RMP Magazine #11 by RMP Magazine

RMP Magazine #11

Thanks To

CEO

Writers

Kenny Leys // CEO

Cameron Smith // Copywriter liaison

David Marote // Managing Editor

Andy Vilters Renske Gommer Cameron Smith

Design

Stefan Van Den broek

Jolien Krijnen // Chief designer

Arne Vangheluwe

Lena Stahl

Jonas Hoflack

Suzanne Gielis

Aranka van Dongen

Editors Frederik Geuvens // Editor in chief Krystal Cole

Photography Daria Colaes Matt Howard Kurt Biesemans Daniel Buyle Jurriaan Hodzelmans

www.rock-metal-punk.org 2

RMP Magazine #11

Lisa Leysen Paulien Verfaillie Jesse Mouart

Content

I n t e r v i e w / / A D a y To R e m e m b e r

Inter view//Kaiser Chiefs

6 I n t e r v i e w / / Ta k i n g B a c k S u n d a y

14 Inter view//Bombay Bicycle Club

18 Inter view//Sons Of The Seas

26 Inter view// Parker Deal

Album r eviews

RMP Magazine #11

Thanks to

A w

f r o m t h e ed i t o r

Hello again! Welcome back to edition number 11 of RMP Magazine! Spring is in the air and plans are made for the summer. New names are being dropped on a weekly base and the festivals are laying the final pieces of the puzzle for us to pick our personal choices. Some of those names are exciting, some surprising and some strange but all in all a dead certain guarantee for an exciting summer full of our favourite pastime of enjoying live music. We at RMP Magazine will hop along with you on this magical ride and try to cover some of this essence in our future magazines. But for now, we will provide you with another dose of interviews, reviews and a new mixtape to guide you during all that scheduling you’ll need to do very soon. So join us into RMP Magazine 11 and we’ll guide you from our Mainstage featuring interviews including A Day To Remember, Kaiser Chiefs, Taking Back Sunday, Parker Deal to our Marquee where you’ll find reviews from the latest works of Caliban, Crosses, Shin To Shin, Morning Glory, Depths and many more! For your non-music related appetite, please try our tasty Foodporn section to fill those hungry stomachs and along the way home grab one of our mixtapes. This time Joris Casier from Steak Number Eight chose the tracks for our latest edition of Mixtape. Enjoy and ‘till we meet again in the pit!

David Marote

Managing editor RMP magazine

RMP Magazine #11

T h e E d i t o r ’ s C h o i ce

Kickback – Soleil Kickback, making hardcore kids cry since ‘93 and that’s exactly what they did! Late 2013 the band put an end to their career only a couple of shows into their European tour. This Paris negative hardcore outfit is known for its hatred and vile against modern day society but apparently their own home wasn’t that sacred too. Kickback has created their own style of hardcore along the way and never cared about anyone. It was “just for them and not for us” as they once stated about their music. Just before the end, these French madmen did release a split 7” to accompany their oncoming tour. One side is the Kickback track “Soleil Noir”, a song that was recorded during the 2008 seminal No Surrender recordings and where the recording of the vocal took place during the Et Le Diable Rit Avec Nous takes. Both releases define the band that Kickback had become over those years and resulted into their frantic metallic hardcore. On the other side is “Vomir”, a harsh noise project that is something different, so atypical that it becomes typical considering the split with Kickback. Soleil Noir holds all the elements that will evoke the demon within, from the barking vocals to the many breaks chocked full of metallic madness, your ears will bleed craving for more. Detruire le monde moderne!

Flatcat – Heartless Belgian punkrockers Flatcat having been around for over more than 15 years now and are one of the few that have consistently released and played shows over that period of time. From paving the road alongside ‘90s bands like Janez Detd. and Gwyllions, they have always been there and 2014 is the year that brings us a new Flatcat release entitled Heartless Machine. Some may already have heard certain tracks of this album when vocalist Minx played his acoustic set at Groezrock 2013 in their stripped down version. So Heartless Machine is an album with 11 tracks of classic punkrock, nothing mind-blowing or genre-defining, just good old raging guitars and some socio-critical lyrics, something on love and breaking up, a few words of advice and wisdom and that’s it. No need to reinvent the wheel. But I’m pretty fond of that straight up, no bullshit attitude so I enjoyed my reconnection with one of my first live performances of local punkbands I’ve ever seen. Back then they even had two vocalists. Times do change and their sound has evolved with them over the years, always remaining that core of pure melodic punkrock; and of course a band that covers “Silly Girl” by The Descendents during live shows always has my thumbs up!

The Bellicose Minds – Buzz Or Howl Sessions The dictionary tells us that bellicose means “warlike, aggressive, ready to fight, from Latin bellicōsus, from bellum war”. In this particular case we’re talking about The Bellicose Minds and the same terms mentioned before apply to their music. Sinister and dark gothic punkrock with one foot based in the ‘80s and the other roaming around in whatever feels right to them at the time. Hailing from Portland Oregon this currently threepieced outfit has released a few independent tapes, an EP and a full album since their conception in 2008. My attention was lured by their recently re-released Buzz Or Howl Sessions, that was previously released in 2009 on a limited 500 pieces tape edition. But recently Baltimore’s finest record label, A389 records, has taken The Bellicose Minds under its wings and introduced a broader audience to their distinctive sound. There are even plans for a new album on the way which will be released on A389 records soon. At least I am, for one, eagerly awaiting this release!“Oppression Depression” and “Visions Of Pain” are just a few of the tracks that will give you an inside into the cynical expressions and dark postpunk that are transferred to tape on the Buzz Or Howl Sessions. Original member Nick Bellicose holds a voice that drags the listener along into the depicted abyss, while the rest of the band creates an atmosphere that will be savoured by fans of The Cure and Joy Division amongst others.

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Interview // A DAY TO remember

Writer // Andy Vilters

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guys even need an intro? A Day to Remember, also known as one D ofo these the biggest bands in today’s alternative rock scene! I got the honour to sit down with Neil Westfall (rhythm guitarist) on February the 2nd at the Ancienne Belgique. We’ve got several very interesting topics coming up like the story about their latest album, how it feels to headline tours, which gear they use nowadays, their lawsuit with Victory Records and many more! Let’s start with the interview, thank you for sitting down with us and take the time for RMP magazine! RMP Magazine #11

Interview // A Day to remeber

I say rhythm but do you consider yourself as a rhythm guitarist, Neil? Yeah yeah I’m the rhythm guitarist. But the cool thing about our band is I get the chance to do a little bit of everything, you know? Like sometimes when we’re writing a song and there’ll be like three leads and I’ll have to play lead with Kevin (lead guitarist) and vice versa: he has to play some rhythm parts. So stuff like that make it pretty cool and exciting on stage. You guys are playing for more than a decade now and have released 5 albums. How do you see the progression as a band and what kept you guys

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being strong and going on for the last 11 years? Well you know, when you have been a band as long as we have, it becomes more like a family, it’s not necessarily like “oh I have to learn to live around this guy or that guy”. We all just coexist with each other, we hang out and chill together. We’re best friends you know. We find little things that make us happy while we’re on the road. For instance, I really enjoy trying to go find a new restaurant, new interesting foods or places to shop, you know, stuff like that I’m interested in. So it’s really all about finding the interesting things that keep you happy and it’s easy! This job is fun; it’s like exactly what I want to

do. There’s never a point like “Argh! I must do it!” You mentioned interesting foods, so what kind of restaurants do you look for then? Well, my favourite kind of food is Mexican food, but with that being said, I love all kinds of foods. So for instance what we’ll do is go on TripAdvisor, set it to Rating and we’ll pick the number one restaurant in the city that we’re in that day. We’ll try to get in that restaurant. If we can’t get in that day, we go to number two and if we can’t get in there, we’ll go to number three, etc. ... So we’ll try to go eat at the best places rated by other people all around the globe.

