SONIC SHOCKS Issue 17 - October 2013

The end of an era

GOODBYE Issue 17 - October 2013 DRIX JIMI HEN guitar hero The ultimate r’s words in his brothe

Interview with JUSTIN SULLIVAN

ecial 2013 sp

MUSIC & MOVIE S REVIEW

DAVE STEWART ON MUSIC, TECHNOLOGY, MARTINIS & FLYING KNIVES...

Innermost Darkness

October 2013

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

Page 3: Interview with Dave Stewart Cristina meets the ex Eurythmics in London after the screening of his latest music video Article and photos by Cristina Massei Page 6: NEW MODEL ARMY – INTERVIEW WITH JUSTIN SULLIVAN Cristina and John give Justin a quick call to ask about the new album and some more Article by Cristina Massei & John Morgan – Photos Cristina Massei Page 8: BERLIN FESTIVAL 2013 REVIEW Nelly ventures abroad to check out Blur, Pet Shop Boys, Ellie Goulding and more in a disused airport Article and photos by Nelly Loriaux Page 10: IN SOLITUDE – INTERVIEW WITH PELLE Matt gets an insight on one of the darkest albums of 2013 Article by Matt Dawson Page 11: INTERVIEW WITH THE ANSWER Sophia and Nelly team up to meet this ‘Spectacular’ bunch Article by Sophia Disgrace – Photos Nelly Loriaux

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Page 14: DJ AWARDS 2013 – IBIZA Nelly is on a plane again, this time heading to the red carpet at Pacha Ibiza Article and photos by Nelly Loriaux Page 15: INTERVIEW WITH LEON HENDRIX Ahead of Jimi’s death anniversary and the release of a new film, Cristina talks to his brother Leon Article by Cristina Massei Page 17: RIVERS OF NIHIL – INTERVIEW WITH ADAM Matt goes behind the concept with Metal Blade’s latest signing Article by Matt Dawson Page 18: AT THE MOVIES The latest from the big screen and home entertainment from our film expert MatthewTilt: Bachelorette, I Do, A Time To Love and A Time To Die, Bashment, Thanks For Sharing, Emperor, No One Lives Page 21: MUSIC REVIEWS A pick of this month’s releases reviewed by our team: Medeia, Gary Numan, Stone Temple Pilots, The Graveltones, The Crunch, Grace Solero, Alter Bridge, Walking Papers

Page 12: KILL DIVISION – INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD Matt shows no fear when confronted with KD Destructive Force Article by Matt Dawson

Page 23: LIVE September 14th, Matt Higgs is at Birmingham for Soundgarden, Cristina gets a taste of Babyshambles

Page 13: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BURLESQUE The art of tease, popular nights and hidden gems from Sophia Disgrace: Burlesque and Cabaret Varietease, Life’s a Drag!, Burlesque’n’Boogie, Fur Coat No Knickers

Page 24: GOODBYE DEXTER The most loved serial killer retires… or does he? Cristina reflects on an unlikely hero, his final demise and possible comeback scenarios Article by Cristina Massei

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Cristina Massei MUSIC EDITOR: Matt Dawson MOVIES & TV EDITOR: Matthew Tilt EVENTS & NIGHTLIFE: Nelly Loriaux UNSIGNED EDITOR: Dan Balchin US CORRESPONDENT: Denise Britt BURLESQUE: Sophia Disgrace WRITERS: Matthew Higgs, John Morgan, Scott Green

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Cristina Massei, Matthew Higgs, Nelly Loriaux SPECIAL THANKS; Andy Turner, Alison Bateman, Republic Media, DuffPress, LaDigit, the FDA and all artists, PR, collaborators, friends and strangers who helped make this possible - you know who you are. But most of all our awesome team: You Rock!

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

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

October 2013

Covent Garden’s private arty hangout The Hospital Club hosts today a very special presentation by one of its very own founders, ex Eurythmics half Dave Stewart. The multitalented creative mind who once shared with Annie Lennox the world’s top stages is today not only a musician/songwriter: David is involved in production, theatre, photography and much more. In this case however it’s his musical work– together with his unique innovative spirit and the latest marvel from DTS Sound Technology (http://www.dts.com/) – to take centre stage, as Stewart presents a video for his latest single ‘Every Single Night’.

We are swiftly introduced to Headphone X, also described as ‘home theatre in your pocket’. The idea is that you can listen with regular headphones while watching something on your tablet but, thanks to a free app, you’ll be able to swap your typical stereo sound for 11.1 full surround, how the mix was meant to be heard, as if you’re sitting in the studio surrounded by 11.1 channels of immersive surround sound.

DS: When I heard about this new technology the only thing done before was a remix of music by Hans Zimmer, where I wanted to do something with the company and record everything from scratch; I was writing a script to go along with my album, a bit like those musical films the Beatles made and Prince’s Purple Rain – there hasn’t really been many in a long time – so I thought it would be a great opportunity to use this new technology, playing with music and narrative and go into and out of the music. This is a part of the experiment, which we turned into a video for the single ‘Every Single Night’; the story of the script is that I go to Las Vegas to get back together with this girl, my friend is teaching me some cheating numbers and as I’m gambling the casino send the girl over to play with me because they know I’m up to something. It’s actually a real friend of mine who does this numbers thing – he’s a bit like Rain Man! Then the girl persuades me to have a Martini and 3 of them later she’s persuading me to do another number, the roulette wheel spins…

To cut a long story short, her friends persuade me to buy a failing circus. What you’re going to see is the circus and the blonde girl I’m throwing knives at is my real partner in a real circus in America called Lucha VaVOOM that will be performing in the movie and live with me in the US. Kindly, Dave shares with us his secret for a good Martini…

‘The trick to a Martini is, most bars get it completely wrong as they get the watery ice that’s been mixed with the cokes. I always ask to get the ice from the freezer, then it’s rock hard ice so there’s no water in the vodka and then the vermouth, you sprinkle a tiny bit in and out. In the old Mafia tradition, if they gave you a Martini with 2 olives it meant the guy behind you was an enemy so you always ask for 3 olives and make sure the vermouth is sprinkled on the last olive. The Queen Mother was obsessed with them – Gin Martinis, she used to say to her footman at 6 o’clock ‘is it about that time?’ and she used to make him put the vermouth in a cap over the top of it so it was

neat gin basically. I couldn’t drink it while we were shooting the movie though – only gallons of water! It was shot in a tent, 100 miles outside of LA in a desert area.

When are we going to get to see the full movie?

I have to go back to LA and shoot it in bits because it’s funding independently, I’ll probably get some money from private funding and a brand but it’s very low budget.

Did you think about crowd funding?

I did but you can get really whacked on the head like Spike Lee did recently… If I went on Kickstarter and said ‘watch this, now I need another $ 482,000 to do the rest’ I may get a ‘Fuck you and your big millionaire ideas!’ which is what Spike got. People have a funny idea about wealth and raising money for projects. We’ll be mostly using brands, part of the money will come from George Clooney’s tequila company. Product placement’s been going on for years, you just have to get things done sometimes.

The funny thing is, when Annie [Lennox] and I had no money and we wanted to make the Sweet Dreams album, Annie didn’t know what to do so I said ‘let’s go and see the bank manager’, and she said I was nuts. I presented him my business plan requesting £4800 and ‘he said that’s a good idea because you can make your next album and it wouldn’t cost anything’. I stepped outside and I had this crazy friend called Alistair who’s

In the old Mafia tradition, if they gave you a Martini with 2 olives it meant the guy behind you was an enemy so you always ask for 3 olives and make sure the vermouth is sprinkled on the last olive. a conceptual artist and his new thing was driving around in a Mini with loads of cats and then stopping, giving people cats and taking a picture.

I see him coming round the corner as we’re shaking hands with the bank manager thinking ‘Fuck Alistair, not now!’ [laughs], he got out and gave us all cats! But we got the money anyway.

We then find out a bit more about the movie, the technology and the people behind it…

There will be epic music scenes and some very funny ones – for example when I think I’ve lost all my money I’m down and out in a bar singing ‘What’s Wrong With Me?’ and there’s a kind of burlesque number.

Using technology like this you can wander in and out of the narrative and do it like a stage musical.

It can start with me crying into a vodka Martini and then turn into an epic song in 2 minutes. I’m going to mix the movie in the same system but that’s all shot on 4K, the video was done in 2K, 4K’s four times as hi-def and when you’re as old as I am that’s worrying [laughs], there better not be as many close ups! When

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I’m throwing the knife is OK because you’re worrying about the girl… I am really throwing the knives but with a little trick to it; our SFX guy’s great. After years of experience paying fortunes to post production houses I thought using people out of film school is more economical and fun. We’ve used Canon 7Ds cameras a lot; we did that as well the Stevie Nicks documentary I directed recently, it all started with those little flip cameras we all got excited about when they came out. You can do a lot with a very little budget and editing on a laptop these days. The scenes I get drunk in are filmed in bar called the Frolic Room next to our offices. It’s all just getting bits and pieces here and there and making it as you go.

So much going on, so much being created, but what does Dave Stewart enjoy the most these days?

I love making music, everything my company does is music related. Music is the only thing I knew how to do when I left school, but it’s nice to do other stuff.

Let’s talk about music then! ‘Lucky Numbers’ is your third album in two years following a long silence…

Yeah, I didn’t make any albums for 14 years and now I’ve made 3 in a row! What happened was, there were these volcanic eruptions in Iceland and I got grounded here in London and in between that and getting a flight out I didn’t have a guitar so I bought one in Denmark Street and it belonged to a country and western guy; then I got diverted via Nashville and I was going ‘this is all very weird’. I then met up with Martina McBride and her husband that night, we went for dinner and they said ‘Come back to our studio.’ and when I went back there I just had this overwhelming feeling of ‘why the hell not? I’ll just make a record here’. So I said to John McBride ‘I want to come back here and make a record’ and he said ‘Great!’. He thought I meant in 3 months when I meant next week! I came back and on the way I realised I hadn’t written any songs but I just sketched some ideas on the plane and I wrote every song for the first album (The Blackbird Diaries) and recorded 14 songs in 5 days with all these great Nashville players and every turned into this kind of mini circus party in the studio. Alison Krauss and Lady Antebellum coming in, all these artists would come in to see what this crazy Englishman’s doing; I became friends with a lot of them so went back and did another album there.

I got really welcomed into that sort of community; for the second album (The Ringmaster General) Alison Krauss did a duet with me,

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Martina McBride did a duet, so this 3rd album I thought ‘Tell you what, I’ll sort of take the guys from Nashville and put them completely out of their world!’. We went down the South Pacific on a boat and recorded this album which was great fun. We set it up in the same way, recorded in a circle all together, but when you look out the window it’d be moving as the islands were going past.

Why a boat? A personal love for the sea?

Well I I was born in Sunderland on the coast, I do like the sea and there’s something really good about it to do with writing and stuff. Having a studio built on a boat sounds bizarre but it’s a very strange recording experience and it’s a good one, because you wake up and you’re somewhere else.

A lot of people are stuck in a studio and it’s a grey room, same thing over and over; when you’re on a boat you wake up and all the scenery’s different and the weather’s changed.

You’ve always embraced the latest technology, some others feel it’s in some ways killing art, what are your thoughts on this?

Well it depends how you use it. When someone first invented the paintbrush, caveman went ‘what?’ If you totally let it consume you, your life gets lost in the pixels and it’s like you don’t know where you are; but if you just use it for a certain reason and don’t make it that’s what it’s about, then you’ve got to embrace what comes along.

Change will be there so if you try and sort of just ignore it you slowly end up being in a cave.

