Upset, July 2020

THE STUN N I N G N EW ALBU M O U T 10 T H JU LY

PVRIS.CO M

FEATURING THE SINGLES DEATH OF ME, HALLUCINATIONS AND DEAD WEIGHT

P RE- O RD ER N O W CD • LP • DIGITAL LIMITED EDITION COLOURED VINYL AVAIL ABLE AT INDEPENDENT RECORD STORES & HMV

JULY 2020 Issue 56

HELLO.

There are some things that, as a magazine editor, you have on your proverbial publishing bucket list. For a while now, bringing Run The Jewels to the cover of Upset has been one of them. The days of thinly defined genre boundaries have long since passed, and Killer Mike and El-P have rarely, if ever, stayed in one lane.

Playing rock shows, working with such scene legends as Zack de la Rocha and Josh Homme and projecting with a raw, propulsive power which sounds far, far more ‘punk’ than so many of the bands that would tag themselves in such a way, right now - both because of the way they use their voice, and world events around them - Run The Jewels might just be the most important band on the planet.

One thing’s for sure - their new album ‘RTJ4’, which dropped a few weeks ago, is certainly one of the best of 2020. We’re proud to have them grace the front of our magazine.

S tephen

Editor / @stephenackroyd

Upset Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Dillon Eastoe, Jamie MacMillan, Jasleen Dhindsa, Linsey Teggert, Rob Mair, Steven Loftin Snappers Daniel Cavazos, Jessie Morgan, Jonathan Weiner, Mason Fairey, Olof Grind, Sarah Piantadosi, Tim Saccenti, Wyatt Clough P U B L I S H E D F RO M

W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L

RIOT 4. MIKEY WAY 8. PROTEST THE HERO 10. THE GHOST INSIDE 12. THE WINTER PASSING ABOUT TO BREAK 16. CASA LOMA FEATURES 18. RUN THE JEWELS 24. DREAM WIFE 28. THE GLORIA RECORD 32. THE BETHS REVIEWS 36. PVRIS 38. PHOEBE BRIDGERS TEENAGE KICKS 38. ORCHARDS

All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.

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THIS MONTH IN ROCK

The Ghost Inside’s world turned upside down in 2015. Now, they’re back with a new album. p.10

There’s a cruel irony when it comes to the title of The Winter Passing’s second album ‘New Ways of Living’. p.12

ELECTRIC DREAMS Words: Alexander Bradley.

Electric Century, the meeting of minds between My Chemical Romance’s Mikey Way and Sleep Station frontman David Debiak, are returning with more than just their second album.

Four years on from the 80s new-wave debut album ‘For The Night To Control’, the duo are back with a new Electric Century album and a graphic novel by the same name. It’s a bold, visually striking project which reunites Mikey with Shaun Simon with whom he worked on the graphic novel ‘Collapser’ last year.

Electric Century’s synopsis reads, “Johnny Ashford, former sitcom-star, drives drunk through a storefront and gets arrested.

His aspiring actress girlfriend bails him out, and he begins seeing a hypnotherapist. Dr. Evers sends Johnny to his “happy place”: 1980s Atlantic City, where he relives his childhood on the boardwalk, hardly noticing

shadowy spectres all around.”

The musical side of the project is as mysterious as the plot right now but for the haunting, pianoled, melody which accompanies the trailer for the project.

But, in the hope of shedding some light on Electric Century, the world of graphic novels, his disjointed plans for 2020 and the Way family work ethic, is Mikey Way to guide us.

Electric Century, the album and graphic novel, is a huge project - how long has it been in the works?

This project has been in the works for a couple of years now.

It organically grew into what it is now through some chance circumstances. Back in 2014, after we had recorded ‘For The Night To Control’, I had a sliver of an idea that maybe we could make Electric Century, a kind of fictional band. I had just left rehab and didn’t really want to tour at the moment, so I thought it could be cool to make a fictional landscape and narrative that the band exists in. Maybe the band could perform remotely over the

“NO MATTER WHAT STORY I TELL, THERE’S ALWAYS GOING TO BE A HINT OF HORROR. I JUST CAN’T HELP MYSELF” MIKEY WAY

internet even or in an animated fashion. I took this idea and kind of tucked in away for quite some time.

We went through that release cycle, did some fun stuff and put it to bed. The way we make albums with Electric Century is, Dave and I fire voice memos back and forth and stockpile what we feel is quality. The voice memo ping pong never really ends for us, so this process started immediately after ‘For The Night To Control’. When we eventually have enough great pieces to facilitate an album, we start demoing.

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Riot_ After the demoing, Dave and I will physically hit a studio together with a producer to get it down for real. We live on two separate coasts, so some of his stuff is done in different studios, sending Pro Tools sessions back and forth. This is all very time consuming, but it works for what this project is. There are never really ever any time restraints put on it, and that makes it pretty relaxed.

What came first, the music or the comic? Did you always have both in mind?

In the midst of the actual recording, Z2 came to me with an idea of doing an Electric Century graphic novel. While on the call with them, one of the owners said something that rocketed me back to the thought I had in 2014. He said “Well I kind of see Electric Century becoming something like the Gorillaz”, and I was like “Wow that’s freaky! I had a similar thought way back!” and it felt like something fated to happen. This presented me with an interesting challenge. Normally a project like this starts with a story in mind and goes from there, but in this case, I was going to spin a story from an album that was already written. I simmered on this for a bit.

One thing that’s very present in Dave’s voice is his New Jersey roots. To me, this made it very natural to have the story take place in Jersey, and in a place that I spent a huge chunk of youth - Atlantic City. From there, I saw threads and themes scattered throughout.

Dave’s lyrics speak a lot about mental health, which I also feel very passionately about. This led me to think about a time where I tried out hypnotherapy, and the story cascaded from there.

To what extent was Collapser the test for this? What did you learn from that?

I feel like that experience informed this one a great deal. Collapser was my first stab at professionally writing comics. I can’t thank Shaun Simon enough for all his

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guidance and wisdom throughout that whole process. He showed me the ins and outs of writing comic books and the art of panelling.

When Z2 proposed the idea of a one hundred plus page graphic novel, I knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to team up with Shaun Simon again. Prior to Collapser, and even to this day, we are always firing ideas back and forth on projects we are working on. We speak the same language creatively, and he helped me take my idea and run with it.

As far as thematically, there are certainly some roots from Collapser in this story. I feel like no matter what story I tell, there’s always going to be a hint of horror.

I just can’t help myself. I wrote a Christmas movie with a friend, and there was a horror element in there, too!

“FICTIONAL WORLDS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER”

How do you want people to consume this? Listen to the album first, read the story first or both at the same time?

In this case, the music acts as a soundtrack for the story. When people make soundtracks for movies, the story and sometimes the filming is usually complete.

I feel like each element can be enjoyed, however, the viewer or listener sees fit, but to me, it makes sense as a score to the story.

The groundwork for Electric Century is already massive, where do you want to take this story? Live music, theatre, film/ TV?

Musically, how did you want the album to sound?

With Electric Century, I always strive to celebrate a few periods of time in my musical life.

When I was a kid, 80s new-wave dominated the radio, and in my teens, Britpop ruled my world, and both were deeply important to me. With Electric Century I’m always chasing the feelings I felt when I listen to my favourite pieces of each. I know Dave has influences he feels that same way about, and those are ever-present on the album as well. He’s a huge fan of Elbow, The Beatles and Springsteen. We have tons of musical commonality, some differences - and from that Electric

MIKEY WAY

Century songs are born.

Do you have a plan for where the story goes? What are your ambitions for the story?

At the moment, I’m just excited to tell a dark fantasy tale about New Jersey. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. As far as where it goes, that will present itself in time, I believe. It’s a story that speaks a lot about redemption, and I feel that’s an important sentiment.

The way the story is structured, it could always continue if we had the urge. Who knows where the future will take us?! I’m not opposed to anything, and I love a challenge.

When 2020 began, it looks like you had a pretty busy year planned, how frustrating has it been having to delay or cancel plans for things outside of your control?

I feel like everyone across the globe is frustrated. Everybody had something that they were about to do. I feel like the most productive thing to do in a time like this is to roll with it and maintain positivity.

Lean on your family and loved ones when you are having a tough time. Make sure to communicate when you are feeling hopeless.

Now more than ever, we need to lean on each other to weather this storm.

How important is that escapism for you, and how delighted are

you to have created a world for people to get lost in?

We are seeing it across the board right now - fictional worlds are more important than ever. I’m seeing it as a lifeline for some right now. People engrossed in their Animal Crossing towns, diving into new series on streaming services, reading books they’ve always meant to read but didn’t have the time. You really need escapes to be able to withstand the current events today. It’s essential for me as well. I’m at the very end of the new Stephen King anthology ‘If It Bleeds’ and it was fantastic.

