SONIC SHOCKS Issue 30 - November 2014

Issue 30 - November 2014

Interviews with ELECTRIC WIZARD, LES CLAYPOOL from PRIMUS, BRANT BJORK, GINGER WILDHEART, NASHVILLE PUSSY, ANAAL NATHRAKH, ARTHUR WALWIN, ELECTRIC SIX, DEVIN TOWNSEND, DOLLYROTS (and DollyTots...), TOMMY ROGERS and more Live reviews and photos: CARO EMERALD, CULTURE CLUB, SKILLET, FRIZZI 2 FULCI, FEED THE RHINO...

ROCK'N'ROLL MUSEUM with JOCK SCOT BURLESQUE

WALTER LURE The Heartbreaker the Devil forgot

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P 3: WALTER LURE

P. 40: ROCK'N'ROLL MUSEUM: Jock Scot

P. 10: ELECTRIC WIZARD - Jus Oborn

P. 42: GINGER WILDHEART

Interview and live photos by Cristina Massei

By Paul Roundhill

Interview by John Morgan & Matt Dawson

P. 14: ELECTRIC SIX - Dick Valentine

Interview & Ginger photos by Cristina Massei

P. 46: 1st ANNUAL SANKEYS AWARDS

Interview by Cristina Massei

Intro Elena Sanchez, photos & Jozef K int N. Loriaux

P. 17: ARTHUR WALWIN

P. 49: PRIMUS - Les Claypool

Interview by Nelly Loriaux

Interview John Morgan - live photos C Massei

P. 20: THE DOLLYROTS

P. 52: NASHVILLE PUSSY - Ruyter Suys

P, 24: CAVALERA CONSPIRACY - Iggor

P. 56: ANAAL NATHRAKH - Dave Hunt

P. 28: DEVIN TOWNSEND

P 59: LIVE: Caro Emerald, Culture Club, Frizzi2Fulci, Feed The Rhino, Skillet, Carousels & Limousines

Interview and photos by Cristina Massei

Interview and photos by Cristina Massei

Interview C Massei- M Dawson, Photos CM Interview by Matt Dawson

P. 32: LOST GRAVITY

Interview by Matt Dawson

Interview and photos by Mark Fletcher

P. 34: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BURLESQUE

By Sophia Disgrace

By Cristina Massei & Mark Flecher

P 59: REVIEWS: Electric Six, Mark Lanegan Band, Streets of Laredo

By David J Brady - Heart by Matt Dawson

P. 36: THOMAS GILES

Interview by Matt Dawson

P. 38: BRANT BJORK

Interview by John Morgan - Photos C Massei

MAIN COVER PHOTO Cristina Massei

CONTACT US EDITOR IN CHIEF & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Cristina Massei thewickedwitch@sonicshocks.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Matt Dawson - cygnus@sonicshocks.com Nelly Loriaux - nelly@sonicshocks.com US CORRESPONDENT: Denise Britt - denise@sonicshocks.com

Contributors on this issue WRITERS:

General enquiries, review requests and unsolicited material: info@sonicshocks.com

Mark Fletcher, John Morgan, Paul Roundhill, Sophia Disgrace, Cristina Massei, Matt Dawson, Nelly Loriaux, David J. Brady

Advertising enquiries and info:

PHOTOGRAPHERS:

PLEASE NOTE: We listen to everything but - often in your own interest - we don’t always review it...

Cristina Massei, Mark Fletcher, Nelly Loriaux, Paul Roundhill

advertising@sonicshocks.com

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SEX, DRUGS, ROCK'N'ROLL AND THE STOCK MARKET Last remaining Heartbreaker Walter Lure on Johnny Thunders, Sex Pistols, Wall Street and much more...

Interview by Cristina Massei The occasion is the opening of rock’n’roll photographer Bob Gruen’s first major British exhibition; the event is a star-studded aftershow at Shoreditch’s Ace Hotel, with Kate Moss and Jamie Hince also making an appearance. The lucky guests are treated to an intimate live performance by the ultimate punk rockabilly supergroup, featuring Heartbreakers’ Walter Lure with Sigue Sigue Sputnik’ Neal X, Smutty Smith from Rockats, Dave Ruffy of The Ruts and Phil Polecat. Later they’re joined on stage by Marc Almond for a rendition of Vince Taylor’s ‘Brand New Cadillac’.

After the tragic loss of Billy Rath in August, Walter Lure is the only surviving member of Johnny Thunders’ legendary Heartbreakers. A few days after the show we hook up with Walter to talk of recent projects and take a trip back to Punk Memory Lane, as the iconic band’s legacy grows stronger and Danny Garcia’s ‘Looking for Johnny’ finally hits the screens.

Warning: some of this might cause time-travel sickness and a lingering sense of nostalgia. Well, not for the power of British censorship in the 70s I guess..

Hi Walter, first of all was great seeing you in London last week celebrating Bob Gruen. How did you get involved?

I’ve been friends with Bob since the Dolls’ days and have run into him many times over the years – the most recent time being a Memorial Celebration for Leee Black Childers in New York back in late August. He’s always been friendly and has managed to snap quite a few pictures of me and my various band mates over the years. I’ve also known Smutty Smith of Levi and the Rockats fame since the mid 70s, when I was living with the Heartbreakers over in London. Leee Childers, the Heart-

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breaker’s manager back then, was directly responsible for getting Smutty into the music business and the Rockats after discovering him as a neer do well youth at some rockabilly event in London back in those days. Smutty managed to get appointed coordinator of this event and when they asked him to put together a band, he called me and asked if I’d be interested in heading the thing up. I agreed and he managed to put the thing together after going thru I don’t know how many other famous and semi famous musicians who all said they’d love to do it but then backed out at the gig approached for various reasons. The final crew he did manage to assemble was quite exceptional and I was honored and happy to share the stage with them, professionals all and genuinely nice people.

It was a bit of a supergroup up there… Did any talks of future projects come out of it?

Yes, I had that feeling as well. I’d never met the guys before but was quite impressed with all of their resumes and we all got on just great. There was no specific discussion but there was definitely a mention that if anything else came up of a similar nature in the future, we would all be happy to carry on with the arrangement.

I would like to start from the end and ask what you’re up to these days music wise, with or without The Waldos. Any new songs, tour plans?

I am still playing with the Waldos in New York and in fact have a gig in Brooklyn tomorrow night with them. We gig once a month or so in New York City and nearby states. When I travel, it’s usually on a Chuck Berry type basis where I fly to a given city or country and the people there have already put together a band for me that knows my songs. I would love to take my NYC Waldos on these tours but it’s too expensive for an entire band to travel these days and still make any money from the relatively small amounts I get paid for these shows.

I long ago gave up on the concept of playing for free or losing money on gigs in hopes of future rewards – it just isn’t practical at this point in time. So the results being that now I have a different version of the Waldos in about 15 different cities and countries that back me up when I have shows in those destinations. I think I actually named all the various bands in the Waldos CD reissue that came out last year. As for new songs, I have written a few with some local people here in NYC that are being recorded but there is not enough material for a new Waldos record just yet.

Danny Garcia’s documentary ‘Looking for Johnny’ has just been released. What do you think of it and how did

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you contribute?

I thought the movie was quite good – it didn’t dwell entirely on the more sordid aspects of Johnny’s life and presented him in what I thought was a fairly well rounded light. You obviously can’t exclude the drug issues from any story about him and be true to life but there was quite a bit more to him than the annoying, spoiled druggie that a lot of us had to deal with in the darker moments. There were quite a few great clips of the Heartbreakers in action that I hadn’t remembered seeing before – the funny thing was that most of the HB’s clips had song where I was singing lead. Surprised me a bit but no objections on my part.

In your early days, you joined Sex Pistols on the Anarchy Tour but most dates were sadly cancelled. Can you tell our younger readers what happened there?

I could write for hours on this but I’ll try to keep it succinct.

The Anarchy tour came like a (very much welcome) bolt out of the blue for us as we had no idea that there was any really significant music scenes happening in the UK at the time.

I remembered seeing a few small articles 6 months earlier about a few English bands that were making some noise in the UK but we all thought, being the solipsistic, spoiled little darlings that we were, that New York was the center of the universe and nothing else was happening in the world outside of NYC. Little did we know… In any case we were almost about to sign one of those typical, early punk era record contracts that would have given us minimal income and the record company and management would keep 50% of everything. These deals were quite common at the time and numerous NY Punk groups got sucked into them in the early days because there was nothing else available in the US. The mainstream music industry had not discovered punk yet and didn’t want to get involved.

Malcolm McLaren ended up calling out manager Leee Childers, to see if we wanted to do a tour in the UK with the new band he was managing and a few other UK bands (We only found out later that he had called David Johansen first and asked him but David turned him down for whatever reason which was why we were called). We had no idea who the band was but we thought why not go over and see what is happening there? It was definitely something new. The night we landed happened to be the same night that the Pistols were on the Bill Grundy show so when Malcolm picked us up at the airport he looked like they had just firebombed his house and family. We had no idea what was happening until we picked up a

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few evening editions of the local tabloids and saw that the news was spread all over the headlines of every paper in the UK about some punk band cursing on live TV. For days later, there was nothing else in the papers – I just couldn’t believe what a big uproar the country had gotten themselves into just because someone said “fuck” on TV. They didn’t normally curse on US TV at the time but if something happened to slip out they would just fine the station for permitting it – no big deal. In the UK they were losing their minds!

Anyway after a day or so we all boarded the bus together – HBs, Sex Pistols, and The Clash (the Damned were travelling separately – I never found out why but their reputation suffered because of it – all the other bands were calling them a bunch of twits). Our merry little journey was about to begin. I forget the first town we got to but as soon as we got there we found that the gig had been cancelled/banned in the city. We then learned about the local town councils and the power they had to permit or forbid any public shows for things they deemed obscene or “disruptive”. This would never happen in the US – money was all that mattered there. So we ended up sitting in the hotel bar all night and getting to know one another. We had wanted to play but sitting getting drunk was almost as much fun. The next day we left for the next show and that night we found ourselves in the same bar of a different hotel but for the same reason – another show “banned”.

This kept on happening until I think after the 6th or 7th day we ended up in Leeds at the University and they finally let us play! The shows were great and it was the first time I saw or heard the Pistols and the Clash. I thought the Pistols were great and they have remained my favorite UK

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band from those days to this day. The Clash were good but needed work at that time – which they later got when Topper Hedon joined the band.

So this continued for the better part of a month – 4 or 5 days off and finally a gig here or there – I think we ended up playing 6 shows out of the planned 26 we were supposed to play. So in spite of all the annoyances of not playing all those shows, the Tour went down in Rock history as one of the most famous. I was a part of it and people keep asking me questions about it to this day – yourself included! I guess it sort of turned us all into some sorts of legends for having been a part of it. My everlasting thanks to the absurd British tendency to get violently upset at something so simple as a curse word spoken over live TV. We could never have bought that type of publicity and notoriety even with trillions at our disposal. Overnight, we were part of Punk Rock Royalty in the UK and they accepted us Yankees as one of their own.

Despite the legendary status the Heartbreakers enjoy nowadays, sales didn’t go too well back then. Do you feel your luck might have been different had that tour gone as planned?

Yes , the record never sold that well when it was released and we were all blaming something or other for it. The actual sound of the vinyl LP was muffled and no matter how hard we tried over the preceding months, we could never get it to sound right once it was transferred to vinyl from studio tape. It would sound great in the studio but as soon as it was pressed, it came out muffled. Jerry left the band over it - he always blamed the mixes but

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even when we let him mix a version, it still came out lousy.

Looking back it was a curse that seemed to follow Johnny and Jerry around – I always thought that the 2 Dolls albums had the same problem – they didn’t come close to sounding like they did live and they didn’t sell well either.

It’s conceivable that, had the record come out better, we would have sold more and the band would have stayed together longer but that will never be certain. Drugs were becoming more and more of a problem for us all and that would only have increased as well. I’ve always said that if the Heartbreakers had managed to get a little bigger in those days and we started making loads of cash, then we all would have been dead a lot earlier. For myself, I had to finally get a regular job a few years later because I had run out of cash – that was the catalyst that finally got me out of that syndrome but it wasn’t easy. Johnny and Jerry never got out of it although Jerry controlled it by being on Methadone for the last 25 years of his life.

So, yes, we would have probably stayed together a lot longer if the album sold more but our lives would have most likely been a lot shorter! Maybe that was some sort of “Deal with the Devil” that I never got around to signing?!!!

Trade time span for Fame?

L.A.M.F. is the only legacy we have left from the Heartbreakers in terms of full length albums; is there any unreleased material lying in an old drawer somewhere?

To my knowledge almost everything we ever recorded has been released or is in the process of being rereleased by Jungle Records with the notable exception of the live recording of the Village gate gig which is being released by Cleopatra Records in a few months or earlier. The girls who did the sound those nights had a cassette recording that she held onto for years. She just started shopping it around a year or 2 ago but it was a tough sell as the quality wasn’t all that great – we did have serious PA problems on those nights. However they did manage to do a great remix and the remaining stuff sounds pretty good. It should be out soon. Other than that, there are only a mess of bootlegs of dubious quality released over the years.

Tell me how the idea for ‘London Boys’ came up…

It was obviously a reply to the Pistols release of that song “New York” on their album. Rotten came off as rather nasty in the lyrics when we were all fairly good friends from the anarchy tour – most likely it was him playing up to the audience as usual trying to come off as hating everything – they had always said they wouldn’t have existed at all if it wasn’t for the Dolls inspiration. In any case, I had written music that, to me, sounded like the type music and chord structure that would be in Pistols’ song. I deliberately wrote it to sound like a Pistols song. Jerry and Johnny loved the music and I was going to write the lyrics also but Johnny begged me to let him do it since he took the lyrics in New York personally. I agreed and he came up with a good lyric.

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year later. He looked a little older and grayer but not that awful. He had been calling me for a while trying to get a tour together for the “last remaining Heartbreakers” but there was no way I could take months off to go on a Heartbreakers revival tour and it was even questionable whether we could generate enough interest to make a profit out of it. Billy had dreams of making millions from a final tour but the reality seemed quite different. He started doing different gigs with that Street Pirates crew but he looked pretty gruesome on some of the videos I saw of it. I then saw him last at my gig at the Purple Turtle in London in October 2 or 3 years ago (2011 or 2012). While he hadn’t looked that bad at the Max’s reunions, when he showed up at the Turtle he looked completely different – his teeth were all gone and his mind didn’t seem far behind them.

I remember someone telling me that he told his manager to ”make sure there was no press waiting for him when he landed at Heathrow”. This was purely delusional. Anyway he looked awful and didn’t sound much better. He came on stage and did a song with us but couldn’t remember half of his bass lines and the song was Chinese Rocks which we had done thousands of times over the years. He literally looked like a walking zombie and I really expected to hear that any day he had passed away. That he lasted as long as he did was a surprise to me. The death didn’t really have any effect on me as it was expected but, on reflection, it really was the end of an era. I’m the last one left and still playing the songs but those days really are long gone unfortunately.

How do you remember the day Johnny passed?

I don’t really remember that particular day and I think I only heard about it a few days later – the internet didn’t really exist back then and news travelled a little slower. When I finally did hear of it the feeling was almost the same as when Billy died – namely I was surprised he lasted as long as he did. He was looking worse in later years (although nothing like Billy looked in his last years). I remembered when we did the HB reunion at the Marquee club in NYC in Nov 1990, we had rehearsed a few time and all of us except for Johnny had gotten off drugs years earlier so we just showed up for a regular rehearsal but when John got there he would play a song or 2 and then every 10 or 15 minutes would disappear into the bathroom to do some more drugs. There were syringes hanging out of his back pockets. He just never got out of that syndrome and it looked pathetic to see him still at it. We all knew for years that it was just a matter of time before he OD’d or something worse but even so, I felt more of a loss with Johnny than with Billy because he was an inspiration for me in the early days in the Dolls and I loved his guitar playing and also most of his songs as well. He was a pain to deal with but he brought so much to the table.

And here you are, the only surviving Heartbreaker…

What do you think you owe this to?

Well I was always a bit more restrained than the other members of the group but was by no means innocent – I How did you take the recent passing of Billy Rath and wasted quite a few years of my life being dependent on when is the last time you saw him? various substances and not really going anywhere. ProbThis was unfortunately not unexpected – he had been ably the greatest factor getting me out of the drug synsteadily declining in looks land health for the last several drome was the fact that I had landed a decent job on Wall years. I remember I first saw him at a Max’s reunion show Street in the mid-80s after several years of temporary in NYC about 5 years ago and then again at another one a work there. I was working at a regular brokerage firm and

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more used to having it around and doing it - it actually becomes a sort of ritual after a time - and then you start feeling worse when you don’t have it around. There was no particular trigger that I could put my finger on but there definitely wasn’t any sort of restraint being used by Johnny or Jerry when they started getting bad. John just didn’t want to live without drugs and Jerry finally ended up on Methadone but never attempted to get off it for the last 20 years of his life. John tried a few times over the years to get out of it in various rehabs but as soon as he got out of the place, the first thing he’d do was go and get high. It also became more problematic when we were recording or had gigs to get to as they would always be late if they couldn’t get anything. Seems stupid when you look back on it but it really takes over your life and distorts your sense of values. Quite insidious.

Most of my favourite artists have substance abuse issues, and – selfishly – I came to the conclusion that probably they wouldn’t have created the work I love if they hadn’t. Having lived and witnessed this, do you feel there is a correlation between creativity/art and substance abuse, and if so how would you explain it?

There is a connection between many artists and drug abuse but by no means is drug abuse necessary to create art. The milieu has always been populated by a high percentage of ne’er do wells and social misfits who are rebelling against everything and as a consequence, what

learning the business but was still coming in late or leaving early or disappearing for half hours here and there to satisfy my habit. It was getting to a point where I would eventually be fired or I had to get together so one fine weekend in May 1988, I started to withdraw and with the help of various medicines and alternatives finally got myself weaned off of the stuff after a few weeks. I did it once again a few months later but after that never again, even after being offered some years later for free – I just said no as the saying goes. This was not the first attempt to get straight I had made over the years – there must have been hundreds but this one finally caught on. So this was probably the one greatest factor accounting for my survival.

Once I got free of the dependencies, I could function normally again and, being fairly healthy to begin with, managed to stay healthy ever since. I started exercising again after getting drug free – playing basketball then tennis, golf and jogging to maintain some semblance of health and I usually eat fairly fresh and healthy food these days as opposed to the old days when I’d scarf up anything that I could get my hands on. I’ve always had a fairly upbeat attitude to life as well – not getting depressed when things don’t work out etc. so that might have contributed as well. Other than that it’s probably just genetics.

I’ve read that the band’s drug habits were not that bad at the beginning, when did things take a turn for the worst and can you see a trigger anywhere?

Drug habits are never “bad” in the beginning – they always just slowly evolve and get worse. Nobody jumps into heroin and cocaine with the intention of becoming an addict – it just happens over time as you get more and

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better way to shock society than to indulge in forbidden habits and substances. But even before they were using drugs (which didn’t really exist until the 1800s), artists were notorious drunks and would abuse anything they could get their hands on. It just seems to fit the personality schematic that, if you’re an artist, you have to appear totally aloof to or above any sort of social norms of behavior. Besides, getting drunk and stoned is always fun in the beginning until it becomes a necessity. However there are many famous artists who either never got into drug abuse or, if they did, managed to get out of it and maintain successful careers. They are probably the majority because in order to survive and keep performing and creating new material you have to maintain some semblance of health. With certain obvious exceptions (think Keith Richards for one) most artists who have a successful career are usually straight or only dabblers, not hard core addicts. The screw-ups always get all the publicity which sort of taints the whole industry as being the same. It’s not really true. The crash and burn types always attract more attention and make for better horror stories in the press and literature.