You’re also a keen photographer – film or digital?

Film, I like shooting on film, any old Roloflex 6x6 camera. There’s something about the grain, the celluloid and when it hits the chemicals and certain things happen that is one more step towards impressionism than digital in a way, but there’s also emotional decisions in how you create something that’s to do with touch, feelings , geography and a million reasons why you decide to one thing rather than another.

Do you print them yourself?

I have a beautiful printing company called Nash Editions in LA and I go down there – they can print them, usually they’re 5 ft by 5ft so they have these great old machines, it’s a whole experience.

You’re also helping promote Stevie Nicks’ new documentary ‘In Your Dreams’ which you directed using rather a rather unconventional filming process…

I just started filming anything on a phone or

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

a flip camera, then brought in slowly a Canon 5D and ended up with a crane!

She slowly got used to the process and I gave her a camera and I wanted to get that sort of intimate portrait where she didn’t care anymore what you see in the film.

We were arguing at times, but you see it’s because she wants to get it great whatever she’s doing. She’s so focused and that could be anything, from the way she walks down the stairs or the beat that Mick Fleetwood’s banging on the drum.

I am absolutely shocked at the amount of projects you do at the same time. Are you naturally an energetic person 24/7 or have you got ways to put it all together?

At the moment I’m jetlagged and I’ve been up since 9am doing interviews; generally I’m very energetic but, contrary to what people might think, I have a really great sort of filtering system in my brain: I can concentrate on 90 minutes then switch to something else and completely concen-

trate on that. All day long I can do 8 projects and in the time concentrating on one I can probably get more done than another person who spends 3 weeks on it, because a lot of people are doing a bit then playing table tennis or whatever and I’m like just doing THAT. Then around about 7:30 I’ll have a Vodka Martini and chill out with a meal, listen to music. I never really work past then, if they imagined someone that was a workaholic working into the middle of the night doing their books or recording I never do that and I never start before 11am so that’s an 8 hour day, but in the middle anamount of amazing things are happening.

You said earlier that music is still the main thing…

Well music is inside every single project I’m doing, whether it’s TV, a movie or an actual musical or producing for somebody; music is the landing on and leaping off point that runs all the way through it – as I said it’s what I know. Through my company (Weapons of Mass Entertainment Productions) I do lots of other things, and I like having brilliant people around because then it’s a lot less to do with egos. I employ about 12 brilliant people who get on with it and I’ll pop in to see how they’re getting on.

I find that most artists can’t really get on with the business side of things which you seem to be doing quite nicely, what’s your advice?

It’s not because I want to do it but it becomes a necessity if you want to carry on doing your art.

At one point someone’s going to say that your money’s run out, so you’ve got to be constantly aware that you’re balancing what you’re doing

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with it making sense. I was forced to learn how to do that during the Eurythmics period – I was producing the records and saying ‘Let’s record here and do this there, it all costs money’. I learned quite a lot, we made 9 albums in 10 years and then it just became second nature to me to understand what’s not a good deal. It’s confusing and boring for other artists, and I’m a bit like them: if I’m in a business meeting more than 10 minutes I feel like I’m getting the flu. But then I also one thing I’ve learnt is, if I’ve had the meeting with the same people and it’s the 3rd one and it still hasn’t happened, I’m like ‘enough meetings now’.

You are also busy with ‘Ghost The Musical’ at the moment…

It’s playing in 6 countries at the moment and I have a couple more I’m working on. They take a long time, 6 years to launch Ghost in Manchester and I’m working on something now that’ll probably take 3 years, but it’s something you’re not working on all the time – it would drive you crazy, something that goes in leaps and bounds.

After all these years how do you feel about your Eurythmics days?

They were great, we had some amazing experiences that most people would never live and we shared them together as a couple and as a duo, so I think we really did have a very enriched version of what it was actually like to work really hard and then get rewarded or be successful and we could share it together in a special way that most people can’t.

Are you still close with Annie?

We emailed each other last week, there’s always somebody or something that flurries up – ‘Annie and Dave don’t talk’ – all that bollocks. Annie danced at my wedding, I was invited to hers, we talked, she’s godmother to our daughter but the press often like to dig to see if there’s something like a crack; they won’t find one with us because we’ve been through the biggest thing: we broke up and then formed a duo.

Apart from what we’ve discussed so far, what else is happening in Dave Stewart’s world?

I have my own sort of Web TV series called ‘The Ringmaster’ and because it’s on the web I can do what I want. You know how Daryl Hall has his where he invites anyone to play with him, mine’s a little more surreal: on the first episode I rang up this friend of mine – Andy Garcia – he sent me a message back with the song for the show on piano in a Cuban way. It’s a weird mixture of me interviewing people, but people aren’t particularly there to promote, it’s a fusion of craziness.

Are there any plans to bring the show with Lucha VaVOOM live over on this side of the world?

I’d like to – it’s just a lot of money to bring that many people but we are doing it in LA on January 30th at the El Ray theatre. There’s a song on the album called ‘Drugs taught me a lesson’ to put it into perspective: there’s 2 clowns on either side blowing up beach balls full of drugs and capsules then they throw one into the audience, a bit like a Damien Hirst piece; a giant pill capsule then comes onto the stage and starts moving around as I’m singing, then in the instrumental a contortionist girl comes out doing her thing while the clowns dance either side, so it’s a juxtaposition of what drugs do to your mind.

So there, for the time being if you want to see Dave Stewart performing with the full circus you might want to book some flights. In the meanwhile, you can get hold of your copy of ‘Lucky Numbers’ from October 7th through Kobalt Label Services.

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October 2013

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Looking Forward Interview by Cristina Massei & John Morgan Photos Cristina Massei

We call Justin Sullivan after listening to New Model Army’s latest offering ‘Between Dog and Wolf ’ to find out more about the surprising texture of the new album, the creative process behind it and the unwilling – some dramatic – changes in the band’s life over the past eventful year. NMA’s past is about to be revealed in a movie, the future is wide open, but what’s in the present for one of the most respected UK alternative rock names of the past 30 years? Let’s find out…

It’s been tough times for New Model Army: you’ve had the fire, lost your manager, bass player and instruments. How did that affect the band?

I think the loss of our manager at the end of 2008 was the big one because for the next 2 years – finally we have a manager again – we had to manage ourselves and it just took a lot of time to learn about the music business. We lost time with all these things, but I think the album we did was the one we were always going to make; we had talked about making this album 3 to 4 years ago, it just took a long time to get started. When we finally got started last August it was very fast, we started writing songs and getting stuff on tape and by February it was all mixed and mastered.

You have a new bass player in Ceri Monger…

He’s a good addition, he’s brought all that kind of energy of youth with him, we picked him because he’s a great bass player and drummer as well – we knew we wanted a second drummer – he’s a multi instrumentalist.

‘Between Dog And Wolf ’ sounds quite different from what you normally do, the production is more textured and multilayered – is that the direction you were trying to go in?

We’d just done 2 ‘rock band in a room’ albums (High and Today is A Good Day) that were very purist; we wrote the songs, rehearsed with the band and then recorded them live in a room. There’s nothing wrong with that but we wanted to do something that was different and wasn’t really a live band, something more textured and bigger. The sound of multilayered drums was something we’d done a little bit before but not as much and Michael [Dean] and I talked about it for a long time – now we’ve finally done it. It’s made it a different type of atmosphere I think and we recorded a lot of stuff on tape which gave that fantastic , old fashioned warm sound, and

then we got Joe Barresi to mix it who’s a genius anyway. Sonically it’s the best album we’ve ever made.

You did the final mixes in LA with Joe – how was working with him?

Lovely! We had a couple of days at the beginning where we got to know each other, it was fun really. He usually gets guitar bands – Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age and all these people – but I think he heard this material and he wanted to work on it as it was sonically different to what he normally does and he thought he could do something. We were happy for him to do whatever he wanted, let him make his magic really.

Are you happy with the result?

I think so, nothing’s ever quite perfect but I think it’s a really interesting record, like an old fashioned album – when albums WERE albums and not just collections of songs. When you entered an album it was like going into a world and it’s like that I think.

I’ve heard some of the new songs have been well received live…

We play the easy ones! [laughs] The hard ones start next month – we start the touring in Germany beginning of October. It’s going to be interesting because we can’t do what’s on the record unless we use tapes but we’re not going to, so we have to almost rewrite some of it to play it live but that’s interesting in itself.

Do you think you’re going to get the same effect?

Yes but with slightly different arrangements , the same atmosphere though very much so. We’ve spent a lot of time rehearsing this month working out ways of doing these things which keep the spirit and atmosphere of the record.

How much of the tour will be based on the new album and, being so different, how will it be linked to the old material?

That’s a good question… It’s quite a different atmosphere, the new stuff is darker and more brooding whereas the old material has more release perhaps. We’re not quite sure but we’ll work out a way, we’re still thinking about it. All these things are interesting because they’re like creative challenges and that’s what interests us, it’s boring to do the same thing over and over again. We do it primarily for ourselves but we’re thinking as an audience, how we can make it work for ourselves as much as anyone else.

I think it makes it a lot more interesting for the fans as well, they’ve seen New Model Army before after all and sounds like this time could be a different experience. Who’s going to pick the set list?

We are collectively. The problem is we’ve released over 200 songs and live we’re going to play 20 so whatever happens we’re not going to play 180 of them.

The new single’s only out on flexi disc via your own magazine as

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well. Why did you decide to release it this way and where can we find the magazine?

The magazine will be in the shops but you can also buy it from our website, it’ll also be a kind of tour programme so you’ll be able to buy it at the gigs as well, the other thing is it goes with the film that comes out next year.

Tell us more about the film…

It’s a personal version by the director, it’s not our film, we didn’t make the film and we’ve had nothing to do with the direction of it.

He’s made it a ‘film’s film’ which is interesting for those who don’t know about the band, it’s not a perfectly balanced telling of the story of New Model Army, it’s a movie.

Are you pleased with the results - if you’ve seen it?

I’ve seen an early cut. It’s a bit strange – like dying and watching your career flash before your eyes. I’m not one for the past, I don’t think about it much. When we had the fire we lost 15 years of live tapes that I’m quite happy to…

Are you?!

Yeah, it means no one will have to listen to it again but yeah I’m like that with the past so the film is a bit of a strange thing. I think it’s because we like to be free to keep moving forward, keep doing what we want and jump out of any boxes, the film’s quite a deep box.

Do you think it’ll be good though if you gain new fans from the album and the film?

Yeah, maybe. All artists want to be loved [chuckles] they hope to make music and people love it. That’s not primarily why WE make it, we make it first for ourselves but then there’s people like yourself and we hope it makes you feel like my favourite records make me feel. However, we’ve never been driven by a quest for success or we would have made a few difficult decisions in our time but that was never the point of the band.

You also played Rebellion this year.

Yes – we were on at 1am which wasn’t ideal but we did do it. The atmosphere from all the different people coming from all over is very nice and that’s why we agreed to play it, but a lot of the venues ‘ sound isn’t great. Despite a few problems anyway I think it’s a good festival.

Let’s go towards the future – the tour’s coming up..

That’s just the start of it - it’ll go through 2014 and I’m sure we’ll go to other continents, it’ll develop over the course of next year. I’ve always loved touring, Do you feel the same way about touring now as you did then?

I think it’s the perfect lifestyle for me, I don’t have any children which I think changes things. Michael and some of the crew have families at home , but me personally I’ve never wanted to be anywhere more than 2 weeks at a time – restless by nature so it suits me.

You see a lot of differ-

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ent people as well.

It’s partly that and a sense of moving – it becomes routine in that everything’s geared to the gig but each day is different – I’d hate to do a theatre for 6 months.

