SONIC SHOCKS Issue 42 - January 2016

You know I'm born to lose and gambling's for fools

But that's the way I like it baby

Issue 42 - January 2016

I don't wanna live for ever

LEMMY 1945 - 2015

ON THIS ISSUE

Front page photo credit: Cristina Massei

P 03: RIP LEMMY

by John Morgain P 4: DEADCUTS Interview and photos by Cristina Massei P 8: STEALING SHEEP Interview by Cristina Massei P 12: CULTURE KILLER Interview by Matt Dawson P 16: CHURCH OF RA Interview by Matt Dawson P 20: KETZER Interview by Matt Dawson P 24: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BURLESQUE Feature by Sophia Disgrace

SONIC SHOCKS TEAM Editor in Chief & Creative Director CRISTINA MASSEI Associate Editors MATT DAWSON & NELLY LORIAUX US Correspondent DENISE BRITT

Other contributors on this issue: Sophia Disgrace, John Morgan, Jen Da Ville, Please contact info@sonicshocks.com or head to www.sonicshocks.com for more info

P 26: LIVE ROCK GODDESS by John Morgan THE DARKNESS by Jen Daville KAISER CHIEFS by Jen Daville

Like us and stalk us on

www.facebook.com/SonicShocks www.twitter.com/sonicshocks www. youtube.com/sonicshocks

On the 28th of December, the world of rock and roll lost one of its most important additions in the form of Mr Ian Fraser Kilminster. I have heard a saying that true fame is when the world can recognise you by just one name…True with Elvis, true with Janis and undeniably true with Lemmy.

Although for many he will be remembered as the frontman/bass player with Motörhead, Lemmy’s career in music goes well beyond that. He started out on his remarkable journey as part of the Rocking Vicars back in the Sixties. The band © Cristina Massei were at the time signed to CBS records and gave Lemmy the chance to taste life on the road with tours in the UK and around Europe. After leaving the Vicars, Lemmy relocated to London. He worked for a while as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix while living with Jimi’s bassist Noel Reading. Following a short lived period and an album release with prog rockers Sam Gopal, he joined up with London space rockers Hawkwind and quickly established himself as a major part of the bands success during the early Seventies. It was a band that he loved and a band he would probably have stayed with if he hadn’t been fired for his over indulgence in narcotics.

However his trade mark bass sound and will to succeed would soon find a new home when he decided to form his own band Bastard… There were a few line up changes along the way, but eventually Lemmy found a guitarist called Eddie Clark and a drummer known as Philthy. The line up was complete. The band felt they needed a name that would lend itself slightly more kindly to the music press at the time; the decision was made to call the band Motörhead and the rest as they say is history….

Lemmy drove the band through the decades and continued to do so up to his dying day. It’s hard to imagine how a man could inspire generation after generation of music lover and continue to be regarded as relevant. The answer is quite simple really: originality. When Motörhead started, the music scene was a very different animal to the one we have today. If you had long hair, you dare not be into punk music… If you were a skinhead, you dare not admit to liking a band with long hair… Motörhead changed all that and united musical scenes like no other band had ever done before. They were ‘alternative cool’ long before alternative cool was even invented.They were loud, they were outrageous, they were one of the first bands to say fuck you and actually mean it.

I remember the first time I saw them and it changed my life forever. I have seen the same reaction in music fans from all genres, spanning many generations. Even the bands logo is a symbol of rebellion, which is something that’s all too lacking in today’s ‘alternative’ music…

If you have been living under a stone for the last 40 years and haven’t got a clue who this guy is, I would suggest one thing: grab a listen to the song "Ace of Spades”, read the lyrics, listen to the music and, if it doesn’t make your world make a little more sense, then nothing ever will.

God Bless you Lemmy… Be at rest, you’ve earned it.

by John Morgan

“Every day is the same… and the day is long, but the years go quick”. Mark Keds recalls memories of darker days, and with Jerome he opens up on Deadcuts’ past of heavy drug abuse. How did we get to this? Well, we were talking about Mark’s current addiction - music - and how his workaholic attitude brought a couple of changes in the line-up, including his reunion with ex Senseless Things and Gorillaz drummer Cass Browne.

Resurrecting the old chemistry wasn’t hard for the two ex bandmates, despite having grown apart when drugs had taken over Mark’s life. Luckily some of the bridges have been rebuilt, and Cass is one bridge taking Deadcuts to new horizons.

Jerome’s experience with relationship is no different: “I’ve been lucky people had the graze to forgive me, ‘cause I’ve done some terrible things… I knew no one wanted to have anything to do with me, I’d be totally alone, and when you’re high that’s all right ‘cause you don’t wanna be bothered, you don’t wanna answer the phone, you don’t wanna answer the door, but when you suddenly realize that the phone stops ringing and the door stops knocking, and actually you’re utterly alone… “. That complete isolation was essential to the beginning of his recovery: “I needed my life back, I was sick and tired of getting up every day feeling sick, waiting for the dealer to knock on the door or dragging my bones to go out and meet someone… You have to hit rock bottom, it’s the only way, no money, no friends, no food” Mark’s turning point echoes Jerome’s - “the reality was, I had been holding down a job and I lost it, the money stopped coming in, my girlfriend kicked me out and there was no one else in my life… I knew I couldn’t quit as long as I had money. I had to lose that job and every relationship. (Quitting) wasn’t a decision, it was every door was closed”.

