Devon Music - July 2015

JULY 2015

YOUR ONE STOP GUIDE TO THE BEST MUSIC IN EXETER, PLYMOUTH & THE DEVON AREA!

N O V E D

C I S U M ICKETS for WIN!TSOMERSAULT FESTIVAL S E E

I N S I D E

F O R

D E TA I L S !

steve harris the darkness exclusive interview

british lion loose in devon

ashestoangels headed for exile

TIVERTON COMMUNITY ARTS THEATRE

w w w. d e v o n - m u s i c . c o m

/d e vo n m u s i c m a g @devonmusicmag

WELCOME

Thanks for picking up the July 2015 issue of Devon Music Magazine, the second of our annual bumper festival specials.

This month we have no less than two HUGE interviews, namely none other than The Darkness and one of the most influential bass players in all of heavy metal, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden and British Lion. We also chat to fast rising grave-punkers(!) Ashestoangels and we ask some silly questions to the UK’s scariest tribute act, Knotslip!

All this plus previews, listings and announcements from all of the best venues and events in the Devon area and of course, your chance to win a pair of weekend camping tickets to this year’s Somersault Festival.

w w w. d e v o n - m u s i c . c o m For news submissions and editorial enquiries email info@devon-music.com If you are interested in advertising with us email sales@phmusicmedia.co.uk or call us free on 0808 147 1106

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sound of the sirens Fri 10 Jul | doors 8pm | £5

b r ot h e r s t r u t Wed 15 Jul | doors 8pm £12 | (£10)

morning rush

Fri 17 Jul | doors 8pm | £4.50

au g u s t i n e s Sun 26 Jul | doors 8pm | £14

n e w s o u n d s s h owc a s e s Fri 24 Jul & Sat 15 aug | doors 8pm | Free exeter phoenix is a proud supporter of the best new music talent. new Sounds Showcases bring you a free event of the most exciting new artists and bands from the South West. in a band and want a slot? contact patrick@exeterphoenix.org.uk

See the website for many more gigs at exeter phoenix 01392 667080 | exeterphoenix.org.uk | Bradninch place, gandy Street, exeter, ex3 4lS

FEATURE

“The Darkness will make you shit in your pants, in a good way” exclaims eccentric frontman Justin Hawkins. Yup, it sure is good to have the hard rocking, catsuit wearing, acrobatic performing, flamboyant troubadours Justin & Dan Hawkins (guitar), Frankie Poullain (bass) and newly indoctrinated drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor back on the scene.

absolute champions of their craft. And after having caught their not-so-secret set at Download festival where punters surrounded the Maverick tent in the drizzle to rock out with no hope of peaking inside, it’s clear that the UK has not forgotten and, in fact, has already assumed the brace position, ready to accept the full onslaught of The Darkness.

Armed with a new album ‘Last of Our Kind’ which is squished full of rock n roll bangers infused with the unmistakable wail of Justin’s signature falsetto and over-laced with tongue in cheek monologues, The Darkness are clearly throwing everything they’ve got into reminding us that they are still here and still

They’ve had a busy festival-filled summer so far and with a looming appearance at Boardmasters on the cards next month and a huge headline tour announced for December, we jumped at the chance to spend some time on the phone with Frankie to get his thoughts on their comeback, the new album and sock eating…

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THE DARKNESS

FEATURE Where are you right now and how many minutes has it been since you had your bass guitar in your hands?

Outside the bus trying to get phone reception ha ha! Good question, this is a disgrace, but the last time I had a bass in my hands was when I handed it to my guitar tech, my best technician I should say, a gentleman by the name of Ollie, after the gig at Download Festival in the Maverick tent. I walked off, and straight into promo, can you believe it? After a show like that! I asked for a beer, and they looked at me like I’d said my name was Adolf Hitler or something. These days you’re not allowed. They don’t like it when you drink when you’re doing promo. That’s how ‘corporate’ rock has become. The bankers are way more rock ‘n’ roll than the rock ‘n’ rollers.

How was Download? We couldn’t get into the tent…

I could hardly get in! It was extremely difficult to cram our collective egos on to the stage. It was incredible, I have to say.

We were behind the screen, just waiting to go on, and we could just feel it. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, in fact the hairs everywhere were standing up, even public hair, and it takes a lot for public hair to stand up because it has to detangle.

