September 2015 #4

new roots issue 4 september 2015

hevy fest we speak to hacktivist, landscapes, blood youth, trash boat, and wstr plus up river, frank carter & the rattlesnakes, stray from the path, and loads more Photo by Isha Shah

hundredth neck deep j3wel world weary elder brother

Contents

3 gig listing 3 uprooted - up river 4 uprooted - best years 5 the faces behind the camera 6 what happens when band members use young fans? 12 preview - new roots house show 14 stray from the path 16 hevy fest 18 hacktivist, landscapes, blood youth, trash boat, wstr 26 albums 32 singles 32 live - a wilhelm scream 38 live - Frank carter & the rattlesnakes 40 Live - j3wel, teenage bottleorkcet 42 live - tigers jaw 44 news

Facebook: New Roots Twitter: @newrootsmag Instagram: @newrootsmag Email: newrootsmag@gmail.com Photo by Isha Shah

A Note from the team This issue is our biggest yet, which means even more great content than we’ve brought you before.

This month we went to Hevy Fest, where we saw some amazing bands, as well as

catching five of the awesome artists on the line-up for interviews.

As a magazine with a focus on featuring up and coming artists, we look at ‘Up River’ and ‘Best Years’ in our newly

named UPROOTED section.

We’ve got an feature on what it’s like to be a photographer in the industry, where some incredibly talented individuals offer interesting anecdotes and advice.

We also take a look at what you can expect from the New Roots house show that is happening this month.

We hope you enjoy this issue, and would as uaual love to hear any feedback.

Contributors: James Bannister, Ashwin Bhandari, Rosalyn Boder, Arriana Corr, Chloe Rose Eaton, Adrianne Goron, Emily Gunn, Charlie Hill, Ruby Kelly, Ryan Dalton Rodrigues, Isha Shah, Harriet Stanley Photographers: Ashlea Bea, Joe Brady, Juliette Carton, Corrine Cumming, The Dude Abides Photography, Oliver Duncanson, Doug Elliott, Ryan Dalton Rodrigues, Megan Fairless, Gingerdope Photography, Sam Haines, Olly Hanks, Isha Shah, Joe Sheridan, UltraSyd, Carly Tyrell

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All of the materialbelongs to New Roots Magazine, and may not be reproduced in whole or part without prior permission from New Roots.

news

gigs SEPTEMBER:

enter shikari announce remix album

4th Turnstile + Broken Teeth Angel Du$t @ The GlobeCardiff 4th-26th Free Throw TOUR around the UK/EUROPE 4th Stereo Ghost + Hindsights + Casey @ Borderline London 5th-6th Ghostfest LEEDS + BRISTOL 5th Rucktion Records monthly gig @ 12 bar club London 5th-7th Downers + Larkhill UK TOUR

Before heading off on their February tour, Enter Shikari will be releasing a remastered album from this year, The Mindsweep, via drum and bass label Hospital Records.

“We’ve always been big on our B-sides and remixes, with every album we’ve always tried to get a load of drum & bass remixes done,” explains vocalist Rou Reynolds. “Hospital-wise we did one with High Contrast around the time of our second album ‘Common Dreads’, for

instance. While we were making ‘The Mindsweep’ we started the idea of having a consolidated collection of just d’n’b tracks. Because ‘The Mindsweep’ is such a varied album we just thought it’d be quite interesting to see what a drum & bass take on each track would be, and Hospital’s the one label that I personally have been into forever.”

Words by Isha Shah

6th LONDON EMO FEST @ The Garage London 6th Bring Me The Horizon album release show @ Rose Theatre Kingston 7th Scared Of Everything + Water Canvas 8th Palm Reader + Ithaca + SOE @ Surya London 8th-14th Best Years + WSTR UK TOUR

lloyd roberts leaves neck deep following accusations

9th Walleater + The New Tusk + Wallfower @ Powelunches London 11th Brand New @ Alexadra Palance 12th Butserfest Southampton 12th Homewrecker @ The Black Heart London 13th Survival + more ALL DAYER @ Tooting tram and social London 14th Free Throw @ Old blue last London 18+

The former Neck Deep guitarist has parted ways with the band after some serious accusations were made against him on Twitter. A statement was later then made on Facebook by the band.

still unclear, our guitarist Lloyd Roberts has decided to step down from Neck Deep to focus on his family, as he does not feel comfortable having his reputation, or that of the band sullied further by these accusations.”

“Yesterday, there were some allegations aimed towards our band. We feel that these situations should always be approached with the utmost regard for all parties, so we thank you for your patience whilst we have dealt with this matter internally.”

“We sincerely apologise to anyone who has been caused distress or been affected by any of these events. As a band, we absolutely treasure our fans, we would not be anywhere without them, and we would never want them to feel disrespected or taken advantage of.”

“Whilst the full facts of the matter at hand are

Words by Isha Shah

15th Creeper EP RELEASE SHOW @ Old blue last London 18+ 15th-30th State Champs + Knuckle Puck + Roam UK TOUR 17th -26th Create To Inspire + Shields + Falling With Style ON TOUR 22nd Joanna Gruesome @ Scala London 26th NEW ROOTS HOUSE SHOW Southampton

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Photo by Doug Elliott

uprooted

up river Up River 2011- Present

so bad either. Up River are a Brighton based fivepiece who thrive in the emotionally filled genre.

Harry Huntington - Vocals Rudi Ridgewell - Bass Guitar Luke Marshall - Guitar Tom Collins - Guitar Harry Rawson - Drums

Founded in 2011, the band has been around for four years now with annual releases. ‘Undertow’ has to be their biggest achievement; a full length of spinetingling sounds, the band break out a whole record of noises that torture your mind in their twisted thoughts. Following in More Than Life’s footsteps of arguably being the only successful melodic hardcore band from the UK, Up River take a strong lead with solid utterances that resemble their past work.

You could say the melodic hardcore scene within the UK is dying but my argument would be that you probably stole that off someone’s Twitter or UKHC II. Whilst the North seems to be thriving with local melodic bands that are rubbing off their inspirations from Bring me The Horizon, While She Sleeps and Malevolence, the South aren’t doing

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Within the past four years the quintet have been hitting the road quite a bit having recently just played Hevy festival in Kent. They’ve also supported Vales, More Than Life, and played alongside Your Demise 04,

’68, Loma Prieta, Dead Harts, and H2o. For a UK band, they’ve headlined quite a fair few shows and tours around Europe who seem to be treating them well.

If you’re a fan of Bane, American Nightmare, Touche Amore and Modern Life Is War, you will soon be a fan of Up River, joining the many talents the UK has to offer. Up River’s music invites you to a place where all suppressed memories can escape and breathe.

Unlike a lot of bands that still do sing from the heart, bands like Up River bring a whole new field of depth.

Tracks to look out for: Undertow, Youth, Growing Pains, Withdrawal.

Words by: Isha Shah

uprooted

best years best years Josh Holland - Bass Ed Lawson - Guitar Joel Plews - Vocals Josh Berzins - Drums James Hunt - Guitar The UKPP scene seems to be growing along with many ‘new’ bands that are appearing from all over the place. However, growing in size does not mean growing with talent. Luckily there’s an exception for the Manchester five-piece, Best Years.

As generic as it does sound, Best Years have only been around for a year or so, sparked by their backdated influences of Blink-182, Brand New, American Football and Man Overboard, as well as new inspiring bands. Being in a pop punk band does carry many stereotypes that you

live and breath pop punk, according to Jarrod Alonge anyways, but Best Years don’t seem to fall under this negatively portrayed stereotype.

While they are a new band, they have still made appearances at many local shows and festivals such as Deadbolt, Pinkyswears, Jump on Demand, Empire fest, and supporting Blood Youth, As It Is, Coasts to Coasts and Yeah Detroit.

Their first EP Footwork was released straight off in 2014, where no traces of that annoying whiny scream is found. While it didn’t exactly portray their best of their abilities, it did show great potential for them that has shone through and proven right with their more recent release.

sound. What clearly is a massive improvement in development as well as post-production, the band are on steady feet with this EP. They have a greater prospective to sprout further from this and come out with a richer, more dense EP next year, but so far so good– keep them on your radar.

You can catch them on a short run of UK tours with WSTR from September 8th to 14th.

Tracks to look out for: Overrated, Built To Last, Back Then.

Words by: Isha Shah

Just dropping a brand new EP released via Dream Atlantic Records, Drop Out, it’s filled with three classic upbeat tracks. Sure, it revamps the best of American pop punk, but it also adds the UK’s solid

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s e c a f The d n i h the e

B

a r e Cam

“Why complain about people ripping your Internet when you don’t respect the effor put into their art” - Martyna Wisniewska Photographers: there are so many of us out there all constantly snapping away while you get temporary blinded by the flash gun and gabbed in the face with a lens, but why are we not taken as seriously as we should be? Yes, being a live music photographer is a job, “I've seen so many people make comments on how photography is 'just pushing a button' or 'everyone can take photos'. It's kind of upsetting because photography is more than just taking a quick photo,” Ashlea Bea tells us.

Maybe it’s another talent that goes underestimated, according to Olly Hanks, “They don't take into account the travel, time taken out for the shoot and the post production to ensure the shots you give them are the best of your ability.” Like any other real job, being a gig photographer is more than just pressing a button and hoping for the best; we actually have to do more work in the postproduction than anything. When a band makes an album, they don’t just go into the studio once and hope for the best, it’s the same with photography.

“It’s all hard work and a lot of sleepless nights- I’m not complaining, I’m bragging.” Martyna Wisniewska adds.

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Bea continues to tell us how it’s not even paid like a job. “As for payment, it's different for everyone. Some people rely on photography to make a living and some people are happy not to earn money from it and keep it as a hobby. I can't make a living of it at the moment but I also don't have unlimited funds to travel to and from shows or places. I have done work for people and was told I was going to get commission but never actually retrieved anything; that sucks and the excuses are always crappy. I guess it's just something people have to deal with and have to learn how to deal with it.”

So if we are not even getting paid for out art, then are we at least getting credited for the work we solely produce? “If you don’t credit photographers who most likely gave you their work for free, you’re being a dick,” Wisniewska emphasises. “Another issue that’s even more disrespectful and just pure gross - when musicians crop out watermarks and then ‘forget’ to credit. It’s not exactly a lot ef ort to insert someone’s name when you post the photos. The watermark is there to remind your dumb ass who created what you’re sharing, embracing

it.” For most of us photography is sparked by passion so we don’t let these silly things stop us. Putting it into great words the UK’s very own Joe Brady explains his view, “I firmly believe that if you are good at what you do and work hard, you will gain the respect you deserve and people will take you seriously and pay you fairly for your art.”

Watermarks seem like the only way us photographers can gain any sort of credit, which is really sad to think, that we yet again have to make more of an effort to stop people for abusing our work. “Not being credited is something I get very often and it sucks. I don't get too bothered if one of my photos get put up somewhere with my watermark because the credit is kind of still there, but I have had people take my photos, crop, edit them and post them on the internet which is frustrating. It's not nice because we spend so much time and ef ort to turn up, take photos and edit them, it's a bit of a kick to the stomach.”

Bea adds, sharing her experience with such disgusting acts of pushing photographers in the dark. Personally, I do not like having a watermark simply for the reason of what photography is about to me. It’s about capturing

FEATURE

music off the rt people have

a certain time in life and framing it forever. You adapt the photo to how you felt and what you saw at that specific time. The main focus should be on the photo as art, not something you claim to be yours. However I do understand why people use watermarks, as long as they don’t distract the image or draw more attention to the artist then they’re fine. “I see some photographers plastering their watermark over the entire image to stop them being stolen, and it's a great shame,” Brady adds.

Watermarks being cut are the least of our problems, sure we have had our work stolen to different extents, Brady openly tells us about his quite hilarious story. “I was in Newcastle on a UK tour, leaving the venue to get some food, when I was approached by a girl handing out fliers featuring a photo of a band. As she handed me one I said, "That's a cool photo!" and she said, "Thank you, I took it!” She had no idea that the photo was actually mine. Awkward! Moral of the story is: don't tell lies.”

We all have our stories about how we started out and where it has now lead us, so we asked a few

photographers about their very own. “I was on my way to Mallory Knox and got lost, couldn’t find the venue whatsoever. I had a DSLR, which I was hoping to sneak into the venue. I bumped into Dave, the drummer and after a short conversation; he not only got me to the venue on time, but also sorted me out a photo pass. I stood in that photo pit, not knowing what I was doing and just thinking: “This is really rad.” I remember walking home nearly in tears because it was a super overwhelming feeling to finally finding your field of interest after years and years of constantly making weird choices. For example, in sixth form I studied Film Studies, Law, Art, and Psychology and picked up Photography later.” Wisniewska shares, stating that photography eventually found her and she couldn’t be happier now. All accidents happen for a reason and it’s not just Wisniewska who started out like that, Brady elaborates on his story. “It started almost by accident really - I was working full time in TV on shows such as Top Gear, QI and The Apprentice and bought an SLR just to play around with as a hobby. I took photos of pretty flowers, sunsets, the usual stuff . Then my friend’s band won a

competition to play at The Forum in London and asked me if I wanted to take some photos of them. I’d never done music photography before but I happily obliged.

