Issue 58 of Stencil Mag

www.stencilmag.co.uk

Interview with Nathan

Can you tell us how In The Cards originally got together?

We started out as school friends playing in talent shows and then spent a few years playing locally. We started getting some support slots with bands such as Creeper, As It Is and Funeral For A Friend and began to think maybe we could give the band a real go!

How did you get to the band name In The Cards, and what does it mean to you?

We actually got the name from putting the word “future� into an online urban dictionary. We felt future was a very appropriate word as the band was already very much what we wanted to pursue together for years to come.

What's it like to be an upcoming band in Stoke-on-Trent?

Stoke-on-Trent has a couple of awesome local venues, The Sugarmill and The Underground. They were a massive help in providing us with a platform from an early age. We were lucky to have such a place to play music and highlights how important it is to keep live music in local venues.

When did the first glimpses of 'The Path' come about then? Was there a particular song or moment that inspired the creative process for the EP? ‘The Path’ is the result of quite a natural progression from our first EP so it’s difficult to really pinpoint a moment when the process began. We spent a long time demoing our ideas and when we wrote ‘Hope Not Wisdom’ that gave us a springboard to develop the rest of the record.

So, how did you get to the EP title 'The Path', and what does it mean to you?

Dan actually picked the name for the EP! It’s a lyric from a song by a band that’ve had a great bearing on us as musicians and people.

Not going to name any names though, I think it’s cool to have a little secrecy.

Who produced 'The Path', and how would you say that they helped shape it?

We worked with our really good friend Sam Bloor on this one at his Lower Lane Studios.

He’s an actual genius and is super hands on during the process which is great. His passion for music translates into his records so well.

He’s got such attention to detail; he could suggest something tiny and it changes the feel of an entire chorus.

What can you tell us about your latest track 'Disguise'?

‘Disguise’ came together really quickly. It felt like we had a really strong idea about what we wanted to achieve in writing this song and the message that we wanted to convey. It’s very defiant in the face of inner turmoil and I think that’s quite powerful in a time when people are struggling to talk about things.

Tough question time. What was the hardest song on 'The Path' to put together, and why?

This is a funny one. We had ‘Define Me’ written for a long time before we decided it was going on ‘The Path’. We’d played it live and in rehearsal a hundred times before and then at the last minute we totally fell out of love with it and decided to write it basically from scratch. Really glad we did though because that’s one of my favourites and is so much fun to play live.

What else can we expect to see from In The Cards in 2020?

2020 still seems so far away! Definitely going to be touring a lot next year, but really who knows? Whatever’s next for us we’re really excited.

Can you tell us how Like Giants originally got together?

I’ve known our guitarist Sam for a few years now, We decided to transfer a few song ideas over WhatsApp to see what we could come up with, I've known our drummer Ben for about 15 years and only realised recently that we lived one road apart for all that time, collectively we thought about creating a group and seeing what we could write, we sent each other ideas and Sam suggested his mate Billy to bring in some bass lines and we collectively thought, Damn! This is shaping up quite nicely, I wonder how it would work in a live environment? So we booked some rehearsal space and after a few hours, we thought! Yeah, this feels right.

How did you get to the band name Like Giants, and what does it mean to you?

It took us a while to come up with tbh, easily a week or so! We all agreed on wanting to find something that sounded strong, something that we wanted to try and represent as our belief or sound, so Ben came up with the suggestion, “Why don’t we go for something that's huge or massive like...GIANT actually, Like Giants sounds good”! A little while after we realised when Ben suggested the name he was looking at a New York Giants DVD case and it just popped into his head. (Ben and I are huge NFL fans also). We love the name, it’s short (like the rest of us), Ben’s the only giant in this band standing at 6ft 5, it’s easy to say, and we get some good feedback from people on it.

Interview with Kai

What's it like to be an upcoming band in Shropshire / Stafforshire?

I suppose it’s the same as anywhere else really, it’s tough to get shows and for people to turn out to watch you at first, especially as we’ve only been together for a couple of months, but we don’t sit back when it comes to our live performances, we love networking and trying to socialise as much as we can and we’ve noticed a lot more interest from people in recent weeks.

When did the first glimpses of 'SOVEREIGN' come about then? Was there a particular song or moment that inspired the creative process for the EP? I would say when we started working on ‘Right in the Childhood’, that uplifting element and instant bounce was the tipping point of us thinking, “Why don’t we write a collection of songs that reflect our best and worst times of our lives to date”, once we finished writing “RITCH” the other ideas came through quite quickly, lyrics, however, I wanted to work on a little longer to the point where I was still penning them in the studio.

So, how did you get to the EP title 'SOVEREIGN', and what does it mean to you?

I hadn’t finished writing all the lyrics to a few of the songs before we met up with Matt and before the recording sessions had started. We then found ourselves visiting The Sovereign pub in Woking every night, discussing what we were going to do in the next days session and giving me a space to pen lyrics and ideas, I then thought about calling the EP ‘Sovereign’, it’s a name associated with Britain, with it being a former gold coin, I also thought of it just after writing ‘Cut and Run’, reflecting on the definition of sovereign “possessing supreme and ultimate power”, I thought how fitting for an EP that we all collectively felt was so personal and powerful to us.

How did you end up working with Matt O'Grady, and how would you say that he helped shape the EP? I’ve known Matt for a while now, we’ve been mates on Facebook for well over 10 years and recording together has always been something I’ve wanted to do, ever since listening to early You Me At Six and Don Broco. He’s amazing to work with, he’s so relaxed and has an “anything goes” attitude when it comes to songs, the creative flow really helps a song come together and when you work with a producer who allows you to go off with an idea or try different vocal harmonies you wouldn’t have thought of, it then makes the process so much more rewarding and easy, he has an amazing ear for music and creatively it was a pleasure working with him.

What can you tell us about your latest track 'Cut & Run'?

‘Cut and Run’ is a track focused around depression and anxiety, it’s so personal on many levels. We all have experienced depression and anxiety in some stage throughout our short lives, and we all have such a connection with how important it is to talk to and help those who have been, or who are currently going through such issues. We want to make people aware that talking about your troubles is so important if you feel you don’t have anyone to talk to, or stable support then our dm is always open on all socials.

Come talk to us! We got you!

Tough question time. What was the hardest song on 'SOVEREIGN' to put together, and why?

The hardest song to put together was ‘Cut and Run’, finding the balance of hard-hitting sections to reflect tension and frustrations, but adding more heartfelt vocal melodies to show vulnerability, it was definitely a difficult song to write. Not only because it’s a personal story we all relate with, but there are a lot of technical guitar elements used throughout also, especially when we hit the studio and Matt suggested we dropped the tuning even more! So we ended up in drop B, a tuning not used much in Pop Punk. So in terms of writing, it was a little tricky making sure no section overpowered others.

What else can we expect to see from Like Giants in 2020?

We’re constantly writing and will be looking to head into the studio at the beginning of 2020 to record some new material, in February we will also be on tour with Hawthorne Heights in the UK, hitting up Birmingham (2nd), Manchester(3rd), Glasgow(4th), Newcastle (5th) and Sheffield (6th), we have a few shows in the pipeline for the beginning of the year and will be continuing to play as many shows as we can, and seeing as many old faces and making some new friends throughout.

Touring wise, what did you get up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

We have done several tours in the past year. We opened for Saves the Day, did a couple of headlining runs, and opened for another group named Wallows. a favourite memory for me would be my birthday on this Wallows tour. Our tour manager (and my partner) did a lot to make it special for me.

So, how did the idea for 'Natural, Everyday Extended Play' come together? Was the a particular moment that inspired the creative process for it?

The idea of doing the EP came more out of necessity than anything. We had the two new songs written and felt that they were too special to not give a platform.

Can you tell us about the new songs that feature on it, 'Romeo' and 'Nearly Perfect'? is a song I wrote right after I met my partner. It’s about Interview with Erik ‘Romeo’ being unable to control yourself falling in love. Why you might be trying to control yourself is a variable anybody can assign to their own life. Maybe it’s the wrong time, maybe you aren’t ready, ect.

Regardless, ‘Romeo’ is still gonna kick ya ass. ‘Nearly Perfect’ is about that grass is always greener feeling. It was inspired by getting a parking ticket.

Tough question time. What was the hardest song on 'Natural, Everyday Extended Play' to put together, and why?

It was actually a really smooth process. We were back in our element with self recording which felt great.

How did you end up working with Olive Lagace for the animated video to 'Romeo', and can you tell us about what it was like to put together?

Olive had produced a couple of animations as somebody who just liked our songs and posted them on Instagram. I saw them and loved her style! We got in touch and one thing led to another (a music video).

What do you find the most rewarding about selfproducing your own music?

I think the most rewarding part is watching the whole thing grow from absolute silence to a whole song and feeling like “Hey, I did that”

Looking back on the release of 'Natural, Everyday Degradation', how happy have you been with the response to the album so far, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Remo Drive?

It’s been a pretty lukewarm release but I figure that’s because it’s a transitional record for us. We’re still solidifying our identity as a band without a genre.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Natural, Everyday Degradation' at the moment, and why?

I really like performing ‘Shakin’ - there’s something really primal about that drum groove that makes me feel great.

How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect?

We are so excited! We loved our last trip across the pond. Fans can expect to hear a pretty comprehensive set list.

What else can we expect to see from Remo Drive in 2020?

You can probably expect more new music! We’re always working on something

Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2019 and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

Too much to list really! We’ve been non-stop: two UK headline tours, our first proper European headline. The Rockin The Blues Tour with Jonny Lang and Walter Trout was a definite highlight, as was supporting Black Stone Cherry on a run of dates in the summer.

When did the first glimpses of 'Light It Up' come together? Was there a particular song or moment that maybe inspired the creative process for it?

Not really. I’m always writing songs, jotting down ideas, coming up with riffs etc. So technically, I started writing ‘Light It Up’ from when ‘The Divine and Dirty’ was released.

How did you get to the album title 'Light It Up', and what does it mean to you?

Well “Light It Up” is the main lyric from the track ‘Ignite’. It’s supposed to represent lighting a fire under your ass and getting things going.

Can you elaborate on some of the main themes and influences that run throughout 'Light It Up'?

I don’t really see it as having any main themes really, it certainly wasn’t written that way. It’s not like a concept album or anything.

That being said, I write from personal experience and have overcome a lot of adversity, so there are a few songs that deal with that.

How would you say that the writing process on the album compares to anything that you've done before?

The best thing about doing this album was that it was my first as a full-time professional musician, with the support of a great record label. That really changed how I could approach things, not having to fit things around work or have any extra work stress on top of the music stuff. I took a lot of different approaches to writing songs for this album. A lot of songs started life just as lyrics on a page. I tried to avoid the typical guitarist approach of writing a riff, then verse, chorus etc then adding lyrics and melody at the end.

Who produced the album, and how would you say that they helped shape it?

The album was recorded at Momentum Studios in Plymouth and produced by Josiah J Manning. He did my last album too and once we finished recording that album, he actually joined my band on keys. Having him on tour with me is great. It means that we are constantly thinking of ideas for the record whilst we are on the road.

Looking back on 'The Divine and Dirty', how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of the Kris Barras band?

I think that album played a huge part in my journey so far. Tracks like ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Lovers or Losers’ had a lot of radio success and really helped to grow my fan base.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'The Divine and Dirty' at the moment, and why?

‘Hail Mary’ is always a favourite.

Everyone knows the words to that one and it’s an amazing feeling to have the crowd sing a song you wrote, back to you. Most of the set from our recent tour has been based around the new album ‘Light It Up’.

However, it’s been good fun to include some different tracks, with different arrangements, from my previous two albums.

What do you remember the most from your first, proper or full length UK tour?

I remember it being extremely exciting and a little overwhelming at times! Touring was something that I dreamed of doing from when I was a little kid. The reality of all the travel, late nights/early mornings etc wasn’t quite how I imagined the “glamorous” touring life to be ha ha! Wouldn’t change it for anything though.

What else can we expect to see from Kris Barras in 2020?

We will be doing plenty of UK festivals, a few nice support slots here and there and a lot of touring/festivals in Europe. That’s a main focus for me at the minute, to grow our fan base on the mainland.

QUESTLINE A mix between atmospheric synthesizer and acoustic guitars.

Questline is an Austrian based atmospheric musical project with electronic and acoustic influences which was formed in late 2017 by David Bruckner. The debut EP ‘Between Earth And Space’ which came out on the 18th of October 2019 marks the beginning of a musical journey with Questline. The project is not only about music, it is about taking people on a ride through all different kinds of emotions and feelings.

Questline was formed because of a reason, and the reason is to connect people with each other and mainly with music. Questline gained a solid audience all over the world with the release of ‘Between Earth And Space’.

Especially in lower Austria Questline is well known, due to radio appearances and a performance at the 10 year anniversary of the Noiseflash Festival in Mödling. The work on a full length album has already started and will most likely be finished in late 2020.

“I personally think the debut EP was a massive start for Questline, and I can’t wait to carry on with this unique project and to show the world what Questline has to offer. This is not only a band or a project, this is a movement.” - David Bruckner

Interview with Mikey

Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

We’ve been focussed a lot more on support slots this year. We’ve done two headline shows, but the main focus has been on playing alongside bands we love and trying new things. We toured with Hands Off Gretel earlier this year, did some shows with The Virginmarys and Dream State, and we’re just about to hit the road with Sumo Cyco. Can’t wait.

You've just unleashed 'We Go Down Together', how did this track come together, and what did you enjoy the most about working on it?

It just kind of fell out of me one day. Like the best songs, it’s kind of Frankensteined and made up of the best parts of three or four other songs. I sent the demo to the boys and everyone vibed with it. Everyone came into my little demo cave, put their own spark into the song and it became ‘We Go Down Together’. It’s my favourite song we’ve released and I’m ecstatic to start playing it live.

When you look at the track, how would you personally say that the sound of the band has grown/changed on this output?

I think this is probably the punkiest, heaviest track we’ve ever done. It’s still got that big, anthem, As Sirens Fall chorus, but it moves and breathes in a different way.

This is the first one we’ve put out that we didn’t all write together from scratch and I think that has something to do with the different feeling of it. We’ve approached it differently, just for the sake of exploring ourselves and how we like to work, and I think it’s paid off massively. I love this song.

How did the artwork for 'We Go Down Together' come together, and what does it mean to you?

