SONIC SHOCKS Issue 36 - May 2015

Isue 36 - May 2015

© SONIC SHOCKS 2015 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - HANDS OFF!!!

BLUES PILLS ZE GRAN ZEFT ENTRAILS THE DEAD BETAS LORDI EXODUS IBIZA SECRETS OF THE SKY THE CRUNCH TRIBULATION DIR EN GREY BURLESQUE TEMPLES FESTIVAL CAMDEN ROCKS LIVE REVIEWS

One of Mikko's most personal interviews yet

VON HERTZEN BROTHERS THE DAY THE CHAINS WILL FALL

Dear readers, it came to our attention last month (thanks Google Alerts) that the April issue of Sonic Shocks has been stolen and uploaded on every bloody illegal file sharing website on the internet. We really struggle to see the point since it can be read for free on www.issuu.com to be honest.

However, two things really piss us off about these twats’ actions: Many of this websites ask their readers for a PAID subscription or voluntary funding; basically they make their money re-selling stuff they’ve STOLEN from others (which in this case was given away for FREE in the first place). They’re not pirates, they’re no Robin Hood, they’re quite simply fences, criminals, low lives and enemies of any artist or content creator out there and we refuse to help their trade.

To bring you the content we do, we need FIGURES. Sad we know, we hate numbers too and believe us, we’d happily not deal with them at all.

But when we apply for accreditation to a show or ask to interview an artist we get ask how many readers we have, and we have no record of all those who get Sonic Shocks from other sources. It’s not our pockets that are going to suffer, it’s our readers.

SONIC SHOCKS TEAM Editor in Chief CRISTINA MASSEI Assistant Editors MATT DAWSON & NELLY LORIAUX US Correspondent DENISE BRITT Other contributors on this issue: Sophia Disgrace, John Morgan, Mark Fletcher, David Lees, Cat & Tim Finch Please contact info@sonicshocks.com or head to www.sonicshocks.com for more info

So we decided to make some changes.

Sonic Shocks will now be available not only to read but also to DOWNLOAD for free from Issuu.com. All you have to do is register with Issuu (100% free) or login with Facebook. You will be able to read Sonic Shocks offline from your tablet, phone, e-reader etc. All we ask is that please you do not pass the entire PDF on to your mates: instead, give them the link to download it for themselves - it’s probably quicker as well. This way we know how many people we are reaching when we get asked.

We will still be uploading on MagCloud our special issues (Festival and such) to give you the opportunity to print our exclusive pictures in glossy high quality. As for the regular issues, they will no longer be available from MagCloud but the format will be changed to a classic A4, so basically once downloaded you can print the pages you want from your own home printer.

We hope you’ll like the changes, your feedback is of course welcome!

Enjoy our May articles and see you at the next show…

The Team at Sonic Shocks

ON THIS ISSUE INTERVIEWS

Page 03: VON HERTZEN BROTHERS Page 10: BLUES PILLS Page 16: ZE GRAN ZEFT Page 20: ENTRAILS Page 22: THE DEAD BETAS Page 25: LORDI Page 30: EXODUS - ED MOORE Page 34: SECRETS OF THE SKY Page 36: THE CRUNCH Page 42: TRIBULATION Page 57: DIR EN GREY Page 60: BURLESQUE

PREVIEWS

Page 46: TEMPLES - FRANCIS MACE Page 50: CAMDEN ROCKS New Model Army, Skindred, Trampolene, Richie Ramone, The Carnabys, As Lions, Rival State, Dead, Vanilla Pod, Hawk Eyes, Jettblack, Enter The Lexicon, E of E, Dinosaur Pile Up

LIVE Page 62: SOCIAL DISTORTION Page 64: CARL BARAT & THE JACKALS Page 65: BLUES PILLS Page 66: THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE Page 67: PRONG Page 68: MORASS OF MOLASSES

VON HERTZEN BROTHERS Interview with Mikko Von Hertzen

By Cristina Massei

I’ll tell you something: if the fountain of youth exists, it’s somewhere in Scandinavia, quite possibly in Finland.

Mikko Von Hertzen looks just the same year after year, only his eyes betray that maturity that comes with age. We sit in the comfortable surroundings of the Finnish Embassy in London, always willing to showcase the country’s artistic jewels; the chat that follows is one of the most sincere and inspiring I’ve ever had with a musician of his level. Confident yet humble, exuding charisma and enthusiasm even in his pensive pauses, Mikko speaks about new album ‘New Day Rising’, the band’s career, life and of course music…

You’ve recently played three shows in the UK, how did they go and how were the new songs received by the public?

We’re currently in the middle of the release tour; in Finland we play ALL of the new songs, then add as many old songs so it ends up being this two hours plus set, but here in England we felt like because we didn’t start the promotion yet of the album, only the hardcore fans would come to the shows thus we felt we needed to play more of the new songs. It’s kind of a message we’re putting out there that this is what the band is about right now. We know we’ll be coming back and we’ll have to add more old songs and narrow down the new songs because then we’ll be no longer touring only that album, we’ll be touring as a band.

On these three gigs I think we played eight new songs and then six or seven old ones, 90 minutes per show. I felt like people really appreciated the new songs actually, many people came up after saying they loved the new album, ‘it’s absolutely your best album’ and that’s very encouraging to hear.

I know everyone says that their last album is their best album but at the end of the day I don’t think you’d put that album out if you didn’t think there was progress.

Yeah, you have to have the feeling that you have something worthwhile to offer – at least we have that kind of standard, it’s like coded in our brain, we have to have full commitment and somehow feel that it is the best work we’ve ever done. It’s kind of funny because we always need to rethink or reset the computer in us saying ‘this is what we’re about now’ but it’s very hard to say that.

Usually what happens to bands is that they make three really good albums and then they’ll start to suck… Quite often people tour their first three or four albums and then they make new albums in order to get on tour then play the exact same songs every night.

You think that’s a factor of getting bored – does it become a job at some point for many?

It’s a very difficult thing to do because you want to please your audience and if they think that the songs you wrote in the Eighties are better than the ones you wrote recently you’re kind of in a fix, because if you start playing

only new songs nobody will show up whereas if you play the old songs you’ll have the fans there but that becomes more of a job because you feel like you’re just doing the same thing year after year; so the key is to ALWAYS write good songs, and that we try to do! [laughs] It is a hard thing to do – now for example there are so many cool songs that are left out of the set just because there’s no time.

That’s a great achievement I think.

We like to think so, I don’t know if our fans do as well… They come and say ‘you should play ‘Somewhere In The Middle’, why didn’t you play ‘Insommniac?’

There’s always going to be that one song that you haven’t played that some are going to miss but then again this is the greatness in having a catalogue of good songs, that’s always going to happen. You should do a residency!

We did that in Helsinki after our fourth album – we had four nights and played every single album, it was cool. 2016 is the tenth anniversary of the Approach album which was the album that broke through in Finland so we might celebrate that somehow, but I can’t say more just yet.

Now let’s talk about the new album which as you said is where you’re at now – I’ve found it to be the heaviest work you’ve done so far, does this reflect a personal change in you?

There is a certain heaviness to it, you’re right, but the song ‘Dreams’ is something that we’ve never done before and it’s very light, almost tongue in cheek… What we’re trying to do is, if we have a song, an idea, it kind of dictates the style that we pick. The influences we have are many and very different from each other so we have this really vast library in our heads to go to in. When one of us comes up with an idea then we’re just like ‘this is supposed to be like that’ and then we don’t care at all what the style is, if it’s total pop or dark and heavy like ‘Trouble’. But if it’s heavy it has to be really heavy – Black Sabbath heavy!

We feel it’s a richness that we carry and some people feel it’s unique; some people think it’s difficult to get the hang of it because we are all over the place so it’s a thing that we continually struggle with or did struggle with: whether we should streamline the sound so that people would be like ‘I like this’ or true to ourselves and just do it as we do and don’t care whether it’s pop, folk or heavy it can all be there; that’s the individuality of us, that’s what we’re about and let other people handle us somehow. [laughs] It’s mature. When you are fifteen and you’re into heavy metal you’re just into that and pop sucks, but when you grow up all those that were guilty pleasures start coming out and proudly showing in your music collection.

A good song’s a good song.

Exactly. I’ve got heavier stuff next to Otis Redding and Lily Allen in my library – to me it’s part of being a grown up..

That’s a good way of putting it. It’s like there are 35 years of loving all kinds of music that is coming and going from Led Zeppelin to grunge and everything in between, there have been so many cool bands that have come during the time we’ve been doing this so it’s only natural that all those influences are somehow seeping in. We always think, what are our favourite albums? Without exception they are albums with loads of different kinds of stuff on it: Queen, Led Zeppelin, Jellyfish, Posies, The Cardigans – bands that are not tied into a certain kind of… let’s say ‘we’re heavy metal and we stay heavy metal’. I can maybe listen to two or three songs and then I’m bored, it’s enough, my dose is taken, I’m done with this whereas you can always listen to A Night At The Opera from beginning to end – what’s the secret behind it? There are so many cool elements so every song feels like ‘Woah! I like this song’ then the next song starts

up ‘This is a good song.’ and then song number six you go ‘Wow! I never saw that coming.’

You then start having a different favourite every time you listen.

Exactly! Imagine ‘Seaside Rendezvous’ right next to ‘The Prophet’s Song’, it’s like day and night but somehow it all fits and it kind of gives you the feeling after listening to that album that I’m really satisfied and full. That’s kind of the thing we want to give our albums – a really broad thing like a buffet then people can go ‘Oh they have this! Oh they have that!’ All these different dishes and they’re truly satisfied after that. That’s kind of like what we’re trying to do and then we just hope people kind of get it.

I hope so. I think grown up people will get it.

Maybe not the kids…

I don’t know, hopefully the new generation are maturing a bit faster! Now back to ‘New Day Rising’, you chose to work with Randy Staub – is it something that came up with how you thought the album was going to go?

Actually what happened with that was, when we were planning the album we were just trying a new way of doing things and thinking maybe of getting a producer, because Nine Lives we pretty much did ourselves and we were thinking ‘this time let’s get somebody involved in the process pretty early on who doesn’t really have a relationship with the band but has a pretty good track record of producing good albums’. So we started looking and out of twenty we chose four to talk to.

Garth Richardson was the one that convinced us he had something to offer to the band so he produced the album; then we asked Garth who would be the person he thought would be the best guy to mix the album. He named two guys: one was Randy Staub. Randy was luckily in town in Vancouver where we recorded so we went out to dinner one night and got to know the guy; a few days later he came to the studio to listen to what we were doing and said it sounded really cool. He doesn’t take anything he doesn’t like, he can pretty much choose what he does. Once we got this channel open we asked Randy who he would choose to master the album and he said Ted Jensen in New York so we called Ted and he wanted to do it.

It was like from one person to the next, and they were all really expensive guys but it ended up being just the right thing to do because we felt like every single one of those had something to contribute: Garth had a clear vision of what we should do, Randy has the knowhow on how to make it sound like a million dollar album, Ted started his career in Sterling Sound mastering Hotel California so he has 40 years of experience. Today the mastering guys are kind of in a fix because everyone wants their album to be the loudest (Ed note – see this article for a few examples: http://productionadvice.co.uk/taylor-swift-loudness/) while we told him ‘we have faith in you, you know better, we want there to be musicality and contrast and just a good sound’; he was very happy and we were really happy because it sounds really good, dynamic and full.

I didn’t meet Ted Jensen myself but he called Randy and asked ‘who’s this band? It’s such a cool record’, so that’s something I carry always within me. That’s the person that has done lately Muse, Alice in Chains, all the big rock albums…

One of your highlights then?

Totally! This is just something nobody will understand except the people that do it for a living and knows how much that means, that’s an achievement of its own.

So from your professional side what is that one box you haven’t ticked yet?

I don’t know, of course the driving force is that we’re trying to reach out to people and really honestly give something that they’d be interested in, create some kind of unique experiences.

The main thing for me as a songwriter, th say this song means so much to me because may have had a difficult time in their life or s in some way – that’s the award I’m looking a

he kind of award is when people come up and e of this and then they will tell the story – they some bad moment and the song helped them after when writing songs

The main thing for me as a songwriter, the kind of award is when people come up and say this song means so much to me because of this and then they will tell the story – they may have had a difficult time in their life or some bad moment and the song helped them in some way – that’s the award I’m looking after when writing songs, it’s not really what my bank account says or how famous I become and if my face is in the paper, that just comes and goes – so many get famous and then vanish.

From an artist’s point of view the best thing that can happen is if somebody comes up and says something like ‘I was on the verge of suicide then I heard this song and it helped me through that.’ I’m starting to cry as I say that but that’s happened so many times. That’s the prize.

You guys are huge in your home country and here you have a very loyal following but not as huge – is that something you would like to achieve and do you think this album might be the one to get international success?