We’re in Mark’s flat in East London. A mattress on the floor, notepads and instruments lying around, cats playing keyboards: warm, honest and amusingly shambolic, just like this odd

couple of friends whose reciprocal musing already created an incredible volume of work. We find out the story of their very first meeting: “We were going out with two girls who worked in the same second hand clothing store in the west end about 15 years ago, they thought we’d get on and took us to the theatre. So we met and at some point that night the conversation turned to knives; one of us got a knife out ‘I’ve got this one!’ and the other got one out too, and we bonded over that!”. 2016 sees Deadcuts busy with a few gigs early in the year to mark the release of their Dope Girls EP on vinyl via Speedowax, followed by the release of their second full length ‘Hit on All Sixes’, for which our heroes are trying really hard to select around 20 songs from the too many gems scattered on the apartment’s floor - and the computer’s hard drive, to be less romantic. “Dark is the night is in my opinion the best album I’ve ever made and that was done on a budget, just a grand, and it will be a hard one to follow” declares Mark with confidence; but he and Jerome are even more confident about this next chapter and their enthusiasm is contagious.

Once again magic and full moon play an important role, and as we get talking about pagan rituals a thoughtful Mark takes out a notepad with the lyrics to ‘Degenerated’ - which evolved

into a song on the upcoming record called ‘Opium Styles’. “It was written the night before the Paris events. The chorus says someone has pulled the trigger, someone had to take the fall, it’s about body count…” he explains, kind of shaken. Jerome continues: “I had a few friends from Paris messaging me, had some actually playing out there too from the Fat White Family, I was talking to people out there and everyone was completely freaked out, then reading back his lyrics… it’s hard to explain, but was very strange”.

We end our chat talking politics, cuts to arts funding and cuts in general, bread, milk, pigs, best and worst albums of 2015 and how Carl Barat should write more with Pete Doherty, before introducing Jerome’s number one fan - a rather vocal ginger cat.

Your next chance to see Deadcuts live is at Farnborough Town Football Club on Saturday 16th. Advance Tickets are a steal at £7 selling out already for this one, limited number still available from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/329126. If you can’t make it, check out the new awesome merch online at https://www.etsy.com/shop/sirenskult and keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for a gig near you and some pretty big news about to be announced…

Sssshhhh!!!!!

Watch the full interview on www.youtube.com/sonicshocks

STEALING SHEEP Interview by Cristina Massei Stealing Sheep had a rather interesting year. After releasing sophomore album ‘Not Real’ in April, they went on to play with Everything Everything and perform in a series of David Lynch events, before ending 2015 touring with Django Django and Maximo Park. We caught up with these three talented Liverpool lasses, and in the name of democracy they took turns answering to our questions…

EMILY LANSLEY Your sound has been defined as 'medieval-kraut-folk inspired’ and 'pagan pop revival’.

Do you agree with either/both of these and could you elaborate?

I would agreed with this regarding our first album as those things definitely influenced our sound then and probably still do up to a point but with 'Not Real' I would say that our sound has changed quite dramatically and I would think it a shame for it to be forever bound by those words.

When we wrote 'Into the Diamond Sun' we were really interested in what we called medieval chords which are augmented, strange sounding chords, I think we all naturally sung in a folky, pagan way as a response to them on occasion and also the drumming at that time had quite a melodic pagan feel too with elements of a marching band hinted at here and there, I think these things played a huge part in us being defined as 'medieval' or 'pagan'.

There are many different elements within our music coming from each of us with our differences and tastes which could point at many styles of music so I would say we were medieval-kraut-folk inspired along with a long list of other inspirations too such as electronica, exotica, pop, dance, rave, hip hop, etc etc... I think the latter of this list may have come more slightly into the fore on 'Not Real' revealing our love of pop, synths and simplicity.

What inspired your sound at the beginning and what inspires you now?

I think what inspires us has changed quite drastically since our first album. We have done so much since then that every aspect of how we think about music has completely changed now.

I think there are phases of introspection where everything you write is about yourself and your personal experience and then there comes a point when you want the music and the show to completely immerse your audience, I think thats when it stops being so insular and you start thinking of what makes people let go and have fun. If they are enjoying it you are too and that really drives inspiration and motivation into the music and ideas giving new inspiration for songs and concepts..Not as a crowd pleaser but as an energy flow and a feeling of togetherness.

Your second album ‘Not Real’ was released last April. How does it compare to your 2012 debut ‘Into the Diamond Sun’?

I think there is a massive development in sound since our first album, we wanted to simplify what we were doing and make it more upfront and less hidden in riddles and complicated structures and time signatures. We realised that our tastes were developing and we were moving forward away from the original image we conveyed. We are all huge pop fanatics and want our music to make people happy and dance as that is what we love doing!!

How was working with photographer Charlotte Rutherford?

Š Charlotte Rutherford

We had a great day working with Charlotte, she was open to all of our ideas and we loved trying out all off hers!! We thought it was the right collaboration at the right time for us and we got our great album cover from it after Louise Mason had explored and developed the images too! There is a lot of information conveyed into this one image which we think is really clever, it really expresses where we were coming from at that time with our music and artistic ideas.

Visuals are an essential part of your music; how do you integrate them in the creative process?