I knew immediately that it needed a photographic cover. I feel like not enough people do photographic artwork anymore, but we also knew it shouldn’t just be a shot of us. It needed it to be pretty and it needed to embody the song. We brainstormed what we could do for the longest time, and it eventually happened by accident. When we finished the first edit of the video, it was right there in front of us.

There’s a shot of the two main characters sitting on their stolen car, looking out over a lake at sunrise, and everything about it screamed “runaway fantasy.”

Giving it the “aged vinyl” look was about it looking pretty as much as it was about nodding to the timelessness of the message. This song is about that first phase of love, that feeling of excitement in something where nothing else matters anymore.

Where it feels like the world is against you but you feel strong enough to take it on.

It’s about being yourself at all costs and screaming ‘F*CK OFF’ when the world tells you who to be. That’s not just a message for 2019, that’s something that I think has always existed, so adding the aged look just cemented that I think.

You've said that this song "feels like the perfect song for us to come back with" so can you elaborate on that, and maybe why you think that is?

We’ve kind of got an arsenal of new material. Picking the first track to hit people with was a huge challenge, but this one just seemed to feel right. Everything about it fell together in the right timeframe, all the ideas seemed to come off, the video was perfect, it just felt right. We believe in it.

How excited are you for your upcoming tour with Sumo Cyco, and what can attending fans expect?

We absolutely cannot wait. When we got the confirmation email I was moving some equipment with Adam, and we both screamed. There are venues on that tour that have been bucket list venues for both of us for a long time, and getting the opportunity to play them with such a wicked band is amazing. People can expect our best shows yet.

Have you started work on any other new material just yet, and if so, what do you think fans can expect from it?

Like I said, we’ve got an arsenal of new stuff. All I’ll say is expect the unexpected. I’m pretty terrified of some of the stuff we’ve written - but only in the best way. It’s new ground for us and it’s exciting.

What else can we expect to see from As Sirens Fall in 2020?

After the tour with Sumo Cyco, we have a couple more shows before Christmas, including another stop with Hands Off Gretel on the 21st of December in Barnsley. Going into 2020, there’s loads of new music and tours that we can’t talk about - but it’s already going to be our biggest year yet.

How did NOVACUB originally get together?

Well, I started writing songs with Russell (guitarist) and then brought the other two members in! I knew them all through music really. I had a feeling we'd all gel really well together! I think we do!

How did you get to the band name NOVACUB, and what does it mean to you?

One thing all the guys know about me is how much I love my sleep.. I got the nickname Lou Bear from all my hibernating haha! I loved the idea of using the bear idea. I also loved the word NOVA as it means new in Latin and also makes me think of the word supernova which sounded really cool to me! It finally came together after lots of brainstorming and throwing ideas out there!

Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2019 and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from Interview with Louise your time on the road?

Sure! We started the year touring the UK supporting the Kaiser Chiefs! It was so fun because we had just put our first song out!

Then we did a few shows supporting The XCERTS, The Futureheads, Ash, Good Cop Bad Cop, The LaFontaines and finally we are about to do some shows with Feeder! So, it's been really really fun and busy!

So, when did the first glimpses of 'Future Echoes' come about? Was there a particular song or moment that sparked the creative process for the EP? I think after we'd written 'I Still Need It' and 'Wait Up' we knew they would be on this EP. They were the second and third songs we ever wrote! We have so many songs that we're excited about putting out but I think it was mainly about selecting tunes for our first ever EP as a band. I think we wanted to show people that we have an eclectic variety of music!

How did you end up working with Steve Osbourne, and how would you say that he helped shape 'Future Echoes'?

Well, we worked on 2 tracks with Steve! It was great to work with him as he's done so much before! We also worked with a producer called Brad Mair - a good friend of mine. He recorded a lot of the music too and did all vocals on the EP. Working with him is easy - he really helps build my confidence while we record and he is just so patient! I'd say he's made these tunes come alive and feels like a big part of the process to me.

Tough question time. What was the hardest song on 'Future Echoes' to put together, and why?

‘End of The World’ probably. It's the last song on the EP. It has a lot of parts - we wanted it to be better than the demo so we had to work hard to get there!

There's certainly a fusion of genres and styles on 'Future Echoes', but for you, when you look at the release, how would you describe it to someone who hasn't heard of NOVACUB just yet?

Yeah, there's different genres and styles like you say. It has different moods throughout but I'd say at this point it's feel good music.. saying that, there is definitely a more mellow side to this band but it's only the start of much more madness to come!

How did the artwork for 'Future Echoes' come together, and what does it mean to you?

We have an AMAZING artist/designer called Andres Clerc. He has done all our artwork so far. We all love what he does - I will just send him my ideas for stuff and he always makes them come alive! ‘Future Echoes’ artwork was a picture of the world ending - it's related to the last song on the EP called 'End of The World'.

What else can we expect to see from NOVACUB in 2020?

More new music, more touring, more crazy music vids, more merch, more madness!!

Interview with Mercedes

Touring wise, what did you get up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

We’ve been in the studio pretty much all year, so our touring schedule hasn’t been as intense as usual.

However, a weird but cool highlight this year actually happened to us just last night! We were about to leave for a show in London, ON when our van starter crapped out on us RIGHT as we were about to drive to the venue for soundcheck. Of course that day it was a snowstorm as well, the first of our Canadian winter so far.

Typical band nightmare… stranded with a broken down van in a snowstorm. The van ended up having to get towed away, which left us basically stranded with a trailer full of gear. We called a bunch of different places and no one was renting vans with trailer hitches around us, so we ended up renting a pick up truck with a trailer hitch and grabbing a ride for the rest of our crew with a friend. We totally missed our soundcheck and had to basically throw everything up on stage at the last minute and just wing it. There’s nothing like going on stage in a completely pissed off, frustrated mood and feeling that all melt away while you’re playing. The crowd was amazing and we just felt so grateful to still be able to play the show after things looked grim. It’s almost like the whole struggle before the show was a test to see how committed we were to making it happen.

So, what can you tell us about your latest single 'Slow Motion'?

I really feel a connection with the song because it came to us at a time where Phoenix and I were experiencing some pretty severe writer’s block. We’d come into the studio every day filled with hope and leave feeling frustrated and defeated. Nothing was really connecting or getting us in the feels. The songs just weren’t feeling authentic for some reason. Then one day I just played those intro chords in on the synth and something about them sparked a flame inside both of us that we hadn’t felt in a while, that we had been starving for for weeks! The song just seemed to write itself from there. Phoenix produced it and floored me with all her 80s percussion sounds, I added vibey synths and guitars to it, and by the time we got to writing the vocal melodies and lyrics I already could tell this song was going to be one of our favourites. It pulled us out of a frustrating place, and for that I’ll always have a fond place for it in my heart.

What do you find the most creatively rewarding about producing your own material?

I think the hardest thing about working with other people for us has always been trying to explain what we hear in our heads and not being able to recreate that in a tangible way.

It’s sometimes felt like we ALMOST hit the mark, but not quite. So being able to produce our own material is really rewarding because instead of trying to explain what we want our art to be, we just CREATE it and show it to the world. It’s also been rewarding in other ways because it’s taught us a lot about producing, recording, writing, and helped us elevate our skills in those arenas.

How did the music video for 'Slow Motion' come together, and can you tell us about what you want it to mean to the viewer?

I was inspired by a term used in addiction circles called “the pink cloud”, which refers to a phenomenon in one’s recovery process after a recovering addict detoxes for the first time and experiences this surreal, short-lived form of happiness. Addiction is a heavy theme in the video, but also the way corporations seem to use addiction against us for their own profit. In 2019 addiction has become a multi-faceted thing. It’s not just about being addicted to literal substances, but addicted to feelings, in a way. For example, we’re all addicted to our phones. We’re addicted to social media. We’re addicted to that rush of endorphins we get when scrolling through all our likes and retweets. To me that says a lot about us as a society currently. We crave that artificial connection we feel online that we struggle to experience in the real world. We seem to yearn for that sense of acceptance, validation, community, etc. The reason so many of us are hooked on our devices isn’t just about vanity to me, but numbing our minds to avoid painful realisations.

We try to escape for our own sad reality and create a version of ourselves that appears to the world how we wish to be seen. We don’t have to be honest about our insecurities when we’re online. It’s a constructed reality. But if we’re only showing our best to the world, then so is everyone else. It’s impossible not to compare your boring life to the seemingly interesting and fulfilling lives of your peers. For that reason, I think a lot of people right now can relate to feeling overwhelmed, depressed, lonely, scared of how quickly our lives seem to pass us by. We all want to be distracted, and there are thousands of companies out there that will provide us that sweet distraction for a price.

Our individuality. Our privacy. Our freedom of choice. All these things are the cost of being blissfully ignorant.

When I wrote the video treatment for ‘Slow Motion’, I wanted to capture that feeling by telling the story of a young person who is in a dark, depressing place. She stumbles across an online drug trial that advertises a radical miracle pill which is supposed to solve all her problems, make her happier, and slow down her rare moments of joy. The Infinitum Pharmaceutical company is supposed to represent my perception of organisations that prey on our human weaknesses under the guise of a helping hand, insidiously catering to our delusions and desires to keep us hooked. It’s supposed to be a metaphor that reveals the sad truth of where we’re at in 2019, under the boot of major corporations, targeted ads, and algorithms.

You've said that "Originally ‘Slow Motion’ was supposed to be a love song." so can you elaborate on that, and how it went on to become a darker themed song?

Since the lyrics to the song are all about falling in love at first sight and wishing you could make that initial spark last longer, I wanted to juxtapose these lyrics that seem very happy and bubbly on a surface level with visuals that are very sad to their core. I think a lot of us wish we could live in this hypothetical pink cloud our entire lives and just ignore the atrocities of the world we currently live in. That’s the typical Courage My Love style. We can never just write a happy song. There always has to be a little darkness in there to keep it real.

What else can fans expect from your upcoming EP? We’re currently finishing up our next EP, and already I can tell you it’s going to be a progression in our sound. We’re writing about subjects we’ve never written about before and creating sounds and vibes we’ve never attempted previously. It’s going to be a journey into our headspace from 2019.

It’s almost like a diary of what it feels like to be us. We’re sick of writing relationship-y heartbreak songs. We’ve got enough of those already. These next songs we’re pushing a little deeper and writing more about us as people, our outlook on life, the things that we love and the things that frustrate and humiliate us. It’s going to be a deep dive into our respective psyches.

Looking back on 'Synesthesia' how happy are you with this release so far, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Courage My Love?

‘Synesthesia’ was a very complicated release, if I’m going to be honest with you. While we were writing and recording that record, we felt an insane amount of pressure from our label to produce radio singles that would take us to the next level. We were also trying to work with new people and step outside of our comfort zone, all while trying to deliver music that felt relevant and honest. For those reasons, I think you can hear a lot of insecurity on that record. We were being pushed and pulled in different directions by a lot of different people and we were getting frustrated and disappointed by the results, and honestly asking ourselves if we had what it was going to take to succeed. The release date kept getting pushed back further and further because we hadn’t created this illusive “radio single” yet, and all the advice we were receiving from different people on our team seemed to clash. It’s ironic that that record’s concept is all about being overwhelmed by feelings and different sensory visuals, etc, because that’s honestly what it felt like to us at the time.

We were also all independently going through the worst breakups of our lives. I had just ended an extremely emotionally abusive and manipulative relationship that left me shaken to my core. While ‘Synesthesia’ may not represent the fondest memories for us, I think it was necessary for us to create the music that we’re making now. It sort of forced us to break free of whatever mould we were in at the time and shed that negative skin so we could blossom into who we are now.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Synesthesia' at the moment, and why?

I love playing ‘Tough Love’ live. It’s such an energetic bop, and I can’t stop smiling when we play it.

The crowd always gets into it and rocks out with us. We just dance and shake our hair out and have a good time. It’s an incredible release. Even though the lyrics are about being powerless in an abusive relationship and being in this cycle where you always return back to that person, it feels very freeing and validating to sing those words on stage while dancing and partying and having the best time of our lives. It’s like dancing on the grave of that relationship and celebrating who we are as stronger people now.

What else can we expect to see from Courage My Love in 2020?

We’re going to release our EP and a bunch more videos and other content, tour the world, and hopefully connect with a lot of people. Like every new year, we’re filling 2020 with a lot of expectations and hopes. In a way, it will feel like a fresh start since this is the first material we’ve produced ourselves. It’s going to feel really good to share it with everyone.

Interview with Caleb

Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of highlights from your time on the road?

We started the year on a co-headline run with the boys in Black Stone Cherry that led up into June, which was album release month. Tyler and I came to London and Paris to promote the new record. We flew home and threw a massive hometown show in Nashville to celebrate the release of our new album, ‘Truth And Lies’. Since then, we have done tours with The Temperance Movement, Stone Temple Pilots, and Rival Sons. We are off to do several more with Guns N Roses this month before we head back across the pond to kick off our tour with Airbourne! So excited for that one.

So, when did the first glimpses of 'Truth and Lies' come about? Was there a particular song or moment that sparked the creative process for the album?

I’m not sure there was a particular song in the writing process. Recording wise, ‘Shock and Awe’ came first while we were in the ‘Truth And Lies’ sessions in Brooklyn and it did set the tone for how we wanted to shape the album as a whole. We started shaping ideas essentially right after our self-titled album came out.

There is never a lull in time for us. Through our time on the road we have learned what connects best with our fans. This album felt, to us, the most organic and honest album to date.

How did you get to the album title 'Truth and Lies', and what does it mean to you?

There is so much going on in our world. Whether it be political or not. We are bombarded with so much information on our pocket robots, that we have become numb to what is true and what is false. For us, the title makes you think, and allows you to receive the songs from a unique perspective.

Can you tell us about some of the other main themes and influences that run throughout the album?

This record is desperate, but still hopeful. You feel the full range of emotions listening through. Songs like ‘Out There’ and ‘Shape I’m In’ hit you in the gut while a song like ‘Ride’ just makes you feel good. It was important to us to show all of our cards this go around.

How did the album artwork for 'Truth and Lies' come together, and what does it mean to you?

The artwork is from a German artist named Mrs. White. We became huge fans of hers by happenstance. We found her piece that ended up being the cover and it subsequently helped shape the title for us. We love the contrast of the black and white — Truth and Lies — aspect. It makes you think and keeps you guessing.

Especially when listening to the record.