Hopefully because what we love is to tour and to play to people, when you get a little bit more well known in different territories it means you can work there properly and give them the full experience. That’s kind of the goal maybe here where we know that this music resonates with people, especially the rock crowd; there’s something in the UK where we feel they’ve taken us as their own, we could be from Bulgaria, Finland, wherever, but they don’t care: they have taken us as one of their bands. The big media - Classic Rock, Teamrock Radio – they’ve accepted us as one of the bands they support; it kind of implies that there’s a crowd for us here and what we have to do is reach out and get across. White rock music is pretty much from this country, our favourite bands are from this country so we feel that we are more of a continuation of that heritage rather than Finnish heritage. This is kind of where we belong in a sense music wise.

From that perspective it would be great to have a following so we could actually work here more and give the experience that we want to give – playing a big stage, full on experience rather than a dinky club somewhere. We can see our art in a certain way and we want to present it to people the way we feel it’s supposed to be and not downgrade it, but in order to reach that it requires a bit more work and luck.

I’m not saying we have to be arena sized but playing a club where we can afford to have a good light technician and sounding and looking good as it should, it’s not like we’re trying to become huge.

It must be frustrating doing your best to bring your music out there and be in a venue where people can’t really judge well what you’re trying to give them.

It’s frustrating because we know what we’re good at and how it should look and sound, that’s what we want to give to people. But many other bands are in the same predicament, they know this is what they’re about and you have to cut costs.

Especially when you’re abroad and you have one chance to actually play there and get those people. What’s a venue you would really like to play in London?

When I was young I had this dream to play Royal Albert Hall but nowadays – when Ginger was 49 I was playing with him at Koko so maybe that would be a cool venue for us. We had a few shows in Finland where people were sitting on their asses, that was kinda weird; Royal Albert Hall is a place where people sit, even though it would be great to have an evening where we could talk and maybe play a little bit more proggy songs. At the moment I would have to think The Roundhouse or Koko.

I was thinking The Roundhouse sounds like the right kind of venue.

That would be the proper venue for us as we are now.

You still get the quality but get the excitement of the crowd on their feet.

I think we’re at our best when it’s like 700-1500 capacity venues, in my eyes that’s where I can see myself enjoying it the most.

You’re going to have a lot more than that soon because you’re playing Download. It’s a great atmosphere, what it is about festivals is – as I’m sure you already know – you’re not just playing to your crowd, you’re playing to a crowd that’s not there for you and what you’re trying to conquer there is the ones that are just passing by. How do you try to impress that crowd – do you change the set list?

Maybe, usually not. We do play festivals in Finland and most are not familiar; Finland is a small country so maybe nowadays more know about the band, maybe not the music because we still play mostly on the rock radio but the name is familiar to I would say 705% of Finnish people.

It’s a certain way of being on the stage when you’re playing with a crowd that doesn’t know you.

When we were touring with the Wildhearts it was the same thing – you have a thousand people and it’s maybe one or two who know you so automatically you start doing the work a little differently; music wise it’s the same but there’s a little bit of different energy when nobody knows the songs.

Is it more scary?

No, not at all. I take it as a challenge in a good way, I’m like ‘when you leave this place, you’ll think we’re amazing!’, it’s kind of the spirit that rises up so Download is going to be like that, we’re going to do our best and hopefully we’ll get new people.

Any other bands you’re looking forward to seeing?

There are HUGE bands there, there are loads I would like to see: Backyard Babies are playing on the same day/stage so that will be exciting to see Dregen and the guys and of course Kiss is headlining the main stage, Enter Shikari is headlining our stage, we’ll see. When the gig’s over I’m probably going to be busy doing interviews for two hours and then I can party!

Is there any band that excites you so much on the bill that you might play fanboy for a minute and beg for a selfie?

I’ve had a few moments – Sigur Ros were playing the same stage as us two years ago in Finland at a festival, that was something great because I got to talk with Jonsi for forty five minutes – that’s when the fanboy in me comes out! I was living in India at the time of the first album and it was sent to me by my little brother, I remember sitting in the Himalayas listening to that album and thinking it was the best music ever, I got to tell this story to him and it was cool because you hardly get to tell your idols how much you actually appreciate what they’re doing. Maybe there will be a chance like that because the backstage area is shared and the press area so I’m sure the fanboy in me is going to awaken [laughs]!

There’s so many bands I like and it just… I’m a very spontaneous person so when I just see someone I’ll go up to them and go ‘Hi!’ and hug them and they go ‘who is this tall Finn?’

Finally the artwork of the new album you’ve been talking about a lot as it very much represents the album. You mentioned the chains being ’the enemy we have inside all of us’? What’s the enemy you have inside of you?

Our own ego, the selfishness, all the negative tendencies that we carry. If we didn’t have all those things within we would feel good, light and happy but since we do carry those things we feel heavy and the chains on the cover represent the heaviness that we carry all the time and we do struggle to fight, push, pull and to break. That’s the human nature: to break things. But the birds are keeping the chains in their claws, all they have to do is let go and the chains are gone, so there’s like a spiritual message in it.

I’m carrying this heaviness all the time with my ego, my selfish desires and everything – all I need to do is to let go but I can’t find a way to do it so I pull and push…

Did you find a way to let them go?

I try, some of it – I became a spiritual seeker when I was 21 and lived in a monastery for seven years, trying to find an answer to all the things that I question but it’s still a struggle.

A very strong message especially nowadays when you’re running so much that you don’t realise you have to let go sometimes.

It’s true, most of life is going to be difficult for each and every one of us, we’re all going to have moments in life but it’s the attitude that matters; it’s how we welcome the positive and the negative – whether we choose to carry the negative or drop the negative. Samuli Heimonen did an amazing job, it looks like the two birds are breaking it but when you look at it deeply you realise they are carrying what they are trying to break, and then there’s this one bird at the back that is already free and looking down – it’s kind of deep!

For those not at Download are there going to be any more UK gigs?

We are definitely going to do more – this time we just wanted to tour and play a few gigs but then come September I think we’re going to tour more here doing more regional shows than now, whether it’s going to be a support tour first or headlining we don’t know yet. You never know whether the promoters are willing to take us on at headliners, personally I feel that the best would be straight after Download to support a really big band.

It allows you to deliver in a bigger venue.

After that then a headlining tour – you get a taste of it and then you get two hours. Whether it happens or not it remains to be seen but for sure there’s more than Download.

Interview with Zack Anderson and Andre Kvarnstrom, by John Morgan

They’ve recently released their first live album, exuding all the passion and skills of consumed blues men: it’s hard to believe the creator of such powerful Pills are the young shy kids now in front of us. John is eager to find out more about these newcomers that we at Sonic Shocks believe are on the fast lane to greatness…

First night of your UK tour – you’re doing Ireland as well – how excited are you to be back here?

We’re doing one show in Ireland, we’re very excited to be back; last time we were here was with Rival Sons and I think we made a lot of new fans on that tour, we’re just glad to be back and play some of our own shows.

For readers that aren’t familiar with the band there are quite a few nationalities – can you tell us a bit about the history of the band and how you guys got together?

Zack: We all live in Sweden but I’m American, Elin (Larsson) and Andre – Andre: We’re from Sweden and Dorian (Sorriaux) is from France.

Zack: I met Elin in America and we started to write some songs and things like that then I moved over to Sweden, that’s when we asked Dorian to come to Sweden and start playing with us – I had met Dorian when I was in another band and I was touring in France – after that I was like…

That’s the guy for me! [laughs] Yep! That’s how us three

came together , we had another drummer in the band before but a year ago we started playing with Andre; we were friends before and lived in the same town.

You released your album last year on Nuclear Blast – another label that’s renowned for having extreme metal bands – how come you guys decided to work with them and how is the relationship panning out?

In the beginning we listened to some other bands that are on Nuclear Blast like Graveyard, Kadavar, Witchcraft; bands that aren’t so metal and so we thought maybe they’d like our music as well, we sent it to them. It took some time before anything happened but we were playing in Germany – Berlin Desertfest – and were impressed by the show, after that they offered to sign the band.

It works well even though we’re not a metal band, somehow it works because I think it’s still quite heavy music so a lot of metal people that are open minded – there’s sort of a family of bands doing this vintage style rock.

There is that whole vintage feel about it, a really nice old analogue sound. Is that something you really wanted to get across in your methods?

We recorded in different ways but we just really liked analogue, it feels more raw and the whole process was we wanted to do that on the album. Our producer in Gothenburg’s studio is only analogue equipment – all recorded on tape machines.

Old school…

It’s not like we’re against computers, we just like how it sounded and he’s such a good producer.

There’s a lot of individual improvisation in the band – the way I hear it – how do the songs come together? Do you jam or is there a specific songwriter in the band who comes with a set idea?

The jamming comes more afterwards actually and the songs are written more beforehand, nowadays with the new album me and Elin write a lot of the lyrics together, a lot of the riffs and the main ideas but then we bring that into the studio and all of us together piece it together and make it into a song, our producer also gives his input with arrangements and things.

Once we’ve got the album done then we’re adding improvisation live – extending songs and things.

I suppose being the type of band you are gives you the scope to do that.

Andre: it’s a lot of fun as well to do the different stuff, you know kind of what to do within a frame but whatever happens in the frame can be different every night.

Zack: We play so many shows it would probably be boring to do the same exact thing a hundred times in a row so we change it up a bit.

One thing I noticed is that a lot of people compare you guys to the psych bands of the past and a lot of their lyrics consist a lot of mysticism, your lyrics seem to be more about the social problems and feelings. Is that something you really wanted to say with the band?

We just wrote what we feel like in our lives from day to day on the first album anyways.

There’s still a lot of lyrics to write on the new album so I don’t know what that’s going to be like but I know we just wrote what we were feeling at the time – if we were going through something we were writing about that.

You’re talking about a second album – I take it the plan is to do that in the near future.

We’ve started working on it; we have maybe nine new songs so far but it’s kind of a slow process, we just go to the studio when we’re home and keep working on it.

Do you get any ideas while on the road or do you prefer to keep it separate?

Zack: We try to but it’s pretty hard, there’s usually not much time.

Andre: The only time we get to play together with everyone plugged in is on sound check, sometimes we try some new songs and jamming bits.

You recently released a live album, what was the thinking behind that?

Zack: We were lucky enough that we had the recording done and it sound good, it was a way to give the fans something more, keep the momentum going and show the other side of what our live show is, it’s not exactly like the album so it gives a different energy but I like both sides – the studio feeling and the live, raw energy.

Can you tell us more about the artwork you use?

The artist is Marijke Koger-Dunham and she was pretty famous in the 60's –painted Cream’s instruments on their first US tour and painted for John Lennon – I was just a fan of her artwork on other album covers I’d seen, she’s living in LA and I started writing to her, she liked our music as well and we started working together.

Will she be working with you on the new record as well?

That’s the plan, I think so.

You guys are young and the influences I hear are from older bands, is that the music that influences you the most or do you keep an eye on what’s going on?

Andre: We really like new music as well such as Fleet Foxes, Rival Sons; stuff like that. I think it started with our parents listening to the older music at home and we got influenced at a young age.

Is it extra special going back to the festival where the live album was recorded (Freak Valley Festival)?

Zack: I hope so, it’s a bit special because the guy that organises it is the one that gave the band it’s name so we’ve known him since we started the band, it’s cool that after all these years we go back and headline it!

You’re also doing the Download Festival – how psyched are you to be playing there?

Andre: I’ve seen a lot of clips on Youtube of bigger bands playing, I never really expected us to play there.

Zack: I don’t know what to expect – you hear about it all the time so it’s kind of a legendary thing.

Does it put you off with festivals because you’re not responsible for the whole show as opposed to your own headline sets?

Zack: It’s different because there’s a lot more people but you aren’t playing as long of a set so there’s definitely less pressure in that way.

Andre: Maybe there can be more pressure in one way that you have less time to show people what you got…

Zack: That’s the thing – when you play your own show most of the people are there because they want to see you and when you’re on the festival you’re trying to win people over.

Do you do anything different to win people over?

Andre: not really, we just try to play a good show.

Zack: We pretty much almost do the same set.

We were really inspired in the beginning by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and when you listen to Peter Green you can really hear the sadness in the guitar playing and the vocals.

Are you looking forward to seeing anyone specifically?

Zack: The frustration with these festivals is that there are a million good bands playing and you have almost no time to watch any of them.

For anyone that’s a new listener to Blues Pills what would you hope they get out of listening to the record?

I guess making them feel something and feel the emotion in the music – a soulful, deeper kind of music. We were really inspired in the beginning by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and when you listen to Peter Green you can really hear the sadness in the guitar playing and the vocals.

So you’d hope people pick up the emotional side of the music. I see you have a lot of tour dates – is that the plan for the foreseeable future or will there be enough of a break to record the album in between?

Zack: It’s going to come out next year for sure – probably around the summer. Towards November/December we start to take it easy I believe. All summer we’re doing festivals or club shows.

Andre: Whenever we’re home we’re going to try and go into the studio, try to continue recording.

How’s life on the road?

Zack: There’s not much exciting to say, we’re a pretty chilled band.

Andre: It’s really exciting to travel around the world and see new places every day.

Zack: I think we’re lucky we get along pretty good.