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myself in charge of over 100 people in a trade settlement operation and making more money than I ever did before and quite enjoying the irony of it all while still doing gigs locally and on the east coast here and there. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the flesh! In any case, the firm was eventually taken over by a bank in the late 90s and they started chopping heads and finally I got laid off in 2001 but with a severance package that kept paying my salary and benefits for a year. By mid-2002 I had found another job and here I still am until I call it a career which might be fairly soon – starting to get sick of the whole business anyway.

That’s the story with some of the more lurid details left out for a later time.

What’s your biggest regret and what’s the achievement you’re most proud of?

The regret is probably the fact that I should have stopped taking drugs a lot earlier and not wasted all those years – a period of 10 or so years out of my life was really wasted on that stuff even though I managed to survive in spite of it. I could have done a lot more musically ( I think – nothing is certain) if I had just stopped after the HBs broke up and concentrated on making music with other people If anyone asked me the most unlikely working place for a but it didn’t happen that way and that most likely killed rock musician I’d probably go with Wall Street… How did my music career even though it’s managed to survive you end up there? this long on a reduced level. On the other hand, I’ve alNot that unusual but weird nonetheless. I was strung out ways said that if the Heartbreakers ever made it to a little in the early 80s and had used up whatever savings I had higher level where we were making serious money, then from when I worked before I was in the HBs. I was stay- we all would have been dead a lot earlier. Nothing would ing a various places in Manhattan with friends and lovers have kept us from killing ourselves if we had the ready and whatever else came along. I wasn’t really making any cash to pay for it. money in music and had to find a way to survive. I’d end Achievement – Obviously the Heartbreakers is on the top up at my father’s house from time to time because I’d run of the list as it was my small claim to fame that I can tell out of places to stay in Manhattan after a while. He saw the world about (if they want to listen). Other than that, I needed a job so he happened to know someone whom it’s probably something along the lines of what I’ve writhe used to work with back before he was retired – he ten above – I managed to get out of the whole sordid drug worked in Citibank for his whole career and had retired scene and actually make a successful career for myself in a few years earlier. Anyway, his friend worked for a firm spite of all the obstacles I had managed to put in my own that hired temporary workers to go into various banks and path along the way – plus I’m still performing round the help them with special projects that involved Corporate world and enjoying the small fruits of my 15 minutes of Takeovers where people have to send in stock certificates fame for what it’s worth. to get cash or shares in the new company. I started working for them and slowly picked it up and started learning the business of the Finance world – it was interesting And finally Walter… are you happy these days? to me at the time because I never really understood how A very subjective question that can be answered a milmoney actually worked in society and never knew any- lion different ways but as you’ve probably sensed just by thing about stock markets and various financial trends. In the content of what I’ve written in answer to your quesany case, I sort of enjoyed it and it gave me a modest in- tions –the answer is most likely yes – I am fairly happy come. I started getting more proficient at it and finally got with how my life has turned out and don’t have any major a job at a regular brokerage firm and began learning more complaints and not many minor ones either. There have about the financial markets and how they all worked. I been ups and downs but lady luck has been good to me was still strung out of course so it was a bit of a juggling if not overly generous at least there when I needed her – act trying to keep myself together enough to maintain my many others didn’t get that far. I’ve lived to tell the story habit as well as get up for work every day and not look like at least. a zombie. There are a few outrageous stories I have about those times but would rather not divulge them now especially on a traceable work computer communication – ‘Hope you like it’ – Walter adds at the end – ‘it’s nothmaybe in a few years after I’ve retired. I finally got straight ing tragic or sensational unfortunately – they tend to sell in 1988 and then I really took off in the business as my more copy but C’est La Vie. It is what it is’. I find it quite boss took a liking to me and I was eager to learn – I’d be sensational actually. And I’ll make sure we get hold of working 12-14 hours days and then stop at the rail station Walter Lure again when he retires for a whole new chapat night with my boss for a round of drinks and start all ter of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’… over again in the morning. I was promoted a few times and my salary kept going up too so by the mid 90s I found

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“if the Heartbreakers ever made it to a little higher level where we were making serious money, then we all would have been dead a lot earlier. “

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The cancellation of Jabberwocky in summer left London’ doom and metal fans badly disappointed, as they missed the opportunity for a live dose of Electric Wizard. Hopefully they’ll make up for it soon; in the meanwhile, John Morgan caught up with Jus Oborn to discuss new album ‘Time To Die’ and their new home at Spinefarm…

I remember reading an interview with you around the release of your previous album “Black Mass” where you said that the band was moving its sound away from the theatrical and back to the core elements that defined it in its earlier days. Is that something you feel you have achieved with this record?

Well, we definitely wanted to make a record that is more serious and more sinister overall. The driving force behind it is our disillusionment and hatred of the human race. You could call it our judgement on humanity.

As a record, it seemed totally cursed from the very start, with so many people trying to fuck with us, and it hasn’t stopped yet… so the album has become an act of defiance. We wrote it in jams across the summer, which made it very much the summer of hate, haha! I had to just book a studio and capture the raw evil!

The whole theme of the album is death and re-birth, it’s there in the artwork, too. I’m not sure if it’s a return to core elements, but the process was very natural, a return to the old days because we had the luxury of jamming in the ‘garage of doom’ instead of renting out a room, and the rituals were the same… too many drugs, too much drink, not enough sleep, the usual stuff… and of course

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we’re still hungry and pissed off with the world – that much hasn’t changed!

The world is slipping into armageddon. Everyday something more sickening and demented takes place…”

Obviously songs are written before the recording of an album, but much of your material takes the form of long jams and various improvisations; how much of this is pre planned before recording?

The album doesn’t really start to take shape until we write the riffs. The themes begin to form around each significant riff and we slowly build things from there with extensive jamming and demoing. Basically, everything is conceived to trick and misguide you towards total mental destruction. It’s raw rock ‘n’ roll, it’s pure, the primal witch-beat of the Druids…

But we still want to create heavier music, to create the heaviest riff ever. I don’t like it when bands try to mellow out, it’s weak. We have the same equipment and recording sensibilities as Black Sabbath, but our sound is heavier… and that’s progress. Metal must get increasingly heavy then it can’t go back. Even doom has to progress, even if it’s a case of regression – to get slower and more retarded! Ha! Ha! When exploring new material, do you tend to listen to previous albums to ensure continuity or is each new album purely a reflection of where the band are at a particular period?

The thing is, we never really change, we just shed our

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skin. The snake is still essentially the same beast. You transform, but essentially end up as a purified new version of what you were before. We are who we are. We don’t have a double life and office jobs, we are what we are on the box. Sonically, our philosophy is destruction, fear, sadism. We have never been about entertainment.

Our gigs have always been a gathering of freaks, a black mass.

I found a lot more in the way of subtlety in the shades of heaviness on this record as opposed to the last...Was this a conscious effort on your part?

Well, we do tend to employ a ‘less is more’ approach.

We try to use as little equipment as possible. Our aim is to capture purity on tape without using FX, so maybe that’s why you can hear the different shades, because it’s pure… our reverbs, for instance, were all created in natural chambers, and it sounds loads better that way, and of course is more idiosyncratic and original… Honestly, the music scene is overrun with all these wannabes and cheaters, it’s killing music…

Also, we always approach the LP cinematically, with an introduction, the primary themes, action, atmosphere, the closing titles, and we establish the mood first… and doom really is about setting the right mood…

“Time to Die” will mark your first release for Spinefarm, bringing an end to your long relationship with the Rise Above record label. I have read that the split caused a bit of acrimony. Can you give us your take on the situation and how you hope your new relationship with Spinefarm will develop with regards to future releases?

To be honest, we became sick of record labels, but then we were approached by some cool people who had genuine respect for the band, and the relationship is working out well. The album has been released, the vinyl is the best quality we’ve ever had, people can find the record if they want it, and there aren’t loads of limited editions or different coloured vinyls floating about. I’ve always said that we want to release records for people who want them rather than create a series of eBay collectables that can only be purchased by people with lots of money.

Plus, with our Witchfinder setup, we have creative control, and that’s very important to the band. We have to be able to create and break our own rules and boundaries.

On the touring side, with Jabberwocky being cancelled you ended up with only one UK date, in Manchester. Is this due to the line up change after recording and what’s the progress with that? Will we have a chance to see more of you live in the UK this year?

“We have played some shows in Europe, including Hellfest and Desertfest, and of course we did Sonisphere in the UK… I’m sure we’ll end up doing a lot of dates

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around the world in support of this LP, and in fact we’re looking into further UK shows at the moment. The thing is, we’re going to be introducing some new album material into the set, which we’re looking forward to, ‘cause this album was clearly meant to be played live.

Also, we like to make each show an event, because Electric Wizard is more than just the music, there’s a whole visual and cultural side to it, too… I hate all modern culture, and I only have old shit lying around at home – horror stuff, pulp novels, men’s mags, exploitation film posters, old 8mm movies, etc..

There have been many references to movies in your material throughout your career; would a full blown movie soundtrack be something the band would ever consider?

Yes, movies are a very important part of the culture I’m referring to, and I think it’s our duty to keep this stuff alive as best we can… so many horror films now are weak rubbish, so it’s cool that some of the classic, iconic films like ‘Psychomania’ or ‘The Dunwich Horror’ are now seen as a part of doom culture.

I really like the work of director Jess Franco, who was prolific, and the 1960s gothic horrors from Italy are also favourites of mine… ‘Long Hair Of Death’, ‘Horrible Doctor Hitchcock’… basically anything with Barbara Steele or Erika Blanc… so, yes, making or movie or providing a soundtrack is something we would consider, and that’s the sort of thing we could do through Witchfinder…

There seems to be a resurgence of Stoner Rock at the moment, a scene where you guys are often described as one of the main players now... Is that something that you are comfortable with?

We don’t really want to be part of any scene. When we started out, it was very important to us not to copy other bands with our image or lyrical content… we were after an original concept.

We all grew up with the pulp novels and comics and mags and films, I was never into mainstream stuff, even when I was young. I remember checking out the sleazy horror books and biker novels at the newsagent, and then there was the local Tivoli Cinema – if you were lucky, there was a horror double bill. Anyway, it all kinda stuck, I guess, and I liked the way that sort of imagery and art really worked with our music, it seemed quite natural…

To me, the imagery really sets the scene. Our imagery brings you to the gateway of our world, and after that, it’s up to you…I hope people delve into what we do, we’ve created a whole cosmography behind our music, our own history, a personal way of looking at the world…”

Electric Wizard’s identity has been defined by music from decades ago. I hear St Vitus, Sabbath, Stooges and the like… Does modern day music have an influ-

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ence on stuff that you do?

As I said before, we don’t really care for modern stuff. We’re into a lot of ’60 psych and acid-rock, and a ton of Detroit stuff, too – the Amboy Dukes, the MC5, the Stooges… I like heavy music which is heavy and sinister, but with energy or some kind of tension in the sound. To be honest, I still listen to the things I’ve always listened to – Venom, Hellhammer, Sabbath, Witchfinder General, etc… I don’t really hear any new doom that is actually heavy, it seems to be all production or pedals these days…

We’ve tried to bring the rhythm and the aggression back into metal – we always want to tear the audience’s face off. Playing should be an act of defiance, rebellion and war, but backed up by the purity of expression and rock ‘n’ roll. Real metal is always an adrenaline rush, even slow doom…

Are there any bands you would like to add to the Witchfinder label?

I’m sure there are, but it’s a bit early to think about that…

And finally… I’ve got a joint of skunk and a double brandy, I’m nicely chilled and about to play your new album… What would you hope I would get out of it?

Well, let me put it like this – the LP is kinda the last thoughts of a drowned man… it relates to the gatefold image on the LP sleeve, a corpse washed up on a river bank wearing a denim cut-off with an Electric Wizard logo. The whole theme of the LP is death, rebirth. There isn’t much hope, except that death will be fuckin’ glorious, so let’s make it a good one…

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DEEPER WITH THE REAPER An interview with Dick Valentine

This month Sonic Shocks was pleased to receive a copy of the brand new Electric Six album ‘Human Zoo’: after a couple of spins, with the usual unpredictable mesh of styles and lines like ‘I’d like to go deeper with the Reaper’, we couldn’t resist calling Dick Valentine for a little chat. We caught him wandering bored around an airport, so he was more than happy to answer our questions…

You’re a very prolific band, putting out an album a year.

Does it come naturally or do you ever get to a point where you think ‘I have nothing to write this year’?

Everybody in the band writes music and we’re not multimillionaires so we can’t really afford to take a year off - that also motivates us to get on the road and sell a new product.

‘Human Zoo’ is released on Spotify with some of the songs being left off for a Kickstarter version out later in April.

We recorded fifteen songs for Human Zoo and we wanted to keep it twelve songs in length because we wanted to do a vinyl release, so we had three songs leftover and they’re going to be part of the Kickstarter package.

The Kickstarter went extremely well – did you expect that?

The first one went really well so I thought there’d be Kickstarter fatigue but we actually surpassed the first one, it goes to show you the type of fan base that we have – they’re very dedicated, incredibly helpful and we need them to be.

Yeah, I saw a lot of interaction on your Facebook page – a lot of feedback.

Yeah it’s fun, we’ve done some interesting things – a couple of dinners with fans who’ve bought that package so it’s nice to know people that way , we’re about to do some private house parties where I just go with my acoustic guitar so it’s fun for us too.

How did the idea for the title ‘Human Zoo’ come about?

There’s a reference to it in the song ‘I’m The Devil’ - we were just searching for a title for the record.

In a classic zoo, what animal would you and your band mates be?

I’d be a zebra because I identify with both black and white perspectives.

If you had to be locked in a cage with someone who would that be?

Sophie Ellis Bextor!

Now if you could lock someone in a cage and throw the key away who would it be?

David Beckham…

I’m sure Victoria will be devastated! [laughs] So I had a look at the lyrics – what exactly is the Smorgasbord Groove?

The song you’re referring to - ‘Satanic Wheels’ – is a song where our bass player Smorgasbord wrote the music so it was kind of a self-referential thing we threw in there to make that particular lyric work.

Who is the Devil and what does he have to do with Mountain Dew? Mountain Dew is particularly a toxic beverage, you look at the ingredients and what it consists of there’s not a whole lot good there – I’m sure they find a way to fuck up the water, that’s where the devil comes in.

If Mountain Dew’s the drink of evil, what’s the food of evil?

I’d go with the chicken pasta Alfredo at Cheesecake Factory.

The Worst Movie Ever – I know it’s Sphere in this case but is there any close competition?

The Abyss, those type of movies where Dustin Hoffman or Ed Harris go underwater, it comes at a terrible time for movie making, they’re just awful movies. Gran Torino is another piece of shit – that’s the worst movie ever.

We’ve also got a song about necrophilia – ‘I’d like to go deeper with the Reaper’, how did THAT come about?

It was one of the songs that just wrote itself – I wasn’t thinking the world needs a necrophilia album but I wanted it to be a feel good song, a toe tapper and something to dance to!

Is there any particular thing, time or situation that inspires you to write lyrics?

I don’t know but today would be a good day because I’m way early for my flight so I have lots of time to kill, so when I’m finished here I’m going to revise my songwriting with the lyrics I wrote when I was on tour and put them together into a cohesive mesh.

Your sound is quite varied – any inspiration from anyone in particular?

The further we go into actually making music ourselves we tend to think about that less. We’re all into our 40s now or at least some of us are and we have a lifetime of listening to all types of music; obviously we don’t gravitate towards one style, whatever feels right at the time.

How do you feel ‘Human Zoo’ has progressed from your previous record?

We just try to not duplicate the last album we made – the last one [Mustang] was guitar heavy and intentionally lo-fi and we knew we wanted to get a slightly bigger sound – this one was a whole smorgasbord of sounds.

Did you create any special merchandise for ‘Human Zoo’?

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‘I’m sure they find a way to fuck up the water, that’s where the devil comes in’

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You can order the vinyl and CD from Metropolis Records, as far as merchandise I don’t know if the t-shirts are specific to Human Zoo per se but we have new designs with every new record.

You’ve also been doing solo work – any plans for more?

I’m writing and trying to find time to record my third solo album but it’s tough – I have a two year old daughter now so I do have a lot less free time but the songs are definitely there.

Is Kickstarter a possibility for that?

It is possible – I’m wary to do that for my solo stuff right now. E6 had such success doing that but for solo I intend to do it the old fashioned way…

You mentioned you’re not multi-millionaires… Where does the money come from for a musician nowadays?

It comes from albums, merchandise, touring – definitely from touring you sell a lot more merchandise so the more you tour, the more money you make; we still see record company advance and revenue – sometimes it’s a cheque for $14,000 or 25 cents.

Do you have one for 25 cents somewhere?

I have had one for 5 cents…

Oh my god.

I’ve just got another one for 7 cents.

You should scan it and put it onto Facebook!

I did and it’s funny the reactions you get – some say ‘You’re not making money off Electric Six are you!’ - They base it on seeing ONE cheque and then the other thing you see conservative friends blaming it on Obama, nobody sees the

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big picture.

If you weren’t doing music what would you be doing?

I’ve had all kinds of jobs – bus driving, bar tender, copy writing, I even did bill collecting but I wasn’t very good at it. Before we got the record deal I was attempting to be a teacher but I didn’t get very far, maybe that’s what I’d be doing.

Are you looking forward to the UK tour? The UK seems to be very strong for you.

It is – the shows are bigger, it’s always nice to travel and go to different countries even if the UK and US aren’t’ that dissimilar – it’s still interesting from an American perspective.

We’re doing three songs from Human Zoo, four off Mustang, hits off Fire and pepper it with stuff from the other seven albums. There’s one coming up where we’ve never played any of the songs before for the encore so we’re looking forward to that.

Do you ever get sick of playing Gay Bar? No! If we were sick of any of this we wouldn’t do it but that’s the biggest problem – people only know you for 1 or 2 songs and not the whole album.

What’s the most underrated Electric Six song?

A lot of them actually – ‘Watch Evil Empires Fall Apart’, the entire Heartbeats and Brainwaves album, there’s a whole lot that’s not what we’re known for.

Anything else to the UK fans?

Everyone in the United Kingdom needs to give Electric Six one more chance: the pensioner, the man on the street, we need everyone involved this time round!

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He may be only 24, but Arthur Walwin has already been making a big name for himself: airtime on BBC Radio 1, supporting artists like Rudimental and Pigeon Detectives, over 33k followers on Twitter AND 1 million combined views on YouTube. He will be soon breaking into the American market to promote both his singles ‘This Feels Like Summer’ and ‘Bad’ and build a fan base over there with two Californian shows: 15th November at Los Angeles’ The Mint and 16th November at San Diego’s Woody’s.

He is undoubtedly a very driven person, telling us ‘I am constantly chasing the next big thing’ but what’s behind the man?

Tell us a bit more about yourself, what’s behind the man?

