Roundhouse last year as part of their anniversary re-release, big thanks to my brother for managing to get us tickets. It’s hard to narrow this record down to a few songs, but highlights include Regular John, If Only, You Would Know and Mexicola. The b-sides of this record are also well worth a listen- especially The Bronze. The artwork’s cool, all naked woman based, although the hands on the cover are noticeably large- not sure if there’s a story behind that or not. I’ve even warmed to the very 90s pink outlined typography.

Neil Young- Harvest (Reprise Records) This record was bought for me this Christmas by my mum/her fiancée. Arguably Neil Young’s greatest album, it’s a complete joy to listen to from beginning to end. It features the London Symphony Orchestra on a couple of tracks which brings an amazing depth to the music, If you’re not a fan of Neil’s vocals then give the title track ‘Harvest’ a listen- it might just change your mind. I was lucky enough to see the great man himself live at Hard Rock Calling in 2009 with my dad, one of the best nights of live music that I’ve ever seen/heard- Sir Paul McCartney joined Neil and the band for the encore, they proceeded to jam the most epic cover of ‘A Day In The Life’ so the record holds happy memories of that as well. The artwork is extremely famous for obvious reasons- the calligraphy is absolutely flawless- it creates more harvest imagery than any photograph would when coupled with the warm brown and orange tones, and it does so in a far more beautiful and organic way. I can’t think of an album cover more suited to it’s musical content than this one.

Fucked Up- Year Of The Tiger/ ONNO (Matador) I was going to include my Chemistry of Common life CD but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. So instead I’ve chosen the bands latest chinese calender release. The lyrics in Year Of The Tiger are as poetic as it gets with Fucked Up‘It takes him before he can see, pulls his shadow away right from under his feet’. As always with their releases, the artwork is really smart, the lyrics pages especially so. I won’t waffle on about Fucked Up artwork too much here, if you want to hear more then I’ve done an article on Fucked Up’s aestheticstarting on page 44.

Arcade Fire- The Suburbs (Mercury) I included this record partly because it’s an incredible album, but also due to the awesome back cover and lyrics pages. I remembered being particularly impressed by the hand rendered ‘Arcade Fire’ type when the album was coming out. But seeing the same idea implemented with shiny gold print on the back cover had me wondering why they didn’t chose it as the cover art. The lyrics are printed onto the record sleeves, which are an abnormally thick paperstock- they feel really sturdy and durable. This is the one record in my selection that stands out for me in terms of printing.

Ceremony shirt My most recent merch acquisition, bought at the Bristol show of their Zoo tour. The slash design marks the new direction of their music and aesthetic, although the evolution through all four of their albums seems to sum up everything I love about hardcore and punk music- and I should think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s probably true for a lot of people. Read my interview with Anthony from the band on page 60.

Fucked Up- tour t-shirt bought in 2009 Best. Shirt. Ever. Bought in 2009 at Camden Barfly, Fucked Up headlined with Trash Talk and Throats (RIP) supporting, the usual chaos and destruction ensued during Trash Talks set, beer crates flying through the air, cut heads, a fight started over a damaged camera (broken up by TT frontman Lee). Fucked up brought the aggression down when they played, lead singer Damien provided the fun and light-hearted in-between song humour that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become known for, whilst still mustering the anger to shout the best of Fucked Upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discography into the audiences faces. This shirt reminds me of that night, but it looks incredible in its own right- Fucked Up have the best visual output of any modern hardcore band, everything from their tour posters to their record artwork is always spot on.

Alexisonfire- Crisis shirt This T-shirt represents my childhood. I listened to very little except Alexisonfire for probably way too long, but I look back on it with nothing but good memories. Crisis and Watch Out! were the bible for me and easily their best albums. I got this shirt signed by the band at Reading festival in 2008 or 2009, and as you can see I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t washed or worn it since. no.1 fan 4eva.

NEVER MIND WHAT THEY’RE SELLING // IT’S WHAT YOU’RE BUYING

Luke McGuire (Everything You Touch Turns To Gold) takes some time to talk about his affections towards merch, his love for vinyl, and gives a run down of his favourite ever records. Be sure to check out his blog / zines. www.lityerses.wordpress.com