Looking back on the album, how would you say the sound of Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown has grown/changed overall?

We are constantly evolving. As a band, as individual players, and as songwriters. It’s important for us to keep moving while still maintaining our integrity. We soak up so much touring and the songs are always coming from those experiences. I think we did take more risks than in the past on this album.

Looking back on your self-titled album, how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown?

We love our self-titled album. It is definitely different than our current work. Different approaches were taken in the songwriting and in the recording process. We had so many straight ahead, driving rock songs that translate so well live. Each album moves the needle a little more, and we will always love this album.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from your self-titled album at the moment, and why?

‘Don’t Mind The Blood’ and ‘Ramblin’ Bones’ are the two I think of immediately. We have played these the most recently. They translate in a different way live that is special for us. We extend sections and give them a fun LIVE twist. Come see it!!

So, how excited are you for your upcoming UK tour with Airbourne, and what can attending fans expect?

We are thrilled to be coming back across the pond to tour. It’s always the most fun when we are able to come to the UK! We are big fans of Airbourne and cannot wait to join them on stage. Expect a LOUD, raucous, rock and roll party!

What do you remember the most from coming to the UK for the first time as Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown?

We first came over with AC/DC in 2016 and were blown away by the response to our music. It was truly such a highlight. We have had so many amazing memories since then as well. Each show gets better and better. We hold the UK dear to our hearts and always look forward to our trips there.

What else can we expect to see from Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown in 2020?

We will enter into the new year with the same program we always have: Tour, write, rock out, tour, write…

Rinse and repeat.

I’d say you will most likely hear some new music from us as well!

Interview with Ritzy

So, how did the idea for re-issuing 'A Balloon Called Moaning' come about?

We knew we wanted to do something special to commemorate our 10 year anniversary & ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’ shares the same birthday. It made sense to revisit it & we loved the idea of re-arranging the songs acoustically & accenting all the melodies & lyrics of the original.

What did you enjoy the most about re-visiting this record, and putting together this special release?

It was probably the most challenging aspect, but the Welsh translation was really interesting to do & very memory provoking. Welsh is such a beautiful, interesting language & it sometimes made us have to find new ways of expressing old feelings.

For fans who haven't picked it up just yet, why should they, what's really special about it, and why does it stand out?

10 years ago, we were a band starting to find our sound & our stride & growing as songwriters. This celebrates our first release & gives fans a deeper cut of ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’. It looks gorgeous too, double coloured vinyl, yum yum & artwork old & new by Rhydian.

There are acoustic re-workings in both English and Welsh. Can you tell us about how rewarding it was to work on those tracks, and how they helped shape this reissue?

They were reflective studio sessions, especially because like I mentioned, you can’t always translate something literally in Welsh so you really have to dig a bit deeper to capture the same feel or meaning of the original. Lots of memories & a process that provoked a lot of memories.

Looking back on the record itself, what do you remember the most about putting it together?

The 2009 version was written quite passionately & a bit combatively in North Wales & London. Rhydian and I were writing together for the first time, figuring each other out & both very headstrong. The new recordings - still headstrong & passionate, but a bit more capable of getting the best out of each other. ha.

The record obviously helped you build a huge fan base, and earn tours (rightfully so) with bands as big as Foo Fighters. So, for you, why do you think the record went on to relate to so many fans and musicians in a truly groundbreaking way?

I don’t put it down to one release, it’s been a very gradual, vacillating path so far but we’ve got a great fan base & we’ve recorded exactly what we wanted at each point along the way.

You once again pushed the boundaries of your sound with your latest release 'AAARTH', how happy have you been with the response to the album so far, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of The Joy Formidable?

Love that album. Was a fascinating experiment to see how much more involved we could become in the production/mixing & arranging. I don’t really see albums like that, to me they’re a creative moment in time that you want to share, not really something you keep tabs on.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'AAARTH' at the moment, and why?

‘Y Bluen Eira’ and ‘Caught on a Breeze’ for the energy & the story behind them.

How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect?

It’s a short tour, three dates total in the UK, but we’re blending some acoustic material with an electric set & playing the whole of ‘ABCM’ from start to finish, so I imagine it’ll be a really lovely way to end the year & look forward to the next decade together.

What else can we expect to see from The Joy Formidable in 2020?

Focused on a new album at the moment, lots of writing happening & seeing where & how we decide to record it. And booking Formidable fest 2020, which is something we want to grow & take to North America next year.

Interview with Brendan

When did the first glimpses of 'Nothing Left To Love' come about, was there a particular song or moment that inspired the creative process for the record?

For me it was one night when Jesse came to hang in my parents basement with Adrian, Kyle and I. He brought his computer and said he wanted to show us some sh*t he’s been working on. He showed us what eventually would become ‘Cherished’ and up until that point I don’t think I was ready to get back into writing mode. He actually ended up showing us like 8 songs, a couple of which made it to ‘NL2L’.

You've just unleashed the track 'Separate Wounds'! What can you tell us about it?

Blake was toying with the idea of some psycho open tuning for a while and when we went to the studio for a week or so a few months before we actually started recording, he came up with the song. It was outside of the box enough to get excited about, but not enough for all of us to be like “no, you’re insane”

How did you get to the album title 'Nothing Left To Love' , and what does it mean to you?

Honestly, one night I was having a hard time falling asleep and I grabbed my phone and just wrote “Will you love me until there’s nothing left to love?” In my notes app. I woke up the next day and was looking at my phone, probably to start writing something else and saw it and I was like oh sh*t… that’s cool. So I ran and showed Will and he was into the idea of naming the album. The title, for me, serves as a basic question that can be spun in two directions. One being “Will you love me even though there’s nothing to love about me?” and the other being “Will you love me until I am dead?” and I think the content of the album can all be related to one or the other.

On this record, with the lyrics you've said that "some of my best material creatively came from me just being willing to admit things out loud”. Can you elaborate on that?

The lyrical approach was basically the same thing I’ve done for the last few albums with Will, the only different approach being allowing myself to write exactly how I feel about certain things/people and not worrying about how others will react.

Tough question time. What was the hardest song on 'Nothing Left To Love' to put together, and why?

Honestly, I think the title track. For me anyway. It’s the first time we’ve ever done a song where it is almost all singing. So trying to write lyrics to a singing part instead of the classic double time shout a novel’s worth of words thing that I normally do took me a long time. Sometimes I forget that you’re allowed to keep things simple, and that it can honestly be more affective than trying to write an essay’s worth of lyrics.

How did you end up working with Will Putney, and how would you say that he helped shape the record?

Started with ‘Difference’ in 2013 and now I won’t go anywhere else. He’s like the dog walker who’s got all of us on a leash and keeps us from going crazy and getting hit by cars, or choking on our chew toys hahaha.

How did the artwork for 'Nothing Left To Love' come together?

I think we were in Richmond at an airbnb and Trey woke me up being like “Yo, album art is due in 5 days LOL” and I was like “Oh goodie.” So we sat at the dining room table and just shot ideas back and forth. We briefly talked about artwork when we were actually recording and basically revisited some of those ideas, and then I said I wanted something that looks like it’s from 2004 (rare for me) and then we took the oil painting route. To me I think it’s reflective of the record because not only do we have a song with the word “knife” in the title, it sets the mood. It tells people that they’re in for something darker than usual.

Looking back on 'You're Not You Anymore' how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Counterparts?

Very happy. I was worried at first so out of fear I just started telling everyone that it was the best record of 2017 and for some reason everyone believed me hah! I think at the time, losing the main songwriter, we were all worried but I think that our need to prevail was appreciated by our fans. I think aside from ‘NL2L’ it’s the most accurate representation of what Counterparts is and will always be.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'You're Not You Anymore'?

Honestly, all of them. I still think that record rules. If I had to pick one it would probably be ‘No Servant Of Mine’. That song just plain rocks. In fact, every night before we play it I always say “this one kicks ass”

It's been ten years since the release of 'Prophets'! Looking back on this release, what do you remember the most about putting it together?

I remember being an 18 year old kid who just graduated high school and was trying to navigate being a metal core band in 2009. It was a good learning experience for us. I think it was the first time any of us had a scope on what our potential actually could be. It’s like we flicked the serious switch and realised like holy sh*t we might actually be able to do this for a while.

What else can we expect to see from Counterparts in 2020?

Lots of touring, lots of fun. Couple funny tweets. Pretty much exactly what you saw in 2019. Maybe even more music.

Interview with Brynjar & Raggi

You recently toured the UK. How did it go, and can you give us a couple of couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

Brynjar: It was great! We went to the Olafur Eliasson exhibition in London at Tate Modern and it was beautiful. We were also touring with a band called Black Honey and it was great to get to know those guys.

So, when did the first glimpses of 'Fever Dream' come about? Was there a particular song or moment that maybe sparked the creative process for the album?

Brynjar: We first started working on the album in May of 2017. We spent a week in the studio working on a few songs that eventually ended up being on ‘Fever Dream’. The first one was ‘Alligator’ and a rough idea of how ‘Ahay’ was supposed to be.

How did you get to the album title 'Fever Dream', and what does it mean to you?

Raggi: We went through a lot of working-titles before we reached ‘Fever Dream’. in the end when we were listening to the album back it felt like the appropriate title to describe what the process was like making it, and what we went through as people while creating it. For us "fever dream" is not a negative term. Rather something that feels otherworldly and abstract.

Can you elaborate on some of the main themes and influences that run throughout the album?

Raggi: Speaking from a lyrical standpoint the songs are mostly about seeking out growth within yourself. Asking questions instead of avoiding them and kind of "waking up" and not settling for feeling numb and distant. You could say that the music follows the same path. We wanted to keep growing as a creative team and challenge ourselves and each other by avoiding our "comfort zones" within the band. I think that changed the way we thought about our music making process and made us try and do new things.

How did you end up working with Rich Costey, and how would you say that he helped shape the album?

Raggi: We worked with Rich on our last album as well so it felt very natural to go back in the studio with him. This time around was a little different though. He came into this project at a much later stage. We'd been working on this album for a long time and it was starting to feel like we were kinda just circling around and not getting where we wanted to be. His presence and knowledge immediately brought focus into the room and made it a lot easier for us to clear our minds and make decicions.

You've said that you grew "tired" of writing acoustic songs, so when you look at 'Fever Dream', how would you say that the Of Monsters and Men sound has grown / evolved?

Raggi: I don't think we're tired of acoustic songs at all. I think that statement has kinda gotten lost in translation at some point. We were tired of writing songs on an "acoustic guitar". That's how most of our song ideas had come in the past and it felt exciting and important to change that up and make the process more exciting and inspiring for us by introducing new elements in the beginning stages.

Looking back, what was the hardest song on the album to put together, and why?

Brynjar: ‘Vulture Vulture’. Originally it was an idea that we had been working on for a while and then we weren’t quite feeling the song. We changed the verse and then we changed the chorus and we were left with a completely new song.

How did the artwork for come together, and what meaning does it have for you?

Brynjar: We got an Icelandic artist named Jon to paint 5 paintings because there are 5 of us in the band.

Raggi made a few ideas out of the paintings, out of the eye.

Finally, what can we expect to see from Of Monsters and Men in 2020?

Brynjar: A lot of touring! We are starting the year in Australia and Asia and playing some festivals around the world.

Interview with Colton

Touring wise, what did you get up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

2019 has been a super busy year, and we've still got a lot coming before the new year. This year we got to play at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, opening up for a band who inspired us to start this band (Trampled by Turtles). We also got to play Glastonbury Festival in the UK, one of the biggest music festivals in the world. We also recorded and released our newest album, ‘Sugar and Joy’ in 2019. It's been a great year.

So, when did the first glimpses of 'Sugar & Joy' come about? Was there a particular song or moment that maybe sparked the creative process for the record?

I took a two year hiatus from the band, and when I came back, we started writing furiously. It was awesome having the original four members back writing again, and the songs just began to pour out of us. Most of the album was written at home a few months before we went down to Alabama to record. A few songs were written down there during the recording process.

How did you get to the album title 'Sugar & Joy', and what does it mean to you?

We like to name our albums after song lyrics. Our previous album, ‘Illusion and Doubt’, came from a line from ‘Miss Mary’, which is probably the weirdest song on that album. We wanted to stick with a short, two-word title, and we figured we'd take a line from the weirdest song on THIS album, which we think is ‘Fat Little Killer Boy’.

How did you end up working with Jimmy Nutt, and how would you say that he helped shape 'Sugar & Joy'?

Our manager Chris Wynters hooked us up with Jimmy. We went to his studio last September to record a few demos and to meet him and see if we liked working with him, and we loved him. He was totally on board with who we are as a band and what we were going for on this record, and he had the technical know-how to allow us to really convey what we were trying to convey for each song. For us, as a band, we refuse to work with anyone we don't think is a great person. From our road crew to our management team, we really like every single person on board, and it was almost MORE important for us to work with someone we liked than someone who was just great at what they do. But Jimmy checked both of those boxes: he's an absolute wizard producer, and one of our favourite people as well.

What can you tell us about your latest single 'Blue Trash'?

Musically, I wrote the banjo parts for this song during my hiatus. The verses are a fast-picking Scruggs-style banjo part, and the choruses are the same part just played halftime with a shuffle feel. Lyrically, the song is a response to a song we heard on Bluegrass Junction (we really need to track down exactly who it was) about bands like us who aren't true bluegrass, and the message in the song was that they wanted bands like us to go away and leave their beloved genre alone. Our response is basically, "We love bluegrass, we aren't bluegrass, and we aren't going anywhere." It's a cheeky love-letter to the bluegrass purists.

Looking back on 'Illusion and Doubt', how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of The Dead South?

I personally think each album we've made so far has been better than the last. On ‘Good Company’ we were still learning how to play our instruments, and on ‘Illusion & Doubt’ we were still learning how to write songs. We're still learning all of those things, by the way. ‘Illusion & Doubt’ also brought us a lot of success, we toured that album for three years, basically. It really helped us develop not only in the studio but on the road during the years of touring that album as well.

Your track 'In Hell I'll Be In Good Company' went viral! Looking back on the song, what do you think it is that listeners like so much about the track?

Sexy Danny's sexy whistling, for sure.

How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect?

I can't wait to go back to the UK. Our UK fans are wild, loud, and crazy, so we're stepping up our show to match that level. We've got a new stage set and design that we're really excited about, and it will be our first time back since we released ‘Sugar & Joy’, so I can't wait to see everyone singing along to these songs.

