Interviews 4 6 8 10 12 16 18 20 22 26
The Greatest Handshake Turnover Modern Baseball The Lumbers Editors Jimmy Eat World Deep Purple Apologies, I Have None City And Colour Red Left Hand (Recording studios)
Cd Review From page 30 until page 37.
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Intro
Hello again! For this issue we have put some mainstream artists in the spotlights. Deep Purple, Jimmy Eat World and Editors. Some younger bands also caught our attention, such as Apologies, I Have None and The Lumbers. I hope you appreciate these band as much as we do. Thank you very much for reading RMP magazine and feel free to share the download link with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. In our next issue RMP will have a chat with Chimaira, White Lies, Daylight and Shook Ones.
Lisa Leysen
Head editor of RMP magazine
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If you like raw, pure, and daring rock, you´ll like The Greatest Handshake. They just released their first EP, Meat, and they deserve your support. We had a chat with vocalist, Niel.
You guys participated in Studio Brussel’s “De Nieuwe Lichting” contest. What made you want to participate, and how was the experience? I think we participated because, like every other band just starting out, we were looking for exposure. To be heard by as many people as possible is the best gift you can give to a young band like ours. Reaching the finals gave us some radio/TV airplay and resulted in a few nice gigs and contacts. It was also very nice to see how many great bands are playing in such a small country. There is a whole new scene of young and original bands coming up, bands such as Rhinos Are People Too.
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Tempogeist definitely blew us away and gave us a reason to work harder. How come you do not have a guitarist in your band? We started out looking for a guitar player, but we did not find the one we were hoping to find and decided to give it a try without. Also, because we jammed for so long without a guitar player, we found our own sound and thought it would bring something original to the table. Our set-up is not something you see every day. Our bass player uses a lot of distortion and fuzz pedals. There is more than enough noise to make it so guitars are not missed. Maybe in the
future, if the right guy or girl shows up, we will consider it. For now, we enjoy our three-piece set-up, and our bass player doesn’t need to share his ego with a guitar player. We are also still searching for a great trombone or flugel player. A new demo is coming out. Can you tell me more about the writing process? The writing process is very laid back. Mostly it all starts out with some bass riffs. Our motto is: if it feels good to us, and it gets a little stuck in our heads, we’ll give the song a chance to grow. It’s the combination of raw power and melodies. When the drums are just right (pretty important in a
Interview - The Greatest Handshake
“We like music pure and raw -- no overdubs, no click tracks, a punky way to record music.”
band with just drums and a bass guitar), our singer takes the music home to write the lyrics. After a while, we decided to hit the studio and recorded seven songs in one day, all analog! We like the music raw and pure, no overdubs, no click tracks, a kind of punky way to record music. What albums have influenced the band the most? We didn’t have any particular albums in mind while writing the album. There are always bands that are important for yourself as a musician. Bands like Big Business, Melvins, Death From Above, Therapy?, Hum, No Means No, and The Amazing Shellac are defi-
nitely bands who inspire us. There are also a lot of non-rock acts that inspire us. Our bass player is a fan of weird bands, like The Legendary Shack Shakers, CW Stoneking, and Marc Ribbot Trio. We all have a different taste in music, but that’s what’s so exciting about music and playing together. We still suspect our bass player keeps on searching terrible music just to piss us off! Where do you see your band in five years? Hopefully, the biggest band in the world and rich just like Jon Bon Jovi. No, it would be great to keep on making records, maybe bring out some vinyl, play more awe-
some shows, meet great people, get free beers; some awesome festivals or a mini-tour would also be very welcome. Who would you like to share the stage with? God would be nice. If that is too hard, Aerosmith or Celine Dion will do the job! By Lisa Leysen
Photo credits - Aurelie Geurts facebook.com/pages/TheGreatest-Handshake
Next Belgian shows :
24/8 - M.E.C. Pop-up/Cultuur festival (Mechelen) 21/9 - Rock Heers (Heers)
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Turnover is a four-piece band from Virginia Beach. In 2012 they released a split 7� with Citizen and they recently signed with Run For Cover records. Vocalist Austin Getz answered a few questions.
I assume your band name is from the Fugazi song? If yes, why did you pick that song title as a band name? Turnover isn’t a reference to the Fugazi song, or anything else for that matter. It just felt right when we started the band.
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Do you remember how you felt when you played your first show? Our first show was great, except for one of my friends getting beaten up during our last song. When did you have the
feeling for the first time that you achieved something with the band? I would say the first time I felt like we had done something significant, was when Kyle from Broken Rim Records hit us up about wanting to put the Self Titled
Interview - Turnover
I really feel like we don’t have a whole lot in common with a lot of other bands. EP on vinyl. Before that we had never done any kind of physical copies of our music unless it was a burned disc. There are a lot of bands nowadays and they all want to tour and see the world, how do you guys try to be different than the other bands? I really feel like we don’t have a whole lot in common with a lot of other bands. We’re a pretty eclectic group of guys and the music we write now is a lot different. I feel there’s something for everyone on Magnolia and on all of our records to come. Do you choose who you’re touring with, do other bands ask you to tour with them or is it all arranged by your management? It’s pretty much a combination of all of those things.
What are the most characteristic features of you and your bandmates relating to the band and making music? We’re all into some of the same music but we also all have bands we enjoy independently. That influences us each individually which, I think, makes for good song writing. Did you have to search for a label or did labels come up to you with offers? The labels we worked with got in touch with us. Both Broken Rim and Run For Cover contacted us originally. How do you decide what to use for artwork? We usually wait until we’ve almost reached the deadline, then panic and get really stressed out. Somehow it all comes together.
What are your favourite lyrics of Turnover, out of which song do they come and what are they about? I like the lyrics in the song “Wither” of Magnolia. The whole song is about the inevitability of change and loss and I’m very proud of that song. By Lisa Leysen
facebook.com/turnoverva Next album : “Magnolia”
Out now!
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Modern Baseball is a promising new band from Philadelphia, in Europe however they are still unknown.Let us introduce Jake Ewald, the singer and guitarist of Modern Baseball. Can you describe your music for those who haven’t heard you yet? And why should we like your songs? We’re going for awkwardly optimistic “dad-core.” It sounds complicated, but it’s really just us singing about our lives over indie-punk music. I guess you should like our songs because they’re honest and sometimes people can relate to them. We’re just trying to say, “Hey, you’re not the only dude that stubbed his toe in the bathroom this morning, then got dumped by his girlfriend and then lost the key to his bike lock.” In November 2012, you released your first album, Sports. This title, together with your band name, leads me to the next question: what’s up with your fixation on sports/baseball? We’re not very athletic. Come to think of it, the whole thing is a bad joke that lasted way too long. But one time, we were in Ohio, and I bought a Cleveland Indians baseball cap at a thrift store. How did you come up with the band name?