Trying to get caught up on tons of movies that I missed over the past few years as well. To be able to give people an outlet to take a breather from the world sometimes is important, and I’m glad to help.

For those who have very little knowledge of graphic novels, which are the ones most important to you, and what you recommend to people wanting to explore the art form?

Some of my most favourite graphic novels - Alan Moore’s The Watchmen, that goes without saying. I love all of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing graphic novels as well. Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman and New X-men are some of the greatest superhero stories of all time. Just classic and essential in every way. The Umbrella Academy series by my brother, also another classic.

Frank Miller’s run of Daredevil is an important one for me as well.

I could go on forever, but that’s a good starting point.

What’s in the “Way genes” to not be phased by these huge concepts for every project you set your minds to?

We like to dream big! The way I feel is - if you aim for the moon, even if you miss you’ll probably end someplace nearby. P

Electric Century, the album and graphic novel, are due for release later this year.

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Everything you need to know about...

PROTEST THE HERO’S

Photo: Wyatt Clough

Billed as “the most challenging record we have worked on” by guitarist Luke Hoskin, Protest The Hero’s new album ‘Palimpsest’ sees the Canadian four-piece go allout. The band tell us more.

Apparently, Not All Members of Protest the Hero Shoot Blanks...

Two children were born during the making of Palimpsest. On the actual day we started recording the first notes for the record (January 2, 2018), Rody’s son

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was born five weeks early. Then later that year in October, Tim welcomed his second daughter to planet earth. If you were wondering why the record took so long, it was because some of us were busy procreating.

Newest Member ‘Michael’ Can Do Things Other Than Drums...

This is the first full length that our newest member Mike wrote on. Not only did this guy write all of his drum parts, but he came to the table with fully fleshed out section ideas, complete with guitar riffs, bass parts and even some beautiful piano concepts.

The bulk of the instrumental

new album

'PALIMPSEST' music was written in hotel rooms as Mike and Luke took turns travelling to each other between their home cities (Ottawa and Toronto).

Neal Quigley Doesn’t Get Enough Credit...

Much of the writing for guitars and drums happened at Mike’s apartment in Ottawa. It was a cosy two-bedroom he shared with a brave soul named Neal.

Weeks and months went by where Michael and Lucas debated (loudly) about every aspect of the songs they worked on, blaring sections of the album over and over. Neal, who probably hated

multiple times. But with some vocal lessons and tenacity, Rody persevered.

The Fugitive...

During the recording process, Dez Nagle was in the process of getting his green card in the US. This meant he wasn’t allowed to leave the country while it was getting finalised. He was able to get in and out of Canada for recording guitars and drums, but he had to virtually produce the rest of the record from home, and we brought in an additional engineer for vocals (Anthony K).

Cabin Fever...

our band, to begin with, didn’t say a word. He sat there on the couch, on his days off from work, and just took it. It wasn’t just noise pollution he had to deal with either. He endured an unending parade of flatulence from our make-shift control room. ‘Wind chimes in a tornado’ would be a fitting description.

Fuck you, Neal.

Trouble in Paradise...

There were some occasions where we weren’t sure if this record would see the light of day. Rody began having vocal issues after a tour in 2018, and they flared up immensely just before he was due to record. There were a few attempts at recording which didn’t work out, and the recording was put on hold

We spent six weeks tracking guitars away from home. Our goal was to cut down on outside distractions and focus the best we could on the task at hand. The focus turned into full-blown cabin fever about a month in. We questioned the very meaning of every note we laid down, our intense scrutiny broken only by bouts of Mario Kart after 14 hour days. The sun didn’t exist to us for most of this time period and we tortured the staff of Jukasa Studios with every breath we drew. That said, we emerged with a record we were proud of, and a profound hatred of one another. It was worth it.

Strength Beyond Words...

A close friend and former crewmate of the band fell on hard times during the recording process.

We found out half-way through recording that our good friend suddenly became paralysed in both legs and one arm (with limited mobility of his second arm). The news obviously put perspective on anything we considered to be challenging in the studio. Watching the strength and determination of our friend (and his family) confront the impossible road ahead, was among the most inspiring things we had ever seen.

He continues to be the strongest and most hilarious person we know. A big part of this record is for him. P

Bully’s new album ‘Sugaregg’ is due on 21st August via Sub Pop. “There was change that needed to happen and it happened on this record,” Alicia Bognanno says.

“Derailing my ego and insecurities allowed me to give these songs the attention they deserved.”

De’Wayne has announced his signing to Hopeless Records with vital new single, ‘National Anthem’.

“I had planned on releasing this at a future date,” he says, “but I’m taking the most recent (and recurring) event as a sign that the world needs this right fucking now.”

arture: “I am incredibly grateful and proud of everything we have achieved.

Following a whole bunch of singles, The Acacia Strain have confirmed their new album. ‘Slow Decay’ will arrive on 24th July via Rise Records, featuring all the many, many songs in the recent seven inch and digital single series, plus two previously unreleased tracks.

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“WE HAD TO PUT OUR MONEY WHERE OUR MOUTH WAS” Words: Steven Loftin. Photo: Jonathan Weiner.

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As quick as a clap of thunder, life can change.

Back in 2015, The Ghost Inside’s world completely turned upside down when they were involved in a tragic accident while travelling between shows in support of their 2014 record, ‘Dear Youth’.

When their tour bus collided head-on with a tractor-trailer while headed west to Mesa, Arizona, the drivers of both vehicles died, while passengers

suffered significant injuries.

“There was a good while after the accident where I was like, ‘Dude I’m done with this - I don’t want to do this anymore’,” vocalist Jonathan Vigil admits. “I don’t want to put myself at risk.

I don’t want to put other guys at risk again.”

Life’s uncertainties are rife enough, let alone having to get through the physical and emotional trauma of an accident completely out of your control.

But, being The Ghost Inside, a band who profess to be purveyors of “positive, big one-liners,” the weight of those previously penned words had helped their fans, and now it was time for the fans to help them.

“Every single day on social media we’d get these messages, these really kind sentiments about what our band was. They were like, ‘Look, you showed me to not give up… look what you guys said here, you can’t give up’.

It was just the thing we needed.

I want to prove all those things right, and I really want to stand behind what we said. I want to feel those things again.”

The Ghost Inside - in which Vigil is currently joined by lead guitarist Zach Johnson, drummer Andrew Tkaczyk, and rhythm guitarist Chris Davis (bassist Jim Riley very recently departed following the admittance that he has previously used racist slurs: “We are here to say that we as a band fully condemn racism and support the black community in the fight against systemic racism,” reads the band’s statement on the matter) - have always been the kind of band to stand for perseverance, but, as Vigil notes: “Now we had to put our money where our mouth was.”

Regardless of the accident, whatever new music was to come from The Ghost Inside was always going to be a new endeavour.

After founding member, lead guitarist, and predominant composer Aaron Brooks left in

late-2014, when it came to new songs, it was all a fresh process anyway.

With some material being bandied about before the accident, the groundwork was already in motion, but postaccident, the meaning changed and it found itself becoming an exorcising of everything something that can be heard in the raw brutality, or soaring melodies, riding throughout the decisive onslaught.

“As dark as it is to say this, the accident showed us a lot, you know? Not just the downside of things, but it also gave us a sense of reinvigoration. It showed us what this could be, what this means and what this is.”

Which is why it makes sense for their comeback album, of sorts, to be self-titled. After all, it’s The Ghost Inside returning to be a more explosive, cathartic iteration than pre-accident, laying claim to themselves and the band they’d suffered for.

“That wasn’t the plan at all,” Vigil counters. “We tossed around a couple of ideas of what to call the record and just nothing could do it justice. How do you make a word or a phrase encompass the last five years of our lives?”

For a while, no one was sure what the future for The Ghost Inside looked like, in fact, they still don’t, but they “have clarity now that we didn’t have before.”

In times of extreme duress, coming out the other side relinquishes a need to hold back.

If everything can be taken away so quickly, then why not just let your inhibitions run wild?

“There were times we were just like, is this too much?” Vigil explains. “And then we just decided to go with what we were feeling, just exploring these ideas, topics and feelings that we didn’t really have in the past.

“This record was huge for me, like just to get out all the feelings from the entire gamut of emotions,” he breathes deep.

“I feel like we put it all out there,

and it’s, you know, it’s done so much for me just having this record being done.”

It’s helped evolve from those thoughts of never stepping foot into The Ghost Inside’s camp again, with feelings of “I’m done, this almost crushed me - this nearly killed us”, to “not only are we not done we’ve played a show: we’ve conquered that part. We’re also doing new music - that’s the opposite end. We went through it all, and I think that if it wasn’t for this accident, we wouldn’t have that kind of clarity.”