before I could get to another show, this time, Green Day on their American Idiot tour in 2004 with New Found Glory at the N I A. in Birmingham. This was the first show I went to without parental supervision – unfortunately we had seats rather than standing – and I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I was already denouncing Nickelback as not being legit by this point (mysterious), so Billie Joe et al’s snide pop punk was the ideal medicine for a 14 year old’s angst. Most importantly, I bought my first piece of merch at this show – a horrible bootlegged shirt from outside the venue, at least 2 sizes too big, feat the album artwork and tour dates (I WISH I still had this shirt, I would rock it today). It was all downhill from there. I’m not going to bore you too much by talking about my favourite bands (okay, Whilst I didn’t get a lot of wear out of that shirt (due to it being like a dress), a little bit below), I mainly wanted to use this article as an excuse to talk about it was a symbol of everything that night had meant to me – the excitement of why records and (to a lesser extent) being away from home, the sing-alongs, tshirts/merch are, and should continue to be, an important part of not just punk the music. This is just one example of what an important personal and historiand hardcore, but music as a whole – cal artefact merchandise can actually irrespective of how much of a drone it become – I love seeing old tour shirts of makes me. The first show I ever went to was when bands I love, especially if they pop up I was 12 years old, I got my dad to take on ebay and I get a chance at owning something that then has all those memome to see Nickelback and was the only ries imbedded in it (currently watching kid in my year 7 class who skived off a particularly hideous Pantera longsleeve a choral concert we had to do as part shirt on ebay fyi). of our music course – up da punx. The spectacle of that show blew my mind – not only in terms of chad kroeger’s weird hair – the pyrotechnics, the stage, the size of the crowd, and of course how loud it was. I’m pretty sure I went in to school the next day boasting proudly of the tinnitus I was suffering from (little did I know this would become a near permanent fixture in my life, I’m an idiot), and most importantly, a thirst to hear and see more. A few years passed have been going to shows and buying merch/records since I was about 12, and it has become probably the biggest passion in my life – music is a universal force that pervades through time, and will survive long after we’re gone. It blows my mind when people tell me they like ‘a bit of everything’ and don’t really care what they listen to – hell, I’d rather be friends with a diehard Lady Gaga fan (cc: my girlfriend) than someone who is happy to coast through life without ever having a favourite band they queue up 6 hours to see, or a favourite song that makes them want to shout at strangers in the street.

photograph courtesy of Ben Briggs

Records are a similarly, if not more, important part of my life – they’re something I’ve made friends over, something I’ve beat myself up for missing out on/been far too happy about owning, and something that I feel more people should/could enjoy. The 12” record is not only far superior in sound quality to a CD, but gives you that added aspect of artwork in a higher format, and usually a huge lyrics sheet which encourages you to immerse yourself in the experience of the record – something that the throwaway nature of burning a CD on to your itunes has somewhat taken away from recorded music. I could talk about the importance of music in a physical format all day long, but I don’t think anyone wants to read that. Instead, here are some shirts and records, with a bit about what they mean to me/the good times they remind me of.

“The 12” record is not only far superior in sound quality to a CD, but gives you that added aspect of artwork in a higher format, and usually a huge lyrics sheet which encourages you to immerse yourself in the experience”

The Love Triangle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Splendid Living (Dire Records) This one is pretty simple â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the A side is just one of the greatest kick ass rock and roll singles released this generation. I get such a buzz out of it and play it all the time, give it a listen and you will too. The b sides are cool as well (wank myself to heaven is a cracking song title), and it reminds me of the joy of discovering new bands in the 21st century without using the internet.

Against Me! â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Disco Before The Breakdown EP (No Idea Records) This is one of my favourites, if not the favourite, from my collection. Bought for me on my 17th birthday by my friends Ben and Rob, it reminds me of the summer I spent being 17 and this set of songs meaning as much to me as they still do today. The definitive Against Me! release imo.

The Gaslight Anthem – Tumbling Dice b/w She Loves You (Side One Dummy) I bought this on holiday last summer in prague with my girlfriend, so that’s the emotional link for me on this one – it reminds me of a happy week spent wondering around squares and cobbled streets, eating bagels and avoiding being spat on by euros. In musical terms I have loved Gaslight since I first heard Sink or Swim in summer of 2008, so pick up any physical release I can get my hands on. This is particularly cool because the artwork is amazing, and the record itself is a really nice brown speckled with silver. If you stumble on a copy like I did, buy it!

Self Defense Family â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going through some shit b/w all fruit is ripe (Deathwish) The A side here, similarly to The Love Triangle above, is one of my favourite songs of a generation, and lyrically really inspiring to me. This record was bought for me for Christmas by my girlfriend, so there you have the personal connection.

Against Me! â&#x20AC;&#x201C; As The Eternal Cowboy (Fat Wreck) Probably my favourite record of all time, these 11 songs have struck a chord with me since I was 15 years old, and I imagine will continue to do so a long time from now. Again, bought for me (do I buy any of my own records?) by my girlfriend for Christmas 2010, I am eternally (get it) grateful that I now own a copy. Cool gatefold artwork to boot.