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My dad used to be a gym teacher, so he kept a bunch of sports books in the basement, and one of them was called Modern Baseball Techniques. Normally, at this point we would say we dropped “techniques” because we couldn’t spell it, but now that I’ve typed the word “techniques” three times, I feel like the joke would lose credibility. Who writes the songs, and where do you get your inspiration? I write the songs that I sing, and Brendan writes the songs that he sings. Most of the content comes straight from our daily routines. Turns out American kids go through a lot of the same stuff! Not sure about Europeans though. Do you guys ever eat 28” pizzas? The lyrics are very relatable for most of us. Did you start writing songs with this intention? Thanks! I’m pretty sure this is the same for Brendan, but personally, when I write a song, I don’t have any idea what I want it to sound like or how I want it to be interpreted. It kind of just dribbles out of my brain. Any time I sit down and
try to write a certain type of song, it ends up sounding like horrible radio rock, and I’m too embarrassed to show it to Brendan. How does it feel to make songs, intentionally or not, that give people strength? It means a lot to us that you would say that, seriously. Thank you. Like I said before, writing for us is really a personal outlet that keeps us from being total emotional nut jobs, so when we see kids being receptive to that and singing along, it’s unlike any other feeling. It’s like better than watching The Simpsons, by a lot. Modern Baseball is a relatively young band, but you’ve already achieved quite some respect from the specialized media. How does that feel? It’s weird, honestly, but it feels really cool. We had to do a phone interview with Alt Press when they chose us as one of the 100 bands to watch out for
Interview - Modern Baseball
this year, and the entire time, we were just giggling uncontrollably. I still have the interviewer’s phone number.
Extension and The Weakerthans. But the bands that really got me into music were Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack.
Are you aiming to conquer Europe? I’m not sure if “conquer” is the right word, but we definitely intend to “visit” and “eat some cool food that you guys have” in the next couple of years. We’re not very intimidating.
Which bands gave you inspiration for making music yourself? Definitely Say Anything. Without that band, I wouldn’t write songs the same way. They introduced me to a whole slew of bands that were all about the whole concept of “we don’t have to write deep, dark, metaphorical lyrics; we can just list what we did today, and it’s way more interesting”. Stumbling upon that weird sincerity really got me into song writing. Actually, my mom almost didn’t let me buy …Is a Real Boy because she thought the album artwork was too suggestive. Good thing that didn’t happen!
Do you have any plans for a European tour? We’ll be in college until 2015, so that makes things pretty complicated, but we might be able to weasel our way over before we graduate. We’ve been discussing the possibility of going overseas a lot recently; it’s something we’re all getting excited about. What are some of your favourite bands? Right now I really like River City
Sports is only half a year old, and I’ve read that you’ve already got plans for a new album. Are those songs that didn’t make
it to the first album, or are you guys just that productive? So far, I’ve only got one old song put aside for the new record, the rest are totally new songs. But it should be noted that Sports was plucked from a collection of songs we were sitting on since high school, so we’ve been writing “new” songs for a pretty long time now. And as I stated earlier, if we didn’t write songs consistently, we would probably explode and get a bunch of tears and stuff all over everyone. Can you tell us yet how it’s going to sound? I think we’d like to keep it a surprise, but I’ll say that we’re really excited; like really excited.
By Yasmine Philtjens
facebook.com/Modern Baseball
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They don´t look their age, and they are influenced by music of another generation. Meet The Lumbers: a five-piece rock band from Kortrijk, a small town in Belgium. Music however isn´t the only thing that connects them.
You´re all young musicians but your music has an older seventies vibe, how come? Timo: We are all great admirers of the roots of contemporary music. Especially the harder blues rock genre. That’s also the music we first came in touch with. That’s why we were really influenced in the beginning by bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Now it’s more like searching for an own new sound. There’s more of an experimental aspect. And still you can find references to the past in our music. Baptiste: I hadn’t joined the band yet when the main sound of The Lumbers was being created, but I agree on the fact that the older music was the first music we all came in touch with when we were young; it’s not necessarily what we listen to nowadays but it kind of stuck to us during the years and I guess we’ll always have that older
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edge to our sound. Harry: It all started with the blues. That’s all I can say. Some of your parents are also active in the music industry or are musicians, did they influence the decision to start a band or write music? Timo: My father plays the piano and I really love him very much. I hug a lot with my dad because we both like that. We’re really close. Baptiste: My father’s a business man. He does not play any instrument. Harry: My father is a musician and he did influence me off course. But he always said that I had to decide and do it on my own. How do you guys write songs? Do you go through a certain process? Timo: I write the lyrics and come up with most songs. But now the
other band members make an effort to write some material. The music comes first, then the lyrics. Baptiste: Timo usually comes up with different musical parts for a song and he just plays it in front of us while we figure out what we should play to make it sound as The Lumbers. There’s always a kind of blueprint when we start working on a song, we keep playing it and changing details ‘till we have what we believe is our own song. Timo has always written the lyrics but lately the two of us have been writing, we both have a different style of writing but somehow it works out. Harry: Most of the songs are written by Timo but we all have our participation. I’ve just started to write songs but I still can’t write lyrics. I try but it’s very difficult... What are the most characteristic features of your band
Interview - The Lumbers
members and of yourself? (don´t think about this question too long and don´t take it too seriously) Baptiste: The five of us are all different types of people and we all listen to different kinds of music, and these differences make that specific sound of the band. We’ve been playing together for a long time now and because of that we form a sort of unity while playing. Harry: I agree with Baptiste, we are just five different types but according to me, you will never find any greater friendship. We are just a few pigs who have fun. You guys come from Kortrijk, a town where a lot of successful Belgian bands come from (Goose, SX, Balthazar), can we say Kortrijk is a good place for musicians to live? If yes, why (or why not.) Baptiste: I think Kortrijk is a great
town to live as a musician, except for the fact that we don’t have any shops that sell instruments at a fair price and that has a good assortment, actually Kortrijk does not have any good music shop.
“Our strongest feature is our friendship. We are just a few pigs who are having fun.” What’s so great about living in Kortrijk as a musician is the fact that bands really get a lot of opportunities to prove themselves, there are lots of little rock rallies nearby, lots of shows at the great club DEKREUN, den Track and den Trap that all offer a lot of musicians the opportunity to play
at their pub. And there’s really good communication (flyers, posters, social media) about all this stuff. Harry: Kortrijk is wicked. The future of The Lumbers, where do you want to be in 5 years? Baptiste: To be honest, I have absolutely no idea where we’ll be in 5 years. I think we all will still be playing music. I’m pretty sure about that. I hope we all will still be playing in The Lumbers and still making progress with our band. Harry: My dream is to live from our music and go on tour but we’ll have to work really hard for that. Gilles: I want to be a rock star and have sexy time with women their vaginas! By Lisa Leysen
Photo credits - Eva Vlonk facebook.com/The-Lumbers
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Editors became a big band in a short time. They just released a new record `The Weight Of Our Love.` Their relationship with Belgium is strong and their shows are always magnificent. RMP had a nice chat with bassist Russell Leetch.
The new song, “A Ton of Love,” is energetic. Does that set the example for the remainder of the album? Absolutely, we wanted to open it with a big, flamboyant start. It does that; it kicks in, and there it goes! On each album, you worked with different people.What are your criteria for choosing whom you work with? We have our songs ready, and we just think who would work the best with them. Mark “Flood” Ellis, who worked with us for In This Light
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and on This Evening, transferred our band into something different; we wanted that at that time. Then we had Jacquire King for our new album, The Weight Of Love, and he went very straight into the songs. We tried to work with Flood again on this last record, but we had some failing sessions. We want to keep an open relationship with all of them. Whose idea was it to swap guitars for synths? I don’t know exactly. We just got bored being on the road with that second record and experimented.
Our former guitarist, Chris, just wrote his melodies on a synth. It was different for him and more of an experience. Chris Urbanowicz left the band because he didn’t agree on the future direction of the band. I’m wondering what that direction is? Chris has got a certain way he thinks and what his music means. It was very different to ours. It’s not like, “I want a sound like this or that.” It wasn’t that straightforward, just the openness and the willingness to try the new things that me, Tom, and Ed have.