I think the coolest thing about being alive right now is that you can find out more or less everything you need to know about anyone from just one or two of their social network profiles. Any of my fans that follow me are fully aware of how obsessed I am with Netflix & Rosé. I don’t like to cover anything up or change who I am in order to come across a certain way. I can imagine it’d just be too hard to keep up with the more attention you got.

What music were you listening to growing up?

Until I was around 6-7, I’m pretty sure all I listened to was Michael Jackson. By then, it was the late 90’s, so there was a LOT of euro-pop i.e. that hilarious Blue-da-ba-dee song. Then in my early teens I started playing guitar, so I pretty much listened to anything with impressive guitar playing. Guns N Roses, Santana, Yngwie Malmsteen – all those guys. Finally, emo came along and I became obsessed with Funeral For A Friend and Atreyu and pretty much any band that wore black and screamed

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Interview by Nelly Loriaux about break-ups.

Was there one particular artist you wanted to emulate or aspire to be?

Not one. It was forever changing. I was lucky to see the bands that I did when I was growing up. Also, YouTube was just starting to come around – so I’d spend hours (still do) watching really cool bands and singers do their thing and wishing I could be half as cool.

What drove you to get into the music business, the moment when you thought ‘yeah, that’s what I want to do’?

I tell everyone this. I think I was 18. There was one weekend where I had a great gig on the Friday, a really good recording session on the Saturday and then another packed show on the Sunday. For 3 days, I lived and breathed nothing but music and pure fun and I never looked back.

Was YOUNG CLASSICS (formerly PAIGE) your first outfit?

No, not by any means. I’d been in 3 moderately noteworthy bands before that. I’m not sure we ever toured or anything like that, but we definitely had a lot of fun. I was in a band called This Part Is Us around 2010 and we actually did some really cool things. Should still be on YouTube if you search it up!

What did you learn from this?

Way too many things to list. I think the minute you decide to leave the practice room and expose your band to the world – you begin a journey of constant learning.

It’s just up to you how long of a journey you feel like taking and how much you want to learn along the way. There are some things you don’t want to learn.

What made you decide to go ‘solo’?

No matter what project I’ve been in, I’ve always (secretly) prioritised my own music. I’d been putting it on the backburner for so long, but when people like Fearne Cotton are broadcasting it to a huge number of people – it’s time to sort your life out and make some decisions. Yeah, I let a lot of people down but I think for the most part people always knew this is what

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‘I can’t change who I am for my followers – they know who I am.’

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I’ve wanted.

How do you go about writing your lyrics? They encompass hope, expectations, joy, delusion - is that personal experience, the world as you see it or just watching people and telling their story?

All of the above! The great thing about song writing (for me at least) is that there are no rules. There is no formula and no guaranteed win. Sometimes, I will effectively write a screenplay in my head and then draw lyrics from that. Other times, it’s as simple as documenting things that have happened to me/because of me.

As personal experience, is it a form of therapy to find closure, face your ‘demons’ and move on?

To a certain extent. I LOVE when I can write a really personal song that really hits home. My last EP was effectively about one girl and even after everything was released, I still didn’t have complete closure on the relationship. Yeah, putting your emotions out on the table does help, but a lot of singers forget you then have to tour and promote that record for about 18 months typically. I don’t know about other singers, but my best performances are when I’ve immersed myself in all the same emotions I felt whilst writing the song. Makes for such a good stage performance, but I swear it’s not great for your emotions! Haha.

I literally place myself right back into that mindframe so the performance I’m delivering is 100% genuine.

You have also covered songs from many different artists like CLEAN BANDIT, PASSENGER,THE VAMPS, 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER to name just a few. As you know the optimists will say it is the biggest accolade you can give to an artist and the pessimists will say it is laziness but what make YOU decide to cover a particular song?

I enjoy singing songs. It’s as simple as that. Now, realistically I can’t release a new single every month.

I’d have nothing left for my album and everyone would get incredibly bored. So I do covers, but I record them in a way that they sound like one of my songs anyway.

That’s the fun part, when you get to genre-blend and experiment.

You now have over 33k followers on Twitter, what does this represent for you?

It represents an awful lot of people that care about what I have to say. And as I said, I can’t change who I am for my followers – they know who I am. I swear a bit and maybe comment a little too frankly on female celebrities I admire. But, I show them how hardworking I am and also how appreciative I am of their support. Twitter and

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all my other networks have given me the chance to show my followers the immense progression they’ve allowed me to have. Some people see it as arrogance or boasting, but to them I say - I want my followers to see that they’ve taken me right the way from the sketchy local pub - to Wembley Arena. They made that happen.

How is your selfie game going? Who are you playing with and what does it bring you?

I’m terrible at taking selfies at crucial times. I think a part of me is still a tiny bit old school and when I’m having a good time or doing something really cool, I just forget that I have a phone. But, I’ve been around some really cool people lately and some exciting things should be in the pipeline real soon.

Did I read correctly on your Twitter that you were going to have a cooking show? If so, tell us more about it... are you a keen chef? What food do you love the most?

I absolutely love cooking.

There are so many things I need to make time for in 2015. I want to expand my YouTube to feature more things that I’m passionate about like cooking and music production tutorials, blogs etc. Food wise, I’m a big fan of American cuisine.

You can really have fun with that stuff. I’ve also been getting into Vegan dishes!

I’m not vegan, but I just like the things you can create when meat isn’t the centre of attention. I made Buffalo Fried Cauliflower the other day. Sensational.

You are undoubtedly a very driven person but what is your burning desire?

Define your dream.

Dreams are hard. I’m more of a goal-setter. I’m constantly chasing the next big thing. I guess ultimately, I’d love to be touring and releasing regularly. It sounds quite vague, but it’s hard to get to a point where things are just running like clockwork. Album, tour, album, tour, award season, tour etc. That’s what I’m aiming for.

What can your fans expect in the foreseeable future?

I’ve just put out my new single ‘Bad’. I’m going to be hitting the road for my headline tour, and then I’m doing a couple of dates out in California straight after the UK shows. After that, I’m back in the UK for Festive-ALL with some friends of mine like Room 94 and Marty Jackson.

So there’s plenty of opportunity to see me live this year!

Already working towards some big things for 2015, but I’ll keep that under wraps for now.

Anything else you’d like to add?

As always. You can easily keep in touch with me by going to www.arthurwalwin.com and following any of the links. I always make time to reply, so drop me a message if you like what I do. It means a lot.

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Interview & photos

by Cristina Massei When mum Kelly Ogden and dad Luis Cabezas decided to hit the road to promote latest album ‘Barefoot and Pregnant’, little River – aka ‘The Dollytot’ – put his foot down and demanded to join his parents on tour. After all he inspired that record, didn’t he? So I find myself in an unusual situation, whispering interview questions to The Dollyrots backstage while trying not to interrupt the baby’s peaceful nap. I shouldn’t worry though: River is the quintessential rock’n’roll tot, even posing for a few shots when he wakes up… But let’s go back to mum and dad now! We have a few questions to ask before they hit the Forum’s stage…

You decided to be a band full time just after George W. Bush had been elected in 2000, as you thought ‘there’s no future anyway, might as well do this’; fourteen years later you’re here with a baby so you must have changed your mind somehow on what’s to come!

Kelly Ogden: I think at the time we were probably looking for an excuse, like we really wanted a reason to be able to do music instead of being professionals and so that was a perfect one – ‘Oh our economy’s going to go to crap, we’re going to go to war.’ All the things that actually did happen!

At this point however – with time and age – you kind of have a new perspective on things and after all the touring we definitely wanted to have a child, maybe add some good into the world if we could have any influence!

How is he behaving on the road?

K: He’s amazing, he’s so good! He’s napping next to us right now, that’s why we seem hushed. He loves new experiences, meeting people, and he loves drums! As crazy as it sounds, touring is a much more regimented schedule than regular life because every single day is the same: we wake up at the hotel, we check out at noon, we drive an hour or two, stop and eat, load in at four, soundcheck at 5:30. It’s such a routine that he’s just fallen into it really easily.

So he likes drums already – when he grows up would you like him to be: a doctor, a footballer, an internet billionaire or a drummer?

K: I just want him to be happy, truly! I know certain things would be easier to swallow but with any profession I think unless you really love it it’s not worth doing, I know people from all walks of life that really love what they do and the opposite is true too. I just hope he finds his passion and he finds it early so that he can be exceptional at what he does.

I’m sure you’ll motivate him!

K: Yeah, at anything! He seems to like drums so we’ll make sure he has a drum kit available –wherever he shows interest we’ll try and make it available.

Pots and pans in the kitchen…

K: Yeah – pots and pans work great! [laughs]

You’re halfway through this tour – you’ve toured with Buzzcocks before in 2010 – are they showing you the same courtesy in the UK as you did when they came to the states?

K: Oh yeah, we kept in touch with them after that trip. We got along really well and when they come to California we take Pete [Shelley] and his wife out for margaritas! It’s been a nice relationship that we kept and when we wanted to come back over we saw they had booked dates and we were like ‘Hey, can we open for you?’ They’re like ‘Sure, if you can get over here – no problem!’ It was really easy and we all know each other – on tour it can get tricky when you add new things into the mix and so I think it’s comfortable all the way round – even bringing the baby they’re ok with.

They’re getting on well with River?

K: Yep, brought candies and all sorts of things!

How’s the tour been going so far? It’s been a couple of years since you were here in the UK. K: We took last year off – it was the process of getting pregnant and having the baby that we weren’t here so our last tour was in October 2011, we actually had a few days off before we went to the states so Luis and I went to Paris, that’s where we decided it was time – we’re going to do the kid thing then another record then get right back out there and see if we can make it work so that’s where we are right now.

Tomorrow you’ve got the first of two house parties…

K: Some friends of ours – People On Vacation – they came over here and did nothing but house parties. They had so

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‘I feel like myself again but I’m still his mum all day and he gets to be here – I don’t think I’ve ever felt stronger and more confident and that shows when we play too’

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album because in some ways I think we were feeling a little retrospective about life and how things were going to change so it has a lot of emotion in there and a lot of happiness because it was a really wonderful time.

We finished it up in the studio with our regular guy – John Fields - Stacy Jones did the drums and we just tightened things up a little bit but it was mostly done and then he was born…

Luis Cabezas: Around the same time – it didn’t get mastered until he was like a month old – the record and the baby pretty much happened simultaneously.

K: We were in the studio when I was eight and a half months pregnant!

L: John’s a busy dude but he knew we had a deadline and so we finished two weeks before the due date.

K: The due date became our deadline!

L: It’s pretty crazy!

Wow! This album basically grew as River was growing – how did it influence the writing?

L: I think we were more decisive – the most we’ve ever been – because we knew our time was very limited – Kelly could only sing per se forty minutes a day and only play bass in short spurts as opposed to the past where we book out a studio for two weeks, everything had to be very focused so we didn’t have time to be rethinking so most of the lyrics and musical ideas were whatever we came up with first. Over time we’ve realised your first idea is usually your best and when you try to make it better a lot of times it makes it worse.

Are you happy with the album as it is? much fun and they got to see the country in a different way and you meet your fans in a more intimate setting, the shows are just cool because you can tell stories about the songs and it’s a really relaxed way to play a show. It should be a lot of fun!

What can people that haven’t seen you before expect live?

K: We play as true to our records as we can but a lot of people this tour have said ‘I’m a Buzzcocks fan and I’ve checked you out on YouTube and you were a little soft or too poppy but then I saw you live and I got why you’re on tour with them.’ I think live it’s just a little bit more tough and a little bit more energetic.

The new album ‘Barefoot and Pregnant’ was obviously written while you were expecting – did that affect the recording?

K: Definitely! We took our time with it, we started a Pledge Music campaign, found out we were pregnant – decided it was time to do the record so we launched it and started the writing process and so the fans got to see the entire album from the first word written through the very end. It’s still not over actually, we’re still giving them updates on things but it was cool because every video update they could see my belly growing and we would let them know what was happening in life too – it was a really cool experience because we recorded the majority of it at home in our home studio.

Luis engineered it and we wrote and recorded the final tracks as we went along as I could handle it because of course I was tired, nauseous and moody at times but it all worked out really well and I think it’s an honest and fun

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L: Yeah, I wouldn’t change the album at all – less so than any of our other records because I always look back on the changes we’ve made to songs and I feel it made them not as good in the long run – the first six months the album’s out you think it’s a good idea and then you look back on it it’s like ‘Why did we change it?’ This gave us the motivation to just go with our gut more – the titles, artwork all of it.

Word association!

If this album was a cocktail…

K: A Greyhound.

Colour?

K: Red. Drug?

L: Something quick…

K: Speedball L: No, DMT or something – explosive and orgasmic!

What’s next for Dollyrots?

L: We’re going to do a couple more tours on this record then kind of keep the cycle going because the way music works now – bands aren’t putting much stuff out on record labels as much, it’s more you do crowdsourcing with your fans and let your fans help you build and grow a project.

We liked doing it that way last time – having our fans in it from the beginning and sharing the creation of the record with them. Normally right now we’d be finishing up touring and then head back into writing/studio mode but the way it works now we’ll probably just think about it like Christmas or whatever then introduce a new project early next year and let them come along for that one too.

On Pledge you reached the goal in one day…

L: We got pretty close on the first day but ended up hitting the goal in the first week then it grew from there.

Did you expect it to go that quick?

L: No. We figured we would make the goal – actually the same thing happened with our last record via Kickstarter, we don’t set an unreasonable goal.

K: Just what we actually need.

L: This is what we’ll need to properly record a record but our fans are really supportive and they really believe in what we do, Pledge is basically a pre-order.

There’s a lot of trust to the artist…

L: Yeah. We’re not promising anything specific, we’re just saying we’re going to make a record and we have supportive fans – a core group that as soon as we say we’re going to do it they know we’re going to follow through and we’re going to give them a good album.

When you end up making more – how is the rest of the money used?

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L: We hired somebody to do lyric videos to every song so we did a full album’s worth of an art concept, we shared the creative ideas with him and he would bring it to life. It allows us to do stuff like that – we did a music video for ‘Get Weird’ which we’re going to probably put out when we get home from this tour – that’s another thing we wouldn’t be able to do had we not gone over our goal.

K: With crowdfunding projects even if you make double your goal it means that many more ordered product so you’re buying more to give to them – it evens out in the end!

L: On our last record we went over the initial estimate by a decent amount but we ended up spending more than we gained on the Kickstarter – by the time you pay for postage and factor in all the extra costs – hidden costs everywhere: vinyl’s crazy expensive and we got to get cool coloured vinyl and get better CDs with inserts, just giving the people that supported something a little nicer instead of a crappy CD that looks like a demo and a black and white shirt.

They got six coloured shirts, card stock posters and we felt happy about sending them something really nice.

It’s a shame sometimes it gets abused – like what happened with Alt-Fest.

K: There’s been a few projects that haven’t followed through.

L: You have to have a working knowledge of the average cost for certain things and make a budget – you can’t just be ‘I want $10,000!’ Things cost money! It doesn’t count the time involved – people just overreach and see the dollar sign, when they try to fulfil it – it costs $11 to ship a CD and $14 to ship a shirt to the UK – that’s a big chunk of the money right there. It’s great that we get to send physical stuff out to our fans but it takes a lot of effort – trips to the post office, signing declarations.

We get to do it for something that we love and means something to other people, it’s supporting our art and it’s a fair exchange – that’s what artists have to do now.

I read your blog about women in rock so after ten months what do you think now?

K: I think this tour has been really good for me because I feel like myself again but I’m still his mum all day and he gets to be here – I don’t think I’ve ever felt stronger and more confident and that shows when we play too, it’s so nice to be loud on stage and know that he’s here is really cool!

Is there going to be a Dollytot shirt at any point?

K: There IS one! A onesie, toddler size shirts next tour!

Speaking of which, our adorable rock’n’roll Dollytot is awake and distracting us with his big smile and extreme cuteness. Recorder off, camera on for some group shots of The Dollyrots and their future drummer!

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Iggor on Pandemonium, football, Brazil post World Cup and more...

Interview and pictures (unless stated) by Cristina Massei

Max and I were ‘Yes, this is it, we’re really feeling it!’ and just kept on doing it.

I meet Iggor Cavalera at the Napalm headquarters. In the end we listened to the record and we were ‘Wow, We get talking about Italian football, getting old and it came really different than we thought.’ some more football, before getting busy with the whole Would you say then it was spontaneous? rock’n’roll thing – particularly Cavalera Conspiracy’s next It’s very spontaneous even in the way we write music, album ‘Pandemonium’… it’s very different to anything we’ve done with any other For a start Pandemonium which is out in November – bands where you practice, get the songs structure and I’ve been told it will have more of a grindcore influence only then we go into the studio and record the songs. to what you’ve done so far…

With Cavalera it’s the other way around – we never pracYeah, it definitely took a direction when we started doing tice! We have little ideas that me and Max exchange the record – me and Max we had all these demos that from CDs and things like that with beats and riffs then we were thinking of these ideas. Once we recorded two when we go into the studio we just try and capture that songs into it - those two were really fast and to the point first moment of energy and that’s it, later we go back and we just switched our game and looked at each other try to learn those songs to play live. It’s a reverse way of like ‘Should we continue this?’ We w e r e doing things that really works for Cavalera and I’m really glad because it’s really refreshing for me as a musician to ‘Yeah, that feels good!’ so we try new things and not do the same thing over and over threw away all these ideas so it’s quite fun! and went into another direction which was I was going to ask if you felt the progression keeps the quite fun because enthusiasm alive after so many years in music. again not something It does. All those little details can throw you in difwe expected, it was ferent ways where you feel like ‘Oh I haven’t done just at the time, at this, I’m going again in the studio, rehearse for like the moment we 2 months…’ all those things can be already in the felt really good back of your head going ‘ugh’ so those details can with that. That’s keep you excited about doing things and I quite enwhat Pandemonijoy that especially after doing this kind of stuff for um is about – the almost thirty years so anything for me that captures moment where my attention, anything that’s out of the ordinary – and that includes what I do with MixHELL even with Cavalera Conspiracy, it’s about writing new music and for me that’s exciting, that’s the only reason I was into doing Cavalera Conspiracy because it was Max inviting me to do some new music – if he invited me to do what I’ve done already which was Sepultura I’d probably say no but we never spoke of the direction we were going to take – it’s very spontaneous.

Do you find your fans understand this because I know there’s always the ‘when are Sepultura getting back together with Max?’ and Cavalera Conspiracy is just its own thing…

Not everyone understands which is fine because that’s the idea of me and Max doing this, it’s not about conquering those fans or things like that, it’s really about trying to capture what we feel now and of course we’re more than proud of what we’ve

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done with Sepultura, we never look back and go ‘Oh no!’ it’s not about that. It’s about trying new stuff and with that in mind we can of course go back and revisit our past but we don’t want to live off the past and keep doing what we’ve already done, I also find it really exciting that we do Cavalera in that sense rather than keep doing Sepultura over and over.

As you say when you write music it’s spontaneous but the moment you decide to do new Cavalera Conspiracy – is that the same?