Each idea, musical, lyrical, visual all inspire the next step for us… Each thing is a stepping stone to the next. As an example our 'Not Real' album cover has completely inspired all of our work this year taking us away from the visuals that we would once use… A natural progression. "Legs' have become our main focus this year for all of our work… We wrote a new set to premiere our dance troop 'Legs' that we premiered in The Kazimier Garden and our recent Mythopoeia event was also named 'Legs' where we had the dance troop doing leg focused dancing in UV… I think the album cover also inspired our music video's this year too.

Legs have become very prevalent this year in all our work! They gave us a great starting point.

REBECCA HAWLEY Your visuals are always extremely colourful; would you ever contemplate filming a black and white video?

At the moment the colours we’ve chosen remind us of the sounds we’ve used in our album, we’ve selected a mixture of candy pop and glossy plastic colours and textures. It suits the sounds we’ve picked and the ‘surreal pop’ atmosphere we’ve been trying to create. We’d definitely use black and white or a limited monotone selection when we create the style of music that suits that atmosphere. We’re currently working on a live score for two Maya Deren films in January and we’re huge fans of her work. She’s a female experimental film maker from the late 50’s and all of her films are shot in black and white, it’ll be interesting to see how our music choices respond to this aesthetic and whether it inspires us to take that on as a style for future Stealing Sheep material.

What are your favourite colours and what do they represent for you?

It’s mood dependant, currently we’re in a bit of a black light theatre zone using sickly neons and colours that represent more electronic analogue music. It’s hard to not be influenced by pioneers like Kraftwerk and current peers like Daft Punk, they’re helping inspire this electric world we’ve got into more recently.

If you had to commission a Stealing Sheep portrait, who would paint it? errrmmm….Grayson Perry?! it’d be really interesting to find out what materials he’d choose and how we’d be represented by him. it might also be a bit nerve wrecking but it’d be fun and anyway we love him.

If you could pick any designer to create your stage outfits, who would that be?

Vivian Westwood, we really like her from interviews and like the way she thinks.

You’ve been performing David Lynch’ material in the ‘In Dreams’ events, how was that? Are you fans and what’s your favourite piece of work of his?

It was a really great experience, we were playing with a great cast of people with interesting personalities, they are all very talented musicians. The music director David Coulter had drafted everyone in because he’d enjoyed working with them in the pst, we felt very lucky and honoured to join. It was also a very inspiring process, we reworked songs from the Blue Velvet soundtrack and from the Mulholland drive soundtrack. We’re big fans of his work and have idolised his approach to his work for a long time. He’s fearless and unsettling, it makes us feel strange and there is such a powerful and long-lasting atmosphere to his work that stays with

you. We like a lot of his films but have collectively e n j o y e d watching Twin Peaks on tour in Germany and we felt scared! We were sleeping in venues and cafes and felt like we could have bee in one of his films. It will stick with us!

LUCY MERCER Dreams and reality is also a central theme in your album, how did that idea develop?

It was quite organic the way it developed, we didn’t realize it until we looked back and began making connections. We are all quite interested in the idea that, what is real to one person, my not be as real to another. We all have our own experiences that shape us, and we all perceive the world around us in very different ways. It’s interesting when we are all physically experiencing the same situation, but each having a very different spiritual experience.

You're currently touring with Django Django, how is that going?

It’s going well thanks, the band and the crew are all really friendly people and we’ve felt welcomed. Their audience have been really supportive as well, the people we have met at the gigs have been really interesting, lovely people who are up for chatting! Its great to share a stage with a band that you admire as well, we love Django Django and we listen to them in the van on long journeys to gigs. They are one of our inspiration bands, its great to meet them.

Next you're playing with Maximo Park, are you looking forward to that?

Definitely, we’re really looking forward to meeting them and their team. We’re going to play some great venues as well like the Roundhouse in London and the Albert Hall in Manchester.

What’s next from Stealing Sheep? Any ideas for the next album already surfacing?

Yeah we have lots of new ideas ready to begin playing with. We make sure to keep up with creativity and writing the best we can; whenever we have a spare few hours in the van or at venues we will usually be working individually on an idea, whether it be on a computer, notepad, sketchbook or instrument. Its good to keep it topped up.

Finally please define beauty with a piece of art- a song (not yours), painting, sculpture…

Daft Punk - Something About Us. It’s effortless, bold, unashamed and beautiful. We just listened to it in the van.

As one of the bands to watch in 2016 Culture Killer are not afraid to bring up social issues that they deem to be important – on this album topics include prescription drug addiction, celebrity worship and more. Vocalist Ian Campbell talks to us about how 2015 has been for him, his goals for 2016 and of course his albums of the year.

To begin with as we are reaching the end of 2015 – how would you sum up this year for you personally?

This year has been insane! I'm so proud of all the dudes in this band, we've really pushed ourselves as individuals as well as our abilities as musicians. There's so much more to learn too, which is the coolest part. Everything from signing with Metal Blade to touring with Ringworm to touring with Whitechapel and Psycroptic has been something we never thought possible, but it's happening and we have so much support from our team and love from our friends and family. It's definitely a dream come true as cliché as that may seem. It's almost overwhelming, but in the most positive way.

For those not familiar with Culture Killer – describe the message you’re trying to send out with Throes Of Mankind and if you could pick one song off the album as a track to entice new fans which one would it be?

We want to bring important social issues to light. Issues that have always been there but seem to be ignored, either out of fear of accepting that these issues exist or out of ignorance. We wanted to deliver that through music, which I feel has the ability to bring people together more efficiently than other forms of escape or entertainment. We hope people can take this message and embrace it, share it, and live it.