I remember going to shows and I remember what it meant to me, to share a moment with one of your favourite band

I’m going to follow up with a question about the lawsuit, because I can imagine it was a hard thing to deal with, but can you briefly explain what the lawsuit was about? Well, there was a lawsuit because we felt that the relationship we were in was unfair and we felt like we had fulfilled our contract based on the terms that where put into the contract. It’s weird to talk about, because you know the thing is; the way that I personally look at it, is I didn’t join a band to be in a lawsuit. If I wanted that I went to school to become a lawyer, you know! So we always tried to keep the lawsuit in the background and not really talk about it too much, not just because it’s not important

to us because it is! But because we want everyone to be treated the same and everything to be fair and honest, you know. We’re a band and we just want to make music, put out music and we weren’t sure we could keep doing that. The judge said we could go on with our carreer. That was what was important to us with this whole thing. So it’s still kind of going on in the background and it all is still happening every day. It’s just, what important is that we got our music out there for the fans and the people who really wanted to hear it. It wasn’t able to stop our carreer so that’s what’s important to us with the lawsuit even if it’s still happening.

”

I think in the end, everything that’s fair and right will be worked out in the way it should. What followed up after the lawsuit, because ‘Common Courtesy’ is online to buy right now, and even a deluxe edition has seen the light of day? Did you guys favour going independent rather than finding another label. Well this time around, we released it ourselves so it’s independent. We just did it that way, basically just because we know how we think it should be handled. Like we know what our fans want. We really connected with them; we always go online and look at the forums, see what people are saying.

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Interview // A Day to remeber

Doing this ourselves really gives us freedom to do anything we want, you know. If we want to change things up, we can take it day by day. It’s really cool to have that artistic freedom. What is it like to tour with Everytime I Die and Story So Far as supporting acts. It’s awesome touring with Everytime I Die, it’s kind of intimidating because they’re such a crazy live band. So, to, play after them, it makes me nervous every day. I’ll go watch them and think “Goddamnit, they’re so freaking good!” You’ve seen them and I’m like “I’ve to play now? That sucks!” Well yeah, it doesn’t suck at all, I love playing but it’s so hard to go on after them, but that keeps me motivated. Everytime I Die is one of my favourite bands since I was like 16 years old so to be able to have them on the road with us, it’s a pretty awesome feeling, you know! Then Story So Far is one of my favourite new bands who’re coming out. I think they kind off remind me off us when we were that age. Just doing it for ourselves and making music that they love and doing it for all the right reasons.

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Nothing other than being yourself and playing what you love. If people like it “Cool!”, if they don’t “Whatever!”, you know what I mean. Surrounding us with those bands on this tour has been awesome, just because we’ll really love those two bands and they’re great people! I’m wondering what gear you use on stage nowadays, because I can imagine you all have used different equipment throughout the tours and studio sessions? So right now, I’m using a Diezel Herbert Guitar head and then I’ve got a 1975 JMP Marshall that is been modified by our guitar tech. Don’t know if you’re familiar with like Metalica and all the bay area late 80’s - 90’s metal. The amp is modified like how they would mod there amp, just to get a really high gain but it’s still clean. The purpose of it is to be really tight and really aggressive sounding. So I’m using those two through an orange cab (4 x 12”) and then all my guitars. I’m sponsored by ESP so I’ve got literally like seven of those.

I just use the ESP Eclipse, so yeah, I’ve got four of those and then I’ve got a baritone one for the low songs, like A♯. That one is for the heavier stuff we play which is in a lower tune. My rig is pretty simple, no FX, just straight in! That’s how I play! How does it feel to have so many fans, that show appreciation and share their memories with your songs? It’s amazing; I think the reason is I was that kid when I was younger. I remember going to shows and I remember what it meant to me, to like kind of go and interact, share a moment with one of your favourite bands who might not necessarily know your name but share something with you nonetheless. At the end of the day that’s what this is all about. I ...[gasp] it’s kind of surreal just to think about how I went from being a fan of music and stuff like that and I still am. But now I can do that for other people and if someone wants to come up and talk for a little bit, I’m more than happy to do that because I remember what it would’ve meant to me when I was younger.

Did you get the chance to meet some of your idols, like for instance you’ve got “Blink-182” tattooed across your fingers. Did you have the chance to ever meet up with one of the three? I met Mark before, we played his TV-show whenever he had a TV-show in the States and met Travis whenever he was on tour with little Wayne, he was doing the rap stuff. They’re both fucking really cool guys, down to earth, nice guys. Exactly what you would hope for when you meet your favourite band. What’s the weirdest thing that has ever happened on stage for you guys, because I saw you guys also love the potty humour and go through a lot of toilet paper rolls at the end of the set. Yeah, we do that every night! (laughing) Well, the last time we were here in Brussels, someone held up a sign with “I want to play bass for Downfall”! So right before we played, Josh looks at me and goes “Should I let him come and play” and I said “Yeah, whatever!” So Josh gave him the bass and he ran up and got on stage. He actually knew all of the things that we do on stage and headbanged

with us and stuff. I was like “Holy crap, this dude is like so good!” It wasn’t weird it was just awesome. Usually if something like that happens, we don’t want to do that just because if someone comes up who doesn’t know what they’re doing or maybe they learned in a

different way it’s like “Oh crap! This can throw the whole thing off!” So we’re really hesitant to do that but he came up, did it and it was perfect. It was awesome, yeah! It’s the third time you guys play in the AB at Brussels and I remember

ALBUM:

Common Courtesy

different tuning and then they don’t understand. That can definitely have effect. Because I know for a fact when I learn a song I’ll go online a look up the tabs. Sometimes a person who puts it online plays it in a different way than other people play it. So if we have our guitars tuned a certain way and they come up and play it a

you playing supported by Exit On The Left in 2009 at Gent the first time around. All four shows sold out in a matter of weeks! It’s crazy yeah, I think it’s cool cause I love coming to the city. Brussels is amazing. It has so much cool stuff here.

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Interview // A Day to remeber

The fact that we get the chance to come here and that people actually want to continue to come and support us and see our show, it’s just like a bonus on top of it all. This venue to it is an amazing venue with great charisma. And if people didn’t want to continue to come and see us, I would hate not to be able to come back here and play. Which countries or regions are on your bucket list? Countries or regions that you guys would love to tour in but weren’t able to do so yet? Would love to tour…, we’ve never toured in Denmark (love to go there), Copenhagen (beautiful city, never had to play there). Let’s see, I always wanted to go to like South Africa. I want to go but I don’t know how realistic it is, I know bands go plays in like Dubai and like some middle-east countries, I would love that. I just want to see all those places because, you know, being in a band like this, it allows us to travel and see a lot of places we wouldn’t normally see. While we’re doing that, I would love to go to those spots that are a little selfishly wanted, like you know that I love to see.

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Have you guys ever heard rumours about the band or about members in the band, that really disgusted you? There are always rumours, but the thing that always wears me out about rumours is the question ‘Why would someone do that?’. Me, knowing the people I tour with, these are like my brothers, and then you hear things. Like how can someone get something like that in their head? How can someone think that that rumour could have actually happened? Especially if they haven’t met you face to face. Yeah, or don’t even care to get to know you or me; and when they meet you, they don’t talk to you or something. People are always quick to jump the gun and make assumptions on what people in bands are like. We’re just normal people which is why whenever rumours like that do come about, they really do hurt our feelings because we just put ourselves out there. If people say some stuff about me and I know there is really no façade, it’s just me, you know.

Allright, so don’t trust the rumours! Yeah! Definitely not all of them, just the good ones. What do you guys want to say to your fans here in the Netherlands/Belgium? Thank you, thanks for your continuing support and we’ll never change. If you ever need us, we’ll always be here, you can count on that. We come from a place that’s us, it’s just us out there and sometimes that can be kind of tough because if someone criticizes you, they’re actually criticizing us. I just want so say thank you to everyone who’s supporting us when we’re being real. I want to end with wishing you an awesome time tonight with the AB crowd and I hope see you around next time, Neil.

New Album : “Common Courtesy”

Out now!

facebook.com/adtr

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME The Royale in Boston MA, USA. 23/2/2014 RMP Magazine #11Howard Photography // Matt 13

t´s been four years since Kaiser Chiefs released a new album. Their fifth album ´Education, Education, Education & War´ will be released on the 31st of March. RMP had a chat with bassist Simon Rix who´s very excited about the new record.

RMP Magazine #11

Writer // Lisa Leysen

I´ve listened to the teaser, ´Bows and Arrows´ of the new album, and I was wondering: in which way does it represent the album? Simon: “It does represent it, the sound but also lyrically. The lyrics on the cd are about us against the world and about conflict. It´s about the rough year that we had last year. Soundwise, we also added crystallised keyboards and we worked with a lot of different guitar pedals. For me the record has a lot of different things on it but it also fits together.

