! e c i l A e l c n u e v i gl
lon ISSUE FIVE - NOVEMBER 2011
by Cristina Massei
In a music panorama overloaded with disposable icons, young and old fans increasingly seek refuge in the most arguable legends of the past. As Classic Rock takes the spotlight in the print department – even sprouting into Prog and AOR editions – and High Voltage rubs elbows with the big summer Festivals, they all come back like in that Stephen King movie. To be fair, some of them have always been there – maybe not enjoying the same exposure – and some were truly missed, but let’s face it: some of them would be better off being remembered for their past glories. And no, I don’t mean we need another lousy reissue/best of, thanks. The fight for survival can take different shapes. Some decide to join forces: we’re all impatient at the mouth-watering prospect of that Squire-Hackett collaboration finally coming to life, yet we’ve just been stabbed twice in the back by the horror that is Lulu: union doesn’t always make you stronger, as Lou Reed and Metallica sadly prove. Will Squackett restore our faith?
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In the meanwhile, some prefer to stick to their chosen route, like old school rockers Venom; some just explode in a tsunami of talent taking over everything on their path, like Slash; some keep entertaining with the best live shows you’ll ever see– hello uncle Alice! – and others safely milk the cow producing yet more remasters of the same 3-4 records from 20+ years ago (Do you really need names? Sorry guys, we only have 24 pages here) . And then there’s the line up issue: is it really the same band when only the original bass player is still in it? And the ugly divorces… Who takes the name? Why should Axl call himself Guns’n’Roses and not Slash or Duff? And when there’s not enough money to fight in court, you get two of them: two LA Guns, two Faster Pussycat, two Tigertailz, two Pretty Boy Floyd. Sure the world could do with just one?
venom!
Leaving the catfights on Facebook, this month we would like to dedicate some space to those music legends who just don’t want to die. Now if that’s a good or a bad thing, it’s for you to decide…
Interviews with Venom, Chris Squire, Steve Hackett, Saxon, Hardcore Superstar, The Melvins, Svolk, Nemesea, As I Lay Dying, Little Fish Reports from Supersonic, Smokehead Rocks and Damnation
SQUACKETT: It’s happening!
Live with Alice Cooper, Bowling for Soup, Melvins, Sworn Amongst, Anthrax, Testament, Steve Wilson, Soil and more + our regular reviews, features, burlesque and exclusive pictures!
Sonic Shocks
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Festival season 2012 has already begun… UK Festival players have already begun to play their cards as we near the end of 2011, with Bloodstock and Roadburn announcing many bands. Roadburn festival taking place in Tilburg next April 12-15 have announced Hammers Of Misfortune, Red Fang, Yob performing The Unreal Never Lived and Catharsis in full during the weekend, Urfaust, Celeste, Black Breath, Ulver, Lord Vicar, Orchid and Sigriya along with curators Voivod performing Dimension Hatross in full. The Artist in residence has also been revealed as Justin Broderick with him performing as White Static Demon Vs JK flesh, Final and Jesu. Meanwhile at Catton Hall Bloodstock have not only revealed Anvil, Orange Goblin, Paradise Lost and Watain, but also Corrosion Of Conformity (the Animosity lineup), Hatebreed, Anaal Nathrakh and special guests Dimmu Borgir. With Corrosion, Hatebreed and Dimmu only playing Bloodstock in the UK for 2012 and Nathrakh set being a UK Festival exclusive, these are excellent additions to the ever growing festival itself. Bloodstock takes place August 10-12 2012. In the meanwhile, the Download/Sonisphere battle may be getting interesting if Black Sabbath’s reunion rumours reveals to be true; the band’s website announced a mysterious press conference for the 11.11.11.
Amy Winehouse new recordings to be released
GWAR guitarist found dead
Sonic Shocks Ltd www.sonicshocks.com info@sonicshocks.com Editor in Chief
GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot (known to fans throughout the world as Flattus Cristina Massei Maximus) was found dead on the band's current US tour.
thewickedwitch@sonicshocks.com
The band recently announced UK tour for January. As we go to printthere is no formal statement concerning the future of theplans - although the US one will Assistant Editor continue - so we ask you (on Facebook etc..) to please respect the wishes of the Matt Dawson band to make no statement until such time as is appropriate.
cygnus@sonicshocks.com
Lead singer Dave Brockie, known as 'Oderus Urungus,' has said in a statement: 'It is with a sense of profound loss that GWAR must announce the passing of their long-time guitarist and beloved friend Cory Smoot, also known to thousands of Unsigned Editor metal fans worldwide as Flattus Maximus,' Dan Balchin 'At this point we are just dealing with the loss of our dear friend and brother. 'Please give your thoughts and your prayers to Cory, his family, and all the people zorro@sonicshocks.com that love him.' .More details will be announced shortly.
R.I.P. Jimmy Saville verted church in Manchester the first edition of Top Of The Pops was screened to a nation; thirty years later, on the 30th July 2006, he was there at its end, at a time where the multichannel and internet had taken over. He also joined BBC Radio 1 in 1968 and is best known at his time there for Jimmy Savile's Old Record Club, which focused on old charts and ran until 1987; he then appeared on various stations up to 2007. Another programme that Sir Jimmy will be remembered for is the variety show ‘Jim’ll Fix it’ - running from 1975- 1994 and then revived by the digital channel Watch in 2007 - in which jimmy granted wishes of children from meeting Iron Maiden to meeting Luke Skywalker/ Mark Hamill.
Following the tragic death of Amy Winehouse a few months ago, there is to be a release called Lioness due in time for Christmas consisting of demos, the recent duet with Tony Bennet and some live recordings. This is a possible sign of future releases to come from the many recordings Winehouse accumulated before her death. A recent inquest into the report revealed the death as one ‘by misadventure’ and her body was found to contain 416mg of alcohol per decilitre in her blood, sadly, after a three weeks break from alcohol.
An icon both in the music and entertainment industry, Sir Jimmy Saville was known for his distinct style of a track suit and gold jewellery, an eccentric man who had been part of a particular milestone. The day was January the first, 1964 and in a con-
With many achievements and different careers, such as competing in the 1951 Tour Of Britain cycle race, being knighted in 1990, being one of only two civilians to complete the Royal Marine Commando speed march -30 miles across Dartmoor carrying 30 lb of kit - (The other being presenter Gethin Jones), Sir Jimmy is one of those eccentrics that will be missed.
STONE ROSES reunite! After 15 years the Stone Roses will be reuniting. John Squire, Ian brown, Reni and Mani will be performing two shows at Heaton Park on the 29th and 30th June 2012 with classics and possible new material. The plans also include a world tour and a new album in the future. The question does remain though: will it be a time to scream ‘I Am The Resurrection’ or just plainly ‘Fool’s Gold? Only time will tell.
November 2011
US Correspondent Denise Bales Britt
denise@sonicshocks.com
Burlesque & Nightlife Sophia Disgrace Photographers Cristina Massei Becky Williams Denise Britt Dan Balchin Chad Alexander Writers Cristina Massei Matt Dawson Matthew Tilt Dan Balchin Denise Britt John Morgan Nelly Loriaux David Lees Cayleigh Shepherd Chad Alexander Sophia Disgrace Marcus J. West advertising@sonicshocks.com distribution@sonicshocks.com
Sonic Shocks
November 2011
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Flying from Here with YES’ Chris Squire
by Matt Dawson
get back to the studio and make a new studio album Yes are one of the most cel- so in 2010 when I went to ebrated bands of prog rock visit Trevor to talk about the and rightly so with classics idea of us working together such as the Fragile album again he bought up the fact to possibly their biggest hit that we did this demo for ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’. the song ‘Fly From Here’ Ten years on from their last when we were going to do release Magnification comes the Drama album. Fly From Here featuring not It was intended to be on the only a new vocalist in Benoit album but we realised there David but their first suite in wasn’t going to be enough almost 15 years. space to get it on so it just got left in demo form, TreTo celebrate their upcoming vor suggested we look at it UK tour Matt Dawson talks again and that conversation to Chris Squire about the al- expanded into the fact we bum, how it felt to be work- thought that we wouldn’t just ing with Trevor Horn again, do it like the 6 minute long the resurgence of progressive piece it was and try to expand rock and a collaboration with it into a classic Yes long form Steve Hackett! piece of music. Not all the music on the alMatt: Let’s start by talking bum is old, quite a bit of it is about Fly From Here, the recent stuff. idea first began in 1980 as a demo with Trevor Horn Matt: How did it feel to have during the Drama era, how ‘The Man You Always Wantdid it feel years later put- ed Me To Be’ included on the ting it all together? album? Chris: Over the last few Chris: I think that turned years we’ve had a couple of out great actually, very happy changes, one of them course about that track. being the departure of Jon Anderson and the arrival Matt: I have to say while lisof Benoit David on vocals tening to the album that’s so because of the few years probably been one of my fait took us quite a while to vourite tracks..
Chris: Thank you very much, favourites from different Yes appreciate it! albums over the years and we’ll be throwing as many of Matt: How did it feel with those as possible. Benoit for his first album with the band along with the Matt: So ‘Roundabout’ etc? fact he was part of a Yes trib- Chris: Roundabout, I’ve Seen ute band prior to joining the All Good People. Now that group? Geoff ’s back in the band, alChris: I first got to see Benoit though we were doing some perform with his band via prior to him rejoining, we’re a youtube video of a perfor- going to do a couple of songs mance in Montreal, the band’s from Drama such as ‘Tempus called Close To the Edge and Fugit’ and ‘Machine Messiah’. when I first saw them I was Probably ‘Starship Trooper’, shocked as I thought it was a we might do ‘Wondrous StoYes show and when I turned ries’ and a few others. a bit more attention onto it I realised it wasn’t us but I was Matt: Any surprises at all? amazed how similar to Jon Chris: As far as production’s he sounded. I made a men- concerned we’re working tal note that if there ever was with the guy from the last going to be a need to bring couple of years who’s a video someone in he’d be the go-to tech and done some great live guy! visuals for us including live We spent a couple of years shots of the band. doing some tours with him then we turned our attention Matt: As you have been with to making the new album, Yes since its inception what of course I was a little bit would you say is the proudconcerned, knowing Trevor est moment you’ve had? Horn as I have for years how Chris: There have been so he would get on with Benoit many , it’s really hard to pinbut it all went very smoothly. point one. We’ve had lots of great shows in England, the Matt: How did it feel to be US and in other parts of the working with Trevor again world so I don’t think there’s for the fourth album he’s one particular moment but produced for Yes? there’s been a lot of great moChris: He had been with us ments. through the Drama album as the singer and then produced Matt: What would you say 90125 which was a big album about the resurgence of profor us in 1983 then produced gressive rock? half of Big Generator due to Chris: People have said other commitments such as there’s a resurgence but it’s Frankie Goes To Hollywood of a slightly different kind, but it was really good after I suppose Radiohead can 24 years, I personally like working with him as what he suggests are also things I’ve been thinking of. [laughs] We hardly have any conflict about anything. Matt: Yes are going to be on tour in the UK over the next couple of months. What can we expect from the setlist? Chris: We’re trying to do as much of the new album as possible but I don’t think you’re going to hear ‘The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be’! [laughs] The main thing is we want to do the whole ‘Fly From Here’ suite and we’d already been playing ‘Into The Storm’ on our US tour this summer then of course our
be classified as progressive these days but what they do is slightly different when I started back in the late 60’s/ early 70’s. I guess that era was more keyboard ori-
ented like ELP and Genesis leaning towards the orchestral side. Obviously music changes over the years. I’m glad especially from Yes’ point of view it’s been nice to see a lot of younger faces in the audience. Matt: You also get the fathers that were around first time around too. Chris: Yes! [laughs] The kids that have inherited their parent’s vinyl collection and got into it via that but I also think that young musicians want to come and see us due to our reputation of being good players. Matt: Any bands you’ve been getting into? Chris: Now when people ask me this, I’m sure they expect some obscure names out of a hat but I’m generally the same as most people. I love the Foo Fighters and I’m a big No Doubt fan as well, they’re fantastic live. Red Hot Chilli Peppers as well when John Frusciante was part of the group. It’ll be interesting to see them live as I thought he was part of what made the band who they were. Matt: We at Sonic also recently spoke to Steve Hackett and he mentioned a project that you two had been working on… Chris: We have finally found a home for that, we’re going to be working with Cherry Red and we hope to see it emerging in the new year. Our project is called Squackett , it was a working title that I think is going to stick! Matt: Any final words to say to the fans? Chris: We’re all looking forward to playing in England again, going around the provinces as it were and enjoy a lovely British November, delightfully rainy and grey. Matt: Not as sunny as Portugal! Chris: Funnily enough today it’s pouring with rain here!
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November 2011
Beyond The Shrouded Horizon and the Four Winds An interview with Steve Hackett door and suddenly seeing icebergs, the Rocky Mountains and that has affected me for years, so in a way when I’m doing a song like Loch Lomond when the song kicks in with full power I feel like I’m back on that ocean liner. It’s a virtual voyage and gives you an idea on how I see the geography of the album with many influences from Celtic music to rock to Arabic, everything the world has to offer. Cristina: If you could pick a place anywhere in the world to retire, which one would it be? Steve: Well I don’t really ever want to retire, I always had the vision of a villa somewhere with terracotta tiles on the roof with the sun beating down so I can play guitar but that’s not really retiring is it then again I can’t see the point of doing so! [laughs]
by Cristina Massei When you’ve been part of one of the most influential progressive rock groups featuring Peter Gabriel, any solo album you release is going to garner attention: Steve Hackett’s latest album Beyond the Shrouded Horizon does just that. with an epic piece entitled Four Winds and a song about Loch Lomond. Following Sonic’s talk with him during his tour of Out Of The Tunnel’s Mouth, we caught up with Steve just before he begins his Breaking Waves tour…
discoveries? Steve: one of the songs had a slight country feel to it, playing twelve string and singing more in a country style along with playing harmonica which I did a little bit of in the past so it’s nice to be able to do that. Always an expression of pure joy playing the Harmonica!