One song that I think would entice new listeners is "Exterminate Filth" because it's straight to the point lyrically and sums up how we feel about all the social injustices we cover on the record. The line "your hatred is senseless, my hate is real" resonates throughout the entire album. That line means that there isn't any room for arguing that these issues are wrong and need to be fixed.

It has been mentioned that the experience in the studio was the most fun process we have ever experienced – how was it working with the people at Pig Pen Recordings?

Austin and Kenny are two of my favorite people. We were all stressed about making this album something special and making it the best it could be, but as soon as we stepped foot into the studio, all our worries and anxiety disappeared. Even though we're all good friends, it was all business when it was time to work. I can definitely say that if Austin or Kenny weren't a part of this album it would not be the same. Austin actually contributed to a majority of the solos you'll here on "Throes of Mankind" which happens to be some of my favorite parts. Ryan Harvey did re-amps, who isn't a part of the Pig Pen studio, but without his ear and knowledge I don't think it would be the same. Truly the best studio experience any of us have had.

What are your goals for 2016?

Š Robb Duchemin

We don't have anything we can announce right now but we want to be a relentless force next year and tour literally all over the place. The band is hungry for it and we can't wait to see what 2016 has to offer us!

Who would you say inspired you to become a musician?

When I first started getting into music and playing music, I picked up bass. Cliff Burton and Rex Brown were two of my biggest inspirations. I spent hours in my room learning Metallica and Pantera riffs on a little practice amp and reading tabs off various websites.

Which albums would you say are underrated?

What I may consider underrated might be super popular in someone else's world but for me, I would have to say: Extinction A.D. -Faithkiller Mutoid Man -Helium Head Kowloon Walled City -Container Ships Red Chord -Fed Through The Teeth Machine Tiger Army -II: Power of Moonlite What were your favourite albums of 2015?

There was so much good music this year! I would have to say: Kendrick Lamar -To Pimp a Butterfly Black Breath -Slaves Beyond Death Cattle Decapitation -The Anthropocene Extinction Disgrace -True Enemy Cryptopsy -The Book of Suffering: Tome I Dark Sermon -The Oracle Ghost -Meliora Twitching Tongues -Disharmony Forced Order -Vanished Crusade Joey Badass -Bada$$ The Last Ten Seconds of Life -Soulless Hymns Š Robb Duchemin I'm probably forgetting some bad ass records but all these albums and artists should be checked out!

A collective of excellent bands headed by Amenra – at this year’s Damnation festival three of them: Amenra, Wiegedood making their UK live debut and Oathbreaker - had some of the best crowds of the event.

If you don’t know of the Church it’ll become clearer as we talk about the formation, the amazing work ethic and more with Colin H. van Eeckhout and Levy Seynaeve…

First UK show for Wiegedood – how do you think it went?

Levy: I think it went pretty well, there was a lot of people, it was a bit early I think people had to get into it a bit at first but I think we proved our point, we’ll be back for sure. I think it’s a good first step for the UK. I could see how the crowd was excited in Stylus with the cheers that happened from second song onwards…

CHVE: They even cheered during the soundcheck right?

That’s how you make an impact in the UK! Now there might be some that don’t know what motivated you guys to become musicians and if there any particular bands that made you want to give it a try…

Levy: I started listening to rock and roll like Led Zeppelin when I was fourteen years old then I got my first guitar for my birthday from my parents, just started playing and listening to other kinds of music more ; heavier and heavier music. I just rolled into it a bit and it just grew on me.

CHVE: We kind of come from a hardcore scene in Belgium and that’s where we hung out every weekend and where the bands proved to us that us too could do that, bands like Congress and Blindfold back then meant a lot to us, that’s the guys who forced us into doing it ourselves and being able to do more with ourselves than we thought.

Of course there’s the Church Of Ra collective with Amenra, Wiegedood, Oathbreaker and many others…

CHVE: Syndrome, The Black Heart Rebellion, Hessian.

How did the idea come about for it?

CHVE: We were a band at first with five people but after a while we realised we were more than just five musicians; people who did the visuals, graphic designers to help us achieve our goal and then later on the choreographers and art performers that crossed our way that did the same thing as we did but with their medium, that’s when we realised we were more than Amenra that became our church and all the other bands around it we were like family there, helping each other out.

You’ve also got two books out that are more visual.

We want to grab throats and touch hearts

Š Stefaan Temmerman

CHVE: One is more like a philosophical, poetic way of portraying what we stand for with some lyrics, pictures and personal diaries, the other one is like a real in depth interview, an academic friend who wrote an in depth text linking to philosophers and then Stefaan our stage technician that’s also a really good photographer who followed us for five years and portrayed everything as a document of what we’ve been doing for the last five years.

How did you two meet?

Levy: How we really met is difficult to say, I listened to Amenra before I played with them, when I was fifteen I used to go to shows then I was playing music myself – I’m in a band called Hessian – and at a certain point I think you (Colin) just approached me and Amenra was in need of a bass player.

CHVE: I remember the first time I met you, you helped out to promote a show we did in Kortrijk, it was in the store I worked in.

Levy: I was fifteen years old.

CHVE: He came to help us out, cover the city he lived in with posters but you knew my mother right? [laughs] He worked with my mother in the past but we found that out later!