It doesn’t usually have a plan, me and Max will talk to each other for example we’ve just finished Pandemonium and then we did a tour in South America for a month, during that tour I already sat down with Max talking about doing something new, I was like ‘Wow, that’s quite early!’ It’s not something we plan, it’s just how we feel right now so it’s cool to have that feeling not ‘ OK, we did the record, now we’re going to tour and do another cycle then at the end stop and think about a new record.’ We’re already like in the new record so it’s quite cool for me to be in that timeframe where it’s like ‘Wow, we’ve just finished something and we’re excited to do more!’ That comes out of doing the shows, playing the old songs, all that stuff really influenced me and Max to do new stuff.

Is there any particular song on the album that was particularly stimulating to write?

Everything was so fast that at the time for me the whole record was one song but now that we’re going back to the record and reproducing those songs live I’m finding my favourite things, for example we played the title track

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on the last tour and I was like ‘It’s really great, it fits in that moment between the past and the future.’ It could be an old song and also something very new, the way we play or the tuning of the guitars is a bit more modern so I really enjoy that.

Do you find it representative of the album?

Yes it is and the song we had for everyone to listen – Banzai Kamikaze – also represents the vibe of the record.

Which song do you think people will be surprised by?

I think in the sense of how the full album’s going to be it’ll be surprising but musically I don’t think it’s anything out of this world, it does have all the influences that me and Max have brought from the past, it’s not going to be ballads or anything like that!

We’ve mentioned grindcore – what are your favourite artists from that genre?

It’s weird because Max used that term but it’s not really a grindcore record, for me the essence of grindcore is with the whole Earache thing – Napalm Death bringing a metal version of the English hardcore scene as the kings of grindcore.

This is also your first album with Napalm from Roadrunner…

We were finished with Roadrunner and of course a lot of people showed interest in releasing the new Cavalera, Napalm showed us extra passion towards it and we took that into consideration because there’s bigger labels, smaller labels and for us to be where should we go, who’s excited about having Cavalera and they showed that.

© Tom Barnes

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You’ve also got MixHELL and played Sonisphere earlier this year – how was it?

Great! It’s a very different project and I try as much as possible not mix things between what I do with Cavalera and MixHELL. I don’t really like to push things onto my fans – MixHELL will never open up a show for Cavalera. Playing Sonisphere was a bit of a surprise for us but when we got there we saw the tent that we play was a bit more forward thinking – a lot more electronic orientated but it’s not something we push for but it was fun!

How would you describe MixHELL to a Cavalera fan?

Probably their biggest nightmare!

[Both laugh] If you’re a big Cavalera fan there’s a slight chance that you understand what I do but most don’t get it and that’s fine because it’s a different world. I find what i do with Cavalera it’s more predictable with fans but with MixHELL it can be more shocking to them.

Do you find that doing something different keeps the enthusiasm alive even with Cavalera?

Yeah I see examples of people that try and do that – Mike Patton for example who goes to different places as a musician, I try to be inspired by people like that.

Nate Newton from Converge/Doomriders has joined as bassist…

He’s not really our new bassist – it’s quite complicated!

With Cavalera the lineup is solidly me and Max, Marc [Rizzo] has been doing guitar with us on the album but with the bass player we choose a guest to come in and play so it’s not a new member of the band but more a participant – the first record we had Joe [Duplantier] from Gojira and on the second we had Johny Chow who was touring with us and now Nate.

It was Max and I thinking what bass players we really like and asking Nate if he wanted to do the record but he’s not a full time member of Cavalera.

What’s going to happen with touring?

I’ve been talking to Nate lately about working it out but again it has to be something natural because he does have Converge and Doomriders, if it fits it’s going to be cool but we don’t want to force a situation. In South America we had Tony Campos play bass on that tour because Nate was busy with other stuff, it’s going to be more open about who’s going to play bass on the touring for Pandemonium.

Speaking of touring – when can we see you here in the UK? Right now we’re trying to find the gaps and once we find them - let’s block the Summer for example – but the idea

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is to do a lot of touring next year with the record – we might do a run in December in the US then the summer festivals in Europe.

Do you think Pandemonium is an album that needs to be appreciated live?

Yeah I do, I’m really excited to show what we did in the studio live because it’s a really energetic record, we’re really looking forward to base a new tour on the record – new mixed with the old ones so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to play it!

What was the first song/record that you felt an emotional connection to?

I was playing drums before I even thought about being in a band, I was really into drumming and then years later a cousin of me and Max took us to see Queen in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1982 – that was the game changer for us, seeing them live and at that time Queen was the biggest band in the world. That one show made me and Max start going really bad at school and becoming obsessed with music so I think it’s Queen’s ‘fault’!

Can anyone replace Freddie or do you think they should’ve just put Queen to sleep?

It would be fun to see other people doing it as a tribute thing but it’s not the same.

You’re quite a football fan, did you follow the last World Cup? Yes I am even though I’m disappointed with my country especially in the World Cup… I’m Italian so…

I think both did a really lousy job!

So aside from both our teams going out what was the most entertaining moment of the World Cup being in Brazil?

For me as a Brazilian to see a World Cup in my country after so many years (the last one was in the 1950s) was really exciting, people really love the game there. Not everyone was pleased because a lot of people took advantage and did a lot of bad things – a half and half thing of ‘this is bullshit’ especially with FIFA and the corporate bullshit that goes with it.

Do you feel it left a good or bad legacy?

As far as the investments – all bad, it was just done for that – billions on building the stadiums and the teams aren’t big enough to play in those so I think it was a waste of money; but for the country it was good because it brought attention to a lot of things.

And with that is back to English football again, until I find myself cornered between two Arsenal fans – Iggor and Terry Beezer – and leave the room. As of today, my team is 9 points ahead. Just saying…

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'the idea of me and Max doing this, it’s not about conquering those fans or things like that, it’s really about trying to capture what we feel now'

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Seven years after the first appearance of Ziltoid it’s time for the sequel plus a new album from the Devin Townsend project and in a year where he experimented also with crowdfunding Matt Dawson once more talks to Devin Townsend about all these topics plus what the future may hold…

The first thing is where to start with you – this year’s been quite crazy for you…

Fuck yeah it has!

How’s the interview cycle been going for you this time?

It’s good man, it’s been the type of psychosis you can only get from relentlessly analysing yourself for three weeks publicly – it’s a real specific experience that really helps in this whole self-loathing thing.

We’ll begin with Casualties Of Cool which was quite unique as you decided to take the crowdfunding route this time – what was the motivation behind it? I presume you had seen what Ginger and others had been doing with it…

Ginger was definitely an influence on that for sure, I think we keep pretty close tabs on each other so it makes sense that if he’s doing something interesting it would be at least worth investigating for me and I did. I think really this scenario that has occurred over the past year between Casualties and Z2 is the culmination of things aligning like a perfect storm of chaos and support – Casualties was a record that wasn’t technically signed to anybody so it gave me an opportunity to experiment with

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the platform in ways it wasn’t going to piss off the label and I asked for what I needed – when it did become substantially more you’re in a position of ‘What do I do with this now?’ Do you just retire for a year and fuck off or do you actualise something that you’ve always known is going to require a shit load of money – I was looking for money for Ziltoid with people independently and as you would imagine the result of that search is no, you can’t have a bunch of money but good luck!

Casualties surprised all of us because there was excess funds so I thought now’s the time to do this, we discussed it with the label that we could do Ziltoid as long as we also did some DTP stuff and then I would take the excess money from the crowd source and apply it to the puppets, the TV thing, the comic book and all these sort of extracurricular media projects that resulted in Z2 and it is a very complex, peculiar and chaotic thing that to be perfectly honest is exactly accurate for the amount of chaos and peculiarities that my life has contained over the past year.

With Casualties you went into an ambient/country crossover deal with Che and then you’ve got the Sky Blue record with Anneke then the radio play of Dark Matters – when I listened to Z2 I started with Dark Matters first because I remember you having the Ziltoid musical idea for a long time – back to when I first interviewed you at Damnation Festival 2011 so how is it to finally get that out there?

It feels like I’ve been throwing up for eight years! Between all the records, box sets and shows ending with Z2

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is like this perpetual vomit stream and Z2 was the icing on the cake, it was just the biggest thing that I’ve done on the tail end of fatigue so the process was incredibly invasive, exhausting, frustrating and exciting. To get it finished finally – lesson learned: you set yourself up in your life and career by saying yes to all these things ,you try to please people and yourself, you try to provide and do all these things. For me there’s a whole element in the Devin Townsend Project in the past 7 years that’s culminated in Z2 that’s just been a lesson more than anything else, when you’re thrust into having to look at what this process does to not only your life but also your health.

Again Z2 is accurate – when I talked about doing radio plays and all this sort of stuff it’s increasingly obvious to me that I function on two levels: the level that I’m conscious of is oblivious to the concept, the ramifications, the whole thing and my process is entirely based on instinct, as a result of that quitting drinking, smoking weed and doing anything like that is the best thing that could have happened to me because then it clears out that path so whatever the instinct is following at this point in my life is something I can rationalise . It confuses me as much as everyone else but as long as the vision is something I adhere to and is correct then I’m happy with it.

There’s also a feeling that you felt it started even further back with the Strapping Young Lad album Alien – particularly ‘Info Dump’…

Yeah, again that was based on instinct and the tangible influence for ‘Info Dump’ was a programme I’d seen on Nova [ Ed note: think similar to BBC’s Horizon] about

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the mathematician Andrew Wiles who was interested in solving ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’ which was something people had thought to be unsolvable so he went away for seven years into isolation and he solved it with a simple equation – x2 +Y2 = Z2 – the answer linked two forms of thought that were previously not thought to be connected whatsoever, the bridge was a simple equation and I loved that. I put it in ‘Info Dump’ as Morse code because I thought it was interesting like artistically painting a picture.

When it came time to do a second Ziltoid record the fact that it was combining two types of thinking that I worked with - the idea was not only calling it Ziltoid 2 but also is an analogy to that whole period. I’m not trying to be clever with it, it’s just a more casual interest in something that I think was kind of cool.

There was the whole thing as well with the mastering of the record – you mentioned on Twitter about it.

The mastering just wasn’t right so not only did it get remastered, I remixed it as well so what’s been online so far is the original mix which isn’t that much different but it’s different enough that I was dissatisfied with it and Twitter works for me because it gives me a portal to balance things off of people that have some investment in what I do and it helps because you can get a real good gauge in whether people think it’s a stupid idea or not because I produce my own stuff and in charge of my own ship in such a way that sometimes you need different points of view.

If you rely on your own trip exclusively after a while you

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yourself [which] often results in unexpected outcomes, successes.

For me committing to making Sky Blue and realising I couldn’t just phone it in propelled me in a direction that was just super fucking frustrating but ultimately enlightening to me about a certain part of my nature that I didn’t give much credit to – it’s OK to be depressed, it’s OK to be melancholy, it’s OK to be angry – these are normal things and it only becomes a problem if you suppress to the point – like the housewife that goes ‘Everything’s disappear up your own ass and the type of music that I do is precariously close to that anyway [laughs] so when Great!’ – what if it isn’t? Saying everything’s great when I have these kind of Twitter meltdowns it’s more about it isn’t doesn’t do anybody any good however publicly ranting about how pissed off you are also doesn’t help trying to get some perspective and that helps! because who isn’t?!

Which side was the most complex to make? think it was a really good experience in a sense putting Sky Blue by far – [with] Ziltoid the function of the char- Imyself in a position where I had to make a record other acter gives me an excuse to make that random, wanky than Ziltoid. heavy metal and that’s something I enjoy making because it’s quick, effective, fun and I can take it to new Contrast that with Dark Matters – in fact the whole exparameters and directions that are completely avant- periment with Ziltoid for this: radio/the Youtube epigarde. Typically there’s a certain faction of people that sodes of ZTV plus the album – there’s a whole deal re enjoy the music but most often it’s not the music, more creativity and the cult of celebrity more so on the first Ziltoid himself but I really enjoy making that type of mu- couple of tracks with people staring at Ziltoid in awe at a concert… sic so the Ziltoid record took very little time.

Sky Blue on the other hand started as something I was Yeah, of course everything is coming from a fantasy authinking of as a compromise, give the label something so tobiographical place in my world but it’s so exaggerated I could have my hyper expensive farting puppet musical it’s obviously not meant to be literal, I’m just reflecting but as it turned out I underestimated how much I had to on observations that goes on in my little world and then be emotionally involved in that type of music not to just making it massive for the sake of the crazy music but be phoned in so it was very quick that I realised what it’s also interesting because the whole process of obI was getting into and I ended up going through forty jectifying and personifying that exaggerated part of you songs trying to isolate what the hell it is that the record through a character gives you a take on it that’s unique – therapeutic for me in a way – I’m actually at a point in was supposed to be about. career where things are actually going well and are Thankfully by the end of it I cornered it and I made a re- my higher than they’ve been, bills are finally paid – we’re cord I’m very proud of because it unearths some things not raking it in but not using the current album budget I didn’t recognise that I was feeling and it was great but to pay for the last record. man getting to the point where I wasn’t just perplexed by it took for-fucking-ever but maybe through that that’s It’s a small genre and it requires us to keep working and what the concept ended up being through all the pains touring in order to pay the bills but as a result of it it’s interesting because you put out a record and people projin the ass you just do it, you just get through it. ect to others what they want – people might think that It felt to me that Sky Blue’s about confronting fear and I’m crazy, a genius, an idiot but I’m none of those things trying to get over it…

I’m just drawn and compelled to create things and I’ve That’s it, it’s not like any of my process was rooted in been doing it for long enough and been bull headed long bravery , it’s a necessity that requires you to be brave enough that I’m still here so people take notice now, at when you don’t want to be and so it’s confrontation of the same time it’ll wane and when the popularity sub-

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sides and I take some time off or whatever you’ve just got to be careful you don’t let any of the excessive moments colour your objective and my objective is to be a more functional version of myself.

I don’t like being dissatisfied, perpetually irritated, an insomniac and all these things so you work on it and by working on it for me there’s a bunch of music as a byproduct of that, it’s interesting to me how it all functions and people’s perceptions of what you do and who you are shift but ultimately I can’t let anybody’s projections or preconceptions change the fact I love it!

You have a couple of guests on Dark Matters as well – Dominique from Stolen Babies as the War Princess and you also have Chris Jericho as Captain Spectacular – I suspect the Dominique deal came from touring with Stolen Babies a few years ago so how did Chris Jericho collaborating with you come to be?

He hosted the Golden Gods awards a couple of years back and I was there – met him backstage and we’re both from Canada so we kind of have that in common so we chatted for a while and then when I was trying to put together the Ziltoid record I found myself doing all the voices – this sounds like someone that’s got multiple personality disorder rather than a legitimate story so I thought ‘Fuck it, I’ll have to find some other people to do this.’ As soon as I think about Captain Spectacular nobody else was in my head – I remember seeing Chris in sequins and sunglasses backstage so I got in touch with a mutual friend and at first I think he was like what the fuck but he did it so hooray for Chris!

I described it to someone as exactly what I thought Captain Spectacular was going to be!

That’s it! You put Chris in a cape and that’s it – he’s Captain Spectacular! Same with Dominique – War Princess – that’s her! My reasons for including other singers and musicians in my world is less to mould them but there’s a role, a theme that I’ve got in my head and you do it really well so please?

Same works with Che and Anneke as well.

I believe things evolve naturally – Che and I were just fucking around with Casualties and ended up getting really good morphing so that things that were not so good ended up falling by the wayside and so after four years

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what you’ve got is a collection of songs which have this strong identity that Is accurate to the people involved with it and I think that’s how things should evolve, less about for example I’m going to make a death metal band so I’m going to get a bunch of people that look like they’re in a death metal band and then we’re a death metal band- no it’s if you find yourself around a bunch of people that play death metal and you like each other eventually that’s what happens.

Preconceiving emotions is just unnatural.

The musical that’s coming up at the Royal Albert Hall next year – what led to the decision to stage it there and what would you compare it to?

I think it’s not going to be a musical as much as it is, with Retinal we did that and it became special in the sense it was a circus and chaotic, the difference between Retinal and Ziltoid are many in that the concept is a lot more specific and gives us an opportunity to pinpoint our intentions, with Retinal it was a strange story and a weird soup full of crazy dreams, Ziltoid’s an ingredient, a meal so at this point because we’re deep in pre-production and discussions of what the show is, how it gets put together, what we can really do to make it the best version of the Ziltoid experience but also what did we learn from Retinal? There’s elements of stepping it up that involve I think it becoming a fucking bad ass rock show as opposed to a scrappy high school musical – as much as I liked Retinal it was great but by the end of it, it was made clear that next time you need to fine tune this, a lot more extreme in a lot of ways. The reason why we chose Royal Albert Hall – our manager Andy, he’s really got a strong vision of how this is progressing and he’s a major player in what happens at this point.

Prior to that you have a run with Periphery and Shining (the Norway version!) – how is it going to be touring with them?

Essentially everybody on this tour is qualified to headline the show, the fact that we’re closing the night is based on business shit that’s beyond me but both are unique and completely well defined so I think that tour has the potential to be like an incredibly strong night for people to see because it’s not your typical line-up of people, three ferocious entities. Luckily everyone’s cool and friendly with each other.

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Article and photos by Mark Fletcher Hailing from London, Lost Gravity are quickly making new friends with their formidable sound that takes from the stout elements of Soundgarden and The Foo Fighters merged with the riff-creating sensibilities of Metallica.

Rightly so, Lost Gravity have gained recognition for their energetic and noose-tight live shows. The UK noise beasts are now poised to up the ante with the national launch of their self-titled debut album, which is out Monday 13th October through all stores.

Formed mid-2007 by Brazilian born guitarist & vocalist, Breno Val, Lost Gravity have three self-financed and selfreleased EPs to their name: 2008’s ‘Anywhere But Home’, ‘Selfish’, which was released in 2009 and ‘Lost Gravity III’, which dropped in 2012. True to Breno’s DIY ethos, he set up his own label, Priston Records, which to date has been an ideal vehicle for the band’s releases. The label’s fourth release is Lost Gravity’s debut album which drops nationally this Autumn.

Playing live to a large crowd at Underworld for their album launch on October 11th, the guys of Lost Gravity entertained for their whole set by displaying the energy and bollocks of some of the most iconic rock acts. They clearly love what they do and playing through their album in front of a home crowd was the right way to launch the album.

The gig itself went down well with tracks like ‘Changes’ and ‘Back Where you Belong’ taking the riffs of the eighties to a new level.

But these guys not only know how to play, they know how to lay on the Rock ‘n’ Roll image and party. Having spent the best part of two hours in their limo and witnessing the consumption of Champagne and Black Label

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whisky (from the bottles) and then partying at Big Red until 4am, these guys are the epitome of Rock.

Interviewing Breno in the back of the limo on the way to Big Red (in-between consumption of alcohol) was a unique experience. Here’s what we talked about whilst AC DC ‘Back in Black’ boomed in the background…

Breno: Hey Mark how you doin’?

Let’s talk about the gig tonight. How do think it went?

Breno: It was a fucking good show man, we had a great time.

Obviously the gig was to launch the album, tell us a bit about that.

Breno: We recorded the album earlier this year as our debut album and decided to have a proper album launch.

We chose the Underworld and the crowd were on fire man! They made it a fucking good show.

You clearly have a good following in North London, can you tell us a bit about the history of the band?

Breno: Well I’m originally from Brazil but I’ve been in London for a long time and between me and Giuliano (the drummer) we recorded the album and he’s a fucking awesome singer you know and recorded all the backing vocals and it was a great experience. We also have Chris (bassist) for the live shows, who is now a full time member of Lost Gravity and we just have a great time.