The photos turned out okay and I started taking photos at all their shows, also shooting the other bands they were playing with for the fun of it. At one of those gigs I was approached by someone who’d seen me shooting around and asked if I’d like to shoot for their publication.

It all snowballed from there really, more bands started to notice my work and asked me to shoot their shows personally - so over time my portfolio gradually improved and I slowly climbed the ladder! I was eventually able to quit my job in TV and now I do photography full time.”

A lot of us are just the local snappers who attend shows but don’t spend time with a band, so what’s the main difference between the two? Brady begins with his years of experience. “Touring with a band is a lot more rewarding than just shooting bands for publications from the photo pit. You are living in close proximity with a group of people for long periods of time, and things can get pretty intense. Touring always results in better photos

Photo by Joe Brady

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“Shoot. Grab e and

Photo by Carly Tyrell

“Why create something soul with a lack of identity that with all the other generic sh everywhere these days?”

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get pretty intense. Touring always results in better photos though, as you have access to the band that nobody else gets. You also get full stage access for the whole show, so the photo opportunities

talk to other photographers! You can learn from each other and it's nice to have friends in the same field as you.

There's no point in hating or disliking people who do the same thing as you.”

every opportunity you can work really fucking hard” are greater than if you're just shooting the first three songs from the photo pit.

I definitely prefer touring, as nothing beats the feeling of exploring the world and seeing new places with your best friends.” Oli Duncanson has similar experiences with touring too. “With one-of shows it's a lot more tense as you only have one shot at getting some good photos, when you're on tour you learn what sort of photos the band likes and you're usually a lot more relaxed, usually making you end up with better shots. I like touring because you get to know the band and build friendships with them and you get to see their reaction to your photos in first hand which is so much more fulfilling than reading an email from the band or a Facebook message.”

lless and will blend in hit you see Photo by Corrine Cumming

There are so many different parts of touring and shooting shows that we won’t all understand until we have been there first hand. Spending endless amounts of nights on the road, Wisniewska tells us her recent involvement. “The dif erence is people you tour with give a shit about your work (I’d like to think so anyway, because they did invite you tour with them in the first place) whereas bands you just photograph without prior contact aren’t usually fussed about photos. Not in a nasty way, they just haven’t seen your work or know you to think anything of it. That works both ways. When I used to be a house photographer I shot Koji without prior knowledge how fucking incredible the dude and his messages are. Luckily I got asked to film a couple of bits after the set and managed to get a portrait of him and got to talk with him which was definitely a highlight of that month. Also, just snapping bands puts less pressure on you because you don’t have to get anything specific (unless you’re shooting for a publication). I’m a big fan of working under pressure, even though it does get to me sometimes and I have shit days shooting. So, I’d choose touring all the way, every day. It’s always rad when artists you work with ask you how it went and whether you got some good stuf . It’s nice being appreciated.”

So what advice can we give to our younger snappers? “I'm not sure what advice to give as I'm still learning myself!” Bea begins. “Know how to work your camera, try and know it inside out and know how to work it manually. Secondly, try out all types of photography. Don't just limit yourself to one genre of photography. Thirdly,

These three points would be considered to be crucial and very important to any photographer, not just learners. I have gotten further with my work by just talking to photographers at shows than watching YouTube tutorials. What’s better than sharing the thing you love with a bunch of other people that feel the same? Just like music, photography also creates a community of people that are just like you. There is no better feeling than turning up to a gig and seeing someone you recognise shooting the show. It’s not a competition but you get to see the gig through someone else’s eyes, how amazing is that?

“Shoot. Grab every opportunity you can and work really fucking hard, but most of all don’t be a dick. Also when you stop sleeping like an average human being that’s where the fun starts,” Wisniewska advises.

While we can give out advice we are also taking more in as we go which Hanks explains. “Without doubt you are forever learning, no two shows will ever be the same, no two venues are the same. Just have to walk into every show and just go for it, the rewards are so satisfying.”

Getting a real insight to the photography world from the UK’s very own is more fascinating than reading about it from another perspective. There is just one last message Wisniewska adds, summing up what photography has taught her in life. “I think this applies to everything in life, but photography definitely made it perfectly clear for me: unapologetically be yourself. Always. Because that attitude goes into the content you’re creating.

If you’re trying to fake something, whatever you’re creating won’t be real.

It won’t be you. Why create something soulless and with a lack of identity that will blend in with all the other generic shit you see everywhere these days?

Put 420% of your creative drives in your work, otherwise what’s the point? And when people end up liking your work for it being the way it is, that’s when you know you’re doing something right. “ Words by: Isha Shah

Photo by Joe Brady

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photographers fact file WHO TO LOOK OUT FOR? Recommended by some of the UK’s thriving photographers, we decided to ask them and made a list of some fantastic work you should check out!

Ashlea Bea: Jennifer McCord, Elliot Ingham and Martyna Wisniewska (gingerdope)

Photo by Joe Sheridan

Isha Shah: Doug Elliott, Ryan Dalton Rodrigues, Approach the Wolf (Corey Eyres) Joe Sheridan: Martyna Wisniewska (gingerdope), Jennifer McCord, Joshua Halling.

Joe Brady: Ashley Osborn, Tom Falcon, Matty Vogel Corinne Cumming: Ellie Mitchell, Tim Easton, Ian Coulson Fran Dignon: Tom Barnes and Emma Dearie

PHOTOGRAPHERS PROBLEMS We’ve all been there when it comes to shooting shows. You can barley see yourself in the thick red lights or keep getting blinded by someone’s annoying flash gun. Here is a list of things that we have found annoying.

Ashlea Bea: “One thing is Photographers who just push past you and generally don’t have any manners kind of frustrate me, I’ll always move out of the way for someone because we all know how important it is to get the right shots, I just don’t appreciate being pushed out of the way when they could have said ‘excuse me’ or just asked me to move.”

Isha Shah: “Red lighting, or just very poor blotchy lighting in general, it really makes me mad. The no flash rule but “bigger” publications can use flash and have the whole set? Don’t think that’s exactly fair just because they work for a “larger” publication.”

Joe Sheridan: “Unpredictable lighting, lack of appreciation because photography is so widely polluted on the net with people posting photos from their phones, and lack of financial backing for photographers.”

Gingerdope: “Red lights, I don’t think anyone likes them. Being paranoid of tripping on stage when working.”

Olly Hanks: “Security Guards generally waving their hands in front of my camera deliberately when I am trying to get a shot at Download. No barrier shows the joy of dodging feet and fists is always a challenge!”

Joe Brady: “It’s quite annoying if you’re in the photo pit and somebody stands directly in front of you while you are shooting, having no consideration that they are blocking your shot. I guess the ultimate thing which drives me mad is poor lighting.”

Oliver Duncanson: “People who don’t move for the whole set in the photopit, and photographers who steal others’ shots by throwing their camera in front of someone else’s when they’re a millisecond away from pressing the shutter button! Oh and red lights.”

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3 LENSES YOU CANT LIVE WITHOUT? Lenses are like babies to us, but they’re so expensive. If you had to only use three lenses for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Ashlea Bea: 11-16mm, 24-70 2.8, 50mm 1.2 Isha Shah: 50mm 1.4, 35mm 1.4, 16-35 2.8 Joe Sheridan: 50mm, 24-70mm Gingerdope: 50mm 1.4, Sigma 35mm Art Lens, 16-35mm 2.8 Olly Hanks: 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8, and 35mm Joe Brady: 50mm, 16-35mm & 70-200mm.

Oliver Duncanson: Tokina 16-28 f2.8, Canon 24-70 and 70-200 f 2.8 Corinne Cumming: 16-35 f2.8 24-70 f2.8 70-200 f4

Favorite festival?

Joe Brady: “Reading Festival in England, purely because of the sentimental value it holds for me. I started going to that festival with my dad & my best friends when I was 16, and remember being on the barrier on the Friday morning, watching the photographers in the pit, thinking how they have the best job in the world getting to shoot all those awesome bands! Skip forward to 2013, and I'm standing on the main stage shooting Mallory Knox & We Are The In Crowd.

Looking out at that huge crowd is quite a feeling, I'll never forget that moment. “ Olly Hanks: “Groezrock always produces and that was awesome to be part of the AONO x Macbeth pop up barbershop too, Slam Dunk's block party in Wolverhampton with such a solid line up and Download being huge, long but super fun even with all the mud.”

Isha Shah: “I have only done one so far and Hevy was pretty amazing to shoot, just because it was all very close and intimate with the staff/bands.”

Carly Tyrell: “Ghostfest.”

Photo by Ashlea Bea

Photo by Olly Hanks

Favourite band to photograph?

Oliver Duncanson: “Shields, just because I know their set so well, their stage presence is really synchronised as well, first time I saw them I was convinced they must practice/ choreograph their set. Or HECK just because they're fucking mental and put on such a good show!”

Isha Shah: “Turnstile and Knuckledust for me was madness, give me anything hardcore, it’s always manic and a challenge with the shit lighting.”

Gingerdope: “I’m gonna have to say Milk Teeth, for obvious reasons. They’re the best dudes on stage as well as off stage. I’m super thankful to be part of the milky crew and I feel like they let me grow as an artists. I nearly missed the headline band at Takedown when shooting for Ourzone Magazine because I just had to stay until the end of HECK because you never know when shit is gonna go down.”

Joe Brady: “Airbourne definitely stand out as one of my favourites though, as Joel is an absolute animal on stage - smashing beer cans on his head and running/climbing around the entire venue during solos.”

Photo by Gingerdope Photography

Ashlea Bea: “My favourite kinds of bands to shoot are lively bands, just because of the different shots you can get. Heck (Baby Godzilla), The Catharsis, The Sick Livers are all favourites. I also really enjoy shooting hardcore shows just because everyone is just so lively, it's fun to capture it.”

Corinne Cumming : like family so they let me

“Hacktivist have free

because they’re reign, I shoot

Craziest thing to happen: Joe Brady: “This is another difficult question to answer because I have so many stories to tell, but one which is fresh in my mind happened literally yesterday in Bangkok. I'm currently out on a world tour with Against The Current and this is the first city of the run, so we decided to go for a group Thai massage that was certainly an experience. I am incredibly ticklish and was on the next bed over from Nick our TM who is equally as ticklish, so we were both in hysterics for the entire thing, while everyone else was trying their best to keep quiet and take it seriously. We had to endure the massage for an hour, and I was bent into all kinds of crazy positions I never thought possible. That memory will certainly stay with me for a while.”

Photo by Isha Shah

Photo by Oliver Duncanson

Gingerdope:“This whole experience so far has been the weirdest/ craziest thing that has happened to me. But my ultimate fave was definitely that time I got a call from Josh (Milk Teeth) on a Wednesday night at about 11PM, a week before that Frank Iero tour and he was like ‘’I know this is late notice, but like do you wanna come on tour with us?’’. I remember it like it happened yesterday. This was followed by another crazy adventure I got to be a part of. A couple of days into the Frank Iero tour, the band was joking around about taking me on that EU tour, the next thing I know I’m finishing off my dissertation proposal (which I failed, no big deal) in London with my bags packed for three weeks worth of travelling and live music. Blessed.”

Isha Shah: “It’s nothing crazy or too mad that’s happened so far but my favourite memories will be when I got an email with a photo of a t shirt that is being printed with one OF MY PHOTOS on. Never mind that it was Knuckle Dust one of the founding UKHC bands but the fact they used my photo on a shirt that I can now wear, the feeling never gets old. It’s not about the money, it’s about that feeling you get when you are actually proud of something you’ve done. I also consider when bands post your photos on their social media accounts, it doesn’t matter what band, it always makes me happy and pleases me that they like your art. It’s even better when it’s a band you love like Touche Amore, unreal feelings.

Photo by Isha Shah

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FEATURE

what happens when members use young

‘‘that guy in that band that you love being; he is not an embodiment of perfe and he is capable of doing things wron

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Photo by Isha Shah

band fans?

is a human ection, ng”

Music is an incredibly powerful thing. It can influence so many aspects of an individual’s life, from the friends they make to the way they look, the places they go and the way they live their lives. Teenage music fans across the world religiously follow their idols; they dress head to toe in merchandise; they travel miles upon miles for one sweaty and emotional night where they can sing their favourite lyrics to the artists they love in the flesh. As a musician, you have the ability to make someone’s day by posing for a photo, or taking the time to have a quick chat, but more and more we’re seeing vulnerable young girls used by those in a position of power, by their role models.

The fact that these men have girls practically throwing themselves at them and hanging on their every word in desperate admiration is not an excuse to abandon all morals and exploit someone that is underage. As an adult, it is your responsibility to know that someone so young is unlikely to fully understand the situation; they are blinded by the attention they are receiving from someone they hold in such high regard.