Amenra have also got a very special thing happening at Roadburn next year. What makes that particularly special?

CHVE: It’s the 30th anniversary of Neurosis and it’s actually them who invited us together with Walter who organises Roadburn to be part of the celebration, they asked us to play right before them. The first day we’ll be playing an acoustic set – we released an acoustic EP called Afterlife in 2008 – and are currently writing a full acoustic album but that’ll see the light of day whenever we feel it’s ready so it’ll be probably one of the biggest acoustic shows we do and on the Sunday we’ll be playing one of our normal, heavy sets so it’s really nice to be a part of that celebration.

Has there been any other bands you’ve listened to this year or is it just been a case of focusing on your own projects?

Levy: I listen to a lot of music just for inspiration and influences, a general interest. I live for it so I listen to new music every day and I check out new stuff that’s interesting but we’re also busy with our own bands as well and it’s something that takes up a lot of time, it’s also the main focus, a big part of my life.

CHVE: For me it’s the total opposite, I don’t practically listen to any other music and the things we do are my close friends too. It’s really weird, I just wrote a solo album [RASA] so I don’t have any time to really check anything out except for the recent Wiegedood or the new The Black Heart Rebellion, those are the things I dig into and I listen to what everyone’s currently writing: Mathieu’s busy with Syndrome. We make music for movie scores, dance performances and other stuff so we’re always kind of busy. I try not to have many other bands influencing us, I keep it really close to me or at least I try to.

I fear to be influenced by something – if you don’t let it in they can’t call you a rip off of something, most of the time I haven’t heard of them but it’s kind of interesting because then I check them out and most of the time I like those bands so it’s nice.

Wiegedood I found out about because they were playing here today so I checked it out and you know that moment when you first hear a band and you’re just like…

[Colin then makes an eyes wide, jaw dropped type of expression] CHVE: Why didn’t I know about this? Something like that, that’s good to know!

Every time I hear a new record from this collective it just grabs me.

CHVE: I think one thread throughout this is there is focus on the core thing: for Wiegedood there is in my eyes so much pain in there it just falls over you and you FEEL it.

Given the name means death in the cradle I can understand where that opinion can come from…

Levy: It has to mean something, we’re not going to write records just to write records, we’re writing music to tell a story, to help ourselves through some hard times. I was going through some really hard times when we were writing the album and it really helped me, it’s amazing that I have a record to look back at that period and I can take myself back to that time.

CHVE: It translates itself: 1. In the music and 2. The feeling you get when you see it, today had it as well when I see him sing and I know what happened in his life and stuff you kind of relive it with him, I felt a shiver down my spine and tears. It’s so truthful you cannot deny it.

Some of the best music is the stuff that is truthful and sincere.

CHVE: That’s why it had to be written.

Sometimes it can be fun and someone it has to be serious.

CHVE: We have fun, we’re not just sitting here crying all the time [laughs] but when we’re on stage and when we rehearse it is dead serious. It has to have the weight, it has to make sense otherwise it’s a waste of time.

When we’re old and we don’t have anything to say we can make fun music, we can jam around funkytown all day but now we mean business. We want to grab throats and touch hearts!

Aside from the Roadburn performances what are the future plans?

CHVE: We never really confirm things, we wait until the time is right but probably in 2017 stuff may happen, there’s always stuff happening if not out in the open it’s under the radar but with Amenra we feel it’s kind of time now to stop playing live and focus on writing and building a new chapter to our existence and side projects also get the time now.

Levy: When you’re in three bands…

CHVE: We’re all in full time jobs as well, it’s not like we have loads of time to get shit sorted, we work hard.

Levy: I think some people would call us crazy if they knew what we did every day.

With another album which expands their musical direction Ketzer return in January with Starless – following their first USA tour with Tribulation – an album that decides to see if there’s a particular link in-between religion and reality. Chris (Guitarist) talks more about the album concept, why it led to four years before the album’s release and why smaller bands are often unknown in a genre such as metal…

It has been four years in the making for Starless – what inspired you to go into the studio and create the new album?

We had been working on the songs for the last three years, it began slowly and it peaked in the last year before we finished. So, we knew we had all the songs we wanted to have on a new album – that was reason enough to start planning, looking for a suitable recording studio, and book it! Actually we knew the time was right for a new album, when we recorded a demo in our rehearsal room in late 2014 (two songs from that recording session can be heard on the „Starless“ 7“ EP). Our friend Laurent helped us out with the production and engineering, you might know him from his band CHAPEL OF DISEASE. We originally did this recording to try ourselves, to see what other people's reactions would be like. In the process of recording we all felt that we were on some kind of high: While playing the songs, live in the rehearsal room, we felt a certain energy that was quite overwhelming. That was when we knew we wanted to record the album just like that: We wanted to play together, without any backing tracks, without an unnatural production. We wanted to capture the feeling we knew from our rehearsals, the feeling we felt when the songs took shape.

What inspired you to become a musician?

Well, I played the acoustic guitar since I was seven years old. My parents also made music, my brothers did, they all still do! I listened to music a lot for as long as I can remember, but the inspiration you are talking about did not yet exist by this time, I think. It all changed when I discovered bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Iron Maiden, even in that order, if I remember correctly. Next, I met David and Gerrit in school, who were into the same stuff, and they in turn introduced me to Marius and Steffen (who would become KETZER's first drummer). That was around 2002. From that point on, we all inspired each other, were an influence for each other. Our drummer Sören joined us in 2008 and we all could feel that he had the same fire that was burning in all of us, the same fire that will burn, well... FOREVER! You played the USA for the first time in 2014? How did you find that experience and also how was it touring with Tribulation?