The album is a journey but you´ve come somewhere from the start. The last track is pretty poignant, melancholic and dark. It´s worth listening to the whole album and not on shuffle.” I´ve heard that you came up with the title ´Bows and Arrows´? Is this true? Simon: “What we wanted to do on this record was, make sure that everyone does what they´re best at. We´re a team.

then Nick (ex-drummer) left. We needed to reorganise ourselves. Ricky is the best at writing lyrics, so he did that. He´s very passionate about that. But I really liked the words ‘bows and arrows’ because together they are a winning team but separately they´re useless. I liked the meaning of that. It represents being in a band.”

In the past some people did more than others,

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Interview // kaiser Chiefs

I really like how you guys stir up the crowd during live performances. You guys are very, very enthusiastic. Are you also like that as people? Simon: “We´re not really like that. When you do the gig, it´s party time. It´s our mission to give every single person the best time ever. After the gig we go for a beer but we´re not going to be dancing on the tables. The outlet is on stage. When I´m at home and I don´t play gigs that means that I don´t have an outlet and I get twitchy. I get a bit annoying. I think being on a stage is anger management.” You´re a football fan and on Twitter you talk a lot about football. You also played in the Leeds football arena. How was that like? Simon: “It was the biggest place we could play in in Leeds. Our gig was on a Saturday and the football match was on Sunday. Leeds could get promoted from the third league to the second league. The whole weekend was crazy, everyone in Leeds was so excited. The gig was really good; we played in front of 40.000 people.

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Then on Sunday Leeds lost the football game. After that we wrote the song ´Good Days, Bad Days´, that weekend inspired us to write.” It´s been four years since you made a new album, do you think you´ll have to win the hearts of your fans again? Simon: “Yes, we´re fighting to get our old position back again. Maybe our last album wasn´t as good as our other ones. It wasn´t that commercially successful. This time we worked harder and tried some different stuff. We realised that we had to reinvent ourselves.

For me the record has a lot of different things on it but it also fits together. The album is a journey but you´ve come somewhere from the start.

We found ourselves back. We thought about what people like about Kaiser Chiefs and why that was, but tried not to copy that. We´re trying to be aware of that.” Do you read the reviews of the concerts and CDs? Simon: “Yes, I do. If someone gives us a bad review I hate it but then I can discard it very quickly. I´ll think to myself: “Why would someone give us a bad review about a very good gig?!” But then a couple of minutes later I don´t think about it anymore. We used to get hung up on things. Sometimes reviewers just want to give you a bad review. Something there are a lot of positive elements in the review but then we just get 1 star out of 5. It´s ridiculous if people want to give you a hard time. But you know, you´re from the North of England, everybody wants to give us a hard time. We´re used to that.” Do you have any personal influence on the process while making music videos? Simon: “That´s not my thing really, but we always try to put some humour in it.

Ricky is the one who really contributes to the creative process of making a music video. ´Modern Way´ is one of his ideas for example. Some people mail us ideas but in general it´s very generic. Some even still have mistakes in them, for example names of other people because they copy / paste the idea to different people. Trying to find a unique idea is the hardest thing about making a video. For a while we were thinking about filming a skydiving video. I´m not sure if it will ever happen.”

You recorded the new record ´Education, Education, Education & War´ in the USA, how was that? Simon: “It was the first time we did that, we we´re used to the fact that we could always go home. We spent six weeks in Atlanta so no one could go home, or escape from work. For other albums we spent time in the UK and went home for the weekend. Now we couldn´t go home so we had to concentrate. We went to record in America because we wanted to get

an American tinge on the record, but it even made the record more English.

Next Album : “Coming home”

13st march

Next Belgian shows: 23/4 - Botanique //Brussel facebook.com/kaiserchiefs

RMP Magazine #11

Interview // taking back sunday

loridians Taking Back Sunday have been around for over a decade now. They recently released their latest album Happiness Is on Hopeless records, so it was time for them to take that new album on the road and they even toured Europe at the end of February. Of course RMP Magazine was present at their Amsterdam show to have a talk with these pranksters about their new album. From the writing process to the test drive in a car with the finished album, the guys spoke elaborately about how they approach it. Time to find out how Taking Back Sunday create amidst their personal chaos!

Writer // Kenny Leys

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Interview // Taking back sunday

So, I was wondering: How is the promo-tour going? Two days ago you were in the UK at Banquets Records. How was it? It’s a really cool record store. Tiny, but really cool. Did you do some recordshopping? Adam: No, we didn’t have time to go through and pick anything up. It was actually the second time we were there. But I feel there are so few record stores so it’s nice to be in one and play there. Eddie: Yes, it’s cool there is still a record store. Mark: Yeah, it’s really unique. John: I do see new record stores coming up, tough. In Ohio, 2 or 3 opened up… so that’s cool. Shaun: You can also buy records online, that helps too. If you could have chosen 1 vinyl that you would have bought, what would it be? Mark: I have “Lies Lies Lies” on vinyl. And I think that’s pretty cool. Even I can’t put my record player together. [Everyone laughs] Eddie: I’ll do it next time. Mark: There is no way in hell you could do it. But yeah, “Lies Lies Lies”, I have it on vinyl. I’m stoked.

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You just recorded a new record yourself. Is it going to be on vinyl too? Adam: Yes, in all different colours. Eddie: There is a pre-order online on the hopeless website. So we’re very excited. We only got the test-pressing yourself so that was really fun to listen to. Are you going to frame it? Adam: Yes! John: It depends if people like it or not. [Everyone laughs] Eddie: I’m going to hold on to it, until the band retires and then I’m going to sell it on eBay. Probably going to be worth a lot of money. [Everyone laughs] John: Plan for the future! Mark: I did tell our manager that when the real thing is coming out to send me one to hang up and one to listen to. I kind of want to order all our vinyl and do that. Adam: It kind of sucks, because our Warner records aren’t on vinyl. Shaun: Aren’t they on vinyl? That’s so weird! Adam: No. Mark: The 7” is though. It was on vinyl, because I own that one. Adam: For Liar, yeah. We asked them about it, but they just didn’t think it was worth it. And we were like: “But?” Shaun: “But it’s cool!”

Mark: But vinyl is back in, so now...? Adam: So we just have to wait until that ‘restriction’ is done, until that contract runs out. And then we can do it ourselves. Mark: When they say “You’re not worth it”, I’m like: “You’re Warner Brothers, how can like tiny little indie labels be pressing vinyl and they cannot?” Shaun: They are just saying they don’t care. [Everyone laughs] How was recording the album? Adam: It was fun. We wrote the songs in some crazy places that I’ll never forget. We recorded half of it in Michigan at our buddy’s – Marc Hydson’s studio. And the other half we did at another friend’s studio, Mike Sapone. It was fun, a good experience. I’m following the band on Instagram/Twitter and I see a lot of mysterious posts. What’s that all about? Is that a concept? John: The people that work for us do very good jobs, so sometimes we don’t even know what they are doing. Mark: They’re doing such a good job that we don’t even know. Shaun: Hopeless and our manager are doing a lot of stuff together. It has been cool so far!

How did you guys end up with hopeless records? Eddie: How did we end up with hopeless? John: They offered us the most money. Adam: No, no! See...for us, it was cool because we started recording the record without knowing what label would release it. When we were halfthrough recording we signed with hopeless. John: With them, we just ..

they just really wanted us. They genuinely cared. Shaun: Yes, and that was after hearing 3 or 4 demo songs? Mark: Yeah, they were enthusiastic! There were a bunch of good labels, but hopeless was definitely the best. It was meant to be our home. Eddie: They made it very clear they wanted us.

Did you have to ask them, or did they come to you? Eddie: Did we approach them? Adam: Once word got out we weren’t on Warner anymore, people started calling. Eddie: We’re really cool, so a lot of people wanted us. Mark: That’s not going to come out very cool in the interview. Eddie: I know.