In last month’s issue we published a feature on Front Porch Step, and how he was being allowed to play Warped Tour despite proven allegations of manipulation of young people. This week a young girl was hit by a storm of abuse from fans after making allegations against one member of one of the UK’s most successful poppunk bands, Neck Deep (it is important to remember that nothing has currently been proven in this case, and it has been raised with the police to investigate further).

There are three main issues that I feel need to be addressed quickly. The first is the downright obvious, however not the easiest to implement. All adult band members need to understand what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to how they behave with their fans. Most artists in the industry seem to have a firm grip on the idea, however a minority can be exceptionally destructive for both their band mates, and the scenes themselves.

Innocent people find the name of their band tarnished because of the actions of one of their irresponsible peers. It isn’t just their lives that suffer either, families and friends of both those involved and the innocent can go through hell, all because on member of a band did something inappropriate.

In an age where everything is voiced via social media (and the majority of thirteen year-olds have twitter accounts), someone that may not have felt comfortable going to the police can be targeted by an army of those their own age in minutes. Which brings me to the second: stop ganging up on your fellow fans online. YouTube comments, Twitter feeds, and Facebook posts have become a breeding ground for hatred, where like-minded people find the

smallest things to argue over. It is possible to respectfully disagree with someone’s ideas on the Internet without launching a hate campaign (i.e. the opposite of ‘Directioners’ on any form of social media). If someone chooses to use Twitter as a place to voice their concerns or experiences, this should be met with support, genuine concerns, or advice as to where to take it further, not a surge of people spitting statements like, “Oh my God, you must be a liar, *insert Godly band member here* would never do that.” Someone in this situation is likely to already feel isolated– don’t isolate them more when you don’t know any of the facts.

The third issue is that psychologically, large numbers of fans are so tied up in their approbation, that they fail to make the distinction between when it is okay to support and defend an artist and when realistically there is a line that needs to be drawn. At the end of the day, ‘that guy in that band that you love’ is a human being; he is not an embodiment of perfection, and he is capable of doing things wrong. If you as a fan have put somebody that you respect on a pedestal, it can hurt to realise that they aren’t everything you imagined them to be, but denial will only make it harder on those the actions have been committed against.

Even in the most extreme of examples, despite evidence and a guilty verdict, there are countless people that uphold the belief that ex-Lostprophets frontman, Ian Watkins, never did anything wrong. Watkins managed to use his fame and charm to work girls into allowing him to perform unspeakable acts on their own children, a control most people would believe inconceivable.

I find it genuinely scary that a musician can have this level of influence over young people, particularly impressionable and often vulnerable girls. It is an abuse of their position of power that borders on brainwashing. Obviously not all cases are anywhere near as extreme as that of Watkins, but when it comes down to it, the small act of sharing indecent images with a minor shares the foundations of more severe cases.

Using an underage fan is using an underage fan and the surge in cases coming to the surface is incredibly worrying. I feel strongly that music creates community, and now is a time where we need to draw upon that idea more than usual. If somebody feels that an artist they look up to and admire has used those traits for their own gain, action needs to be taken. If you don’t feel comfortable going to the police, there are several other places you can go, for example The Survivors Trust. Everyone should be able to look back on their teenage years as a music fan with reminiscent ecstasy, and we can all help to make sure selfish individuals do not ruin that entitlement for those most susceptible.

Words by Adrianne Goron

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preview As we’re putting on a very secret and intimate house show, we thought you should check out the three strong supporters. All are bands that are pretty new to the scene; Headrush, Bowels ​and The Makarov Scheme a ​ re scattered from different parts of the UK, bringing in a heap of diverse sounds.

It may seem like the whole line up is a bit of a miss match, but would you want to hear the same shit over and over and over again? This show promises to be an exciting and varied night to remember, and we haven’t even announced the secret headliners yet!

bowels Bowels, yes the part of the alimentary canal below the stomach isn’t exactly a bright name for a band but then again it could be worse, (The Front Bottoms​.)

The three-piece are described to be “grunge/punk from the pits of the intestines” Or according to their Facebook bio, “horror film soundtrack”. London based, they have currently released a collection of demos for free on their bandcamp (Bowelspunx) titled, ‘My Dead Invisible Dog Is Dead’. If you’re into a bit of DIY mates club punk then don’t be put off by their name and listen to their music.

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the makarov scheme

Another trio of delights from Buckinghamshire, The Makarov Scheme brings some alternative emo punk sounds to the table. Releasing a fair few demos and EP’s on their bandcamp, the trio are the epitome of DIY punk. Unlike the other two supports, The Makarov Scheme has been around for a good two years, playing a handful of shows in London, Reading and High Wycombe. If you’re into old school Blink-182​, find comfort with Modern Baseball​’s lyrics, or even like a jam to Pup​’s energetic blasts, The Makarov Scheme cater for all states.

headrush Named after a ROAM​ song, Headrush are, surprise surprise, a pop punk band from Southampton. Local to our doorstep, the five members make up this thrilling new band that have been playing more house shows than actual shows.

With no set demos or EPs officially released, there is some mad footage of them playing these very small intimate shows at their mates houses, which will give you a great indicator of how hectic they are live. If you like a bit of pop punk that’s not as annoying as As It Is​ , then come experience it first hand.

All words by Isha Shah

Photo by Gingerdope Photography

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FEATURE

“

“

EVERY RICH WHITE GOT SOMETHING T SAY

STRAY FROM THE PATH ARE DOING WHAT EVERY BAND IGNORES. WIT EXPLORED THEMES THAT GO DEEPER THEN TEENAGE BREAKUPS, AND SPEAK Just one of many bold statements that are found within Stray From The Path’s new record, Subliminal Criminals. Pretty self-explanatory really, the Long Island five-piece are no newcomers to the scene; with six full lengths already released, the band are well known within their community.

‘First World Problem Child’, which features Sam Carter (Architects), was the first issue the band put out, broadcasting war within the music scene.

It’s very rare that a band will post such declarative lyrics, however Stray doesn’t seem to care. With the opening lines sung with facts, it’s finally time we have a record that is filled with these “calling out” lyrics that actually tackle real life situations. Backed up with Carter’s vocals, the track thrives musically as well as a statement. Making a speech is hard enough to construct let alone making it sound like a FUCKING AWESOME song. The track is filled with constant headbanging breakdowns that lets loose of all rage.

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Photo by Megan Fairless

‘Outbreak’ offers much more depth into the bands outburst of rants. “Outbreak! Subliminal criminals, fuck this system,” is shouted repeatedly throughout the chorus while the band continues to address health issues that we are victims of. Again, they have infused heavy punching riffs that are exploding with rage and anger. The true passion is clear, with every word spat and every outrageous guitar riff exploding, Stray From The Path know how to creative powerful, emotive music.

“The song is about the health industry, and how illness is a business. Every year there’s a new disease to be afraid of, more money to be made off of cancer treatments and more prescriptions written.” According to guitarist Tom, who also plays a role in the lyrical content of songs.

It’s not only Carter who features as a guest but also someone else who is just as involved with the world’s collisions, Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari. Once again the band are not preaching but instead educating us about the inequality that comes with power, demonstrated in

Reynold’s part. “From GCHQ to the NSA, when the tables are turned laws are nothing but hearsay,” he shouts.

The band is known for their outspoken lyrics, as ‘D.I.E.P.I.G’ is a song that the whole community will find true and shocking. “I think that when you take advantage of the people that support the music, you should lose your privilege to play. People can apologize (or not even apologize if you're Front Porch Step) and to me, that is a step in the right direction.”

Guitarist Thomas Williams stated in a recent interview with Alternative Press, he then continues to name and shame other involved artists, “If people want to accept you and bring you back, fine, it wouldn't be the first time. You will always be on the team with people who do not deserve being back in fortunate lifestyles, captained by Michael Vick and Jonny Craig.”

If you can make a song as hooking and aggressive as Stray do, then why are we still hearing about teenage

KID’S TO

TH THE RECENT RELEASE OF ‘SUBLIMINAL CRIMINALS’, THE BAND HAS K ABOUT THE COVERED UP TROUBLES OF THE CURRENT WORLD’S AFFAIRS. breakups we’re still not over? It takes guts and an open mind to do something as big as Stray have, but is it making more enemies than friends? Of course when you are blatantly shaming other artists on their mistakes, you’re going to cause a stir with them as well as their fanbase.

A personal favourite is ‘‘Badge & A Bullet Part II’ just because the message they are sending is the most important, at least right now. “When we wrote "Badge & A Bullet Pt. II," we wanted to make sure it was about the cops that abuse authority, murder people and escape charges because of their occupation and not every single police officer. This one was completely, "fuck this guy, and fuck everyone like this guy." A topic that has been front-page on many newspapers and the main breaking story on TV, yet the headliners and stories are different.

“Trigger happy lunatics walking a beat, when you wont do what they say, they turn up the heat.” Describes how power cops seem to think they have just because they are “above” the general public. The music video

is incredibly moving; not only did SFTP make it directly about cops and show footage with a ghastly red blood effect, but they also play tribute to many lives that have been lost due to their actions. “FUCK THEM, NO JUSTICE.” It doesn’t end there, SFTP are truly pissed off with a lot of things such as nature, water supply, slavery by debt, glorification of war, business of the medical industry, government spying on their own citizens, sexual predators in the music scene, law enforcements and also relationships. It’s definitely fair to say that these four guys are more educated than one might think. With such courageous themes comes great wisdom and knowledge, which Stray surely have.

‘Future of Sound’ features another guest, Cody B Ware, who adds a twist to Stray’s opening sound. Not coating this track with a full pelting metal riff or screams, he layers on bars of raps before the chorus shreds angsty voices.

Every single song within this record is important, sure, some people will find their lyrics cheesy but the fact is at least they’re addressing these issues so openly. The fact that the band can make them catchy and hooking to a completely different audience is even better. I’m sure the band are going to earn a whole new outlook of credit with this record as it’s something that should be talked about and hopefully will inspire fellow bands to do the same.

In its entirety, the record is a solid 10/10 without a doubt; not just because of its lyrical content but their ability to make these issues sound as important as they are.

“Always be serious, but try not to take yourself so seriously,” Williams says, closing his speech.

Words by: Isha Shah

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FEATURE what happens when new roots goes to

hevy fest?

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we watch as many bands as physically possible, and also catch some awesome interviews with hacktivist, landscapes, blood youth, trash boat, and wstr...

Photo by Isha Shah

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thursday The Thursday of Hevy festival saw a whole host of acoustic sets being performed in preparation for the main event. There were sets from; The Gospel Youth, The Lion And The Wolf, Sean McGowan, Chas Palmer Williams, Dave Mcpherson, Sam Duckworthand of course the highlight of the night, Jamie Lenman.

Jamie Lenman Jamie Lenman, best known for being the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of post-hardcore/alternative rock band Reuben, croons through his own solo tracks, as well as Reuben songs. Reuben, famous for their ability to produce songs that are heavy and concentrate more on riffs, are also able to produce songs that are softer and focus more on melody. Lenman seems to have taken this approach with his own music by releasing an album that is a fusion of both, with half concentrating more on the softer side of his music and the other,

the

heavier

side.

Opening with ‘Shotgun House’, his soaring voice eloquently conveys his beautiful lyrics, whilst his soft guitar playing compliments. Lenman plays his own tracks; ‘Little Lives’, ‘It’s Hard To Be A Gentleman’, ‘I Ain’t Your Boy’ and highlight ‘Pretty Please.’ His acoustic version of heavy track ‘Fizzy Blood’ goes down extremely well with the crowd, as do his acoustic versions of Reuben songs; ‘ Moving To Black Water’ and ‘Let’s Stop Hanging Out’. Even though he performed acoustically, Lenman’s diversity and individuality still shone through, leaving you anticipating seeing him perform both sides of his musical personality.

9/10

friday WSTR After a twenty minute delay of the barrier just being secured, Liverpool’s WSTR appear on stage with a high level of energy. The very small UK pop punk band has merely been around for a year yet they have already secured a place to open up the second stage of the festival. Not your typical hardcore band or metal band for that matter - the five piece deliver a great representation of the UKPP scene to an audience who probably don’t exactly appreciate it.

7/10 Press to Meco More of a crowd now started to form around the second stage for alternative rock band Press To Meco.

A very different band in comparison to many of the other acts at Hevy, as all three members of the group sing. Luke Caley’s, Adam Roffey’s and Lewis Williams’ voices harmonize well, particularly on ‘Family Ties’.

Their unconventional and unpredictable style, paired with heavier music elements and extremely clean, smooth vocals is unique and exciting to hear.

The Crawley trio manage to get the right combination of heaviness, groove and melody into their sound, especially with tracks ‘Honestly’ and ‘Affinity’.