To put it simple, the US-tour was a really fantastic experience for us. The weather was just great, we met a lot of awesome people we hope to meet again soon, and the shows of course were great, too. Our route went from New York down to Georgia, back again through the Midwest, again to New York and up to Rhode Island, which is just beautiful, by the way. We made the trip with Henry from BBQ Bookings and Electric Assault Records and Tooth from the band NATUR. Our drummer Sören originally met them when he toured the US with NOCTURNAL three years before, and luckily Henry wanted to build up a tour for us as well. Henry and Tooth

were just great and we would go on tour with them again at any time, if they would ask us. We hope that someday we will be able to tour the west coast as well! The tour with Tribulation, Venenum and Alchemyst also was a valuable experience for us. All the bands toured in one nightliner bus, which was pretty cool, although I had my problems getting sleep in that thing.

The routes were pretty tough and the weather was ice cold, so it wasn't exactly a comfortable tour. Nevertheless, this was a high class combination of bands, we played some killer shows in front of killer crowds, had some great parties and everyone involved can be proud we pulled this thing off!

What was the reasoning behind the theme of Starless – the idea of a truth in-between religion and reality…

David, our bassist, who already wrote the lyrics for our second album „Endzeit Metropolis“, wrote all the lyrics again. I think by now he has really developed his own, recognizable style.

So, of course, he has his own way of bringing meaning into the lyrics, and might be the only one who can truly explain them to you – but as this question aims at the overall theme of the album, I'll try: All songs on „Starless“ are dealing with problems that every person, every human being on this planet knows. With that I mean really existential problems like the fear of growing up, the fear of the future, losing people you love, and so on. We asked ourselves if the mythologies of the world, which originated in times long gone, still have something to do with our modern everyday lives. How are these problems that everyone knows handled within the mythologies of the world? The question is: Can these mythologies still speak to us nowadays?

Are there answers to be found? Religion these days is mostly disconnected from any meaning that might have been there once. Believers often follow blindly, without even wanting to understand anything that stands behind it. On the other hand, Science is the only wisdom the rest of the people trust. Maybe we have lost something, a sense to see meaning in things, to

© Alina Cuerten

see meaning in the stars, in the sun, the trees, in everything.

If there was one song you had to pick from Starless to entice a new fan which one would it be?

This is a very difficult question to answer. If you look at the album, there's the hook-driven, straight-forward rocking songs, and on the other hand there are songs that build up on a brooding atmosphere, calm moments, followed by an outburst. It's really not an easy task to pick just one song to represent the whole album. Before we launched „Starless“, the song, as a first preview, we had this very same discussion. „Starless“ is just one impression from a very multifaceted album. Now, if you would put a gun to may head, I would answer this question with: „When Milk Runs Dry“. It has the calm moments, it has the more aggressive moments that may still remind the listener of our two previous albums – but most importantly, I think it really captures the whole mood of the album very well, the swirling, dismal feeling we somehow captured during the recordings. We wanted to capture the feeling we had when writing the songs in our rehearsal room, as I said, and I think we accomplished that. Some people already tried to describe this vibe, saying it felt somehow „martial“; Someone else said it sounded „ritualistic“. I don't have words for it, we all haven't, although somehow this is just us, working together, sharing a feeling.

Which albums do you consider to be underrated?

In popular, big scenes, smaller bands are often unknown for a reason. Take the German Thrash scene of the eighties as an example: Most of the more obscure bands did not have that special element that made the popular bands stand out. For me it is just obvious that bands like DARKNESS or NECRONOMICON did in no way have the same quality that KREATOR or DESTRUCTION had. Of course, there's exceptions. For example (looking at the US this time) MORBID SAINT's „Spectrum of Death“ maybe just was released too late and could have made a much bigger impact a few years before.Some bands just never find a way out of their obscurity, maybe because there is no matching scene and therefore no market. Today, luckily many of these bands are being rediscovered. Good example: ASHBURY and their classic album „Endless Skies“. They are now playing festivals and tours again, and that's great.

LEGEND's „From the Fjords“ is another recently unearthed treasure. One of my all-time favorites is CIRITH UNGOL with their first two albums. Yes, they are not really unknown, but as these albums are just masterpieces to my ears, this band is still way too overlooked. As for extreme Metal, DAMNATION's „Destructo Evangelia“ is a stone cold classic in my book and should be regarded as such by everyone with taste. No, it did not come out in 1988, but that doesn't matter. At. All. As we close 2015 what are your albums of the year if any?

I was really impressed by the young Danish band REVERIE's debut album called „Bliss“. This record is really something you don't hear everyday. Of course, because it's labelled Death Metal and sounds different, it is being compared to TRIBULATION and MORBUS CHRON, but to my ears „Bliss“ stands absolutely by itself. The band's style is very energetic and wild, with a weird sound and vocals that to me sound like a rabid mixture of VENOM, POSSESSED and THE SEX PISTOLS. This album also could have been named in response to your question regarding underrated albums, because „Bliss“ really went unnoticed by almost everyone this year, it seems. I think there were a lot of good albums this year, but right now I can't think of another one that really impressed me. I really liked the new albums of SULPHUR AEON and GRAVEYARD though, for example, and I'm pretty sure that the new MAGIC CIRCLE album will also turn out great.