Fucked Up – David’s Town Comp (Matador) Released on Record Store Day last year, but I slipped up and missed out on a copy, so it was the nicest surprise ever when my best bud Ben bought me a copy for my birthday last year – I owe him a RSD find this year for sure. I included this one just for its’ weirdness – 11 tracks by Fucked Up masquerading as 70’s punk bands from the Scottish town in which their most recent opus ‘David Comes To Life’ is set. The songs are actually cool, especially the curry song as sung by Ben Cook of ex-No Warning fame in the most over the top English accent since Dick Van Dyke.

Minor Threat â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Out of Step (Dischord) I spent an inordinate amount of money to own this record at a record fayre in stratford a few years ago â&#x20AC;&#x201C; really a rookie error, but I was desperate to own it at the time, and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t regret the decision at all because it is such an important record, both musically, and personally; as it acted as one of the catalysts in my decision to not drink. Really the definitive release by the band, and perhaps one of the best hardcore records ever released, even if it is a far cry from most of what is considered hardcore now. Essential listening.

Sharks – Shallow Waters (Swagger City Records) The only 10” I own, I bought this from the band a couple of years ago, I’m so glad I got the chance to own a physical copy of what is probably my favourite debut record ever. These 5 songs meant a lot to me when I was in my last year of school, and as such will always bring back memories of that time, the shows I saw the band play, and time spent hanging out with them/my friends at said shows. Bury Your Youth.

The Men â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Leave Home (Sacred Bones) Finally, one of the records I have not stopped listening to in the last year, the sophomore release by brooklynâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier noise mongerers, The Men. This is the record that brought them to the attention of the world at large, and is just absolutely soul melting-ly good. The centre piece of the record is the garage fused Bataille and ( ), give those two tracks a listen as a short introduction to the band. Bought for me this Christmas by my parents, one of my favourite recent acquisitions.

NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT LOOKS IT’LL ALWAYS HAVE A SWEAR WORD ON THE FRONT an exlporation into fucked up’s aesthetic by joe carter

“The logo is perhaps their binding contract to Viennese Actionism, an art movement that celebrated nudity, destruction and violence, a subject explored by lead singer Damien Abraham in most live performances, and lyrically in the song Baiting the Public”

seemed as confused to why this came about as anyone was, stating in an interview with Q TV that his decision to go on the Greg Gutfield show was a ‘moral tug of war’ and that he doesn’t ‘fall in line politically with a lot of the people on Fox News, or anyone on Fox News for that matter’. A shirt I bought at the London show of their 2009 tour contains the image from a Walter Crane wood cut titled ‘A Garland For May Day 1895’, the artist was closely associated with the early socialist movement. Another shirt available at the gig contained an image of an open hand, an image often used as a religious symbol, this subtle (or not so subtle, the hand shirt is bright yellow with orange print) use of imagery adds to the mystery of the band and invites fans to dig a little deeper into the meaning if they want to.

ucked Up got themselves noticed by releasing everything they recorded as 7” singles, two songs at a time; their different approach to releasing music and their ferocious live performances (as well as the music itself) earned them a place in the underground Canadian hardcore scene. They began to surround themselves and their music in mystery from the start, a theme that is still inherent in the band today. This peaked

Religion and the Christian bible in particular has been an obsession for Fucked Up- a non religious band, it is a main subject lyrically for their first two albums, their debut, Hidden World feawith the 7” split with the band Haytures an illustration of a female nude in maker in 2004, which featured a picture a sea of serpents, a fairly clear cut bibliof Hitler addressing a Hitler Youth cal reference. The cover for their Polaris rally as the cover art. The band were Prize winning second album Chemistry attacked live on stage over the artwork of Common Life uses a photograph and a statement followed clarifying that of the Manhattenhenge phenomenon, they were not Nazis. where the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of the main street grid Politics, or lack of have often been a part in the borough of Manhatten; a photoof Fucked Up, the release of No Pasaran graph that is in keeping with Matador’s in 2002 featured anarchist posters from release statement, which described the the Spanish Civil War on the cover. The record as “an expansive epic about the anarchist theme is seen all the time with mysteries of birth, death and the origins Fucked Up through their logo, a circle of life (and re-living)”. The artwork for with an F in the middle, which has been their latest album David Comes To Lifeused throughout the band’s history and a rock opera set in Thatcherite Britremains as striking as it ever did. The ain- depicts two light bulbs overlapping logo is perhaps their binding contract into the shape of a heart, the series of to Viennese Actionism, an art movemusic videos released for the album are ment that celebrated nudity, destrucbeautifully made, each keeping the same tion and violence, a subject explored by style whilst being completely individual lead singer Damien Abraham in most and interesting in their own right. The live performances, and lyrically in the series of 7” records that ran alongside song ‘Baiting the Public’. More recently the main release show that the band Damien (aka Pink Eyes) has oddly apstill have a large interest in providing peared on Fox News, even being asked fans with something special, something to become a regular guest. Damien worth collecting.