Living in the wake of the tragedy is certainly not something they want to do forever. “I feel like [we’ve done that] for so long, you take little steps day in-day out to overcome it. I think, honestly the last part of it is just writing about it, getting it out and putting it behind us.

“We don’t want to be reminded of this day in-day out - we live with the scars. We live with the emotions every single day. We’ve said our piece, we’ve put out our record to deal with it and the future is wide open. We have a newfound clarity on everything.”

Even though the band played a celebratory comeback show at The Shrine in LA last year, the cards for lengthy tours are understandably, truly off the table. Instead, they want to focus on doing more one-off shows - proper events. The band is now based around the ethos of celebrating and holding themselves, and what they’ve been through close to their hearts.

So, as The Ghost Inside gear up for a year they were never sure they’d see again, even before the pandemic laid waste to immediate plans, if anything can be learned from their journey over the past few years, it’s that we will all get there. Things might be different, but the heart will still beat the same, no matter how hard life comes swinging at us.

P The Ghost Inside’s self-titled

album is out now.

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NEW WAYS OF LIVING Words: Linsey Teggert.

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There’s a cruel irony at play when it comes to the title of The Winter Passing’s second album, ‘New Ways of Living’.

Alas, the Dublin five-piece aren’t secret soothsayers who predicted life in lockdown, but rather the title refers to the conclusion of the

previous chapter in the band’s journey. A far cry from the negativity that currently punctuates our day-to-day lives, ‘New Ways of Living’ is a beacon of hope.

Known for their determination and relentless DIY work ethic, The Winter Passing have taken the

challenges of being a band during a global pandemic in their stride. If you need further proof, just check out the utterly charming video for the first single from the record, ‘Resist’, and try to watch it without a ridiculous grin on your face.

“As it stands right now, we haven’t seen each other since late February,” says vocalist and bassist Rob Flynn. “We tried to have a band practice over a Zoom call one evening,

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Riot_ and it was absolutely terrible.

I’ve now seen at least ten bands from the alt-music scene put out similar videos to ours for ‘Resist’, but we tried to be as charismatic as we possibly could, just winging it really – we’ve been forever winging it since this band started. If you felt the wholesomeness, that was intended!”

It’s easy to fall in love with The Winter Passing, from the genuine, heartfelt vocal pairing of siblings Rob and Kate Flynn to their humble beginnings in their hometown of Tipperary.

Scrappy and passionate, the band have worked tirelessly from a grass-roots level to get where they are today, building their own connections and nurturing relationships with other bands who could help them on their way.

“Ireland is so small that every music scene is a minority, but that leaves the energy for musicians in Ireland of different backgrounds to collaborate with each other,” explains Rob. “One of the most important bands for us in our early days of making waves in Dublin, was a local band called Chewing on Tinfoil.

They were already established and could sell out venues, and they helped us in so many ways.

We had a strong sense of ethos, and we knew there was a roof above our heads in Ireland, but there was only a small scene that we could operate inside of.

We knew that if we ever wanted to release music or tour, we had to focus on getting to the UK and mainland Europe.”

While setting their sights on being heard further afield than Ireland was a daunting prospect, it certainly helped that Rob and fellow bandmate Jamie Collison were already heavily involved in their local alt-music scene.

“We were kids from Tipperary, making regular two-hour bus journeys to Dublin to go to shows around

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“WE USED TO HATE THE TAG ‘EMO’, BUT THIS TIME AROUND WE’RE EMBRACING IT” ROB FLYNN the time when bands like Title Fight, Man Overboard and The Wonder Years were part of that big resurgence of pop-punk and emo that was happening worldwide. We started putting on our own shows to build connections, even putting on the Wonder Years in a small town in the middle of Tipperary on their first European tour. We ended up touring Europe with them in 2019, so it says a lot about them that they would give us a shout and return the favour ten years later!”

It’s a testament to their DIY ethos that The Winter Passing now have shows across the world, two albums and an EP produced by emo legend J Robbins (The Promise Ring, Texas is the Reason, Jets to Brazil) under their belt. One thing that hasn’t changed since the band first formed in 2012 is the close relationship between Rob and his sister Kate.

“I’d always said to Jamie, that when Kate was 18, we were starting a fresh band straight away and bringing her with us.

I consider Kate one of my best friends as much as my sibling, and I think she’s incredibly talented. I would hate to not be doing this with her, I’d be so worried – we’ve actually run into some weird situations throughout the years with shitty

sound guys and serious egos, and at times it has been very uncomfortable. It was actually turning us off the music, so we made a decision that we needed to play with bands that had diverse line-ups, and working with labels like Big Scary Monsters has opened up so many doors for us.”

With ‘New Ways of Living’, The Winter Passing have transcended their small-town beginnings to create a record that truly sets them out as a force to be reckoned with on

the international stage. If their debut album ‘A Different Space of Mind’ was about coming of age and growing up, ‘New Ways of Living’ is about what happens next.

“With this record, we had to really define ourselves,” states Rob. “We’ve been fortunate enough to be around and weasel ourselves into somebody’s ears, but this record is about setting the record straight. We used to hate the tag ‘emo’, but this time around we’re embracing it. It’s been a cathartic release: music

is magic, it has healing powers.”

Despite their anthemic melodies taking them far and wide, The Winter Passing won’t be forgetting their Irish roots any time soon. Though heavily inspired by Midwestern emo, album track ‘Greetings From Tipperary’ is a middle finger to anyone who has ever said they sound like Americans. “I was brought up on The Cranberries, Thin Lizzy and U2 – U2’s second album is unbelievable, though I can’t say anything else good about them, they’re

just annoying, but those tints of Irish rock shine through in our music. Our drummer Kev, who is also an incredible guitarist, came up with the lick for ‘Greetings From Tipperary’ and I thought it sounded like a trad song, like The Pogues meets American Football. So I pushed ahead and made it into an emo ballad. To any of the Irish publicists who begrudged us and said we sounded American, this one is for you!” P The

Winter Passing’s album ‘New Ways of Living’ is out 3rd July.

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THE BEST NEW BANDS. THE HOTTEST NEW MUSIC.

WANT A NEW BAND CRUSH? CHECK OUT THIS LOT! >>>

MEET ME @ THE ALTAR Picking up famous fans and buzzy festival sets galore over the past few months, expect to be hearing a lot more from this US pop punk trio.

“People have been getting my name wrong all my life,” laughs Nik Bruzzese; explaining why his solo venture, Casa Loma, isn’t self-titled. But this project is so far removed from the carefree and sarcastic guy we’ve come to know as the singer in Man Overboard that if it had been named “Nik Bruzzese” then the music which followed would be unrecognisable from the man you thought you knew.

CASA LOMA Words: Alexander Bradley.

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“I’m totally the opposite of what the EP is like. I’m not a very sad person or wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m a super laid back, funny, guy,” he admits.

But, Casa Loma is largely the product of tragedy and the songs are the process of grieving and a reflection of Nik’s own mortality.

It makes the EP ‘This Is Coping’ a necessary exercise; one which is understandably deeply personal and distinctively different to anything Nik has ever done before.

The name “Casa Loma”, therefore, is a fitting title when a quick Google search brings up the most haunted mansion in Toronto and also a town in California with a life expectancy of 103 too. “It involved so much death and horror but at the same time involved so much life and longevity and I was like, ‘fuck, that’s kind of perfect for me’,” he explains.

The project started around February / March last year following the death of a close friend at New Year then also the passing of Tim Landers the following month.

Both untimely and unexpected, the shock of both tragic deaths hit Nik hard. There was, as expected,

COURTING FFO the likes of deadpan punks LIFE and indie scamps Sports Team, Liverpool boys Courting excel at taking a cheeky swipe at Britain’s woes.

the immediate heartache but the challenge of how to channel the grief long term resulted in these songs being written.

“I didn’t go into the studio with the plan of releasing anything,” he concedes. “I did it out of pure sanity and me trying to figure out how to express my feelings for being a parent, a husband, a business owner, being a band member for Man Overboard.

“I’m at the point now where so much shit has happened, it’s never been that much and I’ve never been in the position that I’m in - being a father and dealing with tragedy in such a big way.”

It was at that point that Nik wanted to use his “gift” for songwriting in an attempt to work through his feelings. The product, ‘This Is Coping’ is six tracks filled with longing, painful memories, poignant reflections but also the scope to see the whole of the human life cycle which does allow just the slightest glimmer of optimism too.

The process for writing songs for the friends he lost also opened Nik up to facing up to more longstanding grief and his position within his own timeline.

“When Man Overboard was more of a super active band, out of everybody, I had the most loss. My dad passed while I was on tour, and I was flying home and going on tour back and forth while he was sick.