By Sophia Disgrace

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!

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....

Enterteasement - Comedy! Magic! Burlesque!

Friday/Saturday 8th/9th January 2016 @ The Hold, Glasgow - 8pm until late This monthly performance night offers the very best artists from Glasgow’s burgeoning Burlesque and Cabaret scene. The event regularly features 'As Seen On TV' Comedians, award winning magicians and International burlesque acts. A unique, budget friendly way to start 2016!

Tickets are £5.00, please refer to www.enterteasement.com for details Geneva Burlesque Festival Thursday 28th January to Saturday 30th January 2016 Venue details and times vary This event is back with a bang following its successful debut last year.

The festival aims to promote and support local performers, whilst also showcasing the very best international artists. 2016's schedule promises to be a suitably exuberant one-spread across three evenings, culminating in a glamorous gala ball on the final night. A selection of workshops and after parties will also be running over the dates as noted.

Confirmed performers include Giuditta Sin - Italy, Mara De Nudee France, The Flying Willy - Belgium and various other nefariously named burly stars!

Miss it, miss out!

For event information and tickets please refer to www.genevaburlesquefestival.com

SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque International tour 2016 Yes everyone's fave alt babe collective are touring again - and they're hotter than ever!

Expect homages to pop culture staples such as Game of Thrones and Star Wars, plus thrills and spills a plenty. Check out the official SG website,for a sneaky peak into the debauchery-punk rock stylee!

Hurry on down to blackheartburlesque.com for event tickets and more!

Burlesque Top Tips!

My bite sized guide to shakin' those tassles for the masses Step 1- It’s all in a name....

Every wannabe burly starlet needs a stage persona and an essential part of this is your name.

A name can say a lot about your acts, style and creative output.

For example, I call myself Sophia Disgrace, because a) I like the name Sophia and b) I can be sort of naughty, hence Disgrace! If in doubt ponder this for a moment: where would Ms Von Teese be without her striking moniker?!

Ideally your chosen stage handle needs to be snappy, exotic and memorable, so get brainstorming!

Next time: Get your gladrags on and embrace your inner burly Goddess!

'Silly Girl' - Image collab with R.Photos

LIVE © Fin Carroll

Support: Praying

Mantis, Desolation Angels

O2 Islington Academy - 3rd December 2015 Tonight the O2 is home to a three band bill of pure NWOBHM delight.

First to hit the stage are Desolation Angels: this is the first chance for UK fans to get a listen to the band with new vocalist Paul Taylor in the fold, and it’s a listen thats well worth hearing. They deliver a set of the new and the old with classic songs like ‘Arc Angel’ and ‘Evil Possessor’ blending seamlessly with material from this year’s ‘Sweeter the Meat’ EP. The band are on fine form and by the time they get to the crowd pleaser ‘Valhalla’ all in attendance are well and truly won over and well warmed up for the return of Praying Mantis. © Fin Carroll Here we have another band with a new front man in the fold. Praying Mantis were a founding member of the NWOBHM at the time, despite having material that lends itself to a more AOR feel. The crowd lap it up as they’re treated to some fine material heavily concentrated around the bands latest ‘Legacy’ release.

With such a strong support tonight, the pressure is on Rock Goddess to bring a fine evening of Heavy Rock to an end. The girls recent reformation has been well heralded and, having played a few gigs through the summer, the band have re emerged as strong and as tight as ever. Jody Turner is a frontwoman who never fails to charm the crowd and along with sister Julie and bassist Tracey Lamb they present the audience a fine fine set. There is plenty of participation throughout and with gems like ‘Satisfied and Crucified’, ‘My Angel’ and fans favourite ‘Heavy Metal Rock and Roll’ Rock Goddess well and truly deliver. Theres also a few new numbers which hint towards new material being released in the foreseeable future.

All in all a great night of modern fun from a bygone age of music that will just never seem to go away… Thank God for that.

by John Morgan 8/10

by Jen Daville

Leeds O2 Academy 9th December 2015

I was 15 when The Darkness' seminal album, Permission To Land, was released in July 2003 and it was the must have album amongst my school friends. The heady mix of sexual references and explicit language made its ownership a rite of passage. I never got to see them live back then, and third album, Hot Cakes, did not fill me with enough excitement back in 2012 to see them then either. However, fourth album, Last Of Our Kind, released earlier this year did reignite the fire. It was filled with the classic Darkness riffs and lyrics that had attracted me to them over a decade ago and so i felt compelled to see them this time round. As i stood in amongst a satisfying mix of older rockers, clad in 80s hair metal patches and studded leather jackets, and a good percentage of gig revellers my own age wanting to see what they missed out on, as well as a large handful of young children keen to keep the glam flame burning, there was one question that we all wanted answering; were The Darkness still a relevant live act in 2015?

As the band walked onto the stage, Justin Hawkins arriving last wearing a black and white striped jump suit and matching jacket, and ripped into the opening notes of Barbarians - the opening track on their latest album - there was little doubt that we were all in for something special. And something very loud. Moving into a couple of classic tracks from their debut album - Growing On Me and Black Shuck - it was clear that these were the tracks not just i, but the majority of the venue, wanted the hear played. The band too were clearly aware of this as of the 10 tracks on the album, 9 of them were played during the gig, whilst only one track from Hot Cakes made the setlist (the far superior to any other track, Every Inch Of You).