Caley’s cheeky chat in between tracks also increases

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the crowd’s interaction. It’s not unlikely that their innovative sound will make it to the main stages of festivals in the next couple of years.

9/10 Chon Chon are an interesting addition to the main stage with their progressive rock¬based instrumental set. The band sure knows how to take technical music to the next level.

It may look like Chon are, shall we say, more suited to connoisseurs of music. However, with their mix of light hearted melodies combined with intricate and powerful riffs, there is sure to be something to attract anyone.

While they seem to lean towards the more progressive rock side of things, there are lots of technicality in their music and some elements of mathcore.

Creeper It’s been a great year for the My Chemical Romance mistaken quartet, Creeper. Recently playing Download and 2000 Trees Festival, the grim reapers have returned to yet another festival alongside many of the bands that inspire their sound. Instantly the band hit it off with tracks from their self titled EP such as ‘Gloom’ and ‘VCR’ which all prove to be gang vocal chants.

There certainly is something about vocalist Will Gould’s stage presence that makes their set even more exciting and filled with surprises. Facial expressions and hand gestures are all part of this thrilling experience as he runs from each side of the stage. The band also give us a hint of new material with ‘Lie Awake’ booming angsty Rage and AFI vibes in your face.

9/10

Musically, the Californian quartet are very similar to post¬hardcore band The Fall Of Troy, particularly when it comes to the technical guitar playing of guitarists Erick Hansel and Mario Camarena.

However, their music seems to be a mixture of various genres, fusing even jazz and classical elements into their sound. Producing something innovative has paid off for Chon, making it to the main stage even though it is only their first UK appearance.

7/10

Black Peaks Brighton four¬piece Black Peaks have quite a lot to live up to after the amount of interest they have gained, most notably from Zane Lowe and Daniel P Carter. Luckily, they live up to the expectations and surpass it. Vocalist Will Gardner’s vocals are superb, he has a remarkable ability to go from cleans to screams effortlessly, with both sounding powerful and compelling. ‘Glass Built Castles’ shows the bands capability at being able to go from soft, soothing song

horse the band

stick to your guns

creeper

to pounding heaviness. The juxtaposition of the two is similar to their peers in Arcane Roots. ‘Say You Will’ is the highlight of the set; Gardner conveys the song with pure passion and intensity. It’s obvious this band is built for the main stage and with their upcoming album release, who knows how far they can go.

10/10 Break Even Flying in from the other side of the world are Perth’s Break Even. Having just come off a UK tour, the band stop off at Hevy to play yet another emotional show to a UK crowd. Only managing to catch a short glimpse of their set, it was enough to understand why this band was so high on demand. Connecting with a raw hardcore riff that was stripped down to its punky backbone, the band screamed howls of agonising words.

7/10 Hacktivist It’s clear that genre crushing Hacktivist’s continuous touring has had a positive effect on the band’s performance. With Jermaine Hurley on rapped vocals, Ben Marvin on rapped and unclean vocals, and Tim Beazley on clean vocals, you would think being in sync with one another would be hard.

However, their performance is unbelievably perfect as the band harmonize well with one another.

heck

Their interesting mix of technical metal combined with rap, grime and even djent elements is definitely appealing to the crowd. The Milton Keynes based quintet know how to keep the crowd entertained and even get them doing a “Slipknot style” kneel and jump during their set. ‘Niggas In Paris’ is the obvious crowd favourite, with the audience going mad. ‘Hacktivist’ and ‘Elevate’ are highlights of the set. ‘False Idols’ is also prominent with guitarist and vocalist Beazley able to showcase his beautiful, clean vocals. The band manages to captivate the audience throughout their set, with the best crowd response of the day.

8/10 Touche Amore A band you wouldn’t normally think could run a mainstage, Touche Amore once again prove you wrong.

Not only do they own the stage that they prance around on but they make it work with their sound.

Sure, many fans still hurled themselves over the barrier, chipping teeth and dripping with bloody faces, nothing stopped them from getting that tiny bit closer to a the band they treasure the most. ‘Amends’ sets things off with powerful blasts that vocalist Jeremy Bolm lets out with every gasp of breath he takes. Their high melodic, emotional music still seems to bring a dampen tone to the stage which is lit up by the booming sun. Touche

are a band who continuously put on heart punching songs that give you weak knees and trembled nerves 9/10 HECK The most energetic and lively performers you will ever see, HECK certainly know how to connect with their audience, literally as well as metaphorically. Thrashing about on stage and then thrashing about in the crowd, bringing their guitars, mics, amps and even a ladder with them. The band treat the whole tent as their stage and make sure every single member of the audience knows what they are about– even if they are right at the back.

Matt Reynolds vocals are powerful throughout, particularly on ‘Powerboat Disaster’, something he manages to maintain even when deep inside the crowd. Guitarist Jonny Hall proves his versatility by thrashing out intense riffs and even playing the drums for part of the set. This band are unlike anything you would have seen live before and will make you want to keep going back for more, as every performance is different, interesting and thrilling.

9/10 Landscapes Keeping within the same lines of emotional raw music, Landscapes appear on the third stage with their ever so

Photo by Isha Shah

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gripping tone that captivated the whole tent for a good half hour. ‘D.R.E.A.M’ set a beating pace for vocalist Shaun Milton to cut in with his tormenting screams.

A proud assert to the UK scene, Landscapes are a band that have been around for five years yet have remained pretty much undiscovered within the scene.

Not to say that this reflects on their music as they produce a ballet endorsed performance that is more of a theatre show than a gig. Truly beautiful to witness, fans open their arms with their lungs filled with the heavy words that evaporate from Milton’s mouth.

9/10 The Dillinger Escape Plan Having been a band since 1997, The Dillinger Escape Plan are not unfamiliar with playing a main stage and it shows in their performance. Vocalist Ben Weinman commands the entire stage, bouncing about the stage, standing on speakers and just generally being hazardous.

His vocals are still flawless even so and his strong, robust screams merge exquisitely with his soaring cleans.

Mixing progressive metal with mathcore, they bash through tracks such as ‘Prancer’ and ‘Crossburner’ from their most current album ‘One Of Us Is The Killer’. The band manages to keep the set varied and include tracks from their previous albums such as ‘Milk Lizard’ and ‘Farewell, Mona Lisa’.

The entire performance was extremely intense.

The pure energy and passion displayed on stage blended with their intricate and innovative music is more than enough reason to watch them live.

10/10 Stick To Your Guns It’s never seems to matter what songs the Orange County five-piece play; as long as ‘Amber’ and ‘We Still Believe’ is in there, you know the set is going to kick off. Closing the third stage, the well-deserved band made sure that everyone on the other two stages heard their poetic speeches. Jesse Barnett makes one of his signature speeches, still coming directly from the heart, he spits out the very troubles we all face in this fucked up world. ‘3/60’ an old classic begins, and the dedicated crowd open up a clearing for hell to break loose. From start to finish their set was filled with swaying riffs that were so funky, you couldn’t help but have a little dance to. Hearing that bass line of ‘Nobody’ live is certainly ten times more effective than on record. You can’t expect any less from a band

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that has built themselves up with their own standards.

10/10 Fightstar In spite of sound difficulties and a late start, Fightstar managed to pull through. The bands sound was slightly off during the beginning but once the sound issue was sorted, they continued flawlessly. Vocalist and guitarist Charlie Simpson’s vocals were still outstanding even so, being able to go from clean singing to screams effortlessly, particularly during ‘Deathcar’. Alex Westaway’s vocals were also a highlight, especially on ‘Palahniuk’s Laughter’.

Although not the bands best performance, it was obvious that is because of technical difficulties and not the band itself. Simpson stated that they had only rehearsed new track ‘Animal’ a total of four times and even so they played it faultlessly. ‘Grand Unification Part 1’ was the pinnacle of the band’s performance with Simpson’s vocals being soft and strong at the same time.

Albeit slightly sketchy in parts, Fightstar still manage to captivate their audience and perform a good set.

7/10 Coheed and Cambria Progressive rockers Coheed and Cambria played through their entire 2003 album, ‘In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth.’ Even though the band are able to showcase their high level instrumental skill, playing through an entire album isn’t so entertaining for anyone that isn’t a huge fan of the band. Vocalist Claudio Sanchez’s unique vocals were particularly distinctive on ‘Cuts Marked In The March Of Men’ and ‘The Crowing.’ The latter end of the performance showed a softer and more serene side to his vocal range.

Things get more interesting when the band finish the album and come back out for an encore. They play through more well know tracks including ‘You Got The Spirit Kid’ and ‘Ten Speed (of God’s Blood and Burial).’ Finishing on arguably their most popular song, ‘Welcome Home’ which seemed to appeal more to the wider audience. Although a good performance, playing through an entire album, especially when some of the tracks are nearly ten minutes long may not keep the whole audience engaged.

8/10

the dillinger escape plan

coheed and cambria press to meco

up river

judge

Photo by Isha Shah

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Saturday Up River Opening up the second stage on another warm morning is Brighton’s melodic five-piece Up River.

Their performance begins as vocalist Harry Huntington sweeps the audience off their feet with a theatrical style movement across the stage. At such an early start to the day, their emotionally draining music hits you right away, pulling down on dampened memories.

8/10 Trash Boat First up to open the main stage are Trash Boat. Coming very far in just a year, the five young lads have been on the posters of most UK festivals and appearances. Beginning a highly energetic set, the band make the most of playing a stage twice the height of them, by filling it with nonstop posi jumps. Despite the small crowd of people who seem shocked to be hearing pop punk at Hevy, Trash Boat thrived with a niche group of screaming bodies.

8/10 Fort Hope With all the pop punk on offer at this year’s festival, it’s nice to see a decent pop rock band on the line¬up.

Vocalist Jon Gaskin has the most soothing and serene voice of the entire weekend, sounding very similar to Blitz Kids front man Joe James. Gaskin’s vocal range is astounding, with him hitting every high note perfectly.

The power behind his voice is reminiscent of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, especially on ‘Control’.

8/10 God Damn Grungy and raw, with just the right amount of rock ‘n’ roll, God Damn arrive on stage late due to back¬to¬back

broken teeth

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touring and a late ferry. The Wolverhampton based duo make up for lost time by being one of the best performers at this years Hevy Fest. Whilst the band are often compared to artists like Royal Blood, the only similarity is the number of members they have in their band.

Their sound is more like somewhere in between early Soundgarden and Nirvana. Their sound is also reminiscent to newer grunge bands Tigercub and Youth Man. Drummer Ash Weaver’s aggressive and fast¬paced drum style is a highlight, especially on ‘Vultures.’ Vocalist and guitarist Thom Edwards distinctive wails are filled with powerful emotion, complementing his textured guitar sound. Darting all over the place, Edwards also makes his way into the crowd as if it’s his stage and he owns it well.

It’s clear he’s an extremely talented musician, who will leave you wondering if there’s anything he can’t do with a pedal board and a guitar. God Damn are one of the most exciting alternative rock/grunge bands around now.

9/10 Blood Youth An even fresher band, Blood Youth take full control of their set, showing off that they are main stage material. What’s not to love about their groovy infused melodies that are so in sync with their head-banging, you’d think they practiced this? Worthy of playing yet another UK festival, Blood Youth’s performance summed up why the UK music scene is thriving.

9/10 Broken Teeth A true UKHC band that have just played Outbreak twice in a row, Broken Teeth bring the small intimacy of local shows to Hevy. Drawing a very conclusive crowd, the

Manchester hardcore band begin with one giant leap into the air before vocalist Dale Graham reaches over the barrier to meet with the crowd. Playing a festival is very different from playing shows, yet Broken Teeth seem to create a united crowd of familiar gig goers.

Guest vocals and mic grabs are all taking place as bodies cut shapes to their addictive beat. Representing the scene, Broken Teeth show Hevy how great UKHC is and how many people are involved in supporting the music.

10/10 Arcane Roots Another band that unfortunately were hindered by sound difficulties were alternative rock trio, Arcane Roots. This meant that their already short set was sadly even shorter. Nevertheless, in the short time they had, they gave it their all. Andrew Groves’ towering vocals juxtaposed well with bassist Adam Burton’s thundering screams, especially on ‘Sacred Shapes.’ Currently filling in on drums is Indynamics drummer Jack Wrench who plays as if he has always been part of the band. Wrench has been playing drums for the band since the departure of Daryl Atkins.

Arcane Roots mix elements of progressive rock, mathcore and indie rock to produce really catchy and interesting songs. ‘Million Dollar Que$tion’ proves popular with the crowd as mosh pits erupt. The Surrey trio also perform ‘Energy Is Never Lost, Just Redirected’ and ‘If Nothing Breaks, Nothing Moves’ but Groves mentions that they had to cut ‘You Are’ out of the set due to the sound cutting out halfway through.

Despite the sound difficulties, Arcane Roots manage to get the audience excited and engaged. They were definitely worthy of a much longer set and would

milk teeth

Photos by Isha Shah

have had the crowd and performance to back it up.