It’s quite course and bristly as well. But Download really was incredible.

Then we actually walked out there and myself, Dan and Rufus had come up with this idea that with the intro to Barbarian, we’d keep going until Justin had made it to the stage having come through the crowd. It was such a success. We had ten Viking re-enactment people there. They had their shields up and they formed like a Guard of Honour, with Justin lying on the shields occasionally standing up to wave to the crowd.

You’ve had a few days off since Download, what have you been doing with yourself?

Personal stuff mostly, but I can tell you that I went to Ray Brown, the costume designer. He made it big in the 80s, he pretty much designed the 80s hair metal look, he did Judas Priest, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. He designed the whole kind of outlaw/pirate/ bohemian look. I have this flamenco style shirt which I’ve only worn once, to a press and fan club lunch, so I’m going to get that altered. He’s adjusted the collar for me. I have to keep up with Dan and Justin now!

perceptions, perhaps to encourage them not to look at the clichés all the time and accept that this band are bonkers but that we don’t just wear cat suits all the time, you know?

You provide vocals for the final song ‘Conquerors’ – how did that come about? Was it something you’d always wanted to do or did you all feel like mixing it up a bit?

It was spontaneous, y’know? It came from the lyrics and the vibe and everything. It came from the subconscious. Dan was playing the arpeggio that opens the song, and it just clicked something in me and I started singing. Now thinking about it, the words in the first verse just came spontaneously, so that was all intact, and the melody, the whole song was intact, but we were kind of stuck for a while and Dan suggested the word ‘conqueror’, to hang all these abstract emotions on, and immediately it felt like the right way to go. It’s like an epic rendition of regret and defiance. I think the theme of the album, looking back, is defiance. Even the historical songs like Barbarian and Roaring Waters, involve people of the past, the Barbarians, the East Anglians, during the Viking invasion, really had to show defiance.

The rest of the songs are dealing more with emotional courage and adversity. When you’re faced with situations in relationships and life in general and the challenges that come from being a band that were once very successful and high profile, having to go through the struggles, having to lose a member, and the sadness of losing Ed. I think all those things and the professional relationships that we have, all those life incidents bled into the album. You can hear that through the lyrics, despite what people might think he’s not singing about fast cars and loose women, he’s singing, and I’m singing on that one song, about personal issues.

How tall are you and are you the tallest member of the band?

We’re all almost the same, myself, Rufus and Dan, around 6’ 2”, so Rufus sits well with us. I noticed this particularly at Download; since the 90s rock has become more of an expression of naked emotion, damaged people, I guess it’s an angry thing, and some people say that shorter men are more angry. I mean, I don’t say that, it’s quite a harsh thing to say but I noticed that anger was the currency in lots of 90s rock music, and there were a lot of people of more, er, diminutive stature, at Download.

At the moment Dan & Justin are rocking these incredible suits. Justin’s got this kind of cross between David Bowie and Alexis from Dynasty suit, massive shoulder pads, electric blue satin, high waisted trousers, big flares, and it just pops, it’s a beautiful suit. It’s the epitome of The Darkness’ aesthetic as on first impression it looks ridiculous, but then your eye just keeps coming back to it and you realise it’s beautiful, it’s only ridiculous because we’re brainwashed to think that something loud and out there with strange angles is ridiculous.

Last Of Our Kind is finally out, how does it feel to have unleashed it on the world?

Personally it’s the proudest I’ve ever been of anything we’ve done. I had a problem when Permission to Land came out because it didn’t have enough bottom end, drum and bass-wise.

Of course I knew that the top end was really excellent, with Justin’s vocals and the guitar solos, and Dan’s guitar, but the bottom end didn’t come out too much. So I’m really pleased with this one because it’s much chunkier and fatter sounding.

There’s a lot of emotion in it. The idea was really to emote. It wasn’t something we planned, but that’s what happened. I guess looking back it was a way of possibly altering people’s

DEvon MUSIC | JULY 2015

THE DARKNESS

So, Rufus has joined the band. Where did you find him and what do we need to know about him?