By Nelly Loriaux French crunk rock is probably on a par with finding a decent bottle of British red wine: an oddity that is hard to believe until you find one. Although they now veer for the alternative rock ‘label’, the 3 lads from Toulon bring us an outrageous mix of hip-hop, metal , dubstep and reggae worthy of any Memphis strip clubs. Their intense touring schedule has taken them all over Eastern Europe, even touching base in the USA towards the end of 2014. They will be invading the UK shores soon but before they do, let’s find out how this all started, what drove them to pursue a music genre that is decidedly NOT a French delicacy and what we can expect from their forthcoming debut album JOI. Let’s begin with the basic stuff, can you introduce yourselves for our readers.

We are Ze Gran Zeft, an alternative band from the south of France, produced in LA by Charles ‘Kallaghan’ Massabo from Kallaghan Records USA. We mix hip-hop, rock & electro and represent the millennial generation!

How did it all start? How did you all come together?

I met Damien and David at a band contest several years ago, then Damien contacted Charles when he was still based in Nice and everything started with a first EP “Get Fat” under the name of Ol’Dirty. Charles is the 4th member of the band helping us define the style and the base of what has become ZGZ. I believe you were formerly known as Ol’Dirty, what made you decide to become Ze Gran Zeft? What’s the difference between the 2 outfits?

Same shit, different stuff! [laughs] Basically we just changed the name because we didn’t want to confuse everybody with Ol’Dirty Bastard from the Wu Tang, who died a couple years ago…

You have some ‘intriguing’ nicknames: Boots, Sideman and The Kid . Any crazy, or not, reasons for those?

Yeah those nicknames define us well, Boots because I wear a lot of boots, or basketball sneakers, and you know this expression “knocking boots”! The Kid because this guy acts like a kid every time and also is the shortest of the band but hits the drums like a chunk and Sideman because this guy is the guy on the side, you know, he’s kind of quiet 90% of the time but kills the other 10% just to remind you the side is important in the panoramic! And he has his own attitude on stage, half “I don’t give ashit” half “check my style” that’s brilliant!

2 years ago, you quantified your sound as a sort of crossover of crunk rock. Would you still describe it as such or has your sound evolved in new directions?

It’s still crunk rock because we keep on mixing loud riffs with some loud basses, but we call it simply Alternative now, we’ve crossed many boundaries in music to classify it in only two categories.

Keeping in mind that crunk music originated primarily from African American strip clubs in Memphis as well as with Lil Jon, what motivated you to embrace this style?

Although I have left France a long time ago, from what I remember, it is not a place where this style would thrive, particularly in The Cote d’Azur.

You’re right; France is not the right place to be for us, at least right now to launch this big concept. Everything is reheated here, and as far as I remember this country has never created monsters like The Rolling Stones, Metallica, or Dr Dre. That’s why we aim for UK or USA.

France is that part of Europe you know for cookery, clothes and perfumes, not music. Yeah we may have influenced the house/electro genre with DJs like Daft Punk but to me these guys are not “French”, they left the country at the start and now work in the USA, you can’t feel any French touch anymore… We logically decided to mix stuffs we were listening to at this time between aggressiveness and groovy stuffs and by the time we built ZGZ, this Deep South vibe was the rawest, long time before trap music smashed the business.

How do you feel your music fit into the ‘local’ scene in your area?

We don’t fit the local, wherever we can be, neither the international scene. Nobody makes what ZGZ makes and beyond the music, it’s this vibe we have when we make music all together.

From the beginning we pretend to do our own music and want to create our own scene, become the pioneers of a new genre and be recognised as one of the leaders of our great generation.

I believe you recorded your EP’S with Charles ‘Kallaghan’ Massabo, what experiences did you gain from it?

Everything. The base, the shape and the result of ZGZ come from him. He’s that kind of genius

that could sit in the same throne than Dre or Rubin. He’s not one of these “knob pusher” you can meet in every average studio, he analyses music and band’s personality to create the best content possible. He’s a real music producer.

What made you decide to re-release Watch The Crown and Crunked Vizion EP’s worldwide ahead of the release of your debut album ‘JOI’?

We wanted to release a “best of” the previous two EPs for the fans that were missing some tracks from one or the other EP, and also to promote our merchandising before JOI comes out.

When can your fans get their hands on them?

Watch The Crunked Crown Vizion, how we nicely named it, we’ll be out on may the 15th How is the recording of the debut album going? What can your fans expect from it in term of sound?

You can’t imagine what’s going on here! I use to say the next will be the best, but we had a great time recording this album. I think fans we’ll be astonished to discover a new ZGZ, because we mixed new styles we haven’t experienced yet, we have a sharper sound and the hooks are even more federating than what we’ve ever made before.

What does this album represent for you?

Most of all our generation, this album stands for all the millennial kids, inspired by all the 80’s and 90’s culture. Then for us in particular, it’s the first accomplishment of what we work for 3 years now with Charles, trying to design our style and visual to represent the most what ZGZ can be, but it’s only the first step of a long run.

You also did a Babylon zoo cover of ‘Spaceman’, why this particular track?

Spaceman has been one of the most popular songs in UK and Europe from the early 90’s. It’s something every millennial has heard in his childhood and we loved that song for a couple other reasons, the lead in the chorus is so much powerful! It’s also a song that was lyrically engaged

dealing with homophobic and sick sides of a society that still hasn’t changed on some points.

We changed the theme for the song to fit the album concept but there’s also in our version this desire of leaving the shit behind to make a fresh start, that’s the line of our generation.

The theme for your video ‘Hangin’ Round’ is allegedly inspired by the popular TV show Games Of Thrones? What made you or director Pierre Demaret decide to use this concept? What’s the rationale behind this choice? Is there a ‘hidden’ message behind it?

Pierre contacted us after hearing from ZGZ couple month before the clip, he told us he wanted to work with us because he really enjoyed the concept and wanted to help on the visual. After proposing us the idea of mixing our ragga/metal song with knight fights and make the first iron armoured MC raps we totally accepted! [laughs] That was stupid enough to seduce everybody!

If there could be any hidden message behind this: do whatever the fuck you want to, have the most fun possible then you’ll make great shit! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qw4-_k7slk (Hangin’ round official clip) Most women, and men for the matter except they don’t admit to it, like to know the story behind the songs so are there any particular stories behind yours? The craziest or juiciest the better. After all, some of your songs do have wacky titles like ‘Shotta,Shotta’, ‘Shemale ’or ‘Zumbagawa’, real tongue twisters.

Yeah, regarding our oldest song, from our EP WTCCV, songs deal most of time with stuffs that bore us, people that annoys (Shotta Shotta, Hangin’ Round) or shit we like to do with friends (Zumbagawa). For JOI, as a concept album, each song is following a scenario related to the album’s main story, the evolution of a millennial kid that’s taking over his father’s business (the older generation) inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s short film “Good Kid/Mad City” Can we expect the same kind of craziness with your debut album?

Absolutely! We dug deeper that way, we kept on trying new stuffs, and as soon as we were like “I don’t know if this shit is not going too far” then we went further more! We’re not scared of being stupid if that makes the heads nod, look what Tyler The Creator did with Odd Future…

These morons are probably the most genuine and original band since Korn!

And more importantly when will it be available?

JOI will be out on September the 25th, tell your people ZGZ is coming!

You’ve been touring extensively throughout Eastern Europe, even touching base in the States, how did it go? Any memorable places/fans encountered along the way?

It was fantastic! We’ve been playing in front of some many different people, from the US kids that didn’t even know France was making music or Romanian people that knew the end of communism and have an appetite for discover even GnR couldn’t destroy! I think the most memorable audience was in Romania by the way, in Carei, a 20k inhabitant’s town, and we played a Sunday evening in front of fifty kids that knew all our choruses… It’s the same feeling than a 100 people surprise birthday haha!

What are ZE GRAN ZEFT plans for the upcoming months and beyond? When will you be ‘invading’ the UK shores?

For now, we want to focus on Western Europe, UK/Germany/Holland, places we haven’t been yet and where we know we can make a big impression. So we are working with a UK agent to build a tour right after the album coming, let’s say next fall to tease fans a little bit!

Anything else you’d like to add for your fans?

Merci. We love you. We love you too Nelly!

Check the guys out before they come to invade the UK: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZeGranZeft Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZeGranZeft

Interview by Matt Dawson Returning with Obliteration, Entrails continue their strong run that began in 2008; guitarist Jimmy Lundqvist talks to us about his studio, the ten year break before he decided to resurrect Entrails, his thoughts on death metal in 2015 and more…

This time the recording was done in Bloodshed Studios – a studio you created - what led you to wanting to create your own studio and did Entrails feel more inspired by working in there?

Yep. that's totally correct. This time we used my studio that I've created and wanted to have since many years back, a own studio to record in and also help other bands to create and give them mixes. I was more or less finished in building the studio last summer and we could begin to record whenever we wanted. since I moved back to the house where I grow up and moved in to that converted woodshed with my music I received tons of inspirations, and back in the 90´s I also had this space as a rehearsal room and made my old songs in there so there must be something in those walls that make me be so full of ideas once again.

During the nineties it looked difficult to get Entrails going and you still continued to write up to at least 1998 before taking a break it looked like from the industry itself – what were your feelings towards the industry during the decade away?

Hmm.. I never got into the industry back then, we tried to but it was harder to get into it outside the cities where mostly of the bands get some help doing demos and had the help for

promotions and doing shows etc.

Outside in the countryside where we lived it was more or less impossible to have something decent recorded or what could be known as a band and while the others quit the band for other things I still sat in my converted woodshed making riffs and songs by myself even though the interest was getting extremely low playing at that time.

2010 led to the release of the first album, five years later we have Obliteration – what are your personal thoughts about those years?

[I] am overwhelmed and a bit surprised about the feedback.. could never imagine that I could have this band going as it is now and also signed to one of the greatest labels (Metal Blade) in the world if you're talking metal. The time has just rushed away and our fourth album is already on its way, it's like a dream.

How was it to work with Dan Swanö once more?

Working with him is so easy, he is Swedish and by that it’s easy to understand better and a legend as he is, he knows what we need combined to my own thoughts and ideas and by that I guess we have done good mixes on all our albums.. so I wouldn't change the guy mixing our stuff if it doesn't get better than him myself! [laughs] What are your thoughts on the death metal scene in 2015?

Well… I doesn't follow the scene that much anymore. I still more or less only listen to the music that came out before 94-95 when my belief is that by then the DM (death metal) was getting too technical and new genres was created out of the DM I loved to hear and also play. I wanted to hear the simplified riffing along with the drumming that made your neck bang in the first second. Today it’s so damn fast music that you barely hear what’s going on. I do still listen to the bands I know [that are] still doing great music but new bands if they don't have "it" I barely listen more than once.

Which new bands would you recommend?

I like this new Belgium band called Carnation.. they do it right and have the passion for the real old school Dm that I prefer to listen at.

I’m sure there are many bands out there kicking asses but I don't look for them as I did in the early days.. but if they cross my path and sound good I’ll have more listens.

What are your plans regarding the UK? [The] plan is to get over there one more time this year hopefully but it has to fit all member’s schedules and the trip must be feeling right and so on..

Interview by David Lees Impressed after their winning support to The Birthday Massacre, David did his research and decided to ask the Dead Betas a few questions…

First off could you introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about the Dead Betas?

We are Tobias Monsters, Aidan Sugaboi, Martron, Kazraine and Bong Smell. We're 5 dead beats from Devon who like to party, listen to music and partake in nerd based activities.

You're currently on tour with The Birthday Massacre, how is that going?

Well we have just got home, it's tough to get these things into a tight tour schedule, but it was fantastic. The Birthday Massacre are wonderful people to tour with and it was delightful to see The Red Paintings again. The shows have all been very busy, even for being first on the rooms looked full pretty quickly.

You recently released a new EP, Siren. How has the critical and fan reaction been to that?

The fan reaction has been great, but these are people that know what we're about and have seen us live. It's been a mixed bag from the press, but hey, if you don't like what we do, it's not going to stop us doing it! Obviously constructive criticism will be listened to. We have taken an awful lot of positive energy out of the release too. Polar reactions, i suppose, makes us a bit marmite, some people love us, some hate us, but everyone has to put us in their mouth to find out.

How would you sell the EP to someone reading about you for the first time?

Buy this EP if you have a lot of hate that you'd like to convert to laughter. Buy this EP if you want to have fun. Buy this EP if you are looking for the light side of Cameron's Britain. Buy this EP if you have £6. Buy this EP if you're pissed off. Buy this EP if you have genitals. Buy this EP if you are human.

Synths and punk can seem like an odd fit, how did that mix come around and what do you think it adds to the genre?

The punk was kind of the accidental bit. Aidan had a very much electronic project on the go, and asked me (Tobias) to do vocals for some of it, once we realised I couldn’t sing, we thought, better make this a synth-punk project then. We've grown up in a poor and rural part of the world, we ran underground punk shows and listened to a lot of punk, but there's also a huge party scene around here, a lot of independent dance music, spending whole nights in the woods having a laugh with a nice rig and a few hundred people is good fun. So that's a couple of

influences that probably had something to do with it. That's why our remixes usually come from local DJs, we love both sides of it. And it's no new thing, just look at the crowds festivals like Boomtown bring in!