Fucked Up/ Haymaker Split (Deep Six Records, 2002)

The key to Fucked Up’s aesthetic has been through keeping a consistent look and feel, their cover artwork is mostly photographic and there is often a re-use of old fashioned imagery. Their approach is a testament to how heavy bands can look aesthetically beautiful, the typeface looks stylish on even the most DIY looking gig posters- the

Year Of The Rat (Matador Records, 2009)

majority of their gig posters are works of art in their own right however- I’m not going to include a load of examples in here but if you’d like to see some there’s a load on www.gigposters.com. Most of Fucked Up’s record artwork almost comically juxtaposes the band name, this might be best seen on the Chinese calendar series: the use of white space

with a strip of imagery running horizontally along the middle suits the genre changing/defining/pure genius-ness of the releases. Their covers would often not look out of place on a classical record, as would the music in places, although the calm and tranquillity is thankfully always broken by an outburst of shouts, screams and loud guitars.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;the typeface looks stylish on even the most DIY looking gig postersâ&#x20AC;?

There’s a mini documentary answering many of the unanswered questions that can be found on youtube; despite this, there are still many mysteries surrounding Fucked Up, how have the band stayed together for over ten years when they still insist that none of the band members are really friends for example? Why the Nazi mythology on the Haymaker split? Why the false names? I don’t know. I don’t think I’d want to know either; I like the mystery, knowing the ins and outs would take away the fun for me, Jaws was far more exciting before you could see the whole shark.

Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009 (Matador Records, 2009)

THE LADYBIRD TALKS

Chris Maskell raids his record collection to unleash some of the most astonishing music ever created.

Unknown Artist - Unknown Album My second favourite motorway themed album. I sometimes pack my turntable on long hitchiking excursions, and this record is always top of my â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;things to take hitchikingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; list.

Burt Bacharach - Best Of Burt got me through some dark years whilst I was boarding in a girls convent in my youth. His laid back selection of dutty riddims took me away to a safer place, a place where nothing could touch me.

Full Metal Jacket (I Wanna Be Your Drill Insructor) - Eskimo Pussy Remix I only bought this record ‘cos it said ‘Eskimo Pussy’ on the front. The repeated line ‘I don’t know what I’ve been told, but Eskimo pussy is mighty cold’ makes me want to dance something silly.

Conway Twitty - The Rock & Roll Story All American western star Conway Twitty was the soundtrack to my pre-birth years.

Madonna - Like A Virgin I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find the words to explain this album.

Within a short space of time Holy Roar Records has risen to become one of the most important UK record labels for hardcore music. They have released some of the best records of recent times, with bands (past and present) such as Gallows, Rolo Tomassi, Throats, Brutality Will Prevail, Slabdragger and Crossbreaker on their rosta. I went to their office in Dalston to talk to co-founder Alex FitzPatrick. www.holyroarrecords.com

Can you share how Holy Roar came about, and how it’s grown into what it is today? When I lived and went to uni in Birmingham I started a music website, then out of the website grew a desire to release a couple of local bands, so we did a few releases there on a sort of real amateur basis. The idea to start Holy Roar came about January 2006 when me and Ellen Goodwin, who cofounded Holy Roar moved down to London, and then our first release came about July 2006, Phoenix Bodies- Raise the Bullshit Flag CD album. In terms of how it’s grown from there, initially it was just a sort of Sunday afternoon hobby, and it quickly became a lot more than that, basically I had to make a choice towell I didn’t have to, but I chose to do it full time in about 2007/2008 and haven’t really looked back. It was obviously hard to make ends meet early on, I did things on the side, I’d manage other bands, I drove bands, and various other bits and bobs- I had to go back to work a few times. It’s very much an organic growth, it was just a case of choosing some bands that people enjoyed and we managed to keep snowballing from there.