Cristina: I noticed while going through the album that there are many geographical locations being mentioned, along with different cultures being referenced in music and the lyrics. How is travelCristina: How has Beyond ling the world important to The Shrouded Horizon been you? received so far? Steve: I think it is very imporSteve: It’s been received very tant. Travelling wasn’t somewell, you start thinking ‘when thing I did by design when are people going to come up I was young, I barely spent a and tell me they don’t like it’ night away from home when but so far they’ve said they I was a kid and I was even do! I believe every word of frightened at the idea of travel. course.. At seven years old my parents emigrated to Canada and it Cristina: You’ve mentioned was a huge adventure for me in a previous interview that with crossing the Atlantic you never stop discover- Ocean and seeing the wide ing and learning new things open spaces of not just Canwhen it comes to music and ada but a little bit of America to the guitar in particular, as well. You can imagine from did this album bring any new being barely outside my front
Cristina: Two Kings Of Cairo represents the old kingdom of majesty and the modern day poverty of Egypt, now I find with the current crisis that the middle class is disappearing and we’re starting to see over here little instances of poverty next to the rich. Do you think that this is the case? Steve: I have seen that in a shop in South America, the lack of a middle class and the inequality is appalling. All I can say is that I don’t know whether there’s a secret economic policy, at the end of the day people are going to be themselves, it seems to me that it’s driven largely by an attitude of mind, as soon as people start talking about an upswing we’ll probably be in it but it’s got to start with a dream. There’s too many nightmares amongst young people, they do have hope and focus and not just end up in a prison cell. Anyone can steal a TV from somewhere. I was lucky
enough to make my hobby my ty what would you say? profession but you got to have Steve: I would say it was castsomething. ing a net widely on different cultures around the globe and Cristina: So you think there’s to trap different styles into the no motivation in this genera- package as possible. tion? Steve: I wouldn’t make a Cristina: You’re about to go sweeping statement like that, on the Breaking Waves tour I would say that motivation in November and Februalways has to be personal, it ary in the UK, why was this cannot be taught and can only name chosen? be acquired out of frustration. Steve: So many of the tracks Music was a lifesaver to me were about water, the idea and you’ve got to find your gift of Breaking Waves is about to quote Joseph Campbell. moving forward without any boundaries. Cristina: Between The Sunset and the Coconut Palms Cristina: Any chance of more is about a refugee boat trip London dates in February? into the unknown, is it how (13th November is the Lonyou imagine it to be or have don date of the first leg at 02 you spoken to someone that’s Academy in Islington) been through it? Steve: If it goes particularly Steve: I was involved with an well, the album’s doing better organisation at the close of than anything I’ve ever done the 1980’s which was designed outselling all my previous efto help the Vietnamese boat forts on the first day. people by sending lawyers that could help them with the Cristina: What can we exscreening process and also re- pect in terms of setlist? ceived a personal thanks from Steve: These days I usually a refugee. do one third of new mateI’m in a privileged position rial then one third of favourhowever rather than someone ites and include some things whose taking their own and from Genesis, the tracks from their families’ life into their genesis I have been playing own hands, I don’t presume to recently include Watcher Of know what it’s like myself. The Skies and several others. Cristina: In Looking For Fantasy you’re looking back at a type of woman that doesn’t appear to exist anymore? Steve: It’s more about girls that I knew back in the 60’s who were living life like there was no tomorrow, that personification of the 60’s with a com-
posite of character portrait. In a way it was an idea given to me when I had a dream that Jimi Hendrix was giving a free concert and doing a tune that was uncharacteristic for him as it was full of remorse for people of his generation. Cristina: If you were to describe the album in its entire-
Cristina: Any surprises we should prepare ourselves for? Steve: It’s always a surprise when I’m on tour! I might wear a cowboy hat and singing a country song, we have Take That’s bass player for the second half of the tour as Nick Beggs is working with Steven Wilson [Porcupine Tree, No-Man] while I’m on tour. Cristina; You’ve previously mentioned about looking for new challenges and mentioned wanting to do something in the classical field, any update on that? Steve: Last time I did something classical was six pieces of Bach which was extremely challenging, at the moment I try and do classical techniques with many of the things that I play however I don’t have anything planned at the moment. Cristina: What’s next for Steve Hackett? Steve: I’ve been working with Chris Squire on something, we just put together a DVD of last year’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire show which will be released at some point in 2012.
November 2011
Sonic Shocks
VENOM
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Return to Hell with the Fallen Angels from about Resurrection onwards was when we started using Pro Tools technology like everyone else, we thought fuck it back to square one, the drum kit sounds great, get some mics up, everything’s microphoned up , no triggers, no samples which is the way we sound live. JM: The album does have a really live feel to it which is unusual as many heavy bands have that standard production. Cronos: A lot of bands do unfortunately and we just thought to get back to sounding the way Venom really should, we work best the rawer you can make it. JM: There’s a lot of punk in Venom’s material which I think got glossed over with the metal scene and it’s nice to see that coming through. Cronos: Everything’s quite natural because of doing these 30 years of Venom type gigs in writing these songs in the vein of Venom. Rage: The vibe of the live shows was there and it just came out on this record. Dante: We’re not one of those bands that gets together just to do something like a gig, we still rehearse every week, we just really enjoy playing and there’s the energy and diversity particularly as you just can’t write ten heavy tracks you have to push yourself. by John Morgan Their second album ‘Black Metal’ was so influential to give a name to an entire subgenre. Venom are back and it’s a welcome return, as they prepare to release their 14th album Fallen Angels. To celebrate the event, John Morgan visits the Universal HQs for a chat with Cronos, Rage and Dante. JM: Welcome back to London guys, a stone’s throw away from the old Hammersmith Odeon, does it bring back memories? Cronos: Definitely! It was a big time for us, nobody was interested in putting shows on for Venom at all, back in those days it was seen as you haven’t paid your dues and played every fucking shitty club on the planet and worked your way up like everybody else. We had a different way of doing things so we just hired the place for ourselves. JM: I wasn’t there for the first but I was there for the second one. Cronos: The only problem with the second one is the fire marshals were pretty clued up, we didn’t get to use the laser and things like that, we promised them not to get it in anyone’s eyes and all that! JM: I wanted to touch about Venom’s legacy later on but let’s go to the present and talk about the new album Fallen Angels. How does it feel to have a new album for release? Cronos: Fantastic, it’s hard
work but fun and to have such a great album afterwards is a pat on the back for yourself. What we believed in for the past couple of years we were right and with the hard work on the gigs so far it’s the icing on the cake. Rage: We’ve been playing together now for just over two years and the gigs have been going down a storm, we all get on well together and it shows on this album. The songs are really strong and the feedback so far has been positive and it’s an exciting time for this band. JM: It’s the first time you guys have recorded with this lineup, how did it all come together? Cronos: What we decided to do with this lineup once it was established was not to even worry about writing songs or album deals, it was about getting a band like we did back in the day, making sure the band is happy and establish ourselves on stage. The setlist we’ve been putting together is 30 years of Venom with a song at least off every single Venom album and gelling as a unit which we knew on the South American tour so that’s when we started throwing ideas together and during last year we were doing some of the bigger festivals. It was obvious straight away that we were writing really fucking great songs and everybody brought ideas to the table, I would go walking into rehearsals late one night and these guys would be jamming out a fucking riff. JM: A true band feeling then? Cronos: Yeah especially when it was time to get them recorded,
JM: That’s what I thought with this record in a way that the last album – no disrespect- didn’t quite achieve. Cronos: It was the right direction, the last release[2006’s Metal Black] was just to establish Venom as a band for the 21st century and telling people it’s not a parody, we’re not trying to relive 1984 so Hell was cementing that in but the lineup was never solid from the get go because of one member saying they weren’t there for the full run but I’ll help you get this up and running. I even made it clear back in 1995 to the members that we do it properly or don’t do it at all, I’m really passionate about Black metal and I want to help nurture it and have people in the band who want the same things as I do not because of a pay cheque or an ulterior motive but because of respect for Black metal. There’s so many people such as Dave Grohl, Phil Anselmo and the guys from Slipknot who regard Venom as their main influence, I’m also super protective of the guys that have been part of this process from the very beginning, all the lineups were important for the time. Metal Black and Hell were great in 2006 and 2008 but in 2011 it needs to be up a notch. This is a lineup that wants to stand up for itself and I think the new album shows the tightness and integrity across. JM: So after 30 years when it comes to writing a new album do you compare it to stuff you’ve already done to ensure some sense of continuity or more a sense of we’re here at
this time and this is what we represent? Cronos: Every time is different, the industry changes, people change, one example being At War With Satan. At the time it did get panned quite a lot whereas now some consider it a classic. We always like to be controversial and try new ideas but it’s like when we did the Warhead single and it got onto Radio 1 the label was like ‘we need another hit’ but we don’t work like that to a format as the next we came up with was Manitou which is a drum heavy song but it’s not like Warhead. Rage: The fans would see straight through it as well. We’re not resting on our laurels, we want to do good songs, if you’re a musician you want to write songs that your band are proud of. As long as you can maintain and carry on that. Dante: When the band’s on fire the fans can see that and it comes across. Rage: When we were doing festivals it’s not ‘your crowd’ but there might be guys in there that like your stuff and there’s many that’ll hear it think this is a good band and still be there at the end. Cronos: I can read what’s going on in the crowd’s mind, there may be some that think ‘We’re not going to buy a Venom album but we’ve never seen them before and heard all the they can’t play deals but they can fucking play!’ The testament was they were still there at the end. JM: How difficult then is it to play live when you have the legions that want certain songs? Cronos: During the Hell tour we’d get that, one gig we’d change one to include say seven gates and the next gig it’s all where’s this song and that song! JM: How difficult is it bringing the new songs into the set? Cronos: We started to do a medley thing to get all the songs in so the set isn’t five hours but there is a balance such as following At War With Satan into Nightmare, the medleys go down a treat as we’re able to play songs never played by any Venom before and also songs only played while being recorded. JM: There’s a promo clip coming for this album I’ve heard? Cronos; There’s a slight delay due to the video producer being ill but it’s for Hail Satanas, normally I would go through a video director as a business deal but due to it being a friend I’d rather wait until he’s ready but Venom have never been made or broke by a video. JM: How did it feel to be part of the reissue/remaster of Black Metal? Cronos: Excellent, I was just
lucky to be asked. I really wanted to look after it the way it should be, with the way digital stuff is I didn’t want it just put out there due to how tapes can be destroyed.
JM: A lot of bands have seminal albums, ‘Black metal’ is the one many say started the genre so what’s your take on the scene? Rage: I try to keep my hand in it, Arch Enemy were the newest band I got into and they’ve been going on for donkey’s years! I was more of a death metal person and that’s getting a resurgence, I mean Death are bringing out their stuff again with a whole set of fans, same with Venom fans saying Resurrection saved black metal and it’s good to see it blossom again. JM: It’s a generation thing, all the friends I knew that have kids they’ll listen to Venom. How does that feel? Dante: It’s a great feeling when you look out into the crowd, you still have the people who want to see us after not doing so for 20 years, you see the young kids at the front who’ve queued up all day singing all the words, wearing the t-shirts and it’s an amazing thing. When we meet our fans it’s just a fantastic feeling. Cronos: I hope it starts a new generation of fans! JM; I think with Venom it inspired a lot of people, you had the punk element of what they want to do, they don’t have to have solos like Iron Maiden and not just musically but in image as well. Rage: With metal it’s both mu-
sic and image mixed together so the kids while even if they don’t want to be musicians they like the art of it. JM: Any plans for shows in the UK? Cronos: There’s no solid plans at the moment. I’d love to play a festival like Bloodstock or Hard Rock Hell though rather than the more ‘commercial’ festivals. Rage: European festivals are great for the more classic crowd!
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November 2011
SAXON: we still have mountains to climb BB – I don’t have any favorites really, they are all great in their own way. We sort of lost our way a little bit in the 90’s, the chemistry of the band wasn’t fantastic so… SS – But you’ve got it back. BB- Well, we got rid of the people that were not really chemists and got some guys that were professionals.
. by Denise Britt ..And then, there are those legends that just look the part: bring in Biff Byford, the iconic Saxon frontman with his long silver hair and the eyes of someone who’s seen it all, and is still curious to see even more. Our Denise met Biff in San Antonio, Texas, before Saxon’s set at South Texas Rock Fest (every chance is good for a
Festival when you have 12 months of sunshine...!). SS – Welcome back to your second home from what I’ve heard. BB – Yeah, it’s a big town for us…one of our big cities to play, San Antonio. SS – You looking forward to playing tonight? BB – Yeah, yeah, as long as it doesn’t rain. SS – How do you do it Biff, after 35 years of touring?
B B – We still have mountains to climb, well small hills anyway. We love to write songs. It inspires us to keep going. SS – The new album came out a few days ago, Call to Arms. BB - Yes it did! It’s doing very well, I’ve been told by EMI it’s doing well – It’s a special album we’ve created, it’s getting lots of air play. We will keep our fingers crossed. SS – You have put out 19 albums, which are your favorites?
SS – If you could play with anyone dead or alive…who would be in your supergroup? BB – I came to singing from a different angle, I came from playing bass guitar. I don’t really know. John Bonham. It is just impossible; I would have to think about it long and hard. Too many to choose from. SS- What advice do you have to the new bands starting? BB- It’s about the band but when you first start it’s about the song. It’s about that one song. It’s the absolute secret. SS – What do you think about these reality music shows? X Factor, Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp and such? BB – It is a showcase and some of them turn out to be huge stars but some of them go back to playing casinos and saloons.
SS – An artist told me once that if you love what you do it doesn’t matter if you are playing in a casino or in front of 30,000 people. I’m not sure if I believe that. BB- Actually it’s not far from the truth, although everyone likes to play in front of a lot of people, what is important is the show. People come to see the passion. It makes no difference, as long as the people are still coming to see us. SS - So you really still enjoy doing all of this? BB- Well we could sit back and play nothing but our hits I suppose… SS- But you wouldn’t be happy BB – No were not happy doing that. We want to keep making new albums. SS- How do you stay in check, being such a superstar? I mean you are so nice. The two don’t’ go hand in hand most of the time. (Superstar and nice person) BB – * laughs * No, no they don’t unfortunately. I came from a working class origin and I have that mentality still to this day. SS – Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to visit with us. Have a great show tonight! BB – You’re welcome, thank you.
Sonic Shocks
November 2011
SVOLK
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NEMESEA By David Lees
By David Lees First off would you mind introducing yourselves to our readers? Martin Østerhaug – axeman/ riff master of the universe What differentiates your selfstyled “Bear metal” from other types of metal? Actually we got so bored with all questions about genre, so we made up Bear Metal as a joke. It really took on and it fits our music good, so we've just kept on using it. What defines Bear Metal is the wrath of the bear as it gets waked up by a little punk poking it with a stick, in the middle of the winter. And also the pleasure of eating the brat alive after afterwords. How have you found being signed to Napalm and how did it affect making the new album, are there any major changes or evolution from what's come before? No, actually this is a re-release of our first album that has only been released in Norway before. But we are currently writing songs for a new album which will be released som day in the spring/summer 2012. No major changes, but there will always be a small evolution in our music, because we always work to do things even better than before. What was the song writing process like for this album, and how has it changed since you started out? It's pretty much the same. Usually I presents riff and some times full songs and then we arange it together. Mr. Solhaug does the lyrics. What elements of this album are you most proud of? Any particular favourite tracks? My banjo playing on the intro for 52, hehe. The first time I touched a banjo, actually. But seriously, there is so many small details and elements that it is impossible to say. I'm proud of the whole album from A-Z, or A-Å as we say in Norway. Ms Alcohol is maybe my favourite track.
Do you have any plans to tour in the near future? We are hoping to do several small tours in the spring and summer 2012. Check out our facebook page or svolk.net for dates and venues then. If you want to book us, you can also contact us there. Who would you say your biggest influences are? There are so many, and so much different but my standard answer is alway Sir Lord Baltimore. A great band who too few have heard about. Just like Svölk, hehe. What have you been listening to lately? Lately I've been listening alot to Blackberry Smoke. Great southern rock'n'roll. But mostly our new songs for the next album. Finally, if you could support any band, live or dead, what would your dream show be? Some year ago I would answer Metallica, but they've sucked ass live for the last years I've seen them. Annihilator was a dream, but we've done that, so Megadeth or Anthrax would be awesome. Black Sabbath in the 70's would'nt be totally wrong either. Or Spinal Tap, hehe.