The connection was Brian May’s guitar tech, Pete Malandrone. He’d suggested Rufus when we’d already employed Emily (Dolan). Emily did the album with us, and we did intend to carry on with Emily, but she found it hard to make the sacrifices, she wasn’t really relishing being away for a long time and I think you have to have the attitude where you relish the sacrifice because all art in a loose sense of the word is a sacrifice to the Gods if you like, he he. You have to relish that sacrifice and the whole package. If you start dissecting it you can’t do 150 gigs a year and give it your all, y’know?

So Rufus came on board and his first day was the day we had to do a press lunch at the new Gibson showroom. But Rufus wasn’t arriving until about 6am that day on a flight from Australia. So by the time he got to London it was 9-10 o’clock, and he had to come straight to a three hour rehearsal, where he learned the five songs we were playing - he hadn’t slept for 24 hours - then straight into a photo shoot, and to the gig. He did really well! He’s got a great sense of humour, and has injected some youth and vitality into the band. He’s just what we need at the moment. He’s also made each of us 15% more attractive just by standing next to us with his golden aura!

There’s not many people that can pull off wearing a white safari suit, how did you land on your eccentric style?

To be honest I’m not sure I carried it off! I think it was a mistake to wear it on stage but off stage and at an award show I feel quite comfortable in it. It’s something you wear when you’re taking a picture. Also I think the sweat stains are quite elegant. I think normally sweat stains are quite crude but sweat stains on a white safari suit remind me of Tarzan and the apes. Like the explorers of the 19th century in the Congo. Award shows in the music industry are also like being in the jungle, because the music industry are wild, kind of ferocious, animals just waiting to devour you.

I should have a machete tucked away somewhere in case a tiger or a jaguar decides to devour me with their seductive bullshit.

Recently one of your fans ate their own socks to secure meeting you. If you had to eat socks, which kind of socks would you choose?

I would eat edible socks. Probably rice paper socks.

As well as playing the bass, you also provide the allimportant cow bell section of The Darkness. We’ve discovered that the combination of you and a cow bell is so overwhelming to some of the population that there is a Facebook group called The Cow Belles dedicated entirely to you, allowing fans to discuss their deepest feelings about this phenomenon. Is that a bit weird? Or possibly the coolest thing that’s ever happened?

Harmless. I think the cow bell is an underrated instrument and deserves it’s time to shine. So much so that I’ve even wrapped mine in tin foil so it shines even brighter to enjoy its brief period in the lime light. I didn’t imagine it would go on for so long really, it’s been going on for a good 18 months now, this Cow Belle thing, but all good things come to an end…I’ve been introducing the tambourine but it hasn’t been having the same effect…

DEvon MUSIC | JULY 2015

Your live shows are always a spectacle – have you started floating ideas for the tour yet?

Yeah, we’re always coming up with ideas. For every one idea that is realised, there’s a good nine or ten that fall by the wayside. They’re kind of loose ideas now, because we’ll probably be changing our minds over the next few months as to what we want to do, but we’ve got some great ideas.

During the band’s hiatus you wrote a warts and all autobiography, was it supported by the rest of the band or was it a bridge that had to be crossed when the band got back together?

I didn’t see it as an autobiography because of course I’m not important enough to write an autobiography. I tried it make it into something silly and irreverent, and it was structured kind of like a self-help book. I just did it for a laugh, some people find it amusing. I tried to make it into an anti- sex drugs and rock ‘n’ roll book, so it was about begging for sex, smuggling drugs, and pretending to be rock ‘n’ roll, that was the concept behind it. It was based on the fact that in my teenage years I was begging for sex, in my 20s I was smuggling drugs, and in my 30s I was pretending to be rock ‘n’ roll.

If you could go back to 2002, just before it all took off, what advice would you give 2002-Frankie? ( Very long pause…) Frankie are you still there? Hang on, I’m time travelling, it takes a while! To be honest I can’t remember 2002, it’s a blur. I’ve gotten to 2004, I can remember that, and 2003 I can remember half of it, but I get to 2002 and there’s nothing it’s just blank.

What advice would you give yourself in 2004?

Don’t trust the builder. I had a builder that ran off with £24,000 of my money…

What’s your favourite thing about being in The Darkness?

The freedom. What I like most is that we have our distinct personalities and we encourage each other to really express that. So there’s no real uniform or blanket rules. It’s very liberating and fun as well.