Has there been a release/ set of releases that you’ve been particularly proud of? I can’t lie, I always hate this question ‘cos it’s like trying to pick between 100 different children or something. I mean you have different associations and different memories literally attached to every single release, but I think there’s two that define the label. I think the first Rolo Tomassi EP defines the label early on, you only have to look at what they’ve gone on to do, they’ve toured the world and recorded an album with Diplo, supported Biffy Clyro and stuff like that. They’ve done some crazy stuff considering they are essentially a heavy technical band. I think that the Throats mini album defines more what the label is now really I guess. That was the starting point of the current era of Holy Roar, in that I was aware of that band from their first demo, they were a band that we continually worked with, and there were a few releases before that mini album. That mini album, I mean it came to be their swan song, but we built that band up from day one and they kept taking steps to do things better and to write better music and at the end. Just before they split up, they were playing Sonisphere and being nominated for Kerrang awards, and they basically played hardcore that was influenced by Napalm Death. They didn’t compromise, we didn’t compromise and it was still a successful release.

Diplo, supported Biffy Clyro and stuff like that. They’ve done some crazy stuff considering they are essentially a heavy technical band. I think that the Throats mini album defines more what the label is now really I guess. That was the starting point of the current era of Holy Roar, in that I was aware of that band from their first demo, they were a band that we continually worked with, and there were a few releases before that mini album. That mini album, I mean it came to be their swan song, but we built that band up from day one and they kept taking steps to do things better and to write better music and at the end. Just before they split up, they were playing Sonisphere and being nominated for Kerrang awards, and they basically played hardcore that was influenced by Napalm Death. They didn’t compromise, we didn’t compromise and it was still a successful release.

What is the process for sourcing designers and artists to create artwork and packaging? Are the bands hands-on with creating designs/ sourcing their own designers? This differs between every release, some bands come to us and they don’t really have a clue, some bands have got someone in the band that does all their artwork because they want to retain control. A lot of the people I’ve used have been people in bands that I’ve got to know through playing and going to shows. There’ve been a couple of other designers that I’ve literally just seen their work and approached them, and relationships have developed from that. It’s usually quite a tight knit circle, I’ve only ever really used about 5 maybe, and we seem to have eras. It just differs, there’s no set path and there’s no real right or wrong way of doing it. But I think we have quite a stringent kind of aesthetic, we’ve only done one dual case CD ever for example. We try not to do really shitty packaging, we don’t compromise on that, so the design has to reflect that really, If something looks really shit we don’t have any problems saying.

How do you decide which format to release onto?

It depends on the band; there are new bands where we might test the water just digitally or with a very short run of CD’s. Rolo Tomassi- Untitled EP Has there been a release/ set of releases And then there are bands that are doing (Holy Roar Records) that you’ve been particularly proud of? quite well and their music needs to come out on CD, vinyl and digital. Everything comes out with I can’t lie, I always hate this question ‘cos it’s like trying to digital as standard, but in terms of physical format we are pick between 100 different children or something. I mean you moving evermore towards vinyl- I say evermore towardshave different associations and different memories literally we’ve always put it out from the first day basically. I’d say attached to every single release, but I think there’s two that vinyl is the dominating factor, but unfortunately vinyl is the define the label. I think the first Rolo Tomassi EP defines the most expensive format physically to produce, it’s far more label early on, you only have to look at what they’ve gone on expensive than CD’s or tapes. Now more than ever were very to do, they’ve toured the world and recorded an album with conscious of making sure that if we’re going to spend that

amount of money on vinyl production, we can make sure we don’t lose loads of money. And we’ve definitely, even up to last year made some big errors in that part, there are releases we’ve done- where I don’t want name names for obvious reasons- where we should’ve just released on to CD or just digitally. With our label and the sort of music we do, there’s always going to be a small hardcore- I mean hardcore in the sense of being passionate fans who will always always want vinyl. Believe me, if enough people were still buying music physically, I’d put everything out on vinyl all the time. But we have to sometimes look at financial constraints and stuff as well. I want people to own a really nice physical format, you know, gatefold LP on coloured vinyl, but I totally understand that you also need to mp3s to listen to on your iPod, or sitting at your computer. I really want to make the point that I don’t want people to fetishise vinyl, they shouldn’t turn vinyl into some fetish item

where they just buy it to look cool, when they haven’t actually got a record player, that seems to be a current trend at the moment which I find really strange. I struggle to understand why someone would do that because I really like listening to records on a record player, I like the act of turning it over, and I think it sounds great with a good record player. I think it’s awful when kids go ‘Where can I get the lyrics to this song’ when 99 times out of 100 releases, if you buy it physically you get the lyrics. That’s part of the artwork and the packaging. It strikes me that there’s some people now who really have no understanding about the bigger picture, or where music comes from. They just want to learn the chorus and mosh it off or whatever. I don’t want to sound old and bitter, I just find it really odd when people ask a band for lyrics. You can either do your research and you’ll probably find them online, or you can actually buy it and you can look at the whole lyrics and the thanks list and maybe learn about some new bands and stuff that way as well.