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Interview // Taking back sunday

listener’s would be. So it’s hard. I hope people would spend that time with it. Who creates the lyrics? Adam: John and I do. How does that work? Are you going to sit in a room and create lyrics? Or are you going to send some over to John? Adam: Normally, how it happens we would come up with an idea or something we’ve already written and then I’ll show it to John and we’ll work it out.

John: Sarcasm isn’t coming through on a written interview. Eddie: We’re very nice people. Shaun: If you say it enough, people will believe you.

Is it that good? Shaun: It’s better. Adam: I don’t think this album sounds like anything we’ve ever put out yet. So that’s a tough question. Shaun: It’s a new era.

If I have to compare the new album to a previous one, which one would it be? Mark: Whatever one you like best!

The other albums had really deep lyrics. Is this the case again? Adam: I would hope so. It’s strange because my perspective of the lyrics is more different than a

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How do you match the music with it? Do you start creating the lyrics and add music to it? Adam: It varies song to song. Some songs will come together quickly, some will be slower. We’ll be working on music and an idea for a melody happens and we’ll work it out from there, where other songs take a bit longer to find the right words or mood. Mark: “Flicker, Flicker, Fade” is the song that we worked on the longest. It took us two years. John: We weren’t working on it for two years. Mark: When we put it down at Hudson’s, I remember hearing Adam and John work together. Hearing Adam singing the chorus and be like: that’s

it. That’s the one. John: That was the first one out of all the songs we started working on. That was the first one we all thought of: this is it.

So before we release the record and we’re playing it to friends, we’re typically there. Mark: It’s scary to send it out there.

What’s the best song you recorded? Adam: On this record?

How scary is it if you’re listening to it with your friends and you see them react? John: It’s always nerveracking. Eddie: I was looking at people there, trying to read faces. But it looked like they were having more conversations with each other than really listening. But it seemed like people were digging it. Adam: It’s tough. I remember when I played it for my brother. We were in the car. I was trying to not look at him.

Past or present! Adam: It’s tough to say. Not the best then, but your favourite? Adam: It changes every time I listen to it. But my favourite now is the 3th or the 4th: all the way because they’re awesome, I think. Mark: I was listening to it with my dad a time ago, and he said: I love it. Like there are some songs he likes more, but he’s like: “This doesn’t even sounds like TBS. But I’m an old guy, so I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. But I really like this, this and this.” How many people do you invite to listen to your album before it’s released? Because with the new download era you have to be careful, no? Adam: Well for us, we don’t really send it around to folks. John and I live in the same neighbourhood and we all got together when it was mastered. We went to a friend’s house and showed it to them.

How did you ask him to listen? “Hey, look what I found here, our new album! Want to give it a spin?” Adam: Yeah. That’s exactly what I was saying: “Hey man, we’re done with the record. Want to listen?” Mark: what did he think? I’m kind of curious! Adam: Well, he…he loved it, but we didn’t get into specifics. I’d have to ask him. Mark: Nick, a friend of me and Shaun, was like: “Honestly, I can’t stop listening to it. It’s the best album you’ve done so far.”

So where do you hope the album brings you guys? Shaun: Fame. I don’t care about money; I just want to be as famous as Kim Kardashian. Aren’t you guys already? Shaun: Yes, but not already that famous. [Everyone laughs] Adam: I hope it can reach a great amount of people and move them. Shaun: I hope we can just keep touring all around the world because things like this are really, really cool. John: I hope it gets us back here again. John, you’re pretty quiet. What’s on your mind? John: I’m just listening. When it’s the five of us, you don’t want to talk over your friends. Do you have a question you would like to ask me? You’re helping writing the lyrics, so I guess there is a lot on your mind? John: You’re saying that I have to say more since I write? Mark: You need more chesthair though. [Everyone laughs] Is John always like this? [Everyone laughs] John: We’ve been traveling a lot, and we’re all burned down. And I’m drunk and burned down.

RMP Magazine #11

Interview // Taking back sunday

“We don’t care about money. We want to be just as famous as Kim Kardashian.” 24

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So I try to not say that much, because I could say some really stupid stuff. Like? I won’t judge! John: Haha, that’s good for journalism, huh? You’ll take the stupidest thing I’ll say and that‘ll be the headline. [Everyone laughs]

Mark: What do you say when you’re from Holland? How do you call yourself? I’m not from Holland, so I wouldn’t know. Mark: Where are you from? Belgium. Shaun: If you’re from Boston, you’re a Bostonian. If you’re from New York… We’re wandering! Who did the album art? Adam: We had a bunch of submissions and then we started narrowing down. We wanted to have a classic feel to it. And we also wanted a panther on it. So that’s where we started. Shaun: We saw a lot of ideas before the one we went with. And as soon as we saw it, it clicked! Adam: There was one other cover we came close to choosing, but we felt like it wasn’t the mood of the song.

Eddie: Which was that? Adam: The beach babes. John: I love that cover. Mark: It looked like a cool idea to me, but then I was like: “Am I going to love this 3 years from now?” John: I would have, but I agree with Adam, it’s not the same mood. If more songs would have sounded like “Like you do”, this would have been the cover. Eddie: The album we chose has “the vibe”. John: Yes, we made the right choice. So, what is the mood? John: Depends how you’re listening to it. What do you feel when you’re listening to it? John: When I’m listening to it? It’s hard to listen to it and not to think about what it meant to make it. But I have tried to sit back and relax. I think there is something there that is more hopeful in this record; compared to the ones in the past. I would almost say it’s a feel-good record. Or it’s the closest TBS has ever come. Sometimes I’ve found myself relaxing, saying: “This is kind of nice.” which TBS is not that known of. So I think it’s a good thing. Eddie: My neighbour defi-

nitely thinks I like myself a lot. [Everyone laughs] John: Because you’re listening to the record that much? Eddie: Well, listening and practicing at the same time. The other day she walked out and by the look she gave me, I could see she was like: “Bwaargh!”

Mark: ‘That smug son of a bitch’. So how do you feel about the album? Eddie: I like it. It’s good. It’s for me personally one of my favourite records we’ve written in a long time. John: One of? Eddie: Well, of all our records. Shaun: There are only six! Eddie: I know! I like all our records, but I’m saying for me it’s a good record. Shaun: Definitely top four?! John: Maybe even Top 6! [Everyone laughs] Eddie: Top 2! What’s the other one? Eddie: That’s a hard question to answer. I like it. It’s good. Adam: Don’t sell it too hard there. [Everyone laughs]

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Interview // Taking back sunday

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You’re playing groezrock in a couple of weeks! Adam: Yes, right before Quicksand, that’s pretty awesome! How cool is Quicksand? Adam: They are a great band. They are actually one of Eddie’s favourite bands. And we have never ever got the opportunity to play with them, so it’s pretty cool. Eddie: Quicksand is a very influential band in our genre. While growing up, a lot of bands were good hardcore/punkrock bands, but Quicksand was the first band saying: “You know what, we’re going to change it. This is the style of music we’re doing.” They inspired me a whole lot. It’s not your first time at Groezrock? Adam: No, we played there a bunch of years ago. What year was it? 2010? No, 2008? Mark: It was with Underoath, I remember that. It’s crazy how the time flows. Eddie: I remember they had electrical problems and we couldn’t play until 12h30 at night.

Something exclusive? Something world-shocking? Adam: Well, no; thanks for speaking with us. Eddie: Thanks for calling out John and picking a fight with him. [Everyone laughs] Excuse me John! John: No, no! I liked it. You’re good at interviews; sometimes you’ve got to push. You’ve got to poke the beehive. Eddie: I love that you say that. That’s such an oldman thing to say. John: I know that. Eddie: You know how I know you’re a father? Because you say things like that. “Don’t poke at the beehive, kid!” [Everyone laughs]

Next Album : “Happiness is”

18th march

Next Belgian shows: 2/5 - Groezrock //Meerhout facebook.com/Taking BackSunday

That where my questions! Do you have something to add to the interview?

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Interview // BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

Writer // Suzanne Gielis 28

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Interview // BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

“We decided to take matters into our own hands.” 30

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New Album : “So Long, See You Tomorrow”

Out now!

facebook.com/bombaybicycle club

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Interview // Parker deal

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Of The Sea is the new project of S ons Incubus frontman Brendan Boyd. We had a chat with him about his new challenge and his love for art and photography. We also talked about his special relationship with producer Brendan OÂ´Brien.