And after he passed, I jumped right back on the road.

“The older you get, and I have kids now, you start thinking about all these things where tragedy happened to me, but at the same time, I’m raising two beautiful children. I look at them and think, fuck, one day you’re going to feel the pain that I felt when my dad passed.

What the fuck can I do for them?

KENNYHOOPLA Drawing comparisons to the likes of dance-punks Bloc Party, KennyHoopla sounds like the chilled-out summer with your pals that we’re all missing rn.

“I KEPT LISTENING TO MOANA, AND I WAS LIKE, I NEED TO WRITE A SONG WITH THAT HOOK” NIK BRUZZESE

who the fuck knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, I’ve got to live it to the fullest today - then I think your life will change.”

In that is the upside to Casa Loma and why this project is more than just an exercise for Nik’s grief. Both songs, ‘DP23’ and ‘Famaglia’ feel intrusive with how deeply personal they are but, in context with the entire EP, they become part of a comforting perspective on life.

The turning point in the EP was once he was persuaded to include ‘Olivia, Marley, and the Duck Pond’.

The track, a soothing and dreamy ode to his daughters and their family home, is his gift to them for when he is not around anymore.

What positivity can I give to them The track, unlike anything else to make it easier? I have this gift of on ‘This Is Coping’, started a few writing songs, so maybe I will write years ago “as a melody I would hum them a song.” the kids to sleep with” he explains.

And that’s the secret to the EP. Since then, it’s been Nik’s challenge ‘This Is Coping’, on the surface, to turn the melody into a song could be about coping with loss which could rival his daughters love and grief but really its about coping for Frozen and Moana tunes. with life.

Proudly, he details, “I kept For Nik (not exclusively, but listening to Moana, and I was like, specifically), the losses were I need to write a song with that devastating, but they also hook so that she sings it on the way reinforced how lucky he felt for to dance class or my mother-inthe things he had gained in recent law’s. Her singing it back and being years with his family and his young pumped was like, hell yeah, that daughters in particular. It changed actually worked.” his entire outlook on his life.

Nik refers to it as his “letter in “I’m a day at a time guy the desk moment”; that moment because of all the things that where after he is gone there is still have happened. Even with this something from him for his family pandemic, it’s the same wake to hold on to. “For me, it was the up call the world is getting that I most important thing I could do,” had a year ago where I felt I lost he smiles. everything. It’s obviously not the For Casa Loma, the future isn’t same, but it puts you in the mindset certain or promised. What was a of tomorrow who knows what the necessary way of processing a lot fuck could happen. The more I wake of very sudden and overwhelming up every day and put myself in feelings is now a beautiful tribute to that mindset (which is easier said life. The opportunities are endless. than done and sounds cliche but P Casa Loma’s EP ‘This is Coping’ it’s true), and if I wake up and go, is out now.

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18 Upset

“POINT US TO A S TA G E , A N D IF WE CAN’T ROCK YOU MOTHERFUCKERS THEN WE’RE NOT DOING OUR JOB” Quite possibly the most important act on the planet right now - Run The Jewels have returned at the time we need them most.

Words: Jake Hawkes. Photos: Tim Saccenti.

At the time of talking, El-P and Killer Mike are about to drop their fourth album as Run The Jewels. It’s a longevity that they didn’t plan for when they first started making music under the name. “We had no fucking clue,” laughs El-P, lighting an apple which he’s fashioned into a makeshift bong (needs must in lockdown, apparently). “I knew that we were dope, but I was gonna be happy if we got to tour the country and do five hundred-person to a thousand-person venues,” he continues.

Instead, they’ve become a household name and eclipsed the success either of them had in their respective solo careers, something they weren’t exactly expecting to happen in their mid-40s.

Even a worldwide pandemic hasn’t been enough to dent their success, with Run The Jewels 4 holding firm at its scheduled June

release date and at one point beating out Lady Gaga for the most pre-ordered album on iTunes, although El-P is putting that down to “some sort of weird glitch in the system” more than anything else.

As El expresses his disbelief at the success the duo are having, Killer Mike dials in on FaceTime from his car and takes over where he leaves off: “I knew this shit could be big, should be big, but I didn’t know if it would be big and I didn’t know the depth of what bigness it would be.”

Throughout the call, the two take it in turns to give opinions, back each other up and crack jokes, not once disagreeing or talking over each other. “I knew that El and I had something special,” Mike continues. “But the one thing you can’t account for is luck. You can’t account for the luck of bumping into Zack [de la Rocha]

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and him jumping on a record because the two of you hit it off getting a coffee one time. You can’t account for the luck of one half of the group stumping for a presidential candidate that happens to be the most popular amongst the music-listening age group,” he says, referencing his high profile and long-standing support for Bernie Sanders.

“You can’t account for all that, you just have to do the right thing in the right moments and hope it leads to these things.

Having said that, when I first saw kids in the audience cheering for Run The Jewels harder than for El-P and Killer Mike, that was crazy. That was when I knew we’d done it, because these kids weren’t there for me or for El, they were fucking with us for the same reason hot wings and blue cheese sauce go together in Atlanta, or pastrami and rye goes together in New York – RTJ was just a combo that made sense. So I knew the group was gonna take us somewhere, I didn’t know where exactly, but somewhere. At our most difficult day it is a joy to be in the studio making music we love and a joy not to be in a studio forced to make music we hate just to stay relevant.”

El nods in agreement. “We’ve experienced some jaw-dropping shit in our time, and we’ve been around long enough, so when we saw what unfolded with this group...” He shrugs and holds his arms out. “You hear about shit like that happening for artists, and we’ve sort of brushed against it in the past, but to actually feel that energy reaching people in such a broad way, it’s a crazy rush. I’m of the opinion that you have to be able to recognise magic a little bit.

This is a gift, and we’re gonna do everything we can on our side to make sure we’re worthy of it.”

Part of avoiding putting a foot wrong is taking the time to make sure each project is as perfect as it can be before release – something the duo

20 Upset

have learned from years in the game. “I’m not about throwing it all out there and releasing a long-ass album, I did that shit when I was 25, but not now,” says El. “We want every punch to land on our albums, so with ‘RTJ4’ we worked on tightening everything up and making sure that every moment is a payoff and lands in exactly the right way. I think for our last album we allowed ourselves to go a little further in terms of length and we were conscious of that as we were doing it, but fuck it, we earned it.

Then we came to this one, and it just felt right to make it sleek and to the point – we weren’t holding ourselves back in any way, it just felt right.”

“It’s the best album we’ve ever made,” adds Mike. “I think each album has gotten progressively better for different reasons, but this one cuts as deep as anything in ‘RTJ3’, we pop off as well as we do on ‘RTJ2’ and we’ve got the surprise factor that ‘RTJ1’ had.

I think we refined all our best qualities in one record and we pushed ourselves the hardest we ever have. Lyrically we were brutal – we went back to some of the tracks, and if there were even two bars in that bitch that bothered me or El we let each other know, and we ripped it apart. We were determined not to be defeated by our own legend; I don’t want to be defeated by your affection for my last record, my job is to show up and make you pay attention to the right now.”

“I always back away from statements about whether or not it’s our best album,” says El. “Because you don’t have to say it is, but to some degree the artistic mind makes you believe it is.

Every time you do a record, that new material is the stuff you’re most excited about and the stuff you care about the most.

I’ll leave it up to more skilled critics to decide where we land [thanks, but your trust could be misplaced... – Ed] but I will say one thing: we try and walk

away from these albums without one moment of regret, and we really push each other in that regard. We don’t leave any stone unturned in terms of how we feel about it, and I absolutely think this album is worthy of the Run The Jewels name, that’s how I’d put it.

“It’s been a year and a half of work too, and we toured for nearly that amount of time after the third album, so we’ve been pretty busy with it all, we’re excited to get it out there. Having said that you’re not suddenly going to hear two different dudes on the record – it’s still us, we’re just not done talking, and we’ve got plenty of shit we wanna say and do. Each of these records stands on their own, but they’re linked by us and the things we

believe and feel. You won’t be tuning in and thinking ‘I can’t believe El-P sounds like that!’ It’s still me.”

While El is speaking Mike gets out of his car and wanders around his house, but cuts back in as soon as he finishes talking. “El and I are not afraid to speak on things socially, so that’s always going to be a part of our music, too. I wanna say though that as much credit as we receive and as much as we appreciate that, hip-hop has been doing it for a long time and I gotta nod my head to the genre for giving us a place to express those opinions. It’s always been a genre which pushes the idea that no matter what size you are as a group or an individual, when you get the opportunity to

“I KNEW THIS SHIT C O U L D B E B I G, S H O U L D B E B I G, B U T I D I D N ’ T KNOW IF IT WOULD BE BIG” KILLER MIKE

say something, and it’s the right thing to do, you do it. I’m proud of that lineage and proud to keep pushing that in our music.”