Throats- Throats EP (Holy Roar Records)

“IF ENOUGH PEOPLE WERE STILL BUYING MUSIC PHYSICALLY I’D PUT EVERYTHING OUT ON VINYL ALL OF THE TIME”

Do you think that the availability of free music has hit punk and hardcore in the same way as other genres? Seeing as DIY has always been a big part of the genre. It’s a double edged sword. You could say it has because, by tradition, the fans of this music are either relatively young, or lacking in disposable income, so you could say that it has in that way. But equally I know that this grouping of fans have a much more vested interest in the music, than say, a Shakira fan or whatever. They want to show people that they’re into these bands and that they wear the T-shirts, and they want to own the physical product. You can’t really argue it either way conclusively. But, as a trend, it definitely has affected us, you could look at the fact that by today’s standards- production standards and writing standards- that Napalm Death’s first record sounds like shit, it’s obviously a great record, but you could argue that it sounds like shit, and yet that record sold fucking tonnes. And if that album was released to a similar standard, in a similar genre today, it’s not going to sell anywhere near. I think that shows that the abundance of free music has affected everything. But there are other ways that bands and labels can still bring money in. And it’s a lot easier to find information about how to do that, what with the internet, I’m sure that it was a lot harder, even in Napalm Death’s day in the mid 80s.

What do you think about very current merchandise going for ridiculous amounts of money on eBay? There was that Brutality Will Prevail vest that went for a lot of money for example.

This is a really hard question because obviously there are bands that don’t want to think that they’re very big or whatever, bands that don’t know what size they are, so they make 20 of a t shirt thinking hopefully we’ll sell them all, and they sell out and people still want that design. When someone puts that on eBay then it’s someone else getting the money and not the band, but you could then argue that the hypeeveryone knows that Brutality Will Prevail story for example, Would you agree that hard touring and selling of that Cheryl Cole Chanel vest- everyone knows it and then that might, whether its subconsciously or whatever, feed back merch is the only viable way to gather a fan into more merch sales for the band. People go ‘Im gonna base and stay afloat financially as a band? buy that’ because that merch is a sought after thing, like any other brand, like Supreme hats or something, people find Hardcore bands are selling more T shirts than ever, because the kids can download the record so they come to the gig and them hard to find and they sell for stupid money sometimes. I think it’s a bad thing in terms of steeply inflated prices for then they buy a T Shirt, that’s the theory. things that I know cost £4 to make. But it’s a good thing if it then helps the band, helps their profile grow in terms of peoMore astute bands can register with PRS or whatever and ple knowing about that band, or in terms of it having a knock make sure they’re getting paid for any plays they might get on Radio 1’s rock show, they can see about getting their songs on effect for higher merch sales for that band. Unfortunately onto TV shows, with ever more niche TV channels, with series though there’s no way to measure that, so you have to just speculate. like Skins, and just BBC3 in general, and computer games with loads of rock music on. There’s more avenues than ever for bands that are clever to go and get their music onto Would you say that it devalues the reasons interesting things and reach more people and get paid for it. that people buy merch? If someone’s thinking Undeniably touring, if you’re doing alright, I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s still a hard slog where you lose loads of money ‘Im going to buy this next Brutality T Shirt until you reach a certain size, you’ve got to be selling at least because I could make a bit of money off it’, 200 capacity a night before you even think about making any not because they really like the band and the money at all. Touring can really help, and bands are selling t-shirt design or any of the other factors that more merch than ever, but there are definitely more avenues go into buying merch? that have opened up, especially over the last 5 years, that weren’t open 20 or 30 years ago. That was when record sales were more important. I don’t think there are any less oppor- Yeah, I know that happens, but that kind of thinking could eventually come back and bite that kid on the arse because tunities for a band to make money, it’s harder and you have to be more clever about it, but if you’re clever and you think they’ve just bought a t-shirt and they aren’t able to sell it. But again, it’s no different to a 50 year old in a suit sitting on about it, those opportunities are still out there. the stock market and speculating that something will earn them more money by buying stocks in Asda, it’s just someone trying to think about how they can earn some money. And especially now where no one’s got jobs and unemployment, especially among the youth is higher than ever, you can’t really argue with someone trying to use their brain to do a bit better for themselves. If you’re going out there just to buy merch to try and flip it and make some money then it’s a gamble. But if it pays off for you then to be honest I can’t really begrudge you right now. 57

What are your favourite examples of merchandise and records and why? In terms of records there’s one that really stands out, a band called Graf Orlock did a 10” with a CD in it. And basically when you buy it, it just looks like a really thick sleeve, you can’t work out what’s going on. It looks like a part of the front of a boom box, but then you pull it out of the plastic sleeve and you can basically fold out and build a cardboard replica of a boom box out of the sleeve, full sized and three dimensional. And then the CD actually sits in the CD part of the fake boom box, it also comes with an instruction manual that looks like one of those 80s or 90s Hi-Fi manuals, and that’s got all the credits, but again written in the style and font and everything of a Hi-Fi manual. I think that that’s the one release that has literally blown my mind.