Writer // Aranka van Dongen and Lisa Leysen

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Interview // Parker deal

“Putting a new band together felt like having a date for the first time”

What was your motivation to start Sons Of The Sea? I just want to make music and the circumstances for starting a new band were good. The hiatus with Incubus made it possible, but I had no real plan. When producer Brendan O’Brien and I started to write songs, it took another five or even six months to come up with a name for the band. The first song we wrote was “Lady Black” and from then on we knew it was going to sound different than Incubus. For live performances I really had to put a band together, that was strange. So far it was just Brendan O´Brien and me making music. With Incubus it all came very naturally because we met in high school and all we wanted to do was making music and skate. Putting a new band together felt like having a date for the first time. You and Brendan O´Brien go way back, can you tell me a bit more about your relationship? We first met in 2003 and then we worked together for the album A Crow

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Left of the Murder that we released in 2004. We worked together with him whenever we could; he also produced Light Grenades and If Not Now Then When. He basically became our sixth band member and a good friend over the years. What kind of songwriter are you? I don´t really know. I think I´m better with lyrics and singing and I always had good ideas for writing, I´m not so good with instruments. I don´t think I´m a very good musician, but over the years I tried to learn a lot from others. You´re not just a musician, you´re also a photographer. How did you get into art? When I grew up, my dad owned a couple of film cameras and I used to borrow them now and then. I think taking pictures is a realistic way to document my life when travelling. Now I think about it, I should be a better photographer by now when I think about the amount of pictures that

I´ve already taken. I also love to draw and paint as well. (laughs) What´s your part in the choice of artwork for music videos and merch? The artwork for Sons Of The Sea is done by Bruno Borges. He´s an artist from Sao Paolo; my girlfriend and I are huge fans of him. It was time for me to come out of my control freak streak. If I did the artwork for the album, it would be too much ‘me, so it was a good option to let someone else do something too. It´s been 11 years since Incubus´ single Megalomaniac came out. The video of that song is quite extreme. Will you ever make something like that again? Or did you calm down or change over the years? For that video we found a very good director, her name is Floria Sigismondi. She has a special vision and style and that´s shown in the Megalomaniac video. We didn´t want to have a glorified commercial so we´re very happy that we met Floria.

She also made a movie about Joan Jett and the Runaways and also directed videos for The White Stripes and Marilyn Manson. The new album is out in Europe on February 28, are you excited to know what people think about it? Does that also mean that you´ll visit Europe soon? Yes, I´m very excited! On the other hand it´s hard to please everybody and I really don´t know how to do that. I´m probably coming over soon, yes. More details will be announced on my Facebook page soon.

New Album : “Sons Of The Sea”

Out now!

facebook.com/brandonboyd official

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Writer // Lisa Leysen Writer Kenny Leys RMP Magazine #11 36 //

arker Deal breathes, eats and lives music! We can see that from him playing all the different instruments on his own album, to being involved in two bands and some other projects and him even still finding some time to study for his course of audio production. RMP Magazine took some time to get to know Parker and his motives and background into releasing an album from scratch, virtually on his own. From Brussels to Tennesee, follow Parker Deal along his journey.

RMP Magazine #11

Interview // Parker deal

Do you produce your music all alone and do you perform live with a band or how does it work? Well, for the first album (Third Culture Kid), I thought it would be cool to do an album ‘all on my own’ (using all ten instruments I play being part of that). This originally meant tracking, playing and mixing it all myself, but I ended up getting a lot of help from my friend Wyatt Lampley. I still did track it all on my own, but I wish I hadn’t. It’s a pretty rough album as far as the mix goes, but yes, I did do all the playing and arranging/producing myself, but the mix itself was a collaborative effort, and the mastering was all Wyatt. I’m starting work on a new album, and I don’t necessarily want this to be the case for that one; I’ll still play all the parts I feel like I should (singing, guitar, drums…) But I’m planning on leaving room for instruments that I don’t play at all (strings, horns, and so on). I’m also using more hands on the tracking side- however, I still will be doing a lot of it myself. On the live side, it fluctuates. As of now, I don’t have a full-practiced band to play along with my songs, I mostly play acoustically with Ashley Clark singing harmonies.

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For the two shows where I have used a full band, I’ve scrounged up some friends of mine somewhat last minute, and both times went pretty well, but we hadn’t ever practiced enough for a really tight show. You grew up in three different countries (France, USA and Belgium). What did you learn from moving from country to country? Are there huge differences between these countries? If yes, which ones? That’s right- I was born in the USA, but lived 10 years in France and 6 in Belgium; so I have an odd background, especially compared to my peers in Tennessee. It has been a great experience though. It has taught me to adapt, and to be able to look at more different sides of certain situations. It has also helped to grow personal strengths that I think I may have had regardless, but I think it affects my music in that I typically try to write songs that I think will not only mean something to me, as the author, but also will strike a chord with the listener, and other ‘Third Culture Kids’ which is a group that is seldom understood or at least openly empathised with.

I think one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed recently, at least between Brussels, Belgium (a city of 1 million) and Nashville, TN (a city of 0,6 million) is that in the South, generally people are more interactive in everyday situations than I’ve noticed to be true in Brussels. Some of that is due to the city factor in Brussels, but it is just as much cultural as it is size-related. You also sing in French? In the USA French is not a common language, what are the reactions on your French songs if you play them in the USA? Well, as of yet I only have one French song. It is pretty fun to play it in American crowds because it catches people off guard, and helps create more interest, I think. I actually don’t play that song all too often though, so I don’t have all that many funny stories to tell about it. But it’s a good icebreaker nevertheless! You also play in a progressive black metal band. Do you need to express yourself in both genres to feel complete? Well that’s always a fun question! (laughing) Well, expressing my music publicly isn’t really what I would say makes me feel complete anyway,

RMP Magazine #11

Interview // Parker deal

“I am glad I can make music that I feel proud of. However there are some downfalls ,too.” to answer that half of the question. As some of my lyrics express (and I openly share), I’m a follower of Jesus, and that’s what really makes me feel complete. However, yes I do play in Ocean Architecture, a progressive metal band! My friend James Falck and I were the sole members of the Belgian metal band Beautiful Dying Day since 2006, and it was never anything well-known, it was all recording/internet based, but it was how I liked to spend all of my time. I’ve probably written about 75-100 songs for Beautiful Dying Day, and many of them are terrible, but

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it was a way that I really liked to express myself anyway. After moving to Tennessee, I was asked to join Ocean Architecture, and I said I’d record the vocals on their album and that’s it, but it kept going! So here we are. But to the second point, finding completion in music for me will always be in writing and recording my songs, not really in performing them. I love to perform, but because it’s fun, not because it’s extremely meaningful to me. I prefer the part after performing where I get into one or two conversations with folks at the show about things that

are important to them, that’s what always stands out. Studying audio production probably changed your views on producing music. If yes, in what way? Oh boy, you can say that again… On one hand– the bigger hand– it has changed it for the better. I now know how to record, produce, mix, etc… better than in the past which is great! I am glad I can make music that I feel proud of. However there are some downfalls, too. 1) No project ever feels ‘completed’ (I always hear things I should fix), and 2) The songs that my friends like that are several years old, I’d rather not have them anywhere within earshot of me. I’ve also realised, though, that sometimes the ‘more correct’ way isn’t necessarily the most interesting way. The music I used to make for Beautiful Dying Day was recorded and mixed terribly, but the songs were quite layered, with way too many guitar parts that would never be played live (my rationale was ‘well, I’ll never be playing it live anyway’). At the point where I started to think about only recording what could be played live, I took out a lot

of production elements that really contributed. This ‘ear candy’ idea is used in other genres (country, for example), but metal seems to typically think that you should only record what would be done live; but that’s the point of a recording- it’s not live. If you have paint, you paint something, if you have a pencil you draw. Why not try to draw with a paintbrush? What’s the hardest thing about working alone a lot? I think the hardest aspect is that I don’t get any of the ‘outside voices’ that you can get whilst working with others. My family saw ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ in theatres, and it was a great movie, but there were a lot of things that just didn’t fit perfectly in it. We realised the reason this happened was because it was all made by one person (writer, producer, director), so there was no-one to serve as the ‘checks and balances’. I often go to others to listen and try to be completely open to their opinions, and use the input that seems pretty universal to multiple individuals or ideas. I’m trying to branch out and work with more people, though.