What are the future plans after the tour?

I have no idea! We don’t really make plans. I feel this record will open a lot of new doors creatively for the band which at the moment it’s very together, a good balance to each other. I also have plans for another solo album but I need more time.

When is the film due for release and do you plan to be involved in any way?

Sometime next year – possibly yeah with involvement but it isn’t something we generated. It’s not the film I would’ve made!

Would you ever make your own version?

No. We’re always been asked to write a book –maybe when I’m old!

Any final message for the fans?

We’re really proud of the new record and hope you’ll like it!

‘Between Dog and Wolf ’ is out now on Attack Attack Records.

Read John’s review of the album here: http://goo.gl/Rai51Z or scan the barcode:

bit strange a s t’ I . ) ie ov m e th of ( t cu y I’ve seen an earld watching your career flash before your – like dying an e for the past, I don’t think about it much. eyes. I’m not on e fire we lost 15 years of live tapes that I’m When we had th quite happy to…

October 2013

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Review and photos by Nelly Loriaux

Held in the now disused iconic Tempelhof airport, Berlin Festival 2013 opened its doors once more for a brilliant weekend of art fairs, poetry salon and an edgy mix of Pop, Indie and Electronic artists.

Many people will argue that this does not REALLY qualify as a festival: where’s the mud, the dirt, the camping site, the wellies, the rain…True, it is not be in the middle of nowhere in the belly of Germany countryside but in a concrete 1930’s Nazi monolith airport in the centre of Berlin; yet regardless of its position or heritage, everyone here came for one reason only: rejoice with the music and art.

Each reveller, greeted at the check-in areas by stewards giving out festival wristbands and map of the airport, converged past the redundant baggage belts and passport control booths with a dumbfounded look, glancing at the old-school airport departures board in a puzzled and amazed stare.

Playing across 4 stages on the tarmac, curved canopy and hangars of this recently defunct commercial airport, the vast complex offered vintage point and ample breathing room for everyone to enjoy a carefree festival without the bugs.

Day 1: Friday 6th September Opening up the main stage was UK favourite Bastille fresh from their performances at Reading and iTunes festival; unfortunately having been given the unrewarding 2.30PM slot, the crowd was still rather thin and their set barely livened up until the chords of last song ‘Pompeii’. Suffering the same fate was Capital Cities, a lukewarm reception to a rather fun and decent ElectroPop. The guys did manage to catch the crowd attention with their ‘Kangaroo Court’ and commercial hit single ‘Safe and Sound’, widely known around Germany having featured in a Vodafone TV advert.

Leaving the stage to Madonna’s ‘Holiday’ cover, I make my way to the Pitchfork stage to check out Omar RodriguezLopez’ new band Bosnian Rainbows, a somewhat psychedelic-80’s Post Punk/ art-Rock sounds with a seemingly possessed lead singer Teri Gender Bender.

Best as I tried, I couldn’t get into it but fans of Siouxsie And The Banshees should dig Omar’s new project.

Back on the main stage,The Sounds stirred up the crowd with their pop infused performance. Fronted by sultry Maja Ivarsson, the Debbie Harry/ Marlene Dietrich/Private Helga Geerhart (‹Allo!Allo!›) lookalike got the crowd in the palm of her hand, making them clap

and chant to the tunes of uber-poppy ‹Living In America› and ‹Tony The Beat›.

On the Zippo Encore Stage, the crowd responded well to FenechSoler Electro/Pop/ Dance melodies with ‹Demons› and ‹Somebody› clear favourites. After a quick look at M.I.A’s Mieze Katz blowing bubbles and performing ‘Germanic’ Rock ‘Tanz Der Molecule’, it was soon time for the headliners to make their entrance.

Although probably considered leftovers from the 1980’s, Pet Shop Boys gave, by far, the most visually impressive show. Synth-pop legends Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe may not have had a number One hit for a while, but they managed to please everyone with a combination of oldies such as ‘Opportunities’ ‘West End Girls’ or ‘It’s A Sin’, costume changes, lasers, dancers and projections. We got it all: futuristic androids, dragons, horned masks,

October 2013

glittering disco-ball head and let’s not forget thousands of people raising their fist to the sky shouting ‘Go West’. In the words of ‘Patsy’ Stone it was ‘ Absolutely Fabulous’.

With the audience growing bigger by the minutes, Brit-pop heroes Blur took a stage swelled to its utmost capacity. Marking their first gig in Germany over a decade, the expectant audience roared louder than a 747 taking off the runway. It seemed that fans from all over the world were here to experience 90 nostalgic minutes of pure intensity and passion. All time favourites were explored from ‘Girls And Boys’, ‘Beetlebum’ or ‘Country House’ with Damon taking a sombre moment to introduce ‘Out Of Time’, the song he wrote about the Iraq impending war, reminding us of the likelihood of history repeating itself with Syria. Closing the set with ‘Song 2’, the crowd went ballistic, singing along to every single words..’I got my head checked...by a Jumbo Jet..Whoohoo! ‘, what a befitting end of the day.

Day 2: Saturday 7th September

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

Day 2 started for me around 4.30pm with the gentle mainstream pop of Ellie Goulding, a quirky voice delivering safe crowd pleasing songs such as ‘Anything Could Happen’ and anthemic ‘I Need Your Love’ but missing, in my opinion, the show stopping quality of Adele or Florence Welsh.

And no, beating on a drum to give oneself confidence doesn’t count as an edgier sound. But on the + side, the crowd DID love her, not only painting their face with ‘I love Ellie’ but also brandishing banner with ‘Gouldstatic’.

Is Tropical on the pitchfork stage was a bit of a surprise with their look making me, at first, expect an onslaught of screeching guitars. Instead, I found my ears being indulged to the bass heavy, Lo-fi Indietronica dance melodies of ‘Dancing anymore’ (well worth checking the video by the way), ‘Cry’ and ‘Toulouse’.

White Lies hit the main stage to the sound of Frankie Goes To Hollywood ‘Relax’ with eye candy Harry McVeigh getting the ladies swooning over post-punk influenced ‘There Goes Our Love Again’ and ‘Be Your Man’, inducing everyone to grow old together and die at the same time with ‘To Lose My life’ ( any fans of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ will certainly recall that song).

Now the next 2 acts were the ones that everybody had been waiting for and which, unfortunately, left me as cold as ice.

Both are certainly mastermind in their own right with shoegaze legend Kevin Shields and neon green spiky costumed Bjork minimalist beats (teamed up with a choir) delighting their fans. BUT I guess it›s a bit like Marmite: You either Love it or Hate it. And let›s just say I didn›t love it, I will just have to add my philistine ears lacked the artistic knowledge to appreciate their sets.

So I went to check out Klaxons on the Zippo Encore stage. Being on the other side of the airport, I only managed to grab a few songs but the British IndieRockers were electrifying, their smaller but nonetheless appreciative fans moving along and shaking their booty to ‘Echoes’, ‘Atlantis’ and ‘Interzone’.

German electronic producer Fritz Kalkenbrenner got the honour of closing the main stage, bringing a touch of Ibiza vibes to the delight of its screaming fans, a frenzied rush of hands in the air greeting his every spins.

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The festival had a strict ‘Cinderella’ curfew but luckily the night owls were able to continue to party until dawn, hopping on free shuttle buses to club Xberg @ Arena Club to rave on to the likes of Maxim, Cocolores and more.

See more of Nelly›s shots from Berlin Festival here: http://tmblr.co/ZIt1Ewuf-jcm or scan the barcode

Visit Berlin Festival Official Website http://www.berlinfestival.de/en.html

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

October 2013

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The light of the Dark Soul

Uppsala has been a hub for black metal over the past few years as bands such as Watain and In Solitude come to prominence - Matt Dawson talks to Pelle about their recent show with Watain, going to the USA, Uppsala itself and how the dark nights of the soul is a motivator...

What was the mindset coming into Sister – especially given the response to the previous record?

My mind wasn’t specifically affected by the reception the last record had really, however the impact was enough to play it for 2 years, getting to know each other through playing the material was the biggest impact on our minds.

The two years of playing have definitely shaped what the album turned out to be. I think we really understood the potential of the way we wanted to take it but in relation to how it got received I’m not sure that had anything to do with it really.

The last track on Sister in particular – Innermost Nigredo – features Pelle Forsberg from Watain. We spoke to Erik quite recently and he mentioned the idea of Nigredo being the long dark night of the soul. When the track was being written was that a similar feeling going through the band?

Yeah there was, in particular for me writing the lyrics I think we were all on the same page about what that song was supposed to be, we wanted it to be very up close to the listener like you were pouring hot oil over the listener, just the sounds we were making on that song made me think in those terms personally where I was at the time and those things don’t usually suggest themselves in that sort of way – it just felt natural.

Even with the lyrics those things suggest themselves, I might start working on something that resonates especially to me – the vocabulary or something and that’s where I find I’m heading but that was a sort of theme for the song I think

for everybody in the band as they’d all been to that place in one way or another by the time we wrote the song.

Which other songs would you say are as personal on Sister?

Every song is in some way but there are a few tracks that are particularly overwhelming for us – ‘A Buried Sun’ is in the vein of ‘Innermost Nigredo’ , it has the same pace and emotional narrative but that song is special to me. I think all songs equally put forward the same place both musically and lyrically – they mean a lot to us.

Would you say the intention of the record then is to have the listener explore let’s say the darker side of themselves ?

I just want them to enjoy an impressionistic and provocative rock record but that in turn may mean that they’re exploring the darker side of themselves, that’s what rock music has been to me. I don’t know if that was on purpose, I mean it’d be interesting for me to think along the lines of how a record might have affected me when I brought it or just to have that link as good as possible, but hopefully with some it could cause a fundamental change within them but I don’t ask for much all the time.

What would you say were influences while making ‘Sister?

The general atmosphere of the band, general communication which allowed everything to seep into what we were doing in a way. I think

Amazing – she can talk and deliver the same thing as when she screams, not a lot of people can do that.

Her and Diamanda Galas..

I’m not sure if I’ve heard Diamanda talk.. [laughs] You mentioned the USA – how does it feel to be going there again with Watain and Tribulation?

It feels like where we’re supposed to be right now. I remember the last day of the tour with Watain and The Devil’s Blood saying how even though we go home this tour will go on forever within people and now it feels like we’re going back sadly without The Devil’s Blood. It feels like the best way to start off this album, perfect.

You also did a special release show in Uppsala, how did you feel that particularly went?

It was very special because Watain, In Solitude and Degial the 3 of us have more or less living and working together in a way, this summer has been a fanatical creative chaos where everybody has been working on stuff and talking about what has been going on. It felt suitable that we all played together 2 minutes away from where we’d been talking all summer.

It was great and I’m really glad we could contribute that night, Watain have released a great record as well.

What do you feel makes Uppsala the place to be for black metal at the moment?

For me it’s just the right people at the right place, I don’t question how much things go, I’m very glad where I am, we started out 10 years apart from Watain but we’d cross paths at some point and our city is small enough for that to happen. I don’t know why it is because it’s not tradition, there happens to be a lot of good fanatic people that practise what they preach.

When it comes to metal in general do you pay attention in general?

I just want them (listeners) to enjoy an impressionistic and provocative rock record but that in turn may mean that they’re exploring the darker side of themselves, that’s what rock music has been to me. everything that preceded it had some effect on how everything was but I don’t know about any particular bands. We just wanted to make vulnerable songs in a fucked up sort of way.

What led to Jarboe on ‘Horses In The Ground?’