Tell us about the music and lyric influences for the album and how the album came about.

Breno: Well basically my favourite music comes from the band AC DC and I’ve always said Lost Gravity is my version of AC DC but we don’t rip off, we have a good time on stage but we have metal and grungy influences like Metalica and Alice in Chains. The music is always the gui-

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tar riff but the lyrics come from day to day life experience shit. We don’t think about Urrrghhhh and screaming shit we sing about real stuff man like one of our songs, and nobody knows this, (ed. Exclusive Alert!) but one of our songs is about an ex band mate who left the band and it’s called ‘Walk On’ “Leave your past behind, don’t waste my time” it’s like hey man if you wanna leave the band go but don’t tell me you want to be linked or involved with Lost Gravity. Giuliano on drums, Chris on bass and me on guitar is Lost Gravity, that’s what it’s all about.

You’ve got quite a full sound for a three piece band how do you manage that?

Breno: It’s just Rock ‘n’ Roll man it’s guitar bass and distortion and no bullshit.

What’s your favourite track from the album?

Breno: That’s hard man because it changes from time to time but at the moment I’ve been listening to ‘What Goes Around Comes Around’ which is our first video and is the first track on the album and also the first single but I’m also listening to ‘Alone’ which is the ballad from the album. Those two are my favourites at the moment. But I like to be the quality control of the band and I don’t play anything I don’t like.

If you could have had a guest artist on the album, who would it have been, and why?

Breno: Oh maaan… Well we're listening to AC/DC right now and we have Angus punching it out so if I could have Angus playing a guitar solo it would be beyond a dream because he is the reason I play guitar. I remember the first time I listened to AC/DC I was seven years old and I heard ‘Power Rage’ and ‘Back in Black’ and I was like what the fuck! This is awesome, I wanna play guitar!

There is now a discussion between the band, girls and driver etc. about where we are, no one seems to know.

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Someone thinks we are nearing Sunderland. It’s all really too much. Anyhow, back to the interview and the final questions…

If you could spend ten minutes in a broken down lift with anyone, who would it be, and what would you talk about?

Breno: Do I have to talk? Carmen Electra!!!

Just describe what we are going to be doing after your Underworld album launch gig at the after party.

Breno: We’re going to have a good time and party with the fans who came to support us, we’re going to drink Guinness and talk about Rock and Roll!

After a few more miles in the Limo, Chris begins to tell a story about Jack Daniels and how he met Breno…

Chris: Petra (girlfriend) bought me a ticket to see Iron Maiden at Download Festival and to go with the ticket she also got me a bottle of Jack Daniels. I got two hip flasks which accommodated half the bottle of Jack. They won’t let you in the auditorium with any form of your own liquid so there’s a coach service from the train station to Download and I’ve never been to Download before in my life, so I got on the coach having had a few drinks on the train and I said out loud on the coach, “Look guys, I’ve never been to Download before and I’ve got two hip flasks of Jack Daniels and it’s 10:30 in the morning, is someone going to help me out with this drink?” And no one said a fucking word! So I said “I don’t want to be funny but I’ve got all this drink and this is supposed to be the biggest rock festival in the UK so can anyone help me drink this?” And this one hand went up and a voice said “I’ll help you”, so I said “Hello mate, I’m Chris” and he said “I’m Breno” and at that point every fucking hand went up on the coach and everyone said “I’ll have some”

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Burlesque!

Welcome to your one stop drop for all the news on the best burlesque nights, in the capital and beyond! I’m Sophia Disgrace and I’ve performed at numerous events in the UK and abroad, from festivals to the most exclusive clubs. I perform in a neo-burlesque style and often incorporate other elements such as angle grinding into my routines. I like to shake the audience up a bit!

Burlesque - or 'the art of tease' as its also known - first rose to prominence in the 1950s; in recent years it has enjoyed something of a revival, with stars such as Dita Von Teese helping to popularise the scene once again.

London as ever is at the fore front of this movement, which is both alluring and inspiring for men and women alike...

Here are my pick of all things burlesque this month, enjoy!

THE BONITA BOOM BURLESQUE AND VARIETY SHOW @ the George Lawton Hall, Manchester Saturday 15th November - 7.30pm-11.00pm Now this event sounds like a lorra fun! With a line up of international and national artists such as Millie Dollar and 'King 'o comedy magic' Christian Lee, it would be a crime to miss this. After the circus/ burly/comedic magic shenanigans you are invited to dance, that’s right dance until late (and that’s an order!). The event is apparently 'back by popular demand' so be sure to put bums on seats for this one!

Tickets are £14.00 and further details can be found via trusty 'ol www.Skiddle. com

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THE UGLY GIRL-A MUSICAL TRAGEDY IN BURLESQUE @ The Continental, Preston Thursday 20th November - 7:00pm-9:30pm This critically acclaimed show is presented by The Disability Arts Touring Network. It explores a wide range of issues, from cultural to sexual and beyond. It focuses on a small cast, a number of whom has a disability. Promising mucho slapstick, dark humour and oh, some music for good measure, I for one am very excited to see what this show entails.

Tickets are from £5.00, for full details please contact The Continental on 01772 499 425 THE COPPER FEEL CABARET @ The Bristol County Sports Club, Bristol Friday 28th November - 8.00pm11.00pm Kudos to the organizers of this particular event for their exquisite word play skills! How could I not include this entry? it befits the decidedly low-brow tone of this column to perfection. Dubious double entendres aside, this show prides itself on being an especially intimate one-venue capacity is a snug fifty seats. The line up features a long list of lovely lasses and upstanding sirs - and is held right in the heart of hip-tastic Bristol, so enjoy!

Tickets start at £10.00, please refer to www. f a c e - book.com/TheCopperFeelCabaret for further details.

Sophia in a still from filming with Thomas Eikrem

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This month’s velvet curtain reveals...

Burlesque Spotlight!

The spotlight falls on something shiny and new: allow me to introduce

PIN UPS Quick fire guides to the women who I feel embody the spirit of burlesque

TURA SATANA Tura Satana is the ultimate B movie vixen. She is renowned for her exotic beauty, buxom figure and carnal prowess! Famous fans include Quentin Tarantino and metalhead Tarrie B (whose band pre My Ruin was actually named after Tura!).

Tura was born in 1938 and sadly passed away in 2011, following a rather colourful life…This lady didn’t just walk on the wild side, she ran the damn show! Grrrrrr!

And now for a few Tura Satana fun facts…

1-Tura was born in Japan, her father was a silent movie star, her mother a circus performer. The family later moved to the US and Tura ran away from home at 15 years of age to become a burlesque dancer!

2-Tura starred in numerous film and TV projects, her most infamous role was playing the feisty 'Varla' in Russ Meyer's cult classic 'Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill!' Other career highlights include sci-fi horror film 'The Astro Zombies' and a role in the TV show 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E'.

3-Elvis was a fan - in fact the two dated and rumour has it Presley even proposed to her! Tura declined but in true kick ass style, she kept a hold of the ring…

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You might know him for his work with Between The Buried And Me or his solo album Pulse under the Thomas Giles name…

Today we find out in this chat how life has been treating Tommy Rogers this past year, why Motley Crue are important to him, the progress on the new Between The Buried And Me plus the whole story behind the ‘no pre-Colors material’ deal doing the rounds recently…

From Pulse to Modern Noise what would you say is the biggest evolution between the two albums?

I feel like Modern Noise is a more focused record, with Pulse it was my first record that I really wrote everything myself and tried to find my voice – I think I was still searching for what I wanted to do with that record – but with Modern Noise I knew exactly what I wanted to do, it was a very natural and organic evolution for me, it really represents where I am as a musician and a person right now in my life.

What led to the return of Will Goodyear working with you and how was to work together again after quite some time?

I’ve kept in touch with Will for years, he’s always been someone I’ve looked up to as far as a musician and he’s just a phenomenal guy, I’ve always wanted to work with him again and this was the perfect opportunity. With Pulse I did all the drums myself and it was fun because I hadn’t recorded drums in ages, it was something new [but] it isn’t my instrument and with Modern Noise I wanted to have that could really bring the record to life and I think that’s exactly what he did . He was perfect for the project and he came in very open minded to trying new things making it the best for the record, the drums just turned out great. It was great hanging out with him for a few days – it’s been over a decade and he’s been doing some cool musical stuff too in a band called Grohg – they’re a blackened rock band.

Were there any new influences you discovered while working on Modern Noise?

I don’t think I had any as far as music I listen to but as I was writing this record I think a lot especially the riffs were very 90’s influ-

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enced – it wasn’t intentional it just happened – before this record I was writing a lot of material on my computer and keyboards doing a lot of synth heavy things because I was working on a score, when I started on Modern Noise I just wanted to pick up a guitar and play riffs and that was the start of it, it just happened to have this 90’s heavy alternative vibe within a lot of the songs, that was something we went full force with when we were recording as far as the tones and gear we used – it came out really cool.

What was the first song you felt a connection with and what was the first that made you want to be a musician outright?

As far as a song I listened to music and wanted to play it at a very early age like seven years old, my dad was always listening to classic rock – the first song I really wanted to sing was Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’ because it’s very easy to sing as a kid but the first record that really made me feel ‘holy shit I wanted to be in a band’ was Motley Crue’s Too Fast For Love. I remember getting that tape – it makes me feel old to say the word tape – the second I put it in I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Can we expect a solo tour at some point?

As of now I don’t have any plans to tour – I’m not saying I won’t, it’s just the way that the music’s structured I have to get a full band and that costs a lot of money, transportation and all the little things that go into touring, I’m a father now and full time with Between The Buried And Me so there’s not a whole lot of free time to tour but I hope at some point I can do something.

In regards to Between The Buried And Me what do you think about the reaction to the recent DVD release?

It’s been great, honestly a lot better than I thought. I knew we were taking a risk with doing a live DVD that wasn’t at a venue like we normally play but I think everything we do becomes some sort of risk, it always seems to work out and I really think it did with this DVD. It was shot beautifully, the studio was perfect for us and really captured the vibe of who we are and what the record is.

The fans really enjoy the connection you get from the DVD – it’s very personal, you’re right there with us and that was the whole idea behind the record because you can see a live show of us anytime you want on Youtube

© Justin Reich

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© Brandon Gable but you can’t see us play a record from start to finish in a studio. I’m glad people are enjoying it, it was a lot of work going into it but it was well worth it.

You have announced a slot at Temples Festival 2015 – which artists are you looking forward to seeing?

There’s a lot of good bands, honestly I think we’re kind of sticking out like a sore thumb in this line up – hopefully we’ll go over well! – Converge’s a band I’ve been listening to since I was a teenager so it’s always good to see those guys, I’m actually excited to see Pig Destroyer, there’s a lot of good bands, the festival has a cool vibe and hopefully we’ll help that.

What are your thoughts on the rise of progressive rock and metal in recent years?

It’s great, it’s showing younger bands that you don’t have to do exactly what everyone else is doing and what you’re expected to do in rock/heavy metal music. It’s cool to see bands trying new things, obviously there’s an overflow of bands just like any genre or scene but the great ones are standing out, it’s refreshing to see bands like Mastodon doing their thing and bands like King Crimson are touring this year, bands from the 70’s are what fore fathered this whole movement and it’s good to see them get the respect they deserve.

What led to the decision towards focusing only on Colors and beyond material live?

I don’t think we’ve ever sat down and decided that – I

know it came out in an interview with Paul [Waggoner] and some sites dramatised it because they want to get clicks but I think he was stating that when we tried to incorporate older material in a set it just felt a little weird as far as the music goes and honestly our fan base are from Colors and beyond so there’s very few people that recognise those songs and a lot of times there’s a huge drop of energy, the vibe changes a lot live.

We’re NOT saying we’ll never play those live again; he was just stating a fact that sometimes they don’t flow as well as other material just because it’s so different to where we are today.

How is progress going towards new BTBAM material?

It’s going great! We’re about halfway through with the record, basically writing the record and getting the songs how we want – when we write we’ll record, demo everything and get it exactly how we want. It looks like it’s happening pretty quick so hopefully we’ll get the songs how we like and get the record to where we feel it’s ready to record and go from there. Lyrically it’s moving on very well and I’m excited about where it’s going as far as a story – trying to incorporate an open ended idea for lyrical purposes. I know that’s vague but I’ll explain once I have more concrete ideas!

By Matt Dawson

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After recently talking to John Garcia, we find ourselves at the Garage again for a chat with the other part of Vista Chino/Kyuss Lives!, tonight showcasing his new outfit the Low Desert Punk Band. Brant Bjork is in good spirits, nicely chilled, having a pint at the nearby Famous Cock pub.

While waiting for the release of debut album ‘Black Flower Power’ on November 9th via Napalm Records, John Morgan finds out more about Low Desert Punk, the fate of Vista Chino and some more…

How did the Low Desert Punk project come together?

I haven’t done a solo record in about four years and my experience with Kyuss Lives and Vista Chino left me wanting to kind of punk rock out so I wrote some songs – or some songs wrote me… I carefully assembled my ideal band which consisted of some guys who are my dearest friends, also have punk rock roots and I said let’s fucking blow some shit up and have a good time!

We managed to have a listen to the album and to me it came across as a really loose record, lots of jams and really more of a band’s collaboration rather than songs you actually wrote yourself. Is that how the record came together or did you go in there with ‘these are my songs, this is how I want them done?’

Being a solo artist can be a very ambiguous concept, I mean you might think of a singer-songwriter, this record represents me just putting a band together to make a collaborative effort in terms of us playing. Even though I wrote the songs we’re all performing them in our own

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individual way and I wanted that band vibe, the songs were written with the need and want to be executed like that.

The record’s out on Napalm, you also spent a good few years running your own record label – I was just wondering what the purpose to putting it out on a label was - as opposed to putting it out there yourself like in the past - and does it put the pressure off a little bit?

It does take a lot of pressure off and just utilised my resources and peaked effectively on what I could do on my own, about the I peaked was the time John Garcia asked me if I wanted to get Kyuss back together so I didn’t have to think about it anymore at that time, ironically enough it was about that time when Napalm contacted me about putting some music out so it gave me time to study them as a label – I essentially just licensed the record to them, I’m looking at them as experts in all the mechanicals – pressing, promoting, distributing.

They did a great job with the VC record and let me do whatever I wanted so as of right now things are pretty positive, we’ll just have to see the results!

You’re always going to be known as someone from Kyuss, how difficult is it to make that step from being in a gang to being the front man and having your name as the main focus of a project?

Well no more pressure than the pressure I put on myself, I mean it was very difficult to make that step – I was amazed to be playing drums with a rock band at that particular level with Kyuss, I would never have expected to

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get out of the desert so for me to create a record, write, perform all the tracks and at the end of the recording be told by my girlfriend to call it Brant Bjork because that’s all it is – it was pretty scary!

I never had those ambitions but it was a natural evolution and I feel very natural and comfortable doing it now.

Do you feel that going from drums to guitar then the whole front man thing – having more than one outlet creatively gives you more confidence?

I think something that isn’t totally recognised or known, I was very much involved in the creative process of Kyuss – writing songs, playing guitar and shit back then – so for me to be playing guitar and singing, leading my own band, as difficult as I said it was, it was a natural evolution. There just comes a time creative people have got to express stuff and I can express things on a drum set within a band, there are things I need to express with a guitar and with my vocal. I feel right now as I have for years – if I’m going to tell my story I can’t have someone else tell it for me!

We spoke to John about all the Vista Chino stuff but now you’ve done a record and John was hoping there’d be future work – do you find that Vista Chino has its own identity now?

I think there was a tremendous amount of confusion around the release and was a tremendous amount amongst us in the band – that’s the nature of that kind of events. The thing that I DON’T think is confused is the

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music. It’ll take time for the confusion to settle and then the listeners and even us can maybe refer back to the music and decide if we want to answer it, right now I think it’s best just to leave it alone. I think it was an adventure, a battle and our action was making that record.

Do you feel it’s made you stronger as a person?

Taking a positive from it is the only thing you can do and I took as much positivity from it as I could, I learned a lot and as painful as it was on a lot of levels it was necessary, we needed to just get out a lot of bad blood, it goes back 20 years, it wasn’t just about that particular moment.

Not to sound too spiritual but I’m grateful for the experience – I learned a lot from it.

You started in Kyuss when you were a very young man, now that you’re older do you find the same romance/ passion with music?

Yeah, I think in some ways my passion has matured, just the other day I was listening to Jimi Hendrix who I’ve been listening to since I was a child but I heard it in a totally different way, continuously understanding timeless art and music is what makes it timeless and makes me keep searching within myself to pull whatever I can out.

Do you get inspiration from new music?

With all due respect to all the bands out there to be honest I really just am obsessed with music from the past: punk, rock and roll from 40/50’s, I just love that music – the essence and soul behind it and there’s so much more to be discovered. I only have so much time in the day to listen to music, I guess I’m kind of conservative! Having said that the new Tom Petty record is really good.

Where do you go from here? I know you recently went to Australia and New Zealand…

Yeah, we had a great time! Australia and New Zealand’s always a great market, the fans down there are fantastic. Everything’s what it is – we’re just rocking and rolling. I don’t have any specific plans right now but in general it’s been what it’s always been – play records and go play live. The set tonight is going to be half and half – definitely doing the older stuff but we’re excited about the new stuff. I think that what’s going to set people straight – if any: the music. If you dig it, right on, and if not… that’s cool man!

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By Paul Roundhill

rock’n’roll museum presents

JOCK SCOT

Punk scene poet with a dry laconic wit Jock is from Leith near Edinburgh and I first met him in 1978 when I arrived early to a Clash concert in Brighton at the Top Rank Suite.

I was there to take photographs armed only with a very basic Instamatic camera which took tiny sized negatives onto a cassette. It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon and I figured correctly that the doors of the venue would be open to allow access to the band and their crew for setting up and sound checking.

The head of security for The Clash was a large avuncular black guy called Ray and he quickly spotted me and asked me what my business was so early in the day and when I showed him my puny instamatic camera actually laughed and said that I wasn’t a proper photographer!

Imagine my outrage! I was shocked at the impudence of the man.

“My good fellow” I responded “I will have you know that Andy Warhol uses one of these and no-one accuses him of not being proper”. I could tell that my reasoned arguments were to little avail in swaying this experienced security man’s decision, however at this point a laconic voice with an Edinburgh burr cut through the air of the empty auditorium and the man I later came to consider my life-long friend interceded with his colleague on my behalf. “Och, come on Big Man, the wee chap is no causing any harm the noo, we can fling him oot later on if he starts causing any trouble.”

Thus it was that I gained free entry to see the Clash

and hung around their dressing room chatting with Joe Strummer and the others. Peter Townshend of the Who joined the group on stage so I ended up with some pretty unique, historic photographs. It has to be said that the Clash never delivered a poor performance. You always got your money’s worth. (That is if you had paid for your ticket).

Jock and I crossed paths many times over the years; he helped raise funds for a poetry event I organised in 1994 for the Soho Jazz Festival, he was an integral part of a section of the music scene around Ian Dury and the Blockheads, the Clash obviously and he was responsible for helping promote political ranter Billy Bragg.

Jock is best known for his writing and poetry and plans are afoot for a recording with British Sea-Power with Jock’s vocals over the band’s music so I recommend anyone to catch that if they get the chance.