You've done a lot of DIY stuff in the past in terms of promotion, touring and even putting on your own local festival with Beta Fest. Are you still arranging things mostly yourselves and what do you have coming up?

Yeah, we've done everything ourselves, never booked or been booked for anything that hasn’t come directly through the band. We now run Goff Fest, with last times headliners including Max Raptor, Allusondrugs and Dead. Next one is coming up in October with Beasts and Colt 45 confirmed. We're so rural it's the only way to operate, we had to make a DIY punk scene and expand it just to have a scene at all!

You've managed to score some really good support slots with The Birthday Massacre and Mindless Self Indulgence despite having virtually no resources behind you. How do you manage that and do you have any advice for skint musicians trying to get themselves out there?

Never be afraid, never think that CANT happen. Always remember that it might. So you have to email 500 bands managers and agents to get 1 gig to a sold out crowd in a 500 cap venue.

Then do it, because next time you can say, ah we did that, and interest will snowball. If you want it, you have to work at it, and learn not to be knocked down by rejection. Put yourself out there, go to gigs, make sure bands and punters know your face. We got 2 tours with MSI and one with TBM by firing off the right emails to the right people, doing our research, being polite and waiting patiently.

What do you think of the state of the music industry these days? Do you think a career in music is still a viable option for the majority of bands or is it now something that can only really be done as a passion project, supported by day jobs?

Who makes money out of music? The cool bands with industry backing. All the money is in merch nowadays, we're barely breaking even these days. What do i think of it, it's bullshit, but it's my life, my passion, my dream and i'm lucky enough to have found 4 blokes to share it with.

Will we ever make enough money to not be check out girls, college technicians, builders and decorators, i doubt it, but we will endeavour to make new music and tour as we can afford it!

More specifically, what do you think of the state of the punk scene today?

Punk is dead. Long live The Dead Betas What other bands out there are impressing you right now?

Marmozets, Allusondrugs, Colt 45, Baby Godzilla, Drenge, Slaves, Listener, Scholars, Sleaford Mods, Dead and Beasts are up there in our favourites right now, that's the dream Goff Fest line-up right there! We only book bands we're into.

Is there anything you'd like to add, apart from the fact that you are owls? (I did my research) Haha, impressive! Well, you've stumped us. We never know what to answer to this question and you've taken our favourite answer away from us. Well, here's a new answer, if you don't know who the hell we are, give us a try, catch us on tour, thats where the real us lays, and it's usually only ÂŁ4 entry. Help us break even for another year! We love everyone.

Thanks very much for talking to us.

Interview and photos by Mark Fletcher I’m backstage with Mr Lordi after a full-on set with a very eager crowd at Reading’s Sub 89.

As he enters the room, it is difficult not to feel a little intimidated by the monster walking toward you with horns protruding from his head and face, his exposed larynx and open wounds covering the rest of his features. On top of this is the sheer size of the beast towering above me (at a puny six foot).

Feeling better once Mr Lordi has taken his seat and kindly shaken my hand as a gesture of decency, I was surprised to find I still possessed my hand.

an interesting time ahead…

Conversation openings were a little slow with very short responses which set the scene for

Welcome to Reading.

Thank you!

Is this your first time here?

I don’t know. Is it?

OK, enough small talk. Time to change the approach and let Mr Lordi do what he enjoys – talk about the band and his music…

What did you think of tonight’s gig?

Very sweaty! But that’s every gig for us. The stage was pretty small and when you’re on a small stage it’s pretty infuriating because your not able to perform all of the tricks and deliver the whole show. But then at the show you get into a different mode, the band say I normally turn into a stand up comedian at a small gig. Small is fun and it’s different.

From an audience point of view with all of the theatrics and effects and the show as a whole, it’s very personal and intimate.

Yeah, I mean you can reach out and almost touch the audience in the first row. But it is such

a shame that the audience don’t get to see the full show and of course here in the UK you have so many restrictions and laws which I have to say are fucking stupid! I mean confetti. When was the last time confetti killed anybody? You can’t use confetti, you can’t use the CO2 gun, you can’t use this, you can’t use that, but in some venues you can, and in some venues you can’t. Of course we would like to do all of this because you’ve paid for a ticket, you should get to see the show. We have never heard of risk assessment. Two years ago we were here and these didn’t exist then but now they do. It’s frustrating.

It was quite hot tonight and you’re still in costume. How heavy are they and how long have you been wearing them today?

It’s like wearing a full body condom, I feel like a dick! You know we’re covered in Latex and it takes three hours to get everything on including the face and then you have the gig. Yesterday we were in London doing the BBC Eurovision 60 anniversary and we had two very long days in costume doing rehearsals and everything it was tough but gigs are alright. th

You mentioned Eurovision. Are you proud of what you achieved in Eurovision or are you living in the shadow of it?

Hhmmmm… I’m proud of the fact Eurovision is part of this bands history because it opened so many windows and opportunities for us but I’m also proud that we are part of Eurovision history because we are unique amongst that bunch you know. Then there is the other side to the Eurovision coin. The Eurovision itself, the organisation, the fans and what it stands for I don’t have a problem with or anything bad to say about, but the people who don’t know about our band or enough about the Eurovision make their own conclusions and seem to hold it against us somehow and think that Rock bands should never be a part of the Eurovision. Those people must have such a low self-esteem, they are not believing in what they are doing because we don’t care what the forum is when we play. We do not change anything when we play. We do what we do! And that’s the same for Eurovision.

But you’ve proved all the doubters wrong?

Yeah but there are still idiots out there.

Still as you say, it’s opened doors for you, it’s put you on the global map, and you even have a square named after you in your home town!

And we are better looking than Abba!

You’ve kind of broken the mould now in Eurovision and it’s no secret you are all fans of bands like Kiss, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister and Motley Crue, have you had the opportunity to meet any of these or even work with them?

Yeah, we actually played at the same festival in New Zealand with Alice and Kiss which was awesome. Kiss’ ex-guitarist Bruce Kulick has worked with us many times writing songs together. We are good friends with the guys from Twisted Sister, Jay Jay French has made many guest appearances at our live shows, Dee Snider has also guested with us.

What influence have those guys had on your music in particular but also how you look?

Well it would be stupid for me to deny the influence of Kiss. When I was growing up I didn’t want to be a musician, I wanted to be Gene Simmons and my face is my version of him and I definitely wouldn’t be wearing platform shoes if it were not for Kiss. Musically I am an eighties kid so my first album was Destroyer by Kiss. Kiss were the first band I ever heard and is still my favourite band and so is Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper and that’s where my influences still come from.

I don’t follow the music scene and sometimes someone will ask if I have heard such and such and I’ll be like who? Which is quite embarrassing sometimes, but this means I don’t get influenced by anything new. Those doors closed around 1992 and since then it’s been really

Me and the internet, we don’t get along. I could easily have three weeks without going online personally, I don’t care about fucking emails, reading them or answering them.

hard for any artist to get into my head.

So what inspired you when writing Scare Force One if you’re not listening to anything that’s current?

Well, we actually had a plan. Because this is our seventh album, we wanted to do something different but we also wanted to… It’s like a wedding, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue… We wanted to keep the energy of the previous album that was a little bit more modern, we wanted to bring back some of the hooky melodies that existed on the first five albums that we seemed to have forgotten on the sixth. We wanted to do something with the structure of the songs. We have always written to a three minute formula like Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Twisted Sister and we called it Iron Maiden or King Diamond formula where the riffs are repeating more than anything that Paul Stanley would write, and there are more parts to the songs like in the second chorus there might be a ‘C’ part, another ‘C’ part and then

a lead break and another ‘C’ part.

It’s normally two years between albums for you guys, when will you start work on the next album?

I would say soonish, less than two years, and if it were up to us, I would say next year.

The online industry, does that affect you and what you do?

Yes, but not in a good way. Me and the internet, we don’t get along. I could easily have three weeks without going online personally I mean I don’t care about fucking emails, reading them or answering them. I could easily not look at them for three weeks because I just don’t want to go to the Mother Fucking internet. I miss the days of just normal phones and fax machines and when you had to actually had to pay for the music you listened to, when you had to visit a record store and had to get the physical record and it is shocking to know that this generation do not want to own the physical albums; they want this song from this album and that song from that album and they think because it is technically possible, it should be free. It’s so fucking insane! I don’t get it, it’s outrageous and it has affected us but we are not alone. It’s a shame when you see big record companies crumbling down and its very easy to turn hippy and say ’yeah the record companies are the big bad wolf and they are greedy’ but for a band like us it’s the record companies that make it possible. If people want to listen to albums, they can get albums and someone has to pay for the studio time. What do you think we’re going to do, pay for the studio ourselves and then put the music out there for free?

Hhmmm!

On a lighter note, how did you take the news of Zayn leaving One Direction?

Who? I have no idea what you’re talking about!

This is one of my problems. It’s like I have never heard of that song that some Asian guy did errrmmm what was it…?

Gangnam Style?

That’s it! Never heard it because I don’t go to the Mother Fucking Internet!!

When can the UK expect to see you again?

Soon I hope.

If you had a message for Sonic Shocks readers what would it be?

Hello he he he he… Rock On!

Interview with Exodus founder Ed Moore by Nelly Loriaux If you thought all boat parties were alike, think again, as a new standard is being set and will hit Ibiza this summer: THE EXODUS SUPER YACHT party is coming.

Just to whet your appetite, here’s a lowdown on some of the features that will dazzle you on your next holiday: custom built multi-decks luxury boat, VIP service, premium bars and restaurants, brand new VOID system, water stunt artists, ONE-OFF parties with the crème de la crème (such as Hed Kandi, Calum Best/Best Boys club, Secret Party Project, Adobe, Sintillate to name just a few), this promises to be THE EVENT everyone will be talking about.

With the luxury trend growing stronger over the last few years, is Ibiza ready for the ultimate party experience? Ed Moore, the power behind EXODUS’ new concept, takes time to answer a few questions and shows us that the buzz surrounding his creation is justified.

Before we start, can you tell our readers what’s your role with EXODUS Super Yacht Ibiza.

I am the founder and co owner of the Exodus Super Yacht party Ibiza is already well known for its boats party (Ibiza rocks the boat, cirque de la nuit, Pukka up…) so what motivated you to create a Super yacht event?

It was clear the market was changing, customers were becoming more interested in the luxury elements of Ibiza and the growth of the Beach Clubs and the Super Hotels like Ushuaia paved the way.

Will you be ‘performing’ on Exodus? What will happen with PUKKA UP? Won’t you be in direct competition with yourself in a sense?

I have no plans to ‘perform’ I am firmly in the business side of things which keeps me close to the action, I am still a shareholder in Pukka Up but I strongly believe that we are creating a new market – there will always be your standard Boat Parties which market as package deals with the big clubs but we are all about the boat and the experience on board.

Which market are you aiming for?

We are aiming for people who want to experience a great boat party but with the attention to detail you would expect at a beach club – our prices are in line with all other Boat Parties so it comes down to the setting you want to experience that in.

We can all read about the facilities found on the Super Yacht online but in your opinion, what will draw people to choose your boat over all the other ones? What will set you apart from the other boats’ events?

We have a strong belief in the customer experience and making sure our guests aren’t cattle herded or squeezed onto small boats – if the idea of being squeezed on a boat with lots of drunk people with no where to go is your idea of fun then there are other events but if that isn’t the one for you but you want to party in comfortable surroundings, enjoy the boat facilities with a cool crowd and the worlds best club brands then Exodus is the one!

What kind of different levels of packages are you offering?

We have 3 levels on board – the top deck area with Cabanas, bottle service and Jacuzzi. Mid deck with tables, rooms and bottle service and standard entry with cava reception and access to all boat facilities.

I read there will be an optional 5 stars VIP treatment? Can you tell us a bit more about this?

Our concierge team are on hand to provide any extras VIP services clients require, if we can provide it on board we will! Everything to from speed boat transfers to luxury car pick ups.

What about the underwater VIP rooms? What service and ‘extra’ features can people expect?

The private underwater rooms are a complete first in Ibiza; they have full soft furnishings, double bed, mirrors, underwater windows and can fit 20+ people in each one! They will be supplied with table service and can be themed at the client’s request!

With 400 people on-board, how will you ensure a smooth and seamless experience for your ‘guests’?

Because the boat is split over 4 levels we have a great flow for customers this is something you won’t get on any other boat, we also have a big service crew of 30+ on board to make sure everyone is taken care of!

OPENING PARTIES are always a major event in Ibiza, regardless of where they take place, so what can we expect to see on Exodus?

We open on 5 June so expect to see all of the stops pulled out for our maiden voyage, our team are already raring to go and we are finalising deals with drink sponsors which will see some more amazing firsts on board! th

There will also be quite a few ‘Oneoff’ parties, how did you choose the ones that will appear on your super yacht?