The Darkness have a plethora of great songs, but if you could have written one song by another artist, from any era, which song would it be?

Purple Rain by Prince. So profound that song. Apparently there are seven levels of spirituality and purple is the seventh level. So if you reach the sixth level, then you are being rained on by this purple energy. That’s one of the theories of the song. There’s a verse where he’s singing to his bandmates, then to a woman he’s seeing at the time, and then a verse where he’s talking to his deceased father. He’s talking about living up to his example as a musician, and so it’s kind of deeper than people think.

He’s basically trying to take his father relationship, his love relationship, and his band relationship, all up to this level where they’re stood in the purple rain, this cleansing level of enlightenment. This isn’t some religious thing, it’s spirituality in the abstract sense of the word.

Words: Zan Lawther

Catch the DARKNESS live @ Boardmasters | AUG 9

THE DARKNESS

FEATURE The three Staveley-Taylor sisters have been making waves in the recent UK folk uprising for a while now.

Born in Watford they’ve literally been singing together their whole lives and their beautiful crafted harmonies come across to the listener with an effortlessness that can only be borne from being part of the same family. They’re bloomin’ gorgeous as well. If their music wasn’t so darn enchanting, you might find it fairly easy to hate them! But, that’s genuinely impossible, as we found out when we spent some time catching up with eldest sister Emily, who couldn’t have been more lovely or engaging…

You’ve just got back from the States, how was that?

Yeah awesome, awesome. We got to play a gig at Rough Trade in New York which was sort of our album launch party over there, although a bit belated but it was great. It’s awesome out there.

It must feel like a home from home now, you seem to have spent quite a lot of time out there…

Yeah you start to pick up little pockets of friends all over the place.

It’s one of the nice things about touring so much, now I’ve got a little crew in Berlin and Dublin, New York and it’s really nice.

So your album If I Was came out in March, how have you found the reception to it so far?

Good I think! No one’s said anything horrible to my face so that’s been good. Our local record shop in Watford, in fact the only record shop in Watford, was selling it so that felt nice. I think people write stuff and I don’t really read it because then you have to go down that wormhole of reading everything or nothing, and what does it mean and all that stuff so I kind of ignore it. But we can definitely tell when we play live. Even before the album came out we were playing a lot of new songs and it’s like oh God, people don’t wanna hear new songs, they wanna hear old songs but our fan’s reaction has just been great. Better than I could ever have hoped for really, so it’s just been a pleasure to play the new stuff for them.

You recorded the album in Wisconsin. Do you think that your surroundings have an effect on the record?

I think they must do, although I’m not sure if I could measure how great an effect it’s had. There’s something about being locked away and feeling like you’re in the middle of nowhere doing something very secret and magical and wonderful. I think that it’s difficult to create that kind of feeling if you’re at a rent by the hour studio in London. You’re just so aware that just up the stairs is the hustle and bustle of an enormous city. And I personally just love being anywhere that’s got greenery or nature or mountains or sea or some sort of expanse of something beautiful. It was quite an

DEvon MUSIC | JULY 2015

inspiring place to be, and the people y’know, they’re such a great bunch so it was awesome.

Do you work collectively when you write, or does one of you tend to take the lead?

It actually varies from song to song. On this album it was kind of more individual writing than we’d done before but there was also more fully collaborative writing so, for instance, Horizons we really just had that kind of repetitive riff and we just looped it and all three of us went into the studio together and just improvised all kinds of things, melodies, lyric ideas, stuff like that and we built the song up from there and what was really interesting is that we all came up with similar ideas and the melody had evoked similar feelings and themes so that was a really cool song to write. And songs like No Me No You No More which Jess wrote, and I mean we couldn’t touch that song. That’s what she needed to say and it’s very much her song and we’re just supporting her and singing it with her. So yeah, it’s really different song by song and I think we tried really hard on this album to give each other musical space to be free and do what you want. It doesn’t have to be something that all of us feel, it’s still a Staves song if we’re all singing it. That’s kind of quite cool, new territory for us.

It’s interesting that you all took the same direction with Horizon, that connection often comes through being in a band but do you feel it’s even stronger because you’re siblings?