‘Svolk’em all’ is out on Napalm Records on November 18th
First off would you mind introducing yourselves to our readers? Hi, my name is HJ, guitars/ songwriting. Nemesea’s current line up consists of Manda/ vocals, Sonny/ bass, Lasse/ keyboards and Frank/ drums. Nemesea started out in 2003. We have recorded 3 studio albums and one live album over the years. How would you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before? We’re basically a female fronted rock band with electronic influences. You signed with Napalm Records while writing the new album, The Quiet Resistance. Did this affect the production of the album at all? Not really, we had a good idea about what we wanted to do with the new album. With Napalm on board this was easier to realize. Our previous album involved more electronics than our new album but this was just something that formed during the song-writing & production process. The next one maybe has a different sound again, we’ll see. It depends on the songs basically. What's your song writing process like? This differs quite a bit. I’m very picky when it comes to melody, harmony and rhythm. I think it’s important that a song is and stays appealing. In most cases the writing starts with a melody and then combined with chords/ harmony. Sometimes it’s the other way around. I can have a good chord progression and then melodies start to rise. Sometimes a riff is the first thing that comes to mind and the rest appears later. I often write the songs on guitar or piano/ keyboard but I’m always connected to my computer so I can set and save a basic song part real easy. The recorder on my smart phone comes in handy once in a while as well. Often the most difficult thing for me is to finish a song. To complete all the parts and the main structure of the song. I think it’s very important to have a well balanced tension structure in a song. How does the new album compare to In Control and Mana? Has there been any major changes or evolution musically? We made a big leap when recording our 2nd album In Control. Our first album Mana was written and recorded in a period where we didn’t really knew what we wanted on the long term. We had just started the band and we were playing a lot with After Forever. All those things influenced us a lot and made us go in a certain musical direction automatically. We realized pretty soon it wasn’t really our thing and the music style wasn’t very original either. We always looked for our own sound.
When our interest in electronic music got bigger and there were some changes in the band line up we brought other kinds of influences and players into the band and this also contributed to the musical change. Next to that I am, or hope to be J , a real song-writer. In general I’m not really fond of music that’s not logical. Songs that don’t have unity but consist of little pieces that aren’t connected. This all resulted in the more heavy/ electro oriented album In Control, an album that we are very proud of and has lots of songs that are very cool to play live. On the new album The Quiet Resistance we took some (darker) influences from our 1st album and combined them with the heavy & electronic style of album number two. A fine tuned combination is how we feel it. How did the guest appearances on the album come about? The duet with Charlotte Wessels/ Delain was probably the first we felt that was important. We had this song, High Enough, that just needed 2nd female vocals and to be specific Charlotte her voice. Because we played with Delain a few times and know them personally we didn’t hesitate to ask her. When we were working on It’s over we had a same kind of vibe. On the demo’s I was singing a line and soon it became obvious a male voice would work really well on the track. We know Marcus & Matt from Bulletproof Messenger from our Sellaband period and just knew their contribution would really give the song the boost it needed. Allein is the last duet but probably most memorable. It started with a synth pattern Lasse delivered at some point. This had a strong industrial almost Rammstein vibe going on. When I started to write a song around the riff it started to sound if Nemesea and Rammstein would write a song together. We all like Rammstein very much so we thought it would be cool to push it all the way. The verses are very Rammstein influenced but the chorus is very Nemesea like. When thinking about Rammstein like vocals there was only one name that came to mind. Heli Reissenweber of Rammstein cover band Stahlzeit. Fortunately he was really into the song and wanted to do the duet. Having successfully used the internet as a promotional tool
from early in your career, using Sellaband.com to fund your second album, how do you see the internet both helping and hindering the music scene these days? The internet is great for connecting to lots of people world wide but at the same time is becoming the problem too. It’s cool to have your music out there and people can listen to it all the time, wherever they are. Because the amount of music/ bands etc is becoming bigger and bigger everyday it’s more difficult to let people know your music is out there. Supply & demand starts to become intangible. For bands & artists it starts to become more difficult to promote their music compared to a few years ago. This is probably good news for the record companies You're going to be playing the Women in Rock festival in November, what are you expecting from it and who are you most keen to see while you're there? For us it’s very exiting because it will be our last show performing in the setting we performed in the last couple of years. We are working on a new live setting containing new equipment and not playing with stuff on backing tracks anymore. We are aiming on playing everything live, something that most of the bands in the scene aren’t doing. We we’re forced to play with backing tracks in the past because during In Control we didn’t have a keyboard player. But when being very honest, we didn’t like that at all. So, in 2012 Nemesea will sound and look different, fresh and very energetic and dynamic. Do you have any plans to tour in the near future? It’s something we are working on but isn’t something we as band control. It depends on how people react on the album and if we can find bands to tour with. We’ll be ready for, for sure! ‘The Quiet Resistance’ is out on Napalm Records November 21st
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Sonic Shocks
November 2011
A decade of As I Lay Dying: Interview with Phil Sgrosso with Amon Amarth for several years now being labelmates and crossing paths here and there, it’ll be good to be in their territory and trying to pick up some new fans along the way but overall making the show a good package for those that can make it. Sonic: Not long after you’ll be touring the US with Sylosis, Iwrestledabearonce, Of Mice And Men and The Ghost Inside. How does it feel to be doing that tour particularly with Sylosis? Phil: When Sylosis mentioned they’d be interested we were trying to see if it was possible. It’s tough for young bands to make it over to the states and it’s their first time over there too. We’re glad to have them out with us, they seem to be doing really well so
by Matt Dawson With a decade approaching San Diego metalcore band As I Lay Dying they felt it was time to celebrate by releasing a special compilation entitled Decas not only containing three new tracks but covers of songs by Slayer, Judas Priest and The Descendants along with getting friends such as Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman to remix tracks from their back catalogue. We caught up with Phil Sgrosso to talk about not only his favourite moments from the past decade, but the tours - both in the US and Europe -with bands such as Sylosis and Amon Amarth. Sonic: How do you feel As I Lay Dying has evolved over the past decade? Phil: It’s been growing which is always ideal, I still think we have a lot of die hard fans who have
far. Iwrestledabearonce, Of Mice And Men and The Ghost Inside are fairly young bands but they’re doing a lot of good things. It’s cool for us to be bringing out with us some of the younger blood to come and make the show entertaining with that young energy to it! Sonic: What has been your favourite three records, movies and TV shows of the past decade? Phil: Movies: Inception, Inglorious Basterds and Step Brothers. Music: Mastodon – The Hunter, Thrice – Major/minor and The Strokes – Angles TV: Community, Dexter and Entourage. ‘Decas’ is out on Metal Blade on November 7th
been with us from the beginning and gaining younger fans that are just getting into heavy music and people come up to say that we were the first heavy band they got into which is pretty amazing!
and then having people like Ben Weinman, Big chocolate and Innerpartysystem do their own interpretation to our songs was something totally different. We had no idea what to expect, they turned Sonic: How does it feel to reach out great and I hope the fans that milestone of a decade from a can really enjoy it as much as personal standpoint? we do. Phil: I’ve been in the band for 8 years but I was familiar with the Sonic: Do you see Decas as a band when they first started, to be starting point for new fans? making music for that long, it’s a Phil: I think it shows a differgreat feeling to know that’s what ent side to our band but ultimy life has become, definitely a mately it’s to celebrate all the dream come true. people that have joined us along the way, hopefully a lot Sonic: How did it feel to cover of the old school metalheads songs such as ‘Electric Eye’ for can hear the Slayer or Judas the Decas release along with the Priest covers. remixes? Phil: It’s cool for us to branch out Sonic: What are your as we’ve never really done cov- thoughts on touring Euers before but the idea’s always rope with Amon Amarth been there and we finally got to and Septicflesh? settle down and pick songs that Phil: We’ve been trying were more of an influence on us to get a tour in the works
Tons of original bands merch now available on WWW.SONICSHOCKS.COM
Sonic Shocks
November 2011
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The little weird world of
THE MELVINS
by Sophia Diisgrace So here I am, about to interview some of my all time heroes - aka The Melvins - and I’ve just got caught in the worst (as far as I’m concerned) downpour ever. In I trudge, squelching as I go - so much for good impression.... Escorted into a side room, Buzz shuffles past me (Buzz! And Buzz's awesome hair!) and I’m introduced to Dale... Hi Dale, so how’s it feel to be back in London on this lovely, rainy evening? Ha! Yes it’s good to be here... It’s always nice to be in London, we played Leeds last night and the crowd really got into it, so looking forward to tonight! It’s a sold out show, so should be good! Okay, so where do The Melvins stand on the whole popularity vs credibility thing… You're very well respected and have been around for so long, but in many respects you are still pretty underground? We are pretty happy with where we are at, y'know, we have been doing this for years now and love what we do. We see all ages at our gigs and that’s great to see, that we can still
reach fresh audiences.
pecially, I saw them and knew I wanted to be in a You are often classified as band! Also Flipper, But'Grunge', how do you feel about thole Surfers, 'Flowers of this label? Romance' by PIL, Black Flag... These guys for us I think the closest grunge band set the tone. to our sound would be Soundgarden, but even they still have a Are there any musical very commercial sound; we have scenes around at the moalways been a little weirder, a bit ment that stand out for more out there, and that’s how we you? like it. We don’t want to follow guidelines, we want to make them Every ten years or so up. I mean, sure being associated something new seems to with such a big scene has had its come out; I keep my eyes advantages... Grunge to me is and ears open, but nothNirvana, Pearl Jam and so on. We ing has really made an imget lumped into the whole grunge pact for me since say The thing all the time, but that’s not White Stripes, who started really us, people think we live in up the whole garage rock Seattle and stuff - we don’t - we thing again. left for California before grunge even hit the mainstream. I think Did you ever think when we are somewhere in between you were a child that metal and grunge, in our own lit- you'd be doing this now? tle weird world! I got my first drum kit around 11 Can you cite any influences, mu- or 12 and from then I knew what I sical or otherwise? wanted to do; I joined a few bands and have played with The Melvins Ahh there are plenty! Definitely since I was 16, we have always been The Who - those guys were just so happy we can make a living from out there, totally ahead of their this. I haven’t had a day job since '91 time in so many ways... Kiss made and that’s good for me! a huge impact on Buzz and I es-
Who would be in your very own super band? He always says, 'hey you think I paid for this?!' Seriously, he just Well I definitely wouldn’t be in it! gets up and it’s like that, he does I'd have Jimi Hendrix on guitar, nothing to it. It’s kind of ‘the bride Iggy on vocals, Paul Mcartney on of Frankenstein’ look (laughs) bass and Buddy Rich on drums! ‘Thank you’, and off I went back Lastly, I’ve got to ask about Buzz's into the rain, a little drier than behair - how does he get it to look so fore… out there?!
A good reputation
by Cayleigh Shepherd Without a doubt, Hardcore Superstar are one of the greatest Hard Rock bands of recent years. If their amazing albums don’t quite satisfy your musical needs, then their raw, crazy, energetic live shows are guaranteed to fill the gap. Last year they released their 8th studio effort, Split Your Lip, to an all round fantastic reception from both fans and critics. Now, they’re putting out their first compilation album, Party Ain’t Over Til We Say So, featuring an array of rock anthems taken from their entire discography, as well as a brand new original song; We Don’t Need A Cure. Bassist Martin Sandvik took the time to chat to Sonic Shocks about the recent goings on in the world of Hardcore Superstar, their latest release, and how an American Idol alumnus might have given them the pushing power to take their music across the pond… What have you been up to since we last saw you here back in March? Well we had a great summer! We were on the bill for Sweden Rock Festival and got to play our self-titled album from start to finish: It was fantastic! The fans really appreciated it. Everybody’s still talking about it; saying “you gotta do it again!” so we said we’ll do it a couple of times on the tour we’re on right now take people by surprise on a few select nights - then for the encore, do all the old hits like Liberation and Have You Been Around. Tell us about your latest release. The record company asked us “what do you think about releasing a compilation
album?” and we thought it sounded like a good idea, plus it’d give us time to write our next studio album. So basically we sat down and said “Ok! Let’s choose the songs for the best of album.” Not even 5 minutes went by before we got into this big argument, where we were almost on the floor fighting over which songs should be on there. Ultimately, we decided we should ask the record company to make a shortlist and give it to us. They gave us the titles of what they believed should be featured, we took a look at it and made a couple of changes, but ultimately it’s the record company’s choice of songs. We tried… but it didn’t work out!
ing thrown around for our UK tour next year - nothing set in stone yet -but from what I’ve heard, I think it’d go down really well in England.
And of course, a brand new song, We Don’t Need A Cure, is also on there. Is there a reason you released it as the sole original song on Party Ain’t Over Til We Say So? It was actually written especially for this album. When we warm up in the dressing room before the shows, we’ve always played this big jam. We always called it ‘The Dressing Room Song’. Then we thought “wouldn’t it be cool to do a song based on that?” So we went back home to Gothenburg, spent a night writing a song around that jam, and recorded it in two days in the studio. We’ll be performing it on tour, and of course the audience will be helping us out.
When we were talking to Jocke back in March, he said his dream is to play Long Beach in California. How about you? Anything you still need to check off the musical Bucket List? Well, Long Beach Arena would be nice! Personally, I’d be happy just to write a great rock n roll record, and then to sit down 10 years later and really listen to it and feeling really proud of it. Like when I listen to The Party Ain’t Over Til We Say So. They re-mastered it, and the guy who did all the re-mastering said “ok, lets take a listen”, and he played us 20-30 seconds of each song. Me and Adde were sitting on the couch at the time, and 10 years of our lives just flashed before us in a couple of minutes. It was beautiful, because we realised we’ve written some really good songs. It’s really nice to be proud of something you’ve been working so hard on for the last 10 years. I can only hope we can write fantastic albums for the rest of our lives.
So are the tour plans to support the Best Of album confined to Scandinavia? We’re gonna do Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark through til December, but in the beginning of next year, they are looking at booking us in the big cities around the rest of Europe. I believe a couple of dates in Germany have already been confirmed. Then of course there’s the 2012 festival season. It’s a shame we missed out on the festivals this year in the UK. We loved playing Download a few years ago, and the UK tour we did at the beginning of the year: the Dark Decadence tour with Crashdiet and 69 Eyes was great. We had the most fantastic shows. There’s some ideas be-
You’ve had a good number of shows this year with other top Scandinavian musicians, the Dark Decadence tour for starters, then there was the Japan shows with Michael Monroe… Oh yeah! The Japanese are always fantastic! Our audiences were great and they really really enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to play for them. We haven’t played to a capacity of that size before, so it was amazing for us, and we all had fun.
So apart from your current tour, what else have you been up to? Well Adde and myself have been writing songs for [American Idol contestant] James Durbin’s debut album. As for Hardcore Superstar’s next album, it’s been going really well: we must have written about 15 songs already. We were talking about releasing the next studio album in 2013, but it looks like we’re
gonna have to release it sooner than that! Working with James Durbin, do you think there’s a chance you could cash in on an opportunity to tour the United States? Definitely! James is a really big Hardcore Superstar fan, and his management has been talking to our management. He said that he really wanted us to write some songs for his debut album, and we were more than happy to help; and at the same time, get a foot in the American market. One of the songs we wrote for him made the record, and it’s really cool; cause they got Mick Mars to play guitar on that track. They sent us a video clip – they’re on YouTube now – of Mick Mars sitting down, laying the guitar tracks on the song we wrote. I almost cried when I saw that. I’m a huge Motley Crue fan, and to see Mick Mars playing your song… I was thinking, “oh shit! This is fantastic!” Hopefully following the release of Durbin’s album, you will get your chance to play to the American fans… I think as soon as we get the chance to go over there and play live for them, we will. Build an American fanbase from the ground up. It’s a big country, and it’ll take a lot of time, and cost a lot of money to tour there - especially for a small band like us. Maybe we can open up for James Durbin!