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Is that just design-wise then? No, I fucking love the band, the band are awesome, they’re basically like grindy punk stuff with loads of film samples and film references and stuff, they’re great. In terms of merchandise, I don’t know. There’s such a proliferation now that it’s increasingly hard to stand out, there’s obviously a huge trend to rip off other bands or other brands and put it into a band context. Take Slush Puppies or Sexwax, or any other brands and put your band name in the same font or something, which can be really funny and can be really effective, and it can look really cool. I’ve seen 3D designs where they’ve sold 3D glasses with the t-shirt which looked quite good. It’s all been done. There was a massive trend for gold and silver foil a few years ago and that looked awful. I have no specific examples of what my favourite merch is, generally I like it when a band give out a message without explicitly conveying it, so you have to do your homework to figure out what they’re on about; like Nine Inch Nails did a t-shirt that basically gave away the location of one of their records or actually told you about a forthcoming album. I think that’s very, very interesting, I find that way more interesting than just ripping off some multinational corporation’s logo and putting your band name on it.

Ceremony are one of the finest punk bands of a generation. Their fourth studio album Zoo was released earlier this year on Matador Records, and marked a new direction for the band, moving further away from their earlier hardcore records (Still Nothing Moves You was described by one critic as Hardcoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s equivalent of Hiroshima), and towards a more oldschool punk sound. I interviewed guitarist Anthony before the Bristol show of their UK tour. www.ceremonyhc.com

Have you ever encountered problems with selling merch and records at gigs? Yeah we’ve got t shirts and records stolen, but it’s all like first world problems. Like t shirts getting stolen or there’s nowhere to set up, that’s really as far as it goes, it’s never really been a huge problem ‘cos at the end of the day if you don’t sell merch you’re gonna lose a couple bucks and it’s not the end of the world.

How hands on are you with the visual side of the band? Well Ross does a lot of the aesthetic of the artwork stuff, but the band is a collective so there isn’t anything done without everyone’s approval- without everyone in on it. I usually do the ordering of everything, as far as quantities and colour schemes, that’s where I come in a lot.

What’s the meaning behind your merch? It’s a tangible aesthetic of the band so there’s lots of meaning behind it. You try to be revered a certain way, you try to show what you’re actually about other than through listening to the music. Obviously listening to the music is the best way to know what the band’s about, but you try and sum it up with a logo or a t shirt the best you can.

Are there any examples of your own artwork that you think work particularly well? What we did for the new record Zoo with the slash designs and the hazy photographs, I think that looks really cool. The last 3 or 4 records that we’ve done I think have been really on point. In the beginning we weren’t really as hands on as we are now, and now we pretty much do everything. The last few records I think have been perfect for us. The first [records] Violence Violence and Ruined were all illustrations, and after that Ross was like ‘I’m gonna take over now’- Ross does photography and he’s really good, it’s his background so he doesn’t do very many paintings or drawings. So all the artwork that we produce is probably gonna be photography based as it’s his [Ross’] speciality.

Still Nothing Moves You (Bridge 9 Records, 2008)

Rohnert Park (Bridge 9 Records, 2010)

“The last 3 or 4 records that we’ve done I think have been really on point. In the beginning we weren’t really as hands on as we are now, and now we pretty much do everything. The last few records I think have been perfect for us.”

Zoo (Matador Records, 2012)

Your Favourite merch and/or records and why? Of all time? That’s really tough. We were at the Matador offices a few months ago and I remember holding up an album, they have all of the records in their discography at their warehouse, and it was just a white cover and a 12” record and it was just the best looking thing, it was so perfectly neat. Prince and the Revolution Parade, the black photo with the white background, I mean you can’t really go wrong there, a lot of the early Prince records- Dirty Mind- looked really good. You know what I really liked is the Panic 7”, I’m not really big into promo shots, but they did a promo shot on that 7” that is an amazing picture.