Oh yeah, I’m sure. There’s obviously a shared musical history and a kind of musical language I suppose that we’ve developed over many, many, many years but there’s a relationship between the three of us which goes even deeper than that and you know, it’s like with your best friend when you’re across the room at a party and just a slight raise of the eyebrow and you know exactly what the other person’s thinking and it’s kind of like that times three.

We’re very in tune with each other and often there’ll be some lyrics or a song that someone’s brought to the table and we don’t ask each other ‘what’s that about?’ because we just know. Actually, we don’t really talk that much haha!

THE STAVES

When did you start singing together as a family, has it just always been?

It has actually. I remember getting to about 10 or 12 and I realised that that wasn’t what everyone else was doing…I thought that was very strange. Y’know I went to someone’s house and there was NO music on in ANY of the rooms ALL NIGHT and no one sang, it was really weird.

There was just music on all the time and we just sang all the time, our poor neighbours! It wasn’t like, right, this is singing hour, come round the piano children and learn this song, it was just making up joke lyrics to Beatles songs. It was just a laugh making up harmonies to jingles on telly and stuff and it just went from there.

What kind of music were you brought up on?

Abba, Queen, a load of Beatles (best band in the world) and then there was Elton John and Roy Orbison and the Travelling Wilberries. A lot of Motown and 60’s pop, The Kinks, James Taylor and Carole King, The Eagles and Mamas & Papas and I think as we got older we started to delve into that era of music and we found Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills & Nash and all that theme. But I knew those songs from my parents singing them but it wasn’t until I was older that I heard the actual versions and I was like ‘what? Did you not write Helplessly Hoping!?!’ I think I probably told my friends that my parents had written this great song called Helplessly Hoping and The Times They Are A Changing haha, so it was all that kind of stuff really.

So you’re supporting Paolo Nutini soon, are you excited?

Yeah he’s ace! He’s a label buddy of ours and all sorts of connections but what a voice! And those eyes! I don’t know how I’m going to be able to control myself haha.

You’ve worked with loads of amazing people, is there anyone you’d like to collaborate with in the future?

Well I definitely foresee more future collaborations with Justin [Vernon –

from Bon Iver], that feels like we’re really onto something good with him.

I think Feist is an incredibly exciting artist and I’d really like to collaborate more the way she does with teams of artists and people that help with not necessarily just the music but all the rest of it. She’s got a really cool circle of people like that around her so I’ll just be Feist if that’s alright. I’ll just be her.

Festival season is coming up, do you find there’s a big difference between playing open air shows compared to venues?

Yeah, there’s quite a big difference. I think sometimes a room has its own atmosphere, even before an audience gets in when you’re sound checking you can tell the sort of gig that it’s gonna be but outdoors you really have no idea. Because the acoustics, that’s gone so it’s kind of just down to you and the crowd. It just strips everything else away so we’ve got to feel it and then make sure they’re feeling it too. And it’s kind of as simple as that. But generally festival crowds are so up for listening to music and for having a good time so it’s pretty fun really.

In November you’re off on a big headline tour. What can we expect from the live show?

We’ve expanded our live band from a five piece to six now so there’s three lads that play drums and bass and the newest addition plays electric guitar and keys, cos there’s quite a lot of synth stuff on the new record and we really needed to incorporate that into the live stuff as well.

So we’re hoping to get some even more special stuff for that tour cos it’s our UK tour and that’s always special for us. And we’re playing in places that we’ve not really played before so we want to make it really special so you’ll have to watch this space. I might buy a new pair of shoes…

Words: Zan Lawther

Catch the staves live @ Somersault Festival | july 24

Take a break from the everyday and spend a few days in a magical place where music, food, theatre and wellbeing come together in a magical summertime festival.

COMPETITION

Answer the question below for your chance to win a pair of weekend camping tickets for a whole new kind of summer experience ­where music, adventure and outdoor living make for bountiful days and vibrant nights in the heart of the South West. At Somersault you can try your hand at surfing, mountain biking, yoga and rock climbing; flit from circus to comedy to storytelling, and when the sun goes down kick back with headline performances from Bombay Bicycle Club, Laura Marling and Passenger. Even mealtimes are an adventure, with the likes of Fifteen Cornwall, River Cottage and The Ethicurean on hand to keep your taste buds as happy as the rest of you.