So what’s on the cards for Hardcore Superstar in the near future? Oh, well we’ve got the Northern Europe tour right now going through November and December. We’ve been off now for almost 2 months, so we’re pretty eager to get back on the road again. Then the touring will branch out into the rest of Europe at the beginning of next year. Of course, the summer festivals take place, then hopefully we can go into the studio for the next studio album at the end of next year. That’s the plan! We’re gonna be working our asses off!
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by Matthew Tilt photos by Becky Williams Supersonic has gained a reputation as the most eclectic festival in the U.K. and it’s not hard to see why. Skimming over the line up you can see the crazy Nintendo influenced DJ Scotch Egg rub shoulders with the riff driven doom of Slabdragger and the straight up crust punk of Selfless share the stage with extreme noise mentalist Astro. This is not your everyday festival. Friday night kicks off with a crushing set from Slabdragger. While their Holy Roar debut, Regress, might have been lacking in places the full force of their material comes blasting out of the speakers tonight and there’s no escaping the vicious roars and groove ridden riffs and the audience are com-
get the sweaty dudes, and it sounds exactly the same); whereas the meat between these metaphorical slices of bread quickly shows that an electronics set can be interesting. Indeed there is nothing quite like a DJ Scotch Egg set. Between his blasts of distorted, yet still recognisable, Gameboy themes he flies across the stage and over his equipment, putting his vocals through the same electronic torture to create inhuman sounds and still finding the time to interact with the crowd more than most full bands do. However, the best set of the night goes to Mike Watt and the Missingmen. While it’s clear that he isn’t what a lot of people had expected from the unfair description of ‘hardcore and American indie’ this is still most definitely punk.
that made the genre so appealing all those years ago. When he’s replaced by Secret Chiefs 3 you almost feel cheated. Despite the immense talent they show during these seemingly improvised yet, at the same time, precisely orchestrated jams they fail to really put on a show and it’s only as different guest musicians take to the stage that you realise something has changed. An intriguing, but not necessarily an entertaining end to the first night.
pletely captivated for the whole set. There’s no time for the ringing in the ears to stop though as Part Chimp set up camp in Stage 2. Their brand of noise rock plays out equal parts gentle and abrasive. Guitar lines explode out of nowhere and when fade down to whispers while Tim Cedar’s distinctive vocals ring out pitch perfect. It’s an excellent set, made all the more powerful by the recent admission that they will soon split. Sandwiching DJ Scotch Egg on the Boxxed stage are the excellently named Drumcunt and the much hyped Cloaks, unfortunately neither of these two can do the “guy at a deck” thing in any sort of interesting way which unfortunately means you’re better off just buying the album and playing it really loud (you don’t
Sure it’s been ground through a mix of country and blues but his whole persona screams punk as his gurns at the audience and plays with that live or die attitude
Coming through the gates on Saturday, the first thing you realised is how much less cramped it feels. With the exhibitions and the Old Library open the whole of the Custard Factory is bustling with energy and there’s plenty of things for people to entertain themselves with; one of the more interesting being the Cut and Paste Grindcore Exhibition. Anything that blasts You Suffer as soon as you walk by the sensors is bound to have a novelty value, but as you walk the small exhibit you begin to build the picture of what a close knit thing the grind and hardcore scene was in Birmingham during the eighties. Filled with flyers, ‘zines, ticket stubs and even the odd bit of hate mail it’s a reminder to the people who lived and a vicious rub of salt into the wounds of people (such as myself) who were unlucky enough to be nineties babies. Not that you have much time to browse before Orthodox take the stage. With an approach to doom that incorporates drone and jazz they’re an interesting band to see live. The vocals, at times, float towards Black Sabbath and the whole set upholds a feeling of the occult despite the relatively nice day the rest of Birmingham en-
November 2011
joys outside the compound; and yet despite all this it all feels a bit empty and for-
gettable. Unfortunately Teeth of the Sea suffer the same problem. While their experimental brand of psychedelic rock is no doubt endearing, filled to the brim with looping guitars, tribal drumming and mournful trumpets there always seems to be a peak to each of their songs and while the build up is no doubt enjoyable, once they reach this peak it all becomes a bit repetitive. Lucky Dragons set themselves up in the middle of Boxxed, cursed with the unenviable task of clashing with Wolves in the Throne
audience participation: close your eyes (not literally else you won’t be able to read on) and forget Birmingham. Forget the fact that WITTR are born and bred Americans. Forget everything you know about this band because when they’re playing live and you close your eyes you could be back in the early nineties, the crackling sound of a church burning behind you melting the snow before it lands on your face and, in front of you, a raw, vicious black metal band are playing. While Wolves may experiment and play around with the genre on record, live it comes across with all the fury of those early Mayhem demos. All the danger that has since been parodied by Dani Filth and his Merry Cunts, blasts through the speakers in such a way that all the fear about black metal comes sweeping back, as does the fear
Room, and go about their set quietly. Swirling electronics fill the room, minute changes occurring on every cycle allowing you to hear each song being created right in front of you. Mixing this with haunting female vocals that, unless you have a good view, could be mistaken for part of the sweeping sounds that escape the decks in front to create an dense atmosphere which unfortunately has to be broken by most due to the aforementioned clash. Now just bear with me here because this part of the review needs a little
that this might their last visit here, to promote their last album and that would be a true tragedy. Back to reality, and the realisation that tonight Birmingham is doing its best to match Norway on the temperature scale, it’s a quick walk over to the Old Library to catch the end of Backwards’ set. The packed room vibrates under the bass heavy, slowed down noise rock with an intense vocal performance that completely captivates the crowd as they wait for something to snap, for the band to explode with pent up frustration
Sonic Shocks
November 2011 and energy, something that never happens, instead leaving the crowd satisfied yet dirty. Another hour and another truly nasty clash as Klaus Kinski take
to the stage at exactly the same time as Electric Wizard. Luckily catching just 15 minutes of Klaus is the perfect cathartic experience after Backwards. Overflowing with energy, an energy which unfortunately only shows itself in the crowd in the form of some prick diving into as many people as he can and then looking suitably ashamed of himself, they seem to completely lose control on stage. Guitar lines and drum beats fly about, as does the vocalist who somehow keeps a grasp on the lyrics despite the insane musical backdrop. After what little I witnessed it’s no surprise so many struggled with the choice between them and the Wizard. Luckily they don’t disappoint. Showing every other doom band on the bill how to do it, they put on an incredible, pitch perfect show that has horns and beers raised. Jus’ voice is right on the money as he bellows his way through the tracks, clearly enjoying himself as they play out being one of the most down tuned rock acts on the planet. At the same catchy and crushing it’s a life affirming set that couldn’t fail to impress and doesn’t just continue the streak of excellent
bands tonight but takes it to a new level; and it’s a streak that’s continued as long as you ignore The Skull Defekts who are billed as Sweden’s answer to Sonic Youth and are just
warmth of the underground and to kick things off Eternal Tapestry take to Stage 2. Never has there been a more appropriate name for a band as they begin to weave long, intricately put together songs that you can’t help but be mesmerised by. In fact the only thing that stops me from pushing forward and seeing the whole set is the subtle whisper that Selfless are setting up. Selfless, featuring members of Fukpig, I Am Colossus and Police Bastard, destroy the Old Library. Their hard hitting, crusty hardcore is something to be marvelled at as Drunk sets about the vothat...a Sonic Youth rip off, which cals in his typical abrawas great yano...when Sonic Youth sive way while the rest were doing it. band batter their instruSo it’s up to Zombi to close the ments, creating a noise night and while they might sound that at once echoes back
more chilled and spacey on record tonight it’s an incredibly loud and heavy set. Sounding more cinematic in the live environment it’s like having a soundtrack to every movement you make. The speakers rumble as both members look incredibly calm and collected, concentrating on their music and putting out the perfect set to end the night. Now Sunday is a strange on. If Saturday was more about the bands that would pull in a crowd than Sunday nuzzles itself into the
Page 11 well on record it’s hard to really be dragged into it live. In fact it’s painful to stand in the room while it’s on as he goes about destroying music just like Merzbow did in his early years (for those of you unfamiliar with noise I mean this in the best possible way) and it proves too much for most. Fifteen minutes in he walks off stage, allowing people to escape, ears bleeding from
to see some of the most surreal pieces of brilliance to come of out off the psychedelic era are reduced to an ego trip for the one remaining member, SIMEON. In fact the rather straight up heavy metal of ENVY is much more interesting. Putting in an energetic performance their pre-metalcore mix of screaming and singing, along with bouts of electronica might not
the chaos, apparently he comes on again to put what remains of the audience through it all over again but iconAclass are starting up in Boxxed so most are over there. Combining electronics with rap might not seem too original for anyone who listens to the repetitive beats of various “I’m gonna get drunk and fuck some bitches” R’n’B tracks that have flooded the charts between Jus-
sound too original now but considering these guys have been putting in the hours since 1992 it’s not hard to see how far their influence have spread. Crashing drums mix with furious riffs and the vocalist, who on first sight seems rather unassuming goes on to give a massive performance that rivals some of the much better known bands on the bill. After ENVY I allow myself a moment of personal gratification and head over to the cinema to catch a special showing of Susperia. This horror classic has lost none of its ability to shock as the way Dario Argentino tells this dreamlike tale allows you to look past the buckets of florescent blood and typical 70’s horror acting to be drawn into the truly creepy tale. Of course the classic Goblin soundtrack, with all the demonic growls and ear ringingly loud crescendos does so much to increase the feeling of dread and make this a film that stays with you, even after the punk rock, Village People, extravaganza that is Turbonegro. Breaking into tracks like All My Friends are Dead soon gets the crowd going despite having made their way through three days of music, and Tony Sylvester goes about proving he’s actually better than Hank. Looking like a camp English gent he controls the crowd and is a commanding presence on stage, telling bad taste jokes about Gaddafi and Steve Jobs, while the rest of the band plough through a back catalogue so full of energy and humour that it’s impossible not to get drawn in. Also notable are the first pits of the weekend, coming in at a late hour and showing that you don’t always have to be clever, or have massive ideas to play music that will destroy and entertain the crowd. It’s an awesome spectacle and the perfect way to end Supersonic.
to classic U.K. crust and brings it smashing up to date. The inclusion of Johnny Doom, who you might know off Kerrang! Radio but he doesn’t want to talk about that, for the final tracks of the set (including the bril-
liant Dead Kennedys-esque sing along of “Religion...Fuck Off!”) shows that there’s still some unison in the Birmingham scene and gives the grinding set a rather heart warming end for anyone who has seen the decline in recent years. For Astro to follow this, his first U.K. show or not, was always going to be hard and while his extreme noise might work
tin Beiber and the X Factor but when iconAclass do it they bring with it the sense of something real. Dälek’s rapping reminds of Sean Price, who recently collaborated with Deathwish signings Cold World, gritty and dark while DJ Motiv creates heavy, noisy beats behind him to create something that keeps even the metalheads in the crowd happy. Silver Apples follow but can’t compete. The influential career this band built in the 60’s fails to come across as a solo act and it’s a shame
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by Sophia Disgrace Burlesque! Welcome to your one stop drop for all the news on the best burlesque nights, in the capital and beyond! My name is Sophia Disgrace and I’ve performed at numerous events in the U.K and abroad, from festivals to the most exclusive clubs. I tend perform in a neo burlesque style and often incorparate other elements, such as fire play, into my routines. Burlesque - or 'the art of tease' as it’s also known, first rose to prominence in the 1950's; in recent years it’s enjoyed something of a revival, with stars such as Dita Von Teese helping to popularise the scene once again. London as ever is at the fore front of this movement, which is both alluring and inspiring for men and women alike. Here are my pick of all things burlesque this month... The Secret Rendevous McQueen Bar,Hoxton and Shoreditch,London Thursday 10rd November 2011(Weekly) From 9pm until late. A rather elusive night, Secret Rendevous is a free - yes that’s right free!- event, which promises 'different surprises every night’. It’s held at the McQueen bar, which has recently been revamped to include live music, DJs and cabaret on alternate nights.Its interior is rather unique - it is based on the iconic Steve McQueen’s actual home! Bands,Burlesque and Beats Ginglik, London Saturday 12th November 2012 From 7pm until late. A night that’s sure to sell out quick (so grab your tickets asap!), Bands, Burlesque and Beats does exactly what it says on the tin, with a line up of two bands, three DJs and a Burlesque Troupe aka The Folly Mixtures. Musical offerings will include rock, electro, hip hop and more, whilst The Folly Mixtures bring fan dance, sexy office girls, balloon pops and of course striptease to the table. Tickets are £6.00 on the door,before 11pm, £8.00 after. La Soiree The Roundhouse, Camden, London From the 23rd November to January 2012 Showtimes start from 7pm Sundays, 8pm Tues-Thurs and 10pm Fri-Sat. After a successful stint touring venues world wide, from New York to Sydney, La Soiree is back in London just in time for Christmas. Expect an edgy extravaganza of cabaret, burlesque, comedy and more.The ever changing,
vaudevillian inspired line up includes performers from the award winning 'La Clique'. Mayhem, frivolity and more than a touch of mischief is guaranteed! Please note,due to the nature of some of the performances,this event is over 18's only. Tickets prices vary, contact The Camden Roundhouse Box Office for more information on 0844 482 8008 This months velvet curtain reveals...
Burlesque Spotlight! Miss Boudoirs Photography and Styling Sessions for Women Studios are based in Cheshire and Lancashire. Fancy a day of pampering and decadence with a twist? Why not book yourself (or if you’re feeling generous a loved one) in for a make over and photography session with a difference, at Miss Boudoir! Run by award winning photographer and digital artist Emma, Miss Boudoir specializes in pin up and vintage photography as well as wedding, erotic and commercial . Various packages are available, and are all set in sumptutous surroundings befitting of the themes afore mentioned, which once booked are yours and yours alone for the session in hand.Embrace your inner starlet! Refer to www.missboudoir.com online for further information.