9.5/10 Sweet Jesus Following one great credit hardcore performance to another, Sweet Jesus slay the second stage with their punk inspired sound. Severely underrated, the band supports everything punk and hardcore by producing old school sounding riffs that resemble works of an older generation. As the crowd slowly disappears, vocalist Patrick Flynn shares a few words.

“We are not that kind of band who beach each other up. We are just here to make honest punk hardcore music.” Their true words shine through as nothing stopped them from bouncing around the stage with a rough step and vicious hand movements.

10/10 The Fall of Troy Post¬hardcore band with a difference, The Fall Of Troy amaze the audience at Hevy Fest. They play their album Doppelgänger in full, ten years after its original release.

Arguably the most technical band at the festival, their unique use of time signatures is unlike any other posthardcore band out there. Blending together elements of both progressive rock, mathcore and post¬hardcore, it’s hard to think of a band with a similar sound.

However, day one performers Chon come pretty close, musically. Their sophisticated song style combined with alternating clean vocals with roaring screams really shows how talented this trio from Washington are.

9/10

a shockingly underrated set. At 28 years into their career, it’s fair to say they are the founders of hardcore from the NY area. Inspiring the current music scene, the band got a far less deserved reaction. Isn’t Hevy a hardcore festival? Where the fuck are all the “hardcore kids” now? Judge probably weren’t used to playing a barrier show where all they could do is pace the stage a few times, so fans didn’t seem to react much to what was going on. That, or they just couldn’t see the band from the dark red glimpse of light.

7/10 Thrice After a brief hiatus, post¬hardcore quartet Thrice were the final act to perform at this year’s Hevy Fest.

Probably the best choice as they had the biggest crowd of the whole weekend, with some members of the audience fighting to make their way to the front. Their set included songs from older and newer albums that was a breath of fresh air from bands playing albums in their entirety. Vocalist and guitarist Dustin Kensrue’s gravelly and emotional vocals complimented the beautiful and well¬written lyrics, especially on ‘The Weight.’ The band themselves may not be the most exciting of performers, but it’s clear that isn’t what they are about. They are about playing well¬written songs flawlessly and that is exactly what they do.

8/10 Words by: Chloe Rose Eaton and Isha Shah

Judge A band probably older than most of you, Judge make

thrice

sweet jesus

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interviews

HACKTIVIST Appearing on the main stage at this years Hevy Fest were genre-crushing giants Hacktivist, and crush the main stage they did. Incorporating many elements and sounds into their music, rap vocalist Jay Hurley describes their sound as “rap-djent-metalcore-hip hop-grime-flex-er...djent...er-hardcore-metalcore!”

Not surprisingly, when drawing inspiration from other artists, they listen to everything and when they say everything, they mean literally everything. Their taste ranges from “grime to hip hop to metal to rap to hip hop, Basement Jaxx every now and again,” describes bassist Josh Gurner. Vocalist Ben Marvin agrees stating, “Yeah Basement Jaxx is sick! We listen to every genre.”

In terms of artists the bands response is even more random and varied. “Boyzone, Westlife.” jokes Marvin, who’s taste seems the most varied, also suggesting “Bugzy Malone is killing it. Stormzey is killing it.” While Hurley listens to everything from “Wiley and fucking In Hearts Wake,” Josh seems more into his metal , citing Deftones, Northlane and Slipknot as some of his favourite artists. Ben also adds that Michael Jackson is one of his influences, “my mum went to see Michael Jackson when she was pregnant with me, seven months deep and that’s where I got my rhythm from and my moves. Rest in peace.”

After finding out where the Milton Keynes quintet got their inspiration from, we had to ask them what inspired them to do the Jay-Z and Kanye West cover. The band cover the very popular track ‘In Paris’ but they change up the lyrics in a clever way to make it more relevant to themselves. “We had an epiphany!” exclaims bassist Josh Gurner.

Hurley goes onto explain, “It was Tim’s idea...

Really, weren’t it? I think. Tim got the Jay-Z and Kanye lyrics off the Internet and then mixed them over with a beat. And then when I heard it, I was like, that’s cool, let’s make our own version of it and then I done the vocals in the studio. ‘Cos people just started hyping over it didn’t they? So I was like let’s do vocals properly so we can change it up. And then we played it live and it just took off from there really.”

The band have also said they have an album coming out, with an announce date to be confirmed. If you can’t wait that long Hurley also tells us that they are “working on some new things as well.

Little snippets at the moment, but we’ll probably drop a banger before the album. It’s probably not going to be on the album.” Although, you shouldn’t have to wait too long for the album as “it’s all recorded and mixed and mastered.”

The band are just waiting on a release date, but if they had their way, they would release it tomorrow. Gurner continues “We spent a lot of time, playing loads and loads and loads of shows but not getting in the time to get recordings down.

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Photo by Sam Haines

Whereas now we’ve had more focus on recording, so we’re actually getting ahead of ourselves.”

On the subject of touring, Hactkivist are well known for frequently touring with electronic, posthardcore band Enter Shikari. Hacktivist will also be touring again with them around Europe during September and October of this year. They are also with Enter Shikari’s management because doing it without a big label backing interested them, and from that they have had the opportunity to go on tour with them quite a few times. Hurley states, “We get on really really well. They’ve shown us the ropes when it comes to touring.”

Something the quintet has in common with Enter Shikari is their politically charged lyrics that touch on controversial issues. We asked them if they thought it was important for bands to address such issues and this is something Marvin seems very passionate about. He explains his reasons quite beautifully. “There are a lot of bands and rappers and everything inbetween, where I think the best thing to do is confront things and speak about things that you want to and you associate yourself with. So, we wouldn’t knock people down for talking about stuff that maybe we wouldn’t and topics we wouldn’t like guns and money and whatever. I think you just have to be real to yourself. The way we see things, we want to put our message out there; we want people to relate to our lyrics. We want to actually make a difference rather than just talking about issues, well, not issues that a lot of people talk about. It’s good when you meet fans and stuff.

If you’re walking around a festival and someone comes up to you and tells you how your lyrics meant something to them and they can relate to it and they agree with what you’re saying... It’s a good feeling.

Yeah. In a nutshell it’s definitely important to.”

The guys still pumped from their performance earlier, we wanted to know what performances they were excited about. Hacktivist were also looking forward to seeing Betraying the Martyrs, Dillinger Escape Plan, Protest The Hero, Fort Hope and Thrice. Hurley and Marvin were both impressed with Press To Meco, Chon and Black Peaks. Marvin mentions, “There’s a lot of bands I’ve seen today actually that I’ve never heard of and they’ve been incredible. And like shit, have I been living in a... cave? I’ve been living in something that hasn’t opened my mind to Black Peaks.”

Lastly, we ask the band to sum up Hevy Fest in three words... “Heavy, Fucking, Shit!”

“We played a gig in Russia and this guy was like, ‘Oh my god it’s so amazing to meet you, you guys are like heavy fucking sht..”

Words by: Chloe Rose Eaton

landscapes Hi, my name’s Shaun and I sing - or do something - in Landscapes.

How does it feel to go from the tour environment to the festival environment? And you’re going back on tour again!

Yeah, I mean tomorrow we play Summer Blast Festival in Trier. It’s just part of our tour. I feel a bit more welcomed at a festival, it’s a lot more of a happier vibe, especially with the weather being a lot better.

What’s the one thing you always have to have with you on tour?

Ginger root. On our rider, I specifically ask for ginger root. I chew on it to help with my voice so if I don’t have ginger root, I’m panicking and freaking out. It’s just a thing that helps me with my voice but outside of that, it would be ball powder. It’s just like a sport powder you can put it in your shoes and stick it on your balls and it just refreshes you.

Are you releasing any new material soon, have you got anything planned?

Yeah, we recorded a new record at the end of last year in California at the Panda Studios with Sam Pura. We weren’t overly happy with the end results so we started to correct our mistakes down at The Ranch studios with my boy, Neil Kennedy, so that’s all complete.

We spent the last three months building a photoshoot set for our album cover ‘cause we didn’t wanna use type or Photoshop. It’s taken us quite a while; people just think that we’re not doing anything at all but we’re just prepping up and getting things ready. Hopefully we’ll have a release by the end of the year.

A lot of fans have your lyrics and your name tattooed on them, how do you feel about that?

It’s sick, it’s amazing. It’s funny, I just did an interview regarding this called ‘Things & Ink’ and we were just talking about the same thing and it’s really overwhelming and it touches all of us when someone goes and does that, it’s like what the fuck? Do you know what I mean?

But y’know you get people who are like oh “they’re crazy” and “they’re mad for doing it”, but it’s part of someone else’s path and their lifestyle and if that’s what they’re doing to get to where they wanna get to then you gotta let them do it. And for us to feel that it was stupid to do it, we would be assholes to say that. Most of these tattoos that I’m seeing on people that are referencing us, are like way better than my tattoos, so I can’t not get a tear.

Have you ever had a fan do anything wild or crazy at any of your shows or to you or one of the other band members?

Not really; you get some people show up and they’ll bring us presents, or we’ll get letters sent to us that are telling us how songs have affected them, or saved them in some sort of way. But I wouldn’t say it’s crazy– it’s just so nice. It’s one of the best things about being in this band, the fact that we get to connect

and communicate with these people that are just like us. And we’re no different, we’re just normal people and we’re just writing shit that we’re experiencing ourselves and if somebody else is into that and they get that same idea and that they think this is helping them, I’m all for it.

Are you hoping to catch any other bands at Hevy?

I’m hoping to see Creeper, but it all depends on our interviews. Obviously I need to be there for Break Even as well because we’re on tour with Break Even and Endless Heights. Hopefully in between that, whatever bands I can see, I will.

How do you feel about playing with bands of different genres?

I think it’s a good thing. The idea of turning up to a show and seeing the same band playing the same shit is boring to me. The idea of having the opportunity to see different interpretations of music and getting that sort of whole vibe– I mean we did this tour with Defeater, and the main support was this band called Caspian, which are primarily an instrumental band, then it was us and Goodtime Boys. It was one of the greatest tours ever for how you could set up a show; it flowed perfectly and although we were all completely different in our own sense, it was great. Touring with bands like Architects, we learnt so much from that and walked away as really good friends. I back it 100%.

Where does the inspiration for stories from your lyrics come from?

Just personal shit, like stuff that I’ve been through. I’m not exactly the most successful person in relationships and I don’t know why.

I do suffer from anxiety and depression and I’ve hit a couple of low points in the past where it’s really got the better of me. But I feel like I’ve been strong enough to pull through it and one of my channels to get through it was using my creativity to help with that. On top of that going back to where people come to our shows and get tattoos and stuff like that - it’s really nice to be able to talk to people that are probably going through the same shit. That’s basically what the last record was about, it’s pretty much what this record’s going to be about.

If you could form a supergroup with any other artists, who would you choose?

I’m going to keep this a little bit more grounded I think, because I could spaff off a load of names like fucking Chino Moreno and whoever - and trust me, I would - but a supergroup in my eyes, within our sector I guess, would be someone from Grader, someone from Creeper, someone from Hindsights, someone from us.

The idea of being around any of those people is great anyway and they are all inspirational people to be around when creating music. sum up hevy in three words?

Loud, muddy and I’m hoping get relatively drunk, we’ll

we’ll see.

Photo by Isha Shah

27

We’re joined by Blood Youth; do you want to introduce yourselves?

Kaya: I’m Kaya; I’m the singer.

Sam: I’m Sam; I play guitar.

Which bands are you hoping to catch at Hevy?

K: Unfortunately, we don’t have any time to watch anyone. We have to play and then literally leave straight away.

S: We’re probably going to catch Trash Boat, as we toured with those guys, and then we have to play our set and as soon as we pack up we have to go ‘cause we have to catch the Euro Tunnel to go over to Europe.

Is that because you’re going on tour with Architects, right?

K: Yeah, we’re playing in the Netherlands tomorrow with them, and then we’re going to Belgium or somewhere like that.

S: We’re staying at a friend’s house in Belgium.

Architects are a pretty huge band, so what is this like for you?

K: Our agent messaged us like, “Gentlemen, you’ve got some shows with Architects.”

S: Everyone just lost their mind!

K: Yeah, keeping it a secret was very difficult.

Who would you say your influences are?

K: We all have different influences.

S: Very different. It ranges from anything like Slipknot and Lamb of God to Katy Perry and Drake!

K: Justin Bieber.

S: Yeah!

K: We literally listen to everything so it’s kinda hard to pinpoint one. I mean, we all have favourite bands– I love Every Time I Die, I love Dillinger [Escape Plan], Architects, and stuff like that. So that comes through but again, biggest Katy Perry fan right here. No jokes, literally.

You’ve already released an EP which was great; are you going to release an album next or another EP? S: EP! It’s looking like that; we’ve been writing a few things.

K: I think it would be too early to do an album so I think another EP, ‘cause we want to do a followup to the EP we’ve just released.