Interview - Editors
Belgium and The Netherlands are two beautiful countries, and we’re glad that we’re successful here.
When did you first have the feeling that you’d become a “big band?” It goes in stages. We never had an overnight success, I guess. Let’s say 2006. It’s a year after our record came out, and we played Pukkelpop, and suddenly, there were are a lot of people there wanting to see our band, and were like, “Oh, wow.” This wasn’t at home; it wasn’t in the UK. That was a nice feeling. Every year, something surprises us. Last year at Werchter was a big surprise too! Obviously, a triumph for us as well, through the changes we made as a band. Are bigger shows better shows? You like to be successful, but some of the best shows take place in small clubs. I spend a lot of time in New York; the Bowery Balroom is like 600 people big, and that’s ideal. A lot of our fans will say that the best shows they have seen were in smaller venues because they get to see us up close. I obviously experience a lot of fun at the big shows as well. We like to do them too. You become more of an entertainer when you do the big shows. You signed with Pias records. Is it difficult to maintain your independence if you sign at a big label? We have total creative control over what we do. They have an independent spirit; we see eye-to-eye.
You still want to be a success; you don’t sign to a label to not sell records. But yeah, we share the same vision. Editors has a strong connection with Belgium and the Netherlands. What about the other side of the ocean, the USA? We tour there, but there hasn’t been a lift-off like here (yet). People do know the band; they just don’t need it at the moment. We’ll be back there, but we don’t know the key to success. Do you feel at home in Belgium already? Yeah, we’ve been to a lot of towns and cities in and around Belgium and Holland. They are two beautiful countries, and we’re glad that we’re successful here! First time we came abroad to do a show was here in Holland. That was really early on, so that was pretty cool. Good times. Coming back here now to play big shows, people are really excited about hearing us play. The radio has helped us a lot the last few days! In 2010, on Rock Werchter, there was that guy singing along during “No Sound but the Wind” Jason! You know his name! Have you met him? We met him a few times. That’s awesome! He’s a big fan of Editors. He got
us 2 million fans on YouTube! Where were you when you saw this happening? Tom was doing a solo performance? Exactly. The rest of the band went offstage and got a drink. We kept hearing this cheering, and we were wondering what was going on. We thought it was a ball bouncing in the public or something. When we got back, we got word about a guy singing with his eyes closed, crying on the screens, and we didn’t think anything of it, until we saw the reaction (and the video) afterwards. The single went to number one, and it became a big song to a lot of people. In 2008, you played with REM in Finland. Any other bands you’d like to share the stage with? We completed our list. It was really a big moment for us when they asked us on stage to play a song together for their last ever tour. By Lisa Leysen
facebook.com/editors music Next album : “The Weight Of Your Love” Out now!
Next Belgian shows : 2/11 - Sportpaleis (Antwerpen)
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Interview - Jimmy Eat World
By Lisa Leysen
facebook.com/jimmyeatworld Next album : “Damage”
Out now!
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Interview - Deep Purple
The new album, Now What ?, maintains the Deep Purple sound but also feels contemporary. How did you manage this? We spent a lot of time working on the music -- full writing sessions. We knew what we were doing. Can you explain the band’s song writing process? There’s a certain Deep Purple process, and that´s been going on for 40 years. We all gather in the rehearsal room, and we jam and work out things, and we show each other what we came up with. I come up with the middle bridge passages for the keyboard. It´s very democratic, and it’s amazing that it works. I’ve read you have a passion for astronomy. Is that where the title of your solo album, Light in the Sky, comes from? That’s right. It was centred around the heavens. There are many Deep Purple tribute bands. What’s your opinion on people covering your music? The tribute band phenomena is quite a strange thing. When I was coming up as a musician, you just wrote your own music; it’s weird if the songs are written by someone else. I was in Austria, and I met up with a friend, and he plays in a Deep Purple Tribute band. I also saw one in Russia, recently. I also recently saw a tribute band and they even played a Rainbow song that I
helped write. I started talking to someone from the band, and the guy didn´t know it was me. He was pretty shocked. You work together with so many bands. Do you know why exactly people want to work and play music with you? I’m cheap. [Laughs] The essence of recording is time and money. When people come into your studio, they expect you to do your job quickly and come up with stuff. I do sessions, and I see very quickly if people don´t know what they want. If there’s a kind of a hole, you need to help fill it up. You just have to be musician. You worked with Ozzy Osbourne for his albums Blizzard of Ozz and Bark At The Moon. What’s it like working with him? What kind of a person is he? [Laughs] Publicity is a wonderful thing but part of showbiz is just not very realistic; they just show the overexcited side. The publicity surrounding Ozzy hasn’t always been true. I always work very well with him. In the eye of the storm, it’s much calmer than the storm. He´s very musical and thoughtful. He just comes up with songs and lyrics in no time; it’s great. How do you feel about the future of music? Some people say that the ability to download music is going to destroy it, but at the same time there´s a sort of vinyl revival going on. The more things change, the more
things remain the same. 30 years ago, people were saying it was the end of rock because the synth bands were taking over, but it wasn´t at all. It just goes off the ground and comes back again. It will keep going beyond my lifetime. Do you ever consider retiring? I think about it now and then. Buddy Guy said, “Musicians don’t retire, they drop.” And it’s true. You just think, “Oh, one more album or one more tour. It will all stop soon enough.” I’ve been amazed by the reception of the album, and that gives me energy. The best moment of your whole career? Gigs, for sure. Playing with Rainbow in 1993, playing with Ozzy in Madison Square Garden. I also remember during the first tour I did with Deep Purple, we played when there was a full moon and that was amazing. By Lisa Leysen
facebook.com/official deeppurple Next album : “Now What ?”
Out now!
Next Belgian shows : 06/8 - Lokerse feesten (Lokeren)
The legendary band, Deep Purple, has just released their new album, Now What ? Keyboardist, Don Airey, shared some secrets with us. ”There is a certain Deep Purple song writing process that´s been going on for more than 40 years.”
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Interview - Apologies, I Have None
By Lisa Leysen
facebook.com/apologies ihavenone
Next Belgian shows :
2/8 - Strandfuif (Glabbeek
Zuurbemde)
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Dallas Green, the man behind City & Colour, played a sold out gig in Brussels, Belgium. RMP asked him about the success of the new album, his future plans and how he feels about being all alone on stage without his previous band Alexisonfire.