New songs slotted in nicely - Mudslide and Roaring Waters from Last Of Our Kind, plus newly penned Rack Of Glam - alongside classics - Givin' Up, One Way Ticket, Friday Night, Get Your Hands Off My Woman and, a personal highlight for me, English Country Garden. We were even treated to a brand new Christmas song I Am Santa! The crowd were perhaps lost a little here, though Justin was quick to pick up on it, "are you all disappointed because we didn't play our other Christmas song? I'll let you in to a secret, at the end when we leave, if you clap loud enough, we'll come back on and play it".

Then, as chants of "Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire" filled the venue, as it often does in any and all Yorkshire music venues at some point, Rufus Tiger Taylor on drums sketched out a beat, joined by Frankie Poullain's bass line and Dan Hawkins' picking out a few choice notes.

And what began as a list of all the places in Yorkshire Justin knew, quickly became the fully formed Yorkshire Song worthy of their next album! "Yorkshire, Yorkshire, it's all in f**king Yorkshire" is a lyric i cannot wait to hear playing on computers and record players around the country!

As the end of the gig neared, and i became suddenly aware that at some point over the last hour and a half, Justin had changed into a pair of very tight and very short, white shorts, and nothing else, Stuck In A Rut gave way to I Believe In A Thing Called Love, delivered with wonderful gusto as the audience collectively tried, and failed, to reach the high notes!

A short break and then back on stage for a encore of, what else, Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) before finishing up with Love On The Rocks With No Ice, during which Justin was carried throughout the crowd high on the shoulders of security, playing his guitar behind his head. Of course. And so, as the final notes echoed throughout the venue, i had the answer to my earlier question. And it's a definite yes, there is definitely still room in my diary at least for more The Darkness gigs!

Leeds O2 Academy - 10th December 2015

by Jen

It is a law in Leeds that Daville everybody knows at least one Kaiser Chiefs song by heart. Born and bred here and one of the first to buy Employment, KC are in my blood. I saw them earlier this year Leeds Arena, on Valentine's Day no less, and despite enjoying the performance and the new tracks, there's just no denying that a band like this are better suited to a small, loud, sweaty, sticky floored venue. Just like Leeds O2 Academy (formerly Leeds Town & Country Club). The gig was announced last month; the band donated their time for free with all proceeds from tickets and merchandise split between children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent and the Leeds Children Charity. Hailed as a homecoming by some and a Christmas party by others, there was little doubt it was going to be a special evening.

I arrived just as a choir were taking to the stage, announcing "we're going to get you warmed up, sing you some Christmas songs". With a Christmas tree and inflatable snowman, a Christmas party was definitely on the cards. And as the gospel choir finished off with a rousing rendition of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town which got everyone singing along, we were ready for our local boys to deliver something unique. The band took their positions, Ricky Wilson walked on stage last announcing "We are the Kaiser Chiefs" before launching straight into the crowd chanting classic Angry Mob. Without pausing for breath, the hits that we all know and love kept coming; Everything Is Average Nowadays, Ruffians On Parade, Everyday I Love You Less and Less, My Life. The home crowd were lapping it up and not just Ricky - running about and standing tall on the front speakers like a proud man possessed - but the whole band - Peanut, Whitey, Simon and "new boy" Vijay,- seemed to love every minute. "How are you Leeds, you alright?" began Ricky, "we are the Kaiser Chiefs and we will always be the Kaiser Chiefs, even though i've been off presenting everything". Cue a ripple of laughter through the crowd and a cheeky exchange of glances between Ricky and his bandmates. "Here are some songs from our first album that you might know..." And know them we did! A satisfying double of Modern Way and Na Na Na Na Naa, that lead straight into Never Miss A Beat. If i have seen a better run of three songs in any setlist this year i cannot remember.

Happy to interact with the audience, swigging from his bottle of beer, intermittently swaggering about the stage and standing on the drum riser, Ricky interjected again; "this next song could have been our Christmas song, it sounds like one, but it was taken by the anti-war marches, which is cool too".

The rest of the band took their cue and got stuck into Cannons. Then, before any of us had time to take stock of the evening so far, the opening notes of that song that was just everywhere in 2007 began and the floor got bouncing. Wives and children had no escape, it was upon us. Ruby. Then straight into I Predict A Riot and the sweat was pouring down my back. I knew they would put something special together for this one off charity gig, but it really felt like something wonderful was occurring. And then, without warning, the band flipped the vinyl and treated us to the Riot b-side; Take My Temperature, and, as has become staple at Kaiser Chiefs gigs, their storming cover of The Who's Pinball Wizzard. Breathless, Ricky had some final words to say; "we are the Kaiser Chiefs and you always have been and always will be our home Leeds". Cheers and applause filled the room before the band finished up with Coming Home. But wait, it wasn't over‌ As the band filtered back on to the stage, Ricky declared "these girls are going to help us out with a Christmas song" before falling headfirst into a less than perfect, but no less festive, cover of Shakin' Stevens' Merry Christmas Everyone - complete with snow machines. Back to back barnstorming performances of Misery Company (the laughing policeman always a favourite) and Oh My God (with Ricky climbing up the lighting rigging) finished off the evening: "you know how this ends, we keep singing until we lose our voices�. "This was fun Leeds, shall we do this every year?". Sign me up and i'll see you next Christmas!