Is it going to be similar sounds or will you change it up a bit?

S: I’d say similar, but I think there’s going to be a few curveballs in there.

K: And that will wrap up that era of our two EPs. S: We’re actually playing a new song today! That’ll be on the new EP. What’s the best and worst part of touring?

S: The best part is travelling and getting so see so many different places you’ve never been.

K: I guess when you’ve been travelling for ages to get to a venue and you get there and the show’s amazing, that’s the best thing ever. I think on the last tour we did,

28

the longest drive was like eight hours and we got to the venue, played the show and it was mad. Worst is… again, just long drives.

S: Yeah, I think it’s waiting around sometimes.

K: Hungry, as well! Always hungry.

Always wanna pee and eat and just… yeah. It’s bad, that’s the bad bit.

What’s one unique thing that you always take on tour with you?

K: I don’t have anything quirky that I take on tour– I always have a steamer but that’s not really that quirky, that’s just to steam before I sing.

K: I mean, we have footballs and skateboards but that’s about as cool as it gets.

S: We bring inflatables.

K: Yes, inflatables!

I was gonna ask, what’s your association with Jurassic Park?

S: We wanted to bring something fun on that tour we just did. We got some palm trees and as we were looking we saw these six foot dinosaurs and we thought, well this’ll be funny. We just did them and then we ended up doing a t-shirt based on Jurassic Park.

K: There’s no theme or anything like that.

S: It was just so random that it kinda worked together.

K: I remember me and him [Sam] were sat at the laptop together like, “Let’s get that, that and that and that.”

When you’re not touring or doing band related stuff, what do you normally do?

S: Watch Mad Men! K: Yeah, watch The Office and Mad Men. Drink a lot of coffee.

S: Most people work. I think we’re the only two that haven’t got jobs but everyone else works.

K: That’s about it! A lot of the time when we’re not doing the band, we’re thinking about the band.

S: To be fair, in all this time between that tour and now we’ve been writing new songs. We’ve just spent this past week pre-recording vocals to some of the songs; we try and stay productive on that end of things.

K: Before we did that tour with Trash Boat, I was at his house for three/four weeks just writing songs and that was literally it. No lives, no social lives– we do go out sometimes, though.

S: Sometimes.

You just came off tour with Trash Boat, could you give us three newish bands you want us to listen to?

K: Ooh, let me have a look on my phone.

Not Trash Boat.

S: I say one’s WSTR, I really jam their stuff hard.

K: WSTR are cool. I hate this ‘cause I’ll go back and think, “I should have said that!”

Who have I been listening to? I’m not really sure! Does it have to be new bands?

K: We’ve been listening to a lot of stuff like Stray From The Path we love.

We’ve been listening to them a lot.

S: I’m trying to think of bands that people wouldn’t be aware of or maybe listen to.

I’m really bad at catching up on music.

K: You’re listening to a band called Wander.

S: Wander are sick! They’re a US band. If you’ve not checked them out, they’re amazing.

Let’s talk about the London date of your tour with Trash Boat. There was a guy who came on stage and invaded your space then sung a whole verse and chorus. How does that feel when you’re trying to do your job?

K: There’s nothing you can really do.

I’m never gonna be that guy who’s like, “Get off my stage!” I like people coming on stage and having fun. Yeah, he was maybe on stage a bit too long but I guess you just get excited at shows. I remember when Dillinger Escape Plan played in Leeds, I went on stage and Greg pushed me off stage. I was doing the same thing; I had the microphone!

S: It’s more fun to have people on stage really into it than to have no one.

K: Exactly! I’d rather have people doing that than having no one at the shows.

S: Sometimes it gets aggressive getting the mic. You [Kaya] got hit so hard at that Chester show.

K: I had to go to hospital before the London show. Someone just hit me really hard on the head and it nearly knocked me out so I had to go to the hospital and the nurse was like, “You’re just being soft.” But no, as long as people are having fun, who are we to say not to do something? Sometimes security sucks at shows. We played with Neck Deep a few months ago and the security were so aggressive with the kids at the show.

S: Our guitarist got kicked out!

K: Our guitarist got kicked out of our own show.

S: For stagediving! He did get back in five minutes later. He ripped the door handle off the fire exit as he was getting dragged out!

Sum up Hevy Festival in three words.

K: Well, I’m the only one that’s been here before.

S: I’ve never been– I’ve been here for twenty minutes.

Words by Isha Shah

“Our of ou door he wa

blood youth

r guitarist got kicked out ur own show, He ripped the r handle off the fire exit as as getting dragged out�

Photo by Isha Shah

29

trash boat What’s up? I’m Tobi and I sing in Trash Boat.

So you’re here at Hevy Fest.

Who are you hoping to catch today?

Oh, tough question. Primarily Judge– I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Judge. Going to give Carnifex a watch as well. As It Is, if I can catch them if we’re done in time with this interview. Loads. I can’t think of too many off the top of my head but Judge would be my first band to see today.

You’ve played quite a lot of festivals including Download and you’ve just played the main stage at Hevy. How does that make you feel as you’re quite a small band?

Sure, we’re just playing the shows we get. It’s cool; it’s nice to be a part of this festival, it’s a really important festival for the scene. It’s just a nice privilege, a nice honour to open the main stage; good vibes.

If you could give us three bands we should look out for right now, who would they be?

Weather State is one. Oh, it’s such a tough one. There’s just so many names flashing through my head. Keep your eyes peeled for Thrussian Standard. They haven’t done anything yet, but they’re on their way. Ah, ROAM are about to release a full length which is going to take the fucking world by storm, so go for those three.

What’s the most amount of stage dives you’ve had during a set of yours?

Dunno, haven’t counted. I’m hoping that it’s a large number that some kind of ‘God of Stage Dives’ keeps count of this kind of thing... I’m hoping it’s big, but I dunno.

We’ve seen plenty at our London shows like the smaller, more intimate ones.

Our release show was fucking great! The show we played with Real Friends at The Underworld, plenty. We love all that shit.

You always stage dive before your set, is that like a kind of ritual you always do?

That’s just me being typical me. I love it, I love energy; like throwing your weight around just in a room full of people who are kind of all there to do the same thing– nice little give and take.

Get some angst out, all that kind of shit.

So you’re a pop punk band but what are your personal influences when writing your songs and lyrics?

My personal influences… See, I love pop punk but I’d consider myself more into hardcore and metal and stuff like that.

Inspiration... Lyrically particularly? See, I say they inspire me; my lyrics aren’t really anything like them but I read their lyrics

30 14

and become inspired to write lyrics. Have Heart, Verse, Title Fight, The Story So Far, The Wonder Years. Plenty. There’s loads of bands where you listen through their albums whilst reading the lyric sheet and you’re just like, “Ah, this is some serious shit.” It gets you in the mood for writing.

Do you ever get annoyed or tired of people saying all pop punk is just the same or generic?

I’ve never had anyone say that to me whose opinion I’ve considered worth listening to. People who say that tend to stick to the Internet; the dark corners of the Internet.

You’re signed to Hopeless Records, are you going to be releasing a full length soon or another EP? A full length is next on the cards; we’re looking to have it recorded before the end of the year. I don’t know when we’re going to release it but we’re hoping to have it done before the end of the year.

What kind of sounds can we expect from that?

That’s all still currently being worked out, currently being fiddled with. We won’t be changing our sound drastically but for sure, there will be some evolutions, some new stuff in there, some old stuff. We’re hoping to make it a nice step forward.

You’ve been on tour with quite a different mixture of bands. Who would you say is your favourite and who would you want to go on tour with?

We’ve played these four shows with Less Than Jake and they’ve just got such an incredible energy. They just enjoy what they do so much and then they get on stage and they’re just having so much fun, and I hope to be doing similar things when I’m in my forties as well. So just to be around that kind of energy and be a part of that, that would be a cool thing to go on tour with. I’d fucking love to tour with The Wonder Years, that would just be awesome. They’ve got some really good vibes. I could list hundreds of bands I’d like to tour with, there’s so many. sum up Hevy in three words?

Er... Eclectic? Important. And... Ah, I dunno. Something synonymous with awesome that isn’t as boring as awesome. Put awesome in a thesaurus and come up with something better than awesome.

But, awesome!

Photos by Isha Shah

wstr

Sammy Clifford - Vocals Kieren Alder - Guitar Alex Tobijanski – Bass Kieran McVeigh - Drums

K.MV: “Let people write what they want.”

S: “It’s just bitter. They all just take influence from each other. There’s definitely a new spin on it, it’s not as emotional as it used to be.”

Why do you spell your name without the vowels WSTR? S: “It’s because of legal reasons. There was another Waster in Canada - so it’s a shit end really.”

How did getting signed to No Sleep records occur?

S: “We have no idea really, everything just spiralled out of control. It is still surreal nothing has sunk in yet. We were putting out a single with Seb Barlow, he really liked it and sent it to people, like this is sick.”

What other acts are you hoping to catch at Hevy?

K.A: “Stick To Your Guns and Fightstar.”

S: “Stick To Your Guns for sure, we just caught a little bit of Chon which was cool. We have to go to Middlesbrough (Make A Scene Fest) tomorrow for another festival so we really wanted to see Trash Boat, As It Is.” How do you feel about the current music scene in Liverpool and do you think the North is better than the South?

K.MV: “North is better than the south but it’s not great in Liverpool either.”

K.A: “The North Midlands has a pretty good music scene I think, but the North’s better.”

How do you feel about people calling all pop punk bands generic?

ALL: “It is.”

What’s the most amount of stage divers you’ve had in your set?

S: “This is only show number 13, but we have had a few. We do this thing called turtle cam, with inflatable turtles and surf on them.”

K.A: “Hopefully when the new EP comes out more people will get into shows and stuff.”

What can we expect from your new EP that’s coming out?

S: “Generic pop punk.”

A: “Metal riffs everywhere, breakdowns.”

S: “We’re kind of sick of it, because we recorded it in February so we’ve had a lot of setbacks, for a good reason though. We’re kind of sick of the sound ourselves.

It’s just upbeat, its fast pace, it’s pop punk, its fun.”

K.MV: “We think it’s good, honestly I don’t care, I’m proud of it.”

What three things can you not survive without at a festival?

K.MV: “Oh shit. I sort of came in without any of them.”

S: “My phone, my vape and my crocs.”

K.A: “My phone, the car, because without that we wouldn’t get anywhere, spare clothes I guess.”

K.MV: “ I literally don’t know where to start, I can’t say my phone because I’ve lost that. Broke me vape. I don’t even know how I got myself here.”

What bands do you listen to in your free time?

S: “Oh god, everything we say is going to be OMG so generic.”

K.MV: “My favourite is Knuckle Puck.”

A: “I’m like into pure metal. I still love Bring Me The Horizon’s first album, young Malevolence and While She Sleeps and heavier stuff, it gets me going and these lot are just pop punk.”

S: “This year, The Story So Far album, killed it. Knuckle Puck kind of topped it for me and now Neck Deep’s album.”

Sum up Hevy in three words?

K.MV: “Hot then cold. Oh that’s three words already.”

S: “Hevy, WSTR fucking space.”

K.MV: “It is Hevy.”

Words by: Isha Shah

15 31

ALBUMs NECK DEEP Life's Not Out To Get You

9/10

Last year, Wrexham five-piece Neck Deep released their hugely successful debut Wishful Thinking, earning them the label as the UK’s answer to pop punk giants The Story So Far. Fast forward a year, it’s summer, the time most strongly associated with the genre, and they have only gone and released a follow-up that is arguably one of the albums of the season.

sways far more towards the pop end of pop punk, with elements that are almost reminiscent of an early All Time Low. The result is one of the most striking, anthemic tracks in their arsenal. Infectiously memorable riffs and hooks leave it bouncing around your brain long after listening. Add a sound vocal performance and some classic gang vocals, and the track’s a winner.

Life’s Not Out To Get You is not faultless by any means, but it is a solid collection of songs that show the band at the technical best of their career. Opening track ‘Citizens Of Earth’ sets the pace perfectly with its raw and punchy opening. Vocalist Ben Barlow’s iconic tones remind us of what made the last record so good, even managing to step them up a notch. ‘Threat Level Midnight’ could easily have found itself nestled between tracks on Wishful Thinking, showing that the band further define and develop their sound, rather than choosing a new direction to explore.

‘Serpents’ stands out as an album favourite, juxtaposing beautifully calm verses and aggressive choruses, and the unforgettable line, “I gave her my heart, she didn’t want it”. The darker side of Neck Deep is oddly refreshing in a band so frequently associated with happy pop punk tunes that serve as a background to your summer.

Lead single ‘Can’t Kick Up The Roots’

This album was never going to be redefining of themselves or the genre.

It sits firmly inside the generic pop punk box, but it undoubtedly has to be one of the best things in there.