Do you know how long it took us to make the connection between City & Colour and your actual name? We were amazed. [Laughs] Most people have the same reaction; don’t feel bad. How long did it take you to come up with that name? Very quickly. When I had to fill out forms or say my name for people, I had to spell it because my last name is “Green” and people are used to spell it as “Grien”. I would then say, “No, it’s like the colour.” Same thing with Dallas. City & Colour. You just released your new album. How do you feel about it? I feel great. I’m very proud of it; that’s a good start. People can listen to it and tell the internet whether they like it or not. Have you read any of the reactions? No, I haven’t. I don’t really care about the reactions. If you like
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Interview - City And Colour
it you do; if you don’t like it you don’t. I don’t expect everyone to like it, and I don’t care if you don’t like it because I’m not holding a gun to your head asking you to listen to it. Will you read a review if you come across one? Yeah, if someone comes up to me and tells me, “Check this, someone says something nice about it.” Or when someone says, “Check this, this is funny.” There is a lot of music out there that I don’t like, so for me to make a record and assume that everyone is going to like it would be hypocritical. I know how it is. I know that certain people like my style of music and some people don’t. The album is number one in Canada. Yes, that’s great! That means people like it. But again, you can’t let things like that affect you positively or negatively. I think, ultimately, it changes the way you approach your songs. My last record debuted number one, so that doesn’t mean that I’m going to approach this one any different. I wasn’t trying to get this one debuted number one again: I wrote songs the way I always write. How do you select songs for the album? Do you write 30 and pick the best 12? No, I don’t write songs very quickly. For this record, I had 14 songs, and I used 12. Two I really love didn’t make the record; it seemed as if they didn’t fit. The first is used as a bonus in the preorder, and the other one is a special one. It has got a story about this thing
that actually happened in my life, so it seems as its own thing. I’ll probably set it out on its own. The album was leaked early. How do you feel about that? It’s 2013; it happens to every record. It happened to every record in the last ten years. The second Alexisonfire record leaked, and since then, all my albums have been leaked before they’ve come out. We try our hardest. When it goes on physical production, we send copies, download links that expire; that’s us trying to get everyone to be patient and wait. We work hard on something, and we have a plan for it, then someone takes it and just puts it out for you. It’s the internet; it’s something you can’t do anything about nowadays. What’s your opinion on the culture of online piracy? You can’t do anything about it. The internet has got good and bad stuff going on. A lot of people wouldn’t have found out about my music otherwise. The reason I started C&C was because people found old songs that I had and asked me to put out a record. They found it on the internet. Without it, we probably wouldn’t be here! At the same time: people don’t buy the record anymore. So you’re saying thanks to piracy, C&C exists? Not really; I was doing it before. It made people interested in these songs that I already had, but didn’t think there were any more. Downloading is just like if I came to your job and took half of your earnings (or more) away without a reason. It’s just as if you sneak
into a show. This is my life; this is how I make my money. For some reason, in the last 20 years, people have shifted to something where they believe that music has to be free. They don’t realise that it takes a lot to make it, to make it perfect. But then again, we can have this discussion for five hours and not solve anything. You’re miles away from home, but today’s show is still sold out. How does that feel? Great! It’s like what I always hoped to do: being able to play for people as a living. I’m still surprised that I can play somewhere so far from home, so far from where I learned to play guitar and started singing. With touring, you can have it two ways: you can have a good day or you can have a bad day. The venue, the people, it can all be so perfect, but sometimes, you don’t feel like you want to go out on stage. But you do, because you have to. The difference is that I can go up there and feel horrible and start to play and then the reactions of the people can completely change my day. It’s a wonderful thing to be here, but some days you don’t sleep well or you’re sick. People don’t take that into account when they are watching you. It’s your job to entertain people, no matter how sold out the show is. How many times have you been in a bad mood in your life like, “Leave me alone; I don’t want to talk to anyone?” Well, sometimes, I feel like that and then I’ve got to go play a show. The good thing is that I can start like that and then see
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Interview - City And Colour
“ I think, ultimately, it changes the way you approach your songs.” the people and remember how beautiful it is. Is it hard to perform alone because you’re used to playing with Alexisonfire? Well, today I have a band. I’ll do half a show with them and half alone. Singing and playing is something that I’m comfortable with. This, doing interviews, isn’t the part that I’m comfortable with. When I started playing guitar, I didn’t want to be famous; I didn’t want to sell millions of albums. I just loved to sing. I love it. I love to play guitar. When I get to do that, I’m happy. I don’t like to travel in an iron coffin. I don’t like to be on a different time schedule without sleep. I don’t like to go to a place where I don’t speak the language because I feel bad that I don’t know it. City & Colour is your band; you picked out the musicians. Was Alexisonfire the same way? No, that was from the five of us. We started it together; we wrote the songs together; we made the decisions together. Now, you’re the decision maker! Yes, that was part of the reason
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why I wanted to leave. I love Alexisonfire. I love being in a band, but with this, I’ve got an idea of what I want it to be. I looked at one of your set lists from two years ago in which you played an Alexisonfire song. On this tour, you do not. Not right now. Is it because you want to step away from that chapter of your life? No, not at all! I just like my set list to have a specific length, and with the new record, I had to use new songs. Sometimes, I change my set list in the middle of the set. Anything can happen! You released your album just prior to touring Europe. Why did you choose it rather than the States? I’m doing a lot of Canadian festivals this summer. Actually, next month, so that works out better then. My American tour will be in the Fall; that made more sense. I came back to Europe to play Hurricane, since I couldn’t play it last year (I was ill). We thought we might as well do a couple of weeks through Europe because I’m not sure when I can get back
around here. Maybe next year. Are you familiar with Groezrock? Yes, I played there with Alexis! They’ve got an acoustic stage. Is that something for you? I don’t think C&C is ever going to play Groezrock. I don’t like acoustic stages at hard rock festivals. It’s very loud. What’s the best tour anecdote that you’ve got? I’ve been doing this for 12 years, so there isn’t one best moment. If you find yourself surrounded with the right people, you’ll find a good moment every day. By Yves Van Laer
facebook.com/cityandcolour
Next album : “The Hurry And The Harm” Out now !
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As a new band, the road to traveling and playing shows starts by making your own music. In order to get this music into the world, you need to get your work recorded and ready to promote. The issue with this part is, that recording costs are so high it seems impossible to pay with the small amount of money you make on your shows. The result is a shitty self-made recording that no one would buy or listen to. But what if you can record decent stuff without spending your total savings account? This is where Sven Janssens comes in. Being an artist himself and having experience in top Belgian and European bands, he has a clear insight in how your perfect sound should be. Here we give you an insight in his job with the up- and downsides of it. Welcome to Red Left Hand Recording Studio.
I find your logo and your studio’s name very interesting. I suppose you are left-handed yourself? Why the name? Yeah, I’m left-handed and the name started with the left-handed thing. I’ve always been fan of the song ‘Red Right Hand’ by Nick Cave, so because I’m left-handed I turned it into ‘Red Left-handed’. Some other stuff also influenced it though, like ‘At The Left Hand
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Of God’ From Behemoth. This is kind of the sinister aspect of it and I liked the link with the left hand so this influenced the name as well. Tell me something about the history of Red Left Hand Recording. How did you started out? We have to go back in time a while. When I was in Axamenta we recorded a CD with Jacob Hansen
and after the sessions, we had the chance to work on our own material. At home I did some small things with recordings, but I really liked playing with it in that studio. I think I was bitten right there and I always kept it on the back of my mind to do something with it later on as a job. Bit by bit I started to buy new equipment. I started practicing and playing with it. After a while I just decided to just do it
Interview - Red Left Hand (Recording studio)
and up ‘till now it seems I really like it [laughs]. Do you have a certain vision you would like to create with Red Left Hand Recording? In case of somewhere I like to get? Not really no. But I have an ideology, to give the best result for the least amount of money. ‘High quality, low price’ is like the motto of my studio. I know, from being in bands myself, that you need a good product. It takes a lot of time and effort to record an album, so this also means there is a price tag to all that time spent on it. Unfortunately, not everyone has the possibility to pay the price for a high quality product. There are so many studios to choose from, but to find that one studio which gives good results for right money is very hard. I think I’m successful on that point. I’m not saying I’m cheap or anything, but you will probably pay less with me than with other studios. I also think I deliver a good quality [laughs]. Would you dare to say other record studios are overpriced? It is hard to say, I’d rather dare saying I’m underpriced [laughs].