What else can we expect to see from The Dead South in 2020?

At this point in our career it feels like we've paddled out into the water, caught the wave, and stood up on the surfboard. So right now we're just trying to not make any mistakes that would topple us over. We're just gonna keep putting one foot in front of the other and see where it all leads.

Interview with Feffe

Touring wise, what did you get up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

We didn´t tour in 2019. We did a few one-offs and some festivals but we really focused on completing the new album, and that took pretty much all the time we had. We did two tours in late 2018, one UK-run and one euro-run, both together with Graveyard. But after that we said that we really had to focus everything on finishing ‘Vulture Culture’. We really enjoy touring and we really enjoy playing live. It takes us places we would never go and lets us meet people we would never meet otherwise. One of our musical highlights would probably be when we opened up for Black Sabbath at Friends Arena in Stockholm. The sheer size of everything that night was pretty overwhelming but we really enjoyed ourselves and had a great show. That was cool! Another thing that I will never forget is when Matte (guitars/vocals) screamed so much on stage that he fell off the stage, smashed his face on the floor and broke his guitar in two. He just got too carried away I suppose. But he got up all confused and carried on with a broken guitar. I think it took him a song or two before he realised what happened, why people were looking at him wierdly and why his guitar was in two pieces.

So, when did the first glimpses of 'Vulture Culture' come about? Was there a particular song or moment that inspired the creative process for it?

‘Vulture Culture’ has really been a work in progress for a long time. Many of the songs on the album I started writing many years ago but they didn´t get finished until now. That’s a result of having done this for a long time I suppose. The song ‘It´s All Over’ for instance is built on an idea I had back when we started the band in 2009-2010. So, in that way it´s really getting easier for every album. I have so many unfinished ideas laying around now so we never have to start from scratch anymore. And we wanted this album to have elements of all our previous albums. If ‘Repeat Until Death’ was catchy and direct and ‘The Poet and The Parrot’ had longer and a bit more progressive songs on it, we wanted ‘Vulture Culture’ to have it all and I think we succeeded in doing that. So, this album is kind of a trip down the Bombus memory lane for us but at the same time I think we have gotten closer to the essence of what this band is about. But the biggest inspiration in writing ‘Vulture Culture’ (except ourselves) really came from the classic greats like Pink Floyd and Queen. I had ‘The Wall’ in the back of my head all of the time during the process. And we had the idea of having a Brian May vibe to the guitars for example. In many ways it never got any better than what those bands did back then. The composing the arrangements and the balance is still unsurpassed. And we try our best to incorporate some of that brilliance into our own gnarly and unbridled concoction of Heavy Metal.

How did you get to the album title 'Vulture Culture', and what does it mean to you?

‘Vulture Culture’ stands for a culture that preys on itself, picking over the bones of failure and blaming everyone else, rather than itself. It´s just how we think the world is and how humans are to each other. The never-ending human stupidity, greed and will to destroy everything good is an endless source of inspiration for us. All of our lyrics are about that but we´re no preachers and we point no fingers. We´re part of it all, we merely observe and write about it.

What was the hardest song on 'Vulture Culture' to put together, and why?

As I said some of the songs took a really long time and are a result of many years of making and performing music. But that doesn’t necessarily make them harder to write, they just took the time they needed. Other songs almost write themselves and end up great and I think it´s the mix of the direct, in your face - catchy songs and the ones you struggled – or at least worked with for a longer time that makes an album really good and long lasting for the listener. Sometimes you walk around with these ideas in your head that you really like but you´re not quite sure how they should be executed, and that can sometimes be frustrating but you really just have to let them rest for a year or ten and then pick them up again. The song ‘We Lost a Lot of Blood Today’ was intended to be on ‘Repeat Until Death’ but we never got it quite right so we left it out then, totally re-arranged it and it got on ‘Vulture Culture’ three years later instead.

How did the artwork for 'Vulture Culture' come together?

It pictures a post-apocalyptic future where the machines control our minds. For me it resembles the cover ‘Somewhere in Time’ by Iron Maiden and we really wanted to have some of that 80s neofuturistic vibe to it. We grew up listening to 80s Hard Rock and Metal and watching 80s movies so we really like the aesthetics of that time. It took some time to make, because first two graphic artists put together this computer-generated picture and then we had an artist paint the whole thing on canvas just to get that painted old movie poster look to it. We´re really happy with the result and it came out better than we expected.

How did you end up working with Daniel Johansson, and how would you say that he helped shape the album?

Daniel is a good friend and we worked with him on ‘Repeat Until Death’ as well. I don´t want to use the phrase musical genius but he´s the closest thing I´ve ever come to working with one. He´s got a great ear for both creating vibes and details. He really hears everything, like if for example the groove isn´t quite there he makes you do it over and over again until it´s done. And even if you really can´t hear it at first, when you compare take 1 and the take 12 you can really hear and feel the difference when you compare them. That´s what you want from a producer, the ability to bring out the best of your performance. He´s got a thousand ideas, is super creative, probably has ADD and is sometimes hard to “control” but in the end it always turns out great.

Looking back on 'Repeat Until Death', how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Bombus?

We´re really happy with that album still even though ‘Vulture Culture’ is a step up. I think that ‘Repeat Until Death’ did a lot for us. It took us a few steps up the ladder and introduced us to a wider audience. It was also a step in the right direction music-wise and took us half way to ‘Vulture Culture’. That said we won´t make another ‘Vulture Culture’ because we always want to move forward and never make the same album over again. That´s a part of the process, moving forward.

So, every album for us is a step half way to the next one.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Repeat Until Death' at the moment, and why?

We include ‘Deadweight’, ‘Rust’ and ‘Repeat Until Death’ in our live-set and we still really enjoy playing them. After four albums though you have to scratch out some older ones to make room for new songs and that´s really a luxury problem but those three we´ll keep in there because they´re well received and fit good in the mix. Those songs will also fit well with the songs from ‘Vulture Culture’.

What else can we expect to see from Bombus in 2020?

We´ll be out touring as much as possible and writing our next album. Time flies and there is no time to rest. Hopefully it won´t take us the usual three years to get that one finished. But if you get the chance to catch us in your home town I hope you´ll take it and we will see you there!

Interview with Chris

Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

We’ve spent the majority of 2019 on the road, supporting our new record, ‘Disguise’. The biggest highlight, absolutely, was getting to tour with rock legend Alice Cooper this past summer. He was one of, if not *the* nicest rockstars we’ve ever had the chance to tour with. One of the shows on the tour was at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville TN, which was a huge highlight for me. I never thought I would ever have the chance to play there. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

Looking back on 'Disguise', how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Motionless In White?

Even though every band says this about their latest album, it’s definitely my favourite one. I think it really showcases all the aspects of what makes our band what it is and the fans showed up to support it as well.

We are starting to play more and more of those songs on the road, which has been great too because you can see how excited the fans are to sing along to it. I’m very happy and can’t wait to get over to Europe and the UK to play it.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Disguise' at the moment, and why?

Currently I think our favourite to play is ‘Undead Ahead 2.’ We wrote this song knowing that playing it during the Halloween/October time frame was going to be a major highlight for both us and the fans, and it has been. It’s been the song we’ve played first and it really has gotten fans into the whole show right away.

The last single you released was 'Undead Ahead 2: The Tale of the Midnight Ride', can you tell us about how this track in particular came together, and what it means to you?

This track is special for a few reasons. It’s the first song our new bassist Justin Morrow had the chance to write with us for the new record. He joined the band pretty late in the process and missed a lot of the writing, but he was able to help with this song. It’s also special because we made it specifically to feel like a throwback type of song similar to songs off of our album ‘Creatures’ and I think it turned out great in showing the roots of the band and the heaviness we’ve come from.

It's about to be ten years since the release of 'Creatures'! Looking back on this album, what do you remember the most about putting it together?

I think the most prevalent emotion regarding ‘Creatures’ is how stressed out we were that our new record label wasn’t going to like it and that fans were going to hate it. We put everything we had into that record to make sure we branded our own sound and stood out to give fans something new and I was happy that both the label and the fans still love the record. It went better than we ever expected it to be. We were really happy with what we created, to give our band our own unique sound that we could base our future music off.

So, how excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect?

I think every time we see the U.K. pop up in an email, we are like 100% YES LET’S DO THIS!! haha. We love the U.K. fans and it’s really amazing to see how many tickets have been sold already for some of these shows and we’re still over a month away from being there. It really shows you how dedicated these fans are and why we want to headline over there so much. I can’t wait to hear them sing the new songs with us.

What do you remember the most from coming to the UK for the first time as Motionless In White?

The first time we were ever there was amazing because it was like being in a whole new world for us. It’s not too much different than the States in a lot of ways, but we were still so excited to be there that we went full blown American tourist mode and tried to make the best out of it. I thought the shows were super memorable and the show we played in London still stands out as one of my favorite U.K. shows ever.

You guys have a VIP option on your tour. What do you enjoy the most about doing that process, and what can fans expect from it?

The VIP is the best way we can think to get some more intimate time with the fans and we love doing it. We have done Q&A’s at VIP’s before and that’s usually the best part, because we get to show the fans a side of us that we rarely get to reveal. I think it’s especially cool in foreign places because we see those fans even less.

What else can we expect to see from Motionless In White in 2020?

We’re going to tour as much as possible in 2020 and then start working on a new record towards the end of the year. Next year is the 10 year anniversary of the ‘Creatures’ album, so we might try and do something with that if it feels right. We’ll see!

Interview with Matty

Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

We've done a good bit of touring in the US this year including the Rockstar Disrupt Tour with The Used, Sum 41, Thrice, Circa Survive, ect! My personal favourite shows were 2 one-offs that we played earlier in the year. One with Story Of The Year for their annual home town show in Saint Louis & the other with Kayzo in Houston. Both were outside of the norm for us & I love opportunities like that.

Looking back on the release of 'Broken', how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Memphis May Fire?

I think this album has been a killer growing & learning experience for the band. We've always wanted to introduce our music to the active rock community & this record helped us do that in a big way. I imagine our next record will be more in line with our roots while still showcasing who we are as a band currently.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Broken' at the moment, and why?

‘The Old Me’ & ‘Heavy Is The Weight’ have gone over really well live! Both feel very tasteful in the mix of songs from the rest of our discography.

Looking back on the album, how would you say that you've grown/progressed musically on this release?

This was our first time really stepping out of the boundaries of the genre we came up in so growth was inevitable in that regard. We've seen a lot of growth in the dynamic of our fanbase with this record as well. it's so rad to see people from different age ranges & walks of life come together at a MMF show.

What would you say you've learnt the most as a musician from putting 'Broken' together?

I think as a band we've learned that we don't have to go so far in one direction or the other when we're wanting to experiment. Our next album will be all over the place musically & we're really looking forward to that. We just want to write what WE want to write.

It's probably early days, but if you've started work on any new material just yet, what can fans expect from it?

We're always writing! It's too early in the process to define the next record but I can say with confidence that it will definitely be more aggressive.

How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect?

We are ecstatic for this tour! We're putting together the most exciting set list that we've ever brought internationally & we can't wait to play the shows!

How would you say that touring in the UK compares to anywhere else in the world?

The UK has an electric energy of its own & we've always loved it there. Not to mention our obsession with Doner kebab.

What else can we expect to see from Memphis May Fire in 2020?

Tour Tour Tour! Maybe even some new music ;)

Interview with Chris

Touring wise, what did you get up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

The last year or so was kind of treated like a rebuild for the band. We’ve done everything from opening tours to headlining all in that time. I think ultimately the focus was staying as active as we could without burning out certain markets or territories.

What can you tell us about your latest single 'Smoke and Mirrors'?

I think ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ just felt like a continuation of ‘Nowhere Left to Sink’. Kind of capturing the same elements of music that got us all inspired to play when we were growing up. That was something we explored on the last record and really enjoyed it, but this time the focus was trying to blend some of the core Moths elements into those songs. I think ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ is a good representation of what we’re capable of writing but shouldn’t be what’s expected from all the content moving forward.

You also unleashed ‘Nowhere Left To Sink’, looking back on that track, how would you say it compares to what you've done before as Like Moths To Flames?

I mean sonically there’s nothing that’s similar in our catalogue but that was also one of the reasons we tried it, just to do something new. I think it’s a great look at what can happen when we channel some different influences. A lot of the thought process around that record was trying to capture more melody. Definitely something to learn from.

What would you say you've learnt the most from putting these new tracks together?

The biggest lesson learned with these new tracks is that we are fully capable of doing it all internally. In the past there were a lot of conversations about writing with other people or going to a specific studio because we felt they’d help us find a certain sound, etc. We just wrote what felt natural and unique to what we’d written on the last couple records while still getting back to some of the root elements that people enjoy about the band.

Looking towards your fifth album, although it still might be early days, what do you think fans can expect from it?

It’s hard to say but I do think it will be a continuation of what we’ve been releasing with the singles.

How did you end up signing to UNFD, and what have they been like to work with so far?

Honestly I think UNFD saved the band. In just a short time we’ve seen an insane level of growth in all areas of the group. They embrace the band and what we have to offer while providing a lot of fresh ideas that we’ve not been offered in the past.

Looking back on 'Dark Divine', how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Like Moths to Flames?

I still love the album. The lyrics on the record are some of my most vulnerable. I think it explores a huge side of the band that hadn’t been seen in the other 50+ songs we’ve released. That record will always hold a special place with me for many reasons. Obviously there are things we’d do differently given the chance but you live and learn.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Dark Divine' at the moment, and why?

We didn’t play much from the record on this tour. The last couple tours were focused around the record and now that we are in a new cycle we’ve just been exploring the whole catalogue. ‘Nowhere Left to Sink’ is a staple in the set and one that we always have a good time with though.

What else can we expect to see from Like Moths To Flames in 2020?

Just more of the band. Last couple cycles were a roller coaster of touring and then sitting at home for a while, so we are hoping to eliminate some of the sitting around. New record, new tours, etc.

Interview with Mike

When did the first glimpses of 'The Act' come about, was there a particular song or moment that inspired the creative process for the record?

Kyle is always writing songs, so he likely started cooking up more material soon after we made ‘Transit Blues’. I think that if there was a pivotal moment in starting this album, it was when Jon was with Kyle out in Michigan and they decided to scrap a lot of what they had started (demo-wise) and start fresh with a direction less visited.