“But we also gotta have fun,” El says, laughing. “We’re more complicated than just one thing, and I don’t think we’d be happy limiting ourselves to just the social issues. I don’t want people listening to Run The Jewels and coming away from it like ‘oh, that was dour’, that’d suck!

It absolutely has to be in the context of two weed-smoking, rap obsessed teenagers rapping their asses off and having fun.

We gotta say this stuff when it means something to us for sure, but we go in there, and we have fun, and the music is fun – that’s the basis of it all. I’m not happy unless these records are a mix of poignant and stupid.”

At first glance, it might be easy to assume that the poignant and the social comes more from Mike’s side, and the humour from El’s, but the duo are both quick to say that isn’t the case.

“We’re like brothers who share a room,” explains Mike. “99% of the time we agree on the stuff

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that matters, the other 1% of the time? We fight like hell. For real though, ultimately, El is the greatest rapper / producer on Earth, and I’m not just saying that because we’re partners. I’ve been listening to rappers and producers my entire life and the shit I see him do under the amount of pressure he’s under?

It’s beautiful, and I usually defer to his better judgement about things. I do sometimes get something stuck in my craw but I just state it, we approach it, and we figure it out. No matter what, I’m always still a fan of making music with my bro.”

El lights a cigarette. “Facts, likewise. You’re not gonna be able to stay in a group if you just think of it as two individuals.

We’ve got tricks and stuff anyway, different categories of compromise, different ways of arguing things – we work it out.

The reward we get from working it out and the reason I’m still a part of Run The Jewels, apart from my friendship with Mike, is that it still surprises the shit out of me. Every time we do a record I don’t know what’s gonna happen, I can predict to some degree because of who we are, but we constantly do shit that we would not be able to do if we hadn’t met each other. That’s exciting, and even if we’ve gotta go through some conversations that might suck it’s worth it because I’m happy, Mike’s happy, and we sound dope together.”

“Dope enough to be playing venues all over the world with acts that aren’t even the same genre,” Mike adds, referencing the group’s slots with Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White and an upcoming support slot with Rage Against The Machine. “I gotta shout out our tour manager on that one,” he says. “A couple of years ago he comes over to me, and he says ‘I don’t want you to take this the wrong way’ – I think he was scared I was gonna punch him for some reason – ‘you guys aren’t a rap group, you’re a rock band masquerading as a rap

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group’. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he said because of how relentless we were about touring and how in people’s faces we get, maybe we’ve got more of a foot in both camps than we think.

“I love rap, and we are most definitely not a rock group, but I grew up seeing rap and rock groups doing arenas together, because at the time all the ‘boy stuff’ was mixed in together.

Skateboarding, karate, rapping, comics, rock music – it was all just what boys did, so there was a real cross-pollination. Some clubs in Atlanta would do a six-hour set and half of it would be rap, and half would be punk, because it brought more people in. So for me to be on the bill with these huge stadium rock acts?

That’s a compliment, a massive compliment. Of course, El’s mom didn’t let him go to Fresh Fest when he was a kid, so...”

“Hey, I’ve seen it in my career too!” El protests. “At the end of the day, I think we make music that gives a feeling and has this real aggressive rush to it, so people from all different fanbases can plug in to that and connect with it. I’m hugely influenced by rock music as well as rap, so I don’t find it too surprising. You go back years, and you can see Run DMC rocking stadiums, and you cannot rock a stadium if you’re only rocking to the rap fans – you need to get all kind of people in, it’s definitely a positive thing.

“Basically you can just put us on any stage, and we believe we can fucking kill it. Not just rock, we did a whole tour with Lorde as her direct support over in the States and on paper that looked crazy, you know? We had to prove it was a good idea to people, but hey, that’s our fucking job. Point us to a stage, and if we can’t rock you motherfuckers then we’re not doing our job.”

“Yo the illest shit about that Lorde tour,” Mike says, laughing.

“Was that we’d go out and you could see that it was date night

“ TO BE ON T H E B I LL W I T H T H ESE HUGE STA D I U M R O C K ACTS? THAT ’S A M ASSI VE C O MP LI M ENT ” KILLER MIKE

for a few couples out there and you can see a lot of the girlfriends are thinking ‘this is awesome, he’s come out with me, and he’s finally got around to loving the album in the way that I do’. And then all of a sudden we come out and smash that stage, and the guys lose their fucking minds, not always but you saw it a lot. You just know that afterwards, their girlfriends are looking at them like ‘You motherfucker!’ So Lorde was a genius for that one, I gotta shout out to her for making a lot of people happy. Plus we gained a lot of fans through that tour, because there weren’t that many Run The Jewels converts in the audience before we started playing, so love to everyone that showed Lorde and us love.

“I think her music is incredible, too, so it was a double win for us.

I love being part of this world where I can see all these dope artists outside of our lane. I got sent a link to some music by The 1975 by my management, I watched all of their music videos on a flight over to a festival we were playing, and then I got the chance to see them – I’m just glad we’re in the midst of all this dopeness.”

“And now we’ve got a record with Josh Homme from Queens of The Stone Age on it,” adds El. “One of my all-time favourite bands and we get to put him on our album? That’s mind-blowing shit. I love so much music, and it all comes back through our rap brains, and it’s just part of who we are. I started as a producer collecting records and just trying to steal something cool, then suddenly you realise you’ve got a catalogue of a thousand different bands from a hundred different genres in your head. I’m not out here trying to steal stuff any more, I just love music.”

Mike nods his agreement. “We both love music, it’s what we do.”

20 years into their careers, it doesn’t sound like Run The Jewels will be throwing in the towel any time soon. P Run The Jewels’

album ‘RTJ4’ is out now.

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It’s rare to find a band with a work ethic as tireless as Dream Wife’s. It’s been two years since the release of their debut selftitled album, which saw them play shows across the globe including festivals, support slots with the likes of Garbage and The Vaccines, as well as their own headline shows. Now they’re gearing up for their highly anticipated follow-up ‘So When You Gonna...’ which sees them explore their craft in a whole new way.

Words: Jasleen Dhindsa. Photos: Sarah Piantadosi.

“By December we had played about 150 shows, so it was a lot,” vocalist Rakel Mjöll reflects from her family’s summerhouse in Iceland where she’s currently isolating. Her fellow bandmates drummer Alice Go and bassist Bella Popadec are isolating together in London.

She continues: “We didn’t come back much to London at all, we were on the road, and it was an amazing, time, but after we finished that we decided to not jump back on the road but give us some time to write and only do festivals in the summer. To have the first start of the year leading into the fall as a period to write, it was incredible.

“We started writing [for the new album] after we gave ourselves a good six weeks break, and it was the longest time we’d been apart from each other since we started this band, which is ridiculous,” she laughs.

Not only is the band’s love for what they do, seen in the fact they gave themselves such a short break between album cycles, it’s also seen in how they didn’t feel the need to delay the release of their album, as so many artists are doing in the current global pandemic.

Alice explains this choice: “Obviously there were options to delay, but we thought it was really important to keep the date. [Sharing music] is always a positive experience, and it still reaches people in the way it would otherwise.

[We’re] just taking it day by day and being really thankful that we can release this music in this internet age. It’s a

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very different situation than how it would be ten years ago, with the way we’re connected now.”

Rakel continues: “Delaying an album would make sense if you knew when the live shows were going to be able to come back, but nobody knows what’s going to happen. In that sense, our industry is going to be the last one that’s going to be resurrected.

“If you wait too long with it maybe you would become more detached from it. For us, it was more that we’re really proud of these songs and we absolutely loved the process of making this album and working with our team and writing it last year. I think we’re all a bit giddy and excited for people to hear it so I’m really happy our label didn’t decide to push back the release.”

“I think people now need music more so than ever,” bassist Bella Popadec adds. “I know for me personally, really looking to music as a great deal of comfort and support during this time, and it feels like these set of songs could be a good companion.”

Months and months of back to back tours can make members of a band itch for time alone and away from their bandmates, but with Dream Wife spending this time together allowed the trio to build trust and solidarity that would ultimately be the driving force behind the writing for their new album.

“The opportunity to get to write together again was really exciting because we just didn’t have time on tour,” Alice says.

Rakel agrees: “You have some ideas from tour, but sleeping more, and seeing our friends and family, and being able to sort of function again in the lives we left behind, and understand what had changed both in us and in the people around us and in our homes, [meant] we could go into that phase to be able to write...and to be able to reflect.

It’s just like a rollercoaster when you’re touring back to back tours, and to be like, woah that was really amazing or really intense, and to

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see growth …it’s just so great to just be still when you’re writing.”