First of all we’re extremely big fans of her work in Swans and what she’s done on her own. She came to our gigs in America and we talked a lot, we just really clicked and we knew we had a part where we needed a sort of haunted voice that could deliver those words in another vein.

You can really hear her personality.

She has a great diversity in her vocal range.

I do but I’m not the sort of guy that looks through the blogs/forums ever y morning but I don’t think the metal scene sucks – there are a lot of great bands out there – Negative Plane, Dead Congregation.

I find new underground music – a good tip would be Altar Of Flies from Sweden.

One of the last times you played the UK was Live Evil – what are the future plans?

It’s unconfirmed but we’ve talked about a proper gig in London, we have a lot of good friends and it’s one of the few we haven’t played that much.

October 2013

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

Sophia caught up with laid back hard rockers The Answer at The Gibson Rooms in London to talk about The Rolling Stones, partying hard and their forthcoming album.....

The Answer have had a great career thus far , supporting some truly legendary bands such as The Who and The Rolling Stones; how was this experience wise, any debauched rock’n’roll stories you’d like to divulge?!

Cormac Neeson: Lots of stories! (Laughs) We’ve had a lot of fun, touring with AC/ DC on their Black Ice tour certainly stands out. We played with these guys at venues like The Forum in LA and Madison Square Garden, it would’ve been very easy to get carried away by it all, you have to adapt very quickly to the situation. And i think we did - it was all a learning curve. I remember playing our first show with The Stones, opening to this huge crowd of people - we just gave it our all.

Micky Waters: You have to work a lot harder with a bigger crowd, you’ve got to get that energy up and reach people say half a mile away! I think I like a gig capacity of around 500 people, where everyone’s already into the spirit of the show and ready to go. t’s been noted that a certain Jimmy Page is a fan of The Answer: how does it feel to know you are appealing to such infamous artists?

Cormac: It’s a nice feeling, ‘cause obviously you grow up worshipping these people. Led Zeppelin has been a big influence on the band. Again, you can’t get carried away by it; Jimmy Page is one guy, we want to appeal to our fans, the people who come to see us every night. That said, it’s still pretty cool to know Jimmy Page likes what we’re doing!

What can fans expect from your forthcoming album ‘New Horizon’? Have you taken a new direction musically? Are you hoping to appeal to new fans or your current established fan base? Any standout tracks you’d like to discuss?

Cormac: We always want to attract new fans, but keep our old fans happy too! I think this album is a lot more hard rock, with a focus other albums perhaps didn’t have... There’s not a massive departure but there are definitely some subtle changes.

We feel proud of this album and that we can stand up tall for it.

Micky: The track ‘Spectacular’ has been getting a great response, people seem to really be feeling it. It’s been getting good reactions and airplay, we’ve been playing it a lot live.

The video for ‘Spectacular’ has been cited as a little controversial; was making the video for it as fun as it looked?!

Cormac: I’m not sure what all the fuss is about, it’s just a normal party right? People smoking cigarettes, drinking, a bit of nudity - I think it was more controversial behind the scenes! (All laugh) We started filming

the video at 6pm in the evening and finished at 6am,there were a few casualties walking around by the end of the shoot and it was real sambuca being drunk - not water!

If you guys could go back in time and watch any gig in history, who would you choose to see and where?

Paul Mahon: 1978, Whiskey A Go-Go: Van Halen! I think we’d all be up or that! (Band heartily concur!). Maybe go to the legendary Isle of Wight Festival with Jimi Hendrix, The Doors....

Which country do you enjoy touring the most? What sort of reactions do you get from fans place to place? How does it feel playing in your home town?

Cormac: Touring around the U.S is always fun and the tour buses are a lot bigger! I think the U.S. fulfils your childhood dreams of being in a band, you feel like you’re part of this huge movie set.

Micky: We always get a great reception in the UK. Cormac: London always surprises me how good shows are there; back in the day it always felt like a pressure in a way to play there, record labels and press made up most of the audience. Now it’s different, our London gigs sell out really quickly and are really enjoyable with a real hardcore fan base.

Micky: It’s always amazing playing on home ground, although its stressful as family and friends are there – it’s a huge guest list! (Laughs) You’ve got an amazing job, doing what you love for a living.

What are the highs and lows of being in a band?

Cormac: There’s a nice balance

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to this job. You’re in the studio songwriting and recording, with a lot of discipline involved, then you’re out on the open road focusing on entertaining the crowd playing rock’n’roll. Living on a tour bus for 2 months can be intense, then you’re ready for a rest and some personal space, then it all starts again!

Growing up what did you want To do career wise, was there ever a plan B? Cormac: I wanted to be a footballer, then I broke my leg!

The band took off quickly, so i guess there never was a plan b for us.

Micky: I wanted to be a professional golfer...I still may be one day! (Laughs) No I think you need to be determined to make it, and have complete focus and passion if you want to do well in this game.(Whole band nod in agreement) What would you say are major influences on The Answer musically?

Cormac: There’s been a lot of great rock music over the years... people always seem to put us in the late 70’s bracket influence wise but we grew up when bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were at their peak, you soak it all up and do with it what you will. Big bands like the Stones are obviously a part of the picture but there’s also a lot more.

Any final words to our readers at Sonic Shocks?

Cormac: It’s good to be back in the game!

Micky: Every gig’s gonna be like the video for ‘Spectacular’!

Cormac: But with whiskey instead of the sambuca!! (All laugh) New Horizon is out now on Napalm Records. The Answer are touring the UK this month, catch them live at a venue near you!

Dates and tickets available here: http:// www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/the-answer

Sonic Page Shocks 12 - Issue 17

October 2013

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CRUSH. KILL. DESTROY.

How would you say this is different from work with previous bands?

In my previous band there used to be a lot of pressure to write and record a new album on almost an annual basis, with Kill Division there was no pressure at all and we had the opportunity to record the album at our own pace, which was a very positive experience.

I’ve been wanting to play a different style of music for many years and there was simply no room for doing so in my previous band. Furthermore, singing is something that was still on my bucket list and I’m really chuffed that I did it and with the way the vocals turned out on CD. Destructive Force is out October 14th on Metal Blade.

When you have experience with bands such as Legion Of The Damned, Asphyx and God Dethroned to name a few you can expect nothing but full power, with that in mind Matt talks to Richard Ebisch about influences, the choice to sign with Metal Blade and even I, Robot...

How does it feel to be releasing Destructive Force out onto the world?

We are very proud of this CD, we worked really hard for it and hope that others are going to like it as much as we do. So if you’re into fast, brutal music with a melodic touch every now and then listen to our album!

What led to the combination of talent coming together?

This combination was a logical step for us because I had already played together with Roel back 1988 and I’ve known Susan since 1995 back from the days when Roel and I played together in Inhume.

We often played live together and we knew that we had the same ideas about (making) music and that we shared similar musical tastes.

Topics included on the album are I’ Robot and Natascha Kampusch – what other events and literary works inspired the lyrics?

The title track is about the destructive force mankind can have on its surroundings and Distorted Reality for example deals with the fact that people can’t accept the way they look and moderate all photos of themselves. Susan wrote these lyrics after she’d seen some ‘Photoshop fails’ online.

What led to Metal Blade being the choice of label?

Metal Blade was on our A list. Roel and Susan had already worked with them before and knew that they work hard for their bands, so we are very happy and proud to be working with Metal Blade Records again.

Who would you say have been the influences during the recording process?

The three of us combined the musical styles we like and you can hear that combination of styles on the album. So it’s a blend of our own styles influenced by the good old death, grind, and thrash metal bands from the 80s and 90s.

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

October 2013

Burlesque and Cabaret Varietease Allendale Community Centre, Bournemouth Friday 1st November 2013 7.30pm - 11.30pm

By Sophia Disgrace m/ o.co udi its : tost red pho iles iM to C go2 Suk Pho w.ima A/ H ww g: /MU thin ella Clo arber B.B

Burlesque!

Welcome to your one stop drop for all the news on the best burlesque nights, in the capital and beyond! My name is Sophia Disgrace and I’ve performed at numerous events in the U.K and abroad, from festivals to the most exclusive clubs. I tend perform in a neo burlesque style and o en incorparate other elements, such as fire play, into my routines.

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

Here are my pick of all things burlesque this month...

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Get those glad rags on and get ready for a night of decadent elegance with more than a pinch of sass! Hosted by the lovely Miss Annie (I’ve not met her personally but I’m sure she is!), there’s a scintillating line up of performers on show: Sensu’Elle, The Swinging Belles and much, much more....

‘Satirical sauce and just a splash of spice!’

Tickets are £10 and available via http://burlesquevarieteaseeorg.eventbrite.co.uk/ - http://www.kittykatcabaretclub. co.uk/ - http://www.sensu-elle.co.uk Lifes A Drag!

CellarDoor, London Monday 4th November 2013 (Recurring event) From 4pm

FREE EVENT!!

You’ve got to love the CellarDoor: back in the day it was actually a public toilet, apparently nefariously frequented

by Oscar Wilde amongst others...! Today it’s a teeny tiny gem located just below a bustling London street, close to Trafalgar Square. The CellarDoor has popped up in this column more than once - with good reason - they have some wonderful performance nights and a great selection of cocktails to boot!

This regular night promises surprises of all the right kinds as Topsie Redfern invites you to join him for another instalment of Life’s A Drag! All the best drag queens, all of the time, guaranteed.

Burlesque n’ Boogie The Riviera Centre, Devon Saturday 30th November 2013 All day - 1am When i think of Devon, I usually associate it with fudge.... Well, clearly I need to start thinking out of the box a little more, as the Burlesque’n›Boogie night will be offering treats of a far naughtier nature. This event is made up of three tantalising sections: The One Stop Vintage Shop, where visitors can browse a variety of vintage vendors and indulge themselves at a pop up beauty parlour and photobooth; an evening show promising a mind blowing line up of alternative cabaret and burly acts including headliners Lada Redstar (Sarajevo) and LouLou D›vil (Finland), both of whom won awards at the 2013 Burlesque Hall of Fame; the cherry on top is the aftershow party, where guests can cut some seriously erotic/drunken/inspired shapes of their own!

DJ›s will be spinning an eclectic mix of vintage tunes, plus 13 piece R n› B / Soul band Loose Cannons will see the night off in style. Tickets are(Only!!) £25.00, please refer to the following website: http://www.kinkyandquirky. com/default.html

This months velvet curtain reveals...

Burlesque Spotlight!

Fur Coat, No Knickers Top Floor, Kingly Court Carnaby Street, London W1B 5PW 07814 002 295 Ok so weddings and burlesque don’t usually go together...until now! A dear friend of mine is getting married soon and in her search for that vintage wedding chic, she led me to this shop.

Here you can add a subtle touch of vintage glamour - a wry nod to burlesque minus the gaudy over tones - to your special day.

Vintage jewellery, feather stoles, pretty flower head pieces, it’s all there. The shop was absolutely teeming whilst we were there (always a good sign) and shop assistants Laura and Emma were very welcoming without being too pushy. In the end my friend left with some gorgeous shoes and one of the aforementioned feather stoles...If i ever renew my vows, that’s where I’ll be heading.

Plus it has the greatest name for a shop EVER!

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Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

October 2013

by Nelly Loriaux

presents scan for more pictures

2013 Another year, another DJ Awards has gone past with the Kryptonites well on their way to the winner’s mantelpiece. The wine was freely flowing first at the Ocean Beach hotel for the press call and then at glamorous PACHA, with the addition of a few welcomed canapés.

For 16 years, it has celebrated artists that have made the most significant impact on the EDM scene with 9 categories voted by the public and 11 special awards judged by an independent music panel. Pacha transformed itself into a red carpet event, befitting the recognition each of these artists deserve.