What made you want to release 'Lines of Your Hands' first, and can you tell us about how this song in particular came together?

We wanted to release ‘Please Say No’ first, but the label requested ‘Lines of Your Hands’, which we were fine to agree on. It’s more of what we consider a middle of the road song, and by that we mean that it is a little more familiar to what we’ve traditionally been doing over the last number of years. I think that it is an exemplary example of what we often make, but it also isn’t as progressive as some of what’s on the album.

How did you get to the album title 'The Act', and what does it mean to you?

It kind of started as ‘Actor’ and being derivative of that which is fake. But it morphed into ‘The Act’ as being something bigger than that. ‘The Act’ is all-encompassing and allows the consumer to participate in what exactly ‘The Act’ means.

Can you elaborate on some of the main themes and influences that run throughout 'The Act’?

There aren’t many themes that make appearances more than once. I think the only two are hell and mental health.

You've said that "What is upcoming really moves away from where Prada has been the last 10 years.” So can you elaborate on that, and how you would say that the sound of The Devil Wears Prada has grown/changed on 'The Act’?

I think the listener can decide that better than I can, but being one of the creator’s of ‘The Act’, I can say that the objective is different. We go into songwriting much differently these days than what we used to do. It’s utilising a different process.

Tough question time. What was the hardest song on 'The Act' to put together, and why?

I think the hardest songs were some of the demos that eventually got scrapped. Those are the ones that were really hard to put together because we couldn’t get them right enough, which is why they, of course, did not make the cut.

How did the artwork for 'The Act' come together, and what does it mean to you?

I worked with Dan Seagrave in methodising a depiction of hell. Dan deserves all the credit in the actual creation, however, my visual proposals are where we more often than not begin the artwork process. From there I worked with my good pal Luke in developing the layout and everything that is not the actual painting.

How did you end up signing to Solid State Records, and what have they been like to work with so far?

When we were last between labels, Solid State expressed a lot of interest. When we had again finished a contract, we decided that Solid State was the right move. They’ve been nothing but wonderful to work with.

Looking back on 'Transit Blues' how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of The Devil Wears Prada?

I still think that it’s a solid record, but we didn’t want to make something just like it again. In terms of its representation, I think some of the slower moments on that record, as well as our Julien Baker cover, are a little bit of a kind of reflection as to where we wanted to head with ‘The Act’.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Transit Blues', and why?

I’ve always enjoyed ‘To the Key of Evergreen’. I don’t think it’s on the setlist for upcoming shows, but that song is a special one for me personally.

What else can we expect to see from The Devil Wears Prada in 2020?

We’re hoping to really tour ‘The Act’ hard. There’s no hard date as to when we’ll make another full length or EP. Instead, we aim to play tons of shows, worldwide, for a number of years.

Interview with Barry

Touring wise, what have you been up to in 2019, and can you give us a couple of personal highlights from your time on the road?

Its been quite a heavy year of touring in the US and Canada so far in 2019. We currently are finishing up a headlining run with Papa Roach, Asking Alexandria, and Savage After Midnight. As for personal highlights, it’s kind of interesting, we are still touring so hard that I really haven’t taken the time to look back. I would say playing the Ryman in Nashville was an amazing experience. It is a legendary venue, especially for country artists, and to be a rock band playing there was a very special experience. Also, just being able to headline all of these shows and festivals in such big places and have so many sell outs is just humbling. I still pinch myself thinking of what my band has accomplished so far.

Looking back on 'Attention Attention', how happy are you with this album still, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of Shinedown?

Not being one to look back, this is an interesting question. We are still touring and working ‘Attention Attention’, but what I’ve seen so far is more growth and new fans of our band. I am extremely happy and proud of this record. For Shinedown this album has given us more opportunities and brought us as a band even closer together. This album was a labour of love and was a joy to make. I think it represents who we are as a band, and has given people/fans a voice for issues that they may be dealing with. By us being honest in the songs topics, and really laying everything out there, people have gravitated to the record for solace and help in their daily lives. It’s been quite an amazing journey so far.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Attention Attention'?

Currently I am enjoying ‘Devil’ and ‘Monsters’. ‘Devil’ because it kicks off the show and I love seeing the crowd come alive when the curtain drops. ‘Monsters’ because of the fans. Watching them sing that song at the top of their lungs and seeing people let loose is always special.

You've just unleashed another single 'Attention Attention', can you tell us about how that track came together, and what it was like to work on?

‘Attention Attention’ is a warning. It comes along in the album at a point where the main character is starting to come to terms with his/her alter ego. Since this album is a story or concept record all of the songs are connected. This song was written from the aspect of your inner voice or ego basically messing with you and pushing you around. Working on this song and the album as a whole was fun. Doing this record on our own with Eric producing it created a comfortable and creative environment. Playing drums on this track was my style of drumming. It’s a groove song with cool open fills. It just feels good and gets your head bobbing.

How did the music video for 'Attention Attention' come together, and what was it like to work on alongside director Bill Yukich?

This video is part of a much bigger picture. We partnered up with Bill in the very beginning of this record to make videos for the entire record to tell the story in Bill’s amazingly twisted way. We went to him with the songs and explained the concept of the record and then gave him license to do his own vision with it. Since the beginning we made the conscience decision to do videos for each song and eventually release the whole thing in its entirety as a “movie” for the record. This song is one aspect of it. If you go back and watch the videos for the other singles that have been released you will see repeating actors in different rolls and scenes that will eventually all come together in the end. Bill is absolutely a blast to work with. He is a very visual person and his work ethic matches ours completely. He doesn’t rest until it is right, neither do we.

So, what would you like the listener to take away from listening to 'Attention Attention'?

We would like the listener to come away empowered from listening to this record. They should come away knowing that everyone deals with their own issues, but in the end you can overcome them, as long as you stay aware that they can always come back. Ultimately it is up to you the listener to adapt and overcome whatever you may be facing.

How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect?

We are beyond excited to come back to the UK. It is our home away from home. We truly feel that the UK has embraced us and we love coming there. Fans can expect a great energetic show. The line up is great and we are happy to support Alter Bridge on this tour. Between Sevendust, ourselves, and then Alter Bridge the fans are going to get one hell of a rock show.

What do you remember the most from coming to the UK for the first time?

I remember a lot of things about coming to the UK for the first time. Let’s start with breakfast. You have figured it out! A proper British breakfast with beans, tomatoes, black pudding, and sunny side up egg is something that blew my mind. The history was stunning to me. The architecture and age of the buildings along with the museums is something that you just don’t see growing up in the US. We are still a young country for the most part and our visual history is young. Though we have an amazing Native American culture that is very old, there is not much left visually of their culture. Then there is Download Festival! Getting on stage in front of 100k people going absolutely nuts, waving giant banners, and playing alongside so many great and varied artists truly changed my life.

What else can we expect to see from Shinedown in 2020?

Most of 2020 will be spent writing a new record and doing a small tour in the US, doing an intimate evening with shows. However, there will be the release of the movie that will be a big event for us and the fans, as well as the perfect bookend for the ‘Attention Attention’ record cycle.

Interview with Greg

When did the first glimpses of 'Hello Exile' come about? Was the a particular song or moment that inspired the creative process for it?

The first initial glimpse of ‘Hello Exile’ came after writing ‘Strangers Forever’. It was the first song we wrote for the album. Whenever we start writing an album, we begin by throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. We had a lot of song ideas that either went nowhere or were kept as ideas to be gutted and ransacked for future songs. ‘Strangers’ was different though. After we wrote it we knew we wouldn’t have to change much, and that it would make the album. ‘I Can’t Stop Drinking’ followed quickly in a similar fashion.

It was a great feeling having those two in our pockets so early on in the songwriting process.

How did you get to the album title 'Hello Exile', and what does it mean to you?

The album title comes from the title track ‘Hello Exile’. I experimented with a couple different arrangements for the song before working on it with the band. Ultimately, my initial ideas weren’t really going anywhere, until one day at practice Eric came up with the bass line and Joe put a beat to it. Tom came up with the guitar riff rather quickly, and I rearranged my melodies to work with what everyone was jamming on. It took me a couple weeks to finish the lyrics but the arrangement was finally there. Joe mentioned it would be a great album title and we all agreed.

The album title means a lot to me, and I hope those that listen and appreciate these kinds of things will find their own meaning in it. To me, the word “exile” is so highly visual, I can’t help but let my imagination run wild with it. My mind glances to my childhood bedroom, where I had the record sleeves of The Rolling Stones ‘Exile on Main Street’ tacked on my wall. I think about the lyrical deserted island imagery in ‘Strangers Forever’. I think about what led to the song ‘London Drugs’; sitting alone backstage, drunk after a show in London, on a high from the sold out show but depressed and worried about myself. I think about the finality of death, the passing of time, the inability to change an imperfect past. It makes me visualise every moment in ‘Farewell Youth’ and in ‘High School Friend’ and in ‘Strain Your Memory’.

We've read that on this record you take your "lyrical narrative to a whole new level", so can you elaborate on that, and maybe what else we can expect from the lyricism that runs throughout the record?

Well I appreciate whoever said that, and I do think we stepped up our songwriting from previous albums.

When we started writing I knew I wanted to tackle a lot of the lyrics from more of a storytelling angle. I wanted to incorporate the things I love about country music, how captivating and relatable the lyrics can hit, but I wanted us to put our own stamp on it. When I think about songwriting, or literature, or film, I’m always drawn to depictions of normal mundane life. How monotonous it can all seem, but when told it becomes something so much bigger, something so incredibly relatable. I think there has always been an element to our songwriting that follows that model.

What made you want to work with Will Yip once more, and how would you say that he helped shape 'Hello Exile'?

We worked with Will Yip on ‘After the Party’ and then again when we recorded two standalone singles, ‘Toy Soldier’ and ‘The Freaks’. We knew all along we wanted to work with Will again. He’s become one of our most trusted friends in not just the music industry but in life in general. As a band, we’ve never been more creatively connected with someone other than Will. He can finish our thoughts and sentences, and take our wildest ideas and make them reality. He’s everything you want in a producer.

You've said that this was the longest amount of time that you've worked with Will. So, why do you think that is, and how would you say that the recording process compared overall on 'Hello Exile' to anything that you've done before?

We booked 6 weeks of studio time with Will because we initially wanted to write a good chunk of the album in the studio. The idea always intrigued us, and we were really open to anything this time around. While we were writing the album, we quickly realised that our best approach would be to do what we’ve always done, complete the songs 100% in our eyes, and then edit and rewrite in the studio with the producer. For us, our songs need time to develop and grow. Very rarely do we stick with our first idea. That worked for most of the songs, but we did write one in the studio, which was ‘Portland’. We started on a rough outline of the song the week before entering, but really ripped the song open during pre-production. I think we went in with the guitar riff, Tom’s melody with sparse lyrics, and very few other instrumentation ideas. The process was stressful but highly rewarding. There’s something magical that happens when a group of people get together like this, hellbent on solving a songwriting riddle. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and while the idea of writing in the studio scares me, I’m happy we had a successful experience doing it.

Tough question time. What was the hardest song on 'Hello Exile' to put together, and why?

‘America (You’re Freaking Me Out)’ absolutely was the hardest. The thing with that song is we all knew how much potential it had, so we set our expectations impossibly high. I rewrote the lyrics and melody at least a dozen times, which is pretty uncommon for me, usually I’ll just move on from a song if lyrics and melody aren’t clicking. There was something special about this song though. I cant remember exactly how the chorus came, but the next day I went into practice and sang it for the band and the whole thing just clicked. We all visualised the song and put the pieces into place.

Looking back on the release of 'After The Party', how happy have you been with the response to the album so far, and what do you think that it's done for the representation of The Menzingers?

The response to ‘After the Party’ was incredible, it absolutely was and will always be a defining moment in our band’s career. I mean, couples got married to those songs! That’s incredible! I’ll forever be proud of it. I wouldn’t change a single note.

What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'After The Party' at the moment, and why?

All of them if I’m being completely honest. ‘After the Party’ is one of my favourite songs we ever wrote, so I’m going to go ahead and say that’s my favourite song to preform. It’s a pretty special moment when the chorus hits.

How excited are you for your upcoming UK tour, and what can attending fans expect?

I’m beyond excited to come back to the UK, which at this point is our international home away from home. We’ve made so many life long friends after 10 years of touring there that it’s become a special reunion of sorts when we can all get back together.

The shows in The UK have taken on a life of their own, it’s absolutely insane how great the crowds have become.

What do you remember the most about coming to the UK for the first time?

The touring vehicles. Our tour mates Leagues Apart picked us up at the airport in their van aptly named Whopper. We all couldn’t fit, so our soon to be friend Kieran Kelly drove the rest of us in his car.

For the next 10 days the 10 of us were a semi-legit drunken traveling circus.

Riding in Kieran’s car was pretty straight forward. It very much felt like taking a road trip with a friend.

We shared music, talked politics, talked about life.

Kieran and I became close buds and I usually chose to ride shotgun with him.

On the flip side, riding in Whopper was complete debauchery. It was uncomfortable and cold, so it was pretty typical to start drinking early, well before load in. Everyone was really into Strongbow at the time, and I can remember those big disgusting plastic bottles of Strongbow being passed around till they were finished. The van was so unbelievably overweight that I cant believe it even drove. It was a house party on wheels that took years off my life.

Wouldn’t trade it for the world.

What else can we expect to see from The Menzingers in 2020?

Lots and lots of touring for us in 2020. We’re putting the finishing touches on all that now. Besides touring, we plan to continue writing and who knows maybe it won’t be so long until we release new music?

When and how did you get into the world of composing?

The first fifteen years of my career were in the music industry - programming, recording, working on records, and generally not music-to-picture. I had started my pro career touring with Bobby Brown as his keyboard tech and sound designer, then with Mary J. Blige.

After years of live touring, I decided I’d rather be in the studio where I could be working with new artists and developing new projects. In the mid ‘90s I worked with Junior Vasquez producing dance remixes, and even collaborating with him on Cher’s ‘Believe’ album. They were exciting times!

And then right around 2001, shortly after the original Xbox was released, I started playing games like Halo, Rainbow Six and Prince of Persia and I was inspired by the music. Although I was an avid video game player my entire life (going back to the late ‘70s), never in a million years did I imagine these two worlds colliding.