“Prince and the Revolution Parade, the black photo with the white background, I mean you can’t really go wrong there, a lot of the early Prince records looked really good”

Sharks have emerged as one of the most exciting UK punk bands of recent years. After releasing a powerful string of EPs, and going on tour with bands such as Trash Talk, Gallows and Gaslight Anthem, Sharks have earned themselves a loyal fan base. Since then they have released their debut album No Gods on US label Rise Records, a truly amazing album, you should go buy a copy and listen the hell out of it. I spoke to James, Andy and Carl from the band about the visual side of things.

How much control do you have over the visual side of the band? Andy: 100% We have the final say on it. James: We think of 70% of the ideas ourselves. We have a couple of friends who help us out with designs. None of us own photoshop or anything. But as you can see most of our stuffs photography, so its easy enough to just go on google images and get something for that.

Your debut album No Gods recently came out on Rise Records, what was the process for the visual process of the record? Andy: Well that was done by our friend Tom Lacey, he used to sing for Ghost of a Thousand but now heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become a graphic designer, so he did all that. James: He does a lot of our designs as well, he also did our very first EP, the Shallow Waters EP. which was a painting. We only ever work with people who we love and respect.

The sharks symbol is obviously a very strong part of your band identity. Who designed it and what were the ideas behind it? Andy: Well it was me, and I’m afraid the story isn’t very interesting. That’s just something I kind of accidentally came across on my keyboard. James: We used it on a flyer one day, and someone picked it up and it was on more and more flyers, and it started being weird to not use it.

You’ve toured in America, playing Warped Tour. How does the US merch stand compare to that of the UK? James: It’s pretty good. I mean Warped Tour was completely different, it was if you’ve got a shirt offensive enough to piss off your parents you’re in the money. Luckily we had the ‘Fuck God’ one and kids bought it for the sake of the shirt. Merch designs are important but there were quite a lot of vulgar shirts on that tour, but, I don’t know. Kids like them for different reasons, it’s kinda weird.

You’ve released limited edition screen printed records done at Coffeebreath and Heartache. Do you feel it’s often important to release something special and collectable alongside the main run of records? James: Yeah absolutely. I think we feel that there’s not enough bands keeping that alive, the physical side of music. It’s just more something we love to do for ourselves; it’s a great feeling to have your music on something so... pretty. I guess there’s more incentive then for people to start collecting, cos we do put a lot of work into the aesthetic and there’s a lot of work that goes into the music, so I think it deserves a nice package and not just an illegal download.

How does more recent SHARKS merchandise compare to merch of old? Have there been any memorable shirts for you guys? Or designs fans have especially loved? James: We’ve had some good ones, we have this one at the moment which says ‘Fuck God Believe in Yourself’. Carl: A lot of people like the Rock And Roll Needs Tragedy ones don’t they. James: We just did loads for the tour, Tom Lacey was pretty much on board with it, we pay him for each design he does, he keeps firing us one a week now. It just works really well. It’s just really good to keep people up to date with our stuff, we have a really loyal following who buy everything and that’s how we keep going as a band really. We’re not selling records, just merch.

No Gods (Rise Records, 2012)

There have been a few videos for sharks, the most recent being a video for Sweet Harness?

Andy: There’s actually been a more recent one than that, but it was done by the same guy. The three videos have been done by this guy called Ryan Thorpe, who is a filmmaker from Cornwall and he’s a really good friend. The Sweet Harness video was tour footage from our US tour.

Have videos always been of interest for you or has it been an idea that has been pushed by record labels? James: Yeah it’s something we want to pursue If we ever get any more money to do proper videos then we will, we’ve only really done live footage videos and stuff, ‘cos we’ve been working with a tight budget. As time goes on we’d like to experiment more with the videos. Andy: We like getting creative for the band and I think that goes for all aspects. interview continues on page 77

Your favourite examples of merchandise and records and why? James: The Black Flag stuff’s good, Trash Talk as well. Andy? Andy: Yeah Black Flag. Yeah I think that all the hardcore bands of the 80s always had great imagery, and I just think that all the classic bands had great artwork, and that’s what made them stand out from the rest, obviously as well as the songs and everything. I mean it goes hand in hand, writing the songs and having the aesthetic to it. You can’t have one without the other, it’s a marriage. James: And anything from Fucked Up.

Are there any standout records for you in terms of packaging? Andy: Yeah. When Pil put out that metal box it was fucking awesome. James: And that Prince soundtrack to the Batman movie came in a metal box, that looked sweet.

Big thanks to all contributers, Luke McGuire and Chris Maskell, also to Holy Roar, Ceremony and Sharks for the interviews.