What particular ‘party perspectives’ or features can each ones bring to EXODUS? We wanted to work with the best people and give a broad spectrum of events with the same ethos – a good party! We have ABODE with the underground vibe, Sintillate who are re launching their Champagne parties in Ibiza and Hedkandi who need no introduction - as each promoter is only taking on 4 parties over the season you

can expect the very best experience, sometimes events and staff can get tired when they are repeating the same week in week out – we want every party to be like the opening party!

Any plans to maybe include a Ministry Of Sound one-off?

The diary is always evolving, never say never!

What about the International water stunt team? I am quite intrigued by what this entails.

We really wanted to bring an element of production in on the level you would expect from a club show, but as we are limited for space on a boat we moved to the sea! We have some amazing guys who are creating a show on fly boards which will have to be seen!

What is so special about the VOID sound system?

As your usual boats are only used for Boat Parties a couple of times a week their sound installs are temporary, we are custom built for these events so have the same professional set up you would see in the worlds best clubs. VOID sound rigs are the ultimate; these are the set ups you will see in the best venues from DC10 to Ocean Beach and the DJ’s agree. Expect crystal clear sound on every floor!

I believe a meeting between police and local authorities on the regulations of boat parties took place following ‘recent’ incidents, how did that affect the future of boat parties? Any big changes?

They are tightening up regulation on boats meaning operators need to have the same licenses that would be expected on land, these laws were passed last week so a lot of operators will need to make changes – we are in the fortunate position to already meet all regulations as we are purpose built with safety and environmental impact in mind!

After all is said and done, what are you looking forward to the most for your 1 season with EXODUS Super Yacht? st

Really pioneering an area in the Boat party market that hasn’t been attempted before and hopefully all of the customers agreeing this is the way forward!

For more info, check out those links: facebook.com/exodusibiza http://exodusibiza.com/

Interview by Matt Dawson

One of the best rising bands out there, Secrets Of The Sky are worth your time if you like doom metal mixed with small ambient moments; as they get ready to release new album Pathway followed by a US tour with Anaal Nathrakh, we catch up with Clayton Bartholomew to find out the reasoning behind the record, the craziest moment on tour and life in a band.

What was the inspiration for the concept of Pathway in particular the sequencing?

Well, there is a kind of big picture to the album, same as all of our material. This one deals with several topics that are displayed in the lyrical, musical and visual content of the album as well as the interludes found between songs. The "story" is pushed along by all of these things. We worked hard to write the record in sequence so that the musical peaks and valleys progress in line with the overall concept. Hopefully that comes across while listening to the piece as a whole. We wanted to make it an experience... something you need to listen to and THINK about in order to grasp.

How was it working with Juan Urteaga?

We have all known Juan for awhile. He did our first record and the song on our split 12" with Godhunter, which was released last year. He is a good engineer and has a good ear. He is also pretty fun to work with, we had a blast doing this latest record especially. It went really smoothly, mostly because we went in knowing exactly what we wanted. We had already demoed everything out, etc. We are a bit of a different band than what he usually works with, so special care was taken to ensure we kept the production more to our liking. We wanted big, natural drum sounds- big everything really. He delivered on that and kept our vision intact without auto tuning, drum replacing, digitising everything, etc. We didn't want a super polished record, but rather a very high quality recording that still showcased what we sound like live.

You’ll be soon touring with Anaal Nathrakh followed by one with North – how do you find touring itself in the past few years?

It's been really fun. We have done several tours that we have booked ourselves or with the help of friends and we have met a ton of really great bands and really great people. This Anaal tour is our first that has been handled by a proper booking agent and we are really excited to do it... it's probably going to be a different animal, as we are used to playing punk houses for donations (in addition to bar shows, etc) but I am sure it is going to be awesome. After that, we get to go back out with our buddies in North where we will be playing a bunch of DIY shows again in places that have been really good to us, so we are stoked.

What has been the weirdest moment while being on tour?

The last tour had a show in 29 Palms, California (east of Los Angeles in the Desert). We played the show, which went well and three of us ended up walking down the street from where we were staying to find a bar and grab a drink. We picked the wrong bar to go into, as we were immediately singled out by an obnoxious guy who followed us to the bar and proceeded to grill us on who we were, where we were from, what we were doing in this bar, etc. It got a bit tense and standoffish and at a certain point I was ready for this guy to try to pick a fight, and I would have probably obliged him, but my bass player casually told me to look behind us. I did, and immediately realised that there was a rather large group of skinheads staring at us in wait.

There were probably a dozen and it became clear very quickly that we were in trouble. A text was sent to one of the guys to come grab us in the van and we managed to walk out, with them following behind, and hop in the van and take off. You never know what you're going to run into in the little towns you end up in on tour... which I guess is part of the experience.

Which new bands (either signed or underground) have been capturing your attention at the moment?

We all listen to different stuff, but for me lately it has been Lament Cityscape, North, Cormorant, Bell Witch, The Great Old Ones, Conan, Cold Blue Mountain, Church, Solstifir, etc.

What are your plans regarding the UK/Europe?

No concrete plans at the moment, but we are hoping to get over there in 2016. We would have loved to be there for festival season this year but were a bit late to be submitted. So we will do our May and June US dates and another full US tour in Summer/Fall. Hopefully some things come together for us to make it possible to get to Europe ASAP. We shall see.

How do you think you have evolved as a musician and as a person overall since you joined the band?

I started this band in 2009 or so, and most of the line up has been the same since 2010/2011.

I am not sure I have changed much on a personal level. I am still married, still have a day job in the same field, still live in the same town, etc. As a musician, I would say I have probably changed quite a bit. I think I learned lots of lessons from mistakes made in previous projects.

Maybe I learned what not to do, or at least I like to think so. It is such a delicate thing, being in a band. I think I look at it and the relationships I have with my band mates as a fragile thing and something not to be taken lightly. I have become more sensitive to the people around me in the band and try to respect them and their opinions and feelings. These things can become magnified while touring and being around each other constantly, you sort of need to develop a sense of family in order to cope. I suppose musically, I know what I want to do with this project and I basically know how to go about getting it. We all do really... we figured out what works for us when writing and creating for Secrets of the Sky. I feel good about that because it isn't an easy thing to find... it takes a lot of work.

Interview by Cristina Massei The old magic of London, the one that no developer can build flats on… Here I am, yards from the super modern Tottenham Court Road station and the crates digging more tunnels for Crossrail, at the good old Borderline; backstage at this legendary venue I meet some just as legendary musicians and - most of all - music lovers, to discuss the result of their collective effort.

The Crunch are about to launch their second album ‘Brand New Brand’, after a very casual debut a couple of years ago. I sit with Diamond Dogs’ Sulo Karlsson, Sham 69’s Dave Tregunna and latest addition Idde Schultz. For the uninitiated, The Clash’ Terry Chimes and Cockney Rejects’ Mick Geggus complete the line-up for this refreshing bunch old rock’n’roll kids…

The new album - Brand New Brand – how did the title come about?

Sulo: Well the first time we recorded that in sessions, we were a complete new unit together so we didn’t know what to expect or how it was going to sound.

Dave: I guess we really didn’t have a plan to whether it was going to be a long term thing or not for the first album but for this second album we thought we’ve really got something, we all decided yeah we want to stay together and make more music, it’s all really good because we so enjoyed the first one, we did a few gigs and thought at least we’ve got our own brand of music – The Crunch – so this is a brand new brand for us!

When did you feel that this was a thing you wanted to do?

Dave: Personally I had met Mick and Terry back from the punk days but when we went to the book launch that brought us together obviously we played with Sulo on stage and I just thought we all gelled as people then Sulo said I’ve got some songs that I’ve demoed and do you want to record them? So here we are, we organised the first session; sent some demos over and went into the studio, the minute we started playing – not only did we get on as people but musically we had the same direction – it was all very easy because sometimes you go into the studio and people argue about this and that, none of that; these songs are fantastic, we all enjoy playing them and that’s when we really knew.

Sulo: From the start it was all about the songs: if we had some good songs we should record them and that was what brought us together.

I find that incredible because you all come from different and very valuable experiences – normally you’d think egos are going to collide there…

Idde: I think that’s a good thing that people are from different parts, there’s a lot of influences that melds together.

Dave: Although we’ve got quite strong personalities we’re not egotistical, self centred and it’s easy to get on and make decisions.

Sulo: Strong personalities and egos are two different things and there’s absolutely no egos in this band – except Terry’s drum solo! [all laugh] I guess there’s one thing you can let go!

Coming from so many experiences how does the song writing process work?

Idde: Sulo writes all the songs all the time – a lot of songs, every minute!

Dave: Sulo sends via emails all these new demos – acoustic guitar with melody and the words – then we just get into the studio and put our own style – my bass style, Terry’s drum style, Idde’s keyboards…

Sulo: I only write the song – the melody and lyrics, not even the arrangement and then we arrange it together, everyone puts their touch to it. That’s what makes a band – I’m a songwriter that wants input from everyone else.

Is it any different writing songs for what we’d call a ‘supergroup’ than it is for your own band?

Sulo: I never think about it as a supergroup, but it was a challenge to write the first album because I was thinking, if I was the audience what would I want this band to sound like? That was the thing when I was writing the songs – because you could never get away from the punk rock heritage of this thing so we needed a punk edge which I thought we were going to get anyway. That was my aim: to create an album I would want to buy myself!

With this album you’ve escaped the supergroup tag and made your own brand – how would you define it?

Sulo: It’s all about the songs in a way, there’s not a single track on it without a hook, the rough edge we get anyway. It’s that mix: I like hooks, it’s the songs that make us different.

Dave: Me, Terry and Mick come from the punk era so we’ve got that punk musical attitude that gives it a bit of a hard edge – melodic, power pop punk whatever you want to call it – we just think we’re doing our music.

There’s a thin line between pop and punk – they all converge on a memorable hook.

Sulo: If the first album was released in 1977 it would have been a punk rock album, the second one too but later on it became power pop, I think we’re all of that because even if we come from different bands the music we listen to is kind of the same and one of the big differences is that we have a girl doing fantastic harmony – that I think makes us more different from other bands that come from that circuit.

Idde – you joined full time with this album, what led to that decision?

I got the question, I said yes immediately, there was no doubt about it. I did some backing vocals on the first album and a duet, I did a lot of live gigs then got the question for the second album. Sulo and I we’ve known each other for a long time.

Dave: We all thought Idde had made a really good contribution to the musicality of the band so it wasn’t really a hard decision for us, she’s an integral part of the sound of the band.

What I love is it manages to sound diverse but not disjointed at all – was that a conscious effort?

Dave: it shows the chemistry of the band.

Idde: Most of the album was recorded in one week in Sweden, we did a lot of gigs that week…

Sulo: Three gigs and recorded in six days. From the start it’s been very easy and it’s even easier to do the second album because now I knew how everyone was going to play so I could think about that before I wrote the song. When I send the acoustic demo it may sound like a light pop song but I know it’s not going to be with The Crunch.

Where do you want to bring The Crunch at this point?

Sulo: World domination!

Idde: As far as possible!

Dave: We’re up for playing anywhere and doing anything that makes sense logistically, yeah we all have other projects but with Sham 69 which is my main other band we really don’t do many gigs, the singer doesn’t want to do touring – just one-off gigs here and there – so it’s not difficult for me to fit The Crunch around a once a month Sham gig. With Mick he tours more with the Cockney Rejects.

Sulo: We’ve got the same booking agent as Cockney Rejects in Europe.

That makes sense.

Dave: So we know when there’s not going to be any conflict with Cockney Rejects and The Crunch.

Do you feel like you’re more of a live band than a studio band?

Dave: Enjoy both to be honest, I’ve never really liked long times in the studio cooped up and that but when we were in Sweden we were in a beautiful place out in the middle of the woods so you could just take a walk through the pine forests by the side of a lake undisturbed by humans to clear your head. First album we did in a basement – bit of a contrast! That can get a bit claustrophobic but we didn’t do it all in one, we did a day here and there.

Sulo: Some of the songs are easier to record than to play live because we’re all so different but I like to do slow songs live too.

You used Pledge to finance this album. How did that go?

Dave: Very well.

Idde: We reached our goal! [laughs] I saw quite a nice assortment of things that you could get – did you sell all of them?

Idde: Nobody bought the dinner.

Sulo: We had someone come yesterday to the rehearsal for this gig.

Dave: They’d been a lifelong fan of rock since the mid 70’s and he had never gone to a band rehearsal!

Sulo: He enjoyed it, sometimes you play a song five times in a row and you get really bored with it but he really enjoyed it.

I think Pledge is good for many things; it brings the fans closer to the music and it does a lot of promotion for the band as well – more time to figure stuff out.

It does make you feel good knowing that people want to pay in advance for something that you haven’t released yet.

Sulo: They want setlists, drumsticks…

Idde: Of course downloading the album.

Sulo: It’s good in a time where everything should be free someone wants to buy some drumsticks or a t-shirt, there’s still hope out there.

Doing this for a living is a struggle now compared to back then.

Dave: The music business has changed so much since I started in it it’s unbelievable.