Then I had my epiphany: “This is what I needed to be doing!” I knew reinventing myself in a new industry wouldn’t be easy so I developed Atlas Plug, an alter ego artist that I used to break into the video game industry. I put out an album of hybrid electronica intended to be licensed in video games, TV and film trailers.

Within the same year, video game companies like Microsoft took notice and started to license my music in games like Crackdown, Project Gotham Racing and many others. Soon after, I started pursuing opportunities to compose original scores. The first major titles I scored were Need for Speed Underground 2 and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.

Who were your main composer influences growing up, and why?

At 10 years old I never imagined being a composer but I always found myself listening to John Williams scores on vinyl, mainly because he scored all my favourite movies in those days…Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, Superman, etc. But I also loved Alan Silvestri’s score to Back to the Future.

What was your first major project as a composer, and what do you remember the most from this experience?

Technically, my first original score as a composer was for an adventure game called Still Life on PC. But my first major AAA assignment was to score Need for Speed Underground 2. It was definitely an eye-opening experience and quite a challenge. The audio director at that time was known to be a very challenging client and multiple revisions were the norm. I remember how difficult it was adjusting to this new workflow compared to simply producing songs and records…not always fun but it was a great proving ground for me.

How did you end up working on the world of Wolfenstein?

I got a call from my agent who was approached by the developer Machine Games who were looking for a composer. I was given the brief and was asked to submit a few samples of what I could imagine doing for it, I was very excited to be chosen.

What did you enjoy the most about working in this iconic gaming world, and how did you go about bringing your own approach?

I’m a huge fan of ‘80s pop culture, music, etc. so when I saw that they were going for music set in the 1980s, naturally I was thrilled. Creating a unique signature sound is always my primary objective when working on a new title and having the chance to delve deeply into the ‘80s post-punk meets dark synth sound was a dream come true. It allowed me to set up my own limitations, using only authentic sounds, instruments and effects that were only available in 1980. Everything from the guitar tone, to synths, samplers and effects.

What was it like to do a remake of the Joy Division song 'A Means to an End', and can you tell us about how it came together?

That was an interesting collaboration. The folks at Machine Games in Sweden are big fans of this local electro funk duo called The Guilt and they wanted to find a way to work with them, so they decided to do a cover of ‘A Means to an End’ performed by them. Since I have an extensive production background it was a natural fit for me to produce the song, with the added benefit of having me ensure it would fit with the style of the score. The original version of the song was quite distant stylistically from the style of music The Guilt were known for. So this presented an opportunity to take a dramatically different approach, including adding some new sections in the song. Everyone was really happy with the final result.

What were the main composing differences for you between Wolfenstein: Youngblood & Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot?

Not too much actually. For Cyberpilot I composed some additional music exclusively for the game but they also reused some of the music from Youngblood, since it was closely related and in the same timeframe.

Tough question time. What was the hardest part of these games to work on as a composer, and why?

This was the first major title that I’ve ever been required to deliver the music already integrated into the middleware / music implementation software (e.g. Wwise). Normally I am only asked to deliver the music but, on this project, we also had to do the main integration and test on our end before delivering to the client.

What was it like to work on the iconic Halo franchise, and what do you remember the most about composing for this legendary Sci-Fi world?

The original Halo from 2001 was one of the main inspirations for me to get into scoring for games so you can only imagine what it felt like to be a part of remaking that score for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary ten years later, and then eventually composing original scores for the franchise. Recreating the scores for Halo CE and Halo 2 was pure joy and once I got to the point where I was then asked to write an original score, I was thrilled, although initially terrified, “wait, now it is up to me to carry this iconic sound forward with a massive fan base and huge expectations”. But once I found my stride and figured out the musical recipe that felt authentic to me, it was a truly fulfilling experience.

Which Halo game did you enjoy working on the most as a composer, and why?

Now that is a tough one! Certainly, the first Halo game I worked on (Halo CE Anniversary) will always have a special place in my heart, but Halo Spartan Assault was also one of my favourites as it was the first original score I ever composed solo for the franchise.

What else can we expect to see from you as a composer in 2020?

Unfortunately NDA’s restrict me from mentioning any upcoming video game projects, however I invite your readers to check out my Twitch Channel (twitch.tv/tomsalta), where I discuss music creation techniques and production tips, and for anyone who is an enthusiast of ‘80s pop culture, check out my new podcast Two Guys & the 80s…it’s a lot of fun!

THE ASHLEY BEAN BAND The Ashley Bean Band is a rock band hailing from Peoria Illinois. Over the years, The Ashley Bean Band has had influences that have molded their career into what it is today. Cathy Reynolds, four time CIA Gospel Artist of the Year, Mike Isenberg of the International acclaimed family band, The Jets, back-up musician, Rusty Hall, and John Coulter, Marshall Tucker’s sound engineer, Journey, and Diana Meltzer founder of Seether, Evanescence, and Creed, have helped direct this young energized rock band.

The Band has also been featured in several magazines, one of those Stencil Magazine featured with Buckcherry and Shinedown. Their music has been compared to Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, as well as Alice In Chains and Nirvana, what a combo of musical innovators without compromise to follow trends but rather create them. The Band would say it is Classical meets Rock. All of the lyrics and music are Ashley’s original creativity, a style of her own. All of the music is heartfelt and unique. But I would say, her voice style and genre is distinct, raw and gives her music and incredible commercial but almost underground sound which is timeless. Not pretty and pink, but black on black.

Facebook.com/ashley21bean / Instagram.com/ashleybeanaband Twitter.com/christinabean73 / Ashleybeanband.net

HalfNoise - Natural Disguise ‘Woodstock Snap’ is the intro song, with a strong focus on the instruments, however, it feels like it belongs on the ending of the album as it is mid-tempo, and the vocals at the end feel tacked on as if it was a last minute adjustment.

‘Who Could You Be’ is a funky bass heavy song, and feels like it should be the introduction to the album. It does not feel too short, despite the song length only being one minute and fifty four seconds long. The lyrics are a bit repetitive, but they are mainly obscured by the instruments.

‘Guess’ seems to be a continuation of the funky bass from the previous song, but this time with more lyrics, whereas ‘Natural Disguise’ feels like ‘Guess’ Part 2 as the instruments and lyrics feel repetitive.

‘Know It's Her’ is an acoustic forty five second interlude that fits perfectly in the middle of the album, giving a break to the heavy bass songs.

‘Cinnamon Sugar’ redeems the first half of the album as - although it has the bass - it involves lots of different types of instruments, and is also more guitar and vocal driven. The vocals are a lot stronger and varied as well.

‘This Groove Is Divine’ is a funky interlude with spoken word over it. Unfortunately, it feels a little misplaced as another interlude was two songs before it, and it serves no real purpose to the album.

In conclusion, HalfNoise's new album is just that; half noise. It is an all over the place album that sounds like they got all the B-Sides of previous works and put them in random order in an album. However, despite most of the album not being up to scratch, there are absolutely some hidden gems if you give yourself time to listen to it. KB

Simple Creatures - Everything Opposite Opening song ‘Special’ is an EDM heavy moment that allows Mark Hoppus of blink-182 fame to take lead of the verses, and Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low fame to take the lead during the choruses. Unfortunately, both men's talents, vocal wise, are overshadowed by the electronic influences that dominate the song.

‘One Little Lie’ seems to learn from the previous output, and keeps the electronic influences in the background, allowing both vocals to shine through. It also has instruments thrown in, showing off its raw side.

‘The Wolf’ repeats the same formula as ‘One Little Lie’, but also updates it, as it relies little on instruments and more on electronics. However, the electronics do not feel out of place in this, unlike the previous songs so far. The only issue with this is that it is very short, with a run time of two minutes and thirty one seconds, leaving a lot to be desired. However, at the end, it smoothly transitions into the next track, ‘NVM’, which finds Alex and Mark singing each line in the verses, and then in the mid chorus they sing together. The electronics stay in the background, the production is smoother and the EDM beats do not feel as clunky or out of place with the instruments.

‘Thanks, I Hate It’ starts off with an electric guitar before a bass heavy beat takes over. Alex shows off his vocals as he sings most of the first half of the song. Mark then takes over on the second verse. The instruments really take a shine on this, especially the electronic guitar.

In conclusion, ‘Everything Opposite’ starts off weakly as the duo try to work out their sound, but by the end of the EP, they have found their style, and it ends on a high note. KB

In The Cards - The Path Opening track ‘The Disguise’ grabs you right away. With Frontwoman Amy Colclough's vocals you can feel the passion emit from her as the drums help drive the track forward and give it an edge. The guitar work on the track is solid with a nice sound. Midway through the track Danny Jones takes over on vocal duties giving it a slightly different sound, but it doesn’t take anything away from this upbeat solid opening.

‘Define Me’ has both Amy and Danny on vocals and it works well, in particularly in the chorus where they step up the sound to really good effect. The drum work of Connor Chambers is also something that stands out in the mix of this track. Every element of sound is something to behold and shows how far the band has come in a short space of time.

The track ‘Thoughts Colliding’ has such enchanting vocals it’s impossible to be taken in by them. It speaks to the power that Amy and Danny have with their voices, the rest of the song keeps you captivated the whole time and they will have you singing along with them straight away.

The final track ‘Hope Not Wisdom’ is full of atmosphere while making Amy’s vocals stand out amazingly well it rounds out the EP on a strong note. It makes you want more. In The cards have put out two EP’S in a very short space of time which showcases how much talent and creativeness they have. The biggest difference between both releases is the sound which is a very bold move to make so early in their career. They have made this work for them to great effect. What will be the next step in their career we will have to wait and see, but I think it’s safe to say it’s going to be something big and very pleasing for the fans. LS

Stereophonics - Kind Stereophonics feel like a band that’s been around forever and a day, with their first release coming out in 1997, they never looked back. Even after more than 20 years and a number of successful albums they have just continued to grow.

They are now back with a brand-new album called ‘Kind’, which is the follow up to 2017’s massively popular release ‘Scream Above The Sounds’. They recorded this album in less than two weeks, and it lasts just over 42mins.

You can’t fault the band for being quick with the recording process: they wanted to get the new album out fast and that’s what they did. Does this album hold up to some of the band’s outstanding work from years past? Let’s find out.

In a word, yes. This album has song after song that will stay with the listener long after the album is finished. The music allows the listener to just relax, the music flows, whilst providing a wide range of images, brought up by Kelly Jones’s amazing vocals and expressive, creative lyrics. The band still keeps to the high standards that have worked for them their whole career. With tracks like the opening ‘I Just Wanted The Goods’, with its clever arrangements and even catchier melodies, it sounds like every song has its own story that it wants to tell through Kelly Jones’s voice. Other strong tracks include lead single ‘Bust this Town’, with its upbeat more rock-based sound and very meaningful lyrics, it really hit home with me. ‘This Life Ain't Easy (But It's The One That We All Got)’ keeps you captivated and never once drops away or sounds out of place. The sound that Stereophonics produce here is something that hardcore fans will love and any new fans of the band will quickly come to appreciate. The best examples of this are ‘'Don't Let The Devil Take Another Day'’ and 'Make Friends With The Morning'.

The band close things out with ‘Restless Mind’, a relaxed sounding journey that just lets the listener process everything the album has given them. With outstanding melody work as well as Kelly Jones’s brilliant vocals it ends things on a massive high note for both the band and the listener. Stereophonics have once again made something beautiful and expressive. ‘Kind’ is well-constructed, thought-out music that most will appreciate. Stereophonics are just as good now as they were over 20 years ago, and I don’t think that will ever change. LS

Creature - Hounds Birmingham new comers Creature have just released a pretty intense EP ‘Hound’ which debuted on October 18th, 2019 through Grey Ghost Records.

While this band hasn’t been around for very long, this short EP is going to quickly prove why they should be on the radar of fans within the metal community.

From the gate we get the first moment ‘Cold Man’s World’ which is bursting with brutal guitar patterns and lively percussion elements that really pull the listener in for what’s to come for the remainder of the EP. It’s a great choice to start with not only because of the otherworldly energy it is bringing to the EP right off the bat but because of its long lasting effect on the listener well after the track has already ended.

Other moments on ‘Hound’ that stand out from the four are ‘Lifeless’ a track in which its breakdowns are just as hard hitting and impressive as it is eyeopening with vitality. ‘Lifeless’ is something that truly shows that this band means business and mean to prove that they have the energy and talent to stay noticed within the metal community. While ‘Lifeless’ is the track that stands out for its energy, ‘Black Dog’ stands out for its more obvious difference in subdued instrumental presentation. It is a nice change within the EP that shows that Creature is capable of producing less heavy element tracks in the near future.

While the EP is short and will leave metal-heads craving more, it’s a nice little insight into this band and what they will bring to the future with their next release. SA

Thornhill - The Dark Pool Up and coming Austrailian progressive powerhouses Thornhill have come to take the crown in the metalcore scene to make us pay attention yet again to the land of down under with their latest release ‘The Dark Pool’. While this hasn’t been the first time a band like this has surfaced from overseas to make us take a second glance at Australia’s current metalcore talent, this is an album that is definitely making them noticed in the current scene.

‘Views From The Sun’ from the beginning shows us with its swift grandiose guitar riffs, agitated breakdowns, and its mise-en-scene percussion elements that Thornhill want to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Something we haven’t seen quite the likes of from this particular scene in some time. This fire and energy continues from this point on, still integrating clean and screaming vocals that break through the harsh instrumental and melodic elements featured in most tracks.

Moments like ‘Red Summer’ and ‘In My Skin’ stand out on this album not only for their technical grasp of guitar and drum prowess but because of their gentle use and execution of synthesizers featured within the track that make it so vastly different from others on the album. ‘All The Light We Don’t See’ is also a gem because of its subdued presence of heavy unrelenting energy within the track itself that still keeps an amazing presence of semi-heavy guitar patterns present that doesn’t throw off the vibe of the record as a whole.

Though this band shows signs of dominating the progressive metalcore genre with this latest release, the sheer creativity and instrumental genius that stems from it, is why it deserves to be listened to from start to finish. SA

2LightYears - Empty Words Alternative Italian band 2LightYears debuted a full-length studio album ‘Empty Words’ in September of 2019 via Too Loud Records. While the album itself is a change of pace from the usual alternative scene bands of today, there are certain unique moments on ‘Empty Words’ that stand out among the rest of the tracks. The most enjoyable listen on this album ‘Street Lights’ is one of the most stripped down and vulnerable outputs on this record. With its integration of piano and unique vocals, this makes ‘Street Lights’ one of the more attractive gems, compared to the rest of ‘Empty Words’.