He has recorded and published his poetry on CD as well as in a couple of slim volumes - the most recent sold out in days featured a black and white photograph of a reclining nude on the cover and was entitled “Where is my heroine?”

As well as a keen bird watcher Jock has over the years been a contributor to The Idler magazine, and as a poet was mentor and friend to the young Peter Doherty in his “Filthy McNasty” days introducing him, Carl Barat and the Libertines onstage and reading a bit of his poetry. Indeed when I asked him why he had started walking with a limp and using a cane Jock told me that overenthusiastic fans had knocked him down and trampled him in their excitement as he introduced the band.

Jock is also a long term friend of Shane McGowan and is widely known and loved in West London, across the poetry and music scene. His portrait by Humphrey Ocean was recently exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery.

It has come as a great shock to learn that he has an inoperable cancer of the bowel and won’t be with us for long.

Jock Scot is the subject of a forthcoming film by Robert Rubbish: you are ordered to watch out for it.... OBEY!

November 2014

All photos and text by Paul Roundhill.

All Rigths Reserved. paul.n.roundhill@me.com

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A year older, an inch shorter, a lot wiser...

I never say no to a chat with Ginger: he always comes up with something to make you think and something to make you laugh, and with all the billion projects up his sleeve I could never run out of questions!

Recently he tweeted that he found the cause of some worrying singing issues: he just needed to lower the microphone one inch to match his current height. Yep, even Ginger shrinks with age…

So, your 50th birthday is approaching… One year older and one inch shorter!

[Laughs] Yes, apparently so! It’s the weight of the world on my shoulders!

Any other change that took you by surprise?

I don’t think getting shorter is a surprise, everybody gets shorter as they get on in life but approaching 50 IS a surprise, I never expected that to be part of the program, I would have put money that I would be out of here by the time I was in my thirties. Hitting 40 was a shock and hitting 50 – well I’m not there yet so let’s talk about it after December 17th but this part in life with my track record is pretty amazing!

It is and the Birthday Bash on 17th December is going to be a big one…

Well they’re all big ones, it’s like we’re not sure how we can beat the last one and then we always manage to do something that makes it more special, I mean this one’s special because it’s a 50th but as far as the shows go they’re all special, they’re all insane and it’s always the biggest party of the year and December 18th is the most regrettable day of the year because we all have hangovers!

Oh God yeah! Anything you can reveal yet?

No. There never is because I don’t even know what’s going to happen that night! None of us are ever really sure exactly what’s going to happen, we have an idea then 48 hours before everything changes! Things happen on stage that we literally didn’t know were going to happen so the audience reaction is the same as ours.

So 2014 is nearly finished and you still have a lot coming up as usual in your world. Recently you were in Francis Rossi’s studio – what were you doing there?

He has a studio in his garden and allowed me to use it

© Cristina Massei

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which was very nice of him, apparently he’s very fond of me which is why he let me use his studio which is nice because I’ve always been fond of him – I’ve been a big fan for a long time and it’s a honour and a privilege to be invited to use his studio.

Last time I spoke to him we ended up talking about Masterchef – did he cook for you? He seems quite enthusiastic about food.

No he didn’t cook for me – we were working too hard and didn’t eat or drink anything in the studio. We just worked all the time but he does grow his own garlic – hundreds of cloves every year so you can tell he’s an avid cook!

Good you’re not a vampire!

Apparently it has been said that I am… If I’m not then my son definitely is because he never sleeps!

Oh that’s not good!

Rock and roll’s in the family blood!

Haha! Has he started to play something yet?

Yes, he’s six years old, performs his own songs, straps his guitar on low and jumps around the house and thinks he’s a little Pete Townshend!

Aha! Now obviously you’ll support him in anything he does but what would you like him to be when he grows up?

I’d like him to be in music but prefer him to be in music management because that’s where the money is!

It took you 50 years to learn that!

Yes it did! I’m finally reaping the benefits – it’s a big shock! First of all I learned how to escape record company clutches and doing things independently, now I’m learning about self management and then next year it’ll be about booking all the shows so I’m finding out how to be completely independent from the industry.

Is this something you partly got from the success of the Pledge campaign?

Well not really because even in the Pledge campaign there’s middlemen – by the time you pay out all the commissions in Pledge you’re talking about 50% of your money really could go to the music and the presentation so when it came to do the last Pledge campaign I was the only one that never got paid because we paid all the musicians, the studio, transport, production, manufacturing – I didn’t earn a penny so I decided that wasn’t working for me and that’s why I did GASS. GASS has been a success compared to the last Pledge campaign because we’re not broke! When you’ve been doing music for as long as I have you deserve to make some money.

Absolutely! It’s almost the end of the first year of GASS as well – how many subscribers did you get?

I don’t know – I think it was about 2000 or something – it’s not really the numbers that count but it’s good to know how many of your fans are hardcore fans, not many get to find that out. We know how many hardcore fans we have – we’re going to do a Pledge campaign at the end of the year to find out how many casual fans we have and they’ll put us in a good position of knowledge for next year. I think it’s very important for every band and artist to know who they’re making music for and how ambitious they should be.

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Given the enthusiastic and positive feedback about GASS – are you thinking about doing it again another year?

[Emphatically] No! [laughs] Why not?

Ah, it’s too much hard work! Not just the music – writing and recording 36 songs is difficult and very stressful – it’s the stuff like diaries, video editing, podcasts and stuff like that – it’s been fun to do it for a year but just the same as being sober for a year or climbing a mountain – I’ve been there, seen it, done it – no more.

So what IS the next big project?

[Said in a knowing way] Hmmm… We’ll have to talk next year about that! I AM going to do a solo tour in April that’s going to be celebrating twenty years of being a writer – spoken word and music – we’re going to approach it differently from any acoustic show I’ve done before: seated venues, theatres not little pubs and I think it’s going to be something that’s very moving for fans that have been with me for a long time. When that’s over – fifty years old and I’ve got a brand new page then we’ll talk about the next thing!

In the meanwhile let’s go back to 2014 – there’s a single coming up with Courtney Love.

That’s right – song and video because these days there’s no such thing as singles really – out on December 1st

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'if you want to do something and people say you can’t that gives you twice the reason to do it – to prove you right and them wrong'

© Cristina Massei

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to coincide with the Pledge campaign: the best of GASS plus a book and possibly a DVD. You’ll be seeing the video from November 1st, it’s going to be available through every single digital outlet from iTunes to Spotify to Amazon - even to GASS should anyone decide to join on the strength of that one song alone, and trust me the quality is maintained throughout all 36 songs so we’re not putting this one on because it’s the best one or the only one that sounds good, it’s because me and Courtney doing a duet’s pretty cool.

Having worked with Courtney recently what do you think of the supposed isolated vocal recording of her going around on the internet because some guy didn’t get paid?

Now I think that’s a load of rubbish – I’ve known Courtney for a long time – everybody gets paid believe me.

I don’t know when this was but since I’ve been working with her everybody gets paid and she can sing like a motherfucker, sure she’s not a guitar player but that’s not her guitar – her guitar doesn’t come through the PA – someone’s added the guitar probably and taken a vocal performance from a bad show, every singer has a bad show so to be judged on your worst day then we all look pretty bad!

I think it’s just some spiteful person having a laugh at Courtney’s expense and let’s face it a lot of people are pretty mean to her – considering she hasn’t done anything wrong she gets a lot of shit, I get a lot of shit from some of my fans and it’s nothing compared to what Courtney gets.

People have some need to belittle Courtney and I think it’s because she genuinely doesn’t give a shit, she’s not upset at what people think about her, she’s had the insults for years and wears them like a professional, I can’t think anyone that gets as much in the way of insults as Courtney Love and she deals with it like she deals with everything – she’s a survivor and I bet she’s been longer in this business than this sound guy!

I’ve also read about plans with Jared Reddick…

Yeah! I met him at Download and he’s a super nice guy, we kept in touch and he decided he wanted to write something for GASS and I’m going to LA next month to go and write some songs with Jared!

Is that going to be available outside of GASS as well?

We haven’t written the song yet so I’ve no idea! If it’s the best song ever written I imagine I’ll release it as a single but it all depends. All of the songs for GASS will be recorded by December so we can choose the best of GASS even before people have heard all the songs. People who just want a £10 CD and not hear me warbling on podcasts can get it there – they deserve to hear the music as well and I’m writing a book about 20 years as a songwriter – the story of the Wildhearts and everything – called Songs and Words along with the tour which is going to be full of – guess what – songs and words!

I’m looking forward to that in April.

Me too! It’s going to be unlike anything I’ve ever done before and I’m really looking forward to it.

At this point you’ve got a lot to say as well and

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it’s going to be something fresh for your fans. Closer to now there’s a Halloween tour coming up with Eureka Machines…

Yes, I’m currently learning the Baby Chaos songs as I’m playing guitar with them and singing/playing guitar with Ginger Wildheart Band so I’ve got double duty!

That then the bash and then the 2015 project…

There’s plenty to be getting on with in 2014 – don’t want to get ahead of myself or I’ll get confused – I’m getting old!

If you were stuck in a lift for a half hour, who would you want to be with?

My missus and my little boy.

Who would be your worst nightmare to be stuck in a lift with?

Gene Simmons because he’d talk about himself the whole time! I think I would just kill myself somehow if I was stuck in a lift with him. Or I’d kill him…

Next time I see you and Gene Simmons near a lift I’ll lock you in there! (both laugh).

Is there any new bands we need to check out? You always have good advice…

Check out Perfume Genius – a fella from Seattle and he makes these albums that are so moving and emotionally stuffed, like Antony and The Johnsons with more of an edge, exciting and fresh sounding.

As a father what would be the words of wisdom you want your son to remember?

Be yourself, if you want to do something and people say you can’t that gives you twice the reason to do it – to prove you right and them wrong. Always trust your own instincts – it got me this far and will help me get the rest of the way and if I’d listened to other people I would be in deep shit now!

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by Elena Sanchez – Photos by Nelly Loriaux Sankeys Ibiza wrapped up its season with a first ever underground Award Ceremony.

It was a great evening, with the inimitable David Vincent regaling the busy audience with a great, amusing and insightful half hour talk about the history of Sankeys, where it came from and where it is going.

Sankeys Ibiza has really made a big impact on the whole of the island this year, with record crowds, groundbreaking line-ups, amazing DJs and live acts playing each and every night and of course only the finest residents and regular parties each and every night. It is sure to happen all again next year, but before that there is the small matter of a year of madness at the Manchester HQ ahead.

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The winners were: BEST NEWCOMER - JOZEF K BEST TECHNO DJ - SHLOMI ABER BEST HOUSE DJ - DARIUS SYROSSIAN BEST TECH HOUSE DJ - STEVE LAWLER BEST RESIDENT - DUKE DUMONT BEST SANKEYS ESSENTIAL MIX - GREG VICKERS BEST SANKEYS CLUB NIGHT - TRIBAL SESSIONS BEST IBIZA CLUB NIGHT - MUSIC ON BEST IBIZA DJ - APOLLONIA LIFE TIME ACHEIVEMENT – DJ SNEAK www.sankeysibiza.info

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If I remember correctly, they said you had quite a unique style, please tell me more about that It was my unique style that they interviewed me about. As a DJ I try to play tracks that nobody else is playing, i.e. older tracks or more obscure music. Sometimes I play tracks that aren’t particularly old, say around 3 or 4 years old.

I will play tracks as long as I feel it would be unlikely that not many other DJs (preferably none) would be playing it at the time. I do a Interview and photos by Nelly Loriaux lot of research and track finding to make sure my set list is unique, so when someone comes to see me, they know it’s me. I will still drop classics when they are I managed to catch up with best newcomer Josef K for a needed, but just try and be different for the most part. friendly chat on the terrace, finding out what the award Let’s talk about tracks. Is there one track, let’s say THE represents for him, how hard it was to finally get recogni- ONE or the all-time favourite, that you love the most. tion for his hard work and what the future holds for this My favourite tune ever is ‘Midnight In A perfect World’ young but talented DJ.

by DJ Shadow (I’ve got a tattoo of it, which is massively geeky I know). In my opinion it’s one for solitude and a First of all, congratulations on winning the Best New- variety of moods; feeling a bit upset, introspective, after a momentous experience or on a Sunday after a heavy comer award weekend feeling sorry for oneself after overindulgence.

Thanks, I am still quite taken back by all this.

I think it’s very emotional. It made me cry once when I Were you surprised you would win? was 17. I can only listen to it once every six months as it Very, I was against some really tough competition like is that moving for me it can be quite unbearable.

Gorgon City who have had over 12 million plays on You- And let’s say the dance floor is really dying down and Tube and lots of other big guys like Amine Edge and you start to think ‘Oh my god, what’s happening here.’

Dance, Ida Engberg, Mario Basanov and Sidney Charles who had a lot of support so for me being considerably younger than those guys I was pretty proud to win.

So what does this represent for you?

It’s a summation of the hard work I have been putting in over the last few years. Pretty much everything I have been doing is to advance my career and progress as a DJ because that’s what I love doing and is my aspiration. It is nice to receive some recognition for something I have put so much work into.

I believe you are already quite wellknown in Manchester I wouldn’t say I am quite well-known in Manchester, but I am known more there than other places because I have been playing at Sankeys and other places in the city for 6 years. I also have some music out on Sasha’s label Last Night On Earth and he has strong Manchester connections with his Hacienda affiliation.

Maybe so but Radio1 was also interested in you Yes I was interviewed by Radio1. They heard about the kind of stuff I was playing, what my kind of style was, and they were interested about it.

This interview was on the strength of my approach to playing rather than the size of my profile.

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Which song will you play that always work for you to get the people back ‘on track’ (no pun intended) Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Masters at Work Dub) – St. Etienne If the floor isn’t connecting, I don’t think it is the best idea to go super aggressive and play a heavy track as this can get you in real trouble and really disconnect a DJ from the audience. I like to instead ease the pressure off and play something that plucks at the crowd’s heartstrings i.e. the above track. And once the connection is made, build it from there. I have seen people playing really heavy tracks when the crowd aren’t feeling it, and in my opinion it is not a good look.

So how difficult is it to balance what people want to hear against you trying to introduce something new to your audience?

Love this question. My rule when I’m playing is, I will only play a track if I love it. I also won’t play tracks that I love that I know the crowd will hate. I feel the way to find the balance is to read the crowd and soak up the atmosphere as much as possible and allow this to influence track selection. If I played all the tracks I love only for myself I would probably lose my job as I like some weird shit. As I said before I try to find unique tracks; so I will always try to play one that people don’t know but will like the style of and then when I tune into the style the crowd are feeling… if I keep to this style or similar I can capture the audience and fully connect with them. Haha this might not make complete sense, I know what I mean though.

Going on to more technical stuff, do you have a specific live set up?

When I am DJing it’s just a pretty classic contemporary set up: Pioneer DJM 900 mixer and CDJ-2000.

And what about when you are making tracks?

When I am in the studio, I make music with my produc-

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tion partner Winter Son. He has a huge studio, with a Roland drum machine (the original machine used for the earlier House tracks in the 80’s) a JUNO-106 (which is an old synth and we have used for the bass line on every single record we have made), a Roland SH-1000 (which is another old synth), modular synths, guitars and other hardware, he updates so often it’s hard to keep up. It is an amazing studio and I am lucky to be able to use it frequently.

Now let’s move on to the actual DJing, is there one place that you aspired to appear at?

Obviously when I was a kid it was always to play in the SANKEYS main room in Manchester and now I have done it. As well as Manchester I have played regularly all around the various venues in London, New York and Ibiza. I absolutely love playing in these rooms on regular basis, it feels like a dream. If I had to choose outside of the worldwide Sankeys clubs I would love to play the Panorama Bar in Berlin, the upstairs of Berghain, I want to be on the decks when the windows open playing some super emotional, lachrymose house straight out of Chicago.

That quite unusual, usually DJs tell me Tomorrowland Not for me! Playing the main stage with David Guetta and Afrojack, that would be my worst nightmare.

And finally, let’s talk about what’s coming in for your fans. Have you got any projects in the pipeline?

Me and Winter Son have 3 EPs coming out on vinyl with 4 tracks on each, 2 originals and some remixes (I can’t say who yet but they are from 3 established house and techno labels, one that recently had track of the month on Resident Advisor). They are all released winter time.

Thanks so much for taking time to talk to us!

Well, thank you as well, I really enjoyed the questions. It was good fun.

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An interview with

Les Claypool

by John Morgan & Cristina Massei It’s not an easy task taking on a legend like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and do it justice, giving it a personal touch while respecting the original. Even Tim Burton and Johnny Depp pretty much failed there. If anyone could be successful in paying homage to the 1971’s Gene Wilder tale, had to be the man James Hetfield defined ‘too good’ for Metallica…

Sonic Shocks reaches Les Claypool in Boston before a Primus sold out performance at the Orpheum Theatre.

Hi Les! I believe you’re in Boston for the third date of Primus US tour – how’s it going so far?

We’re getting it all together, polishing it up, fine-tuning all the elements.

You’ve got Tim Alexander back on the road with you after being sidelined due to health issues (Danny Carey from Tool took over for a few shows) – how is Tim now?

He’s doing good, firing on all cylinders now.

How was working with Danny?

Danny’s a great guy and obviously an amazing drummer [with] nice positive energy, we enjoyed it!

How is to be back on the road with Tim? Do you feel that the chemistry from the beginning is still there?

Yes, there’s a certain way that we play with Tim that we don’t necessarily play with anyone else, he has a great distinct style that has an effect on which we approach our instrumentations. It’s like a comfortable pair of shoes!

When you first got back together you said that it was more of a nostalgia thing – only playing live at first – it took Jay Lane rejoining you to find the inspiration to write, is that different now?

Well I think we’re all in different places, I’ve raised a family, Larry [LaLonde] is currently raising a family and Tim has a little girl now so time and events in your life especially events that bring you greater responsibility, different perspectives - the big one being children - I think we’re all in comfortable spaces right now and we’re able to come together and create, do our thing and not stumble over the old bullshit that we used to have.

The new album – Primus and the Chocolate Factory – features some unusual instruments on it, can you describe them in detail?

Basically we took the approach of once we knew we were taking this on it wasn’t going to be a straight up Primus project, I wanted to bring in some guys from my bands, up the instrumentation a little bit – Tim’s not playing on

a traditional drum kit – I call it a pile of things to bang on encircled by this wall of various things that go clink and clank, we brought in Mike Dillon to play marimba and there’s cello on the record, we tailored the instrumentation to what the arrangements called for.

Are you reproducing that live as well on this tour?

We are.

That’s going to be brilliant! It’s an homage to the original film rather than the Tim Burton remake – why is that movie so important to you?

I think it’s because for some reason it’s important to most people that grew up in that generation – the Wizard Of Oz for them, it’s one of those films that has held up – my kids have watched it, my nieces and nephews are watching it currently – it’s one of those pieces of art that’s able to sustain itself through the years. For me it represents a slice of my life, as you move through life you look back at various pieces of art and it harkens you back to nostalgic times and a big part of my youth was that film.

I know you didn’t particularly enjoy Tim Burton’s remake – same as many of us – what do you think went wrong?