Q: Which seafaring charitable organisation is Somersault partnered with?

Email your answer to:

competitions@devon-music.com or send us a direct message via Twitter or facebook.

Competition closes 17/07/15

/devonmusicmag @D e v o n M u s i c M a g

devon MUSIC | july 2015

somersault festival

If you could breed 2 animals together and defy the laws of nature, what would you create?

I’ve always wanted to mate a door mouse with an alpaca What’s your favourite joke?

Why didn’t batman go to church ? Christian Bale Have you ever wielded a sword?

I am a fencing teacher for my job so yep!

How many Maggots does it take to change a lightbulb?

555,666 roughly What’s your favourite Slipknot song?

Too many to choose! But Eeyore or People = Shit are top tunes!

If you were to have a rap battle, which famous rapper would you choose to rap against?

Anyone from Jurassic 5!

Who in the band would make the best girl?

I wear fairly tight jeans so I’ll take the hit for that one!

Who makes your masks?

We have our masks made by multiple artists all over the world!

Which character from the Simpsons are you most like?

Otto!

What would you most like to see David Attenborough do a voiceover for that’s unrelated to nature?

I would love to hear David Attenborough commentate on Randy Orton giving someone an RKO. Which reality TV show would you most like to go on?

Big Brother so I could torch the place Look to your left, the first thing you see is what you have to defend yourself in the zombie apocalypse, what is it?

A canvas of a tortoise riding a lama. That’s me dead What’s your favourite board game?

Mouse trap, whatever happened to that game?!

If you invented a flavour of crisps, what would it be?

Apple Strudel and Turmeric. Lovely crisps What is the worst song ever written?

Crazy Frog

Tickets from our Box Office within the busy bee, Tiverton or online at www.tivertontheatre.com Bolham Road, Tiverton, EX16 6SQ

www.facebook.com/knotslipUK

FEATURE

He’s best known as bassist for heavy metal heroes Iron Maiden, having forged the path for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal for the past *cough* 40 years but Steve Harris has been making waves of another kind recently with his side project British Lion. The debut album “British Lion” was released in 2012 and features Harris (on bass, obviously) alongside vocalist Richard Taylor, guitarists Graham Leslie and David Hawkins and drummer Simon Dawson. The ten track album is the product of several years of effort from Steve and his collaborators as they struggled to find time in between Iron Maiden tours and releases.

Harris describes British Lion as ‘70s-influenced, British-sounding hard rock’ and it’s certainly a step away from the classic Iron Maiden sound we all know and love. With strong influences from The Who and UFO it has a more mainstream edge that drifts ever so slightly into the progressive side of British rock and roll. It’s certainly pleased fans and critics alike and we can definitely say it’s a regular on the Devon Music office playlist.

Having only managed to tour the album in the UK for a smattering of dates last year, the British Lion crew are back out on the road again next month, stomping through the country, giving you the chance to catch this stadium rock legend in a smaller venue. So naturally, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to have a bit of a chinwag with the man himself…

The album was written around your incredibly busy touring schedule, how long did it take you to finally get all the songs together and recorded?

It took a few years to piece it all together but hopefully the next one will be a lot quicker!

Is that a process you enjoyed, being able to take your time writing? Or would you rather work in a consistent block?

I haven’t really worked that way before and it was just a case of necessity. If you get a result that you’re happy with then I suppose that’s what matters but in an ideal world I would prefer to do it in a block, but that is just not possible as Maiden always comes first of course!

You’re a prolific songwriter, what was it like working with other musicians after so many years with Maiden?

It was great but I’ve known the British Lion lads for a very long time so it felt totally natural.

How does it feel coming back to club-sized venues after all these years headlining festivals and arenas?

I’ve always liked clubs and now I have the best of both worlds!

With the beast that is Iron Maiden, plus British Lion, plus six kids to keep you busy, is there ever any chance for some downtime and what’s your favourite thing to do when you find some?

I still love football and tennis. I also love photography, reading and watching movies. Football will always be my main favourite though.

If you could only play one bass guitar for the rest of forever, which one would it be?

The West Ham one of course that’s been my main bass for years and will continue to be.

Words: Zan Lawther

Have you been working on any new British Lion stuff recently?