You don’t pay for material, it is about the knowledge and the experience a studio offers. I’m not saying I know less because I ask less. I’m going to try to explain it with an example. There are microphones which you can pay up to €3000 for, but you can do the same job with a microphone of €300. Just as with the microphone you pay for the name of the brand. It depends on what your market is. Big bands go with the big names. Starters have to search for this €300 microphone which gives an equal result. They also need good quality because the bar has been placed high. Most of the time, if the music is good but the recordings suck, people just skip that, so you need a good product. But even if you search for the cheaper studios, which are cheap but more expensive than mine [laughs], the prices can go up till €350 a day. At the end of the road we are talking about big numbers. You also have to take your time in order to do things right. With these prices you are going to rush to keep the price as low as possible. This way not everything can be worked out as
planned and you will end up with regrets, which you really overpaid for. With me, I also have a day price, but if you book me longer, it will get cheaper. This way I try to eliminate the rush factor so that you can be satisfied with your recordings and have it for an okay price. Like I said before, I know how expensive it can be, being in a band, to record stuff. I’m not saying that the record studios who charge €600 for one day aren’t worth the money, but not everyone can effort this. I assume this is also your job. Is it possible to make a living of this? Until recently this was my job, correct. It is possible to make a living out of this and if I was on my own, it would be possible to do so. But just for the financial security I chose to do this as a secondary profession. There are so much more advantages in having a regular job, on a social point of view on its own, that I decided to do it like this. I did it quite a while though, but it is hard work. It is no nine to five job. Booking a week with a band means a week of approximately seventy hours. This
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is almost a double fulltime job. If you have two weeks with this many hours, it can get very tiring. This might be a small downside because you don’t have much time left for yourself. That is a lot of hard work. But you have a relaxed environment to work in, that is kind of nice. On your website we can see you are aiming for a real domestic mood. Artists are practically staying in your living room. Do you think this is an advantage? I think so, yes. I see that people are much more at ease here. This really is an advantage if you need to perform something. A domestic mood and a pleasant atmosphere does lower the amount of stress. Is this idea something you’ve seen somewhere else and decided to copy it? No never encountered it. Of course you have studios with chill out rooms, but you always get an idea of intimidation. A big room, everything seems expensive, the stress of time is very present. Here it is more relaxed. People take their time and that helps in the creativity. I feel this is also highly appreciated if you know what I mean. People know they will be sitting on my couch, watch my television, play with my PS3. I almost present them my home, so there is a lot of respect for my stuff. Especially from the older guys, who have houses and families themselves. We’ve had a little peek into your studio and saw some expensive toys in there. You have a preference on brands you use? Computer-wise I must say I’m a sucker for Apple. It just works better in my opinion. I think that the programs are written for the product. When I just started out I used a regular PC, but it was just more difficult. Not everything was compatible and stuff like that,
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therefore I made the jump to an Apple computer. On software I’m a real fan of Pro Tools. On material, I don’t have a specific brand I love to work with. I think it is interesting to combine certain amps and microphones from various brands to have more possibilities. Also bands bring their equipment, like amplifiers, to the studio so this generates a larger spectrum for sounds. You’ve mostly done work with Belgian artists. But do you also have an ambition to work with international bands? Of course. A while ago I worked with a band from Luxembourg and in about two months I will work again with a band from Luxembourg. Not that it is that far or anything [chuckles], but it is cool to work with bands from other countries. The internet opens a lot of doors on this subject, certainly if it is about mixing and mastering. It is easy to send some files over so I can process them and send them back afterwards. To get people here for recordings is a bit more difficult because of the financial aspect of it. It is not cheap to come to Belgium from the United States or so. It might be possible with my prices to put some more money in your transport, but then the point loses its purpose. Then it would be smarter to record somewhere else and send it to me for further development. On what do you put your accent? The recording, the mixing or the mastering part? I think the editing and mixing process. It is a process where a lot of stuff happens and can be adjusted. You are going to need some good recordings to work with obviously, how better the recordings how easier the mix goes. If the recordings are done somewhere else and you do the mixing, doesn’t this make your
job harder? Isn’t it easier to do it all yourself? It is hard to say really. In some cases it can be fun to work with a bunch of different people. Someone who records and does a bit of the producing, on how they should play it or stuff like that, a different person for the mixing and another for the mastering. This means you have three sets of different ears. If those ears are on the same page that is really good. If not, this can go very wrong. But most of the time, more visions give nicer results. You mostly do metal and genres that touch with metal. Do you only take metal-jobs? I’m a bit known for that, aren’t I [laughs]. No not at all. I had some Hip Hoppers in the studio and they were very pleased with the results, but metal is a passion to me. It always got my blood pumping and it’ll always keep doing that. So this is something that comes naturally. But I certainly also do rock, metal and punk [laughs]. The main principals stay the same, you know, so in the end it doesn’t matter what you record. You can see it as a same job and a different day, but every job is different. You work with different people who have different ideas, who go different through life than you do, but this is also the case if we stay in metal. Working with different people must be unpredictable, does this ever come to a clash? Of course it does. I’m here to give another opinion or to suggest things with my expertise, on how things might sound better, but in the end customer comes first. This is something you encounter almost everywhere. These things are creative differences, but this doesn’t lead to the fact you can’t work with each other anymore. This is something you just deal with, otherwise you can’t work professionally, but I had some
Interview - Red Left Hand (Recording studio)
funny encounters on this subject. I had this one guy, just being the real rockstar, you know? Also most of the time, if people act like this, they are not fully aware of my background. So when I give them some pointers to help them, they just want to do it their way or they want something else with the sound. But if they start to walk around during a break and they see all the tour passes on the wall they’re all like “Oh, you’ve played in these bands and worked with those guys!”. Then my pointers suddenly become good and I can do what I want with the sound. So that is kind of funny though [laughs], but at the end of the day I just want to deliver a good product, so who the hell cares about the background. Talking about your background, you are also a bass player. Currently you are still playing with The End Of All Reason, but you have a big background with Aborted and also worked with Epica. You’ve tasted and lived the good life that so many starting artists dream of. Don’t you miss it? The musician in me really misses that stuff, absolutely. It were great times and it is a real fun job to do, but this job is also fun and my family is also fun. It is a choice you make, because trying to make a living with those bands is not a walk in the park. There are bands bigger than Aborted who have troubles to keep their heads on the surface. A while ago I bumped into Al (red. Glassman) from Job For A Cowboy on a show in Antwerp. We toured with him when he was playing with Despised Icon. He told me that when he was at home, he did some work for a contractor and went to build houses and stuff. So you see that they also do regular jobs to keep it financially stable. The rockstar life is outdated. I mean 30 years ago, yeah, but afterwards it started
going all wrong with the music industry and downloading plays a big part in this. What I mean to say is that it is ok to chase your dreams, but you have to stay in reality. This way you have to do this as a secondary profession. In my case it is Red Left Hand Recording, in Al’s case it is continue to keep touring. If you could choose on this very moment: go big with The End Of All Reason or go big with Red Left Hand? Which would it be and why? Hm… [pauses]. I guess I’m going to go with my studio because it is my baby [laughs]. Yeah, it really is my baby, I created it. Jobwise it would give a little more variety than touring all the time. I already had the other thing, maybe that has something to do with it. Let us dream for a bit, which band would you love to work with? I’m a great fan of Machine Head. I think it would be pretty cool to do something with those guys. Also the twelve year old in me is shouting Metallica [laughs]. These are the main bands I can think of right now. Pretty ambitious, but yeah [laughs]. If all the above mentioned things weren’t enough to persuade people to choose Red Left Hand I would be stunned. But if some people might have
doubts, why would they want to choose for Red Left Hand? Because I am the best and I give an amazing quality for an unbelievably low price [laughs]. I’ve also heard from former people I’ve worked with, that this studio has a very pleasant atmosphere to work in. They are always very happy with the results so, that’s what counts right? I believe so. Do you have something left you want to add yourself? Be sure to check my website: www.redlefthand.com and my facebook page on updates with bands I’m working with. Also the new Bear album will come out in October. Currently I’m working with a band called Prematory and I’m also doing some recordings with Everyone Dies Alone for a new album. So be sure to check all of them out. On the website you can find all the other bands I’ve worked with, so if you have the time, there’s a lot of good sick stuff going on in our country [laughs]. Last but not least, check out my band The End Of All Reason. We brought out a new record, which is available online. We will probably also bring it out on CD, somewhere in the future. By Jesse Mouart
facebook.com/RedLeftHand
Photo credits - Daria Colaes
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Reviews Built On Secrets The Disconnect
Release 17/05
Score:: 95/100
‘Built On Secrets’ is an Australian pop-punk band that recently released their first full-length album ‘The Disconnect’. This is their second release after ‘Reflections’, which was their first EP and a very good one. They have already played shows with bands like All Time Low, The Ataris and Set Your Goals. Because of that, I had big expectations of the band. The first song ‘Surrender’ is a great opener. Fast pop-punk with a high voice. It reminded me of bands like All Time Low and We The Kings.There are two songs on this album I couldn’t stop listening to. Those songs are Is Anybody Listening and Chapters. The melodic guitar in those songs is fantastic and the voice of singer Luke Steel sounds amazing. This album has made all my expectations true. ‘Built On Secrets’ is the upcoming band in the pop-punk music. If they keep on making music like this album, they will get really far. I can’t wait to see them live one day!