Tim Burton’s obviously a very talented individual and some of my favourite movies are films that he’s made whether it was Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure or Ed Wood but creative people don’t always hit the mark and I just don’t think he hit the mark on that one, it’s not so much I’m denouncing his version of the film as much as I’m celebrating the Gene Wilder version.

This album is meant to be a reflection by a young fellow – myself being that fellow at the time – who then experienced the books and absorbed the whole Wonka and Roald Dahl image of this chocolate factory so even though we’re taking on the ’71 film there’s some of the creepier elements of the book as far as how we approached the timbre of the arrangements.

Do you still watch it today and enjoy it?

I just watched it recently with my niece and nephew, it’s spectacular!

You made some changes to re-personalise it but ob-

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viously respected the original as well, how did you achieve that?

The notion was to just approach it in a way we felt we would interpret it – had I been charged to write the music for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that’s how I would have done it! [laughs] This is a very particular project – did you go into the studio with expectations and did you feel they were surpassed in this case?

I wanted to take on a sacred cow – we were talking about doing Magical Mystery Tour and this one was the one that stuck, every New Years we’d do these shows for the

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past 20 odd years in San Francisco whether it was my band or Primus and they all have themes – last year’s was Chocolate Factory, we were just going to do Candyman and maybe Golden Ticket then it just kept evolving and expanding, next thing you know we’re doing the whole record.

We decided to record it and it all fell together pretty smoothly, it was very natural and casual.

There’s also a Golden Ticket promotion as well…

We’ve released many Primus And The Chocolate Factory vinyl editions and most of them are chocolate covered but there are five golden vinyls, should somebody find one they get Primus tickets FOR LIFE. Will we get chance to see this show in Europe in the near future?

I certainly hope so, nothing is etched in stone yet but there’s talk.

You mentioned how the instrumentation is being reproduced live, what about visually?

There’s a lot of stage props, video projection and the occasional Oompa-Loompa popping up here and there, it is a very colourful production.

With a new album to promote and some time since you all got back together was it difficult to agree on a set list for this?

Nah, it changes every night, the set starts off with us doing pretty bare bones Primus then the curtains open and you’re in the chocolate factory.

There’s chocolate bars also on sale…

Yes, we have the Bastard Bars, the Nutbutter bars, a special Pork Soda bar for Halloween which I had the other day – it’s actually very good – bacon and Pop Rock dark chocolate bar.

Bacon and chocolate?!

Bacon’s making a huge comeback, I don’t know how it is over there but in the States bacon’s pretty much in everything these days!

Bacon’s big here but I’ve never heard of it in sweets!

What’s your favourite chocolate in general?

Depends on the day, I’m not a huge chocolate person in general but I can go either way – milk or dark, I tend to like the sweet and savoury together. Our bacon one’s good, I’ve had others that weren’t so good.

We also got recently a Duo De Twang record – what’s

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next for that project?

I call it my ‘Fuck off vacation band’ so it’s me and an old buddy from high school twanging away, sitting on stools, drinking, cracking jokes with a little campfire on stage and playing songs, it started off as just this fun thing and now we travel around and play for people. I’m sure we’ll do it again, last time we were in London we had a real nice show, as long as it’s enjoyable I’ll continue to do it which is to be said for most of my projects.

I’m a very lucky man, I have other avenues to go down! [laughs] It’s nice to do something you like for a living but not great when you don’t like it anymore, it takes the gloss off it.

That’s very true and there’s a small portion of the planet that gets to do that and I’m very fortunate to be able to do that.

Last year you reissued Sailing On The Seas Of Cheese – was it fun to revisit and how do you feel about it now?

Well I listened to it a lot because I was the one that remixed it and our old manager had lost the session notes as well as the automation discs so I had to listen to every single individual track over and over and get it as possibly close as we could to the original and then do a 5:1 mix so I’m very familiar with that record and all the little nuances of it.

It was great, a very exciting time in our lives – we were on our way up the hill – to revisit and rediscover certain elements of it and present it in an even more expanded matter was spectacular and to get a Grammy nomination for it as well was the icing on the cake.

There’s also the Over The Electric Grapevine book – how involved were you in it and would you recommend it to your fans?

I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to read some of the old, crazy stories about us; it’s a very enjoyable book, interviews with peers, comrades and collaborators. It’s interesting that there are these tales of other perspectives from different folks.

As far as our involvement it started as an interview with Greg Prato and he mentioned he wanted to do a book, I said sure- we’d go over it and look

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at it but it’s pretty much his book. It’s a good read.

What is next for Primus?

I’m sure we’ll do something together at some point but right now I’m just entrenched in Wonka world and getting this show up to snuff, it’s hard to see the forest beyond the trees and the trees right now are Wonka!

All this time people have been trying to define you with very little success – have you found a definition that you like for your music?

I’ve heard so many attempts and misattempts - I think it’s sort of the nature of what we do, we’re those squirmy little guys and I think it’s the nature of all the projects I have. Primus IS Primus and even this record is very different from what people have heard from Primus in the past. There was a thing on Wikipedia that said - and I’m not a big social media geek - but there’s a category that is Primus, I didn’t understand it but it gave me a chuckle!

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It’s hard nowadays meeting a true old-fashioned rock chick – especially one with balls like Ruyter Suys! And we got hold of her BEFORE coffee… Was that wise?

So it’s your day off – once you’ve had enough coffee to wake up what are your plans?

Man, I’m going to try and sleep I think! After this we have ten straight shows with a lot of long drives and stuff – a couple of shows where we have to leave straight after the gig and drive five/ten hours and then play again so trying to get as much as sleep as possible. That’s what I’m saying right now – I was trying to get some last night but for some strange reason we had two bottles of Jack Daniels and at the end of the night we had none!

You’re a famous party band when it comes to being on the road…

Or so it seems…

I hear you still are.

Evidently! [laughs] Nothing has changed over seventeen years!

I don’t know man, I like to think we’ve become a little more professional at doing this but… [laughs] Oh you can be professional on stage and do two bottles of Jack after, nothing wrong with that!

I’m sure we had friends involved, it wasn’t just me!

How are the hangovers these days?

I try to not have them – try to start drinking right away!

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You’ve been touring Europe this time…

Right now this is only the first week so we’ve been in Belgium and Holland so far, few days in the UK then we go back to Germany, Austria and France.

Do you have any favourites?

Fuck, I don’t know! I love everywhere – France treats us really well and of course Spain is a notorious party country but Holland is fantastic – it’s my heritage so I really enjoy eating all of the cheese and looking at all the good looking blonde guys, there’s good looking dudes everywhere so…

The new album Up The Dosage is the first in five years and some say it’s your best album – how do you compare it with From Hell To Texas?

Ah man I can’t even compare the two, we’re in a completely different state of mind when we did both – From Hell To Texas we were in Willie Nelson’s studio – a real, casual, tranquil, kind of calm setting, very pastoral out there. Just us out there by ourselves because it was twenty minutes away from Austin.

When we did Up The Dosage it was done kind of under duress, we had a very short period of time to get it done so it was imperative that we had it done fast and I think that’s why we got the lightning bolt on the cover of it because it was more a distilled version of Nashville Pussy, a direct punch.

Do you have a favourite song on the album?

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A lot of favourites! [laughs] I love ‘Everybody’s Fault But Mine’, ‘Rub it to Death’ and not sure what else. What’s yours?

It tends to change – do you find when an album’s well done you go back to a couple of tracks for a while then it becomes a different one?

Yeah, ‘Beginning Of The End’ is huge for me – it’s got a very emotional guitar solo that makes me – I can only listen to it so many times because it’ll make me cry! I make myself cry listening to me on my own guitar [laughs]!

Which one do you feel works the best live?

‘Rub It To Death’ works great live because it’s really fast and people go a little nuts when we play that one – serious headbanging song and then ’Everybody’s Fault But Mine’ because that’s where all the chicks shake their asses – everyone gets down, it’s almost like the funkiest thing we do.

There was a good reception the other night at The Underworld…

Where were you? Deep in the audience?

I was taking pictures at the side…

Over on my side?

No – the other side because that’s where you normally take pics from and it was a bit hard to get you but I managed to get something out of it!

At least you weren’t getting destroyed in the audience, I was really impressed with it.

I met a lot of people that only come out for special gigs

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so it was a big occasion and everything… Were you pleased?

Oh fuck yeah because a lot of times we play The Underworld – the only memory I have of that place was it was dank and I got electrocuted so obviously this was much better!

Basically if I didn’t get electrocuted everything was going to be fine – better than the time prior!

How is it going with Bonnie now?

She’s been pretty much a full time member since Karen said she couldn’t do it – we didn’t know Karen was going to be out completely until we did the record – it was only a few days before we went into the studio and we let Bonnie know it was her job, she’s been fan-fuckingtastic, just getting better and better on stage.

She always was a big fan wasn’t she?

Yeah – this is what she’s wanted for a long time so she’d better be happy! [laughs] How is it being on the road with your partner – do you ever get any me time?

Yeah we do because we separate ourselves a lot! We both have all sorts of different projects though and he does a lot – tries to drive me along to most of the studio projects because he knows I’ll help and be a bonus but when he gets on his own he loves it. I support him fully.

He supports you back…

Yeah! For any stupid idea really – like Delicious! That band’s more talk than rock – more talk than cock! [laughs] It’s so much fun but someone’s bound to die if

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it was us, Monster Magnet and Manson then Monster Magnet pulled out – nobody wanted to see Hole on that tour so we were a benefit! It was great – Manson was Bowie-esque live, it was so theatrical!

You didn’t start listen to his albums after though I bet!

No, I don’t! [laughs] It was fun playing in arenas in front of these angry kids, some of them got it!

Well at least they’re angry!

I just think most were grateful we weren’t Hole! When she was playing apparently the audience were turning their back and flipping her off so we were expecting the worst!

You ended up in Elle magazine (as One of the Greatest Female Electric Guitarists) – did you ever think that would happen?

Lord no! Playboy first! I was pretty impressed, pretty ballsy of Elle to do that.

What’s your inspiration when it comes to the guitar?

Jimmy Page is my biggest hero – huge Led Zeppelin fiend, Neil Young, Angus Young, Jimi Hendrix. Some really basic guitar wanker kind of shit – 70’s rock, Blaine listens to tons of soul.

Talking of AC/DC and Angus Young how do you feel about them going on without Malcolm?

Malcolm’s done his time and needs a little vacation so I’ve got nothing against it, people still want to see them and they still want to play, it’s a pity Malcolm can’t do it but I’m glad I saw them already.

On stage – what’s your inspiration?

I’m basically trying to get my rocks off – it’s a very selfish attitude I know but the whole point is for me to have a good time so that’s about it – the goal is for me to have a good time every fucking night. we do it often – they’re the most irresponsible people You’re in favour of bootlegs of your live shows – is there I’ve toured with in my entire life – I’m sure someone was anyone in particular that stands out for you and we going up to jail! should look for?

Has there ever been a moment where you were close to Our favourites we sell on the site – Live in Nottingham’s ending up in jail? up, we have stacks of live CD’s. Blaine and I are bootleg Oh yeah – lots! Most of the time it’s drinking in public, fiends – AC/DC, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin , Status Quo – so we know what it’s like! nudity in public, noise ordinance – basic shit!

You also have your own radio station – The Slinging Pig Rock and Roll lifestyle!

Pretty standard stuff like stealing alcohol – you’re so radio… drunk you’re like, this is mine! The only time I got arrest- It’s like being at our house for a party – lot of soul and ed was for battery once when we were opening up for heavy rock – Scorpions, James Brown, Humble Pie, MoMarilyn Manson and I was trying to get on this guard’s torhead – it’s a bunch of our record collection – a wall of shoulders right next to the high stage, gave him a little vinyl – we listen to it a lot backstage. boot and he stepped away and that was that. When I Who would you pick for your own festival? came back there was police putting me in handcuffs say- Fuck, that’s a hard one! Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Rolling ing I had beaten him and I was like what?! Now on stage Stones circa ’76, The Stooges and us! it added a few feet so when he saw me in public he got embarrassed because I was only five feet tall! He wound No Manson?

Nah, he can come backstage… up getting ostracized from the security community!

It’s funny because it was early and I wasn’t drinking on Despite this new album do you feel Nashville Pussy are that tour so I had my wits about me when we went to still mainly a live band? the cop shop – within a few minutes all these goth kids Yeah, I think we’re definitely a live band period – that’s were coming because of Marilyn Manson so it was like where the energy comes from? $75 get out of here!

When’s the next album?

A weird match – you and Manson!

Probably another five fucking years! [laughs] We’ve been Very – it was Hole and Manson but Courtney and Brian coming up with shit though left, right and centre. didn’t get along so well so we replaced Hole and then

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'it’s a very selfish attitude I know but the whole point is for me to have a good time so that’s about it – the goal is for me to have a good time every fucking night'

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Interview by Matt Dawson Photos courtesy of Paul Kenney With their newest album Desideratum and Damnation festival on the horizon Matt talked to Dave Hunt about his many appearances at the festival, what led to the album’s direction and the first song he enjoyed…

I’d like to begin by finding out what led to Nathrakh signing with Metal Blade Records…

Our previous deal was a three album deal – usually such things are quite a common arrangement – so when we got to the end of that we just thought let’s see what else there is. Not any particular negative reasons with Candlelight or anything we realise it’s just a big world so we looked around, spoke to a few labels and of the few we spoke to Metal Blade were the biggest – they’ve handled big bands before, seem to know what they’re doing and they’ve got pretty good distribution – territory reach that can get your stuff out there quite well. Not much mystery to it!

Now coming up you’re part of the tenth anniversary of Damnation Festival – what do you think of the line up?

It looks pretty good from what I’ve seen…

Yeah – they’ve got Stampin’ Ground doing a show…

I happened to bump into Neil – who used to be the drummer for Benediction – and he said a few weeks ago they were considering playing at the time so it’s quite nice to see because obviously I’ve been friends with Neil for a

long time and it’ll be nice to see the Bolt Thrower lads again – also our new label mates it would appear!

Quite a few Metal Blade bands on the bill!

Yeah, seems that way! To be perfectly honest my interest tends to be in bands further down the bill – it’ll be nice to see Corrupt Moral Altar, it looks a good line up overall I think.

You have played Damnation quite a few times with multiple bands – in particular Mistress’ last ever show – what are your thoughts on the festival as it hits the tenth anniversary?

I think I’ve played there five consecutive years! It’s been interesting to see it grow – the first time I came across it was with Mistress and it was their second year at a club in Manchester [Jilly’s Rockworld] so different club, scale and everything – to go from that to getting Carcass to headline and some of the other bands have been slightly unusual choices but brilliant. It’s been a pleasure to watch them grow and they’ve done it in a fairly organic and authentic way – it’s still the same festival as it was when it was a lot smaller and you don’t often see that kind of thing.

It’s been a very positive thing especially for the UK scene – you’ve got that and Bloodstock for things unlikely to end up in the charts or whatever.

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You were also at the inaugural Temples this year – how was it?

It was really cool. Considering it was the first year I don’t recall meeting the person behind it while I was there but it seems they as a festival reached out to people who knew what they were doing so for example there’s a promoter in Manchester called Kam and they roped him in to manage one of the stages – they leant on the experience of people – I hate to use words like ‘scene’ – that knew the UK heavy live music scene and that’s a wise thing to have done, consequently it all ran really well and being able to see the last UK Brutal Truth show- I’m just pissed off we missed the headliners because we had to go but yeah I thought it was very well done.

Next year will be interesting given the likes of Converge, Will Haven, SunnO))) and the like already being announced…

That sounds like some of my mates’ wet dream kind of line up – I didn’t know Will Haven were still going! It’s never been my thing – different horses for courses – but I know people that practically worshipped them a few years ago so it’s a strong start I suppose!

In that case – what IS the music you consider your thing?

I like a bit from over here and a bit from over there – it tends to be really, really nasty – a couple of my favourite things from the past few years: Portal’s Vexovoid, Deathspell Omega’s Paracletus because they’re very impenetrable and very unpleasant sort of things. I listen to all sorts – electronic music , noise music – I listen to quite a lot of classical things – if you listen to Chopin the extremity of the emotions if you listen to the right bits are really quite staggering – I pick out an atmosphere regardless of what the music actually sounds like.

What was the first song you felt an emotional connection to?

Oh fuck I don’t know! It’d probably be something from when I was a kid – there’s a really weird one and it’s really what you wouldn’t expect me to pick: there was an ELO song when I was a little kid – because you’ve only got your parents stuff to listen to – and I came across an ELO LP – I think my uncle had it – there was a song on that that goes ‘I wish I was a wild west hero’. OK it’s pretty ridiculous…

Not at all!

It made me realise that song could be evocative in a certain way, it could make you think – this song made you think of wide open American prairies running around on a horse and stuff like that – OK that particular experience doesn’t resonate with me massively but the idea that something could have that quality about it – I suppose that’s an early defining moment.

Now the new album – I’ve noticed a few electronic elements creeping up to the core, not like you’ve suddenly gone dubstep or anything like that but little moments like on Acheronta Movebimus – now am I also correct in the title being inspired by Virgil’s Aeneid?

Indirectly so. Freud used a quotation from the Aeneid – he started to look into dreams and the quotation originally means I believe ‘If I can’t move the will of heaven then I’ll stir up hell.’ That’s what Freud took as a metaphor from sort of moving from the conscious mind to the sub conscious mind. I took it from Freud’s use but

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yeah it goes back to the Aeneid but I re-conjugated the Latin: stir up you could translate in many ways including unleash because unleash hell describes the music quite well I think.

I’ve always described Nathrakh as the music of chaos – for example ‘Drug Fucking Abomination’ from Passion – the build up to that first scream of holy fuck – is powerful stuff to me.

I agree, I wouldn’t necessarily accept that it’s only chaos that can produce an effect like that because if you only have chaos there’s no dynamics to it. If I think of chaos turned into music – have you ever heard of Masonna?

No, they’re new to me.

It’s a one man noise project from Japan and he’d run his voice through banks and banks of distortion and feedback – to me that sounds 99% of the way towards chaos and the effect you’ll get from listening to that doesn’t have the dynamic swing to it of build up and release – the fact there is a build up makes the release more potent.

Chaos is part of what we do but it works well if you enforce a bit of order to it so you can get a flow rather than just a bomb going off the whole time because that would cease to have any impact.

With ‘Monstrum In Animo’ there’s also a return to Nietzsche work with Twilight Of The Idols – how much of an influence has his work been on Nathrakh?

Quite a lot. In the passage where Nietzsche uses that phrase he’s actually talking about Socrates and he has a particular interpretation in how to interpret what Socrates said – I’ve got a picture of the death of Socrates on my wall – the thing is that there used to be more of an association between black metal and Nietzsche but I’ve always seen him completely different to what other people tend to.

A lot of other people tend to think of him – if they think of him at all – and tend to concentrate on the ‘cruelty is good’ and they draw out of his stuff a ‘might is right’ mindset and I don’t get that when I read Nietzsche – the thing I get is this impassioned stance against how you’re told and taught to think and the possibility by opposition of something noble and possibly even great. I tend to think more in terms of that and that’s more the part of him that Nathrakh draws from.

There was a big problem with Nietzsche after he’d become incapacitated and died – his sister curated his works and wanted to be friendly towards the growing Nazi movement so there was a lot of heavy interpretation put towards Nietzsche’s stuff and it took decades after to start rehabilitating him and getting something else out of what he wrote rather than just that and I think a lot of people concentrate too much on the kind of message she would have given.