Idde: It still costs money to do an album.

Sulo: People don’t understand we have to pay a lot to make a good quality recording.

Dave: Certainly for our kind of music – there’s a whole different scene of music that you can do from your computer at home but we have to do it with live drums, live rooms.

Sulo: Looking at the new released albums by rock and pop bands the quality’s gone down

really fast in the last ten years – you can call it indie or lo-fi – but it can’t be lo-fi forever, some music like hard rock is so badly recorded and it’s all about the money.

It’s not just the quality of the recording, what people appreciate about the music you create is that it’s unique to you and they should want to pay for it – last month our magazine that you can read FOR FREE got pirated!

Dave: That’s the problem with the digital age and the internet, you get quantity to the max and lose on quality.

Sulo: I don’t believe in Spotify because when they started it was about finding a group or artist THEN buy the album but the thing is they don’t care about that any more – a generation that’s grown up with really bad sound and they’re used to that.

Idde: It’s good if you want to find a song quick but some magic is gone.

Sulo: A baker said to me ‘it’s really good that you’re working with your hobby’ but he believed it should be free. I said do you enjoy baking cakes and stuff ? He said yeah. I said can you bake 500 buns for me and I’ll give them out for free tonight? He said he’d never thought about it that way. I think people should refuse Spotify.

I can’t see it happening but compared to when illegal downloads started I think there’s some more conscience from the fans…

Sulo: There’s going to come some new internet service which is probably more expensive because the market always straightens things out. We still believe in vinyl though!

What can we find from The Crunch and where?

Dave: The Crunch community on Facebook and The Crunch site – www.thecrunch.se.

Where are you going to see you live next?

Sulo: We’re taking a short break in the summer.

Maria – We’re looking at the UK though late September/October.

As their new album The Children Of The Night gains positive acclaim Matt talks to guitarist Adam Zaars – topics include musical influences, the significance of the Death album Scream Bloody Gore, the evolution of the band and the ‘Maestro’ of horror scores Fabio Frizzi…

Interview by Matt Dawson

As a guitarist, what was the band or musician that influenced you to become the guitarist you are today?

I’d have to say two bands and two guitar players: Kiss and Ace Frehley then it was Iron Maiden and Adrian Smith.

Great choices!

Those are the two major guitar players in my life.

What led to you discovering death metal?

It was Johannes (Andersson, vocalist and bassist) who played me Zombie Ritual from the first Death album – Scream Bloody Gore – when we were going on a field trip or something when we were thirteen, that was it!. He had it on tape and the intro to that song just made me fanatical I guess!

In the town you grew up in was there a big rock/metal fanbase at all?

Not really, it was a small city but a cultural city, there was always music and art – yearly we have this big festival that started out as some kind of industrial/synth/goth festival and it was the biggest of its kind in Sweden, [for] a week every year the town was invaded by strange looking people and it was always very inspiring. I’d say it’s a town that really promotes music and art in some ways but I wouldn’t say there was a big metal scene.

The first Tribulation demo was released in 2005 – a decade on how do you think you have evolved as a musician and Tribulation have as a band?

Well the band has evolved quite dramatically [chuckles] which is very natural for us mainly because of how young we were when we started the band – we were like fifteen – we’re only three albums in but we started out playing quite typical what people would call old school death metal and it took six years between the recording of the first and second album, in those years

a lot of things happened in our personal lives.

We were different people, different youth – not necessarily different music – and the stuff between the albums is quite big! The first album was very aggressive and fast and the second album is 75 minutes long and a lot more atmospheric, very long songs and stuff like that. On the new one we have taken another very natural step for us, a natural step for people that have heard the album as well so I say we’ve come a long way to carve our own niche.

There’s that waltz style track towards the end of the album (‘Cauda Pavonis’) and also a quote that mentions it’s ‘ the sum of our most strange stuff to date’ – define what you would say is strange in this case.

Well I think the song ‘Strains Of Horror is kind of a weird song because it’s almost like classic rock sounding at times, before that it sounds like a horror soundtrack but at the same time it’s got a sort of regular rock/pop buildup. It works but it’s more out there than any old death metal song we’ve done in the past.

When you say horror soundtrack do you mean similar to what Goblin did for Dario Argento and Fabio Frizzi did for Lucio Fulci?

Yeah and that’s always been a big inspiration for the band even before the first album, that kind of music that Goblin, Fabio and Popol Vuh who made the soundtrack for Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu has always been such a big part. I remember us talking about making music that sounded just like that when we were making the first album, I guess we’ve tried to incorporate that into the music in the most natural way that we can at least.

If there was someone that wanted to listen to Tribulation for the first time with this album which track would you consider to them?

I would say Holy Libations or In The Dreams Of The Dead from the new album at least because both of them contain a lot of different aspects that are in the album – the more classic heavy metal sounding stuff as well as the more atmospheric parts.

With ‘The Motherhood Of God’ would I be wrong in presuming that there’s a slight Cure influence?

I wouldn’t say The Cure was an inspiration, we actually recorded a cover, it’s not that farfetched I say but not an inspiration to that particular song.

Which track has been covered?

One Hundred Years from Pornography.

What would you say lyrically is the strongest song on the new album?

I guess I have to say one of mine, not saying they’re better! [laughs] Probably The Motherhood Of God. What was the inspiration for those lyrics?

A longing. It’s a very personal song, the one closest to myself really. I’ve never written a song so fast than with that one – it was finished in three days, it usually takes me seven months or something! It was like a burst of energy that had to come out.

You had Ola (Ersfjord) produce the album and worked in several studio location. Which was your favourite?

The last studio we were in: Studio Cobra because we entered that studio when all the drums, vocals, guitars and bass was finished and we went there to record every other instrument that was on the album – mellotron, piano and whatever else. It’s in the centre of Stockholm and it’s just got this really cosy vibe to it, all of these instruments so it feels like a playground and the possibilities are endless while you’re in there. Unfortunately we couldn’t really stay there for that long – I would have wanted to be there for weeks because it was so inspiring!

On the next album I would like to go there again and spend a lot more time there.

Same producer as well?

I don’t know – we’ll find out when the songs start coming to life, it was really good working with him.

He was the one that arranged to record in all those studios – I know it sounds like an inconvenient thing but it was good for us I say because you always had something to look forward to.

You’re in the UK for Incineration in London and Temples in Bristol – what are your thoughts on coming here twice in a month?

It feels really good as we haven’t really played the UK that much, only once or twice I think which is a shame because I’ve personally spent a lot of time in London in particular. For some reason we haven’t done it with Tribulation.

Which bands are you looking forward to seeing at each event?

We’ll be at Temples on the Sunday so I’ll be seeing Voivod and Goatwhore and possibly Earth.

Incineration – Aura Noir and I’ll be seeing Melechesh and Keep Of Kalessin a lot of times before that! [The three will be touring Europe around the time of Incineration.]

You recently toured the US with Behemoth and Cannibal Corpse – what was it like touring with them?

It was great touring with both of them, we knew Behemoth from a tour of Poland – they invited us. They’re just fantastic guys, easy to work and hang out with, same goes for Cannibal Corpse.

It was such a laid back tour and it was a pleasure playing all of the great venues we got to play.

It’s always nice to be on a tour with bands that care about the openers especially in the US – getting a backstage room and even water can be difficult sometimes! It was a really great experience.

What have been the albums you’ve listened too recently?

A lot of Iron Maiden, also a lot of Type O Negative ’World Coming Down’. I just started listening to a band called Youth Code – their singer was doing the merch for Behemoth – something quite different but very good, also some Mortuary Drape as well.

Interview with Temples’ founder Francis Mace by Matt Dawson With its debut year attracting the likes of Neurosis, Clutch, Anaal Nathrakh and more, Temples festival was one of the UK metal events of 2014. As we get near to this year’s event featuring Converge, SunnO))) and Earth headlining alongside Pallbearer, Caina, Triptykon, Voivod and many more we speak to Francis Mace. Topics include the thinking behind the bookings, improvements from last year’s edition and three dream bands for the bill.

With the second year of Temples coming up, what are your feelings on how the inaugural year went down?

There were a few teething problems that we had: such as crowd flow issues which we addressed as the festival went on, vegan caterers that cancelled on the day of the event etc– there were a couple of small things that were hiccups but we overcame them as and when the problems came about. All in all, the festival was really positive for a first year, the line up itself I was very happy with, the way the bands actually ran, the festival efficiency overall, the crowd response, the bands preformed and response to the festival’s ethos itself. All things considered I was very happy with how it went for the first year.

The first announcement for this year was Converge with their first ever show in Bristol.

It will be which is phenomenal really given how often they’ve come over to the UK, it’s quite a honour to have them in Bristol.

The main stage on that day is very hardcore based, was that a nice coincidence or entirely by design?

Entirely by design, every stage that goes forward in Temples Festival we curate with a sort of theme in mind and that was my intention to have Converge, Nails, Trap Them, Harm’s Way, Young And In The Way, Teef – bands of a similar nature performing alongside each other on that one stage. That was my initial intention with last year’s Temples festival and we ended up switching things up stage by stage but as things go on I would like to do it so that each stage kind of represents a show within itself, a great example of what we’re trying to do is that Friday main stage.

Another one similar is the second stage on the Saturday.

Again I’m pretty happy with how that panned out and the bands we managed to get for it but that’s something I really put my mind into. I set my sights on a few bands in particular like Portal, Bolzer, Triptykon and I knew when I got those three locked in I could form something around them which had a theme to it which would appeal to people.

One of the other exciting things about this festival is that you have Pig Destroyer playing twice – how did this come about?

It was my idea, I can’t really go into too much detail – I can’t allude as to why they’re doing the second set but I put it forward to the band and they loved it. It should be cool anyhow with Goatsnake, Pig Destroyer and then SunnO))) seems like a weird balance of bands but it’s an exciting one nonetheless.

Speaking of SunnO))) have you had many saying they’d hope Scott Walker might turn up?

A lot of people have, it was something when we initially booked Sunn was the first question that I asked and it became quite apparent from the get go that the collaboration between the two of them was solely studio based but that was something I really pushed for to start with.

WAR WOLF

On the Sunday you have Between The Buried And Me headlining the second stage – now that is a Temples exclusive?

They are exclusively flying over to play Temples festival then returning to the US on the Monday. A bit of a curveball booking for Temples but relevant to what we do nonetheless.

There’s also a special event on the Thursday with And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – what led to the pre-show being that way this year?

I really want to expand upon the festival each year and do something on the Thursday beforehand and perhaps something after the festival that’s not just the afterparty – which we’ll have again this year -- they’re a band I’ve wanted to work with for ages and I think that they’re another curveball that could be potentially a mesmerising start to the beginning of the festival so instead of throwing an opening party we’re doing an actual gig. We’ve got Bossk supporting who were one of the highlights for me of 2014 and I decided that for our patrons/audience members the best thing to do is put on a gig!

Trail Of Dead are one of those bands that live really blow people away – I decided to go all in and put on something just to kick off the weekend itself.

Aside from the headliners can you give us three to five bands that you feel people really need to see?

I’m going to start with a band that have just started: Venom Prison – they’re for fans of really old school 90’s euro metalcore, second I would say Nails who for me were one of the best gigs I’ve ever put on in Bristol, third is Bolzer on the Saturday second stage – a band I highly recommend everybody checks out, Skitsystem also on the Saturday are just insane live and finally Sonance who’ll be performing on the main stage on Saturday who also performed at Temples 2014.

Will the way the stages are set up be similar to last year in regards to the main and second stage?

Yes. Will there be potential for clashes with the third stage?

Yes. I think that this festival is conducted in a transparent way that is possible with our audience, it’s inevitable that at festivals there are going to be clashes, myself and the production manager have sat down doing the stage times in a manner of avoiding any sort of like for like clashes and allowing people to see a little bit of each band really trying to accommodate people as best as possible but given the nature of festivals and the amount the stages there’s always going to be clashes, we’re just trying to minimalise the damage clashes do.

I presume plans for 2016 have already begun?

You could presume that yes. I’m well ahead of where I was this time last year in terms of how many artists I’ve booked and what plans I’ve got in place but there are things that I’m working on that are huge compared to anything I’ve done before as a promoter and what we’ve accomplished so far with Temples festival. Dates are locked in and we will be announcing it relatively soon If you could book three bands for Temples who would they be?

Queens Of The Stone Age, Rush and Run The Jewels.

What do you listen to while working on Temples?

I listen to a little bit of everything really, while I’m curating the stages if I book one band I’ll rinse that band all day and then I’ll start thinking about who I’ll put with them.

With the right side of the Lock already taken down and and uncertain future for the rest of Camden Market, you owe it to yourself to attend this year’s edition of Camden Rocks Festival. A celebration not only of music in all its forms but also of a neighbourhood that is central to London’s alternative heritage, Camden Rocks takes place across 20 venues, 200+ acts in one day for a mere £30, with a mysterious headliner still to be announced. As for those already on the list, where do I start? New Model Army, Skindred, Richie Ramone, The Dictators, Ginger Wildheart, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Trampolene, Funeral For A Friend… Oh well, just check the poster will ya? And get your wristband. If you get peckish, don’t forget to take advantage of Camden’s world street food, try something new, be brave, discover a new band and maybe a new ale or two. A big thanks as always to Mr Chris McCormack for making it happen and see you somewhere on the High Street between venues. In the meanwhile, we asked a few questions to some of our favourite bands on this year's bill...