By Jonas Hoflack
Authority Zero The Tipping Point
Release 02/04
Score:: 80/100
Authority Zero is a skate punk rock band from the West coast that has been around for nearly 20 years. The band has been through countless changes during this period, but the leadsinger Jason DeVore’s voice has stayed. Produced by Cameron Webb (Pennywise, Social Distortion), the punk rock influence is undeniable. Shreds of Bad Religion, NOFX and of course Pennywise is heard throughout the album. No Other Place, Shakedown in Juarez and 21st Century Breakdown give off a great old fashioned punkish vibe. I had a difficult time to adjust when I heard Struggle for the first time, but after a few plays I must admit that I am sold. It’s such a great laid-back reggae song once you get used to it. The reggae vibe returns on Today We Heard the News, written about Tony Sly’s passing, though the pace picks up in the second half of the song. All in all, as a punk rock fan I really enjoyed this record and I think it would be a great album to play live as well.
By Chenling Zhang
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The Haverbrook Disaster Weather The World
Release 04/04
Score:: 78/100
The German band ‘The Haverbrook Disaster’ is ready to release their sophomore record which follows up their previous effort called ‘Hopeward Bound’ I have to be honest, I didn’t liked their debut, and I guess it was because of my taste in hardcore music back then.But is it a different story this time? Have they changed for the best of it? Let’s start off with the vocals, which can be a concern considering that ‘The Haverbrook Disaster’ is a German band. Will their dialect and the language differences be any kind of problem, regarding that they aren’t native English speakers.Why this is important, you might think? Because there is nothing worse than a foreign band (foreign, as in ‘not English’) that just screw things up thanks to their native language and their lack of the common use of English when they use it in their lyrics. The answer on this one: No, not at all. Vocalist Andy really pulls of the English lyrics like it’s his own language, and also with his special kind of vocal style, it makes this band a total different one from the other. The only downside is his vocal range, which isn’t that widely spread, because he mostly uses higher pitched shouts, which gives the album a bit of a lack of deeper vocals. But thanks to the guest appearances, it’s not that big of a deal in the end. Also a fair use of gang vocals and singa-long moments make this record much better than expected. Percussion wise, they really aren’t that bad, but to be honest, nothing special in the hardcore scene. One thing that really differs them from the others, is the lack of breakdowns, and a more punkish hardcore driven sound, which is really welcome nowadays, because most bands are as breakdown driven as they can be. The guitars riffs show a great influence from ‘Comeback Kid’, which also really isn’t a bad thing, as long as you don’t overdo it. Copying isn’t necessary a bad thing, but you don’t want to be called a copycat while being an upcoming band with the power to break through. So, is it a bad record? Hell no! It really is a solid record with its pros and some little cons, but still, you have to dig the sound, because the total package really is something you wouldn’t expect. By Stefan van Den Broek
The Devilles The Devilles
Release 01/03
Score:: 80/100
‘The Devilles’ is a Belgian rock band playing mostly seventies rock with a touch of blues, who recorded their first album with the help of Monsieur Paul (Triggerfinger). Winning multiple rock rally’s and playing some smaller gigs, they ended up in clubs like Trix and even Ancienne Belgique. You could say the world is ready to welcome these guys, or so it should be! ‘Sick Fish’ starts off with a strong intro and the song keeps being that way until the very end. It’s that kind of song that keeps playing in your head. With other tracks like ‘Fragments’, ‘No Dice’ and ‘7 more’, I’m really surprised I’ve never even heard of this band. Certainly one to keep an eye on in the future!
By Roel Vanobbergen
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Reviews The Great Blues Junkies T.B.J g T.G.B.J.
Release
Spring ‘13
Score:: 70/100
‘The Great Blues Junkies’, formerly known as ‘The Blues Junkies’, an obscure blues rock band from The Hague have risen from the ashes like a phoenix into their style of filthy blues rock. Their newly released album titled ‘T.B.J → T.G.B.J’ explains all regarding the new band name by adding some grandeur. This incarnation fuses their dirty raw rock and blues background with raging speed and DIY punk to rip your speakers to shreds. An overall down to earth sound that was inspired of the likes of Mr. Kilminster blends with fast paced punk and psychotic speedriffs. Overall this album has a certain consistency in it with 12 high octane rock tracks, no revelation here, just energy driven music that is perfect for a sweaty bar with a hundred thirsty and rowdy hard rocking grease heads. Their DIY approach to artwork and the fact that these guys do it for the love of what they play is what defines this band with their this sound that is rather played in a dark smoky backroom venue then in a thousand capacity venue. Gritty Rock ‘n’ Roll with an edge of danger.
By David Marote
Editors The Weight Of Your Love
Release 01/06
Score:: 50/100
The way I review records is by bringing them with me on the train. If I catch myself thinking that the recent Justin Bieber gossip is more interesting than the record I’m currently listening to, well then there’s something quite wrong with the album. This ‘The Weight of your love’ caught me by that nasty surprise. “I know I’m getting boring”, Tom Smith couldn’t have sang it more appropriate. During the first listen it was a boring album! I missed the drive I used to get from songs like “The Racing Rats” or “Smokers outside of the hospital doors”. Hit single “A Ton Of Love” still reminds me off a failed experiment between ‘Joy Division’ and, especially in the chorus, U2. Yet, my ‘Editors’ minded heart didn’t want to give up and I listened the album several times, over and over again. After a while I started to get into the new ‘Editors’, but in the back of my head I still wished they could make songs like they used to do. Fans may be wronged by this review but I’m an adept of the early ‘Editors’. To me it’s a close 50 out of a 100.