‘It’s Echoing’ is yet another breakout track that climbs to the top of the list.

Because of its lively and vivid guitar patterns and pop-rock energetic drum elements. The diverse nature of this release from 2LightYears is what sets it apart from others this year, but it is also something that may not be for everyone. From its distinct vocals, variety of interest in instrumental work, and track placement, these pointers alone make ‘Empty Words’ at least worth the listen to those that appreciate variance from the typical grind of alternative music. SA

Following The Signs - Far From Over Following The Signs is a band that is new to me. Upon first listen I was not feeling this album at all and this is why one should listen to a release a few times before passing judgement so to speak. On every listen after the first, I liked this 5 piece metal band from Cork City, Ireland more and more. 'Far From Over' is their second release and first for the label Too Loud Records. The album is full of ruthless aggression from start to finish and I for one can get down with that.

They do not waste any time, as the first track ‘Disengage’ is nothing but riff after riff with loud hard drums. From the moment it starts until it ends it's nothing but straight in your face metal. They do not slow down on the next track, ‘Spineless’, it’s just as brutal as the first one. The vocals here are harsher and that just adds to the carnage that is inflicted upon your ears.

‘The Dead Don’t Lie’ takes a page out of hardcore and uses a soundbite. The line that starts the song is, “When there’s no more room left in Hell, The dead will walk the Earth.” It’s a line from the classic zombie movie Dawn of the Dead which I loved. ‘Devil in Disguise’ might well be the heaviest track on this release.

The vocals here are hard, however in the end they incorporate a really nice breakdown. Overall, 'Far from Over' is a very solid release. I can see them touring with bands like Born of Osiris, After the Burial, and Oceano. If they make it over to America, I will try my hardest to see them. I bet their live show is insane. RC

Tiger Army - Retrofuture This is an album that swings, bops and is infectiously catchy in true Tiger Army fashion. ‘Retrofuture’ is a very apt name for the album, this might be 2019, but this album is shrouded in the spirit of 50s and 60s rock n’ roll and would not be out of place near the Big Bopper or Buddy Holly on the shop shelves. Rockabilly instrumental ‘Prelude: Tercio De Muerte’ builds things up nicely and soon enough Nick 13 is straight in to his vintage crooning vocal in ‘Beyond The Veil’ which kicks the album in to full gear.

The drums are rolling with the slaps of the stand-up bass making an extra percussive element that ties everything together superbly. The fuzz dripping from ‘Devil That You Don’t Know’ gives thoughts of The Cramps and would make an empty dance floor fill up within seconds of being heard, it makes the foot want to tap and asses want to shake which continues with ‘Death Card’. This one might owe a little more to punk but it is still a foot tapper and begs to be sung along to. Tiger Army finally have a new album in the collection, but it was well worth the wait. This is without doubt one of the most satisfying albums of 2019, the spirit of the 50s is alive and well with a healthy dose of punk bringing the attitude. AN

Parallel Motion was created in 2017. Since its inception, the four-piece, Puerto Rican band has been carving their way into the central Florida metal scene striving to create music that utilises adversity to transmit a positive message. Musically, the band brings melodic yet heavy music influenced by an old school sound with a modern approach. Their commitment to breaking from the overwhelming routine of their everyday life reflects in an intense live performance that catches the attention of the listeners.

In the short length of their career, the band has opened for several national acts and been featured on many radio stations. On September 20th of 2019, they released their first EP called ‘Illogical’, accompanied by a music video for a single with the same name.

With this production, the band laboured intensively to create something that can’t be boxed into just one musical genre. Moving forward, they’re focused on becoming wellknown in the music industry.

OUT NOW! -To some people battling against anxiety might be an illogical story. But for those who live it, it’s a frightening experience. It’s a never-ending battle but music helps us take a message of hope to those in need.

Facebook.com/Parallelmotionband Instagram.com/parallelmotionofficial Twitter.com/Parallel1Motion Soundcloud.com/parallelmotionband

Opeth - In Cauda Venenum Always the technical masters of whatever they choose to do, Opeth's new album ‘In Cauda Venunum’ finds them at an interesting crossroads. Three albums after they seemingly "ditched the metal" to go in a more prog based direction, have they perhaps found success in a happy medium between the two? The opening ‘Garden Of Earthy Delights’ is a very ethereal beginning to the album, creating a sense of calm before the album begins in earnest with ‘Dignity’. Instantly, the guitar tone sounds more akin to that adopted on the likes of ‘Ghost Reveries’ and ‘Watershed’ than on some of the more heavily prog flavoured tracks of recent times. The blistering guitar solo that follows rides the fence between the different eras of Opeth superbly, as do the verses, moving from a Damnation style softness to Mikael's clean vocals at full power. It's a wonderful showcase song for the power of the 2019 version of Opeth.

Similarly, ‘Heart In Hand's complex riffery feels like a hybrid of 00s Opeth combined with their more recent style. Mikael again turns in an excellent vocal performance, with drummer Martin Axenrot at his usual excellent self, but coming more to the fore on this track. ‘Next Of Kin’ changes tack somewhat, with the vocals more haunting and a more orchestral feeling to it overall. The ambition of the soundscape as a whole ramps up considerably here, making it something that feels designed to resonate off the walls of arenas all around the world. The prog leanings come through more in songs like ‘Lovelorn Crime’, with an absolutely spellbinding guitar solo being the highlight. ‘Charlatan’ expands the sound palette in a different direction to a more electronic sounding approach that almost verges on djent elements in a couple of places, but the overall approach is still a winning one. On songs like ‘Universal Truth’ and ‘The Garroter’ the shackles fully come off and it is Opeth at their most expansive since ‘Watershed’ - definitely with their proverbial prog hats on, but still managing to sound heavier at the same time. The album closing ‘All Things Will Pass’ is a prog soaked, fuzz/distorted guitar driven epic that seals off ‘In Cauda Venenum’ in true style - a track that will very easily become a huge live favourite if afforded room in the ever crowded scramble for setlist spaces in an Opeth live show.

Having somewhat shunned their metal aspects on record for the best part of this decade, Opeth on ‘In Cauda Venenum’ feel like a band more at peace with themselves and their history as a whole, not deliberately trying to distance themselves from it. As a result, the album has a more natural feel and flows far better than any of the previous three, and provides a more organic listening experience for the listener. It's a wonderful album that a listener can easily lose themselves in fully, and it is one that will certainly have many reaching for the repeat button time and again. JG

Dream State - Primrose Path It’s been a long time coming for Welsh quartet Dream State, having made their mark way back in 2014 they’ve finally managed to release their debut album ‘Primrose Path’. Will the long awaited album be enough for their thousands of followers, well I think it will be enough and more.

Opening track ‘Made Up Smile’ begins with a bassline in conjunction with a ticking clock, giving the impression of impending doom, the song carries on with a synth addition and along with Gilpin’s trademark vocals it makes one kick ass song. Culminating with spoken words of “I can’t help myself when I’m bored” you get the sense this is a very personal collection of songs. All the songs on this album are unique in their own way ‘Are You Ready to Live?’ is a fast paced scream filled rollercoaster ride whereas ‘Hand in Hand’ is more like the mellow rock style of new Bring Me The Horizon. On some tracks the music will die down and the singers will speak something heartfelt and emotional into the mic. I love this as it gives the impression these songs and the subject matter are important to the band. 'Chapters' and 'I Feel it Too' are probably some of the heaviest tracks on the album but they are really moving. It's been a while for Dream State fans, they've waited patiently and the wait has definitely paid off. What this band have produced is a debut album that will be revered in future years. RO

City and Colour - A Pill for Loneliness There is something for everyone on this album, in my honest opinion. If you’re looking for what City and Colour do best then you’re looking for opening track ‘Living in Lightning’ there’s no build up, no sort of wow moments or any other gimmick. A soft drum beat, an acoustic guitar and Green’s harmonious voice. It’s all that’s needed. It sets up this wonderful album but doesn’t give it all away at once.

Sliding smoothly from this we reach ‘Astronaut’, which is definitely a favourite for me. It gives that impression of loss and being lost, it’s a song that makes you think and it’s a song that allows you to feel. These are personal and special to him, not just made up for an album, they are unique. There is something so human about this whole album. If however you’re looking for something a bit more experimental then you should direct your ears to ‘Imagination’ which goes a little bit heavier on the drums and introduces some electric guitar elements. The song itself forms into a mini indie rock anthem that anyone of that genre would enjoy. parts of, especially the end which sound a lot like Interpol. I enjoyed it.

Moving on from that we have ‘Strangers’, this one is heavier than the latter and gives a more Gaslight Anthem feel to it. The motion of the music combined with the catchy lyrics makes this one of the best songs on the album. Dallas’ voice really reaches new heights when it’s put against the lovely backdrop of music that’s been created. The idea isn’t to appeal to the masses, it’s to create music he genuinely enjoys. It’s to show the world that he is more than Alexisonfire, it demonstrates his love for all music and his capability in creating all sorts of genres. This album is wonderful. RO

Blink-182 - 9 I’m just going to start with this, I don’t understand all the hate blink-182 has been receiving with their recent outputs. Yes they have not been ‘Dude Ranch’ or ‘Enema of the State’ but they have all been solid. This is a band that has not released a bad album, and they never will. I feel I can say this because I have been a fan since 1997, they are the one band I have listened to the longest.

They are a band I can always return to and with ‘Nine’ that trust has only increased.

‘Nine’ starts with a simple drum beat from Travis Barker and from there all hell breaks loose and off we go. ‘The First Time’ is my favourite track on the album. It sounds like it was left over from the ‘S/T’ release. I’m also going to just get this out of the way as well, this album made me miss Tom Delonge even more.

Nothing against Matt Skiba, as I’m a huge fan, but you can easily imagine Tom in his parts. ‘First Time’ also might be one of a few tracks that has that overall Blink feel to it. And I for one appreciate that, as I imagine older fans do as well.

‘Heaven’ is another standout journey. This song is about the shootings at a nightclub in Thousand Oaks, California. It’s an intense song about tragedy. Next up is ‘Darkside’, a big single from the album that is catchy as can be. Upon first listen one thinks it is about a guy giving in to a woman’s darkside and yeah that is very obvious but if you know what Mark was going through and talking about before the album dropped, this song takes on a different meaning. The meaning is this, guy is supporting a woman who is battling depression, which is her darkside. Which for me makes me like this song even more. The first single off the album, ‘Blame It On my Youth’ is one that I really relate to, as it’s about Mark’s and Matt’s coming up in the punk scene and where they are now. The aspect that truly sticks out here is how Matt’s parts sound like Alkaline Trio songs, which I’m okay with. ‘Hungover You’ is ANOTHER stand out. I think it’s down to the arrangement of the song and how the chorus is so epic. Upon looking into it, it was one of the songs produced by Tim Pagnotta, who has a gift for great choruses.

If you have ever been a fan of blink-182, then I would give this release a listen. It truly is an outstanding moment. RC

The Devil Wears Prada - The Act My relationship with music is so weird at times. I go through these phases, be it I’ll only listen to certain genres, bands, labels, or eras. I mention this because from maybe 2005-2010, all I really listened to was Christian metal/hardcore bands and bands on Rise Records. Guess who fell into both of those, that’s right, The Devil Wears Prada. I was all about that band and then out of the blue I stopped listening to them and other bands of that era. That was about 2010.

Until this album, so almost ten years, I hadn’t listened to them. After listening to this album, I have been wondering if that was a mistake because this is incredible.

‘The Act’ is the seventh full-length release by this Ohio metal core unit and based on this record it makes me wonder if I have been missing out. The last record I truly listened to was 2009’s ‘With Roots Above and Branches Below’. Everything about this release is on point. It very well might be my metal album of the year.

TDWP doesn’t waste any time getting this party started. The very first track, ‘Switchblade’ is right in your face and it lets you know what you are in for. I love the brutality here. It is as a heavy track that you will hear in 2019. After hearing this song I was instantly invested and wanted to hear more. It’s a great opener. ‘Lines of Your Hands’ is the next track and it doesn’t let up. This song is a good mix of brutality and radio rock. I don’t know if this is a radio single but it should be if it isn’t. And there is a point around the 2:35 mark where it starts sounding like a Marilyn Manson song and I’m all about it. Also the guest vocals of Sierra Kay formerly of pop-punk band VersaEmerge adds another dynamic to it. TDWP again, doesn’t let up with the next song, ‘Chemical’. This one is more laid back than the first two but it still has its moments and stands out on its own.

I like that after the first two songs that they slowed it down here. If you aren’t invested by the first three tracks then you are missing out because from that point it just goes uphill and it doesn’t slow down. It’s 100 mph from here on out.

Another aspect that stands out to me are the different sounds present on this release. I mentioned A Marilyn Manson feel earlier but I also heard The Chariot at times as well. The track ‘As Kids’ at times reminds me of La Dispute with the spoken word type vocals. They really expanded their sound and I think that’s going to bring some fans back and also grow their fan base. I highly recommend this album to any metal head out there. RC

Stray From The Path - Internal Atomics Aggression, energy, passion and fire is the name of the game with the new release from New York natives, Stray From The Path. In a world where there is much to be angry about, these veterans of the scene are really bringing an A game standard to proceedings on album 9.

‘Ring Leader’ brings just a taster as the album continues to build and by third song, ‘The First Will Be Last’ they are in full stride, with the drums pounding in the fills and the bass firing out some frankly monstrous tones that absolutely crush any air left by the guitars. The hip hop blend in the vocals are delivered with the fire mentioned earlier and an immense amount of venom as every word is not so much sung, as spat out with such ferocity that it is hard to see where they can go lyrically from one song to the next. Each song though brings its own signature and the ferocity that continues unabated. In among the carnage there is also a very clear lyrical nod to mental health with ‘Holding Cells For The Living Hell’, an issue so prominent today, particularly among males it is great to hear “the monsters under the bed” tackled in such a style.