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by Matthew Tilt It has been 15 years since critically acclaimed director Lars von Trier told us the story of a naive young girl called Bess and her almost martyr like trials in the name of love. The film was Breaking the Waves and despite it making a loss at the box office, with its powerful themes, strong performances and original style - based on the Dogme 95 movement von Trier helped found - made a name for both the director and the at the time relatively unknown actress Emily Watson. Working as the first part of the Golden Heart trilogy, that would later include The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000), the film is based loosely around a fairy tale of the same name where a girl gives up so much of herself that she is literally used up. Von Trier took this idea and effectively stripped the happy ending away from it, and with Breaking the Waves he created the ideal good girl, made perfect with a painfully innocent performance by Watson. The story re volves around Bess, a childlike young woman brought up in a dogmatic, religious c o m munity in Scotland. Her world changes drastically when she marries an oil worker named Jan, a choice which is met with disdain by the people around her because of Jan’s status as an outsider. When Jan is involved in a near fatal accident, that leaves him both paralysed and traumatised, Bess feels a tremendous amount of guilt, having prayed for him to return early; actually believing that her selfishness, in wanting her husband back, has caused
this accident. Her relationship with God grows stranger yet when Jan requests that she seek out other men as he can no longer make love to her. Bess’ first encounters are comically innocent, as are her descriptions to Jan, whose condition appears to miraculously improve after each retelling before drastically worsening while she is away. It is these drastic changes in Jan’s state that lead Bess to believe that she is playing an active part in aiding his recovery, refusing to listen to her friend Dodo’s desperate pleas as her sexual encounters become more dangerous, ending with a final, tragic encounter out on a ship with the brutal captain (played with a near satanic menace by Udo Kier). It’s a story that easily could have been overplayed by a lesser director, but with von Trier’s brutally realistic style it packs the emotional punch needed while subtly criticising religion, making those who take a more atheist view more likable
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in the head”. At the same time Bess is labelled a whore by the village elders and pushed out of her community blindly pushing her further down the path of self d e st r u c t i on that they criticise her for. Everyone involved embraces the script (co written by von Trier), perfectly suiting von Trier’s realistic style by approaching each meeting with an awkward, almost adlibbed style that portrays the difficultly in accepting
feel truly touched by her.
as they attempt to offer real help and support to Bess. Dodo remains by her side despite Bess’ almost spiteful comments towards her as Jan continues to worsen, while Dr. Richardson rebuffs her advances, both of them telling her that Jan has asked her to do is due to the brain damage he suffered in the accident, something that Jan himself seemingly realises when he clumsily writes the words “Kill me, I am sick
what is occurring around them but it is Watson’s Oscar nominated, scarily real and innocent performance that makes this film. Unknown at the time, she got the role after Helena Bonham Carter dropped out, a piece of serendipity at its best as Watson makes the role her own, taking an admittedly horrifying but schmaltzy role about never ending love and creates a character so powerful that by the end of the film you
Watson and Stellan Starsgård (Jan) have a great chemistry on screen as their relationship swings from loving and genuinely touching, to volatile as Bess struggles to cope with the idea of the more free spirited Jan leaving to work on an oil rig and it becomes clear during this period that the overbearing nature of the people around her has given Bess an almost schizophrenic relationship with God, to the point where she voices his words when she prays. Her self-deprecating discussions with God are deeply disturbing as you realise how conflicted this young girl is, battling with what she wants and what she feels she must do. The film was quite rightly a critical success, winning the Grand Prize of the Jury and nominated for the Golden
Palm at Cannes Film Festival while both Martin Scorsese and Roger Ebert named it as one of the ten best films of the decade. It was a film that gave von Trier international recognition as one of the most powerful directors of his generation, while gaining newcomer Watson acclaim and kick starting her film career. While von Trier would visit these same themes of love and innocence in the subsequent films of his Golden Heart trilogy, neither would be as controversial, as heart wrenching or as powerful as this one and while some could argue that the ending is too cheesy for the film and that it ends ten minutes too late; after the two and half hour journey this film takes you cannot help but embrace the tragic yet ultimately uplifting and miraculous ending.
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by Denise Britt and Jay Nanda - Images Denise Britt Once again our lovely Denise takes us to sunny Texas, this time to get her rock on as she showcases the likes of SAXON, LITA FORD, WARRANT, QUIET RIOT and DIO DISCIPLES over a two day weekend of classic rock goodness!
DAY ONE Another Texas festival so soon you ask? Well, kind of. I wouldn’t call it a true festival myself. More like two evenings of several short sets of some great and some not so great music. The great music of the first evening was provided by five San Antonio teens: The Next Day busted out with Diamond Head's "Am I
Evil" and ended with Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name”. Really? And they sounded phenomenal. I’m pretty sure I stood there with my mouth hanging open the whole set. You can check these young rock stars out at their myspace page. www.myspace.com/thenextday The next “great” set of the evening went to Warrant. Ok, to me this was THE set. I was really hesitant to get too excited to see these guys. I cried for days after Jani Lane passed away this summer. But, Jani hadn’t been with Warrant in years. Robert Mason (who also sang with Cry of Love, Big Cock and Lynch Mob) has been the lead vocalist since 2008 and he proved that he was the perfect choice that night. He sang every song with so much passion and intensity! Warrant played crowd favourites “Down Boys”, “DRFSR”, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and of course “Cherry Pie”, but when they played “Sometimes She Cries”, “Heaven” and “I Saw Red”, all I could do was stand there and cry. I can honestly say that that was the hardest concert I’ve ever reviewed, photographed, or been a part of. It was bittersweet. If you haven’t listened to Warrant in a while you may want to give them a listen. They even have a new CD full of brand new music, ‘Rockaholic’. Get it! Next we are off to check out Quiet Riot, or as I like to call them, “The Frankie Banali Band”. Frankie is the only remaining member of the original QR as all of you probably know. Frankie also recorded 8 albums with WASP. Why he is not mentioned more as one of rocks greatest drummers I will never know. After Kevin Dubrow passed away in 2007, Banali said that would be the end of Quiet Riot. But Banali changed his mind and hired vocalist Mark Huff to go with bassist Chuck Wright and guitarist Alex Grossi. It simply was not Quiet Riot. I didn’t like it. Don’t get me wrong, these guys are all very talented musicians; they just were not QR or anything close to it. The crowd did seem to enjoy the show however and that’s what it is all about. I thought it was very classy when Frankie came out from behind his drums and requested a moment of silence in honor of Randy Rhodes and Kevin Dubrow. Nice guy that Frankie. Headlining the evening were British Rock Royalty, SAXON! Did you know that the original name of this group was “Son of a Bitch”? Yeah, me neither. These guys have been recording and touring since 1976. They have released 19 albums. Two remaining original members (Biff Byford, lead vocals and Paul Quinn, rhythm guitar) have been doing this together for 35 years. Crazy isn’t it? I had a chat with Biff Byford earlier in the day and he told me how happy they were to be back in San Antonio and that he con-
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sidered SA his second home. He also shared with me that whether playing for 90,000 people (as they did in Germany) or playing for 2000 people (close to STRF attendance) as long as the fans were happy, they were happy. And the fans were happy! What a performance. Biff is 62 years old and he performed like a man half his age. Hell he performed with more energy than the teenagers that played earlier in the day. They never faltered. The set list was as follows; Hammer of the Gods, Heavy Metal Thunder, Never Surrender, Chasing The Bullet, Motorcycle Man, Back In '79, And The Bands Played On, Call To Arms, Rock N' Roll Gypsy, This Town Rocks, When Doomsday Comes, Denim & Leather, Princess Of The Night. (Encores) - Crusader, 747 (Strangers In The Night), guitar solo, Power And The Glory, Strong Arm Of The Law, Wheels Of Steel. You Brits should be mighty proud to call this band your own. I know San Antonio is proud to claim them as well. DAY TWO The skies are once again grey. Didn’t I just get rained on at ACL Festival? Oh well, off we go. On today’s Rock menu we are seeing Stephen Pearcy, Pretty Boy Floyd, Dio Disciples and Lita Ford. UFO is headlining today’s show but I fall ill and have to exit stage left before they take the stage. The review of the UFO show will be given courtesy of my good friend, San Antonio’s own Jay Nanda from the San Antonio Metal Examiner. First of all let me tell you all that upon arriving on Saturday we caught the ending of Dio Disciples sound check. What a treat. Almost a concert in itself. More on these rock gods later. Rain, rain go away. It sprinkled just enough to screw things up. Due to equipment issues everyone’s sets had been cut down in time. Pretty Boy Floyd had to completely break down set and change stages leaving them with only enough time for 5 songs. They pulled it together like true professionals and played the hell out of those 5 songs though. AND they looked pretty while doing it. Stephen Pearcy’s set also got cut down from 50 minutes to 30 minutes. Seems that Stephen didn’t realize this until the last bit of ‘Round and Round’ was cut. I mean cut…. sound and lights gone. Wow. I find it hard to believe that 2-3 more minutes would have made a huge difference. I thought that was very unprofessional and so did Pearcy’s drummer who was so pissed he threw the drum kit clean off the stage. Come on dude, really? Poor Stephen thought he was in El Paso all night. Good thing that his vocals were just as kick ass now as they were way back when. He did get to play all my RATT favorites including, You’re In Love, Lay It Down, Lack Of Communication, Wanted Man, and Round And Round. Or shall I say, most of Round And Round…which the crowd went on and finished for them anyway. Next is the mighty Dio Disciples. The best way to describe who Dio Disciples are comes from the late, great Ronnie James Dio’s wife, Wendy. This is what was posted on RJD Fan page: Dear Friends, I wanted to let you know that Rudy, Simon, Craig and Scott will be playing some shows in Europe together with Ripper Owens and Toby Jepson as DIO Disciples. There will never be another Ronnie, but we want to keep his music alive and hope you will support the band and become one of the DIO Disciples. With Love, Wendy The whole vibe changed when they took control of the main stage. I could almost feel the spirit of RJD all around us, holding up his rock hands, smiling proudly. These guys rock. I mean ROCK. If there was a picture in the dictionary of Rock n Roll, these guys would be it. I don’t know that I have ever heard such perfect vocals from anyone, much less two men in one band. Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and Toby Jepson were the perfect choice to front this band. Along with guitarist Craig Goldy, bassist Rudy Sarzo, keyboardist Scott Warren and drummer Simon Wright . Supergroup? I would say so. What a perfect tribute to one of the world’s greatest rockers of all time. The almost perfect set list was as follows: Stand Up And Shout, Holy Diver, Kill The King, Egypt (The Chains Are
On); Catch The Rainbow, The Mob Rules, All The Fools Sailed Away, The Last In Line, Long Live Rock N' Roll, Man On The Silver Mountain, Heaven And Hell. Encore: We Rock. Do your ears a favour and give this Supergroup a listen. A special thank you to Wendy for taking time to visit with us and share her thoughts about the band and Ronnie. RIP mighty RJD, you are missed. Lita Ford takes the stage with her trademark long, blonde hair flying behind her in the wind. She looks great. From a distance she looks just the same as she did 30 years ago. She belted out "Gotta Let Go," "Back To The Cave," "Dressed To Kill," and "Dancing On The Edge” to name a few. Although the sound wasn’t top notch on the second stage she never let up. Her fans loved her and she seemed to love performing. Rock hands up to one of the pioneering women of rock n roll. Thanks for paving the way for women in rock Lita! Thank you to Jay Nanda of the SAME for the following. Thanks to the weather and the tiring-for-some long weekend of rock, the crowd may have been 2,000 at best once UFO took the stage as the fest's final act. Their 90-minute set featured "I'm A Loser" and the powerhouse classics "Lights Out," "Rock Bottom," and "Doctor Doctor" before lone encore "Shoot Shoot." Guitarist Vinnie Moore and original drummer Andy Parker shined on an extended jam session version of "Rock Bottom." Just as much a highlight, however, was Mogg's comical relief. After the first two songs, the 63-year-old vocalist walked back to the base of the drum set for a Gatorade breather, only to return to the mic and joke, "That's a long way to go" for a drink. At one point, Mogg also said the band was going to play a medley of Gordon Lightfoot folk songs (one nearby fan actually groaned thinking Mogg was serious). Mogg also thanked the crowd in seven different languages, and before "Rock Bottom," he said he enjoyed the fest's other bands "as I'm going to enjoy my Hustler magazine later". As the band left the stage, Mogg gave
thanks to a pair of male fans displaying an English banner by saying, "Love the flag." A great weekend for some classic rock and roll. Nothing fancy but all in all…a jolly good show. See ya next year!
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by Cristina Massei The London date of new rock gathering Smokehead Rocks may not start under the best premises: a Wednesday, an early start and a late finish. But for those who know the true meaning of rock’n’roll and are indeed missing it, this a hell of a present from the renowned scotch brand, pushing its way into the world of live music sponsorship. Smokehead Rocks’s bill gives stage to quite a few young names with a classic, old school taste to them, and in Islington Academy today the concept of time is pleasantly blurry. We miss some of the act but make it on time to catch Dynazty. The Swedes’ debut album only saw the light in 2009, yet they have the hair, the harmonies and that hint of sleaze that would make them just the perfect openers for someone like Whitesnake, Ratt or Europe. They just released second album ‘Knock You Down’, make sure you check them out next time you’re craving a dose of high quality Scandinavian melodic rock. In between acts, the soundtrack is courtesy of Mr Crashdiet Simon Cruz, picking some sleazy numbers that would make every Decadence reveller happy; now I know why he’s often invited to take over the console at London’s Saturday night’ hair metal heaven. By the way, don’t miss Crashdiet playing with Michael Monroe and Wednesday 13 soon!
their powerful melodic rock sound and a second album rich of AOR gems – ‘Last Woman Standing’. Now, this lot has actually been around for a while, but the addition of new lead vocalist Sebastian Roos turns them into a whole different, more charismatic creature.
Young newcomers Tainted Nation bring the UK back into the game
His enthralling presence – somewhere between Glenn Hughes and Steven Tyler – makes Miss Behaviour a band that needs to be seen live. It’s now time for Jettblack to even the score again for the UK . The incendiary four-piece gets better with every show and leaves
wond e ring how they’re not ‘there’ just yet. It’s not only the memorable hooks, the energy, the stage presence, their musical abilities or – I’m still a woman after all – how easy they are on the eyes: is that natural chemistry, the fact they’re having a great time together and love what they’re doing, so much you can breathe it even from the back of the room. Keep your eyes peeled for the new album coming soon, these guys deserve a proper break. And now, finally, we give you Conny Bloom and his Electric Boys to end this night of rock’n’roll with a true blast from the past. As classics ‘Groovus Maximus’ and ‘Mary in The Mistery World’ blend with tracks from 2011’ comeback album ‘And Them Boys Done Swang’, the iconic funk rockers show London they’ve got their groove back and – hopefully – they’ll be around for a while. And as I start working on my letter to Santa, any chance for another gig? Maybe with Ginger as support and a couple of Sillver Ginger 5 jam sessions thrown in? Surely many arrived at the Academy today tired from the first part of their working week, wondering if they could face the second after a long Wednesday out and if this was really such a good idea… but I bet that, as they leave the venue, they feel their batteries have been recharged more than they ever did over a full lazy weekend. Bring it on Smokehead.
Next on SMOKEHEAD ROCKS! Smokehead Rocks continues to offer great value in live music, but in response to fans recent feedback has revised the line-up for the November tour by tightening up the offering to include a traditionally two band strong bill. With longer sets from both Airrace & Vega fans really can enjoy some of the best of British rock music. It took a 25th anniversary re-issue of ‘Shaft Of Light’ to reunite Airrace in 2009. ‘Back To The Start’, the along-awaited second album from Airrace. it’s a notch heavier than ‘Shaft Of Light’ yet continues to offer all of the group’s trademarks, including über-memorable hooks and the exquisite singing of Keith Murrell, recently named at #20 in Classic Rock Presents AOR magazine’s list of the Top 40 AOR Vocalists Of All Time. Airrace look forward to hitting the road in support of ‘Back To The Start’ – don’t miss the band that once moved journalist Derek Oliver to pronounce in the pages of Kerrang! that anyone who didn’t like Airrace “ought to be shot”. With ‘Back to the Start’ Airrace are “as strong & compelling as ever” -Dave Cockett, Classic Rock presents AOR. with a colourful, energetic performance. Well, the band may be new, but its members are no new kids on the block: boasting members of Eden’s Curse, Lionsheart, The Poodles and Firewind, Tainted Nation are set to make their mark soon with debut album F.E.A.R., and tonight their set attracts interest from public and critics alike. After conquering an enthusiastic fan base while supporting fellow Swedish Houston, Miss Behaviour return to the UK with
Vega feature former KICK vocalist Nick Workman and the successful song writing partnership of Tom and James Martin (House of Lords, Ted Poley of Danger Danger to name but a few) and have taken the melodic rock world by storm with their debut album, ‘Kiss of Life’. With a second album already in the bag the band are excited to add their own new angle to AOR. As Classic Rock says “Thank the lord for Vega: four youthful Brits whose soaring, adventurous sound is matched only by their swagger” –Dave Ling.