By Arne Vangheluwe
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Real Friends Put Yourself Back Together
Release 28/05
Score:: 65/100
‘Real Friends’ is a pop punk band from Chicago. I discovered them by their song “Home For Fall” on their EP “Everyone That Dragged You Here” so I stuck with them for a while. On May 28th they released their new album “Put Yourself Back Together”. Three reasons why you must listen to Real Friends: their deep lyrics, genius guitar intros and because their new album is totally worth it. The five-headed band starts the album with “Lost Boy”. If you don’t know ‘Real Friends’, you should listen to this song first. It perfectly suits the way they sound. For the more fainthearted among us: “I’ve Given Up On You” will fulfil in your needs. The penultimate song on this record is called “Dirty Waters”. It’s one of their best songs on the record because it has his ups and downs. You can listen to this song in every mood. For me personally, I would say “Old And All Alone” is the best song on the record. It has a happy melody but the lyrics are so surprisingly dark. “When we grow up I hope that you end up old and all alone.” will be stuck in your head for days. Psyched to see them live? They are playing on the Vans Warped Tour right now.
By Paulien Verfaillie
Last Call Brawl Let’s Get Ready To Stumble
Release 2012
Score:: 90/100
“Let’s Get Ready To Stumble” is the title of the long awaited (8 years in the make) ‘Last Call Brawl’ debut album and it will make you stumble for sure. Recently a friend introduced me to the band and I smack my hand against my head daily for not knowing of this release sooner. The New York based band may have taken their time for releasing their debut album but like a good wine some things need to rest in order to acquire that certain level of greatness. “Let’s Get Ready To Stumble” is based around the two basic associations made by the title: beer and violence. “Drunkcore” is the name of the game and the album kicks off with an intro by Lou Koller himself since the band has good ties with ‘Sick Of It All’ and other NYHC legends. Like a boxing ring ceremony master Lou shouts out the magic words “Let’s Get Ready To Stumble” and from there on it’s all one adrenaline and beer driven whirlwind. Clocking in with 17 tracks and some hilarious bonus material such as disco glam songs and nonsense drunktalk, this album was worth the eight years of construction. With contributions of some NYHC kingpins on Small Victories featuring Craig Ahead from ‘Sick Of It All’ and Beer ‘N Violence featuring Jimmy Gestapo of Murphy’s Law, the album has NY written all over it. Musically it bounces from street punk to NYHC and back with certain songs that touch grounds with bands such as ‘Rancid’, ‘H2O’ and more. Add to that the lyrics that deal with topics such as love, hatred, roller derby, the loss of a friend and of course just fun, tons of beer and violence you get a superb cocktail that will make you stumble for sure. Drink a beer, pussy! By David Marote
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Reviews Falling In Reverse Fashionably Late
Release 18/06
Score:: 59/100
Let’s bring back some memories, and start our talk about the good old years we all listened to ‘Escape the Fate’, a band with overemotional lyrics and choruses we all sang for days on after listening to the records. Good old song like ‘Situations’ and ‘I Can Swing A Mic Like Nobody’s Business’ made us feel good as we are. But then in 2006, their beloved vocalist got fired by the other band members, because of a mix of circumstances and even a conviction of killing a person. While he wasn’t guilty, he still got charged with battery charges and thanks to his past with narcotics and rehab, he got arrested and was sentenced on five year probation. During these five years of probation, a new band was born, ‘Falling in Reverse’. Now, let’s get back on topic, and before reading further, don’t expect that this band is the same as what ‘ETF’ brought to us in the past. Better said, this sophomore album is a weird mixture of screamo, rock, glam metal, dubstep and rap. You will probably think “What is rap doing in a rock/posthardcore album?” Weird enough, this has been the trend for several years now, with bands like ‘Brokencyde’ and ‘Hollywood Undead’ making it more horrible to listen to then hardstyle or something like that. Still, the famous vocals and screams of Ronnie are still intact in this record, which is a pro in my opinion, because for a part, it’s the voice of our ‘emo’ youth. And apart from the many dubstep and rap influences, even the instrumentals aren’t that bad, they even were so generous to give us some tasty solos, which really doesn’t sound bad for the genre. And even the most amazing part: some songs, like “Born to Lead” and “Fashionably Late” (the title track red.) are catchy as hell, if you ever loved the past ‘ETF’, you will repeat those no matter how much you hate this band. So, I’ve said many bad things about the record, and the band, but still, the record isn’t that bad as it seems. As a reviewer you have to stay objective towards the stuff you listen, and work your way through the controversy and the hate a band gets for just being there. But still, it’s up to you if you’ve got the guts to give it a full listen, that’s for you to decide! By Stefan van Den Broek
Man Overboard Heart Attack
Release 28/05
Score:: 85/100
The pop punk defending band from New Jersey is back with their new album “Heart Attack”. You will know them from their songs “Love Your Friends”, “Die Laughing” and “Rare and Montrose”. They’ve released the album on May 28th with the track “Where I Left You”. After only one listen, you’re stuck with “Hey I want you to stay right where I left you” in your head. The genius thing about ‘Man Overboard’ is the balance between their deep and meaningful lyrics and their typical pop punk sound. It’s perfect to gather with your friends in the Summer, drink beer, have fun and listen nonstop to their tracks. I picked out the tracks that die hards will love. “Secret Pain” gets you in the mood just when the intro starts. “S.A.D.” is a perfect sound after a day full of stress. Just sit back, listen to this song and relax. Last but not least, you have to listen to “Re Run”. It’s a great song to listen to after a great late night with friends. “It’s 2 AM but it feels like it’s 5. Maybe it’s time to shut my eyes.” My personal favourite on the album is “Wide Awake”. It’s acoustic, just like you have Laugh Your Friends, “Die Laughing” on their album ‘Before We Met’. It fits you perfectly when you’re in the situation of missing someone far from home. If you want to see them live, check out the Vans Warped Tour ‘13. By Paulien Verfaillie
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Heart In Hand Almost There
Release 13/05
Score:: 95/100
A new album has arrived from South Coast, UK! Soon the second record from melodic hardcore band ‘Heart in Hand’ will be released. In five years they’ve released two EPs and two albums, which is certainly not bad for a band still on the march to get a prominent place in the music industry. These guys really can move people with long introductions to announce a beautiful song and screams that reveal true emotion but still perk up your day listening to it. Like I said before, they know how to introduce songs and they prove it immediately with Proposal which feels like one song with the title song “Almost There”. When “Home/Sick” starts I visualize a show bursting of energy and people expressing themselves with these lyrics. The vibe “Heart in Hand” gives with this album is extraordinary. “Vows” is also sort of an introduction song and goes on creating that great vibe I just mentioned and leading in for “Sleeping Alone”, “Cuts and Bruises” and “Maybe”, which is my favourite track. It’s the only song containing clean vocals but it fits perfectly. What I like about it, is that it’s so varied, there’s for everyone something to like. The next intermezzo is settled by “Old Tattoos”, which takes it’s time to let the vocals kick in. But when they do, it’s worth waiting for. Another thing that stands out is a very distinctive part of the song “Life Goes On… “. Since it starts with a fairly aggressive riff it was quite a pleasant surprise. Also a surprise is the strong voice of Dani from ‘Bury Tomorrow’ in “Broken Lights”, which brings an extra touch to it. What would you expect other than a fitting outro for the last song “Direction”. They finished this gem in style! By Aranka Van Dongen
Waiting For The Sunrise Anima-Animus
Release Out now!