1) Please introduce your band in three words.

2) Where/when will you be rocking Camden? (Venue and time if known) 3) The hardest thing about Camden Rocks is deciding where to go‌ Why should we definitely check YOU out?

4) Who else are you looking forward to see on the day?

5) Greedy developers are sadly taking over Camden; if you could save one venue only, which one would it be?

6) What in your opinion makes Camden special?

7) Finally, what are you promoting at the moment? Link us up!

1. SKIN FUCKING DRED 2. I will be personally checking out as much as I humanly can throughout the day! But the stage and time we are playing is a big surprise!

3. If you want the ultimate party we are the ultimate party band. Enjoying a SKINDRED show is mandatory.

4. We have a lot of friends playing so it's gonna be hard trying to fit everyone in but I'm gonna make sure I see Funeral, they are always great.

I've never seen New model Army so I want to check them out. We've just done a track with Modestep so I'm looking forward to seeing them too.

5. I would choose to save The Underworld. It has history for me, It was the first venue I played in Camden in 1997, so I've been going there for a while now!

6. It's steeped in history, it was the home of punk.

Its a melting pot of all types of music. It's got music in the bricks as mortar.

7. We have our record "Kill The Power" out now and I would like it if everyone would go out and buy it please. Www.skindred.net Arya

1. The indefinable outsiders 2. Jazz Cafe - time unknown 3. Because you want to know a secret 4.The best gigs are often the ones you stumble upon by accident 5. All of them. Fuck the greedy developers.

6. History, atmosphere, water.

7. Everything. www.newmodelarmy.org Justin Sullivan

1. Three Welsh Comrades 2. The Enterprise @ 7:00pm 3. We will change your life.

4. Funeral For a Friend. They were huge when we were kids.

5. Proud Gallery - Love its unusual set up and that is used to be stables.

6. It’s the Heart of Rock'n'Roll and where The Clash used to rehearse.

7. Our EP Pocket Album Two is out now - New EP ‘It’s Not Rock & Roll” out in July (Trampolene have also announced a residency at Koko as follows: June 26th / July 3rd / July 10th / July 17th) Jack Jones

1.Aggres 2. Sorry, bsive….Dangerous..

3. Becaus ut I don't really kno ..Smart you what y e if you don't, all w those details ye happens, ou missed... And thyour friends will tet.

4. Glen Maso make sure you at sucks when thall t definitely tlock is a good frie are there. s n 5.Barfly… ee. Also, the Anti d of mine who I w ill Nowhere I really Camden League. e n jo y is p where I ca my favorite pla erforming there 1. Raw Indie Rock 6. It’s a m n go and feel comce in London an . 2. The Hawley Arms at 6pm! d 3. Because we'r me of the elting pot of all walkfortable. e playing one of the most E s a of life. It re st Village icon ic ven the day. ues in Cam den, and it’s gonna to in N min Camden. You can see aenw York City back dins be raucous d do any 7. http://w thing in 4. Dingus Kahn w w .r 5. Barfly, we play there a lot, we love the ic h ieramone.c https: / o m / vibe w , it's a great venue with appreciative ww RichieRam oneOfficia. f a c e b o o k . love rs of live music! l c o m / 6. Its peo ple, you never know who or what you're gonna bump into 7. Check out our latest single 'Where Rather Be' and its video on YouTube! httpI'd :// youtu.be/JqcFVEb5KnM Curtis

1. New Zealand, Grunge, Rock 2. The Good Mixer - Time TBA 3. Do your research, if you like what you hear than thats the ONLY reason you should come check us out.

4. Black Spiders, The Wild Lies, Dinosaur Pile Up, Max Raptor.

5. I’d have to say save the Black Heart, cool little venue, good people, and always a good time there.

6. It’s a place for anyone and everyone, the vibe there is amazing and yah never know what to expect in Camden.

7. Our New Single - Keepsake - comes out May 7th in support of our new EP - Gutter Mouth. rivalstate.net is probably the best place to check out if you want to keep posted with all that stuff!!

1. We. As. Lions !

2.

We don't know yet!

3. Bring your mosh A game and a beer, and we’ll do the rest. Its our home town, it going to kick the fuck off big style, so if you want a permanent smile that will help you get over the eventual ringing in

your ears, come hang out.

4. We’re actually playing two shows that day, we’re out with Wovenwar, so we can’t really catch anyone as we have to haul ass after the set. For suggestions, I’m kinda biased because we have so many friends playing, but check out FFAF & Heavens Basement.

5. That’s such a horrid question, theres too many!! I guess I would have to say The Underworld. It holds so many memories for me, from watching bands, to playing. I’d be absolutely gutted if it went.

6. Maybe its the fact that it has its irreplaceable charm, or that it has the best venues, or that it champions alternative culture….or maybe its just something in the water. Whatever the reason, in my opinion, its because it is as resilient and brilliant as its always been.

7. We’re out on the road in May with Wovenwar, we’re hitting up festivals too, and we can’t wait to see you all down there. Check out our single, The Fall: https://soundcloud.com/kerrang-magazine/as-lions-the-fall Austin Dickinson

1. Well….. We are dead!

3. It’s tedious and insincere for us to boast about how good and exciting we are, every band will tell you the same thing. Do it old school, ask a friend if they've heard of us, or go online and if you like it, come down and we'll show you how good it is live. If you don't then go watch someone you will like!

4. The Hell, Max Raptor, Feed The Rhino there's a bunch of bands we know playing so we'll go down and check loads of them out as well.

5. If you're as pissed off as us about watching the scene get smaller you wouldn't let them take any venues. Go to a gig, prove that these businesses aren't worth selling to the owners.

Promise you'll have fun!

6. It’s an insanely eclectic melting pot backed by a lot of stories. The air is just thick with vibe. It's intoxicating in the best way7. Hahaha, well we're playing Nass fest and a couple more over the summer but the rest? That's our secret for now..........

1. Punk Rock Icons ;) 2. We will be rocking The Cuban at 4.00pm 3. We will certainly put a smile on you face and hopefully get you in the groove for an ace day. If you're into you melodic punk rock and like having fun then we're the band for you.

4. Skindred, New Model Army, Lawnmower Death, Feed The Rhino, Brawlers, Creeper, Ducking Punches stand out but the best thing about Camden Rocks is just walking into a venue and checking a band that you've never heard before. There's so many great bands it's going to be awesome.

5. My favourite venue at the moment has to be The Black Heart. Such a great vibe there.

6. The variety and multi cultural-ism there is great. So many great venues to watch bands and it's always a pleasure to play Camden. It's my favourite part of London Village 7. We have just released a new mini LP called "Seeing Out Sunrise" which came out on April 18th on Dry Heave Records and TNS records on 12" colored vinyl, CD and digital download formats.

Steve Pod

1. Wholesome, gluten free 2. 7.30pm. I think it's the Jazz Ca me anything 3. Because we will be bringing th Camden Rocks we are opening Faith No More - so hopefully we 4. We’re looking forward to c Turbowolf, Black Moth, God Dam a personal note, I hope I catch T about twelve years 5. Too tough! We played a fun sh was also the place where our aftershow a few years ago with his you to want me' 6. It’s really easy to get drugs. A head down there if you fancy a c 7. Our third album 'Everything is F all the usual major criminal organ a minor criminal organisation:

1. Enter. The. Lexicon.

2. We’ll be at Belushi’s at 3pm!

3. We’ve been aching for the chance to play Camden Rocks for fucking years so we’re gonna be making the most of every second for sure…plus we all get naked and do amazing Matthew McConaughey impressions between songs. How could you even say no?

4. So many bands, Demob Happy, Dinosaur Pile Up, Max Raptor to name just a few. Hopefully we’ll get to discover a bunch of new rad bands too.

5. That sucks so badly. Fuck da man. I think I’d have to say Electric Ballroom purely because it’s one of the ones left on our ‘to play before I die’ list.

6. The atmosphere and vibe is amazing.The sounds like cliche hippy bullshit but its true, theres always something going on and its buzzing with creativity. It’s like its own city with its own vibe completely. We all fucking love getting to come down.

7.

Link us up! www.youtube.com/ enterthelexicon www.facebook.com/ enterthelexicon it’s all on these two!

afe but I'm the drummer, no one tells

he biggest bag of riffs . Two days after g Sonisphere Milan for Metallica and e'll be well practised catching up with loads of friends mn and Ginger to name but a few... On Trail Of Dead, who I haven't seen for

ow at Dingwalls last Halloween. That singer Paul stole the show at an s rock band karaoke version of 'I want

And it's near the zoo so you can also change of scenery.

Fine' came out in February - get it from nisation outlets or buy direct from us,

1. Rock, friends, fun.

2. We’ll be rocking at the Monarch!

3. We’re going to play a set of brand new songs from our new album. Show casing songs that have never been played live before. Plus we're fantastic people ha!

4. Definitely want to catch TurboWolf and the secret headliners??

5. The Underworld I think. It's right in the heart of Camden. I've grown up watching bands there, and played with Jettblack there, so it makes for good memories!

6. A high concentration of good venues and good bands all jostling to be heard, makes for a high standard and mix of music.

7. Our new album 'DISGUISES' is out now! We're really proud of this one. To get your copy and watch the single video 'EXPLODE' at www.Jettblackuk.com Will Stapleton

1. Weezer playing metal.

2. The Jazz Cafe at 5.15 3. Because everyone goes to Camden Rocks for a good facemelting and we do it better than anyone else.

4. Turbowolf, Demob Happy, Ginger Wildheart, Hawk Eyes, Max Raptor, Dolomite Minor, Brawlers, God Damn. I'm expecting clashes.

5. Maybe the Electric Ballroom because we've had a lot of killer nights in there.

6. It houses our record label!

7. We just put out a new song from our new record check it out! https://m.soundcloud.com/dinosaur-pileup/1111a Michael Sheils

1. Modern. British. Rock.

2. We don't know yet, but we will tell you as soon as we do!

3. We’re a fresh band who love playing live and we're looking to make our mark as a live band. We've played hundreds of gigs up an down the country for nearly three years, honing our musicianship and giving everything to the show. To be playing at Camden Rocks is an honour and we intend to show that we belong.

4. We’re looking forward to see as many acts we can, its a great festival for checking out new bands as much as the headliners.

There's a lot of bands that we've gigged with before so we're try and catch up with them too. Our wish list is too long, so we might just all have to split up.

5. The Underworld because it's got a great name and it would be a shame to lose that venue, we had a great gig with Glamour Of The Kill in February, it's so iconic.

6. It’s the people, the true music fans which make it, and the atmosphere. It is such an incredible event it's so diverse so many acts, so many venues, it's just an amazing vibe.

7. We have our new single out 'Wake Up' which is out now and we're recording our first album at the moment which will be out sometime in August, heres the Wake Up video link. Thanks for talking to us, we look forward to meeting you in Camden! https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=uVyd0IbPmrQ

Tickets are available at all usual online retailers and in person at the Jazz Cafe. www.camdenrocksfestival.com for more info and updates

Interview by Matt Dawson With a major following that spans globally Dir En Grey are one of the strongest metal bands to ever come out of Japan. In view of the two London shows on the horizon - supported by Rise Of The Northstar and Mikee Goodman’s Outside The Coma - we caught up with bassist Toshiya (and his translator) to hear his thoughts about their latest album ARCHE, Spotify and Babymetal.

Hi Toshiya. For a start, how do you feel the latest album – ARCHE – has been received globally?

It’s not bad but people are familiar with the older works – Uroboros and Dum Spiro Spero – and probably feel that this album is lacking in some parts, we do see people commenting and comparing it to previous albums.

Can you give us more insight towards the album’s concept? I believe pain was a particular theme…

It has been a recurring theme for Dir En Grey, we always have experimented with messages that pertain to pain but the biggest difference about this album is that musically we were not trying to expand or make things complicated in terms of sound but to take things more straight forward and simple.

Given that there have been many controversies over it recently – what is your opinion towards Spotify? (ARCHE at this moment in time only is partially complete on the service.)

I’m not against it, it’s definitely a platform that’s used to promote and to reach out to more people with our work.

The London shows are coming up very soon – firstly I would like your thoughts towards Rise Of The Northstar and Outside The Coma, secondly are there any plans to tour more of the UK in the future?

When the idea of them supporting us came up I thought they were very interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing them live as well, as for coming back to the UK there’s nothing planned right now but when the time comes we want to come back.

How do you feel Dir En Grey has evolved from 1997 to 2015?

Sometimes I think back and can hardly believe that we’ve been together for that long, we’ve done and tried a lot of things so it looks like the band has evolved but from our point of view it just feels that we’ve grown together with the band and that’s what’s reflected in our music.

What are your feelings towards the global success of Babymetal in the past year?