When Dream Wife first started out as three friends at university together in Brighton, they were playing shows before they even had any songs recorded, which meant their debut album consisted of songs that were built for the live environment. This time around however, the trio approached the process in a completely different way. “[It’s] the polar opposite with this album, we took time off and came back to the writing room, and it was this presence of being reflective,” says Alice. “We’ve never really engaged in that space together for that length of time as a unit, and it felt like a real luxury and a creative honour. We worked with Marta Salogni, who is an incredible producer, and she really shared in this trusted space with us to create the album that we’ve been able to make. It was a completely different process to that of the first record,

but something we’d been wanting to do for a long time.”

Rakel continues: “Also the first one is an introduction, like hi this is us, this is Dream Wife! The first record had some of the first songs we’ve ever written, some of the songs we had just written before we went into the studio, and some of them weren’t even finished. What we love about this [record] was for it to be a whole collective story rather than it being these different parts of an introduction which a debut album is.”

They also felt no pressure to follow the success of their debut either as so many bands do with a follow-up, “We’re all a lot better at doing what we do now, and a lot better at working together, and a lot better at not taking other people’s bullshit! So as much as I can understand the intricacies around a second album, on a personal level it was so much more enjoyable and so much more fun,” Bella quips.

“Doing your first album, you’re

“IF WE CAN DO SOMETHING TO SUPPORT EQUALITY IN THE INDUSTRY, THEN, OF COURSE, WE’RE GOING TO DO THAT” ALICE GO

going through such a process of learning,” Rakel divulges. “For us it was the first time we were in a studio, with producers, assembling a collection of songs and mixing notes. Coming back the second time around you know what you like and know what you don’t like, and you also have understood the language, the mixing language, and how you connect as a unit and the people you’re working with.

Going into this album was such a good feeling. Touring so much gets you really tight as a unit, and we also built so much trust with each other... that trust produces the best music we’ve ever made. You feel like the unit will hold it up, and everyone can be fully themselves, and be vulnerable.”

Dream Wife have always been an empowering and honest band instilled with punk ethos, but it’s on ‘So When You Gonna...’ that the world will truly get to know them on a deeper and more personal

level. It’s a vulnerability that echoes throughout the record in topics ranging from miscarriage and abortion, and their intrinsic mission statement of gender equality.

“Having that solidarity and trust as a band was a combination that allowed us to access these softer parts of the palette and really dig into the sensitive themes,” Alice notes. “There are some songs that really hark back to the rawness and live energy of the first record, but I really think for me [the record] feels like this real evolution of Dream Wife - which isn’t just primarily this live band, it’s everything else we are and have always been. Even in our pop sensibilities and allowing that to shine rather than it just having to manifest on record as it does exactly as it does at a live show.”

Rakel continues: “There was a lot of growth and exploration.

With this album, it was more about thinking about the songs and thinking about how we can progress and grow, and how we can capture the light and the shade, and the rawness and the vulnerability and the pleasure, and really diving into different parts of extreme emotions and grief.”

A big talking point for the new ‘So When You Gonna…’ album is how the band enlisted the help of a team of entirely non-males to create it, “It was definitely a thing ultimately practice what we preach,” explains Alice.

“Obviously it’s insane the statistics about albums produced by women, it’s less than 5%. If we can do something about it and in some way support equality in the industry, then, of course, we’re going to do that. With Grace Banks engineering and Heba Kadr mastering in New York, it’s just this really powerful team of women. It was exciting to feel like we could make that happen in that way, and really manifest things in terms of our ethos and what we stand for. It feels like we made the album in the right way.”

“It was magic [with Marta], and we just found this instant connection. Learning about her journey as a producer, she has it all, she has worked her way up from the bottom,” Rakel muses.

It was in these conversations with Marta that the band came up with the idea for their podcast that shares the same name as their new album. On the podcast the band interviews predominantly non-male people in the creative industry - people they’ve collaborated with and people they admire.

“We wished we heard these conversations when we were teenagers, just normalising predominantly non-male people in these roles in the creative industry.

I hope it’s educational and makes people feel like they can go and do something they didn’t think they could do,” Alice contemplates.

‘So When You Gonna..’ is Dream Wife truly making the most of their innermost feelings, and expressing that outwards with a rawness like never before. “I hope they dance, I hope they cry, and I hope it’s reflective of something that is happening in their own lives,” Rakel notes on what she wants listeners to take from the album. “That’s the dream, [and] being able to be fully yourself and fully present was such an amazing experience, as a songwriter, musician, and human.” P Dream

Wife’s album ‘So When You Gonna...’ is out 3rd July.

Upset 27

GLORIA DAYS Words: Rob Mair.

Photos: Daniel Cavazos.

“It’s always been a goal of mine, creatively, to think in a timeless way, and not just think about writing in the moment,” says Chris Simpson, while discussing the 20th anniversary and reissue of The Gloria Record’s ‘A Lull In Traffic’.

endeavours,” he says with a certain self-effacing humour.

“Whatever magic Mineral had, it resonated with people. The amount of people Mineral connected with… with The Gloria Record, it was just a small percentage of that.

“I think, at the time we were very young, and things had gone very well for us in Mineral. There was a part of us that assumed we must be great, and everything Having made his name in would continue to go well for Mineral, The Gloria Record was us; like ‘OK, we’ll go and start Simpson’s next vehicle – a much another band’ – it’s no big deal, more atmospheric indie-rock right? I think there was a lack project than the one with which of maturity in the sense that we he made his name. Now, with a didn’t understand that starting significant milestone to celebrate, over with a new project really did Simpson is reflecting on just why mean starting over.” the record continues to be a fan Yet The Gloria Record – despite favourite from his extensive back- Simpson’s initial disappointment catalogue. at the response – has remained Yet The Gloria Record didn’t steadfastly popular with a solid get off to the best of starts when core of fans – and will now get the they formed at the tail-end of chance to find a new audience the Twentieth Century, with thanks to a much-anticipated Simpson disappointed by the – and long overdue – reissue of fans’ response to the group’s first their high-watermark EP ‘A Lull material. Before disbanding, In Traffic’.

Mineral had signed a deal with Considering the group’s initial the major label Interscope, and lifespan coincided with the emo Simpson expected to simply carry boom of the late 1990s and early over the success of one act to 2000s, their atmospheric take another. on indie-rock had much more “I remember, initially, being in common with the genre’s despondent – as I have been more nuanced bands than it did ever since in all my creative with the pop-rock stylings of

28 Upset

The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World (with whom Mineral had previously released a split single).

Indeed, it would have been easy for Simpson to have chased after some easy emo dollars – even more so thanks to the major label connection which was already in the bag, and leverage created by the Mineral name.

Instead, The Gloria Record leaned into six-minute-long, almost post-rock influenced soundscapes, which owed as much to British shoegaze and indie of the time than it did to the emo forebears in Rites of Spring or Sunny Day Real Estate or the propulsive pop-punk of Saves The Day or Lifetime.

“I think we were conscious of not wanting to sound like that,” says Simpson, when asked why they decided to move in this direction. “I think, when we came out of Mineral, Jeremy [Gomez, bassist, and The Gloria Record co-founder] and I really wanted to distance ourselves from that.

That’s not to say we intentionally wrote material that was different, but in the marketing of it, we really wanted to try and make something that stood on its own legs.

“And, ultimately, we were not interested in making polished pop music,” he continues. “I don’t think Mineral would have

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done well in that atmosphere had they still been around, either.

The Gloria Record feels like an extension of Mineral, just that the palette is a little different. We were still interested, I think, in making records – whether they be EPs or full-lengths – that function more like symphonies, where there’s an arc to them, and where one piece flows into the next, as opposed to ‘Let’s write 10 pop songs and stick them on a record’.

We thought on a grander scale.”

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s a move that also paid dividends musically. By eschewing the trends of 20 years ago, ‘A Lull In Traffic’ sounds like it could have been released much more recently. There’s a timelessness to it that ensures it doesn’t fit into the emo major label killing fields of the time, and a grandness that places it alongside contemporary indierock acts like We Were Promised Jetpacks or mewithoutYou, where space for exploration and experimentation is built into the sound.

Lyrically too, it’s not preoccupied with romance and broken hearts – a staple of the time – but about character flaws and desires and faith – things which were much more fundamental to Simpson’s personality and songwriting of the time, and more complex and expressive topics to explore. This, too, means it sits apart from many of the bands of the time.

“When I was a young lad just starting out, I realised that I’d be writing all these songs about girls I was interested in. But then, things would go bad, and I wouldn’t want to hear that song anymore, much less play it.