The artwork of the album “Third Culture Kid” is great. Who came up with the idea and who made it? I actually get this comment a lot! I’m very glad it’s so well received. I actually wasn’t a huge fan of it at first. I had a specific idea of an album cover that really would have been pretty dumb. I tried to take pictures of it, and it turned out pretty badly. So my friend Wyatt Lampley (who was the other mix engineer on the album) came up with the idea and did it, because he is also a graphic designer/ artist. I went with it, and I ended up loving it! Inside the album is actually pretty cool, too. The cover has my handwriting as the title (which is normally pretty bad, I had to be very careful!) and the inside of the cover has the track listing that I wrote, and the information, but it’s the same kind of old, coffee stained paper. I’m very thankful for Wyatt and all the help he always gives me. He’s a great friend with a lot of very valuable talents.

I would love to know myself! At this point, I’m not looking to be a professional musician, but I will keep writing and recording music in my free time. My current projects are singing/screaming for Ocean Architecture, playing bass in a folk band Island Wren, playing my own songs, and two other projects that I’ll explain in some more detail. One of them is that I’m working on a new album. I’m very excited to be working on this, I have the drums tracked, and I just have to finish…well everything else. But it’s in progress! The other project is called ‘Song A Week’ and it’s a group that I’m in where there is one prompt given every week and everyone has to write a song based on that prompt, and if you miss a week you’re kicked out of the group! Be sure to check the links below for more information!

facebook.com/parkerdealmusic

Where do you aim to be in five years and how do you want to achieve that? That question is worth a million dollars. I’m about to graduate from college in four months, and

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Blog // Food

FOOD BLOG

Writing a column In January the peeps at RMP-Magazine asked us to write a column. We never did something like that, but doing new, untouched, things is kind of our middle name, so we at Mom’s HQ were triggered. After asking the person on the other side of our email line what the goal was and how they wanted us to participate in the magazine that we knew about and sometimes even read, the answer was as simple as straight forward: “Nothing fancy, just write about your experiences on the road and at festivals.” Err, ok! I guess the peeps on the other side of that line didn’t realize we at Mom’s are a loose bunch of people, not really structured as an organization or company but all working with a force of believe. We believe that we can have a paid job within this weird world called ‘the music industry’. We cover all the different kinds of corners in that world and are loving it, hating it, doing it, being ‘Just like your mom, tour support, catering and events’, employing over 75 people on an irregular basis. So what do we do?

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Tour suppor t We work with every kind of band and person you can imagine. From hippy folk rock dudes/dudettes from North Carolina, ‘till Indy rock legends from Seattle, or why not some vague and friendly Montreal Canadians, or what do you think of some sludgy doom metal guys from Finland, or Hip Hop dudes from Amsterdam, or some Mongolians that don’t speak a word of English? You as and we drive, help, Mom them! As we speak, I’m in a plane towards Copenhagen to jump on a night liner tour with some rock dudes playing under the name The Supersuckers, but I am also still a bit tired from ending a tour last week in a 4 star hotel lobby, with an artist on a grand piano. All in the game, all for the music. And how on earth did we end up here? Just by doing it, taking that old school DIY way of working to a next level. We help these bands with every aspect of their job. Their job is to play an awesome set of music, 1 hour, maybe 1,5 hour. Our job is to get them to that venue, make sure that everything runs smooth, being the oil in the machine. Greasing it up, we love it.

RMP Magazine #11

Blog // Food

FOOD BLOG

Catering When we got asked to write this column, Mom was working their asses of at a cold Eurosonic/Noorderslag, a showcase festival in Groningen, The Netherlands, that takes place in the middle of January. Unknown bands get a stage to present themselves, maybe get known, or maybe just have a good weekend ending at the Knarie. And why not? Having fun is an important aspect of our lives. But to put it softly, Mom was having fun, but was yet again trying to push boundaries and limits… catering limits, that is. People think it’s just handing out some burgers at a festival like Groezrock, but at ES/NS we did more, we did VIP catering at the main stage, meaning getting involved with the industry behind a festival like this, the people that want to be ‘part of that event’ by sponsoring that event, drink champagne and Heineken in the VIP area. It was weird but a lot of fun to do. We also participated in the new way of ex-

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periencing a festival, the way companies like The Food Line-up, which we’re a part of since 2013, work. This way of experiencing a festival is being copied by many, and will be copied by many more. We love it! Imagine small caterers on a big field, handing out all different kinds of tasty food. I think that’s one of the reasons festivals like Best Kept Secret win awards, it’s fun, it’s a total experience, it’s the future. Which brings me to our last and most exciting experience of ES/NS? Mom as a stage performance! Yes you read it right! Mom was on stage! Last year at a festival one of the Mom’s got in contact with a guy asking if we could do these delicious vegan kebabs of ours on a stage. The Mom involved didn’t take that guy very seriously and told him: “Yeah sure, whatever you want.”, not realizing this guy was not drunk but dead serious. So in December we got an email from some guys calling themselves Cairo Liberation Front, making Egyptian wedding music in a punk/techno sauce. And we can say the basement show at ES/NS got legendary! Poking people to use all their senses, and forcing them with uplifting music to dance, wave with towels, smell the sweat, eat the kebab, our kebab, vegan kebab. Yeah, it was fun and yes it was a new way of catering an event. But besides that we do normal catering, front- and backstage at several great festivals and events. During the months to come we will tell you more about our future plans with our award winning food. Award winning? Yeah, it’s crazy but in the last three months we won two awards: A Dutch Vegan Society Vegan Award and a Peta2 Liberation Award, both in the categories ‘Best vegan caterer’! Besides the fact that we never thought we would win awards as such and besides the fact we just do something we believe in, we’re very happy with this support, it means a lot to all of us. The coming months we will tell you more about our adventures, our goals, and the fire within every single Mom. For now let’s celebrate this column, the awards, and the upcoming festival season with a cupcake, a vegan cupcake. Get your cooking gear out and start baking DIY!

RMP Magazine #11

Blog // Food

FOOD BLOG

Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe For 12 cupcakes • 230ml soya milk  • 1 tea spoon of vinegar • 140g caster sugar  • 90ml vegetable oil  • 1,5 tea spoon of vanilla extract  • 125g plain flour  • 45g cocoa powder  • 3/4 tea spoon of bicarbonate of soda  • 1/2 tea spoon of baking powder  • 1/4 tea spoon of salt

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 350F/175C/gas mark 4 and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

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STEP 2 Whisk together soya milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add sugar, oil and vanilla extract and beat until foamy.   STEP 3 In a separate bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).  STEP 4 Pour into liners, filling three quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack. STEP 5 Eat while still warm or allow to cool completely and ice with chocolate ‘buttercream’ . www.theppk.com

By Just Like Your Mom From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by I. C. Moskowitz & T. H. Romero

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Best two partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Two of the biggest parties taking place over the next couple of months.

Get your Tickets!

RMP Magazine #11

Best two party’s

Jera On Air Festival 2014 // Ysselsteyn (NL), , Friday May 13th and Saturday May 14th.

The rather small festival Jera On Air, in the south of the Netherlands, will blow out twenty-two candles this year. What else can we do but to be proud of this small-scale festival that stays put between other festival giants. We have to admit though that due to the small surface where the festival takes place, they are adding some really big names to their bill. Maybe Jera On Air isn’t such a smallscale festival after all… One of the bands you can go check out, is the Dropkick Murphy’s. When checking out these Boston guys, you can be sure you are going to have a blast! Their punk rock sound with Irish folk influences will get you going in a heartbeat and you will regret it afterwards if you didn’t join the pogo on this great music. But if you’re a bit more into the aggressive work, which we totally understand, you can go swing your arms with Emmure, climb on top of each other with First Blood, go bounce with AYS or go insane with The Black Dahlia Murder. Of course you will find a lot of other bands on this epic two day punk and hardcore festival. So be sure to check out that list of awesome names and ship up to Jera, because we guarantee you, this edition is going to be mint!

By Jesse Mouart

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Best two party’s

The Brutal Road To Impericon Festivals 2014 Tour // De Kreun Kortrijk (BE), Saturday April 26th.