Words by Adrianne Goron

donovan wolfington How To Treat The Ones You Love

8/10 How do you create an album so diverse that it includes all bordering genres, yet still carries a unique scent? You simply have to be Donovan Wolfington​. Released via Topshelf Records, which should already tell you that this record is going to be great, How To Treat the Ones You Love compresses a wide variety of punky sounds that kindly compliment each other.

Opener track ‘Ollie North’ brings the band’s very own noise as it proves to be the perfect intro song, filled with jumpy beats and gang

32

Photo by Isha Shah

vocal lyrics in the chorus, “GETTTTT AAALLOONNNGG.” Subtly the track switches to ‘Basalisk’, a Weezer infused flavour that brings a sense of nostalgia to the record. The intro is banged out with a simple guitar riff that is then built with layering.

Its distinctive structure acts as a ground mat for the whole song, whilst the vocals add a nerdy twist.

Once again enhancing a completely new turn, ‘HxC Punk’ is basically a hardcore punk song. Exploding right in your face, the song is an explosion of the band’s rage and edgier sound.

However it still fits within their range, as it’s not entirely strange for Donovan Wolfington. If you’re still heartbroken from Title Fight’s​ cut off from Floral Green, then fear not because this record will restore all your angsty thoughts. There is a clear difference between the first half of the record and the latter end, as it slowly dips and becomes repetitive, losing the original spark it once had.

have tried to yet again pick up this record and throw in a few extra grungy mixes which are noted, yet don’t seem as strong as they could be.

‘Hershel Tuesday’ hits the gnarly bass lines on the head, with its main dominance focused on its deep banging sound. The band

Wordsy by Isha Shah

There is no doubt that the two vocalists Matt Seferian and Neil Berthier do a great job of narrating each song with their bold lyrics; they add a hint of creativity to each, marking it to be special.

singles hundredth

elder brother

Wish You Were Here

Free

7/10 Breaking into a soft altered sound, Elder Brother return with a tranquil single. Giving you a sweet infused melodic base, the duo have put their main focus - like many other bands - on the trend to the instrumentals side. Including intricate riffs that follow a steady drumbeat, their vocals glide easily along this sweet little tune. Not a typical release from the two-piece as it ditches the fast, aggressive paces that barked bitter lyrics, Elder Brother put the attention on producing a song that gives you warm, fuzzy feelings in your stomach.

Words by: Isha Shah Breakdowns in their entirety, ‘Unravel’ and ‘Inside Out’ hit hard before ‘Break Free’ unleashes its chaotic, ground-shaking chug.

Easily imagined in a thousand rasping voices, vocalist Chadwic Johnson cuts to the chase, painting a brutal depiction of personal suffering whilst yelling out perhaps his most heartfelt point to date, “I just want to break free, from my misery suffocating everyone around me”. This defines Free’s consistent tracklisting of fast impact hardcore anthems devised to get live audiences throwing their weight around. Free sees Hundredth​ confidently pack a weighted punch. In their seven-year career, Hundredth have covered a lot of ground, exploring wider issues and various hardcore styles, affording them to now cut out any elaboration or distracting elements and focus. Moving to a major label explains the rebranding and adaptation of a more generic popular post-hardcore sound acting as a gateway to lure a wider audience into the rich collection Hundredth have to offer.

Hundredth ask questions to provoke further thought rather than acting superior and forcefully directing a message in ‘Reach’ and ‘See Beyond’. This approach to Hundredth’s songwriting on Free combined with personal subject matters, mean audiences are able to interact and engage with the songs. The music connects people rather than distancing them like our ‘warped’ and ignorant capitalist society Hundredth criticise within ‘Delusion’ for leaving so many people feeling lost and isolated. In this aspect, Hundredth prove forward thinking and able to practice what they preach. However, Free does feel largely sonically stuck in 2010.

With a flat hardcore sound that thrashes throughout the album from start to finish, absent are the clean vocals from earlier Hundredth albums that provided refreshing melodic lifts and variety. But it takes developed skill to create such reliable consistency and long-time fans won’t be entirely thrown, as at its core, the ‘new’ Hundredth sound is a condensed collaborative product of the essence

that has held them together since When Will We Surrender (2010).

Peaks within the songs do rise and fall and the energy is biting and ferocious, pitworthy and the production is fresh. The anger and resentment does not for one moment feel pretentious or unjustified and the breakdowns, although constant, are not predictable or boring. Free holds itself together magnificently and the content is potent and relevant. Every song is as strong as thenext. But if you are searching for dynamic or melodic variety, this is where Free falls flat and drowns out difference with little experimentation or instrumental elaboration. The same scathing screams, jagged crash cymbals and brash guitar tones roar on every track. Yet, Free is addictivewith its relentless powerful and catchy anthems. Albums that follow this formula such as A Day To Remember’s​ Homesick, Parkway Drive’s​ Deep Blue and more recently Lost Forever // Lost Together by Architects​have proved award-winning, popular and timeless. But perhaps in 2015, this hardcore sound is disappointingly familiar and dull to those seeking new, adventurous hardcore music, or those previously acquainted with Hundredth’s wider breadth of talent. That does not change the quality of the songs however.

Anyone who still enjoys the classic hardcore sound cannot dispute that this album does meet genre and technical standards whilst the lyrics cover currently relatable and relevant ground. Not to mention many of the songs - notably openers, ‘Unravel’, ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Break Free’ - are very strong pieces that provide insightful cathartic release. Free is not everything Hundredth can be and is far from life saving or revolutionary, but it is certainly a solid full-length weighted with valuable hardcore substance.

Words by Arriana Corr

gravity grave Avenue Blues

A band who drift from your usual alternative acoustic music are Gravity Grave. With echoed voices that slur their words, the soft acoustic strums emphasis the echoing noise, giving you a truly trippy song. The three piece wouldn’t even class themselves into just one genre, but instead a feeling of nostalgia. From the West Midlands, they seem to capture a perfect British song that could easily be found playing at the end of a Skins episode.

Words by: Isha Shah

great sale day True (Why Can't You Be?)

Brighton-based Great Sale Day may be a band you haven’t heard of, but the vocals should at least seem familiar. Have you got it yet? Sounding a lot like Basement, with a sharper electric feel.

That’s because the vocalist is actually Andrew Fisher himself.

The band is said to be a side-project by the four members which can evidently turn out to be better than intended (Headroom).

The track itself is a nice little punk alternative. Signing within the generic themes, the band takes the song to a whole new level, marking it to be very outstanding and captivating.

Words by: Isha Shah

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albums the wonder years No Closer To Heaven

8/10

It’s no surprise how sad The Wonder Years​can really be; I mean we’ve all experienced it with ‘The Devil In my Bloodstream’, yet No Closer to Heaven seems like a more than accurate title for their fifth full length. It appears that the Philadelphian six-piece have been absorbing all of their emotion filled tracks and built up anger for this special record. No doubt it’s filled with exploding tracks that result in a breakdown of screams that vocalist Dan “Soupy” Campbell lets out halfway between songs before returning back to his calm reality.

While the whole record can be mistaken for thirteen tracks of heartache and agony, the band still stick their treasured scent to each.

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Photo by Isha Shah

‘Cardinals’, the strongest of the collection, plays out very quietly almost in whispers before Campbell’s scream lets out an angry blare. The track in particular is very sensitive and touching with each word fuelled with memories that come flooding back.

Acting as a perfect transition between The Greatest Generation and No Closer To Heaven, it slowly allows new sounds to sink into your expectations.

‘Thanks for the Ride’ and ‘I Wanted so Badly to be Brave’ are both very upbeat tracks that remind us a lot of their previous sounds which are more predictable. However they still lack the emphasis and catchy choruses that the band had filled in Suburbia I’ve Given You All and

Now I’m Nothing. There are songs that do show off the band’s work from The Upside, ‘I Don’t Like Who I Was Then’ displays this perfectly.

There just seems to be too many tracks that follow the same structure of being typically sad, then raging before picking itself back up.

‘The Bluest Things on Earth’ and ‘Stained Glass Ceilings’ try to twist things up by adding tension, but seem to fail in sounding too alike.

Although one thing’s for sure, TWY have not run out of things to sing about as this record brings in new stories without sounding tired and worn out. Campbell has this remarkable narrative voice that stresses in

all tension filed words and drags where torture overwhelms his body.

Ending the record with it’s titled track a sweet acoustic song allows for Campbell’s voice to be highlighted without overstepping his mark. The lack of words and pitch is very important, as he is quietly muttering each sentence.

The pace is constant and there is no change. This unusual static journey leaves the record on a downer, something totally unpredictable but cries The Wonder Years.

Words by: Isha Shah

home schooled Take This For What It's Worth

8/10 The UK scene has never been so strong in general. No matter the genre or what band you are listening to, there’s always a fresh new sound emerging from your neighbour’s house. Within a year of being born, Home Schooled ​upholds the UK’s praising credit with their EP; Take This For What It’s Worth.

With just a small collection of songs released via Local Colour Records, the Midlands’s piece exhales a noise that is a breath of fresh air.

‘Crash The Car’ hooks your ears

instantly with a stop and start intro that compliments the band’s vocal tone. Originality is apparently dead, and everyone rips off everyone, but Home Schooled take their inspirations and inculpate them to their own sound. The two harmonic vocalists collaborate to add a slightly rougher end to the track, giving it a grunge boost.

A whole intro of hair flicking and headbanging prepares you for ‘Your Pet’, a song that keeps you moving continuously. It’s revitalising to hear

such modern bands play music that could be classed as out dated, yet still make it sounds new. Sure, I could go on and compare this EP to a lot of other bands, but that’s too generic. The great thing about Home Schooled is that there has been a nonstop change throughout

previous releases. They’re not just your typical, “lets put out another record that sounds exactly like the last” sort of band.

focused tracks, which fuses both sides of the band: the sad melodic emo sound and the fast, rough punk sound. This can be heard especially on the last song, ‘Wasp’, which starts off with chilled riffs but ends crashing into an aggressive onslaught of drums, guitar and harsh vocals.

influences of Seahaven and Modest Mouse, Drawstring have found and mastered their sound early on in their musical career, making this EP a strong start for their future.

Words by Isha Shah

drawstring Drawstring EP

8/10

Two-piece emo-punk band Drawstring are still relatively fresh on the UK music scene. Having just started out only a year ago, Drawstring released their selftitled debut EP in June this year.

Do not be dissuaded by Drawstring’s youth into thinking that they’re just another emo band. Opener ‘Chicago Town’ is a little snippet of what to expect from the EP. Consisting of complex melodic riffs,

a catchy chorus and bittersweet lyrics, this track has all the raw materials for a solid start to an EP. ‘Nothing’ is a song that wouldn’t be out of place on an early Blink 182 album. The Blink-like guitar fuses fits perfectly with their emo sound, showing how they can take inspiration from others and still produce a unique sound.

The EP shifts into slower, guitar-

Words by Emily Gunn

This EP shows that bringing something new and fresh into the mix can easily distinguish one band from another. By combining their

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ALBUMs blistered The Poison Of Self Confinement

8/10 Just over a year ago, Florida based metallic hardcore Blistered started to become a familiar name to many after the release of their EP Soul Erosion, and appearances at some of hardcore’s biggest festivals such F.Y.A Fest and This Is Hardcore. Now over a year later, we are treated to Blistered’s first full length released on 6131 records, The Poison of Self Confinement.

thing this album suffers from is some repetitiveness, the last two tracks don’t feel nearly as satisfying as the rest of the album did. With that being said, the entirety of this record is roughly around 20 minutes, so thankfully this downfall isn’t too damaging. These songs feel like they are more suited to enjoy live than recorded, that being said the quality of these songs are high.

Reminiscent of bands such as Earth Crisis and Strife, this album brings a gritty and aggressive atmosphere.

Comprised mostly of doomy riffs, backed by down-tuned guitars chugging and the occasional groovy bass fill. The vocals are just as strong too, constantly stressed and seemingly influenced by Buried Alive. It’s clear this band knows what they’re doing with the direction of their style of sound.

If you’re for a new band to form a oneman pit in your room, Blistered are your new best friends. This pleasing first full length from Blistered marks their future to be promising after such a solid release. Keep an eye on this band and definitely check out The Poison of Self Confinement if you’re looking for something heavy.

Words by James Bannister

Music like this defines “Metal for hardcore,” finding a sweet spot in the fusion of genres. Although one

these minds Figure Out

5/10 The popularity of pop punk seems to be growing faster than you can even say the word ‘pizza’. Young lads in their snapbacks and Abandon Ship t-shirts are taking to the studios to pump out those familiar riffs we’ve heard from the likes of Neck Deep, Man Overboard and The Story So Far to name a few. Leeds five-piece These Minds are no different; as fresh faces, having only been founded in February, they’re trying to stand out amongst a scene where fans know exactly what they’re looking for.