Whilst we waited for the ceremony to start, eye candy dancers sat motionless on their pedestal, surrounded by a growing audience scoffing delectable ‘petit fours’ washed down with a glass (or two) of wine, jiggling along to resident DJ Graham Sahara’s tunes.

With the tension mounting amongst the nominees perched in their VIP comfy seats, the photo pit filled up quickly, each photographer/camera crew eager to get the ‘best’ spot (or let’s just say, crammed the roped area ready to walk over anyone in their field of vision). And under thunderous applause hosts DJ Lora and Des Paul, finally got on stage, fashionably late, to reveal the winner of each categories.

But first of all, Des sombrely reflected on the unfortunate accident from one of Armin Van Buuren’s production team which led to the cancellation of ‘A State Of Trance’ closing party, a clear reminder that behind each great DJ lie a supporting crew helping to deliver a successful event. After this humbling intro, the time had come to uncover the recipients of the coveted Kryptonite.

Not unlike the Oscar ceremony, each category got introduced with nominees with the famous catchphrase AND THE WINNER IS: 1. Electronic Live Act: HOT NATURED 2. Newcomer: UNER 3. Media Award: BOILER ROOM TV 4. Record Label: CROSSTOWN REBELS (DAMIEN LAZZARUS) 5. Tech House: LUCIANO 6. Deep House: SOLUMUN

7. Electro House: HARDWELL 8. Outstanding Contribution: KATHY SLEDGE 9. Techno: CRISTIAN VARELA 10. Ibiza DJ: WILLIE GRAFF 11. Dance Nation: MEXICO with HECTOR accepting the award 12. Track Of The Season: PAPER AEROPLANE- FRANCISCO ROSSI (Remix of Angus and Julia Stone) 13. Producer: MACEO PLEX 14. Breakthrough Artist: tINI 15. International Festival: BPM FESTIVAL 16. Lifetime Achievement: JERRY L GREENBERG 17. Ibiza Night: ENTER (RICHIE HAWTIN) 18. Trance: ARMIN VAN BURREN 19. Dubstep/Drum&Bass: KNIFE PARTY 20. Cutting Edge: PIONEER CDJ2000nexus The night welcomed a couple of live performances which made the evening even more

memorable. First off track of the season Paper Aeroplane, with Francisco Rossi on the deck and guest singer Matt Henry, then Kathy Sledge performing mega hit ‘ We Are Family’ deftly accompanied on the turntable by her ‘Aristofreeks’.

The evening came to a close, with the customary Family Photo with each winner embracing each other and their Kryptonite, grinning from ears to ears. I will leave you all now with the words of Cristian Varela “Ibiza is Hollywood for DJs and this – this is like the Oscar!”.

I guess the only person missing at this party was Superman, I wonder which category he could have won? Let’s see…

Best Supernova DJ! And the winner is: DJ KAL-EL (aka Clark Kent)...

more pix here

http://goo.gl/JVOIJP

October 2013

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

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INDIGO HAZE

Leon Hendrix remembers brother Jimi on the 43rd anniversary of his death

Springs after I leave to the commemorative celebration then to Seattle next weekend, I’m not in mourning because he seems to be omnipresent with me – everywhere I go Jimi’s there. People even call me Jimi by accident when they’re doing interviews or his old friends – all his London friends and I have to go ‘Dude my name’s Leon!’

You must have shared the most with him…

Yeah and he’s still looking after me to this day – even though we’ve seen any money Tomorrow is the anniversary of Jimi’s not the Hendrix esdeath, how do you keep memory of that from tate he’s looking out for day? me because I get to go Well it’s unforgettable – I’ve got to go to Palm out around the world and play: I’m going to Russia next month, just got back from Brazil. Dutch television just did a movie on me as well – following relatives when their big brother star dies but you know it’s just been awesome. I’m very happy in my old age.

How much did he influence you as a musician?

He didn’t because when he was playing guitar as a teenager I asked my dad for one when I was 13 and he said ‘No, I already got one idiot playing the guitar.’ So that stuck in my head and I didn’t pick up the guitar until after I was 50, he’s never influenced me musically because I can’t play that – never practised it.

When I play my own music – I have a couple of albums out on CD Baby - I try not to copy Jimi because you can’t touch it so I try to stay away from it as far as possible and even when people do request ‘Foxy Lady’ I put a twist on it. I enjoy it, it’s fun when they say ‘Play Jimi Hendrix’ – I AM playing Jimi Hendrix!

I couldn’t believe he started by playing the ukulele with 1 string!

That’s how you start – you As the world remembers the death of the most influential guitar player ever born, music fans get a new insight into the life of Jimi Hendrix, thanks to a new Director’s Cut of poignant documentary ‘The Guitar Hero’ by Jon Brewer (BB King – The Life of Riley). A double DVD narrated by Slash and published by Universal unveils five hours of never seen footage, including exclusive interviews with Chris Squire, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Paul Rodgers and more.

Some of the most fascinating stories are brought to us by Jimi’s own little brother Leon: tales of their youth, ukuleles and broken radios, but also the fame and misfortune and some quite revealing documents from CIA and FBI indicating Hendrix as a threat. We managed to get some of these stories first hand directly from Leon, here it is…

can play any song ever written on 1 string if you have the patience because remember 1 string is all the chords up to neck, you just have to be pretty quick on the chord changes though. He’d tune it down or up to get different tones and notes, he was just a pioneer, an explorer of the music.

Jimi seemed to express his inner turmoil and emotion through the guitar, before then was there anything else artistically to express himself? I’ve heard you mention drawings in the past.

He was like a Michelangelo – a good artist, also a sculptor. There’s a few of them at the museum in Seattle and online. He was an artist first because he didn’t know there was a guitar out there when he first started being creative then he got hold of music and that was it.

He took a radio apart once?

Yeah – he was wondering how Radio City would play it in New York and he could hear it in Seattle.

Was he disappointed when he opened up the radio?

He was more curious [laughs] because he wanted to find it – see what it was all about.

You said how he wanted to write symphonies and be a conductor – do you think he’d be doing that now?

Yeah because he had them in his head, he told me how he heard all these instruments and liked classical artists like Mozart , Beethoven , Wagner and Tchaikovsky. He was curious about music and how they made it sound with loads of instruments so that’s what he wanted to do – write music. I don’t know whether he’d call it Symphony MUSIC if he’d done it but there’s a lot of conflict on what

October 2013

people think he wanted to do. He wanted to do symphonies just like how he heard music the first time, but he couldn’t because he was under contract to play Foxy Lady and Purple Haze and make millions of dollars through strangers, they owned him at the time so he couldn’t really reach out, he was trying to do that after he changed management.

Do you think an artist like Jimi with that much curiosity and creativity would be ever happy just doing something or would he be looking always for something new to do?

Musically yes. He hadn’t even got started.

When you have a 100 concerts to do in 6 months you don’t have time to do much and the management was happy with him making those big concert days and making all that money. The more successful he got, the more unhappy he became, more people started to control him when he signed papers. Jimi’s day started at a concert, after it was over in a couple of hours he was ready to go play, jam all night – come daylight he’d do sound check, do the gig then the day would start all over again jamming with friends. He was just a musical machine.

The industry’s like that in a way – it’s good to live off your music but it kills something…

He wanted to evolve, he never had a chance to really attack it like he wanted to but that’s my opinion.

You mentioned some reports…

Evidently Jimi had the FBI on his case because he was considered a high security risk – the number he was given was number 1, the same as Bin Laden, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. They considered him a security risk because he was a black man with power in a white world, most of his audience was white. They had a government within a

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

government in America back in those days… they harassed him, defamed him, planted drugs on him in Toronto, with the freedom of information act you can get those papers but they’re all blacked out – now why would a musician have those many documents on him if they weren’t trying to do some subversive stuff against him.

Do you think he would have had the same opportunities if he had stayed in the USA and not come to England?

He was making a hundred in the NYC clubs, had a girlfriend and car so he was happy, also he was just playing guitar, he didn’t know how good he was and when he came to England he called me ‘I’m in England making a record but I have to come back because they didn’t get a work permit’, crazy stuff like that then he got famous, he started his career here and ended it here.

Do you ever wish he stayed in New York?

No. It is what it is, he’s Jimi Hendrix and he’s always omnipresent with me. That’s how I feel about it and he was one of the greatest artists that ever lived. He left his mark and it’s permanent. Of course I miss him but like I say he’s always with me in spirit and the spirit is much stronger than the physical body.

You mention about how he used to identify music with colours…

He wanted to hold the music in his hand but he couldn’t because it was in spirit like the wind and love, no bodies but they’re some of the strongest emotions in the world; he thought that it should have colour and shapes – soft music is blue and green while hard rock is orange and red, if you put it on a computer each note has a different signature.

If you had to give him a colour… which would it be?

Purple. The colour of royalty.

What do you think he’d give you?

Probably blue.

It’s a good combination.

Makes indigo together – the colour of deep space and the night sky… I’m tripping now, sorry! [laughs]

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How did Slash get involved with The Guitar Hero?

Well he’s a guitar player; everyone I know, the reason they play guitar is because of Jimi. I’ve played with him a couple of times in LA, he taught me a lot about playing music.

How involved were you personally?

I don’t know. They came to me in LA and asked questions.

Have you watched it?

Yep, I think it’s the best one made so far because there’s stuff people didn’t know about Jimi. I also have a book out called Jimi Hendrix: A Brother’s Story – there’s a lot in there that they couldn’t use as it was only a documentary – 1 sentence takes 10 minutes!

Finally what are you up to next?

Palm Springs then Seattle followed by Georgia, Russia, Germany, Italy on a tour. The book’s doing well in Italy. I play a lot there.

Where do you normally play?

Every city we can – we go across rather than up and down like in Florida!

‘JIMI HENDRIX THE GUITAR HERO – DIRECTOR’S CUT’ – a double DVD documentary directed by Jon Brewer (‘Life of Riley’) and narrated by Slash – is out now on Universal.

For an unprecedented insight into Hendrix’ colourful world, order your copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jimi-Hendrix-TheGuitar-Hero/dp/B00CNBNCY0

October 2013

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a fertile altar As they get ready to sprout The Conscious Seed of Light to the world Matt talks to Adam Biggs from Rivers Of Nihil about the concept, working with the acclaimed Erik Rutan and their plans regarding the UK What led to the decision to sign with Metal Blade?

About 9 months after we self-released our last EP we started work on writing a full length record. At the time, we had no idea how we would fund it, who would release it or who would even really care.

After doing some pre-production for a few of the new tracks we were writing we decided maybe it would be a good idea to just give the whole record label thing a shot, we sent it out to a few contacts we had and Metal Blade was the first label to step up and respond.

We were giddy. All of us on some level or another had always wanted to be a part of that legacy and to hear that the label wanted something to do with us was the huge boost of confidence we needed. We fielded offers from a few other interested parties but the decision had really already been made.

How does it feel to have recorded your first full length record?

Sitting here with the finished product?

It feels great. The record is something that I feel we can all really be proud of. I say with no ego that this is definitively what people should hear out of this band. But this was an undertaking on a level that none of us were really prepared for. In the past as an unsigned band we were used to working at a pace completely our own. When you add a major release timeframe to the mix it changes the whole process. We definitely had to do a hell of a lot of “learning on our feet” for this thing but it’s totally worth it How did you find working with Erik Rutan?