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LIVE! Sonic Shocks
by Cristina Massei In the eternal quest between good and bad, God decided to create Christmas to cheer us up from the winter blues and, to answer that, Satan created Halloween. He replaced feel-good movies with horror flicks, carols singing with trick-or-treating, trees with pumpkins, but the hardest thing to replace was Santa… until, in a moment of true genius, he created Alice Cooper. Halloween 2011’s biggest party takes place in an unusual yet apt location: Alexandra Palace dominates London from the top of a hill, surrounded by sinister woodlands, barricading it from the ‘civilized’ malls and traffic of Wood Green. Inside, inebriated zombies, fairies, trolls and superheroes crawl around the bars waiting for the show to kick off.
Alexandra Palace, London - 29th October 2011
After a top notch support in the evergreen New York Dolls, the spooky crowd is ready to welcome uncle Alice and his legendary nightmares. Black Widow opens proceedings;
the choreography is the same we’ve seen at Download, with our hero in a spider costume preaching from an extraordinarily tall stand, terrifying kids and – mostly – ladies with his eight legs drawing creepy shadows in the thick smoke. The set list is a theatrical, colourful collage of new, old and even older; ‘I’ll bite your face off ’ blends perfectly between Eighties numbers and Seventies classics, with a few unexpected gems making a rare appearance. The visuals –as always in Alice Cooper’s world – are a primary element of the show, yet the spotlight is on one of the most charismatic, original and creative artists the rock scene has ever witness and his impeccable performance. An exquisite medley of ‘School’s Out’ and Pink Floyd ‘The Wall’ and special guest Arthur Brown with his rendition of ’68 classic ‘Fire’ are the icing on this ghoulish Halloween cake. Monstrous. As the amazing man that is Alice Cooper let us shoot the whole set,
November 2011
I will humbly let the images do the talk now, next to the set list for this scaringly awesome night. May he live forever - in whatever form - because it won’t be Halloween again without Alice Cooper. Black Widow Brutal Planet I'm Eighteen Under My Wheels Billion Dollar Babies No More Mr Nice Guy Hey Stoopid Is It My Body Halo Of Flies I'll Bite Your Face Off Muscle Of Love Only Women Bleed Cold Ethyl Feed My Frankenstein Clones (We're All) Poison Wicked Young Man Killer/I Love The Dead School's Out/Another Brick In The Wall Elected Fire (with Arthur Brown)
LIVE! Sonic Shocks
November 2011
tion mark was -while it has been proved by now that Ginger is a crowd pleaser whatever his latest
by Cristina Massei Tonight’s show at the Garage has been sold out for a while; nothing new for the two frontmen entertaining this Sunday revellers, as both Motorhead and Wildhearts have filled much bigger venues than this. The big ques-
incarnation – would Lemmy’s rockabilly side project get the same success at its UK debut as the iconic singer’s main band? As early sales dissipated all doubts, was finally time to discover what kind of audience we would find and, most of all, if Head Cat were actually any good.
The crowd: what a mind-blowing mesh. Punk, metal, Fifties, glam, and those middle aged ones you used to see at every gig and now only stick their nose out in very few special occasions. This must definitely be one of those few. Ginger’s acoustic set is the perfect warm up for what feels like an evening with friends, beer and some straightforward rock’n’roll. What is it about those old Wildhearts tunes, giving you goose bumps no matter if in their full electric or acoustic form… probably would be the same with an harmonica and my mum’s kitchen’s utensils! Ah, the simple joys of good song writing. Time for Lemmy to team up with legendary Stray Cats man Jim Slim Phantom and Danny B.Harvey and finally justify that eternal cowboy hat with some healthily
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The Relentless Garage, London - 16th October 2011 punked up Americana. His raspy voice perfectly complements the Head Cat rockabilly repertoire, it’s a long enough set and the sold out Garage audience is clearly enjoying themselves. Improvised dancing circles, with the help of too much cheap ale, make this a very different scenario from that of a Motorhead gig, although just as hot and sweaty. There are no real highlights, partly because most people are here for Lemmy but don’t really know the songs, but also the nature of the
music itself makes this an equally pleasant show from beginning to end. ‘It’s only rock’n’roll but I like it’, as someone said once, could sum up tonight’s gig. And if just to satisfy any possible sing along cravings, Head Cat throw in some numbers everyone MUST know, like Suzie Q and THE rock’n’roll classic that is Blues Suede Shoes. Sure it wasn’t Motorhead, but is that such a bad thing in 2011? No, didn’t think so. More of the same please.
HMV Forum, London - 28th October
by Cristina Massei
Now, it’s Bowling For Soup so it’s clearly going to be fun. Doesn’t matter how fun, we just came to the point with this band where we take it for granted. The big expectations and curiosity lie therefore with the support acts, picked by Jaret Reddick himself. I miss Orange unfortunately – at least the visual part, as I can hear it all while interviewing BFS Erik up-
stairs; a total shame, as I’ve seen them before and I know how good they are on stage, but if you haven’t had a chance please make sure you check them out next time they assault a venue near you. What a perfect choice of opening for a feel-good evening like this. As I fly down the stairs in the backstage area and get lost – as usual – a kind (and indeed cute) guy holding a trumpet shows me the way out. Back from the main door and to the front, I’m right on time to catch… the guy with the trumpet and his awesome band: the Suburban Legends. A band
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never heard about before. One of those bands that makes me curse half of the junk covering my desk and wonder how a similar miracle has so far gone under the radar. And it’s not just my radar needing a good reset: their Facebook page still hasn’t hit 10,000 likes,
which makes me cringe and scream in agony when Black Veil Brides have over 1 million. Now, how do I describe this? They’re classified as ‘ska’, which I find only expresses a tiny fraction of what these guys are. There’s much else, even rockabilly in there, but overall an extraordinary energy, sense of humour, a total magic staged by six handsome lads… Actually, I’m not even sure they were handsome: the whole world looks handsome when they play, a bit like when you drink too much beer. And the moves! Ah, the moves, the comedy, the trumpets, and all of the above is not a fog to hide lack of good songs: instead, it’s a glowing frame for some of catchiest, most brilliant tunes I’ve heard in a long while. I think I’m in love. Any other band should be shitting their pants when following Suburban Legends on stage; thank fuck Bowling For Soup are not just ‘any other band’ and, with a setlist including all of their singles for the first time, they get THE sing-along going for tonight’s sold out crowd. It is, in fact, one unique sing-along from the first song to the last, coupled with an ocean of arms waiving in the air, some intensive bouncing and the most smiling audience the Forum has ever seen. From ‘I’m Gay’ to ‘The Girl All The Bad Guys Want’, through the ‘Bitch Song’, ‘1985’ and oh, ‘The Summer of ‘69’ – happy version – Bowling for Soup run a rollercoaster of fun and good vibes towing
everyone along for the ride, from the front to the back rows. And it wouldn’t be a proper party without a bar, so here is one, right on stage, for some lucky competition winners… Jaret & Co are always amazing live, you know for sure they will deliver each and every time, but this was THE Bowling For Soup show. The choice of support acts and set list made it a night that will be hard to match and if you are a fan of Bowling for Soup, pop punk or just having a good time, I truly hope you were there. As the girl walks, the wind blows
and the angels sing – aka ‘TGATBGW’ fades in the background – an army of joyful people invades the streets of Kentish Town; if joy is contagious, this is going to be a sickly good night in North London.
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November 2011
Shepherds Bush Empire , London - 31st October 2011
by Dan Balchin On a mild Halloween evening, Shepherds Bush Empire hosted an evening like no other. Steven Wilson, lead singer of Porcupine Tree and musical virtuoso played his first ever solo performance in London. I must admit, on hearing this news, I was a little stunned; more so given his back catalogue of work and my assumption that he toured them in a similar manner. However, there is no doubt that fans from up and down the country had turned up to witness the spectacle. Having followed Steven’s Facebook page, it was clear that he had been planning something special for some time and on reading the other day, as posted by Steven ‘We are still fine tuning... with so much going on in terms of the execution of the music, the surround sound, films, screens, etc..’ This simply built the atmosphere even higher than previously expected. Having arrived at the venue at 7.30pm and with knowledge that Steven Wilson would be taking to the stage shortly after 8.30pm, it gave me plenty of time to get accustomed with the stage setup and visuals. With a screen draped down from the ceiling, imagery was projected onto it and alternated every few minutes, whilst eerie and haunting sounds filled the venue. At this
point it felt a little more Halloweenesque. On a personal level, the screens looked more effective further back, but with a front row seat it certainly made up for it with the intimate feel of the gig once the band took to the stage. Applause heightened as each membertook to the stage and joined in an introductory jam. Wilson, looking iconic with his shoes and socks off, beamed with delight as he welcomed the cheers from the audience. The first few songs were played behind the screen, whilst band members moved in and out of silhouette. This was certainly an innovative move and the surround sound element seemed apparent from the moment the first beat of the drum thumped out. The set featured songs predominantly off of Wilson’s latest effort ‘Grace For Drowning’, however the inclusion of favourites off of ‘Insurgents’ made for a well rounded and very enjoyable set. It has to be said that quite often longer pieces of work, as Wilson creates so well can be troublesome to create in a live setting, however a pinnacle moment of the night came with a stunning rendition of ‘Raider II’. The guitar work from Steven was phenomenal and inspiring. A definite highlight of the night. I must also point out how fantastic ‘Deform to Form a Star’ sounded and I was particularly impressed with how gentle, yet powerful the melodies came across; complete with Wilson’s emotional delivery. With bass guitar work courtesy of Nick Beggs, who has worked with many well known artists of his time including Steve Hackett, forgetting
not his contribution with the mighty Kajagoogoo which began his rise to the top. Nevertheless, the sound and the technical prowess on display made him a worthy member of tonight’s band line-up. He also showcased an instrument I had never seen, or heard live before; the Chapman Stick instrument (a twohanded fretboard tapping creation). Aziz Ibrahim was on hand to demonstrate his abilities and through a range of classic guitars and some unique laser gloves and novel objects to create weird and wonderful sounds, he provided much of the rhythmic passages during the evening; more so when Wilson took to the keys. Interestingly enough and in keeping with current news trends, Ibrahim played the last ever Stone Roses show back in 1996. He also has a commendable history and did a superb job. However, one member really stole the show at times and that was percussion extraordinaire Marco Minnemann. Perhaps naively, I had never heard of Minnemann or where he came from, but after hearing his double foot work, he really assisted in moving the album to a live setting and it felt far punchier at the Empire than I had recalled from the studio sound. Of course, this made me want to return to the album immediately after getting home and thus his contribution was certainly notable. A very memorable and enjoyable experience. Well done Steven!
CUTTING EDGE presents
Drugdealer Cheerleader farewell show Underworld, 20th October 2011 by Cristina Massei And I finally made it to one of Cutting Edge infamous showcases! It’s a special occasion, as one of London’s eternal underground band chooses the Underworld tonight for its last ever gig: ladies and gentlemen, please say goodbye to Drugdealer Cheerleader… But back to this later on. Although I didn’t manage to catch all of the bands on display today, I’d like to spend a few more words on Cutting Edge and the lovely people behind it. Camden Underworld is the perfect scenario for such a tsunami of raw talent; I wish more music fans were still hungry for new discoveries and supporting their local artists, and I also wish industry types were taking opportunities like these to bathe in a pool of potential stars of tomorrow. Now, the bands: I manage to catch the genre earthquake that is Trash Monroe… Sounds bad? Well it isn’t bad at all actually. Scary? Maybe. The female-fronted outfit mixes a bit of everything in between punk and rock and some more, but oddly it all seems to make sense in an artistically chaotic way. They’re from Essex, not too far, so hopefully we’ll get a chance to catch them again in London, and this time we’ll be prepared! Next on is Kitty Lipps, and with a name like that you should already know what you’re going to get. If you had any doubt, here comes this little yet very loud frontman in golden spandex launching into a Sunset Strip inspired set. I can imagine what you’re thinking, but then again, didn’t we all laugh at the Darkness the first time they appeared on stage? I still remember my shock as Justin Hawkins opened for no-frills-just-rock masters The Wildhearts, many years ago at the Astoria… So don’t laugh just yet. And then, between a few drinks and some pretty awesome spinning choices – courtesy of tonight’s designated DJ Mr Alan Hicks – it’s time for the headliners to take stage for the last time. For the past 10+ years, Drugdealer Cheerleader have been some kind of institution on the London rock circuit. They must have played live in every venue at least 5 times a year. If you didn’t know what to do one night, you could be sure you could find a DDCL gig somewhere. Most importantly, you knew you could take you mum, your mates, your date and even your naughty bit on the side, as that was the awesome thing about DDCL: they’d go with everything, a bit like bread. Maybe they were nothing new, maybe they wouldn’t make a mouth-watering meal on their own, but they could make a lot of things taste better. They had those tunes that wouldn’t make it to the Top Ten but would always get them gigs, everywhere, with anyone. Actually, you know what the other cool thing about DDCL? DDCL. They didn’t have fans, they had friends, and they were always been supporting the other bands on the scene consistently, as I’m sure they’ll keep doing – and I bet they won’t resist the chance to jump on stage now and then. Farewell to Drugdealer Cheerleader, see you soon to Hilda, Ringo and the others, as I’m sure London still hasn’t heard the last of them.
Electric Ballroom, London - 14th October 2011
Words by Nelly Loriaux Images Cristina Massei Remember 2001 when 'Halo' exploded into the club scene, blew our mind away and propelled us to a night of frantic head banging? Fast forward to 2011: guess what, you get the chance to do it all over again. With the release of SOiL 10th anniversary edition of 'Scars', the boys (Adam Zadel and Tim King) are back in the UK for a 12 dates tour, and the cherry on top is original singer Ryan McCombs is joining them. 3 out of 5 founding members with Jon Wisocki(ex Staind) taking over the drums, it's going to be a blast. Their first show takes us to legendary Electric Ballroom, still standing despite the earlier riots. After a short intro from Thin Lizzy 'The Boys Are Back In Town', SOiL burst onstage and instantly re-conquer their loyal fans with 'Breaking Me Down', straight for the jugular. Song after
song, they pound our ears with select cuts from both 'Scars' and 'R.e.d.e.f.i.n.e', with Ryan teasingly asking the crowd if they remember them. The fans don't disappoint: furious moshing, ferocious sing along demonstrating they'd give an arm and a leg to be here tonight. Incidentally one fan goes a step further by brandish- ing his prosthetic leg towards Ryan. Without batting an eyelid and in true rock'n'roll style, Ryan takes a swig of Jagermeister from it. The end of the evening is approaching and you can feel that the crowd is feverishly waiting for THAT song. When the all too familiar crushing drums' beat of 'Halo' finally arrives, it sends the crowd
in a mass frenzy, an uproar of seismic magnitude that would probably register 8 on the Richter's scale. When SOiL leaves the stage, the crowd is gasping for more but with a strict curfew of 9.45pm an encore seems unlikely. Lights go up, roadies are starting to pack up the gear but the fans are undeterred, stomping their feet on the ground and screaming for more. It pays off, SOiL returns with 'Pride', perfect ending to the
evening. The music starts with you, the music ends with you, you make this happen', rightly says Ryan before disappearing. This has been 7 years in the making but it was worth the wait. Sitting on the stage, looking at the crowd chanting 'SOiL', Ryan seems transfixed by this sheer devotion, or maybe he's just happy to have buried the hatchet and be back with his old mates. Frankly tonight's set was so tight and flawless it seems that he had never left. Thanks boys for a great evening, you're right Tim, UK is definitely SOiL true home and tonight your loyal fans certainly showed that they haven't forgotten you.