“So I remember in my early Mineral days thinking I don’t wanna write about that stuff, I wanna write about much more

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“WE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THAT STARTING OVER WITH A NEW PROJECT REALLY DID MEAN STARTING OVER” CHRIS SIMPSON

deeply personal things – things that are fundamental to my identity, and which won’t go away tomorrow,” he says.

It’s a philosophy that Simpson has stuck with throughout his career. Today, he is also gearing up for the release of a new Mountain Time record, ‘Music For Looking Animals’ – a solo album and a rebadged approach to his Zookeeper project – and finding himself talking about twenty-year-old records while simultaneously promoting new work is fast becoming a theme of Simpson’s promotion cycle.

The last Zookeeper record, 2014’s ‘Pink Chalk’, coincided with Mineral’s return and a global tour to celebrate the group’s history – and the coincidence of history repeating itself is not lost on Simpson: “I hate finishing records,” he laughs. “In the one sense, there’s a positive feeling, like triumph, and I love that aspect of it – but I also have to figure out what to do with it. Like, am I now under an obligation to attempt to go out and make people care about this, or push it out further into the world? I find that stuff exhausting.

“But, as I was finishing ‘Pink Chalk’, the whole Mineral 20-year anniversary thing came up, and I was like ‘Great! This is the perfect thing for me to shift focus to, so I’ll do that, and I won’t worry about this record’.

“I really thought putting it out during that would be a good idea…. It was a fine idea,” he laughs, “but I didn’t really get any traction for it.”

This time around, with the focus on The Gloria Record, it’s all a little more low-key, meaning there’s plenty of space to talk about Mountain Time without The Gloria Record consuming the air. Having initially planned

to release a low-key folk album, ‘Music For Looking Animals’ has now grown into another atmospheric piece of work, embellished by lush strings, horns and background singers.

Simpson will joke that it is his attempt to explore the “Leonard Cohen palette” – but it also serves as a suitable companion to The Gloria Record reissue thanks to its many textures and moods.

Also enabling the low-key approach to promoting The Gloria Record is the fact that the band’s members are now spread throughout the United States.

With families and ‘real’ jobs, the logistics of a world tour is much harder for The Gloria Record than it was for Mineral – even though Simpson has enormous love and affinity for everyone involved. Instead, it’s an excellent opportunity for Simpson to revisit past successes without the pressure of it turning into another Mineral.

Having helmed two revered bands from the golden age of emo/indie-rock, it’s to Simpson’s credit that both have endured the intervening two decades without falling foul of the criticisms levelled at other acts of the period – particularly in the lyrical content or attitudes.

Instead, The Gloria Record is an act that Simpson says is “greater than the sum of its parts”, and where nothing in its constitution is “cookie-cutter”.

In the eyes of many, Mineral still reigns mighty, but by bucking trends and forging their own path at a time when there was such focussed attention on their corner of the scene, The Gloria Record’s legacy should be just as storied. P The Gloria

Record’s 20th-anniversary reissue of ‘A Lull In Traffic’ is out 10th July.

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DYING

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BE

TO

“I’m back on my soapbox,” announces The Beths guitarist Jonathan Pearce, while discussing the merits of love songs with bandmate and songwriter, Liz Stokes.

“Love songs always have an angle, and that angle is the context of a musician’s life,” he continues. “Some angles are played out and don’t need to be written again – and I think this is one of the reasons there are so many successful and brilliant and loved female and non-binary artists in indie and alternative music right now.

There’s a whole well of great songs, and the themes that occur to those people don’t occur to privileged white boys.

Those songs haven’t been written and played out yet. They’re written from a different perspective, and they’re very valid and worth hearing, and that’s what people want.”

There’s no doubt that plenty of people were hugely invested in the stories of Stokes and her bandmates (completed by bassist Benjamin Sinclair and drummer Tristan Deck).

Full-length debut ‘Future Me Hates Me’ proved to be a call-to-arms for like-minded people the world over, in large part thanks to Stokes’ perspective

ELIEVE Words: Rob Mair. Photos: Mason Fairey.

Upset 33

on relationships, love, identity and mental health.

Yet if The Beths sound a little more world-weary and a touch more jaded on new album ‘Jump Rope Gazers’, they have every right to. Since releasing the superb ‘Future Me Hates Me’ in August 2018, the New Zealand group has travelled the globe for nearly two years solid, making several trips to the UK and the US where their sparkling indie-rock found adoring audiences.

And while there’s a melancholy air to songs like ‘Do You Want Me Now’ and the title track, ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ is still an album that possesses the group’s fine ear for a melody and some razor-sharp pop hooks.

For all the stresses and challenges of the last two years, ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ also has all the hallmarks of a hard-fought victory; an album that distils the life of a road warrior and encapsulates the camaraderie of being ‘in it together’, but it also hits on tropes of being away from home for long stretches – even if the subject matter lies a little closer to home: “Some of the songs that are about distance predate us going on tour,” says Liz over Skype, as she enjoys dinner with bandmate Pearce. “They relate to a period in my mid-late 20s, where a bunch of my friends moved away at the same time.

“In New Zealand, after you’ve studied, you live in Auckland, which is the biggest city – the Big Smoke – and the population is only about one and a half, two million. After you’ve worked there for a few years, you get itchy feet, and that’s when you go overseas.

It’s quite a common thing. After a while, people start coming back.

So, at that time, that was what was happening when I first wrote these songs.

“But then, taking those song fragments from that time and finishing them with the context of being home from a long tour, where everybody went through a hard time, and we were all trying

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to support each other, those things have given them a new context.”

By the end of the group’s final tour promoting ‘Future Me Hates Me’, they were in desperate need of some downtime. The success of the album led to some fantastic opportunities, including opening for Death Cab For Cutie in the UK and the Pixies in New Zealand.

By the time the touring cycle had finished, The Beths had gone from headlining the cosy Sebright Arms to Heaven – a venue with nearly 10 times the capacity.

Yet the intensity of touring, which would see them return to New Zealand for only three or four weeks at a time before jetting off again, was beginning to take its toll on their mental health.

“The intenseness is something that you can kind of see coming,” says Liz, when asked about this relentless touring schedule. “When this all started kicking off, and we started to tour, you’re suddenly always looking six months to a year ahead.

“So yeah, we worked hard, but towards the end of the cycle, I think we were all starting to get a little bit fatigued – Jonathan in particular.

It was quite intense.”

“I’ve always been a pretty level and happy guy,” continues Jonathan. “I’ve never had to deal with any mental health issues before in my life, but I definitely needed a lot of help during our last big tour, which was something like four months long. I had to contend with feeling things that I’d never felt before because it was getting pretty full-on.”

It means that lockdown caused by the coronavirus has provided something of a respite for the group, as they gear up to release ‘Jump Rope Gazers’. While Jonathan says he definitely needed some time to unwind after making the record, he admits it’s a real stretch to see the current lockdown as a positive – especially when they wanted to “tour the shit” out of this record.

It’s a record they’re rightly proud of too, pushing the sound of

The Beths far beyond the breezy pop hooks found on ‘Future Me Hates Me’, and into something far more textured and nuanced. It’s still unmistakably The Beths, but it possesses much more stylistic depth – peaks and valleys – which make it a much deeper listening experience.

Liz comments that the first record established the circle in which The Beths sit, and ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ is an opportunity to push on the boundaries of the circle, while Jonathan sees the decision to push themselves sonically as a response to how

‘Future Me Hates Me’ was perceived.

“I have a pretty unhealthy relationship with music criticism as a job,” he says. “There are people

“LOVE SONGS ALWAYS HAVE AN ANGLE, AND THAT ANGLE IS THE CONTEXT OF A MUSICIAN’S LIFE”

out there who are personality music critics, and it makes me feel pretty uncomfortable. But we were aware of one piece of criticism of the first record that we thought was valid – and we’re very proud of that record – but it didn’t have a lot of diversity. There were a lot of fast and loud songs, crammed-in hooks, and cool guitar parts.

“If people criticize the lack of diversity on the first album, I don’t really have a leg to stand on. I mean, honestly, the tempo range…

“Basically, that record slams; what else do you want?” he jokes.

He’s got a solid point too; ‘Future

Me Hates Me’ won a legion of fans thanks to its unabashed love of pop hooks, sharp guitars, relentless tempo, and honest lyrics. ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ still has plenty of moments which sit comfortably in The Beth’s self-defined circle, but also light and shade, as well as a striking pathos. It’s an album that builds – at times spectacularly – on what came before. Pearce may be joking when asking ‘What else do you want?’, but The Beth’s repost is greater than anything we could have expected… P The Beths’

album ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ is out 10th July.