It was awesome, and definitely a long time coming. Working with Erik was always sort of a death metal dream scenario for us, so when he went out of his was to contact us a few years ago it was a huge amount of validation for us. But Erik is every bit the task master that the press has made him out to be. He tore us down and built us from the ground up, one member at a time. There are bits and pieces of each of the performances on this album that come across the way they do solely because of Erik’s influence. Past experiences we had in other studios, while still very educational and rewarding in their own right, were definitely a lot easier; results were more immediate and there was less emphasis on the kind of detail that only Erik and his magic ears can really achieve.

What was the mindset going into the recording sessions? Who would you say were the biggest influences – musically and personally?

Well first off, Erik was a huge inspiration. We’re all huge fans of

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Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal so there’s that, but also just the strength of Erik’s career is really inspirational.

He had a lot to share with us about the business and his long history as a touring musician and a business owner, pairing that with his unconditional love of death metal is something that I think a lot of musicians in this field can really appreciate.

Some other musical influences were bands like Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Decapitated, Cattle Decapitation, and Spawn of Possession to name a few.

You mention that the plan starting with ‘The Conscious Seed Of Light’ was to release 3 more albums representing a common theme – is that still the mindset going forward or have plans changed somewhat?

That is still very much the plan. Conscious Seed is supposed to represent spring and we’ll follow with summer, fall, and then winter. I’d like to say, however, that it’s not our intention to have the conceptual ideas be the main focus of any of these records.

Fans will be able to analyze the lyrics if they want to figure out the meanings behind the songs, but they don’t have to. If you’d like to enjoy some brute-force, catchy death metal then it’s right there in an easyto-swallow package for you.

Either way – if you could create another concept based album what would it be?

We’ve still got a long (LONG) way to go with the seasonal records so for me to speculate on where we’ll be as storytellers in the years to come would just be sort of futile. However, I will say that my head is always full of stuff to write about. I love concept records and I love telling stories so I can say with some certainty that there will most likely be overarching themes tied to any future records. We’ll just have to wait and see really…

Fans will be able to analyze the lyrics if they want to figure out the meanings behind the songs, but they don’t have to. If you’d like to enjoy some bruteforce, catchy death metal then it’s right there in an easy-to-swallow package for you.

You’ll be touring soon with Abiotic, Dying Fetus, Exhumed and Devourment – how does it feel?

Fucking killer. We can’t wait for that tour to kick in. We’re already good friends with the guys in Abiotic so we’re totally stoked to spend more time on the road with them. As an unsigned band we opened for Dying Fetus about 50,000 times (approximate number) so finally getting to tour with them feels like catharsis to some degree. We’re all big fans of Exhumed too, and I think Devourment had to drop unfortunately. So yeah, we’re really ready for this one.

Before that though, we’re hitting the road with Beneath the Massacre, Rings of Saturn, and Legion. So there’s a lot for us to be excited about.

What are plans in regards to the UK and Europe?

To get there AS SOON AS FUCKING POSSIBLE. The Conscious Seed of Light iwill be out worldwide on Metal Blade by October 15th

October 2013

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Director: Leslye Headland Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Rebel Wilson

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By Matthew Tilt

Lionsgate (Out Now) Remember Bridesmaids? Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo broke the male dominated world of ‘wolfpack comedy’ with their sharp, warm script. Fast forward two years and several rip offs and we’ve reached Bachelorette, a mean spirited copycat that not only misses exactly why Bridesmaids worked but is filled with the very worst kind of humour.

It’s a film undeserving of the genuine talent on offer; holding Rebel Wilson back in the bride role, giving her little to do but cry and shout, reducing the wonderful Isla Fisher to some coked up party girl, spoiling Lizzy Caplan’s sardonic delivery with the worst kind of stereotypes and allowing Kirsten Dunst the lead as a spiteful, wholly unlikeable bitch.

That the film opens with Fisher, Caplan and Dunst cracking jokes about the bride’s weight should give an indication of the puerility on offer here but writer and director Leslye Headland isn’t content with this and ensures that by the end she has left few people unoffended.

Bulimia is clearly the favourite joke; with barely a second of dead air going by without the condition being mentioned, albeit never seriously, and in an unbelievably offensive move Headland even ensures that purging saves the day in the end. Then you have the ridiculous level of man hating going on – though here it’s understandable considering that Headland makes sure that a majority of the male characters are pure evil.

Between the fat-shaming, slut-shaming, man hating, bulimia loving set ups there are some jokes, but these all fall so flat that you’re likely to miss them. If Bridesmaids was scalpel sharp then this is blunt like a rock, and before the end you’ll be beaten over the head with it. This is car crash film making where you scour the poster for a “from the makers of Date Movie” tag line to somehow explain what you just saw.

Director: Glenn Gaylord Starring: David W. Ross, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Alicia Witt, Maurice Compte Peccadillo Pictures (Out Now) Modern melodramas are a difficult thing to pull off. Audiences are, for the most part, savvy enough to catch film makers manipulating the heart strings so when David W. Ross’ script starts with the sudden death of an expectant father it would be all too easy to write the film off there and then.

With persistence though you realise that Ross, taking the main role as the deceased’s brother Jack, builds from this event a fully rounded set of characters who are integral to the things that occur throughout the film.

His most complex relationship is with his widowed sister-in-law, doing his best to support her and acting as a father to his niece. When his Green Card is declined this family unit give him something to lose and, along with his burgeoning career as a photographer, almost force his hand into a marriage with his lesbian best friend Ali. The relationship between Jack and Ali, and then later his romance with Mano, are the least expanded upon within the film, but in many ways this is a positive. While the chemistry between Ross and Jamie-Lynn Sigler creates a very believable friendship this is a film about mistreatment, and the options open to gay couples in the face of deportation.

With this Ross deftly walks the line between gay rom-com and socio-political drama, working with director Glenn Gaylord to fill I Do with warmth and humour without making light of the situation, and point out serious flaws within the U.S.’s immigration system without bogging the story down with any sort of martyrdom.

This film works so well because you take it at face value and enjoy it as a light drama or you can away the message within. That I Do works on both of these levels makes it a rare treat that should lead to far reaching appeal outside of Queer Cinema.

October 2013

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Director: Douglas Kirk Starring: John Gavin, Liselotte Pulver, Jock Mahoney Eureka Entertainment/Masters of Cinema (Out Now) A Time to Love and a Time to Die, the penultimate film from Douglas Kirk, is a masterful slice of melodrama, merging classic cinematic storytelling with a darker, more cynical attitude that builds up and rallies against the sickly sweet central romance.

That it’s based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque – author of All Quiet on the Western Front – no doubt plays a part in the feeling of detachment that echoes throughout. When our protagonist Ernst Graeber returns home, having witnessed a fellow soldier’s suicide, Kirk creates a world far from the memories he left with. With the village in ruins and his parents taken by the Gestapo there is a bitter sense of irony as Graeber begins to feel betrayed by the country he is fighting for.

Whilst on leave he becomes embroiled in a romance with Elizabeth, wonderfully played by Liselotte Pulver, whose father is a political prisoner; during their time together the two become more disillusioned with the horrors around them and opportunities for escape open up but in typical melodramatic style it’s cruelly ripped away from them leading to one of the bleaker endings of the period.

The casting of John Gavin as Graeber is genius, looking every bit the American, square jawed hero he instantly sets A Time to Love… apart from the many negative representations of Germans of the time and from here Gavin creates a fully rounded character – one falling out of his depth.

At times Kirk is heavy handed with the imagery, especially the segments involving a burnt out tree, but there’s a warmth to Ernst and Elizabeth’s relationship, bolstered by the chemistry between the two leads and an interesting array of supporting characters. A true master of cinema, re-watching these films only makes more unfortunate that Kirk would fall out of favour with Hollywood soon after this.

Dir: Rikki Beadle-Blair Starring: Joel Dommett, Marcus Kai, Ludvig Bonin, Toby Wharton, Arnie Hewitt, Nathan Clough, Duncan MacInnes Peccadillo Pictures (Out Now) That Bashment is based on Rikki Beadle-Blair’s play should come as no surprise; filled with characters who embody heightened versions of their stereotypes, brought to life by the ever-so-slightly OTT performances of the actors. It’s both an asset and a major issue with Blair’s film which tackles important issues within hip-hop and the attitudes of bystanders.

Joel Dommett gives a good central performance as J.J., an openly gay man making waves in London’s underground scene. What, at first, appears to be a rather caricature-ish brand of acting from Dommett, almost going beyond the sometimes cartoonish nature of the genre, becomes emotionally raw after his lover is brutally assaulted by a rap crew backstage.

Blair shows restraint during this vicious segment. Viewing the action through the club’s security camera means he doesn’t have to shy away from the actions but can’t show in such detail it could be skewed as exploitative.

The assailants are quickly jailed and it’s from here Blair really builds the drama of his piece. Exploring rehabilitation of prisoners through victim visits, as well as homophobic lyrics in hip-hop and the impact of mental illness on relationships you get the feeling that Blair has occasionally taken on too much, especially towards the end where the final change of heart from the assailants feels a little too convenient and clichéd, but thanks to dedicated performances from the cast it never feels completely detached from reality.

Flawed though it may be, Bashment never judges the genres and cultures that birthed this. Blair acknowledges the serious issues that remain within hip hop - and the casual viewer only needs to look at an average message board to see how widespread hatred is – but he also manages to create a film that maintains the positives, even finding room for a charmingly comedic, romantic sub-plot.

October 2013

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Director: Stuart Blumberg Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad, Alecia Moore Koch Media (4th October) Stuart Blumberg takes broad strokes with his directorial debut. Attempting a serious film sex addiction whilst maintaining a level of awkward humour that no doubt comes alongside the emotional distress and self-loathing any addiction can cause, and, for the most part, he succeeds thanks to a sharp screenplay and a dedicated cast who never appear to take this any less than seriously.

With five main characters to spread out the script Blumberg manages to combine moments of unabashed hilarity, see Josh Gad’s opening scenes as bumbling nurse Neil, and real, domestic drama. Tim Robbins dominates the film as Mike, whose past begins to catch up with him when his wayward son reappears, while Ruffalo builds a fully rounded character for Adam who grows closer to relapsing as he struggles to maintain a relationship with Phoebe (Paltrow).

There’s little doubt that this is a brave film. The non-judgemental way in which Blumberg treats sex by maturely flagging up the difference between being sexually confident and addiction is something to be celebrated. The final act may droop a bit, feeling railed towards an obligatory blow-out to allow for a reconciliation but by this point you are more than invested enough in the story to forgive this.

The biggest surprise is the acting debut of Alecia Moore (Pink) who silences any doubters with her first scene which, after a rather gentle introduction, begins to delve into the real damage this affliction can do. That Blumberg gives her little else to do after this emotionally raw scene of confession is criminal.

Director: Peter Webber Starring: Matthew Fox, Colin Moy, Tommy Lee Jones The Works (4th October)

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura Starring: Luke Evans, Gary Grubbs, Adelaide Clemens Anchor Bay (Out Now)

While Matthew Fox was nowhere near the worst part of Lost – that would be the seemingly improvised story – it’s hard not to think that it might have been a little more bearable had they killed the charisma void off in the pilot as originally planned.

I only bring this up because ole square jaw is back in Emperor, his first role since Lost, and wouldn’t you know it? He’s dissipating all the energy again. You see Fox has that perfect American hero look and it’s perfectly feasible that he’d be the one sorting things out in Japan after the atomic bomb but things become rather laughable when the unnecessary romantic sub-plot begins to take shape.

Vera Blasi and David Klass apparently didn’t believe that the investigation into Emperor Hirohito’s guilt over Japan’s actions during World War 2 was interesting enough to warrant an entire movie, so instead we get an inane plot about Fox’s character, General Bonner Fellers, looking for an old flame called Aya. It’s a romance that looks and feels fake, drowning in imagery that swings between bearable and cringeworthy.