I am very interested in what they’re doing because it’s something different and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next.

Dir En Grey have quite the acclaimed global fanbase – what has been your most interesting experience with it?

What’s interesting is the fact that because there’s a language barrier between the band and the fans just a little gesture makes them react to everything but the biggest thing is it’s just amazing that there are fans everywhere – people that are just waiting for us to come back!

(Pain) has been a recurring theme for Dir En Grey, we always have experimented with messages that pertain to pain

The Golden Age of Burlesque Welcome to your one stop drop for all the news on the best burlesque nights, in the capital and beyond!

I’m Sophia Disgrace, I’ve performed at numerous events in the UK and abroad, from festivals to the most exclusive clubs. I perform in a neo burlesque style and often incorporate other elements such as angle grinding into my routines.

I like to shake the audience up a bit!

By Sophia Disgrace

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

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

photo Otto Bohne

Vintage Tease Presents A WHOLE LOTTA CHEEK! @ The Royal Function Rooms, Rochester Friday 8th May - 8.00pm to midnight

This joyous event is a wanton homage to the fuller female form, in all its many guises!

Featuring performances from burly show stopper Khandie Kisses, '50 inches of Ass herself Miss Violet Blaze' and a number of other booti-ful starlets, expect fun, frolics and titillation! The night will be compered by Missy Maybe and the ticket price includes a selection of yummy treats, perfect for munching on in between acts.

Tickets are £16.00 and available online via Skiddle.com

Die Freche Muse Presents THE VELVET LOUNGE

@ a secret location in Hackney tba one week prior to the event date Saturday 9th May - 10.00pm to 3.00am Die Freche Muse host a number of illicit events throughout the year.

Their parties are known for their secretive nature and one of a kind, creative flair. The Velvet Lounge is a homage to London's East End, 1960s style. Expect a sleazetastic atmosphere and super sharp crowd of gangsters and beehived beauties! Cockney chanteuse Elsie Diamond will be warming all and sundries cockles, with a set of 60s classics, as a gaggle of dangerous dames bump and grind for your delight! Once the girlies have done their thang, house DJ Edd Roulette will be spinning a psychedelic selection of tunes into the wee small hours. Get those gladrags on and grab your misses-or yer fella!

Tickets are £12.00 available in advance only. Please refer to www.diefrechemuse.co.uk for further details.

GLITTERBALL!

@ The Playboy Club, London Friday 22nd May - 8.00pm until late So we jump from the swinging 60s straight into the decade of hippies, punk and flares! Yes, this exclusive event at Hugh Hefner's London residence will be celebrating all things 70s. A variety of performers, themed canapés and beverages will capture the theme in true disco-tastic style! Plus a little busty bunny told me there will be few extra surprises throughout the night! *Wink*Wink* Tickets and further details are available via PlayboyLondon.com And now for some quotes! Positive affirmations burly style - from those in the know.......

'I advocate glamour. Every day. Every minute.'

Dita Von Teese - Vintage vixen and world renowned burlesque artist 'I like to wake up each morning feeling a new man' Jean Harlow - The original blonde bombshell 'I don’t feel like I’m a legend. It’s too soon for that and I have a long time to go! I’m not hanging up my g-string, yet…'

Tempest Storm - Legendary burlesque performer who counts a certain Mr. Presley amongst her conquests…

And on that saucy note i bid you adieu! XOX

Californian punk icons Social Distortion revisit Shepherds Bush Empire four years later to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their self-titled album and fans are out in force. As Mike Ness kindly reminds us there’s no work tomorrow, one more excuse to let the energy flow in the charged mosh pit.

The seminal 1990 record gets played in its full glory, one gritty americana gem after the other from ‘So Far Away’ to ‘Drug Train’ - with the exception of Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ reserved predictably for the encore. ‘Story of My Life’ still sends a chill down many spines, including probably Ness’ himself, one of the fewest men in rock’n’roll to come out ‘on the other side’ in such a great shape in and out. ‘Close your eyes and it’s past’, he sings, 25 years down the line, with even more life to look back at. The crowd erupts cheering their hero, let the crowdsurfing begin.

Social D don’t stop at 1990: when ‘Drug Train’ hits the station we’re only half way through. However, the band leave their early years out of the setlist to the disappointment of some. What follows is a selection of tracks from their last album ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes’ dated 2011, a couple from 1992 ‘Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell’ (‘Cold Feelings’ and ’99 & Life’) and Stones’ cover ‘Wild Horses’.

The encore is a song ‘we could play with our eyes shut’ - says Ness, inviting the audience to join the party. Of course. After burning, burning, burning the ‘Ring of Fire’, ‘White Light White Heat White Trash’ comes off the shelves briefly to close the evening with ‘Don’t Drag Me Down’.

We’re all waiting with bathed breath for that long promised new album, but truth being said, there can’t be enough hours in a gig to play all the Social D songs we already know and love. A residency maybe would ‘almost’ cut it. 2016 will be 20 years of ‘White Light White Heat White Trash’, and for once I’m happy with just another birthday party. Same place again?

Goodbye and thanks for tonight guys. Life goes by so fast…

LIVE

Shepherds Bush Empire, London 3rd May 2015

By Cristina Massei

LIVE Carl Barat takes his Jackals to the Scala to a full house that his refreshingly honest rock’n’roll totally deserves. The sensible half of the Libertines is clearly into his ‘other’ project and the crowd enjoys the tracks from freshly released ‘Let It Reign’ almost as much as tonight’s cheered rendition of Death On The Stairs; Barat’s heart is into it enough to give a new lease of life even to some old Pretty Dirty Things numbers: ‘Bang Bang You’re Dead’ never sounded this good.

The Jackals, formed via an old fashioned ad and consequent audition, look at ease on stage, showing a surprising chemistry. Their sound is filled with memorable riffs, Clashlike punk straight-forwardness and of course a touch of Libertines - ‘Summer In The Trenches’ could confuse the part time fans.

Except, there’s no Peter: it’s like good and evil have been taken apart. You know the setlist is going to be followed and there’s no odds at the bookies whether the show will actually happen. And as good as it sounds, it feels like something is missing. In fact, many here tonight are hoping Peter will make an unannounced appearance, maybe crush in the drum kit as he keeps singing the wrong lyrics. But I digress.

Forget the pink elephant in the room, the Jackals produced a solid album and a solid show, further enriched by the addition of a keyboard player, horns section and back vocals. Surely this band, and tracks like “Glory Days”, “Let It Rain” or “War of the Roses”, don’t deserve the ‘Plan B’ label they got. Who knows what would have happened if the infamous reunion hadn’t shortly followed the birth of this new outfit, now prematurely on the back burner (according to a recent interview with Barat)…

If you’re bored with reunions and comebacks, we suggest you check openers Trampolene at the first opportunity. Aspiring ‘next big things’ often end up being carbon copies of past big things, and sometimes they go way too far just daring to be different for the sake of it. These young lads got it just right. See them for yourself at this year’s Camden Rocks or their July residency at Koko, and in the meanwhile find them on YouTube.

New, old or borrowed, what a good night this was for rock’n’roll. Let’s raise a glass to many more to come.

Scala, London 15 April 2015

By Cristina Massei

O2 Islington Academy, London 22 April 2015

By John Morgan Photo Cristina Massei

Those punters lucky enough to make it in early were in for a treat tonight, as openers The Pearl Hearts give us a short, yet well received set of material from their as yet unrealised debut album. With a sound like The White stripes meets PJ Harvey, the two piece girl band are definitely one to keep an eye on.

After the starkness of the openers, we get the sheen of the main support, with Raven Eye delivering a storming set with all the panache of a fully grown Rock Band. They have the moves, and they have the songs to make them a very enjoyable part of the evening.

With the crowd approaching capacity, tonight’s headliners hit the stage to a hero’s welcome. This is a band with an ever growing reputation and, for once, it’s nice to see one that lives up to the hype.

The individual musicianship of the Blues Pills reminds all of the psychedelic rock sound of past generations. The band have taken the unusual step of releasing a live album after the release of last year’s debut studio effort and it’s easy to see why: the live environment is where this band truly sing to the soul.

A great night that will be fondly remembered by all in attendance.

8/10

LIVE

LIVE It's been five long years since The Birthday Massacre last played at The Classic Grand in Glasgow so, unsurprisingly, there was a very appreciative crowd waiting to see them as they returned with support from The Dead Betas and The Red Paintings on Tuesday night.

Sadly I only made it in in time to see the end of the Dead Beta's set, though I was just in time to see the dancing Shrek in pink denim cut-offs appear. Lucky me? What I did get to see of the band was an energetic display of electro-punk (and I mean actual punk, nothing you'd think of sticking “pop� in front) that was well-received by what was a pretty decent-sized crowd for a first act of the evening. How do you top Shrek in pink denims?

Aliens in jars. Geishas. Violins.

Geishas with violins. Live body The Classic Grand, Glasgow painting by local artist Natalie 21 April 2015 - by David Lees Godfrey. R2-D2 rucksacks.

That's what The Red Paintings brought to the show, along with a great set of stonkingly heavy rock songs along with frontman Trash McSweeney's laconic banter with the audience, which served as a contrast to the band's explosive stage performance. Although the abrupt song endings often caught the crowd by surprise the band got a great reception and no wonder; it was a stellar set, worth the entry price alone. It's not unusual to hear bands talk about the great relationship they have with their fans when they're interviewed, but it's rare to see that relationship in action just as clearly as when The Birthday Massacre play. Singer Chibi seems to spend almost as much time out in the crowd engaging with the fans as she does bouncing around on stage. I'm not talking about egotistic rockstar handslaps either, you'd think audience members were long-lost family the way Chibi was handing out hugs. On stage the band are the definition of the word dynamic; the guys, in their black, patch-laden uniforms seem to be in a competition to see who can fit the most spins, kicks and jumps into the set. They started off with songs from the latest album, Superstition before moving on to their more familiar synth-rock crowd pleasers - not that the new work didn't get a rapturous reception, mind you. The Birthday Massacre are clearly a well-polished act at the height of their powers right now and with no need to win over an already dedicated audience this was a night with a band who were clearly having great fun doing what they do and feeding off the energy of an appreciative crowd of hardcore fans. I think it's safe to say that nobody went home disappointed.

LIVE

O2 Academy 2, Birmingham 21 April 2015

By Cat Finch - Photos Tim Finch Originating from the 80’s New York scene, Prong have been playing the circuit for the best part of 30 years. It seems when any artist hits their mid-life crisis they releases a covers album, and Prong return to these shores for the third time in twelve months in support of such a recording. Tonight’s line up is eclectic to say the least and opening proceedings are post-rock sludgsters Steak Number Eight from Belgium. Far removed from Prong’s industrial stylings, the opening act have half an hour to sell their take on the genre to the handful of folk who have turned up early tonight. A hard-hitting set of growling riffs follows which has surely won over those watching.Following on we have South Wales finest Hark mixing heavy rock with a stoner rock/doom edge. The crowd is subjected to pounding rhythms and ferocious vocals, which seem to turn the three piece’s music into a living, breathing work of art. So much detail has been put into the composition of the music that Hark really do stand out above the pack; they are ones to watch over the coming years. Whilst Tommy Victor may be more famous for his roles in Ministry and Danzig, the former CBGB’s sound engineer has been releasing music from his own group, Prong, for three decades. On the warmest day of the year so far just 100 punters have parted with their hard earned cash to see what this New Yorker has to offer.Kicking off the set with a trio of songs from the new covers album, we see the band may not have hit that midlife crisis just yet. Tearing through a rendition of Bad Brains Banned in DC, Victor and crew are just as energised as they have ever been and so to the audience. It’s not just a covers night however as we are also treated to the Prong back catalogue old and new. The Barriers and Revenge from the newer work feature alongside classics Another Worldly Device, Whose Fist and Snap Your Fingers.

Prong may not be everyone’s cup of tea and touring so often may well have an effect on ticket sales, but as a live act they never fail to deliver; they are one group you should never miss the chance to see.

LIVE

Bunker 13 Stoke-on-Trent 11th April 2015

By Matt Dawson

With their EP showcasing a great mix of stoner and sludge metal it’s time to see what Morass Of Molasses can bring to the table live; given the weather on this particular day is showing signs of decentness rather than completely freezing, the mood seems right for some good metal.

Bleak Zero’s set manages to get the floor shaking and heads nodding, while their mix of doom and punk creates a feeling of excitement through the guitar and bass combo of Rob Hunt and Mike Davies plus intensity with Morph’s vocals and the drum work of Lorna Dean; one of Stoke’s best bands out there in the doom scene, alongside Space Witch and Rise To Thunder.

Morass Of Molasses follow up by bringing the groove: songs such as Rotten Teeth and Ashtabula sound great live, while the two non EP songs give an indicator of a cross between Elder and Sabbath (the latter being mentioned by vocalist Bones the Beard during his amusing between-songs interaction) and are a great sign of what the future will bring.

What is established on this night is that these two bands deserve more love, as they bring a great night and a bright future to the stoner/ doom/sludge and punk scenes.