Score:: 80/100
As a small band on the rise, these guys need a proper introduction. ‘Waiting for the Sunrise’ is a four-headed band from Oostende that produces a blend of metal and prog rock and have just delivered their first EP. After some line-up changes and a growing list of finished songs they decided the time was there to collect their best tracks on an EP, called “AnimaAnimus”. The record is an ode to the inner machinations of the human mind and reflects the deeper thoughts. It features six songs which are all different, but connect through a dense, consistent line. A certain atmosphere is created with a piano intro where it immediately flows into the first song “Fissure”, which begins strongly and gives you an instant flash forward to how the album is going to sound like. It’s a mixture of recognizable steady riffs, deep lyrics and a great balance between clean vocals and screams. The strength of this record in my opinion lies in the music itself, which consists of two lead guitars that blend in together perfectly and add different levels to it, a steady bass line and some really good drumming. My favourite song is “Ghosts”, and shows the talent of these guys to make choruses that really linger, but are not catchy in a bad way. The kind that makes everybody jump forward in a show to shout a piece of it in the microphone. “Bloodstains” and “Lullaby” are next. Where “Bloodstains” is faster, less dark sounding, “Lullaby” has a slower pace and is edgier thanks to a powerful chorus and an awesome breakdown. The finishing touch is made by “Born Of Air And Water”, which is recently released as a lyric video. It’s a slow one with a slightly sad undertone that makes you just want to close your eyes and let it flow over you. This is music with a message that lies in both the lyrics and the arrangements and is really worth to give it a try! By Aranka Van Dongen
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Reviews The maine Forever Halloween
Release 04/06
Score:: 80/100
It had been five years since Arizona band ‘The Maine’ had released an album. And album that was very much a pop/rock album. But now they are back with a full-fledged alt-rock darker style of album; “Forever Halloween”. This album straight away blasts off with the track: “Take What You Can Carry” with John O’Callaghan’s vocals are a mixture between grainy and velvety which really stands out and is completely different to his vocals on the previous albums. “Love and Drugs”, the second song on the album really stands out to me per-sonally. It makes you jump around the room dancing until you cannot dance anymore. The lyrics are so powerful, and the guitars sound absolutely beautiful on this song and also sound very vintage throughout. ‘The Maine’ have done without a doubt a really good job on this track. “Birthday in Los Angeles” has a really old-fashioned feel to it. John O’Callaghan lightly addresses his hatred for the city and its vicious culture. This song truly stands out. A nostalgic ukulele plays throughout and this really pulls you into the song and its story telling lyrics. ‘The Maine’ are very much a coming of age band and have stepped up a lot with this album. Changing their style of music so dramatically has worked really well over the last few years has been effective; I personally prefer their older music and the style they used to be. The album is strong, bold and honest. They have created a new style which needs some getting used to.
By Holly Reijs
Chalice There Is Nothing
Release 04/05
Score:: 80/100
‘Chalice’ as defined in the dictionary is “a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink”. In general religious terms it is intended for drinking during a ceremony. In the case of the newest album “There Is Nothing” by the Belgian band named Chalice, we may speak of a sort of ceremony too. In this case it would be a ceremony of misanthropy brought to you by the five clergymen of Chalice. The band was founded in 1998 and they’ve delivered a contemporary style of death and thrash metal ever since. Founded in the classic sound of bands such as ‘Slayer’ and ‘Pantera’ but open to newer structures and sounds. Musically there is room for the traditional thrash riff that will rip your spine open, along with the tight percussion and additional guitar solo that are essential to this music. They added, however, an extra layer of keyboard in certain tracks such as “Parasites Of Hatred” and “When Gods Are Sleeping” that really define the song in the end. With numerous tempo changes and a wide range of vocal styles from deep grunted to spoken word they keep the tracks exciting. Add some occasional ‘dark’ samples and you have all the ingredients for some havoc. Lyrically there is a misanthropic theme to this album and most tracks handle about topics such as life, loss, religion and all that going wrong in today’s twisted society.
By David Marote
36
RMP- Magazine July
Liferuiner Future Revisionists
Release 04/06
Score:: 88/100
‘Liferuiner’ is one of the bands that made most of us hardcore listeners who we are today. Stepping up the game as a straightedge band with a real ‘IDGAF’-way of thinking about all the other subjects that didn’t have to do with their straightedge way of thinking. Gaining much love and hate at the same time, mostly because of their lyrics and way of putting things. Now, several years later, they are back with a new record called “Future Revisionists”, but does this record packs the same amount of vulgar and ‘IDGAF’-lyrics as we are used to? So if you loved the vulgar style, stop reading please. The days of the past produced gems like “A Ticket to the Pussy Crusher & Doug Burns to Death” and of course x Suck My Dick x are over. They have set themselves to a more lyrical and emotional style of lyric writing, and I shall be honest, it worked out really well. Jonny O’Callaghan already announced back in 2011 that they would take their music to a more positive and melodic level, and even more recent webisodes revealed more about the way they were about to go, talking about getting more behind things you want in life, political injustices and even gay rights. From hard-crushing breakdown terror to melodically beautiful choruses with strong lyrics accompanying them, it’s quite the change but this worked out very well. A few examples are songs like Vacant, which slowly builds up for an intense lyrical and boundary pushing wave of choruses, riffs and some well-placed breakdowns. “Or Harvest/Famine”, which starts off with some hard chugs, and give us a delicious breakdown to enjoy. I could go on and on, but still, you get the picture. Also the instrumentals are way better than what they used to be, but don’t expect instrumentals like ‘Veil of Maya’ or ‘Born of Osiris’. Then again, the riffs are smooth, the choruses are very well executed, and they don’t take away the focus of Jonny’s shouts and screams. That been said, the hard knocks band ‘Liferuiner’ was, has changed in a positive band with a completely altered mind set in a way not every band could. The guys of ‘Liferuiner’ have put themselves in the scene again, but this time, just in another way as their album title already mentioned. Love it or hate it, decide for yourselves, I, however, loved it.
By Stefan van Den Broek
RMP- Magazine July
37
Thanks to . . . Directors Kenny Leys CEO - @KennyLeys Lisa Leysen Head Editor - @LisaLeysen David Marote Managing Editor - @DavidMaroteBE
Design Jolien Krijnen Chief designer - @JolienKrijnen Ray Slavenburg @rayslavenburg Lena Stahl
Editors Frederik Geuvens Douglas Koziol @Manos15 Vandenhoven
photography Eva Vlonk Daria Colaes @DariaColaes AurĂŠlie Geurts
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RMP- Magazine July
Writers Jesse Mouart Aranka van Dongen @ArankavanDongen Arne Vangheluwe Jonas Hoflack Paulien Verfaillie @PaulienVrf Roel Vanobbergen @RoelVanobbergen Holly Reijs Stefan van Den Broek Chenling Zhang @chenlingzhang Yves Van Laer Yasmine Philtjens
Website Yasmine Philtjens Quentin Nourisson
RMP on AIR Nele Waegeman Andy Vilters
RMP- Magazine July
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