It’s all the more bizarre considering the characters, bar Aya, are real people. Why invent someone almost purely to show that the protagonist does have feelings under the Action Man mask when his actions throughout the main plot show this off pretty well?

There are some impressive moments. Webber’s direction is sturdy and assured, blowing a huge bulk of the budget on ensuring that Japan looks suitably savaged by the war, and Tommy Lee Jones is reliably stern as the fame hungry General Douglas MacArthur.

Jones manages to liven up proceedings whenever he is on screen, to the point where you wish he’d played most of the U.S. army, but it isn’t enough to lift this tepid attempt to tale a truly interesting tale.

Plenty of horror films try to squeeze a decent twist in at the end, supposedly rewarding the audience by pulling the rug out from under them, but Ryuhei Kitamura’s follow up to The Midnight Meat Train changes the pace quickly before settling into a rather comfortable revenge thriller.

Luke Evans is a holidaymaker who runs into trouble with a gang of violent criminals but when they take his car they find a young girl in the trunk and, after his girlfriend dies, Evans turns out to be a rather brutal killer.

It’s an early rug pull that makes up for a slow beginning and a sex scene that feels as realistic as one from The Room.

From here Kitamura drenches the screen with claret as each gang member suffers a fate more brutal than the last, but as we approach the final scenes the relationship between Evans and the girl he kidnapped takes the forefront. Having trapped her within a bizarre game – it’s never made 100% clear whether this is sexual – Evans’ nameless protagonist has a vampire-like hold over Emma and a series of flashbacks fill in the backstory to the feelings she appears to have for him.

With much of the film resting on Evans’ shoulders it’s a good job he’s as charismatic as he is; holding your attention without saying a word and carrying an imposing physicality which makes him that much more believable as the calm killer. There’s plenty to pick at here but once the ride starts it doesn’t let up.

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ALBUM REVIEWS

MEDEIA Iconoclastic Fullsteam – Oct 25th

By Matt Dawson Medeia unveil another slice of Finnish melodic death metal, as they follow up the trilogy ended with their 2011 album Abandon All. There are many questions as to whether the momentum can be kept, and with so many death/melodic death metal bands coming out of their region at any given time there’s always that danger of being lost in the shuffle.

Knowing that could occur, Medeia start off Iconoclastic by making sure they have your attention; the guitar of Samuli Peltola harmonises well with the synths and powerful vocals on tracks like the title one, ‘A Waste Of Skin’ and ‘Misery Prevails’.

Where Medeia are their strongest though is on two tracks on Iconoclastic in particular: ‘Sleep’, combining what we hear throughout with atmospheric female singing and piano, and ‘Loyalty Kills’. There is the odd misstep with ‘The Dominant Species’ going too far into early death metal territory but without the melodic side to back it up.

What Medeia have done is avoid falling behind; yes, there is inspiration from bands such as the later In Flames (anything past Route To Remain) BUT they’ve created an album that will gain them new fans without going as far to alienate the old.

GARY NUMAN Splinter -Songs From a Broken Mind Cooking Vinyl - Oct 14th

By Sophia Disgrace Gary Numan is a true artist with an impressively chequered history, both publicly and personally. He relocated to LA not too long ago from Blighty, and from the sound of his latest album, it’s clearly working out well for him creatively.

Opening track ‘I am dust’ has a definite 80s feel to it, yet manages to sound compellingly modern at the same time.

Gary’s trade mark vocals puncture the progressive backing to perfection. Up next is ‘Here in the black’ and an instant change in tempo, it’s full of ebm overtures and dark foreboding as Numan whispers and entices his listener, inviting you to venture further into his world.

Love Hurt Bleed’ maintains a continued theme of nihilism to the album, stating that ‘Everything bleeds’. True this is no cheery record but that’s what makes Gary great, right? He makes music that is both alluringly sinister and imminently danceable. You can contemplate your demise whilst on the dancefloor!

We’re the Unforgiven’ offers little redemption from eternal damnation, the now trademark industrial momentum setting new evocative tones. The album swiftly concludes with ‘My Last Day’ and it’s another success for the one and only Gary Numan - NIN and co cannot touch the original and best.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS The High Rise EP Spinefarm – Oct 8th

THE GRAVELTONES Don’t Wait Down Lagoon Dog Rec. – Oct 21st

By Cristina Massei

By Cristina Massei

I’ll be honest: I wouldn’t have put a dime on this one working out, and not only because I was never a Linkin Park fan. Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington is almost blasphemy. Against all odds, however, it revealed to be a match made in Rock Heaven.

The ‘High Rise’ EP came quick and a tad unexpected as the band’s legal position with Weiland is still unclear; preceded by single ‘Out Of Time’, if that was anything to go by STP fans were in for a surprise treat. Here it comes, and indeed ‘Out Of Time’ is not a one off.

‘Black Heart’ is maybe the closest to the STP we love plus a touch of Jane’s Addiction and an added flow of new verve, as the DeLeo brothers close around Bennington with conviction and enthusiasm. Darker and deeper, ‘Same On The Inside’ follows, then the sinuous, captivating sway of ‘Cry Cry’ and finally ‘Tomorrow’, intense, anthemic, with a Pearl Jam flavor but ultimately defining this new version of the legendary band.

Likely to win over the old fans and plenty of new blood, Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington put the accent on quality rather than quantity, marking their debut with a 5 tracks EP worth more than many albums out there. The Linkin Park connection may be daunting for some, but you may approach without fear and plenty of optimism. To more to come, and sod all lawyers and whining rockstars.

They don’t waste time, these two rockstars-to-be known as the Graveltones: ‘Don’t Wait Down’ hits straight to the hips with irresistible rock’n’roll anthem ‘Bang Bang’ – best song to dance to or even make love to, according to Jimmy and Mikey themselves.

But if you need a bluesier type of swagger to rock your boat, fear not: ‘Forget About The Trouble’ comes to the rescue, followed by ‘Dying on Your Feet’. And you’d better have your blues suede shoes on or you won’t survive these twelve attacks to the senses. And the hips of course.

Very few bands can manage to put into record their whole live essence, especially when the shows themselves are as intense and mindblowing as The Graveltones’; ‘Don’t Wait Down’ however does just that, an invisible line of electricity and passion running seamlessly through each song, from the sinuous sexual innuendo of ‘Crime To Be Talkin’ to the highly charged rock numbers like ‘Lightning Bolt’ and even the surprisingly understated ones like ‘I’m A Liar’.

Some albums cannot be described, only listened to and enjoyed. And frankly, sitting here on a computer while ‘Catch Me On The Fly’ plays in the background is pure violence, to me and to the song. So there, I’m off. All I can say is, if you need high octane blues rock’n’roll and you’ve been looking for the perfect album, the wait is finally over.

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October 2013

THE CRUNCH Busy Making Noise Legal Records – Oct 28th

By Cristina Massei Classic old school punk yet unequivocally fresh, all stars outfit The Crunch has been Busy Making Noise and is finally ready to share it with the world.

The debut full length born from the union of Sulo Karlsson (Diamond Dogs), Mick Geggus (Cockney Rejects), Dave Tregunna (Sham 69, Lords of the New Church and Terry Chimes (The Clash, Black Sabbath, Hanoi Rocks) is all its DNA promises and some more: low guitar, tattoos, that Social Distortion vibe and those hooks so simple they’re perfect – ah, the Ramones and their three magic chords!

Fourteen tracks in 40 minutes will leave you fully satisfied yet craving for more. ‘Street Flavour’, ‘Gangster Radio’ and ‘Down By The Border’ will be three favourites amongst SxDx fans, while slower numbers ‘Yesterday’s Boys and Girls’ and ‘Remember Me Like That’ turn the spotlight on Sulo’s vocal capabilities. We have two pretty special guests as well: the captivating female voice in ‘A Little Bit Of Grace’ comes courtesy of Swedish songstress Idde Schultz, while Jeff Turner joins in for album closer ‘Runaway Son’. And then there’s the odd surprise, like that colourful reggae stroke of paint on ‘A Matter of Time’.

You surely know what to expect from these guys in terms of quality and genre; what might come as a surprise, considered their age and experience – is the sparkle in these fourteen tracks.

The Crunch were not planned: they came together once on stage for a book presentation, and the chemistry was too good to end it there. If you want to clear up once and for all the meaning of chemistry, listen to ‘Busy Making Noise’: chemistry is what ignited that sparkle.

GRACE SOLERO A Hundred Years Apart Wohone Records – Out Now

ALTER BRIDGE Fortress Roadrunner – Sept 30th

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WALKING PAPERS Walking Papers Loud & Proud.- Oct 7th

By Sophia Disgrace

By Scott Green

By Cristina Massei

London based metal/hard rock outfit Grace Solero are instantly striking for the fact that they have a female front woman – and she’s more than just a pretty face...

Grace provides vocals and guitar, and is joined by Dan Beaulaurier, guitar/vocals, Bjorn Zetterlund on bass and last but not least drummer Maurizio Liberato.

Her voice is nothing but dazzling throughout , at times almost to the point that it can sound a tad overwhelming, verging on wailing. Still, a momentum begins with the opening track ‹Circles› and is well maintained up to the bittersweet, folkesque sounds of ‹The Woman by the River›. This track is for me a stand out, showcasing a more ethereal style both instrumentally and vocally for the band. ‹Electro› is but one of many songs on the album that I could imagine play out great live and would no doubt be accessible to a variety of fans tastes. Grace Solero seem to excel at producing clean, catchy hooks and melodies, with Grace injecting some female attitude and angst to proceedings.

They note The Smashing Pumpkins -amongst select others - as one of their key influences; they are more stadium rock than shoe gaze melancholy, reminding me at times of a certain Alice in Chains the song ‹Unless› especially. Overall a powerful offering - the tracks flow well and seem to reach far beyond the speakers they emit from.

Already on the receiving end of critical acclaim from the likes of a certain Mr Bruce Dickinson (he personaly playlisted a single from their first album for his BBC 6 radio show) and with comparisons to Jeff Buckley, things are certainly looking promising for Grace Solero, who are shortly to be embarking on a full U.K tour - watch this space!

When I first heard the single, Addicted to Pain, in August, I was blown away. It blended classic Alter Bridge half tones with a new, harder sound. I couldn’t stop listening to it and my hopes for the new album were higher than albums past.

The last album’s Isolation hinted at a newer, harder sound, but while it was an amazing album, that was the hardest it would get.

Three years later and they went there.

I think this is the album many fans have been waiting for. It’s by far the hardest of the four and moves beyond a cookie cutter verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus repeat sound…a fact that Mark Tremonti focused on an interview with Music Radar: “We were pushing for unpredictability. Everything we could throw at these songs, we did.”

Having stated that, the album is not all just headbang.

It manages to span classic AB sounds while moving through emotional tracks like Lover to the Spanish influenced into of Cry Of Achilles to hitting their roots in a Creedish All Ends Well.

Also breaking from the norm, Tremonti makes his lead vocal debut for Alter Bridge in Water Rising and nails it.

All in all, I think the band’s willingness to let members take on side projects such as going solo, and reconnecting with Stapp and Slash has let them come back together having more experience to more styles and taking the best bits and putting them together for the betterment of Alter Bridge. It’s a win for everyone and the future of Alter Bridge looks strong.

As bands like Rival Sons and The Temperance Movement gain momentum with press and charts alike, it’s safe to say blues – and roots music in general – is making a welcome comeback. In this warm southern atmosphere, Duff McKagan joins forces with Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season), Jeff Angell, and Benjamin Anderson (both of The Missionary Position) to ride the revival wave.