Now of course, New York has long been among the most fertile breeding grounds for hardcore and genre crossing heavy music styles, so it is no surprise this band are still killing it. Stray From The Path, just shy of 20 year veterans of that scene have released an album that is heavy. VERY heavy, not just musically but lyrically as well. This is one of the best hardcore and just heavy metal in general, albums of the year. AN

Jimmy Eat World - Surviving It’s difficult to review a new album from Jimmy Eat World, they are undoubtedly one of the biggest acts to ever grace music. Though they may have fallen to the back burner now it doesn’t mean they aren’t relevant, their mere presence has influenced more people than even they will probably ever know. ‘Sweetness’, ‘The Middle’ or ‘Bleed American’ comes on during a night out and the room erupts, they are legends in their own time. So when it comes to giving them an unbiased review on new music, that’s a test.

Titular track ‘Surviving’ is the first track on the album and it doesn’t exactly go off with a bang, as far as Jimmy songs go it’s very bland and doesn’t really do anything, it’s neither soft nor hard it’s just an odd song. Jumping to ‘Criminal Energy’ however is where the band seem to find their flow again, the rhythm is awesome and Jim Adkins’ vocals are on impressive form as they’ve always been. By now Jimmy Eat World know how to do a great album, why it’s even called into question is absurd. They’ve got the heavier tracks like ‘Delivery’ and ‘One Mil’ and then they have the softer tracks, one of the more unique ones on this album is ‘555’. It’s has a soft drum beat and string structure. It’s a beautiful song and probably the slowest on the album, but it works so well.

If you’re looking for classic Jimmy, awesome riffs and great lyrics with a catchy beat then look no further than ‘Diamond’, there’s something reminiscent of their ‘Chase This Light’ days. The best thing about this album is that there is so much to offer because they have this massive history of music that they can relay back to, there are new elements but there are also tried and tested elements that just work. Jimmy Eat World prove with this album that they are still relevant in today’s music scene and should be respected for what they have created in the past and for what they have yet to do. RO

Snow Patrol - Motorpoint Arena Cardiff - 13/11/19 Known for writing some of the biggest indie tracks of the last twenty five years, Snow Patrol are here in Cardiff tonight to give re-worked versions of their most well known songs, along with some hidden gems for the more dedicated fans. There are a few big differences that instantly set this night apart from just any other gig. First of all, it's all seating! This gives you a chance to completely absorb what the band are playing, with a better view than probably what you are used to. Number two, the band put in an intermission, confirming that the first half will be more chilled then the second one. Number three, there were absolutely no support acts, which meant you were in for a hell of set.

As it was the first night of the tour, it meant that the whole atmosphere was an awesome output. The band were in high spirits, and with orchestral players adding something to almost every track, I watched in awe as they put on something different and unpredictable throughout. Some initial highlights for me include a slower paced 'You're All That I have', the infectious 'Take Back The City', and classic 'Run' which went down exceedingly well for both the band and audience. Snow Patrol played songs that had never been heard live before, including 'Time Won't Go Slowly', 'A Dark Switch'. This really amped up the excitement, waiting to see how they would tackle the tracks live.

An alternate version of 'Chasing Cars' and 'Open Your Eyes' had everyone in attendance singing at maximum volume. To make it extra special, and show that they could strip everything back if they wanted, 'What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get?' provided a beautiful sense of dynamic pace to the set overall. This fresh way of seeing Snow Patrol was something hypnotic, and if they (hopefully!) do it again, I strongly advise that you get a ticket. AD

Thrice / Refused - O2 Academy Bristol - 29/10/19 Here we are at Bristol 02 Academy, for a co-headline tour! Due to sadly not making it until a bit later, we missed the first band Gouge Away, who, we know are completely worth your time, so please check them out. Crashing back onto the touring circuit recently is the mighty Refused, rising from Sweden they are here to put on a punk fuelled show for the masses. They mainly treat us to a stack of tracks from one of their most well known albums 'The Shape of Punk To Come' as well as 'War Music' along with other fan favourites. They get a hell of a mosh pit throughout their set, and show just why they've become one of the most important punk rock bands out there. One of the best points in the set is when they decide to perform a new song, titled 'Damaged III', why? Well, it communicates with the crowd straight away, and promises an exciting future for Refused. For me, the absolute highlight was the classic, 'New Noise', which had EVERYONE in the room singing along.

Up next is the mighty Thrice. Now if you're a long-time fan of the band (like me!) then you'll know, that in a similar case to Refused, it's a treat to see them do a full on UK tour, that includes a stop in this awesome South West venue. Thrice are known for having a diverse set of albums, everyone is different (but epic!) and by doing this they have built up a strong following, that has just grown up with them. The band nicely balance material from a handful of their albums, and we get to hear new songs live like 'Only Us', 'Just Breathe' and 'Beyond The Pines', the last of which being a stunning tune that perfectly closes the evening. 'Image Of The Invisible', 'The Earth Will Shake', 'Silhouette', 'Artist In The Ambulance' open up the mosh pit, with people screaming at the top of their lungs. Whilst other well known tracks like 'In Exile', 'Black Honey', 'Hurricane', 'Red Sky' have more of a singalong, anthemic feel to it. I'm biased because I love every single song the band have done, but honestly, they gave a diverse and brilliant set list that honoured their new material and older gems in a superb way. To add to this, they gave us fan demanded tracks (they put a poll together online before the tour) 'The Arsonist', 'Doublespeak', that nicely add to the set, and it felt like they really wanted to put on an entertaining, and satisfying show for fans old and new. They did just that. AD

Bring Me The Horizon have always been a band that has divided audiences. Booed off stage several times after their album ‘Suicide Season’ was released back in 2008, only for bands in the mid 2010s to all try their hand at metalcore (with varying results), to releasing the rock album ‘That’s The Spirit’ In 2015, which is now what many post metalcore bands are trying to replicate, Bring Me The Horizon have always been ahead of the game. With the release of ‘amo’ back in January this year, everyone - including me - was excited about what the band would produce this time.

To no one’s surprise, it divided audiences. People either loved the progression and the diversity of the album, or people were complaining about how the band had “gone soft.” I personally liked the album, and loved the diversity around it, and surely the whole point of evolving either as a musician or as a person is to change and grow? When I was younger, I adored R&B music, but now I’m into heavy metal and rock.

When Bring Me The Horizon released ‘Nihilist Blues’, I loved the dance influences and could imagine it being played at a rave night. Furthermore, the band still haven’t abandoned their roots, as shown on the song ‘Heavy Metal’. I love the album for opening doors for the variety of the band, and I look forward to hearing what they have to release next. And who knows? In a few years time, we could hear bands replicating the sound of ‘amo’. KB

It’s that time of the year that every reviewer loves and hates: the Album of the Year. Having to look back over every release this year and cut down to just one that stood above everything else. There have been some outstanding releases this year: Tool’s first album in over a decade with ‘Fear Inoculum’, Slipknot’s fine return to form with ‘We are Not Your Kind’, as well as releases by Rammstein, Opeth, Korn, Devin Townsend and Bring me the Horizon to name but a few.

My album of the year goes to a British band that I thought would struggle to top their last album, as it was such a masterpiece of music when it came out in 2017. I was proven very wrong, so much so that the band was signed to Spinefarm Records, which is huge. My album of the year goes to a band that I’ve watched grow over the last two years into one of the best young bands around today, who I know will be one of the biggest bands of the future. It’s Employed To Serve with ‘Eternal Forward Motion’.

This release took Employed to Serve to a whole new level of heavy as soon as opening-track ‘Eternal Forward Motion’ blasts out. Justine Jones has redefined what a front-woman is over the last few years and she continues to do that on this release, with outstanding banshee-screaming-like vocals that sound amazing all the way through. The band provides an absolute nonstop armageddon of hardcore sound. Other tracks such as the single ‘Force Fed’, ‘Harsh Truth’ and ‘Dull Ache Behind My Eyes’ are a total barrage to your senses, especially in a live setting as I experienced this year at the band's album release show in London. A key thing with this album is that it addresses a lot of problems in everyday society such as depression, anxiety and suicide. The band are doing their best to help raise awareness of these problems to their ever growing fan base. They have grown so much in 2019 and ‘Eternal Forward Motion’ is proof of that fact: powerful, raw, unapologetic and full of emotion. When 2020 comes around they will continue to grow, and I think everyone from all walks of life will soon come to know the name Employed To Serve. LS

While a different kind of animal entirely compared to the heavy 2017’s ‘Deadweight’, Wage War progressed in a way with ‘Pressure’ that pushed the boundaries of the type of music they can make. From the breakdowns to how each vocal decision is held from track to track this is some of their best work they have produced thus far. They possess the rare ability to balance heavy and softer elements while still providing catchy melodies that identify with the larger metalcore audience who appreciate such craftsmanship.

The lyricism on ‘Pressure’ is one of the major stand out points of this release with its incensed verses and addicting choruses it’s hard to point out a song that isn’t great on this album. While some tracks instrumentally are smooth and not riddled with a heavy ambiance, the attraction to having both sides on ‘Pressure’ is the structures and harmonies this band uses that haven’t been touched in earlier releases.

The album contains classic heavy Wage War elements such as ‘Low’ and ‘Fury’ which shows their progress since 2017, to produce metal treasures that goes leaps and bounds over what we thought they could achieve before. Because of this ability to effortlessly change from heavy and softer musical components, ‘Pressure’ will always be one of Wage War’s more prominent and impacting releases. While there was a bit of an exchange for clean vocals over strict uncleans and a small sacrifice of heavier guitar patterns for a more melodic approach, the transitions do not feel abrupt or out of place. In many ways this amazing album needed to happen for this band to show that they really can do it all.

‘Pressure’ deserves a space on here because it shows growth for Wage War where it actually counts. From taking risks instrumentally, it has manifested into one of the greatest albums of the year. SA

How do they do it? Every single album is different, but it still harnesses the Jimmy Eat World core that we love to hear. When I hear that the band have released a new song, I can listen with a feeling of confidence.

They always put a huge amount of effort into everything that they do, and it's why they have a strong and dedicated fan base. To add to this, they are also accepted on diverse and respected tour line-ups all across the world.

Something I didn't expect from Jimmy Eat World, is the insane music video for '555'. If you haven't seen it, watch it now because it will show you within one minute just why this band are so awesome. The track itself contains beautiful, emotional vocals that will be screamed back at the band for years to come. Echoing back to the 'Futures' years, 'All The Way (Stay)' is JEW doing what they do best, and it gives ‘Surviving’ that "All Killer, No Filler" feel overall. For me, my absolute favourite track on this release has to be the conclusion 'Congratulations', in a similar vein to 'Pass the Baby' from 'Integrity Blues' we are once again seeing a more powerful side of the band, and I have no doubt that this will be a complete jaw dropper in a live scenario.

Other gems include 'One Mil' & 'Surviving' which with an infectious sound stunningly contribute towards why I think this is the best album of 2019.

Jimmy Eat World aren't just surviving, they are thriving. AD

I was racking my brains for a long time over what really won album of the year for me. Not because so many albums stood out but because there wasn't enough that did. Nothing has really wowed me during this year, I feel like everything came and went with nothing causing waves in a dead sea. Then I remembered that Sum 41 had released ‘Order in Decline’ and how much I loved it.

It must be difficult for these guys, any show they do at least half their audience shows up wanting 'Fat Lip' or 'In Too Deep'. They have produced anthems that have symbolised people’s youths all over the world but in reality their best work came after their destructive debut and their latest effort is no exception.

To say that they've never been a political band is a shock. The whole idea of punk is to rebel against establishment but I guess when things have been going well politically there's not much you can do. Enter Donald Trump into the White House and Deryck and co have got beef. Tracks such as '45' and 'The People Vs...' highlight just how the Canadian born band feel about the current President. With lyrics like “I know a bad man when I see his face” and the idea of losing faith in humankind but then realising it's because of one person it's a wonder they didn't crash their way into politics earlier.

The album isn't just a hate fueled speech about hating Trump though (although that would be awesome).

This album is just pure Sum 41 through and through. Opening track 'Turning Away' has some awesome guitar work and demonstrates that Whibley has improved his singing over the past nearly twenty years. 'The New Sensation' has an incredibly catchy chorus and will go down a storm at their live shows.

The album ends with a slow ballad in the form of 'Catching Fire'. ‘Order in Decline’ is absolutely awesome and it’s definitely one of, if not the best album of the year. RO

It has once again been a great year for new albums and once again I am scrambling to choose one above the rest as my pick for album of the year.

For me it has come down, not to my opinion on the quality of albums, I could pick about 15 easily, but to which one have I listened to the most.

This year that has come down to The Menzingers with ‘Hello Exile’. Musically, it is certainly their most sonically well done, they have added a new element to the band that keeps them fresh and will see them continue to prosper. There is so much more about this record then that though.

Sometimes albums just grab you, I’ve always like the band but this album just grabbed me and spoke to me.

Lyrically there was much I could identify with, the themes of getting older, hinted at on the previous album, where we are now, are we where we wanted to be and all the things you don’t really think about when you are younger but at a certain point come crashing in to your head. Once the 20s are gone and the 30s are rapidly coming up to another decade.

This album is a soundtrack to that person, the guy that wonders where his youth disappeared to and what will come next, the guy who has discovered that hangovers don’t just disappear as they once did and time ticks along far quicker the older he gets.

Plus, any band that chucks in a beauty of a reference to The Pogues in one of their songs (’London Drugs’) deserves a big thumbs up on its own! AN

My album of year was released early in the year back in March and it still has the same effect on me now as it did when I first heard it and I can still listen to it endlessly in full. That is why In Flames – ‘I, The Mask’ is my album of the year!

Swedish melodic metallers In Flames are thirteen albums in and yet remain fresh and show how they have evolved and why they are pioneers in the melodic metal scene.

I have always been a fan of the band and this album is the perfect balance of light and dark and while it may be their most melodic to date it maintains their fierce roots that made them stand out and give them their characteristic sound, they never lost their sound but just expanded it. Many of the songs on this album become immediate must hear melodic anthems such as ‘Voices’, the blistering title track ‘I, the Mask’ and first single and infectiously catchy ‘I Am Above’ and fit in well with their best and signature songs and represent the album and band wonderfully.

Number thirteen proves very lucky for them unlike some, as this album is exhilarating and features many epic and powerful metal tracks which can appeal to the masses and although some of the songs may be some of their most accessible and emotive yet like the sorrowful and beautiful ‘Stay With Me’ they never lose their darker brutal side and hold onto their roots. It is intelligible, ambitious and diverse and no matter how many times you listen to it you always appreciate the clever and well-structured craft of it and want to singalong and head bang. CL