The Impericon Festival is starting to become an established event in Europe. But what is so special about a tour that is just a preview to the festival? A sick, brutal line-up containing Despised Icon, that’s what! It really doesn’t start off quietly, but what do you expect from a tour with the word ‘brutal’ in it? The Scottish brutal death metal band Cerebral Bore really sounds like a shredder, which is filled with livestock, buildings and cars. You know, the kind of music that gives old people heart failure. So bang your head like there’s no tomorrow, because you won’t feel the pain in your neck until the next day. Brutality Will Prevail is a perfect example of a DIY band. They almost self-funded and self-released two full albums, so you can say that they know the tricks of the trade. There are far too few bands with a background like these guys. They deserve your respect, so don’t let them down by just standing there. This won’t be a problem though, if you are into heavy, pounding music. After these two hard-ass bands it is time for the heavy weights of the evening. Despised Icon called it quits almost four years ago, but they recently decided to get back together again to do a couple of shows. Keeping in mind that this could be the last show you’ll ever see them play, we recommend you to go insane and break everything in your path. Let their dual vocals, combined with their rough music, take over your body and let go of all the anger because this energy will keep the Despised Icon alive!

By Jesse Mouart

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Mixtape

The mixtape from Joris Casier from Steak Number Eight. Containing 10 songs and the reason why they chose them.

1. Narrows - Chambered Reason: Break a leg.

2. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Farewell, Mona Lisa A mix of everything we like.

3. Death Grips - You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat Because it gets me fucking stoked.

4. Converge - Grim heart Black Rose

I started to listen and like Converge because of this song.

5. Mastodon - March of The fire Ants Best guitar riff ever

6. Deftones - Hexagram Love.

7. Pink Floyd - Shine On you Crazy Diamond This one doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need an explanation.

8. Mahavishnu orchestra - I wonder

Very inspiring band, pioneers of math music.

9. Isis - Carry Best song ever.

10. Gorjira - World To Come Metal as it should be.

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ALbum reviews

80/100

85/100

Shin To Shin Shin To Shin

Reverend Horton Heat REV

The Crash Years Cope

“Shin To Shin” is the latest project of Aaron Melnick, former Integrity band member. “Shin To Shin” follows after his previous band “In Cold Blood”. Well known for the iconic sound they created with Dwid Hellion as Integrity, the Melnicks parted ways with Dwid to start “In Cold Blood” in the late ‘90s. “In Cold Blood” disbanded later on and led to “Shin To Shin” where Aaron Melnick redirects his musical madness into thrashing riffs and howling’ barks to prophesize the demise of mankind.

Old school rock and roll legend “Reverend Horton Heat” is coming back into town with the release of his band’s eleventh studio album. Some musicians don’t quit for a reason – the old king still has it. With a grease monkey theme and mechanics of psychobilly steal at his loyal side, The Reverend inspires a bluegrass rocking, country rolling revival with the new claim to fame, ‘REV’.

“The Crash Years” are an American band, playing slow emotional rock, with a great accent on the piano. They have released their EP called ‘Cope’ which contains six touching songs. From the first song, you can hear how great the voice of singer and piano player Joel Cox is. The intro is only keys and his voice, which makes it very fragile and sensitive.

With their self-titled album out on Baltimore’s finest A389 Recordings, this ‘legend’ displays his vulgar talent of metallic based hardcore that will leave you twitching on the floor for more. From the intro track to some of my personal favourites such as ‘Extinction’ and ‘Drifting Away’, the listener is taken along a hellish ride. A ride that ends with the jazzy mellow guitar track that seals the album, Maia.

By David Marote

75/100

RMP Magazine #11

The album packs a punch of promising power. Diners come to mind, bustling with waitresses with beehives on roller-skates. Smooth dadio’s telling tales of his adventures in Californ – I – A. An entire genre has been resuscitated thanks to these mavericks. Every track is unique in its own way. They each tell a story of an ancient subculture breaking the surface once more. Put on your dancing shoes – don’t be jive turkey.

By Cameron Smith

The other songs are supported by the rest of the band, which gives the songs a lot more energy. It never gets too much support, the songs all stay small and very good. This EP will touch you and make you think about some things that happened in your life. I have never thought so much about my life than on the train while listening to this EP. Fans of “Dashboard Confessional”, “Augustana”, Jack’s Mannequin or the quiet songs of Something Corporate will adore this. A band to keep an eye on!

By Jonas Hoflack

ALbum reviews

70/100

65/100

85/100

Circus Mayhem Filipino Tiger Show

La-Ventura White Crow

Depths We Love, We Lose, We Break

“Circus Mayhem” is a relatively new band that brings together a group of people with different background styles like nu-metal, post-grunge and stoner rock, so you would think they’d be in danger of their music sounding a little scrambled, but no such thing is true.

‘White Crow’ takes off with a false start. ‘Falling Down’ doesn’t impress instrumentally and gives the impression that singer Carla van Huizen still has work to do. But she sets things right in all the other songs on this album. She uses her voice in many beautiful ways. White Crow has room for deep lyrics with a message for society in ‘Human Vanity’, and heartbroken teens can recognize themselves in emotional songs like ‘The Only One’. “LaVentura” did a great job when it comes to qualitative guitar playing. The guitars sound deliciously heavy.

“Depths” is an upcoming Belgian HC-band, leaning close to bands like “La Dispute”, “Kite Flying Society” and “Envy”. You’ll get that pure raw emotional feeling that makes you shiver deep inside your bones. This two song EP shows the potential the band might have. Yet, is two songs enough? It’s only after grabbing into their past we discover that “Depths” has already grown quite a bit. The sound of their debut Past/Present is more gritty and faster than the result of ‘We Love, We Lose, We Break.’

The new EP from “Circus Mayhem” is swinging and groovy with great guitar riffs and an overall consistent feeling. Maybe the vocal recording could use some improvement here and there, but all in all Don Lombard’s singing is very pleasant to listen to. I hope to hear from these guys again, and I think you will too after you give this EP a listen!

By Renske Gommers

In ‘Drowning’ we can hear a drum rhythm being used in a creative way. Fans of “Lacuna Coil” will love this melodic rock album. The true piece of art on ‘White Crow’ is the last song, ‘Watch Me Go’. It makes us want to watch them come back with another album.

By Suzanne Gielis

The new EP is more delicate, yet somehow darker, and above all it’s one huge bit of emotion. ‘Titeltrack#’ made me think about “La Dispute’s”, despite the fact that it’s ten minutes shorter, which is a pretty strong comparison and compliment. All in all, I’m intrigued with what the future will bring for this young band and you should be as well.

By Arne Vangheluwe

RMP Magazine #11

ALbum reviews

83/100

60/100

I Am the Avalanche Wolverines

Bruce Springsteen High Hopes

Rockers, put your heads together, because “I Am the Avalanche” is going to release another record! This time with the name ‘Wolverines’ and it’s being said that it’s their least rushed and most stable album coming from the guys since their origin. I love listening to some rock now and then, but have they succeeded in impressing me? To start with, they sound like a punk band meshed with a little bit of hardcore and rock choruses all over, and it sounds magnificent. You can hear that vocalist Vinnie Curuana doesn’t force his voice to do something out of this planet, but lets it soothe along the riffs and choruses, while still giving a rock-esque feeling! The instrumentals are in the league of bands like Taking Back Sunday and bands that are on the same track, with some really nice guitar hooks found in ‘Young Kerouacs’. Also, some solo guitar parts can be found at various moments in this album, which gives the album a bit more of a punch. The title track ‘Wolverines’, is one of the slowest paced and shortest songs on the record, but also the most emotion-filled one, which makes it really stand out among the whole album.They succeeded in delivering a rock album that I can enjoy the way I like many others! Thank you, “I Am the Avalanche” !