Latest supergroup Walking Papers does nothing new – which is forgiven to supergroups – but does it well – which is expected from supergroups. Add that it’s recorded in Seattle with some help from Jack Endino (Soundgarden, Nirvana, Mudhoney) and a guest appearance by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready on two tracks to give it that grungy edge; what you get is an album that won’t shake the music world to its core, but will at least shake some hips, heads and air guitars with its raw, full on swagger.

Angell’s sandpaper vocals have a dirty Joe Cocker vibe to it, enriched in places – like ‘Your Secret’s Safe With Me’- by a more contemporary, dark Seattle sound.

The album loses my attention however when indulging in an overdone Springsteen-type balladry in ‘Leave Me In The Dark’ and insists in losing momentum with an even slower bohemian number in ‘The Butcher’. ‘Two Tickets’ recovers the initial strut and leads to Stones’ favourite ‘I’ll stick around’ before ‘Capital T’ gets hips and guitar licks going again.

All in all, an album that is not strictly necessary but worth having for the bluesier numbers. The UK release has 4 additional songs, different depending if you go for CD or iTunes. A vibrant live version of opener and lead single ‘The Whole World Is Watching’ ends the physical and hopefully the download as well. If not, my advice is to embrace tradition and hit the record store.

October 2013

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

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LIVE! Birmingham

Academy September 14th

by Matt Higgs With tickets being touted for eye watering prices outside the doors of Birmingham’s O2 Academy and little breathing space left between the amassed capacity crowd inside, it would be fair to say that anticipation was running more than a little high for the return of Soundgarden to the heart of the Midlands.

Taking to the stage to individual cheers the band begin their set with ‘Let Me Drown’ and ‘Spoonman’ both taken from their acclaimed 1994 album ‘Superunknown’ as the un-aging Chris Cornell wastes no time winning the swoons of the female members (and a few males) in the crowd. Letting the music do the talking, Soundgarden continue to perform with the same vigor that won them their position towards the head of the Seattle grunge scene.

‘By Crooked Steps’ is the first song to be showcased from the band’s new album ‘King Animal’ but holds its own alongside the more enduring tracks, as Cornell's trademark soulful rasp winds its way across Thayil’s riffs. Followed up by the album’s catchy and aptly titled first single ‘Been Away Too Long’ it’s clear that while Soundgarden have the discography to perform a ‘best of ’ set, they are keen to show that they far from content to rest on their well earned laurels.

‘My Wave’ receives rapturous cheers before Cornell reminisces early van tours as he takes the crowd back to 1989 with a brooding performance of ‘Get On The Snake’. ‘Pretty Noose’, ‘Burden In My Hand’ and ‘Blood On The Valley’ all see the band in fine flow before bringing the audience to what should be the pinnacle of their set, ‘Black Hole Sun’.

While the song’s performance fails to set the room on fire in the way that might be expected, it still forms an unforgettable set highlight as it is sang back to riffs, drums and all.

‘Blind Dogs’, Cornell explains, was the first song the band played together following reformation; given tonight one of its first live outings, it shows just how much great material they have had to regularly overlook when pulling together a setlist. ‘Fell On Black Days’ and ‘Blow Up The World’ continue a twenty track mix of classic grunge, before it begins to fall apart amidst technical problems for bassist Ben Sheppard.

During final song ‘Rusty Cage’, he throws his instrument to a member of the crowd before leaving the band to finish the song as a trio.

Technical problems ironed out, the band return complete for an electrifying encore of ‘Jesus Christ Pose’ and ‘Slaves And Bulldozzers’ both of which leave the crowd captivated before Soundgarden leave the stage in a sea of noise and feedback.

While the band have suggested they are not averse to creating further new material, it’s clear that Midlands would not be adverse to a return visit either. Birmingham will be waiting with baited breath.

Brixton Academy 14th September

by Cristina Massei

Poetry, rock’n’roll, that magic that pours out of world’s most sensible, tormented soul; it was never about flawless singing and impeccable guitar playing. It’s about what Brixton witnessed tonight, confirming Pete Doherty as one of the most iconic artists in the past two decades.

With a set list of past and future classics and a genuine punk attitude the world has long forgotten, Pete is his usual erratic, charismatic self: ups and downs, highlights and lowlights, heaven and hell, falling and standing so tall he can almost reach the upper circle but never once losing the audience’s attention. From the moment he enters the stage with Babyshambles, Brixton is hypnotized, waving and singing along and over their fragile hero. After a stuttering start, Doherty seems to warm up from Doctor No; it’s hard to tell if he’s the one getting the crowd high or the other way around, they seem to feed off each other. Every time he stumbles on cable, crashes on the drums, lies on the floor mic in hand, looks like it may well be on for an early night; but the man like Lazarus keeps coming back to life with insane bursts of energy. ‘False alarm, there’s still a song for me, I’m just about around to sing it; there’s still a chance for me and I’m still here singing’, recites ‘Picture Me in a Hospital’ from Babyshambles’ latest offering ‘Sequel To The Prequel’. How many chances are still left is everyone’s guess, but in a context where the best ones have the habit to depart at 29, I suppose we can only be grateful for the music and hope there’s much more to come from Peter Doherty.

As the band reappears on stage for the encore, Pete announces they’re only given time for one song; he reads the rest of a set list which is clearly just indicative as it wouldn’t fit any average gig and leaves the decision to the crowd. Considering ‘Fuck Forever’ is still on the ‘to do’ list, the choice is obvious.

A fulfilled all ages multitude takes the street of Brixton still singing, ohhh oh oh ooohhh... The tune is ‘Killamangiro’: ‘Why would you pay to see me in a cage? Some men call the stage...’ . Goodnight Mr Doherty. You’ve got the key.

October 2013

Sonic Shocks - Issue 17

Goodbye

Half way through Dexter’s final episode, we’re all set for a happy ending; Debra Morgan is going to fine, she kicks Dexter out of her hospital room into a new happy family life with his poison loving girlfriend, only one word to be said: ‘Goodbye’. It should serve us as a warning: maybe that’s a good time for all of us to say goodbye and turn off the box on our favourite serial killer. But we don’t.

With plenty of time to go and a dark world of possibilities, we stick to it and wait for blood to make its mark on the fairytale scenario. There’s something morbidly obsessive about being a Dexter fan: he’s the one putting the baddies on the table and getting away with it, he incarnates our fantasy to physically eliminate the villains without consequences, and as much as we’re happy he fell in love and found himself, Saxon can’t just end up unharmed in a prison cell – maybe even get out of there alive. It’s unfair, enraging. The dark passenger might be gone, but Dexter invited a few millions more on his televised ride, and they don’t like unfinished business. Our hero makes a u-turn back to Miami to take care of things.

Dexter eliminates Vogel’s twisted offspring with a silent final blessing from Angel and Quinn, but first he loses Deb, his future and dreams crumbling under the unbearable weight of guilt. Viewers stand in shock as one of the best kept secret in television unravels; completely out of the blue, the very character that was rumoured to be the subject of a future spin-off is eliminated. What now? Although deeply satisfying, the death of Oliver Saxon is not enough; one bad down doesn’t make up for two good ones, and doesn’t get close to fill the void left by Dexter’s sister and new found spiritual mother.

Not after that family scene on the boat, burying in the ocean the wrong brain surgeon. You feel some way that that universal fairness Dexter tried so hard to restore has been once again subverted, rights are wronged and wrongs are righted as the ultimate hero is denied any form of affection or hope of a normal life.

A set of principles – the Code – allowing a man to revel in the fulfilment of vengeance, the utopia of absolute justice, a world we’ve been allowed to be part of over the past 8 years, is vanished; not only because the series is over, but because there ARE consequences to Dexter’s actions, and one of them is a nagging conscience. There’s a feeling of political correctness winning again, the world of entertainment needing to send out the message that ultimately killing anyone, even a villain is NOT ok, death penalty is against human rights, and I’m fine with that. But why can’t they let us get away with what WE KNOW is only a fantasy? No one goes cuckoo after seeing monsters being killed; Superman, Batman and some of Clint Eastwood’s characters killed more people in 90 minutes than Dexter in 8 years! It’s knowing they go unpunished that feeds our nightmares.

Dexter’s grand finale left a sour taste in my mouth and I know I’m not the only one. What Debra and Dr Vogel paid with their own life is not Dexter’s instinct to kill, but the one time he hesitated. Talking about Evelyn Vogel’s role, Michael C Hall said: “she’s selling him on this

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CONTAINS SPOILERS

notion that his indulgence of being a human being is off base and is actually beside the point of who he really authentically is as a psychopath and ought to be.

And she has a real argument, I don’t think Dexter would be able to deny that it’s his appetite for humanity that has gotten not just himself, but other people in trouble, not the fact that he kills bad guys”.

Happy endings might be boring, but the character of Dr Vogel should have been used as a key to unlock the dark passenger and that ‘normal’ life with Anna and Harrison; an older and wiser Deb could have maybe carried on part of the family business, trying to apply a bit of Harry’s Code to the moral and lawful one of Miami Police. Surely, no fan of the series wanted Dexter and his loved ones to be so hardly punished, if at all. I’m not even sure we really wanted his character to get so ‘human’; I always found his alien way to observe relationships and ‘normal’ people behaviour quite endearing, making me wonder how many men really act their life trying to imitate the Joneses and do what is expected of them by society; and if so, what are they hiding?

Being the last season, we were expecting to see Dexter get caught or killed or becoming human and blending with the normal world. This hybrid between dead or alive, although unforeseen, didn’t really work for most. Like all hybrid endings, still, it serves the purpose of leaving a door opened to the possibility of a comeback if the appetite – both on the audience and on the cast side – proves to be still high. Talking about the story’s development after Deb stumbles across the real Dexter, Hall says “the world that Dexter has made for himself and the world that Dexter has lived in is inevitably going to be implicated, start to fold in on itself and it just feels that to keep Dexter thriving or keep Dexter surviving in this context beyond an eighth season isn’t something any of us can wrap our heads around. It just feels like the right time to…well I don’t want to give anything away”.

But he does indeed survive and finds a new context: now, one can only hope.

We leave a bearded Dexter cutting trees in some remote forest, a loner reminiscent of Heidi’s granddad (yes, the cartoon with mountains and goats), while Anna is left to raise Harrison all alone in Argentina. What next? I would like to see Anna buy a farm and grow poisonous plants to kill a few villains of her own, with a few pigs to dispose of the bodies. In the meanwhile, Dexter can escape boredom by occasionally searching the nearest towns and villages for some deserving baddies to chainsaw. Will they meet again? Will Harrison develop his own Code and MO? What about a spin off with Matsuka’s daughter replacing Dex in all bloody matters, or maybe Quinn – inspired by the Saxon pen-stabbing – could be the next Miami’s vigilante?

Whatever happens next – if anything – there’s a massive question mark still to be answered. ‘Dr Vogel encourages him(Dexter) to believe that he doesn’t really feel these things in an authentic way, he just has the idea that he is having a feeling and Dexter resists that analysis and wants to believe that his feelings about or for his sister are real. I think there’s some ambiguity in terms of the nature of his feelings, are they selfserving or are they selfless?’ questions Michael C Hall.

Dexter, hero or monster?

Maybe there is no answer, but I’m confident many would love to keep looking and see a few more villains on that table in the process. In the meanwhile, let’s raise our glasses to utopias, justice, blood, quirkiness, sense of humour, superheroes, to Dexter and all involved: well done. A toast to the series that redefined Guilty Pleasure.