We have a fair bit of new stuff and will play some new material on this upcoming UK tour.

Was it frustrating not being able to tour the album fully due to your demanding schedule?

Not really. It is what it is but maybe for the others as they always have to wait for me and my busy Maiden schedule!

Are you glad to be back out on the road with the British Lion team next month?

I’m really looking forward to it. We have a lot of fun anyway and it’s really nice for me to play small places and be so close to the fans.

devon MUSIC | JULY 2015

Catch steve harris - british lion live @ the hub | aug 21

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FEATURE

New grave punk rockers Ashestoangels have been stalwarts of the local West Country scene for a few years now. Born out of Bristol, with their focus firmly planted in DIY and one of the strongest work ethics we’ve ever seen, these boys are now deservedly enjoying some recognition for their hard work.

They were recently nominated for Best British Newcomer by the hallowed Kerrang! and although they didn’t manage to pip Royal Blood to the winner’s podium, they’ve certainly been making the most of the light being shone on them currently.

Perhaps one of the friendliest bands on the UK circuit at the moment, Ashestoangels LOVE their fans and we’ve seen them spend hours out front of their shows, taking endless selfies and making each gushing goth feel like they’re something truly special. This is the band that go the extra mile. This is the band that stand at the front for all the other bands playing on the same bill and encourage you to let loose and go crazy and support live music for no other reason than it’s music and it’s there to be supported.

For Ashestoangels now though, it’s back to business as they start preparations for what is surely to be a career changing tour. Bolstered by their recent surge in popularity they’re heading off round the UK this month and we caught up with loveable frontman Adam Crilly recently to talk Kerrang Awards, touring and to find out exactly what ‘new grave’ really means…

So Crilly, what are you doing right now!?!

I am busy packing up merch orders, which feels a bit like work. But we’ve just got in some pink post bags, which is pretty cool.

Let’s get straight to it; the Kerrang Awards. You were nominated for Best Newcomer, you didn’t win – but what was it like as an experience?

It was ridiculous. It was so good that the fact that we didn’t win didn’t really cross our minds after about 7 seconds. I think I tried to play it cool as much as possible but I met a LOT of my heroes that night. I got to meet Marilyn Manson, that was pretty good haha. I told him he looked like Hunter S Thompson and he seemed pleased. You definitely don’t wear glasses like that unless you’re trying to look like Hunter S Thompson. Then we tried to kidnap Dani Filth, he definitely got in our taxi. We didn’t even need a taxi. I don’t know what was going on there! It was a weird room, but it was so much fun.

Well, you have to get used to that now…this is the kind of stuff that happens to you now…

Well maybe if you go every year you get all cool about it but for this first year, yeah it was a bit crazy. I keep thinking someone’s going to work it out and be like ‘he’s a phoney!! They only play basement shows!!’ haha But things are going from strength to strength for you guys. Can you explain to us what this so called ‘new grave’ is?

I can. You know how they had to at some point decide that the metal was now ‘nu’ with the n-u? Because of the rappers. Well it’s kinda like that! They did that first thing, the new wave of grave thing and it was

DEvon MUSIC | JULY 2015

a very snappy name and we just thought it was cool, so we went with it. I mean, we’re definitely a punk band but at the same time there’s this blackness and all of these synths and all of this shit going on and we’ve had a very hard time describing our music. When people ask you what you sound like, they don’t want you to mumble about synths and darkness and life in a dark room and Beetlejuice, they just want you to have a name. And we really liked that one, so we put it on a t-shirt and now we’re here. Stylistically, well, there’s us and there’s Creeper who sound a little bit similar to us, and then New Year’s Day who are way gothier than us but super nice and then Dead who are quite dark and then Fort Hope who are quite shiny but since we’ve started using it there are all these bands who are just starting out, who really like us, who are calling themselves ‘new grave’ bands, which is cool.

The collective ethos behind Ashestoangels and the other new grave bands seems to be something that works in your favour. There’s a group of you that work together and you, as a band, are incredibly supportive to other bands, encouraging fans to watch and promote all bands on a bill. Do you think that’s an important thing to do in the music scene these days?