By Stefan Van Den broek

RMP Magazine #11

“Who is Bruce Springsteen?” no one ever said. The Boss released his new album ‘High Hopes’ in January 2014. With eighteen studio albums, five live albums, six compilation albums, five EP’s and seventy-one singles, he is one of the most popular musicians of all time. After I saw him on Werchter Classic this summer, I had high expectations about his new album because I like his old songs. The album gets a good start with the song and also the album title ‘High Hopes’. It’s catchy and clear, a very good starter. Songs to remember are: ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’ a good song to drink some shots with friends, ‘Just Like Fire Would’ because it has that typical Springsteen rhythm, ‘This Is Your Sword’ because bagpipes makes a song more special and ‘Dream Baby Dream’ because it’s silent and calm to sit on your sofa on a Sunday evening. A special song on the album is ‘Heaven’s Wall’. It is very happy and not like the other songs on the album. I liked it right from the start. I had high expectations that weren’t really fulfilled. It’s sometimes too calm. There are a couple of good songs but not in the ‘Bandlands’ and ‘Born To Run’ kind of way.

By Paulien Verfaillie

ALbum reviews

92/100

Crosses Crosses

Chino Moreno, (singer from Deftones), wanted to put his powers in another musical project, along with guitarist Shaun Lopez and music producer Chuck Doom. In all my happiness I started listening to the advance for this album, and I loved it! But why did I love it so much, and why am I still repeating this album day in and day out? Soothing is the main reason that he started this project, and I have to say, I haven’t heard an album this calm and so well produced in years. It’s a CD that you can listen to when you’re waiting on your bus, whilst forgetting everything around you, but it’s also suitable for listening when lying in your bed, before you let your eyes rest. I don’t know if it’s his soft voice that tickles my eardrums or the lyrics that touch your soul and let you feel exactly like he feels. Also, the guitar work is top notch, fluently going through the vocal part, without even hindering it. This soft ‘madness’ is going for around an hour, through fifteen great tracks, that all sound different in a special kind of way. Top songs like ‘Bitches Brew’ and ‘Holy Ghost’ really did it for me, and the others seem to be in the same league! So I hope you guys get me now, this album is really something great to add to your library. Also, for Deftones fans like me, you won’t be disappointed for a single second while listening to this. But I’ve got to stop me fan-girling here, because I’m about to replay the album once more! By Stefan Van Den broek

84/100

Caliban Ghost Empire

“Caliban”, they never seem to disappoint me, making one strong release after the other, including all memorable moments. Also in live performances, they are truly a treat to see and experience, and on top of that they are really nice guys, as I’ve been chilling with them for more than once in their tour bus. But after making so many albums and being in the scene for this long the following question arises: Can they still amaze us with another album or not? You are here to find out, so let’s get into it! ‘Ghost Empire’ starts off differently than we are used of; the clean vocals are traded in for some rougher edged ‘clean’ vocals in their first song ‘King’. It seems they have got rid of the angelic vocal cord they used in many of the amazing songs they’ve already produced. But when we dive in the second song ‘Chaos – Creation’, the good old clean is back and better-placed than ever, again giving me shivers of enjoyment. Andreas, their growler, still hasn’t lost his raw and screeching scream and keeps this trend going throughout the whole record and that deserves some respect. Also the instrumentals are as good as it gets, with guitar riffs splattered all around the songs, accompanied by some furious drums! So that being said, we can conclude that ‘Ghost Empire’ is again a solid release for the kings of metalcore, with barely any cons; I truly enjoyed listening to this album. “Caliban” is here to stay! By Stefan van Den Broek

RMP Magazine #11

ALbum reviews

70/100

85/100

F.O.E.S Ophir

We Are the In Crowd Weird Kids

The Bellicose Minds The Buzz or Howl Sessions

Birmingham is bringing back the sound of the 90’s grunge with the release of “F.O.E.S’s” studio album ‘Ophir’. “F.O.E.S” started their project in late 2012 and have made a nostalgic impact on the local music scene. ‘Ophir’ is a classic example of grunge revival. Bold, bluesy undertones convey messages of sadness and heartbreak. The music is saturated with mysterious rhythms and chord structure. I lost touch with my surroundings and was transported into an oriental land of raw industry.

“We Are In The Crowd”, shortened to WAITC, is a female fronted band. I’ve reviewed several female fronted bands, but funnily enough, never a pop-punk band. My first impression is, “am I listening to Paramore or We Are In The Crowd?” because in my opinion they sound a lot like “Paramore”, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but still I fancy listening to something different than a band I’ve already been listening to for six years. And then the instruments came, and I was surprised to say the least. It sounded different, in a good way, with some keyboards added in and some strong intros to start off their melodic and fancy songs. The album has lyrics that certainly don’t feel in place in comparison to the mix of sweet, soft sounds. That doesn’t take away the fact, that there are some really catchy and somewhat mature songs on their album, like ‘Best Intentions’. In the end, it’s really not a bad album, in fact, it’s above average, but the cons are hearable and the resemblance to “Paramore” is definitely visible.

“The Bellicose Minds” have been practicing their dark post-punk since 2008. Hailing from Portland Oregon they’ve released some tapes and an album in the past. Recently, A389 Recordings has rereleased one of their earlier works for us all to devour. ‘The Buzz Or Howl Sessions’ dates back to 2009 and was previously a limited 500 copies tape release.

By Stefan Van Den broek

By David Marote

Songs ‘Nyingo’ and ‘The First Rock to Flee as the T’ convey psychedelic pulses and wrap them around calm and soothing lyrics. ‘Sewn to the Sail & Unknown’ is a good number for the hipster swag. Overall, “F.O.E.S” has produced a positive audio vibe with negative themes. Take a trip back and relax.

By Cameron Smith

74/100

RMP Magazine #11

With some line-up changes along the way and plans on releasing a new album soon, “The Bellicose Minds” leave us for now with their dark, gothic post-punk to dwell in the pitch black night until the new release sees the light. From opening track ‘Oppression Depression’ into ‘Bloody Hands’ up until ‘Tension Building’ the listener is dragged along into the darkness where The Bellicose Minds guide us through. Just listen to ‘Visions Of Pain’ and come to the dark side. They’re waiting for you!

ALbum reviews

75/100

89/100

75/100

Supercharger Broken Hearts And Fallaparts

More Than A Thousand Vol 5: Lost At Home

Morning Glory War Psalms

The forces of rock have been charged once more. ‘Broken Hearts and Fallaparts’ will attack every unmotivated cell in your body. The sound is simply fantastic. The music carries through form hard rock to blues and makes a turn around Rock ‘n Roll Avenue, stopping at its final destination – Partyville. The Wild West should smile proudly as these adrenalin performers take the word “X-treme” to a whole new level. Composing melodies of the deep South and swinging them into a faced, heavy paced sound is the triumph of this album.

“More than a Thousand”. Those fancy Portuguese guys who are making a big statement in the world of European metal core as we know it, are on the edge of releasing their 5th Volume record called ‘Lost at Home’. ‘Vol 4. Make Friends & Enemies’ was one of the better releases of 2011 for me, with songs like ‘No Bad Blood’ & ‘First Bite’, but will Vol. 5 and 2014 bring the same? Let’s start with the first, these guys are pretty damn heavy vocally and instrumentally, accompanied with fine, clean, and catchy choruses, but what happened to their actual style when you compare it with their previous records? Vasco Ramos and co. decided to take the heavy parts to another level, because the breakdowns in this one are more mosh-able, danceable or ‘whatever you do at shows-able’ than ever before. And guess what, the riffs are even better on this one then their previous ones, making their songs even punchier and better than you would expect at the moment the track starts.

Former “Leftover Crack” member Ezra Kire founded “Morning Glory” in 2001, but Morning Glory always remained in the background due to the ongoing work with “Leftover Crack”. 2012 saw the release of “Poets Were My Heroes” as a full band, and with some new members, it was time to put ‘War Psalms’ out to the masses. Steering away from the previous ska influenced sounds, “Morning Glory” are ready to storm the globe with their punk rock mix of strings, horns, piano and chunky metallic riffs.

Country enthusiasts can enjoy hardcore stories of traditional values…kicked righteously where the sun doesn’t shine. If the Duke brothers had a more devil- maycare attitude, this would be the soundtrack booming and blasting out from General Lee, next to the empty beer cans and moustache combs.

By Cameron Smith

By Stefan Van Den broek

Their revolution rock no longer deals on topics such as drugs (crack rock references) but has taken a more socio-political course with songs about the inter social connection regarding humanity. The tracks deliver a fierce furious punk rock soundtrack that gets intertwined with mellow piano parts and horns that break the tracks into two and then rejuvenating into distorted guitar sounds. By David Marote

RMP Magazine #11