The beginning of ‘Idol’ also has the quote from Deep Space Nine – the Duet episode – who came up with the idea to put that sample in?

I’d actually forgotten it was from Deep Space Nine because we just get it from a Youtube video! I DO remember watching that episode actually a long time ago, I used to quite like Deep Space Nine especially with the whole Nazi allegory that was going on through the first few story arcs and I did find that episode fascinating ac-

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tually. An idea can come from anywhere – in some cases the origins of the idea are relevant and interesting but with that I’m not particularly saying come on the geeks or anything but I can recommend you watch the episode again!

What else inspired lyrics on the new album?

All sorts of bits and pieces, I keep notes of ideas on a daily basis, some of the stuff you mentioned with Monstrum and the Freud stuff – there’s also more technical, slightly text book kind of stuff rather than literary things but there was a piece written by Bertrand Russell – The Free Man’s Worship and I took bits and pieces from that because I thought that was particularly written especially for someone who was mostly concerned with logic, maths and things like that – very dry, non literary kinds of things but this one piece is very emotively put: it’s about accepting and coming to terms with the fact that the universe just doesn’t care in what we do in any way at all!

Admittedly Russell takes it in a hopeful direction when he’s established the full horror of it – I wouldn’t really agree with his more hopeful stuff!

Any more shows planned following Damnation?

What we originally were intending to do was a rash of gigs around the album release and Damnation then the bulk of the gigs in the new year – let the album sink in a bit – there’s a tour under discussion but it’s only under discussion at the moment.

I remember the first time I saw you guys at Moho Live – one guy kept asking to go on stage so he could get punched in the face!

Maybe he was an attention seeker or had an intimate connection with the violence in the music or any other number of things to be honest! I think he was probably just really drunk! Interestingly enough we went for a drink after the gig and one guy comes up and goes ‘You twatted my mate at that gig!’ I’m like he kept pestering me to do it! It’s probably not wise to get in the mind of someone who wants to get punched!

What are your thoughts on elitism in music? It seems to be the metal community is the worst at saying you must like this or else!

I think that attitude’s brought entirely out of egotism, I hesitate to point fingers too much but from the outside looking in the motivation to do it would come if you were quite insecure and trying to stamp authority on something you’re comfortable with – to be honest I just don’t listen to people like that, I’ve always thought it was contrary to what metal music was about. OK it’s not punk in the 80’s but nonetheless it was be who you want to be attitude. It seems linked with obsession of naming genres – it just doesn’t make sense to

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me.

Do you keep up with certain bands in particular?

I always have just listened out for interesting things.

Maybe when I was a teenager I’d keep an eye on certain labels’ releases but for a long time I haven’t really done that so no I’m probably not the most current follower of developments!

What were the last albums you thought were interesting?

The last 3 I bought – pre-ordered the new Aphex Twin album – I used to like LFO – NOT the pop band! Bought a load of Chopin stuff and an album by Triumph, Genus – they used to be a Czech black metal band – proper, monotonous, old black metal like a more evil Darkthrone.

That’s an interesting mix to put together [laughs]! Triumph, Genus reminds me of old Scandinavian black metal leanings towards slightly melodic heavy stuff – it’s NOT melodic but it’s got some melody and a Scandinavian twinge to the riffs.

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LIVE

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November 2014

I had nearly forgotten how good Caro Emerald was live. Her London show postponed as she welcomed motherhood in her life, the curvy songstress is finally back, her femininity enhanced by a brighter sparkle in her dark, seductive eyes. Her cheeky smile is bigger than ever as she admires the biggest audience she’s ever faced.

As always, Caro is barefoot at every change of outfit after less than three songs, confidently carrying her sassy self from one side to the other of the stage, playfully interacting with her impressive live band. But it’s not just her larger-than-life presence making this a night to remember: her soulful, mesmerizing voice pulls the crowd and holds it under her spell; the beautiful songs from her two albums – ‘guilty’ of bringing jazz back to the masses – get punters off their chairs and onto the dance floor. A couple bring it a notch too far for the tight partypooping O2 security as they perform a full rock’n’roll routine on the side of the auditorium.

Between songs she talks about Paris and how its beauty and fashion sense inspired ‘The Shocking Miss Emerald’, then takes a picture and tweets it live to her 64.6k followers, before presenting her fans with a very emotional rendition of the track that first inspired her to be a jazz singer, classic ‘Dream a Little Dream’.

As she walks off stage barefoot sprinkling a last bit of magic dust on the crowd, she looks equally proud and humble. Once again, Caro affirms herself as one of the biggest female artists of our days and a positive role model for women kind. See you soon Miss Emerald!

Set List: I BELONG TO YOU TANGLED UP RIVIERA LIFE COMING BACK AS A MAN PACK UP THE LOUIS LIPSTICK COMPLETELY DR WANNA-DO BLACK VALENTINE PARIS EXCUSE MY FRENCH JUST ONE DANCE

LIQUID LUNCH ONE DAY THE BEAT GOES ON THE WONDERFUL IN YOU HISTORY REPEATING THAT MAN STUCK

BACK IT UP A NIGHT LIKE THIS DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

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21st October 2014 Boy George and Culture Club: Icons of an era - the 80s - when Pop deserved a capital P; days when it didn't mean 'disposable' and some songs were so memorable that here we are, over 30 years later, singing along to tunes that would effortlessly dominate the charts even now.

London’s Heaven nightclub is packed with fans coming from all corners of the world for this special occasion. After announcing an arena tour for December and a brand new album to follow, George & Co have decided to test the waters with an intimate show, where they will be performing both old and new material.

Boy George and his trademark heavenly voice are in tip-top shape. The band opens with a couple of old hits in 'Time' and 'Move Away', then brings in the new material for the crowd to take in. The new fits in seamlessly with the old, all is well received as the audience pauses the singalong but not the boogieing.

The enthusiasm is rewarded with crowd pleasers 'Miss Me Blind', 'War Song' (a deconstructed version with a pinch of fellow 80s popstars FGTH 'Two Tribes' in the mix) and evergreen classic 'Karma Chameleon'.

Climax. Followed by brand new - and damn good 'One Minute of Silence'. Next is Boy George's personal favourite 'Black Money' and fans' favourite 'Do you really want to hurt me' with added Caribbean flavour.

Culture Club end proceedings with 'Runaway Train'.

Mikey Craig is merry and excited like a child on his first birthday, while Jon Moss jumps off the drums and joins him and Roy in an impromptu celebration.

They briefly leave the stage only for the audience to loudly call them back. They gladly oblige for a final that brings a tear or two for many... 'There something in my eye, it's a miracle, dreams are made of emotions'. And what a dream tonight was. See you in December!

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31st October 2014

Review by John Morgan - Photos Cristina Massei What is it with the Zombies of this world? They just won’t stay dead!

After last year’s groundbreaking performance at the Union Chapel, tonight Master Fabio Frizzi returns to the London Barbican with his Frizzi2Fulci showcase, a must see show for fans of the ageless films from the Italian Horror scene of the 70s and 80s and those who appreciate the menacing sound of the movie soundtrack.

A very humble Fabio enters and leaves the auditorium to a standing ovation from a sold out crowd and boy is it deserved. The powerful musical segments are interspersed with Fabio’s own memories and recollections from his work with not only the great Lucio Fulci, but with a host of screen greats, and the crowd lap it up. Coupled with an amazing big screen mix of visuals, Fabio conducts his musicians through a great selection of music past and present. We get the expected renditions from gems like “The beyond” and “City of the living dead” as well as music from next year’s “Sainte Frankenstein” release. The show is about as flawless a performance as the crowd could hope for, and by the time we get to the unforgettable rendition of the “Zombi” theme, a place in the heart of everyone in attendance is assured for the great man.

The background for a perfect Halloween night could not have been planned much better, and with the promise of more shows next year the future of this kind of horror show is assured and in safe hands… Grazie Fabio!

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17th October 2014 Support: Night Verses Providing support to the Kent Punk/Hardcore bunch Feed the Rhino, Night Verses face a sell out crowd at Camden’s Underworld. It’s hot, it’s dark and the audience have already set the tone after moshing to opening act Baby Godzilla. It’s so crowded it’s untrue.

There is an air of energy as the US four piece take to the stage but fans are surprisingly calm and decide to enjoy the band, the music and save any physical activity for the headline of the night. Performing tracks from their album ‘Lift Your Existence’ and pleasing the crowd with tracks like ‘Rage’, ‘Antidepressants’, and ‘Celestial Fires’ Night Verses offer an entertaining set.

A sell-out gig at the famous Underworld sees a mass of eager uni-students amongst others. Having been patient and warming up with the support acts, the frenzy within the pit finally peaks as Tobin and headliners Feed the Rhino enter the stage. The set leaves no disappointment, with almost each punter - and band member - taking a turn to dive from the stage.

The band have developed the knack of surfing and playing as Lee Tobin on vocals, James Colley and Sam Colley on guitar and Oz Craggs on bass take their turn to be hauled around the auditorium above the crowds heads. This leaves Chris Kybert on drums to hold the fort stage side which he does without dropping a beat.

The boys from Kent now maturing to be the band to watch claim their brand of music to be “Hardcore/Rock n Roll/Punk Rock/Loud as fuck!” but whatever you call it seems to be pulling the Camden crowd.

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14th October 2014

With a capacity of circa 800, the O2 Islington was a gig too small for the American Christian Rock giants Skillet.

Full to capacity and a dozen or more ticket touts outside suggests to me that this popular five piece from Nashville could have filled a venue twice the size.

On their first headline tour of the UK they are obviously playing it safe, but an intimate venue at capacity makes for a great night of music despite the crush and the overheating crowd.

The set begins with a string introduction to ‘Whispers in the Dark’ provided by Jonathan Chu (violin) and Tate Olsen (cello) which provoked the atmosphere to almost frenzy levels as the rest of the band take to the stage to roars from the now very excited crowd.

Continuing with ‘Forsaken’ and ‘Sick of it’ the audience respond with continued enthusiasm as John Cooper begins to perspire profusely covering nearly every inch of the stage while exchanging places with Korey Cooper and Seth Morrison who are equally rocking out across each side.

A pause in proceedings sees drummer Jen Ledger take front stage to offer vocal support which she delivers well and just emphasizes the band's versatility.

The lyrics of the songs and messages from John between each song are not preaching and do not ram religion down your throat. In fact, they are sensible, sensitive and caring message for situations and people in need of

help and support. So if you were thinking Christian Rock is not for me, think again. In fact, ignoring lyrics for a second, this band reminds me of Papa Roach and Evanescence with some great guitar and pounding rhythms to electronic overtones, a female presence and almost rap style vocals.

Another pause brings John to ask for his iPhone “with the cool Batman case” which is promptly delivered by a roadie. John proceeds to take photos and a video of the crowd to be uploaded to the Skillet website. This seemed to please the fans, as did the water supply coming from security in the photo pit!

This was a great gig with some great music with a crowd that obviously rate the band. These guys (and gals) will be back. They will be back at bigger venues too. Watch out for them and see them if you can.

Set list was: Whispers in the Dark The Last Night Forsaken Yours to Hold Sick of It Better Than Drugs Not Gonna Die solos Hero Comatose Awake and Alive My Obsession Savior Monster Those Nights Encore: Rise Strings Collide Rebirthing

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9th October 2014 @ The Hawley Arms Support: Hayley Harland

Tonight's support act totally took me by surprise. Picture this: dark room at the Hawley, one girl with a ukulele performing her own music with a voice that resembled Katie Melua. She was amazing. For one girl and a ukulele to entertain a crowd of indie/alternate rock fans is going some.

And they were cheering too!

Hayley Harland is a London based singer songwriter. Her cheerful melodies are contrasted with darker subject matter. Her songs have the sweetness of classic musicals (think Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany), the poetic lyrics of old folk tunes and the frankness of a girl in her early twenties finding her way in the world. Hayley grew up in rural Hampshire, with a love of the outdoors and climbing mountains. She started playing the violin aged 4, progressed to the piano and guitar, and studied at the Academy of Contemporary Music. A family friend recently left her a 1930s tenor ukulele that unlocked her heart and prompted a new series of songs that she is currently recording.

This girl needs signing by someone because she has the ability and the presence to follow in the footsteps of someone like Katie Melua – no, honestly she does.

Check her out here: http://www.haleyharland.com Hailing from Bath, this five piece consisting of Sam Gotley on vocals and guitar, Jamie Wales on guitar, Finn McNulty on bass, Martyn James on drums, and Dominik Sky on keys, are an energetic bunch who managed to not only get a slot

at Glastonbury, but kept things alive during a power outage by playing an acoustic set. Carousels and Limousines have been fortunate enough to be produced by Richard Causon who has worked with Kings of Leon, Tom Jones and Rufus Wainwright and when you listen to their debut album of the same name this is quite evident. The guys have a feel that sits familiarly with something Kings of Leon would do; however, they have their own sound and style which really makes them attractive to listen to.

Playing live at the Hawley Arms in Camden was an expectation that was maybe set too high having read about them and listened to the album and latest EP but I have to say, they delivered. The large crowd at Hawley were appreciative as always; the band actually delivered in a live environment and even coped well with a near disaster after Sam decided he wanted to get closer to the crowd. This resulted in his cup of tea (I suspect beer as it frothed everywhere) being knocked over and filling his guitar pedal station full of liquid. Sam quickly disconnected the pedals and plugged his guitar straight into his amp and, quite honestly, didn’t sound much different.

There’s not a lot more to say than: these guys have a great name, they sound great, hearing some of the screams from female members of the crowd suggests they also have appeal in other areas maybe. If you get the chance, go see them.

Check them out at http://www.carouselsandlimousines. co.uk

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https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/human-zoo/id917489199

Electric Six release their 10th studio album on 27th October 2014 through Metropolis Records and it’s a vaudevillian piece of theatre that will delight and infuriate long time fans in equal measure.

While other bands stick to a winning formula Electric Six constantly evolve and challenge their fans to a winner takes all battle for their hearts, minds and hard earned cash, all possibly involving a velcro dartboard and an axe.

Opening track ‘Karate Lips’ starts out like a homage to 80’s cock rock, all twinned guitars and lyrics to match, ‘some girls fight just to strap on the gloves, get dirty with some other girls’ while second track ‘It’s Horsehit’ goes all disco pop and bugger me but it’s fun, nice with a little spice and more importantly it’s a great one-two start to the album.

Electric Six have never conformed to what we expect them to be which is why track ‘Alone With Your Body’ wouldn’t sound out of place on Strictly Come Dancing. ‘Satanic Wheels’ is an earnest indy-disco track that grooves along nicely with the line,’ let’s get up, let’s get up and move, let’s get into a smorgy groove’. If someone could let me know what smorgy is I’d be very grateful.

Human Zoo is an orgy of styles, moods and grooves which is mostly hit with the occasional miss, ‘Gun Rights’ for example just doesn’t work and is up there with some of the more pretentious tracks I’ve listened to this year while tracks like ‘I’ve seen Rio in Flames’ are as epic as I’ve heard for many a year and deserve to be lauded along with ‘(Who the Hell) Just Called My Phone?’ which is classic Electric Six and will be danced to all winter.

Look, it's Autumn, which means it’s time for another Electric Six album and I for one am already looking forward to next years. They are simply one of those bands we will miss when they’re gone, so let’s keep them going shall we? https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/phantom-radio-+-no-bells-on/ id908459005

Mark Lanegan releases ‘Phantom Radio’ through Flooded Soil / Heavenly Records on the 20th October 2014 and like the man himself it will not be pigeonholed.

The album opens with ‘Harvest Home’, catchy guitars accompanied by digital beats (we’ve been told that an app called ‘Funk Box’ was used to lay down the drums / percussion for the album with guitars and synths added later) and Mark’s tremulous growl ‘black is a colour, black is my name, I need something to help me chase the devil away’. It’s a triumphant cry for help.

‘Judgement Time’ is a sombre, melancholic wake up to the end of the world. A lone acoustic guitar strumming away with a harmonica compliments Mark’s vocals. It’s a song to put your affairs in order to.

‘Floor of the Ocean’ is a different beast entirely. An uplifting, madchester track with hints of Joy Divisions darkness, it’s the catchiest track on the album. ‘The Killing Season’ is a strange one, like Morcheba getting together and writing about serial killers. I still don’t know if I like it.

‘Seventh Day’ goes all Primal Scream on us with backing vocals supporting Mark’s tremor and it’s a lovely, fluid, joyful piece that bring us into the light. At least for a little bit. ‘I am the Wolf’ is my favourite track on the album, a country song telling story that demands you listen. ‘Torn Red Heart’ waltzes in and there’s that Joy Division influence again all wrapped up in a love ballad of the highest order, ‘ I’m going nowhere, with my torn red heart’ croons Mark. ‘Death Trip to Tulsa’ closes out the album and it’s an industrial grind which slowly builds layers to finish ‘fell into the strangest, lonely, lonely, lonely dream’. As did I. And I’ll do it again as well.

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https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/volume-i-ii/ id910742864

Streets of Laredo, a Brooklyn based seven piece band hailing mostly from New Zealand, release their self-titled debut album on the 27/10/2014 through Dine Alone Records and it’s a lovely piece of folk tinged pop.

Reminiscent of a family hoe-down in a lost small town in big country America, the band are by turns folksy, pop, mellow, moody but above all endearing. Essentially made up of two E.P.’s, opening track ‘Everything to Everyone’ is charm personified, all melodic vocals with clanging guitars adding edge to a cry for help that demands you listen and hope.

‘Girlfriend’ with its toe-tapping drums and plaintive cry of ‘she’s 21, trying to have some fun, everybody around here think she’s a vagrant’ and ‘Statue of Liberty, what are you going to give to me’ a shout that any immigrant to the Big Apple could have cried out in the last couple of hundred years.

The latter half of the album carries on this homage to the 70’s folk rock scene, harmonies and sounds harking back to Fleetwood Mac, Dr Hook and current contemporaries, The Lumineers.

It’s a cleaner, more polished sound than the first half of the album ‘Hey Rose’ and ‘Slow Train’ rattling along at a decent rate, uplifting harmonies and good time pop sensibilities still intact.

Best track on the album ‘I’m Living’ sneaks up on you like a folk ninja , slowly building to a rousing crescendo ‘ I feel like living, do you feel like living, holding your hand I’m living, I feel like living and starting with you.

The Streets of Laredo will not change the world. What they will do is put a smile on your face, bring you a little sunshine on a cloudy day and you know what? I’m good with that. Lovely debut.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/heart-friends-home-for-holidays/id925711015 Well it’s become THAT time of year again – the rampage of artists bringing out cash in albums for Christmas whether it’s a greatest hits, Christmas covers or a live album and not to go all Scrooge here but most of the time it’s not that great…

Heart however manage to do something a little bit different as the Wilson sisters reminisce of their favourite Christmas songs (and not the obvious ones either) plus having the likes of Sammy Hagar, Shaun Colvin , Richard Mark and Pat Monahan (Train) being appropriate guests for this live release.

The second half of the concert also caters to major fans of the group with Barracuda and a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven, which is probably the best cover of that track in quite some time – to the point where it was performed at the Kennedy Center at an event honouring Zeppelin.

Regardless of it being marketed as a Christmas album this truly showcases why Heart are one of the strongest live acts on the planet even today.

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&

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