Yeah I think so. Not a lot of people do it. People are really precious about looking after their things and what they’re getting and I’ve never been like that. Probably because no one wanted to share with Ashestoangels [sad face]. But now! Now that we can fill these rooms it seems silly to not share the love and bring some bands out with us. Like for this tour we’re bringing an American band over simply because they were nice to me and I like their songs, a band called Farewell, My Love.

You guys work really hard. You’re doing it all yourselves – you’re packing your own merch, you’re doing your own social media, you’re booking your own shows and you’re always on the road. Do you have any advice for other bands trying to push themselves forward?

I think that when you start out, there are no bad gigs because any band practice you don’t pay for is a bonus. I started driving for other bands and it’s good to be able to tell them that I’ve been on the tour that they’re currently on, cos sometimes they’re a bit bummed out and it’s like ‘hey! It’s a free PA system so every time you play, you’re coming out ahead.’ Other advice would be to warm up your voice, otherwise you’ll lose it and tune up your guitars or you’ll suck and practice with a metronome or people will be able to tell! And don’t overplay your home town!! I mean, knowing what I know now, I think I could have made this all make sense a lot earlier, but I had to learn by doing it.

Maybe I should do an advice column! ‘Don’t Do That’ that’s what I’d call my advice column!

So you’re off on tour in July, kicking things off in Plymouth, why should people drag themselves out to come and see your live show for the first time?

That’s a tough one, trying to convince people to see us. I think if people are just starting to hear our name and don’t know who we are, then live is probably the best way to come and find out if we’re for you. And if it is, then you’ll never leave. And that’s good, cos that’s what we want!

Words: Zan Lawther

Catch ASHES TO ANGELS live @ Exile | Plymouth | JULY 17

ASHESTOANGELS

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Look out for Dan Fuller accidentally, and inevitably breaking his bass.

FOR FANS OF: LETLIVE / WHILE SHE SLEEPS / BEARTOOTH

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FOR FANS OF: UNION J / RIXTON / SAM BAILEY

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FOR FANS OF: RESTORATIONS / CAVES / STATUES

STEVE HARRIS BRITISH LION

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FOR FANS OF: THE WHO / UFO / IRON MAIDEN

DEVON MUSIC | JULY 2015

AUG 21 | THE HUB

previews

previews LAND OF THE GIANTS / WILL & THE PEOPLE

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OCT 02| EXETER CASTLE

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Drawing from vaudeville, horror movies, garage rock and heavy metal, Alice Cooper is a real life legend in rock n roll. His live shows are always something of a spectacle (he’s been known to hang himself on stage) that feature eccentric theatrics that punctuate the raw, simple riffs and melodies of his music. Hits like ‘School’s Out’, ‘Poison’ and ‘Frankenstein’ abound - WE’RE NOT WORTHY!

ALICE COOPER

FOR FANS OF: KISS / MOTLEY CRUE / JUDAS PRIEST

OCT 29 | PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS

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Pop star’s first tour in four years

NOV 01 | PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS Punishing metal mathcore

You’d have to have been living at the bottom of the ocean not to know who Will Young is. The pop sensation has produced #1 album after #1 album after shooting to fame in 2002 after winning Pop Idol. His latest (and sixth) album 85% Proof went straight in at #1 and is an eclectic, confident collection of endearing pop music with a mature twist. Glad to have you back out on the road, Will!

FOR FANS OF: GARETH GATES / TAKE THAT / OLLY MURS

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THE STORY SO FAR

EVERY TIME I DIE

NOV 7 | THE UNDERGROUND Pop punk with a modern edge

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DEC 03 | EXETER LEMON GROVE

DEVON MUSIC | JULY 2015

FOR FANS OF: NECK DEEP / KNUCKLE PUCK / STATE CHAMPS

previews

AUG 21 // THE HUB

RICHARDS / CRANE SEP 23 // THE HUB AUG 21 // THE HUB

AUG 21 // THE HUB RICHARDS / CRANE SEP 23 // THE HUB

OCT 15 // THE JUNCTION

RICHARDS / CRANE SEP 23 // THE HUB

OCT 15 // THE JUNCTION

NOV 07 // UNDERGROUND NOV 07 // UNDERGROUND

OCT 15 // THE JUNCTION DEC 03 // LEMON GROVE DEC 03 // LEMON GROVE

NOV 07 // UNDERGROUND