JONATHAN PEARCE

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Rated_ THE OFFICIAL VERDICT ON EVERYTHING

THE BETHS

JUMP ROPE GAZERS

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While ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ still has plenty of moments of hyperkinetic wonder, by slowing things down a touch, it elevates The Beths to Alvvays levels of greatness, marrying killer pop chops with an honesty and sincerity that makes resistance to their charms futile. In particular, ‘Do You Want Me Now’ is a high watermark, with Liz Stokes’ rumination on distance and love and identity a masterclass in songwriting, while its arrangement is so delicately handled it has the fragility of porcelain.

There’s no doubt that it would have been too lightweight on the primary coloured pop of ‘Future Me Hates Me’, but here it’s the emotional centrepiece of an album that builds on everything they’ve done before. P Rob Mair

BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD THE NON-STOP EP

eeeee

PVRIS USE ME eeeee

I

n so many ways, PVRIS have always been a band that span different worlds.

With the dark, brooding spirit of rock music always strong, the bright, bold colours still shone through. For their third album, that saturation point is dialled up to eleven. By any reasonable measure, it works.

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‘Use Me’ is the record that sees Lynn Gunn take the limelight - the point where the rapidly iconic leader feels comfortable taking credit for her efforts. That singular force is what drives hard. Tracks like ‘Gimme A Minute’ and ‘Dead Weight’ are pure modern pop; fizzing, bombastic rushes able to cut through the digital noise.

Though the ‘Hallucinations’ EP may have marked a significant shift for a band who have always had those tendencies in their locker, ‘Use Me’ is yet another jump.

A bringing into focus of an empowered desire to fight, even when the world around is hard. Genre boundaries have long seemed a thing of the past. A record of sky high ambitions, but with a fiercely independent spirit at its heart, this is the point PVRIS blossom.

P Stephen Ackroyd

Ever wondered what AC/DC would sound like if they were a glam rock band in 2020?

Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard have the answers for you on their debut EP. But wait, come back! It turns out to be better than you imagined and somehow not such a crazy idea after all. Armed with a production style that seems to be turning everything up to 11, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Managing to largely steer clear of pastiche, it’s hard to suppress a grin as ‘The Non-Stop EP’ zips past. Like a long hazy all-nighter, it sure feels good while it lasts - but whether the memory of it will stick around for long after remains to be seen. P Jamie MacMillan

DREAM WIFE

SO WHEN YOU GONNA...

eeeee

With an album title that is equal parts command, question and a call to arms, and an opening that warns

“fuck sorry, fuck please”, Dream Wife are not in the mood to be holding anything back. A record of bittersweet endings, hopeful beginnings and real heartbreak, it is as messy and as full of ups and downs as real life. They may sing about the rules in early single ‘Sports!’ but as they bounce between style and genre from one moment to the next, this is one band who refuse to play by them. Packing the biggest punch, the best is saved for last on the breathtaking ‘After The Rain’. As emotionally raw and searingly honest as it gets in its message of a woman’s right to choose, the meditative and calming rainfall at its conclusion is a necessary and restorative balm for the soul. P Jamie MacMillan

MOUNTAIN TIME

MUSIC FOR LOOKING ANIMALS

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Having led something of a nomadic musical existence, Chris Simpson of Mineral and The Gloria Record returns with a new moniker and a new direction, after deciding to retire the Zookeeper name which housed his previous solo work.

It’s a smart move too, as ‘Music For Looking Animals’ has an entirely different vibe to anything he’s done before. Resplendent with lilting strings, bellowing horns and backing singers, it’s a largely folk-inspired album which is lifted by the arrangements and accoutrements. By turns wistful, nostalgic and hopeful, it’s classic Simpson, creating music that sings and swells, but which sits at odds with the sensitive lyrics. It’s a more than timely reintroduction. P

Rob Mair

PHOEBE BRIDGERS PUNISHER

eeeee

The path from Phoebe Bridgers’ first album to her second has been far from ordinary, with detours into supergroups Better Oblivion Community Centre and boygenius, and collaborations with the likes Hayley Williams and The

1975. That experience and her wisebeyond-her-years storytelling help shape her second solo record ‘Punisher’ as a work of breathtaking beauty. The songwriting and stories sewn in this album colour seemingly ordinary situations into vivid snapshots of real life - whether it’s payphones in Japan, recurring dreams about tidal waves, late-night debates about Eric Clapton and John Lennon, or being awoken by sirens from the hospital she lives near.

It’s not only the background which comes into focus, but also herself.

There are more than a few references to the mask she hides behind as the dreamy vocal effect of the ethereal title-track is stripped away during the line “I love a good place to hide / in plain sight”. Or ‘Halloween’, in which Conor Oberst’s vocals appear like a ghost, the chorus line soothes “Baby, it’s Halloween / and we can be anything.” Where Phoebe often finds beauty in holding a mirror to the world, she can find the same inspiration when she holds it up to herself. P Alexander Bradley

THE WINTER PASSING NEW WAYS OF LIVING

eeeee

Hailing from Tipperary in Ireland, for The Winter Passing to have already established themselves within the American alt-emo scene speaks for itself.

Second LP ‘New Ways of Living’ cements the five-piece as one of the most promising to emerge from the scene in recent years. Fronted by Kate and Rob Flynn, their unique dovetailing on tracks such as ‘Melt’ is the key to their appeal. Worlds collide with Rob’s hardcore vocal and guitar stylings meshing enticingly with Kate’s more immediate pop-punk pipes. Already occupying a distinct niche in the alt-rock landscape, ‘New Ways of Living’ isn’t exactly The Winter Passing bursting out of their cage, but they do prod at the boundaries of their sound with encouraging results. P Dillon Eastoe Upset 37

EVERYONE HAS THOSE FORMATIVE BANDS AND TRACKS THAT FIRST GOT THEM INTO MUSIC AND HELPED SHAPE THEIR VERY BEING. THIS MONTH, ORCHARDS TAKE US THROUGH SOME THE SONGS THAT MEANT THE MOST TO THEM DURING THEIR TEENAGE YEARS. WITH... ORCHARDS QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Go With The Flow

Dan: I religiously watched the Scuzz music video channel as a teen. The first time the video for ‘Go With The Flow’ came on, I was glued to the TV. When I found out Dave Grohl drummed on the track and the whole album that was it, I was hooked.

FIGHTSTAR Palahniuk’s Laughter

Dan: From my memory, Fightstar’s album ‘Grand Unification’ was the first record I discovered and bought myself. It was my first delve into the “heavier” side of music, which led me to discover some of my favourite bands. I must have seen Fightstar play like three times as a teen.

THE MARS VOLTA Tetragrammaton

Will: In my early teens we took a lodger into my family home, another drummer coincidentally named Will. When I first listened to his copy of ‘Amputechture’, it was a mind-bending experience and triggered years of obsession with The Mars Volta.

POISON THE WELL Meeting Again For The First Time

Photo: Jessie Morgan.

Will: The singer of my first band turned me on to the album, ‘You Come Before You’, and for me, it’s one of those perfect albums that you’d never consider skipping a track of. This song, in particular, is absolutely crushing.

FOALS Cassius

Sam: I think I was watching MTV Rocks or Kerrang and the video for this came on. It absolutely blew my mind that they were all playing different intersecting parts that all somehow came together to make

38 Upset

this cohesive melodic music. I guess this was the first time I listened to anything like Math Rock before I knew what Math Rock was.

AT THE DRIVE IN One Armed Scissor

Sam: My first band started practising in a new place in Liverpool, and the owner and his brother would come and hang out with us from time to time. They heard the kind of stuff we were listening to like Incubus, The Fall Of Troy etc. and they stuck on ‘Relationship Of Command’. I was obsessed with the attitude of the music and how raw it sounded. I then watched their performance of this song on The Late Show, and the energy they brought was incredible.

THE WOMBATS Kill The Director

Lucy: This album was such a turning point for me. I was such a classic rock girl. Eagles, Fleetwood

Mac, Queen, Thin Lizzy etc. The boy I fancied in school recommended me this album, so 13-year-old me ran home and begged my parents to take me shopping and buy it. That we did and I listened to it on repeat for I’d say at least a week. I then went from Dad’s old CD collection to full-on ‘Indie Cindy’ wannabe.

KATY B Why You Always Here

Lucy: I got my first job at 17, working as a Sales Assistant in a clothes shop. I was the very bottom on the food chain. Cleaning mirrors, chasing dust bunnies, steaming endless polyester clothes and dragging a hoover around. But, I loved it. Katy B’s ‘On a Mission’ was the only CD we had in the shop. The manager would put it on 10 minutes to close, every. single. night. As soon as this song started, it was time to close the doors and start cleaning. I loved that job. P

THE NEW ALBUM

INCLUDES THE SINGLES “SPORTS!” AND “SO WHEN YOU GONNA...”

OUT JULY 3RD