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Photo by Isha Shah

Vocalist Adam Rank’s standard vocals are bland against the upbeat riffs behind them; yet, as shown clearly in the EP’s title track ‘Figure Out’, once the lad screams his heart out, they really shine through. It just seems such a shame that the sound is too generic to be considered anything remotely ‘special’. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before. Dan “Soupy” Campbell of The Wonder Years’ showcased the art of passionate, crooning shouts and the riffs could easily be mistaken as Blink-182 songs.

It’s not to say that this fresh band isn’t worth your time, though.

Technically they possess skills beyond their years and to have a mere six months of experience working together, that’s a commendable feat to produce an EP that’s so polished.

‘Break My Back’s intro is layered with catchy bass lines and the extreme pounding of the drums that’s pleasing to the ear, whilst final track ‘Want’ concludes the EP with a lovely little echoed trail of beats. The lyrics follow the trend of singing about teenage angst but there’s something so very

clever and fitting of ‘Figure Out’s chorus line, “The world is not against me, I’m against the world.”

It’s easy listening for the background as it’s hard to differentiate between the different songs that sound so ‘samey’, but for a first attempt it certainly shows potential. These Minds know their genre to a T and they can tick all the boxes, but it’s time to throw away the checklist and aspire to be something different.

Words by Harriet Stanley

venture Away

3/10 Venture are a band that probably have a teenage following and if they don’t, then that’s certainly surprising. Their upbeat, peppy pop-rock sounds that blast through their debut EP Away are a great stepping stone for any adolescent that’s dipping their toes into the ‘alternative’ waters. However, if you’re wanting something substantial with a bit of meat to its bones then you’re probably best off elsewhere.

Luke Burgess’ vocals aren’t exactly the best that you’ll ever hear. In some parts of the opening track, ‘Talking With Trouble’, the chorus feels a little flat and the gang vocals

are desperately holding it up, but for the most part Burgess can carry a tune. As his voice becomes more prominent against the background with the drums leading up to what could be a fantastic little drop into the chorus– it actually hurts a little inside to be instead offered up with a few seconds of harmonising and the same old chorus. Where’s the oomph?!

This ‘oomph’ still appears to be nonexistent in their other tracks. Burgess seems too comfortable with his sound, as if he’s too afraid to really give it some welly and make his voice heard. It’s a shame because there’s

certainly some potential laced into the tracks ‘Hold You Now’ and ‘She Said’.

Although its intro is far too long and repetitive, ‘She Said’ is probably the best track that Away has to offer. Its chorus is clean and catchy, though borderline annoying it’s got a good beat which’ll have you tapping your feet and nodding your head. The track would fit nicely in a live show; it’s easy to picture a crowd singing along and pointing their fingers in the air.

out on everything else too. Venture need to stay true to their name and venture out from their comfort zone– it’s all well and good playing it safe, but where’s the fun in that? Throw in a solo or two, hold back on the harmonising and prove that you’re a rock band to be taken seriously because right now, there’s just some pre-teen vibes that take prominence.

Words by Harriet Stanley

Drawing the EP to a close, title track ‘Away’ thankfully skips out on the intro but it should have skipped

world weary Life As We Know it

9/10 World Weary are a London-based hardcore band who have been taking over the LHC scene since early 2014.

Having released a self-titled EP and a split with Crosschecker, they haven’t stopped gigging and have been playing constantly around the UK and Europe.

The highly anticipated Life As We Know It was released on August 7th on the German-based Powertrip Records. This new EP is showing how World Weary are a force to be reckoned with in the UKHC scene and there is no chance they will be slowing down anytime soon.

Opening track ‘The Heat Of Hate’ is a three minute whirlwind of straight up, aggressive hardcore which is a perfect example for what is in store on this release. ‘Voiceless’ is a short, snappy jam that gets straight to the point with lyrics that make you think about the world around you and the unjust goings on around the listener. The titular track, ‘Life As We Know It’, is an instrumental track, which is a change

to what is normally expected on a hardcore EP. With the opening of the song being a slow, sludgy intro, it gradually builds up pace with all of the instruments being effortlessly entwined and perfectly merging into the final track called ‘Neglect’, another straight up aggressive song with confrontational, catchy lyrics that’ll get the listener wanting more. World Weary will no doubt be getting the crowd moving when performing this track live.

Overall, this EP is one of the best UKHC releases of this year and it will be hard to top. World Weary are a band that will only become bigger and better as time goes on, especially with Life As We Know It being short, snappy and straight to the point with no frills.

Words by Ruby Kelly

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Live

s o t o h p in

trash boat

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Photos by Juliette Carton

a wilhelm scream + trash boat Underworld, London 21/08/15

A wilhelm scream

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Live frank carter & the rattlesnakes Rough Trade 19/08/15 8/10 With their new album out last Friday and currently sitting in the top 20 official charts (which is fucking brilliant to see might I add), Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes​have been playing some celebratory release shows this week and tonight at Rough Trade East, I had the pleasure of joining 150 people watch the poor shop get trashed.

Before the set begins, Carter speaks about not taking for granted what’s happening to the band and their debut album ‘Blossom’. The one thing I’ve always found with Carter is that he’s honest and humble– no bullshit. I think that's what makes people appreciate what he does even more, hence the new album doing so well.

“I've never cared about a chart position ever... As music like ours is made solely because we have to... we are not trying to impress anyone, just have to create. The charts matter to the industry and so to see a band like ours walk in and start kicking holes in it in a big way, they all start asking themselves "why don't we have this band" and the answer is... because we don't need you. It’s a great place to be.”

With everyone eagerly waiting they begin their set on stage, but after one song the decision is made to make it a floorshow instead, which brings a euphoric cheer from the crowd. Whilst the drum kit is being brought down, Carter takes the time to rightly introduce

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The Rattlesnakes as, Memby Jago (ex- The Ghost Of A Thousand & Pure Love) on the drums, guitarist Dean Richardson (ex- Heights) and bassist Thomas Mitchener (ex- Pure Love), if you didn’t know already.

After the chaos of the show yesterday, Carter mentions they are feeling the after effects but they continue all guns blazing with bodies being shoved alongside their conductor for the night.

The show takes a change of pace as they play a slower version of ‘Loss’ and ‘Beautiful Death’ which is understandably emotional and brings the frontman to tears.

After a brief moment of overwhelming silence, Carter shakes himself back into a rage as they continue in the same way they began, exploding with energy and lyrics being screamed by everyone. Since it’s a rather different location he gets everyone to spread out to start the “biggest circle pit in a coffee shop”. Not to be one to just give out orders, Carter joins in the circle pit and sets a ferocious speed running around the racking, knocking CDs and people out of his path.

They fittingly end their set by playing ‘Hate You’; everyone has had the best Wednesday possible and we’re all delighted to have Frank Carter back.

Words by: Ryan Dalton Rodrigues

Photo by Ryan Dalton Rodrigues

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Live

j3wel The Alex, Southampton 17/08/15 9/10 “I’m not playing Pokémon, I swear”, says Connor Fowler, before giving a shifty look. South England’s Fowler, otherwise known as J3WEL, is part of the upcoming current chiptune scene in the UK. Tonight he plays original catchy melodies and unique basslines through his Gameboy at The Alexandra in Southampton.

Intro track ‘You Suck’ builds into a chiptune version of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s ‘Ni**as in Paris’ with an ascending and descending 8-bit background that builds into a heavy white noise breakdown. The audience is then transported into a game with drum and bass track ‘Callous’ that’s made up of layers of Super Mario samples.

The pace of J3WEL’s set is nothing short of fast and upbeat. Fowler has a very active presence as he head bangs and punches the air in time to his music.

Debut single ‘Tell Me I’m Not Crazy’ is like an excitable puppy; it’s fast beat, reverbed synths and drum machine effects makes for a trippy Crystal Castles style experience as the small but involved crowd bob along.

Like a lot of electronic artists, collaboration is not uncommon. He plays ‘Move On’, a track written with co chiptune artist 2xaa. It has frequent changes in rhythm and similar sounds to the music of electronic trio The Glitch Mob. It intensely builds up and drops into a half time beat.

Focusing on newer material, J3WEL plays four tracks from his upcoming debut EP. The tracks are heavily sample based and experimental sounding, inspired by chiptune artists Galaxy Wolf, IAYD and HarleyLikesMusic. They also draw on a trap, glitch and a far more bass driven feel.

Words by Rosalyn Boder

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Photo by UltraSyd

teenage bottlerocket The Joiners, Southampton 15/08/15 8/10

The Joiners has always been a venue of great importance for upcoming bands trying to make their mark on the scene and in their career. Countless massive bands have started out at this small location. First onto the stage is two-man geezer punk act, Shiddys​, who play through a set full of humour and wit primarily formed of self-deprecating jokes, each song causing mass laughter within the audience. It’s without a doubt that Shiddys were the right band to kick the night off to a good start.

Next on is punk rock band, The Mistakes​, playing a range of songs combining a mixture of influences from classic punk rock bands like Bad Religion​and more modern punk acts like Anti Flag​, The Mistakes create their own identity proudly whilst paying respect to the founders of their genre. Vocalist, Ross Sutcliffe stands confidently at the mic stand as he announces to the crowd “How about a little bit of ska?” Suddenly the traditional guitar tone

of ska and 2 tone begins and the crowd watching skanks alongside the singer.

showing as much enthusiasm as they do at all of their shows, erupting into movement, kicking off the set with fan favourite, ‘Skate or With a similar style of Slaves​(UK), Wonk Unit​ Die’. Instantly the crowd bursts into life, jump into action, playing a multitude of old whether they were bouncing or moshing, there punk sounding songs with more of a modern isn’t a stationary person in sight, as the crowd spin on the lyrics. If The Sex Pistols​ were resembles a blur of smiles and adrenaline. brought to the present and were a little bit Going through their back catalogue like a bullet, madder, they’d sound a bit like Wonk Unit.

Teenage Bottlerocket race through 3 songs Taking the time to explain each song’s origin, before greeting the crowd, who welcome them vocalist, Alex Wonk doesn’t bring the show with screams before getting back into their down at all with his witty anecdotes for where classics such as ‘Freakout’, and to the gaming each song originated. Playing songs about members of the audience’s joy, ‘They Call Me pissing out of the window of old trains and Steve’, a song dedicated to popular arcade how the band hate rude people on public game, Minecraft. From start to finish, the crowd transport, each song had a story of their own are in constant movement to the songs playing, and formed together to create a unique and truly showing what a proper punk rock gig is entertaining set. made of.

Just arriving fresh from their performance at Hevy festival the night before, skate punk rockers, Teenage Bottlerocket​jump up on stage

Words by Charlie Hill

Photo by The Dude Abides Photography

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Live Tigers jaw Owl Sanctuary, Norwich 19/08/15 10/10 Between the power­pop melodies of early Saves The Day​ and the hard driving fold rhythms of Fleetwood Mac​ lies Scranton PA’s Tigers Jaw, ​a band whose raw immediacy is both infectious and mesmerising. Shimmering keyboard elements, crunchy pop punk riffs and melancholy lyrics all round has managed to make this band stand out so much from the rest of the Run For Cover roster. The Norwich date managed to sell out within 3 hours of its announcement, and what better way to see a US emo band in a sweaty little 100 capacity pub in East Anglia of all places.

Standing Tall​ have been making their rounds around the UK recently with the upcoming release of their new self-­titled EP, and due to their popular status as a local band, have already managed to fill up a considerable chunk of the floorspace in the venue. Vocalist and guitarist Blake Marchesi juxtaposes beautifully with catchy vocal melodies straight into shrill screams, which, along with the rest of the band’s crushing instrumental parts, bludgeon your eardrums in the best way possible.

Foxing​treat us to a pleasant mix of material from The Albatross and their upcoming release The Dealer tonight, and Conor Murphy really manages to make the trumpet and sampler kit work so well throughout their set, even in the most minimalistic of ways. ‘Rory’ and ‘The Medic’ obviously get the biggest crowd reactions during their performance, but there’s something so captivating about the way they manage to end these songs with larger than life crescendos that make the audience either yelling along in catharsis or transfixed and amazed by the spectacle of it all. For their first ever UK tour, Foxing have outdone themselves tonight.

Walking into a room that’s slightly over capacity, Tigers Jaw waste no time launching into ‘The Sun’ from their self­ titled EP. There’s kids crowd surfing seconds into the song, people crowdsurfing on top of each other (if that’s somehow even possible), and people singing along with their mates in huddled, sweaty groups. While Two Worlds is generally less critically acclaimed than Charmer and the self­-titled, all 3 albums get a decent amount of exposure, along with a few tracks from the 2010 split they did with Balance And Composure, ​an impressive feat considering the fact that every tour has required session musicians filling in due to the absence of the old members. The energy in the room never seems to fluctuate beyond totally batshit insane, and the gorgeous vocal harmonies from Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins sound near pitch perfect. By the time they finish the final notes of ‘I Saw Water’, everyone in the room cheers their hearts out, and it’s very clear that this intimate show will be very hard to replicate in the near future.

Words by Ashwin Bhandari

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Photo by Ashlea Bea

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