LIVE! Sonic Shocks
November 2011
Page 19
The Electric Ballroom, Camden 3rd of November 2011
London, Purple Turtle - 2nd november 2011
by Sophia Disgrace
by Marcus J. West “It’s all about the blood and broken glass”: the (Kingston upon) Hull metallers returned to London at their distinctive, demolishing, full speed after successfully supporting mighty thrashers Evile on their recent UK tour and Gama Bomb in Europe. They are equipped to conquer with their brand new EP, Evolution, and are back to hold the line as the confident headliners, much to the delight of the impatient crowd who were dying to headbang to their furious notes. Frontman Liam Liddell’s untamable fervour fed the blaze which was a breathtaking version of the über fast Severance, a larger than life blast of incomparable blazing thrash, along with bandmates Jonny Barker (guitar,) Jonny Harper (drums) and Rob Ellwood (bass); it was the best possible intro for this mind-blowing show. The False Prophecy followed and hit hard with merciless, brutal, ferocity while The Rules of Engagement closed the evening majestically, albeit far, far too soon. Sworn Amongst played the intimate stage at the Purple Turtle as if it had been a headlining slot at Sonisphere, and to the fans it may as well have been. Epic is the word and nothing will stop them. Be prepared.
by Matt Dawson On one of the most explosive days of the year, it was time to venture again into the world of Damnation and - despite a last minute change with Decapitated sadly having to cancel their appearance following a plane crash - there were that this was going to be the strongest year yet. No better way to begin proceedings than by seeing A Man Called Catten perform - for one time only - a set of Medulla Nocte tracks and given the reaction of the fans - the true feeling of nostalgia could be felt throughout - The Cat came back and was welcomed with open arms. When it came to the heaviest band of the festival accolade, however, Conan’s vibrations of doom have to come pretty damn close, with the crowd slowly moving their heads as the songs built up to a grand climax; given the cheers that ensued from the crowd, there’s every possibility that the converted will grow from here. Evile once again released their energy, showing why they’re one of the figureheads in UK thrash at the moment and making a grand return to the festival for the first time since 2006 - back when the festival was set in Jilly’s Rockworld in
I’ve been lucky enough to have seen The Melvins before, a couple of years ago, when they shook The Garage to its very foundations. So, did they manage to deliver on my second outing? Hey, they’re The Melvins, of course they did! Still on a high after my pre-gig interview with them (See interview section for the skinny on this!), I was surprised to see the Ballroom was completely rammed, the gig a few years earlier had seemed a little less well attended. It would seem that after decades in the biz, The Melvins are ever growing in popularity and acclaim. The annoying thing about The Ballroom is, as esteemed a venue as it is, it does have more of a club feel to its interior, and thus many of the revellers acted out along these lines. The end result was that The Melvins played their crazed little hearts out as many milled around, pints splashing from side to drunken side, seemingly unaware of the mightiness before them. But pah! Perhaps I’m splitting hairs here - philistines and weird venue choices aside, the majority were , as I was, enraptured by The Melvins’ epic scale of skill and free spirited rhythms. Any other band who played as The Melvins do might be considered to be a tad on the self indulgent side: seemingly in their own little onstage bubble, The Melvins effortlessly stopped, started, altered tempos and tone and cleverly rendered well known tracks into unrecognisable ones with the sheer complexity of their sound. Fledgling Melvins fans seemed a touch unnerved by this unexpected burst of unpredictability, but no one could deny their immense freedom as a band and innate sense of evoking an atmosphere that was as foreboding as it was uplifting. Every thing you could want in a rock and roll gig could be found here: dingy, bluesy beats, a hugely diverse crowd, songs at times almost deafening that pounded your chest to its very core and the mesmerizing presence of King Buzzo’s fro – yes, it all was out in full force! Amazing gig, a satisfying mix of old and favoured tracks played out as The Melvins saw fit - and when they play, you listen.
Manchester. After the vigorous Stoke gig I attended fairly recently, there was no sign of the band slowing down today. Chthonic proved through songs such as ‘Forty Nine The Urgy Chains’, ‘Mirror Of Retribution’ and ‘Rise Of The Shadows’ how much ahead they are of their peers and, as Freddie told the crowd it was a dream come true to play the festival, a wave of power returned as a sign of thanks. We finally reach the conclusion with one of the
best sets of the year in Devin Townsend Project; as the scattering of mini Ziltoid hand puppets (yes they exist!) could be seen amongst the throng of people, the succession of songs from his extensive catalogue - including ‘Bad Devil’, ‘Stand’ ‘Om’ and of course Ziltoid - brought Damnation to a spectacular conclusion. It’s only a matter of time to see what 2012’s edition of one of the most diverse UK festivals around will bring.
Words and images by Chad Alexander New York’s Anthrax brought 2 of the Bay-Area’s own Testament and Death Angel to the House of Blues last night for an evening of THRASH!!!! Openers Death Angel hit the stage with a fury. Vocalist Mark Osegueda had the crowd into the show from the start. Makin the most of a seven song set, guitarists Rob Cavestany & Ted Aguilar along with new bassist Damien Sisson & drummer Will Carroll tore thru “Evil Priest”, “Seemingly-Endless Time” and “The Ultra-Violence” They played 2 songs off Nuclear Blast’s 2010 release “Claws In So Deep”, and the title track “Relentless Retribution”. I almost got caught up in a mosh pit going back to the crowd during “Claws In So Deep” but was saved by my new friend Tim. Testement Returned to San Diego for the 1st time since last years’ American Carnage tour with Megadeth & Slayer. The twin guitar assault from Alex Skolnick & Eric Peterson was a perfect complement to Greg Christian & John Tempesta handling the low end. Chuck Billy had the crowd in his palm all night and had the fans waiting for every word. Tearing through their catalog with “Over The Wall” “Into The Pit”, “DNR”, “Three Days Of Darkness” and 2008’s Nuclear Blast’s “More Than Meets The Eye”. Closing out the set with “Disciples Of The Watch” left me anticipating their 2012 release “The Dark Roots Of Evil”. Headliners Anthrax performed like they had something to prove. The most underrated of the “Big 4” showed they are no nostalgia act by opening with “Fight ‘em Till You Can’t” from the new album “Worship Music”. Quickly following with “Caught In A Mosh” the material blended seamlessly and had the crowd kicking up the pit several notches. Along with a few cover songs Trust’s “Anti-Social”, and one of the encores Sepultura’s “Refuse/Resist”, Scott Ian & Rob Caggiano switched off playing leads throughout the night. Frankie Bello & co-founder Charlie Benente played in perfect sync.
Many fans were witnessing the return of Vocalist Joey Belladonna for the first time and he did not disappoint. When he requested the whole floor turn into a mosh pit, drinks flew and bodies spun. Anyone that ever thought of Anthrax as the least threatening of the architects of thrash ate their words that night. Welcome back, guys.
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Megadeth
The Duel
Th1rt3en 31st October 2011 Roadrunner Records by Matt Dawson It’s always been a battle between Metallica and Megadeth in the clash of the thrash metal titans. From the similarities of ‘Mechanix’ and ‘The Four Horsemen’ to the timing of both Th1rt3en and Metallica’s collaboration with Lou Reed Lulu – also out on October 13th - there’s no sign of the competition slowing down, not a bad thing of course.
Slash –Feat Myles Kennedy
Made in Stoke 24/7/11 14th November 2011 Eagle Rock Entertainment by Cristina Massei
Slash doesn’t need an introduction. A standing ovation, more like. From the glory days of Guns’n’Roses to the latest star-studded solo album, through Snakepit and Velvet Revolver and various collaborations – including odd ones like Michael Jackson – there’s no project where this man’s talent didn’t shine. Refreshingly, in Slash we have an artist that holds his place firmly the spotlight without trying, as he shyly hides behind his trademark long locks and lets his Gibson do the talk.
While Metallica decide to make an album that has been largely despised for the just plain boring feeling it brings to nearly anyone who hears it, Megadeth know exactly what their fans are looking for: not songs featuring tables but Last July, Slash finally ticked another quality thrash. The die-hard fans of Megadeth also have cause for celebration with songs going back towards the Countdown To Extinction era, with ‘New World Order’ being polished up along with the tracks ‘Black Swan’ (previously for fan club members that pre-ordered United Abominations) and ‘Sudden Death’ from the final Guitar Hero game. Other songs, such as ‘Public Enemy No.1’ and the nicely timed given the Occupy events in the US - ‘We The People’ manage to combine the hooks and speed without becoming TOO commercial; lyrically Mustaine has returned towards the political side, but given his beliefs (the man has been on Alex Jones’ radio show after all..) it all depends on which side you fall on whether they’re cringeworthy or not.
live box he had on his wish list for ages: a homecoming gig in Stoke on Trent, where he was raised. The audience of Victoria Hall was treated to a 21 song set pulling all the stops throughout his prolific career. On vocal duties, once again he borrowed Myles Kennedy from Alter Bridge, who delivered impeccably – sod Axl Rose. The rest of the line up included Todd Kerns on bass, Brent Fitz on drums and Bobby Schneck on guitar. ‘Made in Stoke’ is available on double CD, DVD and Blu Ray, and our advice is to invest in both the audio and video version. In a jungle of unnecessary live recordings and tired greatest hits, this is The One your music collection is begging for. The double CD is in itself a top quality, greatly addictive piece of work, yet that Godfather solo needs to be watched to be believed. Few men can make a guitar talk, few men can communicate without using their voice. I truly hope all the world’s average guitarists will watch this, learn the meaning of the word shame and spare us those dreaded 10 minutes they call ‘solos’ that are only good to refill glasses and to empty overloaded bladders.
Another upside is the comeback of Dave Ellefson, giving the feeling of a return to classic Megadeth to the fore and bringing us closer As he slips back in his corner leaving to a second Rust In Peace than centre stage to Myles Kennedy, Slash ever before. proves once again that true icons In the battle of Megadeth Vs Metallica we can call Th1rt33n the possible knockout blow and, given the two preceding albums, a hat trick. Let’s see if Metallica realise that THIS is what fans want.
shine of their own glow, no need to fight for the spotlight. Hopefully he will rub some of that shimmer on Stoke, which appears to be finally making its way on the rock’n’roll map. One thing is sure: Stoke is a proud little corner of the world tonight. And rightly so.
All Abroad The Crazy Train 28th November 2011 FFRUKIT records by Matt Dawson
November 2011
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Vallenfyre
The Magic of Youth
Fragile King
5th December 2011 Rude Records
31st October 2011 Century Media
by Cristina Massei
In days of uncertainty like the The Duel are reminiscent current ones, it’s nice to know of an era of music where there are still a few things ‘anarchy’ ruled the day, a that will never let you down: a Mighty Mighty BossToneS time where punk truly was album is one of those. more about the DIY ethic and sending a message, The prolific punk-ska Bostoan idea that only a small nians launch their new full number of bands truly be- length just a couple of years after ‘Pin Points and Gin lieve in. Joints’, showing their creative juice is far from drying up. With songs such as ‘Trou- Dicky Barrett’s raspy voice bled England’ and ‘Sounds – so reminiscent of Mike Of Liberation’ sounding Ness – effortlessly infuses pop-catchy choruses with a more relevant given the rougher punk vibe, while the riots that occurred this classic ska beats and horn summer, along with the lines make this yet another déjà-vu sense of a Con- addictive feel good record. servative government beEleven tracks of solar gooding in charge – even if it ness that could turn a white is a coalition – the vocals Christmas into Venice Beach of Rez remind you of Ari in July, ‘The Magic of Youth’, Up from the Slits in places is one of those ‘all favourites’ along with the triple guitar album where it’s hard to pick highlights, especially after assault by McDougall, tha- you have it on repeat for a nos and Laventhol. couple of days as I did. ‘They Will Need Music’ – although It is not all doom and you may think you’ve heard it gloom that The Deal bring before – it’s especially uplifting; ‘The Horse Shoe and the on this ‘Crazy Train’ – no Rabbit Foot’ is as light heartnot a cover of the Ozzy ed as the title suggests with classic – with songs such as that Social D feel to it; and for ‘Singin N Dancin’ bringing once, even the title track is a the mood to a more uplift- winner. ing tone. December may be a strange month for such a summer For those that feel that record, recession and crisis they need a voice or want could be a strange scenario to have a good time this al- for happy songs, but – to me – this is exactly what music bum is for you, all aboard! should be about: take us to a parallel dimension where the sun always shines and whatever the Tories are planning to increase next – taxes quite likely – we just keep dancing.
by Matt Dawson There have been two albums in 2011 that have managed to deal with feelings of grief very effectively, one being While Heaven Wept’s Fear Of Infinity and the other being A Fragile King. Written after Gregor Mackintosh (Paradise Lost)’s loss of his father to cancer, the feelings of pain are suitably given a catharsis through the medium of death and doom metal, consider also that the other members of this band come from of My Dying Bride (Hamish Glencross), Doom (Scoot) and At The Gates/Paradise Lost (Adrian Erlandsson); meaning that the term ‘supergroup - a term that just gets thrown together with the sincerity and subtlety of a sledgehammer – actually means something for a change. From the dark, sinister growl of Gregor, the always brilliant drum work from Adrian to the doom inducing guitar work of Hamish and Mully – a friend of Gregor’s from where he resides now – to the filthy low bass of Scoot this is grim death metal at its finest. Powerful lyrics as well such as religion on ‘Cathedrals Of Dread’ and corporations on ‘Humanity Wept’ all boil down to an album that is as powerful as it is thought- provoking right down to the line in ‘Seeds.. ‘Farewell my King, you must rest your head’.
Sonic Shocks
November 2011
Metallica & Lou Reed
Betraeus
Steel Panther
Lulu
Towards The Sun
Balls Out
31st October 2011 Warner Bros Records
14th November 2011 Seige Of Amida Records
31st October 2011 Island/Universal Republic
by Matt Dawson
by Matt Dawson
by Cristina Massei
Lou Reed and Metallica have always been seen as rebels of their craft: Lou for albums such asMetal Machine Music and Metallica for being one of the forerunners of Thrash metal with albums such as Master Of Puppets, so the coming together of the two was always going to be one that would garner a mixed view.
Betraeus manage to walk the fine line between progressive and death metal well and given the acclaimed reviews of their live performances - particularly one at the mighty Bloodstock Festival in 2010 - their debut EP has something to live up to.
Balls out, ha? So far so good, at least Steel Panther are not calling them coconuts; they get my vote for that alone.
The problem however begins as soon as ‘Brandenburg Gate’ starts: an acoustic intro which leads into Lou talking about Boris Karloff, Nosferatu and cutting off legs and breasts while thinking about them; this is then followed by a repetitive three chord riff and Hetfield screaming Small town girl OVER AND OVER again while Lou just says… things.
The title track manages to combine elements of Opeth – Chris Sykes’ vocals being reminiscent of Mikael Akerfeldt in places -, Symbolic era Death and even elements of thrash through Eddie Johnson’s guitar work and the diverse pacing of Paddy Monaghan’s drums.
On ‘Frustrate Recluse’ the death metal side plays out in more detail with Chris preNext is ‘The View’, which means ferring to use harsh vocals well but does not seem to get throughout instead of the mixpast one very slow gear. The less ture of harsh and clean in the said about James bellowing I Am previous track, giving the band The Table the better. more of a ferocity and an edge. By halfway through the album, it becomes clear that - as James has said - this is not a Metallica album, no ladies and gentlemen, this is its own beast, one that maybe the majority want to believe they’ll understand as some sort of ‘art’ project.
The Opeth influence shows again as we reach the track ‘Blossom into the void’ when clean vocals become the order of the day, along an acoustic guitar in the background; think more of the past three Opeth records and you get the The overall problem is that, for idea. every brief moment of goodness such as the start of ‘Pump- If there is one complaint howing Blood’, there’s too many ever to make it is that the timoments like the near twenty tle track itself at places feels minute closer ‘Junior Dad’ that disjointed in its original form become tiring. with the transitions becoming Granted many are now going to too abrupt; weirdly the 5 min be told that they don’t ‘get it’, that edit of the song, also included Lou Reed and Metallica are ge- on this EP, removes the probniuses for doing this, but when lem in an unusual role reversal. artists such as Wino can do albums like Premonition 13 Lulu Betraeus show some capabiljust seems shallow, boring and the worst crime of all: Preten- ity with this release to make a very promising album in the tious. future and hopefully will be To paraphrase one movie: You rising stars of the UK progrescannot just be told what Lulu is, sive death scene. you must hear it for yourself.
The tracklist? If you’re up for a good laugh, will be like a box of assorted chocolates for a child: you’ll so want to hear the next song that you’ll barely enjoy any of them properly until the second spin. ‘It won’t suck itself ’? ‘Let me come in’?? ‘Just like Tiger Woods’??? Oh boy. I always found it peculiar how no targeted rockstar has yet punched Michael Starr, but Tiger Woods? Has anyone heard from him – or indeed his lawyer – since ‘Balls Out’ has been released? Ooohh boy! I’m sure won’t be long before we see him jumping on stage with – or on – the Steel Panther boys… The music? Just what it says on the tin. A parody, sure, but a damn well executed one, better than many of the originals no doubt. Memorable riffs and sleazy licks bringing fun back into rock and rock back into fun, a certified formula that already sold out this week’s headlining London gig. And, right at the end, you get your Panther ballad fix: ‘Weenie Ride’- just like ‘Community Property’ – may not the first song coming to mind for a serenade, but if you have the balls to take your chances and you don’t get killed, you just got yourself a partner with a smashing sense of humour, kudos to you! So there you go, do you know everything you needed to know about ‘Balls Out’? I mean really, what there’s to know? Get it, play it and sing it out loud: it’s your only chance to call someone a ‘cum birther, sperm dripping, yellow belly, money grabbing gold-digging whore’ without consequences. What more could you possibly want from a bloody record?
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Blotted Science
The Animation Of Entomology 28th November 2011 Basick Records by Matt Dawson
What do you get when you take a member of outfits such as Watchtower and Spastic Ink, a member of one of THE death metal bands in Cannibal Corpse and a member of tech metallers Obscura/former member of Necrophagist? You get the insanity that is Blotted Science. A musical journey that takes the idea of the whole ‘Dark Side Of The Moon can sync up with The Wizard Of Oz’ urban legend and makes it into an insane reality.
Tyla J. Pallas
Quinquaginta King Outlaw Records 28th November 2011 by Cristina Massei Tyla J Pallas: in case you haven’t guess it, it’s none else than good ol’ Tyla from the legendary Dogs D’Amour with yet another one of his solo projects. Quinquaginta: 50 in Latin. And where most men normally deal with mid life crisis, Tyla sees fit to revisit some of his old repertoire and, with a heartwarming sense of nostalgia, rediscover angles that had gone unexplored without the maturity that only comes with age. Don’t take ‘Quinquaginta’ as some lazy remix deal as you’d be losing a true gem (beside, there’s a handful of new tunes added). ‘Story of my life’ or ‘Hang’em High’ are different from the original versions from the old ‘Supreme Demos’ in the fact they’re more refined, but also somewhat deeper, like replacing the fountain of youth with the fountain of wisdom.
Of course this is not the first time mastermind Ron Jarzombek has tried this, having released a Blotted Science album back in 2007 and during his work with Spastic Ink, but the creativity shown throughout the manic 27 minutes contained within is As he recently revisited classic Dogs D’Amour album ‘In astounding. The Dynamite Jet Saloon’, Tyla Using the Twelve Tone tech- stated it was like ‘stepping back nique and god knows how into the saloon and having a many hours spent finding the drink with some old friends’. right movies to sync it all up He wanted to re-record the to – such as Slither and King songs like they were written Kong - the trio have created ‘only yesterday, but with all a unique burst of techni- I know about life today’. The cal mastery and taken the experiment was successful concept - one that may only and ‘Quinquaginta’ is the next be known to some through chapter of Tyla’s mission to bands like Negativland - and prove that nothing is ‘old’ and everything can be improved, makes it more accessible. as life paints new colours all An album that takes three across the artist’s soul. brilliant musical minds and stretches the boundaries to- There’s nothing ‘surprising’ wards breaking point with- here: if you’re a fan of Tyla, out worry of collapse; highly Dogs D’Amour, Quireboys recommended for fans of and similar romantic pirates of tech, progressive and death rock’n’roll, you’ll love this; in a way, you’ll find inside exactly metal alike. what it says on the tin. What will truly surprise you is how good it can possibly taste.
Sonic Shocks
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It’s that time of the year again! The Pure Rawk Awards open voting proceedings and get ready for another night of independent bliss. Leave alone the Kerrang! Awards and all those big star-studded redcarpeted stuff, there’s more to music! There are people like the hyperactive Nix Crichton who will not rest until every deserving artist has had a chance to be heard. So let’s celebrate all that is independent and let’s have a closer look to the Pure Rawk Awards for those - shame on you - who haven’t yet heard about this evergrowing London tradition. First of all...What’s Pure Rawk? Pure Rawk (.com) is an online publication focused on rock, metal, punk and the sub genres within. Whilst we cover larger bands, over time our core ethos hasn’t changed – to support unsigned, independent and new music. Since our registration to the world wide web in 2006, we have covered many hidden gems who have gone on to achieve great things. We’re proud of what we do and hope to continue finding musical ‘diamonds in the rough’ for many years to come. We have taken it upon ourselves to enter the world of promotions. We have an extensive list of past gigs taking in established acts, showcase gigs and new overseas acts as well as championing British talent. What are the PRA’s and why do you do it? It started as a bit of fun when Pure Rawk first turned up on the web. We had a mere 150 votes. In 2011 we had grown to 11,000+ votes. We believe that good new bands should be given praise for their efforts and if they’ve got something special – they get the recognition they deserve. Plus we do enjoy having a few beers with everyone too. Sometimes, awards nominations come from a panel of blokes in suits who haven’t had their ear to a radio or even thought to turn on their PC to check out the latest band to follow them on Facebook, Twitter (etc) … let alone to stumble around with a pint, half cut in a stinky dive covered in torn stickers in the middle of the week just on the off chance that they’ll find something that’ll catch their ear. That’s why the awards are voted for by the people that have. The fans of music. Pure Rawk HQ had unleashed an open vote back in October and in the second week of January 2012, has to narrow it down to who gets the most shout-outs for this years alt related gongs. It took us a while last time, as for the fourth consecutive year we had a record number of votes. The Awards night in 2012 will be where all is revealed. What coverage have you had? Over the past four years, we have been publicised by many online, print and radio mediums. We’ve been featured in Devolution Magazine, Sonic Shocks, MusicXtra, Total Rock Radio, Recharged Radio, Komodo Rock and many more.
Here is what others have said about them: “(The Pure Rawk Awards) are fast becoming the Underground Rock Barometer” – BND Music Co. “The amount of work and effort put into running something like this is to be commended. Also, every year – good bands get the praise they deserve” – Riot Promotions “The Pure Rawk Awards are expertly run and such a good event for bands and fans” – Krusher, DJ “I can safely say that the video was definitely the best day in the the life of Stereo Juggernaut so far. And that’s because of Pure Rawk” – Reuben O’Donoghue, Drummer (Stereo Juggernaut – winners of the 2011 New band of the Year Awards. We are pleased to announce that this year’s Pure Rawk Awards will feature some brand new awards specifically designed to salute the grassroots level of unsigned and new music. The 2012 awards will be: Band of the Year New Band of the Year Axe Hero of the Year Frontperson of the Year Bassist of the Year Drummer of the Year EP/Single of the Year Album of the Year Promoter of the Year (for dedication to unsigned and new bands) Video of the Year New Breed of the Year ** Pure Rawk contributors only Underground Record Label of the Year Underground Photographer of the Year Local Venue of the Year DJ of the Year (live and radio) ** New for 2012 ** The John Rayner Award (for outstanding contribution to underground music) For your chance to vote, point your mouse to http://www.purerawk.com/awards/vote-now/ Keep your eyes peeled for more info on the 2012 Awards Ceremony for a night of live music and celebration or just for a fabulous get together with the best of London’s uunderground music scene!
November 2011
... And our 5 cents on ‘Independent Press’...
Today we’re going to try and clarify the meaning of this overused and abused term. After some time in the music portion of this business, I’ve gathered the following information: - the glossy overpriced stuff at the newsagent with loads of advertising in it is the ‘Proper Press’. With advertising and sales money they can pay for distribution and indeed contributors, and these paid contributors are invited to all gigs and events, either they then decide to review them or not. As it should be really. - those who don’t make a penny out of it are ‘Independent’. The word on the street is that many of the so-called ‘independents’ – especially those dodgy web types - do this for free tickets to gigs and free CDs they can keep or flog on E-Bay. Really? Yeah, really. Horrible people they are, I’m telling you. Scum of the Earth. I deal with plenty of them on a daily basis: ‘I’d love to write for you, can you get me passes for Sonisphere?’. But hell, do you think I go like ‘Sure, need a +1?’? Well, let me tell you: I BLOODY DON’T. Are we some kind of homemade blog read by mum, cousins and pets? We’re obviously not that either, if you do your job and check relevant stats you will know. Next to the freeloaders there’s a majority of people who do this for the love of music and give their time and skills – and indeed money – to help you get your stuff out there, even if you can’t afford the price list of the glossy ‘proper’ ones. And still, we all have to put up with the attitude and replies reserved to freeloaders and groupies. Please, get over yourselves! Really, who the fuck do you think you are? ‘Independents’ have to promise a review before even having A CHANCE to get a last minute spare guest list spot or a watermarked CD. After attending the event/receiving the CD, we start getting 3+ emails a week asking about the review; no consideration whatsoever for the fact we all have other jobs to pay the bills OR quite simply we may think what we saw/heard was absolute utter crap. And if we dare saying it’s crap, occasionally we get asked to take the review off. How are we ‘independent’ exactly if we can’t even express an opinion? And why shouldn’t we anyway? This doesn’t pay our bills, remember? Out of the stuff we review, we personally like maybe one out of four-five. The rest is either below average, or just not or cup of tea, but we give it a chance because someone out there might like it and we’ll never know if we don’t give it a chance, will we? Trust me, the amount of time and money I spent on public transport to go and talk to self-absorbed cunts or watch gigs that made my ears bleed, I could have more than paid for the few gigs I genuinely wanted to attend. As for the CDs, I have more than enough coasters thank you; I can’t take them to Music & Video Exchange or even give them to the charity shop as they’re watermarked, so I may have to bury them in my garden one of these days and hope the dog doesn’t dig them out and put them on Pirate Bay. This week someone ASKED us for an interview, then DECLINED IT after we agreed to do it; we were then ‘commanded’ to reword an entire press release we had copied and pasted as received from the venue. You know who you are. For the record, we were just giving you a voice for the above stated reasons, but personally I’d rather order Chinese and watch Eastenders with my dog than come to one of the shows. So thanks, you can keep your guest list. Fed up with all of the above, Sonic Shocks pledges to be truly INDEPENDENT. This means that our website will express our views, positive or negative as they might be, and reserve the right to select material and delete unsolicited emails. As for the printed version, it needs money to be printed, so please ask for our advertising price list if you’d like to be on it; if you’re too tight to part with 35 lousy quid, than I guess you don’t want it enough – and that includes ALL, really, who can’t afford £35? Obviously it won’t be just advertising: the rest of our pages will be filled with what WE like. No requests. No hints. No subtle threats. From now on, WE decline YOU. Unless you’re paying cash, we don’t owe you anything.
Sonic Shocks
November 2011
into conflict with family obligations. I meet Juju just before her performance in front of a packed Camden Barfly in support of new single Wonderful. As the search for a new drummer is still wide open (ANY GOOD DRUMMERS OUT THERE??), Juju is about to perform an acoustic set, before retiring back to Oxford to keep doing what she does best: writing new music and preparing Little Fish next chapter.
by Cristina Massei
Often compared to the likes of Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde, Juju Sophie is without the shadow of a doubt one of the most underrated female vocalists our country had the luck to give birth to in recent years. Her talent alone - no big bucks backing or PR campaigns here - earned her support slots with Blondie, Hole, Supergrass, Spinnerette, Juliette Lewis, Alice in Chains, Placebo to name but a few.
Little Fish shouldn’t really be on this section of our paper by now, not after what the band has been up to in the past couple of years. But hey, life is unfair, and the music business is even more of a bitch than life itself. Not only to true artists like Juju Sophie, but to you, the music fan, the listener, for having to put up with an impressive, revolting amount of crap while they hide the good stuff away from After their debut album 'Baffled and Beat' came out last you. year on Custard - part of the So this month Sonic Shocks Universal family - they had to tries to partially repair the part ways with the label, which damage made by this fucked no longer had financial backup industry and make sure ing from Universal. Little Fish you know what happened to embraced the new challenge that awesome female fronted and enjoyed the new space givband you saw playing with en to their creativity by being the likes of Blondie and Alice totally independent. Unfortuin Chains, Yep, they’re still nately, more grief was to hit the around, playing and writing band, as founding drummer tunes, and books, and much and Juju's close friend Nez reluctantly had to leave when his else. musical commitments came
We talk about the new single, getting old – gracefully of course - and jazz. There’s material ready for a new album as well… ‘It’s about 60% there. I have enough songs for a record but I want to write some more. Nez left which is really sad, so I’m just kind of developing new songs around a new drummer’ – explains Juju – ‘I don’t want it to be another Nez, someone trying to replace him, I want someone totally different who cannot be compared’. The relationship between the two is still that of two best friends; unfortunately raising a daughter with rock’n’roll is not an easy task, especially when unsigned.
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In Juju’s hunger for new music, however, there’s also an ‘independent’ component; as they lost their deal with Custard, in fact, she’s enjoying a sense of creative freedom and experimenting more. I discover that Little Fish have a prolific fan base in the Far East and they’ll soon be playing in Singapore – possibly Australia and maybe even China, but that’s just a big maybe right now. They also played Turkey, and Nez’ last gig was right there, on a sunny Turkish beach… ‘I tried to convince him to stay!’. While Juju seems fairly excited about Singapore, her memories of LA – where she collaborated with Linda Perry – are bittersweet: ‘I found it
hard. Loved the weather, life seems a bit easier when you wake up and it’s sunny, but the culture is different. Love their work ethic as well, it’s just something… in the heart… although we made some great friends out there’. There also a book being written, sharing Little Fish experience in the music industry: ‘from nothing to signed to independent, people don’t know the truth behind it, what it takes… Going all the way to Scotland for a promise… It’s the unknown, the nature of the business, one day nothing and one day you get a phone call from Debbie Harry, and in the meanwhile you just have to keep working…’. Is it still worth it then? ‘I don’t know… I guess… I enjoy the music, it’s the industry I don’t like!’ Good luck to a unique, wonderful girl, looking at the future with that bit of healthy fear of the unknown, but most of all with excitement and anticipation for whatever it will bring.
If you’d like to join the pledge to get Little Fish’ book published, please go here now as time is running out: http://unbound.co.uk/books/ the-new-originallittle-fish-paper-clubhandbook